“I never imagined such a filthy old man would set his sights on my daughter. I’ll take care of it properly.” His voice was cold as ice.
Now that Viscount Milpianne was out of the picture, wasn’t this the perfect opportunity to expose all of Mariposa’s past deeds too? No, no, no, Giselle. Calm down.
I almost got carried away since this was the first time someone had taken my side.
The stage isn’t fully set yet. The newspapers, the servants, the nobles—they’re all on Mariposa’s side. Even if I report her, she’ll get away with it easily.
Even if Count Florette and Mariposa weren’t particularly close, he’d at least feel some gratitude toward his sister, who had managed the family during his long voyages.
For Mariposa to truly get what she deserves, I need to build things up first. Let me catch my breath by dealing with that old man first.
“Yes, please take care of it, Viscount Milpianne!” I smiled sweetly while fiddling with my necklace.
Count Florette, quick on the uptake, mused about the necklace. “…Ah, right. Let me tell you. That necklace is actually a magical tool for disguise. It’s enchanted with magic that changes your appearance. There probably isn’t another magical tool in the empire that can provide such perfect disguise.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes. I heard it has a hidden function inside.”
“A hidden function?”
“Yes. Count Sehera was always like that. He used to hide interesting functions in various magical tools.”
So, there might be other functions besides appearance disguise. I nodded as I fidgeted the necklace Count Florette had given me.
But there was one disappointing aspect. Ugh, I only tried using it briefly, but it drains my mana incredibly fast. As expected for an item left by my father, the archmage, it consumed a huge amount of mana.
After catching my breath, I looked back at Count Florette. “Thank you. I’m sure it’ll come in handy someday.”
“Your mana is quite pure, so with enough training, you can become strong. It would be even better if you could attend the academy, find a mentor, or at least get help from magical artifacts.”
Magic Academy, skilled private tutor, potions, and proper magical artifacts are astronomically expensive, aren’t they?
To learn from a renowned teacher, travel around for self-study, equip myself with potions and magical artifacts, join the magic tower, and grease some palms along the way… Just to become a decent mage, you might need a billion. But an archmage? That would cost ten billion.
In other romance fantasy stories, they sometimes offer free mage training, but not in this empire.
At that moment, Count Florette made an enticing offer. “It’s late, but I’ll find you a magic tutor.”
Judging by his expression, if I made a good impression here, I could definitely get on his good side.
I still have a potion I secretly took from the restaurant.
“What kind of tutor are they? Can I meet them right away?”
* * *
“Tch. What would a lady who’s never even been to an academy know? That’s what you were thinking, right?”
In this world, freelance mages with exceptional magical abilities capable of teaching others are rare.
That very freelance mage, Hasan, flinched and looked at Giselle. There’s no way I accidentally said my thoughts out loud, right?
Giselle spoke arrogantly. “That’s what you thought, isn’t it? Go ahead, test me then.”
What, is she a mind-reader? Hasan, feeling overwhelmed from the start, scratched the back of his head awkwardly before speaking. “Beginners won’t be able to do it. Those without mana won’t be able to either. Even if you can’t do it, let’s start with mana breathing.”
“Yeah, I’ve done it.”
Hasan paused, staring at Giselle with an uncomfortable expression. He could see the flow of mana in her body. W-What is this? It’s the standard breathing technique, but she’s good at it?
Giselle’s cousin, Abisan, hadn’t managed proper mana breathing for several years. But Giselle acted as if this was just basic as if she’d learned it before.
Well, I guess she has more mana than I heard. It might just be beginner’s luck.
Hasan blinked as he rummaged through his pocket for an artifact. “Actually, the maximum amount of mana a mage can gather is something they’re born with. You know that, right?”
“Yes.”
“But training isn’t pointless. The more circles you create near your mana heart, the more powerful magic you can wield. Archmages can form up to ten circles. That’s a massive amount of mana.”
“So?”
“Well, I won’t expect much. I don’t want to burden you.”
Mana is an energy that floats in the air, and only certain people with the potential to become mages have a reservoir in their bodies to store it. People in this world called that reservoir the ‘mana heart.’ The size of this mana heart determined how much mana one could absorb.
I know she probably has nothing special. Without much expectation, he pulled out a square-shaped artifact and brought its edge to Giselle’s hand.
“Not even one circle—“He stopped mid-sentence, his eyes widening in surprise.
Yeah, not even one circle. But w-what is this? This woman, definitely… she wasn’t like this before, right?
The size of her mana heart was enormous. Even the most talented mages struggled to reach five circles. Only truly exceptional mages could achieve ten circles. However, the size of Giselle’s innate mana heart far surpassed that of an average five-circle mage.
No way, is this even possible? That Giselle? Didn’t Madam Mariposa always say Giselle had no potential? He frowned as he looked at Giselle, who was watching him with a nonchalant expression. She must have used some trick. With Count Florette returning, she must be manipulating things to gain his recognition.
Hassan muttered coldly, “That’s it for today’s lesson. I need to report this immediately.”
* * *
“How did it go?”
“There’s nothing more I can teach her.”
Count Florette nodded with satisfaction, just like a proud father. He had only seen his nephew Abisan’s failing grades, but now he had a daughter this brilliant.
Is this the astonishing thing Giselle was talking about? Awakening her magical abilities? He recalled Giselle’s last words and allowed a slight smile to form on his lips.
“Count Florette.”
“Yes?”
“The rumors about me up until now have probably been that I’m timid and weak. But that’s not the case anymore!”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ll show you how much I’ve changed from the past. With something that will truly astonish you.”
Recalling her words, she seemed like a completely different person from before.
Count Florette smiled with satisfaction, but Hasan added grumpily. “It seems like she’s using some kind of trick.”
“So, you’re saying my daughter did that well?” Count Florette’s lips curled up subtly.
“That’s impossible. Giselle has never even studied at the academy! Plus, she was quite famous in society for having no mana!” Hasan was belittling Giselle as if it was only natural. Even when the count’s expression began to twist, he couldn’t keep his mouth shut and continued to chatter. “I think we need to keep an eye on her. She might be using forbidden magic.”
Upon hearing those words, a strange sense of discord arose.
Count Florette looked at Hasan calmly and spoke with feigned kindness. “Forbidden magic?”
“Y-Yes! That’s right.”
“Then, you’re fired.”
