Chapter 69
Chapter 69
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: Mana Under Wisteria
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Pale purple wisteria flowers bloomed profusely, blanketing the pavilion. The petals drooping from top to bottom brought to mind a bride’s veil, ripe grapes, hanging curtains—every sort of lovely thing imaginable.
Beneath the pavilion’s roof, two girls and one boy sat on a carpet of those pale purple petals.
Rachel had swapped out the green dress that had been blamed for her “noble disease” and borrowed clothes from Lukea instead.
“Does the dress fit okay?”
“Yes.”
“It’s something I wore four years ago, but I’m glad it suits you.”
“Thank you for lending it to me.”
“Speak comfortably.”
“Is that all right?”
“Yeah. You two are my first visitors—my first friends.”
Lukea wore a sweet expression, as if her mouth were stuffed full of cotton candy. Enoch flinched at the phrase “first friends,” but no one noticed.
“You said you came to learn magic from me, right? But explaining it is hard for me, so I’ll just show you.”
Pale green mana matching the color of Lukea’s eyes swirled around her heart.
She extended her fingers toward the hydrangeas in the garden, and mana spread out from her fingertips.
The transparent mana around the flowers took on a pale green hue and seeped into the blooms.
The flowers, now infused with mana, brimmed with even more vibrant life.
“So, did you get it from watching?”
“I saw it, even if I don’t know how you did it.”
“I said speak comfortably.”
“Yeah, I saw it.”
Lukea looked pleased that Rachel was speaking casually.
“You can see it, huh.”
“Yeah. Can’t you, Lukea?”
“I don’t see it so much as feel it. There’s always something around me.”
Lukea closed her eyes for a moment, and green mana spread slowly around her body like ink dropped into water.
“It’s similar to what I felt when we entered the forest. What does it look like to you?”
“Lukea’s mana is the same color as those grass blades. Looking at it makes my mind feel at ease.”
Lukea’s eyes curved into crescent moons as she beamed at Rachel’s answer.
“I’m happy you say that. ‘Mana.’ Is that what you call it?”
“Yeah.”
“Then I’ll call it mana too. First things first—to cast magic, you have to sense mana.”
“If seeing it counts as sensing, then I can.”
Even now, Rachel could see the mana drifting around her and flowing through people’s bodies.
“Next, you have to be able to manipulate it.”
In response to Rachel’s words, Lukea reached out into the air. Mana gathered atop her fingers and danced lightly there.
“Mana syncs with my emotions. If you don’t control it, it causes weird phenomena on its own. I had a tough time with it when I was little.”
She added that when she was young, plants had sprouted and grown in an instant or moved on their own, causing her no end of trouble.
“So, how do you manipulate mana?”
“That’s the hard part, actually. First, you have to believe it’ll move the way you want.”
Believing that something invisible, something no one else could sense, would obey your will was no easy task.
Especially when you didn’t even know what it could accomplish.
“It took me about five years. I realized the weird stuff happening around me was connected to plants, and that’s when I started believing.”
But it didn’t seem like it would be hard for Rachel. Mana was visible to her, after all.
Moving it might take time, but believing that those visible little particles would shift wasn’t difficult.
“Once you know mana will move the way you want, it gets easy after that. Think of it as reworking reality with mana as your material.”
Rachel tilted her head at that. The phrase “reworking reality” didn’t quite click.
“So supernatural phenomena happen—that’s the magic you’re talking about.”
“The explanation suddenly got tough from the middle. Enoch, do you get it?”
“It’s like Divine Power, so I kind of do, kind of don’t.”
“That’s just from listening. You’ll understand the feeling once you try it yourself. Want to practice?”
After that, Rachel practiced moving mana.
She didn’t get it right away, and Lukea cast magic several times to help her.
She seemed to enjoy using magic.
“Hee hee, that’s enough now. It’s the first time I’ve used this much magic in a single day.”
Lukea lay back on the floor carpeted with wisteria petals.
An ordinary noble wouldn’t lie down anywhere with others watching.
Rachel thought Lukea had kept casting magic until she was worn out, all for her sake.
“You’re not worn out because of me, are you? The mana in your body has decreased a lot.”
She worried that the depleted mana might harm Lukea’s health, but Lukea smiled happily.
“I’m tired now, but I’ll recover after a good sleep. It’s happened before.”
“It has?”
“Yeah. There was a tree Mother loves, and it was withering. I tried to save it.”
“And?”
“I did. That was probably my first magic cast on purpose.”
Lukea laughed.
“Looking back, I was so proud then. I don’t know why I thought this power was black magic. I love you two for reminding me of that happy memory.”
Lukea gazed up at the sky, looking relieved.
The lavender cloud of petals hid the sky from view, but her heart seemed to float there all the same.
***
Time passed, the sun dipped below the midday zenith, and darkness fell. Rachel lay in pajamas on the same bed as Lukea.
The bed was plenty wide—Rachel could roll around and not fall off.
“My heart’s pounding. I read about it in a book once—spending the night with a close friend. I always wanted to try it.”
Lukea was more romantic than expected. And the pampered little sister of her brothers.
When word spread that their sister had a guest, all five of Lukea’s brothers, who worked at the palace, showed up for dinner.
Her five brothers regarded Rachel with curiosity and interest, but eyed Enoch with deep wariness.
That interest faded entirely after dinner, however.
“So you’re the one.”
“Yeah, they suit each other.”
“Don’t fall for our little sister.”
They left such words for Enoch and returned to the palace after the meal.
The night passed in a whirl, and Rachel stayed in Lukea’s room instead of the guest quarters.
“It’s a shame Enoch had to go.”
“Yeah.”
Marquis Nerus had escorted Enoch to the room next door. Not thrown him out—escorted.
“Lukea.”
“Yeah, I’m listening.”
“I wasn’t in the capital when time rewound, so I don’t know the details. I just know House Heros fell alongside Marquis Nerus’s house.”
“Yeah.”
“House Nerus stayed neutral until the princes’ rebellion. So why did they rebel after the third prince became king?”
A deep sigh echoed. The breath from the depths of her lungs carried a jumble of emotions.
“The king gave our house an unjust order.”
“Unjust?”
“Yeah. Utterly unjust.”
The happiness from earlier had vanished. Her voice in the darkness carried deep hatred and betrayal.
“He tried to marry me off to a black sorcerer.”
She wouldn’t have felt that level of humiliation if they’d tried marrying her to a baron—no, a knight.
But the king had commanded Marquis Nerus to wed Lukea to a black sorcerer.
“He’s insane.”
“He is. The king was mad. Father and my brothers ignored the order. After that, you know the rest.”
Marquis Nerus gathered other nobles and staged a rebellion. It was discovered, and they vanished like morning dew on the execution ground.
“I’ll get revenge on Damian.”
Her teeth ground together with an audible crunch. Lukea burned with rage toward Damian, who had killed her and her family.
“I’ll never let that man stay king.”
That was why Rachel couldn’t bring herself to ask if she’d seen the black sorcerer.
Instead, she took hold of Lukea’s hand.
“Me too. Let’s do our best together.”
And so the first night at Marquis Nerus’s estate passed.
***
“Bye! Write often.”
“Yeah. Take care, Lukea! Next time, I’ll invite you.”
Lukea and Rachel hugged. In a mere fortnight, they’d become the best of friends.
It hadn’t been just idle chatter, though.
Rachel had gotten advice on magic from Lukea and observed her cast it many times.
The result: Rachel could now move mana. She couldn’t manifest abilities with it yet, but she believed steady practice would let her cast spells.
After their goodbyes, Rachel boarded the carriage. Mary was loading the baggage, which had grown since their arrival.
“Safe travels. Well, with Enoch there, you’ll be fine, right?”
Lukea teased, and Enoch cleared his throat. Rachel answered cheerfully.
“Of course. Enoch’s the strongest knight I know.”
She excluded Evelyn, who wasn’t a knight anymore. At Rachel’s praise, Enoch turned his head away. His ears burned bright red.
“I can’t do anything about the curse, but I’ll spread the word about the noble disease.”
“Yeah, thanks!”
“It’s not like I’m doing it as a favor. I’m just pursuing my own goals. So you do your best too, Rachel!”
“Thanks!”
The carriage set off. Rachel waved out the window until Lukea was out of sight.
A fortnight wasn’t short. Rachel had gleaned a lot of information from talking with her.
Even confined to the estate, Lukea got news of the capital from her father.
Rachel had pieced together the capital’s trends from previous loops that she hadn’t known before.
“I wonder if I’ve been away from my post too long.”
She had a steward, but Rachel worried about Harfa Castle. She’d planned to stay a week at most, but ended up lingering twice that.
Her fief was far from stable yet.
The atmosphere always grew chaotic when a lord changed. With the previous lord Paris Emporus tied to black magic, it had been outright turmoil.
That was why Rachel had spent the past month learning and handling affairs without rest.
But not even a year had passed, and now she’d been away another month and a half. She could already see the mountain of work waiting.
“There’s probably a ton piled up, right? I’ll be buried in papers for a week, no sleep.”
“I’ll use Divine Power to banish your fatigue.”
“Physical tiredness might go, but mental exhaustion will stick. Ugh, no way. If I’m tired, I’ll just flop down.”
Rachel made a pouty face. But Enoch smiled lightly.
“You say that, but you’ll work hard anyway, won’t you, Rachel? I think that’s cool.”
The carriage jolted then. Enoch’s voice trailed off with it.
“Huh? What? I didn’t hear.”
“No. It’s a long ride, so rest your eyes. You can use my shoulder.”
“I won’t hold back.”
Rachel got up from the opposite seat and moved to Enoch’s side. She leaned her head on his shoulder. But she didn’t fall asleep right away—just closed her eyes.
Enoch noticed and called to her.
“Rachel.”
“Yeah?”
“I’ve been thinking for a long time, but…”
His voice was deadly serious as he began. Rachel opened her eyes, sensing a heavy topic coming.