Chapter 117

Now that things had finally settled and his head clear again, doubts about Ariel and the barrier kept spinning through his mind. What had ruined his plan and gotten her hurt? He figured the only way to get answers was to check her aptitude test results himself.

He summoned a car and set off directly for the imperial palace.

Lexius noticed something strange in the report and frowned. Based on what it said, Ariel should’ve only ended up with a nosebleed in the deep barrier, nothing worse.

‘But she actually fainted.’

He rubbed his forehead, trying to steady himself.

Even though this was an official record stored in the imperial archives, he just couldn’t bring himself to trust it. Barriers worked like mathematical formulas: you gave them certain inputs and got precise results. If you told it to repel iron, it would push away anything made of iron. And if you told it to let only specific people through, it would only let those people enter.

‘A barrier might break, but it never makes mistakes.’

The deep barrier’s effect grew stronger the more powerful a person’s magic was. If she had been affected so much, it meant she unquestionably had high-level magic.

Between the results from the barrier and what was written in the report, it was clear which one was lying.

Lexius’s eyes narrowed as he caught the whiff of a scheme. With his brow furrowed, he instantly thought of the person who could pull something like this off. There was only one person in the Empire who would be arrogant enough to break imperial law and mess with records so shamelessly.

‘Devoncia.’

There were rumors that Devoncia was the one who conducted Ariel’s magic aptitude test. That made him the obvious suspect for faking the results.

‘He probably wanted to keep Ariel from getting the training she needed. That way, her magic wouldn’t develop and she’d be easier to control.’

Lexius had more or less figured out his intentions.

It was just his luck that Devoncia was out of the capital right now, so he couldn’t confront him.

After leaving the records room, he quietly summoned his subordinates to meet him in the rear garden of the North Wing.

“You called for me, Your Highness?”

The man bowed respectfully. He was a senior knight from the imperial guard, one of the imperial family’s personal protectors, and his father owed his life to Lexius from the Southern War.

“There’s something I need you to do.”

“What is it?”

“From today on, I want you to keep an eye on the crown prince and report anything you notice to me, as much as you can manage.”

“Do you mean I don’t have to change my post or my guard schedule?”

“That’s right. Just keep an eye on him whenever you cross paths during your regular duties. Give me a report every three days. Even if you haven’t seen him at all, let me know.”

“Understood, Your Highness.”

︵‿୨ ₊‧꒰ა ཐི༏ཋྀ ໒꒱ ˚₊ ୧‿︵

After assigning the knight as his informant, Lexius returned to the academy. Because he had restricted the knight’s actions to avoid suspicion, the information he received would be limited, but at least he would have some sense of what Devoncia was up to.

Back at the dormitory, he made his way straight to Ariel’s private hospital room.

On his way down the hall, he happened to catch his reflection in a window and froze. There was blood on his shirt. His usual attendants would’ve just shrugged it off, but Ariel definitely wouldn’t. Lexius turned back and went to his own room first. He took off his blood-stained clothes, showered, and changed into a clean shirt so he would look presentable. He checked himself in the mirror, making sure everything was in order before heading out.

When he entered her private room, the maid who had been sitting beside the bed quickly stood up and dropped to one knee. He gave her a quick glance, noting her proper etiquette, then turned his gaze to Ariel, who was lying peacefully on the bed.

He stayed silent, and the quiet dragged on.

As a commoner, the maid wasn’t allowed to speak before a high-ranking noble did. Canon bowed so deeply that her head was almost touching the floor, just waiting for him to say something.

Without taking his eyes off Ariel, he finally spoke up.

“You’re Ariel’s personal maid, right?”

“Yes, that’s right, Your Highness.”

“You’ve done well. You can leave us for now.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Still bowing, Canon got up by straightening her knees and quietly backed out of the room.

Now, it was just Lexius and Ariel alone in the private room.

The sunlight coming through the thin white canopy curtains was blindingly bright. A beam of golden light landed on Ariel’s face, making her squint and wrinkle her nose at the glare. Lexius quickly went around the bed and drew the thick curtains, making sure no sunlight could slip through. He checked on her, watching closely until her expression softened and she looked comfortable again. Eventually, he quietly pulled up a chair to sit by her side. The chair the maid had used was way too small, so he pushed it aside.

The room was so quiet that not even the ticking of a clock could be heard.

Seeing her lying peacefully in that private hospital bed made him strangely restless. He couldn’t shake the urge to keep doing more, anything, to make sure she wasn’t uncomfortable in any way. He couldn’t stand the lingering smell of medicine, so he had fresh flowers brought in to make the room smell better. He set up a decorative water jar to release steam so the air wouldn’t get too dry, and even grabbed a fruit knife to peel a peach from the fruit basket on the table.

Almost everything he did was based on what he thought was best, not what Ariel wanted, and most of it was probably unnecessary, but he still went out of his way to do anything he could think of.

All the while, he continued to refuse to acknowledge his own feelings.