Chapter 112: Just a Peek [Part 3] (Magic Castle Bonus)

Chapter 112. Just a Peek [Part 3] (Magic Castle Bonus)

His head rested sideways against his folded arms, dark hair falling messily across his forehead. Several sheets of parchment lay scattered around him, accompanied by a feather pen and a small bottle of ink.

One hand remained loosely curled beside the papers.

His breathing was slow and even.

Nia blinked. Then she leaned closer to Liora. "He’s sleeping," she whispered.

Liora’s prepared lecture immediately lost most of its strength. It was rather difficult to scold someone for refusing to rest when he had already surrendered to exhaustion. Especially when he looked like that.

Without his usual sharp gaze and mischievous smile, Rey appeared considerably younger. His expression was relaxed, his features softened by sleep, and the faint shadows beneath his eyes made it painfully obvious how much he’d pushed himself throughout the day.

Liora’s annoyance faded. Honestly... This man.

Nia approached the desk first.

Liora followed.

Both women carefully avoided disturbing the scattered papers, although their curiosity was immediately drawn toward the large drawing occupying the center of his workspace.

It depicted an elaborate crystal artifact surrounded by intricate golden structures.

Several magical diagrams had been drawn beneath it, accompanied by explanations written in Rey’s familiar handwriting.

Nia tilted her head. "What is that?"

Liora examined the illustration.

The craftsmanship was remarkable.

Every proportion had been reproduced with almost obsessive precision, including the complicated arrangement of the supporting framework.

There were also several diagrams describing mana circulation, amplification, and something that appeared to involve the relationship between an external mana source and a crystal’s internal stability.

Liora frowned slightly. She understood magical formations. Quite well, actually.

As a Crystal Elf, she had spent years studying the relationship between mana conductivity, crystal structures, and magical circuits. She could identify most common formations at a glance and understood enough advanced theory to recognize when someone was making a particularly expensive mistake.

But this?

This was something else entirely.

The individual principles weren’t necessarily unfamiliar.

It was the way Rey had connected them.

Several diagrams seemed to contradict conventional assumptions about Light Mana, while others used structural arrangements she had never encountered in any magical engineering textbook.

And the explanations?

They were worse. Not because they were poorly written. Quite the opposite. They were concise, precise, and apparently perfectly logical to whoever had written them.

Unfortunately, that person possessed a mind that operated several floors above ordinary magical theory.

Liora could follow the beginning of an explanation. Sometimes even the middle. Then Rey would casually introduce a concept that made everything she’d previously understood feel embarrassingly incomplete.

Nia leaned over her shoulder. "Do you understand any of it?"

Liora studied the parchment for another moment. Then shook her head. "Not enough."

Nia hummed thoughtfully. "I wonder where Rey learned all these things."

It was an innocent question. A reasonable one. And certainly not the first time any of them had asked it. Because the changes in Rey had become increasingly difficult to ignore.

At first, they had assumed his unusual behavior was related to his curse.

The ritual had gone terribly wrong, and the curse had struck him with enough force to threaten his life. When he recovered, something about him had undeniably changed.

His mannerisms. His confidence. His knowledge. Even the way he looked at them.

For a while, they had quietly wondered whether the curse had altered something deeper. Whether some unknown influence had entered his mind. Whether the man standing before them was truly the husband they had married.

Those suspicions had been painful and frightening.

Because none of them wanted to believe that the affection they had finally begun receiving came from something unnatural.

Ariel had been the first to investigate.

As a mermaid princess, she possessed considerable knowledge of healing magic, including techniques capable of examining spiritual damage.

After the ritual, when Rey’s curse had struck him so violently, she had checked his body and soul. Carefully. Repeatedly. The result had been unmistakable.

His soul was still his own.

There had been no foreign spiritual presence, no evidence of possession, and no indication that another consciousness had forcibly replaced him. But something about his soul did seem different. Sharper. More defined. Almost as though an old, damaged crystal had finally begun recovering its original brilliance.

But it was Rey’s soul.

Liora had conducted her own examination afterward. Her methods were different from Ariel’s, relying on the sensitivity of Crystal Elf magic to identify spiritual resonance and irregularities. Yet her conclusion had been the same.

Rey Valen.

The same spiritual signature. The same fundamental essence. Whatever had happened during that ritual, it hadn’t replaced their husband. And the strangest part was that, aside from his extraordinary knowledge and newfound confidence, many of his habits remained familiar.

He still worked too hard. Still forgot the passage of time when something fascinated him.

The difference was that he no longer seemed determined to keep everyone at a distance.

He smiled more. Laughed more. Touched them without hesitation. And, most importantly, he had started allowing himself to be loved. Perhaps the ritual had awakened something buried within him. Perhaps the curse had suppressed parts of his personality for years.

Liora didn’t know.

But looking at the sleeping man before her, she found that the uncertainty no longer frightened her quite as much.

"The ritual changed something inside him," she whispered eventually. "Perhaps his knowledge is part of that change."

Nia glanced toward her.

Liora’s expression softened. "But I don’t care. As long as he’s safe." And she meant it.

She didn’t need Rey to explain every mystery surrounding his recovery.

What she needed was for him to stop treating his own body like an expendable magical component.

Liora stepped away from the desk and approached a nearby cabinet. She opened the lower drawer. The study contained a folded blanket. Apparently, someone had anticipated that their workaholic husband might eventually fall asleep somewhere other than his bedroom.

Liora took the blanket and returned to Rey’s side.

Carefully, she unfolded it and draped it over his shoulders and back.

Rey shifted slightly.

Both women froze.

His fingers moved against the parchment. Then he settled again, his breathing remaining steady.

Liora exhaled quietly. At least he wouldn’t get cold.

Meanwhile, Nia had pulled a chair closer to the desk. She sat down, folded her arms on the tabletop, and rested her chin against them, bringing her face almost level with Rey’s. Her ears twitched. Her tail swayed gently behind her. And her expression...

Liora recognized that expression immediately.

It was the same one Nia wore whenever she discovered something particularly precious. Except this time, there was no calculating merchant behind those eyes.

Nia watched Rey for a long moment. Her lips curved. "He really is handsome."

Liora glanced at her. "You’re only noticing that now?"

"Oh? So you agree?"

Liora immediately regretted speaking.

Nia’s grin widened. There was no escaping that particular trap.

"He’s our husband," Liora replied with as much dignity as she could manage.

"That’s not an answer."

"It’s enough of an answer." Nia giggled softly. Then she reached out and gently brushed a loose strand of hair away from Rey’s forehead.

He didn’t wake.

Instead, his expression relaxed a little further. That small reaction seemed to melt something inside her. "Aww..."

Liora smiled. For all her shameless teasing, Nia could be surprisingly gentle when she wanted to be.

"Maybe we should bring him to our chamber," Nia whispered.

Liora looked at Rey. His shoulders were relaxed beneath the blanket, and his breathing had finally settled into the deep, even rhythm of someone getting the rest he desperately needed. Moving him would probably wake him. And knowing Rey, the moment he opened his eyes, he’d remember something else he wanted to write down.

Another diagram or another brilliant idea that absolutely couldn’t wait until morning.

"That would wake him up," Liora murmured. She gently adjusted the blanket around his shoulders, making sure it wouldn’t slip. Then she glanced toward Nia, whose chin was still resting on the desk as she gazed at their husband with a rather lovestruck smile.

"Let him sleep."