Chapter 36
Cough, cough!
“I’m all right,” Eliana said, covering her mouth with a handkerchief as she gently stopped Michalis.
“Please, drink the water more slowly.”
In truth, there was a specific reason why Michalis was letting go of his pride and acting like such a lovesick fool.
‘There are far too many unmarried sons in this house.’
The fact that there were three eligible bachelors under one roof was the single most unpleasant thing about Count Espensen’s estate.
‘Any one of them could turn into a meddling nuisance.’
He was making it clear to everyone that Eliana already had a husband—to firmly ward off any unwanted pests.
This was the method he had chosen to keep Eliana from leaving:
[Method 2. Leave no room for possibility.]
In other words, pest control.
He had to preemptively block any pesky insects from fluttering too close to Eliana’s heart.
“Um… Duchess, may I ask how long you’ll be staying in Wespa?”
As Eliana finally got her coughing under control, Freya’s voice reached her ears.
“I plan to stay in Wespa throughout the month of June.”
“Oh! That’s wonderful! We’ll get to see each other often then,” Freya said, beaming with joy.
‘Yes. I’ll have to kill her before June ends.’
Her chilling thought was masked perfectly by her radiant expression.
‘She’s probably just as desperate to get rid of me before the month is over.’
The bait had been cast. Now it was Freya’s turn to make a move.
“Actually, since we’re on the subject… there’s a beautiful lake just thirty minutes away by carriage. Would you like to join me for a picnic by the water, Duchess?”
“A picnic in Wespa? That sounds lovely. I’d be delighted.”
With a cheerful smile, Eliana eagerly took the bait Freya had thrown her way.
“Eliana, while you’re staying in Wespa, feel free to enjoy tea parties or picnics as much as you like.”
Michalis nodded in agreement, offering his support.
If Eliana wanted to engage in social activities, he had every intention of helping her do so.
“Actually, there’s a business matter I’d like to discuss with the Count.”
As the banquet reached its peak, Michalis turned to Count Espensen and opened the conversation.
“A business matter, you say…? What sort of matter is it?”
“I’ve heard there’s a magic stone mine within your territory. I’d like to propose a direct transaction—without going through the trade guilds.”
“Ah, in that case, why don’t we continue this conversation in a more private setting after the banquet?”
The Count smiled, clearly pleased with the proposal.
He hadn’t invited the Duke and Duchess of Ascher solely because of his daughter’s request.
‘This might turn out easier than I expected.’
Count Espensen was eager to pull Michalis into his political faction.
If the House of Ascher, long known for its neutrality, shifted to support the noble faction, it would be a tremendous boost in his efforts to make his daughter the Crown Princess.
Later…
“Let us move to another room for more personal conversation,” Count Espensen suggested once the dinner had concluded, taking the lead in proposing tea.
‘Nothing particularly suspicious on the way so far… Dream, end real-time image search.’
[Ending real-time image search. Remaining time: 40 minutes.]
Eliana sat across from Freya in the drawing room on the first floor, briefly ending the visual scan she’d had running in the background.
The areas scanned so far were limited to the lobby, banquet hall, drawing room, and a few corridors. Only a fraction of the estate.
“Freya, may I borrow the powder room for a moment?”
Eliana asked naturally, taking a sip of tea.
“Of course, anytime. Jessi, please escort the Duchess to the powder room.”
“Thank you, Freya.”
Eliana offered a pleasant smile, picked up the small clutch she had set beside her, and stood.
It was time to begin a more active investigation.
“This way, Duchess. Please follow me,” Jessi said politely.
Once inside the powder room alone, Eliana finally allowed herself to breathe.
“Hoo… Was I too tense?”
But there was no time for relief.
She immediately opened her clutch and pulled out a carefully prepared magic card.
“Imperial Time Stop.”
The moment she whispered the activation phrase, the mana stone embedded in the center of the card shattered with a sharp crack.
Time came to a halt.
“Ugh…”
The only high-grade mana stone she had was now destroyed. The ache in her heart was real.
Time magic was among the highest tier. Even with a mana stone costing 400 million Rium, the time it could hold was limited to just 30 minutes.
‘Dream, open a 30-minute countdown window.’
[29:59… 29:50… 29:40…]
This was Eliana’s own 30-minute window—purchased with no small cost.
“Imperial Search Magic.”
Watching the seconds tick down, she wasted no time in activating the next card.
Time constraints required aggressive resource use.
A magic to detect other magic.
The moment the incantation ended, a red beam of light shot outward from beneath her feet, spreading quickly.
‘So this is what it’s like in a family that owns a magic stone mine…’
A slight complication arose.
There were far more magical traces in the mansion than she’d expected.
‘At this point, speed is all I can rely on.’
The timer was ticking down rapidly—there was no time left to think.
Search Magic only revealed the location of magic; all she could do now was begin checking them one by one, starting from the closest.
Tap, tap, tap.
Eliana burst out of the powder room and immediately took off running.
‘Dream, activate real-time image search!’
To save time from manually scanning each item, she turned the real-time search function back on.
“Haa… Haa… Ugh, my pathetic stamina… Haa…”
She hadn’t even run 100 meters, yet her stomach throbbed as if it might tear apart from the post-meal sprint, and her heart pounded like it was about to burst.
“Ow… I’m dying… Haa, haa…”
After checking a few minor magical items—like the hot water system and a magical alarm clock—Eliana finally arrived at a room located at the center of the third floor.
‘This must be the Count’s office.’
The door, more intricately carved than any she’d seen so far, stood firmly shut. Only here did the search magic detect two magical presences.
Click.
Luckily, it wasn’t locked. The door opened smoothly.
“…Huh?”
Eliana stepped inside what she assumed to be Count Espensen’s office and was momentarily confused.
Two strands of red light from her search magic converged in the center of the office floor… but nothing was visible.
‘Is it hidden by an invisibility spell?’
“Haa… Haa…”
Catching her breath, Eliana rummaged through her clutch and pulled out a magic card.
“Imperial Dispel Magic.”
It was a dispel card she’d brought specifically to counteract the time-reversal spell.
Fortunately, her hunch was right. As the dispel magic activated, the invisibility spell broke—revealing a previously hidden magic circle etched into the floor.
“Haa… Haa… This is…”
Thanks to the ongoing real-time search, she could instantly see the magic circle’s function.
[Image Search Results]
Name: Amplification Magic Circle (Magic Amplifier)
Function: Increases the effect of a linked spell tenfold
Rank: A+
Creator: Karahan Espensen
Remaining Links: 1/1
Note: Currently in use. Usable after unlinking.
“…This isn’t a time-reversal magic circle.”
Eliana’s initial disappointment didn’t last long. As she continued reading the details, her eyes widened.
The name. It was eerily familiar.
“Karahan? Karahan the Pink Mage?! What are you doing here?!”
Karahan—the notorious developer of the pink lightning spell—was listed as the creator of the circle in the Count’s office.
‘He’s from this family?!’
She had always thought of Karahan as an eccentric, wandering Archmage with a love for all things pink—but to think he was actually from House Espensen.
‘Then the time-reversal spell must be Karahan’s work too…’
Eliana felt like she had just taken one step closer to uncovering the truth behind the mysterious spell.
‘The spell linked to this amplifier… it must be the time-reversal spell.’
A spell powerful enough to send someone back ten whole years could never be an ordinary spell.
They must have used a one-year time-reversal spell and amplified it tenfold using this circle.
She stared at the magic circle with a complicated expression, then checked the countdown timer on the popup window.
[14:28]
She had a hunch now where the actual time-reversal circle would be.
‘Freya’s bedroom.’
That was where Freya always woke up after returning from the past in the original novel, The Broken Clockwork Doll.
Time was still ticking.
Eliana quickly reached into her clutch, pulling out a blank magic card and pen.
‘This is bad—I’m running out of time.’
As urgent as it was, she couldn’t just leave the Count’s office with a fully exposed magic circle sitting out in the open.
‘Dream, end real-time image search. Show me page 4 of the spellbook <Blackrock>.’
[Search complete.]
‘Next page. And next… There it is—go to page 230.’
With trembling hands, Eliana did her best to stay calm as she began drawing an invisibility spell on the floor.
“Imperial Invisibility.”
There wasn’t even time to properly attach a mana stone.
She placed the card directly onto the floor, quickly set a lower-grade mana stone on top, and chanted the activation phrase.
Whoosh.
The magic circle that had been glaringly visible on the office floor vanished without a trace—like it had never been there at all.
[3:25]
‘I wasted ten whole minutes drawing this spell…’
Eliana checked the remaining time on the popup window and quickly gathered the materials from the office floor, stuffing them back into her clutch as she stood.
Even getting back to the powder room on the second floor was going to be tight.
‘There’s no helping it… I’ll have to take down the time-reversal magic another day.’
“Haa… Haa… Ugh, I feel like I’m going to throw up…”
She sprinted from the Count’s office back to the powder room and collapsed onto the vanity chair, gasping for breath.
[00:17]
‘That was way too close… Ugh, look at me—what a mess.’
As she panted for air, Eliana caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and flinched.
After running around with zero stamina, her face looked like it really needed makeup.
‘At this point, I’ll need a reason to get into Freya’s bedroom…’
Calming her breath, she gently patted the sweat from her forehead with her handkerchief and fell into thought.
‘Something like… a pajama party? Or maybe a visit while she’s ill?’
