“State your reason. Give me a valid reason to convince all those nobles and sway the magicians’ hearts.”
“I can give you plenty of reasons. But I can’t wait that long.”
“So, are you telling me to break imperial law and hand over a magician to you without any procedure? Leonard, that’s not possible.”
Abigail drew a firm line. He must have known well that he was merely a figurehead Emperor, always mindful of the nobles’ opinions, unable to do anything of his own accord.
The one barely holding onto his imperial authority was none other than Leonard Abrams, Duke Abrams. Without him, Abigail would not have been able to preserve the throne until now.
But to put it another way, it also meant that Leonard was fully aware of how precarious his authority was.
“You know the situation I’m in. So how can you ask me to break imperial law and deceive the nobles?”
Honestly, it was enough to feel hurt. But as much as he felt hurt, he was also curious about what could drive Leonard to make such a request despite knowing it would put him in a difficult position.
“I’m sorry……. But waiting for the proper procedures takes too much time. Yellian, Yellian might be in danger. I’m going crazy. I feel like there’s nothing I can do. The only person who can help me right now is you, Abigail.”
“……What do you mean by that?”
Abigail was quite taken aback by Leonard’s uncharacteristic panic.
Even when Yellian was injured during the hunting competition, Leonard had lost his cool and acted recklessly. So it wasn’t the first time Abigail had seen him lose his composure, but this time felt different. He almost seemed frightened, as if something was chasing him.
“I can’t tell you everything. But trust me. And I’m begging you. I’ll do anything you ask, just give me a magician.”
Even if Leonard explained in detail, Abigail wasn’t sure he’d understand the situation. So being asked to blindly trust him only made him more flustered.
As if sensing his feelings, Leonard rubbed his face with both hands.
“I’m really going out of my mind…….”
“Same here. Then just tell me what you can within the limits of explanation.”
“It seems like Yellian is under a spell.”
“What are you suddenly talking about?”
Abigail furrowed his brow at the unexpected statement. A spell on that feline humanoid-what did that even mean?
Magicians were strictly managed by the imperial palace. The penalty for using magic without the imperial family’s approval was severe. These were people who had become magicians at the risk of their lives. There was no way they would carelessly cast spells on others.
More importantly, they didn’t even know Yellian’s true identity as a feline humanoid. Even if they had known and cast a spell, that would be a problem, but at least since feline humanoids are special beings, one could assume there was some ulterior motive behind the spell.
But there shouldn’t be anyone who would risk their life to cast a spell on an ordinary civilian.
“Yellian collapsed once. The physician who came to treat him at that time seemed to have received healing magic training from the imperial palace. He said Yellian was under a spell.”
“……It’s a strange matter, but I can’t hand over a magician based on that story alone.”
Abigail didn’t know who that physician was, but he wouldn’t have lied to a duke. Abigail was aware of this fact as well.
But that didn’t mean he could take the word of a physician-who wasn’t even an official magician, just someone who had received magic training-at face value.
“Yellian’s wounds heal unusually fast.”
Leonard said urgently. At those words, Abigail looked at him with surprised eyes. Seeing his reaction, Leonard quickly continued.
“He injured his leg once before. The physician who came to treat him was astonished. He said it was unbelievable that the wound had just happened. And when he was hit by an arrow, it only took a few days to regain consciousness, and after that, his recovery was rapid.”
Leonard spoke with desperate sincerity. He had to change Abigail’s mind no matter what. He needed to find out what kind of spell was on Yellian.
If by any chance Yellian was under dark magic, like the person who was killed by magic in prison, it would be a disaster. He had to uncover the nature of the spell on Yellian as soon as possible and, if it was harmful, do whatever it took to break it.
“One of those guys who tried to kill me last time died in prison.”
“I heard about that. It’s become a headache. Committing suicide in prison, of all things. Still, I’ll do my best to catch the culprit, so don’t worry.”
“That guy didn’t kill himself.”
“……What do you mean by that?”
“It was dark magic.”
It was a shocking statement. In the empire, all magic was fundamentally under the control of the imperial palace and conducted legally.
However, dark magic was an exception. As a horrific magic that could take a person’s life, dark magic was strictly prohibited.
“Why do you think that?”
“There was no place in the prison where he could have hanged himself. Yet, he died from strangulation.”
“He could have strangled himself, couldn’t he?”
“A person can’t strangle themselves to death. They lose consciousness and pass out before dying.”
“Even so, there could be other ways…….”
“Damn it! Abigail, why are you being like this! I’ve checked over and over! There was no other way! It’s a death that can’t be explained without dark magic!”
Leonard shouted irritably, then took a deep breath. Trying to calm himself, he steadied his breathing for a while before continuing in a slightly softer voice.
“I’ve confirmed that a person can die from dark magic. If Yellian really is under a spell, I need to find out as soon as possible whether it’s dark magic or not. If it is dark magic, I have to break the spell before whoever cast it harms Yellian.”
“I understand what you’re saying. But as I said earlier, breaking imperial law is difficult. You, Leonard, know my position better than anyone.”
“…….”
“But I’ll think about a way.”
“……Thank you.”
At Abigail’s words, Leonard finally let out a sigh of relief. Of course, it wasn’t a complete yes, but the fact that it wasn’t a flat refusal showed that Abigail was doing his utmost to be considerate.
“Then…… I’m counting on you.”
“Alright, now go back to your cat.”
Leonard nodded weakly. His steps as he left the imperial palace were heavy with burden.
Barely managing to return to the duke’s estate in the carriage, he immediately looked for Yellian. But for some reason, Yellian, who should have been in the room, was nowhere to be seen.
Feeling alarmed, he asked Butler Thomas, who told him that Yellian had gone out with Elton, carrying flyers.
If someone had cast a spell on Yellian, they might take advantage of this opportunity to threaten him. With that thought, Leonard immediately led the knights and left the duke’s estate.
If they had gone out to put up flyers, they would have started nearby and moved farther away, so he began searching the closest areas first. Then, he caught a metallic smell carried on the wind. It was unmistakably the smell of blood.
Leonard headed straight toward the source of the smell, and there he found Yellian and Elton.
Fortunately, Yellian was unharmed, but Elton’s injuries were quite severe. Even so, Leonard felt an indescribable gratitude toward Elton for protecting Yellian until the end.
“I’ll protect you no matter what it takes.”
Leonard whispered to the sleeping Yellian. Though Yellian was asleep and couldn’t possibly hear him, Leonard hoped his feelings would somehow reach him.
“So stay by my side, Yellian.”
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