How to Live as the Terminally Ill Younger Sister of the Villain - Chapter 77
Angelina was brought into the conversation.
“Actually, I was a bit surprised. I heard that Blake was so aloof that there was no chance to talk, but to think you’re going back and forth like this.”
It was a method of simultaneously touching on both the Magic Tower story and the current situation, tackling both people at once.
‘Look at how he asks questions while conveniently omitting the subject.’
Angelina had to suppress a snort at his cunning.
It was truly an ingenious statement.
It was ambiguous whether he was asking about the path to the tower, or if she had also dealt with the Tower Master. The mention of ‘must have seen’ was vague about whether it referred to seeing the Tower Master or Blake.
Moreover, because of the words added at the end, it made it unclear whether they should first explain the current situation or start with the Magic Tower story.
Here, no matter what was said first, it could be picked apart. So Angelina decided to resolve the easier part first.
“The Tower Master is a mysterious figure to everyone.”
Aiden might have thought she would pretend not to know, but Angelina willingly brought up the Tower Master.
“They say even the magicians of the Magic Tower don’t know what the Tower Master looks like. I found that particularly fascinating.”
She presented facts about the Tower Master rather than whether she had seen him or not.
These were facts that were a bit peculiar to point out as obvious, but also not new enough to be considered fresh information – the kind of facts that those who know, know.
“I heard that the Tower Master appears in the image that the other person imagines when they think of ‘Tower Master’.”
While this clearly applies only to the Tower Master’s office, it wasn’t entirely incorrect since the Tower Master uses illusion magic to conceal their appearance when going outside.
“So even if you meet the Tower Master, there’s no way to know if it’s really the Tower Master or an impersonator. Even the magicians who could testify can’t know his true appearance.”
“An interesting perspective. So no one knows whether they’ve met the real Tower Master or not?”
“Isn’t that right? Perhaps everyone in the world has crossed paths with the Tower Master at least once.”
As Aiden began to show interest in Angelina’s unique answer, she added a somewhat unexpected comment.
“In that sense, the Saint is truly special. There can’t be any impersonators, right?”
It might sound out of the blue, but in a way, the topic was similar. So Aiden agreed without much resistance.
“That’s right. Unlike how the most skilled magician becomes the Tower Master, the Saint’s ability itself is different from ordinary priests.”
“While the Order is just a group created by humans to serve the Sun God, the Saint is a divine child sent directly by the Sun God.”
“Well, that’s true.”
Aiden nodded as there was nothing particularly wrong with what was said.
So Angelina subtly added:
“Then… even if the Order disappears from this land, as long as the Saint exists, it means the Sun God hasn’t abandoned us, so people can continue to follow the Sun God, right?”
“What?”
Aiden frowned, but before he could sense anything more strange, Angelina continued.
“Similarly, even if there’s no Tower Master, as long as magical power exists, magic won’t disappear from this world, right? Whether they put a new Tower Master in the current Magic Tower or build an entirely new tower, the magical power itself doesn’t change, does it?”
She calmly raised her ‘question’ as if the Magic Tower story had been her goal from the beginning.
“Well, that’s…”
Aiden felt that pointing out the previous example would be wrong, precisely because her attitude was so calm.
After all, the focus of the conversation was on the relationship between the existence of the Tower Master, magical power, and magic.
Seeing Blake’s somewhat surprised face beside her, Aiden deliberately tried to appear more at ease. He wanted to prove that he had more flexible thinking than that guy.
“Then… does the Tower Master really exist?”
“…?”
“Frankly speaking, if someone passing by brought any magician to me and said, ‘This is the Tower Master,’ I would have no way of knowing whether it’s true or not, right?”
“Are you suggesting that the Magic Tower is lying about the existence of the Tower Master?”
“I’m not saying anything that extreme, but after all, the only evidence that the Tower Master exists is the word of the Magic Tower, right? Just like how the only evidence that there hasn’t been a Saint for hundreds of years is the word of the Grand Temple.”
“….”
Aiden was starting to get confused.
What kind of conversation are we having right now?
The Magic Tower and the Order. The Tower Master and the High Priest. Magicians and priests. And magical power and the Saint.
There was something strangely similar about them, and Angelina’s views and perspectives, using each as examples for the other, were oddly credible and persuasive.
It was clearly nonsense, but the logic was strange enough to make one want to listen.
“It’s true that there hasn’t been a Saint for hundreds of years.”
Aiden pointed out. Angelina then made a small ‘hmm’ sound and muttered softly.
“Isn’t the Order not finding a Saint and a Saint not actually existing two different things…?”
Though the drawn-out end of her sentence sounded like a mumble to herself, her voice wasn’t particularly quiet, so it was clearly audible at the silent table.
“Just as there’s no evidence that one existed, there’s also no evidence that one didn’t exist at all…”
Trailing off while tapping her port tart, Angelina soon shrugged her shoulders.
“Anyway, I’ve been having such useless thoughts lately. Because the High Priest said he’s terribly worried that no Saint has appeared for hundreds of years.”
Angelina concluded lightly while popping the last piece of tart into her mouth.
“So you wanted to comfort him by suggesting that they might not have been absent, but simply not found?”
“That’s right. Since the Magic Tower runs well without a Tower Master, he shouldn’t be too distressed about not having a Saint.”
Angelina smiled sweetly while cleansing her palate with wine.
Across from her, Blake was making every effort to hide his expression.
And for good reason.
He knew about the Saint Project, and he knew the whole story of how she had properly backstabbed the High Priest while diverting the sacred objects.
So all of this was hypocrisy and pretense.
Perhaps he hadn’t expected to see such a masked noble’s demeanor from Angelina.
Or was he anxious on her behalf, knowing the truth and fearing it might be discovered?
Either way, he was able to hide his confused feelings with the help of wine.
“So the Tower Master doesn’t exist, huh…”
Meanwhile, there was someone who interpreted Angelina’s words quite differently from Blake.
Aiden recalled a conversation he once had with his mother.
‘The Tower Master won’t deal with Kadenhart. No matter how sweet and stimulating the proposal might be.’
‘How can you be sure of that?’
‘Because getting involved in politics would mean revealing their identity.’
‘…Are you saying they dislike revealing their identity so much that they’d turn down magic stone mines?’
‘Everyone has secrets they want to keep, and only the person themselves knows their value.’
At that time, he thought the Tower Master was making thorough efforts to hide because they had a very unusual background.
But was that not it?
‘Did mother know that the Tower Master didn’t exist at all?’
That the Tower Master was a creation of the Magic Tower, and the Tower was desperate to hide this fact?
Thinking about it this way explained why the Tower Master had been so reclusive and why everything related to them was so mysterious.
“Ha.”
Aiden let out a hollow laugh.
Is it true? Is this the truth?
He turned his gaze to Blake.
The man who had given only ambiguous answers about whether he had met the Tower Master was now drinking wine at an increasing pace after hearing Angelina’s story.
Though this was the first time drinking with him, according to the spies planted around Blake, he didn’t enjoy alcohol.
Not only did he rarely get drunk due to his swordsman’s constitution, but he also worried about accidentally hurting people instead of monsters with his sword.
Yet such a person was already on his fifth glass.
Though his expression remained stiff, it was behavior that couldn’t help but raise suspicion.
‘Did this fellow also learn about it during his recent visit to the Magic Tower…?’
It felt like pieces of a puzzle falling into place.
The corner of Aiden’s mouth curved upward.
‘Is this woman subtly trying to let me know about this?’
She seemed to be using ridiculous examples like the Saint and the Order because speaking directly might allow Blake or other servants present to spread the word.
And Aiden took this as a good sign.
‘Acting like she had no interest in my proposal at all, how cunning.’
Aiden couldn’t hide his smile.
“Lady Flaubert, you always manage to awaken new perspectives and emotions in me.”
“Do I really?”
