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chapter 15
“Lady Escliffe, is it?”
She rolled the words around on her tongue as she murmured them.
The House of Escliffe was currently the most powerful family after the imperial house—no, powerful enough to rival the imperial house itself.
Even the Emperor, on occasion, had to yield to the Duke’s words.
Surely he had some highly skilled secret guards around his daughter.
‘Could it be that brat Aiden is plotting something?’
By principle, heirs could not marry heirs, so she could not tie Deon to Canis.
But with Aiden, things were different.
He was in a position where he could marry Canis Escliffe.
No matter how much the Empire denied the existence of illegitimate children, when it came to members of the imperial bloodline, the rules bent.
In other words, from Aiden’s perspective, the best possible marriage partner was Canis Escliffe.
If he became part of the Ducal House, even the Empress herself would have to think twice before interfering…
‘And if those two married and had an heir—’
That child would carry imperial blood. That meant a legitimate claim to the throne.
It would be like handing the already domineering Ducal House the sword of rebellion.
That was something the Empress could never allow.
She wanted to secure the most stable, unshakable throne for her precious son—the son she adored as if he were her very eyes.
“What are your orders, Your Majesty?”
“…At this point, I cannot move directly against the young lady.”
She must never take matters into her own hands.
The Duke’s hatred of his eldest daughter was nothing new, but still, she was a member of his house.
If harm befell the girl and even a whisper of the Empress’s involvement spread, the Crown Prince’s position itself could be threatened.
The Empress bit her lip, thinking hard.
‘Fortunately, Lady Escliffe is incompetent and foolish.’
Rumor had it she was always at the bottom of the Academy, gloomy and withdrawn.
She was not the sort of person who could take Aiden’s hand and actively push anything forward.
“For now, we’ll watch.”
Thus, the Empress decided to take a step back.
“Yes.”
The assassin bowed and melted away into the darkness.
Canis had no roommate. The number of fourth-year girls was odd, and besides, no one wanted to share a room with her.
The dormitory encouraged students to change rooms each term, but it was only a recommendation. Even without that, she would have always been alone.
But for now, that turned out to be convenient.
I laid Mei down on the bed beside mine and dove into my own dorm bed. As expected of an academy for noble children, the bedding was rather high-quality—not quite a ducal residence, but still decent.
‘Even so, my head is a mess.’
On your first day in the dorm, if you can sleep soundly, you’re either extremely carefree or a total lunatic.
“Mmm… I’m sure… mmmh… huh!”
What time is it now?
Beep-beep-beep!
Smack! I slapped the alarm clock ringing in the corner and shut it off.
The outside world was already bright.
‘What the—did I time-warp?’
Why was it morning already?
“Are you awake, sister?”
“Mei?”
“I—I’m new to the dorms, so… I went ahead and cleaned the place myself.”
At her words, I looked around.
The room, which had been dusty from long disuse, was now sparkling clean—so shiny it almost dazzled.
“…Wow.”
Should I just make her my permanent roommate?
“Did you say… a transfer student?”
“That’s right.”
The professor adjusted his glasses again at my words.
“Transferring itself is not against the rules… but to enroll, a student must undergo a mana test. After all, this Academy exists to cultivate outstanding mages.”
He was reciting by the manual, but when he glanced at me, he gave a forced cough.
“Khmm! Of course, there are always exceptions, but never twice.”
“Don’t worry about that. Mei is definitely a mage.”
“Well, in that case…”
He still looked at me with suspicion.
‘Sigh. Is my reputation really that terrible in this place?’
Canis Escliffe was a non-mage who often skipped classes—a delinquent. No wonder the professor looked at me so coldly.
“You there, student. You’re seventeen, correct?”
“Y-Yes!”
“Have you ever studied magic before?”
“Not formally, but I’ve read lots of books in my free time.”
Mei answered with a shy smile.
“I really love reading books.”
‘…Books?’
Back in Korea, the only books I’d read were textbooks and webnovels.
But what Mei meant by “books” were surely philosophical texts or grimoires…
“An excellent student indeed. Then, let us conduct the mana test.”
The professor seemed pleased with her attitude, smiling warmly—completely different from how he looked at me.
The two of them went into a small room.
About ten minutes later—
“Unbelievable! A healing mage!”
The professor’s jubilant cry rang out.
I, waiting absentmindedly for the results, froze at that exclamation.
‘…Healing magic?’
Wasn’t that the very power the original heroine had used?
The shock lingered even as I took Mei’s hand and walked out with her.
“Look, sister! They even gave me a badge!”
“Uh—yeah. It’s pretty.”
Her cheerful chatter barely registered. I was still in a daze.
Because—she was a healing mage.
In fantasy novels, healers were usually relegated to supporting roles or side heroines. But this was a romance-fantasy world.
Here, healers were exceedingly rare and precious.
It was no wonder the novel’s heroine, after manifesting such power, drew all the Duke’s attention.
‘But now Mei has awakened as a healer…’
I looked down at her, my mind in turmoil.
Healing mages were so rare that only specialized magic tools could properly identify them.
And the Duke would never have given Mei such a test.
Her mana looked pitifully small to the naked eye.
It was only because of her healing attribute that it appeared so faint. But with a genius like Claude as his son, the Duke had no desire to bother with a lowly illegitimate daughter from a maid.
That explained why he had always tossed her to Helena’s care and ignored her.
‘…Wait. But isn’t something off here?’
At first, I thought Mei must have been thrown out or abused to death before the heroine possessed Canis in the original.
But no—the moment I possessed her was already six months later than the novel’s timeline.
So Mei should have encountered the possessed heroine already.
‘Besides, the original was a family-rehabilitation story.’
Even the utterly irredeemable Duke and younger brother were “washed clean” and put to use, but Mei—who had done nothing wrong—was never once mentioned.
And now she had the exact same rare ability as the heroine…
“Sister?”
She tilted her head innocently under my stare.
“It’s nothing.”
I shook my head.
“Just that… you’re cute.”
“Oh, come on, sister…”
Blushing, Mei grabbed my arm. I turned my head away, embarrassed, and thought:
‘Could it be some cliché twist that Canis was the hidden mastermind?’
Or maybe some complicated causality business?
Whatever it was, it didn’t really matter to me right now.
“Huh? Sister, what’s that?”
“What?”
I followed where she was pointing.
Her finger was aimed at a posted notice.
[All-Academy Tournament Preliminaries]
[First Prize: 5 Million Cron]
“Ah-ha.”
I grinned as I recognized the familiar original-event.
In the novel, the Academy held a tournament every semester between the Swordsmanship and Magic departments.
Officially, it was presented as a kind of festival, like a sports day—but there was one key difference.
“The rankings affect your grades.”
That was right.
The reason Canis Escliffe had never escaped last place was precisely because of this system.
“In fact, for the Magic and Sword departments, over 80% of practical grades depend on performance. And half of that comes from this tournament.”
“Then… do I have to fight too?”
Mei looked up at me nervously after hearing my explanation.
I shook my head.
“No. Healers are graded differently. You don’t need to worry.”
In the novel, the only healer in the Academy—Canis—was tasked with treating injured students during the tournament.
And of course, her overwhelming divine healing, mending injuries in an instant, was enough to earn her perfect marks.
My gaze naturally fell on Mei.
She, who wielded the same power as the heroine, yet had never appeared in the original story.
Could she, like me, have been given some special role?
Perhaps the real heroine was not Canis at all, but… Mei, with someone else possessing her body?
‘Let’s check.’
After a moment’s hesitation, I activated the skill to peer into another’s mana.
[Eye of the Sage (A)]
‘…Aha.’
