Chapter: 28
She slumped back against the sofa, all the strength drained from her body. Bell, who had been watching her carefully, spoke up in a cautious voice.
“Since you’ll be attending the ball, you can wear the dress you prepared before. You really wanted to wear that one, didn’t you?”
“The dress?”
“Yes. The one you had tailored two months ago.”
“Two months ago, huh.”
Two months ago meant just before I possessed Silvia’s body.
“Oh! But that dress won’t fit you anymore, will it? Oh no! Why didn’t I think of that? Miss, what should we do? Should we send it for alterations right away? Or should we get a new dress?”
“Calm down first, Bell.”
I patted Bell on the shoulder, telling her to relax as she fidgeted anxiously.
It had no effect. Fired up, Bell rolled up her sleeves, declaring that she would rush out immediately and check every famous dress shop.
“Don’t. Wherever you go, there won’t be any proper dresses left anyway.”
This ball was being held to celebrate the Crown Prince’s eighteenth birthday—his coming-of-age year—so there was no way the nobles could simply skip it.
Demand was enormous, but supply couldn’t keep up. The competition for dresses had been fierce months before the ball was even announced.
“Anything you buy now would be something you couldn’t properly wear even if you paid for it.”
“Th-Then what should we do?”
“There’s the dress we had made two months ago.”
“But that dress was tailored to your old measurements. It won’t fit you now, Miss.”
That was true. If I tried to wear that dress now, it would slip right off the moment I put it on.
And the problem wasn’t just the size.
If it was made to Silvia’s taste, it’ll definitely be covered in awful jewels and ribbons.
With a sigh, I said to Bell,
“Bell. Call the tailor.”
We were going to redo it completely.
Calling the tailor turned out to be the best decision possible.
“Y-You’re removing this decoration too?”
“Remove it. All of it. Every single piece.”
“But if you remove even this—!”
“Remove it.”
The tailor, on the verge of tears, began removing the countless ornaments dangling all over the dress.
Once the excessive decorations were gone, the dress—so overdone it had looked cheap—became clean and elegant.
“Much better.”
No matter how much you like flashy things, how do you even think of attaching a diamond the size of a fist as decoration?
Silvia was one thing, but the tailor who happily added it instead of stopping her was strange too.
“M-My dress… the one I poured my heart and soul into…!”
Even though it looked far prettier and cleaner now, the tailor started sniffling as if the sky had fallen.
I briefly considered comforting them, then decided to ignore it and asked,
“It looks like the size needs to be reduced too. Can you finish it within two days?”
At my words, the tailor jumped up energetically, as if they’d never cried at all.
“Yes! I’ll have it done by tomorrow!”
“Are you sure you can finish it by tomorrow?”
“I’ll stay up all night if I have to!”
“There’s no need to go that far.”
After taking my measurements, the tailor disappeared with the dress, saying they needed to start right away if they wanted to finish as soon as possible.
“Miss, shall I prepare dinner?”
“Something simple, please.”
“Yes!”
After Bell left, I dragged my heavy feet over to the desk instead of the bed and took out a newspaper I had kept in the drawer.
“Let’s see.”
I flipped past a feature article about the Crown Prince coming of age this year, then past one about the Emperor’s new mistress, and another about a monster attack in a nearby city.
Finally, I found the article I’d been looking for.
<The Academy Entrance Exam Dates Are Approaching! Admission Schedules by Academy>
It summarized the entrance schedules of every academy on the continent.
Since it included information not only about the Empire’s academies but those across the entire continent, the article spanned several densely packed pages.
As I quickly scanned the academy names from the top, my eyes stopped near the bottom of the first page.
<Central Academy, Lycaeon>
The academy Silvia had attended in the past, and the one attended by the direct descendants of House Atlante.
It was a prestigious, highly respected institution where only the most elite students were admitted.
“Hmmm.”
I circled Lycaeon’s schedule with my pen and fell into thought.
What should I do?
Ever since I saw Aerin studying for academy admission in the main mansion’s library, I’d been pondering a new choice.
Whether or not to attend an academy—and if I did, which one to go to.
Both attending and not attending had their own advantages and disadvantages.
“Mm…”
After some deliberation, I took out a sheet of letter paper from the drawer. Following the exam application instructions printed in the newspaper, I began writing my letter.
The morning of the Crown Prince’s eighteenth birthday arrived.
Until yesterday, I’d hoped this day would never come—but now that it was here, I didn’t feel particularly gloomy.
No, if anything, I felt excited.
Because my efforts had finally borne fruit.
“I’ve finally awakened.”
Smiling, I felt the round mass of mana forming around my solar plexus, between my heart and stomach.
This rounded clump of mana was the result of awakening—of gathering mana day after day through mana breathing and burning processed seogram grass.
“I can summon spirits now!”
At last, suffering over, happiness begins… well, maybe not quite that, but my available options had increased tremendously.
Spirits born from the energy of nature can use powers aligned with their elements: water, fire, wind, or earth.
For example, water spirits can create water anywhere, making washing incredibly convenient. You can just lie there and ask them to wash you, or have them summon water directly into your mouth when you’re thirsty.
Wind spirits can freely summon breezes, making them useful as fans—or even as hair dryers.
Fire spirits can warm your body when it’s cold or create fire whenever you need it.
Earth spirits are especially useful for growing plants, but they can also make the ground rise suddenly or dig holes.
I was thinking purely in terms of convenience, but spirits can do far more than that.
They’re useful for both offense and defense, and even for reconnaissance.
The higher the spirit’s rank, the stronger its abilities. Spirit summoners capable of calling high-ranking spirits are as proud and respected as high-level mages.
They shine not only in war but also during natural disasters.
When droughts strike, water spirit summoners can bring rain, or they can send wind across calm seas to move ships where they’re needed.
But those feats are only possible with high-ranking spirits.
Right now, the spirit I could summon would be the lowest rank.
As mentioned before, a low-ranking spirit could barely manage tasks like washing you or drying your hair.
At best, it might trip someone you didn’t like.
Even if it’s low-ranked, having one is far better than having none. It may be weak in combat, but it’s useful in daily life.
Water, fire, wind, earth—each had its own strengths.
I took out the materials I’d bought in abundance on a previous outing to Portum Street and used them to draw a summoning circle on the floor.
Scratch, scratch.
The memory of Silvia summoning a spirit was vivid in my mind, so drawing the circle wasn’t difficult.
Once it was complete, I knelt in front of it.
“Hoo…”
Normally, spirit summoners pray beforehand, wishing for a spirit of their desired element.
But I didn’t need to.
I already know which spirit Silvia summoned first.
The spirit Silvia first summoned in her memories was a low-ranking wind spirit—Sylph.
A small, precious spirit shaped like a soft doll, with a round body and vague facial features.
That was the spirit I would summon today.
Visualizing Sylph’s adorable form, I placed my hand on the summoning circle and recited the incantation.
“—You who are there, lend me your power.”
The moment the chant ended, mana began flowing out of my body through the hand touching the circle.
Summoning a spirit required the summoner’s mana. The fact that my mana was being drained meant I’d done it correctly.
If too much mana was drained, dizziness or even fainting could occur—but I wasn’t worried. I was summoning a low-ranking spirit.
A low-ranking spirit that was cute to the point of being trivial consumed only about two days’ worth of mana.
So it should be summoned any moment now.
Then why was my mana still disappearing?
Huh—?!
Even as panic set in, more than half of my mana was sucked into the circle.
Did something go wrong? Did I make a mistake?
As I panicked, the summoning circle suddenly stopped draining my mana.
Wooooong—
The circle began to glow brightly. Seeing the radiant light that signaled a successful summoning, I let out a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness. Nothing went wrong.
Pressing down on my dizzy head, I waited for the spirit to appear from the glowing circle.
It’s been a while. My small, cute, trivial, precious spirit, Syl—
[So you’re the one who summoned me.]
