Chapter 91: Am I a Magic Genius? (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 91: Am I a Magic Genius? (1)
Her eyes bloodshot, the Empress Dowager glared into the empty air before noticing Grid slumped lifelessly within her shadow.
Having exhausted his strength once again during this latest incident, Grid looked as though he would be unable to recover without a significant infusion of mana.
“I’m going to need another sacrifice.”
“Another… sacrifice, Your Majesty?”
Glen looked at the Empress Dowager with a sense of unease. She replied, her teeth gnashing against her lips.
“I need to restore at least some of his strength before we use the Little Lady as a sacrifice.”
Grid had expended a vast amount of power due to several recent failures. Because Duke Winston and Dantalion were protecting the Lady and the Little Lady so thoroughly with their most elite knights, it was difficult to find an opening.
From now on, they would have to settle this in an all-or-nothing gamble. To do that, other sacrifices had to be made to grant Grid power.
“It just so happens we have a new Saintess. We can make use of her.”
“Are you going to spread the plague again?”
“It is the most effective method.”
The Empress Dowager approached the bathtub and murmured softly. As she immersed herself in the fresh blood, her hands, which had become as shriveled as an old woman’s, instantly returned to normal.
Looking down at her hands, the Empress Dowager let out a long breath. To her, nothing was more horrific than being unable to maintain her youth.
“But sister, the Emperor is already digging into the matter of Belus Village. Spreading the plague again might be…”
“Dantalion is a dead man walking anyway! Just like his parents and grandparents!”
“…”
The Empress Dowager shrieked as if having a fit. Glen fell silent for a moment.
The Empress Dowager’s eyes, which had been so sharp and intelligent when she first entered the Imperial Palace as an Imperial Consort, were now heavily clouded. Ever since she began using a demon to seize power and manipulate the vast Empire, she had started to take everything too lightly.
In Glen’s eyes, Dantalion was different from the previous emperors. He was younger, and unlike Cedric, whose supplies had been strictly controlled, Dantalion had survived the battlefield he was sent to die on and returned as a Sword Master. Now, he had recruited Winston to his side and was pressuring the Empress Dowager and her faction.
Furthermore, according to the High Priest, it seemed Dantalion’s side had made off with the weapon the Temple had been secretly brainwashing and raising. Though he looked like a young boy, he was a being with the power to turn the Capital or the North into ashes. Glen was deeply uneasy about his existence as well.
“Benedict, if only you hadn’t rejected me…!”
Glaring into the void, the Empress Dowager cried out, biting her lip until it bled.
Benedict Arthur Sylvester. Dantalion’s father and the former Emperor, he was the only man the Empress Dowager had ever truly desired.
However, he had loved his wife and rejected the Empress Dowager, ultimately leaving this world forever alongside his beloved spouse. After that, the Empress Dowager became even more obsessed with holding onto power.
Every time she saw Dantalion, who bore a striking resemblance to Benedict, she seemed to be reminded of him. It didn’t seem like she intended to use Dantalion as a substitute for Benedict, but his presence constantly clouded the judgment of a woman who had once been so prudent in all matters.
‘I’ll have to be more careful than before.’
Glen scanned the trembling Empress Dowager with indifferent eyes before standing up. Unaware that he was even leaving the bathroom, the Empress Dowager spent a long time muttering to herself, glaring at a phantom only she could see.
*
After the chaos at the lake, I was practically confined to the Empress’s Chambers.
It seemed I would be under strict protection until Veronica and Dantalion’s wedding. My outing to the lake had been my final bit of fun.
“Sigh.”
I sighed while looking out the window. The sunlight was streaming down, and the weather looked beautiful. It was only natural, as spring was now beginning in earnest.
“Dia, are you bored?”
“Yeah.”
Since I was stuck inside the room, Nathaniel had been staying by my side every afternoon lately, only doing his training in the mornings.
When I looked at him with a miserable expression, Nathaniel’s gaze became even more pitying.
“Do you want to go outside?”
“Yes!”
“They said you can’t.”
“Hmph.”
I had looked at Nathaniel with a bit of hope, but the result was the same today. Nathaniel’s hand patted my shoulder.
Knock, knock.
Just then, a knock sounded at the door. I jumped up from my seat.
“Teacher!”
“Hello, Little Lady.”
Melissa Renid walked inside. I performed a perfect curtsy, just as she had taught me. Melissa clapped her hands in delight.
“You’ve truly become perfect now. We won’t have to worry about His Majesty’s wedding or the Moon of Life Ball.”
“Hehe.”
No matter how many times I heard it, praise always made me feel good. I sat down with a satisfied expression.
“There is a specific way the Imperial Family speaks, but since the Little Lady is still young, it should be fine. I’ll just teach you the simple etiquette.”
“Okay.”
“And…”
Melissa pulled something from her robe and held it out to me.
“You mentioned that the magic stone I gave you before broke. I’ve brought another one.”
“Wow.”
I was delighted as I received the magic stone, which looked like it held a pool of clear water. It really did make me feel wonderful.
This magic stone seemed to have a spell cast by Melissa engraved upon it. I smiled, remembering the protective barrier that had allowed me to breathe underwater and shielded me from the Ancient Demon.
“You know that there is mana contained within that magic stone, right?”
“Yes!”
“The reason the magic stone broke was because all the mana inside escaped.”
“Oh, then…”
“Yes, a magic stone without mana becomes just an ordinary rock like this.”
Melissa said, shaking the magic stone I had originally owned. The colorless stone looked exactly like a common pebble, just as she said.
“Do you happen to remember what happened when the mana left the magic stone?”
“Umm, yes.”
I glanced up at Melissa and nodded. I had already confessed everything to Duke Winston and Veronica, so Melissa likely knew as well.
“Little Lady, do you believe the magic stone created that barrier on its own?”
“Is that not what happened?”
I tilted my head and asked back. At that, Melissa gave a mysterious smile.
“Actually, it didn’t. It’s true that I put my own elemental mana into the stone, but I didn’t engrave a specific spell into it.”
“But it definitely wrapped a barrier around Dia back then.”
“That’s right. Because that is what the Little Lady wished for.”
“Huh?”
I was startled by Melissa’s words. As I stared at her with wide eyes, Melissa couldn’t hold back a laugh.
“Haha, Little Lady. Would you like to try holding this magic stone?”
“Ye-yes.”
I reflexively gripped the magic stone Melissa had just given me. I felt an energy as soft as water. It seemed to calm my startled heart.
“How does it feel?”
“It feels good.”
“Could you be more specific?”
“Umm, just touching it makes my heart feel comfortable.”
I worried that a child’s vocabulary wouldn’t be very good, so I gave a short answer after some thought. Melissa nodded.
“That’s right. The mana that has the best affinity with me is water, in terms of the natural elements. Water magic has a way of calming the mind like that.”
“Mmm, I like it.”
“I’m glad you find it to your liking.”
Melissa smiled as if she were truly happy. However, it seemed she had another goal in mind.
“Now then, would you like to close your eyes and try to feel the mana in the magic stone?”
“Umm, okay.”
I obediently closed my eyes as Melissa instructed. I was starting to get an idea of what she was trying to get me to do.
‘Is she teaching me magic?’
Perhaps Veronica, feeling a sense of crisis after the incident at the lake, had specifically asked Melissa.
And if what Melissa said was true, it meant I was the one who had used the magic stone’s mana to cast the spell.
Hiding my racing heart, I gripped the magic stone tightly.
“Can you feel anything?”
“Umm, I’m not sure.”
“It’s alright. Mana isn’t something that’s easily felt.”
Melissa explained mana to me with great enthusiasm. When I held the magic stone, I did feel something tickling my chest, but I wasn’t sure if that was actually mana.
When I told her honestly, Melissa seemed even more surprised by my words.
Soon, a composed Melissa continued.
“Do you think you could try moving that mana?”
“Umm.”
I have to move it too?
I frowned with my eyes still closed. Still, I tried my best to do as Melissa said.
“Huff, huff.”
But no matter how hard I tried, the mana wouldn’t move. No, to be honest, I wasn’t even sure if what I felt was really mana.
“It’s okay, Little Lady. Even feeling a tiny bit of mana on your first day is an amazing feat.”
“Umm.”
I felt completely discouraged, and my shoulders slumped. I had been excited about the idea of learning magic just a moment ago, but not anymore.
“We can take it step by step from now on…”
It was while Melissa was continuing to comfort me.
SHWAAAAA!
“Kyaak!”
“…!”
Startled by the sudden sound, I whipped my head around. My eyes widened at the sight of the room, which had suddenly become a complete mess.