When Helen came to the café , where she agreed to meet Clyde, she was shocked by what she saw. There, on a chair, was Clyde who was reading a book.

By his feet she could see a big backpack. By the looks of its, it was filled with his luggage.

The café was on the outer area of the shopping district in the Zupiart suburb. Helen had been here a few times before.

‘Why is he wearing travelling clothes? Humph! I dressed myself up for nothing.’

Helen sulked as she approached him.

“Oh, Helen!” Clyde saw her approaching and waved with a bright smile.

Helen noticed something different about Clyde.

‘He doesn’t look too good.’

“….Hey.” She sat down on the other side of the table. He gestured for the waiter to come.

“Two coffees please. Bring the sugar separate. Oh, and bring one order of the special dessert.”

“Right away.”

The waiter left soon after.

“Coffee? Seriously? Are you a middle aged man?”

Clyde laughed dryly at her teasing.

‘Technically I am. Well, if you count this life and my life on earth.’

“Is something wrong? You look sleepy.” Helen noticed the bags under his eyes. He had been constantly yawning as well.

He shrugged. “I was finishing an assignment unrelated to schoolwork. The one who gave it to me was your lord after all.” He chuckled and took out a black box.

He leaned forward and whispered. “Thank Charlotte for the gift she sent. It’s literally a life-saver.”

“….?” Helen didn’t know what he meant. Her eyes turned to the black box. It was the size of a small book.

“Open it.” With a smile on his face, he pushed it towards her.

“…..!” Helen peeked inside for a second before she closed it again. “….W-Wha…”

‘If one of the guards sensed this then we’re in trouble! We’ll be suspected of attempting to bomb this district!’

“That’s a lot of killing intent, huh? This is what happens when miasma is used to create things like this.” Clyde tapped the box with his finger.

‘This is why the Ring of Necromancy was needed.’

The ring acted as a medium that filtered out most of the dangerous miasma needed to create the breaker. If he didn’t have that then his body would’ve been infected by miasma and could lead to more horrifying diseases and curses.

“You mean…”

Clyde nodded. “I finished the curse breaker.”

Helen sighed in relief. It felt like a mountain was lifted off her shoulders. That mountain was Charlotte herself.

“We can finally begin with the faction’s matters.” Helen stealthily put the box away. “Thank you, Clyde. On behalf of her highness.”

Helen lowered her head.

“Please. Her gift was more than enough. I’m glad she still trusts me that much.”

“…?” Helen didn’t know about the Divine Elixir so she could only wonder.

“Before I leave for the Holy Kingdom, I just have another stop after this. So I apologize for not wearing the appropriate clothes to meet a friend.” Clyde broke the silence between the two of them.

“Another stop?”

“Yeah. I have to go see Viria’s master.”

“I thought the academy is closed for the whole month? Only the students who need extra classes should be there at the moment. Why would you go there?”

“It’s just…” Clyde leaned back in the chair. “Besides the curse breaker that kept me up at night, I had been worrying about something else as well. I never knew how much I didn’t want to know this until now.”

“Are you having doubts about your marriage?”

“No, no. It’s not that. It’s something that only my master must know. She hasn’t been at the academy during exam time. We’ll probably start with our special lessons when the academy reopens. I want to solve whatever problems come up before I return.”

“Ah, so you’re just nervous about that. Being the Head Mage candidate is a big deal, hm?”

Clyde smiled silently at Helen who came to her own conclusion.

It wasn’t that at all. The only reason he was still part of the candidacy was because he could learn magic from the Head Mage’s master.

‘What’ll she do to me if I tell her I know who she is?’

Clyde was worried that Odette might kill him to silence him.

“I’m leaving the kingdom after that so we won’t be able to meet for a while. Tell Charlotte that it’s not required for me to be there if she wants to break the curse. I put an item in there that’ll help with the curse.”

“I’ll inform her. But, don’t you think she’d want you there in case something bad happens?” Helen asked.

“Don’t worry about that. The material that helped me write out the formula is trustworthy. Even an apprentice mage can use this spell.”

‘I’ll believe in Lord Rolath’s teachings.’

Clyde had read Rolath’s diary in his free time. It stored all the discoveries he made and all the adventures he went on.

The weight of the book was actually very deceiving. When infused with mana, the contents inside multiplies. Clyde found that out when he accidentally used mana on the book.

After reading about Rolath’s life, Clyde came to respect him. He may have had the motive to kill the Dryad Queen and make the World Tree his, but he was undoubtedly one of the wisest magic casters to have ever lived.

It was hard to believe that Clyde could become even stronger than that.

Rolath mentioned something about meeting the heroes back when they fought so Clyde was eager to see what he wrote about them. He could just skim through the book but he felt like that would be spoiling himself.

That diary was Rolath’s entire life story and he wanted to experience it all.

“You’re grinning.” Helen chuckled. “Something interesting happen?”

“Ahem. Well, I have been getting better at my magic. My progress was halted ever since I was 12.”

“It’s hard to believe you’re still growing. I bet the old coots at the tower would do anything to have you as an assistant teacher.” Helen shook her head and sighed. He was already stronger than her. Even at her full power. How was it that he was growing at a faster pace than her?

‘The Astley name doesn’t seem that familiar so they shouldn’t be a famous household. Is he an illegitimate child of a wandering elite mage?’

Helen was baffled by how strong he was. She’d lag behind at this rate. Even Arielle–the one she saw as her rival–was getting stronger. She was stronger than Arielle back when they met but was it still the same even now?

“You mentioned something about your mentor who went to the Magic Empire, right? Aren’t you interested in going there once you graduate?”

Clyde shook his head. “But, if he needs help with something that involves magic then I’ll definitely be there for him. He’s the reason why I could fit in at the academy. Did you know he and the Head Mage were siblings? The bastard never told me anything. I had to find out on my own.”

The waiter arrived a few minutes later with their orders. Clyde shut his mouth. He waited until the waiter left.

“Anyway, I haven’t heard from him in a while. Maybe he’s too busy. What’s been going on in your life that’s been interesting lately? Get a guy yet?” Clyde asked with a teasing smile.

Helen grunted. “All the men I’ve met are either lustful bastards or goody-two-shoes. One night when I was out drinking, I met this really nice guy. I was feeling a little sick so I didn’t stay long to chat with him. He offered to take me up to the room in the inn so I took his kindness.” Helen frowned as she sipped the coffee. “I closed my eyes for a second then I see him on top of me.”

“Is the guy okay at least?”

“His jewels aren’t. I crushed them.”

Clyde’s face scrunched up.

‘I feel your pain, buddy.’

Both of them laughed a moment later.

“I’m surrounded by sweaty men in her highness’ villa. I wish Elsa would come back.”

“Oh? You two hit it off?”

Elsa might’ve been the captain of a knight brigade in the Knight Order but she was still fond of Charlotte. Charlotte was her first lord before she became a famous captain at the Knight Order. She regularly visits Charlotte every now and then when she isn’t busy.

“Yeah. Most of the knights tell me that she’s really cold towards others. Especially men. For some reason, she’s overly kind to me.” Helen shrugged it off.

“I see…”

‘She swings that way, huh? Well, at least I know my old man doesn’t have a chance.’

“What about you? How was your night with Diane?” Helen asked.

“Err…” Clyde glanced around the café.

“Huh? You don’t want to tell me?”

“Isn’t that stuff supposed to be private!?”

“Come on~ we’re friends~”

“I can’t believe a girl wants to talk about these things with a guy.” Clyde lifted his hands in defeat. “I don’t know how this sounds but…it felt like I was having intercourse with a corpse with its eyes open. It looked like Diane was glaring at me all night.”

“Huh? All night?”

“Yeah. I don’t know what the hell they put in my drink but I had so much energy that I wouldn’t calm down. Diane was always like ‘As the wife, I must pleasure my husband until he is satisfied.’ It was horrible. I couldn’t look her in the face when morning came so I left early.”

“Gyahahaha!!!” Helen laughed loudly like a drunkard. Her laugh caught the attention of the passer-by’s.

It was hard to believe a woman that beautiful could laugh so crudely.

“S-Stop laughing!”

“Okay, okay. But you shouldn’t stay away so long. Isn’t the manor yours now, technically?”

“Well, yes…”

“It’s not good to stay apart from your future wife. Things may be awkward for a while but it’ll change later on. Trust me, I had the same problem.”

“You and Jered, huh?”

“…Yeah.” Helen nodded slowly.

The two had gotten engaged right after they turned 15 years old. As most youngsters, they were all lovey-dovey.

“Do you miss Paula, Lucy and Jered?” Clyde asked carefully.

She had just up and left right after her cousin, Sheila died. Surely she wasn’t that cold to have forgotten about her friends?

Helen bit her lip. “Every single day of my life.”

“I see…Why did you leave? You could’ve chosen to stay, you know.”

“Clyde, that kingdom was dying. You saw it with your own eyes. There’s no future for me there. Yes, I miss my friends but that doesn’t mean that I’ll sacrifice my future just to stay there. Adventuring was a dead end job for me. I already achieved my goal which was to kill that dragon.”

Clyde silently listened.

“I might’ve had a baby by now with Jered after settling down. I would’ve become a stay at home mom that only tended to the crops and looked after the house. Tell me, is that a life?” Helen huffed. “I’m sorry. Talking about them agitates me every time.”

“No. I’m sorry for mentioning them.”

“I already said goodbye to my old life. I am now Helen, the knight of a royal.” Helen said proudly with a bright smile.

“Hahaha. Indeed. I thought you were having doubts about leaving. That’s why I asked.”

“Well, I’m already here. Habsburg will probably fall one of these days. Let’s talk about something else; where are you off to with all this baggage? I thought you’ll only visit your sister for a short while?”

“Actually, no. I’m going to stay there for the whole month. This is my first time meeting my sister so I want to spend extra time with her.”

“What about Chloe and Jessica? Aren’t they going to go?”

“They’re just kids so I doubt they would feel any sort of kinship with Annette.” Clyde twirled the spoon in the cup after adding a cube of sugar. “I’m going to convince her to see my parents. I know it’s going to be hard but it’s worth a shot.”

However, he said and continued.

“I’m not even sure if they’re ready to see her.”

They were in the wrong for what they did. Any person would say that. Even if they were kids themselves, it was their duty to look after Annette and not abandon her.

Clyde hadn’t spoken to his father and mother after that night. The two had just left with Brielle and his sisters without saying goodbye.

He was positive that they thought he’d ask them to go with him to visit her.

‘I guess I’ll try to fix this. Not the first time I’ve done it apparently.’

Artoria hadn’t mentioned anything related to his sister so he came to the conclusion that Annette was still alive even after he died. Maybe one of him managed to fix the strife the family had with each other.

‘I’ll have to ask old me the next time we meet.’

He didn’t know how long that would take.

What was important now was meeting her first.