To the Morgana of the Past
Dot, who had been waiting with every intention of acting coy, hesitated.
“But….”
How dare she talk back?
Cassel’s red eyes filled with irritation.
He had never seen an Eina behave so insolently. This was nothing short of the actions of a cunning little mouse. Why was this creature trying to disrupt the family hierarchy?
“Do you find my words amusing?”
“…I-I’m terribly sorry!”
He stared coldly at Dorothea’s retreating back.
She really was different.
Her lack of composure made him even angrier when compared to the girl who had walked into the Magic Tower without knowing what awaited her.
Timidity might depend on the person, but this one was sly, and her schemes were painfully obvious. It seemed the servants were all fawning over her because the Duke and Duchess treated her as their Eina.
In an even worse mood, Cassel silently climbed the stairs to his room, which had remained empty for four years.
The people of the Klein Ducal House were not without perception.
When the young duke, the precious Cassel, returned so suddenly and made it clear he disliked Dorothea, they moved her residence to Selpia House, far from the main building.
The area was quieter and the grounds more spacious, which was better suited for Eina education.
It was a small matter, nothing special.
But for Dot, who already had mountains of work ahead, it felt like the sky had collapsed.
‘Why? The young duke never even returned before!’
Dot, suddenly expelled, pretended to devote herself to her studies on the surface, yet she kept losing her energy.
She needed to quickly earn the trust of the Duke, Duchess, and Morris rather than merely mimicking etiquette she already knew.
Of course, if she compared Morris and Cassel, the latter was far more important, but this unexpected development left her flustered.
‘Come to think of it, that Morgana girl never once mentioned in her letters what happened after she went to the ducal house alone.’
She hadn’t realized that two months of silence could twist everything so badly.
‘I cried and begged to go to the ducal house, and it took nearly two months before a messenger and carriage finally arrived, right? So does that mean the young duke left within those two months?’
Dot hastily reached her own conclusion.
There was a terrifying person who shouldn’t have been there, so it couldn’t be helped.
‘Yes… that must be it. Because that fastidious young duke was around, they couldn’t invite me for two whole months. Hmph, she has a history of being disliked too, so it’s obvious she couldn’t say anything about it. That cunning girl!’
Just two months.
It was long if one thought it long, but she had to endure. Even the foolish Morgana had managed it!
Dot ground her teeth inwardly and counted the days until she could return to the main building of the ducal house.
In two months, no matter what anyone said, she had to restore the situation and be recognized as the real daughter.
Otherwise, what was the point of deliberately changing the past?
* * *
Meanwhile, Morgana—who had changed her name to Pay—was led into an enormous, quiet room.
“This is….”
“The private quarters once used by former Tower Master Baroa.”
“What?! But no one knows whether the mage who saved me is truly the Tower Master….”
The mage, pushing his glasses up, held a torn page and spoke indifferently.
“You are correct, Morgan le Pay. It is written here. The novice mage who arrives when the time is right, with light pink hair and light green eyes, possessing excellent affinity for water magic.”
The description matched her perfectly.
“After arriving at the Magic Tower, let her stay one night, then send her alone to Breeding Room No. 2, where entry is restricted to authorized personnel only. This was Lord Baroa’s final instruction.”
“Ah…!”
Pay’s mouth fell open.
Goodness. Not only had he matched her appearance exactly, he had even noted her affinity with water?
The one who saved her as a child and sent her to Grace Monastery must indeed have been Tower Master Baroa. Though she did not know where he was now, she felt truly grateful.
In her haste, she forgot the suspicious final words and quickly asked,
“Do you know where former Tower Master Baroa is now?”
“Unfortunately, even the current Tower Master Neia does not know. He left only a short note saying his term ends today, so pick the next person and keep things running smoothly, then departed.”
At least he had not met with any accident.
Still, it was disappointing. She had truly wanted to meet him.
She knew nothing about him except his name.
“…….”
The mage shrugged.
“That is all.”
“I-I see.”
The mage stared at Pay for a moment before abruptly changing his tone.
“I’m Holtdein, Pay. In the Magic Tower, the strong speak informally to the weak. That is the rule, so forgive me. If you dislike it, build your magic skills quickly and defeat me.”
“Oh, no, it’s fine! If I’ve come to the Magic Tower, I should follow its laws.”
When Pay waved her hands, Holtdein chuckled.
“Really? Good. Hmm, Pay? Tomorrow you must enter the dangerous breeding room that no one has been allowed to approach. Here is the key.”
“Breeding room?”
“Yes. Lord Baroa left behind an enormous, ferocious creature. He arranged it so the door opens and closes automatically once you leave the food at the designated time. Are you all right meeting that thing alone?”
If it was a breeding room, had he kept a pet there?
Pay had always loved small, cute rabbits, cats, dogs, and baby goats and sheep. She had been scolded by Beryl several times for playing too much with the shepherds. But she had enjoyed it.
She answered without thinking.
“It should be fine. After all, he is the one who saved me and took me to the monastery.”
Holtdein clicked his tongue.
“Well… since it is Lord Baroa’s arrangement, I suppose it will be all right. Still, I have no desire to clean up the corpse of an innocent girl. If you are reluctant, we can skip this.”
“I’ll come out alive.”
“You talk boldly. Then, in about an hour, I’ll show you the room you’ll be staying in. Remain here until then. This was also something Lord Baroa ordered you to do.”
“Yes.”
Usually, when the owner of the Magic Tower changed, the previous owner’s room was rarely preserved. Even if one did not intend to use it.
Nevertheless, Baroa’s room was neatly arranged, as though it had been vacated only yesterday. As expected of a respected person, the treatment was different.
Alone in Baroa’s room after Holtdein left, Pay murmured,
“What else… did he prepare for me?”
She fell into deep thought.
‘I, who cannot even cast a single spell yet, am supposed to enter the dangerous No. 2 breeding room alone? Then there must be something here….’
A sharp sensation.
“Ah, ow?”
It felt as though something had been fired from the other side, followed by a strange pain. Thinking she had been “hit” on the shoulder, Pay clutched her right shoulder and walked toward the source.
There stood a solid statue that looked as though it had been frozen in blue ice.
‘What is this?’
「…King of the…」
「Why, only now…」
「…I want to do the…th time…」
‘Ah?’
Pay’s footsteps halted as she approached the blue ice statue.
Again. On the day she returned from death, when she thought she never wanted to go back to Grace Monastery. And the same voice she had heard when she smashed the ruby pendant against the marble.
Summoning her courage in the Magic Tower, Pay asked,
“Who are you?”
Nothing was visible, yet a voice rang out directly inside her head.
「Finally, finally!」
「Hello, Morgana! Ah? You said you wanted to be called Pay, so I’ll change it. Hello, Morgan le Pay!」
「We are your guardian spirits. We have always been by your side.」
「It is because you did not want to see or hear us!」
A fierce rebuttal flew at the last spirit’s words.
「Oh, it is not entirely like that! Of course it was, but it is because you broke that cursed necklace that we could finally make our voices heard!」
“Necklace? Are you talking about the ruby pendant?”
At Pay’s question, one spirit grumbled.
「Yes! Because of that necklace, our voices could not reach you properly.」
“Wait, explain it to me in detail.”
Pay’s face hardened.
There had been a problem with the pendant she had believed was merely made of ruby? This was the first she had heard of it.
Forgetting about approaching the blue ice statue, she sat down on an empty chair and began speaking with the four spirits.
They were beings born of water, different from undines, and were called Fine Echoes.
They were not spirits bound by affinity or contract. If the one they guarded died, they would scatter or fall into slumber with them—an astonishing tale.
The Fine Echoes said they had naturally gathered around Morgana when she was about ten years old.
「You do not need to be too sad, Pay. We are spirits, so after we disappear, we are born again. It is a little different from resurrection.」
“…I see.”
「The ruby pendant you broke was not a simple accessory. It was a wicked item that suppressed the magic power you were born with and prevented you from hearing our voices.」
“All this time, I thought it was a mark proving my birth.”
「Because it was completely connected to you, its function remained the same no matter where it was placed.」
“What intention was there in giving me something like that….”
She had known nothing and simply broken it in a fit of anger.
「Birth? Then your family prepared that item? How cruel!」
“Ah….”
Pay’s expression grew awkward.
Seeing that the past Dot had swapped the necklace along with the silk robe, she must have discussed it with the Klein Duke and Duchess while possessing it. So it was not merely a precious object, but a tool meant to suppress magic power.
‘Did I—no, did the Klein daughter not want to become a mage, just as Sister Beryl thought? Because of how the world views mages?’
Until now, she had only resented the indifferent Klein Duke.
But now that she knew, his feelings were almost the same color as Sister Beryl’s. Indeed, it remained uncertain whether he would have sent her off obediently like the abbess when she stubbornly insisted on going to the Magic Tower.
Simply confirming the purpose of the ruby pendant had softened her resentment toward the Duke a little.
Perhaps they had been reluctant because, although mages were valued, the world held a subtle fear of them.
‘It is fine. Now that I know the truth, I will not hold any more feelings toward that side. I am not the Klein daughter—I will become the mage Pay.’
Pay deliberately asked in a bright voice,
“Then, will you stay with me now that the ruby pendant is gone?”
「Hehe, of course!」
「From now on, call us 1, 2, 3, and 4. I am 1.」
「I am 1!」
「The number 1 spot is mine!」
「I will even be 2, like 1!」
…However, their chatter was tremendous. To endure this noise from now on, she would need a great deal of mental fortitude.
She had heard that if she trained diligently in magic, she would eventually be able to see them with her own eyes. She would have to work hard.
“Pay, an hour has passed. Shall we go out now?”
“Ah, yes!”
At the sound of Holtdein’s voice, Pay hurriedly left Baroa’s room.
She did not approach the blue ice statue that had hurt her shoulder. Simply being able to speak with the Fine Echoes she had missed until now was already more than enough.