chapter 37
After having gone through the process with four children before,
Chiwa was now fairly used to it.
Whether it was luck or something else, all five of the children from around the world had been from poor families.
If it means there’s one less mouth to feed at home…
Some families had told him outright they didn’t care what was done with the child—he could take them away immediately. Others were satisfied with just a few gold coins.
From a distance, the count’s manor had worried him—it meant the child was a noble—but upon closer inspection, it was a shabby, run-down estate.
He figured this one wouldn’t be too difficult either.
Chiwa addressed the woman who appeared to be the child’s mother.
“Hello? Are you this child’s mother?”
Helene had only just come to her senses.
Seeing an eagle suddenly transform into a man had been shocking and frightening, but this was the world of a romance-fantasy novel—a world where magic existed.
Switching her wary gaze between the two men, whom she assumed to be wizards, she answered in a guarded tone,
“Y-yes, that’s right.”
April, frightened by the one with the sharp look, hid behind Helene’s back.
Strangely, once Helene realized April was afraid of them, she herself wasn’t scared anymore.
“Now, now, don’t be alarmed! Your daughter is a descendant of an ancient wizard and possesses tremendous magical power! We from the Tower of Magic would like to raise her into a true mage. Won’t you give us your permission?”
The big-eyed wizard spoke with the confidence of someone who expected an immediate “yes.”
Helene suddenly thought he sounded just like one of those street-casting managers in her past life.
‘Your daughter has such a charming look!’
‘How about coming in for a camera test?’
So that kind of thing really did exist here too.
They said opportunity came like fate to those with talent.
If April had a gift for magic, then she wasn’t just smart—she was exceptional.
Helene looked at April, who wore a completely bewildered expression.
“Wouldn’t it be polite to introduce yourselves first?”
At that, the big-eyed wizard smacked his forehead as if realizing his mistake.
“I’m Chiwa, a wizard from the Tower of Magic. And this here is Lukael, the master of the Tower.”
The Tower Master.
Because Helene had been a romance-fantasy enthusiast in her past life, she knew well what “Tower Master” meant.
Indeed, this Lukael had all the beauty one would expect—long, silvery hair that gleamed and transparent grey eyes that lent him an air of mystery.
Helene had never actually believed the Tower of Magic existed in reality—not just her, but no one in the empire would have.
It wasn’t marked on any map, and everyone thought it was a long-vanished legend.
And yet here stood the master of that very Tower.
“I’m Helene, and this is my daughter, April,” she said, wrapping an arm around April’s shoulders.
“If April goes to the Tower of Magic, will she become a mage right away?”
Chiwa couldn’t answer that honestly, so he replied smoothly instead,
“Becoming a mage is very difficult. But with your daughter’s talent, I’d say the chances are quite high.”
Truthfully, Chiwa disliked the Tower Master’s decision to pick a successor from among ordinary humans. Even children of mages usually became no more than low-rank wizards. Could a child from the human world really manage it?
Still, he couldn’t openly oppose the great Lukael’s choice.
“…So April really was born with the gift of magic,” Helene murmured, looking at her.
Mage.
Just like in her past life’s world, any profession ending in “-sa” (master, doctor, judge, prosecutor) carried prestige here too. And mage was considered the highest and most respected of them all.
The Tower of Magic had seemed like pure legend, yet here was its master personally saying he wanted to train April into a mage.
It was like the head of a famous entertainment company personally scouting you.
But unlike Helene, April only felt strange and frightened. She ducked further behind Helene.
Her face pale, her small body trembling—surely there was no need to be this scared of a handsome elf-like man and a thin, big-eyed wizard?
Then came a soft chuckle as Lukael’s shadow fell over April.
“Oh? You can sense magic power?”
He amplified his own magic slightly, just to test. Only one other person had ever noticed it so quickly.
He decided then and there—he would take this child.
“…May I speak with April for a moment?”
Helene took April’s hand and stepped out of the room so that Chiwa and Lukael wouldn’t overhear.
They want to make her a mage…!
Magic was the hardest and most expensive subject to study at the Academy.
If it were up to Helene alone, she’d have accepted on the spot. But April’s feelings might be different.
Helene still didn’t know much about parenting or education, but she did know that when it came to deciding a child’s future, the child’s own wishes were the most important.
She might not be qualified to act as April’s guardian, but she was the only one at home right now—and April needed someone.
Helene asked gently,
“…April, I know this is sudden and overwhelming, but… do you want to become a mage?”
April had long thought of herself as unusual.
She could memorize anything after seeing it once. She learned to read before her sister Jeina, surpassed her eldest sister Liliana’s 18-year-old classwork by the time she was eight, and had been reading the dusty tomes in her father’s library since she was seven.
Some of those books were on magic.
Most mages inherited their abilities, and without innate magic power, you couldn’t use magic at all.
Even knowing that, April had often imagined being a mage. She thought it was just a common daydream any girl might have.
But now, real mages had appeared, offering to take her to the Tower and make her one—and one of them was the Tower Master himself.
She suddenly felt as if she couldn’t breathe.
“…N-no, I don’t want to!”
She had lived in the count’s manor all her life. Once, when she’d secretly gone to the village out of curiosity, other children her age had pelted her with stones upon learning she was an Emeldia.
“Fallen noble,” “beggar Emeldia.”
She’d run home in tears and never gone outside again. She told herself she didn’t need friends her own age as long as she had her sisters Liliana and Jeina.
So how could she possibly leave here to live alone somewhere without them?
Her hands were shaking.
Helene could tell that her “no” really meant she was afraid.
The magic books in the library had been especially worn—April must have wanted to be a mage.
“…Are you sure you won’t regret it?”
In her past life, Han Yena had never been able to learn what she wanted—whether it was art or music, the opportunity had never come. Her adoptive parents never supported her, and she knew she lacked any special talent.
But April was different.
Helene saw her talent. Like a gifted athlete or entertainer in her past life, April just needed someone to nurture it.
Han Yena still resented not reaching her own dreams—how much more unfair would it be for someone with real talent to miss their chance?
April was born to be a mage.
“…I-I don’t know.”
It had always been a dream, but she’d never thought about the reality. Now that it was here, she felt no joy or excitement—only fear.
“I don’t want to be separated from my sisters…”
Just saying it made her chest ache. Her sisters were her whole world.
Now Helene understood—Liliana and Jeina weren’t just sisters to April; they were her parents, her family, her everything.
Knowing that, it became harder to push her toward becoming a mage.
But still…
“Not becoming a mage doesn’t mean you’ll always get to stay with your sisters.”
“…H-how can you say that?”
“There are plenty of people like me in the world. Because of me, you and your sisters have already almost been separated more than once.”
Helene was used to being the villain. Both in this life and her past, she’d never been in a position to speak kindly. In her old job, her meager salary had included taking the blame for her superiors’ mistakes.
April glared and clamped her mouth shut, unwilling to cry. She was angry, but couldn’t refute the words.
“…If you become a mage, people like me won’t even be able to touch you.”
For a moment, Helene’s voice almost sounded… gentle? April looked up at her.
“…If you become a mage, you’ll have the power to protect the people you want to be with. Didn’t you want to get revenge on me?”
How can she say something like that in such a soft tone?!
April’s green eyes shimmered with tears. She quickly wiped them away.
Helene’s cruel yet realistic words hurt, made her sad—and somehow made her strangely happy too.
…What a truly strange woman.
If she didn’t want to be pushed around by people like Helene anymore, she would have to grow into a strong, impressive adult.
After much thought, April made up her mind.
“I’m going to become an amazing mage!”
