Episode 108

Rainiel really hated when Giselle left the mansion.

Her stubborn insistence on working at the general store also, honestly, didn’t sit well with him.

Outside the mansion, there were too many things that could catch her interest, and too many things that would take an interest in her.

It was already enough for him to tolerate the hideous cursed doll that clung to Giselle’s side.

‘There are too many unnecessary eyes watching.’

Though he didn’t show it, the sight of the Vanhel villagers praising Giselle made him consider locking her up again.

She had poked a hole in his barrier, but that was something he could easily fix by keeping an eye on her.

In his heart of hearts… he honestly wanted to lock her up in a sealed room in the mansion’s basement, where no sunlight could reach, and shackle her.

‘But if I did that, she’d get angry.’

Normally, she was timid and paid attention to everything around her, but when she felt something was wrong, she’d stand up without fear.

And Rainiel didn’t want to achieve his goals at the cost of her anger.

If he had to be honest, this could be seen as him being mindful of her.

‘Because I don’t want to be hated.’

In his entire life, he had never been afraid of being hated by anyone.

‘Hate, huh.’

Rainiel let out a hollow laugh.

With this unexpected realization, an old memory surfaced.

“Rainiel, why don’t you follow the master’s cause? If you keep acting like that, everyone will end up hating you.”

Back when Rainiel lived quietly under Berifin Grind, Viviana would often sigh as she looked at him.

She would tell him that if he didn’t want to be hated, he should cooperate more actively, as if she was giving him some grand advice.

“What’s the problem if everyone hates me?”

“Poor Rainiel! You weren’t raised with love, so you don’t know how happy that makes you.”

“I don’t know. I’m not really curious.”

“It’s okay. I’ll tell you instead. If you behave nicely, everyone, including me, will love you more. Isn’t that something to look forward to?”

Not at all.

Rainiel already knew that his answer didn’t matter much to Viviana. So he stayed silent.

She seemed to take that as agreement.

At that time, Leniel didn’t care what misconceptions Viviana had. What mattered to him was mastering the magic within him.

All he wanted was to know how to use his power.

Berifin Grind and Viviana Charlotte were the ones who could teach him. Their research transcended elemental properties.

If he hadn’t been caught by Viviana practicing magic that day, Rainiel might have stayed with them longer.

“Did the master really teach magic only to you?”

If Viviana hadn’t seen him effortlessly perform the magic she kept failing at.

“How strange. That magic was difficult for me.”

Looking back, Rainiel was young then. So consumed by the fact that he could control magic, maybe he had become arrogant.

He thought he was stronger because he had succeeded in magic Viviana couldn’t, so he was arrogant, thinking he could win no matter what she did.

“Rainiel, you’re more amazing than me! That’s incredible!”

Moreover, he didn’t realize how much craftier Viviana was than he had imagined.

“Aren’t you curious? About the potential of your mana vessel. It’s already incredible as it is, but how much greater could it be if it grew bigger?”

“I was told that mana vessels are something you’re born with.”

“I guess the master didn’t tell you because it’s dangerous. But I actually already know. How to make your mana vessel bigger.”

Young Rainiel felt curious at Viviana’s innocent-sounding words.

“You might be able to get even stronger. Maybe even stronger than the master.”

Rainiel agreed with Viviana’s thoughts. After all, he believed his abilities were quite impressive.

“What’s the way to make the mana vessel bigger?”

“There are two ways. The first is to steal a mana vessel. And the second… is to erode your mana vessel with opposing magic.”

Viviana spoke innocently, like a child showing off knowledge she’d read in a book.

“I can’t do the first one, but I can do the second. Because you’re a dark mage, and I’m a white mage!”

When he thought about it, Rainiel still found it strange.

How had Viviana, at such a young age, shown such an extraordinary acting ability?

“If you get stronger, the master will value you more than he does now. Maybe… you won’t have to suffer anymore.”

Did he hate the pain back then?

Rainiel couldn’t be sure. But what he knew for certain was that he no longer wanted to understand the “value of pain” that Berifin always talked about.

“I’ll help you. We’re friends, right? If you get scared, you can push me away.”

“…Alright.”

That day, Rainiel’s mana vessel broke. It was because the holy power left deep scars in his vessel.

The cracked vessel couldn’t hold mana properly, and Rainiel suffered excruciating pain he had never imagined.

Sensing the mana outburst, Berifin arrived at the scene and was furious to discover that his research subject had been damaged.

He tried to contain Rainiel’s dark magic in any way possible. Berifin’s mistake was underestimating how powerful Rainiel’s abilities truly were.

“Master!”

When Dylan arrived too late, everything was already over.

Rainiel, having roughly repaired his mana vessel with magic stolen from Berifin, fled.

The remaining unstable dark mana swirled around him, and his mana vessel, which seemed like it could break again at any moment, slashed sharply at his chest. He was drenched in cold sweat, as he was forcibly containing an element that wasn’t his.

He needed mana. A lot of it.

Enough mana to suppress and bury the traces of holy power left in his mana vessel.

In a half-dazed state, he teleported and arrived in a city called “Lerin.”

…Perhaps it was around then that he lost his reason.

“Have you come to your senses?”

It was there that Rainiel met Vaidro and Wayne. The two were dark mages who had infiltrated the area to take revenge on a noble who lived in Lerin.

“Because of you, our revenge didn’t even get started.”

As they said that, the two of them appeared both sorrowful and somewhat relieved.

Rainiel heard what he had done in his loss of reason. He didn’t trust the gratitude the two expressed toward him, but he thought meeting them was a stroke of luck.

“In that condition, it’ll be hard for you to hold on alone.”

“We’ll help you. So, will you help us?”

A few days later, Wayne Eyeore, the leader of the dark mages, revealed himself to the world.

“Rainiel.”

The sudden voice interrupted Rainiel’s brief moment of recollection. Rainiel shook off the memory and looked straight ahead.

The flashy knight’s armor Dylan usually wore to show off was nowhere to be seen; he was dressed in a black cloak.

“You seem ill-prepared to take on Vanhel in any way.”

Rainiel twisted his lips in a smirk and taunted Dylan.

Dylan stared at Rainiel quietly, then looked toward Vanhel in the distance behind him.

“A barrier, is it?”

“If you’ve figured it out, then back off. You can’t break it with your power anyway.”

A barrier big enough to surround the city couldn’t be maintained for long. A brute-force barrier like that was for show, not an efficient form of magic.

The mana it consumed was far too great, so keeping it up for too long risked depleting the mana stored in Vanhel.

So Rainiel wanted to get rid of Dylan as quickly as possible.

Though Dylan didn’t seem inclined to follow his wishes.

“Is it your power?”

“You know full well that such a barrier is one of Wayne’s signature spells, don’t you?”

“Wayne Eyeore…”

“Yeah. Shall I bring him to you?”

Though he said that, Rainiel knew the truth.

He knew Dylan hadn’t come to fight.

“I didn’t come to meet him.”

“Then what?”

Dylan’s gaze faltered and then turned back toward Vanhel.

Why? In that moment, Rainiel felt unbearably uncomfortable.

“Did you come to declare war on Vanhel or something? Or did someone send you here with orders?”

Did Viviana send Dylan after figuring out Giselle’s true identity? Or perhaps…

Dylan had secretly been tracking Giselle’s whereabouts behind Viviana’s back for some time.

So wasn’t this covert approach to Vanhel because of Giselle?

The thought ignited a deep-seated murderous rage within him.

Rainiel had already been on edge over Dylan’s incomprehensible actions, so now that Dylan had shown up in person, confirming his suspicions wouldn’t be a bad idea.

Just as Rainiel was about to speak again, Dylan cut in with a blunt voice.

“So Giselle Roycevin is indeed in Vanhel, isn’t she?”

Rainiel suppressed the fire rising in his chest and twisted his mouth in a crooked smirk.

“…What good would it do for you to know?”

“There’s something I want to ask her.”

“Didn’t I tell you? You won’t even see a strand of her hair.”

“She said so herself. That there’s much I don’t know.”

Rainiel frowned at Dylan’s words. Despite his blatant reaction, Dylan calmly continued speaking.

“I just want to hear that answer.”

“If there’s something you don’t know, ask your queen.”

At the mention of Viviana, Dylan pressed his lips together.

In the past, he would have immediately flared up, telling Rainiel not to speak her name.

Rainiel narrowed his eyes at the unusual reaction. It seemed like there had been some kind of rift between the two.

“Is Giselle Roycevin’s strange condition because of the love magic?”

Dylan showed no sign of tiring, his focus still on Giselle. As a result, the sneer that had been on Rainiel’s lips slowly faded.

“Viviana said that she’s targeting you. Trying to lure and manipulate you.”

Viviana was always spouting nonsense whenever she opened her mouth, so it wasn’t particularly surprising she would say such rubbish.

“But I think differently. The Giselle Roycevin I saw was rather…”

“Stop worrying about someone else’s lover.”

Cutting Dylan off, Rainiel released the dark magic swirling in his hand.

“Get lost.”

Dylan stared at the threatening dark magic for a moment before quietly placing his hand on the hilt of his sword.

With that, it was clear he had no intention of backing down quietly.

“Well… I guess I can’t lock her up, so I’ll just have to deal with these nuisances instead.”

Rainiel smiled, baring his teeth, his eyes gleaming with murderous intent.