Khalid stared expressionlessly at the completely blocked cave exit.

“He is taking too long.”

Leon murmured beside him.

They had asked the people of a nearby village and had just arrived after finding another exit from the cliff cave.

The problem was that this exit also seemed to have been affected by the earlier explosion, because it was blocked by rocks.

There was no particular method left now.

“Hurry!”

At Leon’s shout, the Zebbert knights hurriedly began carrying away boulders and stones.

Khal tightened his grip on the reins.

If His Grace were safe, there should have been some sign of him moving rocks from the inside.

There had been no word from within. The connection to the squirrel had also been cut off for some time.

“Khal, come to think of it, have you contacted Rubian?”

Leon asked, and Khal shook his head briefly.

“We still don’t know what condition she’s in.”

Rubian had been so ill she could not even open her eyes for an entire week. Whenever Khal saw Rubian lying pale and motionless... How should he put it?

He was tormented by the urge to kill everyone.

The First Prince, of course, who had made Rubian like that. Licht as well, who had been with her yet failed to protect her properly. The physician who could not lower even one degree of Rubian’s fever. The maids too. Even Duke Zebbert, who had seemed half-mad because his daughter had lost consciousness.

He wanted to kill them all.

Of course, the person he wanted to kill most was himself, for failing to stay at Rubian’s side and protect her.

That said, he had no intention of ever letting Rubian find out about such destructive thoughts.

In any case, what if he used communication magic on a child who had only just recovered and pointlessly drained her magic?

Besides, if she finds out something happened to Duke Zebbert, she may insist on coming here.

Khal shook his head. It seemed better to send a message bird letter to Rosetta Zebbert instead.

“I should step away for a moment...”

Just as he turned his horse’s head to move somewhere he could use message bird magic—

Crackle—

A familiar static rang through his head.

And then.

[ Khaaaaaaaaal! ]

Khalid nearly fell off his horse.

[ Khal! Khalid! My frieeeeeeend! ]

A sharp ringing filled his head. It was a truly destructive voice, one that woke every lazily loosened brain cell he had.

Leon looked at him from the side as if asking whether he was all right.

“Khalid?”

“No, wait...”

Khal hurriedly moved his magic.

Ruby?!

[ Wow, if you’d ignored me again, I was about to end our friendship. ]

I would never let our friendship end... More importantly, are you all right? Is it fine for you to use magic like this?

[ I’m in the north right now. What about you? Are you all right? Where in the south are you? What about Dad? How’s the battle situation? Are they really dark creatures? ]

At the rapid-fire stream of words, Khal somehow felt as if his throat were being squeezed shut.

He had been bothered this entire time by the fact that he had left without seeing her awake.

[ Why aren’t you saying anything again! ]

Because I like it...

[ Huh? ]

Your voice. I like your voice.

Rubian fell into a long silence.

Then she stammered.

[ When are you going to correct yourself? ]

Khal ended up laughing softly.

In truth, that had been the correction.

Because he could not say, Because I like you...

Your voice has always been nice.

When he drove the point home, Rubian’s flustered breath flowed through. Khal listened to that too without missing a single sound.

[ My... voice is pretty decent, yes. More importantly, tell me what’s going on! ]

At her continued voice, Khal nodded and shared the situation here.

Of course, he also asked why Rubian had suddenly gone north, but he did not hear the details.

[ I’m sorry, Khal. This is... something I want to tell Dad first. ]

Rubian added with a laugh.

[ Don’t worry! I’ll go right now! Hmm, about thirty minutes? ]

You’re coming from the north to the south... in thirty minutes?

A distance that would take more than a month by ordinary carriage, and easily several days even with acceleration magic tools?

As if she had read the meaning behind his words, Rubian laughed, Huh. Somehow, he could almost see the confident curve of her raised mouth.

[ His Majesty the Emperor gave us permission to use the gate portal at lightning speed. ]

Khal became even more confused.

How did you persuade the Emperor from all the way in the north?

But Rubian said there was no time and that she would tell him the details when they met.

[ Anyway, so. ]

Khal did not ask further and swung the reins without hesitation. The sleek black horse charged forward without pause toward the southern gate portal.

[ I’ll fly there right now! ]

*****

I came with my family on horseback to the place where the northern gate portal stood.

It was a portal that had not been opened even once since “the fourth” used it eight years ago, during the Spring Festival.

“Th-The princess is really... going to move this portal?”

“Yes. I brought permission too.”

In the hand of the knight guarding the gate was the Emperor’s written permission to use the portal, which I had handed over a moment ago.

“Is there a problem?”

“...No, there is not.”

The knight replied reluctantly and took a step back.

Liam, thank you.

At dawn today, a magic message bird had arrived with Asha’s help.

It contained the Emperor’s approval: “The Zebbert ducal family is granted full permission to use gate portals throughout Babilon.”

Of course, on the next page, which I quietly hid away...

< Liam is massacring the nobles with his mouth. I am asking this sincerely—the next family head. It isn’t the eldest son, is it? >

There was also His Majesty the Emperor’s heartfelt lament, written as if he had pressed each stroke down hard, but I simply pretended not to know about that...

Apparently, Liam had worked diligently beside him so there would be no obstacle to the Emperor sending that permission letter quickly and accurately.

Very... diligently.

In any case.

Only mages could move the gate portals located in the east, west, south, and north of the continent.

If magic was stored inside them, ordinary people could use them a set number of times, but naturally, there were no mages in Babilon who would do that. To begin with, these portals required the Emperor’s permission to use, so charging a portal without authorization was forbidden as well.

Well, now there’s no turning back.

As I watched the knights start whispering about how I intended to move the portal, I began entering coordinates into one wall of the enormous arch.

Blue magic stretched out and wound around every corner of the complex patterns on the wall.

“Huuuh?”

“Huuuh, my ass! All of you sew your mouths shut and get lost!”

Just then, Grandpa approached after half-threatening the surrounding knights into silence and driving them away.

“So Leviathan is trapped in a cave?”

“Yes. He should have gotten out ages ago, but they say he still hasn’t come out...”

As soon as I received the portal-use permission, I had heard the situation in the south from Khalid. Of course, I passed everything I had heard on to my family too.

“Hah, inside...”

Grandpa furrowed his thick brows with a grave expression.

Oh no. He always bickers with him, but he is still a little worried about his son...

“Is he sleeping?”

Hmm. I was mistaken.

“Maybe he found a gold mine, Grandpa?”

“Indeed! You’ve become a speck smarter, little runt!”

“Ahem.”

Our family’s second little runt, who had unintentionally achieved one hundred percent growth compared to last year, puffed out his chest.

“It is good that none of you even slightly suspect Leviathan may have been defeated, but...”

Mom frowned as she picked up her quiver.

“Mom, is something bothering you?”

At my question, Mom shook her head.

“It is likely nothing major, but the mage I interrogated implied that Leviathan would be defeated in the south. At the time, I thought he was talking about dark creatures.”

Her smooth brow narrowed unpleasantly.

“But if they are not dark creatures... I wondered whether something else really might have happened.”

Grandpa and Boyd tilted their heads at the same time. Their faces said, What could possibly happen that would take Dad down?

“Anyway, we have no choice but to go there first!”

When I spoke while looking at the portal flickering with blue light, Mom examined me anxiously.

“Yes. More importantly, will your body be all right, my daughter?”

“Well, magic will be consumed while we move, but the south is rich in magic, so I’ll recover quickly.”

And honestly, I had something I was relying on.

Khal.

When I called briefly, a low voice flowed back.

[ Yeah. I’m waiting. ]

Somehow, my heart thumped.

Yes. Since Khal, the person I was relying on, was waiting, there was no need to worry.

“Ah. Come to think of it, Ruby. You went back to the memorial garden earlier with Mother... What did you do?”

Boyd, who had been worrying that his head and body might be transported separately, suddenly asked.

At the words “memorial garden,” the mood turned a little gloomy, but I deliberately smiled brightly.

“There was something I needed to bring.”

“Something you needed to bring?”

Boyd asked back, but I did not add anything more. It was time to move.

“All right, everyone, hold hands! Since this is long-distance travel, you may get a little motion sick... Waaagh.”

“What’s with saying it yourself and then getting motion sick yourself? Before we’ve even departed, no less.”

My brother, shaking his head, approached and said he would carry me through the portal on his back.

I barely managed to stop him, then took one step after another with my family through the blue curtain.

Dad, wait for me!

A large amount of the magic pooled inside {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} me was sucked away.

For some reason, my eyes stung. I closed them for a long moment, then opened them.

The truth was, there was one thing Khalid had told me that I had not told my family.

[ His Grace’s last words were a little strange. He told me to tell you not to check anything first, and to wait... ]

It was meaningful.

From what I heard, he had asked that after receiving the Mage King’s letter.

Could Dad possibly...

Had he realized something after reading the letter written by the Mage King?

Had he touched some truth in that place?

My mood grew anxious, and my heart ached.

If so... If Dad really had learned that I might be his biological daughter...

Then that might be why he could not escape the cave and was wandering inside it. He might have lost even the will to fight, crushed by grief too great to bear.

Dad must be really scared and lonely right now.

And the one who could save Dad like that was probably only me.

“Don’t worry, Dad.”

I lifted my head sharply. Bravely clenching my fist, I took one big step forward.

“I’m coming to save you!”