"All right, I understand, my lord. You can rest assured and leave it to me—there won't be a problem... What? Messing it up? How could I? I've followed you for so long. Surely you don't still doubt me... That's precisely why? No, no, no, I absolutely won't argue with Miss Delphine. I am a true gentleman and nobleman. How could I quarrel with a beautiful lady? Last time? That was only an accident. All right, all right, my lord, I understand—"
"What an utterly heartless man, just like Darus..." The young wizard muttered to himself as he took the Communication Crystal away and raised it high. Sunlight from the sea passed through the tower's arched window and shone onto the crystal, refracting into dazzling, intoxicating radiance. He narrowed his eyes slightly. Although it was an exceptionally ordinary object, it still had moments of breathtaking beauty—much like this tranquil bay. Beneath its day-after-day ordinariness lay everything in the world most worth cherishing. Only after losing it would people regret it too late.
Those plain yet genuine days would become people's most precious memories. Charles silently gazed at the bay shimmering with golden light, as though he wanted to etch this moment forever into his heart.
He turned around. Behind him was the cramped space of the tower: a desk covered with spell scrolls and star charts; a Crystal Ball in one corner; and a small toy—a metal disk binding a wisp of wind, constantly blowing several feathers up and down. Behind the desk stood a wooden bed and two rows of bookshelves crammed with parchments and books in complete disorder. From a distance, they looked like a trash heap, while an unattended brush swept back and forth over the shelves, constantly driving spiders and other insects out of the corners. They