Never Saved You - Chapter 50

Chapter 50

—

As Ariel glanced at the waves, she continued.

“I came here because the hermit crab was being persistent, but I have to return quickly because my sisters might notice my absence.”

“If it’s them, you don’t have to worry. It hasn’t been long since they returned underwater after discussing what to do to stop you.”

“Did you see them?”

“If I hadn’t, would I have called you?”

To be exact, he tried to score a point with Ophelia, but Sante lied without even blinking once.

Besides, he came up with one more way to make this situation fun.

After it was revealed yesterday that Ophelia went back in time, Sante could guess a few things about her.

‘Of course, Ophelia didn’t seem to have much to say about returning to the past.’

But Sante had experience.

Of course, it wasn’t as much as the siren elders, but he’s lived this long, so he could guess as much even if it’s left unsaid.

For one, the part about why Ariel went to land and died.

Ariel might have sensed it to some extent, but it was clearly visible to Sante’s eyes.

‘Conditional magic must have been used.’

Just as changing a living organism’s species would not be right, conditional magic was the only type of magic that could go against nature.

Then, Ariel failed to achieve the condition, which eventually led to her death.

‘Ophelia must have been responsible for that.’

Sante didn’t know much about mermaids, but this was obvious to him.

And it was good to know this. Sante was always proud of his quick wits.

The problem was elsewhere.

It lies with Ophelia’s brief change in expression when she faced that black haired male human, as though a thorn had been stabbed into her neck.

Sante didn’t like it—he didn’t think deeply about which part he disliked.

Was it the fact that the blue embers, which constantly bristled within her eyes, died down? Or was it because the latch, which she always kept locked, momentarily came loose in front of that male human?

Regardless, it’s fine. Sante wanted to remove that male human from Ophelia’s side.

Though that male human was fifty years younger than Sante, the siren could have burst that male human’s head on the spot right away.

‘Ah, I’m also in trouble.’

Perhaps because he was the head of the sirens, but he’d become a more warm-hearted individual.

Sante clicked his tongue once, but he still placed his chin on his arm, his expression good.

“While I listened to you, I suddenly thought that I could help you.”

“I heard that I shouldn’t believe what eels and sirens say.”

“Then no matter what kind of damn thing that hermit crab spouted to you, you shouldn’t have come here.”

Sante smiled, his lips curling up.

Just as Ariel brought up, the vigilance mermaids had against sirens was by no means small.

Nevertheless, Ariel still came out here.

“You must have been curious about what I was going to say. Your short perspective would never give you the answer to how you can go on land.”

“But I—”

“Am I wrong?”

At Sante’s question, Ariel was shut down. She looked a little angry, but after waves hit the reef about three times, she opened her lips again.

“…You’re right.”

“It’s nice that you’re honest.”

“I have no other choice. I’m sure my sisters won’t teach me any magic. They didn’t even tell me where the magic tower is because they’re afraid that I’ll talk to mages!”

“Yeah, it seems that way.”

Then, Sante smiled and spoke with a more hushed voice.

“Ariel, I know a mage who can bring you to land.”

* * *

Ladeen Castle, around the same time—

The very mage that Sante was talking about was surrounded by two other young mages.

With a barely hidden excitement masked under indifference, of course one was Yennit.

And the other one was someone who couldn’t hide his envy.

“Cornelli, move further away. What will we do if your stupidity’s contagious and it affects Lord Alejandro?”

“But I really can’t believe I get to see Lord Alejandro again. Hey Yennit, I’m really not inside a dream, right?”

“Why, want me to kick you once?”

“Ah, no, looks like it isn’t a dream. Thank you for your kind offer.”

Cornelli was a young man who resembled a fluffy puppy very much. As he was talking, he couldn’t get his eyes off Alei.

And in the middle of these two who respected him immensely, Alei was experiencing what people said about dying from being so overly burdened.

‘Ophelia…’

Like a lost three-year-old child looking for his mother, he now missed Ophelia more than ever.

He missed Ophelia so much that he felt like crying.

‘How did I endure this before I lost my memories?’

He couldn’t understand it no matter how much he mulled it over. Nevertheless, he felt like he’d become five steps further from his past self, that sense of estrangement growing.

This situation started about half an hour ago—

As they returned to Ladeen Castle, they found Cornelli easily.

This was because Yennit cast a detection spell and recognized Cornelli’s mana right away. He was found wandering around the castle anxiously.

“I followed Sante’s suggestion and came all the way here, but I was just walking around the fortress wall because I didn’t know how to get in. Thank you for coming to get me!”

Cornelli bowed politely as he said this.

From his wheat-colored hair and his round eyes, he was a young man who seemed to be as gentle and good-natured as his gaze expressed.

After observing the young man’s vigorous and lively demeanor, Alei unconsciously felt relieved.

‘You won’t extend excessive respect towards me like Yennit.’

Recalling that suffocating experience in the forest, Alei secretly sighed in relief.

Plop.

But at his side where Cornelli was, there was this sudden sound. Cornelli knelt down.

“L-Lord Alejandro…”

And started bawling.

He didn’t show excessive respect towards Alei because his personality wasn’t originally like that.

And only because it hit him a little late that he had really found Alei.

Flustered by the sudden tears, Yennit hurried to Cornelli’s side.

“Why are you crying? We’ve met him at last!”

“I can’t believe I’m seeing Lord Alejandro again… I didn’t think I’d ever see you again, hiic!”

Even after Yennit hit him on the back, Cornelli couldn’t stop crying.

As a result, Alei’s the only one who felt like he had died, and it was making him restless.

Ophelia finally mediated the situation.

“Miss Yennit, I think Sir Cornelli needs to calm down. Why don’t you take him to the dining hall?”

With the restless Alei beside them, the two mages, who had a talent for making a commotion did kick up a commotion.

Funnily enough, the moment Ophelia spoke up, the situation slightly became more orderly.

“It might be difficult for his identity to be confirmed while he’s in this state. It would be better to go to the dining hall and get some water to drink first so that he can calm down.”

“I-I believe we should. Which direction is the dining hall?”

“That way. After passing two rooms, turn right.”

“Hmm, I’ll know it when I see it. Thank you for the instructions.”

Yennit said this, grabbed Cornelli’s wrist—which was still soaked with his own tears—and teleported away.

When only Ophelia and Alei remained in the hallway, devoid of a smile on her face, Ophelia spoke.

“Now I know.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I needed some time to figure out what kind of personalities they have.”

This contemplative tone was quite different from the sweet voice directed towards Yennit and Cornelli earlier, but it was a tone more familiar to Alei.

“I was worried that they’d be cautious around you, but that’s not going to be the case.”

“You thought they’d be wary of me? Even when you asked me to trust you and said that they must have really missed me?”

“Of course, I remember that they were cordial with you. But there could be exceptions.”

As Ophelia looked towards the direction of the dining hall, her eyes narrowed.

“I thought something was wrong when we heard from Sante who’s coming. You’re the lord of the magic tower, and you’re a mage who’s powerful enough to control the ocean in an instant.”

So why would they send only one clumsy mage who was prone to making mistakes even with basic calculations?

Tilting his head to one side, Alei asked.

“The mages of the tower are a group of people who are unwilling to go outside, so isn’t that possible?”

“Of course that’s what anyone would think, but I’m more concerned about the fact that you were wiped of your memories and exiled by them.”

“So it’s because I committed a crime?”