Chapter 56
Chapter 56
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: The Reclusive Daughter
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“She's a sorely lacking daughter, but I hope you'll look after her well.”
The place Madelia escorted Rain to was the tallest tower on the Page family's estate.
It was high. How was it this high? Was it to prevent escape? Or maybe some kind of beast?
He couldn't say that, or he'd lose his head without a word of protest, so he asked carefully.
“Why on earth would you confine someone so important to a place like this?”
“Confine? Heh, it's not confinement. She's chosen to distance herself from everyone.”
Madelia gave a sad smile as she opened the door.
And so the story began.
First, a gentle early summer breeze slipped in with a soft chuckle, rustling the curtains.
Books, books, books.
And a telescope by the window.
In this room cluttered with books everywhere, a single girl seated in the chair before that telescope turned around.
“Kasena, I've brought a friend. He'll teach you many things.”
Even in this chaotically messy room, that girl with her pale purple hair fluttering like cherry blossoms stood out as utterly out of place.
Solitary eyes.
And eyes so very weary.
In that beauty evoking the chill of early autumn when the leaves turn, the girl facing Rain spoke in a voice devoid of any emotion.
“I don't need him. Take him away.”
“Kasena, don't be like that. At least greet him.”
“I won't say it a third time. I don't need him. Just leave.”
Her voice grew sharper without even turning to look this way. She was suppressing her emotions as much as possible.
“Rain, why don't you greet her first.”
Even amid his bewilderment, he offered a proper greeting to avoid being looked down upon. That was the way of nobility, they said.
“Miss Kasena, I'm Rain Ludwig. Nice to meet you.”
The Page family was on a different level from the other magic houses. Just like with Christa, dropping the honorifics right away would cause problems.
“I can't say nice to meet you... Just leave.”
“Kasena, it's polite to look each other in the face when greeting.”
“I said leave!”
At that moment, Kasena grabbed the compass from her desk and hurled it.
Madelia's instantaneous magic was the product of extremely honed reflexes.
A barrier of wind unfurled, stopping the compass right at Rain's forehead before it dropped to the floor.
Seeing that, a chill ran down his spine.
But on closer inspection, it wasn't metal—it was a wooden compass, with the needle end bluntly carved from wood, so it wouldn't have caused much injury even if it hit.
'Why on earth?'
It was something even children used. Probably to prevent accidental self-harm. His sister Seri had used one just like it as a child. Was she so ferocious that they couldn't give her metal ones?
“Kasena, don't—”
As Rain picked up the compass to examine it, Madelia Page tried to soothe her daughter.
“—I said I don't need it!”
Kasena wildly grabbed things from her desk and threw them, rendering the soothing useless. Quill pens, styluses, wax tablets, books...
“Get out, scram! I didn't say anyone could come in! I said get out!”
“Kasena...”
“Shut up and get out! Get out of my room!”
Hmm, this was a total spoiled brat.
No.
This wasn't a temperament that could be taught.
It might be best to back out cleanly now and negotiate a different deal.
'Hm?'
That's when he sensed something off.
With nothing left on the desk to throw, Kasena glanced around and reached for a book scattered on the floor.
But she couldn't grasp it.
Her body tilted, and she toppled straight to the floor. The legs that should have supported her were nothing but bony, without a shred of muscle.
“Miss, don't tell me your legs...”
Perhaps ashamed that he'd seen it, her flushed face grew more defiant as she began hurling every book on the floor.
She cleared this side, then that side... propelling herself with both hands.
Those scantily fleshed legs didn't move. They only twitched faintly. Tears welled in her eyes.
“Get out, please, just get out...!”
After a long struggle, Rain and Madelia were chased out of the room.
Madelia didn't speak a word until they'd descended the tower's long staircase.
Only back in the audience chamber did she press her forehead and let out a pained sigh.
“As you saw, that's the kind of child she is. No one can get through to her now.”
“...”
“Even famous luminaries we've brought in have been no use. Even they have limits to their patience...”
“Chancellor, does the young miss have a problem with her legs?”
“Yes.”
Madelia gave a wry smile.
She downed the wine a maid offered in one gulp, then gazed wistfully into the distant void.
“Kasena loved climbing walls and trees from a young age. She was such a lively child... I should have stopped her, even if it meant using the rod.”
“You couldn't.”
“She'd call out 'Mom!' with such an innocent smile whenever I called her down from a wall... My resolve weakened every time. Ah, damn it...”
Madelia let out a bitter sigh.
That's when a skinny man with a neurotic air entered the audience chamber.
“It's pointless, Del.”
The moment Rain recognized him, he had to bow deeply. The emblem on his noble golden robe was a blue dragon.
Azure Dragon. One of the five archdukes ruling the empire, the crest of the Arhun Grand Duke house.
He governed the empire's south, naturally in close cooperation with the Page Marquess family.
The man strode right up to Rain, scanning him up and down appraisingly. Then, sighing, he turned to Madelia.
“Even those renowned for their patience couldn't soothe Kasena. And you think this child... He'd be lucky not to get hurt himself.”
“He's no ordinary child.”
“Still just a child. It'll only cause more pain. Please, just stop this.”
“Stop?”
“Leave the girl be for now.”
The ever-composed Madelia slammed the armrest and unleashed her fury.
“Leave her be? Let my only daughter rot away in that room? Are you really her father?”
“What solution is there? We've called every witch famed for healing, and who cured Kasena? No one!”
“Those witches were incompetent!”
“When did I say to abandon Kasena? I love that child too! But your approach is wrong. She just needs time for her emotional wounds to heal!”
“It's already been ten years!”
At that instant, Rain had to swallow hard.
Clink...
The wine glass that struck the man's forehead rolled across the floor. Wine and blood mingled as they streamed down his face.
“Get out.”
“...”
“Get out, you bastard with that ugly mug! You damn fool...!”
Huh... So that's who Kasena takes after. Straight from her mother.
“...”
The man, wine-soaked on his face, glared down intimidatingly at Rain, then gripped his shoulder and warned lowly.
“If anything happens to Kasena, I won't forgive you or your family. Remember that well.”
Just say not to do it.
As he watched the man leave, butlers and maids rushed in to remove the wine-stained carpet.
“You saw an ugly scene. Sorry. That fool is Yuren, my pathetic husband.”
“No, it's fine.”
“You'll give up too, right? Don't make that face. I won't be disappointed if you leave now. It's the natural reaction.”
It was an odd thing to say.
Wasn't this a deal? And now he could just leave?
“I thought a peer her age might make a difference... I was too hasty.”
Madelia sighed, extending her glass. The butler cautiously refilled it.
“I can't do that.”
He wasn't sure himself why he'd said it.
That expression Kasena left behind... And those eyes when they first met, lingering in his mind?
No, it was just the deal. Nothing more.
“I'm not the type to run from problems right in front of me.”
Accepting this would clear his aunt's false accusation right away... And secure his position as top student.
That's why.
Just practical calculation.
Nothing like pity or sympathy—just the logical answer.
“I'll give it a try, Your Excellency. Entrust her to me.”
At that moment, ripples stirred in Madelia's eyes as she gazed at the wine trembling in her glass amid her despair.
- Just wait for the egg to hatch on its own? Letting a child languish like that isn't education. You have to guide it to break free.
He'd once argued that with Kevn Ludwig.
Then Brim stepped in. Brim had always ended debates with others in laughter since her school days.
- How about this? Your daughter and our son—whichever hatches first helps the other. That work?
He'd brushed it off as idle talk back then, but now it had come to this...
“Ha.”
An inexplicable, joyful laugh escaped him.
Rain didn't know the meaning of that smile, nor that his steps had drawn one closer to truth.
The truth that once traveled with him and still did, guiding the boy's path with light.
Socrafres.
- You can inherit progress on 'Unique Magic' research from the surrounding environment.
- Progress: 44.8% → 45.0%.
>>>
Brante.
- Alteration point in mana circuits confirmed.
>>>
Camitishia.
Analyzing circuit alteration point...
・Upon circuit activation, 'Mental Barrier: Flow Sovereign' deploys within a 20-meter radius of the caster.
・Within 'Mental Barrier: Flow Sovereign', success rate of magic combinations using 'Unique Runes' and 'Unique Formulas' increases from '33% → 38%', and power amplifies from '66% → 71%'.
* * *
Sunlight filtered through mosaic glass intricately engraved with the Yellow Dragon's majesty, casting colorful hues. Even in that faint glow, the entire interior shone gold—this was a divine realm.
The Papal Palace, home to Haraderiman, the Golden Dragon, one of the three divine dragons entrusted by the God of Light, [All Things], with managing the world.
The Deliberative Council building used by the 'Children of Gold' was three stories, and Elin Ludwig sat in the interrogation room, arms crossed in dissatisfaction.
“What's wrong with borrowing a book that they drag a genius professor like me here?! Do you even know how valuable my time is?!”
The interrogator Biljiwin across from her sighed.
“We'd appreciate your understanding that we have no room for jokes, Elin Candidate.”
“I don't have time to chat with you.”
“Candidate, you know how dangerous Tureina is, right?”
“Tureina? She's a great person. Disciple of the Archmage Lin, isn't she? Dangerous how?”
“Extremely dangerous. Enough to destroy the world.”
The one who answered was a black-haired middle-aged woman who had just opened the interrogation room door.
In contrast to her pure white witch's hat giving an impression of innocence, the pipe in her right hand lent a slightly roguish air.
Three scrolls hung at her waist—edicts signifying she was a Three Archwitch, a republic shrine maiden.
“Y-You're...”
Even the great Elin Ludwig momentarily lost her composure, mouth agape.
Was there anyone versed in magic who didn't know this woman?
Disciple of the giant Tureina, raised by Archmage Lin and Shrine Maiden Fride, now succeeding her as shrine maiden.
“Crescent Moon Shrine Maiden, Yuliana.”
Yuliana perched on the desk, looking down imposingly at Elin Ludwig.
“I requested they bring you here. Needed to check something. Whether a big shot like you is a follower of that woman.”
“That woman... You mean Tureina?”
It was hard to believe such words from a witch, whose one-on-one master-disciple system fostered reverence for teachers unlike mages.
“No need to show her that respect. That bitch was never righteous once.”
“...?”
“All her supposed good deeds... were just live experiments for her own goals. That's my view. And she's still scheming toward that goal.”
By now, Elin's bewilderment had faded enough for her mind to turn. Suspicion narrowed her eyes.
“Goals? What goal?”
Like her master, Yuliana exhaled thick tobacco smoke, glaring into the void. In her eyes flickered something hard to name—betrayal, perhaps.
“The resurrection of Archmage Lin.”