The female mage clicked her tongue impatiently, reaching to pull the white-robed mage’s sleeve: “How rude, isn’t it…” Before her half-coquettish words were finished, Gerard had already stood up and leisurely departed, throwing back only: “Sorry, but chasing the unknown is more interesting than tolerating noisy boredom, isn’t it?”
The female mage stood up abruptly, but the white-robed mage had already vanished.
In a quiet corner of the hall, the white-robed mage leaned back, crossing his arms and tilting his head back, revealing cat-like yellow pupils, curving his lips in a soft smile: “So, mysterious lady, what can Gerard do for you?”
Naily silently extended her right hand. In her palm lay a golden coin with a rare emerald embedded in its center. Gerard’s eyes narrowed, and he drawled, “Oh?”
His bright yellow eyes were clear and cold, as if trying to see through Naily’s hood and discern her expression and intentions. He suddenly changed his stance, pinching with his fingertips and producing an identical unusual coin. Seeming greatly intrigued by the situation, his eyes flickered while he spoke softly with a confused and innocent expression: “Strange, strange. Gerard’s token is supposedly unique, so how did a second one appear?”
After dramatically clicking his tongue several times, Gerard slightly straightened his posture and asked, “May Gerard take a closer look at the coin in your hand?”
Naily silently handed over the coin. The green-haired mage examined it thoroughly, finally raising his head and giving her a mirthless smile: “Even stranger, this one is also genuine. How odd. Could Gerard’s be the counterfeit? Wouldn’t that make Gerard a fraud?”
Gerard was stunned for a moment before revealing a sly smile again: “It seems most mysterious women are dangerous.” He did not ask Nelly the reason for her request, but readily agreed, “Gerard understands and will definitely accomplish this. But please wait a moment,” he winked, “after all, your request is not easy to fulfill.”
“I will leave Nafale soon,” Nelly carefully avoided details that might expose her identity.
But Gerard had already understood and chuckled: “Ah, Gerard seems to understand. Rest assured, this will be a small secret between you and Gerard.”
He used the affected gesture typical of court mages to take Nelly’s right hand, seemingly about to kiss it.
An almost inaudible rustle, and a sharp blade stopped at Gerard’s neck.
Gerard’s eyes rolled, he muttered something, and suddenly disappeared, reappearing three steps away. Seeing the black-haired youth who appeared out of thin air, he glanced between Nelly and the uninvited guest, covering his mouth with a laugh: “You are indeed a dangerous woman.”
In that case, Gerard will take his leave, farewell.”
Before his words finished, the space suddenly dissipated.
Nelly was already in the alley outside the linen tavern, pulling her hood low and turning to walk out of the alley. Light yet determined footsteps followed closely behind.
The sky had completely darkened, but Nelly was not yet prepared to return to Canossa Castle. She crossed the now-silent streets, walked to the riverside, and suddenly stopped, turning back: “How long are you planning to follow me?”
This was her first direct look at him since Karlsas appeared.
The Demon King wore a black cloak reaching to his feet, with the only decoration being a golden raven clasp at his throat, a ruby adorning the bird’s eye, radiating light in the dim riverside illumination.
Karlsas revealed an expression of a chastised child, lowering his eyelashes and softly saying: “I didn’t expect that you had already been involved with Gerard, and I was actually unaware.” He paused, raising his eyes to gaze at her, his soft pronunciation making his words even more chilling, “I’m hurt.”
Facing Karlsas, Nelly unexpectedly felt a sense of helplessness. She could not stop his actions, could not refute his absurd accusations, and could not even ignore him. Just as she used his possessiveness to ensure her safety, he was using her unresolved emotions to entangle her.
A bone-deep weariness swept over her again.
Nelly closed her eyes and said coldly: “You never trusted me in the first place, so what injury are you talking about?”
Before he could speak, Nelly crossed her arms and added: “If we’re truly discussing being hurt, don’t I have more right to speak?” She turned her head to look at the castle across the river. The distant noise of the banquet drifted over with the wind, making this silent side seem even more desolate.
Karlsas tightened his lips and said nothing.
Nelly seemed mesmerized by the riverside wind, her eyelashes trembling a few times, her azure eyes becoming misty with a hint of tears. She lowered her emotional armor and spoke in a somewhat fragile voice: “When I saw you in Sloss, I was desperate,” she repeated while looking into his eyes, “extremely, extremely desperate.”
“I don’t know where everything went wrong again, I suspect I’ve made some mistake, but I can’t find where this error is.” She tilted her head back, each word seeming to be squeezed out with all her might from deep in her throat, “Could you tell me where I went wrong this time?”
Karlsas remained expressionless. But his expression was not without emotion; on the contrary, he was trying his best to maintain an impeccable mask, not letting any underlying turbulence show.
Nelly took a breath: “Can you at least tell me how you lost your memory and how you remembered it?”
Karlsas answered in a low voice: “That time, you should have encountered a key, and thus inherited the memory when the world was reset.” He lowered his eyelashes, curving his lips sardonically: “They wanted to correct the deviations on me and ensure everything remained normal and orderly. But I escaped. I can’t tell you the details. To escape, I gave up some things, and thus lost my memory and most of my power.”
“Are the two appearances of the Magic Eye related to the restoration of your power?” Nelly effortlessly followed the conversation’s rhythm and threw out a new question.
Karlsas shrugged indifferently: “Sort of. In the latter instance, I completely recovered my power and memories.”
Nelly suddenly remembered that before the Demon King’s return, the black-haired, red-eyed youth had leaned in and pulled something from the Demon King’s chest. She took a breath, involuntarily lowering her voice: “As the price of escaping, you left that key in Sloss. That was the source of the Demon King’s identity, so you wanted to take it back. Is that right?”
A strange smile appeared on the Demon King’s lips. He neither confirmed nor denied, applauding perfunctorily: “What a wonderful speculation.”
But unfortunately, I won’t give you an answer.”
Nelly turned her gaze back to the flowing river, and after a long time, asked with difficulty: “If at that time… you hadn’t returned, what would have happened?”
This question touched Karlsas’s pain point. He instinctively built a cold mask to defend himself, retorting with malicious words: “Hypotheticals after the fact are stupid and useless.”
Nelly tilted her head and looked back at him, revealing a somewhat pitying bitter smile, and concluded: “You regret it.”
Before the Demon King could be angry, Nelly quickly said in a low voice: “But I will only regret more than you.”
Karlsas tightly pursed his lips, and after a long pause, he asked in a sarcastic tone: “So, what do you plan to do, Nelly? You should also understand that killing me is not feasible, and the world is destined to be destroyed. At this point, do you still harbor that naive and foolish idea of the world coexisting with me?”
Nelly gathered her hair blown by the night wind, suddenly grabbed his shoulders, and stood on tiptoe. Her lips brushed past his cheek, and her voice struck his heart: “Whether it’s a foolish idea, I will prove it to you.”
