Chapter 12……………………………………
A Repeating Day
After lunch, Leon said he had some business to take care of and left the estate in a carriage. Thanks to that, Lowell was able to have some research time entirely to herself for the first time.
“Then I’ll be in the study, so if there’s anything you need to tell me, please knock on the door.”
Since she finally had some free time, Lowell decided she should properly study magic. With that thought, she grasped the doorknob of the study and gave the servants her instructions.
“…Yes.”
The reply sounded faintly displeased for some reason, but it wasn’t anything worth worrying about, so Lowell simply closed the study door and went inside.
From then on, all kinds of magic floated through the study. From search magic that let her immediately find the books she needed, to attack magic that pulverized the apple she’d brought as a snack without leaving a trace of its shape—Lowell managed everything without difficulty.
“Hm… It really is much easier to use mana without incantations.”
Muttering to herself, Lowell looked at the various odds and ends floating in the air.
Just as Leon had said, Lowell was clumsy when it came to using incantations. It wasn’t simply that she couldn’t memorize them; for her, the very act of linking mana to an incantation was difficult.
This won’t solve the fundamental problem.
In the end, Lowell picked up one of the floating apples, took a crunchy bite, and let out a long sigh as she pressed her fingers to her forehead.
She had to undo the time magic cast on Aria, and to do that she needed a basic understanding of magical incantations and the ability to apply that knowledge.
But as she was now, Lowell hadn’t even managed to properly begin.
“Hm, no! There’s still time, so somehow it’ll work out.”
Just as her thoughts were dragging on and anxiety was about to creep in, Lowell pulled herself together and stood up. As long as she had a clear goal, she wasn’t the type to give up easily.
“First, I’ll go out and grab one more apple, then practice again.”
Of course, it was hard to concentrate on an empty stomach, so she needed to get a snack first.
“Honestly, how did we even end up like this?”
It was just as Lowell opened the study door and stepped outside.
“Right? It’s so irritating. Why do we have to be employed by someone who got kicked out, and his wife at that? If you think about it, they’re the same status as us.”
The servants’ conversation reached Lowell’s ears.
Standing at the entrance to the kitchen, Lowell unconsciously pressed herself flat against the wall. Somehow… she had a strong feeling that if she stepped out now, things would get extremely awkward.
“Apparently that woman didn’t even have a family name before marriage. They say she’s an orphan?”
“What? So she seduced the young master just with a decent face? I thought maybe her family at least had money.”
“Hey, what ‘young master’? It’s been ages since he was expelled from the family. He should be grateful they even let him keep using the surname.”
“Still, just endure it a bit longer. The marchioness said that if we bring her useful information, she’ll let us work at the main house again.”
As the gossip dragged on, Lowell—the subject of it—found herself increasingly stuck, unable to move either way. The timing was strange to suddenly reveal herself, but turning back wasn’t an option either, as other servants had already gathered in the hall.
Just as Lowell was being sucked deeper into confusion, a familiar voice rang out.
“What are you talking about, right now?”
A sudden, anger-filled tone. When they turned toward the voice, Leon was standing there, though no one knew when he had arrived.
“Y-Young master.”
At Leon’s abrupt appearance, the servants froze in place.
“You know exactly what kind of nonsense you were just spouting.”
“……”
“If you’re that dissatisfied with being here, I’ll send you back to the main house.”
Words slipped through Leon’s clenched teeth.
“Though I don’t know if there’ll be a place for you there.”
Leon’s cold gaze swept over each of the servants.
“It’s astonishing that people with no basic manners were employed at the main estate at all.”
With that final remark, Leon turned away.
“……”
While Leon was doing all this, Lowell stood silently, lips pressed together, as still as a pillar. It wasn’t that she meant to—she just still hadn’t found the right timing.
“You…”
No, maybe “like a pillar” wasn’t the right expression. Leon, who she thought would simply leave the kitchen, stopped in front of Lowell and opened his mouth as if to say something.
“…Never mind.”
But when Lowell blinked and raised her head, Leon swallowed whatever he’d been about to say and instead only frowned.
After meeting Lowell’s eyes for a brief moment, Leon clicked his tongue and turned on his heel, heading up the stairs.
I guess being expelled from the family really left a deep wound.
Left behind, Lowell watched Leon’s retreating back and thought that.
Of course, the fact that Leon had suddenly appeared right when the gossip turned to her was something worth considering for a moment…
But Lowell shook her head, brushing the thought away. In any case, she was hungry, and now she could comfortably make her way to the apple basket in front of her.
“I think I need to go out tonight.”
Leaving behind the afternoon’s brief commotion, when the sky began to glow with sunset, Lowell closed the book she’d been reading for a while and turned to Leon.
But when no response came for some time, Lowell eventually stood up and waved her hand in front of Leon’s eyes.
“Did you hear me?”
Only then did Leon, who had been staring fixedly at the edge of his desk, lift his head. His exposed face looked thoroughly exhausted.
“I said I’m going out.”
Lowell spoke while studying Leon’s sluggish demeanor. Seeing that there was still no response, it was obvious he hadn’t heard her.
“Are you okay? You’ve been looking really tired lately.”
After waving her hand a few more times in front of him, Lowell noticed the deep shadows under Leon’s eyes and asked worriedly.
“That’s because—”
In that instant, Leon’s weary eyes latched onto Lowell’s face.
“Yes?”
Leon’s gaze traced over Lowell’s flushed face. Lowell was blinking rapidly, wearing an expression as if she had nothing to do with the cause of all this, and seeing that only made his headache worsen.
“More importantly, I found the book you mentioned last time.”
So Leon changed the subject. If he didn’t, he felt like he might end up saying something rather unsightly, like how he hadn’t been able to sleep properly lately because of her.
“Oh! Really?!”
When Leon handed over the book he was holding, Lowell jumped up from her seat and immediately took it.
“……”
After that, Lowell silently read through the book titled The Attributes of Time Magic—Regression for quite a while. Then, as if she’d realized something, she spoke.
“So the reason Miss Aria keeps repeating regressions is because someone fixed her to the time axis and cast regression magic on her.”
Lowell said this with a complicated expression. A faint tremor seeped into her voice.
“That’s right. So if we find that person and destroy the magical formula for the regression, it should end.”
Leon neatly summarized the answer Lowell had found.
“Who on earth would do something like this?”
“Who knows. But someone with this level of obsession will definitely appear before your master. Maybe we should wait for that moment.”
“……”
Lowell ran her eyes back over what she’d just read, her gaze intense, as if she were trying to carve every bit of information into her mind.
I have to meet the person who fixed Miss Aria to the time axis, no matter what.
Clutching the corner of the book tightly, Lowell reaffirmed her resolve.
As time passed and night—the night Lowell had mentioned—arrived, she made her already resolute expression even firmer and stood up.
“Are you heading out now?”
Leon, who had been sitting in a chair in the bedroom, frowned as a sudden gust of cold air swept in. Through his narrowed vision, he saw Lowell wearing the expression of someone heading off to a battlefield.
“Yes. I’m going now to wait there.”
With the window half open, Lowell tightened her cloak and replied with the same determination.
“I see…”
Leon initially brushed it off as excessive enthusiasm—until the window opened even wider, prompting him to speak again.
“But why are you opening the window?”
For someone who said she was going out, Lowell opening the window of a second-floor bedroom didn’t look natural at all.
“If I go down the stairs, the servants might look at me strangely, so I’m planning to jump out the window. It’ll be fine if I protect myself with magic on the way down.”
As if she’d already anticipated that question, Lowell even clenched her fist and spoke proudly.
“……”
Naturally, seeing that made Leon’s headache return. There really wasn’t a single thing about this woman’s actions that he could predict.
“Just go down the stairs. I sent a letter to the main house asking them to replace the servants. So there won’t be anyone left who’d spread strange rumors outside.”
“Oh, is that so?”
At the unexpected words, Lowell turned back toward Leon, one leg still propped awkwardly on the window.
“Then where are you going?”
While Lowell struggled to free the leg caught on the window frame, Leon asked casually. Come to think of it, he realized he didn’t know the most important detail.
“To the duke’s estate. Today, Miss Aria’s former lover is going to storm in. The day when that repeatedly occurring event I told you about happens—that day is today.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Lowell tried to pull herself free but lost her balance for a moment. A small “oh” escaped her lips.
Thud.
Fortunately, she didn’t end up face-planting into the floor.
“Then I’ll go with you.”
Leon said that as he grabbed Lowell’s arm to keep her from falling.
“What? You don’t have to—”
“No, I’m coming with you.”
Leon emphasized his words and looked down at Lowell. Perhaps from tension, her mana flow was in complete disarray. If he let her go like this, unpredictable as she already was, who knew what she might do… Just imagining it made his headache flare up again.
