Chapter 48
“Then, please make sure to handle this exactly as I asked! You remember what they look like, right?”
Solinor had asked Aiorin, who could move freely while concealing her presence, to find Katrina and Brandon, whose whereabouts were unknown.
Of course, there was a high probability that Corbin’s subordinates, the Spymasters, had taken them and were keeping them safe.
However, since nothing was 100% certain, he asked her to ensure their safety.
If they were fine, she should leave them be, but if they were in any kind of trouble, she was to rescue them.
To make sure Aiorin could recognize them, Solinor carefully described their physical appearances as thoroughly as possible.
With her arms crossed confidently, Aiorin nodded.
“Well, they’ll probably smell like a mix of your scent and mine, so I should be able to recognize them easily.”
“Alright. Please do this for me.”
Sometimes she spoke of seeing colors, other times of sensing scents.
Solinor envied the Elves’ ability to perceive souls. If he had that ability, life would be so much more convenient.
For instance, he wouldn’t have failed to notice Aiorin disguised in her earlier form.
Regardless of appearance, he’d have been able to identify people accurately.
Though, to be fair, Aiorin hadn’t immediately recognized him either. But that was due to the confusion caused by two souls cohabiting one body.
“Well then, see you later, my dear.”
“Don’t forget to reset the safety mechanisms on your way out, alright?”
Of course, he didn’t forget to remind her to handle the traces she left behind.
He was tired of getting scolded by the maids because of the windows.
Although his excuse about “practicing flying kicks” had worked so far, it wouldn’t hold up forever.
He could already tell the excuse was losing its effectiveness.
After Aiorin departed, Solinor stared out the freshly restored and secured window, watching her disappear into the distance.
Though she was already too far away to see, it was more of a symbolic gesture.
As he stood there for a while, Zephyr, his gentle wind spirit, whispered softly, brushing against Muriela’s ears.
“Princess, you seem to be in a good mood.”
As always, Zephyr’s voice felt like a soothing breeze, tickling her ears pleasantly.
Muriela stretched out her hand and patted Zephyr’s head.
Though it wasn’t a tangible sensation, the soft, fluttery texture felt like touching a dream, making it a delightful experience.
“Yes, I got to see my wife after such a long time.”
“Human family relationships are fascinating. We spirits don’t have anything like that.”
Poor Zephyr.
What were the chances of him ending up with someone as unique as Muriela-Solinor?
For spirits, who struggled to understand even normal human family dynamics, this situation must have been like a natural disaster.
Even Wendy, who had traveled extensively and experienced much of the human world, didn’t fully grasp such relationships.
So how could a newly born spirit like Zephyr be expected to understand?
If he had understood, that would’ve been even stranger.
After bidding farewell to Aiorin in his heart, Solinor returned to the bed.
Having cried and talked so much, he felt quite exhausted.
Just as he lay down to rest, there was a knock at the door.
Bianca’s voice followed shortly after.
“Princess, are you alright? I haven’t heard anything for a while, so I got worried.”
Of course, that was due to the soundproofing barrier set up by Aiorin’s spirits.
Hearing loud noises would naturally be concerning, but complete silence was equally unsettling.
To reassure her, Solinor quickly responded.
“Yes, I’m fine!”
“Good to hear. May I come in to tidy up for the evening?”
“Come in.”
With the windows repaired, Solinor was full of confidence.
‘Haha, there’s nothing to nitpick now. Let them check thoroughly if they want.’
But as soon as Bianca and Florina entered, their jaws dropped, their expressions frozen in shock.
Florina, who had been hiding behind Bianca, waiting for the right moment to sneak in, didn’t say a word.
She, too, had been curious about the situation.
Especially since even the surveillance devices had picked up no sound, it was only natural.
Earlier, there had been a faint murmur, but it was too soft and indistinct to make out clearly, and it didn’t seem to come from the bed.
However, all of that curiosity vanished the moment they were confronted with the shocking sight in the room.
What was it that shocked them so much?
Solinor was even more startled by their expressions.
“What? What’s wrong?”
“Bianca, Florina, what’s wrong? Is something strange?”
“The… the window…”
Bianca stuttered, pointing a trembling finger toward the window.
Confused, Solinor turned to look at what she was indicating.
It should have been perfectly restored.
What Muriela saw was the shattered wooden planks scattered below the window.
These were the remnants of the barricade that Bianca and Florina had installed earlier, now broken and useless.
‘Oh no.’
Solinor finally realized what had happened.
What he had asked Aiorin to do was restore the safety mechanisms.
In response, she had commanded her spirits to retrieve the safety mechanism that had fallen out of the window and reinstall it.
“P-Princess, what on earth happened here?”
“I’m beginning to wonder if I’m hallucinating…”
The two maids were still trapped in confusion.
It was no surprise since this situation defied explanation.
The destruction of the barricade could, in theory, be explained.
After all, wooden planks could break under certain conditions.
However, it was much harder to explain how this could have happened without making any noise.
The second issue was even stranger.
How did the safety mechanism, which must have fallen far below the castle, get restored?
There was no way the princess had gone all the way down to retrieve and reinstall it.
That was physically impossible and didn’t even warrant consideration.
This left only two explanations:
Either the safety mechanism had somehow flown back into place and installed itself, or they were all hallucinating.
Even those explanations fell apart when one considered the shattered wooden planks on the ground by the window.
Leaving the speechless Muriela behind, the two maids approached the window and picked up one of the wooden pieces.
They ran their fingers over its surface.
The smooth, polished finish of the intact parts contrasted sharply with the rough, jagged edges of the broken sections.
It was definitely not a hallucination.
Neither of them had experienced one before, but the tactile sensation was far too vivid to be anything but real.
“Princess, did you see anything unusual?”
When Florina asked this, Solinor managed to gather his wits and respond.
Fortunately, he had found the only way out of this baffling situation in that brief moment.
“No, I was sleeping the whole time.”
“I see…”
There were plenty of reasons to be suspicious, but what could they do if the princess insisted she had been asleep?
Luckily for Muriela and Solinor, this made for a flawless alibi.
The bed was still disheveled, providing the perfect excuse.
It was an impeccable cover.
That day, Florina submitted a report suggesting that an intruder had entered the princess’s room.
This mysterious intruder had somehow entered silently while the princess slept, completed their task, and left without a trace, going so far as to restore the safety mechanism to avoid suspicion.
Then again, maybe not.
The intruder had left the shattered wooden planks scattered around.
Perhaps they were a surprisingly clumsy intruder after all.
To get so close to the truth yet still be off-mark—this was truly a testament to Florina’s “skills” as a supposed elite spy for Silbrenoa’s intelligence unit (not).
***
Meanwhile, at the same time, Sylvius was enjoying tea with some old friends in the countryside.
“So, you’re really Sylvius? I still can’t believe it.”
A bald, elderly man with a long beard stroked his chin as he chuckled.
This was none other than Hadwin, the former Grand General of Silbrenoa.
His face showed a mix of astonishment and delight at seeing his old friend, now youthful once more.
“Hahaha. And your shining bald head is still as radiant as ever. I’m glad I didn’t have to see that in my first life. Now that I’m back, I still have a full head of hair, so I guess baldness and I were never meant to be.”
“Hoho, even with your youthful appearance, you still have that old-fashioned way of speaking, self-proclaimed Grand Magician.”
To an outsider, it would have looked like a conversation between an elderly couple and a young man.
In reality, Sylvius had lived far longer than the two of them.
Of course, if one excluded the years his soul spent trapped in a necklace waiting for reincarnation, their ages would be roughly the same.
“That’s because I’m so glad to see your familiar faces. I don’t usually talk like this.”
That was true, but it was also no secret that people had called him an “old man in a child’s body” since he was young because of his speech.
“So, what brings you here after all this time? With your abilities, you could have visited anytime. Why now, after 25 years?”
“Well, why would I come if there was no reason? This time, the moment has finally come.”
There was a meaningful smile on Sylvius’s face.
His words, laden with purpose, hinted at something significant.
“The moment?”
The elderly couple leaned forward, their curiosity piqued, instinctively drawing closer to Sylvius.
“Our king has returned.”
—
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