In the north of the Empire, the Duchy of White.
“To answer Lady Elena, this letter indeed came from the Empire, but the sender is the White God Holy Church. The messenger said… their Apprentice Saint brought back someone you would surely want to meet.”
Inside Elena’s Mansion, the Witch watched the maid hand over the letter and merely gave a disdainful smile.
‘Someone I would surely want to meet? Even if the Pope of the Holy Church came in person, I wouldn’t necessarily want to see him.’
And… an Apprentice Saint?
According to the Holy Church’s usual methods, if an Apprentice Saint brought someone back, it most likely meant they had cleared out a small Black God Church den. And those brought back were usually hostages who had been kidnapped to serve as sacrifices or Magic Experiment Subjects.
Hostages…
In that instant, without any basis, the image of a silver-haired, golden-eyed girl’s smile suddenly flashed through Elena’s mind.
Elena straightened her back slightly.
It wouldn’t hurt to listen, at least.
“Did the messenger say who it was?”
“It is said to be a Great Mage.”
Hearing the Head Maid’s response, Elena relaxed her stiffened back. She didn’t even notice that in the moment she relaxed, a sliver of disappointment flashed in her eyes.
“Refuse it. I have no Great Mage I wish to see. The Great Mages of the Empire are nothing more than maggots clinging to the Empire, things with the same nature as the Mages Association.”
At that moment, Elena recalled a certain elderly, white-bearded Great Mage. A man who feigned neutrality and acted in the name of the Empire, yet also engaged in sinister deeds.
Heh, that was a so-called “Great” Mage.
300 years had passed, but even now as she thought of that past, Elena still instinctively furrowed her brows.
‘How unpleasant…’
Elena let out a sigh, driving the man’s appearance from her mind.
“As for this letter, burn it.”
“Yes.”
The Head Maid bowed slightly and stepped out of the room.
Elena stood up in silence and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window. The carriage from the Empire was parked in the front courtyard. Once the Head Maid sent the messenger away, the carriage would begin its journey back to the Imperial Capital.
Many years ago, when she first traveled to the Imperial Capital, she had taken this same road…
Elena remembered that back then, after Ai’er had saved her from her out-of-control Mana and fallen into a coma, she had stayed by Ai’er’s bedside for a very long time. During that time, Elena had thought about many things: her identity, her Mana, Sirius’s ambition, and her deceased father and mother.
Finally, she had made up her mind to go to the Magic Academy in the Imperial Capital to find a way to control her Mana. Then, before reaching the age of 20, she would return to the Duchy, regain the people’s support, and cast Sirius down from the position that did not belong to him.
“Back then, I thought my reluctance to leave the Duchy was because I didn’t want ‘Witch Elena’ to leave the cage that imprisoned her, out of fear that she would hurt others — but now, the Witch of Time, Elena, is unwilling to leave the Duchy because you are not by my side.”
Elena talked to herself, addressing the empty air or perhaps her own faint reflection in the glass.
“I still remember… because you were unconscious, you could only lie quietly on my lap. But even so, the thought that I might be able to control my Mana and never hurt you again… the anticipation in my heart actually overcame my fear of leaving the mansion. Ai’er… I miss you so much.”
Seeing the carriage leave in the distance, Elena sighed and walked out of the room.
—
To prepare for dinner, the servants of the mansion were already getting busy, even though it was only afternoon tea time.
Elena walked through the mansion.
The earlier memories of Ai’er had left this Witch feeling a bit sentimental. She wandered through the halls, reminiscing about the sight of Ai’er in this house and the silver-haired girl’s smile.
The servants passing by bowed to the Witch. Although Elena couldn’t clearly see the faces of the butlers and maids, she still responded to their greetings with a smile.
She didn’t care if the servants chatted or slacked off afterward. She tacitly allowed it; even if the Head Maid or the Butler saw them and gave them a lecture, Elena herself would never scold them.
‘If my Ai’er were still here, she would probably be slacking off all the time.’ The thought brought an inadvertent smile to her face.
But as she walked around a corner —
“…Have you heard?”
“No… there aren’t any silver-haired races within the Empire, right? Let alone a silver-haired Great Mage?”
“True. For the Holy Church to use such a story to lure Lady Elena to the Imperial Capital is just too — “
“What did you say?!”
Her eyes widened. The sudden, violent shift in her emotions caused a slight fluctuation in her Mana, scaring the two gossiping maids so much that they immediately fell to their knees, begging for Elena’s forgiveness.
“I don’t mean to blame you. That silver-haired person you just mentioned — “
“What happened?!”
The Head Maid rushed over immediately. She saw the two maids practically prostrate on the floor and Elena standing beside them, anxiously trying to get them to stand up.
“Lady Elena? What is this — “
“You’ve come at the right time! What did that messenger say earlier? Was that Great Mage silver-haired?”
Seeing the Head Maid, Elena immediately locked her gaze on her, approaching with an incredible intensity.
In the more than 20 years she had worked at this mansion, the Head Maid had never seen Elena like this. Despite her surprise and curiosity, her duty as a maid required her to answer her master’s question properly.
“To answer Lady Elena, the messenger’s exact words were: ‘She is a silver-haired, golden-eyed Great Mage whom Eve, the Apprentice Saint of the Holy Church, encountered while raiding a small Black God Church stronghold. However, they were attacked by an Apostle of the Evil God on the way back. To protect Apprentice Saint Eve, that Great Mage was severely injured — ‘”
Before she could finish, a terrifying wave of Cold Qi suddenly rose from the Head Maid’s heart, cutting her words short.
For a moment, she lost her focus, only to realize with a start that the Witch’s face had turned completely dark.
“…Did the messenger mention that Great Mage’s name?”
The messenger had indeed mentioned it. The name of that Great Mage was a very simple sound, but when the Head Maid tried to open her mouth to speak it, she found that her body no longer obeyed her.
Cold Qi gradually spread through the surroundings. The once-lively mansion fell silent in an instant.
“Lady… Elena… your… Mana…”
After she struggled to squeeze those few words out, Elena seemed to realize something. She froze for a moment, and then, as she blinked, the surrounding Cold Qi instantly vanished.
To this day, she was already capable of controlling her own Mana.
But…
There were some things she could not control.