Saved By The Mad Duke
Chapter 163: Why Did You Come To The North?

Chapter 163: Why Did You Come To The North?

"I don’t understand..." Aideen shifted in her seat, the heavy weight of Ahspid’s words refusing to settle in her mind. "What was the formula for if it asked for her life? What happened afterwards?"

The mage dropped his head on his broad chest and shook it slowly, displaying his own lack of understanding.

"The formula disappeared together with Lina. I was too shocked to remember what it consisted of. My only guess was the combination of witchcraft and alchemy, but I was never able to find either the witch or the alchemist responsible for it. And nobody was punished for her death."

"But how is that even possible?! They committed murder!"

The princess was shocked to hear these outrageous words. Even before she found out that she was a mage too, she knew for a fact that murder by magic was punished by hanging or decapitation because it was a crime just as much as all other types of murder. So how could nobody be punished for the death of Ahspid’s assistant?

The man shrugged his shoulders with a pained expression on his face as he explained,

"There was no evidence of a crime, Your Highness. Lina’s body disappeared along with the formula, and although the ritual still left a pretty palpable residue, the Holy Church refused to investigate it because the Chief Paladin was bribed by those who arranged everything."

Aideen didn’t know what to say. It was a horrible thing, and she could only imagine how heartbroken and devastated Ahspid must have been when it happened, especially since those responsible for his lover’s death were never punished.

’If someone did anything like this to Tillian... I would have gone insane from misery. I would not be able to simply collect myself and try to move on. Ahspid is strong... He was still able to live when something this dreadful happened to him.’

"So this is why you left the Capital? Because of the tragedy and injustice?"

Ahspid shook his head again.

"Not really," he finally lifted his head from his chest and wrapped his left palm around the hair behind his back as if wanting to gather it into a low ponytail. Then, he released a short sigh and said,

"Shortly after what happened, King Aster Valentine was supposed to go to war against the barbarians that wandered closer to our borders and decided to declare war on us. As you know, the Continental Law forbids mages to get involved in wars, but the rulers still find the use for our powers, even if it’s not directly on the battlefield."

"I see..." Aideen nodded her head understandingly. She was aware of such a law and found it fair but she had no idea how else the mages were used for every battle.

"King Aster came to me one day before departure and asked me to help him. Although he was a naturally strong man, the king of barbarians was known to be insanely strong, but most importantly, he was a cruel warmonger with only one wish––to kill.

Doing this much was not really against the law. Enhancing one’s strength was something that was done all the time by warriors all over the Continent but I still had no intentions to do that. Mostly... Because I was overcome by grief and was not confident in my abilities."

"So you refused the King?" The princess widened her eyes as she couldn’t believe that even mages were able to refuse the royal order. Ahspid continued,

"No, I had no choice but to obey. I did all I could, however... I failed."

"Failed? In what sense?"

The man narrowed his eyes as he looked somewhere ahead of him and said,

"Being in the broken state I was, I failed to remember the correct formula for the magic spell that Aster needed. It did turn him stronger and he returned from that war as a victor, but... There was a side effect... He became sick, started seeing nightmares and visions, and in the end, I had to confess that it was my fault and that perhaps the rage that powered his body through the war, would eventually turn him mad."

"So this is why they started calling him a madman? Was it actually true?" The pieces of a puzzle began to fall into place in Aideen’s mind although this realization was rather bitter and hard to accept.

"The spell could have been reversed. After I had a talk with the Royal Family, I went back to my house and started working on the new formula when it started... The rebellion. Euris Ruan must have overheard our conversation and used it to ignite his plan, and while Valentines had many supporters behind them, people were already aware of his state after the war, and had no choice but to believe Euris during the frenzy of the rebellion."

Pausing momentarily, Ahspid noticed the lady’s darkened face and decided to keep going because he knew that prolonged contemplation about his tale would only make the princess more confused and upset.

"I was scared. I knew it was my fault and I was too broken and weak to deal with it at that time. I didn’t know what to do with myself and I had no clue what would happen to me once Ruans would ascend the throne. I was not ready to face the new change, nor was I ready to face the consequences of my actions.

Thus, I fled. Took as little things as I could and left the Capital while the rebellion was still in progress. I ran away because I wanted to live... And because I couldn’t let myself die before she forgave me."

Aideen rose to her feet but hesitated. While she understood what her teacher felt while so many horrible things were happening before his eyes, she still didn’t know how she felt about the silence that he had to bury when he could help to clean the name of Valentine’s once and for all.

Reluctantly, she forced her legs to move and when she finally stood before the mage, she asked in a cold but quiet voice,

"Ahspid... Why did you come to The North?"