Chapter 15
Chapter 15
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: A Life-Bound Spell
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Sensing the change in Noa’s expression, Elbadin asked.
“What is it?”
“……”
But Noa did not answer readily. He simply stared at Lucillea without so much as a blink.
“……”
“……”
A few more moments passed.
Noa, who had been gazing at Lucillea with a strange look, slowly removed his hand from her forehead.
Only then could Lucillea breathe easily again. The peculiar energy that had flowed from Noa’s fingertips had left her breathless.
Noa glanced at Lucillea, who was beside him catching her breath, then turned his head toward Elbadin.
“……No need to worry. It’s not some strange magic, just an appearance-altering spell.”
“Appearance-altering magic?”
“Yep. It’s a spell that changes hair color, eye color, or both.”
At that, Elbadin’s gaze shifted to Lucillea.
Lucillea did her best to feign ignorance and looked out the window.
“Can you remove it?”
“Huh? No, I can’t.”
Noa replied with a bright smile.
*What?* Startled by his words, Lucillea turned her head to look at Noa.
*‘Can’t? He can’t?’*
Does that mean my identity won’t be revealed?!
Noa continued.
“You know, right? If I can’t do it, the Master of the Magic Tower can’t either. Don’t bother calling a busy person over for nothing.”
“……Is it some kind of curse?”
“Similar, but no.”
“What do you mean, similar?”
“Someone cast it by staking their life on it. A life-bound spell can only be broken by paying with another life, or if the conditions set by the caster are met.”
“……What kind of conditions?”
Noa shrugged.
“How would I know?”
“……”
Noa looked at Lucillea and asked.
“When you look in a mirror, you must have seen your true appearance.”
“……”
When Lucillea averted her gaze, Noa laughed.
“Look at this sly little thing. You knew all along and pretended you didn’t, huh? That’s why you wouldn’t give me your hand when I asked.”
“……”
Then Elbadin asked.
“Is there a reason you hid the fact that you had a spell cast on you?”
“……”
At Elbadin’s question, Lucillea watched his expression before carefully opening her mouth.
“In Mille Village, people said I was a child found and raised by a witch. Then, at some point, they started calling me a witch, too.”
As Lucillea spoke of how she was treated in Mille Village, she fidgeted with her interlocked fingers.
“If people found out that the way I see myself in the mirror is different from how they see me… I thought they would treat me like a real witch. So I thought it would be better to just stay quiet. After all, they can’t see my reflection in the mirror anyway.”
“……”
“Really, it’s not that I wanted to lie. I was scared… I was scared. I was afraid I’d be kicked out of the grand duke’s estate.”
“……”
Lucillea hung her head low.
She had used the villagers as an excuse, but her words about being scared were not a lie.
*‘I can’t exactly say I lied because I was afraid you’d find out I’m your daughter.’*
Telling a lie, something she rarely did, made her chest ache with sharp little pricks.
*‘It’s not like I wanted this. It would have been so much better if I’d been born into a normal family. How was I supposed to know I’d end up in a house like this, with a father like this?’*
Finding herself in this situation felt terribly unfair, and looking at Elbadin—the father she couldn't call 'father'—sitting across from her, a surge of anger made the tip of her nose tingle.
*‘Damn it. I may not say it, but this is agonizing and exhausting for me, too…’*
After Lucillea’s trembling voice trailed off, a silence fell over the office for some time.
Then, Noa broke the silence with a cough.
“Ahem, well, I can completely understand how this little one feels, you know?”
“……”
After a moment of thought, Noa spoke carefully.
“But, little one. By any chance, when you look in the mirror, does the reflection in it—”
“That’s enough. Just cast the spell on the necklace.”
Elbadin cut Noa off. At that, Noa clapped his hands as if he had just remembered. “Oh! That’s right.”
“Right. There was something more important than that!”
Noa’s voice became much gentler as he spoke to Lucillea in a soothing tone.
“Now, now, little one. To commemorate our first lesson tomorrow, I’ll enchant the necklace you chose.”
“……Okay.”
Lucillea nodded weakly.
“This is a great honor, you know? Do you have any idea how expensive enchanted necklaces sell for?”
As Noa boasted, Lucillea glanced at him and spoke cautiously.
“If I get kicked out, I’ll have to return the necklace anyway…”
“……Huh?”
As Lucillea sniffled, Noa whipped his head around to look at Elbadin.
He mouthed the words without making a sound.
*‘Hey! The kid’s about to cry! I told you it’s not a dangerous spell! Tell her you won’t kick her out! Now!’*
At Noa’s fuss, Elbadin let out a small sigh.
“You will not be kicked out, so do not worry.”
Lucillea then watched Elbadin’s expression and said.
“……Really?”
“Yes.”
“See, he said so, little one! We can’t just kick out a new sprout in the world of magic for a reason like this!”
Only then did the shadow lift from Lucillea’s face.
Just then, Elbadin rose from the sofa. He walked toward the window and dismissed Lucillea.
“You may return now.”
At his words, Lucillea shot up as if she had been waiting for them.
“Yes, I’ll be on my way then!”
With a scurry, Lucillea walked toward the door at a rather brisk pace.
“See you tomorrow, little one.”
*Oh, right. He’s going to be my teacher, I should at least say goodbye.*
Lucillea quickly turned and gave Noa a deep bow.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“You got it.”
After bowing politely even to Riat, Lucillea hurried out of the office.
Noa’s gaze followed the door where the child had disappeared.
The playful glint in his eyes had been replaced by a pool of doubt.
“What’s with that kid?”
After Lucillea left the office, Noa asked Elbadin.
At his question, Elbadin’s gaze also flickered toward the door for a moment before returning to the view outside the window.
Noa shot up from the sofa and walked over to Elbadin.
“I asked, what’s with her?”
Instead of answering Noa’s question, Elbadin gestured with his eyes toward the documents on the desk.
At that, Riat, who was standing beside Elbadin, picked up the papers from the desk and handed them to Noa.
“Are these about her?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
Noa perched on the corner of the desk and began to flip through the documents.
Flip, flip. For a while, only the sound of rustling paper filled the office.
Noa’s face, which had been casually flipping through the pages, began to harden.
This was because the documents listed a seamless series of evil deeds that were simply incomprehensible by his standards.
“The villagers are one thing, but this adoptive father… isn’t he a complete lunatic?”
“……”
Then, upon discovering Mei’s profanity-laced report tucked in the last page, he shot to his feet.
“Ugh, that last one. That was Mei, wasn’t it?”
As Noa threw the documents onto the desk with a grimace, Riat straightened the scattered papers and smiled faintly.
“It seems she developed some sympathy for the child named Lucillea. A person normally so sparing with her emotions wrote Lucillea’s report in a very rough and explicit manner.”
“If you look closely, that Mei, she pretends not to be, but she has a soft spot.”
“Like you, Lord Noa?”
*Huh?* Noa raised his shoulders and then let them drop.
“Not me. I’m a very cold and calculating person.”
“I hardly think so.”
Haha, Riat burst into laughter.
“Anyway.”
Noa glanced at the documents and spoke to Riat.
“Mei hasn’t seen these other papers yet, right?”
“No.”
“Then, just don’t show them to her.”
Tap, tap. Riat placed the organized documents back on a corner of the desk and replied.
“I was planning to burn them after you had a chance to review them, my lord.”
“Yeah. Good thinking.”
Noa walked back to the sofa and sat down. After a moment of thought, he suddenly remembered something and asked Elbadin.
“By the way, why did you stop me earlier?”
“Stop you from what?”
“I was about to ask the kid what color her hair and eyes were in the mirror, but you cut me off. If we knew that, we might be able to find out her identity.”
Elbadin paused for a moment before answering.
“She is a child who kept her mouth shut, pretending not to know about the spell even though she did. It must be because she knows the spell was cast on her to hide her identity. Do you think a child like that would answer truthfully if you asked?”
Ah. Noa let out a short sigh.
“True, she didn’t seem like an easy kid to figure out.”
He sank back into the sofa, his brow deeply furrowed.
“Still, just what kind of kid is she, to have a spell like that on her?”
Hmmmm. Noa stroked his chin, lost in thought.
“So the kid really is a fugitive?”
“……”
“If not that, then…”
Suddenly, Noa’s head shot up, and he slammed his palm down on the armrest of the sofa. *Thump!*
“Right! Perhaps!”
At Noa’s shout, Elbadin, who had been standing by the window, also turned around. Noa met his gaze and said.
“Could she be the Emperor’s illegitimate child?!”