Crown of Thorns

Just like when he was young, Evan tried to be by the witch’s side. Unable to break his stubbornness, I gave in and eventually allowed him to come to the Witch’s Tower. Even though I knew it was going to be painful.

But Evan, unlike in his childhood, did not insist on staying in the Witch’s Tower. Feeling the deepening of the night, he raised himself up. And when he was ready to go, he disappeared with the Light, leaving behind only a promise that he would come again.

It was a pretty big change. Very different from the boy who stayed in the tower.

Even as he came to the witch’s tower, Evan spent his daily life as usual. One thing that changed a little was that Neriano went to meet people who had connections with the sorcerer, be that as small as it may be. He was a very long-lived man and had been very young when he had started using magic. His experience was invaluable. That’s why he was able to help Evan a whole lot.

But Neriano seemed to lack knowledge about the divine sorcerer. He wanted to know stories about the time when he was alive by asking the elderly, who are most likely to have heard various tales from their parents or grandparents.

I didn’t make much of his behavior. In fact, it seemed right to say that there was no time for me to care. It was too much just to watch for Evan’s visits. I had to also turn my eyes away from him from time to time to see how the world was going. And on top of that, I had to meet with Ruadhan to coordinate current situations and organize future plans.

I couldn’t do it all at once, so I usually began to move in earnest when Evan went to bed. He still took his maid into the bedroom, and it was a bit of a pity for me not to be able to see him sleep, but I was not around all the time anyway, so I returned to the tower at that point.

Evan, surprisingly, had not visited the Witch’s Tower in a while. So, without any distractions bothering me, I kept an eye on the aristocrats and tried to keep the balance from tipping. The aristocrats looked a little tired from the prolonged fight. As such, I showed them hope. I gave food to those who lacked food and gave soldiers to those who lacked soldiers. In other words, I gave them the illusion that they could eventually win. As if they were already the witch’s puppets, the aristocrats moved along the thread and proceeded with the story I was writing.

Various landlords were replaced from time to time. The emperor did not seem to have any intention of taking action against the aristocracy in his empire. It occurred to me that he might not be interested in whoever the owner of the estate was because it was all his own anyway. It would be good for the nobles to compromise on their own. Otherwise, he will only have to settle the rebels later on. Maybe that was the wisest thing. Now the nobles were in a state of being both invisible and deaf. Because, of course, they fell into the witch’s whispers and went crazy with greed.

After seeing Evan go to bed, I returned back to the tower. I looked around the suffering world. They were now really believing in witches. All this was the work of the witch. Rumors had spread that it was the witch who had driven the nobles to be blinded crazy by greed, that’s why they kept causing war. And it was true since there were also many witnesses.

Someone must’ve witnessed a Shadow attacking soldiers on the battlefield. Someone else must’ve seen Count Phyletto talking to the air. And another must have noticed that when victory was just around the corner, the defense line either solidified or collapsed in the blink of an eye. There were even those convinced that it was a witch who was moving the monsters.

The rumor was considered to be true when only three people attested to it. Moreover, the emperor did not move despite the situation. And because of that, I had to be more confident. He hid in the Heavenly Palace for fear of the witch. Rumors circulated that he would hold hands with a witch and play nobles.

At the same time, rumors about the warrior had spread far and wide. There were many who saw the Light of the warrior. It was the obvious truth. And since the truth weighed more than mere rumors, many people talked about the warrior; because it gave them hope. Most also knew that he had already gone to the palace. Rumors that the Son of Heaven had locked him up in fear of his power, or that he was training in anticipation of the right time had circulated constantly.

As the center of the rumors, Kato’s tavern was making more success day after day. Although the number of mercenaries, who were the main customers, had decreased by a significant margin, the central part of the emperor’s territory was a little off from the war. And so, it was filled with refugees lucky enough to sneak away from the warring lands. They picked up the rumors and spread them, hoping that the emperor would solve the issue quickly, And hoping that anyone, if not the emperor, would step in to end their despair.

As the people’s anguish and desperation deepened, interest in the warrior grew. They hoped he would solve all this as he had exterminated the monsters. They prayed that he would aim his sword at the witch, the main culprit behind this tragedy.

I couldn’t get back to the tower until nightfall.

I was going to rest a little, but I could feel some noise coming from the stairs.

“Ny- Nyx.”

Coming at an hour this late, I noticed that something unusual has happened to Ruadhan’s behavior. He was so baffled that he could not hide his feelings.

Ruadhan was not a man easily agitated. He was always cool and dry with a face that supported little change of expression. He had sharp eyes and glasses that, coupled with a calm tone and behavior, made him look rather cold. Of course, it may look like that on the surface, but in reality, he was a man with a warm and generous heart. But in any case, his current behavior was so unlike him.

As he hurried to the stairs, he courteously gave a light bow and continued his words with a cracked face. No matter how urgent it was, or how hectic it was, he shouldn’t have forgotten to wear his glasses.

“Sorry for the late hour, but it’s urgent.”

“What’s going on?”

“Margarita has been captured.”

I couldn’t comprehend what he said, so I stared blankly at him. As if in a state of shame, he continued with a dark, wobbly face.

“Margarita… went to the warrior and attacked him.”

For a moment, I had the illusion that my time stopped. Ignoring my frozen response, Ruadhan shook his head and uttered deep sighs as if he could not believe it himself. He swept back his hair that ran a little down his face as if he had roughly tied it up in his haste before, and said.

“I think Luella did it. She would often stay in the palace and observe the movements of the warriors. It was also Luella who ran to me and told me about it.”

“S- so? What happened to Evan?”

I asked, biting down on a scream. After coming to my senses a little, I was flooded with worries about Evan. I wanted to run to him right away, but the situation was so severe that I thought it to be a priority to figure it out first. My rationality can suppress my emotions even in this situation because I had been killing my feelings for a long time.

Although he was frowning, Ruadhan answered my question with a straight face.

“I don’t know what had happened exactly, but I don’t think he was in the room. He must have attacked Margarita, who was rushing out of the palace. After hearing Luella’s story, I rushed over to her side, but the warrior had already taken her away. The palace where the warrior is staying is heavily guarded and full of sharp tension. I came back here because I don’t think it’s possible for me to find out more on my own.”

For now, Evan was safe. I leaned against the wall, feeling dizzy with the relief that had flooded me such a short amount of time. Ruadhan hurriedly grabbed me by the shoulder.

“I’m sorry, I’m not good enough…”

“No. No. We need to assess the situation first.”

After calming down a little, a bigger problem had weighed me down. Margarita was caught. She used the power of darkness, but she was no more than a young student. Besides, unlike me, she was an ordinary human being who would die if killed. How the hell am I supposed to save her?

That wasn’t all. Perhaps the possibility of the emperor not killing her was high. He had to dig up her background. She tried to kill the warrior, coming all the way to the palace. Maybe he’d also try to figure out how she found out about the place where the warrior was staying. Then Luella would be in danger, too.

It would be very likely that they’d discover that the witch was really behind all of this after all. It’s too early. All of the preparations are not yet complete.

I closed my eyes and looked at the palace. I had to get Margarita out. As soon as possible.

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