Chapter 16
“Since that’s what Her Majesty the Empress said, this is something the lady of the house is supposed to teach anyway, so it can’t be helped.”
“Sigh… Very well. I suppose I, as an adult, must understand.”
The Empress emphasized the word adult while fluttering her fan, and she was the very picture of petty stubbornness.
‘Ah, this isn’t the time for this.’
I stopped eavesdropping on the noble ladies’ conversation and instead scanned the atmosphere around my own table.
At the imperial palace tea party, the majority of the noble children present were female, and rather than paying attention to the sparring between Ishtar and the Empress, they seemed far more intent on getting even a single word in with Enkirion.
Most of the noble young ladies were enthusiastically chatting in an attempt to draw his attention, so it didn’t look like my absence would be noticed.
‘The attendant seems busy flirting with a different maid than before.’
Judging it was fine to slip away, I quietly stood up.
Even Rona, who had been acting friendly, seemed fully focused on Enkirion and didn’t stop me as I left my seat.
Holding tightly onto Lira, I pretended I was going to the restroom in the Empress’s palace, then casually changed direction.
Toward the path where I had once accidentally met Enlirsian.
The original story had described in detail the symbolic first meeting between the heroine and the male lead, so finding the hidden location wasn’t difficult.
At the edge of the Empress’s palace garden, there was an overgrown thicket that looked too wild for anyone to pass through. If you pushed through it and followed the hidden path beyond, you would arrive there.
That overgrown thicket was also where I had met Enlirsian before.
‘Back then, I went straight to Enlirsian’s palace and never even noticed the secret place.’
Without hesitation, I walked into the bushes.
Soon, the location described in the novel appeared.
White flowers resembling camellias floated on a small pond, while pale purple wisteria bloomed lavishly beside it.
The fresh scent of grass that calmed the mind and the gentle sunlight filtering down completed the scene.
It was like a utopia.
I couldn’t help but admire the beautiful scenery, like a painting, before suddenly realizing something.
No one was here…?
“…Ah!”
“Kiiing?”
Startled by my sudden exclamation, Lira looked up at me and tilted her head.
As if asking what the problem was.
I sighed and started walking again.
“It’s nothing… I just realized that if your head’s bad, your body suffers for it.”
According to the novel, after his nanny died, Enlirsian didn’t want to be alone in the palace, so he spent his days near the pond whenever the sun was out.
But since I had saved the nanny, Enlirsian would likely be in his own palace instead.
‘And Ishtar, drawn to his enormous magical power, would obviously go to where he is, not here.’
I had been too absorbed in watching the Empress and Ishtar’s sparring match from a reader’s perspective, and I must have unconsciously assumed the original plot would proceed exactly the same.
Even though, before the tea party, I had resolved to consider possible changes due to variables.
‘Well, it’s not a mistake, just a slight detour. No need to be so hard on myself.’
With that brief reflection, I headed toward Enlirsian’s palace, which I had visited only once before.
It wasn’t far from the pond, so soon the roof of a shabby building came into view.
Just as I felt relieved at having arrived quickly, I heard voices.
“Hey, are you human?”
Peeking out from behind a wooden pillar, I saw Enlirsian and Ishtar.
Enlirsian stared silently at her, who had asked a completely nonsensical question.
Then Ishtar frowned slightly and sighed.
“The amount of mana you possess is not something a human body can handle. You know that, right?”
“……”
“That means you’re going to die soon. Well, I won’t stop you if you want to die, but if you want to live, I can tell you how.”
“……”
The conversation that followed was also similar to what I remembered from the novel.
‘Even though the nanny is alive and things should already be different, only the location has changed.’
But having this conversation in front of a gloomy palace with little sunlight made it feel less like a romance and more like a thriller.
Besides, when I read it in the novel, I thought it was a serious scene, but seeing a child with chubby cheeks saying such things in person made it… kind of cute.
‘Even knowing Ishtar is older than me, her appearance makes her look like a child pretending to be an adult.’
I struggled to suppress the smile creeping onto my face.
“Hold it together. If you laugh now, everything’s ruined.”
My future with Ansharie depended on this.
Just as I was forcing my expression back into place, Enlirsian’s gaze suddenly landed on me.
“…!”
At the same time, his face lit up unbelievably brightly.
Shining!
His smile instantly erased the gloomy atmosphere of the shaded palace like it had never been there.
“What? Someone’s there?”
Ishtar turned toward me as well.
“That familiar… servant. Was she the young lady from the House of Serentia I greeted at the tea party?”
Calling me a “servant” based only on appearance.
‘So my impression was that forgettable?’
I felt a slight sting of disappointment but kept my expression steady.
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“How did you get here? This place isn’t easy to find. Don’t tell me… you followed me?”
Ishtar’s eyes sharpened instantly.
I had thought there was no issue since I had no personal grudge with House Serentia, but she seemed more suspicious than expected.
‘Still, it’s better to be honest here.’
Since I needed their help, explaining the situation properly was best.
“I actually followed you because I have a request for you, Lady Ishtar.”
“A request?”
“Yes. I heard you met the Tower Master.”
“You’re well-informed.”
Her expression stiffened immediately.
The meeting with the Tower Master had been strictly confidential.
“My father is very interested in magical affairs, so I happened to hear about it.”
It was a lie.
Even the Count likely didn’t know Ishtar and Osiris had met.
But knowing there was no way to verify it, I continued calmly without changing my expression.
“How much do you know about mages, Lady Ishtar?”
“What do you mean?”
I deliberately chose provocative words to stir her reaction.
“Mages tend to be highly individualistic, driven by a thirst for knowledge, and always strive to reach the highest realm.”
“……”
A silent confirmation.
“My father is one such mage.”
Ishtar looked at me as if to say, So what?
I ignored her displeased gaze and continued calmly.
“You may not believe it, but my father intends to absorb my soul to increase his mana circle.”
The previously indifferent Ishtar suddenly asked in shock.
“Extracting a living person’s soul and absorbing only their mana circle? Is that even possible?”
“It’s apparently a form of dark magic. I don’t know the details.”
“So magic civilization has regressed, but dark magic has advanced? Or is dark magic not banned these days?”
She said it so openly?
‘Anyone overhearing would think she’s insane!’
I glanced at Enlirsian, but he didn’t seem bothered by her words.
Maybe he already knew she was a reincarnated being, or maybe it just didn’t sound strange to him.
While I wondered about that, I continued answering her questions faithfully.
“As far as I know, it has been banned since ancient times.”
“Honestly, the kind of people who ignore bans are always the problem. Tsk.”
She clicked her tongue and shook her head, frowning deeply.
‘She looks so cute doing that, but it’s oddly out of place.’
More like an old soul than a child, I thought.
While I was thinking that, Ishtar muttered to herself.
“So even after absorbing it, the practical difference isn’t that big…”
She seemed unable to understand the Count’s goal.
I answered her doubt.
“What my father wants is simply the title of a 6th-circle mage.”
“Honestly, no matter the era, there are always idiots obsessed with status.”
Ishtar sighed deeply.
“So what do you want from me?”
“Please help me.”
“How?”
“Please persuade the Tower Master to take my younger sister as his disciple.”
“…What?”
“She doesn’t need to be a real disciple. She just needs a reason to leave the House of the Count.”
“Wait, let me get this straight. The one whose life is in danger is you, right?”
“That’s correct. But I can escape on my own. I already have a plan. However, my sister is different.”
“How is she different?”
“It would take too long to explain everything… is that okay?”
Ishtar nodded, granting permission.
So I began carefully.
I told her about how I had lied that Ansharie suffered from a rare illness that caused her lifespan to decrease if exposed to sunlight, how I built an underground treatment room for her, how mental magic had been placed in that room, and how there was a small chance the illness could be contagious. Because of that, even I—who had spent the most time with her as a child—might have been infected, so I was also confined to the basement once a week under the guise of preventive treatment.
As she listened, Ishtar’s brow furrowed deeply.
“So you’re saying she’s being brainwashed in that treatment room to obey the Count?”
