Chapter 33: Discussion

Hearing Moya’s soft query, Aide’s eyes flickered.

“You heard?”

“No, but the Fake Lord’s expression changed very obviously.”

“You’re really much more perceptive in some ways than I imagined.”

The colored glass in the corridor cast dappled light and shadow, swaying between the two of them.

“Opinions..”

Aide murmured, meeting Moya’s gaze.

His eyes were still as gentle as usual, but now carried a seriousness that valued her question.

“I don’t have any particular opinion of him. I just think it’s normal for him to act this way. He really is a hardworking person, but he’s worked hard in the wrong direction—obsessed with false status and unwilling to let go.”

“And the reason I threatened him was because this method was the most efficient. He’s still a child—though he can think independently, it’s precisely because of that he can understand that my threat was not baseless. Moya, it’s normal for you to misunderstand since you didn’t hear it at the time. But I was only presenting him with one possible direction for the future. Even if I didn’t bring it up, someone else would have later.”

The light and shadow in the corridor flowed across Moya’s face, reflecting the fluctuations in her eyes.

“But have you considered that even if you’re right, your approach also puts a lot of pressure on the Fake Lord?”

After hearing Aide’s answer, Moya didn’t speak immediately.

She blinked quietly, her clear blue eyes radiating calm light.

“I’m not blaming you. I’m just thinking that if we had agreed in advance on a more reliable method, this incident wouldn’t have happened.”

“The real Head of the Sierfu Family had already agreed at that time. The Fake Lord’s stubborn refusal was just a tree without roots, water without a source. With some patient persuasion over time, perhaps he would have been more willing to return the body.”

The corridor fell into a brief silence.

“You’re right, but I chose the most efficient method.”

Aide nodded gently, acknowledging Moya’s point.

“Because I thought it was unnecessary. In fact, if not for the sudden mutation of the Crystal Ball, the Fake Lord would have been forced to switch back to his original body under duress. He would have come to terms with it over a long time without wasting ours.”

“From a hindsight perspective, I was indeed too hasty.”

“But it’s rare to see you care so much about someone. Since you’re not blaming me after the fact, can I take it that you’ve started to sympathize with him?”

The light and shadow in the corridor flowed across Moya’s face, reflecting her rare serious expression.

“Maybe.”

“I used to dislike him quite a bit, but when I think that his real self is just an immature brat, I feel relieved. And as you said, I do sympathize with him.”

“As for the reason for my sympathy…”

Moya chuckled lightly, returning to her usual lazy demeanor.

She pulled on her cloak and continued toward the Court Mage’s tower.

“I’ll tell you when I have a chance.”

Though she said that, Moya had no intention of revealing all her thoughts.

‘After all, digging deeper would bring up some of her past life experiences.’

‘That’s nothing worth talking about.’

Seeing that Moya had no intention of continuing the topic, Aide wasn’t discouraged.

He shrugged helplessly and continued leading Moya toward the Court Mage’s tower.

…

Arriving at the Court Mage’s tower, Moya and Aide saw a scene of utter chaos.

Magical instruments that had been neatly arranged were scattered across the floor.

Several apprentices were frantically cleaning up.

In the center of the room, the Court Mage was manipulating a spellbook.

The chest-high spellbook floated before him, flipping pages at his will, emitting one magic rune after another that seeped into the spirit world to track the Fake Lord’s whereabouts.

“Can’t find him.”

Seeing Moya and Aide arrive, the Court Mage accepted a silk handkerchief from an attendant and wiped the sweat beaded on his face from intense concentration.

“After the Crystal Ball erupted, I could clearly sense it taking that pair of real and fake lords into the spirit world. But no matter how my spellbook tracked them, I just couldn’t find their figures.”

The Court Mage’s tone was weary.

He downed three cups of cocoa on the table in one go and let out a long breath under Moya and Aide’s shocked gazes.

“The most likely direction is the Dream Circus.”

Aide stroked his chin and sighed.

“If you had listened to my suggestion at that time and seriously tracked the Dream Circus’s whereabouts, you wouldn’t have ended up in this frantic situation now.”

“Can’t be helped. After all, my job is to follow orders from above, not to handle every task perfectly.”

With three cups of cocoa down, the resting Court Mage’s tone became much more casual.

“And for my own selfish reasons, I naturally want as little work as possible, right? I think having such thoughts is only human.”

Moya nodded vigorously, agreeing with the Court Mage’s sentiment.

‘Looks like she and the Court Mage really hit it off!’

“Indeed, at the very least, there’s a certain lazy bug here who resonates with you.”

Aide saw Moya nodding vigorously and teased casually.

“Aide, don’t talk nonsense. You’re the minority here. You’re the odd one out!”

Moya, having hit it off with the Court Mage, put her hands on her hips with a smug look.

‘Just a moment ago in the corridor, Moya had such a clear expression. How did she start being cheeky again all of a sudden?’

“Alright, full of spirit. Then I’ll leave tracking the Dream Circus to you, Miss Moya.”

Seeing Moya’s smug expression, Aide patted her shoulder earnestly.

?

“But as the saying goes, truth often stands on the side of the minority.”

Moya blinked and tilted her head to look at Aide.

“From experience, last time it was also you who actively found the Dream Circus’s whereabouts. I think it’s a reasonable consideration to entrust the same task to you.”

“Objection! Empiricism is unreliable! Do you have any idea how much of the church’s savings were used last time to find that damn circus? Do you know how much of my salary was docked because of it? Do you know how many milkshakes at the ‘Sweet Kiss’ dessert shop will lose my favor because of this? You don’t! You only care about yourself!”

‘Thinking back to her sleepwalking a few days ago, when she chose to skip work and use a large amount of the church’s holy light power to resolve the incident early, Moya couldn’t help but have a mental explosion.’

‘What a joke? She had to use the same method again? Didn’t she want her salary?’

‘She would rather jump off this mage tower than use the church’s holy light reserve again! Besides, she could fly.’

“I’ll pay double the bonus you lost.”

“Ready to embezzle church reserves at any time!”

Moya’s voice was resounding as she saluted Aide.

‘She was very self-aware when it came to changing faces without losing a penny.’