For reasons I couldn’t properly explain—
I found myself stepping closer toward the old woman’s stall.
Sothing about her presence felt strange.
Not dangerous.
Just...
Odd.
Her sharp eyes followed carefully before she slowly smiled.
"You have a lot of potential, child."
I blinked.
"...Potential for what?"
The old woman leaned slightly forward.
"What rank mage are you?"
That imdiately confused .
"I’m not one."
She tilted her head.
"...Hm?"
"I don’t have any mana capacity."
For the first ti since I approached the stall, the old woman’s expression genuinely shifted.
Confusion.
Uncertainty.
Almost disbelief.
"That’s impossible."
"...Unfortunately it isn’t."
The old woman stared at silently for several monts before slowly extending a hand.
"Give your palm."
Every instinct told not to.
But curiosity won.
Reluctantly, I held my hand out toward her.
The woman gently traced lines across my palm with one thin finger while muttering quietly to herself.
Then suddenly—
Her eyes narrowed.
"...Very curious."
"What is?"
She slowly looked up at .
"I’ve never seen mana burnout at your age before."
My expression imdiately twisted in confusion.
"...Mana burnout?"
I had never even heard that term before.
The old woman continued tracing faint lines along my palm.
"It occurs when a mage excessively strains their mana core and pathways."
Her voice beca calr.
"Usually over a very long period of ti through repeated overuse."
She paused briefly.
"Though in so cases, a single imnsely powerful spell can also cause it."
I stared at her silently.
Mana pathways?
Mana core?
What was she even talking about?
The old woman continued.
"The effects vary. Weakened magical ability. Permanent instability."
Then her eyes sharpened slightly.
"And in severe cases..."
She lightly tapped the center of my palm.
"The complete destruction of one’s mana core."
My heart skipped slightly.
"aning the person becos permanently unable to use mana."
Silence.
None of this made sense.
I had never even used magic before.
Not once.
So how could sothing like this happen to ?
The old woman anwhile looked increasingly puzzled the longer she examined my hand.
"...This wasn’t a weak core either."
I froze slightly.
"What?"
She slowly released my hand.
"I can still sense traces of what it used to be."
Her eyes narrowed carefully.
"At minimum, you should’ve possessed a B-rank mana capacity."
Then—
After another mont—
"Possibly even A-rank."
My thoughts instantly spiraled into complete chaos.
A-rank?
That was impossible.
"Sadly it’s been completely damaged nothing you do will ever be able to bring this back"
Questions flooded my mind faster than I could process them.
How?
Why?
What did this an?
Could mana burnout actually erase a mana capacity completely?
And if so—
When could sothing like that possibly have happened?
Before I could even begin asking anything—
"LEO!"
A familiar voice suddenly echoed behind .
I turned around.
Lilith rushed through the crowd toward with visible panic across her face.
The mont she reached , both of her hands imdiately cupped my cheeks while she frantically looked over.
"Are you hurt?"
"I’m fine."
"You disappeared."
"I got pushed away by the crowd."
Lilith still looked deeply unsettled.
She seed genuinely terrified for a mont there.
I quickly pulled my hand away from the old woman before standing fully.
"...Sorry," I muttered awkwardly.
The old woman simply smiled faintly.
"No need."
Lilith imdiately grabbed onto my arm tightly afterward like she was making sure I physically couldn’t disappear again.
Then the two of us began walking away through the crowded market.
But—
Just before leaving completely—
Lilith glanced back once.
And the mont she did—
The old woman’s faint smile vanished.
Because Lilith’s expression had changed entirely.
Emotionless.
Cold.
Yet sohow—
Threatening.
Like a predator silently warning soone to stay away from what belonged to her.
The old woman watched silently as the two disappeared back into the crowd.
"...How frightening," she whispered quietly to herself.
////////
After the incident with the old woman, Lilith refused to let go of my arm for the next hour.
Not once.
At this point I had accepted my fate.
The two of us continued wandering through the capital together while the sun slowly began lowering over the city.
We explored more markets.
Looked through bookstores.
Passed magical artifact shops.
And at one point Lilith dragged into a clothing store because she "wanted to see what colors suited ."
Apparently the answer was black.
And dark purple.
Obviously.
Eventually, after hours of walking, I finally sighed.
"...I’m hungry."
Lilith imdiately perked up.
"Food...date?"
"It’s still not a date."
"It is to ."
A while later we entered a fairly large restaurant near one of the central streets.
Warm lighting illuminated the interior while nobles and wealthy rchants quietly conversed around the dining hall.
The mont we entered, several people imdiately froze upon noticing Lilith.
Her reputation really was absurd.
We eventually sat near the corner of the restaurant away from most of the crowd.
Lilith anwhile sat directly beside instead of across from for so reason.
"You know there are two sides to the table right?"
"Yes."
"...Then why are you sitting here?"
"So nobody steals you."
Concerning answer.
Before I could reply, a waitress approached our table holding a small notebook.
But the mont she looked toward Lilith—
She froze.
"...L-Lilith?"
Lilith blinked before looking up from the nu.
"...Clara?"
The pink-haired girl from the academy imdiately brightened.
"IT IS YOU!"
She hurried over excitedly before stopping near the table.
Honestly—
Seeing soone casually approach Lilith this fearlessly felt strange.
Clara smiled warmly.
"I didn’t know you were in the capital already."
"I can back early."
Then Clara’s eyes slowly shifted toward .
More specifically—
Toward the fact Lilith was practically glued to my side.
"...And who’s this?"
For the first ti all day—
Lilith suddenly looked oddly shy.
Her fingers lightly tightened around my sleeve before she quietly replied—
"...Leo."
Clara’s eyes widened instantly.
Then—
A massive grin spread across her face.
"Ohhhhhh."
Lilith imdiately stiffened.
"So this is the Leo."
"...Clara."
"The Leo you talk about constantly."
"...Clara."
"The Leo you compare literally everyone to."
"...Clara."
"The Leo you said slls nice—"
"CLARA."
Several nearby custors jumped slightly.
anwhile Clara looked completely delighted.
Honestly—
Watching Lilith get embarrassed felt surreal.
Clara giggled before looking toward again.
"Well, it’s an honor to finally et you."
I blinked.
"...What?"
Clara smiled brightly.
"I’m Clara Vale."
Then she pointed toward Lilith dramatically.
"She talks about you all the ti."
Lilith imdiately buried part of her face into my shoulder.
"...Stop talking."
"This is the most emotion I’ve ever seen from you," Clara replied proudly.
Lilith looked seconds away from murdering her.
I was impressed Clara survived this long.
Eventually Lilith sighed in defeat before quietly introducing us properly.
"Leo... this is Clara."
Clara smiled warmly before sitting briefly across from us.
"Nice to et you."
"...Likewise."
But then—
As I looked closer at Clara—
I suddenly froze.
Pink hair.
Bright ruby eyes.
Timid personality.
Commoner background.
B-rank mana capacity.
And the surna—
Vale.
My eyes widened slightly.
No way.
Clara Vale.
The heroine.
The actual main heroine of the novel.
One of the central figures destined to eventually oppose the Void Witch.
In the original story, Clara had been one of the few people capable of standing against Lilith.
And in the end—
Lilith had brutally killed her.
I stared silently at Clara while mories from the novel resurfaced rapidly in my head.
But now—
Seeing the cheerful girl sitting in front of laughing nervously while teasing Lilith—
It felt completely unreal.
Because the future I rembered...
And the girl currently sitting here...
Felt like two entirely different worlds.
The three of us continued talking while the restaurant slowly beca busier around us.
Well—
Mostly Clara talked.
Lilith occasionally responded with short answers while remaining glued to my side the entire ti.
anwhile I mostly listened while trying to process the fact that the heroine of the original story was casually sitting in front of eating soup.
Reality had beco strange.
"So you’re from the Aldric territory?" Clara asked curiously.
"Yeah."
"That’s really far from the capital."
"It’s quieter."
Lilith imdiately nodded in agreent.
"Which is why Leo should move into my manor permanently."
"I’m not doing that."
"You’d get your own room."
"I already have my own room."
"You could also have ."
Clara nearly choked on her drink trying not to laugh.
anwhile I buried my face into one hand.
How did she say these things so casually?
Eventually our als arrived.
Several plates were carefully placed across the table while the sll of fresh at and bread filled the air.
I imdiately tried to grab my utensils.
Then paused.
Because Lilith had grabbed them before .
More specifically—
She had grabbed a spoon and was now holding it directly toward my face.
"...What are you doing."
"Feeding you."
"No."
"It’s normal."
"No it isn’t."
Lilith tilted her head slightly.
"It’s normal for a wife to feed her husband."
Clara imdiately turned away while visibly trying not to laugh.
"We are not married."
"Yet."
"No."
Lilith ignored my refusal entirely before moving the spoon even closer.
"Open."
"No."
"Leo."
"Absolutely not."
This was humiliating.
There were people everywhere.
Several nearby custors were already staring at us nervously because of Lilith’s presence alone.
And now she was trying to spoon-feed in public like we were so newlywed couple.
I attempted pushing her hand away.
And imdiately realised sothing horrifying.
She wasn’t budging at all.
"...Are you using magic right now?"
Lilith smiled innocently.
"No."
She was definitely using magic.
So kind of strength enhancent probably.
Because despite looking like a normal girl, her arm suddenly felt immovable.
"Open."
"No."
"Please?"
"No."
"I’ll be sad."
"You’ll survive."
Lilith’s eyes narrowed slightly before she moved the spoon even closer to my mouth.
anwhile Clara had fully given up hiding her amusent.
She looked like she was watching a live cody show.
"You two are adorable," Clara said while laughing softly.
"We are not."
Lilith imdiately nodded proudly.
"We are."
I tried pulling away again only for Lilith to suddenly place her free hand against my cheek to stop from escaping.
"Stop resisting."
"Stop trying to feed !"
"It’s romantic."
"It’s embarrassing!"
Several nearby nobles glanced toward us again.
Honestly—
I wanted to disappear.
Eventually, after nearly a full minute of struggling, I finally gave up just to end the suffering.
The mont I reluctantly took the spoon into my mouth.
Lilith’s entire face lit up with happiness.
anwhile Clara laughed into her drink.
"...Wow," Clara said between chuckles, "the terrifying Lilith NightBane really beca completely harmless around Leo."
Lilith imdiately shook her head.
"I’m still dangerous."
Then she looked back toward while smiling softly.
"Just not to him."
That answer sohow felt more terrifying.
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