Chapter 07
“The Perfect and Flawed Plan”
The Plan
“Do you know how to make hair dye?”
A few days ago, I had asked Lafer this question because of a ridiculous idea that popped into my mind.
I could dye my hair the same golden color as Heidi’s, and then have myself kidnapped by Callier instead of her.
In some ways, this was extremely dangerous, but I focused on the fact that the person planning to kidnap Heidi wasn’t someone from the Zeroth family—who knew her well—but rather Callier, an outsider.
“Delphian might not be fooled just by the hair and eye color being the same, but since Callier, the Duke of Esperos, has no dealings with the Zeroth family, maybe I could fool him?”
It was a pretty optimistic thought, but there had been a part in the novel where a minor extra, whose name wasn’t even mentioned, had commented on how similar my appearance was to Heidi’s, even though it was later dismissed by Heidi’s followers.
While I felt a bit overly optimistic about this plan, at this point, it seemed like the best option.
Considering I barely had a chance to meet Heidi or Delphian before the ball, my odds of exposing the Duke of Esperos’s kidnapping plot were practically zero.
“Honestly, maybe I just want to escape this damned house, and that’s why I’m thinking this way.”
The good part of this plan was that if Callier successfully kidnapped me, the plan would already be halfway to success.
In the novel, as soon as Delphian realized Heidi was kidnapped, he crossed the border to rescue her.
Callier, knowing Delphian’s reckless personality when it came to Heidi, probably planned this reckless scheme because of that.
So, I decided to use it to my advantage.
I would be kidnapped in Heidi’s place, and when Delphian came to rescue me, he’d mistake me for Heidi.
In that case, when they eventually found the person who helped with the kidnapping of Heidi, I would naturally have proof of my innocence.
“Wow, I’m such a genius!”
The plan wasn’t perfect—there were holes big enough to drive a cart through—but I pushed that aside.
Just coming up with something like this felt like a great accomplishment.
Of course, the biggest issue with the plan was how to switch myself with Heidi…
I stared at the whistle in my hand, about the length of my index finger, incredulously.
“This is it?”
A few days ago, Lafer had handed it to me after I asked him for the hair dye.
“…Could this be the dye?”
“Could it?”
When I asked him, he chided me to think more carefully, and I pouted.
“So, what is this then?”
“Actually, it’s very easy for a magician to change hair color. It’s not even difficult to change the color of someone else’s hair if they have mana.”
“…?”
“But you don’t have any mana.”
“None?”
“Yep, you have absolutely none. Not a single speck of it. It’s like your mana is completely clean—so clean, I’m surprised there’s not even the tiniest trace.”
Lafer grinned, seeing my dejected expression.
As I hesitated, wondering if I should find another solution, he continued to chuckle at my response.
“You’re ignoring me again, aren’t you?”
“When did I ignore you, Lafer?”
“You don’t realize it, but you naturally ignore me. Like you’re breathing while doing it.”
“…”
“Here I am, Lafer Wizard, and you act like I can’t cast magic on someone with no mana.”
“So, can you do it?”
I asked, almost unconsciously, and when I looked up at him with bright eyes, his lips curled into a satisfied smile.
“Of course. There’s no magic I can’t do.”
“So the hair dye…?”
“But…”
Lafer interrupted me as my voice grew hopeful.
I tensed up, bracing for whatever came next.
“When someone with no mana tries to use magic, there are a few restrictions and side effects.”
“Side effects?”
“Yeah, but luckily, the person you’re asking is the greatest magician in this world, Lafer Wizard.”
With a triumphant smile, he held up his index finger.
“So, all you need to give me is one simple ingredient, and you only need to endure one side effect.”
“What’s that?”
“The hair of the person whose color you want to change. That’s it. Once I have that, I can make a dye that will last for at least three months, even without mana.”
That meant I would need Heidi’s hair.
“I can’t meet Heidi to tell her about the kidnapping plan, but how the hell am I going to get her hair?”
Time was running out—only three days left before the ball, and since Lafer’s last visit, I hadn’t left the house even once.
It wasn’t like someone was physically preventing me from leaving, but I knew, like in my past life, that I was living under constant surveillance, only eating “eye-food” as my father monitored me.
I knew the “freedom” I seemed to have was a trap set by my father to see what I would do.
“…Beth must’ve told my father that something seemed off about my actions.”
Beth was placed there by my father to watch me.
Maybe the “wait here” he asked of me wasn’t a lie, but a way of testing if I had changed and was plotting something.
Given my situation, the chance I’d get to leave the house before the ball was slim to none.
So now I needed Heidi’s hair.
“Should I just snatch it from her at the ball, like a true villain?”
I had no connection to Heidi, no way to get her hair, and I couldn’t come up with a convincing method to get it.
Lying in bed, thinking about how to get Heidi’s hair, I remembered something from my conversation with Lafer.
Flashback to the conversation with Lafer
“So, what are the side effects?”
“Hm?”
“You mentioned there’s a restriction and a side effect. You said the restriction was to get the hair I want, but what’s the side effect?”
Lafer quickly avoided my gaze.
I eyed him suspiciously, and he hastily changed the subject.
“Anyway, once you get the hair, just blow this whistle. Then I’ll change your hair color immediately.”
“No, I mean, the side effects…”
I was about to finish my sentence when Lafer disappeared as fast as he had come, leaving only the whistle in my hand.
I stared at it and frowned.
“That was strange… really strange.”
I couldn’t understand his actions, but then I realized he was the type of person who was good at playing tricks.
Also, it was just a verbal agreement with him about the hair dye.
“…Could he have lied to me?”
Suddenly, a wave of anxiety swept over me.
It was hard to believe that Lafer, the famous Lafer Wizard, would agree to make me dye without any compensation.
I gripped the whistle tightly and covered myself with the blanket. Then, without hesitation, I blew the whistle.
“…?”
It made only a soft, whistling sound, not the loud, triumphant blast I had expected.
I laughed nervously, trying again, but still, the whistle just emitted wind.
“This damn Lafer Wizard, what a scam…”
Just then, the blanket I was under fluttered.
“Ah!”
I quickly turned my head and saw Lafer standing there.
He was glaring at me, covering his ears as if ready to kill me.
“How much longer were you planning to blow that?”
“Huh? Oh, um…”
“And what’s this about a scam? Want to try again?”
I swallowed nervously, seeing the irritation on his face.
I realized that if I didn’t answer correctly this time, I wouldn’t get the dye—or anything else.
I quickly lifted my thumb toward him, trying to reassure him.
“T-the greatest and most amazing magician, Lafer Wizard!”
“…”
“Y-you’re the best… right?”
I wanted to die. Really.
