How Can a Slave Go to the Academy?
How Can a Slave Go to the Academy?
The witch Sercia.
A calamity that decimated numerous villages and several cities. Her specialty is controlling people at will using dark magic.
Like living, breathing dolls.
The people controlled by her point blades at the throats of their families and neighbors, regardless of their own will.
It was Sercia's wicked hobby to orchestrate massacres by manipulating dozens of humans without getting a single drop of blood on her own hands.
The Imperial Family devoted their heart and soul to subjugating the public enemy Sercia, and finally succeeded in cornering her.
It seemed they had succeeded in the witch hunt, but Sercia, driven to the edge of a cliff, performed a shocking secret art.
She transferred her soul into the body of one of the puppets she was controlling.
While the subjugation team's eyes were fixed on the fake, which was nothing but an empty shell, the real witch slipped through a gap in the encirclement and vanished without a trace.
Losing Sercia was painful, but it wasn't entirely without gain.
They had inflicted a fatal, irreparable internal injury upon her. She could no longer use large-scale magic as she did before.
Thus, the Sercia subjugation war remained a half-success and an unsolved mystery.
Even after that, the Imperial Family collected information with a minimum amount of manpower to prepare for any potential future trouble.
After decades of effort, they were able to obtain a few suspicious rumors.
A prestigious magic family. The Duke of the Edelheid family had taken an unidentified concubine.
That there was a child between the two.
That the concubine died after giving birth to the child.
And that the child had never once shown her face to the world.
The timing when the witch vanished after being fatally wounded and the time the Duke's bastard was born.
There was no physical evidence, but the gears meshed together with unsettling precision.
That the bastard child must be the witch Sercia. That she must have discarded her body, which had suffered irreparable wounds, and moved into a new one.
The Imperial Family was half-convinced.
Of course, it was still just a suspicion.
Therefore, they tried to confirm it on this occasion when the rumored bastard child revealed herself to the world.
"So they were blocked by that slave knight..."
"My apologies."
A piece of information surfaced in Aether's mind.
The rumor that Edelheid had taken a slave as a knight, and that the slave had defeated the Magic Knight Calben.
It was the most talked-about story in social circles recently.
The man who was protecting Renoa Edelheid, whom he had seen at the banquet, was the protagonist of that rumor.
"He certainly should have been wearing the bracelet."
"However, he used mana normally."
A magic artifact created by the Imperial magi-technicians. It interferes with the wearer's mana control.
Even if the bracelet is removed, it takes half a day to completely escape its influence, yet he had perfectly repelled the intruders.
He had thought the man's existence was a ploy by the Ducal house to distract attention, but it seemed that wasn't the case.
The rumors were true.
He was no ordinary fellow.
"Then does that mean there was no gain at all?"
"Regarding that, if I may dare to offer my personal opinion, I found no particular abnormalities in the target."
"What does that mean?"
"She seemed like any Young-ae you might commonly see. I didn't sense any particularly evil energy."
"Are you saying she might not be the witch?"
"It is merely my personal opinion, so please do not pay it much mind."
She was a witch they had chased for decades.
They were in a situation where they were certain she had moved into Renoa's body.
And now he was saying she might not be, but telling him not to pay it any mind.
What an irresponsible thing to say.
"I understand for now. I will report to His Majesty myself. It looks like your neck is injured, so go and get treated."
The assassins bowed their heads and disappeared.
Left alone, Aether tapped the desk with his finger. Tuk-tuk.
"Could we have misunderstood? Was it just our delusion?"
Had they conveniently pieced things together just because everything seemed to fit from start to finish?
If Renoa isn't Sercia, then where is the real witch?
"No, it's still too early to jump to conclusions."
Because there were still many opportunities left to check.
"You were attacked in the Imperial Capital?"
Renoa, who returned straight to the Duchy after the banquet.
She immediately reported what happened in the capital to the Duke and the vassals.
"Are you hurt anywhere?"
"Fortunately, Irion-gyeong rushed to me before an accident could happen, so I was safe."
"That's a relief. Just what kind of fearless bastard would attack our Renoa?"
Duke Pascal pondered while resting his chin on his hand.
The vassals, who had been listening silently, each threw in a word.
"Even if there are many who are jealous of Edelheid, those who dare to attack the family can be counted on one hand in history."
"They must have looked down on our family. And rightfully so, since a bastard, not even a legitimate child, went to the banquet hosted by the Imperial Family."
"And not just that. Since you sent a bastard to the Prince's coming-of-age ceremony, the Imperial Family must also think they are being ignored."
It wasn't just the direct bloodline who were displeased with Renoa's existence.
The vassals, who were elitists to the bone, were also quite dissatisfied with Renoa being sent to official functions.
Her very existence was a great stigma to Edelheid.
It was only because the head of the house, Pascal's attitude was so firm that they had no choice but to watch from the sidelines.
"Mm-hmm, right, right. That's enough of that. Is there anything else?"
"It is said that the First Prince will be entering the Imperial Academy."
The fact that the Prince was entering the Academy was a more significant issue than the fact that Renoa was almost assassinated.
An immediate ripple occurred among the vassals.
"For a member of the Imperial Family to enter the Academy directly. It is an extremely unusual move."
"His purpose can't possibly be academic. He likely intends to gather the children of the nobility around him to expand his influence..."
"We at Edelheid should also hurry and send a suitable person to keep a close eye on the Imperial Family's movements."
Duke Pascal, who was enjoying the heated discussion of the vassals, smiled and turned his head toward Renoa.
"Renoa can go."
"That is nonsense! To dare push a bloodline with no foundation into the cradle of the Empire where the Imperial Family and high-ranking nobles gather! Do you intend to invite disgrace upon the family!"
"Please withdraw your words, Gaju-nim! It will leave an indelible stain on the family's honor!"
As expected, the vassals immediately protested. The Duke lightly shrugged his shoulders.
"But there's no one else to go, is there? Lowell and Idella are too old to go to the Academy, and Sylvia is still young."
"In that case, it's better not to send anyone at all!"
"Hmm. The vassals say so. What do you think, Renoa?"
Everyone's eyes turned to Renoa.
The fierce glares of the vassals seemed to threaten her to know her place.
"I will go."
But Renoa answered without hesitation.
"I will enter the Academy and raise the prestige of Edelheid."
There was no way Renoa would refuse when the Gaju-nim was backing her.
The Academy was the same as this banquet. It was an opportunity to make the existence of the person named Renoa known to everyone.
"Did you hear? Renoa says she'll work hard too."
"However, Gaju-nim...!"
-Jjak!
The Duke clapped his hands.
The crisp sound echoed in the audience chamber, cutting off the vassals' words.
"Now! That's it for today's meeting. I'm tired, so everyone dismiss."
After finishing the report to the Duke and returning to her room, Renoa told Irion about heading to the Academy.
Irion nodded calmly as if he already knew.
"So you're going to the Academy after all."
Renoa's brow furrowed.
"You, it's like you knew I would be going to the Academy."
"Huh? Ah, well, isn't it obvious? Since you went to the banquet, Agassi, you'll probably be the one going to the Academy too."
As Irion said, it might be obvious, but Renoa herself hadn't expected it.
She thought going to the banquet was just a momentary whim of the Duke.
But seeing him send her to the Academy this time as well, it seemed that whim was going to continue for a while longer.
"Are you really going? To be honest, I'd rather you didn't."
"Why?"
"I have a bad feeling about it."
The Academy is where the full-scale story of [Lady Maker] takes place.
Naturally, all sorts of incidents and accidents occur.
Especially the female protagonist.
The girl who receives the love of everyone, including the Prince.
Renoa bullies her out of jealousy for monopolizing Aether's attention.
She commits wicked acts and becomes venomous.
She starts crossing the line more and more until she reaches the point of casting a curse with dark magic.
That's when it's discovered that Renoa is a dark mage.
Irion became a guardian knight to prevent that, but if she could just not go to the Academy at all, that would be the best.
He didn't want Renoa to get involved with the main characters.
"No. I'm going."
"Is it because of your career after all?"
"Yes."
Like the banquet, it was a place where the children of numerous nobles who would be responsible for the future of the Empire gathered.
Especially if she could form a good relationship with the Prince, there would be no better result for Renoa.
Irion had known for a long time that he couldn't break his master's stubbornness.
He let out a sigh as if he had expected it.
"...I understand. Since you're so firm about it, there's nothing I can do. Then I should also prepare to go to the Academy."
At those words, Renoa looked at Irion and blinked.
Irion tilted his head at that gaze filled with doubt.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Why are you going to the Academy?"
"What do you mean why? I'm your guardian knight, so of course I have to follow you."
"There's no way a slave can go to the Academy."
Renoa stated the reality plainly.
"Gerard... No, I saw that guardian knights go to the Academy too?"
In the original work, the guardian knight Gerard went to the Academy along with Renoa.
The reason Irion became Renoa's guardian knight was all because of this.
To correct her mistakes right by her side.
But.
"In that case, they go with the status of a noble, not because they're a guardian knight. Common sense-wise, there's no way a slave could enter the Academy."
"Ah?"
Fun fact.
Slaves cannot enter the Academy.