🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 20
Edmund groaned as he painstakingly drew the basic magic circle of white magic.
Perhaps because he had nearly learned it from Moretti before, his rate of acquisition was remarkably fast.
“Alright, next are the basic magic circles for each elemental attribute.”
Water, fire, wind, earth.
These four were far more complex than white magic.
Yet, to the point that it surprised me, Edmund’s comprehension and memorization abilities were extraordinary.
And above all, the most astonishing thing was Edmund’s mana capacity and his ability to apply it.
In just a single day, he managed to pour mana into all five magic circles and successfully activate them!
“That’s impossible!”
But it was undeniably true.
From the white magic circle Edmund had drawn, a sphere of white light floated up.
From each elemental magic circle, small flames, droplets of water, and grains of earth were created.
And from the final magic circle, though invisible to the eye, there was clearly a faint breeze brushing against the tip of my nose.
“He succeeded in all of them!”
This is cheating!
I spent over a year at the academy and couldn’t succeed even once!
In fact, before teaching Edmund, I had tried it myself in secret.
Usually, when you possess a book or reincarnate, you gain some special ability.
But there was nothing like that.
Memorizing and drawing the magic circles wasn’t difficult, but I couldn’t move even a shred of mana.
Figures. There’s no way a supporting-villainess type would have mana.
In this world, magic works by first drawing an exact magic circle, then pouring mana into it to guide the flow.
And black magic was what allowed you to skip that inconvenient process—at the cost of gaining immense destructive power along with horrifying ruin.
At the academy, they said that if you managed to activate even one basic magic circle after more than a year of study, you were considered talented…
According to Kasia’s memories, that was the case.
All first-year academy students entered filled with hope of becoming mages, but 99 percent of them gave up within a month or two.
Kasia had been one of them, so she remembered it vividly.
If he had revealed this talent at the academy, the professors of the magic department would’ve grabbed each other by the hair trying to take him.
It was truly a scam-level talent befitting a future final boss.
Wait a second!
Suddenly anxious, I grabbed Edmund by the shoulders and asked seriously.
“This is the first time you’ve ever succeeded at magic, right? Just now?”
“Huh? Y-Yeah.”
“For real?”
“I told you it is!”
“The last time Moretti taught you magic—that was really your first attempt, right?”
“Right.”
Only then did I finally let out a sigh of relief.
Ever since getting scammed into this job, I had been carefully monitoring what Moretti taught Edmund.
If even the word “black” from black magic came up, I had to stop it immediately.
And as if on cue, not long after my surveillance started, the duke ordered Moretti to teach black magic.
With Edmund’s incredible talent, he would’ve learned black magic—which is easier to activate and far more destructive—several times faster.
And then he would’ve met a miserable end.
In many ways, the timing had been exquisite.
The poisoned meal, the black magic—everything.
I had managed to stop it before things reached a point of no return.
Once again, I was convinced.
The reason I was dragged here was to stop Edmund from becoming the final boss.
Thank goodness.
If the purpose of whatever summoned me here had been to make Edmund become the final boss…
Ugh. Just imagining it is awful.
At first, I simply didn’t want to torment a child in trouble and drive him toward a future of ruin.
But now, having come to know Edmund as a person, I’d grown rather attached.
I genuinely wanted Edmund to have a happy future, unlike the original story.
Truly.
“S-Stop! You’re too close!”
“Ah, sorry.”
“I-I mean, it’s not that I dislike you being close, or that I’m scared or anything!”
“Yeah. Yeah. I know. Don’t worry.”
Maybe because I’d grilled him so hard, Edmund’s face was flushed red again.
Perhaps because his skin was so pale and thin, even a slight surge of emotion made his face redden instantly.
How did this kid ever become the final boss in the original story?
Yeah—much better that he doesn’t.
“Why are you smiling like that?”
I shrugged.
“When a student does well, of course the teacher is happy.”
“Who’s the teacher and who’s the student?!”
Ah, his face got even redder.
I rubbed Edmund’s round head with my hand, deliberately provoking him further.
Instead of batting my hand away, he endured it to the end—and that was… surprisingly cute.
Before I knew it, a fond, motherly smile had spread across my face.
By now, it was common knowledge that there was a huge gap in the villa’s workforce.
With Moretti, Marsha, and Paul gone, control of the villa had completely fallen into my hands.
And that meant one thing.
Busy! I’m so busy I can’t catch my breath!
To fill the vacancies, dozens of new servants were hired.
While checking the list of new employees, I spotted a familiar name.
No—more precisely, a name I had been waiting for.
The timing was earlier than expected, but that only made it better.
—Gardener Marco.
He’s finally here!
When the newly hired servants came as a group to introduce themselves, I was able to see his face.
He was a fairly neat-looking young man.
His light brown hair was neatly tied back, and the color of his eyes—reminiscent of the sky after rain—was quite striking.
I felt this when I saw Edmund, and again with Patrick… looks really do follow original-story importance.
In other words, he stood out.
Honestly speaking… he absolutely did not suit the job of gardener.
Too slender and prim.
Rather than gardening, he looked more suited to wearing glasses and standing in a library, pedantically harassing students.
Well, of course—since that’s what he originally did!
Gardener Marco.
His real name was Willes Baltin.
He was a mage with deep ties to the Duke of Lamberto’s family—Edmund’s maternal relatives.
An elite mage who had studied abroad in the Mage Kingdom with their support.
He also owed a great personal debt to Edmund’s mother, the former duchess.
And he was also the embodiment of a familiar novel cliché.
Edmund’s mother was Willes’s first love, if I remember right.
That was why this man had infiltrated enemy territory—to repay the Lamberto family’s kindness and to save the son of the woman he loved.
What a classic romance-fantasy sub–male-lead setup.
But The Reconstruction of the Kingdom of Palts wasn’t a romance at all—it was a bleak fantasy.
Naturally, this character didn’t meet a good end.
Though he rescued Edmund from here and helped him in many ways as his benefactor and magic teacher…
In the end, he was brutally killed by Edmund himself after Edmund went berserk.
I remember clicking my tongue while reading, thinking he’d been born into the wrong genre.
He didn’t appear much, but I liked him because his settings really suited my taste.
Seeing him in person now gave me a strange new feeling.
Apparently, I’d been staring at Willes (Marco) with a rather wistful gaze for quite some time while recalling the original story.
A servant attending beside me cautiously asked,
“Um, young madam. Is there perhaps some issue with the new gardener?”
“Huh? Ah…”
This was no time to get lost in my own thoughts.
I instantly changed my expression and replied primly.
Like a proper villainess wielding authority over the villa!
“I was checking for any suspicious individuals. If thieves sneak in again, I’d have no face to show the duke.”
At that, all the servants prostrated themselves.
“As expected of you.”
“With the young madam watching so carefully, such things will never happen again!”
While everyone flattered me and watched my reaction, only the man using the name Marco hid a different expression.
Perhaps because he already knew my identity—I could see it clearly.
He’s really on guard against me.
Heh. As expected of Edmund’s loyal retainer.
I decided to reward him.
“You.”
I suddenly pointed straight at Willes.
“Yes? Did you call me, young madam?”
His low voice was quite pleasant to the ear.
Yes—definitely a supporting character.
Setting aside such impressions, I picked a completely unreasonable fault.
“I don’t like the insolence in your eyes.”
“…Pardon?”
The man visibly panicked and bowed his head.
Those around us looked as if to say, Is she really tormenting someone over something like that?
Good. It really looks like I’m just picking a fight.
I clicked my tongue and raised my voice, making an effort to sound hysterical.
“I’d like to send you back immediately—or throw you out—but since you were sent by the duke, I suppose I can’t.”
“You haven’t even put him to work yet.”
“That’s right, madam. A little more mercy would—”
Even those watching my mood tried to stop me, as my nitpicking became increasingly absurd.
Especially those whose workload had become overwhelming due to the staff shortage.
Just as planned!
I took a step back, as if reluctantly conceding.
“Fine. It can’t be helped. But I’ll give you extra work.”
“Extra work, beyond gardening?”
“Yes.”
Everyone looked at the gardener with sympathy—poor man, getting on my bad side on his first day.
I added in a deliberately nasty tone,
“Have him clean and organize the rooms in the east wing of the mansion. All of them. If he says he can’t do it, throw him out immediately.”
There were nearly ten rooms in the east wing.
And Edmund’s room is over there too.
That was my true objective.
Alright, Edmund—wait for it. Your loyal retainer and teacher are being delivered express!
When it came to magic, he would be a far better teacher than I ever could be.
And in a few months, he’ll be the one to plan and carry out Edmund’s escape—so the sooner they meet, the better.
Unaware of any of this, the servants cast sympathetic looks at the gardener.
Willes (Marco) bowed his head as if resigned.
“…I will obey your command.”
But I didn’t miss the gleam in his eyes.
