AMLA 22

Chapter 22

“This book contains the basics of magical formulas. Everything else stems from this.”

With a serious face, Lian began the lesson.

“Formulas?”

“Yeah. Do you even know how you’re using magic?”

“Doesn’t it just come out of your body…?”

In the game, there was only a single line:
[Learn magic from Lian.]

That was the entirety of the magic lesson Fleecia received.

‘Isn’t it just like, whoosh, and then magic works?’

In the game, after Lian’s lesson, she did go whoosh and use magic, so she never realized that any sort of formula was involved.

“Haah…”

Seeing how clueless I looked, Lian let out a small sigh.

“To put it simply, magic is about controlling external mana using the mana inside your body.”

“Controlling…?”

“You realized there’s mana flowing inside your body, right?”

“Yeah. I felt it when I held the mana stone.”

“Then now, you need to perceive the mana outside of you.”

I nodded at Lian’s words.

‘No wonder the magic didn’t work.’

I had just been trying to force the mana inside me outward without even knowing this basic principle…

Of course it hadn’t worked.

‘How dumb… I didn’t even know that.’

Regretting the past two days I had spent in my room, tearing through books and stressing myself out, I refocused on what Lian was saying.

“Alright, now hold out your hand.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll gather the mana from the air for you.”

Lian carefully extended his hand and moved his fingertips as if collecting mana.

I followed his lead, reaching out my hand and focusing all my attention on my fingertips.

“See? Mana floats like this in the air.”

At that moment, I felt a cold sensation tingling at my fingertips.

“Yeah. I think I feel it.”

“Then next…”

Lian flicked his finger lightly, and the cold sensation began to take shape—something solid formed.

“Oh! It’s starting to feel like it has form!”

‘How does mana in the air come together and take shape like this?’

Even in the game, I found magic fascinating, but actually experiencing it like this was something else entirely.

I touched the solid-feeling mana, turning it over in my hands in awe.

“It’s not your first time seeing mana, so why are you so amazed?”

Unlike his emotionless tone from earlier, Lian’s voice now held a startling gentleness that sent a chill down my spine. I was so shocked I turned my head abruptly.

And then my eyes met his—he was looking at me with a gaze so affectionate, as if I were the most lovable thing in the world.

“You’re cute.”

‘No way…’

Ding.

System Message

Lian Luceronian’s affection +5
Total Affection: 20
Lian Luceronian thinks you are cute.

‘Ugh… seriously, give me a break.’

Cute, he said?

Did that seriously come out of Lian’s mouth?

I had expected his affection might increase while we were doing magic lessons, but I didn’t think it would go up on the very first day.

And for such a ridiculous reason.

‘Ugh… what am I going to do now?’

Thinking about the rest of the upcoming magic lessons with Lian made the future seem bleak.

✦ ✦ ✦

After the lesson with Lian, completely drained both mentally and physically, I collapsed onto the sofa in my room.

“Miss, shall I bring you some refreshments?”

Susan, always quick to pick up on things, asked. I nodded weakly, and she quickly prepared a tray and placed it gently on the table.

It wasn’t until I picked up a cookie and took a bite that my head started to clear.

“The lesson must’ve been exhausting.”

Bell and Susan watched me with concern as I struggled to even eat one cookie.

“Yeah…”

The lesson had gone nonstop. Using magic and constantly focusing on mana was physically taxing.

On top of that, I had to stay constantly alert, nervously monitoring whether Lian’s affection was increasing without warning. By the end, I felt like I would just collapse.

‘Should I just stop learning magic?’

That way, I could avoid Lian more easily…

‘No. What if those lunatics really do kidnap or imprison me one day? I’ll need magic to defend myself…’

Right now, the only way I could protect myself was with magic.

As I munched on a cookie, a war raged in my head between different versions of myself.

In the end, I came to one conclusion:

‘I have to learn magic… I need to protect myself.’

It would be great if Count Luceronian could teach me, but he was so busy these days, I barely saw him at the mansion.

Besides, Lian’s magic lessons were actually very effective.

‘I just need to be even more careful now.’

Lian kept gaining affection points from totally unexpected things, different from how it happened in the game.

His affection level was already at 20.

How could I keep Lian’s affection from going up?

Unlike during the game when I had tried to raise it, now I was racking my brain to figure out how to prevent it from rising. I let out a deep sigh.

“Miss, is something troubling you?”

“Bell, Susan. What kind of woman do men not like? I mean… what kind of woman turns them off?”

I had almost said, “How do you avoid raising affection points?”—which made no sense in real life—so I quickly reworded my question.

“Women men dislike…?”

At the sudden topic of men, Susan looked taken aback, while Bell’s eyes sparkled with curiosity.

“Men? Miss, are you seeing someone?”

“Bell, she asked what kind of women men don’t like.”

“Duh. You need to know what they hate so you can avoid being that.”

“Oh, right.”

Susan nodded as if persuaded by Bell’s reasoning.

“I’m not seeing anyone. I was just curious.”

I replied as casually as possible.

Bell, disappointed by the lack of romance, slumped her shoulders but answered anyway.

“Well, we’ve only ever been at the mansion, so we don’t know much about men. But once I talked to Jack—you know, the guy who delivers our fruit…”

I widened my eyes and nodded, urging her to continue.

“Jack said he can’t stand his wife because she’s dumb. He has to explain everything twice.”

“So he hates dumb women?”

My eyes lit up.

“Yeah. He says it’s frustrating—he can’t even stand the sight of her.”

“Honestly, I don’t like dumb people either. I bet men are the same,” Susan added, nodding in agreement.

“Dumb people, huh…”

‘That’s perfect. It’s exactly what I need for Lian.’

Lian, who was smart and deeply academic, would absolutely not be into someone who didn’t understand what he was saying.

In the game, he liked Fleecia because she understood him well—so if I acted clueless and kept missing the point…

It could totally work.

‘Why didn’t I think of this earlier?’

Hopeful now that I had found a good strategy, I sat up straight.

“And what else? Is there anything more?”

When I prodded her for more, Bell thought for a moment and said,

“Oh! Come to think of it, Tori from the stables said he hates girls who confess first.”

“Girls who confess first…?”

“Yeah. Tori’s a total flirt, you know. So he’s not into girls who like him first.”

“Oho…”

‘This is great… Especially for him.’

With this tactic, I might even be able to lower Lian’s affection.

✦ ✦ ✦

At that very moment, in the Anisto Imperial Palace—

Inside the Empress’s grandly decorated drawing room, the sound of elegant laughter echoed.

“Hoho. You’re telling me both of them proposed marriage to Lady Luceronian?”

The Empress’s eyes sparkled at the intriguing news.

“Yes. They both said they wanted to marry her.”

Sitting across from her, Duke Spencer smiled in satisfaction.

“I never thought Dustin would settle for one woman. Then again, who knows? He might meet another noble lady soon.”

“…”

“But Kainis? That’s a real surprise. Honestly, I thought Kainis liked men.”

Until now, Kainis had looked at any woman who approached him like she was a rock, and didn’t hesitate to speak harshly.

The women who got hurt by him would often console each other by saying, “He must be into men.”

After hearing all that—and seeing her nephew’s complete disinterest in women—the Empress had started to believe the rumor might actually be true.