ICWG 15

The moment she returned home, Mrs. Sestol rushed toward her.

“Miti, you’re back! How was the date?”

“It wasn’t a date. And it was terrible.”

Mrs. Sestol’s eyes sparkled like a young girl who had just fallen in love for the first time.

Miti peeled her mother off and headed straight for the stairs.

“Miti, wait! Talk with your mother for a moment!”

She ignored Mrs. Sestol calling after her from behind.

The business card she had been gripping the entire time was already crumpled like a piece of trash.

“Welcome back, Miti.”

“That annoying Count!”

The canary that had been greeting her opened its beak in surprise.

Miti angrily threw the crumpled business card she had been clutching onto the floor.

The card rolled weakly across the ground.

“He thinks playing with people is funny?”

“One day, I’ll definitely get revenge on him!”

Gritting her teeth, she fumed.

The Count’s “testing” had left her boiling with anger.

Miti trembled as she clenched both fists tightly, trying to suppress her rage.

“I wonder how pathetic I looked to him, reacting wildly to every single thing he said.”

The Count’s pale gray-blue eyes, looking down at her without emotion, resurfaced in her mind.

Unable to endure the frustration, Miti threw herself onto the bed.

Then she buried her face in the blankets and kicked her feet around.

“As if he’s that amazing himself!”

The canary glanced sideways at Miti while she vented alone.

“Oh dear. I shouldn’t talk to her right now.”

Clicking its tongue, the canary quickly hopped farther away from her.

“But what’s this?”

The canary picked up the white object lying on the floor and flew back over.

It was Andelson’s business card, bent and wrinkled in her hand.

“Ah, right.”

Finally calming down a little, Miti picked up the card.

She tried her best to smooth out the wrinkles with her fingers.

But there was no way the already crumpled card would become neat again.

Looking at it only reminded her of the Count’s furrowed brow.

“Even thinking about it again makes him so annoy—”

“Stop already!”

“Ow!”

The canary pecked the top of Miti’s head.

She rubbed the sore spot with her fingertips.

“I’m asking what this is.”

“Can’t you tell? It’s a business card.”

“I know that. I’m asking whose business card it is!”

“Ow!”

When she answered rudely again, the canary pecked the same spot once more.

“How petty, pecking the exact same place.”

Miti glared sharply at the canary.

The canary glared right back at her.

“So whose is it?”

“The Count gave it to me.”

“Renern Kirchhoff?”

“Yes.”

“Really? Why?”

The moment Count Kirchhoff was mentioned, the canary’s eyes sparkled again.

Tilting its head from side to side, it urged her to continue.

“Why did Renern give you this?”

“He said if I want free access to the Magic Tower, I should get help from this person. Do you know who he is?”

Since the topic had come up, Miti asked about Andelson too.

At her question, the canary flew onto her wrist.

Then it stared at the card for a long time before shaking its head.

“I don’t know every soul in existence.”

“The Count said he’s a trainee he sponsors.”

“Well. In this story, he’s probably just some minor supporting character.”

The canary answered indifferently.

It seemed to instantly lose interest after deciding the person was not important to it.

It even flew over to the windowsill and began grooming its feathers calmly.

Miti stared at it before crawling to the edge of the bed and sitting down.

“Looking at you like this, you really just seem like a sparrow. Hard to believe you’re an angel.”

“I’m not a sparrow. I’m a canary.”

“You’re still a bird either way.”

“My soul is an angel!”

“You haven’t been much help anyway.”

“I’m only a guardian. I’m not a being that gives you all the answers.”

The canary spoke solemnly after hearing her complaint.

“How stingy.”

Muttering quietly to herself, Miti got off the bed.

Then she pulled the bell rope and called for a maid.

“Yes, Miss. Did you need something?”

“Can you bring me a pen, paper, and some ink? I need to send a letter.”

“Yes! I’ll bring them right away!”

The cheerful maid hurried out of the room.

Even during that time, the canary remained focused on grooming its feathers.

“If I join the Magic Tower, I’ll end up using magic. Are you not against that?”

“Why would I be?”

The canary answered lazily at her sudden question.

“But Minachelti’s body could be in danger.”

“It’s your body now.”

“Still.”

“As long as your fates remain connected, I don’t care. Thanks to that, the world is still safe.”

“So the only thing it really cares about is whether the world survives.”

Miti clicked her tongue at the canary’s cold indifference.

“Miss, I brought them.”

The maid returned just then, and Miti sat down at her desk.

The maid quietly remained beside her instead of leaving while she wrote the letter.

The maid’s bright smile strangely bothered her.

“Did something good happen to her?”

Ignoring her, Miti began writing.

The letter contained a short greeting, a question asking if she could visit sometime this week, and another asking about methods of entering the Magic Tower.

She also added that if it was impossible, she would like to know the earliest available day to visit.

“Won’t you spray perfume on it?”

Just as she was folding the finished letter into the envelope, the maid asked curiously.

“Perfume? Why?”

“If you’re sending it to Count Kirchhoff’s estate, wouldn’t it be better to spray perfume on it?”

“I’m not sending it there.”

“Huh? Then who are you writing to? You don’t even have any friends!”

The maid complained while drooping her eyebrows dramatically.

Miti narrowed her eyes and stared at the overly lively maid.

“Are you making fun of me right now?”

“N-No, that’s not what I meant…….”

“It’s true I don’t have friends, but I can still have reasons to send letters.”

“But I thought the two of you had secretly started sharing feelings.”

“What?”

Miti nearly choked at the maid’s words.

“Why in the world would you think that?”

“Well, because the Count……”

The maid, pouting harmlessly, suddenly clamped her hands over her mouth.

“What? Why did you stop talking?”

“I-It’s nothing!”

“It’s obviously not nothing. Explain properly, Ella.”

Miti threatened her.

“If you don’t tell me right now, I’ll punish you.”

“Hiiing.”

At that, Ella tearily lowered her hands little by little.

“Well…….”

Fidgeting with the edge of her skirt, Ella confessed everything that had happened.

“When the Count came to visit you while you were sick, he asked me for my name.”

Miti immediately realized who had been spilling information about the Sestol family’s “methods of educating their daughter.”

“So she was the culprit.”

It seemed the Count had secretly targeted Ella from the day he visited.

“You know you shouldn’t casually tell outsiders about family matters, right?”

“I honestly thought he was only asking because he cared about you, Miss!”

Ella protested that she had no bad intentions.

“And besides, it’s Count Kirchhoff! There’s no way he would do anything bad!”

“How can you know what someone is truly thinking?”

“And he even gave me money! How could I not talk?”

“You……!”

Miti opened and closed her mouth speechlessly.

She was so dumbfounded that no words came out.

“But…… payday is still far away, and my little brother’s birthday is coming soon…….”

Finally noticing Miti’s expression, Ella lowered her head guiltily.

“I’m really sorry, Miss.”

Miti stared at Ella for a while before letting out a sigh.

Just as Ella claimed, she probably truly had no ill intentions.

“And if the Count himself was asking questions, she probably couldn’t refuse to answer.”

“Never talk about me to the Count again. If you do it one more time, I won’t even give you a recommendation letter before throwing you out. Understood?”

“Yes…….”

Ella answered gloomily.

“And one more thing.”

“……?”

“Don’t tell anyone that I sent a letter to the Magic Tower. Especially not my parents.”

She warned Ella firmly while taking advantage of the maid’s guilty conscience.

Ella quickly nodded.

At that moment, a pure white pigeon with scattered brown feathers landed on the window.

Seeing the knot tied around its leg, Miti opened the window.

Even when she reached out her hand, the pigeon did not run away.

When she untied the knot around its leg, she immediately noticed the neat handwriting.

As expected, the sender was Andelson.

“Dear Miss Sestol,
You may visit at any time. If you tell me the hour, I will come greet you personally.
The only way to join the Magic Tower without taking the regular examination is through the ‘Special Admission System.’”

Andelson explained the Special Admission System in great detail.

From that alone, Miti could already tell how meticulous his personality was.