Wow! Getting Adopted! The Luxury Life Begins! (2)
"In the end, she fell into the arms of that uptight family in the central region."
In a dim corner terrace of the council hall, a corpulent marquis slammed down his fine teacup with a clink and clicked his tongue in disgust. Thick cigar smoke mingled stickily with the bitter aroma of black tea in the humid night air.
"Well, it's the obvious course of events, isn't it? From the church's perspective, a docile law-abiding noble like the Bestert Count is far more palatable than those hard-to-control big shots. Everyone in the capital knows about that stubborn streak of his."
The young count standing opposite shrugged languidly.
"However, for the imperial family, having both the next Saintess and that disaster of a genius mage taken in by a mere count's household at once must have been quite the thorn in their side."
"That's why it took a whole month! Handing the Saintess over to a single family is a major affair—the grand bishop demanded exhaustive background checks on the entire Bestert household, enough to drain them dry."
The political landscape of the Holy Argentia Empire was intricate. A web of countless families and regional powerhouses that no ordinary person could easily unravel. Even a single adoption was tangled in complex politics. Let alone cramming a fragile world-saving Saintess and a magic-wielding monster that defied common sense into the narrow confines of a count's estate—it was anything but smooth.
And so, the tedious and cutthroat power struggle among the elite finally reached its conclusion. Come tomorrow morning, the two children would leave the glittering, greedy capital for the central territories. The news had just been coldly announced across the entire Argentia Empire.
The wheels of fate began to turn forward.
In a slightly different direction, of course. Though the actual parties involved had no such thoughts.
"Ugh... so squishy..."
Chloe was merely kneading her own cheeks.
"So soft."
I lay spread-eagled on the bed, pinching my double chin with both hands. My fingertips sank into the plush flesh. It was like sticky rice cake. Back at the orphanage, I was all bones—touching it felt hard and bony! But after a month of not lifting a finger and devouring all the meat and sweet cakes the cathedral kitchen uncles served up every day, my body had puffed up nicely, all sturdy and full.
This is peak rom-fantasy flex!
Thanks to that, I'd put on a little weight. Elia, who was on the bed next to mine memorizing a thick book the size of her head, suddenly let out a pfft and giggled softly.
"Chloe, you've gotten so round in just a month. You look just like a rolling glutinous rice snowman."
"Gasp! Have I gained a ton? Am I fat now?"
"No! Not like that... you just look super squishy!"
Elia seemed a bit pale from being summoned by the priest grandpas every day. Peeking over, it looked like she'd been studying complicated, tough stuff all day. What was it again? Gesturing smoothly through the air like this. And reciting long, tongue-twisting prayers flawlessly.
Probably 'cause she's using holy power or something?
Yeah, in game terms, Elia's a priest. A Saintess, no less. So she has to grind harder to level up her skill tree. Maybe that's why her speech felt a tad gentler and more grown-up than when we first left the orphanage.
The blue windows floating in the air were giggling excitedly over my puffy cheeks. Roll away? Who said I'm rolling! What weirdos.
Of course, I hadn't just been playing around either. A few days ago, the priest grandpas came to me too.
"We must awaken the genius's intellect posthaste!" They shoved massive books at me and tormented me.
But when I flipped one open, for some reason, this world's squiggly letters just slotted right into my head. So no need to learn reading.
Mana control basics were even more of a snooze. "Miss Chloe, your previous miracle was splendid, but we must cover the fundamentals. To control mana, first visualize a small lake in your mind's eye, then substitute each arithmetic formula from this thick textbook one by one..."
It was the mage uncle from before. Now thrusting a book crammed with complex magic symbols. Ugh, headache.
I stifled a yawn and blinked slowly. I'd done my time in society—why fuss with all that complicated crap?
The calculations felt super inefficient. "Ehhh... Mr. Mage, that's too complicated... just like this!"
"Pardon?"
"And like that! When you breathe in the energy and just push it out your fingertips, doesn't it clump up on its own?"
I lightly snapped my fingers.
-Pop!
A small sound, and light bloomed from my fingertips. Gentle, firefly-like orbs drifting peacefully in the air. The mage uncle slammed his thick textbook down with a thud.
"...To perfectly skip the steps of theory and calculation, controlling the flow purely by intuition. This talent is beyond what my shallow textbook could teach."
Is that that shocking? Anyway, thanks to that, I got a free pass on boring study time. Now I'm rolling around in bed like a boss.
This is true happiness!
Knock knock.
The night before departure, a light knock echoed in the quiet room. Elia closed her thick doctrine book and cautiously rose.
"Who is it?"
Click. The door opened, and Roën entered. Behind her, a Lancaster Ducal knight stood silently with heavy luggage.
"Lady Roën. What brings you here so late?"
"Father's orders. Before heading east tomorrow, I'm delivering gifts on behalf of the family to celebrate your adoptions."
Roën nodded lightly toward the table, and the knight placed two small boxes down before retreating like a shadow.
Roën first slid the luxurious box toward Elia. "Open it."
Elia's eyes widened as she carefully lifted the lid. A top-grade holy book with a white leather cover embroidered densely with golden sun motifs.
As Elia gasped in surprise, Roën crossed her arms and spoke coolly. "Keep this in mind. The Bestert household you're heading to is suffocatingly rigid and nitpicky. And you're the next Saintess. No more excuses about being from a slum orphanage."
Roën's eyes narrowed sharply. "Don't shame the count's name by acting so fragile. Got it?"
It was a harsh warning. But Elia's clear green eyes filled not with fear or cowering, but some inexplicable warmth.
She's worried about me...
She recalled Roën's cold glare in the underground chapel, relentlessly pushing her. Elia wondered if that stern scolding was Roën's own way of cheering her on to grow stronger.
"...Yes! I'll engrave those words deeply."
"What?"
"Every time I see this holy book, I'll vow never to run away. Thank you so much for worrying about me."
Elia hugged the holy book to her chest with both hands and beamed. At that burdensome, blindly grateful thanks, Roën's brow furrowed deeply.
What the heck misunderstanding is this?
Flabbergasted, Roën shook her head in disbelief and hurriedly averted her gaze. Her red eyes landed on Chloe, who was sprawled starfish-style on the fluffy bed, absently scratching her belly.
"Ha."
The gauntness from a month ago was gone. Seeing Chloe's cheeks, now plump and pale like glutinous rice cakes, a stifled laugh escaped Roën's lips.
Roën showed up out of nowhere in the middle of the night. She gave Elia some heavy, boring-looking book. Then she came over to me too.
Midnight snack maybe?
Midnight snacks, yum. But no cup ramen here. Such a shame!
Roën strode right up to the bed and pulled out a small black box with a click.
Inside was...
"Hand out."
Not a snack. I stuck out my hand from where I sat on the bed, and Roën clink! fastened something around my wrist.
"Eek, it's cold!"
Looking down in surprise—holy crap! A super sparkly thin silver bracelet. Not handcuffs or anything. In the center was a glistening purple gem matching my eye color.
This looks expensive AF.
"What's this?"
"Word's spread through the whole church about you being a genius mage. So this is to make sure you keep some dignity, as per your fancy reputation."
Roën crossed her arms primly. Wow, real silver? Way pricier and prettier than Elia's thick book. Sparkly is the best.
Roën's supposed to be the villainess lady, but maybe it's a misunderstanding? Giving something this expensive, she can't be a villain!
"Wooow! Thank you so much, Roën!"
I jumped up from the bed in excitement and hugged her neck tight.
"Hey, stop! What the— what are you doing?!"
"I'll never take this off, not even for baths—I'll wear it forever! Thank you thank you!"
I grinned and tried rubbing my face all over hers. Roën freaked, shoving my forehead away with both hands.
"G-Get off!"
The blue chat windows in the air were cackling like mad. Oof, she looks so delicate but shoves like a truck.
"Eek! Okay okay!"
My neck nearly snapped back.
As Roën roughly shoved her forehead away, Chloe flopped back onto the bed but kept grinning at the bracelet on her wrist.
"Anyway, I'm never taking it off! Gotta polish it every day!"
Chloe beamed dopily at the silver bracelet.
"Do whatever. If you lose it, you're dead."
Roën irritably brushed off her wrinkled dress hem and cleared her throat. Then she looked down at Chloe, continuing her mental calculations.
She's an unexpected variable, so I'm just managing her.
The silver bracelet on Chloe's wrist was a magic tool for location tracking and limited surveillance. An expensive item from the Magic Tower.
A genius talent that defies the laws of the world... inversely proportional intellect... a walking bomb.
Roën's red eyes flashed threateningly.
No way I'd leave a hazard like that unchecked, right?
With no telling what she'd become as she grew, better to keep tabs now. And prepare for the worst case.
She's seemed normal so far, but she might be tied to demons.
The regressor's instinct to control every variable. But even Roën hadn't noticed one fact. From Chloe's sudden hug moments ago, her earlobes were flushed beet red, ready to burst.
"I heard you leave early tomorrow morning."
Roën ignored her burning ear tips and turned with feigned sternness. "Don't oversleep on day one and make a fool of yourself. And Elia."
"Yes!"
Roën's gaze shifted to Elia, who clutched the holy book, eyes misty with emotion.
"Take good care of her. Make sure that manners-less idiot doesn't drop cookie crumbs in the carriage and roll right out."
"Yes! Safe travels!"
Leaving Elia's send-off and Chloe's grin behind, Roën spun on her heel and fled the room.