Is it all a dream? The reason for once again entertaining the thought that had become tiresome to repeat was that the scenery changed every time he opened his eyes. His body, which had been bound to the wall, was now lying on a bed, and instead of the opposite wall or a door, the ceiling came into view.
“Ugh….”
Rensley groaned involuntarily, twisting his body as if his muscles were breaking apart with pain. His usually flexible body had stiffened, and even the slightest movement sent a throbbing pain up to his head.
The fleeting hope that had lingered for a while was soon crushed when he realized that the location hadn’t changed. However, the momentary sense of relief that he was no longer hanging on the wall engulfed him. Rensley sighed and turned to lie on his side. Then, in the next moment, forgetting all the pain, he sprang up.
“Your Grace!”
The voice, hoarse and ragged, trembled with genuine joy. Yet, as Rensley looked at the person in front of him, he couldn’t easily believe that this was reality. He had thought it wasn’t a dream, but perhaps it was after all? He believed that Gezell would come if he waited, but the suddenness of it all made it hard to grasp.
The man who had been standing by the window turned around. As if waiting for Rensley to wake up, he smiled and approached. Despite the circumstances, observing the scenery outside the window so calmly, it was bewildering. But Rensley soon understood. This person had never forcibly awakened the sleeping Rensley.
“Sir Maelrosen.”
At the address calling him, Rensley smiled almost helplessly. Laughter mixed with a hint of sobbing, but he paid it no mind. Only Gezell Jivendad addressed Rensley in such a way.
Rensley hurried his steps and embraced him as if to jump into his arms. Arms around his neck, he nuzzled his face against the firm chest, shoulders, and chest.
“Your Grace, Your Grace…!”
For a while, Rensley, who seemed to be just calling him, soon raised his head. Overwhelmed by ecstasy, they met in a kiss. However, instead of reciprocating the kiss, Gezell, a bit perplexed, swayed back and stiffened.
Oh. It was only then that Rensley, regaining his senses, lowered his face. If people were to come running at any moment, it would complicate matters even more if they saw the two kissing. Taking a deep breath, Rensley leaned his face against Gezell’s shoulder.
“I thought you would come… I really wasn’t worried at all. I just had to hold on a little, believing that you would come.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Whether it’s Felix or that damn sorcerer, Your Grace will surely take care of them. As long as I don’t give up, everything will be fine, because Your Grace would never give up on me.”
His hand lifted Rensley’s head. Long fingers touched the wet corners of his eyes. Gezell, feeling the dampness, smiled faintly, as if he always did. However, Rensley did not mind. Looking at him, he laughed almost vacantly, and then slowly stiffened his lips. He couldn’t pinpoint the exact reason, but his spine chilled suddenly.
As if finding a mysterious object hidden away, the intense gaze he received was exceptionally passionate. Looking at Gezell’s face, which looked like his own but with a different expression, triggered an instinctive fear that he had felt when facing a changed version of himself, even with the same face.
“Why are you like this?”
Stepping away from his embrace, Gezell took a step closer to Rensley, who retreated. Rensley slowly lowered his head.
“It’s nothing.”
Gezell’s mouth opened so wide that his fangs were visible. Rensley’s certainty quickly solidified. Certainly, even though they had the same appearance, that laughter did not belong to Gezell Jivendad.
If someone were to ask Rensley if Gezell, despite being named so, is not someone who knows how to laugh, he would answer that Gezell, too, would not have been deceived by the fake sorcerer who had taken on his appearance. Quickly scanning the surroundings, there was nothing in the top room of the tall tower that could be used as a weapon.
“Come this way.”
Rensley’s pale complexion returned, and his facial expression crinkled with annoyance. It might have been a coincidence, but those were the words Gezell often used, filled with affection. In normal circumstances, such words, spoken with a joyful heart, would have made him follow willingly, but this time, scenes of Gezell casting spells with joy and the act of putting on a mask for deception did not evoke any emotion other than anger.
Retreating for a moment, Rensley suddenly lunged forward, attacking the fake Gezell. Rensley wasn’t a sorcerer, and he didn’t have a weapon. The only option left was a physical assault.
“Haha!”
However, the opponent must have anticipated what Rensley could think of. Rensley’s body, rushing towards the fake, stiffened like a rock, just like when he first encountered the sorcerer. The fake, not hiding his curious emotions, now openly laughed, enjoying the situation.
Rensley ground his teeth. Just like the magic that interfered with undressing in the Molbessa Grand Bathhouse after discovering Gezell’s secret, it seemed there was a pre-cast spell this time as well.
In the end, Rensley couldn’t lay a finger on the fake and could only glare at him. The fake, who had stopped laughing, still wore Gezell’s mask and chuckled softly, letting out a snorting sound reminiscent of a humming tune.
“This is truly amusing. Wast that guy helping you not because of Ivet but for this?”
Just from the content and tone of the question, any need to ponder over the identity disappeared. The most disliked person in the world was impersonating the most precious lover in the world.
Rage surged through Rensley’s throat, but he bit it back and tried to calm down. It was a mistake to let his guard down, too hasty to act or speak before regaining composure.
“I thought, since you seemed so engrossed in playing knights, if I presented you with this appearance, you might be more easily swayed and not resist,” the fake continued. “But I ended up hearing a much more interesting story than I expected.”
He poked Rensley’s forehead with his finger while laughing, as if to say, “Listen well.”
“It was a bit strange. Creating a position in the Knights for a mere errand boy like you, or personally taking care of the lowest-ranking member when he’s usually so busy… Knowing the trashes that clung to you and Ivet since you were kids, I was fooled because I believed the kindness he showed you was because of Ivet.”
“…”
“Boldly declaring loyalty, but… turns out you’re not loyal but sold yourself to that sorcerer. I couldn’t resist such a lowly man.”
Felix, who had approached closely, reached out his hand. The gesture of groping Rensley’s waist was undoubtedly intentional.
Even though both acts were of a sexual nature, Gezell’s gestures did not convey this vulgar feeling. Rensley did not hide his disgust from the mockery of the fake. Felix laughed as if he were amazed.
“The guy known for his skills turns out to have a peculiar taste. Not to mention a gentle demeanor. It’s surprising that there are men who prefer stiff, stoic guys like you. If your father knew, he would have been devastated. If I had known you had such skills, I would have sold you to a powerful noble brothel rather than abandoning you so easily.”
“…That would have been quite amusing. Since the world knows that my face is identical to yours. Perhaps some pervert fantasized about the noble Crown Prince of Cornia while relieving himself.”
Felix’s lip curled up slowly. Even his mocking expression wasn’t Gezell’s. No matter how much the real soul was imitated behind the façade of a copied shell with the same face and body, the essence couldn’t be replicated.
The recent moment when he had mistakenly clung to him, aligning their mouths, had been nothing but humiliating. If he could, he wanted to tear off his lips, rinse them thoroughly, and stick them back on.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Smack!
The sound of a powerful slap abruptly cut through the air. It took Rensley a few seconds to realize that his head had sharply turned.
His cheek felt suddenly hot. Not from embarrassment or anger, but purely because heat radiated from the spot where he had been struck.
Still stiff, Rensley could not freely turn his head back, only staring into empty space. Both Felix, who had raised his hand, and Rensley, who had been slapped, showed no significant change in their expressions.
“Oh dear.”
Felix sighed as if he had tasted defeat, taking a step closer. Roughly grabbing Rensley’s chin, he turned Rensley’s face directly towards him. Their faces were now inches apart. The mockery in the pumpkin-colored eyes intensified.
“I couldn’t help it. Old habits die hard when I’m in such good spirits. Now that you’ve become someone else’s lover, it would be impolite to arbitrarily wield my hand-and-sword.”
“…Your hand still stings.”
“Are you mocking me now?”
“I’m just stating a fact. If you want to hit, go ahead. Even if I told you to stop, you wouldn’t listen.”
Felix, in response to Rensley’s provocation, smiled and raised his hand again. Gripping Rensley’s jaw, he turned his face once more. The two faces were now very close. The mocking expression in the pumpkin-colored eyes only deepened.
Rensley, who was aware of the falsehood, could not help but feel a sense of pain deep within himself every time the hand that had always treated him with affection struck him. Despite knowing it was a lie, each moment of Felix’s hand hitting him resonated, inevitably causing pain that extended into his chest.
His limp body lost balance and twisted in Felix’s hand. Until he was completely helpless, Felix continued the beating relentlessly, marveling almost with a small laugh.
Rensley, struggling to breathe with shallow breaths, closed his eyes. The dizziness and ringing in his ears, usually followed by such a beating, were indeed a rare occurrence. Felix’s fingers pressed the bleeding lips, probing and irritating. Though it was just a beating, the sharp pain felt as if needles were piercing, and Rensley realized that the inner part of his cheek had torn open.
“No matter how skilled a sorcerer you are, it seems you’ve been thoroughly bewitched. You, who would have knelt down and begged for forgiveness long ago if it were before.”
As it was said, there was a time when Rensley Maelrosen would kneel and bow his head just by Felix raising his hand or a cane. Although it was for the practical reason of resolving things quickly rather than letting pride become a burden for many, the main cause was that facing violence head-on without anyone to restrain it was becoming increasingly difficult. If it had happened once or twice, he might have endured it out of pride, but Rensley had spent nearly twenty years in the vigorous and filthy environment created by his stepbrother in Cornia, which made it challenging.
“Cowardly… to bind someone unable to move and say such things… I can’t even hit your face, let alone make you kneel.”
“Would you kneel and beg if I let you go?”
When Rensley didn’t respond, Felix chuckled and approached the window again. He stood on the windowsill, still not erasing the appearance of Gezell, and spoke again.
“It’s useless to resist, Rensley. Laughing at someone keeping their dignity doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate it, but your dignity has already expired.”
“…”
“Time flows differently inside and outside. Although only a few days may have passed here, it’s been over half a year outside. Just like me now, who has become your new owner, have you not seen the guy who transformed himself into you? How do you think he was used?”
At those words, Rensley’s stiff shoulders twitched. Tired and, having been beaten, it was difficult to maintain composure, and his head kept spinning.
Different speeds of time in different spaces. It might have been a difficult concept for ordinary people to understand, but for Rensley, who had already been to a similar place, it was not a phrase he could easily ignore.
No matter how skillful Felix was in deceiving people, he was an ordinary person ignorant of magic. It was hard to believe that he could instantly make up such a story. It was true, so it was something to be careful about.
“That guy became your corpse in your place. Externally, it was an accident. Duke Gezell and the Duchess took your body and went back north. I felt that the Duke was overly distressed for losing just one knight, but now I see that there was a reason for that.”
“…Lies…”
Rensley lost his patience and spoke.
“Don’t speak nonsense about something you failed to deceive even once. Your Grace would never be fooled by such a clumsy fake.”
“That’s when dealing with a living person. How would you determine if it’s real or fake when dealing with a corpse? If I were lying here dead, you wouldn’t be able to distinguish between me and him, would you?”
Rensley couldn’t continue speaking and fell silent. Felix, who was standing by the window at an angle, approached silently.
Felix, who had mercilessly wielded the whip before, this time slowly wiped the sweat-covered cheek with the palm of his hand. Rensley, disturbed by the discomfort of a snake crawling over his face, closed his trembling eyes. The eyes with pumpkin-colored irises opened again, smiling gently and compassionately.
“Just give up and work for Cornia.”
“Shut up…”
“If you want, I can make you the head of the government. I’ll continue playing the role of the boring magician like this, so if you live thinking you’re the lover of that guy, it should be fine. It’s a beautiful story that two brothers rule the country together. I don’t have a hobby of embracing a chunk of wood like a man, but… If it’s is needed, it might be fun to try. The reason why incest is prohibited is because there is a risk of a sick or weak heir being born, but if it’s between male brothers, there’s no chance of a child being born, so there’s no problem.”
The madman continued his nonsensical talk without getting tired. Rensley’s mind was too overwhelmed to respond to every utterance in the chaotic conversation. Rensley could only manage a hollow, ironic laughter.
“This is truly amazing… I sincerely congratulated you for ascending to the throne. I heard rumors that you had changed, and after obtaining the throne you so desired, I believed you had come to your senses. But what is this? You’ve only turned even more twisted.”
“Rensley, I am more composed than ever. Why would aspiring to make my country the greatest on the continent be considered a fanciful thought for a king?”
“If you were a proper human being, I would have supported your ambition as a Cornian. But I know you. It’s just irritating that there’s another person above your head, and you desire even greater heights. I don’t even want to imagine a world where someone like you conquers the continent and becomes an emperor. Well, of course, your dream will never come true.”
“Did the chieftain to the north, to whom you spread your legs, improve in any significant way? He seemed just as insane to me. My magician told me that he filled you with magic and chains that only slaves would endure. If he really considered you as part of the knights or a lover, he would never have done such things. Know your place. Whether under me or under that guy, you are nothing more than a humble man, a lowly dog. Selling yourself to the leader of the barbaric northern tribes. You are a disgrace to the Cornian royal family, then and now.”
As the reprimand grew colder, Rensley’s lips and jaw, which had been tightly clenched, trembled with tension.
“That guy may have planned to deceive and use you with sweet words. If he’s such a remarkable magician, he might have sensed your abilities even if he did not see them. Amin!”
When Felix called the name, the magician who had momentarily hidden his presence appeared.
“Bind him again. It seems he needs a little more persuasion.”
“I apologize, Your Majesty. If my transformation magic had been more complete, the task would have been easier.”
“No, I found out something very interesting. It’s all thanks to you.”
The magician waved his staff, securing Rensley against the wall again. Although Rensley resisted the cold restraints that bound his arms and legs, he did not show fear but kept his gaze fixed on Felix.
The seal that had covered his mouth, preventing any noise from escaping, was released. Rensley had tried to endure the pain as much as he could to avoid revealing his suffering to Felix. However, he soon stopped caring about whether someone was nearby. Within the allowed range, Rensley convulsed and writhed, unable to withstand the repetition of the horrifying sounds that felt like they would shatter his head.
However, through the repeated confinement in the terrible sound prison, Rensley underwent a change unlike the beginning. He could now distinguish the various noises a little bit. If this was really the sound of spirits, he could now identify the owner of the voice little by little. However, the meaning of the sounds was completely incomprehensible, and there was no way to answer them.
It was a time of torment. When Rensley fainted, Felix would sprinkle water to wake him up, and when he lost consciousness again, he would wake him up once more.
Throughout this, Felix sat comfortably leaning against the back of the chair, watching the restrained Rensley moan as if it were a theater performance. Eventually, as Felix began to feel a little bored, he quietly nudged the magician standing beside him.
“If played well, we might be able to involve that arrogant magician from the North in our affairs.”
“Him, for this matter?”
“Hmm, not a bad tool if it can be utilized. Quite a skilled individual.”
“Even with just one summoner, it should be sufficient. I believe I can still plot with our army and the Magician Corps alone. Having a summoner would make our advantage more certain, but…”
“It must be certain. We’re not dealing with something to be executed lightly. If we fail, we might lose everything.”
When the magician fell silent, Felix patted him on the back.
“It’s not because I don’t trust you; it’s just that the situation has changed from what I initially thought. Aldrant has maintained neutrality in the continent’s conflicts for a long time, but now that’s uncertain. Depending on how we use that guy, they might become our allies or not. Whether he has enough value to be used as bait remains to be seen.”
“Bait?”
“I thought you hadn’t noticed… Rather, it’s possible that they are also deploying a smoke screen from their side. If I knew this, I would have prepared a corpse… No, that would have made things too complicated from the beginning. We need to decide our direction and act more quickly.”
Amidst his soliloquy, Felix seemed to grow more amused by Amin’s increasingly bewildered expression. Instead of providing further explanation, Felix just smirked.
“You’re still young; you don’t need to know all these complications.”
“Not that young.”
“Now, it’s time for a short break.”
As Felix raised his hand briefly, the magician immediately understood the master’s intention and applied the sealing spell to block sound again. Rensley’s body collapsed as if all strength had left him just before losing consciousness. Felix approached him, personally undoing the restraints and letting him fall to the ground.
Wiping the sweat-soaked face with a cold hand, Felix looked into Rensley’s confused expression, a mix of unresolved accidents and extreme fatigue.
“Maelrosen.”
This time, Felix didn’t taunt or mock Rensley. He imitated the expression he had seen on Gezel’s face, creating a very faint smile. As Rensley’s face showed signs of wanting to have sweet dreams, Felix gazed down with interest.
“Does that magician call you like this?”
The forms of humiliation are so diverse that one cannot know them all until they experience them one by one. Facing Rensley’s face that seemed to want to endure the anger while biting his lips, Felix continued to lower his voice.
“Watching you in such pain… even without a special reason, it seems good to have you groveling at my feet. It’s amusing.”
“…”
“Whenever I see you with a pitiful, miserable face, the things I have feel more precious. There have been times when I thought you were pitiful and miserable. I’ve never sympathized with anyone, but I did with you. So perhaps this is also a form of affection?”
Ha. A hollow laughter echoed from Rensley’s lips. As if there was no value in responding, he glanced away, then lifted his head again to stare straight at Felix.
“All right… Fine.”
“Fine?”
“Just enduring won’t help, and I’ve come to understand that only enjoyable things happen for you now.”
Rensley’s voice, which had been hoarse from hours of suppressed screams, was as strained as that of a patient. Nevertheless, he shook the bound wrists in the restraints and continued to speak in a steady rhythm.
“I’ll cooperate. I’ll become the Elementalist or whatever you want.”
“Really?”
The person who responded with an excited voice was not Felix but the magician who stood behind him at a distance. He rushed forward to stand in front of Rensley.
“Even after I’ve been hanging and talking for days, he pretended not to hear… But you, Lord Felix, are truly amazing! You managed to persuade the prisoner in just a few hours since your arrival. It’s really fortunate.”
Rensley shook his arms more forcefully. He had no intention of being a spectacle for them for too long. As the restraints made a creaking sound, the gazes of the two Cornian men standing in front of Rensley turned towards him.
“Then let’s start by releasing this. Since he’s willing to cooperate, we won’t treat him like a captive.”
“…Release me.”
As the magician approached, Felix unlocked the restraints. Rensley shook his arms and shoulders, releasing the stiffness that had set in. With the support of the magician, he collapsed onto the bed and continued his requests.
“I haven’t eaten anything but tasteless gruel and water since being trapped here. I might die of hunger at this rate. Bring me proper food. If you claim I’m such a precious Elementalist, then treat me properly. If I join and achieve the goal, you must clearly promise how you will reward me. I won’t work together if I’m treated badly.”
“Oh, understood. Lord Felix, I’ll prepare the food. As for you…”
Felix nodded and casually said, “I’ll leave now. I can’t keep leaving my seat empty. Amin, watch him well and teach him. He’s a bad dog with bad habits and bad lineage. He might bite someone again.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll educate him well.”
As the magician recited a spell, Felix finally returned to his original form and soon disappeared.
Once he was gone, the strength that had been gathered for a show of force dissipated. Rensley, still sitting, leaned to the side, letting his whole body collapse.
There was no strength left in his entire body. Even though the sound had stopped, the headache didn’t disappear immediately, and the constant struggling in the restraints made his entire body ache. Perhaps due to the relaxation, his body shivered as if chilled.
However, the magician seemed to find joy in Rensley’s state of having gained cooperation, indifferent to his condition. Smiling broadly, he quickly prepared the food.
“Rensley Maelrosen, I’m really glad that you’ve finally come to your senses. Even though the words were a bit harsh, Lord Felix is truly a good person. Now, eat a lot. I couldn’t give you a proper meal because you couldn’t come to your senses.”
“Even if you were going to say something, couldn’t you have given it to me when I was bound…”
“Let it go. If you had agreed to cooperate earlier, I would have given it to you. Like now.”
With some effort, Rensley raised himself up and pulled the steaming bowl of soup placed in front of him closer. Despite his heightened nerves from the onslaught of sound, he managed to endure it, and fortunately, he could still bear it when the sound stopped. It seemed that the torture had stopped just before he went insane.
He brought the spoon to his mouth, swallowing a mouthful. The creamy soup, made by simmering shellfish in butter and adding milk, was comforting and soothing. It was a dish loved by Cornian people, eaten not only as a meal but also as a snack.
“Tastes good… In Celestine’s outskirts, when spring comes, the tides rise for shellfish.”
“That’s right. It’s my favorite soup.”
In other words, it was still spring.
Rensley stared out of the window. The clock tower visible outside indicated that more than three hours had passed since Felix’s arrival. When he had spent one night in the Wolf’s Forest and came out, three weeks had passed outside. How could it be possible to sit calmly for hours at a time, watching the suffering of a captive, if a few days here equated to half a year outside? Even sitting for a few hours could result in several days passing by.
‘Only slaves wear chains. If that’s what he wants to believe, let him. Does a king in the world ever propose to a slave?’
Having murmured this bitter reflection, Rensley stopped and fell silent. Even if Rensley had truly been a slave, he felt that the outcome would have been the same as long as he was with Felix. Conditions such as status, age, gender might hinder the decisions of the King of Aldrant, but they wouldn’t be barriers to the heart of a man named Gezell Jivendad. Even the most despised and pitiable person in the world could become dignified at Gezell’s side.
After hearing about the flow of time, Rensley’s mind had initially spun, but upon careful consideration, he realized he couldn’t simply believe it. Even if it were true that the outside world and the passage of time were different, it could have been fabricated to some extent. In reality, the difference might only be a couple of hours, or perhaps a few days.
If that were the case, Gezell would still be looking for him. Rensley’s mind had rapidly calmed down since he noticed the flaw in Felix’s words. There was no need to waver or be hurt by trivial taunts. The words he spat out were more like the harmless mudslinging of a drunkard than a venomous dagger that penetrated people’s hearts.
‘If there’s nothing I can do right now, let’s trust in the Duke and wait. If I can’t even do that much, I don’t have the qualifications as the Grand Duchess or even as a subject.’ Taking care of himself as much as possible and preparing to follow when Gezell came was the best course of action now. Regardless of Felix’s futile ambitions, his own king would be sadder than anyone else.
This level of hardship was nothing to be surprised about. Rensley was now unbreakable.
“I have a tracking spell cast on me.”
“I know. Casting such a spell, the Grand Duke must have been quite harsh on you.”
“I’m perfectly alive. Even if that spell were to be nullified, couldn’t someone else be created to replace me? It seems unlikely that someone could deceive the Grand Duke to that extent just to fill in for me.”
Amin’s expression remained indifferent. “Errors can occur in magic. Even if you are here, with the magic of that world, he won’t be able to find you. But what if there’s a body right in front of him? Normally, a magician would think their own spell had gone wrong. It’s better not to place hope in that magic.”
Normally, Amin said. However, Gezell Jivendad was not normal in several ways. Despite being told not to hope, Rensley became even more composed. “What about the soldiers of the escort who underwent transformation? How are they doing?”
“Hmm? Ah, don’t worry. They’re perfectly fine. We just went to the training grounds in their place to bring you here.”
“I see… Do you have more soup?”
“Sure. Eat a lot! You need to endure the training until you become a proper Elementalist. Would you like some bread and juice? We can also bring meat and fruit.”
Fortunately, they also had business with him, so they wouldn’t just leave him to go insane or be destroyed. “The time is near when we can finally make our move. I’m preparing for it.”
As the magician brought a whole pot of soup and generously poured it into the bowl, Rensley looked at him with a bitter gaze and muttered, “You’re quite pitiful too… How did you end up in the sight of those trashy eyes?”
“Trash…? Are you talking about Felix? Don’t be so rude, Rensley Maelrosen. No matter how much you claim to be Felix’s brother, if you keep acting insolent, I won’t tolerate it.”
The magician immediately sobered up, his tone turning cold. Rensley sighed even more deeply, nodded apathetically.
“By the way, is being an Elementalist really that great? To the extent of causing all this trouble?”
“It has its worth.”
The magician’s tone became enthusiastic as they shared a bowl of soup.
“If you’ve been around the court of the Duke of Aldrant, you must have heard at least once, right? The essence of magic operation ultimately depends on how much magic power you can extract and handle skillfully. To achieve that, you need to master magic power amplification techniques and even develop magical devices for amplification. The related technology keeps advancing. However, a summoner can create magic power almost without any constraints from the beginning. They can perform magic themselves, but more importantly, they can transfer magic power to other magicians or magical devices. Just that ability alone allows them to do the work of an entire elite magician’s squad.”
“Oh…”
“Magicians extract magic power through spells or tools, but Elementalists must communicate directly with spirits. So, there’s an inherent difference. According to records, a renowned Elementalist from ancient times completely changed the direction and speed of the wind with a single gesture in a naval battle, sinking the entire enemy fleet. It’s not surprising that such a being is not easily born.”
“Do I have that kind of ability? It’s hard to believe…”
Rensley mumbled, looking down at his own hands. Amin stared sharply.
“Of course. You’ve barely opened your eyes. It would be wise not to think about betraying us later. The ability to extract magic power and the ability to manipulate it are two different issues. Just because someone is strong doesn’t mean they’re good at fighting, right? You just need to learn what is necessary for you. Discard useless dreams.”
“Amin, don’t be too harsh. Acting like that might make me seem scarier than I actually am.”
“Don’t be ridiculous! Who would be scared of someone like you? You still have a long way to go to become a proper Elementalist.”
In front of the blushing young magician, Rensley chuckled. It was quite astonishing that laughter could come in such a situation. Rensley took a deep breath, still smiling.
Thank you!
Kid is so blinded by wanting Felix love that he doesn’t even realize that narcissist is just using him