~Chapter 5~
Eliana flinched and hid her hand behind her back.
The Marquis of Valkyrie writhed on the floor, crying out in pain.
It’s magic. I must have used my power unconsciously in all the excitement.
Eliana backed away in small, unsteady steps.
“What is the matter, my lord?”
A servant burst into the room at the sound of the marquis’s scream.
The moment the door opened, Eliana shoved the servant aside and bolted.
On the opposite side of the corridor, she saw Count Musieux rushing toward her, out of breath.
There was no longer any chance of slipping away quietly after enduring everything in silence.
Since it had come to this, she accepted there was nothing else she could do and swung her hand toward the count as he reached to grab her.
“Don’t touch me!”
At a single sweep of her hand, sharp spears of ice shot up in that direction.
Seeing this, Count Musieux froze in place and could not take another step toward her.
“W-what is the meaning of this?!”
Leaving him standing there, stunned and pale, Eliana sprinted away.
She did not even have the presence of mind to sneer.
“Don’t just stand there! Catch her!”
His thunderous roar echoed behind her, but the servants who had seen magic with their own eyes hesitated and could not easily give chase.
While they faltered, Eliana reached the castle gate.
Perhaps the heavens were on her side.
In the distance, the very person she had wanted so desperately to see—Finn—was walking toward the estate.
Eliana gritted her teeth and ran straight for her.
Finn spotted her and her eyes flew wide.
There’s no time to explain.
Eliana grabbed Finn’s hand.
“Lady Eliana?”
“Run!”
The moment Eliana pulled her, Finn immediately began running as well.
Just like that, the two of them fled the estate.
After leaving the estate, they headed straight for Finn’s house to hide.
Even though Eliana suddenly grabbed her and insisted they go home together, Finn followed without complaint.
Eliana sat beside a plain but sturdy-looking dining table and studied Finn.
Finn was calmly brewing tea, as if nothing in particular had happened.
Unaware of what had occurred at the estate, she likely thought this was just another whim of her mistress.
“Is this another runaway, my lady?” she asked, setting a teacup in front of Eliana.
Eliana scowled.
After running so hard, she was burning up, and Finn had brought her hot tea.
“Not this. Give me cold water.”
“You always ask for something hot… this is unusual. Just a moment.”
Finn pouted a little, but still brought her a glass of iced water.
Once Eliana emptied it, she finally felt like she could breathe again.
“Where are your parents?” Eliana asked.
“They should be out in the fields around now.”
“And your brother?”
“My brother comes and goes as he pleases.”
Finn answered Eliana’s questions obediently.
If she wanted to meet Pohn, it seemed she would have to wait a little longer.
Eliana reached for the teacup belatedly—then paused.
For a commoner’s home, the tea set was clearly expensive at a single glance.
So Pohn really is quite capable, then.
He worked under Hera; in a way, it was only natural.
As Eliana sat there silently staring at the teacup, Finn spoke.
“Once you finish that, we’re going back.”
“I’m not going back. No—I can’t go back.”
How was she supposed to return to that house after causing such a scene?
Eliana shook her head stubbornly.
She would not go back. Not even if they buried her alive.
She had left fully intending never to return.
At her firm declaration, Finn flinched slightly and gave her a wary look, as if wondering what she was plotting now.
But Eliana had already reached the point of no return.
She had accidentally frozen the Marquis of Valkyrie’s face; she would be lucky if she was not hauled off in chains.
And no matter what he tried, she could not simply sit still and accept his disgusting behavior.
Her plan had been to hide her power and slip quietly out of House Musieux, but that had gone up in smoke. At least she had managed to find Finn.
This body used its power whether she wanted it to or not—that was the problem.
In novels, people always controlled their powers smoothly the moment they awakened them…
Clearly, she had no such convenient buff.
Maybe because the original Eliana had hidden her abilities for so long, this body itself had never learned to use magic properly.
First, I need to figure out how to control it.
Eliana glanced at her hand.
There was no longer any white vapor coiling from her fingers; it seemed the magic had subsided.
Thinking back, if she had grabbed Finn with that same hand earlier, she might have hurt her as well.
A cold chill ran down her spine.
The thought that she might injure people against her will made her blood run cold.
She made up her mind then and there to find some way—any way—to control her power.
“Do you hate this marriage that much?” Finn asked, standing in front of her.
Her brow was furrowed, but there was no hostility in her gaze.
If anything, her expression was full of concern for Eliana.
Seeing that, Eliana felt a pang in her chest.
She might not truly be Eliana, but to Finn, she was the same girl as always. The guilt welled up inside her.
But right now, Finn was the only person she could rely on.
Eliana looked up at her quietly and spoke softly.
“Don’t just stand there—sit in front of me. I have something to tell you.”
“I can’t. Whatever you say, the answer is no!” Finn yelped, startled.
Her eyes darted around the room anxiously.
“…And what exactly do you think I’m going to say?” Eliana asked.
Even though all the windows were shut and the curtains drawn, Finn nervously chewed at her fingernails.
“No matter what you do, you know the engagement can’t be broken, my lady. Just tell them you went out with me today and go back. If you run away and get caught, they’ll treat you even worse than yesterday.”
She had clearly decided Eliana was trying to run away.
The fact that she was worried things would be worse than yesterday was, in its own way, touching.
Finn had been with Eliana since childhood. She knew Count Musieux’s nature all too well.
Of course she would be afraid for her.
But Finn only spoke that way because she didn’t know the full story.
If she had any idea what Eliana had done before leaving, she would never have told her to go back.
She might have told her to run as far as she could.
And in truth, Eliana had done exactly as Finn feared—she had run away.
She was preparing to flee even farther.
There was simply no other way.
The people in the estate might be used to the original Eliana, but this Eliana was not used to them.
Finn, at least, was someone she could feel relatively at ease around.
In a steady tone, Eliana said,
“You’re right. But Finn—I really can’t go back to the estate anymore.”
“What do you mean, you can’t go back?” Finn asked, bewildered.
“I caused a huge scene before I left.”
“…What?!”
Finn practically screamed. Her eyes went as wide as lanterns.
Eliana gestured again for her to sit down.
Only then did Finn let out a long sigh and settle into the chair.
Her expression seemed to say, Fine. Let’s at least hear what you’ve done this time.
It was only natural. In House Musieux, Finn was the only one who truly cared for Eliana.
Even when she was unreasonable, Finn would at least listen first.
No wonder even the sharp-tongued Eliana depended on her.
As Eliana looked at her with a strangely tender gaze, Finn narrowed her eyes and asked firmly,
“What do you mean, a scene? Explain it properly.”
“Actually… I became a mage.”
Eliana hated long preambles, so she went straight to the point.
Finn’s mouth fell open.
The moment the word mage left her lips, Eliana felt a strange embarrassment.
Her hands and feet curled with secondhand shame, but she pretended to be delighted.
Mages were extremely rare here.
And a natural-type mage like Eliana belonged to the uppermost tier.
It should have been a glorious thing.
The natural reaction should have been joy, not discomfort.
At present, the only natural-type mage in the empire was the male lead of The Blind Princess of the Emperor, Callius Hapons.
A duke and a mage of exceptional power, he was known as the Sword of the Empire.
After losing his parents in a sudden accident, he had become head of his house at the young age of twenty.
If Eliana was now twenty, that would make him about twenty-five.
He would have already reached a certain stability as a family head.
Finn narrowed her eyes at Eliana’s words and replied,
“Lies aren’t funny, my lady.”
“It’s not a lie.”
“Then prove it. If I see it with my own eyes, I’ll believe you!”
She tapped lightly on the table, clearly unwilling to believe without evidence.
Eliana refused to be cowed by Finn’s intensity and straightened her back.
“Fine. I’ll show you. Don’t be too shocked—I’m really strong.”
She felt confident now that she had done it once already.
All she had to do was what she had done earlier.
…I don’t know exactly how, but if I focus my will, it should work, right?
When Eliana rose boldly from her seat, Finn flinched, tension in her eyes.
Commoners rarely ever saw magic.
No wonder she looked so nervous; it was written all over her face that she was wondering whether her mistress truly had become a mage.
Eliana stared intently at the tea in the cup.
Nothing happened.
She narrowed her eyes until her face flushed red, but the tea refused to freeze.
Growing flustered, she chanted silently in her heart:
Freeze. Freeze, now!
She could not bear to say it aloud. If it failed, it would be painfully embarrassing.
Just then, as if reacting to her ridiculous incantation, the teacup trembled faintly.
Eliana’s eyes sparkled as she stared at the tea—
But the slight vibration stopped as if it had been a lie.
No miracle of frozen tea occurred.
