Genius Wizard who sees Rainbows- Chapter 337

**#337. Side Story 3. The Color of Love (4)**

—

Ray approached the picture frame.

A young couple holding hands, gazing straight ahead.

Dressed stylishly, they wore expressions more joyful than anyone in the world.

So much so that even Ray, who had difficulty reading facial expressions, could recognize it at a glance.

“……”

Who were they?

Could they have been the original owners of this mansion?

One thing was certain: judging by the wands tucked into their pockets, they were likely the ones who had imbued the mansion with its many magical properties.

Staring at the frame, Ray shifted his focus elsewhere.

It was true he was curious about the mansion and its former inhabitants.

But first, he needed to secure a way out of here.

*‘Let’s start with spatial magic.’*

*Vmm!*

Mana of various colors surged from his fingertips, drawing an elliptical ring in the air.

But it failed to stabilize into a firm shape and quickly scattered into the air.

He wasn’t particularly surprised.

It was an expected outcome.

*‘This mansion… the mana purity is high.’*

The purity of the mana flowing inside the mansion was abnormally high.

As if it preserved the pure mana from ancient times.

In such environments, mana interference occurred, and complex magic structures often failed to manifest entirely.

*‘Then offensive magic.’*

A sphere of wind formed in Ray’s palm.

*Whooosh!*

Maintaining structural simplicity, he increased the magic’s output.

The target: the massive, tightly shut front door.

He wasn’t particularly fond of destroying objects, but when it came to escaping from a sealed space, smashing obstacles was often the easiest and fastest solution.

This was also why Ray considered keys to be terribly inefficient objects.

*‘If I can’t open it—’*

He’d destroy it.

Ray hurled the wind sphere at the door with force.

*Thoom—!*

The sphere flew with intense momentum but was blocked by a protective barrier that activated in front of the door, leaving it unharmed.

The sphere’s destructive power.

The barrier’s defensive power.

The former had failed to surpass the latter.

That would be the conclusion from a typical mage’s perspective.

But Ray was different.

*‘Another wind current formed in the air and slowed the sphere down.’*

It had been subtle and covert.

So much so that even someone as sensitive to mana flow as himself had barely noticed it.

The implication was clear.

A third party was monitoring the area in real time and had interfered with the magic’s activation.

*‘Someone’s in this mansion.’*

He closed his eyes and focused his senses on the surrounding mana, but no presence was detected.

Whoever it was, they were extremely adept at concealing their mana signature.

Things were becoming increasingly interesting.

—

Ray followed the trail of Karon’s mana down the hallway.

He recalled the conversation in the first-floor hall.

**“Ray, could you go talk to Karon?”**
**“Me?”**
**“Yeah, because—”**
**“Ahh… I didn’t mean for it to turn into a fight… didn’t mean to… didn’t…”**
**“—I think I need to stay by Grine’s side.”**

Ray tilted his head.

**“Talk about what?”**
**“What do you mean, ‘what’! Those two fought! Of course you should help them make up!”**

Ray tilted his head again.

**“Do I really have to?”**

Veronica gave him a very pointed look, then began striding toward him purposefully.

Ray promptly turned and headed toward the source of Karon’s mana.

“……”

Step, step.

It wasn’t that he ran away because he thought she’d pinch him under the arm if he stayed still.

He had *suddenly* thought it might be a good idea to gather some intel from Karon before exploring the mansion.

*Knock knock.*

He opened the door and entered.

Karon, seated on the bed with his head in his hands, looked up.

“Hello.”

“Ah, you’re Ray, right?”

Karon’s face looked haggard.

His emotional vessel brimmed with anger, resentment, and bitterness.

It wasn’t hard to guess who those feelings were directed at.

But just like during their earlier argument, one emotion in particular stood out.

Sitting firm at the center of the vessel, shining in vibrant hues—

It was love.

“Haa…”

As if trying to regain composure, Karon shook his head vigorously and stood up.

“First of all, I apologize. You had to witness something unpleasant due to a personal matter between Grine and me.”

No need to apologize.

In fact, from Ray’s perspective, the emotional uproar had been quite the spectacle—like watching a well-made play.

But he saw no reason to say that out loud.

“……”

“……”

A brief silence fell between them.

Recalling Veronica’s directive
—and his conscience as a person
—Ray finally spoke.

“I was the one who opened the door.”

“Pardon?”

“I had plenty of time to stop after the warning not to enter.”

“Ah… goodness…”

Understanding dawned on Karon, and he groaned as he slumped back onto the bed.

“…It’s a bad habit of mine. I tend to jump to conclusions without properly assessing the situation.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s fine. The fact remains that I cornered her without giving her a chance.”

Karon looked troubled.

What should he say?

After some thought, Ray spoke.

“The settlement.”

“……”

“The place Grine mentioned earlier—it’s real.”

“I assumed as much.”

Karon took a breath and continued in a low voice.

“A vast forest, a settlement, dwarves and giants… All of it sounds fantastical, but Grine would never lie. I know her personality better than anyone.”

Having said that, Karon bowed his head deeply to Ray.

“Thank you. For all the effort you put in for us elves.”

“It was nothing. More importantly, how about we leave this room and figure out a way to get out of this mansion? That way we can return to the settlement. And—”

“That won’t be necessary.”

Karon cut him off.

His expression was grave.

“If I leave this room, I’ll run into Grine again.”

“That’s true.”

“I said I’d stay in the mansion earlier, and I meant it—at least partially. While the fight may have started because of me, the things she said also hurt me deeply.”

Karon said both he and Grine had bad habits.

Jumping to conclusions without listening.

Digging up the other’s insecurities and using them to wound.

Those habits were most apparent when they were aimed at each other.

“I don’t want to see Grine anymore.”

“Do you not love her?”

“No. I do love her. That’s precisely why I’m making this choice.”

Ray momentarily felt like his brain had stopped functioning.

*‘You don’t want to see her *because* you love her?’*

He couldn’t understand.

He hadn’t read them, but even the covers of the romance novels Veronica carried around made it clear
—love made people want to be close.

Weren’t the incredibly attractive men and women always clinging to each other, practically sharing the same coordinates?

Even Phillip, who’d recently entered the dating world, ran off to see Ayla every chance he got.

And now this man said he wouldn’t see the woman he loved ever again?

“You sound like a friend of mine.”

“Pardon?”

“Veronica says the reason she’s eating dessert now is to improve the efficiency of her future weight loss—she says that once every quarter.”

Karon looked at him like he was speaking gibberish.

Ray returned the look with a matching *don’t ask me either* expression.

“Er… Miss Veronica doesn’t seem very ordinary, either. In any case, I have no intention of leaving this room. However—”

“However?”

“If Grine apologizes first, I’m willing to accept it.”

“Oh.”

Ray was momentarily relieved.

So one sincere apology would mend their strained feelings.

Maybe this wouldn’t be as difficult as he’d thought.

Meanwhile, in the first-floor hall…

“Grine, why don’t you first extend a hand of reconciliation to….”

“Make up? Absolutely not! Maybe if *he* apologizes first!”

…It wasn’t going to be easy.

*
*
*

Ray recalled a line he’d once read in a book.

*—People who love each other begin to resemble one another.*

Looking at Phillip and Ayla, it seemed true.

**“Oh… you like peppermint chocolate clover-flavored candy? W-Wow! That’s my favorite too! Mmm! Can’t get enough of it! I’ve loved that candy since I was in the womb!”**

Even a couple with a relatively short relationship like Phillip and Ayla were showing signs of it.

So what about a pair who had lived together for nearly two hundred years?

It wouldn’t be surprising if their values, tastes, beliefs—essentially everything that made them who they were—had rubbed off on one another.

So much so that it was hard to tell where one ended and the other began.

**“So, Grine just made the Elf’s Oath?”**

**“Yeah.”**

**“Without even giving Veronica a chance to stop her.”**

**“Yup.”**

**“Just like how Karon did before I could intervene.”**

**“Exactly.”**

Truly, they were alike.

Despite having no prior coordination, they’d made the *same* Elf’s Oath at the *same* time.

The Elf’s Oath.

A unique elven magic formed from the elements of restriction and control.

If the vow was broken, it caused severe headaches—a kind of magical binding.

Seated with her legs crossed and arms folded, Grine added an explanation.

“Usually, people use it for self-discipline. It’s rare to use it because of a fight.”

“Miss Grine! You can’t talk about this so casually, like it’s someone else’s problem! Cancel it! You said you have a day to cancel it! How can you vow never to see your spouse’s face again for the rest of your life?!”

Veronica shook Grine’s shoulders in a desperate attempt to persuade her.

But the gentle and elegant goddess-like Grine was nowhere to be seen.

Even as her head bobbed from side to side, she spoke clearly.

“Cancel it? Not a chance. We were both at fault. But if we measure who was *more* wrong, Karon was much—no, *waaay* more at fault. I won’t even think about canceling it until he apologizes first.”

“What if the day passes—!”

“Then we’ll go our separate ways properly. It’ll be fun to see how well that elf does without me.”

Veronica, who had been throwing eggs at the iron fortress that was Grine, returned to Ray’s side, completely exhausted.

“Veronica.”

“Yeah…”

“I don’t know much about love, so let me ask— is this really something worth fighting over this hard?”

Veronica let out a deep sigh.

“It seems the emotional rift between them is deeper than we thought. There must have been a lot of arguments we weren’t aware of…”

“Still, she’s acting way too different from the Grine we usually know.”

“Well, they say everyone becomes a child in the face of love.”

“Even after turning over 200 years old?”

He didn’t mean it as an attack, but the implication was clear: wasn’t she old enough to know better?

“Um, that’s…”

“Is love an emotion that applies the same regardless of age?”

“Uuuuum…”

Though her dignity had already been somewhat crumpled, it seemed she still cared at least a little.

Grine’s long ears kept twitching in the direction of their conversation.

“For now, rather than forcing the two of them to talk it out, it might be better to give them time to cool down. If we push them to reconcile, it might backfire and provoke even more resistance. Besides, there’s still time left before the vow becomes final.”

“Got it.”

After a brief discussion, Veronica and Ray settled on their course of action.

Veronica would keep watch over the now high-strung Grine, while Ray would continue investigating the mansion.

Tap—

Setting foot on the stairs, Ray looked up.

The wide second-floor corridor stretched out above.

There, he sensed a strange, unsettling feeling creeping in.