Chapter 15: The Way Only She Knows (1).

The employees of the Solenas duchy all started their day early in the morning.

Befitting the title of Duke, the Solenas were a large family that ruled the entire archipelago off the southeastern coast of the Empire,

and needless to say, the mansion’s size was also very large, befitting their power.

The duchy was guaranteed exceptional rights that ordinary territories did not have, such as independent taxation rights, gold coin issuance rights, and civil army conscription rights, and these were privileges that could be obtained because the family’s birth greatly shared bloodlines with the imperial family.

Commonly, such great nobles with this power were eventually subject to checks and purges.

However, the Solenas had survived for a long time while many great nobles were being exterminated.

That was because they always respected the authority of the imperial family and the central government.

The Great War period was no exception.

During the Great War, the duchy took the lead in supporting materials and troops to places where the war situation was not good,

and two of their children were assigned to the most elite knight orders and even fought at the forefront.

And as everyone knows, one of them… never returned to the duchy forever.

Before the sun rose, maids walked around the mansion’s corridors in quick steps.

Managing fires, cleaning, preparing meals, and checking the opening and closing of various offices and common areas… Even when they saw the silhouette of a wyvern in the sky near the mansion, they were not very surprised because it was a rare but occasional occurrence.

Someone must have brought urgent news.

But when that wyvern…

Didn’t head to the runway and landed right in the middle of the courtyard garden, they all screamed.

Screeeeeech…

Kuuuuuung!

A shock that felt like a small earthquake swept through the mansion.

The carefully tended garden was smashed, windows were broken,

and soldiers and knights quickly gathered at this tremendous commotion.

“Who are you!!!”

“Identify yourself! Where are you from?”

The Solenas mansion was always maintained in a thorough state of security.

Soldiers and knights with drawn swords and spears surrounded the wyvern without gaps.

Because a wyvern that had landed once could not take off again until it had gone through the runway process again, and the manual was to surround it before it ran rampant.

A huge wyvern that seemed to be ten meters long.

Judging by its size, it was clearly not a combat wyvern. Combat wyverns were much smaller than this.

This was an old and dull wyvern used to carry luggage or mail.

The wyvern, which had released its power and crashed to the ground, spewed hot and rough breaths around it.

Ssyaeak. Ssyaeak. Shiiiiik. Huuuuuk.

It didn’t look violent, it just looked very tired.

As the wyvern blinked its innocent eyes a few times, the tension around it subsided a little.

‘Is it a crash?’

A familiar voice was heard from above the wyvern’s saddle.

“Stop! I’m not an enemy!”

“That voice is…?”

One of the knights recognized the voice.

“Guard Knight Karat? Is that you?”

“That’s right! So please put down your weapons!!”

As soon as he finished speaking, Karat jumped lightly from the wyvern’s back.

He was not alone, he was holding a woman in both arms.

Through the windproof leather that wrapped her body, beautiful black hair flowed down.

It was a face that everyone there knew.

“Is that… Lady Yukomis?”

She was the small owner of this mansion.

“Yes. And she’s in a very critical condition.”
“Oh how…? What’s going on?”
“Ask questions later.”

Another voice chimed in.

While everyone’s attention was focused on Yukomis, whom Karat was holding, a girl was forcibly climbing down the wyvern’s shoulder blade.

“Ugh… Eeeeeik…”

After groaning for a while, she staggered as if she would collapse as soon as she set foot on the ground.

She looked about ten years old, and her face was full of dried bloodstains with a desperate expression that didn’t match her age.

Several people who had worked at the duchy for a long time thought that the girl’s face was very familiar.

But where did they see her?

That impression, which seemed to float up from the depths of their memory, was immediately forgotten by her question, which she shouted loudly.

“Is Parnen Solenas still in this mansion?”
“…Who on earth…?”

The people around them looked back and forth between Karat and the girl.

They seemed to be unsure whether to use honorifics, speak informally, ask questions, or arrest her.

And that was not their fault.

They were trained thoroughly for years to serve the family, but they didn’t know what to do with a ten-year-old girl who had fallen from the sky.

There was no one who taught them what to do in such a situation.

“I’m the one who guarantees her identity.”

When Karat nodded heavily, someone in the crowd gave an awkward answer.

“If you’re talking about the head maid… she’s still sleeping…right…?”
“Wake her up right away. And is Aisha still here?”

The girl casually said names that no one but those who worked at the mansion could know.

The confusion around them was only getting deeper.

“What do you mean, is she still here…”

“I mean, is she still working at this mansion!!!”

The girl shouted loudly.

“Yes? Ah, yes!!”
“Wake them both up right away! And tell the maid to come inside the infirmary, and tell Aisha to bring the first aid supplies and wait outside!”

“Yes, yes!”

They answered like that, but no one was willing to move first in this embarrassing situation.

Then Karat gave a harsh order to the soldiers who were only blinking their eyes.

“Quickly, do what she says!”

Watching the soldiers run to carry out the instructions in a hurry, the girl said.

“Karat, let’s go!”
“Yes!”

‘Parnen Solenas’ was walking quickly towards the infirmary.

Without time to dress up or change into proper clothes, the only thing she had heard from a knight she had unexpectedly heard was to come to the infirmary as soon as possible.

She was a member of the branch family that had served the Solenas family for a long time.

She had served the current Solenas Duke since before he inherited the title, and she was an important person who received respect and trust within the family.

Even after the Duke himself spent most of his time in the capital due to the aftermath of the Great War, she remained in the duchy and often provided advice on various official duties.

Although her magical talent was not particularly outstanding, Parnen was a member of the Duke’s branch family and a magician.

Because of this, she looked almost the same age as the maid ‘Aisha’, who was currently accompanying her, even though she was actually much older.

“What on earth is going on? Lady Yukomis is in critical condition?”

That was really an unimaginable story.

Is it an injury? That can’t be.

How many people in the Empire would dare to harm the Archmage?

Even if someone manages to succeed in that, isn’t it the small master’s specialty to treat wounds and symptoms?

“That’s strange. She’s not the type to be like that, is she?”

“That’s right, Parnen-nim.”

Aisha, who was walking three steps behind Parnen on the right, answered politely.

“Did she have any underlying diseases?”
“As far as I know, Lady Yukomis didn’t seem to have any underlying diseases.”
“That’s right. I haven’t heard of that either.”

Parnen turned her gaze out the window of the broken hallway as she walked.

There, a group of soldiers were scratching their heads and looking at a sleeping wyvern.

The wyvern, who was curled up in a ball, was snoring comfortably, whether it knew that it had smashed most of the garden with its body.

“I really can’t guess what’s going on. It’s so strange.”
“…Yes. I feel the same.”

Finally, when they arrived in front of the infirmary, Karat was already waiting there.

“Have you arrived? Head Maid Parnen.”
“Karat. Long time no see.”

Parnen lightly accepted Karat’s salute.

“It’s very noisy from early in the morning. Is it true that the young lady is in critical condition?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
“Can you explain to me what’s going on?”
“I’m sorry, Head Maid. It’s an urgent situation. But ‘she’ is already waiting inside, so… it’ll be faster to hear the explanation from her.”

She? Parnen tilted her head.

Who is she talking about? Is she an acquaintance of Miss Yukomis?

“…Okay. Aisha. You wait outside with Karat.”
“Yes. Head Maid.”

Aisha answered politely and exchanged glances with Karat.

Just as Parnen was about to open the door of the infirmary, Karat suddenly stopped her as if he had just remembered something.

“Ah. Head Maid Parnen.”
“What’s wrong?”

“Maybe when you go inside… you’ll see a sight that Head Maid will never believe.”
“Yes?”

“You may think it’s an overbearing remark, but please prepare yourself mentally before entering. It’s a sincere piece of advice.”
“…Okay.”
“Good luck.”

Parnen had never heard this kind of advice from Karat before.

He was usually a very rigid and dogmatic person, even a little frustrating to Parnen.

He was the type of person who told you accurately and specifically if there was something to report.

He wasn’t the type to speak vaguely like this. He himself seemed to be confused about how to explain the situation.

‘Even if I prepare myself mentally… what kind of preparation should I make? What should I prepare for?’

But anyway, it was the word of a bodyguard that Lady Yukomis trusted.

Parnen carefully entered the infirmary…

And immediately realized what Karat had said.

“You’ve come.”
“…Oh.“

As soon as she opened the door, Parnen thought for a moment that she might still be sleeping.

Because there was a face inside that she had never expected.

Her eyes, which had slowly changed from sleepy eyes to horrified eyes, lost their strength at some point.

Just before she fell to the floor, she had to quickly grab something next to the entrance to support herself.

‘No way. Is it really a dream? Who am I looking at right now?’

The wyvern that crashed in the courtyard, Karat who suddenly returned, the young lady who is in critical condition,

If she was still dreaming, all of these things made sense.

“Te… Te…”
Is it a ghost if it’s not a dream?

But a voice that was too vivid to be a ghost pierced Parnen’s ears.

“I’m sorry. I’m not Thermis.”

The ghostly figure in front of her denied the name.

It was a line that seemed to expect this reaction, but the denial had no effect at all.

Because even the voice was the same as what Parnen remembered.

The same appearance, the same voice.

There was the appearance of the Solenas family’s eldest daughter, Thermis, from her ten-year-old days, who should no longer be here.

“I just look a bit alike… I look a lot alike.”

‘I look a lot alike’

Parnen didn’t think that could ever be possible. Is this ‘someone who just looks a lot alike’?

Parnen was someone who had served the Solenas family for her entire life.

Among the people who were still working at the duchy, there were really few people who remembered what the eldest daughter looked like at this time.

And one of those few people was Parnen.

She was once a pleased person who talked to her, taught her, ate with her, and even went out with her.

Despite the passage of time, Parnen could never mistake Thermis.

“But… but…”

“Head Maid. You should focus on Yukomis right now, not me.”

The eldest daughter, that person, no, the girl in front of her, someone unknown, or a ghost,

Or if not, someone who ‘denies being Thermis’ said something, but Parnen couldn’t hear it at all.

She was so shocked by the sight in front of her that seemed to turn back time to a dozen years ago that she couldn’t even speak properly.

“Parnen-nim, Head Maid Parnen? Can you hear me?”

“But… you’re the young lady. There’s no way.”
“Calm down. There’s something more important right now…”
“How can this happen…” God,
“Parnen-nim!”

‘She’, who gritted her teeth, walked up to her and grabbed her wrist tightly.

“Thermis is dead!!!”
“…..!”

“Are you going to let Solenas’ other heir die because of someone who died a long time ago?”

At those words, Parnen regained her senses a little.

When she turned her trembling head, Yukomis was lying on the bed in the infirmary.

A pale face, a convulsing body, irregular breaths, and above all, the magical power around her.

As a magician, Parnen could see the unstable magical power vortex swirling around Yukomis very well.

As soon as she saw that, Parnen realized why someone had to wake her up from early in the morning.

It’s a magical symptom. That’s why we needed a magician, not a doctor.

As Parnen turned her attention to Yukomis, ‘that girl’ stood behind Parnen.

“Don’t look at me from now on. Only look at Lady Yukomis.”

It was a voice that was a little lower and softer than before.

Parnen got the impression that she was forcibly changing her voice.

“…I understand…”

“What do the symptoms look like?”
“Th, this is…”

Parnen checked Yukomis’ pulse and looked at the magical power inside her body.

“She’s…repeating to take in and release magic power…”
“Yes. Do you know why?”
“I don’t know.”

Parnen said honestly. She had never seen a similar symptom before.

“Lady Yukomis, like other archmages, is usually very close to magic power than ordinary magicians. Do you know that?”
“Y, yes.”
“In order for a magician like Head Maid to use magic power, you must first calmly prepare your mind, concentrate, and chant the spell accurately. But a mage like Yukomis can use magic power with as much effort as breathing.”
“…Yes.“

“The problem is that ‘as much effort as breathing’ is not a metaphor but literally. When a seizure occurs due to some mental problem and breathing is damaged, Lady Yukomis frantically brings magic power into her body while hyperventilating.”
“Yes?”

“And she spits it out. If this is repeated, the body, which is overloaded with magic power, blocks the outside world and the mind, and breathing becomes rougher, and she takes in and releases more magic power. Negative feedback continues. No other mage experiences this problem. Only Yukomis experiences it.”
“Feedfeed what?”
“…Ignore that word. I’m not a magician, so I can’t help Lady Yukomis. That’s why Head Maid Parnen was needed here.”

“What can I do?”

Parnen asked anxiously.

After listening to the girl’s explanation, Parnen realized that this vortex was being created around Yukomis.

“The method itself is simple. But…”

She trailed off for a moment.

“From now on, what I’m doing may feel absurd, but it’s never meant to harm Yukomis.”

“Wh, what are you going to do?”

The girl, who had been explaining from behind Parnen, slowly approached Yukomis, who was lying on the bed.

Thanks to that, Parnen could see her eerie face again.

A face covered in blood… the appearance of the eldest young lady.

She looked as if there was something much more difficult to explain than the current situation.

Silence continued for a while.

After chewing her lips for a long time, she finally opened her mouth heavily.

“…You said I look like Thermis, right?”
“Ah… yes…”
“No, no.
It’s not that you look alike,
It’s not that you look alike. It’s exactly the same.
It looks like Thermis-nim herself.”

Parnen forcibly swallowed those words into her throat.

“Then, I’m sorry for changing my words so quickly, but…”

“What if I’m really Thermis?”
“Yes?”

“If you think I’m really Thermis, a ghost who came after dying to protect Yukomis.”

“If you think so, can you believe whatever I do?”

Parnen couldn’t answer.

She couldn’t understand what she wanted to say.

In the silence, the girl gently wrapped her right hand around Yukomis’ convulsing right hand.

And she carefully placed it on the bedside table next to the bed.

Parnen could see it. The magical power of the entire room was swirling around that hand.

The ghostly girl rummaged through Yukomis’ arms.

And what she took out was… the dagger that Yukomis always carried with her.

“Shar, can you trust me?”

She changed the name she called Parnen.

“Shar…?”

It had been a long time since she had been called by that name.

That was her childhood name that she had told Thermis and Yukomis.

A name she had told only the two of them as proof of affection… her childhood name.

In the duchy, it was a name that only the two sisters used when calling her in private.

“How do you know that name…?”

Parnen’s eyes widened even more than when she first saw the girl.

While she couldn’t answer, the ‘Thermis’ in front of her pulled the dagger out of its sheath.

“Wait a minute. What are you trying to do? That’s a knife, right…?”

And without hesitation, she plunged it forcefully into Yukomis’ right hand.