Sharin is in Love

Isabelle’s unexpected confession.

After that, I couldn’t hide the conflicted look on my face.

First Seron, then Sharin, and now Isabelle.

How did things end up like this?

Of course, it’s appreciated, even joyful, that someone likes me.

All the more so when it’s a heroine I’d been fond of.

But separate from that, my head was in a whirlwind.

‘Even two I could maybe accept.’

But with three, this was just…a playboy move.

‘No, to be accurate…’

A fish farm.

I, of all people, had become a fish farmer.

Could anything be more absurd?

I’d lived my whole life without a woman in sight, and now three women claimed to love me.

Suddenly, losing my love felt infuriatingly unfair.

At least, if I’d still had that love, things wouldn’t have spiraled like this.

‘Answering their feelings is something I’ve decided to do after I regain my love.’

I wouldn’t go back on something I’d already determined.

But even so, I doubted whether I could truly decide so well.

If this were a game, three choices would have materialized before me.

And endings would have unfolded according to my selection.

However, this world is not a game.

My choice will profoundly affect so much.

To make matters worse, even I cannot discern a hierarchy among these three.

Each of them is incredibly important to me.

‘Bikerman, I’m starting to envy the you who purely loved Nikita.’

Unable to even choose, due to the absence of love.

I am merely a man stringing them along.

Alone with this bitter realization, the carriage halted, just in time.

For the record, the carriage I occupied was currently empty.

The reason was simple.

The Saintess, promising to conclude her business swiftly, had returned to the Kingdom of Lyum.

Now that Narea has returned, she will no longer tolerate the corruption and power struggles within the Kingdom of Lyum.

Mushika, along with Vinesha, similarly journeyed toward Panissis.

I heard that they also planned to revisit the cabin where they lived as children.

Zenia returned to the Nifleheim Earldom.

I could sense her ardent will to seize the Nifleheim Earldom.

The next time I see her will likely be at Jerion Academy next year.

As for Isabel, she returned directly to Jerion Academy.

She wore a face full of things she wished to tell me, but academy life is important.

Moreover, unlike me, who had appointed a substitute, Isabel had come in person.

Any longer would impact her academy life.

With Isabel’s return, Hanon, who had been at the academy, began his journey home.

A measure taken to prevent complications arising from my presence here.

‘Hanon, that guy will undoubtedly take care of things.’

He is unpredictable, but his skills are undeniable.

There are those who know my true identity, so he would have undoubtedly taken care of everything.

Thinking so, I raised my head and through the window, I saw the Imperial Palace.

Why did I turn away from the Academy and come here instead?

The reason was simple: I needed to speak with the White Craftsman separately about Vulcan’s affairs.

About Rosley’s corruption, Vulcan’s past life.

And about the Evil God Descendant presently active within the Empire.

Upon hearing the tale, the White Craftsman wore the gravest expression I’d ever seen on him.

“Can you swear that nothing you’ve told me is false?”

“Yes, these are matters I’ve confirmed directly through the reincarnations of heroes.”

Of course, it’s still mostly conjecture at this point.

But every circumstance points to the Duke of Loveliaz.

If we investigate, he’s bound to leave a trail of some kind.

And that will be the moment we must be most vigilant.

For it will be then that the Duke of Loveliaz himself will move.

And so, I’ve come to the Imperial Palace, seeking further discussion regarding this matter.

The person I needed to speak with was already determined.

‘I suddenly feel a pain in my gut.’

Though I had lost the ability to truly fear, stripped of any personal regard,

Still, my mind remembers stress.

‘The First Imperial Prince.’

Lukraizon Heishirion.

I am to meet once more with the man who stands before ultimate power in the Empire.

* * *

Upon arriving at the Imperial Palace, the White Craftsman went directly to see the Emperor, to publicly announce the Occultism incident.

Though this matter was pursued discreetly, there was no longer any reason to conceal it now that it was resolved.

The White Craftsman intended to reveal everything concerning this Occultism affair.

It was imperative to make it known, to prevent another such Occultist group from arising.

Moreover, there was more to it than that.

Only by publicly disclosing the Occultism case could we bring down the Duke of Loveliaz.

Thus, the White Craftsman needed to act with all haste.

Isabel, of course, will be included in the announcement.

I, however, will not be.

Hanon, you see, was still at the academy.

Instead, the White Carpenter had promised to procure a separate reward, along with the addition of one extra person.

It was expected from the start, so it was quite alright.

Regardless, the White Carpenter was terribly busy thanks to it all.

And so, I was the one tasked with relaying this tale to the First Prince.

‘To ask a mere student to go converse with the First Prince.’

The White Carpenter must hold me in rather high esteem.

Even so, thankfully, I wasn’t alone this time.

A man with hair the color of azure walked alongside me.

Every single person of the Imperial Family who passed bowed their heads.

So much so that even the nobles serving within the Imperial Palace offered the same deference.

The identity of the one standing beside me was none other than…

The Azure Magic Tower Lord,

Emperadion Sajaris,

The Empire’s foremost mage.

Meaning, by relation, he was to become my father-in-law.

An awkward silence stretched between the Azure Magic Tower Lord and myself.

The betrothal was orchestrated under his guidance.

I wasn’t quite sure what to say concerning it.

But thanks to his presence, navigating the Imperial Palace was much smoother.

I had been publicly declared as the betrothed of the Azure Magic Tower Lord’s daughter, and I also handled the magic of Zerion that the Azure Magic Tower Lord had been researching.

If the Azure Magic Tower Lord claimed he’d called me regarding the Zerion magic, I wouldn’t be an out-of-place figure within the Imperial Palace.

‘Still, this silence is a bit unsettling.’

Indeed, he must have heard about Duke Robeliaju from the White Carpenter as well.

The Azure Magic Tower Lord would have much to ponder.

“How fares your relationship with my daughter?”

At that moment, the Azure Magic Tower Lord spoke for the first time.

As I turned my gaze toward him, the Azure Magic Tower Lord continued to stare straight ahead.

The Azure Magic Tower Lord was Sharin’s adoptive father.

But that was only the legal arrangement, nothing more.

Sharin was, in truth, his b*stard daughter.

The Azure Tower Master bedded women here and there, solely to propagate his magical talent.

But the Azure Tower Master was a nobleman.

Scattering his bloodline without restraint could prove troublesome down the line.

Thus, the Azure Tower Master sowed his seed, but never claimed the title of father.

He needed a child with magical aptitude, not just any child.

Hence, he legally denied his paternity.

There was, however, a condition for the women he bedded.

Regardless of status, each woman must show signs of the magical seed within her.

He made a legitimate bargain for offspring, bedding only those women who consented to these terms.

To bed women solely for magical talent…

Truly, mages were akin to madmen.

Sharin was the most overwhelmingly gifted of all his daughters.

Born to a cerulean-haired woman working in a brothel.

Because of her circumstances, she enjoyed none of the advantages her magical talent should have afforded her, yet she passed her abilities onto the next generation.

And so, Sharin was born with the overwhelming talent known as Mirinae.

But Sharin’s mother concealed the fact that she possessed Mirinae.

The reason was simple.

She was born into a poor family, sold into a brothel, and spent her life toiling, her body abused, leaving her in this sorry state.

Yet her newborn daughter could have it all from the very beginning.

Her mother loathed this fact with a profound intensity.

As if she were a failed, worthless life.

So she hid Sharin away and raised her in secret.

Naturally, she offered Sharin no love.

Instead, she subjected her to every imaginable form of abuse.

So much so that she would forcibly wake her whenever she drifted off to sleep.

Sharin’s tendency to oversleep was a direct consequence of this mistreatment.

Despite it all, Sharin grew.

Her Mirinae instinctively deciphered and mastered the magic of the traveling mages who passed through.

Moreover, she possessed a natural intellect.

Even through her mother’s abuse, she would secretly steal glances at magic tomes and consult wandering mages for guidance.

Only, there was one unfortunate detail: her mind was too sharp.

Sharin possessed a truly exceptional memory.

She could recall events from years past as vividly as if they’d happened yesterday.

Thus, the torments of her childhood remained etched in her mind with painful clarity.

For humans, oblivion is another blessing.

The ability to forget allows wounds to scar over, eventually fading away.

But for Sharin, everything remained a raw, open wound.

And so she grew.

Her exceptional talents, before long, became a subject of conversation in the magic circles.

Naturally, word reached the ears of the Azure Tower Master.

The Azure Tower Master sought Sharin out.

He found her sitting quietly beside her mother, who lay gasping her last breaths from the pox.

Sharin was eight years old at the time.

Though her mother had tormented her all her life, Sharin stayed by her side until the very end.

That was Sharin’s childhood.

Afterward, Sharin was formally adopted as the Azure Tower Master’s daughter.

Everyone within the Azure Tower knew she was his trueborn child, but none dared to question it.

My gaze fell upon the Azure Tower Master.

He was the one who had brought Sharin into this world.

And therefore, one of the people who inflicted upon her the most indelible pain.

If the Azure Tower Master truly cared for his children, he would have sought Sharin out.

But he paid not a shred of attention to any of his children scattered across the globe who lacked magical aptitude.

So much so that he delegated even the task of verifying a newborn’s abilities to his subordinates.

He is a man consumed by magic.

And so, Sharin feels no affection for the Azure Tower Master either.

“My daughter is very much like me. Exceedingly talented in magic. A child with a promising future.”

Sadly, Sharin was also the person most likely to resemble that very Azure Tower Master.

A fact she deeply despises.

“She will be of use to you as well.”

It’s not something one would cherish, discovering they resemble someone they despise.

My gaze landed on the Azure Magic Tower Lord.

In him, I glimpsed echoes of Sharin.

“Sharin is in love.”

But Sharin was not the Azure Magic Tower Lord.

The Azure Magic Tower Lord was a madman, possessed only by magic.

Thus, he moved only for magic’s sake.

Yet, Sharin was now in love.

Even if that love was directed towards me, the very fact that she *loved* was what set her apart from the Azure Magic Tower Lord more than anything.

“And with such breathtaking beauty.”

For the Azure Magic Tower Lord, magic was surely the most beautiful thing.

But in Sharin’s eyes, another beauty dwelled.

Within them resided more than just the Milky Way.

“So, I believe there are many ways in which she does not resemble you, Azure Magic Tower Lord. Sharin is rather… charming, you see.”

The Azure Magic Tower Lord stared at me, unblinking.

He wouldn’t grasp the meaning behind my words.

But Sharin would.

That was enough.

Then, the Azure Magic Tower Lord’s gaze shifted, focusing past me.

And, for a fleeting moment, his expression faltered.

The Azure Magic Tower Lord, faltering?

As if the world itself was ending, I turned my head to follow his gaze.

Soon after, my own face froze.

Fortunately, the world had not ended.

But a figure capable of ending it stood there.

“Oh, well now, what a coincidence. Emperadion.”

He smiled, seemingly delighted.

Hair as dark as pitch and eyes reminiscent of a crimson moon.

And an ominous aura that permeated the middle-aged man.

Gerdio Loveliaju.

The final boss of Act 6 had arrived.