The West Wind's Destination - Chapter 61
“Bea, I…”
“Yes?”
“I want to know more. How did you dispel the anti-magic? Can you tell me about it?”
Since magic didn’t work on Aseph’s body, which made it hard for him to understand. Even though Bea explained it as a technique, it felt like magic to him.
“Your body contains too much magical power.”
“Me? But I’m not a mage.”
“Not even mages have magical power in their bodies either. Magical power is just a substance that dissolves in the air a little. The race that can instinctively use it through their bodies are mages.”
“Ah… Then, what about alchemists?”
“Alchemists are those who interpret the laws and principles of magic. While mages use their bodies as their medium, alchemists use arrays and tools to achieve the same feats.”
Seeing Aseph’s expression, Bea added more explanation.
“The principle of seeing objects with eyes is that light passes through the lens of the eye to the optic nerve, which sends signals to the brain, and the brain interprets it to see. However, not everyone understands this principle to see objects. It’s the same with mages. We interpret such principles of magic and imbue them into tools.”
“That’s why magic and alchemy don’t work on me. Because they are based on the same principle.”
Bea continued to explain why the method he used to save Aseph was described as a simple technique.
“If normal people are like water, then gathering the magical power in the air to make sugar water is magic.”
The next explanation was a bit easier.
“But you’re like a lump of sugar. Throwing more sugar at you won’t have any effect.”
Aseph chuckled softly at that affectionate explanation.
“Why are you laughing?”
“It just sounded like you were saying I’m as sweet as sugar.”
“……”
Bea narrowed her eyes. The comment was frivolous but still a courting one.
“That explains why I’m weak to you.”
“…Why would that be?”
“If magical power dissolves in the air, then I’m not weak to magical power but to air itself. And you’re essentially the wind.”
“……”
“Since the concentration of substances tends to maintain equilibrium. Right?”
“Corr…”
Bea was about to agree without thinking, but then caught himself. Aseph laughed out loud at Bea’s reaction, which was rarely caught off guard.
“…This is absurd.”
But Bea still felt it was alright.
“I managed to temporarily remove the homunculus’s anti-magic in its infancy using a more concentrated magic stone. Now that it has grown, it’s impossible. There wouldn’t be such a magic stone anymore.”
“I see.”
Aseph embraced Bea’s shoulder and pressed a kiss to her forehead.
This time, even when the conversation between them stopped, it wasn’t awkward. Aseph stroked Bea’s hair as she leaned tiredly against him.
“Bea.”
In fact, he had planned to do as intended today.
He had planned to somehow keep Bea by his side, even if it meant being somewhat coercive.
There were many ways to marry. Everyone else had suggested the same methods. Now there was a pretext. Even if Homun wasn’t a child of love, the public opinion had already shaped it that way, so pushing in that direction would work.
You have no choice. This is an order. You must follow. Pressing down with status and circumstances. That’s how he should speak to her to drive his point in. Living with Myron Devesis made that kind of behavior familiar to her.
However, he did not want to do that.
He wished for her to smile comfortably by his side because he loved her so, not because he wanted to keep her as his possession as though she’s an object.
“…With my ears like this, I can’t do anything. It’s inefficient.”
Especially to someone who sees herself as a mere tool to be used and discarded, it was even more important not to act like that.
Aseph gently stroked Bea’s shoulder and quietly asked.
The sound of water continuously flowed from the white, marble fountain.
“Do you know what this is, Bea?”
“A fountain?”
“I installed the magical device you created inside.”
“The one that absorbs water?”
“Yes, isn’t it beautiful? Ruslan made it while playing with our child, uh, Homun.”
The spherical magical device was just an object that absorbed as much moisture from the surroundings as possible, compressing and storing it. The even-numbered devices installed created a meaningless chain reaction by repeatedly absorbing and releasing water.
Particles of water breaking like powder in mid-air created small rainbows.
Bea stared blankly at it and then spoke.
“It’s just a phenomenon of light dispersion.”
“If you think of it only that way, it’s truly sad.”
As Bea looked puzzled, Aseph laughed as if sighing.
He knelt in front of Bea, drew her hand towards him, pressed his lips to the back of her hand, and Aseph had to carefully choose his words.
Whispering words of love seemed easy. He thought it wouldn’t be hard to melt the other person with sweet words read in various literatures. He had no doubt that his appearance was a significant advantage.
But it was hard with Bea. Courting her with only perfectly refined words meant for herself was just self-satisfaction. No matter how passionate the sincerity, it had to be something the other could accept.
“…To you, this warm sunlight is just the sun transferring heat, this wind gently scattering your hair is just the flow of air, and my voice trying to converse with you is just the vibration of sound waves, isn’t it?”
“……”
It was a matter of fact. Normally, Bea would have casually replied, of course, but this time, she couldn’t bring herself to utter such words.
Aseph’s eyes were moist with the sadness of saying so.
“Is that a sad thing?”
“Yes. If you’ve encountered such things and your heart has never been moved, it’s truly sad.”
“Heart?”
“Yes, Bea. Accepting phenomena as they are is a matter of the mind, but feeling beauty from them is a matter of the heart. I wish to move your heart, not just have your body stay by my side.”
Bea was staying in the mansion at Aseph’s insistence, but Aseph meant that he desired more than just her presence. Bea listened silently, but still, to her, the explanation seemed somewhat elusive.
“I love you, Bea.”
