Chapter 97 - A Chance Encounter

“I feel bad for doing what I want to do when I said I would repay you…”

“Maylie, I didn’t help you wanting to get repaid. That’s the same for you, too, right? If you thought of the aftermath, you wouldn’t have tried to rescue me at Colte Castle.”

Maylie was silent.

“We didn’t become friends to nitpick such things. So don’t!” she grabbed Maylie’s shoulders and turned her around. “If you do want to repay me nevertheless, repay me by becoming an amazing reporter.”

“Azriel…,” Maylie’s eyes welled up.

Azriel pushed her, clicking her tongue. “Hurry and go talk to that reporter.”

“Okay, okay! Thank you!” Maylie hugged Azriel tightly and leaped with excitement before she ran away in an instant.

“Oh, I said it’s not something you should thank me…,” watching the retreating red hair, Azriel murmured to herself, Azriel murmured. It was all thanks to Rhema that she could help her friend as much as she wanted. It was all thanks to him that she became a wizard and was living a happy life as well.

‘So, I’m okay with whatever secret Rhema has. I will surely become a wizard similar to him and…,’ with such thoughts in her mind, Azriel opened the door to the society. At that moment, the door suddenly swung open inward. “Eek!”

“Oops,” someone caught her as she was about to fall forward. “Are you okay?”

It was a hooded man. Azriel straightened her body and lifted her chin. She met the eyes under the hood.

“…!” Azriel was surprised.

The bright blue eyes, dazzling blond hair… Though he had changed from a boy into a young man with the passing time, those two things were still the same. She had not spent a long period of time with him, but it was a very powerful memory. Azriel recognized who he was at a glance. And, he, too, recognized her at a glance.

“What am I supposed to do if you go ahead of me like this, Your Majes…!”

Someone approached him from behind, startled, and shut his mouth after discovering her. Azriel took a step back. What should I say? She was lost for words as she had never imagined that she would run into him like this, no, she had never imagined that she would see him again in the first place. As if it was the same for the man as well, he stood vacantly, not able to take his hand back which he raised to catch her. The person who came calling the man looked strangely at them who stood still facing each other. “Young Master, do you know this lady?”

The man’s eyes shook hard under the hood. He moved his lips as if he did not know what to say. At last, it was Azriel who first spoke. “It’s been a long time. Have you been well?”

“…Nine years, is it?” The man murmured in a slightly choked voice. Then, he breathed in deeply, which made his chest heave. “It’s been long, Azriel Esthera.”

“Yes, Sir Charles,” after answering reflectively, Azriel corrected herself. “…No, Prince? No… Your Highness the King…?”

“Charles is enough from you,” he put on a bitter smile. Nine years ago, the boy crown prince who was kidnapped by Marquis Ederick with Azriel was standing in front of her as a young king now.

*

There were many sealed rooms in the underground tower of the Aurora Society as it was underground. Azriel sat down face to face with Charles in a reception room for important visitors among them. The man who seemed to be Charles’ subordinate stood in one corner with his hood pulled down on his face.

“Who is that gentleman?” Azriel asked.

“That is my guard, Ash von Madriol. He is more of my shadow,” Charles replied.

“I see,” Azriel was a little surprised to hear it.

‘Madriol? It’s one of the two greatest Dukes of Aucandor,’ she thought. He must not be the successor, but still having a Madriol as his private guard showed the standing of the man in front of her. ‘The king…’

His rank would not have allowed her to even look at him, let alone sitting face to face, if she was still a whipping child of the family of Count Colte. Of course, Azriel now barely cared about such status. Her life had strayed too much from the general track to do so. She thoroughly observed the man before her. Charlene Modjankle de Aucandor, 23-year-old young king of Aucandor. He subdued a revolt of Marquis Ederick at the age of 14 before ascending a throne and had been reigning for 9 years. The public regarded him as a skilled swordsman and a competent monarch. His major achievement was abolishment of slavery, reorganization of magic communication system, development of sea route and antipiracy, invigoration of entrepot trade as a result of that, and so on.

In general, the only complaint people had for this king was this: ‘It’s been so long ago since our king reached the age of majority. Why isn’t he greeting the queen already? I hope His Majesty gets married quickly.’

Azriel recalled the common knowledge she roughly knew from hearing others. Then she suddenly remembered something. It was something that she realized while retracing her memories of childhood after they had come back. It was the incident in which rebel forces were annihilated overnight. It was an incident that made rumors spread that God’s blessing was upon the young king of Aucandor among people who did not know the behind story. ‘At the time… Rhema must’ve killed all the people who were there. Those were rebel forces by chance.’

It was a result that she implied that she did not have anyone else that she wanted to save except for Charles. Azriel now knew about Rhema to some degree. Rhema probably was not interested in who they were. What he considered was that they belonged to the group which tried to hurt her. ‘If those who were there were not rebel forces…’

People who just happened to be there could have died, just like how Rhema saved people who happened to be there by changing the course of the tsunami. Feeling chilly all of a sudden, Azriel shivered slightly.

“Are you cold?” Charles asked.

“N, no,” she answered.

There was silence after an awkward and short exchange of question and answer. Charles hesitated and carefully opened his mouth.

“…Azriel Esthera. I was indebted to you beyond words at the time. And yet, I only caused you trouble, let alone thanking you properly,” he said as he deeply lowered his head.