Chapter 16…………………………………..
A hint of wariness flickered across Kauts’ face.
“Don’t worry. I’m not here to harm you. I just need your help.”
“…!”
I need to bring her to my side now.
I showed her the money pouch I’d entrusted to my attendant.
“I don’t know how much money you lost, but from now on I’ll put that much—no, more—into your hands.”
“P-pardon? What do you mean…?”
“Consider this your advance payment.”
“M-money? You’re really giving this… to me?”
“Yes.”
Kauts still looked as if she couldn’t believe it, fiddling repeatedly with the pouch in her hands.
Who would give free money to someone who had just lost a fortune? What luck.
She looked pleased yet uneasy.
“You said you needed my help. Don’t tell me… you need an organ or an eye or… something like that?”
Her voice trembled as she finished the sentence.
I shook my head firmly.
“No.”
“Then…?”
“Magician Kauts. From now on, you will stay by my side.”
“…!”
Kauts and the attendants all stared blankly at one another in shock.
But it was just as I expected. I only smiled confidently from under the deep shadow of my robe.
I dismissed the attendants for a moment.
They insisted they couldn’t leave, but I brought up Duke Kereis’ orders again, warning that if they kept interfering, their lives might not be guaranteed.
“Now it’s just the two of us.”
Kauts must have sensed by now that I wasn’t someone of ordinary status—after all, I had just ordered around two hulking attendants.
“Kauts, you were once a magician and researcher representing the Great Empire, weren’t you?”
“H-how did you—!”
Her expression filled with confusion.
“You probably lost your home because of gambling too.”
“W-who are you!”
That one was just a guess… but I hit the mark.
She just looked like someone who had nowhere else to go.
To a woman whose life was on the brink, I proposed a kind of contract.
That I would restore her to what she once was.
“R-really?”
“Yes. So trust me.”
To be honest, I wasn’t entirely certain she’d become a new person.
But if she stayed away from gambling halls like this and followed me, she had a chance.
“You must’ve felt it too.”
“F-felt what?”
“The mana flowing inside my body. You know how big this will become over time, don’t you?”
“…!”
“And besides…”
I paused and slowly removed my robe.
Kauts nearly fainted.
Well, who wouldn’t? The one under the robe turned out to be a noble young lady—
A thirteen-year-old girl who hadn’t even had her coming-of-age ceremony yet.
“If you’re truly a great magician, you should know I’m not like ordinary people.”
“….”
Kauts couldn’t respond.
Her mouth was frozen open in shock.
I approached the statue-still woman and forced a handshake.
“I came from another world. And I have a rough idea of what the future holds.”
It was something you’d never say to an ordinary person.
But she was different.
The way she looked straight through me—it felt like she already knew something.
“I’m a good person—for now, at least. Good enough to save someone crying in front of a gambling hall. So why not lend me your strength?”
“….”
“Is that a deal?”
The stunned Kauts slowly nodded.
And just like that, our contract was sealed.
I asked her to promise a few things:
First — as long as she was with me, she was never to touch gambling again.
Second — everything she did with me must remain secret.
That was it.
In return, I promised she could live comfortably while being paid as my teacher.
She accepted without hesitation.
Convincing someone who had once been one of the Empire’s brightest magical researchers was simple.
All I had to do was show her the mana in my body—and my money.
Thus, the contract between the gambling-addicted magician Kauts and Marianne was finalized.
“House Delve…”
Kauts’ thoughts were tangled.
The Delve family had once been a pure-blooded magical lineage, but she thought their line had been extinguished long ago.
Yet the mana she sensed from the Delve young lady was extraordinary.
Something she had never felt in her entire life.
For a magician who learned everything secondhand, pure-blood magic had always been an object of admiration.
And on top of that—she claimed to come from another world.
Such things existed only in ancient books.
Never had she imagined she’d meet such a person.
Still…
“Sigh… old habits die hard.”
Sitting on the hotel sofa lost in thought, Kauts suddenly noticed her own hands trembling on her lap.
Clang!
The cup she had been trying to grab slipped from her shaking fingers.
“Ugh… this is painful.”
Not being able to gamble, even for a day, was torture.
But she had to endure it.
For the first time in her life, she had encountered the mysterious aura of someone beyond comprehension.
Even if she couldn’t go to a gambling hall, she desperately wanted to learn about pure magic.
Knock, knock.
The person who entered was Lady Marianne.
It was the first time Kauts had seen her without the robe.
Her glossy red hair, her dark eyes, her plump cheeks, and small frame—she was downright adorable.
S-so cute!
Kauts fell in love instantly.
Even her trembling hands stopped.
“I’m going into town tomorrow. Kauts, would you like to come too?”
“Yes! Of course. I’ll follow you anywhere, my lady.”
Marianne smiled softly at Kauts’ enthusiastic reply.
We left the hotel early in the morning.
Before returning today, I needed to buy a gift for Crimu, and also check something important.
“Wow… what is all this?”
Entering the busiest district of the South, I was stunned.
Colorful buildings painted in every bright shade, delicious smells of bread and soup filling the air, and crowds of bustling people everywhere.
“Good thing I didn’t miss this.”
“That line over there is full of boutiques for young ladies. That street has shops selling all sorts of food.”
After hearing my attendant’s explanation, I headed straight to the biggest boutique in the city.
Seeing my attire and attendants, the staff hurried over to open the door.
“Welcome. Thank you for visiting Lamae.”
I didn’t even look around before speaking to the clerk.
“Show me the most expensive dress here.”
The clerk’s eyes widened, and she hesitated for a moment.
She studied me, then noticed the Kereis crest on my attendants’ uniforms.
Her face paled with surprise as she quickly led us to the second floor.
“This way, miss.”
As expected, the Kereis name was unbeatable.
Feeling triumphant, I walked ahead.
The clerk showed me a series of beautiful dresses suited for teenage girls.
Sitting on an elegant sofa, I frowned.
“No. Not these. Show me the most expensive dress suitable for a coming-of-age ceremony.”
Though flustered, the clerk dutifully went into a small room and returned with two dresses.
One was a pure-white gown adorned with hundreds of diamonds.
The other was exactly as I expected—a deep violet gown.
I pointed at the second one.
“I like this dress.”
“Oh my, you have excellent taste, miss!”
Sensing the chance to sell such an expensive dress to a wealthy noble girl, the clerk became chatty.
“Only ten of these dresses were made using dye collected over an entire year in Patra.”
“Ten?”
“Yes. The dye can only be found in Patra. And the factory owner is so ill-tempered that hardly anyone can approach him.”
So purple really was rare.
Trying not to look surprised—as if I’d known all along—I stood up.
I left the boutique after saying I’d look around elsewhere for a bit.
While walking through the streets, I asked the attendant shadowing me:
“Where is Patra?”
“It’s in the West. Not far from Duke Kereis’ estate.”
“Really?”
“Yes. A famous lake is there. The leaves that grow near it become purple dye.”
“Ooh, perfect!”
The attendant flinched backward—
As if fiery energy had burst from the small girl walking before him.
Duke Kereis stood in front of the hotel, feeling the mild southern winter breeze.
Though the weather was pleasant, his brows were slightly furrowed.
It was his third day in the South.
The imperial conference ended blandly, repeating the same annual agenda about strengthening the northern walls.
Honestly, it felt boring to him—probably because his mind was elsewhere.
— She says she’s the most capable magician in the Empire.
Marianne had said she would personally find a competent magician.
She had followed him all the way to the South and actually went in search of one.
She was only thirteen.
But he hadn’t let her do as she pleased solely because of what happened with Crimu.
It was as if she could foresee her own future.
Maybe it was because she belonged to a magical bloodline.
The more he learned about her, the more surprising she became.
But it wasn’t unpleasant.
Her small frame radiated a confident spirit—it was quite fascinating.
And then—
“She went to the gambling hall in Ritz.”
“What?”
“But she didn’t gamble. She simply found a strange woman there and brought her back.”
“Did she say the woman was a magician?”
“Yes.”
According to the attendant’s account, Marianne had gone to a gambling hall.
The duke had scolded him for that.
But then, after hearing the other attendant’s testimony, he had chuckled in disbelief.
It was absurd.
A child—not even an adult yet, a girl who should be into dresses and jewels—going into a gambling hall?
But it was true.
And after seeing the woman who claimed to be a magician, he was even more bewildered.
Far from the Empire’s most capable magician, she looked more like a wandering gypsy woman.
