Chapter 114 - A Loving Mother

Pendelok’s jaw dropped.

“Really?” the old man asked like a fool.

“Yes,” Azriel answered.

“Really?” he repeated.

“It’s true. I don’t intend to blab it around, but it’s not something to hide either.”

“Is the Wizard of the Horizon really your master?”

“Yes.”

“The one with long silver hair and white robe? The wizard who turned mountains into wilderness?”

“That’s right.”

“Oh, God,” Pendelok sought God absentmindedly and then froze just like that. The Duchess, who had turned pale, opened her mouth.

“Miss Esthera, can you prove it?” she asked.

“Do I need to prove it?” Azriel asked back.

“I can’t just believe it. I mean, the Wizard of the Horizon! Such a legendary being—”

“If you don’t want to believe it, you don’t need to. I didn’t come here to prove that I am a pupil of the Wizard of the Horizon,” Azriel tilted her head. “You don’t have to be a pupil of the Horizon to join the aAurora Society, do you?”

The Duchess closed her mouth. As if she was trying to recover her calmness, she patted her forehead with her hand in a lace glove. And she turned her attention to her daughter who had fallen asleep on Azriel’s lap. “…Right. That’s actually not an important matter.”

She stared at Azriel directly and continued. “Can you stop the occurrence of magic even if my daughter speaks? With mana interference?”

“Yes, I can,” Azriel replied.

The Duchess sprang up from her seat. She grasped the skirt of her dress with both hands and bent her waist deeply towards Azriel to the point the necklace on her face also hung below. She then slightly bent her knees. Azriel was startled. Having had worked for nobles, she knew what such a gesture from a noble lady meant. It was an extreme respect that was shown in front of a king. Such a salutation was never meant for common people. Not minding whether Azriel was surprised, the Duchess of Rudimna opened her mouth in the same posture, not straightening her waist. “I am Edith Modjankle von Rudimna, and the Duchess of Rudimna. Miss Azriel Esthera, I ardently ask of you. Please help my daughter.”

“Umm, well, please get up first—”

“I will do whatever I can do. I will give you anything that we can provide from the family of the Duke of Rudimna. So, please…,” a tear dropped from her lowered face. Azriel vacantly looked at the tear stain left on the floor. “Please, please, please save my poor child.”

She sounded like she was barely fighting back tears. Just in the hope that she could help her daughter, the Duchess from the royal family was pleading with an unknown commoner wizard. Azriel was lost for words. That’s how a mother loves her daughter. She tried to stand up to stop the Duchess but paused. She could not get up because of Sophinea who had fallen asleep on her lap. “I don’t actually know the cure. I can neither guarantee that I’ll be of help nor continue to be by her side and suppress her mana.”

The Duchess lifted her head. Her eyes were filled with tears, affection, and pleas. Azriel remembered her mother’s eyes that looked down at her as if looking at filth.

‘It’s too… different.’

Not every parent loved her child unconditionally. Such did not form automatically, and not everyone could have it. Azriel knew it well because she had never received it. Parental love was truly cherishable and valuable. Thus, she did not want to see those eyes turn sad just like how she did not want to let go of the scar-filled hand that was clasping her hem.

“…Don’t expect too much from me,” Azriel opened her mouth.

“That means…,” the Duchess asked.

“I can’t promise that I can help with anything.”

The Duchess’ face slowly brightened. Azriel smiled slightly and continued. “But I will help to my best ability.”

“Thank you, Miss Esthera. I, I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart…!” the Duchess dabbed her tears with her gloved hand. Even though she dabbed several times, her tears did not stop. “Oh, no. This… doesn’t stop…”