Silence.
Kavala sipped her tea slowly, savoring each perfectly brewed drop while Andrea stood before her, practically vibrating with frustration.
She did not respond to his accusations. She barely acknowledged his presence at all.
"I'm telling you—if Viscount Pelsus was murdered, it was definitely the Marquis of Rodrian's doing!"
Kavala set down her teacup with deliberate precision.
"Andrea."
"Yes, Mother?"
"Shut up. It's noisy."
"...!"
Andrea flinched as though struck. His face flushed bright red with humiliation.
Kavala paid her son no further attention. She poured herself a second cup of tea and drank it just as leisurely as the first, savoring both the flavor and Andrea's mounting embarrassment in equal measure.
By the time she finished her second cup, she looked considerably more pleased.
Andrea, who had been struggling to contain his shame while desperately waiting for permission to speak, gazed at his mother with an expression of pathetic timidity.
Kavala regarded him with elegant, glacial detachment.
"Andrea, where did you acquire these wild fantasies that you felt compelled to bother your mother with such nonsense?"
"This—this isn't fantasy! It's real! I'm certain—"
Andrea frantically considered how to make his story more compelling, more sensational—anything to make Kavala actually listen to him.
But Kavala clicked her tongue as if she could read every transparent thought in his head.
"If I believed everything you claimed, how utterly ridiculous would I look?"
She gestured to a servant, ordering them to summon Dnieper.
Dnieper—who had been occupied with searching for Kavala's mysteriously vanished treasures—arrived at her office later than usual.
Meanwhile, Andrea was forced to wait in miserable silence beside his mother while she reviewed documents, completely ignoring his existence.
I could just leave. I should leave. Why am I still standing here like a scolded child?
But Andrea remained stubbornly rooted in place.
She'll acknowledge me when she realizes I'm right. She'll have to accept me then.
Andrea desperately wanted to escape her mother's shadow—yet psychologically, she found herself utterly incapable of breaking free. She craved Kavala's approval like air, even as it suffocated her.
She clenched her fists, transforming the shame Kavala inflicted into burning anger.
Anger she redirected at a far more convenient target.
Chloe. If only that useless woman had done as I instructed and married Viscount Pelsus, everything would have worked perfectly! I would have been wealthy! It would have been good for everyone!
Of course, "everyone" didn't include Chloe.
If things had gone according to plan, Mother would have believed in me. She would have accepted me!
Whether or not she sensed Andrea's internal fury, Kavala offered Dnieper a casual order when he entered.
"Dnieper, investigate whether Andrea's claims have any merit. She has a tendency toward... exaggeration."
Kavala turned her attention back to Andrea.
"So. You believe Marquis Rodrian murdered Viscount Pelsus?"
Andrea glanced between Kavala and Dnieper nervously.
Just moments ago, she'd been absolutely convinced of her accusation. But now, with both sets of eyes focused on her, certainty wavered.
"Well... what I mean is... there's been no contact since Viscount Pelsus traveled north. The timing coincides with when Marquis Rodrian went north as well, so I thought... perhaps... Strictly speaking, the Marquis could be considered the Viscount's rival, so to eliminate future complications..."
In the end, it all came down to speculation. Pure imagination.
Moreover, the logic didn't even hold: how would Callius—who departed for the North first—have known that Viscount Pelsus would follow later, much less planned an assassination?
Kavala sighed as if she'd expected exactly this outcome. Andrea's incoherent rambling after building up such dramatic accusations was entirely predictable.
Andrea flinched at the sound of that disappointed sigh.
Kavala gestured dismissively toward Dnieper.
"Investigate anyway. If there was some connection between Viscount Pelsus and Marquis Rodrian that I'm unaware of, and if I've heard nothing from my messenger, then it means the spy I sent with Chloe isn't performing his duties adequately."
"Yes, Your Majesty. I'll report back shortly."
Dnieper departed swiftly.
Kavala returned her attention to the documents before her, then asked without looking up:
"Do you have anything else to say?"
"No... nothing..."
"Then leave."
"Yes..."
Andrea stumbled out, shoulders hunched in defeat.
Kavala watched Andrea's retreating back with slightly narrowed eyes, then shook her head in distaste.
If only that child possessed even half of Dnieper's competence and appearance. Who does she resemble to be so utterly unappealing?
She set aside the documents she'd been reviewing with an air of frustration.
As she did so, a map of the Arrental Empire lying beneath the paperwork caught her eye.
Kavala cleared her desk completely and spread the map across its surface.
It was the most current map available—one held only by the Emperor and herself. Unlike older versions, this one incorporated the newly conquered territory of Ronheim and the surrounding border regions.
Ronheim is so far away.
Kavala measured the distance between the capital where she sat and the remote northern territory with her fingers.
Being so distant, that arrogant Marquis Rodrian still believes himself royalty of the former Kingdom of Ronheim. He hasn't been properly... educated yet.
Kavala wanted to force Callius to his knees—to make him grovel at her feet in complete submission.
Even the southern principalities, which could easily be swept aside in open warfare, had learned to watch the Empire's reactions carefully and moderate their behavior. But poor, tiny Ronheim—so tantalizingly within reach—remained frustratingly defiant.
They use their remoteness as a shield. It's time to remove that advantage entirely.
Kavala's finger traced across the map, pointing to various locations where teleportation circles already existed.
Then her finger stopped at a specific spot within Ronheim's territory.
"It would be perfect if we could establish a teleportation circle... here."
The ideal location for a military teleportation circle.
Kavala had no idea this was the exact location of the gold mine Callius had promised to Chloe.
And she could scarcely have imagined...
...that at this very moment, in this very place, Chloe and Callius were standing together—
—plotting her destruction.
Callius had promised to show me something extraordinary.
He'd placed me on horseback and brought me to this remote location—a pure white snowfield surrounded by steep, imposing cliffs.
"Where are we?"
"This is the Garden of the Moon—where Leknes flowers bloom in summer."
Callius smiled with a hint of mischief.
I understood immediately.
Garden of the Moon where Leknes flowers bloom—that was the coded phrase I'd written in my letter, the secret signal to meet him at the Valentine's Day event.
"So this is the gold mine!"
I spun in place, taking in the landscape from every angle.
It looked nothing like what I'd imagined. I hadn't expected so much snow, hadn't anticipated such an open, empty field.
I vaguely pictured it as a cave glittering with veins of gold...
In truth, I knew very little about gold mines.
In my previous life, I'd only overheard fragments of conversations—Andrea and various nobles planning to use this place as a strategic base to attack Callius.
"What do you intend to do with this place? As you know, developing it as a mine won't yield significant gold."
"I never intended to develop it into a mine. I told you—I'm going to create a flower garden here."
"You were... serious about that?"
"Absolutely!"
I answered with complete conviction.
"If I had sold this mine to Count Elbern as you originally planned, he wouldn't have developed it into a mining operation either."
Callius looked puzzled—clearly wondering how I knew his plans—but instead of asking directly, he posed a different question.
"Then what would he have done?"
"There was something far more profitable than mining gold: installing a teleportation circle."
"A teleportation circle?"
I surveyed the area once more, gesturing as I explained.
"Imagine it. What if we established a teleportation circle in this open space, then built a military fortress along those cliffs?"
"It would be extraordinarily difficult to capture such a fortress."
"Exactly. With just a handful of skilled archers positioned at range, enemy forces would find it nearly impossible to advance past this point."
Callius acknowledged my strategic assessment, but his response remained measured.
"The Magic Tower strictly prohibits private use of magical infrastructure. This location doesn't meet the conditions for authorized teleportation circle placement. They would never grant permission."
"I'm sorry to say this, Callius, but that's naive thinking."
"What?"
"Do you still believe the Magic Tower is truly an independent organization, free from continental politics and interests?"
"The Magic Tower has maintained neutrality for hundreds of years..."
"Ronheim held back Arrental's forces for hundreds of years as well. Yet our generation saw its fall."
"..."
"The world is changing."
Though I only possessed knowledge of the next ten years, I understood how dramatically the world would transform in that time.
"The Magic Tower will lose its ability to fully control individual wizards. Its authority and prestige are already crumbling. Internal fractures are beginning to split it apart from within."
"How do you know all this?"
Callius—who had been restraining his curiosity until now—finally asked the question directly.
I shook my head quietly.
"I can't tell you that. But I can prove to you that what I'm saying is true."
"How?"
"By installing a teleportation circle here—one that operates outside the Magic Tower's surveillance and control."
Let me show you that the future I know...
...is already beginning.
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