After dealing with the situation between Lilian and Camilla, Ian walked straight to Deere’s study.
Inside the study, Deere sat at his desk, his head lowered as he handled official business.
Hearing the sound of the door opening, he looked up and saw Ian and Elise walking in.
“I apologize for calling you here so soon after you woke up.”
“It is fine. I did not suffer any major injuries; I simply used too much Mana and fell unconscious,” Ian answered Deere respectfully.
“It is good that you are all right.”
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Deere did not waste any more time and began to ask Ian the questions on his mind.
“I called you here to ask you about something.”
Deere’s expression turned solemn as he spoke.
“Ian, do you know what that Black Figure was?”
He was clearly very concerned about the existence that had been immune to his attacks.
After all, that thing shared similarities with the Demon Race.
If that figure truly belonged to the Demon Race, then the situation for the Human Race would be dire indeed.
Hearing Deere’s words, Ian shook his head.
He truly did not know what that Black Shadow Figure was.
Seeing Ian shake his head, Deere sighed.
“Right, I was being too impatient. If even I do not know what it was, how could you?”
Deere shook his head and picked up the pen on his desk, preparing to return to his work.
Seeing Deere lower his head to resume his duties, Ian paused for a moment before finally speaking.
“Is Veronica all right?”
Ian had originally intended not to ask, but he ultimately did.
There was no other reason than the fact that Veronica was the Protagonist of the entire game, and he felt he should show some concern for her status.
Deere’s hand paused.
He looked up at Ian with a gaze filled with disbelief.
‘Could the selfish Ian in my memory actually care about someone else?’
Seeing Deere’s shocked expression, Ian stepped forward.
“What is it, Father? Did I say something wrong?”
“No, no, you did not.”
After his initial shock, Deere quickly adjusted his state of mind and explained Veronica’s current condition with a heavy expression.
“Although I brought the best Mage doctor from the Royal Capital to treat her as soon as I brought her back, whether she can wake up remains an unknown.”
Deere shook his head, feeling helpless.
If only he had arrived at the scene sooner, would all of this have been avoided?
He had been asking himself this question constantly over the past few days.
Even as a 9th-rank Grand Archmage, he was not a god.
There were times when he, too, was powerless.
“Do not worry. Veronica will wake up,” Ian said, noticing the sorrow in Deere’s eyes.
“Yes, I hope so.”
In Deere’s eyes, Ian’s words were merely an attempt to comfort him.
If even the best doctor in the Royal Capital could not guarantee her recovery, what could Ian possibly know?
Ian, however, had absolute confidence in his words.
After all, Veronica was the Protagonist; it was impossible for her not to wake up.
Having said his piece, Ian wanted to leave the study.
He had many things to do, the most important of which was refining medicine to save Lilith.
Counting the two days he had been unconscious, he only had four days left for Medicine Refining.
He had to hurry because he could not guarantee success on his first attempt.
He might fail several times.
Just as he was about to push the door open, Deere called out from behind him.
“By the way, if you have time, go see Aetherinra more often.”
“Aetherinra?” Ian froze in place at the mention of her name.
“For the past few days, Aetherinra has been staying by Veronica’s side, waiting for her to wake up. she has not closed her eyes in a long time. I hope you can go and persuade her. It would be good if she could at least get some rest,” Deere instructed Ian earnestly.
Ian’s first instinct upon hearing this was to wonder if Deere had gone mad.
Asking him to comfort Aetherinra?
Did he not know how poor their relationship was?
Seemingly sensing Ian’s doubt, Deere added, “I have noticed that your relationship seems to have improved lately. You even went shopping together in Far East City not long ago, did you not?”
Ian rolled his eyes.
He had not expected Deere to know about the time he went shopping with Aetherinra and the others.
“Aetherinra is a child who tries too hard to be strong. She never bothers others with her problems. Because of that, Veronica has been her only close friend all these years. I know you might harbor resentment toward her in your heart… Do you still resent her for taking things that should have belonged to you?”
Ian shook his head.
The old Ian would have certainly agreed with Deere’s words. In the previous Ian’s eyes, Aetherinra was a thief who had stolen his parents’ love and everything that belonged to him.
But the current Ian did not care about those things at all, so he naturally felt no resentment toward her.
“I hope you can understand her hardships. As a child who lost her parents at a young age, she has already developed a very strong heart.”
“Why did Aetherinra lose her parents?”
Ian could not help but ask.
This was information he had never learned while playing the game in his past life.
Deere was stunned for a moment before sighing with emotion.
“The one who should have died was not him— it was me!”
With Deere’s lament, a long-buried past was revealed.
“When I was young, an unprecedented war broke out between the Human Race and the Demon Race. At that time, I was only a 6th-rank Mage. Under normal circumstances, I would have barely been able to protect myself in that war. But as luck would have it, the very thing I feared most happened. I was unfortunate enough to encounter one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon Race.”
“Just as I was falling into despair, it was Aetherinra’s father— my comrade-in-arms who shared life and death with me— who stood up. He drew the attention of that demon so that I could retreat safely. He, however, was pursued until he was killed. After learning of her husband’s death, Aetherinra’s mother became overcome with grief and followed him shortly after.”
“That is why Aetherinra lost her parents. It is all my fault! That is why I brought her into the Duke’s Mansion later and treated her as my own daughter.”
Deere stood up and gazed out at the sky through the window.
“I am sorry. I did not realize that was what happened,” Ian apologized.
He had not expected the truth to be like this.
“You do not need to apologize. I have wanted to tell you this for a long time, but there was never a right moment. Since you asked today, I decided to speak of it.”
Deere waved his hand, signaling Ian to leave.
“If there is nothing else, you may go. I still have much work to do.”
Ian did not linger and turned to walk out of Deere’s study.
Watching Ian’s departing figure, Deere could not help but think to himself.
‘Could Ian be the one to save Aetherinra?’
He then shook his head.
‘What am I even expecting?’
He pushed the thoughts aside and sat back down to continue organizing the official documents on his desk.