Laughing and chatting just moments before, we all fell silent with our mouths agape in shock.

Fortunately, everyone was rescued safely by the emergency response team. Still, the rowing arena quickly descended into chaos.

“What... what on earth just happened...”

Everyone was looking around in alarm when a frantic voice rang out in the distance.

“Get a priest! Call for a priest!” 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

For a noble event like this, there were usually physicians on standby. Calling for a priest just because someone fell into the water was strange.

“It’s black magic! A black magician infiltrated the event! Get a priest from the nearest temple, quickly!”

The situation quickly became clear. One of the athletes in the match had apparently made an enemy. Someone had hired a black magician to target him during the competition.

“Black magic? Isn’t that ancient history?”

“With fewer priests around these days and the Temple preoccupied, they’ve taken advantage of the gap!”

Normally, black magic can be healed immediately using divine power.

All eyes instantly turned to me.

Thanks to all the media coverage lately, everyone knew I possessed divine power.

“Ahaha...”

I let out a sheepish laugh as I stood up.

“Well, I suppose I should go take a look...”

Black magic takes time to spread. There was no need to rush, but since I had the ability, there was no reason not to use it.

I didn’t forget to reassure everyone, either.

“It probably isn’t anything serious. The more advanced the black magic, the less obvious it is at first. Since it was detected right away, it’s probably a pretty amateur spell.”

Everyone admired my confident, professional tone.

After that, I had no choice but to head boldly to the operations tent.

* * *

“What the hell...”

Linna, still seated among the noble ladies, let out a long sigh.

“I really thought today would be fun... and of all days, this had to happen the first time I bring Rosie out.”

The rowing match was canceled on the spot.

Rosie had gone with the event organizers to treat the black magic victim.

Linna had tried to go with her but was denied, since the patient’s stability was the top priority—and, well, Linna’s appearance wasn’t exactly calming.

“No kidding. Black magic in this day and age, really... Ack!”

One of the noble girls who had been chatting along with Linna suddenly let out a sharp scream.

“What, again? Black magic? What is it this time?”

Linna spun around in alarm—and saw it.

It wasn’t black magic, but the ominous, heavy aura radiating from the approaching man could’ve easily been mistaken for it.

“...It’s not black magic—it’s the Duke of Dyfenril.”

Linna blinked and muttered blankly.

“Oh, right... That was his usual face, huh?”

She’d run into him a few times recently during Rosie’s hospital visits.

He had always worn such sweet expressions that she’d forgotten his naturally stern personality.

With his usual stone-cold face, Zahid marched right up to Linna.

He didn’t even offer a proper greeting before snapping bluntly,

“Are you out of your mind?”

“I mean, I’m not usually in my right mind, but what brought that on all of a sudden?”

“...Rosie is a patient. And yet you lured her out to a place like this?”

“She seemed perfectly fine? She said herself she was okay.”

Linna replied without batting an eye.

“Don’t be jealous of me and Rosie, Duke. It’s really unattractive.”

“This isn’t jealousy...”

Only then did Zahid seem to notice the eyes on him. He irritably ran a hand through his hair.

“Where is Rosie?”

“Ah... wait a sec. She went to the operations tent to treat the black magic...”

“...Black magic?”

Zahid’s expression turned even more chilling. Without another word or even a goodbye to Linna, he took off at a sprint toward the operations tent.

Watching his retreating figure, Linna finally tilted her head.

“What the heck? That’s not what Rosie said. He was supposed to be all calm and composed... but that? Absolutely not.”

* * *

When I arrived at the tent, I was surprised to see that the young noble targeted by black magic was someone I recognized.

“...No way—is that Rosie? Rosie Noart?”

The voice that greeted me was overflowing with delight.

“Uh... you... hmm.”

I stared at the brown-haired, fairly plain-looking young man.

I’ve seen him before! I know this guy!

...But who was he again?

“It’s me! Kevin Rohard!”

Kevin waved brightly, wincing slightly in pain but still smiling.

His face was a little contorted, but judging from his movements, it didn’t seem to be a serious case of black magic.

In fact, the damage was limited to some dark, mottled marks on his arm.

Nothing urgent. He probably could’ve just waited a few days to see a priest and fully recovered.

“I ranked 4th in the Academy! We were in the same class. We were partners for our first dance class, remember?”

Only then did I recognize Kevin, who had changed a lot in the past nine years. I stood there with my mouth agape.

He used to be the shortest boy in our class—short enough to end up my dance partner. Now, he was tall and broad-shouldered.

His body was toned from rowing, and ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) his skin was sun-kissed, showing how much time he’d spent training outdoors.

That’s why I didn’t recognize him at first glance. But once I took a good look, he still had that cheerful, open-faced charm.

“It’s been so long, Rosie.”

Kevin looked right at me and smiled. True to his sociable nature, he was lively and friendly.

“I’ve wondered how you were doing.”

“Yeah... good to see you again. But let’s start with the healing. Have they caught the black magician?”

“Yeah. More or less. I think I get what happened.”

Kevin scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

“There was this one girl who was super obsessed with me. I rejected her, and she took it badly. She’s done a lot of weird stuff since...”

The fact that he still had the energy to gossip confirmed it—definitely not a powerful black magician.

Come to think of it, Kevin had always had lots of friends back in the Academy and was a cheerful, talkative guy.

“She probably knew I was hoping to do really well in this rowing match, so she hired a black magician just to ruin it.”

“Wow...”

“Sure, black magic can be healed... but ruining the memory of something I was doing with my teammates? That’s the real damage. And I’m our team’s captain.”

“You can always compete again.”

“I dunno... Not this year, probably. The arena’s going to be shut down for a while while they investigate how the magician got in. You know how sensitive the imperial family is about black magic.”

The fact that he was more worried about the team’s memories than himself confirmed it—this was the same Kevin I remembered.

“Yeah... But let’s get you healed first. Even if it was some clumsy spell, black magic is still black magic.”

“Right. I’ve never received divine power before. What do I do?”

“Just hold my hand and stay still.”

Getting divine power from the future High Priest for such a minor injury—Kevin was seriously lucky.

“This won’t take long. Don’t worry.”

“Thanks, Rosie.”

He reached out and gently took my hand.

As I transferred divine power into him, he spoke in a slightly shy tone.

“I knew you left the Magic Tower recently.”

“Oh? Really?”

“Yeah. When the Noart family held that welcome party, I wanted to go... but it landed right on my oldest brother’s birthday.”

As far as I knew, the Rohard Viscount Family had no ties to ours.

And I couldn’t say I’d been particularly close with Kevin either.

He’d spoken to me kindly a few times, but that was just how he was—friendly with everyone.

Still, the fact that he’d even considered attending my welcome party...

Maybe this kind of social overcommitment is what makes someone a rowing team captain.

There wasn’t a single person like him in my life—no normal, socially adept leader-types.

I’d spent nine years surrounded by people like Ethan in the Magic Tower.

Just meeting someone so well-adjusted felt almost... foreign.

Still holding my hand, Kevin kept talking.

“I read the article saying you were the new future High Priest... It said Assistant Yuta acknowledged you himself.”

“Haha, I see. It’s kind of embarrassing, finding out how many people have been paying attention to me.”

As my divine power flowed into him, the black smudges on his arm began to fade instantly.

“Mmm.”

But Kevin’s gaze never left me. After a moment’s hesitation, he spoke in a quiet voice.

“But that’s not true, Rosie. I don’t think that many people were all that interested in you.”

“...Huh?”

“It was mostly me. I was really interested in you.”

I had been focused on his arm, but now I slowly raised my head and looked him in the eyes.

“Even nine years ago, I read your annulment article over and over.”

His face had turned red before I knew it.

I narrowed my eyes slightly.

Hmm. This vibe... Is this what I think it is?