Suimei’s acknowledgment revealed his confusion, and his slightly pale face was colored with puzzlement. Considering for a moment whether the look Suimei showed now were his true thoughts revealing themselves, the King followed up with a question.
“There are a few things I wish to ask you regarding Felmenia.”
“Felmenia-san…? If I remember correctly, she’s the one who’s been teaching Reiji and Mizuki magic? What about her?”
“That is the one. She mentioned to me that she’d seen you wander around the palace a few days ago.”
Faced with Suimei’s pretense at having only a superficial knowledge of who Felmenia was, the King brought up what he had heard from her.
Those words brought a weak, bitter smile to Suimei’s face, as if something unpleasant had been discovered about him.
“Ah… hahaha. Yeah, I’d heard that we were free to roam the palace, so I’d gone for a walk to settle myself. Was I somehow incorrect about that?”
“No, there was nothing inappropriate about that. Indeed, I’d given explicit orders to that effect. No, it’s not that incident that concerns me.”
“Then what, might I ask?”
“This.”
“?”
Confusion was written all over Suimei’s face. It must be noted, however, that that expression was not born of his true feelings. Having mentioned Felmenia, but having said nothing about her, it was clear that he had understood from the very beginning the purpose of this line of questioning, but fully intended nonetheless to play dumb. Indeed, from the very moment he’d been summoned for questioning, he’d begun this show of ignorance. To have been summoned at such a time would undoubtedly give rise to some misgivings. If the King were Suimei, he’d have made some preparations beforehand. Given his powers, he would likely have readied himself to make a forceful escape if necessary. Since the other party was a mage who had defeated Felmenia, it wasn’t like there was much the King could do; escape should be simple for Suimei.
With that in mind, the fact that he had not done so seemed to show that he thought he could wrap things up nicely by simply playing the fool.
Accordingly, though he knew that continuing would be dangerous, the King had no choice but to press forward.
“What I want to know is: what exactly did you do to Felmenia?”
” ‘What did I do?’ I can’t say I understand what you mean.”
“Suimei-dono, you very well know what I mean. Please be honest—”
“Forgive my disrespect, but are you sure that continuing would be wise?”
As if to drown out the King’s voice, Suimei interrupted his words with a razor-edged “suggestion” in stark contrast to the polite tone he’d been using.
Understanding the warning implicit in Suimei’s words, he nevertheless continued, “Suimei-dono. I want to know.”
Seeing the King persist despite having recognized his warning, Suimei abandoned his reverent posture and rose to his feet.
With a wave of his hands, a cloak appeared from out of thin air and settled on his shoulders.
Although he didn’t quite understand what had just happened, but it was evident that this was Suimei’s magic. This was something that a mage of their world lacked the capability to comprehend, a spell of Suimei’s repertoire.
Appearing on his face next was an expression that made his former look of fear seem but an illusion. His gentle expression was replaced with a sharp look which carried with it a proud air that the King had only seen in other mages.
Typically, this audience room would be filled with people who would have berated Suimei for his arrogance, but at this moment, there were none.
Seeing the King’s gaze captured by this first glimpse of him as a magician, Suimei sighed.
“—Honestly. That girl’s shown no trace of having kicked the bucket, so I’m sincerely surprised things have been exposed to this degree.”
Suimei’s acknowledgment revealed his confusion, and his slightly pale face was colored with puzzlement. Considering for a moment whether the look Suimei showed now were his true thoughts revealing themselves, the King followed up with a question.“There are a few things I wish to ask you regarding Felmenia.”“Felmenia-san…? If I remember correctly, she’s the one who’s been teaching Reiji and Mizuki magic? What about her?”“That is the one. She mentioned to me that she’d seen you wander around the palace a few days ago.”Faced with Suimei’s pretense at having only a superficial knowledge of who Felmenia was, the King brought up what he had heard from her.Those words brought a weak, bitter smile to Suimei’s face, as if something unpleasant had been discovered about him.“Ah… hahaha. Yeah, I’d heard that we were free to roam the palace, so I’d gone for a walk to settle myself. Was I somehow incorrect about that?”“No, there was nothing inappropriate about that. Indeed, I’d given explicit orders to that effect. No, it’s not that incident that concerns me.”“Then what, might I ask?”“This.”“?”Confusion was written all over Suimei’s face. It must be noted, however, that that expression was not born of his true feelings. Having mentioned Felmenia, but having said nothing about her, it was clear that he had understood from the very beginning the purpose of this line of questioning, but fully intended nonetheless to play dumb. Indeed, from the very moment he’d been summoned for questioning, he’d begun this show of ignorance. To have been summoned at such a time would undoubtedly give rise to some misgivings. If the King were Suimei, he’d have made some preparations beforehand. Given his powers, he would likely have readied himself to make a forceful escape if necessary. Since the other party was a mage who had defeated Felmenia, it wasn’t like there was much the King could do; escape should be simple for Suimei.
With that in mind, the fact that he had not done so seemed to show that he thought he could wrap things up nicely by simply playing the fool.
Accordingly, though he knew that continuing would be dangerous, the King had no choice but to press forward.
“What I want to know is: what exactly did you do to Felmenia?”
” ‘What did I do?’ I can’t say I understand what you mean.”
“Suimei-dono, you very well know what I mean. Please be honest—”
“Forgive my disrespect, but are you sure that continuing would be wise?”
As if to drown out the King’s voice, Suimei interrupted his words with a razor-edged “suggestion” in stark contrast to the polite tone he’d been using.
Understanding the warning implicit in Suimei’s words, he nevertheless continued, “Suimei-dono. I want to know.”
Seeing the King persist despite having recognized his warning, Suimei abandoned his reverent posture and rose to his feet.
With a wave of his hands, a cloak appeared from out of thin air and settled on his shoulders.
Although he didn’t quite understand what had just happened, but it was evident that this was Suimei’s magic. This was something that a mage of their world lacked the capability to comprehend, a spell of Suimei’s repertoire.
Appearing on his face next was an expression that made his former look of fear seem but an illusion. His gentle expression was replaced with a sharp look which carried with it a proud air that the King had only seen in other mages.
Typically, this audience room would be filled with people who would have berated Suimei for his arrogance, but at this moment, there were none.
Seeing the King’s gaze captured by this first glimpse of him as a magician, Suimei sighed.
“—Honestly. That girl’s shown no trace of having kicked the bucket, so I’m sincerely surprised things have been exposed to this degree.”
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