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Chapter 32
At Arina’s desperate voice, Ellin stared straight at her.
Her face still looked as if she couldn’t believe what she was saying.
At that indifferent expression, Arina’s face hardened as if revealing her impatient heart.
No matter how much she thought about it, no method to reverse the situation came to mind. She had already been continuously saying things like ‘I’ll try’ and ‘I’ll do my best’ until now.
Unless she showed a different card, something only she could do, it seemed difficult to win over Ellin’s—no, beyond her, Lady Bellia’s—heart.
‘What should I do?’
She took a sharp breath and bit down hard on the soft flesh inside her mouth. The metallic taste of blood spreading over her tongue with a *whoosh* made her feel like she was coming to her senses.
‘Blood.’
That incident a few days ago when Letitia bled.
Suddenly reminded of that moment, Arina looked at Ellin.
“The young lady’s ability. No, the type of ability.”
To Arina’s words, adding that she would find out what kind of ability she was born with, on top of that truth which she had no way of confirming was real or fake, Ellin furrowed her brow.
“You think you can find out?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t tell me, you’re planning to use *that*?”
At Ellin’s words, Arina nodded her head.
“Yes, to increase the capacity.”
In that case…
Ellin let out a long sigh, slightly turned her head, and touched her temple.
Well, Arina wasn’t a piece to be discarded so easily anyway.
She was the only child who had stayed by Letitia’s side for a long time, along with Rinji, and was also in charge of the food.
Moreover, she knew full well how Arina had treated Letitia in the annex, and hadn’t she even come along to the main building?
‘Even though Mr. Bennet must have offered to change her maid.’
That meant that no matter the current situation, the fact that Arina was Letitia’s close maid remained unchanged.
‘I don’t know what about Arina the young lady got upset about.’
She glanced at Arina.
‘But if it’s that…’
She couldn’t trust Arina, but she could trust *that*.
So, she decided to give her one more chance.
“This is the last time. There won’t be any more.”
“Yes.”
“And if we get caught…”
“I know.”
At Ellin’s words, Arina nodded her head vigorously.
“That it has nothing to do with Aether.”
At the words spoken in an irritated tone, Ellin reluctantly moved her head in acknowledgment, and a dangerous gloom clouded Arina’s eyes.
Then, as if she had just thought of something, her eyes widened and she looked back at Ellin.
“And also, the young lady has been looking for money lately.”
“Money?”
“Yes, she’s been asking about the money coming in under her name, and also where the money Lady Shari sends is.”
At Arina’s words, Ellin stared straight at her.
“Look into that too.”
“…….”
“Find out what she plans to use it for. It couldn’t be related to Lady Shari, could it?”
At Ellin’s words, subtly implying ‘related,’ Arina nodded her head.
“Yes.”
* * *
Time passed quite quickly after I honestly talked to Hale.
In the meantime, Hale had left the mansion once, saying he was going home, and came back the next day smiling.
Upon returning, he had even found out that the auction house I wanted to go to was open on Saturday from 6 PM and closes at 12 AM.
“So you’ll need to come out a bit earlier this week.”
“Okay.”
I nodded at Hale’s subtle urging.
“I’ll tell Lili.”
Then I entered the classroom for my lessons.
Today was the time for Kiette’s lesson, who was hell-bent on tormenting me.
But—
“Shall we play with me today?”
Instead of Kiette, Olga entered the classroom and beamed a bright smile at me. Since it was their first time seeing him, Chandler and Jason exchanged glances wondering who he was, and Lilihana poked me sharply in the side.
“That person who walked out of the water.”
“Yeah. That teacher.”
“Olga.”
“Yeah.”
I nodded at Lilihana’s words.
“But what is he going to teach us?”
That was something I was curious about too.
What would he teach the three without abilities? I lifted my head.
“I’ll hand out paper, so please draw round circles, pointy triangles, and straight squares.”
However, he only handed paper to Lilihana, Chandler, and Jason; there was nothing on my desk.
“Teacher, you didn’t give me any paper.”
“Young Lady Letitia, please draw them in the air.”
“…….”
Wondering what he meant, I tilted my head slightly.
Then Olga, smiling brightly, pulled out a long golden thread from his fingertip and drew a circle, triangle, and square for me.
Just as he said, it was a perfectly round circle without any crooked parts, a pointy triangle, and a straight square.
The three others stared in wonder, their mouths agape at the shapes floating in the air, while I stared blankly, feeling absurd.
It was a demand to produce a result without any ‘how-to’.
“How am I supposed to do it?”
“Try gathering your thoughts. Since you have an ability, it should be easy.”
I feel like I could say something like that too.
I frowned at his abstract explanation, but—
“Now, let’s draw quickly!”
Olga turned his head towards the children, seeming to have no intention of giving any more hints.
Looking at the back of his head, I felt the urge to punch him, finding him just as annoying as Kiette, who was skilled at tormenting me.
He disappears without a trace for a whole month, shows up, and gives a lesson like this?
On top of the absurdity, it was ridiculous.
But as he said, I have an ability.
Drawing shapes should be easy, right? I confidently rolled up my dress sleeves.
But.
While the other children finished drawing their shapes on paper, coloring them, and even adding patterns and decorations, I was still unable to do anything.
Let alone a circle, triangle, or square.
Nothing happened from my finger.
You said it was easy.
Contrary to Olga’s words, I couldn’t get a feel for it.
“Isn’t that a lie?”
I heard Chandler’s mocking voice from behind.
‘Damn it.’
Feeling a surge of anger, I glared sharply at Chandler. Olga stepped between us, blocking the view, and smiled brightly.
“Try gathering the ability inside you once.”
“It won’t gather.”
“Try reading the flow.”
“It won’t read.”
“…….”
I had boldly declared to my grandfather that I was a genius, but seeing how I couldn’t execute a single thing he said made me seriously consider retracting my statement.
I didn’t know how to gather the ability inside me, and I couldn’t understand how to read the flow either.
‘My comprehension is lacking.’
Even during my time as Ixia, I wasn’t exactly stupid, but I couldn’t get a grasp on my ability at all. I looked up with a sullen face.
“I don’t get it.”
Shaking my head, I raised my index finger.
But Olga also seemed to find it difficult to understand me, staring down at me and pressing his lips together firmly.
“Hmm.”
It seemed that for those who have abilities, or those who have manifested them, this was as easy as breathing. His face looked like he found it hard to explain how to do it, which made me feel even more sullen.
‘But I have to do it.’
Time had already flown by, and only 4 months remained until I turned 7.
If I couldn’t master controlling my ability by then and suffered from side effects, not only would I lose the qualification to be the heir, but the journey to Oné would also come to nothing.
Frankly, I didn’t care about the heir qualification, but Oné was different.
‘I must go to Oné.’
Even if just to meet Rian, my lifeline.
Because then, even if Aether falls, I and Dad can survive.
But if things continue like this—
‘The entire plan will be ruined.’
I looked down at my finger and closed my eyes tightly.
I clenched my eyes shut as if straining to defecate, and made my finger tremble, but…
“He’s a fraud.”
“He’s a fraud who doesn’t even have an ability.”
“Are you taking a shit? Your face is all red.”
Only the taunts from Chandler and Jason grew worse.
“Teacher!”
“Teacher, they cursed at Letitia!”
“Seriously, shut up, you jerks!”
Lilihana frowned, scolding them as if annoyed by Chandler’s tattling.
But even in her eyes, which were subtly defending me, I couldn’t help but notice a faint trace of doubt forming.
‘Maybe I really don’t have an ability.’
Wasn’t it strange for an ability that didn’t exist in my previous life to suddenly appear now?
Then what was all that talk about altruism and whatnot that Olga was spouting?
I sharply raised my head to look at Olga, who was staring straight at me—
“Please practice for next time.”
As expected, he didn’t teach me anything, just smiled brightly and turned around.
“Class is over for today.”
“Wahhh!”
“Goodbye!”
At Olga’s words, Chandler and Jason were the first to get up and leave the classroom. Then Lilihana got up next, saying “See you tomorrow, Lesha,” and left the classroom.
And all that remained was me, with my finger still raised in the air.
I felt a bit like an idiot.
I had thought everything would be solved once I met Olga.
With all my expectations shattered into pieces, I looked up at Olga.
“Teacher Olga.”
“Yes.”
“Do I have an ability?”
