🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 23
At that moment, the man panicked and hurriedly gathered the scattered documents.
So frantically that he even forgot his noble dignity and dropped to his knees on the floor.
“Damn it, where are you even looking— Huh, My Lady!”
The man bowed his head in a rush.
He recognized Aria, but Aria did not know him.
“Are you all right? Did you get hurt…?”
Who is he?
Aria cut him off and held out her card.
He looked mildly displeased but soon forced a polite expression, a hint of condescending pity flickering in his eyes as he explained.
“My name is Lessen Stewart.”
Baron Stewart.
One of the Valentine family scribes.
Aria recalled hearing the name in passing.
She slowly scanned him up and down as if assessing him.
Why is a scribe here?
“To organize the documents recorded by the scribes, of course.”
Ah.
Aria remembered—aside from Valentine blood relatives, the only ones allowed to freely enter and exit the library were the scribes.
So it’s not strange after all.
Aria stepped aside, gesturing for him to pass.
The scribe, however, felt strangely uncomfortable.
What’s with her? Why is she looking at me like that?
Asking why a scribe had come to the library was bizarre enough—
Let alone looking at him with suspicion, as though he had ulterior motives.
Don’t tell me she read the documents…
No. Impossible.
How could she read them in the brief thirty seconds they were scattered?
From that distance, at that.
He concluded she must simply be uncultured and rude.
Hmph. She may roam the ducal castle however she wants now, but she’ll be kicked out soon enough.
Rumors said the Grand Duke had taken to favoring her recently, but who knew how long that would last?
No matter how much affection she received, the scribe knew she would eventually be expelled.
The Grand Duke’s fickle interest, the servants’ fondness—none of it matters.
Even if the heir, by some miracle, developed interest in her, it would be useless.
It was already too late.
The day the Duchess dies will be the day you’re thrown out of here.
The scribe could only pity the ignorant girl who wandered around as if the world belonged to her.
It’ll be soon…
But he wasn’t stupid enough to say that aloud.
He’d heard what had happened to the second son of House Beaufort after he’d run his mouth carelessly.
Stablehand’s assistant, or whatever he’d been demoted to.
Recently, Count Beaufort always looked about ready to die of shame.
He’d barely managed to make his lacking but beloved son into a knight, and then his title had been stripped overnight.
What humiliation.
Better to say the child never existed.
The scribe definitely didn’t want to end up like that.
“Ahem. Well then, I have urgent matters to attend to. Please excuse me.”
Regardless of what he was thinking inside, he bowed politely and withdrew.
Aria did not like this.
She recalled the document she’d just read, and the lawbook Vincent had been poring over ever since returning from the academy.
So that was why he kept reading nothing but laws.
Don’t tell me what they’re after is…
Lost in thought, Aria stared out the window.
The scribe was walking swiftly, hugging the documents to his chest as if they were his lifeline.
Aria curled her thumb and index finger into a circle, put them to her lips, and blew a sharp whistle.
“Coo-coo!”
A flock of carrier pigeons sliced through the sky, hurtling toward her from afar.
Without hesitation, Aria pointed at the scribe.
The pigeons dove like soldiers obeying an order.
“W–what the—?! Aaaaagh!”
That should buy some time.
Pigeons pecked and shredded the documents while the baron, trying to catch them, received a direct hit of bird droppings on his head.
Aria watched silently, then closed the window.
* * *
Yes. She had to meet him as soon as possible.
There was no time to search around.
Aria headed straight to the wolf enclosure.
The moment she opened the gate, one wolf shot out like an arrow.
“Hi, Silver. Long time no see.”
“Woof!”
Compared to the other wolves, his fur had a distinctly silver sheen—hence the name Silver.
A simple naming choice.
But Silver seemed thrilled simply to have someone call his name, wagging his tail wildly.
The Grand Duke was not the type to bother naming each of his wolves, after all.
After patting Silver’s head a few times, Aria asked:
“Who’s the strongest after your pack leader?”
“Whine?”
“No, not Lloyd. The one after him.”
Silver tilted his head, then nudged her with his nose.
“Hmm… so I’m next.”
“Awooo!”
He understood.
As soon as Aria climbed onto his back, Silver dashed forward like he had been waiting for it.
The tower.
There were two towers in the ducal castle—
the west tower and the east tower.
Silver rushed toward the east tower, climbing the spiral staircase nonstop.
Before long, they reached the top floor.
Aria dismounted and knocked firmly on the tightly closed door.
No answer.
He’s definitely inside.
She sensed movement—
Someone had frozen briefly when she knocked.
Which meant—
He’s ignoring the uninvited guest.
Aria grabbed the doorknob.
It didn’t budge; locked.
After jiggling it a few times, she sighed and looked at Silver.
Silver charged immediately.
KWOOM—!
The door shattered. Dust billowed everywhere.
The man with the purple hair standing inside stared at Aria in stunned disbelief.
Sorry about that.
Aria gave him a faintly apologetic look.
Normally, she would’ve come back another time.
But she had no such luxury now. No patience, no time.
She hugged the wolf, who proudly trotted back to her as if asking for praise, then stepped before the man.
“You little—!”
He definitely just swore.
He ruffled his slightly curly hair roughly, openly cursing.
“You pretend you’re not in your laboratory, and the kid just breaks the door down? Birds of a feather indeed.”
The purple-haired man clapped sarcastically.
“Welcome to House Valentine. Truly.”
Judging from his tone, he must have experienced this with someone else before.
The Grand Duke? Or the heir?
Maybe both, Aria thought.
She dug into her worn bag and pulled out a fresh card.
Sorry. I really needed to see you.
“Yes, I’m sure you did.”
He clicked his tongue and reluctantly introduced himself.
“I’m Carlin, the castle’s sorcerer.”
Sorcerer?
Aria’s eyes widened like a startled rabbit.
Sorcery relied on magic power—and the use of magic power was illegal.
She had sensed an unfamiliar energy from him but hadn’t expected it to be actual magic power.
So Valentine really is outside the law.
A criminal sorcerer occupying an entire tower—
It suited the demon-like castle.
Aria stared. Carlin waved a dismissive hand.
Annoying brat.
He couldn’t deny that he had underestimated her.
He’d assumed she’d give up if the door was simply locked.
He hated kids.
Ignorant fools who think sorcerers and wizards are the same.
Wizards were children’s idols.
Featured in fairy tales and history books as royal advisors or spiritual guides.
Carlin was convinced Aria had come here to gush about magic.
“This isn’t a playground. I’m not the wizard you’re hoping for, and as you can see, I’m busy. No time to entertain you.”
Was he even breathing between words?
Aria stared up at him while he rapid-fired complaints, then pulled out another card.
I want to learn how to use energy.
Carlin’s eyebrows shot up for a split second before falling again.
Unexpected.
Kids her age usually said things like:
“Wow, magic! So cool! Teach me how to use magic too!”
“You’re familiar with the concept of energy, then.”
Energy was the collective term for mana, holy power, magic power, spirit power—any mystical force.
All humans had energy.
But harnessing and developing it depended on talent.
Knowing that means she can tell sorcerers from wizards…
And that people were born with different types of energy.
Carlin was still irritated but answered more mildly than before.
“Energy isn’t something anyone can use. If you lack sufficient innate quantity, you die the moment it flows out of the core.”
Core.
Aria’s eyes glittered.
She didn’t even hear the rest of his explanation.
“No need to be discouraged. One in a million can use energy at all, one in ten million can manifest it in a new form, and I—well—am a once-in-a-century genius…”
Aria ignored all the self-praise and tugged on his black robe.
Then she handed him a card.
How long does it usually take to freely control energy from the core?
“Well, at least five or six years at minimum.”
That long?
Aria realized that reaching that level in four years had actually been considered fast, and she felt disappointed.
Then—perhaps—
Can you forcibly break open my core?
“Are you insane?!”
Carlin was horrified.
