Chapter 34………………………………………
While I couldn’t bring myself to cling to hope too quickly and fidgeted anxiously, Elden rushed over to examine my heart.
Before long, he lowered the stethoscope that had been pressed against my back.
“Hmm.”
“Elden?”
I straightened my clothes, waiting nervously like a job seeker checking interview results.
Finally, Elden spoke.
“I believe… you’ll be able to use magic.”
It was a pass.
“Really?”
When I leaned forward to confirm, he answered while wiping cold sweat with a handkerchief, looking flustered.
“It’s entirely possible for a weak heart in childhood to grow stronger over time. I don’t see any signs of illness, so at this point, you should be able to withstand the pressure of mana.”
Ever since I nearly died after foolishly trying to accumulate mana right after opening my core, I hadn’t attempted it even once.
Because the pain had been horrifying.
“But lately, I’ve still had trouble breathing, and my heart has been pounding…”
In fact, the day Cosette stole my mother’s jewelry box, it had been hard to breathe, and there had been several times recently when my heart beat strangely hard.
It felt too miraculous to believe, so I carefully double-checked.
If I got happy now only to find out later it was a misunderstanding, I didn’t think I could recover.
At my explanation, Elden chuckled.
‘Huh? Why is he laughing?’
“My lady, that’s just stress-induced hwabyeong.”
Hwabyeong? The one I knew?
“You mean not a flower vase… but the kind where your insides burn from stress?”
Elden laughed again and nodded.
“It’s something everyone experiences at least once. And considering the environment you’ve lived in, it would be stranger if you didn’t have it.”
Stress-induced hwabyeong…
Only then did I remember that even in my past life, I’d suffered similar symptoms about a year or two before I died.
All my doubts unraveled.
‘So… does that mean I can use magic now?’
Only then did it sink in.
No—it didn’t sink in at all.
Me, becoming a mage.
Something I’d desperately wished for over twenty years was finally coming true.
It felt strange, like that illegal potion had been the trigger, but at least it meant I didn’t have to cling anymore to my mother’s uncertain research or unreliable medicine.
“Congratulations, my lady.”
“Truly, congratulations!”
“Th-thank you…”
As I stood there dazed from their congratulations, my eyes met the Duke’s.
He was quietly watching me.
‘Ah.’
A fact suddenly flashed through my mind.
‘The Duke of Northian hates mages.’
The air that had filled my lungs suddenly shrank.
“Eloa? Why that expression? Aren’t you happy?”
“No, it’s just…”
“Just?”
“The Duke wouldn’t really like me becoming a mage…”
I couldn’t finish the sentence, watching his reaction.
He tilted his head, then let out a sound of realization.
“Did you hear the rumor that I hate mages?”
I nodded slightly.
He scoffed.
“That’s bullshit.”
“Your Grace…”
Elden clutched his forehead at the rough language.
The Duke leaned back casually, fingers interlaced.
“I don’t particularly hate mages. It’s just that my prey happens to be magical criminals, and most nobles aren’t very polite to me. I simply return what I’m given, and rumors spread. If I truly hated mages, I wouldn’t have picked up Beric.”
Beric, who had been listening, nodded reluctantly with an expression that said it was true… but he didn’t like admitting it.
It was a little funny, and I couldn’t help but smile.
“Then… is it okay if I learn magic?”
“You don’t need my permission. Do whatever you want. No one here will suppress you.”
“…I see.”
His words sounded strangely like encouragement, warming something deep in my chest.
Like he was gently pushing my hesitant back forward.
In another sense, my heart began to race.
I sprang up, clenching my fists.
“Then I want to try using magic right now!”
I wanted it to feel real.
All those years of memorizing my mother’s spellbooks were finally about to pay off.
“Eloa, magic isn’t something you can use just by reciting spells…”
The Duke looked troubled, as if watching a reckless child.
“I know. You have to practice mana control, building formulas, and linking them with incantations when activating, right?”
Magic wasn’t considered an advanced discipline for nothing.
Low-tier spells could be mastered with high school-level study, but becoming a high mage required graduate-level effort and training.
The Duke looked surprised, as if it amazed him that someone like me knew so much.
“You know quite a lot.”
“Only the theory.”
“Then try it.”
He spoke as if saying it was safe to test now, since even if something happened, Beric was here.
“Then… I’ll try ‘Villa Hru Kasha.’”
Excited, I recalled the beginner spell all first-tier mages learned first: the light orb.
A simple spell with almost no chance of failure if done correctly.
My heart pounded as I cupped my hands as though holding a large ball.
Then I focused on the flow of mana inside me.
The gentle current I’d been sensing for days…
Like blood running through every corner of my body, ticklish yet refreshing.
‘So this was mana…’
Goosebumps rose all over me.
The power I’d longed for my whole life was inside me.
I forced myself to calm down and steady my breathing.
“Slowly open the channel, then control it,” Beric advised.
I nodded slightly.
Sense the mana flowing from the heart to the hands…
Send only as much as needed…
Then once enough gathered, shape it according to the formula and manifest it.
Simple in words.
But it took endless practice to cast quickly and safely.
Since it was only first-tier magic, I pulled just a little.
And truly, like a dam opening, mana began rushing toward my hands.
‘Wow… it’s really moving! This is amazing!’
That excitement was exactly when—
“Eloa, stop!”
“My lady! That mana is too—!”
“W-what is this?!”
“Huh?”
I opened my eyes in shock.
Golden mana was exploding from my body, whipping through the drawing room like a storm.
My hair and clothes flailed as if struck by a typhoon.
Furniture crashed and shattered.
And—
I was floating nearly a meter in the air.
“Why is this…?”
The excessive mana output was defying gravity itself.
Panicking, I flailed my arms instinctively.
“U-uaaah!”
Then suddenly, it felt like something was being yanked out of me.
My vision swam, nausea rising like sudden anemia.
“Hng!”
Mana poured out violently, my heart racing out of control.
My breath caught as I clawed at my chest.
“Eloa!”
The Duke grabbed my hand and pulled me toward him.
Then he placed his palm over my heart.
“Hold on for a moment.”
“Ugh!”
At the same time, my heart felt tightly squeezed.
Like soft dough being bound with thick iron wire.
It was stiff, but thankfully painless.
And instantly—
The rampaging mana calmed.
The flood became a stream.
The storm settled.
He laid my exhausted body onto the sofa.
“Are you alright?”
“Haa… haa… I-I’m okay…”
Still breathless, I looked up at him.
“What did you just do?”
“Your mana was overflowing, so I blocked the core’s pathway with aura. It isn’t permanent—it should disappear by tomorrow.”
Beric looked horrified.
“With aura? Your Grace… that’s possible?”
“I directly interfered and even broke the core before. Blocking it isn’t much harder. Aura is a type of mana too.”
The Duke continued, looking at me.
“And as I moved my aura, I could tell our affinities seem compatible. There shouldn’t be much rejection.”
“I-I see…”
I carefully placed a hand over my chest.
My heartbeat was quieter now.
‘Compatible…’
Come to think of it, my mana was the same golden color as his.
That explained it.
But another question remained.
‘Can mana colors really be identical?’
As far as I knew, mana color was as unique as fingerprints.
I’d seen similar shades countless times, but never something this exactly the same.
While I was lost in thought, he let go.
“For now, magic is forbidden. You need to learn control first.”
“Yes,” Beric agreed, looking slightly shaken.
“If your mana is already that strong, failing to control it could kill you with cardiac arrest, my lady.”
“C-cardiac arrest?”
One of the most common causes of death for mages.
Realizing I couldn’t use magic right away, disappointment made my shoulders slump.
The path to becoming a mage was still long and difficult.
Seeing my expression, the Duke sighed lightly and patted my head.
“I’ll teach you how to control it.”
I stared at him in shock.
The Duke himself…?
