Chapter 70

Amelie began to prepare to meet the witches when she had time in between following Serwin. Her paragraphs of questions were refined to select questions to accurately explain their situation. She also studied magic by cramming for fear of being ignored for being bad at magic.

Soon it became the day of the appointment.

‘Time goes by too quickly. If I had known it would be like this, I would have asked to meet a week later!’

Amelie was nervous since morning, so she couldn’t even eat properly and stood around the palace. While she was restless, the time was getting closer to 11 pm.

“Mrs. Enard, are you ready for refreshments and tea? There must be no one in the Palace. Okay? Make sure the windows are open.”

“Don’t worry. Milena and I will be waiting for you today.”

Mrs. Enard replied by trimming Amelie’s dress.

Amelie wore a black dress today. Because she had a black dress code for witches’ gatherings. She has a basic A-type dress with a sailor collar on her shoulder to increase the warmth. Her skirt was tailored to the length of her knee for activity. She decorated the hem of her skirt with a ruffle because otherwise it might feel plain. In addition to her, wearing a wide-brimmed hat and holding a broomstick, the perfect witch’s outfit was completed.

“Then I’ll be back.”

Amelie climbed on the broom. She didn’t have any company since she had decided to go alone because the witches could feel burdened otherwise.

“Please be careful.”

“We’ll be waiting.”

Amelie soared into the sky as Milena and Mrs. Enard saw her off.

*****

About 20 minutes before midnight, Amelie arrived at the meeting point, Grand Malt Hunting Area, Zone 3.

The Grand Malt hunting ground was located outside the capital. Although it was a hunting ground for the royal family, it was a space that anyone could use if they applied for it in advance.

Unlike Zones 1 and 2, which were wide, the site of Zone 3 was small. It was because they were using it for the purposes of setting up tents and resting while hunting. Instead, the environment was clean, and the hunting grounds were not usually crowded when not in use, so it was a perfect meeting place.

‘No one is here yet, right?’

Amelie came down to the ground. The empty and dark hunting ground had a spooky atmosphere. The blowing wind was cold.

However, Amelie didn’t feel the cold at all. It was because she was excited by tension and expectations.

She looked up at the sky, nervously waiting for midnight. The night sky was full of clouds and the moon was invisible.

How long has it been? No one appeared even though the excitement subsided and the cold began to seep in through the layers of fabric.

“Haa—”

Amelie stamped her feet and waited for another witch to come.

‘No way, is no one coming?’

She endured the pain in her chest and looked up to the sky. Not a single flying bird was seen, let alone a witch.

‘It’s strange— the magic was definitely successful. Should I wait a little longer?’

But as time passed, no one came. Slowly, her legs hurt, and her body was trembling.

‘I was looking forward to it.’

Amelie made a tearful face. Mrs. Enard and Milena must be preparing and waiting with snacks, but the thought of going back alone made her depressed.

“Phew. Well, it can’t be that easy.”

Amelie sighed and lowered her head.

At that time, she heard someone’s footsteps. It was the rustling sound of hard heels stepping on dry grass.

‘They’re here!’

Amelie raised her head. Serwin stood in front of her.

“Your Majesty?”

“Are you disappointed?”

“No, well—”

Was it that obvious? Amelie pretended as she pulled the corners of her mouth into a forced smile.

“Even if the appointment time has passed, if no one comes, you will go back. What are you doing until now?”

He took off his cloak and put it around Amelie’s shoulders. That wasn’t enough, so he wrapped her body tightly with it and fixed it so that it would not fall off.

“Your face is cold, too.”

He wrapped his hands around Amelie’s cheek. His big hand covered Amelie’s face. His palms were rough and hard, but warm. Amelie’s body, which had cooled down, quickly regained its heat.

“But why are you here?”

“I can’t let you go alone tonight. You’re also going to meet a stranger.”

“Oh? Did you follow me from the beginning?”

But she flew in a broomstick, so the time was not right.

“You came earlier, right?”

“I have to check in advance to see if it’s safe.”

Serwin was embarrassed to even say it himself, so he secretly avoided her gaze.

Amelie then realized why he had not been seen all day.

‘I was worried about it without knowing it.’

She wondered if he had finally come to his senses because the person who was returning to the palace after completing urgent tasks at high speed didn’t come until night, or if his anger had not been resolved last time, but it seemed to be in vain.

“Let’s go back. If they don’t come by this time, there’s no point in waiting any longer.”

“That’s true, but—”

Amelie hesitated. She was very disappointed as she was looking forward to today’s meeting.

‘Well, it’s because I unilaterally set the place and time.’

Serwin grabbed Amelie’s hand and pulled it.

“I’ll send for a carriage. It should be here soon.”

“We can ride a broomstick.”

“It’s cold.”

Amelie followed him. She stared at his back. His overprotection was a little burdensome, but reassuring. If she had returned to the Imperial Palace alone on a day like this, she would have been very depressed.

“Your Majesty.”

The moment Amelie tried to say thank you, an unknown force pulled her back.

“Ack!”

When Amelie screamed, Serwin quickly grabbed her hand and swung a mana sword. A silver-blue sword flew from the sword and knocked down the entire tree.

“Kyaa!”

Between the branches of the fallen tree, a black shadow shot out toward the sky.

‘What is it?’

The shadow was a woman in a black suit. She wore a hat with a wide brim similar to Amelie, and black hair was tied together and flapped like a horse’s tail.

“Do you recognize me? You are indeed the Emperor.”

She stopped in mid-air, standing skillfully on a broomstick. Her true identity was undoubtedly a witch.

“Who are you?”

Amelie asked.

“Lira hose! Are you the witch who held the meeting?”

“Yes! That’s right!”

“Yeah—”

Lira smacked her lips. Then a snow storm engulfed Amelie and Serwin.

“Ugh, Amelie!”

He turned against the storm, holding Amelie in his arms. Amelie tried to calm the snowstorm by raising her own winds, but it was only to keep the two from getting caught up. Amelie’s hair fluttered wildly in the wind.

“Are you okay?”

Serwin was the first to check Amelie.

“Yes. I’m fine, but—”

Amelie looked at Lira. She couldn’t see her well because of the blizzard, but she could feel her looking at them from the air.

‘Why are you attacking me?’

Amelie was very confused.

“Don’t worry. We can suppress her and interrogate her.”

“She’s flying in the sky.”

“That’s not a problem.”

“Yes?”

“Only protect yourself. Okay?”

Serwin held his sword. If the opponent used magic, it was enough to use this. He lightly kicked the ground. A strong wind shook his body.

“Your Majesty?”

Serwin stomped in the air and jumped into the higher sky. He stepped on the storm caused by Lira and leaped into the sky.

‘…Is that possible?’

Amelie was momentarily stunned. The witch had magic, but in this case he was completely ignoring the laws of physics.

He escaped the blizzard and swung his sword toward Lira.

Lira, who was careless, avoided Serwin’s sword. Amelie quickly raised the wind and floated Serwin’s body up again. In the meantime, Serwin threw his sword at Lira.

“Tsk! Such a distraction.”

Lira clicked her tongue. Amelie chased her with her eyes to counter the new magic, but at the moment Lira disappeared from her sight.

“….?”

“Amelie!”

At Serwin’s cry, Amelie hurriedly looked back. Lira was trying to swing a dagger at her.

“Damn it!”

Serwin couldn’t go to save her. Lira caused a blizzard and completely blocked him. He moved forward without giving in. However, the dagger was already coming closer to her neck with an eerie glow.

“Ugh!”

Amelie instinctively swung her arm. A strong flame wrapped around the dagger and transferred it to Lira’s hand.

In the meantime, Serwin broke through the snowstorm and protected Amelie. He continued his attack quickly to prevent Lira from chanting a spell. Lira raised magic with a gesture to prevent his attack.

Amelie tried to help Serwin, but backed away, remembering his words that her safety came first.

‘It’s amazing.’

Amelie admired Lira’s magic. She thought about it since the snowstorm started, but her magic skills were great.

While protecting herself, Lira created another spell to tie Serwin’s feet and slow down the attack.

‘She’s using three or four magic at the same time.’

She was different from her, who could barely use one magic at a time. Moreover, she looked familiar with battle.

However, the opponent was Serwin. No matter how great the witch’s magic was, it was no match for Serwin, who reached the peak of swordsmanship.

Even though Serwin was unable to use his skills due to magic, he pushed Lira little by little. He broke her broom in two and put a sword on her leg. It was only a matter of time before Lira lost.

“Why did you attack her?”

When Serwin asked, Lira closed her mouth and stared at his golden eyes.

“You won’t tell me? Well, okay. After all, if you’re being questioned, you’ll beg for everything while confessing.”

Serwin put a knife around her neck. Lira bit her lips. When her magic stopped, the hunting ground quickly became silent.

‘Tsk, if I knew this would happen, I would return as soon as I knew the Emperor was here.’

As soon as Lira arrived at the hunting ground, she noticed Serwin’s existence. At first, she thought he was accompanying Amelie, but she seemed to have no idea that he was watching her. Lira didn’t know the relationship between the two, so at first, she thought Serwin was monitoring Amelie.

So Lira was going to watch Ameli like this. However, when Serwin approached Amelie and talked affectionately like a lover, Lira was surprised and accidentally tripped over her own feet.

‘I didn’t expect you to find out that I’m there with that small sound.’

It was a famous story that the emperor was strong, but Lira belatedly realized that he was this overbearingly powerful.

‘What should I do now?’

Not far away, she saw a broom that Amelie had dropped.

‘I just need a little gap.’

She couldn’t think of how to make a gap. The moment she used any magic, it was clear that the emperor would blow her neck off.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

While Lira was struggling for a solution, Amelie’s scream suddenly was heard.