Volume 8 Chapter 1 Part 3

She waited for a while, but for some reason Irvin didn’t show up, so Siluca had no choice but to use magic to purify the water that was in the water bottle, then pour it into a pot, and then she also used magic to turn it into hot water. Although she was tired, she still had a lot of energy left since she was used to using magic on a daily basis now.

She then placed two cups on the table and began brewing the tea, but instead of the Artuk leaves, the tea leaves had changed to those from Dartania. They had a distinct taste and aroma, and according to the stories that Siluca heard, Dartanian people use to drink it together with milk.

Siluca took a seat across from Theo.

「Thank you. 」

Theo lifted his cup lightly, took a sip of the hot tea, and took a deep breath. Throughout the entire party, he must’ve drank a lot of alcohol. However, even though Theo was not a big drinker, he was by no means weak to alcohol. Back when he was just a wandering Lord, he apparently often worked as a helper at various inns, so he should have been pretty well-trained in that regard.

「…Congratulations on becoming the leader of the Treaty of Artuk and becoming an Earl. 」

The two of them stayed silent for a while as they faced one another, until Siluca remembered that and bowed to Theo while congratulating him. Perhaps due to fatigue, her brain was uncharacteristically slow right now.

「Thanks you, but I cannot help but feel that this celebration was more than a little blown out of proportion. 」

「I think that you acted with more than enough dignity, Lord Theo. You acted as a proper leader should, not only during the Lord’s Conference, but also during the banquets as well. I think that such a dignified conduct suits you very well. 」

Even though Siluca was busy moving around the whole banquet’s venue, she would still occasionally check to see how Theo was doing.

「Well, at the very Ieast, I was able to talk to all the Lords to my heart’s content. 」

「And that’s the most important thing here. After all, we won’t be able to achieve any of our future goals without the cooperation of the other Lords. 」

「Yeah, but I think that we should be fine now… 」

Theo looks up at the sky outside of the window as if he wanted to show it his gratitude.

「They swore loyalty to me. Their hearts are now connected to me through our Crests, so they should know that there’s going to be no use in trying to lie to me about anything. 」

「There was quite a lot of resistance towards the idea of you becoming the leader of the Artuk Treaty, but fortunately everything that you managed to achieve seems to be enough to convince the Lords of the Treaty that you’re going to be a worthy successor to Lord Lassic, since everyone saw what you’re truly capable of. 」

「Also, I once again realized that for the Lords, submitting yourself to another Lord is something that definitely takes a certain amount of determination. I know that it’s more complicated than that, but I always saw it as a matter of losing a battle in order to win a war. 」

Theo said so as he smiled bitterly.

「We’re at a time of war, so there’s nothing we can do about it. If it were at a time of peace, then I’m afraid that you could’ve remained just a wandering Lord, Lord Theo. 」

「I don’t think that would necessarily be such a bad thing. After all, as long as I’ll survive to live another day, I could always try again in a different place. 」

「Still, it remains a fact that you’re extremely popular with the soldiers and the people of your territory alike. When you showed up, everyone was greeting you with cheers. 」

「But still, many soldiers died in this battle and ordinary people had to make sacrifices too. Honestly, all those casualties make my heart hurt. 」

「That’s why you cannot forget about this feeling, because it’ll allow you to be an even better governor of both your troops and your people. 」

Siluca called out to him gently.

「That’s what I promised you when we first met. Of course, I’ll never forget it. My final goal is the same as it always was: to go back to my hometown of Marza and make the village happy. It’s for that purpose that I overthrew the Rossini family, and that’s why I intend to put an end to the Great War. 」

「Yes… 」

Siluca smiled and nodded. Making the people of Theo’s home village happy was going to be an extremely difficult task if he wanted to focus on his village alone. In this case, it’s going to be better to make sure that the entire continent is going to be at peace first, and then switch to making sure that the people of the Marza village and the village itself are going to keep on prospering.

「No, wait, one thing has changed since then, actually. 」

Theo said quietly.

「One thing? And what would that be? 」

「It’s my last dream. When I return to the village of Marza, I’m not going to be alone, because you’re going to be by my side. 」

「When I first met you, I swore my eternal loyalty to you, so of course I intend to serve you for the rest of my life, Lord Theo. 」
「Uhm… I feel like what I was trying to communicate didn’t come across to you properly. 」

Theo scratched his head restlessly. Then, he suddenly stood up and moved to the seat next to Siluca.

「Ah… 」

That’s when Siruca finally realized what Theo was alluding to this whole time. It’s probably because she was so tired and because she was acting like a proper contracted Mage throughout the entire length of the Lord’s Conference and the following party celebrating Theo’s ascention as the new leader of the Artuk Treaty.

Theo hugged Siluca tighter than usual. As he got closer to her face, she could smell the strong smell of alcohol being emitted from him.

After the banquet was over, Siluca was also having a toast with the other Mages, but since her tolerance to alcohol was not all that high, she only chose to have one drink, and on top of that she had her wine mixed with as much water as possible.

「I believe that two people who love each other should be together. That’s not limited to Lord Alexis and Lady Marine. 」

「No, I think this is important, so please be more strict with yourself. 」

This current situation made Siluca remember the first time when the two of them had ascertained their feelings towards each other back in the Forest of Eternal Darkness.

「I know that you are my contracted Mage in public, but even though it makes me feel a little lonely, I do my best to bear with it. However, when I return to the village of Marza, you’re not going to be my contracted Mage anymore, but my princess. That’s what I meant when I said that you’re going to be by my side. 」

Theo said while choosing his words carefully.

(Even though you called me a witch when we first met?)
Siluca whispered to herself.

「Actually, I tried not to think about it too much. 」

Siluca answered quietly.

「What we’re aiming for is to make a miracle happen. Of course, I’m willing to try to make it happen with all my heart… but maybe somewhere in my heart I don’t believe we can actually do it. 」

「Yeah, I agree with you. 」

Theo nodded, and his face hit Siluca’s shoulder.

「I’m happy just to be able to have the same dream as you, Lord Theo. And when it’s just the two of us, I get to be treated kindly by you like this… 」

Siluca then pulled herself away from Theo.

「That’s why I thought I’d wait until everything was over. Besides, with the way you are now, you should have no trouble finding someone better and more suitable to be your queen. 」

She looked at Theo and said so jokingly, but this matter was very important to Siluca, an it should be to Theo as well. There are many women who aim to become a Duchess, so he may be offered a marriage of convenience in the near future.

She heard quite a lot of stories about female contracted Mages started working for their assigned Lords only to develop honest feelings towards them down the line.