CHAPTER 36……………………………………..
She had told him about her situation, but she didn’t like him getting deeply involved in her affairs. It seemed she thought that if he got too involved, he would get hurt.
Perhaps it was because her mother—the only person in the world who loved her—had died trying to protect her. She hated the idea of anyone getting hurt because of her.
That must have been why she didn’t tell him where she was or who she was with.
He was keenly aware that, surprisingly, he was blind in his devotion to her. That girl was cautious and sensitive to the feelings of others.
“Maybe she doesn’t even know how I feel.”
He sighed again, burying his head in his arms on the counter.
“I guess I should have at least asked who she was.”
At that moment, someone plopped into the seat next to him, and a familiar voice spoke.
“Even the mighty Lipei sighs. What’s the matter?”
It was Lexus Vermilion, the guild master of Vermilion, the mercenary guild he belonged to. Lipei lifted his head, his expression stiff as usual, as if he had never sighed at all.
“This isn’t something you need to worry about, Master.”
He turned his head and took a sip from his beer.
“Well, you’re still as cold as ever. Why? Did your girlfriend dump you?”
The beer went down the wrong way.
“Pft! Cough, cough!”
“…Really?”
Wiping the beer from his mouth with his sleeve, Lipei narrowed his eyes.
“It’s not like that.”
“Hmm, looks like it really isn’t. This is surprising; you never had rumors about girls. Is it because of that young lady who sometimes visits?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Hm, strong denials often mean the opposite. Want me to give you some advice?”
“If you keep babbling in your sleep, I’ll snap you out of it.”
Flames wrapped around Lipei’s hand. The guild master flinched at the fierce heat.
“Hey, hey, isn’t that too much magic for just a joke? I’m notch-ranked, and I’m your guild master! You know your magic at rank one can be equivalent to rank three power, right? Please calm down.”
Pretending to be terrified, the guild master raised his hands and continued to act dramatically. It looked like a joke, but his pale complexion suggested otherwise—he was good at hiding his true feelings.
Just like Lipei himself.
“Get to the point. You didn’t come all this way just to trade silly jokes with me.”
“You’re already seven years in; you know me well. I came because a designated job request came in for you.”
He handed Lipei a document he pulled from his pocket. It was a familiar request form.
“It’s a high-ranking noble’s escort request. Not just for you, but also for Risha.”
“What kind of strange request is this?”
Lipei frowned as if he had heard something unbelievable.
If it was a high-ranking noble, it probably meant a high-tier magician. And even Risha, who was experienced, was assigned to it. For him to get an escort request too… if it was serious, it was foolish; if a joke, it was a nasty one.
“I’ll decline. I already have to go to the western empire tomorrow to find missing children.”
Recently, not only in the empire but also in other countries, cases of disappearances had increased. Non-mage soldiers had gone to investigate but none returned, so the requests went to mage mercenaries.
“You can’t refuse this. I’ve already accepted it.”
“Master, didn’t I warn you before not to accept jobs on your own?”
Previously, Lipei had ended up at the Cyrus Empire palace, which he had never wanted to approach, because Lexus accepted a job without permission.
In the end, the guild master, grasped by the collar by Lipei, shook slightly but laughed loudly.
“It’s not my fault. Though the request came in under Count Lassen’s name, the real client seems to be someone else.”
At that, Lipei stopped moving his hand, and the guild master smirked.
“Here’s the invitation.”
“An invitation?”
The guild master finally freed his hand and held out a golden-sealed invitation along with the request form.
“This…”
Seeing the seal on the invitation, Lipei’s expression hardened.
It was the seal of Princess Cecilia, the princess of the Cyrus Empire and heir to the Ark of the Sky.
“Ughh…”
Someone save me.
I collapsed onto the desk, copying a book titled Nobility, History of Magic, with an extremely cruel fountain pen that only worked when infused with magic.
The golden pen returned to normal, rolling off the desk and landing on the floor with a plop.
“How many days has this been…”
Excited to finally become a magician, I now wanted to run away from the mansion after just a week.
“Why does the royal banquet have to be next month?”
That’s right.
The day after I realized magic had begun accumulating in my core, an invitation to Princess Cecilia’s birthday banquet arrived. Since the emperor had stamped the marriage registration making me legally married to Duke Nosdian, I had to attend according to the contract.
For me, who had never attended even a small social gathering, it was basically my debutante ball. On top of that, as the new Duchess of Nosdian, I had to maintain proper etiquette for my first official banquet.
As a result, I had to learn in a month what others took years to master.
“How many dance steps are there? Why do noble families have so much? And why philosophy and art? At least let me use just one spoon when I eat!”
Five hours of classes daily, five hours of homework, plus a weekly test. Fail, and extra lessons awaited until I passed.
For someone like me who never went to university or studied for exams, it was literally a death relay.
That wasn’t all.
“Duke Nosdian… he deceived me. He said he’d teach me personally…”
I glared at the black fountain pen with golden trim that had fallen on the floor.
“This is a practice pen I used as a child.”
He said he would teach me how to use magic but handed me a devilish pen with a smile like an angel.
Even using this consistently, I could wield magic like a high-ranking mage. It seemed this was one of the secrets that made Nosdian family magicians all terrifyingly skilled.
“Secret or not, just let me use a normal pen. Sniff…”
It would be easier if my magic were less. Pushing the overflowing magic into a narrow channel like a syringe needle required enormous focus and patience.
While scribbling “The culprit is…” with my finger on the practice paper, I heard a knock at the study door.
“Gasp!”
I immediately straightened up.
“Come in.”
Fortunately, it was not the duke, but my temporary tutor, Jace Baron. He showed proper etiquette to me, now Duchess of Nosdian, and scanned my posture with keen eyes, then checked the pile of homework that hadn’t diminished much.
He picked up the pen from the floor and placed it in front of me.
“You still have a lot left.”
Tears welled up.
“Sir Baron, could you at least change my writing tool? I can’t retain anything while controlling the magic.”
That was why my progress was slow.
“You know better than anyone, my lady, that neither side can be neglected. If you appear weak before nobles at your first meeting, it will greatly hinder your future social activities.”
“I know.”
In short, it meant I risked all kinds of gossip.
“And if your magic runs wild at the banquet, you will be the one in trouble, won’t you?”
“I know that too… sniff.”
That was the real problem.
I had requested that no one know that magic was accumulating in my core for the time being.
Euberys Count would certainly attend the royal banquet. He had always thought his daughter had no magic, and I had no way of knowing what he might do once he discovered my vast power.
Even now, the Nosdian duke was appealing to the emperor that his daughter had been forcibly taken. If he learned that I now had massive magic, he wouldn’t give up on me.
So at least until I could properly wield magic, it had to remain a secret.
“If it’s Nosdian, he can protect me, but the other party is the terrible Count Euberys, who allied with that horrible guild. Who knows what he’ll do to take me?”
Surprisingly, the magic that had just started accumulating in my body was increasing rapidly. Beric said that if it accelerated any further, measures would need to be taken. No one knew how high my rank could reach.
At first, I thought more magic would just be good.
“More doesn’t always mean better. If it exceeds your control, it’s just a disaster. Remember Hans’ case.”
A harsh reality.
The rate and amount of magic accumulating were indeed too extreme to control alone. I survived by constantly practicing with the magic-infused fountain pen.
During the day, it was fine, but at night, when magic intensified, I inevitably lost control, and the duke had to come several nights in a row to calm my magic with his aura.
“Oh my, my lady! The master has come again today!”
Thus, I unintentionally ended up clinging to the duke every night, sparking rumors among the servants that we were close.
No matter how much I denied it, it didn’t help. Even Sina fussed over my attire every night, winking as if to wish me a happy time. It almost drove me to enlightenment.
“Don’t be too harsh. For a lady like you, progress is actually fast.”
“Beric.”
