Saved By The Mad Duke
Chapter 162: Disappeared Forever

Chapter 162: Disappeared Forever

’Lina...’ Without a change in her expression, Aideen silently repeated that beautiful name inside her head.

"The alchemist?" This time, her words were able to escape her lips. Ahspid nodded and continued,

"Having spent so many years around Prince Valon, you must know that alchemists are mostly scholars. They are allowed to learn the theory of magic but they cannot really do anything with it... But Lina could.

She attended every single class offered by the Holy Church and showed remarkable progress, all the while continuing her own experiments with alchemy which brought extraordinary results. I simply could not let it go unnoticed. Thus, although my instincts were practically screaming at me that I was making a huge mistake, I approached the young woman and offered that we work together."

Ahspid stopped again, closed his eyes so tightly that multiple tiny wrinkles formed at their corners, and released another long sigh. It was clear that talking about the alchemist girl was causing him a lot of pain, but he knew that it was time he finally removed this heavy burden from his suffering heart.

Thus, opening his eyes and fixing his gaze somewhere on the floor of the study, the mage resumed his story,

"Lina was a commoner so she was rather naive when it came to her relationships with people. Although knowledgeable and smart when it came to alchemy and the theoretical knowledge of magic, she was clueless and gullible when it came to interacting with people. And no matter how many times I urged her not to open her heart that much, this was the only piece of advice she seemed to refuse to follow.

Still... Despite all that, we somehow managed to create quite an impressive working duo. And with time... Her devotion, wit, and kind heart made me fall in love with her."

’Ahspid was in love? She must have been truly astonishing, that alchemist girl.’

While Aideen tried to imagine what kind of person Lina was, the mage nodded as if having read her thoughts and continued,

"Unfortunately, our intimate connection brought joy only to the two of us. Other mages began to grow jealous and irritated, especially since Lina was favored by me, but I couldn’t help it. She was smart and helpful; I have never met anyone as efficient as her.

Eventually, the jealousy of those around us turned into malice, and other mages and alchemists decided to play a trick on her."

On the day when I had to visit the Royal Family, some of the mages gave Lina a formula that was supposedly created by me. They told her that I had been working on it for years and could not tackle it. However, since she was such a talented alchemist, perhaps she could solve it and make it work.

If only she were not so gullible..."

Ahspid’s voice faltered. He averted his gray gaze, his face turning darker as painful memories flooded his mind. For a moment, Aideen felt like she, too, was drowning in the pain that seemed to have filled the room, but before she could form any kind of reaction, the mage’s lips parted once more, his voice turning cold and lifeless,

"I am not sure what exactly they said to her. Something about it being the magic formula of my life... Something about our bond being strong... Something about my being happy if she could solve it... It does not matter now. What matters is... that she believed them. That is how devoted she was to me. That is how much she trusted me and cherished everything that was mine. She wanted to make me happy. Because she loved me too.

Lina went home, to the place we shared together, and began to work. She drew that ridiculous formula on the floor and tried to solve it. However... The moment it began to work, it asked her for her life."

"Her life?!" Aideen could no longer remain silent.

The mage nodded and let out another long sigh,

"Alchemy follows the rules of equal exchange. If you want to get something grand, you must offer something of equal value in return; that is just how it works. What did she think the formula would get? Why couldn’t she think twice before saying yes to that? Did she really think I would dare to sacrifice her life for my craft?

But she agreed. And disappeared right before my eyes."

"Before your eyes? She disappeared?"

"That evening, I wanted to propose to her," Ahspid took off a small golden ring from his left-hand pinkie and placed it on top of Tillian’s desk. Carefully, the princess leaned forward and examined the ring with her curious eyes.

She found it bewildering—they had spent so much time together, and yet she had never paid attention to any of his accessories, thinking of them as nothing more than the mere whim of an eccentric magus.

And she could not be more wrong.

The ring was beautiful: a thin golden band with at least a dozen tiny diamonds nestled all around it and a big square red diamond in the middle, surrounded by three smaller black diamonds on each side; and while Aideen could only see their shapes, she could still tell that the man put a lot of thought into its design.

Ahspid, as if having read her mind once again, added,

"Black was the color of her hair. Red was her favorite color. She was the only alchemist in the entire Capital who wore red on top of her regular black uniform."

"She would have loved it..."

Aideen watched as the mage put the ring back on his finger, replying to her assumption with a brief nod,

"She would have... I have never witnessed anything as heartbreaking as that sight... She was there, sitting on the floor in front of that damned formula, smiling at me. Lina was smiling, but there was no more light in her eyes, no more hope. Her soul was gone. And then... She said my name...She said my name... and disappeared. Forever."