Chapter 31: A Visit from Umbra.

Knock knock.

The bizarre standoff was broken by a knocking sound.

“Duke, Count Umbra’s servant has come with a letter.”

I was the one who turned my gaze first. I looked at the sketch I had put down on the table, searching for parts to correct.

“Tell him to come to the study.”

“Understood, Duke.”

The Duke emptied the half-remaining, completely cooled coffee in one gulp and stood up. I followed his soundless movement with Philip.

****

“His Majesty the King must be very busy these days, but to take care of his half-brother doing vulgar work like business, I am very touched.”

As soon as the King’s spy disguised as Count Umbra’s servant entered the study, the Duke placed him under the influence of his pheromones.

Even though I couldn’t smell pheromones at all, the eyes where reason instantly faded were a clear indication. To the Duke’s sarcastic remark, the spy answered like an emotionless AI.

“His Majesty the King is pleased that Your Highness the King’s Brother is doing business. He said you also gave him much inspiration for the declaration of ‘Henia’s Independent Time’ announced this time.”

AI couldn’t mimic the insidious intentions of humans. Would those words really mean the King thought the Duke did well? Just like nobles who value ‘tradition,’ he’s saying the Duke acts without dignity despite being a member of the royal family. They’re saying things like, “You can’t help it if you’re a passionate omega.”

It was the grumbling of naive people who didn’t know, or wanted to pretend not to know, the power of massive capital yet.

“What did the King demand this time?”

The Duke cut the obvious introduction and went straight to the main point.

“He is curious if Your Highness the King’s Brother really finished the Rut in just a week.”

“He would be happy if I asked for forgiveness for the rudeness of ghostwriting due to trembling hands this time too.”

“No.”

For a moment, I doubted if the Duke’s pheromone control had loosened. It was such a firm answer.

“What does the King want?”

“His Majesty the King was extremely delighted that Your Highness the King’s Brother safely stabilized the Rut. He told me to examine closely if Your Highness the King’s Brother is healthy.”

“Is that so?”

I got goosebumps a little.

The order for pheromone enhancers was placed with the herbalist two days ago, and the herbalist brought the enhancers at 8 AM today.

Furthermore, the time the spy arrived at the mansion was before 3 PM.

The information transmission power of this era was incomparably slower than the world where it was harder to find a person without a smartphone.

In an era where the only means to deliver detailed news was through messengers, the fact that the spy could arrive at the mansion with only a seven-hour difference meant that the conversation with the herbalist was delivered to the King almost immediately.

Even if it was intentional personnel selection, it was excessively fast.

On the other hand, the Duke had an attitude thinking the reaction was rather late.

Why does the King check the Duke to this extent? Even though he has no succession rights. If he is worried about something like a coup, I can only say it’s obsession.

If the King’s Brother really had the throne in mind, he would never have created a situation where he had to take the lead in the watch business. Didn’t the King also know that and mock the Duke?

“He was delighted saying the education bestowed in childhood seems to finally see the light. Also muttered to himself that it is regrettable there are no mages left in the world to praise for their hard work… Urgh!“

My gaze turned to the Duke without realizing it. The one making the choking sound was the spy, but the Duke was the one with an expression like being strangled.

With a pale face, he was blocking the spy’s breath. So the spy couldn’t say anything.

But I had already heard the spy’s words.

The words that he wants to tear and kill anyone approaching him during the Rut seemed not just mere words. He said he hadn’t killed anyone, but it meant he inflicted injuries close to death.

The Duke was the one who suffered something that made him have to do that.

I cannot know exactly what kind of education the King inflicted on him by gathering mages, but it must have been a terrible act.

The magic circle absorbing pheromones, said to have been researched for a long time. The windows and door that remained perfectly fine even in the room that became a total mess.

The Duke who locked himself up. All of that would be the product of that so-called education.

I couldn’t ask if he was okay. Because it was obvious he wasn’t.

I couldn’t say it was all in the past either. Because for him, it was something not yet forgotten.

The Duke’s gaze was stubbornly directed only forward. I thought it was due to hostility towards the spy, or the King beyond him, but soon realized from his action of covering his face with his hands.

That what he wants to avoid right now is me.

Even within the line he drew, and the line I drew, it was something that couldn’t be intruded upon.

Now I could understand a little. Why he brings children and educates them. Why he enables them to live as independent people.

When that beautiful boy needed help.

I just breathed. Trying not to let emotions waver, trying not to let my breath become disordered.

Just like when serving him coffee and newspapers. Just like when handing over sorted letters. Like all daily moments.

So that the forcibly unfolded past could be covered again with the present.

However, even after releasing the constraint on the spy’s neck, the Duke didn’t remove the hands covering his face for quite a long time.

****

When night came, the Duke resumed the postponed magic circle lesson.

When he said he would cancel the scheduled evening outing, Philip showed signs of panic but had no choice but to answer “Yes.”

When he said he would do magic circle lessons instead of the night outing, I also had to answer that I understood.

Only after a long time passed did he lower the hands covering his face, but the Duke’s complexion looked extremely pale.

“Magic circles are ultimately about making mana flow as intended. So that the correct result can be derived. Whether engraving a circle on a single gem or drawing a single circle using multiple gems, the basics are the same. Drawing an efficient circle using gems compatible with the magic you intend to engrave.”

He showed an example of manifesting the basic fire attribute magic, the magic I first manifested with an activation word, as a circle.

Only after checking the Duke’s face, which had recovered its usual complexion, once again could I focus on the lesson.

After giving me some time to examine the magic circle, the Duke scattered the circle.

Engraving on a single gem requires more concentration and technical skill, so what he showed was a circle drawn using several melee diamonds and rubies. It was a luxurious lesson.

How many mages could receive such a lesson? The haggard appearance of the mages making crystal dildos came to mind.

“Draw it yourself while thinking about the flow when you move mana.”

I could reproduce the circle the Duke showed without much difficulty. Raising an eyebrow as if surprised, the Duke removed the main stone ruby, implemented basic water attribute magic as a circle, erased it, and made me reproduce it again.

I could do that too without difficulty.

What made the Duke feel strange was after passing several single-attribute basic magic circles and making me try to reproduce a complex-attribute circle. Seeing me complete the complex-attribute circle at once without hesitation, the Duke finally realized my trick.

“You memorized it whole.”

“Because the gems were arranged according to a pattern.”

Gems arranged with clear rules came into view at a glance without trying to memorize them. It’s a separate issue from memorizing the schematic flow of mana.

Just as memorizing accessory design drawings and memorizing computer programs or electronic circuits are completely different domains. For me, the former was not difficult, while the latter was like being told to memorize alien language.

“You must properly understand the laws of the circle to be able to apply it or create new circles.”

He was right. It was a principled statement that the basics must be solidly established for anything. However, for me, it was like art class changing into physics class.

When I thought of gems not as gems but as elements composing a circuit, the difficulty level skyrocketed.

“Let’s use a different method.”

As I was just staring at the circle, the Duke changed the arrangement of gems.

“The shape of the circle has changed, but the Ignis magic you learned first will still manifest.”

He scattered the circle again as soon as he completed it, and I reproduced the shape of that circle again. Although unlike before, there was a part where I hesitated in the middle.

Glancing at the Duke, fortunately, it seemed I wasn’t wrong. The moment I infused mana into the circle, I blinked at the sensation I hadn’t felt in a while.

The feeling of focusing only on manifesting magic without considering efficiency. It was what I did in the very first magic lesson.

Indeed, the manifested fire was extremely small and cute compared to the infused mana. The color of the flame was also red, the lowest temperature.

Even that couldn’t be maintained and went out quickly. In many ways, it was similar to the magic I first manifested.

Did he mean for me to experience it directly since I didn’t understand the principle?

As I nodded my head, the Duke groaned “Oh dear…” It seemed it wasn’t the result he intended.

“Is this part wrong perhaps?”

I rearranged the part where I felt incongruity in the pattern.

“…Yes.”

With the Duke’s permission, I infused mana into the circle. The amount of mana consumed itself didn’t differ much from before. But the result was completely different.

Admiration came out naturally. A blue flame flickered in the air. Perhaps because the position was also designated, I had to look up quite a bit from a sitting position.

While I was looking entranced at the pale blue light like the flame of Ignis magic the Duke showed as a demonstration on the first day, suddenly the flame went out.

Magical power to maintain the flame shouldn’t have been lacking.

“Let’s stop here for today. The person lacking concentration wasn’t you, but me.”

The Duke said, scattering the circle.

Looking back, it was strange. Normally, he would have noticed from when I memorized the Ignis magic circle as is without understanding at the very beginning. And would have asked confirming questions several times.

Did the words spoken by the spy leave an impact?

Recalling the image of him trying to turn away from me, I prepared to withdraw immediately.

“Yes, then…”

“You…”

Almost simultaneously as I was about to say rest comfortably, the Duke called me. When I shut my mouth and looked at him, the Duke hesitated instead.