Chapter 15 : The Once-Great Archmage Has Fallen To…

Grace Berg walked in with light, graceful steps, offered a polite curtsy, and said softly, “Your Highness, allow me to remind you. That pane of glass before you is no ordinary glass.’

“It has been meticulously reinforced with powerful alchemical enchantments. No matter how you strike it, it won’t crack so much as crack.”

She was the same maid who had previously stopped Lorin.

Lorin froze mid-action, the tool of her mischief still in her hand.

At the sound of Grace’s voice, her head snapped up, her face a mask of startled guilt.

Eyes wide, lips slightly parted, she blurted out, “Huh?”

But the moment of panic passed in a flash.

Her expression smoothed back into composure as she replied calmly, “Oh… really?”

Meanwhile, her mind was already racing to come up with an excuse. Inspiration struck.

“I was just thinking of opening the window… to let in some air.”

She slowly lowered her tool and even scratched her head sheepishly, putting on a show of awkward embarrassment.

Then she raised her hand and began fanning her face rhythmically, brow slightly furrowed, pretending to be flushed from the heat.

All of it was to sell her lie just a little more.

“As long as you’re unharmed,” Grace said with a faint smile.

Clearly, she had no intention of exposing Lorin’s little plot.

After a gentle reminder, she stepped out of the room once again.

As the door closed behind her, Lorin looked around the room—pink table, pink walls, pink bed…

She couldn’t hold it in anymore.

With a loud thump, she leapt onto the bed and began rolling around, overwhelmed by an intense wave of longing for the dragon and an equally intense wave of resentment for Claire.

“Ughhhh! Claire, how could you be so cruel?!”

As she flailed, her gaze landed on a stuffed teddy bear resting innocently in the corner.

That plush toy, once a symbol of childlike innocence, instantly became a stand-in for Claire.

She launched herself at it.

Grabbing the bear with both hands, Lorin began pummeling it with her tiny fists like falling raindrops, all while grumbling nonstop about Claire’s heartlessness.

But then—

The door suddenly opened again.

Grace paused, surprised by the scene before her, though her years of service kept her from laughing aloud.

“Your Highness, the bath is ready.”

“Eh?!”

With her expression carefully schooled, Grace turned and briskly walked out.

Even after so many years as a maid, it had been a long time since she’d seen a princess act this lively.

“EHHHHH!!!”

Lorin was dumbstruck.

A bright blush crept across her cheeks, and her face burned like fire.

“I can’t go on like this!”

“No! I’m an archmage! I can’t just give up like this!”

Her eyes sharpened as she began calculating a new plan.

Grace, the personal maid outside the door, was a fifth-tier mage.

There was no guarantee Lorin could sneak past her unnoticed.

And the spatial cube she’d painstakingly crafted through alchemy had been damaged by Claire.

That fact pained her even more.

Claire would pay for that when she returned!

Besides… Lorin looked at her reflection in the mirror.

The silver-haired little girl staring back at her was both unfamiliar and familiar.

No matter how fierce an expression she made, she figured Grace wouldn’t find it threatening in the least.

She’d have to sound fiercer to make up for it.

Otherwise, what sort of authority did she have as a princess?

—No, wait!

She wasn’t a blood princess!

She was a grand archmage!

“Your Highness?”

“I’m coming!”

Lorin replied sweetly.

***

Elsewhere, beside a quiet cliff, two silver-haired girls sat close together, gently embracing.

Their shared warmth brought comfort and peace.

It was the first time in years that they had experienced such stillness and beauty together.

Time seemed to pause.

All the past conflicts, weariness, and pain melted away in the mountain breeze.

Moonlight poured from the sky like a silken veil, blanketing the world below.

The light brushed against their silvery hair, casting a soft and sacred glow.

Each strand shimmered faintly, reflecting their calm and contented faces.

“Sis, I’ll hand the throne over to you tomorrow.”

Phyllis leaned against Claire’s shoulder and spoke in a hushed voice.

“Um… actually, I still have to—”

Bang!

Claire barely dodged the swing of Phyllis’s blood scythe, her heart still racing from the close call.

“Sister… I’ll give you one more chance to rephrase that.”

Phyllis smiled sweetly, but there was a glint of chilling menace in her eyes.

“Phyllis, calm down!”

Claire said quickly.

“Didn’t I bring you an assistant this time?”

At her words, Phyllis recalled the little silver-haired girl who had been hiding behind Claire.

“Come to think of it, I really didn’t expect you to bring back such a big surprise.”

“Just a coincidence,” Claire replied, relieved to see her sister calming down.

She began to explain everything that had happened.

“Pfft… So you’re telling me she willingly touched your blood?”

Phyllis couldn’t hold back her laughter.

Claire nodded.

Remembering Lorin’s confident attempt to wield blood magic in that alleyway made her chuckle too.

Blood clan magic wasn’t something one could just pick up and use.

“In that case, it’s not enough to make her your daughter,” Phyllis said with a smirk.

She didn’t believe Claire would adopt someone on a whim.

Claire thought back to that day.

“She was only third-tier back then, but she had all sorts of strange magic tricks. Even I found her hard to deal with. It made me curious.”

“And…”

A sly smile curved Claire’s lips.

“She seems to know a lot about us blood kin.

In fact, I think she might even know you.

And honestly… I think you might know her too.”

Claire still couldn’t forget the look on Lorin’s face when she had mentioned Phyllis’s name.

That shock had been all too genuine.

Phyllis blinked, startled.

That would explain the odd sense of familiarity she had felt earlier when meeting her little “niece.”

But… after so many years of being buried in paperwork day in and day out, when would she have had time to go out and make friends?

It just didn’t add up.

“Then who do you think she is?”

Phyllis asked, intrigued.

“I think…”

“What?”

Phyllis leaned in eagerly, eyes full of anticipation.

“She’s my daughter.”

Claire said it with a straight face.

Phyllis froze for a moment, then puffed out her cheeks in indignation and turned away.

“Alright, alright,” Claire said, pulling her back.

“Isn’t it more fun to figure it out for yourself than having me spoil it?”

Truthfully, Claire didn’t want Lorin finding out she’d spilled her secret to Phyllis.

That girl would fight her tooth and nail.

Still… Claire couldn’t deny how much she enjoyed teasing the girl who so eagerly insisted on being her daughter.

“How about I stick around and have some fun with you these next few days? We can go wherever you like!”

“You make it sound so easy, but what about all those documents?”

“I have my ways. You just start planning where you want to go.”

“Well, in that case…”

Phyllis’s eyes lit up, a genuine smile blooming across her face.

It had been so long since they’d sat down and simply talked like this.