Everything Was a Mistake

She picked up the book at the top and held it out to me. It was a thick hardcover book, and this was written as the title.

“The Magic Potion of the Great Sage Parmanya. The first volume … ?”

“There was a lot of magic in the magic potion. Wouldn’t it be possible to counter black magic with this?”

“You’re so passionate, but … why you gave this to me?”

“Since my probation, I’m not free even in the mansion. They would find it suspicious if I keep reading books about magic. They thought I was possessed by a spider.”

The Limorand’s reaction is more serious than I expected. It seems that the spider mirror wasn’t as light as I thought.

“I’m secretly reading books, but that’s limited, so it’ll be more efficient if we find them together.”

“By any chance, that spider, it’s not hiding in this book, right? In the play, this is a foreshadow.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve been looking at it once. And at the same time—”

With her fingertips, Alice flipped the books under the potion book.

“I’ve also brought you some black magic books that I’ve finished reading. I didn’t notice anything, but you might be able to recognize something from your side, so read it with a light heart.”

Of course , I’m not forcing you to.

As Alice said so, she smiled with overwhelming pressure. I have been to the family library or the Imperial library several times during my free time, but I have not seen useful books on black magic. How did she get all of this?

Obviously, Alice seemed to be ahead of me. I knew that she had mastered essential studies that she hadn’t learned properly in Momont within half a year, so I’ve always known that she’s smart.

I looked down at the book with a rather shaky mind and sighed. Yeah, come to think of it, it wasn’t a matter of helping Alice with her work. Alice had handed out the sacred relics, but I just thanked her and worried her.

I was too relaxed, even though the problem with Nocton Edgar wasn’t completely finished yet. I don’t know when it’s going to be completely resolved, or if it’s even possible.

“Yeah, well—if it’s about Duke Edgar, it’s not just your problem, so I’ll have to try too.”

“Duke Edgar?”

“Oh, I decided to call him that after I went to the tea party.”

“Wouldn’t it be too provocative? So … it’s like you’re scratching his insides on purpose.”

“I don’t think it would be that much. In any case, I used honorifics in public. The situation in public space is more favorable.”

“Umh, it’s your choice, so I’ll respect it, but Roa, I hope you don’t have to meet him as much as possible.”

“I hope so, too.”

As the Emperor’s health seems to have deteriorated, there will be no mandatory Imperial event for the time being. Then, wouldn’t it be possible to be relieved for at least a few months?

In the meantime, if Nocton Edgar can erase the feelings he may have for me, whether it’s obsession or regret, that would be the best.

“That’s right, I forgot to tell you, but I had another foresight in my dream. Maybe, there seems to be someone who hasn’t been brainwashed by His Grace.”

“That’s … a lot. Right now, it’s also you and I.”

“That’s not it, it’s from Edgar’s insider. It was a short precognitive dream, and … umh, I might be mistaken about this, so I’ll check first. Roa, you’re acquainted with the former Duchess, Lady Patricia, right? Short black hair, green eyes. A middle-aged woman with a long neck and a rather cold impression.”

As soon as I heard Alice describe it, I could clearly recall the former Duchess’s face.

Since I was young, I had been in and out of the Duke Edgar’s residence, so I naturally encountered the others living in Edgar. Not only the employees, but also Nocton’s family.

The most difficult of them was Patricia Edgar, Nocton’s mother and the former Duchess, who was surrounded by controversy that she had birthed an illegitimate child. She succeeded her title at a young age, although not as young as Nocton now, and was a very ambitious and perfectionist person. In addition to her leadership, she also achieved high academic achievement, and was also appointed as a knight.

Whatever she did, she was quicker than others, and she was never late, so people were so enthusiastic about her faults.

She was always busy, and even considering that, she was a cold-hearted person to her family. She used sweet titles such as “Dear” and “My love,” but her eyes on her family were cold. Among them, her coldest look was given to Nocton Edgar.

Nocton denied it, but as I looked in her eyes, I knew that the story was true.

If it’s not that, then she was a cold-blooded person.

When she rolled her eyes with an expressionless face and made eye contact, sometimes her green eyes appeared as a reptile, not a human. It was too much for people, but it was ominous and uncomfortable stare.

She liked me for some reason, so at some point she sat me in front of her and poured me a tea. To be honest, the taste was terrible. In the end, it was not at all comfortable, she’s a person who I cannot be comfortable with forever.

I’ve always thought so.

“….right, did she appear?”

“That’s true. Yeah, I’ve seen her for a while before, but I felt like she was hypnotized like everyone else back then. But it was different in this dream. This is what she said.”

[ We need to get Edgar out of Nocton’s hands. ]

[ I know what he’s going to do if we keep going like this. ]

[ Everything will be better if the work I prepared is done well. ]

“She said that? Did she say Nocton clearly?”

“Huh? Yes, mothers can be different. Is there something strange about it?”

Alice glanced at me and expressed her doubts, but I shook my head silently.

I could have been mistaken.

In fact, it wasn’t a big deal. As far as I know, the former Duchess has never called Nocton’s name.

Nevertheless, somehow, my heart felt uneasy.

Alice, who had no idea of her, had her eyes twinkling as she had a hint of wonder.

“Maybe the legal punishment is unreasonable, but isn’t it possible to change the regime within Edgar? It will be much better if we take Edgar’s power away from him.”

“You want to help her?”

“That’s … a little difficult. First of all, I don’t have the confidence to persuade adults, and it might be a really hard fight to win. I’m just going to keep waiting for my precognitive dream for now.”

“Umh, you never know when you’ll be able to have the dream again. I’m a little cautious to say this, but don’t rely too much on your dreams.”

“But the only thing that can make a breakthrough right now is my dream. Don’t worry, my dream has never lied. It’ll fix the situation again.”

What Alice was saying with solid faith sounded somewhat dangerous.

What to say, I squeezed my lips, but soon swallowed the words.

Certainly, even though I was suspicious, she had never been wrong with her precognitive dream. At least Alice knows better about her dreams than me.

I felt uncomfortable in many ways, but all I could do was nodding my head. After a while, Alice returned, and I moved all the books she had given me to my room. It was because I didn’t think I would turn over the cover if I took it to the library.

It was the magic potion book that Alice asked me to read, but it wasn’t the first book I wanted to open because it was too thick.

I began to read in moderation with thin, readable black magic book in my hand. There were many things that seemed important among them, but I couldn’t understand what it meant, so I felt like I was a child who just started learning letters.

This is how I felt when I forced myself to read Nocton’s ancient books.

I tried to read the book completely, but my eyes were getting blurry.

「 It was 81 years when it was discovered that the human mind is also composed of mana. Now, by interfering with the micro-mana that embodies human minds, and deconstructs the negative arrangement that has no benefit … Introduced in Logmilliwan’s 8th order array…. 」

Most people will have no choice but to give up after reading such articles.

I ended up covering the book I read.

How did Alice read these books? Is she really understand what is this about?

There was a difference in knowledge between her and me.

Feeling ashamed, I rushed through other books, but I found out that the majority of the books were similar.

Finally, as I opened the book at the bottom, I wondered what to say the next time I see Alice.

Fortunately, however, this one book was written in letters that were somehow readable. But it wasn’t that interesting.

I hulled down the letters in a sour light, and at some point I straightened my back and began to concentrate. It was because I found something in the book.

「 There are many different kinds of mental magic, but among them, hypnosis is the most common. This is because unlike other magic, it requires a response from the target. When a specific title is given, it is difficult to start magic without the target knowing that the title refers to themselves.

…..

Therefore, you can maintain the magic only by using the title you used when you first cast the magic. If the title is different, the probability of breaking the magic is high. Once the mental magic is over, the opponent can become resistant, and after that, the magic may fail.

It is not impossible if you are confident in your magic power, but because it can destroy the mind of the target, it is recommended to be used with caution.

….. 」

A title.

You must keep using the same title to maintain your magic. If you change the title, the magic is more likely to be broken…..

In the middle part of the article that I read quickly, I looked up again and read the same section over and over again.

“Valrose.”

“Valrose.”

“Actually, I don’t like Valrose so much.”

Nocton doesn’t call my name.

Even if I asked him to change the distant title, he insisted on that unfriendly title.

“Can you stop calling me Valrose now?”

“Well, does that matter?”

Nocton hypnotized me.

I recalled all the thoughts that once ran through my head.

When I visited Nocton, though I was hurt and offended, somehow I found myself still headed for the Duke’s mansion.

How different is the original Roa Valrose from the current Roa Valrose?

And then,

“Come again, Valrose.”

Will I be free from Nocton’s brainwashing?

Even though I thought there was nothing left to be surprised about now, my hands were shaking and my stomach felt horrible.

I had to press my hand to cover my mouth and hold my breath for a while.

I was not angry.

There was neither fear nor the sense betrayal. I have found the evidence of his betrayal, but those feelings had already gone through me once and disappeared.

The only emotion left was emptiness.