Regressor Of The Fallen Family [EN]: Chapter 318

News spread fast in the royal palace: something had happened at the Royal Magic Tower. It was in District 318, where the Magic Corps soldiers were based.

But soon, the palace announced it was just an accident – a golem maker’s experiment that went wrong. The excitement and confusion started to calm down. Since nobody was injured, it looked like people would forget about it soon, like it was nothing important.

However.

People whispered. “I heard the Magic Tower is half gone because of that experiment!”

“Is he crazy?” someone else said.

“Wizards are all the same…”

Clayton, the golem master, felt these rumors were unfair.

And the very next day at dawn.

The next morning, very early, the King, Logan, was in his office. With him were Victoria, the person everyone was gossiping about, and Clayton, who was also connected to the Magic Tower accident. They all looked very serious.

Logan spoke first, “Victoria, I’m sorry we can’t celebrate what you did in a big way. It’s a huge thing you’ve achieved.”

Victoria replied, “It’s okay, Your Majesty. I understand why. Please, don’t worry about it.”

Logan smiled softly and gently patted Victoria’s head.

“Thank you.”

Victoria’s forehead wrinkled a little, like her hair was in her eyes. But when she looked at Logan, she smiled again, a little shyly. He remembered her as a small, quiet girl, but she was grown up now, a young woman.

He could really feel how time had passed.

‘When did she grow up so much?’

He felt proud, and equally regretful.

His eyes were full of warmth as he looked at Victoria, but then his face became serious again, filled with worry.

He thought, ‘If the princess is really a sorceress working with the Black Serpent group, then maybe the Black Serpent is actually working for the Empire.’

If the Empire was involved, Logan wondered if it was still right to keep Victoria’s magic a secret.

But he still worried about what happened with Aserian.

It didn’t make sense to him that the Empire would cause such a big, public problem, especially if they already had the Black Serpent group working secretly for them.

Maybe, he thought, there were two groups in the Empire – one working with them, and another group that didn’t know about it or was against it. If that was true, maybe the princess didn’t even know what the other group was doing.

Because of all this, he had to think about everything that could be happening. He felt bad for Victoria because he had decided to hide her amazing achievement – something truly special that people would talk about for years. He was doing it because of a small chance that it might help.

Clayton spoke, his voice a little sad. ‘She’s the youngest mage in a thousand years, since the time of the Great Migration. Nineteen years old! This should make our kingdom famous and respected around the world. We should be shouting it from the rooftops…’ He sighed.

It was only natural that Clayton, her teacher, would feel this way.

“It’s alright, Master. Viktor and I can do anything if it’s His Majesty’s wish.”

Everyone in the room knew about Victoria and Viktor’s loyalty to the King. They had gone from being slaves to becoming knights and mages because of him.

Anyone who knew about the strong connection between the King and the siblings – Victoria and Viktor, with their blue hair and different colored eyes – knew they were completely loyal.

‘That’s why I need to treat them even better.’

These siblings had become incredibly powerful around the time they became adults. Looking at their unusual features, Logan wondered if they had some kind of special family history, some special bloodline.

Instead of proudly showing off these amazing young talents to the world, he was keeping them secret. This made him feel worried.

He knew his advisors, Aileen, Ronian, and Burdel, felt the same way.

If the Emperor of the Empire was a reasonable person, it would be better to just tell everyone about Victoria and Viktor and hope war could be avoided. But Logan knew that was probably not possible, which was a shame.

“The day we are free from the Empire’s threat, I will reward you even more greatly then. Please, bear with it a little longer.”

“You have already done so much for my brother and me. Please, do not concern yourself, Your Majesty.”

Victoria’s words made him smile, but then he thought about the Magic Tower accident again, and his smile disappeared. His face became serious.

“…You said the intruder was a woman?”

Victoria answered, “Yes. It was a woman, and she used a strange kind of magic – gray mana. You can see magic, Your Majesty, so you should be able to find her easily…”

“I know who it is.”

(Logan thought to himself, ‘Who else could it be?’)”

“…Yes? Then, you can go and arrest her right away!”

Haa…

“That’s the problem, because I can’t.”

“Yes?” Victoria looked confused. Logan sighed again.

Arrest and kill the Empire’s princess? Imprison her?

It would immediately start a war.

He thought, ‘We can only really fight the Empire and have a good chance of winning after the Great Magic Circle is finished and put in place in our forts and castles.’

This was a time to know the truth but act like they didn’t.

He was almost relieved that Victoria had missed the princess.

What would have happened if the princess had died in the Magic Tower?

Logan shuddered, rubbing his arms, and turned his gaze.

“What do you think of this, Duke Clayton?”

Clayton looked back at Logan, his face even more serious than before. He slowly began to speak.

“In the worst-case scenario, we should assume they have found out.”

“I see…” Logan said. ‘Ugh.’ He felt a headache coming and rubbed his forehead. Clayton’s next words made it feel even worse.

Clayton continued, “If they were trying to attack me, not Taren where we make the magic items, then maybe those research notes are more valuable to them than we realized.”

Logan agreed, “That must be right. Like you and Victoria said, those notes must be incredibly important to mages.”

The King and the two mages of the kingdom – Victoria and Clayton – looked at each other worriedly. Victoria then spoke up, tilting her head.

“It might not be… what you think?”

“What?”

Victoria explained, “Like Master Clayton said, it’s definitely a book of research notes, probably from many different people. It’s likely been kept by a magic school for hundreds of years.”

“So…”

But most of it is just notes – brilliant ideas and thoughts from smart mages. It doesn’t really have enough finished research to be called a real secret book.

“…That’s true.”

Logan thought about it. The notes had given him ideas, but it was Logan who decided to make lots of magic items, and Clayton who worked out how to do it.

Also, Victoria herself had come up with most of the ideas for fixing the Great Magic Circle – about 70% of it! So, it really wasn’t just a secret book.

Victoria continued, “Even if it is their research book, it’s probably just ideas from a small, unimportant group, or from mages who weren’t taken seriously.”

“Hoo?”

Logan and Clayton listened carefully to Victoria. Her idea made sense.

But Victoria became a little nervous when she heard what Clayton said next.

“Then we can’t explain why the princess attacked the Magic Tower. It was too sudden and unreasonable.”

However, one word in that statement made Victoria’s eyes widen.

“Huh? Princess? Could it be?”

Logan looked at her bewildered expression and confirmed the suspicion with a bitter smile.

“Yes. The Empire’s princess is that sorceress. Almost 100% certain.”

“That…?! Why on earth?!”

A princess is a sorceress?

Why would she do such a thing with that status and power?

Victoria’s question implied many things, but Logan simply shook his head.

“Of course, we can’t know. That’s why we think it’s because of the logs.”

They didn’t know what Princess Louisa was really thinking, so they had to guess that the notes were the reason.

Logan sighed again. ‘We just don’t know enough about them. We’re just guessing…’ He sounded frustrated.

However.

“…Why don’t we just ask the person involved?”

“What?”

At Logan’s bewildered question, Victoria gave a meaningful smile.

Louisa coughed, and blood flew from her mouth again. How many times had this happened?

‘Hoo…’ The pain in her chest was bad, but the memory of failing, of what happened last night, was worse. It had destroyed her pride, and her face twisted in anger.

“Are you alright?”

“How could I be alright?!”

She shouted sharply, but the shrill voice only pierced her pride even more.

“…I’m sorry.”

Seeing Jun lower his head made Louisa feel even worse about herself.

“…No. Haa, it’s alright. Go back.”

“Yes.”

The injuries inside her body, from the magic circle’s wild mana, were not healing quickly like normal cuts. She knew this, but she had pushed herself too hard to destroy that strange golem and escape.

Awakening new powers in the middle of a fight! She never thought that would happen to her, like in a hero story.

And it was because of an enemy.

‘An enemy…’

Louisa clicked her tongue in annoyance. This woman was no longer just a problem, she was a real enemy now. Her hurt pride made her think of that woman again and again.

‘She looked about twenty years old, but she was already a mage at that age!’ Louisa had become a mage young too, and was famous in the magic tower, but this woman was even faster.

And how could someone who just awakened their magic be so strong? Her attacks were a bit rough, not very skillful, but her golems were incredibly fast and powerful.

Even though Louisa had used her Devil Incarnation magic, which was strong enough to beat most fighters, she still had to use tricks to win. She had even used three powerful magic spells at once, but she didn’t see that as an excuse for almost losing.

Because in the end, it was that woman who had broken through all three of her spells.

“This doesn’t make sense.”

Louisa had always been at the top, looking down on others. She had even competed in magic against older mages, some who were much older than her, and she had always won.

But to be beaten by someone so much younger? Louisa’s huge pride couldn’t accept it. ‘There must have been some kind of trick,’ she thought.

Whirr!

The magic circle inside her, which she had calmed down, started to shake again with her anger.

And then, she coughed again.

‘Kuh…’ Blood filled her hand.

Her eyes flashed with anger, as strong as the blood in her hand.

But she couldn’t do anything about that woman right now. All she could do was think about her painful loss, which hurt as much as the pain in her chest. If she met that woman again in battle, she would be ready to get revenge.

However, the question had not disappeared.

“How on earth…”

How was it even possible?

The Dark Sky Barrier and Soul Contamination spells together were a secret technique made by the Magic Tower to stop very powerful beings. It was so strong that even Louisa wasn’t sure she could escape it if she was the target. Even with her special soul and dimension magic, she would need a lot of time to get ready to fight back.

Therefore.

‘It can’t be normal magic. No way…’ Louisa thought. She couldn’t believe someone else could do something she couldn’t.

Louisa started thinking hard, not even noticing she was biting her lip so hard it was bleeding.

Her thoughts, based only on her pride and without any real reason, quickly came up with a twisted answer. ‘That’s it! She must be having that kind of relationship with that King, the one who changes fate. A concubine? Or maybe just an affair?’

The more she thought about it, the more she believed it was true. ‘Yes, that’s it,’ she thought. ‘It’s not because that woman is so amazing that she beat my magic. It’s because of that King!’

As soon as she decided this was the answer, the pain in her chest seemed to get better, like magic. Only after almost forgetting the nightmare of last night could she finally think about what to do next.

‘Now what do I do?’

Her Devil Incarnation magic was for fighting mages, but it also hid her appearance.

So, she was sure no one had seen what she really looked like.

But if the King thought she was a spy from the Empire, he might connect her to what happened at the Magic Tower. ‘Will he come and ask me questions?’ she wondered. ‘No. Even if he does, what can the King do to me?’

This kingdom was too small to cause trouble for her. They would have to ignore anything she did, even if it was bad, because she was a princess from the Empire. Unless she lost her princess status, or the Emperor turned against her, hurting her would mean starting a war with the Empire.

‘Even if this kingdom doesn’t like the Empire, they wouldn’t be stupid enough to cause a war,’ she thought.

There was one thing that worried her, but Louisa tried to push it out of her mind.

‘No, everything will be fine. They have no proof,’ she told herself.

Just as she was trying to calm herself, a rushed voice shouted from outside.

“P, Princess!”

A bad feeling grew stronger in her chest, making her cold.

“T, the King has come to visit!”

The unexpected visitor had arrived at her palace.