Chapter 16 : Is this our first meeting ?

Sibellius.

A woman who had reigned as the Empire’s greatest mage for hundreds of years.

She was also one of the Empire’s most powerful protectors.

Some people abandoned even the idea of opposing the Empire simply because she existed.

Despite her immense power and centuries of magical contributions, she held no noble title.

Half-demon.

Because of her mixed heritage with demons, she was denied status.

She lived outside the capital, deep in a forest, subtly discriminated against.

She wasn’t even allowed into the capital without permission—but Sibellius herself didn’t mind this treatment.

She never liked meeting people.

As long as the royal family paid her research funding on time, she ignored everything else and immersed herself in her magic.

In fact, she disliked visiting the capital even when permitted.

So, past emperors, who found her difficult, rarely summoned her—citing plausible excuses.

That’s why—

“Who the hell are all of you?!”

In the dead of night, Sibellius was more shocked than she had ever been when hundreds of people came looking for her in the forest.

”What is this?!”

As usual, she had been focused on her research in her forest workshop when soldiers suddenly arrived.

Even after centuries of life, she couldn’t keep her cool in such an abnormal situation.

”Don’t tell me… Emperor Viol, are you planning to purge me?!”

For a moment, she thought the royal family had finally come to eliminate her—

…”No. This force is too weak.”

Hundreds of fully armed soldiers had come.

Dozens of knights who could control mana.

An impressive force, but not nearly enough to kill a half-demon archmage.

”If they really wanted to kill me, the Emperor herself or someone like Hero Alios would have come.”

Once she assessed the situation, she began to understand who they were.

They were a message made of living soldiers.

A warning: This is how seriously we want something from you.

“Just tell me what this is about already.”

She pressed the knight who had stepped forward but couldn’t even meet her eyes.

“Th-The Empress… Her Majesty Viol summons you, Lady Sibellius.”

“I’m not a noble, so ‘Lady’ isn’t necessary. More importantly, what exactly does she want from me?”

“I-I don’t really know either… b-but if you refuse to come…”

“If I don’t?”

“…She said you’d be declared a criminal and brought in by force.”

Sibellius’s face twisted immediately.

These people couldn’t possibly drag her away.

Even knowing it was just an empty threat, it still annoyed her.

The past emperors had feared and respected her.

No one had ever dared to treat her like this.

“Viol, that brat dares to call herself an emperor?!”

Just as she was about to explode in rage—

“But! If you agree to come, she said she’d increase your research funds tenfold!”

“Is that true?”

The knight blurted out an unbelievable offer so fast that Sibellius’s anger evaporated in stunned disbelief.

“Why in the world would she offer a tenfold increase?!”

“I don’t know either. But you’d be a criminal if you refuse and get ten times the funds if you go—so clearly it’s a better deal to go!”

“…I suppose that’s true.”

She begrudgingly accepted the logic.

Also a bit curious about what was going on, Sibellius nodded.

“Let’s go.”

“Thank the stars!”

The knight couldn’t help but exclaim.

It was a mission doomed if she upset either side—but with success, she led Sibellius to the capital.

Sibellius was surprised when they brought her into the palace, and even further, into the royal family’s private quarters.

”They’re letting me in this far?”

They usually didn’t even allow her into the capital—let alone the royal residence.

It was basically a forbidden zone, yet here she was, unimpeded.

As she entered a room, she saw two familiar faces.

“Empress Viol.”

“How about adding some honorifics?”

Viol answered flippantly, unsurprising since she was the one who summoned Sibellius.

“Archdeacon Hames? What are you doing here?”

“…You don’t need to concern yourself with me.”

Seeing the archdeacon—someone with whom she had a complicated relationship—Sibellius scowled.

They looked at each other briefly, then turned away to avoid a pointless fight.

“Did you call me here to heal someone? You even called the archdeacon.”

“Yes. Heal that child.”

Following Viol’s gaze, Sibellius finally noticed the third person in the room.

Silver hair that glowed.

Skin as pale as snow.

A beauty seemingly crafted by the gods.

“Ceres Hyperion?”

She instantly recognized him.

”The Empire’s most beautiful person. Lately called an angel for healing others with holy power… So all of it was true. If anything, the rumors don’t do him justice.”

Even someone like Sibellius, who lived in near-exile, had heard of his beauty.

Seeing him in person, she was impressed—but also puzzled.

“Why is Ceres Hyperion here? I heard he was so frail he couldn’t even walk.”

She asked, but no one answered.

Instead, Viol went silent, and Hames stared at her with disapproval—she got the hint.

”So they screwed something up again.”

She sighed and grumbled.

“Fine. I don’t care about the reason. But know this—healing someone with a naturally weak constitution is extremely difficult, even for me.”

“That’s not it. He was fine earlier. Then suddenly, he collapsed from mana overload!”

Mana overload?

Hearing that, Sibellius examined Ceres.

”This doesn’t feel like a typical mana overload… What is this?”

She used her senses to detect the flow of mana inside him and found something unusual.

“The mana is compressed and circulating… I’ve seen this a few times before. But it’s slightly different because of another force interfering—likely the healing power itself.”

Sibellius explained with a frown.

“This will take quite some time to fix.”

“Fix it now!”

“Don’t be ridiculous! If I rush it, you might end up making things worse for him!”

“Ugh!”

The argument silenced Viol—Sibellius was right.

“Then… can’t you at least ease his pain? Normal painkillers and anesthetics aren’t working.”

“Understood.”

Sibellius reached into thin air and pulled out a syringe from her personal storage.

As she approached Ceres to administer a special drug—

“Doesn’t he have some sort of scent? It’s refined, like… something really delicious.”

She paused, noticing an odd fragrance, and asked.

“Something like a noble flower scent? That’s probably the perfume he wears. Whenever I’m near him, it’s always there—he must use it regularly. But delicious?”

“Well, he is from a noble family, so of course he’d wear perfume. I really like it. I’ll ask where it’s from once he wakes up.”

As the two moved past the topic casually—

“Ceres doesn’t wear perfume.”

Hames, who had been silently listening, interrupted.

“I’ve never seen him apply any. And the scent comes even from his bare skin. It seems to be natural.”

“And how do you know what his bare skin smells like?”

“There was a reason for that.”

Hames answered Viol calmly, despite her glare.

”A floral scent from a man’s body, even without perfume? What nonsense.”

Sibellius scoffed inwardly.

”Maybe all that time praying in the temple made them delusional or something.”

Even she, after centuries of isolation, hadn’t developed such fantasies.

She dismissed it entirely, injected the drug into Ceres—

And moments later—

“…!”

Ceres’s icy blue eyes opened and met hers.

”Who is this woman?”

The pain had subsided enough for him to regain clarity, but—

Instead of Viol, the last person he saw, there was an unfamiliar woman in front of him.

She had long black hair and wore a black dress.

She was taller than him, slim yet mature—

And carried a proud but lonely air.

Like a beautiful witch.

But for some reason, he felt an immediate sense of aversion.

Black hair. Black clothes. Among the male leads—

No way.

“Sibellius?”

“You recognize someone who’s lived secluded in the woods? Impressive.”

”Shit. It really is Sibellius!”

The Empire’s archmage—also the most insane lunatic among the male leads!

”Ah, my beloved Ceres. You awakened the demonic nature within me. I can’t live without you anymore. Even a drop of your blood… I’ll never forget its taste.”

Why the hell is this lunatic in front of me?!

“Ceres, you’re awake!”

“Ceres, look at me!”

Viol and Hames held onto him, but Ceres couldn’t focus on them.

Sibellius had just tossed away the empty syringe—

And pulled out a new one.

About to inject him again.

No—what is she about to do to me?!

“S-Stop.”

“No. This involves research funding. I have to administer this.”

Research?! Was she using him for some experiment?!

This crazy mage!

A sudden surge of uncontrollable rage overwhelmed him.

“You’re fucking disgusting! Just the thought of you touching me makes me want to carve off my own skin—so take that and get lost!”

He ended up shouting a line Ceres said in the original novel to the obsessive Sibellius.

“That was… a bit harsh.”

“Why would you say something like that?”

Viol and Hames were stunned.

And Sibellius—

…was stone-faced.