The mont her fingertips touched Cecilia’s skin, Ailendra’s eyes flashed with disbelief.
"This is... a Void Spirit Constitution?" she murmured. The halo of light from her fingertips traced strange patterns on Cecilia’s wrist. "A Wizard’s aptitude seen once in a millennium..."
Ailendra whipped her head toward Aurora, murderous intent flashing in her eyes.
But just as she raised her hand, she rembered Aurora’s ntion of the Church Court, and she hesitated.
In the end, she simply lifted a finger. A spectral light flashed, and Aurora collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
Ailendra turned her attention back to Cecilia, only to find the girl had already regained her composure, her eyes showing not a trace of fear.
"Why aren’t you afraid?" Ailendra asked, intrigued.
"Fear is the most useless emotion," Cecilia replied calmly, eting Ailendra’s gaze without flinching.
"Well said!" Admiration flashed in Ailendra’s eyes. "That’s right. Fear is indeed the most useless thing."
Her tone shifted as she suddenly asked, "Will you be my apprentice?"
Cecilia answered without hesitation, "I am willing."
Ailendra raised an eyebrow. "So quick to agree? Aren’t you afraid of judgnt from the Truth Church Court?"
Cecilia’s voice remained calm. "In this situation, I have no other choice. Since I must choose, hesitation would only an a missed opportunity."
Ailendra marveled again. "What a rational decision! This composure and resolve are precisely the most precious qualities of a Wizard."
Cecilia gave a slight nod. "As your apprentice, I’ll need to follow you and leave this territory, correct?"
"You’re half right," a mysterious light glinted in Ailendra’s eyes. "I am indeed taking you away, but not just from this territory. We are leaving this world for a much vaster one."
Cecilia was silent for a mont before speaking softly, "Before we leave, may I make a request?"
Ailendra’s expression suddenly turned cold. "You think you’re in a position to make demands?"
Cecilia t her icy gaze. "Perhaps not. But I refuse to live my life at soone else’s beck and call. Even in a choice I’m forced to make, I will retain the power to decide for myself."
Ailendra’s expression shifted again, this ti to one of unconcealed admiration. "Excellent! Well said! Calm, rational, yet not without ambition and tenacity. You truly have the makings of a natural-born Wizard."
She nodded lightly. "I grant your request. Tell , what is it?"
Cecilia said, "I want to see a scholar in this castle."
Ailendra noticed the unusual glint in Cecilia’s eyes as she spoke and let out a soft chuckle. "I doubt he’s ’just a scholar,’ is he? Is he your beloved?"
Cecilia’s cheeks flushed slightly as she retorted, "No! It’s just... a promise left unfulfilled."
"Oh, I understand. I understand completely." Ailendra’s smile deepened, and she deliberately emphasized the word "wish." "I will help you fulfill this ’wish’ of yours. After all, once we leave... if you manage to survive over there, who knows how many years it will be before you can return to this world. By then, the one you once knew will likely have turned to dust, and that unfulfilled promise will beco an eternal regret."
...
Ailendra led Cecilia through the castle’s corridors. Their figures were like phantoms, and the guards and Maids they passed were completely oblivious to them.
The flickering torches on the stone walls illuminated an empty hallway, casting no reflection of them whatsoever, as if they were re illusions straying at the edge of reality.
"Interesting." Ailendra eyed the girl beside her with amusent. "You want to find this person for you, yet you don’t even ask for his na first?"
Cecilia’s gaze remained fixed ahead. "It’s part of the promise. I want to hear his na from his own lips. Without your help, Teacher, I would have found a way to learn it myself. But since you are helping , I’d rather fulfill the promise in its entirety."
The word "Teacher" rolled off her tongue so naturally, it was as if the confrontation monts ago had never happened, and they had been master and apprentice for years.
Ailendra chuckled. "You’re certainly persistent."
’Persistent?’
Cecilia mulled over the word in her mind.
’Perhaps.’
For seven years, the image of that figure in the courtyard, engrossed in his study of the Foucault Pendulum, had remained etched in the depths of her mory.
During a childhood spent as a pawn for various factions, he was the only one who treated her as a true equal—never fawning over her bloodline, nor scorning her predicant.
And he had opened the door to a new world for her.
Even when she later realized it might have just been her own romanticized mory, the fixation had already taken root and sprouted.
The two stopped before a carved wooden door.
The study within was brightly lit. Through the crack in the door, a Blond Man in a Scholar’s Robe could be seen hunched over a desk, writing.
He looked to be in his thirties, his profile exceptionally focused in the candlelight.
Ailendra stared at the figure in the study, suddenly letting out a soft sound of surprise as her eyes flashed with astonishnt.
She turned to Cecilia. "Are you sure this is the person you’re looking for?"
Cecilia’s expression grew complex. Within her azure eyes swirled a storm of indescribable emotions: deep-seated hatred, a strange yearning, a secret adoration, and an inexplicable trace of fondness.
She nodded lightly. "Yes."
’In truth, she had understood for so ti.’
From the mont Ailendra had led her toward the castle’s main keep, from the mont they arrived at this study—the very symbol of the Lord’s authority—she should have guessed the "scholar’s" identity.
The Baron.
Sylvan.
The Lord of the Duval Territory.
The man who murdered her father, Kelvin.
Her paternal uncle.
These identities tangled in her mind, sending her thoughts into turmoil.
’How could the scholar who had patiently explained the mysteries of Nature to her be the one who had taken everything from her?’
Ailendra had spoken with Cecilia on the way, learning about her past. Combined with the various reports she had gathered in the Northern Territory, she was well aware of the enmity between Kelvin and Sylvan.
This was precisely why she had deliberately asked Cecilia if she wanted to know the man’s na earlier.
She found this fateful coincidence far too amusing.
But now, upon actually seeing this "Baron Sylvan," Ailendra discovered sothing even more interesting.
A knowing smile touched her lips.
"My dear apprentice," Ailendra’s voice held a mischievous tone, "are you still willing to see him now?"
Cecilia bit her lower lip, then gave a firm nod. "I have to. No matter what, I need to get closure for my past self before I leave this world."
"Very good." Ailendra chuckled, a pink halo glowing at her fingertips. "In that case, your Teacher will lend her beloved apprentice a hand."
A cloud of pink mist rose from her palm, gently winding around Cecilia.
Tiny lights twinkled within the mist, like fireflies drifting on a sumr night.
"This is Dragon’s Breath, collected from a young Rainbow Dragon of the Star Realm. It will allow you to see the truth, and it will help you fulfill your wish." A mysterious light shone in Ailendra’s eyes. "Go on. Go and complete your promise."
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