Episode 4
Twitch, twitch.
With my eyes closed, I picked up a mana stone using my toes and threw it into the air. As it fell, I caught it with the top of my foot, then kicked it upward.
Thunk!
The mana stone flew and landed right on my forehead. Perfect aim.
I was proud. After wrestling with mana stones every day, I could now sense them even from a short distance.
If I focused my mind and thought carefully about where a mana stone might be, it reacted to the mana inside my body.
Now, I could clearly feel the mana in my body.
I couldn’t send it outside yet, but just knowing it was there made me feel like I was improving.
As the last part of my training, I bounced the mana stone from my forehead to the back of my neck.
I was admiring my own progress when Coromang entered the room.
I had already eaten lunch, and it wasn’t time for dinner yet, so I was confused. I froze.
Coromang looked at me with wide eyes and said,
“There’s a guest for you.”
“Oh. Okay. I’ll go.”
She kindly closed the door quietly. I was thankful and put the mana stone in my pants pocket.
A guest, huh? There was only one person who would come see Raphael.
It was time. I took a deep breath and walked outside.
The moment I saw the person waiting, I knew.
Ah, it’s her.
As soon as I saw her, I realized she was the main character of the story—Bishot Puremoon, from Cinderella Rhapsody.
It was obvious. No one else could look like this.
Her looks were exactly how the book described her—jet-black hair, ruby eyes, small and pretty features, and pale white skin.
She tilted her chin slightly and looked up at me. When our eyes met, I felt like I couldn’t breathe for a moment.
She said,
“Do you really have to do this? Even if you have the family’s power behind you, that won’t matter at the Academy. Following me there won’t get you anything.”
I didn’t say anything. I was surprised and didn’t know how to respond.
This scene was from the very beginning of the novel.
Raphael had shouted that he was going to the Academy too, so the main character came to warn him not to cause trouble. But Raphael had insisted he was going there just to study.
Ridiculous. Raphael never studied a day in his life.
But I really was going to study. I needed to go to the Academy to protect my position as lord.
“Oh, I see,” I replied awkwardly.
Bishot blinked in surprise, as if she didn’t expect me to agree so easily.
She seemed relieved that I didn’t argue. Maybe she was afraid I’d act like the old Raphael.
She bowed politely. Her black hair flowed down.
“Thank you for understanding. I’ll leave now.”
She walked back toward her red-haired maid. The maid looked like she was finally able to relax.
But the knight standing beside them wasn’t happy at all. He glared at me like his eyes were shooting lasers.
Of course.
It looked like he was about to leave too, but suddenly he switched places with Bishot and walked toward me.
He was tall, had a strong face, and was extremely handsome.
His name was Jefrin, Bishot’s bodyguard knight and one of the people who might kill me in the future.
When I looked at his face up close, his eyes stood out the most. They were the color of coffee with milk—just like the drinks my sister used to love.
Jefrin said,
“The Academy is different. If you try to approach Lady Bishot again, there will be consequences. Remember that.”
This was that scene.
My sister had insisted on putting it in, no matter how much I argued. Later in the story, Raphael gets destroyed by Jefrin in a sword match.
It wasn’t even close. Raphael was completely humiliated, and Jefrin pressed a sword to his neck and said, “I told you it would be different at the Academy.”
Readers loved that moment. It was sweet revenge.
In the novel, Raphael had shouted at Jefrin, calling him a low-born commoner. Maybe that’s why Jefrin treated him so harshly later.
Maybe if I handled this well now, Jefrin would go easier on me.
“Okay. I’ll be careful and stay out of the way,” I said.
Jefrin looked like he wanted me to get angry. But I just smiled awkwardly and said,
“You’re leaving too, right? Bye!”
I even waved at him. Jefrin kept glaring at me as he left with Bishot.
Thanks to reading lots of romance fantasy novels with my sister, I figured out some patterns. One of them was the importance of names.
If a character had their name mentioned, it meant they were important.
At the Academy’s swordsmanship class, the only named student was Jefrin.
That meant he was the only real skilled swordsman. Everyone else was just background.
Raphael was a noble count, so he could enter the Academy through a special admission.
In the novel, he did that instead of taking the entrance test.
This special way in didn’t affect how you were treated inside the Academy, but people still looked down on you.
Even the Swordmaster Katharina judged students based on whether they could show mana in the entrance test. Then she made the rest duel each other, picking the winner as her student.
In the novel, Jefrin won and became her student.
Katharina hadn’t taken a student in years. But she was amazed by Jefrin’s talent.
He was a sword genius, but he didn’t have a strong family background like the other male leads.
So he had more power-up events, and learning under Katharina was one of them. Thanks to her, he became a Sword Master at a young age.
“I need to steal that.”
In a world full of power struggles, strength was essential.
I had to become strong. The best way? Get taught by Katharina.
If I beat Jefrin in the entrance duel, I could take his place.
“Maybe I can do it…”
Jefrin was strong. His body had weaknesses, but his sword skills were the best.
In a fair fight, I had no chance. But in a duel, there was a way.
I knew how my sister created Jefrin’s character better than anyone else.
If I used that knowledge well, I could win.
“Ah! I did it!”
Usually, I had to focus hard to find a mana stone.
But this time, I was thinking about other stuff. My mind was relaxed. I reached for a stone out of habit—and my hand glowed blue.
The mana stone stuck to my hand.
I had finally activated mana.
I focused hard to remember this feeling.
It felt like all the blood in my body rushed to my hand. The rest of my body went numb, but the hand that had released mana was incredibly sensitive.
I moved my fingers one by one. The mana moved with them like a glove of energy.
I pushed out more mana and formed it into a ball the size of a fist. I played with it like a toy.
“Now I can finally relax.”
There were only about ten days left until the entrance test.
I was most worried about the first part—showing mana. But now, I had passed that hurdle.
Everyone else probably had mana from a young age, but lazy Raphael had to work hard at the last minute.
“What do you mean you can relax?”
Right then, Coromang entered the room.
It was time for dinner. She saw my glowing hand and pointed.
“Ah! You used mana?! Really?!”
Her eyes sparkled in surprise.
I hadn’t planned to keep it a secret anyway, so I calmly told her.
“Yeah. I can use mana now.”
For nobles, this wasn’t too special. They needed mana to use magic tools.
But Coromang reacted very differently.
And before a whole day passed, everyone in the mansion knew I had awakened my mana.
