MMLP 03

Chapter 3

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“What I need isn’t labor, it’s a horse.”

Gilbert’s familiar words of refusal came out of his mouth.

“This may not be the steed you wished for, my lord, but please, don’t cast me out. If I return empty-handed, my foster father won’t let me live in peace…”

“Your circumstances are pitiable, but what’s impossible is impossible.”

Gilbert coldly turned away from my tearful pleas. Begging pitifully would not make me any more useful than a freeloader.

“I understand. You mean you don’t need any extra hands, right?”

“That’s right.”

That’s fine. Because I know the true identity of Gilbert’s lost daughter.

Now that I recall the story from the book, the situation has completely changed.

“Then raise me.”

“What?”

“Raise me.”

“What…?”

Gilbert was flustered by my shameless attitude, as if I were merely reclaiming something left in his care.

This was my chance—I grabbed a handful of my own hair.

For an instant, Gilbert’s pupils quivered like branches shaken by the wind. My silver hair was the same color as his late wife’s.

“How old did you say you were?”

“Nine.”

“And your real parents?”

“Never met them. I’m a war orphan.”

A girl who had been separated from her parents in an accident as a newborn and then appeared nine years later, at the age of nine. Was that really a coincidence?

“You know it’s wrong to lie to adults.”

“I didn’t lie.”

In fact, everything I said was the truth.

“If what you say is true…”

His hand covered his forehead, then slowly dragged down his face. His piercing gaze hit me like an arrow, and a suppressed groan of anguish slipped from his lips.

After a brief but heavy silence, Gilbert bent down on one knee.

“Could it be that you are my…”

His trembling hand gripped my shoulder.

“…No. That’s impossible. My daughter is dead. Caught up in the war, she became a star in the heavens.”

If he didn’t believe me, so be it. As long as I could remain in this house to carry out my revenge, it didn’t matter whether I was acknowledged as his daughter or not.

I brought my hands together.

Fwoooosh—!

A small star formed above my palms, light gradually gathering into a glowing sphere. Gilbert and I looked at one another across the twinkling star between us.

“I may not have become a star, but I can show you one.”

This world had a special concept: Talent Manifestation—a technique that made one’s aptitude and potential visible to the naked eye.

Each aptitude took on a different form: warriors showed buildings, healers showed plants, summoners showed animals. And for mages, the form was a star.

“Because I’m a mage.”

Mages were extraordinary—especially in the Empire, which was at war with the Holy Nation that wielded divine power.

“I’ll definitely be of use to you.”

Unable to hide my desperation, I leaned forward earnestly.

“Did you know? Orphaned child mages are taken by the Imperial Court and forced into service as boy soldiers. Even if His Majesty granted me a title, I have no wish to return to the battlefield. That place is a nightmare.”

I had been born and raised on the battlefield only because my mother was an Imperial mage. Gilbert believed she had died in the war, but she was still alive.

If you could call her current state ‘alive’…

One day, I would find her. And I’d make sure Gilbert got a good scolding from the wife he thought was dead—just for not recognizing his own daughter.

But for now, revealing the truth wasn’t an option. First, I had to tug at Gilbert’s heartstrings while playing the innocent child.

“Just until I’m grown would be enough. I’ll run errands, clean, whatever you need—won’t you be my guardian?”

As the star faded and tiny sparks lingered in the air, Gilbert’s darkened face came into view.

Yes—it worked!

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I was handed over to a maid, who bathed me and dressed me in clean clothes.

Gilbert had only one son, who was away at the Knight Training Academy, so the only clothes available for me were the boy’s childhood garments.

Instead of a dress, I wore a tunic and trousers. Clad in fine fabric and with my long silver hair tied neatly, I looked like a well-bred young nobleman.

Ruby-like, deep red eyes.
Shimmering silver hair that gleamed like an aurora.

Ugly in character and foolish at heart, but outwardly? They used to call me the Empire’s number-one “sub-villainess.”

The maid who dressed me covered her mouth in shock.

“Wow… all dressed up, you look like a completely different person. So Lady Eve Maria wasn’t the special one after all…”

“Hm?”

“Ah, nothing! Since you’re ready, shall we step outside? Young Master Gilbert is waiting for you.”

Leaving the dressing room, I found Gilbert leaning against the wall with a tilted stance.

It would have been nice if he had said something—“Looks good,” “Not bad,” even “Doesn’t suit you”—but he only turned silently and walked ahead.

“If you’re ready, let’s go.”

Without comment, Gilbert crossed the garden. The estate stretched on endlessly—nearly as vast as the Imperial Palace itself.

As soon as we entered the building, my vision was filled with extravagant decorations crafted by court artists.

How much would all of this cost?

Converted into coin, it would be a fortune—but to a grand ducal family that had amassed wealth and honor for generations, it was nothing. This was the main residence of House Grimlore.

“Wow, this is amazing!”

I pretended to be seeing it for the first time, gazing up at the painted ceilings.

“What a magnificent home!”

My acting was clumsy, but Gilbert paid me no attention—he was busy straightening his rumpled shirt.

“So why are we here?”

“Hm? Ah. To meet someone.”

“Who?”

“Not something kids need to know. If we’re summoned inside, don’t breathe a word about magic and only answer what you’re asked. Just in case, carry this.”

Gilbert fastened a scabbard to my belt. The blade inside was about forty centimeters long—a child-sized weapon, smaller than a longsword.

“Stay put outside and don’t cause trouble until I come out.”

Rather contradictory words, given that he’d just armed me. Without another word, Gilbert disappeared into the room.

The great doors shut tight, leaving not the slightest gap. But I had a good guess who was inside, and why Gilbert entered with such a tense face.

At this time, the Empire’s truce negotiations were entering a lull. Even if they were doomed to collapse, the absence of the military high command from the frontlines was an opportunity for me.

If he’s meeting with that person, then this has to be a green light for me…

If he had just admitted outright that we came here to secure my adoption, I wouldn’t be stuck worrying like this!

Slumping against the wall, I slid down and sat. My legs had gone weak from all the tension.

But apparently, I wasn’t alone in the corridor.

“Hello?”

A voice approached lightly. No one had been there when Gilbert entered—had someone been hiding nearby?

Golden hair that shone like sunlight, delicate pink eyes, rounded features, and plump, rosy cheeks.

She was so adorably perfect she could have been mistaken for a walking porcelain doll.

“This place doesn’t allow outsiders. If you’re caught, you won’t get away unscathed.”

The main villainess—Eve Maria Grimlore.

I hadn’t expected to meet her this soon. But since she needed a mage, our meeting was inevitable.

In my past life, I’d been adopted as her elder sister, and my life had been utterly ruined.

But this time…

Casting a glance with my inner eye at the meeting room, I kept my face expressionless as I looked at Eve Maria.

“You don’t believe me? It’s true. A maid once sneaked around here without permission—she was punished harshly and cast out.”

I knew that incident.

A newly hired maid with pink hair and pink eyes—Eve Maria’s obsession with pink had marked her for torment.

“Hm. Lying that she was eavesdropping at the door was a bit much, I admit, but once her tongue and hands were cut off, it wasn’t as though we could undo it, was it? Heehee.”

Her giggling smile made my skin crawl. As expected, her rotten personality was as vile now as it had been before—pure malice incarnate.

“I’ll pretend I didn’t see you, big brother. So run away before anyone else does.”

Big brother…?

Ah. That explained her friendly tone. She thought I was a boy—just because I wore trousers and tied my hair up?

Pfft. I barely managed to stifle a laugh and answered her in a low voice.

 

“Hello.”