--------------- ‌
Brought to ‌‌‌you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
--------------- ‌‌‌

Chapter 78
It was a night of thunder and rain.
Selea gazed out the window, her eyes darkening at the sight of the heavy downpour.
The rain had been falling continuously of late.
It would seem ‌‌to ‌‌‌stop briefly, only to pour down again, leaving the earth no chance to dry. ‌‌‌
The soil must have been completely waterlogged—I wondered if the funeral rites had been conducted properly.
Even after several days had passed, no word had reached me.
"Sigh."
She thought of her disciple.
Countess Basilian had died.
House Basilian had refused all ‌‌‌mourners and held the funeral with only direct family present.
I had ‌honestly expected to be summoned, but Kieran did not call for even Selea.
It was not that I felt hurt by this.
I was simply anxious—worried and with no means to see his face.
That disciple of mine was so cold-hearted it seemed as though he had ice ‌lodged where a ‌‌‌‌warm, beating heart should be.
Yet it was this very Kieran who had devoted his entire being to loving his lifelong companion.
My disciple possessed talent enough to shake the continent, yet he chose to shut himself away ‌‌in the Black Forest of the East—a fact that frustrated me, though I understood it well.
Wealth, fame, power...
Such things meant nothing before ‌love.
At least, not to ‌‌‌‌Kieran.
Having lost his parents early, he came to the Ibroyel Duchy Mansion to study magic, then returned to the Eastern Region to quietly inherit the duties of Count Basilian.
He could not have been anything but lonely.
So when that cold man finally found love, I had thought his path ahead would be filled only with happiness...
"...It is far too soon."
How could she depart so early?
Those left behind must ‌‌live their ‌‌‌‌entire lives clinging to fleeting ‌‌memories.
It was truly cruel.
Selea finally closed the book she had been reading.
The words simply would not enter her eyes.
Unable to concentrate, she rose from her chair and paced about the Study.
Crash—thunder rumbled continuously from outside.
That ‌‌was why.
Buried beneath worry, anxiety, and ‌‌the sound of thunder, I had failed to notice the approaching presence.
At some point, the air grew cold, and ‌‌‌the sound of ‌rain outside seemed unnaturally loud.
Creak—the sound of ‌‌‌the window swaying in the wind reached her ears.
Selea turned toward the window and started ‌‌in alarm.
A man in a hooded robe was collapsing through the window into the ‌‌Study.
His body struck the floor with a heavy thud.
Though she ‌‌could not ‌‌see his face, she knew instinctively.
"Kieran!"
I rushed forward and knelt before him.
I grasped the shoulders ‌‌‌‌of the man who had collapsed.
The ‌‌‌hood slipped away, revealing a face drenched in rain.
Kieran's pale face was framed by wet black hair clinging to his skin.
He ‌‌‌looked unusually young and fragile—almost like a boy.
Like the young boy he had been during those days studying magic at the Ibroyel Duchy Mansion.
Water droplets fell from his face in succession.
"Master."
Kieran looked at me ‌‌‌with eyes fractured like shattered glass.
His lips, tinged blue from the cold, trembled.
"Please help me."
This was the first time he had ‌‌‌‌‌ever asked for help—even when his parents died, he had never ‌‌‌‌shown such weakness.
I stared at him with a vacant expression, then slowly lowered my gaze.
"...!"
Kieran's shadow was writhing.
Black darkness poured from Kieran's body in thick waves, expanding the shadow's size with each passing moment.
The way it thrashed about ‌‌of its own accord touched something primal—a visceral fear.
The sight was ‌‌far more sinister than any word could describe.
Goosebumps erupted across my forearms.
I widened my eyes and pressed him urgently.
"You... what have you done!"
The mana that should have been orderly was completely twisted.
This was not the mana of an ordinary mage.
It was the mana of a dark mage.
Kieran trembled faintly.
"I can't control it of my own will. If things continue like this, I'll destroy the entire Eastern Region."
He lifted the hand he had been pressing against the ground.
Dense darkness flowed endlessly ‌‌from his palm.
Kieran pulled his lips upward into a smile.
It was a powerless smile born of habit.
"You would be able to suppress my power, Master."
Kieran had transformed the nature of his mana to become a dark mage.
But with power as exceptional as his, the backlash from such a transformation was equally severe. ‌‌‌‌
That was why he had come to me on the verge of losing control.
The black darkness was like a beast about to rampage at any moment.
I had to suppress the power and contain the runaway mana.
It was an urgent situation, yet I could say nothing.
I stared at him blankly, then muttered as though spitting blood.
"You... you've gone mad. You're not in your right mind..."
My precious student—the most brilliant and talented jewel among all my disciples.
He had cast his future into the abyss.
From this moment forward, Kieran would never again be able to wield magic in the presence of others.
Having chosen darkness over light, he would be forced to spend his entire life hiding in shadows, evading the eyes ‌‌of the Heresy Inquisitor.
Yet the instant Selea confirmed Kieran's choice.
She found herself utterly unafraid of such consequences.
She ‌‌‌‌had come to understand why he ‌‌had descended into darkness.
Having watched over him for so long, she could see it clearly.
He sought to resurrect his dead wife.
Selea had to choose.
The moment she aided Kieran here, she too would be defying God.
It was most righteous and proper that a ‌‌‌dark mage attempting such sacrilege against divine providence should perish ‌‌‌‌in this very place.
Yet despite comprehending every rational argument and logical truth, Selea could not choose her disciple's death.
She was Kieran's teacher—bound to embrace his failings and shield him from judgment.
"Damn you. Cunning serpent."
She cursed under her breath as ‌‌‌she drew forth her mana.
Violet mana bloomed brilliantly, and Kieran gasped, a faint smile crossing his face.
He understood the torment of her decision.
"Master, I... I will repay this debt..."
"Silence. Focus. It will hurt enough to make you weep."
She swiftly traced the magical circle, her voice sharp ‌‌‌‌and commanding. ‌‌
"I will ensure you never harbor such thoughts again."

***
Kieran finished his story with a bright laugh and spoke.
"So ‌‌‌thanks to the Duchess, Father safely became a Dark Mage."
He added casually that his mana twisted when ‌‌‌he became a Dark Mage and ‌‌‌‌he nearly died—if he'd gone berserk, the Eastern Region would have vanished from the map.
"I think the Duchess probably understands what Father wants to do. But she's never once spoken of it aloud."
She knew he desired to resurrect the dead, yet deliberately pretended ignorance while helping him anyway.
For her, it was the best choice.
Kieran didn't approve of attempting to resurrect the dead, but he had no wish to obstruct what his father so ‌‌‌desperately desired....
Kieran spoke of how she helped while feigning ignorance, calling ‌‌it truly something to be grateful for—and he held genuine affection for Selea.
She was one of the rare few to whom the suspicious Kieran extended his trust.
"So Father repaid that debt a few years later."
....
He spoke of repaying a debt, yet why did it sound as though he'd repaid a vendetta instead?
Chesa laughed silently to herself. ‌‌‌‌‌
In any case, ‌‌‌if they were the sort of people to overlook such grave faults for one another, they could only ‌‌‌grow closer.
Kieran placed the flower he'd taken from the vase into Chesa's hand.
It was a white dahlia.
"So if anything ever happens to Father, you can go find the Duchess. She's your godmother too, after all. You understand?"
Kieran smiled quietly and whispered. ‌‌‌
"No matter what happens, I will protect you."
Yet even as Kieran protected Chesa, he would cast away his own life as lightly ‌‌‌‌as falling petals.
From the moment he chose to become a Dark Mage.
He had always been prepared to die at any time.... ‌
‌

---------------
Brought to you by ‌‌‌Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
---------------