When Luo Lan closed the door, the candlelight in the corridor flickered gently as the gap sealed shut. He let out a long breath, his white exhalation dispersing into the cold air, vanishing in an instant.
Telling stories was actually quite taxing, especially now that even Luo Lan’s stock of tales was starting to run thin.
As he pondered this, a shadow silently emerged from the end of the corridor, startling Luo Lan.
Ailiya was always like this. Every time Keluo Wei wanted to be alone with him, she would appear suddenly like a ghost haunting the Castle. This magician, who also held the title of Maid Chief, stood in a corner untouched by moonlight. Her black skirt and the slender legs wrapped in black stockings blended seamlessly into the night, only her eyes glimmering with a questioning light in the dimness.
“Mr. Luo Lan.” Her voice was calm and elegant. “I trust you haven’t done anything… unbecoming of your status, have you?”
The young man shrugged and replied, “Of course not. Her Highness is sleeping soundly—it’s best not to disturb her any further.”
Seeing Ailiya hesitate to speak, he added, “If she doesn’t sleep well, it will affect her magic recovery and training.”
“I understand.”
With that, Luo Lan bid farewell to Ailiya and walked toward his own room.
Once his figure disappeared around the corner, Ailiya still walked up to the tightly shut door, resting her hand on the doorknob.
She remembered when Luo Lan first arrived at the Castle—it seemed to be on a snowy night just like this. The young man, not much older than Keluo Wei, stood outside wearing an ill-fitting travel cloak, knocking at the gate. He claimed to be a magician from the East, offering aid to the Grand Duke and helping Her Highness Keluo Wei suppress her increasingly dangerous Magic Outburst. As for later guiding Keluo Wei in controlling her power, that was something that just followed naturally.
So the boy and girl grew up together, and Luo Lan’s identity gradually became as complicated as hers… He was a guard, a bodyguard, Her Highness’s companion, a Magic Consultant… and also her childhood friend.
Actually, the Grand Duke had entertained thoughts of making Luo Lan marry into the family, even bestowing upon him a surname, but Luo Lan had always managed to cleverly sidestep these plans.
Time passed, and Keluo Wei grew ever more radiant and charming. To Ailiya, this was only natural. But as Luo Lan himself matured, taking on the refined air of a young noble, a sudden sense of crisis crept up on her.
Earlier tonight, when Keluo Wei asked Luo Lan to tell a story, Ailiya had actually been standing outside the door, quietly listening to the girl’s silvery laughter within.
Her grip on the doorknob slowly relaxed.
Ailiya felt that Luo Lan harbored many secrets, but she also knew that Keluo Wei now seemed unable to be without him.
In this increasingly empty Castle, that boy was the only one who could make Her Highness smile.
She sighed softly, stepping back and melting once more into the shadows. Since Grand Duke Rufinias had passed away, only a handful of them were left to guard Her Highness and the Castle, to protect Keluo Wei’s purity and dignity.
Sleepiness that had just started to settle was scattered by Keluo Wei’s interruption. After returning to his room, Luo Lan lit the candlestick, sat at his desk, and pulled over a piece of parchment, but his thoughts fluttered about like the snow outside, never quite landing.
After a while, he picked up his pen and wrote a few words on the paper.
Royal Capital Saint Ceremony.
First, there were two things he needed to do before heading to the Royal Capital for the Saint Ceremony.
The first was to know exactly how strong Keluo Wei was now. Though he’d already helped her get a head start, who knew what sort of unbelievable surprises Saintess Ophelia might throw their way.
So he had to test Keluo Wei’s abilities before the ceremony. If possible, probing Ophelia’s depths would be best as well.
The second thing was to find a way to make some money.
At the thought, Luo Lan couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh. He had indeed returned with a considerable stash of valuable gold coins. The problem was, his coins followed the default shape of that damned System, completely different from the currency used in the Rodran Kingdom… If not for relying on his own wit to win over Grand Duke Rufinias, he probably would’ve been left starving on the very first day of the second round.
Unfortunately, though Steward Ailiya perfectly fulfilled all the duties of Maid Chief, Chef Chief, and Magic Consultant, she knew nothing about managing finances… or perhaps the Rufinias family had simply fallen so far that there wasn’t much money left to manage anyway.
These years, life was maintained only by the meager taxes from their fief and the occasional income from magical beast materials, but the numbers on their books were shrinking at an alarming rate.
Ailiya’s gaze grew colder by the day, probably seeing him as nothing more than a freeloading slacker who could only teach magic.
If he could earn some money before the Saint Ceremony, perhaps the elder of the Twins would treat him a bit better—or at the very least, stop looking at him like he was a pig rooting around in her vegetable patch.
That was the situation. Luo Lan put down his pen and stretched his arms in a big yawn.
He blew out the candle, pulled up his small blanket, and drifted into a peaceful sleep.
That night.
A series of knocks shattered the silence.
Luo Lan sat up, frowning as he looked at his door.
It wasn’t Ailiya’s usually polite and measured knock. This time, it was a light tap followed by a heavy one, sounding as if someone was dragging their fingers aimlessly across the wood.
“Who is it?”
He got out of bed and asked softly.
The door opened a crack.
Keluo Wei stood in the half-shadow of the corridor, wearing a white nightgown, barefoot, head bowed, silver hair cascading down to hide her face—so Luo Lan couldn’t see her expression.
This wasn’t the first time. Whenever she couldn’t sleep, she would sneak past Ailiya’s patrols and make her way over. Luo Lan had tried to correct this behavior many times, but whenever he saw her pitiful expression, he was at a loss for what to do.
But tonight felt different.
Luo Lan couldn’t put his finger on what was wrong, so he lowered his voice and quietly asked, “Your Highness?”
The girl didn’t respond, just stepped forward into the moonlight that spilled into his room, then raised her head.
Luo Lan’s pupils shrank in an instant.
Under the moonlight, her slender, pale arms were crawling with dark purple markings, spreading from her fingertips all the way to her shoulders. The eyes that were usually like rubies were now stained with a bewitching purple hue.
A Magic Outburst.
It had been seven years. After all this time spent guiding and suppressing her power, Keluo Wei’s outbursts had become more regular and much tamer—and it had only been a week since her last episode, which made this highly unusual.
But reality left Luo Lan no time to think. Keluo Wei trembled as she reached out to him, her lips moving slightly before her body went limp, collapsing into Luo Lan’s arms.
He instinctively caught her, and the moment his fingers touched her arm, he felt the long-lost surge of wild magic.
He carried Keluo Wei to his bed and closed the door.
The girl let out a faint, pained whimper, her breath ragged. Luo Lan bent over her and saw the purple patterns writhing like living things on her arms, crawling beneath her skin.
He was silent for several seconds, then gently loosened the tie of her nightrobe with his fingertips.
“My heart and actions are as clear as a bright mirror, all I do is for justice,” Luo Lan told himself, “Desperate times call for desperate measures—saving her comes first.”
As the robe slipped off, moonlight filtered through the crack in the window, illuminating Keluo Wei’s porcelain-white shoulder. Luo Lan shut his eyes and drew her feverish body into his embrace. The moment their skin touched, the rampant magic rushed into him like a broken dam.
One of the Secret Arts Mage’s gifts was an extraordinary elemental affinity, even to the extent of directly controlling the flow of magic in another’s body—but only with… large-scale physical contact.
The magic within Keluo Wei, which was usually docile, now raged like a herd of wild horses, rampaging through her circuits. Luo Lan used his own body as a vessel, carefully channeling the torrent of energy into himself.
That’s how it had been in those first years after he arrived—whenever Keluo Wei’s condition was severe, he would hold her like this and pull her back from the edge.
At last, the last trace of wild magic was subdued. Keluo Wei’s temperature cooled, the markings on her arm faded like the tide, revealing smooth, pale skin. Luo Lan let out a long breath. Opening his eyes, he saw the girl’s delicate lashes trembling softly as her breathing slowly steadied.
Luo Lan wanted to retie her robe, but his fingers trembled with exhaustion, so he had to steady himself by pressing his palm to her waist. As their skin touched, the boy recoiled as if burned, but after a moment, forced himself to calm down and help her tidy her clothes.
When the first rays of dawn pierced the darkness outside, Luo Lan felt utterly drained.
Summoned by Luo Lan’s message, Ailiya hurried in, only to find Keluo Wei peacefully sleeping on Luo Lan’s bed, while he himself sat pale and exhausted against the wall, hair slicked to his forehead with cold sweat.
“Her Highness…”
“Magic Outburst. I’ve handled it—take her back to rest.”
Ailiya looked at Luo Lan, her eyes flickering with rare concern. As she carried Keluo Wei to the door, she suddenly paused and spoke:
“Mr. Luo Lan, you…”
“I’m fine,” Luo Lan interrupted her, “just need a little more sleep.”
Once the two had left, Luo Lan collapsed onto the bed and was immediately swallowed by darkness.
Ailiya carried Keluo Wei back to her room and tucked her in. Only when the girl’s breathing evened out did she quietly slip out.
As her footsteps faded down the corridor, Keluo Wei suddenly opened her eyes.
Barefoot, she walked to the edge of the carpet, bent down, and fished out a Blood Red Crystal, then carefully hid it back in a secret compartment in the wall.
Her fingertips brushed the cold surface, a faint, satisfied smile curling at the corners of her mouth.
The Magic Outburst was entirely intentional, and its severity had been precisely controlled… After all, this was how Luo Lan had taught her—to use every means possible to achieve her goals.
“In this way… you’ll have to set aside your other duties and training to take care of me for several days.”
Keluo Wei’s voice echoed in the room. She climbed back into bed, pulled up her collar, and took a deep breath, savoring the warmth still lingering there.
Snow was falling again outside, the flakes tapping gently against the window.
The girl closed her eyes, imagining Luo Lan lying exhausted in his room, fast asleep. His breathing, his heartbeat, the warmth of his body, and that concern he only showed when she lost control.
“Still… what excuse should I use next time?”
Keluo Wei murmured to herself, fingers unconsciously caressing the skin on her arm, now completely free of markings.
Luo Lan had told her before: haste makes waste.
So she couldn’t rush—she had to take it slowly, bit by bit, until he could never slip from the palm of her hand again.