Episode 38: Magic Society Festival (3)
“Ah, I’m Sid! I’m the one who owes you more!”
Sid awkwardly bowed his head.
At her eye smile curving like a crescent moon, Sid felt like his heart would stop.
Just as Leir had boasted, the moment he met her, his heart moved.
Isabella stroked her fidgeting daughter’s head.
“Reiya. It’s fine because you’re pretty. If you try to hide too much, you’ll have to hide your whole life. Right?”
Perhaps uncomfortable in the splendid dress, Reiya touched her bangs.
Her face, fully revealed now that her glasses were gone, seemed terribly shy.
At Isabella’s words, Sid nodded as well.
At this sight, Leir was grinning from ear to ear.
“Yes, that’s right. You’re pretty enough, just as Mother said. So don’t worry too much.”
“H-hic….”
When the word pretty left Sid’s mouth, the girl’s face flushed red.
Because of the shoulder-revealing dress, even her neck and shoulders dyed scarlet.
Like the red flower pinned to her chest.
“How is it, Hyung? Has your heart changed a little?”
“Hmm….”
When Leir smiled slyly, Sid turned his head.
Looking around, several gazes were indeed upon them.
Especially, there were many whispers asking who the girl in the black dress was.
If people knew this girl was the especially unassuming librarian, they would probably be shocked.
And amidst the complex crowd, sounds mentioning Isabella were heard as well.
“That….”
“That person is….”
Short whispers were buried in the murmuring and disappeared.
It seemed they were mentioning Isabella’s identity, but no matter how much he focused, he couldn’t hear.
Come to think of it, even at the luxurious banquet, no noble approached the Wayne family.
They clearly had eyes recognizing Isabella, but they only whispered quietly and were busy leaving their seats.
Thanks to that, the four gathered near the terrace could spend some quiet time.
Then, learning of Isabella’s identity happened due to a chance occurrence.
“Sid. Have you perhaps not seen Professor Ruel? She’s not one to enter first….”
A woman in a tight teal dress approached.
It was Professor Pom Probius, in charge of herbalism, familiar to Sid and Reiya.
Healthy brown skin with voluminous, long hair.
The breathtaking teal dress, contrasting with her skin, suited her well.
Like Ruel, she seemed to have come to supervise the first-years.
“Huh?”
But Pom, who had approached Sid, recognized Isabella.
As if the two knew each other, when Isabella lowered her head, Pom also flinched and bowed her head.
Isabella leisurely smiled and extended her hand.
“It’s been a while, Pom. Reiya has spoken a lot about you.”
“The Prophet? How many years has it been! You don’t seem to have changed at all in ten years!”
‘Prophet?’
At the word Prophet, Sid’s interest was piqued.
As if it was a familiar story, the Wayne siblings focused on the two’s conversation.
Soon, after brief greetings, Pom asked Sid again.
“If I had known you were coming, I would have brought my senior as well…. Right, have you not seen Professor Ruel? I asked Barian, and he said she was with you earlier.”
“If it’s Professor Ruel, she said she went in to rest. She seems tired.”
“Really? That’s strange…. Then have a good time!”
Pom smiled while looking at the blue flower pinned to Sid’s chest.
Having been close with Isabella, her expression was bright.
Watching the departing herbalism professor, Leir smiled slyly.
As if he had hidden his identity precisely for this moment.
“Don’t be surprised, Hyung. Our mother is the Royal Prophet.”
“The Royal Prophet?”
Not just a prophet, but a “Royal Prophet”—at those words, Sid’s eyes went wide.
Though he didn’t know about the profession called “Royal Prophet,” a Prophet was an existence that appeared without fail in countless books and myths.
An existence with powerful strength because they knew the future.
Among professions that stirred the heart, there was probably none as intense as Prophet.
As if reading these inner thoughts, Isabella smiled bashfully.
“Hoho, were you surprised? Sorry for not telling you in advance. Leir told me to hide it.”
When she shot a sharp glare, a mischievous laugh escaped Leir.
He probably wanted to see how Sid would react upon hearing his mother’s identity.
As expected, Sid’s reaction was awkward.
Seeing Sid’s expression, the Prophet waved her hand.
“Don’t believe the rumors, whatever you’ve heard. They’re mostly exaggerated.”
Isabella’s deep eyelashes stood out.
Whenever she moved, a scent mixed with perfume drifted.
This smell seemed to make the Prophet more dreamlike.
Moreover, now that he heard the name Prophet, her atmosphere became understandable.
“A Prophet is an existence that focuses on statistics and records, and advises using them as evidence. The many truths proven from the past merely look like prophecy to others.”
“Aha….”
At the humble remark, Sid nodded.
According to her words, “prophecy” didn’t seem to be something like receiving an “oracle” or “revelation” like in myths.
They simply studied and utilized various things like astrology, meteorology, physiognomy, and feng shui.
Just as a sprout grows when a seed is sown, prophecy was speaking of the possibility that something would inevitably happen when conditions were met.
Of course, he didn’t know that their special insight approached more mysteriously than any magic.
Isabella, who had divulged her secret, smiled refreshingly.
“The title Royal Prophet is nothing great; it’s merely that the previous predecessor pointed me out. So you don’t have to look at me like that.”
Watching the nervous Sid, the Prophet laughed playfully.
Her quiet first impression reminded him of Reiya, but when she laughed like this, she resembled Leir.
Perhaps the subtle body scent mixed with fragrance was also a device she had created intentionally.
Just as dizzying thoughts tangled together, Isabella’s lips drew close.
Approaching Sid, she stole into his ear with a soft voice.
“The spring bee steals the flower’s nectar, but without that bee, the fruit cannot be borne. Do not believe your close friend. But do not refuse his help either.”
After whispering briefly, she leisurely moved away.
As the surprised Sid hesitated, Isabella smiled slyly.
“Is this… a prophecy?”
“It’s advice. You would know best what it means.”
“U-uh….”
At her mother’s sudden action, Reiya’s face flushed red.
Her consistently reddening skin reminded one of a tomato.
Sensing her daughter’s jealousy, the mysterious woman moved her steps.
A strange eye smile radiated her charm.
“We have some business to attend to, so we’ll be going somewhere for a bit. Enjoy the party!”
“Huh? Y-yes.”
“Don’t be lonely without us, Hyung!”
With Leir’s farewell, the Wayne family moved away.
However, Sid’s heart was already thumping from the story of the “flower and bee.”
Knowing what this story meant, the boy’s head was complicated.
It was as if a stone had been thrown into a quiet pond.
[Do not mind it. A Prophet’s words depend on interpretation.]
Just then, the Passbook that had been silent throughout the Magic Society opened its mouth.
As if knowing it was the subject, it didn’t let Sid fall into needless thoughts.
His heart touching the passbook thumped, rehearsing the Prophet’s words.
“Reiya must have told you about Nuna. We were found out last time.”
As the Wayne family moved away, time for just the two of them approached.
Sid turned his back to the banquet hall and walked toward the terrace.
The dim sky touched the boy’s face.
However, the Prophet’s advice was as intense as her prophecy.
“Well, she probably mentioned the case of Egowepon after hearing Reiya’s story. I don’t think it has any great meaning.”
She had probably given appropriate advice after hearing the story from Reiya.
Wasn’t it also what Eirena had said: “There’s nothing good about relying on great strength”?
Thinking so and trying to shake it off, the passbook’s words continued.
[That is not the story. Isabella is a true Prophet. That advice just now was also a prophecy.]
“What?”
At the unexpected words, the boy’s interest shifted.
She too had introduced herself as someone “knowledgeable in information and knowledge”…….
Could it mean she was truly one of the marvelous Prophets appearing in myths?
Moreover, acknowledging this prophecy was the same as being told not to believe in itself.
[The Royal Prophet is inherited by exactly one person per generation. It is passed to a person with a divine ability. One cannot ascend with merely appropriate ability or someone difficult to control.]
“Hmm….”
Sid’s expression hardened.
Then the mother of the Wayne siblings he had just met was truly a Prophet.
And one of the few top figures in the Kingdom…….
Recalling the nobles who recognized her but couldn’t approach, he nodded.
She was such an intense figure that one couldn’t rashly approach.
[And a Prophet’s prophecies are filled with sentences that can only be understood after the situation unfolds. They are composed of ambiguous sentences from the start, so they differ depending on interpretation.]
“Like the poetic expressions in myths?”
Prophecies in myths were an earring if hung on the ear, a nose ring if hung on the nose.
Didn’t Prophets without divine abilities also deceive others with such sentences and demand money?
But the passbook’s words continued.
Its explanation of prophecy was somewhat complex.
Like the difference between ‘ah’ and ‘uh’.
[It is different from that. Ambiguous expressions are a device to not leak heavenly secrets.]
“What?”
[A living Prophet never leaks the future.]
At the contradictory words, the boy’s eyebrows rose.
A Prophet was called a Prophet “because they leak the future.”
If they didn’t leak the future, what was different from an ordinary person?
As these doubts continued, the passbook’s explanation continued.
[The act of leaking heavenly secrets incurs a price in some way. Mostly, the Prophet’s own health is ruined, or their life is threatened. Therefore, they walk the ambiguous boundary between advice and prophecy with ambiguous expressions. They intentionally do not leak the future.]
“So what you’re saying is, a Prophet is an existence that’s as good as useless?”
[If we look only at the conclusion, yes.]
“Hmm….”
It was a story quite different from imagination.
Not a person without divine ability at all, but a Prophet who had divine ability yet didn’t leak it…….
Precisely because such a contradictory existence, the passbook’s reaction was skeptical.
“Then how do they prove that person is a real Prophet? Is there some method?”
[For small prophecies, they may be bedridden for a few days, but for great prophecies, they meet death as the price for leaking heavenly secrets. They prove their prophecy with their death.]
“Whoa.”
It truly couldn’t be anything but an ironic story.
To have to give their life as the price for leaking the future…….
Then this meant Isabella’s predecessor had also given his life and prophesied.
If such a moment came, what would become of the siblings?
Like an ironic myth, that was what a Prophet was.
Unable to prove their ability their whole life, throwing their life away for a single prophecy.
Perhaps the various studies Isabella had mentioned were efforts to help others during the time she did not prophesy.
“But it’s still a truly amazing ability.”
[Of course. Prophecy is one of the few abilities humans received as gifts from the gods.]
“Is Nuna such a gift too?”
The boy smiled.
Hearing the passbook explain the Prophet’s story was truly interesting.
Thus spending time, Sid took out the passbook from his chest.
Just as one takes out their phone when bored, checking the balance was close to a light habit.
“Rudius!”
Then a loud voice rang through the middle of the banquet hall.
It was the man called the “Count,” who had been stringing together yellow flowers.
At that voice, all eyes in the banquet hall gathered.
Indeed, it was a night too regrettable to end as a boring banquet.
“Rudius! My son… my son has disappeared!”
- To be continued in Episode 39 -