The World Has Become Kinder to Her

Lotus had never once used the mana stone brooch.  

To Frederick, this felt like a clear rejection of him.  

As if she were telling him that she didn’t need his possessions, his abilities, or his efforts, and that she simply wanted him to leave her alone.  

After destroying the brooch, Frederick abandoned his research on magic that could turn back time. The seasons changed, and three months passed.  

Three months was more than enough time for a person to fall apart.  

The genius mage, once the most powerful tower master in the history of the mage tower, had vanished. What remained was an addict, consumed by drugs.  

The drug called “Melinia,” often shortened to “Mel,” was among the top three most addictive substances known. Frederick, who harbored an immense amount of mana within his body, had specifically chosen this drug, as most other substances had no effect on him.  

“Loti… Loti… Loti…”  

When high, he could see the now-deceased Lotus before him. Frederick regretted so many things.  

He regretted not realizing his feelings for Lotus sooner. As a result, he hadn’t treated her kindly or affectionately when she was still by his side.  

Would anything have changed if he had proposed to her even a day earlier?  

If he hadn’t constantly deceived himself, thinking he had to protect the peace of his family and the noble houses, would he have recognized his feelings for her sooner?  

“I love you, Loti.”  

The words he had never said to Lotus while she was alive.  

“I wanted to marry you.”  

He had dreamed of a future where they were together officially. Even if she had rejected his proposal, he had thought he could still stay by her side.  

“I wanted to give you everything you wished for. I wanted to hand you all the things you desired. I wanted to tell you to ignore those petty families and nobles, and just look at me.”  

But now, it was all impossible. The ring he had intended to use when proposing to her had been cast into the River Venus.  

If her soul lingered there even for a moment, he wished it would carry his message.  

The loss and anger from losing the person he loved were far greater than he had imagined. When he gave up on his research, destructive impulses surged within him, stronger and more frequent.  

Not only did he become a target of his own displaced rage and resentment, but even the family he once cherished suffered. So Frederick fled.  

A mage with an immense amount of mana going mad would only lead to disaster.  

Frederick took refuge in a cave deep in the mountains, where he set up a barrier and lived in isolation.  

In the dark, lightless cave, his daily routine consisted of inhaling the drug Melinia, which he had stolen from an underworld organization before arriving.  

His body deteriorated quickly from inhaling the drug more frequently than he ate meals, but he didn’t care.  

A world without Lotus was dull and boring; it didn’t matter if he died soon.  

“Cough, cough.”  

Melinia was fatal to anyone, but it was especially lethal to someone like Frederick, who wielded great mana and mental power.  

His once pure mana became corrupted, and he began to suffer side effects like full-body numbness, dizziness, nausea, and chills.  

As he destroyed himself, Frederick came to realize something else.  

Even though she didn’t particularly like men, Lotus had been destroying herself too, by meeting them.  

“—Frederick, is it alright if I meet other men besides you?”  

“—Am I not enough for you?”  

“—No, to achieve what I want, I need the help of others.”  

“—Wow, are you saying I’m incompetent? That hurts.”  

“—You know that’s not what I mean. If you involve yourself too much, it could damage both the mage tower’s and your own honor. We need to use other pieces to distract attention.”  

“—…Really? As long as it doesn’t cause any big trouble, I won’t interfere. Just like how you don’t care when I meet other women.”  

He should have stopped her.  

When Lotus, smiling like a fading flower fairy, asked if she could meet others, he shouldn’t have put on a pretense of being cool, telling her that it didn’t matter since he, too, was seeing other women.  

Now, he was paying the price for that.  

“I was wrong, Loti.”  

Frederick’s voice, stained with regret, echoed through the cave.  

“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”  

No matter how much he repented, there was no one left in this world to forgive him. Regret, no matter how swift, was always too late.  

He wished he could die, so that he wouldn’t have to think, wouldn’t have to feel anything anymore.  

But then he thought, Lotus, who had endured a far more difficult life than his, hadn’t resorted to suicide. And dying by suicide felt cowardly to him.  

How long would this body endure, tormenting him further?  

“Ah…”  

As the effects of the drug wore off, a throbbing headache and chills crept in. Just as Frederick reached for the drug with his trembling hand, he heard murmuring nearby.  

This mountain was known for being dangerous, with monsters frequently appearing. Who could it be?  

There was someone nearby, bearing a large and pure amount of mana, much more than what you would expect from hunters or herbalists.  

Frederick’s senses had dulled considerably due to the drugs, making it difficult to discern the details, but he could tell that whoever was approaching wasn’t ordinary.  

‘Is it someone who holds a grudge against me? Maybe they heard the rumors that I’ve become a wreck and came to kill me…?’  

He already wanted to die. Each day had been a struggle, writhing in agony, yearning for death.  

If someone had come to kill him, it would be a blessing.  

Unless they were a complete fool, Frederick planned to put up just enough of a fight before letting himself be killed.  

‘If I use magic even a few times in this state, my body won’t be able to withstand it.’  

He could either die coughing up blood from mana reflux or cause an explosion of mana within himself. Frederick made no effort to conceal his presence, simply waiting for the intruders to arrive.  

The people outside the barrier wouldn’t be able to see inside, but Frederick could clearly see them from within. Two figures appeared, and one of them was someone very familiar to Frederick.  

It was Manores, the deputy tower master, who had tried to embrace and care for him until the very end as he descended into madness. The other person was…  

‘Theodore William, why is he here?’  

As Frederick’s mind, now dulled, struggled to make sense of the situation, a cold yet elegant voice reached his ears.  

“Can you break it?”  

“…As long as the tower master doesn’t interfere.”  

While Frederick excelled in wind magic, Manores was adept in earth magic. Dozens of boulders, each the size of a grown man’s head, smashed into the barrier.  

The barrier resisted for a while, but eventually it shattered, and the two figures entered the cave.  

Manores, seeing Frederick, now gaunt and barely more than a corpse, was momentarily speechless, his lips twitching without uttering a word.  

In his stead, Theodore spoke briefly as he took in Frederick’s condition.  

“It’s worse than I expected.”  

Of course, there wasn’t a hint of concern in his voice.  

If there was any emotion to be found in his beautiful tone, it was one of pity and disdain.  

“…”  

“Judging by the symptoms and the scent lingering in the cave, I assume you’ve been using Melinia. Of all things, you chose one of the hardest drugs to detox from.”  

Theodore clicked his tongue lightly, causing Manores to look at him with a nervous expression.  

“You said you’d help the tower master! You can’t give up now!”  

It seemed that Theodore had made a promise to Manores to help cure Frederick’s addiction. That must be why Manores had brought him here. Frederick responded with an irritated expression.  

“Who asked you to detox me? If you don’t want to die, then get lost.”  

Even in his near-death state, Frederick’s words, filled with killing intent, sent a chill down the listener’s spine.  

Manores, a high-ranking mage, flinched for a moment, but Theodore’s expression remained unchanged.  

With a faint smile, barely noticeable, his composed, aristocratic demeanor only served to further irritate Frederick.  

“I’ve heard that you’ve never killed anyone with magic before.”  

“Hah!”  

Frederick let out a scoff.  

“Who told you that? Now that I think about it, there’s no need to be careful anymore. In the end, people die. Whether I kill them or not, those who are meant to live will live, and those who are meant to die will die.”  

Manores bit his lip as he gazed into Frederick’s silver eyes, now filled with a mixture of sarcasm and deep regret.  

Lotus’s body had returned to the earth long ago, but the wounds she left behind were etched deeply, so deeply, in Frederick’s heart.  

So much so that they had changed his very beliefs and values.  

“That works out perfectly, then.”  

At this unexpected response, both Frederick and Manores turned their baffled gazes toward Theodore.  

Theodore adjusted his glasses and continued.  

“As long as it’s a weapon to wield, it’s better for it to be sharp. I found it tedious and irritating when I realized we’d have to deal with your drug addiction first, but now that you’ve abandoned your fragile mindset, I suppose that’s a relief.”  

“A weapon to wield? Who said that’s your decision?”  

Frederick shouted angrily.  

Even though his mind and body were severely worn out, he was once a proud and arrogant man. Theodore’s constant provocations were pushing Frederick closer to killing intent.  

As he tried to channel his mana, pain coursed through his veins. Both his mana and blood vessels had become corrupted by the drugs.  

Still, sharp blades of wind began to form in Frederick’s hands.  

Just a little more, and he could send these slicing right into that infuriating man’s face…  

“Lotus.”  

The power of that single word was immense, causing Frederick to freeze instantly. The remaining color drained from his already pale face.  

“You… How dare you say her name…?”  

“There is someone who deliberately drove Lotus not just to misfortune, but to her death.”  

“…!”  

Frederick’s silver eyes trembled violently.  

Up until now, he had believed that her death was simply due to her kind heart, saving a child out of her boundless compassion.  

But now, to hear that someone had intentionally led her to her death?  

“W-who? Who is it?”  

“I didn’t come here just to help you. Let’s make a deal.”  

“A deal?”  

Deals were usually made by the powerful.  

Frederick, who had always been the one proposing deals, found it refreshing to be on the receiving end. It twisted his insides slightly.  

But if the man before him really knew the answer to the question that haunted him…  

“Fine. Make your offer.”  

Frederick was willing to bend as much as necessary. Theodore’s lips parted slowly.  

“First, restore your body to its original state. I will help you detox from the drugs. Second, once you receive the information about that person, don’t act recklessly. This isn’t a simple matter.”  

“…Alright.”  

“I’m not done. I know you have a tendency to act impulsively. I can’t trust you with a mere promise like that. I want a magical contract sealed with an oath.”  

An oath-bound contract was a powerful agreement, capable of claiming one’s life if its terms were broken.  

In other words, Theodore was asking Frederick to entrust his life to him.  

Frederick stared at Theodore for a long moment before bursting into laughter, amusement dancing in his eyes.  

“You seem to know me well. And I think I’m starting to understand you too.”  

Frederick’s sharp, predatory silver eyes swept over Theodore’s face, as if wanting to devour him. Then, with his smile gone, Frederick asked coldly.  

“It’s you, isn’t it? The man Lotus was seeing besides me.”  

Theodore didn’t deny it. He nodded calmly.  

“Yes. You told her it was fine to meet other men, didn’t you?”  

“…”  

“We had a relationship that was both interesting and mutually beneficial.”  

Their gazes clashed fiercely. Neither of them looked away.  

Frederick noticed a faint crack in Theodore’s otherwise impenetrable façade when he mentioned Lotus’s name.  

“Fine. Since neither of us trusts the other, let’s write that oath-bound contract.”  

For the sake of an enemy whose name and identity they didn’t yet know, Frederick decided to join forces with the other man who had a connection to Lotus.