Chapter 86

“Why don’t we head back to the Grand Duke’s castle first?”

 

Caldeon asked Enria.

 

“To the Grand Duke’s castle?”

 

“Yes. Rahar’s wind spirit is awake now, and I’ve prepared a place in the castle where you and Hayden can stay safely.”

 

Caldeon explained that ever since the day Enria and Hayden left for the spirit village, he had infused black mana into various parts of the castle walls to prepare for a dark sorcerer’s attack.

 

“It’s not something we can be completely at ease about, but after going through all this… it feels like it’s better if we’re together.”

 

If danger happened right in front of him, he would at least be there to protect them with his life. Being apart only made him anxious at every moment, unable to focus on anything. And on top of that, being separated seemed to keep causing these troublesome incidents. As he said this, Caldeon glanced at Belona.

 

She sat blankly, as if in shock, staring vacantly out the window.

 

Caldeon turned his gaze back to Enria.

 

“And there’s no telling when she might mistake me for the Tower Master’s son again. It’s better if you stay next to me.”

 

Enria looked at Belona. At first, she had been angry from jealousy, but thinking about it again, Belona was the truly pitiful one.

 

She had seen Groen die right before her eyes with his soul devoured, and she had half her own soul eaten as well. And because of the trauma, she couldn’t even remember Groen’s death, mistaking Caldeon—who had preserved the remaining half of her soul—for Groen.

 

Enria suddenly imagined what it would be like if she were in Belona’s place. But before the thought could continue, terror and anxiety swallowed her whole, forcing the image out of her mind.

 

Just imagining it for a second felt like dying of fright. It was better not to imagine it at all.

 

“Yes.”

 

Enria nodded to Caldeon, then cautiously looked toward Belona.

 

“But… Belona’s condition. Do you think she’ll improve?”

 

 

***

 

 

Rahar pointed at Belona in surprise, and Belona flinched, recoiling from him. She followed Silri, but unlike with Caldeon earlier, she didn’t cling to Silri or hide behind her. That alone showed how confused she was — realizing that the Groen she knew had never truly been Groen at all.

 

“Has Belona regained her memory?”

 

Roseanne, who had run straight to Enria the moment she saw her — taking both her hands and saying she missed her — looked at Belona and asked.

 

Caldeon shook his head instead of answering, so the task of supplementing that unkind response naturally fell on Enria.

 

She whispered softly, quietly enough for only Roseanne to hear.

 

“She remembered Hayden. And when Hayden said Caldeon was his dad, that’s when she started getting confused.”

 

“Ah…”

 

“Anyway, thanks to Hayden, she did at least realize Caldeon isn’t Groen and released the light magic she’d forced over his body… but she still looks like she doesn’t understand anything.”

 

“Right. She probably can’t make sense of the situation at all.”

 

Roseanne also whispered back, looking at Belona with a slightly heavy expression.

 

Belona surveyed the unfamiliar surroundings, eyes darting around as if the place felt completely foreign.

 

“She only remembers Hayden?”

 

Roseanne kept her gaze on Belona as she murmured the question. Enria answered with a small nod. Talking too much about Belona while she was right there felt rude, so she held her tongue. Roseanne seemed to sense the same and dropped the topic as well.

 

“How’s your body? Feeling better?”

 

She changed the subject, asking about Silri instead. Silri nodded and said she was fully healed thanks to the recovery magic Enria and Hayden had used. Roseanne’s eyes widened.

 

“Hayden can use recovery magic?”

 

“Yeah. I think it’s because he has holy power.”

 

“Even so, you still need to learn the spell formula to use recovery magic, don’t you?”

 

There were even saintesses in the Great Sanctuary who couldn’t use recovery spells because they hadn’t mastered the formulas.

 

“I was surprised too. But seeing how he freely uses black mana, I think he can probably use holy power just as effortlessly.”

 

Feeling a little awkward bragging about her own child, Enria glanced at Hayden, who was still in Caldeon’s arms.

 

Roseanne also looked at Hayden, smiling.

 

“That’s amazing, Hayden.”

 

“Yes. Baby amazing.”

 

“Oh, my goodness!”

 

Roseanne’s eyes widened at Hayden’s perfectly articulated words. Rahar and Tearen were also shocked by how well Hayden suddenly spoke.

 

“What happened while we were gone? How is he talking this well?”

 

Rahar stared with wide eyes. Silri answered with a matter-of-fact expression:

 

“Did you already forget that time flows differently in the spirit village than in the human world?”

 

Though she herself had been shocked hearing Hayden speak immediately after waking, she acted as though she’d known all along.

 

Rahar nodded with an “Ah, right,” and Tearen quietly asked him,

 

“Does staying in the spirit village make you smarter too?”

 

“Smarter? That’s unlikely. If that were true, Enria would already be a world-class genius.”

 

Unlike spirit summoners, who could only enter the village during emergencies, Enria had spent years there. If living there increased intelligence unnaturally, she would have a mind rivaling the gods by now.

 

“It could be possible though, couldn’t it?”

 

“What have you even seen of Enria? If she were that much of a genius, we would’ve noticed.”

 

“Well, there hasn’t been any situation hinting that she might be one.”

 

“A true genius doesn’t need a situation. You’d know after a few conversations. And you have talked with Enria.”

 

Tearen nodded.

 

“I have.”

 

“So—did you ever even once feel like she might be a genius?”

 

“…No.”

 

Listening to them, Enria slowly raised a brow.

 

“Excuse me, you two. You’re saying all that right in front of me. So, you’re dissatisfied that I’m not a genius?”

 

Her annoyed voice made Rahar fluster and shake his head.

 

“No, that’s not it…”

 

“My apologies, Saintess. I was simply curious because the child’s speech improved so suddenly.”

 

“Groen…”

 

Then, after staring around with dazed eyes for a long time, Belona finally turned toward Caldeon and asked, “Where is Groen?”

 

The air instantly dropped to freezing stillness.

 

 

***

 

 

“I can’t tell her.”

 

“Me neither…”

 

After Silri hurriedly took Belona away, Enria’s group gathered to discuss who would explain Groen’s absence to her.

 

With Enria and Roseanne refusing, Tearen and Rahar both turned their eyes toward Caldeon.

 

Their stares made Caldeon — and Enria beside him — frown at the same time.

 

“Me?”

 

“Lord Caldeon?”

 

“You’re the master of the castle, so it should be you.”

 

Rahar blinked awkwardly under their simultaneous questions.

 

“What does the master of the castle have to do with being the one who tells her the truth?”

 

“Caldeon can’t.”

 

The two spoke in perfect unison again, making Rahar blink in surprise.

 

“No, there’s no particular reason but… why can’t Caldeon?”

 

He turned to Enria. She raised a brow sharply.

 

“What if Caldeon tells her the truth and Belona falls into shock again and starts mistaking him for Groen like before? Will you take responsibility for that, Rahar?”

 

Exactly. Exactly. Caldeon nodded with her.

 

Rahar clearly hadn’t considered that possibility. After a moment of flustered silence, he asked cautiously:

 

“But she already knows he’s not Groen. Would she really mistake him again…?”

 

“We don’t know. She’s someone with half her soul missing. We have to consider every possibility.”

 

“…Then what about Tearen—”

 

“Tearen can’t either!”

 

Roseanne cut him off instantly.

 

Rahar stared at Roseanne in shock. Roseanne glanced at Tearen, then told Rahar,

 

“What if Belona mistakes Tearen for Groen? She might bind him with light magic like she did Caldeon.”

 

“…”

 

Tearen nodded thoughtfully. “That could happen.”

 

Rahar’s expression twisted slightly in disbelief as he looked at Tearen. Roseanne said, “Just do it yourself, brother.”