Chapter 56
As the two of them closed their eyes in the same posture as before, Elenor also tried closing her eyes, wanting to understand exactly what that moving sensation she had felt earlier was.
Elenor focused all her attention on Sir Leti’s hand resting lightly on her back. Since it was on top of her clothes, she couldn’t even tell if it was warm or cold.
“What exactly am I supposed to feel?”
As she focused quietly on her body, she could hear her heartbeat thumping: thump, thump.
“Not that… not what I can hear…”
Meanwhile, Erika had her eyes closed for a long time and finally sensed something slightly clearer than before. It seemed to gather around where Sir Leti and Elenor were sitting—something soft, almost fuzzy, or like threads unraveling.
But as soon as Erika squinted, the sensation vanished completely.
“Ah, I should’ve just kept feeling it.”
Just as Erika closed her eyes again to try to find it, she heard Sir Leti’s voice.
“How was it, Lady Elenor?”
Feeling Sir Leti’s hand lifting off her back, Elenor opened her eyes slightly and met his gaze. He looked noticeably tired.
“I don’t feel anything…”
Elenor said apologetically. They had been focusing for thirty minutes, and she felt like she hadn’t achieved anything.
“I felt… a fuzzy, thread-like sensation earlier. Was that mana? It seemed to be moving around you and Sir Leti.”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
Sir Leti nodded, then asked with a hint of surprise:
“Erika has already felt mana and made a contract, hasn’t she? Why are you talking as if it’s the first time you’ve sensed it?”
“I’ve felt mana before… but to feel it so concretely like this is the first time. As I mentioned, I made a contract completely by accident… If you check my mana, you’ll see there’s barely any at all.”
“The fact that you accidentally contracted with a spirit is even more astonishing.”
“Exactly. That day, I felt the air was soft… sweet… so I playfully recited a spell, and I never expected it would actually form a contract.”
Erika looked at her sylph as if still amazed. The sylph, perched on her lap and fluttering its hair around her, met Erika’s eyes and smiled.
Sir Leti, listening to Erika’s words with a look of disbelief, opened the documents again and began writing something down. Erika watched anxiously. What is he writing?
After jotting down a few more lines, Sir Leti looked back at Elenor.
“Shall we try one last time?”
“Are you okay? You look tired.”
Elenor asked, though she herself was already turning on the sofa to get ready.
It would be nice to feel mana and become a spirit mage. One more ability could only be good. The sylph was cute, too. She hadn’t seen Undine, the water spirit, directly, but imagining a spirit cleaning the fountain at the Karzel estate, it must be adorable.
With that thought, Elenor composed herself, closed her eyes, and straightened her posture. Soon, Sir Leti’s hand rested on her back again.
✿ ✿ ✿
“Ugh… this is exhausting.”
Elenor flopped onto her bed after returning to her room with Erika. Erika also collapsed next to her, immediately stretching out.
Knock, knock. At the sound of knocking, both of them sat up sharply, only to realize it was Marsha. They lay back down as soon as they recognized her.
“Marsha, go out… I just need to rest like this.”
At Elenor’s weak voice, Marsha left the room without a word. As soon as she did, Elenor said:
“Erika, you really are a genius.”
“Yeah. I guess so.”
Erika admitted confidently.
Erika, having continued to observe Elenor and Sir Leti, had now clearly sensed the mana. Paradoxically, even with Sir Leti’s guidance, Elenor hadn’t been able to feel it.
During their third attempt, Elenor experienced pain throughout her body. Though it wasn’t severe, she endured it, but for thirty minutes, she felt nothing aside from the pain.
After thirty minutes, when Elenor complained of soreness, the visibly exhausted Sir Leti said:
“It seems Lady Elenor is not the type to sense mana.”
The expectation on Sir Leti’s face—that the empire might gain another two spirit mages—darkened slightly.
Right. Even discovering a talented individual with spirit mage potential, who had even contracted with a spirit alone, was already a remarkable outcome at the funeral. Perhaps he had been too greedy.
Elenor, who had secretly hoped she might become a spirit mage, and Erika, who had been quietly hoping she could join Edelheim with Elenor, were both slightly disheartened.
Sir Leti told Erika that he would officially send the enrollment documents to the ducal house and rose from his seat.
“Before contacting home from Edelheim, I need to tell you first… why does this feel so unpleasant?”
Erika turned toward Elenor.
“Sir Leti said it’s still okay to go out. We’ll go play in Loarnock. If Paulette often goes there, you can come out too. Let’s do that.”
Elenor stroked Erika’s head. Erika nodded, sighed, and said:
“I guess I gave you false hope. I thought you had spirit mage potential when you sensed the sylph in my room.”
Elenor turned to face her.
“No. Maybe I didn’t have much affinity on my own. Thanks to you keeping the sylph near me, I could barely see the spirit. Still, thanks to you, I can see it even without a contract. I can even talk to it.”
“But Sir Leti said that seeing a spirit without a contract could be troublesome.”
“I don’t really understand why it would be troublesome. Seeing spirits is just… nice.”
Elenor shrugged. When Sir Leti had said that, all she thought was, the unseen world becomes visible—so why wouldn’t it be good?
“I feel the same. Still, Sir Leti wouldn’t have said that without reason, so Elenor, you should be a little careful.”
“Yeah, got it.”
Elenor lay sideways, loosely braiding some of Erika’s hair.
“I was thinking while listening to your conversation with Sir Leti earlier…”
“Yes?”
“The day you first showed us the sylph, Lian explained a lot about spirit mages. But did he really not know that unregistered spirits must be reported?”
Elenor and Erika made eye contact, briefly checking the room for anyone else, though it was empty.
“Lian didn’t know. He’s a fool!”
Erika smiled slyly.
“Right. Lian is a fool, so he probably didn’t know. Maybe he skipped a line or two in the book.”
Elenor laughed along.
✿ ✿ ✿
After lunch, Erika and Sir Leti departed for their respective destinations, Norta and Loarnock, via the Teleportation Magic Office. Elenor and Roil, still in mourning attire, saw them off at the estate entrance.
“Wow, look at that face… Maybe I should just go home quickly too.”
“Her face looks drained too. Better rest and go tomorrow.”
Elenor and Roil exchanged thoughts.
“I guess I should…”
“Eli, sleep and go tomorrow. You look like you’ve been up all night.”
Before Elenor could even mention going home, Roil spoke.
“Is it okay? If guests are still here, you might feel distracted.”
“I’m fine. Now, aside from the servants, it’s just me. The house suddenly feels too big. I’d rather you stay another day.”
Roil sighed quietly, and Elenor looked up at the Karzel estate.
Yes, it’s huge. How could she manage it alone? And the grounds… It felt overwhelming even though it wasn’t her responsibility.
“Yeah. I should sleep. My head’s starting to hurt. You shouldn’t work either—sleep a bit. You look like a zombie.”
Good thing I told her to go tomorrow, thought Roil as he opened the estate doors.
“Yeah, I’ll sleep too. I don’t know when I’ll wake up, so don’t wait for me—just have dinner. Oh, wait, don’t sleep too long—I’ll bring your medicine.”
“No. I’ll be fine after sleeping. I just want to sleep quickly.”
Elenor shook her head.
“Okay. Sleep well.”
In the late afternoon, saying goodnight, Elenor and Roil returned to their rooms.
Elenor, who had felt like a wet cotton ball ever since Sir Leti had guided the mana flow, fell into a deep sleep as soon as she lay on her bed.
✿ ✿ ✿
By the time Elenor woke up, it was completely dark outside. She had woken once during the night, but the sensation of sinking into the bed kept her immobilized, and she fell asleep again.
“Marsha, Marsha!”
Calling in a hoarse voice, Marsha emerged from the adjacent small room.
“You’re awake now? How do you expect to sleep after waking up at this hour?”
Marsha poured a glass of water and lit the bedroom.
“I didn’t expect to sleep this long. Wait, has the moon changed?”
Surprised, Elenor asked while drinking water and looking out the window.
“No, not yet. About two hours left. Aren’t you hungry? Should I bring something to eat?”
“Yes. Just some soup and bread… no ink soup.”
Marsha, heading toward the door, smiled in acknowledgment. After she left, Elenor crawled back under the covers.
“So bright… I wonder if Roil’s awake? Is he okay? Has he been sleeping all day without dinner? Should I check?”
Elenor thought briefly but decided to leave him be, recalling his recent schedule and zombie-like appearance. It seemed better to quietly wait and have a meal together tomorrow before returning to Quinter.
After a light meal of bread and corn soup brought by Marsha, Elenor got out of bed and put on a robe.
“Why the robe, Miss?”
“I’ll walk outside a bit before coming back in.”
“You’ll freeze if you just wear the robe. Wear a proper coat.”
“I’ll really only be out briefly.”
“No.”
With decisive movements, Marsha removed the robe and brought a thick coat.
“You just woke up, so you’ll feel colder. And given the season… if you catch a cold, it’ll be you suffering, not me.”
Elenor grabbed the coat from Marsha and put it on herself.
“Alright, alright. Fully dressed. Okay? I’ll be back.”
“Going out alone?”
“Yes. I want a little time alone. Rest, Marsha.”
Fearing Marsha might insist on accompanying her, Elenor quickly left the room.
