Chapter 9 - A Wizard from the Capital

“Well, you know, you might’ve noticed but, umm, Young Master is getting more…” Maylie trailed off.

“…Yeah, I know. Our young master is not so much of a gentleman.”

The taste from the chocolate pie spreading on her tongue was sweet, but Azriel’s expression was bitter.

Maylie drew a long breath, “I heard from the coachman that after his coming of age celebration, the quality of the places he began frequenting has worsened. He drinks more and more and even has acquired dirty habits.”

While chewing the rest of the chocolate pie, Azriel calculated the money she saved so far.

“I still need to do several more jobs. I have enough to settle in a nearby dominion now, but I’ll be captured quickly if I do. If I want to go farther, then I should…”

“I’ll lend you some. Get away quickly, please?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Azriel refused Maylie’s suggestion with a solemn face. “What about your siblings?”

The reason why Maylie began doing odd jobs at the castle around the same time Azriel had been brought in as a slave was because of her sick mother and younger siblings. The young maid’s wages were hardly enough to make a living for her family.

Maylie swallowed hard before lowering her voice and whispering, “I have some money saved. Use that.”

It was unquestionably obvious what the money had been for. Maylie’s mother had been suffering from an unknown illness for a long time, and she often said that she wanted to take her mother to the capital. There were great wizards in the capital who could possibly cure her. Azriel choked. She could not take such money nor did she wish to.

“It’s all right,” she said while clearing her throat. “You saved that money for your mother’s medical treatment.”

“I will lend it to you, and you can pay me back after you run away and settle down. You can do that, right?”

“You don’t know when I’ll be able to pay you back.”

“You will earn it soon. You can even write in Lemm, after all.”

“You’re right. So I just need to hold out a little longer.”

“What if something happens to you? It’s not like you have the healthiest body either!” Maylie’s face was distorted as if she was about to burst into tears. 

Maylie’s genuine concern moved Azriel to tears. She turned her head away.

“If I sense that something major is about to happen, I’ll run away no matter what, so you don’t need to…”

In the direction she was facing, Azriel caught sight of the top of the box she had carelessly stashed away earlier. She paused. Suddenly, she thought of a way to make money quickly.

“…Maylie, do you know anything about the wizard visiting tomorrow?”

“Hmm? Like what?”

“Does he have silver hair?”

“The wizard is indeed a man, but he doesn’t have silver hair. They say he’s old enough to have a child around our age.”

The wizard named “Rhema Reshith” seemed to be in his early to mid-20s at most. If he stood next to Damon, who did seem older than his age, Rhema would definitely look younger.

‘I’m sure he’s not the wizard coming from the capital,’ Azriel pondered. ‘Who is he, then? If he can give me something like this like it’s nothing, then he must be extremely rich. It’s rare for a wizard to be that wealthy, though.’

Wizards were generally well off in comparison to the common folk, but it was unusual for one to be as rich as a noble.

‘Is he a wizard from a foreign country who came here after hearing about the ruins? …Why did he show kindness to me?’ Azriel meekly pulled the box out from its hiding place.

“But what about the wizard all of a sudden?” Maylie sniffed. “And what is that?”

“A weird wizard I met today gave this to me… I should trade this in for money.”

These shoes were crafted by a renowned boutique that was famous enough for Deborah to boast about to her other aristocratic peers. Since they were a new pair, they would surely fetch a handsome amount if she sold them. Azriel felt uneasy about receiving such an expensive gift, so she thought to return them, but the current situation necessitated her using them for her own sake and then finding a way to pay him back another time. She knew his name, his face, and the fact that he was a wizard, so she should be able to find him later.

Having reached her decision, she tugged at the ribbon on top of the package. The intricate knot came undone at once.

Maylie spotted the logo branding the lid of the box and her eyes widened, almost to the point of bulging out of their sockets, as Azriel opened the box.

“Whoa, whoa,” she exclaimed, “look at that…”

“My goodness,” Azriel admired the shoes, at a loss for words.

Adorning the shoes were crystal flowers that were so clear they seemed to be made of glass. Jewels surrounded the flowers like a serene scattering of stars, blindingly dazzling. Her dim, basement room seemed to brighten as well.

“A, A, Azriel, th, this… I don’t think it’s c, c, crystal but d, d, diamond,” Maylie stammered with a voice that sounded like she was being choked. 

Azriel vacantly looked down at the glass shoes, turning her eyes towards the crystal flowers. They were about the size of silver coins. If they were indeed real diamonds… She felt like she was about to faint.

“That can’t be… They must be crystal.”

“I, I heard of a trick before that we can use to test whether it’s real,” Maylie murmured. “If you spill a drop of water on it, and it forms a round droplet instead of running down, then it is a real diamond.”

Still murmuring, Maylie tipped a nearly empty bottle of water towards the shoes. She shook the bottle, and a bit of water barely dripped from it, forming a droplet on the rock. Azriel had to cover Maylie’s mouth to prevent her from screaming.

‘The shoes themselves are enough to make my heart leap into my mouth, and those are diamonds?’ Azriel thought. ‘This is not something I can just take.’