BMPEW 14

Chapter 14

The moment when Lord Abellus would require my judgment came much sooner than I had expected.

It was only a few days after the incident with the carriage.

“Hiyaaah!”

I was practicing my power in a sunny corner of the yard.

Though the amount of mana one is born with can’t be improved through practice, I figured it was still better to try than to do nothing.

With a shout, a small flame flickered to life in my hand.

It was so tiny and pitiful that I was embarrassed to show it to anyone.

‘Why is it like this?’

Judging by how my body could withstand flames, Kalidora definitely had a perfect fire lineage.

But for someone born into a pureblood noble family to have less mana than even mixed-bloods?

I set aside trying to increase the flame’s size and instead focused on controlling its direction.

‘Let’s try sending it upward first.’

The flame rose gently from my hand, but the moment it touched a fallen leaf, it burst into a sudden blaze.

Flap flap—

Birds resting in the trees above took off in a flurry, startled by the sudden flash.

Then a shower of leaves and fruit fell down on my head.

“Waaah!”

I screamed and instinctively took off running toward the mansion.

As I ran, brushing debris out of my hair, it happened.

“Eek!”

I bumped into something—or rather, someone—and fell backward.

“Ugh… what a day…”

Brushing the dust off my clothes, I looked up to see who I had collided with.

“Oh…”

Of all people.

“Lord Abelluth…?”

But the moment our eyes met, he quickly raised his arm to cover his face.

I was just about to think how strange that was—when I noticed a tear drop falling from his chin through the gap in his arm.

He was crying.

“L-Lord Abelluth!”

Why… why was he crying? Did I hurt him when I ran into him?

I took a few steps closer, concerned about his condition.

“…Get lost.”

Lord Abellus glared at me with red-rimmed eyes and backed away.

“Um, I… I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to—!”

“I told you to get lost!”

With a sharp shout that pierced my ears, a huge wall of flame erupted between us.

“Ahhh!”

The shock knocked me down on my backside once again.

But seeing the blue flames I’d only heard about in rumors dance right before my eyes, I forgot the pain and stared blankly.

Without sparing me even a glance, Lord Abellus ran off somewhere.

The next afternoon.

“…Haaaah.”

‘Lord Abellus was crying.’

But why? He didn’t seem like the type to cry over something trivial.

And the way he reacted after I saw him crying—that sharp, almost panicked response—it kept nagging at me.

He even used his power, which people usually wouldn’t use against others, just to get me away.

Actually, I had a rough idea why.

Wanting to hide one’s tears—it’s not something unfamiliar to someone like me, who was once an heir to a noble house.

‘So the real question is, why was he crying…?’

He probably wouldn’t tell me if I asked. Especially considering how awkward our relationship already was—pretending not to know was likely the wisest choice.

“What sort of heavy thoughts could that tiny head be burdened with, sighing like that?”

Angkku approached me as I sat in a wooden chair, lost in thought for hours.

“Haaaaah…”

“At this rate, you’ll sink the ground, young lady.”

“Angkku, what’s Lord Abelluth doing this afternoon?”

“I’m not sure about noon, but from 3 until sunset, he trains his fire power at the training grounds. Why?”

Since I bumped into him just before sunset yesterday, that must have been on his way down from training.

“Is training… tough?”

“For the young master? Not really. He’s better than the instructor. Same as I was, too.”

Angkku shrugged.

“Then why…?”

“Oh, well. I suppose something else might be tough. He trains with those brats, after all.”

Angkku’s expression darkened as if recalling something unpleasant.

“Those brats? Who?”

“No need for little Miss Kidney Bean to know about that.”

“Who.”

I scrunched up my face, and Angkku muttered, clearly amused.

“My goodness. At this rate, you’ll really get squashed.”

He tapped me lightly on the forehead.

“Fine, I’ll tell you. But only if you calm down and follow my advice. Velikia, Velicus, and Scaevola. Never go near the children with those names. Got it?”

“Bennicuth… Bennikia… Ska-something…?”

They were from the other factions that would devour the family after Lord Abellus’s death.

‘All three… They’re the ones to watch!’

He was training with kids from that faction?

And then he came down crying afterward…

A fury welled up inside me.

I left Angkku behind and shot to my feet, rushing out.

To hell with playing it safe—I was going to see the faces of the ones who made our ancestor cry.

That afternoon, I trailed behind Lord Abellus as he made his way to the training grounds, quietly following him to the base of the mountain.

On the stone mountain surrounding House Ignitus, both the training grounds and the Temple of the Goddess Vesta were located.

Even if I got caught tailing him, I could just say I was on my way to the temple.

But that wasn’t the real problem.

‘This is bad. Even in my old body, going to the temple required serious determination. In this child’s body, climbing this mountain might take me half a day.’

From a child’s height, the mountain looked impossibly tall.

‘Should I find myself a walking stick or something?’

As I hid and debated my options, Lord Abellus took out a scroll.

The moment he unfurled it, a whirlwind rose from the ground and lifted him into the air.

“Wooooow…”

I stared in awe as he disappeared into the sky, riding the wind.

Normally, an Awakened One can only use powers tied to their innate element. But with items imbued with spells, one can borrow other elements temporarily.

Power scrolls are tools that allow one to cast powers just by infusing mana into parchment inscribed with spells.

I’d only ever seen them on display as artifacts—this was the first time I’d seen someone actually use one.

Could I get one too? The adults would never let me into the archives…

Then an idea popped into my head.

‘The secret passage!’

The hidden route that once saved my life when the castle fell.

The hidden doors throughout the hallways all led through the 1st Vault before continuing outside.

They were designed so the main family members could immediately access the power scrolls in emergencies.

I returned to the mansion and began pressing spots along the wall behind a statue.

Soon, the marble wall creaked and split open.

‘Ha! Even after 500 years, the mechanism hasn’t changed.’

I giggled and walked into the passage. Thanks to my small frame, I didn’t even need to crawl.

Before long, I arrived at the storage room. Through a small crack in the passage door, I could see a room hidden behind a bookshelf.

Aside from one guard outside, the room was empty. I moved quietly, scanning the shelves full of parchment.

‘Let’s see, wind powers should be in the 600s…’

Finding the right scroll was easy. Every parchment had a tag.

[DCXLIII. Ascension]

Seeing the scroll in my hand made me grin with satisfaction.

Back at the base of the mountain, I infused the scroll with mana just like Lord Abellus had.

‘Yes, I’m rising…’

A gentle breeze whooshed as my body lifted into the air.

It was a little scary, but as long as I fed the mana slowly, there should be no problem.

‘Alright, now to adjust the speed slowly…’

Wait. Slowly?

“Only twenty seconds before depletion. What am I supposed to do with that…?”

I’d forgotten something critical—my mana runs out after 20 seconds.

Why did I remember that after taking off?

I instinctively looked down.

The ground was already far, far below.

‘No. I’m too high up now.’

If I fell now, I’d definitely die.

I couldn’t lose my life over a foolish mistake—not after coming this far.

Desperately, I squeezed out the last drops of mana and fed them into the scroll.

Looking up, I spotted a stone platform not too far away, like a landing deck.

I reached for it with all my might.

‘Just a bit more… a bit more…’

Then—

Snap—

My mana ran out, and the scroll deactivated.

‘…Oh goddess. This body should’ve been given to someone wiser than me…’

I shut my eyes tightly.