Memoirs of a Wicked Magician - Chapter 69

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 69
Liriope’s eyes narrowed slightly as she looked down at the fallen flowers scattered around her.
If Velkius had visited Sector 5 or 6 from the heart of the Polluted Holy Ground today, these flowers would certainly have been contaminated in their original state.
Yet the pile of purple flowers now showering down upon Liriope had been thoroughly purified, releasing a delicate fragrance.
When she recalled Velkius’s words—that he’d suddenly wanted to show them to her and brought them along—her mood became strangely unsettled.
It was definitely the first time the two of them had faced each other like this, outside the Outer Estate and in this underground chamber.
Yet to any observer unfamiliar with their circumstances, their meeting appeared remarkably natural.
Velkius was always elusive, and he had never once failed to find Liriope, wherever she might be within the Outer Estate.
Even beyond the Outer Estate, she had never believed she could truly escape his grasp, so his unannounced visits never caught her off guard.
Moreover, this was not the first time Velkius had brought her something.
Even now, as he watched Liriope surrounded by the flowers he had given her, he wore a satisfied expression so unmistakable that the boys who had been with him until moments ago would have been astounded—clearly pleased to see if she liked his gift.
“There are other gifts too.”
After observing her reaction closely, he retrieved something else from his Isolated Space.
—*Screeeee!*
And in that instant, the delicate atmosphere of the underground chamber shattered completely.
“What—what is that? Didn’t I tell you not to just grab anything from the Polluted Holy Ground?”
“That’s why this time I brought something small.”
“That’s not the issue here.”
“You haven’t been able to enter the heart of the Polluted Holy Ground yet, so you’ve never seen anything like this before, right? If you’re curious, you can try eating it. It’s completely purified, so it’ll be fine. You like creatures, don’t you?”
Was he joking right now?
Liriope’s heart surged for a moment, but she quickly swallowed the feeling.
There was not the slightest hint of mockery in Velkius’s eyes as he watched her with subtle anticipation—just as there never had been before.
This was, in essence, a ridiculous misunderstanding born a year ago that had never been resolved.
“Get rid of it. Now.”
“Why? Doesn’t it look appetizing? It looks similar to what you used to eat before. And since this one’s much bigger, you’d have more to eat.”
“Stop it. Get rid of it now.”
At Liriope’s cold response, Velkius regarded her with dissatisfaction.
Then, as if to say he had no choice because Liriope was simply too particular, did he not exhale a shallow sigh?
With a reluctant expression, he sent the creature—roughly the size of his fist, brought from the Polluted Holy Ground—back into his Isolated Space.
“Fine. Next time I’ll find something else you might like.”
“I don’t need anything. Don’t bring anything.”
“But you do like these flowers, don’t you?”
At his words, Liriope reflexively began to deny that she liked anything at all, but then it occurred to her that dismissing his sincerity outright seemed somehow unfair, so she closed her mouth.
And there it was—an arrogant smile, almost like that of a victor, blooming at the corner of Velkius’s lips.
“See? I knew you’d like them because they resemble you.”
Riding a breeze-like current of mana, the purple flowers danced in the air.
[Good grief. Really now. This is absurd. This is beyond absurd. Why do I have to witness such a thing in the middle of the night…. Anyway, his taste is truly suspicious.]
Liriope, who had been gazing at the scene in a daze, belatedly came to her senses and found herself agreeing with Ode’s words.
‘True. The flowers are pretty, but that creature from before is really…. I don’t understand how his tastes can be so extreme.’
[That’s not what I was talking about…. Never mind. You’re probably better off not knowing. Just live in ignorance.]
Leaving Ode’s grumbling behind, Liriope picked up one of the fallen flowers from the bed and gazed at it quietly.
Whether the Boy had put those around her to sleep or had used Soundproofing Magic, she couldn’t tell, but beyond the bars all was perfectly silent.
It seemed ideal for a restful sleep, yet strangely, sleep would not come.
Not that this was truly strange.
First, her bedding had changed after a year; second, she felt a complicated, anxious mixture of emotions now that she had finally come to the Inner Estate of the Northern Magic Tower; and third, her sister’s cold face kept hovering before her eyes.
And now, just now, a fourth reason had emerged.
This boy before her.
“Why? Still in a bad mood?”
Thanks to Velkius arriving with a gift in hand as if he knew she would be restless all night, tossing and turning in bed, he had woken her—albeit this time in a favorable way.
“Strange. I thought you’d be happy now that you’ve finally come out into the sunlight, but why do you seem so discontented instead?”
Soft fingers curled gently through Liriope’s hair, letting the strands slip through them in a teasing gesture.
“I suppose if you’re cooped up in a place like this, it’s enough to ruin anyone’s mood, isn’t it?”
Velkius scanned the cramped room’s surroundings with an amused expression.
“Besides, calling this a bed? Your personal wooden bed at the Outer Estate would be far better.”
*Creak.*
The moment he shifted his weight slightly toward Liriope, the bed’s sharp noise pierced her eardrums painfully.
Liriope felt his approaching presence and instinctively stiffened her body.
But Velkius, as if teasing her wariness, merely brushed a flower from her shoulder.
Liriope shot him a disapproving look and drew her body back.
Yet in that moment, his hand, moving to the side, caught hold of her arm.
Their gazes collided directly.
And then, at the boy’s soft whisper that tickled her ear, Liriope’s eyes widened.
“How about it—if you don’t like it out here, want to go back to the Outer Estate?”
Velkius’s smile remained beautiful yet carried an edge. He had posed it half in jest, but the other half of his heart was unmistakably sincere.
Liriope perceived this keenly.
“No.”
A resolute refusal fell from her lips, cutting short his teasing.
Although Velkius had plainly anticipated her answer, his expression twisted in that moment.
“You dislike it that much?”
“Yes. I dislike it.”
“Reconsider. It’s not quite so bad, is it?”
“There’s nothing to reconsider. I dislike it.”
What had begun as mere petulance and verbal sparring grew more pointed with each of Liriope’s razor-sharp responses, and Velkius’s spirits sank lower with each exchange.
“I can do anything I want in this Isolated Space I created, and I can have anything I desire—so why exactly?”
“Yes, thanks to that, life in the Outer Estate was convenient. But if that had been enough, why would I have left that Isolated Space and lived outside it for the past few months?”
“That’s precisely what I don’t understand. What exactly is so dissatisfying?”
Liriope herself had no idea why she should waste her breath on such a fruitless argument on a moonlit night.
So she cast him a displeased glance, intending to send him away.
“Move. The bed’s going to break.”
“Should I cast Reinforcement Magic on it?”
“Just get up and go somewhere else.”
“There’s nowhere to sit in this shabby room except that wretched bed you’re lying on—what exactly do you expect me to do?”
“Then go back to your room. Or better yet, remember that expensive, plush chair you’re always pulling out from your Isolated Space? Just sit there.”
But Velkius remained unmoved, his expression deepening into a rich smile.
And then, as if in retaliation, he uttered a brazenly impudent remark in response, testing her patience.
“No.”
Liriope’s eyebrows twitched.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————