By Zephyria 
As we were finishing our meal, chatting about this and that, Aska, who seemed to be deep in thought, asked Mahir.
“What did you mean earlier when you said I should have a son like you and raise him? You didn’t really cut off your leg, did you?”
It was the same question he’d asked before. His persistence made me sigh.
“What do you think of me? Why would I cut off my leg? Do you think I’m you? I just said it because the situation is similar, do you have to take it so literally?”
“Then what’s the similar situation?”
I clicked my tongue and shook my head, and Aska scoffed with a fierce look.
“See, you’re not answering again, so there must be something you’re hiding. Right?”
“Don’t talk nonsense. I didn’t cut off my leg, okay?”
I said with a wronged expression, but Aska didn’t seem to believe me at all. But it’s not a lie! I looked at Mahir for help.
“It’s not. You don’t believe me, so you answer, Brother. Why would I suddenly cut off my leg?”
“He’s not necessarily talking about a leg, but there must have been a similar situation for him to say that.”
Mahir, who had been watching us bicker, wiped his mouth with a napkin, as if he had finished his meal.
“I should probably head back to my office, so I’ll get going.”
“Already? Without even having tea?”
I asked in surprise, but Mahir just smiled without answering and got up from his seat.
“You guys take your time and eat. I’ll let you know when the banquet is confirmed.”
“Stay a little longer.”
“No, it’s okay. I should write a letter today.”
After a brief farewell, Mahir left. Left alone with Aska, I couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. He looked like he was running away, which would only deepen Aska’s suspicion.
“A letter all of a sudden?”
Or not?
Seeing Aska ask with a puzzled expression, I gave him a long and elaborate answer as if I had been waiting for it.
“He’s probably writing to Nadia. Who else would the Emperor exchange private letters with besides Nadia? He was probably going to take a break for the first time in a while, but Khalifa ruined it. That guy is no help at all. Have you ever been to a hot spring?”
I changed the subject so that Aska wouldn’t think about anything else. Whether it worked or not, Aska shook his head without saying anything.
“I’ve never been. Isn’t it like hot water comes out of the ground and you go in it?”
“That’s right. It’s good to go to a hot spring when you sprain your leg. It’s good for your skin and helps you recover from fatigue, so let’s go next time.”
“Just hot water has those effects?”
Aska asked as if he couldn’t believe it.
“Yes, it does. I went a few times when I was young, and it relieved my muscle tension, so it’s good to go when you’re tired.”
“Is it good to go when your leg is cut off too?”
“…….”
I closed my mouth at the casual question. There was no way he would just let it go.
“Why are you suddenly so fixated on legs?”
“Why do you keep pretending you don’t know what I’m asking?”
“…….”
And for the second time, I was speechless. I had no choice but to be honest.
“I’ve had an arm cut off, not a leg. This one.”
I held out my left arm and showed him.
“Not just cut, but completely severed?”
He seemed more surprised than he should have been, considering he had been talking about cutting off his own leg a little while ago.
“Why? Who did it?”
This time, I couldn’t answer easily. I didn’t want to say. I had reflected enough, and I wasn’t quite in my right mind back then…
“Who did it? Did the Emperor do it again?”
Aska asked again when I didn’t answer. Seeing how persistent he was, I knew he would eventually get an answer from me no matter how much I resisted.
Since it had come to this, I made a suggestion.
“If I tell you, you have to answer my question honestly too.”
“Question? What question? I’ve always answered your questions sincerely. Unlike someone else, I didn’t beat around the bush.”
I cleared my throat at his reproachful words and picked up the fork Aska had given me earlier.
“I needed to call a Wizard who could use healing magic, but he wouldn’t listen. I got annoyed and just cut it off in a fit of anger. It was my arm that was cut off, so I had no choice but to call the Wizard.”
“…….”
I put an apple in my mouth and chewed, making a crunchy sound. I didn’t want to look at Aska because I thought he would be looking at me strangely, so I just looked away and moved my mouth.
“You cut it off yourself?”
Aska asked, breaking the heavy silence. His voice was clearly different from before. It was already in the past, and it wasn’t even my fault, but it wasn’t easy to make eye contact.
I had nothing to say and nothing to do, so I just kept eating apples, and Aska muttered to himself.
“I think I know what Mahir meant earlier. I was a little unsure when I heard it…”
I rolled my eyes and looked at Aska. He was frowning, looking as if he had gained a great realization. I agreed with Aska’s words.
When I was young, Mahir would say it every day, but it didn’t really hit me. But today, when Aska was talking about cutting off his leg, I think I understood.
Is that why Mahir told me to have a son like you and raise him?
“Have you ever cut off anything else besides your arm? Yours.”
Aska asked with a troubled expression. I had eaten a whole plate of apples, so I put down my fork and shook my head.
“No. I regretted it a lot even then. I didn’t know it would hurt so much. But I couldn’t show that I was in pain because I was angry, so I just cursed a lot in my head.”
“No matter how angry you are, how can you cut off your arm? Are you crazy?”
His reddish eyes looked a little moist, but he wasn’t crying. But wouldn’t it have been okay if he had cried? I definitely didn’t want him to cry after hearing my words, but I had conflicting feelings again.
I’ve been like this every chance I get these days, so I’m starting to wonder if I have some kind of mental illness.
I was thinking about going to see a doctor soon when Aska suddenly put a grape in my mouth.
“Haa…”
Then he sighed deeply. It reminded me of when Mahir used to look at me when I was young, and I felt strange.
“You thought similarly to me, so why are you reacting like that?”
I asked, dumbfounded, and Aska got annoyed as if he had been waiting for it.
“Are you and I the same? I can heal myself even if I cut myself, but you can’t.”
“I just can’t heal myself, but it’ll reattach if I use magic. I knew that, so I did it. And I’m not going to do that anymore, so stop nagging.”
I chewed and swallowed the grape roughly and asked.
“More importantly, answer my question now.”
Aska, who had been grinding his teeth with a face that seemed to have a lot to say, turned his gaze away.
“Ask.”
“That lightning strike the Emperor mentioned earlier, you didn’t do that, did you?”
Aska’s eyes widened like a rabbit’s, as if it was an unexpected question.
“How did you know?”
It seemed like he had no intention of hiding it from the start.
“Is it important how I knew? Why did you do that? And did you really control the lightning and make it fall? How?”
Even with my rapid-fire questions, Aska only asked what he was curious about.
“I made sure no one was around, how did you know? I checked several times to make sure there was no one around.”
“Since there’s no way there’s a god in the world, it must be a natural phenomenon or something someone did. But if it was someone, they would have to be able to strike lightning whenever they wanted. If they had that kind of ability, they would be famous, but I’ve never heard of it. The only one who might have an unrealistic ability is you, so I asked just in case.”
But I didn’t expect him to admit it so easily…
“They could be hiding. Like me.”
“That makes even less sense. Someone who has been quietly hiding until now suddenly drops lightning in the middle of the Imperial Castle? It’s strange even if they couldn’t stand the tyranny. Why not move sooner? Khalifa’s atrocities are nothing compared to what they used to be.”
At my words, Aska put another grape in my mouth with an awkward expression. I pushed the grape to one side of my cheek and added.
“If it was because of a personal grudge, it wouldn’t make sense to do it now. It’s ridiculous to have a grudge so big that you would do something like this and only be satisfied with destroying a statue.”
“That’s true.”
“Anyway, if I noticed, Mahir will eventually find out too.”
“Am I going to jail?”
Looking at Aska, who asked with a face that wasn’t scared at all, I couldn’t help but sigh.
“Even if there’s no evidence, you’ll get the death penalty just for suspicion. The statue symbolizing the Emperor is equated with the Emperor, so you’re no different from dropping lightning on Khalifa.”
It would be fortunate if he just died, but if all of this was revealed, he wouldn’t even be able to die peacefully.
“Then what should I do?”
“I know, why did you do something like that? You were usually so quiet. And why didn’t you tell me you had that kind of ability?”
“You didn’t ask.”
“If you were going to do it, you should have told me.”
Then I would have gone with him to watch… And I could have designed a more elaborate plan to commit the perfect crime. Now, Aska had ended up doing something that only he could do, and it was no different from admitting his guilt.
It would be fortunate if it was concluded that it was a natural disaster, but Mahir would eventually suspect Aska, just like I did.
“Now I’m not the only one who knows about your ability, so you have to be careful too. I always said, why did you suddenly destroy the statue? And so spectacularly.”
At my question, Aska pouted.