~Chapter 20~
“I’m taking Ivyn back.”
A slight tremor was still noticeable in Ron’s voice.
“What kind of task did you give her that made her get chased by the Holy See dogs?!”
“Brother, don’t be like that with Grandpa.”
Ivyn, supported by the triplets, interjected into the conversation.
“I just… was told to bring back a few practice materials for class… so I went down to the neighboring village…”
Ivyn slowly trailed off her words. It seemed difficult to explain in detail what happened afterward, likely due to her confused state of mind.
Ron placed a warm hand on Ivyn’s shoulder as she mumbled incoherently.
“It’s fine for now because you’re safe. We’ll hear the details slowly once we get home.”
“……Home?”
“Yeah, our home.”
* * *
Ivyn didn’t speak a single word until they flew the long sky road and entered the airspace of the Kinzello estate.
It felt like all sorts of complex emotions were crisscrossing and entangling like spiderwebs inside her.
Above all, what bothered her the most was…
The holy knight’s gaze as he looked at her.
Those pitch-black pupils filled with pure anger and hatred.
**—What trick are you playing?**
What trick. I just got involved by chance.
*Ugh.*
A sense of injustice welled up to her throat, but the person to listen to that complaint was no longer before her.
‘I’m not originally the type to be hated.’
“Vinnie, hold on tight. We’re descending.”
The Black Wyvern Ron was steering began preparing to glide. The Kinzello Lord’s Castle was already close at hand.
* * *
A full day had already passed since Ivyn returned to the estate.
During that time, Ivyn had to endure all sorts of worried fussing from her family, who surrounded her.
“I was fooled. I was fooled, Vinnie!”
Dylan was furious at Green Kinzello.
His anger deepened like a gradient as time passed, reaching its peak when he asked what Ivyn had learned there during her experiential learning period.
“Not much.”
“……?”
“I was mostly alone…”
“……!”
Dylan was thrown into confusion as he looked into his daughter’s utterly truthful eyes, devoid of any falsehood.
Of course, his daughter is Green Kinzello’s first student… But surely he didn’t guide her so unreasonably?
When Dylan had spoken with him beforehand, the impression he got was ‘thorough.’ How impressive Green Kinzello’s excellent educational philosophy was—Dylan had even considered recommending him as the inaugural dean when establishing an academy for necromancer education later.
“By any chance, how did your great-grandfather teach our Vinnie?”
“Ah… just a moment. I have a notebook where I wrote daily reviews, like a diary!”
His beautiful daughter, whom he wouldn’t mind having in his eye, clapped her hands together *clap!* and ran off somewhere.
A little later.
What Ivyn brought was a pink cloth pouch with a skull design.
*Rustle, rustle.*
Ivyn took out a few sheets of paper from inside.
“Here you go.”
*Shuff.*
Dylan put on his glasses and began carefully reading the paper his daughter handed him.
—
**—xx Year, xx Month, xx Day, Thursday (Weather Clear).**
The long-awaited first class.
Grandpa packed 10 textbooks.
Most were basic and introductory books.
He said they were textbooks he made himself, but the price was written on the back.
(Middle omitted).
In the evening, the teacher told me to chop firewood for cooking…
**—xx Year, xx Month, xx Day, Thursday (Weather Cloudy).**
What I learned today: how to chop firewood with an axe, how to light a fire in the hearth, how to cook so the flour doesn’t stick…
**—xx Year, xx Month, xx Day, Thursday (Weather Rainy).**
In today’s class, I was taught ‘how to think of questions yourself.’ So I read up to chapter 3 alone and conceptualized 10 application questions.
(Middle omitted) …Spent the entire afternoon thatching the roof with straw.
**—xx Year, xx Month, xx Day, Thursday (Weather Clear).**
Why is it that while learning magic, body fat is decreasing and practical muscles are increasing… (Middle omitted).
This afternoon, harvested rice from the backyard garden Grandpa tends… (Middle omitted).
—
*Flutter.*
Dylan’s hand holding Ivyn’s diary trembled slightly.
‘This is just a day in the life of a manual laborer doing housework?!’
My precious daughter, raised so preciously as if she were gold or jade, whom I worried would get dirt on her feet if placed on the ground, or whose skin would wrinkle if left in the wind for too long…!
Noticing Dylan’s expression twisting terrifyingly, Ivyn quickly added,
“Dad, it’s okay. I still studied hard on my own.”
“…….”
“I think I’ve built a ‘study resilience’ that allows me to focus diligently on my studies without being intimidated in any environment now. So don’t be too angry at Grandpa.”
“…….”
Was it just her imagination that the more she listened to her daughter, the angrier she became?
Dylan grabbed the back of his neck and urgently called for the head maid.
“Water, bring me water, ice water.”
Swearing that next time he met Green Kinzello, he would turn him into bone powder, Dylan reached for the cold glass of water.
* * *
After that day, Ivyn had a short week-long vacation.
While resting at home, she sensed a subtly changed atmosphere in the household, different from before.
Somehow, all conversations within the family, as well as all exchanges within the castle, felt somewhat more cautious than before?
Her brothers seemed oddly serious, and the maids and servants would gather among themselves, whispering busily about something, and when she passed by, they would hastily avert their gaze and scatter quickly.
An atmosphere as if everyone was hushing things up to keep something from her.
‘Hmm… Something’s suspicious.’
Eventually, unable to contain her curiosity, Ivyn took action.
That afternoon.
Where Ivyn headed with O-Bok was near the well in the rear garden.
Coincidentally, several maids were there, chattering noisily while drawing water.
“But there haven’t been cases of deliberately creating corpses like this before, right?”
“That was before the youngest lady was kidnapped by the Holy See. Rumor has it that after that, the family head got really fired up and is preparing for a large-scale war. They say now they just need the Emperor’s permission?”
“Oh dear… So that rumor is true…”
It was then.
*Thump!* A loud crashing and falling sound was heard.
“Ugh…!”
Sprawled on the ground along with a basket was a young red-haired maid.
Because of that, all the vegetables she had diligently washed up until now were once again covered in dirt and dust.
“Ouch, my arm! Mine hurts more!”
An older maid, who had deliberately bumped her elbow into the young maid, rubbed her elbow gently and shouted. Sneering laughter spread around.
“See, why do you have to stick so close and get in the way of others’ work?”
“Country bumpkins who come from the countryside are all like that. They have no sense, absolutely none.”
“How is that slug still here and not fired yet?”
The surrounding servants all raised their voices, eyes sparkling as if something amusing had happened.
‘Bullying… Is that it? She seems really young…’
Maybe around Ivyn’s age.
Perhaps even younger.
Thirteen? Fourteen?
In Ivyn’s previous life, that would be around the age of a 6th grader transitioning to middle school.
For a moment, Ivyn looked down at her own hands, as delicate and lovely as slender jade, then shifted her gaze to the girl still bracing herself on the ground, with her rough, dry hands.
She didn’t know why her mother from the past came to mind at that moment.
A corner of her heart felt inexplicably heavy.
“Don’t step in.”
Just as she was intently watching the situation, O-Bok’s voice came from beside her.
“Huh?”
“Owner, I said don’t step in again.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Huh… You really asking ‘cause you don’t know? Last time, Owner acted all chivalrous on your own and put me through hell!”
O-Bok, arms firmly crossed, frowned fiercely up to his brow, issuing a sharp warning.
“Alright, alright.”
It was then.
*Splat!*
The older maid who had pushed the young maid picked up a wet laundry item dripping water and threw it.
*Drip.*
As the laundry hit right in the middle of the girl’s face, another round of laughter spread widely among the maids watching the scene.
“It got dirty because of you, so wash it clean again, got it?”
Just as the older maid was about to throw the remaining laundry at her…
“Oh my, the weather is really nice today.”
*Suddenly!*
As the youngest lady stood up from a nearby bush, everyone instantly stopped what they were doing and turned their surprised gazes toward her.
The expressions that appeared on their faces were uniformly ones of bewilderment—why are you popping out from there now?
“Ah, Lady Ivyn.”
The maid who had been bullying the young girl the most was the first to acknowledge her, bowing her head.
It seemed that even if her character was at rock bottom, her sense of awareness was at max level, a skill from years of experience in this field.
The young maid who had been lying on the ground also quickly brushed herself off, stood up, and bowed her head.
“…….”
The young maid’s face was still damp and wet.
Seeing the young maid’s state up close, Ivyn’s expression grew even darker.
“Yes. I was doing an ecological study in the nearby bushes when I heard loud laughter, as if something interesting was happening.”
Ivyn’s gaze, usually as clear as hydrangea-blue, was unusually sharp today.
“Oh, interesting things? We were just chatting a bit while working.”
“Just chatting?”
“Huh? Ah, it’s not that…”
As if feeling guilty about something, the older maid was about to reach for Ivyn’s wrist with the servile smile characteristic of underlings when…
