Winston nodded.

"Indeed, I have plenty of things to share with you, My Lady. To start, we have received news that the Starshaper has retreated from the battlefield. It has been more than a month since she was last seen on the borders, so the empire has concluded that she has retreated. Her current whereabouts are unknown."

Seraphina furrowed her brow.

"If she has retreated, then that would mean Raelion will return. But considering that I have not received any such news, that doesn't seem to be the case."

Winston let out a sigh.

"Well, that is the problem, My Lady. We didn't find the duke at the borders either. Apparently, he had left the borders more than a month ago. His current location is also unknown, but some say that he was heading in the direction of the imperial capital when they last saw him."

Seraphina pressed a hand to her forehead and clicked her tongue.

"Tch, what a headache. Why is he making more work for me? And what could he possibly be doing in the imperial capital?"

The butler simply lowered his head as he heard her grumble.

Just then, Colette raised her hand, as if asking permission to speak.

"Umm… My Lady, could you please tell me more about this Starshaper?"

Seraphina tilted her head as she turned to her personal maid.

"Colette, you don't know about the Starshaper?"

Colette lightly shook her head.

"No, it's not that I don't know about this individual; it's just that… they were not around before I became your maid. And since then, my sources of information are only the bits and pieces I hear others talk about. But I have no way of knowing which part is true and which part is a false rumor."

Well, she had a point. The nature of noble society made it so that nobody knew whether what others were talking about was fact or not. And noble society didn't involve only nobles; it included all people connected to nobles, including knights, soldiers, and servants.

After thinking for a bit, Seraphina replied.

"I don't know her real name, and that's probably the same for most people. She had been a young magical scholar and researcher at the Imperial Research Society. Colette, you must know how the current spell formula came to be, correct?"

Her personal maid nodded.

"I do. I believe that the Lord's miracles were taken as a basis to create it."

Indeed.

About two hundred years ago, the way of using mana was completely different from now. There were no magical formulas at that time. The people used spells through a method called engraving. They would carve an extremely complex formula onto something, and channeling mana through it would activate the spell. These individuals were called sorcerers.

Some would put the engraving onto their clothes, some would carve it onto a wooden staff or other weapons, and some would even engrave it onto their very bodies. But there was a very crippling flaw with this method. Even a small amount of damage to the engraving would render it useless. This was the reason why infusers, primitively known as martial artists, were more prevalent at that time.

The scholars of that time wanted to fix this flaw. And the inspiration came from witnessing a miracle of the Primordial Light.

Whenever some great natural calamity struck, the lord would create a miracle and put a stop to it, whether it was a great tsunami or a massive earthquake. The manifestation of that miracle looked as though countless stars suddenly appeared in the night sky, connecting by a string of light moments later.

After studying those divine miracles for a long time, the scholars and researchers finally managed to create the magical formula that was the basis for modern-day spells.

Seraphina continued.

"That young woman used to claim that the miracles created by the Primordial Light were manifested by utilizing ambient mana. So if they could completely understand it, then everyone would be able to manifest a miracle just like that."

Of course, that was impossible. One can only manipulate mana infused with their intent; there is no way to manipulate ambient mana. At least, that should've been the case, but…

"After continuing her research for a few years, she actually succeeded. But not in the way she had hoped. It was still impossible to manipulate ambient mana, but she could do it because she possessed an Origin ability that had something to do with interacting with the world."

Her personal maid widened her eyes.

"My Lady, you mean that woman can perform divine miracles—?"

"Of course not." Seraphina shook her head. "If that had been the case, then she would've become the empress ruling over all of us. I don't know the details, but apparently, she can't use spells beyond a certain tier. But despite that limitation, she still has limitless mana at her disposal, as well as the ability to wield all existing elements. The only flaw is that she can only do so while stars are visible in the sky. She turns into just an ordinary Phase Five individual when the sun rises."

Apparently, the Starshaper connected the stars in the sky to cast spells. But of course, that couldn't be true since the stars were actually very far from each other, even though they appeared close in the night sky.

"Since her power was connected to her Origin ability, it was clear that the next bearer of that Origin ability would also be capable of that. So the imperial faction wanted her to share the details of her research as well as the method of using her power. It was so that when the next bearer appeared, they would be able to make use of them."

It was the same thing that they are currently doing with the immortal boy.

"But the young woman refused, so they started resorting to more forceful means. They went as far as killing all her family members and relatives. In the end, the girl escaped the empire and aligned herself with the kingdom, becoming the empire's enemy."

Seraphina sighed.

'I really don't understand what goes into the minds of the imperial family members. Why would you get on the bad side of an individual who holds so much power? If Raelion wasn't here, then nobody could've stopped that woman.'

The starfall incident was still fresh in her mind. That was the moment Seraphina had realized that as long as there were stars in the night sky, the Starshaper was invincible.

After seemingly pondering for a while, Colette asked.

"But isn't dealing with her quite simple? The imperial family could just have her assassinated while the sun is up, since she would only be a Phase Five individual during the day."

The reply came from Winston this time.

"Of course, there is no way the imperial wouldn't have tried it. But every attempt somehow failed. Some of those failures didn't even make sense, to be honest. It felt as though all those attempts were somehow predicted and countered by someone. The imperial family is still trying, though."

Her personal maid nodded. Seraphina turned her gaze back to Winston.

"The topic got derailed a bit. So? Was that all you had to share, or is there more?"

The butler smiled politely.

"There are two more matters." He took out a neatly folded letter from under his coat. "This is a letter from the head of House Graveshroud, and it is addressed to you, My Lady."

Seraphina calmly took the letter from his hand and unfolded it, revealing the contents written by the sender.

{Duchess, it has been quite a while since we have sat down together for a discussion.

I have been delaying asking this question‌ for a while now. There is still no news of the duke's return, and I feel that I can't delay asking this question anymore, which is why I am writing you this letter.

As a vassal of House Ravenshade, I would like to know whether you would place your bets on the boy who possesses immortality.

I hope you give me an answer soon, Duchess.}

Seraphina folded the letter and placed it back into the envelope.

'Another problem to think about.'

There was a rumor circulating in ‌noble society. No, it was more of a prediction. According to it, the boy who possessed immortality was going to end the two-front war for good, putting an end to the era of war.

All nobles were placing their bets on this, because it could have a significant impact on the entire world's power hierarchy in the future.

But Seraphina didn't have much information on the second immortal, and she couldn't just make a decision blindly. So…

'Let's wait and see for now.'

She already had a lot on her hands.

After returning to the mansion a year ago, Adrian seemed to have fundamentally changed.

He seemed… more daring and fearless. The boy had a habit of keeping his head down no matter how harsh she was on him. She didn't think he did that because he was afraid of her. Rather, it seemed as though he wanted to avoid trouble and complications, so he always went along with her.

But after returning, Adrian's attitude alone was enough to make her understand that he was no longer the boy who always kept his head down. She couldn't predict whether it was a good thing or a bad thing.

In the end, Seraphina didn't know what to do with him now; he had become even more unpredictable than before.

'There are just too many things for me to handle. What a headache.'

She let out a tired sigh and asked.

"What about the last matter?"

Winston asked a question in reply.

"My lady, do you remember the task you ‌assigned to us not long ago? The one to infiltrate the terrorist organization Nebulous Veil and uncover the reason for their recent attacks on noble families."

Seraphina nodded, prompting the butler to continue.

"The spy wasn't able to find the information you were looking for, but they delivered another piece of interesting information. Apparently, the leader of that criminal organization is not a person but a Grade Three fragment relic."