I’m in Trouble Because The Emperor Thinks My Time is Limited - Chapter 41

Julia fortunately calmed down quickly. Even as she wiped away her tear marks with the handkerchief Nelly handed her, Julia’s expression remained composed. She sighed, a hint of tremor in her breath.

“It was truly touching.”

I couldn’t understand what had moved her so deeply, but I nodded in agreement.

“More than that, it really suits you.”

“Thank you. I really like it too. Thank you again for such a wonderful gift.”

“No, it is me who received a great gift.”

It was a cryptic statement, but before I could ask for clarification, Julia spoke again, “But still, it does need some alteration.”

“The size seems to fit well.”

“I’m thinking of tweaking the design a bit. I feel inspired.”

Julia had a determined look that brooked no argument. Naturally, I nodded to her forceful presence.

That’s when Utilia finally spoke up.

“How did you know the clothing size?”

Utilia was looking at Julia, not me.

“There are ways.”

Perhaps it was a trade secret. I looked at Julia in admiration.

Then, I heard Utilia muttering behind me.

“That blockhead…”

I turned around, startled, wondering if she was referring to Julia. But Utilia’s gaze was squarely fixed on me. Somehow, there was a sense of exasperation in her eyes, as if she were wondering what on earth to do with me.

I couldn’t help but look perplexed.

What did I do?

“She always ends up with strange people…,” Utilia muttered under her breath, barely audible. And at that exact moment, without any warning, something happened.

“Mana?”

Just as Utilia and I exchanged awkward glances, blue mana rippled into existence in front of us.

The sudden surge of mana caught everyone off guard. Only Julia, as a wizard, could manipulate mana here, so my eyes instinctively turned to her. It didn’t take long to find Julia at the center of the mana, visibly at a loss.

“Lady Julia!”

The mana did belong to Julia, but it seemed she hadn’t intentionally summoned it. As she moved her hands in various attempts, the blue aura around her only grew denser.

“What are you doing—”

“Oh, how do I…!”

Just then, the tangled mana erupted in flames. Julia’s anxious voice was drowned by the explosive sound.

-Bang!

-Poom!

Explosions followed in succession. At that moment, I realized what was happening.

It was a mana rampage.

“Aagh!”

“Ahhh!”

The place descended into chaos in the blink of an eye. The maids, who had opened the door to the parlor due to the commotion, screamed when they saw what was happening inside.

In those few short moments, three more explosions rang out. The situation was dire.

“Utilia!”

I called out to Utilia as I lunged towards Julia. If things continued like this, Julia, at the center of the mana, was in danger.

“What the hell is going on?!”

While Utilia summoned her aura to disperse the mana, I grabbed a decorative spear from the parlor wall. Dealing with mana required aura, but that was beyond me at the moment. Recklessly summoning my aura would trigger the heat in my heart. Thus, I chose a more physical method.

Blue mana and continuous explosions obscured Julia from view. I swung the spear without hesitation, aiming at where she should be.

-Whoosh!

“Ah, Lady!”

Nelly’s worried voice echoed, but there was no time to hesitate. Twirling the spear in midair like a staff, I tore open a gap in the mana.

Through the parted mana, I saw Julia’s terrified face.

“Julia!”

“Move!”

Just as I grabbed Julia’s wrist, I heard Utilia’s shout from behind. A powerful aura, enough to swallow the blue mana, surged forth.

I threw the spear towards an empty spot and pulled Julia into an embrace to shield her.

“Gah!”

But then something unexpected happened. The heat in my heart reacted to Utilia’s aura.

-BOOM!

“Aaaah!”

Someone’s scream filled the air.

Utilia’s aura had swallowed Julia’s mana, followed by a massive explosion. Fortunately, the aura acted as a shield around the mana, preventing the shockwave from reaching anyone. All that was left was the deafening noise and vibrations that resonated through our skin.

“Lindel! Are you okay?”

Utilia confirmed that her aura had successfully subdued the mana and rushed towards us. But I couldn’t answer her call.

‘Ugh, what… what is this?!’

The heat in my heart was searing my entire chest like flames. It wasn’t exactly painful, but it wasn’t pleasant either. It felt as if my heart was both being tickled and melting at the same time—an inexplicable sensation.

“L-Lady Julia… Are you alright?”

My voice came out in broken gasps. Though I struggled to speak, Julia’s well-being was my priority, not my own.

Because she had been at the center of the explosion, Julia’s face and hands were covered in cuts. When I called her name, tears quickly filled her eyes.

“L-Lindel.”

The woman, always so confident, now looked terrified and on the verge of tears. I wiped away the tears streaming down her cheeks with the back of my hand to comfort her.

But in doing so, I couldn’t hide the faint trembling of my fingers. Julia’s eyes shook, as if she had noticed.

“Shh—it’s okay now. Ahem! Don’t cry.”

“Lindel! Are you alright?!”

At Utilia’s urgent voice, I slightly nodded. I wasn’t injured, nor was I in pain. Still, the strange sensation in my heart made my expression tighten.

“…You.”

“Lady!”

Utilia seemed about to say something, but her words were drowned out by Nelly’s cry.

I handed Julia over to Nelly. Though Nelly spoke to her repeatedly, Julia’s gaze remained fixed on me.

At that moment, the sound of clashing armor and approaching footsteps echoed from outside. It was the knights guarding the Empress’s Palace. They must have come running after hearing the explosion.

“Sir Utilia! What happened?!”

“…There was a mana rampage.”

At the mention of a mana rampage, the knights were visibly shaken. They all looked at the utterly devastated parlor in disbelief.

Their reaction made sense.

“How could there be a mana rampage—”

Utilia didn’t even glance at the knight questioning her. Her gaze was fixed squarely on me. I could only meet her gaze with a troubled expression.

“Report to His Majesty immediately.”

Her stern voice ordered the knight.

“Report that someone attacked the Empress’s Palace.”

***

Utilia’s immediate use of the word “attack” had a clear reason.

Mana rampages were phenomena that often occurred in wizards who were inexperienced at controlling mana. Consequently, most wizards who went on a rampage were either young or low-ranking. Thus, the fact that Julia’s mana had gone out of control was difficult to explain.

Julia Areta was the only wizard in the Areta Duchy and a mid-ranking wizard. She didn’t have an excessive amount of mana, but her ability to manifest it into magic was unparalleled. In other words, her mana control was on par with high-ranking mages. It was unbelievable that such a skilled mage had lost control of her mana.

Moreover, an even more significant reason was that the incident had occurred in the Imperial Palace. In the palace, where the use of magic was restricted, it was impossible to manifest enough mana to trigger a rampage.

For these reasons, Utilia and everyone else concluded that the incident was an “attack on the Empress’s Palace.”

“Is this all that was found?”

“Damn it. They have a lot of money.”

Cryan swore as he looked at the magic tools presented by one of the guards. Immediately after the incident, Cryan had ordered a search of the area near the Empress’s Palace, and these were the items they found. Each one was an expensive piece, the kind of items that could easily buy a house in the capital.

“Mana amplifiers, barrier disruptors… They were clearly determined.”

Utilia’s gaze was cold. Being at the center of all the chaos, her anger was understandable. Eventually, unable to hold it in any longer, Utilia let out a furious roar.

“Those damn bastards dared to mock us…!”

“Calm down, Utilia.”

“Calm down? You want me to calm down?”

When Pan tried to stop her, Utilia slammed her fist onto the table where the magic tools were laid.

“Lindel almost got hurt! Why else would they target the Empress’s Palace, which has been empty since His Majesty’s ascension? They were clearly after Lindel!”

At the mention that Lindel had been targeted, the knights investigating nearby froze. Shoulders that had been cleaning up the debris stiffened.

In the tense atmosphere, Pan spoke firmly to Utilia, “That’s exactly why you need to calm down.”

“Pan!”

“We don’t know who the bastards are that dared to pull this off, but this is exactly the time to keep our wits about us, right?”

His smirk was vicious.

“So we can round them up and crush them all at once.”

While everyone else was focused on the heated conversation between the two, Cryan silently picked up one particularly conspicuous black magic tool. The officer in charge of examining the magic items went pale at his abrupt action.

“S-sir, you can’t handle that like—”

“What is this?”

“Ah. We also need to investigate it. It’s a type we’ve never seen before…”

The fact that there was an unfamiliar item mixed in made Cryan’s expression darken even more. The officer anxiously watched, fearing Cryan might throw it in a fit of rage.

Fortunately, that didn’t happen.

“His Majesty ordered a thorough investigation of this incident. Stay sharp, everyone.”

“Yes, sir!”

Cryan handed the item back to the officer before turning on his heel without hesitation. There had yet to be any report of a suspicious person found, so he needed to take action himself. His expression, once he turned away from prying eyes, was as fierce as a demon.