Chapter 7
The nobleman scoffed.
“So when she was on a retreat and didn’t appear in society, they sold lilies. And when the flowers wilted easily, they sold lily accessories instead. Everyone’s eyes are just red with profit, sticking Phaylilly’s name onto anything and everything, aren’t they?”
“Well, that’s because Phaylilly is so beautiful and eye-catching….”
“And that’s exactly what’s funny. All this fuss over just that. In the end, she’s only a young woman. No matter how pretty a woman is, isn’t her use ultimately just one thing?”
The nobleman raised his voice, tapping the lily pinned to his chest.
“At this rate, even street women will be wearing lilies on their chests before long. Hah, just you wait. Phaylilly will soon be known as a courtesan’s stage name—!”
The nobleman’s jaw suddenly snapped to the side.
Crash!
His spinning head, like a top, flew along with his body.
“P-ffuhk!”
The nobleman, slammed against the wall out of nowhere, coughed out the air trapped in his lungs.
Even as his head rang and his whole body ached in confusion, he could tell the one who hit him was approaching.
“Hh-haa!”
Instinctively, the nobleman pressed his back against the wall and crawled backward.
Ruyan picked up the lily that had fallen from the man.
“What did you say Phaylilly was?”
His voice was ominous.
Not only the beaten nobleman, but everyone inside the tavern swallowed hard.
“A courtesan’s stage name? Ha… has this bastard gone mad….”
Ruyan’s eyes turned slightly wild as he looked down at the nobleman.
From the way the man kept talking about women’s “uses” and “courtesan names,” his intentions were obvious. He coveted Leia, but since she wasn’t within his reach, he tried to demean her instead.
“You’ve got eyes but no conscience, yet your mouth runs just fine… Is my sister’s beauty a crime? Huh?”
Thud!
Ruyan kicked the thigh of the fallen nobleman.
“Kuhk!”
“Not going to answer?”
“I—I was wrong!”
“Good. So you do understand.”
Ruyan nodded and kicked the nobleman’s other thigh.
“Ugh!”
As the kicks gradually moved closer to a certain area, the nobleman’s face turned pale with pain and fear. Ruyan shook his foot as if brushing it off, then stared him down coldly.
“Keep your eyes down when you walk.”
Before I crush them.
The nobleman, guessing the unspoken threat, swallowed nervously.
Ruyan stuck the fallen lily into his own chest, then turned his gaze to the others.
“If any of you have complaints, then you should be the ones looking down. If you so much as glance at my sister again with those eyes….”
His gaze swept around the room before stopping on the men who had lilies pinned to their chests. He glared at them as if memorizing their faces.
“……”
The men hurriedly removed the lilies from their chests, but not daring to throw them away, they awkwardly held them and averted their eyes.
Two thoughts filled Ruyan’s mind.
‘How dare these bastards… who do they think they are?’
He clenched his fist.
‘Still… I should go see Leia.’
❀ ❀ ❀
Completely unaware of what her overprotective second brother had been up to, Leia was busy attending to her own matters in the private drawing room of the villa.
Tap, tap.
Logs burned inside the fireplace, warming the room’s atmosphere. On the table were a teapot filled with warm tea, along with sweets such as cookies and dacquoise neatly arranged.
“Phew. All done.”
Leia spoke solemnly with a caramel in her mouth.
“Alright, everything’s ready.”
“…Do you really need all this just to have a lesson?”
“Yeah. If you’re cold, your hands get stiff, and if your blood sugar drops, you can’t concentrate.”
Helix looked down at Leia, who, with her fresh nineteen-year-old face, was speaking like an old woman.
It was both amusing and adorable, yet somehow also pitiful—his emotions were mixed.
“…Once you recover your health, we can begin lessons right away.”
“I’m looking forward to that. I’m actually a bit impatient by nature.”
“I noticed that the first time we met in the dragon’s lair.”
“How could you tell?”
“……”
Helix shook his head and began the lesson.
“First, you need to learn to sense mana.”
He explained that magic was the skill of manipulating mana, so one must be able to feel mana in order to use magic.
“Leia, you’re lucky. To become a great mage, one must carve out pathways for mana within the body—and that part is already complete for you.”
Leia blinked in confusion.
“Me?”
“When you collapsed after absorbing the dragon’s mana, that’s when you met me.”
Dragon mana was extremely powerful. If it entered a human body, it would overwhelm it and kill the person from mana overload.
Just like how even a good medicine becomes deadly poison if it’s concentrated a million times.
Only those with dragon blood or extraordinary sensitivity to mana were exceptions.
“But in your case, your vitality was too weak and your blood vessels too narrow… the dragon’s mana couldn’t spread properly at once.”
“….”
So being frail ended up saving her life?
“So the dragon’s mana slowly spread and carved the pathways?”
“Do you think it was that simple? While it couldn’t spread properly and bought time, I refined that mana into finer fragments and dispersed them through your blood vessels.”
Leia was surprised.
To think he performed such advanced work for free—back before they even made a contract.
“So you basically carved out my mana pathways?”
“Something like that.”
Helix replied briefly without taking credit. Leia looked at him in admiration.
‘What kind of person is this?’
He saved her life, and even created talent she didn’t have before. Yet he didn’t boast or seek reward. Though he looked like a cold, noble elf king on the outside, inside he seemed almost saint-like.
‘Is he actually softer than he looks? Or not…?’
One thing was certain.
‘I need to keep him close!’
Leia smiled sincerely, mixing genuine gratitude with a bit of personal intent.
“Thank you for everything.”
“…I only did what needed to be done.”
Helix changed the subject.
“Let’s begin the lesson. Get into a comfortable posture and breathe while sensing mana.”
“Like this?”
Leia sat in a cross-legged position, reminiscent of yoga from her past life, focusing on her dantian and heart.
“To think you naturally take the best posture without being taught. You’re talented.”
“R-really?”
She nodded, slightly embarrassed.
“Should I focus more on the heart or the dantian?”
“As you continue, you’ll discover where your mana core forms. It varies by individual.”
Leia focused on sensing mana as instructed. Closing her eyes, she heard Helix speak again.
“Take deep breaths and observe. How does it feel?”
“Fuuuh….”
Leia followed his instruction.
“Can you feel any flowing energy?”
“Hmm… it feels kind of warm.”
“Then imagine fire and try to locate where the heat rises in your body.”
His low, calm voice continued.
When she had her eyes open, his face had been too striking to notice much else—but with her eyes closed, his voice alone was remarkably pleasant.
Honestly, if both his looks and physique were perfect, shouldn’t his voice at least be lacking?
“Stop thinking about random things and focus.”
“…Yes.”
Leia quickly responded and concentrated on her breathing.
Helix quietly observed her.
“She’s following well.”
Among the mages he had taught, many were nobles.
They often acted entitled, questioning who he was and treating mana as if it were owed to them, barely paying attention in lessons. Because of that, Helix had developed some prejudice toward nobles.
Compared to them, Leia was an exemplary student. Watching her with satisfaction, he noticed her lips subtly pouting as she concentrated, her expression entirely that of a young girl.
“……”
For some reason, he felt an urge to poke her lips or cheeks, so Helix quietly turned away.
‘I shouldn’t disturb her.’
He slowly sipped his tea. A refreshing citrus aroma filled the room, complementing Leia.
Was this a dream?
Looking out at the blue sky beyond the window, Helix thought.
Until just days ago, he had been trapped in a seal without even a concept of time, endlessly dwelling on painful memories.
Now, he was sitting in a warm room with his contractor and student, drinking fragrant tea.
“…Come to think of it, she said her blood sugar was low, yet I ended up eating most of the desserts.”
Helix realized.
The tea and desserts had all been prepared thoughtfully by Leia.
‘With that build, would a single bag of cookies even satisfy her?’
Remembering her smiling face telling him to eat as much as he liked, he let out a small chuckle. It seemed her natural tendency was to quietly care for others without showing it.
Glug.
The tea he swallowed warmed his chest as it went down. Autumn sunlight streamed through the wide window, shimmering over the tea in the cup.
Such a peaceful, serene afternoon—it felt unfamiliar, almost as if it didn’t belong to him.
Yet the warmth of the teacup, the pleasant aroma of the tea, the lingering sweetness in his mouth, and above all, the sight of the girl seated before the fireplace, focused on her lesson from behind…
Helix found himself welcoming this moment.
❀ ❀ ❀
Meanwhile, in the capital of Peyron.
The tavern where Ruyan had caused a disturbance was filled with a somber atmosphere.
“Huuuu.”
Someone sighed and muttered,
“Ruyan Piet… he hasn’t lost his old edge.”
“True. We thought his temper had calmed down after that incident.”
“A broken genius is still a genius. If it were the old days, that punch wouldn’t have just knocked him out—it would’ve killed him instantly.”
Shudder.
Baron Defford, who had been listening, turned pale.
‘Ruyan Piet… definitely targeted me!’
The distance between the nobleman who had been speaking in front of him and Ruyan, who had been sitting on the sofa, was considerable.
Yet Baron Defford hadn’t even seen Ruyan approach, let alone tracked his movement.
By the time he realized something had happened, the nobleman was already spinning like a top from Ruyan’s punch.
‘He targeted me. He definitely targeted me.’
He had too many things to feel guilty about.
Buying information on Leia’s favorite desserts.
Purchasing rare chestnut cream meringue cookies that sold out instantly and coating them with a stolen love potion.
Bribing a maid within the Piet ducal household to deliver those cookies to Leia’s room.
If discovered, all of it would lead to severe punishment.
‘If I get caught… I’ll be killed!’
Baron Defford trembled in fear.
“I—I have a royal meeting to attend, so I must take my leave!”
He hurriedly fled.
‘I have to do something…!’
