Never Saved You

It was only after a slight pause that Verlan replied, looking as if he was trying not to let his expression distort.

“…It’s a pleasure to hear that everyone’s doing well.”

“That’s right. Even so, you’ve brought a lot of priests with you, Bishop, so it would be best to let only about a third of them stay. You may send the rest back.”

There’s no need for so many priests in this place.

Ophelia pressured him further with a smile on her face, and at this, Verlan’s brows furrowed slightly.

Even at a single glance, it was a face full of discontent.

“Perhaps it’s a bit much to say that there’s no need for God’s emissaries.”

“Then shall I say that there’s just a surplus of manpower right now?”

“Wouldn’t it be best to send the mages back? Now that they’ve done enough, isn’t it time for them to take a step back?”

“I don’t see a reason for that.”

To be exact, she was doing this because it would become troublesome if Verlan’s influence would take root here. He’d be in her way later.

‘He’s already enough of a hindrance now, but with more power, he’ll be twice as troublesome.’

In the end, Ophelia was only able to finally make the annoying Lilith through Sante.

For a siren like him, it was easier than one flick of a finger to charm a single person like Lilith.

—The greedier a person is, the easier they’ll fall under the enchantment. And she’s a lot greedier than she looks.

Sante said this after coming back from putting Lilith under a light brainwashing spell.

‘But the same thing can’t be done with Bishop Verlan.’

The result couldn’t be guaranteed. If they get caught after one small misstep, not only would she alone be at risk, but even Sante would be in danger.

Ophelia’s plan was at a standstill.

One or the other had to happen—for her to meet Ariel in order to locate the tower herself, or wait until Alei would regain a little more of his memory and proceed from there.

‘The matter of Ariel’s scale can be settled later.’

If either of these two things could be done, then Ophelia could leave right away.

But she didn’t expect such a nuisance to stand in her way.

Once more, Ophelia concluded.

“At the very least, there is no place in Ladeen that is in need of the temple’s aid. Of course, I won’t stop you if you wish to reach out to the poor and needy and do some volunteer work, but if you need to push out someone else just for your volunteer work to happen, then it would be best for you to return.”

At Ophelia’s direct remarks, Verlan did not respond immediately. He only stared at the other person sitting in front of him.

Like he was sizing her up.

He observed her for quite a while. It wasn’t until a while later that he spoke again.

“…I hear what you are saying, Your Highness. But the mages that Your Highness has been associating with are all from the den of heretics.”

“That’s nothing but slander. One person is from Ronen and the other is a mage affiliated with the Imperial Palace.”

“That man’s identity is uncertain, and despite his age, he’s still a mage of the lowest rank in the Imperial Palace.”

“That’s not what I am referring to, but this is also a fact that I haven’t known for very long. Then, are you claiming that he is a mage from the magic tower?”

“I am only bringing up the rumors I’ve heard saying so.”

Velran continued speaking, a smile on his lips.

“In the name of L’Haille, I shall not sit idly by if I witness anything at all that should cast suspicion upon them.”

Therefore, Your Highness the Imperial Princess, you must behave well.

Ophelia frowned at the unsaid addition.

Of course, nowadays, it was less common for the people of the temple to persecute the mages just based on the grounds of heresy, but with Velran’s belief in his religion going near the level of madness, he could make up a crime that wasn’t there in the first place.

Only the blatant label of ‘persecution’ would disappear despite his actions.

“The other mages do not belong to Milescet. So, at any rate, they can leave.”

Just not Alei.

This affected Ophelia, and nausea suddenly rushed over her. The hand on her thigh clenched tightly.

She couldn’t let this happen.

She couldn’t stand any situation where someone else would be harmed because of her.

Besides, he was the only one beside her who she could trust…

‘I’d rather let Alei escape by himself.’

Firstly, she should make sure that Alei and Velran would not ever meet.

The moment Ophelia concluded as such, she rose from her seat.

Knock, knock.

But there was a knock on the door.

“Are you there, Ophelia?”

And it was the dry tone that she’s gotten so used to already.

A deep sense of frustration rose up Ophelia’s spine.

‘Why all of a sudden.’

Alei was standing outside her door right now.

* * *

A while ago, just when he was about to turn in for the day, Alei was transferred to another place to renovate a stone building in the middle of a mountain. It’s supposed to be a temporary temple.

In fact, for someone to ask a mage to help the temple was no different than asking a mouse to help a cat. Any mage would have the same reaction.

But there was a simple reason why Alei was called for this task.

“Alei, I heard that a mage is needed to break down the walls and renovate the temporary temple. I think you have to go.”

“Is that an order?”

“I’m afraid there’s not enough reason to refuse. Most of all, they practically asked for you themselves.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever done anything to get their attention.”

“Of course. They chose you because you have the lowest rank.”

Among the three mages staying in Ladeen at the moment, Alei was the most powerful one. But funnily enough, to anyone who didn’t know him, people thought the opposite.

Yennit and Cornelli used their magic without hiding their abilities, but thus far, Alei had been adjusting his strength to a certain extent to match his identity as a mage of the lowest rank.

Though even with that kind of adjustment, he could still calm the ocean with one simple gesture, so people might think there’s no meaning to his restraint. But still, the public’s eye was focused on the name they were more familiar with.

It was not so easy to approach Cornelli when he was running the treatment center, nor was it easy to talk to Yennit when she was assisting with the road construction. In comparison, it was much easier to approach Alei when he was only a mage of the lowest rank from the imperial palace.

Thanks to this, despite the irony of it all, the most powerful mage currently residing in Ladeen was the one who’s called to renovate the temporary temple just because he looked to be the weakest.

Of course, he was tempted to just teleport there a few times and come back casually.

But there were a lot of eyes around him.

And there was one particularly troublesome man keeping watch over him.

Ian Carle Ronen.

He was being a hindrance today, too.

He wandered off and came to the temporary temple, seemingly talking to the priests and the bishops. But Alei arrived from Ladeen Castle, Ian immediately picked a fight.

“It looks like a mage is here to help build the temple, but I wonder. He might break it down somewhere on purpose.”

His way of speaking was still belligerent. Over the angular lines that his features would show, with his well-toned muscles and distinctly authoritative atmosphere, Ian presented a rather obtuse and heavy air to him. Nevertheless, this keen sense of sharpness just showed how hostile he was to Alei.

In Alei’s view, Ian was just being utterly ridiculous.

‘I didn’t know you’d be as half-witted as this.’

Of course, Alei knew that Ian couldn’t react right away to his attack the last time because it was done so suddenly. Even so, since he had been subjected to such a tremendous force, you’d think that it would dampen his spirits for even just a little bit. On the contrary, it’s strange how it seemed to fuel his madness even more.

And Alei couldn’t completely ignore him.

This was due to Ophelia’s request.

“Before I forget to mention, Alei. I heard that Ian was going to the temporary temple to meet the priests today. It’s clear that you’ll cross paths, so you should be careful.”

“You mean to say I should be careful and not get involved since he knows who I really am?”

Alei already heard from Ophelia that Ian knew about him.

Ian called him Alejandro, so it would have made more sense to say that he couldn’t not have known.

But surprisingly, Ophelia’s answer was the opposite.

“That’s not it. If he wants to attack you over his matter, he would have already done it sooner.”

In the end, Ian had convinced Lilith to send a letter to the imperial palace to confirm Alei’s identity.

But Ian had been very quiet since that day.

If not for seeing him come out the door, it might be better to say that he was ‘calm’.

‘No. There was one incident.’

It happened around the same time when more of Alei’s memories came back like a tidal wave, just before Ophelia called Sante in.