Yura's attempt ended in failure.
The river didn't shine or show any dramatic effect. It was a very disastrous ending.
Maybe that’s why.
"I've purified it briefly with my power. I will make the river cleaner little by little like this."
Yura left in a hurry with a red face, leaving only those words behind.
Following that, the Holy Land delegation left Nequitia.
Rosa’s group also headed back to Okur.
At a point where they were out of sight of everyone and no one was there except the knights and the carriage they were riding in, Theodore opened the window.
He called the commander of the Knights and reached his hand out of the carriage.
"Ellian, did you get what I asked?"
"Here you are."
"You did a great job."
What Theodore was handed was a glass jar filled with black water.
Rosa immediately knew what it was.
Even if the lid of glass jar was loosened slightly, the pungent smell told her what kind of water it was.
It must have come from the river of Nequitia.
But Theodore put his hand into the jar without hesitation.
"Purification."
As Yura had done, Theodore cast a golden spell.
‘It's blinding.’
Rosa closed her eyes tightly, waiting for the gold light that filled the carriage to dissipate.
After waiting a little while, she opened her eyes.
Theodore was wiping his hands with his handkerchief, having randomly put the jar aside.
“……You've changed the color slightly."
"Yes, it's changed to dark gray. This is the limit."
It was a complicated voice.
Just as Yura's ability did not work much, neither did Theodore’s.
In fact, the original novel only said that Yura purified the river during a large full moon.
‘Would that hold true this time?’
‘As there was no special solution specified in the novel, is the "date" the only thing that matters in this disaster?’
So, that’s why, when Yura suddenly showed her strength today...….
There was no response.
***
As soon as Yura returned to her quarters at the lord of Okur’s residence, she threw her robe away from her.
And then she groaned.
This was because she was remembering the shameful failure by the river earlier.
"Ugh! Ugh!"
She trembled with her teeth tightly clenched in fear of her shouts leaking out.
At that moment, the window flew wide open.
Then a man dressed in black from head to toe appeared.
It was a surprising situation, but Yura was familiar with this intruder.
Rather, she stared for a while before screaming in a rage.
"Why! Why didn't you release the antidote in the river?!"
Soon she started throwing things at the man.
Of course, they were not objects that would make a loud sound, but cushions and pillows.
It was all avoidable enough.
Nevertheless, the man strode towards Yura while ignoring the things thrown at him.
"Why...… Why are you coming towards me?!"
He grabbed the angry Yura's wrist and pushed her hard.
Yura was flung into the chair behind her.
The man grabbed the arm of the chair.
He lowered his head and stared at her with the eyes of an assassin, full of bloodlust and warned,
"I’m helping you because the master told me to, but you'd better not behave as you did today. I clearly said that everything would be ready this afternoon...….”
The red eyes that were reminiscent of sunlight stared into Yura's black eyes.
Yura read the murderous intent in them, but she did not want to bend her pride.
She continued to speak in a fierce tone.
"Your master also works for me after all. Everyone works for me...… Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!”
"I work for you?"
Like the assassin he was, the man grabbed Yura's neck in an instant.
He didn’t put any strength into his grip.
He just pressed her neck with his thumb, holding it down as if he was trying to scare her and said,
"That's ridiculous, you're the one working for my master."
“……That, that, what do you mean?"
"It seems Conitel did a good job of brainwashing you. Now that you’ve come over to our side, I guess it’s okay to tell you."
The man raised Yura's hand with his other hand.
Then, he took off her white glove and looked down at her ring finger.
To be exact, the fingernail on her ring finger which had started to turn black.
"It was my master who called you here after all...…. No, it was our master who made you."
***
They didn’t spend their evening with the lord and his wife or the priests of the Holy Land.
For some reason, Yura didn't even look for them.
So, they decided to finish the night by eating separately with the food they had brought.
Of course, there were various stories shared in the process.
For example, the person who suddenly appeared around the time the disaster started...….
"It's Hiorin no matter how I look at it."
Rosa kept pacing around even after returning to her room.
It was because of the disorganized information.
At dinner, she heard the story of a man from the East-continent who moved here.
The timing was perfect.
And the knights didn't let the slightest bit of suspicious information pass them by.
They said they were able to get a description of the Easterner by asking the residents to draw them...….
It was clearly Hiorin's appearance.
Come to think of it, she’d heard the story of an Easterner named 'Imago' in Deutschen.
It was definitely weird...… ‘Oh!’
Her thoughts spiraled, even creating strange questions.
For example, Enoch.
"Did Enoch notice?"
‘Enoch must be well aware of his deep involvement, including Deutschen.’
Even more than her.
“……He said it would be overwhelming."
He said that he would tell her when he was done, as if she would have a hard time hearing his story.
Without giving her any hints.
Out of the blue, she thought the thing he didn’t want to say was about Hiorin.
"I'd better ask."
She fiddled with the brooch hanging from her collar, which she never took off.
She pondered for a long time.
If it was something that Enoch didn't know, she worried that she would be giving him more homework by bringing it up.
Another worry popped up as a shadow of concern was cast over her face.
Then she burst into laughter.
"Ha!"
She looked out the window, sweeping her hair roughly to the side.
She could see the thick night sky.
She uttered to herself at the sight,
"Since when did you worry so much about Enoch? How funny."
She shook her head vigorously as if she was trying to get rid of these unnecessary thoughts.
Then she took off the brooch.
She gently stroked the brooch, recalling the instructions Enoch had taught her.
Then, she said the name of the wizard connected to the brooch.
"Hubert."
A pure white light emanated from the brooch like a hologram. Soon, a face appeared.
It was her face.
That is, the face of Hubert imitating her.
"Are you doing well in your role?"
Hubert nodded.
Then, after a pause, rustling was heard, as if he were going somewhere.
He soon appeared with a pile of documents. They were documents, not bearing the ducal family seal, but the imperial seal.
"The Marquis gave these to me. He said you should handle them in place of the emperor...….”
Marquis Marigold.
In the eyes of the Marquis, Hubert would be seen as Rosenta, but in reality, Hubert...….
Perhaps he noticed her concern, so he said with a smile,
"Don't worry, I’m from an aristocratic family, and I’ll sort these documents in no time. Of course...… I will never disclose the contents of these papers. I’m afraid of being scolded by the Tower Lord."
Rosa’s worries were eased.
She smiled briefly and made up her mind to move on to the subject at hand.
It was time to bring up another topic.
"Hubert, I have something to ask you."
When she tried to get the words out of her mouth, she kept hesitating.
‘Am I thinking too much?’
After a brief hesitation, she finally blurted out her reason for contacting him.
"Do you know why Enoch rushed to the Magic Tower?"
"The reason is...….”
Hubert seemed to know something.
However, looking at his expression, it didn’t look like he would dare say anything.
He just continued to smile strangely.
"Well, just as these papers are confidential, information related to the Magic Tower is also tightly guarded."
***
The lights slowly went out one by one.
But strangely, there was a commotion outside.
No matter how quiet they tried to be, Theodore, and a few others with sharp ears, heard them.
It was the sound of a carriage running.
Theodore came out to the veranda and saw a carriage fleeing outside.
It was a carriage with the flag of the Holy Kingdom hanging from it.
"Where are they going at this hour...….”
He had been suspecting that this was all a ploy of the Holy Kingdom.
However, after witnessing Yura's failed attempt that morning, he wondered if he was wrong.
That was only for a moment.
Doubts arose again when he saw the secret departure from the castle.
Theodore rushed out, leading some of the knights who just happened to be up.
"Your Majesty...…. Should we prepare the carriage?"
"No. It'll take more time to prepare the carriage, so let’s go on horseback."
They headed for the stable.
As they each mounted their horses, one of the knights shouted,
"Ah! My horse...….”
One had disappeared.
It was unclear who had taken it, but it was that only one was missing.
And then, outside, the loud sound of horse hooves was heard.
Theodore had a feeling that the culprit behind the stolen horse was the one responsible for the sounds.
He immediately went outside.
And he saw the back of the person who had stolen the horse of the imperial knight.
“……Rosa?"
The wind blew as she rode, and her hood was blown off.
Her purple veil fluttered in the wind.