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chapter 8
“Remember? A week ago, the Duke threw an ink bottle at the young lady the moment she returned.”
“Oh, right. Her entire dress got soaked in ink that time. Poor lady, really.”
“And that’s all? He even scolded her after calling her out just because of what Young Master Claude said….”
The reason she had pretended to look pitiful in front of the Duke was simply to lure him into lowering his guard.
After all, a stab from where one least expects it is always the most painful.
But now, that little act of performance had synergized with her strategy of winning over the servants, creating unexpected ripples elsewhere.
Becky, the maid who had received a pile of desserts as gifts from Canis, clenched her fists and declared:
“The one and only true heir of the Ducal House is our lady! Yet the Duke only favors the young master. How unfair!”
“If my father treated me like that, I wouldn’t be able to bear it either.”
“Then we’ll treat her better ourselves!”
Their newfound, sudden loyalty spread like wildfire throughout the mansion.
It started with the maids directly serving under Claude.
The ducal residence had four floors, and both Canis and Claude stayed on the same one.
Their rooms were at opposite ends, so they hardly ever crossed paths. But the maids, of course, naturally mingled and ran into each other during work.
Naturally, the two sides did not get along.
The Duke’s blatant favoritism toward one child over the other, and Claude’s habit of openly humiliating Canis, had long crushed the confidence of the maids serving the young lady.
Especially when they shared the laundry room, Claude’s maids lorded their status to the extreme.
A servant’s standing always followed the position of their master.
But recently, that seemingly unshakable hierarchy had started to flip.
“Did you hear? They say the young lady’s maids have been walking around with fancy trinkets lately.”
“And they even brag that she remembers their names now, imagine that.”
The maids, lifted up by Canis’s affection and acknowledgment, started carrying themselves with pride.
At first, Claude’s maids protested.
“So what? The Duke clearly favors our young master far more!”
“Exactly! Who knows, maybe he’ll really become the next Duke?”
But after going through the motions of denial, they could only grit their teeth in envy.
“Honestly though… I’m jealous. Young Master Claude is so harsh all the time.”
“As if he’d ever bother about us.”
“Wake up. He’d only spare attention for attendants from noble families, not mere maids like us.”
“Ugh, still jealous though.”
And so, the servants of the house had begun whispering behind their masters’ backs.
But really, in places where the person isn’t present, even the Emperor is fair game for gossip.
In that way, in the very heart of the Ducal household, Canis’s reputation was slowly but surely rising.
Meanwhile, the person at the center of all this, Canis herself…
“Ah, hello, sister.”
“…Yes, hello. Wait—did you just call me sister?”
…was clutching the back of her neck, bewildered at suddenly gaining an unexpected younger sibling.
The incident began with the Duke’s command.
[Your confinement ends today. From now on, you may leave your room.]
Nearly two weeks had passed since he had ordered her to stay inside, and now he was lifting it.
“Hmph, what a show-off.”
She felt no gratitude whatsoever.
The Academy’s summer vacation lasted three weeks.
She had spent two-thirds of it locked in her room. Considering travel time, she had less than five days left to stay at the Ducal residence.
‘At least I finished the entire fourth-year curriculum thanks to it.’
With a snap, she closed the last page of her textbook. The material grew trickier each year, but none of it had been any challenge for her.
[Archmage’s Brain (S)]
The Archmage’s Brain!
A skill made famous by “Aaron,” who had once ranked number one among mages. It allowed one to instantly understand anything related to magic simply by seeing it.
With its assistance, she had not only completed the fourth-year material but also studied well into the advanced levels.
‘Of course, that’s not the true extent of its power.’
If the skill were only about “reading and understanding,” it would merely rank at A.
Even a smart ordinary person could achieve that with enough effort.
But this skill was ranked S for one reason:
‘It lets me copy any technique I witness—even just once.’
The so-called Archmage’s Brain was essentially a copy ability.
Even more terrifying—once she saw something more than twice, she could easily surpass the original user.
‘Well, I’ll put that to use later.’
She dusted off her hands and stood up. Larisa, the maid who had brought her the books, blinked in surprise.
“Are you going out, my lady?”
“No, just taking a walk.”
No matter how spacious her room was, staying cooped up grew boring.
Especially here, with no smartphones or internet.
She stepped outside her door for the first time in a long while.
“Eek!”
The servants bowed hurriedly with startled noises as she passed by.
Exploring the mansion was tempting, but she knew her mood would sour if she accidentally ran into the Duke.
With that in mind, she headed down toward the first floor—when she heard an angry shout.
“What do you think you’re doing! That dish was meant for the Madam!”
“S-sorry…!”
“Sorry? Is that all? How will you make this right?”
‘What’s going on?’
This was the Duke’s household.
They usually hired only experienced maids, since applicants flocked despite the strict conditions. There was no need to take in apprentices.
So why was there a girl, barely fifteen by the looks of her, fumbling about here?
Canis trailed off and asked quietly:
“Larisa, that girl is…?”
“Ah, that’s Lady May.”
“…Excuse me?”
Lady?
Her eyes narrowed at the girl in a maid’s uniform.
Then, in an instant, she marched down the stairs and stopped in front of the woman berating May.
“What exactly do you think you’re doing?”
“My lady? I was just teaching this rude little—ah!”
[Authority (A)]
The moment the maid met Canis’s gaze, she stumbled back in fright.
Larisa, following behind, raised an eyebrow.
“You serve under Lady Helena, don’t you? But you’re not the one in charge of training, are you?”
“T-that is…”
“I’ll inform the head maid about this. Leave.”
The maid gritted her teeth audibly.
Though she looked ready to argue, one more glance into Canis’s eyes sent her scurrying off.
That left only the small girl standing awkwardly.
“Ah, hello, sister.”
“…Yes, hello…”
The words slipped out automatically.
Silver hair like the Duke’s. Blue eyes, considered a symbol of beauty.
And yet, though called “lady,” she wore a maid’s outfit and endured insults from the staff.
It was a painfully familiar pattern.
‘Wow… this family’s even more of a mess than I thought.’
Her neck stiffened at once.
‘No, calm down. Calm down.’
In any case, she was just a child.
Not like Claude, that scum she wanted to punch. This was just a small girl—what, around middle school age?
Canis rubbed her forehead.
‘What am I supposed to do with this?’
The girl was clearly an illegitimate child of the Duke’s.
Black hair was dominant in their family, so if she wasn’t Helena’s daughter, her treatment here made sense.
‘Either way, I should help her.’
But the problem was, Canis had very little time left before returning to the Academy.
After some thought, she decided to deal with the immediate issue first.
“Larisa, bathe her and dress her properly. Then bring her to my room.”
“Yes, my lady.”
Larisa showed no surprise and simply bowed.
‘Truly, it’s good to have a capable assistant.’
“Come along, May.”
“…! Yes!”
Canis stared blankly as May followed Larisa away.
‘How old is she, anyway? And what’s her story?’
The unexpected arrival of a new character was giving her a headache.
She waved over another maid who was cleaning a window.
“Come here a moment.”
“Y-yes, my lady?”
Once, servants would have openly ignored Canis. But with her [Authority] skill active, they were obedient.
‘Of course, I could just kill the Duke right now.’
But it was better to wait until after she earned her Academy diploma.
In this world, graduating from the Academy’s Department of Magic carried prestige equivalent to attending Seoul National University’s medical school in Korea.
“How old is my sister this year?”
“If you mean Young Master Claude, he is eighteen—”
“No, I meant May.”
The maid’s eyes widened in shock.
“Lady May is seventeen this year.”
“What? Seventeen?”
She barely looked like a first-year middle schooler.
The maid flinched at Canis’s grim expression. Perhaps her sharp features contributed, but mostly it was the aura of a mage that intimidated her.
“Is May a mage?”
“Well… I heard she might as well have no magic. She can only conjure a droplet of water in the air…”
“So she does have magic, even if weak.”
Canis herself had no magic, yet still attended the Academy.
So shouldn’t May also be enrolled?
Yet here she was, still wearing a maid’s uniform at home, when she should have entered as a first-year.
“Why hasn’t May enrolled at the Academy?”
“T-that’s because…”
