10. What Happened One Night - 01
10. What Happened One Night - 01
And so, the long winter that had gripped Bianca del Castana finally came to an end. Freed from every chain that had bound her for the past thirty years, she now had a milestone to guide her along the long journey that was the rest of her life.
- ...You really are an outrageous little girl, Bianca. Do you realize that if you keep this up, people might start talking?
The boy looked at her with utter disbelief. A moment ago, he had driven off the little brats who were eyeing her with revulsion by letting slip the faintest hint of killing intent. The first reason was that they were interrupting his conversation with her. The second was a wish that the cruel talk directed at her would not reach his ears.
To the girl, the boy was someone special. He alone saw her without fear, reached out his hand to her first, and called her his 'friend.' In front of him, she wanted to remain a woman, and nothing else.
...Yet at the same time, she was afraid. A thought struck her—had her own methods been too excessive? The fear that even the boy might come to view her with the same aversion crept into her mind.
- Well, nothing to be done about it. If anyone else gives you trouble, I'll give it right back to them. I might not look it, but I am the heir to a ducal house. Most people can't afford to mess with me, you know?
Seeing the boy look away into the distance, feigning indifference to hide his embarrassment, the girl felt a warmth spread through her.
"...Ah."
Bianca del Castana was walking through the flower garden at the rear of the Estel Ducal House. Her pace was leisurely. The time she could spend with him from now on stretched out without limit. There was no need to hurry. In this moment, for the first time in her life, she was savoring lightness and freedom.
The Estel Duchy was an exceedingly tranquil place. For the woman called Bianca, the ducal house offered a sense of peace that surpassed even returning to her hometown.
...To be honest, it wasn't exactly the best place for people to live. The weather was harsh, farming didn't go smoothly, and the whole territory lacked a certain vitality. Compared to House Castana, this was a truly destitute territory.
But the Estel Ducal House possessed things that the utterly barren House Castana did not: public goodwill, an overflowing liveliness, and the sight of high-ranking members speaking with common folk without any barrier. Even if it wasn't materially abundant, the people living here had a certain warmth, a kind of affection you couldn't find elsewhere. Having grown up in such a climate, it was natural that he had come to possess that warmth as well.
A warm breeze brushed past her. She realized something had gotten caught in her hair. Plucking it away, she found it was a pink petal. Before she knew it, the world had become full spring.
- ...Can't you let go of this now? I have to go. Father has summoned me. It looks like it's time to head back.
The time to part with the boy had come. That was why she hated letting go of his sleeve. Before coming here, the girl's 'father' had said this: Now that she had shown her face enough to the other nobles, 'instruction' would begin once they returned to House Castana. This would likely be her last outing.
The 'instruction' the marquis spoke of was a time filled with agony, even for Bianca, who could endure most ordinary pain without a thought. The torment of having magic forcibly injected throughout her entire body was not a pain a human being could easily withstand.
...But for Bianca, the sorrow of parting from the boy was far greater than such pain. This might even be their last meeting. Only that fact hurt unbearably.
- ...Wait a moment.
The boy left her where she was and vanished somewhere for a moment, then soon reappeared carrying a small trinket in his hand.
It was an earring. A cheaply made, shoddy earring of the sort you could find anywhere. The boy held the earring out to her and spoke in a tone that sounded a bit bashful.
- It's a present. My father told me that a man who sends a woman away without giving her a gift is severely lacking in tact.
It was the first present anyone had ever given her—a gift purely for her, with no consideration of gain or loss. As the girl stared at the boy with a strangely dazed look, he gently stroked her hair once.
- If you grow up and have nowhere to go, you can come to the Estel Ducal House. The house is short on capable mages. If you come, I will welcome you anytime.
She could not understand what on earth the boy was saying. She grasped only one thing: that even someone like her possessed the right to settle somewhere in the world. That there was someone, somewhere, who needed her.
From that day on, the girl wished for nothing but to become an adult as soon as possible. All the while clutching tightly in her hand the earring she had received.
The brief memories she'd shared with him crackled and replayed ceaselessly throughout her entire life.
...Thirty years passed after that. Much time flowed by, and many things happened. There was much misunderstanding, and many conflicts. There were times when she had taken a long detour around a straight path.
But at the end of it all, she had settled in the nest where she belonged. After the long journey, at last she had kept that promise from back then. That alone was the sole solace granted to her in this world.
"...Kain."
She caressed a hyacinth blooming in the flowerbed. It was the very flower she had seen with him when she first met him after he returned to the past. The sight of its last buds blooming at the end of spring was nothing but beautiful.
Gently stroking the hyacinth, Bianca fell into thought. Did someone like her truly have the right to stand beside him?
Bianca no longer wanted to be a burden. She wanted to stand proudly at his side and share equally in his successes and failures. Just as that wench Aria devoted herself to him, Bianca too wanted to be of help to him.
And so, she had obediently remained here without clinging to him when he departed for the Dekaraznan Ducal House. Truthfully, she wanted to tear apart Aria, who followed after him like a puppy, and go in her stead, but since there was work she could do at the Estel Ducal House, she had decided to exercise some patience this time.
Additionally, Bianca was scheduled to stop by House Castana before long. It had been quite some time since she'd wandered outside without receiving any sort of 'permission' from those people. It was plain as day what sort of faces her 'father' and the other filthy old men of the main house were making by now.
The former family head, likely her only ally in House Castana, had probably defended her, but that too must now be reaching its limit. Before long, an unfortunate incident might occur: House Castana's vaunted armed force, the Black Wind Squad, might come to the Estel Ducal House searching for her whereabouts.
Bianca had not the slightest intention of tolerating House Castana's people crawling into the Estel Ducal House, dirtying the ground with their filthy footprints. In her heart, she wanted to annihilate every last person from House Castana, but regrettably, considering the winter that might arrive in ten years, every mage was precious manpower. It was not yet time to kill them.
She decided. She would let them live. And then, she would have a 'conversation' with them. She would 'persuade' them so that they would never again interfere, no matter where she went or what she did.
The possibility that they might refuse her earnest request did not exist in Bianca's mind from the start. Because the moment they rejected her words, she intended to make a lovely crater in the front yard of House Castana. As a rule, if you shove a sword into someone's mouth and attempt negotiations, most requests get accepted—
"Ah, Lady Bianca. So you were here."
"...Ah, Sir Karl."
But the next moment, when a voice calling out to her rang from behind, the grim expression of a mage vanished from Bianca's face in an instant. And in its place stood Lady Bianca del Castana, the refined scion of the thousand-year-old House Castana.
"Hoh, I do hope this old man hasn't intruded upon your contemplations, Lady Bianca."
"How could that be? I was feeling rather lonely myself, so you speaking to me like this has quite put my mind at ease."
As Bianca smiled brightly and answered so affably, a look of admiration crossed Karl's face. By all he had heard, the woman called Bianca del Castana was a typical noble young lady of a prestigious house, born so high she'd never even touched a drop of water, and on top of that possessed such transcendent talent she had reached the realm of Archmage at a tender age—how she could also possess a beautiful heart towards others, he truly couldn't fathom. How could such a perfect lady exist in this world?
"As I thought, Lady Bianca, your character is as noble as your outstanding appearance. You truly could not help but serve as a paragon of mages."
Karl found himself smiling warmly at Bianca without realizing it. For him, who had spent his entire life in the station of a low-ranking mage, Bianca, who had reached the realm of Archmage at such a young age, could only be an object of reverence.
Envy didn't even arise in the first place. That sort of feeling only takes root when the gap in ability is within sight. For him, having already passed his golden years and entering his twilight, the image of a pioneer gazing upon wisdom far beyond the bounds of his own research appeared merely endearing.
If there was one thing that didn't sit quite right with him, it was the fact that this beautiful and proper young lady was smitten with his own young duke, who didn't possess a single iota of respect for his elders. The way she would instantly blush and gently turn her head whenever talk of the young duke came up was nothing short of the epitome of a well-bred young lady.
'...It's not as though he's a bad sort.'
Karl had watched the young duke for a very long time. Though he was indeed vastly lacking in respect toward his elders, the young duke was certainly a decent man in his own way. It was just that he wondered if it wasn't a bit of an undeserved honor for the young duke to have such a perfect woman by his side.
And besides that, there was one more thing Karl had to concern himself with.
'What is to be done about that child, Aria?'
Through the wisdom and keen insight characteristic of the aged, Karl had become aware that Aria greedily coveted the seat beside the young duke. No, it was impossible to pretend he didn't know. How could he not know, when she behaved so blatantly?
Of course, Aria was his proud disciple, the heir to all his knowledge, the apple of his eye—but even seen through such rose-colored glasses, Aria's behavior felt chilling. Her habit of sneaking into his room while the young duke was out attending to his duties and not coming out for hours was honestly one of the milder examples.
'...No, why on earth does she pick up the young duke's shed hair?'
He didn't want to know for what purpose Aria collected his hair, nor did he want to imagine it. He merely prayed fervently that his beloved disciple wouldn't use the magic he'd taught her for strange ends.
...But at the same time, such actions were undeniably proof of just how deeply Aria loved the young duke. Not that he was biased just because she was his disciple, but honestly, didn't someone of Aria's caliber possess more than enough qualification to claim the seat beside the young duke?
Of course, her origins were a slight hindrance, but if Aria were to reach the realm of Archmage in the future, the possibility of receiving a title from the Imperial Household was sufficient, so it wouldn't be a real problem—
Well, since he wasn't the person in question, such thoughts were all quite meaningless. No matter what anyone said, wasn't it all a matter for the young duke to sort out himself?
Setting those trivial matters aside, Karl began to share various stories with Bianca. From topics of magic, their common subject, to news of the world, being fellow mages meant they certainly didn't lack for things to talk about.
As their pleasant conversation carried on for some time, Bianca, as if just remembering, posed a question to Karl.
"Ah, Sir Karl. If it is not too great an imposition, might I ask you one thing?"
"Hoho, I shall answer anything this old man is able to."
Once Karl's permission was granted, Bianca, her eyes sparkling, asked him her question.
"Pardon me, but was it you, Sir Karl, who taught Aria the Convergence Substitution Formula?"
She remembered. During her blood battle with Aria, the girl had wielded a technique called Twin Divine Synthesis, fusing the magic of lightning and ice—elements that could never normally mix in one place—and thereby creating an entirely new magic.
Even to Bianca, who had reached the realm of Archmage, it was an appalling technique. Not only did it combine opposing elements in one place, it seamlessly sublimated them into a magic a step above! According to current Magic Studies, such a feat was absolutely impossible. Even Bianca would struggle to replicate exactly what Aria had done.
"Are you speaking of the Convergence Formula?"
Karl simply shook his head with an air of incomprehension.
"Hmm, the only thing I taught Aria was Combat-Magic Fusion, which minimizes the repulsion caused by the merging of magic powers. Well, with a child that much of a genius, might she not have developed the rest on her own?"
Karl, recalling Aria's genius-level talent, dismissed the matter lightly, but Bianca could not so easily let it pass. From Twin Divine Synthesis to the fusion formula that wrapped her body in magic as she swept across the battlefield—everything Aria had employed felt strangely familiar to her. Why she felt such familiarity with Aria's magic, she couldn't readily understand.
Something was strange. No matter how much of a genius Aria was, how could she alone know formulas that no mage of the present era was aware of? And with a degree of completion flawless enough for live combat, no less?
By its very nature, creating something from nothing is an exceedingly arduous process, and knowledge and wisdom always develop through countless trials and errors. From that perspective, this was far too strange an anomaly.
There was no doubt. That wench, Aria, was hiding a secret. A secret of the utmost gravity.