“Haven’t you seen it yourself? The child is repeatedly hurt and suffering again! How can I just stand by and watch!”
He was referring to a few days ago when Leticia was suffering due to a curse.
“Besides, I intervened through my descendant! The backlash is less! I am not like Dinut!”
The Master of the Magic Tower scoffed.
“What’s different? Just admit it.”
“What should I admit!”
“That both of you are the same.”
Sigmund looked at the Master in shock.
“What? Have you gone mad?”
“In my view, you’re both the same.”
A ball of light flickered.
“Acting rashly in anger. Insulting each other while sharing causality. Repeating the same actions.”
“…Ha.”
“You know the saying ‘birds of a feather flock together’? People similar to each other become friends. It’s like entities prone to anger befriending each other.”
Sigmund gritted his teeth.
“Shut your mouth.”
“Of course, calling both of you ‘friends’ might be a bit too affectionate. But in the aspect of not maturing despite living for thousands of years, you’re similar… eek!”
“Silence, I said!”
Unable to hold back, Sigmund grabbed the ball of light. The Master screamed and burst.
Moments later, it reappeared from thin air, fluttering ten times faster than before.
“You didn’t just burst me, did you?”
“If you hadn’t been talking nonsense…”
“Nonsense? How can you say that? It’s ultimately because of you two that I ended up like this!”
“Because of me, what do you mean…”
“You two reversed time, and I ended up bearing the consequences!”
“It’s not like you’re the only one who bore them.”
“Whether together or alone, I, who didn’t reverse time, shouldn’t need to bear any consequences at all! If I helped you out when you asked, shouldn’t you at least be thankful?”
“…Ha.”
Sigmund grits his teeth and quickens his pace. The Master of the Magic Tower becomes even more agitated.
“So what if you’re a dragon? Acting like a ruthless employer. Do you even have a conscience?”
At this point, there seemed to be no way to shut him up. It was better to just let him rant until he was done and distance himself.
“Do you know who I am? I’m the legendary Master of the Magic Tower! The magicians of the Magic Empire would cry and kneel before me! And you reduce me to a fly and even burst me?”
Unfortunately for Sigmund, his legs were too short to put any distance between him and the Master.
“If you’re going to treat me like this, give me back my legs! I want to walk on two legs too! Give me back my legs! Return my magic power!”
Sigmund covers his ears and shouts.
“Whether it’s magic power or legs, don’t you know they will return with time! Why are you whining like a child when you’re supposed to be the Master of the Magic Tower?”
“Oh, forget it! Give them back now! Return them, you old lizard!”
“Quiet! Just shut up!”
Thus began the verbal sparring between the Founding Dragon of the Principality and the most powerful Master of the Magic Tower in the history of the Magic Empire.
As they continued their bickering, they soon found themselves near the city gates. Sigmund quickly reached out and shoved the ball of light—the soul of the Master of the Magic Tower—into his pocket.
“Let go! You villainous lizard!”
“We’re approaching the checkpoint. Be quiet and don’t make a sound.”
The Master of the Magic Tower finally quieted down. Sigmund, savoring the rare peace, quickened his steps.
Upon reaching the city gates, the paladins blocked Sigmund’s path. They scrutinized his attire, which carried no baggage, with a puzzled look.
“Child, where are your parents?”
Sigmund smiled harmlessly, his eyes shining brightly.
“My parents are at home! I came here alone today! There’s a festival after the national marriage, I wanted to see it!”
Ugh. Hearing this, the Master of the Magic Tower started to feel nauseous without making a sound.
“I live in the village behind the well, over there! That’s why I came without any luggage!”
“From the village behind, is it Mirldan?”
“Yes! Hehe.”
The paladin smiled approvingly and patted Sigmund’s head.
“It’s quite a journey you’ve made. You walked all the way here. Did you bring your identification?”
“Hehehe, here it is. Mom told me to make sure to bring it!”
The paladin checked Sigmund’s ID and stamped it for passage. Sigmund bowed politely.
“Thank you, sir! Have a happy day!”
Hearing that innocent voice, the Master of the Magic Tower was certain.
‘This is definitely done on purpose.’
Unable to endure Sigmund’s antics anymore, he cast a self-inflicted knockout spell using the magic power he had accumulated over the last two days.
Noticing this, Sigmund smirked and walked into the city gates.
* * *
It was a busy morning for everyone.
This was true for the Principality’s delegation as well.
Being the day of the royal wedding, they started preparations from dawn, leaving nothing to chance.
Although relieved that they would leave the empire the next day, they couldn’t hide their worries.
It was because of Dietrian. Two days ago, after meeting the Saintess and Leticia, Dietrian had been acting strangely.
Right after the tea party, he had a menacing aura as if he could kill someone, but the next day, he was as gentle as a lamb, as if nothing had happened.
He kept having a distant look in his eyes, as if lost in a dream, occasionally smiling to himself, blushing, and fiddling with his lips.
The delegation was deeply concerned about Dietrian’s behavior.
“Why is His Highness behaving like this?”
“It must be the stress from the national marriage.”
“Oh, how difficult it must have been for him.”
Misunderstanding Dietrian’s true feelings, the delegation felt a desire to cry. They felt a renewed sense of guilt towards their king, who had shouldered everything alone.
“Let’s do better for him in the future.”
“If His Highness says black beans are red, we’ll believe it.”
“Of course, it’s only right.”
Unaware of his subjects’ misunderstandings, Dietrian headed towards the temple where the ceremony was to be held.
The temple was as tall and magnificent as the shrine where the tea party had been held.
White columns sparkled under the sunlight, and under the domed roof were sculptures of the First Goddess’s nine wings.
Paladins dressed similarly to those wings surrounded the temple.
As the Principality’s delegation approached, the paladins’ hands moved to the hilts of their swords, sending cold glares.
Used to such treatment, the delegation merely snorted.
Among the knights surrounding the temple, some were not dressed in white. These were knights escorting royals or nobles attending the national marriage.
Their ornate armors were emblazoned with the crests of their families. Among them, some wearing particularly lavish capes stood out.
Red capes embroidered with golden lions – the Royal Knights, who only escorted the imperial family.
Dietrian’s eyes narrowed.
‘Could it be, members of the imperial family are here?’
The imperial family and the temple had a long-standing poor relationship.
The temple’s power was too strong.
There’s a saying that there cannot be two suns in the sky. Since even the citizens considered the temple as the real ruler of the empire, it was inevitable that the imperial family resented the temple.
But they couldn’t express their dissatisfaction openly. Without the saintess, there would be no empire.
The Empire is protected by nine barrier stones. The Saintess must periodically infuse these stones with power to prevent the desertification of the Empire and suppress the growth of demonic creatures.
From the perspective of the Imperial family, no matter how much they disliked the Saintess, they had to maintain a good relationship with her outwardly.
However, this superficial peace was not always well-maintained. Occasionally, the delicate balance was disrupted.
One such incident was the temple arson by Prince Calisto about ten years ago. He publicly denounced Josephina’s misdeeds and set fire to the capital’s temple.
Following this incident, the relationship between the Imperial family and the temple deteriorated severely. It was so bad that there were talks of a civil war.
In the end, the Imperial family had to bow first. It was the only way to prevent desertification and the growth of demonic creatures.
The Emperor himself sent an apology letter to Josephina. Yet, in a final act of pride, the Imperial family never visited the Saintess’s land thereafter.
Even when other children of the Saintess married, it was the Prime Minister, not the royal family, who attended the celebrations.
But this time, for the national marriage, the royal family had come to celebrate personally.
‘Did something happen that changed the attitude of the Imperial family?’
The relationship between the Imperial family and the temple could significantly affect the Principality.
Dietrian resolved to investigate the situation more thoroughly upon his return and continued walking.
As he entered the ceremony hall, people who were chatting in small groups turned to look at him as if on cue.
The murmuring quieted down instantly.
Their looks varied in appearance, expression, and attire, but the gaze they cast upon him was the same.
Contempt and loathing.
If glares could be knives, Dietrian would have been stabbed dozens of times. Ignoring their stares, he calmly looked straight ahead.
His feelings were complex. Surprisingly, unlike usual, he felt at ease.
It wasn’t the forced endurance of discomfort he had experienced before; he genuinely felt unaffected. He was confident that regardless of their feelings towards him, his world would remain peaceful.
‘Is it because of her?’
Leticia.
Merely the act of welcoming her as his wife felt like stepping onto solid ground after a life of constant storms. His life, once turbulent, now felt stable and secure.
‘Where could she be?’
Thinking of Leticia, Dietrian felt a renewed longing for her. Although he knew that the bride would appear only after the ceremony had started, his eyes involuntarily searched for her.
Amidst this, a thought struck Dietrian as odd.
‘Where is the Saintess?’
With the ceremony about to begin, Josephina, the bride’s mother, was nowhere to be seen.
Just then, several priests hurriedly approached the high seats where the royals and nobles were seated. Initially indifferent to the priests’ words, they suddenly seemed startled and covertly glanced at Josephina’s empty chair.
But the oddities didn’t end there.
The priests removed Josephina’s chair from the hall, carrying it outside. The grand chair, adorned with gold, wobbled as it was taken out through the door.
Wondering if they were replacing the chair, Dietrian waited, but no new chair was brought in.
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