Can the sadness that magic cannot take away be offset by love?

Ernest Ramirez lowered his eyelashes, looking at the water droplet that suddenly appeared in his palm and was almost simultaneously surrounded by his own flames.

This water elemental scent felt somewhat familiar… He recalled the female mage from the Noviro family who had always concealed her ambitions so well.

This matter involved Alexia, and Ernest was not in a good mood, but he had no choice but to go to the appointment.

*

As soon as Iris returned to her bedroom, she vomited a mouthful of blood. After cleaning up the blood with a sour face, she drank a bottle of specially made healing potion and recalled what she had seen and heard this time.

The power struggles between top families are nothing new; what worries her more is the risks they pose to Alexia.

And that woman... being strangled to death doesn't feel good.

She thought with lingering fear, but this story from a distant place was temporarily irrelevant to her now, and she shouldn't show herself in front of those people yet.

*

What are you trying to say?

Upon meeting Olivia Novello—the Novello successor who had signaled his arrival with a drop of water, and the ambitious one who would benefit most from Sothos's downfall—he went straight to the point.

The silver-haired monk chuckled and lightly kicked the sack beside him: "What you're looking for is inside."

Ernest Ramirez examined the bloodstains on the body in the sack and used the family's internal equipment to determine that some of the blood belonged to Alexia.

What if you orchestrated everything yourself?

Ernest's expression remained indifferent, but he was suppressing his anger—regardless of who orchestrated this conspiracy, Alexia had already been hurt because of them.

"I don't care about your doubts."

Olivia skipped over that topic and went on to state her conditions.

Ernest frowned slightly after hearing her conditions.

"you--"

As the words were about to come out, he saw the silver-haired mage's light and eerily charming smile and recalled his previous assessment of her—the Noviro family's most outstanding water mage who had always hidden her ambitions very well.

If she replaces Sothos, she will undoubtedly become a more formidable opponent for him.

but……

"The mage tower has set a high price."

Before leaving, Alex told him this last minute.

The future of the Noviro family remains uncertain, but what the Mage Tower has promised the Ramirez family will surely elevate their future to new heights.

Without much hesitation, Ernest quickly made his decision.

“I agree to the deal.”

*

The attack on the youngest direct descendant of the Ramirez family was suppressed, and therefore very few people knew that an even more horrifying event had occurred that night—

The Ramirez family heir—the victim's direct brother—carried a corpse and charged straight at the Noviro family's leader, throwing him a report analyzing the source of the blood on the body.

The person in charge glanced at the corpse's face, then shifted his gaze to the corpse's former direct superior—Sotos Noviro.

The person in charge already knew in his heart that they were most likely responsible for this incident. Now that things had come to this, it could be said that the two sides had completely broken off relations.

They knew perfectly well that Ernest Ramirez's actions were not to seek justice from them, but rather to provide a legitimate justification for the Ramirez family's next moves.

Look, you harmed our people for the sake of magical artifacts, so we will retaliate in kind and take away—no, take back—the magical artifact you value most, the Moon White Branch.

Both sides acted simultaneously, and in the end, the Ramirez family seized the Moon White Branch. After returning, they sued the Novello family, demanding legal compensation and an apology. More importantly, they wanted to spread the Novello family's filthy reputation to overshadow the slightest immorality of their own forceful seizure.

The Novello family lost the Moonbeam Branch, paid a large sum of money to the Ramirez family, had their misdeeds exposed, were publicly disgraced, and even had to pay out of their own pockets to host a so-called New Year's banquet. With nowhere to vent their anger, they turned their anger towards the next heir who had messed things up—Sothos Novello.

Taking advantage of the situation, Olivia Novello rallied her supporters and stirred up trouble before the family could make a real statement. She took a series of actions against Sothos and finally succeeded in getting the family to disqualify him from being the heir.

At the family meeting, Sothos Noviro's ring was removed in public, and then a servant placed it on a soft red cushion on a tray, tightly closed the lid, and locked it again.

The ring was not given to Olivia Noviro.

The crowd was puzzled, and the family elders offered no explanation. They simply instructed Olivia, who maintained a gentle smile throughout, "From now on, you will take over Sothos's work."

Olivia Noviro nodded slightly, her manners and poise impeccable.

*

She always knew that the title of heir would never fall to her.

But it doesn't matter, she won't let anyone in this family stay above her forever.

This sacrifice, planned for many years, will begin with the body of Sotos Noviro.

*

Soon after, Sothos Noviro's urn was presented to her by a servant.

"It's said he choked to death while drinking, and there was no one around at the time..."

"I heard that he tripped over the door while drunk, fell into the bathtub, and drowned?"

"Wasn't he forced to drink poison by one of the elders?"

In short, this once-glorious former heir of the family ultimately could not even determine the true cause of his death.

Only two people in the world know why Sothos died.

In the brightly furnished interior, the heir's ring, placed on a soft red cushion, gleamed on the transparent display case behind the silver-haired girl. Although everyone knew she couldn't wear it, a simple statement like "the room's display case is missing one more item" was enough for someone to know what to do.

After dismissing everyone, Olivia gently stroked the edge of the urn with her fingers, then deftly unlocked it and lifted the lid.

The box was completely empty.

With a crisp click of the lid closing, Olivia wiped her fingers, showing no surprise whatsoever.

After all, Sothos was someone she had personally witnessed being burned alive by Ernest.

The Ramirez family's flames only extinguish after burning anything they touch to ashes; when they burn a living person, they naturally leave not even ashes.

Even if someone does manage to find this layer, she won't be without options—she won't be the one actually taking action, but she'll have room to maneuver regarding the remaining issues.

The cost of the transaction was also very much in line with her expectations.

*

In Ernest’s view, Olivia made a bad deal.

Sothos was no match for her, and his downfall was only a matter of time. However, she paid a heavy price for it—the most important of which was that she relinquished ownership of Yuebaizhi for nothing.

Even though the Moonbeam Branch is still accumulating energy and its effectiveness will be greatly reduced, keeping it in the clan's treasury is the best choice for the sake of the clan's future.

The Moonblossom Branch didn't stay in Ernest's hands for long before being traded to the Mage Tower in the name of the family. It's said that the chief mage wanted to use it for some research on otherworldly dimensions.

The area covered by it will completely disappear and cannot be found anywhere in the world. Does that mean that the missing things have entered another space or another world?

Such speculation is reasonable.

However, the Mage Tower soon "donated" it to the International United Mage Committee as a prize for an exchange competition—ostensibly.

As for how much mutual benefit was involved in this "donation," there's no need to elaborate.

Therefore, it's highly likely that the Moon White Branch didn't play a significant role in the Mage Tower's research, and perhaps its mysteries have little to do with otherworldly phenomena—of course, this is all just speculation from observers. The Mage Tower has never publicly revealed even a single detail about it.

Let's go back to the present timeline.