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“Ah.”

Startled, I instinctively called out the name as I used to in the past, but I was no longer Greslin, and the person in front of me was no longer the Kirke of those days.

This was the Emperor!

Not just someone of high status, but someone of the highest rank.

I quickly composed myself and paid my respects to Kirke.

“It is an honor to meet Your Majesty.”

Thanks to my thorough study of court etiquette, my movements were smooth and graceful.

Seeing this, Kirke let out a chuckle, as if amused.

“Reshia, greeting me with imperial court etiquette. This is quite a rare sight. It almost feels a bit disappointing.”

“Reshi?”

I blinked in confusion and subtly shifted my stance.

“Who are you?”

“What are you talking about?”

Kirke tilted his head in bewilderment, as if he didn’t understand my question, and stepped closer.

I continued to check Kirke’s position, trying to maintain a safe distance.

“You just called me Reshi.”

“I did, indeed.”

“…”

His reaction, as if he had done nothing wrong, made me furrow my brow as I moved towards the window.

Since Kirke was standing near the entrance, securing a way out meant this was the best spot.

As he noticed me becoming increasingly wary, ‘Kirke’ exaggeratedly slumped his shoulders.

“Must I lose an old friend just because I’ve become the Emperor? How truly sad.”

“Hah.”

The sight of him perfectly mimicking the once elegant prince made me let out a dry laugh.

“I’ll give you credit. You did your research well enough.”

“Research?”

“You’ve got the appearance down to the last detail. I almost fell for it.”

I said as I threw open the window and stepped onto the sill.

“Our prince never called me Reshi.”

“Oh.”

The smile on ‘Kirke’s’ face vanished instantly, replaced by a cold expression.

“It seems my research was insufficient.”

The voice that had mimicked Kirke’s so well moments ago now shifted entirely, becoming that of someone else I knew all too well.

“Hazen, is that you?”

“…”

I asked, half sure of my guess, and the person in front of me remained silent, a cold expression on his face. It seemed I had guessed correctly.

“Hazen.”

This time, I called out with full certainty.

The person wearing Kirke’s face whistled softly as he slowly approached me. The distance between us closed in an instant, until he was right in front of me.

“Master.”

“!”

The tone and the voice were now unmistakably Hazen’s, just as I remembered.

Wiping away the cold expression, he smiled at me and asked,

“Were you planning to run away?”

“Yes.”

“This drawing room is on the third floor. If you jump from there, you’ll probably die.”

“That would be true if this were reality.”

I lightly waved the book I had pulled from the shelf just before Hazen entered. When it was on the shelf, I hadn’t noticed, but now that I had taken it out, I realized there wasn’t a single word written on the cover.

“I told you, when creating an illusion, you need to pay attention to the details. Otherwise, it’s easy to tell it’s not real.”

I hurled the thick book directly at Hazen, who still wore Kirke’s face.

In the moment Hazen twisted his body to dodge the incoming book, I leaped out of the window.

* * *

“Ah!”

I awoke with a start, the sensation of falling still fresh in my mind. Slowly surveying my surroundings, I saw that I was still in the imperial palace drawing room.

I quickly stood up and approached the bookshelf. Pulling out the book I had grabbed in the illusion, I checked its condition—the cover and the pages inside were all perfectly normal.

This was reality.

I exhaled a deep sigh of relief.

It seemed I had dozed off while waiting for the Duke, who had gone to meet Kirke, and had been drawn into an illusion created by Hazen.

“Hazen’s illusion magic, huh?”

It was much more effective than I remembered from my student’s early days. Back when he was learning magic under me, he could only manage simple illusions like creating fields or forests.

The illusion just now was so intricate that I nearly believed it was reality.

If ‘Kirke’ hadn’t called me Reshi, it might have taken me much longer to realize it was an illusion.

I could have been fooled into thinking he was really Kirke and revealed our entire plan.

As I was lost in thought, the door to the drawing room opened.

I turned my head and saw Kirke standing there, just as in the illusion.

The eerie sense of déjà vu made my face scrunch up involuntarily.

Seeing this, Kirke tilted his head with a curious expression.

“I thought you’d be glad to see me.”

“I am glad.”

But also suspicious!

I narrowed my eyes and scanned Kirke from head to toe. He chuckled softly and approached me.

“You don’t look glad at all. If you’d rather I just leave, just say the word.”

His tone was very formal, the kind you’d expect from royalty. But the Kirke in the illusion had spoken just like this, too.

I reached out and made a hand signal to Kirke.

Rock, paper, paper.

It was a secret signal we had shared when hunting the Mad Dragon, with different combinations carrying different meanings. The one I had just used meant, “Look behind you.”

Kirke raised an eyebrow, puzzled, but he turned his head to look behind him.

“Why are you suddenly telling me to look behind?”

The moment our eyes met again, all my suspicions melted away.

“It really is you, Kirke!”

Overcome with relief, I rushed towards Kirke.

Having almost been deceived by an imposter, the joy of seeing him was doubled.

“Didn’t you say you had something to discuss with the Duke?”

“The Duke and I have already finished our conversation. I wanted to speak with you briefly as well, so I took the secret passage to get here quickly. The Duke will arrive in about five minutes.”

“I see.”

I answered casually, but then quickly realized something and asked Kirke, “Was I too disrespectful to Your Majesty just now?”

“Haha.”

Kirke laughed heartily.

“We fought together, risking our lives. We’re not in a position to worry about such formalities between us, are we? Although, you have… changed quite a bit.”

It felt like he was saying, “You may look different, but you’re still you,” and that warmed my heart. He was still the same kind and understanding prince.

‘If only we had more time, there’s so much I want to talk about.’

But with just five minutes, we could only discuss the most urgent matters.

“I saw Hazen in the palace.”

“What?”

It was natural for Kirke to be surprised—he had been the most diligent in tracking Hazen’s movements.

“It seems the rumors of seeing Hazen alive were true.”

“If it were anyone else, I’d doubt it, but you would never mistake your former student…”

Kirke stroked his chin, deep in thought.

“He might have been lying low, knowing we were after him.”

That was probably the most plausible scenario. I nodded and quickly added the more pressing information.

“And Hazen is using high-level illusion magic.”

“Illusion magic… wasn’t that the Mad Dragon’s specialty?”

Kirke’s expression grew serious immediately.

“Not the Mad Dragon again.”

“He’s a persistent and tiresome foe. But we’ve defeated him before, so we can do it again, right?”

I spoke in a confident tone, hoping to lighten Kirke’s heavy mood. Kirke smiled knowingly, understanding my intent.

“You’re right. We’ve already taken him down once, so the second time should be easier.”

As he said that, Kirke glanced towards the drawing room door. He must have sensed the Duke approaching from afar.

“Looks like our five minutes are up.”

Instead of heading for the entrance, Kirke walked towards the bookshelf. He naturally reached out for a book but then realized it was no longer there. He turned to look at me, the realization evident in his eyes.