“Where do you think you’re sitting on the floor with your ankle exposed? Are you trying to brag about being the spawn of a lowly woman?”
“You were the one who knocked me down.”
Eliya didn’t point out the truth.
She remained silent because she didn’t feel like arguing.
In that moment, she was the sinner.
The Narcissi in front of her was both judge and executioner.
The charge was, bastard.
The blue eyes looking down were cold and sharp.
She had grown accustomed to it, so it didn’t feel cold anymore.
She didn’t even wince at the stings.
Eliya stood up, just meeting her gaze.
“What’s with the glaring eyes?”
Narcissi couldn’t contain her rising anger and kicked Eliya.
A lady lifting her legs to kick; it was the uncouth act she had just condemned.
But she couldn’t rein in her emotions.
No matter what was done to her, seeing that face that seemed indifferent only made her emotions spiral out of control.
Eliya, kicked in the gut, rose silently without making a sound.
Once, she acted just as Narcissi wished.
Kneeling, crying, begging for forgiveness.
Not even knowing what she had done wrong.
Yet, Narcissi never halted her violence.
Because a noble shouldn’t cry easily or ask for help.
Despite her shouts, the smile of superiority remained on Narcissi’s face.
Eliya now understood.
It wasn’t because she had reasons to hit her.
It was because she wanted to hit her, and she just made up plausible reasons.
The true intention was infinitely ugly.
Contempt towards the bastard.
More precisely, jealousy towards Eliya’s biological mother who had played with her husband.
Digging deeper, it was her anger and disgust at her husband who had fallen for that mother.
That contempt had just circled back to Eliya.
Eliya’s biological mother died in a fire.
Of course, she knew it wasn’t an accident.
Eliya did too. So did Narcissi.
“You brought a boy to the guest room.”
Narcissi said as she wiped her hands with a handkerchief.
“Is it to prove your filthy bloodline? At that age, flaunting your body… a child of someone who danced naked and spread her legs in front of others. I’ve never liked you since that hunting competition.”
That was excessive cursing directed at a child.
Yet, Eliya replied calmly.
“I only brought him for necessity. To tame the moon deer, a holy beast of the Molsin Church.”
Eliya was weak. She had no foundation.
She couldn’t kill Narcissi yet.
Narcissi lacked strength but had connections and power.
However, Eliya’s innate magical talent was something that couldn’t easily be meddled with.
Moreover, she was the most likely candidate to become the next head, despite being a bastard.
It wasn’t just because of her talent as a wizard.
Eliya herself was an outstanding individual.
In every aspect—appearance, grace, culture, and intelligence.
Eliya knew the inner thoughts that Narcissi denied.
Narcissi was afraid of her.
One day, when Eliya became the head.
Or when her magical talent blossomed into being a truly powerful wizard.
The first target of her purging would be Narcissi.
Also, Narcissi’s children would be eclipsed by Eliya.
But, who knows.
Would it really end with just killing her?
“I think it’s far more rare and valuable to tame and place you beneath me than to kill and eat you.”
Eliya said with a soft smile.
Narcissi involuntarily inhaled sharply.
A girl not even half her own size.
Yet, at times, she sent shivers down her spine.
What was hidden beneath that mask?
Her father’s red eyes were eerily beautiful, like stunning jewels.
On the other hand, her black hair resembling lowly creatures was so unpleasant it felt like stank.
Like an unwashed rag.
“You filthy wretch!”
She wasn’t someone who wouldn’t understand the meaning behind those words.
Narcissi, unable to contain herself, slapped Eliya across the face.
Slap! The sound rang sharply.
She had never touched her face until now.
It was Eliya’s first slap, but she showed no surprise.
She simply caressed her heated cheek and looked up at Narcissi.
“There’s a birthday banquet soon, isn’t there?”
Narcissi spoke as if nothing had happened.
“Don’t let any foolish rumors arise. Just your existence is already a stain on the family’s reputation.”
“Yes.”
“This gathering is for the family, so keep your decorum.”
She meant to make it so no one would know she had touched her face.
Thus, she couldn’t even seek treatment from physicians or priests.
Eliya nodded obediently.
“Understood. However, I would like you to change one of my teachers.”
“…What? Just how much have you learned that you dare evaluate and replace them?”
“An educator who shows more interest in the learner than the learner itself isn’t exemplary. Sardis is one such case.”
“There’s always a reason behind that; who do you think you are to—”
Choosing a tutor was Narcissi’s authority.
Eliya wasn’t disappointed as she expected that response.
However, the gaze from Sardis that had been on her left her unsettled.
It felt like bugs were crawling on her skin.
“You’re really demanding when you don’t even know your place. Tsk… why celebrate your birth when being born is a sin…”
Narcissi muttered as she left.
It was a self-soliloquy meant for her to hear.
Eliya raised her hand to the door Narcissi had exited.
Yellow flames swirled, gathering in her palm before dispersing.
“Still lacking.”
Though she practiced and trained when she could, her power remained insufficient.
The strength that had once rampaged uncontrollably had waned after a certain incident.
It was nowhere near enough to kill someone.
Ria approached and helped Eliya wash her body and change her clothes.
She had watched everything from start to finish.
There was nothing more humiliating than insulting one’s master in front of others, yet Eliya didn’t care.
After all, Ria was assigned by Narcissi to keep an eye on her.
The fire she had just lit would undoubtedly be reported to Narcissi.
She didn’t mind.
In fact, she hoped for it.
There was also an intention to provoke Narcissi on purpose.
“How is the preparation for the banquet going that you mentioned in the morning?”
Eliya asked as if she were someone who had faced nothing.
Every time she remained so unflappable, Ria unknowingly chewed her lips.
It felt as if black pus was growing in her heart.
But only for a moment.
Ria quickly changed her expression and responded elegantly.
“They’re about to start making room for the beasts in the mansion. However, the carpentry, masonry, and lighting workshops are yet to start.”
“Alright. Tell Miguel to hurry up a bit more.”
“Yes, milady.”
Ria applied makeup to Eliya’s cheeks with a brush.
Applying color equally to both cheeks so it wouldn’t look like she’d been slapped.
After finishing the simple cheek makeup, Eliya merely looked like a healthy girl.
“Anna came by but left soon after.”
“Anna?”
The maid of Judas.
Eliya recalled her immediately.
“What was it about?”
“She said a guest had something to deliver.”
“…Judas? To me? Bring him here.”
The soon-arriving Anna held two flowers in her arms.
Red flowers. Two of them.
Not knowing what had happened to Eliya, she politely stated her purpose.
“These are flowers prepared by Lord Judas for you.”
“…Huh!”
Eliya couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.
She didn’t even realize it had been years since she had laughed out loud.
It was absurd. Too much so.
“Just two?”
She had received flowers countless times before.
There were times she took bouquets with a hundred stems wrapped together.
Too large to hold with her own hands.
That was the bare minimum.
The most flowers she had received was from the imperial family asking for a politically motivated marriage.
It would have been more than enough to turn the entire mansion into a flower garden.
She discarded all of them.
She didn’t care what happened to them.
But now, to think that for herself, there were just two.
Anna was at a loss for Eliya’s ridiculous reaction.
It was clearly something Judas had sent, yet she felt embarrassed for herself.
Ria quickly observed Eliya’s expression and said,
“You might as well throw them away….”
“No.”
Eliya interrupted the words.
“Bring them here.”
Anna reluctantly hid her displeasure and offered the flowers.
The cheap red flowers were wrapped in bargain paper.
The maximum one could buy with ten florins given by Judas.
“How much could something like this cost?”
The flowers were so cheap that Eliya couldn’t even guess their worth.
“Get me a vase.”
“Yes?”
Eliya looked at Ria as if asking if she needed to say it twice.
“I’m sorry.”
Ria hurriedly brought a smooth glass vase.
Eliya, staring at it, shook her head.
“Something else.”
It wasn’t until Ria brought back the fourth vase that Eliya gave a nod of approval.
It was a special vase with beautifully embossed thorns on the glass.
One that she’d never used before.
Eliya filled the vase with flowers.
“Fill it with water and place it on my desk.”
“Understood.”
Ria replied immediately, but she couldn’t believe this reality.
Eliya, who had treated all the flowers she’d received like trash until now.
Now accepting just these two pathetic flowers, which hardly qualified as trash.
What did that mean?
Ria pondered seriously as she exited the room.
Eliya thought about the vase and chuckled softly.
It was ridiculous.
Judas, who gave such a simple gift.
And herself, who strangely didn’t dislike it.
‘How refreshing.’
Yes, it truly was a fresh and precious experience.
Eliya knew the name of that red flower.
Anemone.
She also knew its language.
‘A love that cannot be fulfilled is a painful one.’
So audacious.
It must have been chosen without knowing its meaning.
“Anna.”
“Yes, milady.”
“Why does he want to gift me flowers?”
“He said it was to thank you for treating him well and always looking favorably upon him.”
“Hmm.”
Is that really so?
It was obvious she felt uncomfortable standing before him.
She remembered that during their first meeting, he had openly shown hostility.
Now he didn’t seem like someone who would sweet-talk her.
What was his ulterior motive?
It wasn’t easy to discern.
“And there’s another gift, but he said he would deliver that in person.”
“Again? I’m really looking forward to it.”
She was being sincere.
What sort of fresh gift had he prepared?
“I should be going now. Oh, and tell Judas that I won’t be going to see the moon deer today.”
After sending Anna away, Eliya summoned Miguel and Gawain.
For the upcoming birthday banquet.
She had thought of a way to mess with Narcissi.
“I’m planning to invite candidates to the birthday banquet.”
Miguel was about to say that it wouldn’t work but then closed his mouth.
Though there was a purpose behind it, just allowing Judas to stay in the mansion for several days was already problematic.
Now, inviting candidates to a banquet exclusively for nobles; it was bound to attract criticism.
However, if Eliya wanted it, then it would happen.
“We’ll need at least some form of justification, right?”
“Yes, indeed.”
“Let’s set it up as a contest among candidates. Inviting the candidates most likely to become my escort knight. But individual duels will take too long and could easily cause rumors.”
Eliya swiftly devised a plan and justification.
“So we will elect five representatives from each group to compete in a group battle. The winning group’s members will receive… was it 1,000 florins I gave to Judas last time?”
“100 florins, milady.”
“Then give them that much. If they win, they’ll get to freely dine at the banquet in my mansion.”
Miguel quickly jotted it down.
“Can it be done without disrupting the training?”
“Yes, milady, I will ensure that.”
“Alright. I trust you to adjust the detailed rules as needed.”
“Yes. I will prepare and announce it to the candidates within a few days.”
“Good. You both may leave now.”
What kind of appearance would Judas show this time?
For some reason, she felt certain he would win.
There was no basis for it.
But what would happen if he participated in her banquet and confronted other family members?
He who had boldly defied Kale, who was much stronger and much older than him.
Could he do that here too?
It was amusing because it was unpredictable.
Like an untamed wild beast.
This plan would surely reflect poorly on her reputation and honor as a noble.
Yet she didn’t care.
What mattered was that it could vividly tarnish the Bevel Family.
She was also looking forward to what Judas might display.
Would he surpass her expectations once more?
Eliya decided it was time to study and headed to the study.
The two anemones in the vase greeted her.
Another chuckle escaped her lips.
It was so trivial.
But why did that triviality not bother her?
As she sat at her desk, she checked the time and pulled out a philosophy book.
[The Dialectic of Masters and Slaves.]
It was filled with expressions and rhetoric hard to grasp at her age, yet Eliya read through fluidly and comprehended effortlessly.
Occasionally looking at the anemones made her chuckle again.
Then thoughts of Judas crossed her mind, as did the moon deer.
That moment when she had petted the moon deer’s back.
‘…It was soft.’
Her small hand fidgeted by itself.
She diligently tried to ignore the tingling sensation on her cheek.
*
[Hidden quest, ‘The First Tamer of the Moon Deer’ has been completed.]
[Rewarding now.]
[Magic Acquisition (Lv.3) – Moon Attribute.]
“Crazy….”
Profanity slipped out in the form of nurturing.
Magic.
Up until now, she had levels 1 and 2, but level 3 was a bit different.
She was now at the stage where she could genuinely feel magic and do something with it.
But what surprised her was not that third level.
‘Moon attribute…?’
In this world, there exists one main god and numerous sub-gods.
The moon is one branch of the sub-gods.
In other words, having a moon attribute means she carries divine power.
‘That’s extremely hard to obtain…’
Attributes are generally manifested through specific items.
Especially something as rare as the moon attribute.
However, since her magic was imbued with the moon attribute, all the magic she would use in the future would manifest as moon attribute magic.
But there was a problem.
How does one actually use magic?
‘What even is magic?’
She had lived in a world without magic or sorcery.
Even despite experiencing this world through a game, she had no idea what magic was.
She had tried various things next to the moon deer.
Pressing her concentration, trying to feel the energy flowing from her body, and imagining the power extending outward.
None of it worked.
‘Guess I’ll just have to learn slowly.’
After a long while, she checked her status window.
Her stamina had jumped significantly from the egg-shaped mushrooms, and other stats had increased slightly.
[Stamina: 10.5]
[Strength: 5.6]
[Agility: 12.1]
[Magic: 3.0]
The most significant change was the newly added magic stat.
It sure meant her body contained magic, so she didn’t need to rush.
Using magic could explosively enhance her physical abilities.
This was known as ‘Magic Liberation.’
Its effect was proportional to her magic stat.
But right now, she didn’t necessarily need that kind of immense power.
“What a clever little creature.”
She stroked the moon deer’s neck vigorously.
Indeed, it was an impressive and useful little thing.
As she petted it, it seemed to enjoy it, nudging its head against her.
Though it was serendipitous and she was doing this near the Eliya Mansion, she felt she had trained it well.
In a way, she was grateful that Eliya saved it.
‘…Ah. That wrist. I’m reminded of it again.’
Why was that?
No matter how hard she thought, it was a mystery she couldn’t unravel.
*
Morning.
She ate Anna’s sandwiches heartily.
Delicious and all, but they lacked protein.
‘If only I could indulge in protein for just one day…. If I eat well, my stats should grow faster.’
She returned to the training center before morning training.
It had been a long time.
She left on Saturday morning and returned that Monday morning.
Room 13. Richard, who spotted me, looked as if he had seen a ghost.
“Uh, uh…! Yu, Judas! Are you, are you alright? Huh?”
He rushed towards me, grabbing my shoulders and shaking me.
“What happened to you? You didn’t face anything weird, did you?”
It seemed in Richard’s mind, nobles equated to demons.
Did he not realize that he was half insulting Eliya?
“I was worried since you didn’t show up all weekend. I heard Count Thomas would arrive on Monday.”
Dillon was relatively calm.
Since he was dragged off by a noble for several days, it only made sense he’d conjure up a host of wild imaginations.
Some of them looked at me with somewhat unbecoming eyes.
Crazy folks.
I briefly explained why I had been unable to stay.
“…In any case, I think I’ll be staying there until the moon deer is completely tamed.”
“Now that I see it, this little guy seems successful or something, right?”
“Going into milady’s mansion….”
A series of questions came pouring in right after.
How large the mansion was.
What my dorm room looked like.
Whether Eliya had mentioned anything about becoming her escort knight, and so on. I answered them moderately.
The fantasies about a romantic love that transcended my standing with Eliya, I brushed them off lightly.
Those insane folks. Really.
“Is it just me, or do you smell like… cheese?”
Richard suddenly remarked.
Argon agreed beside him.
I guess they had gotten close by now.
“It smells like cheese, and maybe some salty thing too…”
“Hey, don’t I get to eat something delicious alone on my own?”
“I still have cookies and chocolate left that I brought with me, right?”
“Of course, I was going to say you could eat as much as you wanted! You can eat it all!”
Richard quickly changed the subject.
Laughter erupted all around.
I went to change clothes as usual and went out to the training grounds.
The sandy training ground.
Thomas, who was in charge of section 5, announced.
“You’re all aware that Lady Eliya’s birthday is coming up soon.”
When that was said, I felt some eyes turn to me.
“You’ll be granted another glory. Starting today, all afternoon combat training will change to a group battle format.”
Group battle format?
“The rules are as follows: Each day a random contest and faction will be determined, and from each faction, five individuals will be selected to spar. This way, we shall determine the winners, and the members of the winning faction will get to directly attend Lady Eliya’s birthday banquet.”
Directly attending a noble’s birthday party.
This was a luxury that many candidates couldn’t even dream of.
I wasn’t really keen on it.
Since Eliya’s birthday means…
‘Wait a moment. I wonder if there will be plenty of protein there?’
My thoughts changed.
Maybe just going would be nice?
“And here.”
Thomas held up a small piece of paper.
“I’ll read the matchups that have already been decided, so memorize it well.”
I felt a piercing gaze from somewhere.
When I turned my head, a big guy was glaring fiercely at me.
I recognized him immediately.
He was the one who insulted me from behind in the last hunting competition.
The one who was leading his gang of friends.
He had been the one chasing after the moon deer till the end.
‘…But what was his name again?’
Going by the position in line, it looked like section 15.
The others from section 15 around it were also looking at me with disdainful eyes.
“Next, the first opponent from section 13 is….”
I did not avoid their gazes.
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