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“……”

Eugene hesitated for a moment, then slightly shook his head.

“My father was kind to me. But I hated the painful rituals, and I hated being alone all the time…”

Rituals!

This was something I had wanted to ask Eugene about for a while. However, since he seemed so unstable, I hadn’t wanted to dredge up those memories. But now that Eugene had brought it up himself, I thought it might be safe to gently probe further.

I carefully watched Eugene as I spoke.

“Do you know what those rituals at the temple were about?”

“The rituals at the temple were… ugh!”

The moment Eugene tried to speak about the rituals, his face turned pale. He clutched his chest, gasping in pain. Alarmed, I grabbed his shoulders.

“Eugene?”

He looked like he could barely breathe, as if he might pass out at any moment. I bit my lip, realizing what was happening.

Some words triggered a severe reaction, almost like a seizure, causing intense pain and an inability to speak.

‘They’ve placed a geas on him.’

It was a form of curse magic.

A geas prevents the subject from speaking about certain topics by inducing intense pain, difficulty breathing, or even causing unconsciousness if they try. It’s a way to force someone into silence.

As a former dark mage, I knew more about curses than the average person. Some individuals could overcome a geas through sheer willpower, but that was extremely rare. The only other way to break it was for the caster to lift the curse or for the caster to die. A geas is considered the ultimate spell for those who need to silence someone but can’t afford to kill them.

Of course, it wasn’t a simple or easy magic to use. All magic requires a balance of give and take, so even the caster of a geas must bear some risk. If the geas is broken, the backlash falls on the caster. The stronger the geas, the greater the backlash, requiring significant resolve from the caster.

‘In other words, the caster was determined to keep him silent, no matter what.’

I gently held Eugene’s face in both hands, forcing him to meet my eyes. Since it seemed he couldn’t talk about the rituals, I needed to redirect his thoughts to something else.

The problem is that the human brain doesn’t understand negation very well. If I said, “Don’t think about an apple!” he would inevitably think about an apple. So, I had to help him focus on something entirely different.

“Eugene, what do you like?”

“Hnnng!”

“Remember that dish we ate together? It was delicious! Let’s eat it again.”

“Ugh…”

As I continued to talk about anything that came to mind, I could feel Eugene’s breathing gradually calm down.

‘I nearly made things worse by pushing too hard…’

Gently patting his back, I apologized softly.

“I’m sorry. You’re okay now. I won’t ask about anything scary anymore.”

Eugene’s breathing had calmed, but he was still trembling. As I quickly stood up, intending to call for a doctor, Eugene grabbed onto my skirt. He didn’t say anything, but I understood what he wanted.

I stopped myself from rushing out and sat back down beside him. As our shoulders touched, sharing body heat, I could feel his trembling gradually subside. Relieved that the crisis had passed, I let out a sigh, which made Eugene flinch and release his tight grip on my skirt.

“Um…”

Eugene hesitated, then handed me the notebook he had been staring at earlier.

“I heard it was your birthday. I wanted to give you a present, but I couldn’t buy anything… so I did some calculations.”

“Calculations?”

“Yes, calculations are my specialty.”

Eugene looked unusually proud as he said this, so I tilted my head in curiosity and took the notebook from him. Flipping through the pages, I saw that they were filled with complex mathematical formulas and calculations.

“What’s this?”

“Well… every night, I’ve been watching the sky and calculating the orbit of a star,” Eugene explained, pointing to the numbers on the page I had opened. “I calculated where it starts, which direction it moves, and how fast. With this notebook, you can find the position of this star anywhere, anytime.”

“Is that really possible?”

“Yes, it is,” Eugene nodded with a small smile, though he soon scratched his cheek in embarrassment. “It’s not a famous star, and it doesn’t even have a name. Most people wouldn’t bother calculating its orbit… so it’s unique. You’re the only one who will know the full path of this star, Reshia.”

I was at a loss for words as I stared at the notebook. Imagining Eugene spending his nights under the sky, carefully recording each calculation in this notebook, filled me with a deep emotion. I realized how touching the pure effort and affection of a child could be. It was a genuine purity, so different from the fake innocence I had shown to adults when I was pretending to be a child.

It felt like I was looking at a son I had raised myself. 

‘How could they treat such a kind child like this?!’

Anger surged within me toward the Duke of Kreutz and the Mad Dragon. I made a silent vow to protect this little one from those awful people.

Clutching the notebook close to my chest, I looked at Eugene.

“But Eugene,” I said.

“Yes?”

“I can’t do calculations. I wouldn’t be able to find the star by myself.”

“!”

Eugene’s eyes widened in surprise, as if he hadn’t considered that. I laughed and patted his head, watching his expression shift from surprise to embarrassment.

“That means you and this notebook are a set! It’s only a gift if I have both. Let’s go stargazing together sometime, okay?”

* * *

‘I couldn’t learn much about the ritual, but I did manage to analyze the flute!’

I headed to Axel’s room, feeling quite pleased with myself.

“Axel! I’m here!”

However, when I confidently walked into the room, I was met with an unexpected sight. Sitting across from Axel was someone I knew all too well—a man with red hair and golden eyes.

‘Servian Kol!’

He was a Spirit Sorcerer, a former comrade from my past life, and also the father of that peculiar little boy, Leonid. I was so shocked that I froze in the doorway, still in the same posture I had been when I opened the door.

‘Wasn’t Servian supposed to be in the Red Desert?’

As I blinked, trying to process what I was seeing, Servian flashed his characteristic sly grin and strode over to me, lifting me up in a big hug.

“So this little Saintess must be our Reshia, right?” he said, tapping the tip of my nose with his finger.

He handled children with the ease of someone who was used to it—likely thanks to having a son of his own. Of course, I wasn’t a typical child, so I didn’t exactly appreciate being treated like one.

“What’s this? Why are you here, Servian? Weren’t you in the Red Desert?”

“Ah,” he said, putting me down as I squirmed, then shrugged. “A sudden sandstorm kicked up in the Red Desert, so I had to return earlier than planned. It’s almost unheard of at this time of year.”

Servian tilted his head, as if puzzled by the unusual event.

“In the end, though, it worked out. I got to see an old friend sooner than expected. It’s just a shame I didn’t manage to gather any rare materials.”

Servian chuckled, glancing at Axel.

“As soon as I got out of the desert, Axel contacted me. Said he had something he wanted me to take a look at.”

“Haah.”

I sighed deeply as I watched Servian extend his hand, clearly expecting to be shown the item in question. If I had known Servian would return from the desert so early, I wouldn’t have bothered buying that magnifying glass!

But it was too late for regrets.

Swallowing my disappointment, I pulled the flute from my pocket and handed it to Servian.

‘Maybe he won’t recognize it either,’ I thought, my eyes wide with anticipation as I waited for his appraisal.

“Hmm…”

Servian examined the flute carefully, a look of interest crossing his face.

“This seems to be made from dragon bone. It’s rare to find a material with this kind of luster and hardness.”