Declared Dead, Exiled, and Betrayed— Now I Walk Away, but I'll Save One Who Cared - Chapter 69

The royal capital of my homeland—returning after so many years.

Once, this place had been my second home.

I had spent most of my time here, right up until the day I left the country.

To be precise, I had lived in the Grand Duke’s estate, which was situated within the capital.

Now, however, I could no longer enter the place where I was born.

I had a vague feeling that I could just walk in without issue, but as someone who had already left both my home and my country, I knew that even if the Grand Duke’s household welcomed me, the other nobles and retainers would not. It would be best to exercise restraint.

Despite the fact that I had saved His Majesty the King by using forbidden magic, Prince Lienfeld—who at the time had only been a royal prince—had expressed gratitude. However, the rest of the royal family and high-ranking officials treated me like a dangerous anomaly.

The Minister of Justice and certain members of the Mage Corps had openly condemned me.

For that reason, I avoided going near the Grand Duke’s estate and instead headed straight for the royal castle.

Of course, if I were to introduce myself now as Lax Ravenclarth, there was no chance I would be let through.

In fact, I’d likely be thrown out immediately.

So I asked Michelle to handle the conversation.

“Are you… Lord Lax?!”

Or at least, that was the plan.

But the moment the gatekeeper laid eyes on me, he called out my name in shock.

And then—

“You’ve finally returned! Please, this way!”

“Wait, it’s Lord Lax! Send word immediately!”

“Lord Lax, since it is still early morning, please allow us to escort you to a waiting chamber.”

“Ah—right. Sorry for arriving so early. If it’s inconvenient, I can come back later.”

“What are you saying? You are the savior of this kingdom. If we were to turn you away, it would be disgraceful—an unforgivable act of ingratitude!”

…Wait.

What exactly was going on?

Why was I being treated like an honored guest and led to such a lavish room?

And why did they all recognize me when I had never seen any of them before?

“Uh… can Michelle stay with me as well?”

“Of course. Lady Michelle Garthilna, please forgive the oversight. You are welcome to accompany him.”

Michelle looked just as bewildered as I was, watching from a distance as I was surrounded by guards and ushered inside.

…In fact, considering how she usually acted around strangers, she might have been planning to quietly slip away.

When I mentioned her name, I swore I heard a faint click of her tongue.

“Why is all of this happening?”

“Even though you used forbidden magic, you saved a beloved king. With time, perhaps people have come to understand that.”

“That can’t be it. If that were the case, anyone could justify using forbidden magic as long as it was for someone they admired.”

“Well… that’s true.”

Seated in the ornate reception room, we sipped tea and nibbled on light refreshments while discussing the Kingdom of Elver’s unexpected reception.

It was a strange response.

After all, the magic I had used had been developed here, in this very kingdom.

It had been declared forbidden the moment it was created.

Even I didn’t fully understand it.

At the time, all I had wanted was to save the suffering king.

His Majesty had been afflicted by a curse that obstructed his internal magic circuits, causing excruciating pain whenever mana flowed through his body.

So I had used the spell.

In the end, the curse was repelled, his circuits restored.

Though my own memories from that time were hazy, I later heard that the curse had rebounded onto the one who had cast it, allowing them to be captured.

It had been an unquestionably good outcome—one that only Prince Lienfeld had ever explicitly thanked me for.

But still—it was forbidden magic.

And now, I understood why.

I had experienced its consequences firsthand.

The effects weren’t obvious at first.

At most, I had felt a strange sense of mental fog.

But for several days after casting the spell, I had apparently done nothing but sit in place, staring blankly.

Slowly, I had regained my awareness—or rather, my thoughts—and eventually, I had regained control over my body as well.

By then, however, I had already been imprisoned.

That was when the interrogations began.

And that was when I realized something was missing.

I had lost parts of my memory.

The first sign was that I could not remember my own fiancée.

She had been a political match, someone I had only just begun building a relationship with.

Since I had no recollection of her to begin with, the loss did not feel particularly devastating.

In the end, her family had no desire to be associated with a man who had used forbidden magic, and the engagement had been promptly annulled.

I had written a letter of apology, but since I had no memory of her, I could only manage a formal, impersonal note.

And now, even to this day, I couldn’t recall her name.

Not her face.

Not even the name of her family.

All I remembered was that I had once written that letter.

Then, I realized—I had also lost memories of several friends and servants, as well as entire conversations I had shared with them.

There seemed to be no clear pattern to the people I had forgotten.

Some had been close to me, while others had been mere acquaintances.

I had no way of knowing why they had been erased from my mind.

Fortunately, I still remembered my parents, my siblings, and the royal family.

They had tried to consider my circumstances with leniency, but I didn’t want to be a burden to them.

So, I chose to leave the country.

I also remembered Michelle, who had been like a foster sister to me.

And she had followed me.

Apparently, because she had been with me when I obtained the forbidden magic and had failed to stop me from using it, she had been considered guilty as well.

I had thought I could handle everything on my own.

But I had been naive.

“We appreciate your patience. His Majesty the King and the Crown Prince will see you now. Please, this way.”

“Ah, thank you.”

The person who came to summon us was, to my surprise, none other than the Minister of Justice.

Yet, this time, there was no trace of his former hostility.

Would meeting the king reveal the reason behind this change?

With that thought in mind, I walked forward, Michelle at my side, and stepped into the audience chamber.

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