BLAST FROM THE PAST

"CONGRATULATIONS, my dear nephew~"

Diether swallowed his sigh as he bowed to King Seymour. "Thank you, Your Majesty."

"Aww. You can call me 'Uncle' when there's only the two of us, Diether."

How could he address the king casually when they were in the throne room?

Granted that there were no other people there, it was still not appropriate to call the king in a familiar way in the palace.

Especially since they were talking about formal business.

"I can't do something as impudent as calling Your Majesty my uncle."

"You're so inflexible, my dear nephew."

"I'm sorry for being inflexible."

The king just laughed. "You may raise your head, Grand Duke Hexford."

Oh.

Diether didn't expect it, but hearing the king address him the way the king would address his father before felt surreal. He was now officially the new Grand Duke Hexford, but only a few people knew about it.

[Once I return from my mission, the king would then announce my new title.]

When he raised his head, he saw His Majesty looking at him with warm eyes.

"I really wanted to throw a royal banquet for you right now, my dear nephew," the king said, smiling proudly. "But I understand that you have duties to fulfill first as the commander of the Avari Holy Knights."

"Thank you for your understanding, Your Majesty."

The king looked like he was waiting for Diether to say more, but he remained silent because he honestly didn't have anything else to say.

Except for one thing.

"Can I go home now, Your Majesty?"

King Seymour laughed as if he found Diether's words funny. "My dear nephew, do you know?"

"Yes?"

"The Master of the Forgotten Tower entered the Royal Capital discreetly last night."

Diether clenched his jaw tight. "What is that bastard doing here?"

The Master of the Forgotten Tower was one of the few High Mages on the continent…

… and that bastard also tried to seduce Celeste in the past.

"I don't know why the High Mage is here, but I'm certain he's here for illegal reasons," the king said casually as if it was none of his business. "The Secret Order tried to follow him to see what he's up to, but he quickly disappeared and erased his traces once he was inside the Royal Capital."

The Master of the Forgotten Tower disappeared at the same time Celeste vanished.

To be honest, Diether thought his first wife had eloped with that bastard. But that thought only crossed his mind once.

[Celeste isn't the cheating type.]

But perhaps the Master of the Forgotten Tower knew why Celeste vanished.

"Your Majesty, please give me permission to catch that rat bastard."

King Seymour smiled as if he was already expecting to hear that from Diether. "Permission granted, my dear nephew. Just don't kill him, alright? It would be a shame if our kingdom lost a talented High Mage like him."

Diether let out a frustrated sigh. "You're asking too much from me, Your Majesty."

***

[A FANCY rat?]

As soon as Sonata stepped foot in the Red-light District, she immediately knew that she was being followed.

[And they're not making it less obvious.]

It was an invitation.

And she accepted it.

Hence, instead of going straight to the Marigold Pavilion where her friends and subordinates were waiting for her, Sonata went to the 'Wasteland.'

It was the empty slums located inside the district.

"Come out," Sonata said, her voice echoing. "You're not an assassin, so I assume you're not here to kill me."

A flying object was sent to her direction in response to what she said.

She immediately caught her with her hand that was covered with her Mana, just in case the object was dangerous.

However, she was pretty surprised when she realized that it was just a normal book.

A pink diary, to be precise.

[What is this?]

"I was told to deliver that to 'Grand Duchess Sonata Hexford.'"

A man who stepped out of the darkness, clad in a black hood, said.

[A Mage?]

It looked like the man was hiding his strength, but Sonata could tell that he wasn't an ordinary Mage.

[He's at least an expert.]

"The fact that my legal husband has been officially appointed as the official Grand Duke is still kept a secret from the public," Sonata said, smiling. "How did you know that I've become Grand Duchess Hexford today?"

"Because the person who left that item to me said so," the man said. "She told me 'Sonata Florin' would surely become 'Grand Duchess Hexford' as soon as she married that bastard."

"Did you just call my legal husband a bastard?"

"What about it?"

Sonata was about to throw the book at the man who insulted Diether, but the name written on the cover of the book caught her attention.

[Celeste Montali?]

Did that book belong to Diether's first wife?

[Then the person who gave me this book must be related to Celeste Hexford.]

"Read the first page," the man urged her. "Celeste said you'll "remember" once you read her letter."

Sonata wanted to put her guard up, but her curiosity won.

She opened the diary and read the first page.

<"Hi, Miss Sonata. It's me, Celeste Montali. Or should I say Choi Aera?">

Choi Aera?

That name sounded so foreign, yet familiar.

<"We met after the shipwreck when we were kids. Do you remember?">

Argh!

Sonata clutched her head with one hand when a sudden splitting headache hit her.

<"Miss Sonata, I'm sorry for stealing Diether from you.">

What…?

Sonata shut her eyes tight when memories that she seemed to have forgotten suddenly flooded her mind.

It was only one encounter.

And yet, she clearly remembered it now– she already met Celeste Montali before!

"The woman whose soul came from another world– and the shameless cradle snatcher who claimed she needed to marry a child in order to survive," Sonata said when she finally remembered her first encounter with Celeste Montali, then she opened her eyes and flipped through the pages to confirm something. "She stole Diether and my business ideas from me."

How would Diether react if he found out that, according to the novel that Celeste had read back in her world, he was originally supposed to end up with Sonata and not his first wife?

***

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