Book 3 Chapter 7
Episode 56
“She's a very flawed daughter, but I hope you’ll help her well.”
The place Madelia guided Rain to was the highest tower on the Page family estate.
It’s tall. Why is it so tall? Are they trying to prevent escape? Surely not a beast?
If I had said that, I would have had nothing to say even if my head were cut off, so I asked carefully.
“What kind of person is she, to be confined in a place like this?”
“Confined? Hmph, she’s not confined. She’s trying to distance herself from others on her own.”
Madelia opened the door with a sad smile.
That’s how this story began.
First, the early summer breeze was seen gently smiling, rustling the curtains as it passed.
Books, books, books.
And a telescope by the window.
In this room, cluttered with books everywhere, a girl sitting in the chair in front of that telescope turned around.
“Casena, I’ve brought a friend. She’ll teach you many things.”
At that moment, that girl, with light purple hair fluttering like cherry blossoms, seemed utterly out of place in this bewilderingly complex room.
Her eyes were lonely.
And so tired.
The girl, facing Rain amidst a beauty reminiscent of the cool chill of early autumn with falling leaves, spoke in a voice devoid of any emotion.
“I don’t need her, please take her out.”
“Casena, don’t be like that, I hope you’ll at least greet her.”
“I won’t say it a third time. I don’t need her. So just go.”
The girl, who had turned her head, spoke with increasing sharpness. She must have been suppressing her emotions as much as possible.
“Rain, you say hello first.”
Even in embarrassment, one should greet politely to avoid being looked down upon by the other party. That is said to be the noble way.
“Lady Casena, I am Rain Ludwig. Hello.”
The Page family was of a different standing than other magic noble families. If I spoke casually to her as I did to Krista, there would be problems.
“I’m not well… just leave.”
“Casena, it’s polite to look each other in the face when greeting.”
“I told you to leave!”
At that moment, Casena picked up the compass from the desk and threw it.
Madelia’s instantaneous use of magic must have been the product of extremely well-trained reflexes.
A barrier of wind spread, and seeing the compass stop right in front of Rain’s forehead, then fall and embed itself in the floor, sent a chill down my spine.
But upon closer inspection, it wasn’t an iron compass but a wooden one, and the needle part was also a blunt piece of wood, so even if it hit, it wouldn’t have caused much injury.
‘Why on earth?’
It’s a tool only children use. To prevent accidental self-harm. Seri also used this when she was little. Is it because she’s so ferocious that she’d harm someone if given metal?
“Casena, don’t be like that—”
While Rain picked up the compass and observed it, Madelia Page tried to soothe her daughter, but.
“—How many times do I have to say I don’t need it!”
Casena haphazardly threw everything on the desk, rendering the soothing useless. Quill pens, styluses, wax tablets, books…
“Get out, get lost! Who said you could come in! I told you to leave!”
“Casena…”
“Shut up and get out! Get out of my room!”
Hmm, this is a complete ruffian.
Wrong.
This isn’t a personality that can be taught… It might be better to completely give up here and pursue another deal.
‘Huh?’
At that moment, I felt something was off.
When there was nothing left to throw on the desk, Casena, looking around, reached out for the books scattered on the floor.
But she couldn’t grasp them.
Her body tilted and she tumbled to the floor. The legs that should have supported her falling body were skeletal, without a single muscle.
“Lady, surely your legs…”
Perhaps ashamed of having shown me that sight, she became even more defiant, her face flushed, and began throwing all the books on the floor.
When this side of the floor was cleared, she moved to that side… pushing her body with both hands.
Those slender, bony legs did not move. They only twitched slightly. Tears welled up in her eyes.
“Get out, please, just get out…!”
After a long struggle, Rain and Madelia had to leave the room as if they were being driven out.
Madelia did not speak until they had descended all the long stairs of the tower.
Only after returning to the audience chamber did she sigh painfully, pressing a hand to her forehead.
“As you can see, she’s that kind of child. Right now, no one can get through to her.”
“…”
“Even bringing famous figures is pointless. Even their patience has its limits…”
“Dean, does the young lady have a problem with her legs?”
“Yes.”
Madelia gave a bitter smile.
She drained the wine poured by the maid in one gulp, then gazed nostalgically into the distant air.
“Casena loved climbing walls and trees since she was little. She was such a lively child… I should have stopped her, even if it meant using a whip.”
“You couldn’t stop her.”
“When she was climbing a wall and I called her, she’d smile brightly and shout ‘Mom’… every time, my heart would weaken. Ah, damn it…”
Madelia let out a painful sigh.
At that moment, a man with a gaunt physique and a nervous expression entered the audience chamber.
“This is meaningless, Del.”
The moment I recognized him, I immediately had to bow. The emblem embroidered on his noble golden robe was a blue dragon.
The Blue Dragon. The emblem of the Archducal House of Arphen, one of the five Arch-Electors who govern the Empire.
Their territory is the southern part of the Empire, and naturally, they have a close cooperative relationship with the Page Count family.
The man strode up to me, then scrutinized my body from top to bottom as if investigating. Then he sighed and turned back to Madelia.
“Even those famous for their compassion couldn’t soothe Casena. But this young child… It’s a miracle if they don’t end up fighting.”
“She’s not an ordinary child.”
“Even so, she’s just a child. It will only cause more harm. Please stop now.”
“Stop?”
“I’m saying we should just leave her alone for now.”
Then Madelia, who always had a cool-headed demeanor, slammed her hand on the armrest and burst out in anger.
“Leave her alone? My only daughter is rotting away in the corner of her room like that? Are you really her father?”
“What other way is there? We’ve called every witch famous for healing magic, but who has cured Casena? No one, there’s no one!”
“Those bitches were just incompetent!”
“When did I say we should abandon Casena? I love that child too! But your method is wrong. For now, we just have to leave her alone until her emotional wounds heal!”
“That’s already been 10 years!”
At that moment, Rain had to gasp.
Clink…
Because the wine glass that hit the man’s forehead rolled across the floor. Wine and blood mingled and streamed down his face.
“Get out.”
“…”
“Get out, get out with that face I can’t stand to look at! You damned bastard…!”
Oh… I wondered who Casena’s personality resembled, and it seems she inherited it directly from her mother.
“…”
The man, with wine splattered on his face, looked down at me intimidatingly, then grabbed my shoulder and warned quietly.
“If anything happens to Casena, I will not forgive you or your family. Remember that clearly.”
He should just say not to do it.
As I watched the man leave, the butler and maids rushed in and began removing the wine-soaked carpet.
“You saw an ugly sight, I apologize. That fellow is Yuren, my pathetic husband.”
“No, not at all.”
“You’ll give up too, won’t you? Don’t make that face. I won’t be disappointed even if you leave like this. It’s a natural reaction.”
That was a strange thing to say.
Wasn’t this a deal condition? But she says I can just leave like this?
“Still, I thought it might be different if it was a peer… It seems I was too hasty.”
Madelia sighed and held out her wine glass, and the butler carefully poured wine.
“I cannot do that.”
Why I said that at the time was a mystery even to myself.
Was it Casena’s expression left behind… and those eyes I first saw that kept lingering in my mind?
No, it’s just a condition of the deal. It holds no great significance.
“It’s not my nature to run away from problems right in front of me.”
If I accept this, I can clear my aunt’s false accusation immediately… and maintain my position as a head student.
That’s why I’m doing it.
Therefore, I’m doing it.
This isn’t meaningless emotion like sympathy or pity; it’s merely an answer derived from pursuing practical gains.
“I’ll give it a try, Your Excellency. Please entrust it to me.”
At that moment, ripples spread in Madelia’s eyes as she looked down at the wine swirling in her glass amidst her despair.
—Just wait for her to break out of her shell? Neglecting a child that way isn’t education. You have to lead her to break out.
I once argued that with Caben Ludwig.
Then Brim stepped forward. Brim was a child who, ever since his school days, had the power to always end arguments with others with a laugh.
—Then let’s do this. Your daughter and my son, the one who breaks out of their shell first helps the other. Wouldn’t that work?
At the time, I just dismissed it as meaningless banter, but could it really turn out like this…?
“Ha.”
A wry laugh, born of an indescribable sense of welcome, burst out.
Rain did not know the meaning of that smile, nor did he know that his steps had drawn one step closer to truth.
The truth that once accompanied him and still accompanies him, guides the boy’s path with light.
Socrafres.
- You can inherit the research progress of ‘unique magic’ from your surroundings.
- Progress 44.8% → 45.0%.
>>>
Brante.
- Changes in magic circuits have been confirmed.
>>>
Camitishia.
Analyzing circuit changes…
ㆍ Upon circuit activation, ‘Mental Barrier: Flowing World-Honored One’ deploys within a 20-meter radius of the caster.
ㆍ Within ‘Mental Barrier: Flowing World-Honored One’, the success rate of magic combinations using ‘unique runes’ and ‘unique mathematical formulas’ is amplified from ‘33% → 38%’, and their power from ‘66% → 71%’.
* * *
Sunlight filters in vibrantly through mosaic glass exquisitely carved with the majesty of the Golden Dragon. Even in that faint light source, this place, where the entire interior shines with gold, is a divine sanctuary.
It is the Holy See, where Haradery the Light Dragon, one of the three divine dragons entrusted with the world’s management by the God of Light, <All Things>, resides.
The building of the Exquisite Deliberation Council, used by the ‘Children of Gold’, was three stories high, and Elin Ludwig, sitting in the interrogation room, folded her arms disapprovingly.
“No, what’s wrong with borrowing that book that I have to be dragged all the way here?! Do you even know how valuable this genius professor Elin is, huh?”
Inquisitor Bilgiwin, sitting opposite her, sighed.
“We would appreciate it if you understood that we do not have time for jokes, Elin, the Forger.”
“I don’t have time to chatter with you.”
“Forger, you’re not unaware of how dangerous Tureina is, are you?”
“Tureina? That person is a great figure. Isn’t she Archmage Rin’s disciple? What’s so dangerous about her?”
“Very dangerous, enough to destroy the world.”
The one who answered that was a black-haired middle-aged woman who had just opened the interrogation room door and walked in.
In contrast to wearing a pure white witch’s hat that gave an impression of purity, the kiseru (pipe) she held in her right hand gave a slightly delinquent impression.
Three scrolls were tucked into her waist, which were manifestos, indicating that this woman was a Three-Scroll Witch, meaning a shamaness of the Republic.
“Y-you are…”
Even Elin Ludwig, of all people, lost her composure for a moment and gaped.
As someone involved in magic, would there be anyone who didn’t know this woman?
She was the disciple of the great figure Tureina, raised by Archmage Rin and Priestess Pride, and now served as the shamaness in succession to her.
“I am Juliana, the Priestess of the Moon’s Halo.”
Juliana perched on the desk, looking down at Elin Ludwig intimidatingly.
“I’m the one who requested you be brought here. I needed to confirm whether a prominent figure like you was a follower of that woman.”
“That woman… surely you don’t mean Tureina?”
Operated under a one-on-one master-disciple system, witches’ respect for their teachers differed from that of mages, making it an unbelievable tone for a witch to use.
“There’s no need to show such respect to that woman. That bitch has never been righteous, not once.”
“…”
“All the good deeds that woman performed… were merely biological experiments to achieve her own goals. That’s how I see it. And even now, she’s secretly working to achieve that goal.”
By this point, Elin, whose embarrassment had slowly subsided, could also make her mind work. Elin’s eyes narrowed with suspicion.
“Goal, you say? What goal exactly?”
Like her master, Juliana, exhaling thick cigarette smoke and glaring into the distant air, had an indescribable sense of betrayal flickering in her eyes.
“The revival of Archmage Rin.”