Chapter 34
Doctor Painless paid a rare visit to Staruga.
“My lady, your complexion has improved greatly. Have you been riding regularly since then?”
As a topic she’d nearly forgotten was brought up, Emily shot him a sharp glare. But Doctor Painless, who was busy organizing his medical bag, didn’t notice her expression.
“I heard Giovanni even got you a horse.”
“Yes, her name is Gemma. She’s gentle and gorgeous.”
At the mention of Gemma, Emily’s mood brightened instantly.
Gemma, the horse Giovanni got for her, had a beautiful golden coat and a thick, elegant mane. Most importantly, her friendly and gentle temperament made it easy for Emily to bond with her.
“She’s so intelligent that when I’m feeling down, she’ll come to comfort me first.”
“That’s remarkable.”
Painless replied while taking a mana detector out of his bag.
“I heard you were tested as a Grade C when you were younger.”
“Yes. The Synope family is almost always Grade C.”
“I see. Still, let’s check again just to be sure.”
“Can the grade actually change?”
“It can, through an accident or some kind of trigger, but I’ve never seen it happen myself.”
Truthfully, Painless thought Killian was overreacting. Even C-grade people could fire mana bullets.
‘He’s hopelessly doting.’
Clicking his tongue inwardly, Painless placed the mana detector on the table. It was, in fact, a mana stone — when one placed their hand on it, the color changed to indicate their grade.
“Please place your hand here.”
Following his instruction, Emily slowly placed her hand on the mana stone. It shimmered a few times before the color began to darken.
“Green?”
“No way… this can’t be…”
The newly measured grade was B. Still in disbelief, Painless picked up the mana stone and shook it.
“My lady, have you experienced any kind of event that could have affected your mana grade?”
“Hmm…”
Emily thought back. The major events she had experienced included the death of her parents, the fall of her family, marrying Killian, and realizing she was living inside a book.
‘A lot has happened in a short time.’
But she couldn’t share all of that with Painless.
“Or maybe I was just mismeasured when I was young.”
“Not common, but not impossible either… that might be the case.”
Still suspicious, Painless examined the mana stone closely.
“Regardless, I’ll inform Cézanne that you’re B-grade. That way, she can prepare training suitable to your level.”
“Is Cézanne a B-grade too?”
“Only members of Star who are B-grade or higher can become snipers.”
“She must be impressive.”
Now that she thought of it, Emily realized she didn’t know Killian’s grade.
“Do you happen to know my husband’s grade?”
Painless replied as if it was obvious.
“He’s S-grade.”
Wow. Was there anything this man lacked? Emily couldn’t help but mutter in awe.
“He’s basically a monster.”
Shivering, Painless finished packing his bag and stood up.
“Well then, I’ll take my leave.”
“Thank you for coming.”
“I wish you continued health until next time. And keep up the horseback riding.”
Emily gave him a playful side-eye again.
“I’m doing well enough, so you can stop mentioning horseback riding now.”
“Haha, got it! Then I’ll go with peace of mind.”
Seeing him off with a slightly annoyed expression, Emily returned to the sofa and looked through the letters laid before her.
“Huh? A letter from Johann?”
Delighted at seeing his name, Emily immediately sat up and tore open the envelope.
To my dearest Emily, whom I miss so much.
I heard you’ve been waiting for my letter.
I’m truly sorry I didn’t write sooner.
A lot has been going on.
The biggest headache was the exams, but fortunately, I did well.
How well? Of course, I came in first place!
Don’t be too surprised. It’s not a big deal, really.
Anyway, now that midterms are over, I’ve got a bit of free time.
I was thinking of visiting this weekend. How’s your schedule?
I’ll wait for your reply.
Your forever friend,
Johann.
Luckily, she didn’t have any special plans that weekend. Feeling cheerful, Emily wrote her reply right away.
The next day, Killian went out to visit Vito Gotteo in the hospital, and Emily had her first lesson with Cézanne.
“My lady, are you sure you’re up for this?”
Cézanne asked, and Emily nodded.
“No need to treat me specially. I want to train just like everyone else.”
“It might get a little rough.”
At that, Emily hesitated briefly.
“Wait… does that mean you’re going to hit me?”
“Not exactly…”
“Then it’s fine.”
“Don’t come crying to me later, my lady.”
“Okay.”
Just as Emily picked up a gun with a determined expression, Cézanne stopped her by grabbing her arm.
“Please put that down, my lady.”
“That’s not what we’re doing?”
“You’ll be undergoing a different kind of training.”
The common trait among those who joined the Star family was a lack of guilt. Since they all became members with a shared goal, emotions like guilt were considered a luxury compared to revenge.
But Emily, unlike them, was just an ordinary citizen. The biggest danger when eliminating an enemy was guilt — and someone like her, who had grown up so normally, couldn’t possibly shoot someone without hesitation.
As she passed by Emily, Cézanne suddenly hit her shoulder hard.
“Ow!”
Caught off guard by the pain, Emily grabbed her shoulder and looked at Cézanne with a stunned expression. Their eyes met for a moment, and Emily just blinked her large eyes.
Eventually, Cézanne sighed and broke the silence.
“Why didn’t you react at all?”
“Huh?”
“I just hit your shoulder out of nowhere. Aren’t you mad?”
“Well, I was surprised, but I don’t really feel like getting angry. Was that part of the lesson?”
Still baffled, Cézanne asked again.
“Someone bumps into you like that, and you’re not angry?”
“Well, I didn’t enjoy it, but getting angry would make me feel even worse.”
“Your guilt threshold is lower than I thought.”
Cézanne sighed, wondering how on earth to proceed.
“My lady, guilt is just narcissism. Did you know that?”
Emily, who had been called egocentric by her parents, flinched slightly and protested weakly.
“How is that narcissism?”
“Think about it. ‘How could I do that? Me, someone so noble and righteous, acting crudely or getting angry at someone? That’s not like me.’ It’s all self-indulgent thinking.”
“…”
“It’s just self-absorption.”
Somehow, Emily found herself convinced.
“Give me another chance to get mad.”
“Alright. I’ll walk by you again.”
“Okay.”
But instead of bumping her shoulder, Cézanne picked up a vase nearby and dumped it on Emily. Dripping wet, Emily stared at her, dumbfounded.
“Wasn’t it supposed to be a shoulder bump?”
“In the blink of an eye, life throws filthier tricks.”
Water dripped from her hair down to her chin. Emily wiped her face like she was washing it.
“How do you feel now?”
“I feel like punching someone. Anyone, really.”
“Then we can move to the next stage.”
Cézanne smiled, satisfied.
The training hadn’t lasted long, but Emily was sore all over by the time she returned to her bedroom. It had only been light warm-up exercises, yet she felt far more exhausted than when she worked out alone.
‘Ugh… my body hurts so bad.’
After forcing herself to take a bath, she was starving.
“What time is it?”
“It’s four o’clock, my lady.”
There were still two or three hours left before dinner, but she couldn’t wait that long. Emily flopped onto the pillow, face first.
Chili, noticing how drained she looked, asked cautiously.
“Are you hungry, my lady?”
Emily nodded, looking sheepish.
“Is His Grace dining at home today?”
“He’ll likely eat out. Shall I ask the chef to prepare something?”
“Yes, just something simple. I’m going to bed right after.”
“Understood.”
While Chili headed down to the kitchen, Emily pulled a notebook from her nightstand and began jotting down plot details.
In truth, she hadn’t gone to the club yesterday for the music. She had been focused on the conversation at the table next to her.
The original novel had also mentioned Sam — the illegitimate child of Vito Gotteo.
Although Sam claimed to be Vito’s son, he wasn’t biologically related. Still, when the coup succeeded, he ended up becoming head of the Gotteo family.
The real problem began when Sam, as boss, started coveting Star’s territory. That’s when the friendly relations between the two families ended and they became enemies.
To preserve peace, Emily had to prevent Sam from becoming the boss.
“First, I need to eat.”
Her stomach growled — not surprising after using both her body and brain all day.
“What’s taking Chili so long?”
Tired of waiting, Emily finally stepped outside her room. But as she neared the dining room, she heard loud arguing from inside.
Curious, she quietly opened the door to peek in—
