Chapter 9: The Reason He Ran Away 【Chapter 3】
For some reason, her body felt unusually heavy.
Thinking that, Claudia sat up from the sofa and realized that she had been covered with many blankets.
“……”
Even though it was the end of autumn, with this many layers, she definitely wouldn’t catch a cold.
There was only one person in the world right now who would cover a sleeping Claudia with blankets.
“Noah?”
Even when she called his name, there was no reply.
Of course, she already knew that.
Because she couldn’t feel Noah’s magical presence anywhere in the room.
(—That was sooner than I expected.)
She had always thought he would eventually run away.
It just happened to be now, and Claudia accepted it calmly.
“Up we go.”
As she stepped down onto the floor, flower petals fluttered down.
“?”
At some point, a small flower had been placed in Claudia’s hair.
It seemed to have been plucked from the flowers arranged in a vase in the room.
It was a tiny white flower with a faint, sweet fragrance.
(…A gift of blankets and flowers… this is a first.)
She gently removed the flower from her hair and held it up to the light from the window, examining it.
Then, Claudia quietly cast several spells.
Once, in a country located in the southern part of the continent, there was a first prince who lacked magical power.
Though born to parents with great magic, he could only use magic at the level of commoners.
The first prince took out his frustration on his half-brother, the second prince.
The second prince, born in that country, had a mother of common birth.
Yet despite that, he inherited all of his father’s talent and became an exceptionally powerful mage.
The first prince relentlessly tormented the second prince.
[“You are nothing more than the child of a lowly woman!! No matter how talented you are, I am above you.”]
[“I wouldn’t care if you died. After all, I am the one who will become king of this country!!”]
The second prince was nearly killed many times, wandering on the brink between life and death.
When their father, the king, died and the first prince ascended the throne, the treatment only grew worse.
Eventually, the second prince resolved to take revenge on his half-brother.
And he chose to do so at the very moment his brother had just been blessed with a second child and was at the height of his happiness.
[“Stop!! How dare a bastard like you bare your fangs at me—ugh, uwaaah!!”]
He killed his brother and his wife in one swift act.
For him, it was a mistake born from uncontrollable rage.
And so, after becoming king, the man began his revenge anew—this time upon his brother’s children, his own niece and nephew.
The newborn niece was kept close, confined.
—And the young nephew, only four years old at the time, was threatened with, “If you want to protect your sister, obey me,” and forced into a magical slave contract.
“…Hah…”
The boy named Noah let out a shallow breath.
His heart pounded violently from having run this far.
His breathing was ragged, sweat dripped down his body, and the back of his throat tasted like blood.
Sitting down in the shadow of a pillar, he took several deep breaths.
(I finally made it this far…)
From the corridor nearby, hurried footsteps echoed.
“Search! Search everywhere!! By order of His Majesty, capture the former prince Leonhart and drag him out!!”
“If it becomes known that the previous king’s son is still alive, it will undermine His Majesty’s authority…! Use all forces to find Leonhart!”
The mages were searching for him.
Even though this was the castle where he was born and raised, it was nothing but enemy territory now.
(Calm down.)
Lowering his head, he forced his thoughts into order.
(All the barriers have been broken through. That man is in the throne room ahead.)
The method had been taught to him by the girl who called herself the reincarnation of the witch Adelheid—Claudia.
Not only that, she had also taught him how to teleport here.
While assisting with her “cleaning,” Noah had absorbed those techniques and made them his own.
(With Claudia’s magic, breaking through would be easy… but…)
He pressed his left chest with his hand, gripping his shirt tightly.
“……”
Taking a deep breath, Noah stood up from where he had been sitting and grabbed the ice sword leaning beside him.
“Your magic… is specialized for offense.”
He recalled Claudia saying that earlier that morning.
“Your attack power is top-tier. But you’re not good at instant activation or flexible shaping.”
“Then what should I do?”
“It’s simple. Keep it activated at all times during battle and don’t change its form. For example, create a sword with magic and fight using that.”
The small girl had said that with a soft laugh.
“But that’s only when using your own magic alone.”
“…Meaning if I use your magic…”
“That’s right. You won’t have those weaknesses anymore. You’ll be able to unleash maximum-power attack magic instantly and flexibly!”
In truth, the battle at Claudia’s tower had been easy.
Noah forced open the barrier with his sword, while Claudia’s magic widened the gap.
He deflected spells with his blade and crushed flames with waves of ice magic.
It would be a lie to say he hadn’t felt exhilarated by that power.
(…What a convenient story.)
He had been saved by her, pretended to obey her, betrayed her, and then ran away.
To break through the castle’s barriers, he had needed Claudia’s magic.
But when Noah used that magic as her servant, the backlash returned to her.
From the moment he entered the castle to reaching the upper floors, he had used only his own magic.
But even the magic he borrowed at the start—during teleportation and breaking the barrier—must have burdened Claudia back at the tower.
(I can’t use her magic any further.)
Slowly opening his eyes, he began running toward the throne room.
The layout was already in his mind.
After all, he had lived here as his home for four years.
“There he is! That black-haired child—that’s Prince Leonhart!”
“Be careful! Over ten first-class mages have already been taken down!! Use binding magic—ugh!!”
He swept aside the mages with his sword and ran low through the corridor.
A rope-like light shot out from behind and wrapped around his right ankle.
“Tch…!!”
A creaking sound echoed.
He cut it with his ice blade, twisted his body, and regained his footing.
(Just a little more…!!)
At the end of the corridor, the heavy doors of the throne room came into view.
Unlike before, he wasn’t using body-enhancement magic.
Each reckless movement sent sharp pain through his body.
Even so, he was almost there.
Just as he thought that, something exploded on the other side of the doors.
“—!!”
A scorching blast of wind roared through the corridor.
The only reason his skin didn’t burn was because he instinctively deployed a barrier.
The mages behind him, however, screamed as they clutched their faces and arms.
“So you’re still alive, Leonhart.”
“……”
The man who appeared was the one who had enslaved Noah—the son of his half-brother—and treated him worse than a dog.
Golden hair, unlike Noah or his father.
And yet, eyes as black as Noah’s own.
The current king of this nation stood there, flames swirling in his hand as he looked down at Noah.
Gripping his transparent sword, Noah glared straight at him.
“…Give my sister back.”
“Oh?”
The king smirked, stroking his beard.
“Don’t tell me you still don’t understand what happened to Anna?”
“……”
“No… you must understand. That’s why you broke out of your kennel and ran away.”
He chuckled darkly, narrowing his eyes.
“What a pity, Leonhart. If only you resembled your brother more, I would have enjoyed this much more! But that face of yours resembles your mother instead.”
“……”
“How many times have I told you? I have always admired your mother. That’s why, even when I made you take on your father’s punishment, I couldn’t help but go easy on you.”
There had never been any mercy in what he endured.
But none of that mattered.
“…Give her back.”
Noah repeated quietly.
Still, the king only grinned.
“I have an idea. Since you’ve come back, I’ll burn that face of yours this time.”
“……”
“That way, I can make you suffer even more! What do you think?”
The flames in his right hand swelled ominously.
“A splendid idea, don’t you think…!!”
“Tch!”
The flames surged forward, spewing black smoke.
Calmly. Carefully. Precisely.
He analyzed the flow, raised his ice sword, and brought it down.
“Gh…!!”
The flames split in two, passing by his sides.
His sword nearly flew from his grasp, and he barely held on.
It felt less like resisting fire and more like opposing a torrent of water.
“Hahaha! What magnificent magical power for someone who is that man’s child! But it’s crude, immature, far too naive!!”
“!!”
As his ice sword shattered, Noah instantly deployed a barrier.
But it wasn’t enough.
Though he avoided the flames, his body was blown away, crashing into the floor.
“Kah…!!”
The impact knocked the air from his lungs.
Coughing, he forced himself back up and steadied his stance.
He formed another ice sword, gripping it tightly—yet it still wasn’t enough to reach that man.
(Don’t fall back… Don’t be overwhelmed by him… no matter what.)
“Give up. You are destined to atone for your father’s sins to me.”
The king looked down at Noah with delight.
“You will live your entire life being toyed with by me in his place.”
“……”
Noah stared at him.
“…………I will choose how I live.”
“What?”
The king’s eyes twisted.
“My benefactor told me to choose how I live, not how I die. Even if I die here, I will take my sister’s body back from you.”
“Tch…!!”
With an irritated click of his tongue, the king summoned flames once more.
“So you came back knowing full well that Anna is dead? How foolish…”
“I couldn’t protect her while she was alive. I won’t leave her alone after death.”
Even so, that wish would likely not come true.
He had already felt the difference in power long before reaching this point.
If he had used Claudia’s magic, perhaps he could have won.
But that was never an option he intended to choose.
(…I betrayed Claudia, used her power without permission, and came this far.)
He steadied his breathing and tightened his grip on the sword.
(I won’t burden her any further.)
“You’ve always looked at me with those unpleasant eyes—even with a slave’s collar around your neck.”
The next attack would be the end.
“Burning your face won’t be enough. Once I capture you again, I’ll burn those eyes of yours too!!”
“!!”
Just as the flames rushed toward him—
“—What a ridiculous thought.”
“!!”
Right beside him, soft milk-tea-colored hair swayed.
“Wha—”
A slender yet fully grown hand rested gently on Noah’s right shoulder.
Looking up, he saw a beautiful girl, about sixteen years old, smiling brightly.
“Fools really can’t understand, can they? Just how beautiful those obsidian-like eyes of his are.”
“No way…”
“Isn’t that right, Noah?”
It was unbelievable.
And yet, there was no mistaking it.
It was the girl he had betrayed and left behind.
“Why are you here…?”
“Fufu.”
In her adult form, Claudia raised her palm toward the flames.
“—‘Remove.’”
“!!”
In the next instant, with a thunderous roar, the incoming flames were blown away.