chapter 12
Helena spoke with a certain confidence.
At the very least, she was sure that the Duke, always kind to her, would listen to her and interrogate Kanis.
But at the Duke’s response, Helena’s face stiffened.
“What are you talking about, Helena? Kanis doesn’t have any mana.”
“She’s been hiding it all this time! She lifted me into the air and threw me down! And then she covered my mouth—!”
“Enough. I don’t want to hear it.”
What Helena failed to realize was that the Duke had observed Kanis far more thoroughly than she could ever imagine.
Mana usually manifests around the age of three. Until then, the Duke had considered Kanis a potential heir. Whatever resentment he held toward his late wife, Kanis was still his one and only legitimate daughter.
He waited until she turned five. He did everything he could to draw out her mana, only to be forced into a bitter realization.
“I checked again and again. I didn’t give up until she was five, just in case.”
That his own flesh and blood was nothing more than an utterly powerless non-mage.
“Kanis doesn’t have even a speck of mana.”
“But, Winter—”
“Shh. My dear Helena, stop with such nonsense. I’m already tired, and I have no desire to hear about that child.”
The Duke kissed Helena lightly and smiled.
“See you in bed later.”
Click. The office door closed in Helena’s face. Alone at last, the Duke quietly shut the door and sat down.
“Kanis… a mage? Now, after all this time?”
The stronger the innate mana, the later a mage awakens their first spell.
Ordinary mages manifested at the age of two. The children of House Escleef usually awakened by three.
The daughter born after a night with a maid, May, had manifested at just one year old. That seemed about right. But both he and Claude had awakened precisely at three.
That was why, in the beginning, the Duke had pinned some small hope on Kanis. But when she turned five, he had no choice but to give up.
Even the greatest Archmages in history had manifested no later than five. Beyond that, they were simply ordinary.
‘If Helena’s words were true…’
Kanis would be an Archmage on a level beyond all comparison with any figure in history.
But the Duke soon scoffed at the thought.
“Heh. Impossible.”
And he concluded,
“She’ll never amount to more than that.”
That useless, insignificant eldest daughter of his could never become an Archmage.
Although I let May stay in my room, we hardly ran into each other.
She stayed tucked away in the side chamber, barely coming out at all.
“She’s fine in there, right? She hasn’t dropped dead?”
“There’s a private bathroom inside. Besides, with you sitting out here so boldly, my lady, I doubt she’d dare come out.”
“…What?”
About four days later—
“My lady, Miss May’s school uniform has arrived.”
“Finally!”
I sprang up from bed. It was the same outfit I had worn when I first transmigrated.
A blue cape and skirt, a white blouse, and a black ribbon.
I smoothed the fabric with a sudden wave of emotion.
‘Back in Korea, we had to wear those ugly grasshopper-green jackets…!’
And if you didn’t wear that hideous outer coat, you got demerits. High school was hell. Damn it.
Anyway, I immediately knocked on May’s little door. Which brings us to the present.
“M–me? Am I really allowed to wear this?”
May’s blue eyes trembled as she looked at the clothes in my hand.
“Of course. They were tailored for you in the first place.”
“But still…”
I gestured to the maids waiting at the side.
“Becky, Marie. Go ahead.”
“Yes, my lady!”
The two professional maids stripped and dressed May in the blink of an eye. Still stunned, May blinked vacantly.
“Huh?”
…What kind of dumb reaction was that.
“Turn around.”
“W–wait a second, sister—”
I spun May around once and nodded in satisfaction.
‘Even her dazed look suits her, since she’s so pretty.’
As expected, the heroine’s family genes were powerful.
I approached May, who tensed up instantly. Resting my hands on her shoulders, I said,
“Listen carefully, May. From now on, you’ll secretly board a carriage with me.”
“…What?”
“And you’ll take the transfer exam at the Academy.”
“Wh–what?!”
She looked utterly startled, her wide eyes like a rabbit caught in a trap. With that pale hair of hers, she looked even more pitiful.
‘The maids must’ve explained everything to her already, though.’
But her next words made the back of my neck tighten.
“W–wait, I thought I came here to serve you as a maid?”
“…What?”
How the hell did it turn into that?
I whipped my head toward Becky, who flinched and stammered,
“Um, my lady, when you said you’d take Miss May to the Academy, I just… conveyed it like that.”
“And?”
“And she understood it that way.”
I turned back to May.
She quickly nodded.
“She’s right!”
“…I see.”
I let out an awkward sound. Clearly, I needed to clear up this misunderstanding.
But before I could, Becky suddenly bent at the waist and shouted,
“My apologies, Miss May! I misdelivered the message and caused you confusion!”
“W–what? N–no, it’s fine…”
“Please, I beg you to treat me as your inferior!”
I stared at the maid, who had stolen the words right out of my mouth.
‘Not bad.’
The small favors I’d given since transmigrating must’ve felt monumental to the maids.
‘Still, proper rewards are in order.’
I planned to prepare gifts for these loyal maids soon. Better to shower them with generosity so they wouldn’t even think of betrayal.
“Anyway, change back into your maid uniform,” I ordered May, quickly explaining the reason to avoid any further misunderstandings.
“You’ll have to hide in the carriage.”
“…You want to ride separately?”
Claude frowned at my words.
The original Kanis had always been desperate to get closer to him, so it was no wonder he reacted this way.
“So, you’ve finally realized your place.”
His lips curled into a cold smirk.
‘This bastard…’
“Then take your time. Of course, I’ll be taking the finest carriage myself.”
He turned to leave, then suddenly added,
“No complaints, right? After all, if things went the way they were supposed to, you wouldn’t even set foot in the Academy, you useless trash.”
Actually, she would’ve gotten in. She would’ve lived a peaceful life in the political science department.
“Your incompetence is so pathetic, I hear about it two grades below me. Honestly, this is why non-mages are worthless.”
‘Alright, that’s it. I’ve had enough.’
Letting this go would make me a pushover.
I smiled sweetly and replied,
“Of course, Claude.”
“Hmph.”
The moment he scoffed and turned his back, I removed the wheels from his carriage.
[Psychokinesis (B)]
‘This is really handy.’
I only half-unfastened them, so with any luck, the carriage would sink into mud or stall on a hill.
Let’s see how he likes that.
“Are you alright, my lady?”
Larisa, unaware of my inner mischief, asked anxiously.
She was a student of political science, though that department—filled entirely with high nobles—started a month later than the others.
She must’ve been worried I’d cause trouble without her.
I patted her shoulder.
“Do you think I’m the type to just sit there and take it?”
“Well… up until now, you’ve certainly been taking it.”
“…Fair point.”
I nodded. She wasn’t wrong. The original Kanis had always been the type to get trampled on.
Even without mana, she was still the Duke’s only daughter, yet she’d been treated with contempt not only by her father, but by society and the Academy as well.
“But don’t worry. Instead, do me a favor—tell your father something.”
“What should I say?”
“At the next quarterly meeting, push the idea of me being granted the title of Little Duke.”
Unlike official noble titles granted by the crown, the heir’s title of “Little Duke” was within the Duke’s power to bestow.
Normally, a legitimate heir received it around the age of ten. For Kanis to still be called just “young lady” was odd.
‘Quarterly meetings are four times a year, right?’
The Duke’s retainers gathered every season to handle affairs of the duchy. The next one was scheduled for October.
“By then, even Father won’t be able to ignore me.”
“You’re probably right.”
Larisa, who had witnessed my magic firsthand, nodded.
After a brief farewell, I boarded a carriage just slightly worse than Claude’s.
Of course, unlike his, mine hadn’t been tampered with—so it was much sturdier.
“Let’s depart.”
“Yes, my lady.”
The carriage carrying my luggage set off.
As the horses clattered into motion, I lifted the black cloth beneath my feet.
