🔊 TTS Settings
chapter 20
“Master, the lessons are moving too fast!”
<Why? You said you’d finished reading.>
“Well… when you put it like that, I’ve got no comeback.”
Tiya let out a long sigh, staring at the mountain of magic theory books piled before her. When she first carried them one by one from the mansion’s library, as Winter instructed, she had no idea what awaited her.
<Just memorize them. You’re good at that, aren’t you?>
She never imagined she’d have to memorize every single thing in those books.
“Magic is… a theory class?!”
At this rate, becoming an archmage felt impossibly far away.
Seeing his pupil shrink into gloom, Winter coaxed her gently.
<You’re not as dumb as you think.>
“I’ve never thought I was dumb…”
Tiya’s face sank even further.
<I meant, you’re not as dumb as I thought. Three whole constellations implanted the basic magic formulas in your head—if you can’t even memorize this much, that’s a problem.>
Grumbling, Tiya rubbed the crown of her head.
“There’s nothing here… How’s that supposed to work?”
A moment later—
“…It worked?”
Her voice trembled with both surprise and delight.
As she turned each page, the fundamental structures of magical formulas stamped themselves into her mind, like imprints of a seal.
“Oh my gosh, Winter. I think I’m a genius!”
Her boasting continued non-stop after that.
“Phew, I’m even afraid of my own talent. Just how far will I grow… the Snow Leopard of the North!”
Soon she was already rehearsing a grand speech for the day she would become Tower Master.
“Apparently all you have to do is read theory books and voilà—you’re Tower Master? Heh, I dedicate this honor to my parents who gave birth to me a genius. Of course, I did the work myself! But still, I’m the genius!”
She shrugged her shoulders proudly.
“Normally I don’t give out autographs, but since you insist… I’ll make an exception just this once!”
Her chin, raised in triumph, never seemed to come back down.
<…Fine. Enjoy it while you can.>
Once she entered true advanced studies, she’d realize she was nothing more than dust drifting through the vast universe.
So, for three weeks of her house arrest, Tiya holed up in her room, throwing herself into magic practice. Of course, she didn’t neglect caring for her father, and Winter continued to dig into the count’s weaknesses.
<Trash as a guardian who doesn’t even notice when his kid runs away… yet the account books are spotless. Why?>
“Tsk. Daddy! No. No! Don’t say bad words!”
<…Is she raising him or training a mutt?>
Sure, Count Shurka’s cold brow never once furrowed, and his careless words still bruised her heart—but something else had shifted.
Her relationship with Rev.
After finishing her magic lesson one day, Tiya burst into his room.
“Oppaya! Your lifelong little sister Tiya is here~”
“Get lost, rib-cracker.”
Rev, whose ribs really had been cracked by her “heart attack” before, grumbled but scooted over to make room on his bed.
As soon as Tiya plopped down beside him, Rev dismissed all the attendants guarding his room.
“Alright, talk.”
“About what?”
“Don’t play dumb. You ran away with your baby teeth barely out—what the hell did you do? How did you become a mage? Where did you get a Frost Spirit’s egg?”
“Ehh? You’re only asking that now?”
They had agreed to keep both Rev’s egg and Tiya’s identity as a mage a secret between them, so she thought the matter was closed.
“Well, um…”
She tried to speak honestly, but the laws of the world clamped her mouth shut.
Casting a desperate glance at Winter—
<Stick to the story we agreed on.>
Truth mixed with lies—that was his advice. For a girl who couldn’t lie, it was the best option.
“My master taught me. How to become a mage, and where to find the Frost Spirit’s egg.”
“Master?”
“Yeah, I met him by chance when I snuck out. He said I had amazing magical talent!”
Rev narrowed his eyes. A “master,” out of nowhere, sounded far too suspicious.
“What’s his name?”
“All he said was this—”
Tiya stood up suddenly, imitating someone with dramatic flair.
“Snow falls silently. So too are my good deeds silent. Remember only the name—the Snow Leopard of the North.”
“…She’s insane.”
Rev dragged his hands over his face. He was already regretting trusting her with the egg.
“Fine. Let’s say this shady guy told you that. What about money for the journey? Did your so-called master give you that too?”
“Eh? Don’t you remember? …My oppa lent it to me.”
“Who?”
Tiya sank down with a guilty look, eyes rolling side to side.
“…You.”
Rev blinked. She didn’t mean Rodion—she always called him hyung.
“You don’t call anyone else oppa except me, do you?”
His face suddenly turned grave.
“Listen. Don’t go around calling just anyone oppa. Only me. The one who shares your blood, is two years older than you, and calls you ‘gnasher.’ Only me.”
Your brother is me. There can’t be another.
What began as calm explanation turned into a desperate speech.
Tiya cheerfully reassured him.
“Exactly, I borrowed it from you!”
Rev blinked again.
“Don’t you remember? I asked you for money, and you said okay. Then… what was it called, a contract? Instead of that, I left lemon candies behind.”
A memory flashed in his mind.
“…Could you not give it to me?”
“…Could you lend it to me?”
“Oppa, could you please lend me some money?”
The hazy echoes in his head sharpened into clarity.
“You don’t mean—!”
Rev jumped up, yanking open the jar by his bedside.
The jar that had once been half-filled with gold coins was now empty.
He had never told anyone, but those coins were savings he’d set aside—a farewell gift for the people who might attend his funeral one day.
And now—
“…You stole it?”
“Stole? No, I borrowed it!”
Right, Winter?
Winter had told her:
<People are lenient in that twilight state between waking and sleep. Just ask politely—he’ll say yes. And you’ll pay him back eventually.>
But Rev didn’t see it that way.
In a fit of rage, he smacked her back.
“You shriveled gnasher! What nonsense are you spouting?!”
“Ow! Don’t hit me, oppa!”
“You mess up and then tell me not to hit you?!”
“Ow, ow! You’ll break your bones again!”
“Why would my bones—”
Crack.
A sharp sound silenced him.
Both their eyes fell to his wrist. Limp and crooked, swelling fast.
“Ack.”
“See! I told you! Now look—it went crack! Melodyyyy!”
“Ugh, it’s already swelling.”
“Oppaaaaa! Don’t dieeeee!”
Not long after his ribs healed, Rev had now twisted his wrist.
By the time it recovered, and Tiya’s magical ability was growing deeper by the day—
“Milady! The young master has returned!”
News of a long-awaited homecoming arrived.
Rodion, whose academy stay had been extended, had finally returned.
