NOVEL NEXT chapter 38
38 – Leaf-7
“Did you go? Hey, did you go?”
“…He left. You are watching, too.”
The princess answered Xenia’s question with a faint smile.
“Huh, you didn’t get caught, right? He’s not acting strange or anything, is he?”
Xenia, who had lifted her hiding spell, trembled and opened her mouth.
“I guess not.”
“Phew, I thought something really big was going to happen.”
Wiping the sweat from her forehead, Xenia slightly raised her head and looked up at her princess.
“Are you okay?”
“Well, I’m more curious about your attitude. Why are you afraid of him?”
“No, then you’re not scared? Well, even though it’s insignificant compared to me… It’s real.”
Xenia still remembered the magical energy he unleashed during the tournament.
“No warlock I know has been able to emit such strong magical energy.”
“I was like that too. But that’s just because our insight is lacking.”
“He will definitely be a great villain on a level beyond our imagination.”
“Couldn’t his hatred and anger be the driving force of his power? I heard that warlocks usually move like that.”
“There are degrees to that too!”
There was a huge difference between black magic and magic, but Xenia was basically knowledgeable.
Although she was not a person who could manipulate demonic energy, she was wise enough not to be fooled by his deception.
“He must have committed great evil. But do you know what’s scarier? We don’t know him!”
“What do you mean by that?”
“We don’t know! Even though Catherine committed a great crime, we do know how and what crime she committed, right?”
“…”
“He must have massacred prisoners and criminals, or, since he had a lot of money, he supported bandits and plundered civilians! That’s all! But that man… Ugh! I don’t know! I don’t know! I don’t know anything!”
Madness and magic were indispensable friends, and it was no different even for a skilled wizard like Xenia.
The princess was smiling leisurely and looking at Xenia, who was going crazy.
“You don’t know? What on earth have you done? Did you at least destroy the empire?”
“…That’s it.”
“In fact, aren’t we all dead because of that man’s evil deeds? Maybe we’re just floating around in our brains, hallucinating that we’re in an academy…”
“You’re thinking too much, Xenia.”
“You’re so thoughtless! You’re the princess, right? You should be a little suspicious!”
Xenia could not hide her frustration and used her anger towards the princess.
“Why?”
“Doubt it! There’s no way a handsome man like that, who ‘accidentally’ had strong emotional power, ‘just so happened’ to help you!”
“I’m the princess?”
“Ugh… I always hated you for being so confident!”
Although it was a verbal abuse, it was just one of the common conversations between them.
“Even if it’s not something I’m worried about, it’s obvious that my intentions are impure, right? Putting everything else aside, shouldn’t I be worried about whether or not she’s a beautiful woman?”
“I have no intention of doing so. I am a person who knows how to distinguish between public and private matters. Someday, my father will choose my fiancé.”
“Let’s start dating!!! Let’s learn about the human heart!!!”
As if her main audience had been turned over, Xenia seemed to be spewing out her words to get her angry.
“Calm down. You should have some tea too.”
“Oh, no. This works so well that I promised myself I would only take it when I was working…”
But whether her body was honest, or perhaps she could not bear the rising scent, Xenia’s hand was moving towards the teacup handed to her by the princess.
“Ugh…”
With her sipping sound, Xenia’s tongue touched her tea.
“Whoa, ah… Let’s calm down, let’s calm down…”
“Yes, you are good. Our Xenia. Are you good?”
“I’m not a kid…”
Xenia pursed her lips, but she didn’t look as angry as she had hitherto been.
“Anyway, the question doesn’t go away. Why do you trust this man so much?”
“You didn’t listen either. It’s because you want to believe.”
“Because I want to believe…?”
The princess smiled leisurely.
“As you said, he has a pretty decent appearance… Above all, he is a ‘soulful’ warlock with courage and determination.”
“…”
“Until I joined the academy, warlocks were just targets to kill.”
The princess looked down at the sword she always wore.
A knife with a lot of blood on it, which will probably never be erased by the smell of blood.
“There was no need to listen to their excuses or stories. There was no need to look at their circumstances or tolerate that they were still breathing. Just kill them. That’s what I thought.”
“There are some warlocks in the Empire, right?”
“I never met them. They didn’t have a high enough status to dare to look the ‘princess’ in the eye.”
“That’s right. In fact, if you look at three warlocks who live by the law, that’s it.”
Not all warlocks are criminals. The public perception was that way.
Some people chose the path of black magic to block external enemies, while others made painful choices to defeat monsters.
However, they cannot become stronger beyond a certain level. The fact that there are limited ways to accumulate evil does not mean that there is a fundamental brake on their growth.
“Furthermore, they also have not been able to clearly state what is evil and what is good.”
Deep hatred was engraved in the princess’s eyes, which became clear with the scent of her tea.
“Every time they condemned evil and hated it, they were afraid instead of sympathizing with it. Whenever they praised and encouraged goodness, they found a flaw as small as a speck of dust and criticized it.”
“Well, it’s usually like that.”
Xenia shrugged her shoulders.
“They are just cowards. The Empire is still strong enough, so it’s a shame to have to borrow their power. They are something that will have to disappear someday. That’s what I thought.”
The princess’s anti-black magic tendencies were already widely known. Her quarrel with Katharine was something that had already been predicted.
“But, he was different. He didn’t say anything great… But he was so ordinary. That’s how he talked and acted.”
To Eurishia, a warlock was nothing more than a devil in human form. It was necessary to kill as many people as possible, or at least it was a harm that should be excluded from her community.
Nevertheless, the rules of the academy were strict. No matter how much she is the princess, she can’t say, ‘I have to go to the academy, so please kick out all the warlocks.’
The princess tried everything she could to avoid taking the same classes as them, but it was pointless. Eventually she had to break her stubbornness.
“It’s okay not to hate, it’s okay to trust… That kind of warlock has appeared.”
“Is that all?”
“What a joy this was. I no longer need to hate all warlocks, and I can find a friend I can trust.”
Xenia nodded her head. Yurysia was her old friend of Xenia, but Xenia always thought that she was a friend undeserving of her.
It is not a status. Personality is different. The personality is different.
“She hated because it was necessary. As a princess who was supposed to rule the empire with goodness and be an example to all her people, she couldn’t help but hate them.”
“…”
“But, how painful it was. To have to cause pain, hate, loathe, and be angry at someone.”
Despite the deep anger engraved in her heart, the princess did not enjoy it. She tried to avoid it as much as possible, and she was genuinely happy when situations arose that she could avoid.
“If he doesn’t change, if Wade is someone I can really trust, I can keep this happiness. I want to. I want that.”
Because I want to believe, I believe.
Despite the majesty of her body, she liked people more than dogs who jumped up and stuck out their tongues.
She wanted to love. She wanted to laugh. She wanted to be helpful to others, and she wanted to make others happy.
“There can be good warlocks. It is not the inherent problem of magic that makes them evil. The evil of the warlocks I have seen is nothing more than personal wickedness…”
The princess lightly sipped her tea and continued her words.
“As long as I see him, I can believe them.”
Emotions were a more powerful motivation than anything else. That’s why the princess trusted Wade.
“I don’t know. I guess you have to hope that he doesn’t betray you. Well, he seemed smart… and he must have some ambitions. Don’t worry… will it work?”
Xenia tilted her head as if she were worried.
“I just hope so.”
Wade was also not the ‘first warlock’ that the princess believed. And he probably won’t be the last warlock. Even if he betrays her.
The princess trusted people very easily, and she was betrayed just as easily. She just believed and believed without giving in to the pain.
“Well, it’s okay! If he harasses our Yurishia, I’ll give him a real scolding!”
Xenia clenched her fists and strengthened her will.
She was a princess who was a head or two taller than her and exuded majesty just by sitting down, but Yurishia, as ‘her friend’, was just an innocent girl who looked very dangerous. .
“Yes, I believe it.”
Still, that smile was beautiful. She was worth keeping.