“Hello there, Lucas. It’s been a while.”
“So it has.”
In a stately room decorated with dignified furniture, two men sat in armchairs. One of the men was tough-looking and had blond hair and blue eyes. Sitting across from him was a gentleman with short, honey-blond hair and crimson eyes.
“This doesn’t seem like a formal visit. Has something happened?” the gentleman asked.
“Yes, I have something to report. There are still many uncertainties at the moment, so please keep it a secret for the time being.”
The man’s crimson eyes narrowed in curiosity, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. “Oh? All right. What is it?”
“First, take a look at these.” The tough-looking man placed a pile of papers on the round table between them.
The crimson-eyed man picked up the top paper with a puzzled look on his face that quickly turned to one of shock as he read what was written on it. “Lucas, how did you get these?”
“From a student at the academy. All of these were written by a certain student enrolled there.”
“Hmm…” The crimson-eyed man’s face grew grim as he picked up the other papers, looking through them. However, Lucas didn’t miss the sparkle that was growing brighter in his eyes. “Lucas, this will revolutionize the world of magic in our country,” the man declared.
“I know. That’s why I brought them to show you.”
“A large reduction in magical power consumption, an unusually high conversion efficiency rate, reduced strain on the caster… Why is this magic formula so ridiculously efficient when it’s just a basic formula?”
“The person who researched it calls this a ‘spell technique.’”
“I see. That’s clever. It’s true that this can hardly be called a magic formula. Though it bears some resemblance to them, this is a completely different system.”
After looking through all of the papers, the crimson-eyed man took a sip of his wine, his eyes narrowing in glee. How interesting. He hadn’t felt this amused in a long time.
“Heh heh… I wonder what kind of genius wrote these. I’d love to meet them sometime.” Holding his chin, the crimson-eyed man grinned mischievously, like a child plotting to cause trouble.
Seeing this, Lucas rubbed his brow and sighed deeply. “I’ll introduce the two of you soon enough, so please don’t get carried away, Your Majesty.”
✦ ✦ ✦
“Achoo!” The silver-haired girl, who was humming while surrounded by colorful flowers, suddenly sneezed. It was a clear day in early summer, so it was hard to imagine that she had caught a chill. Sniffling, she said out loud, “Ahhh, is someone talking about me?”
“Perhaps you’re simply chilly?” The manor’s gardener suggested as she sniffled again. The light sound of someone’s footsteps crunching on the ground could be heard from behind them along with the snipping of their sheers.
“My lady.”
“Hmm? What is it, Ruvik?”
“I’ve come to let you know that Eric is leaving.” Eric was a merchant the duke’s family often purchased from. Today, he had come to deliver a dress that her twin sister had bought.
“He’s leaving already? Has he already left the manor?”
“No, he’s probably still in the entrance hall.”
“I’ll be right there!” The silver-haired girl put down the shears she had been holding and hurriedly stood. “What do you think he’ll talk about today?” she asked.
“I have no clue.”
“Really? Hee hee. I’m looking forward to it. I wonder what he’ll talk about. Maybe the fluctuations in trade tariffs with the Iris Empire? Or the state of Platina’s financial market?”
“No other young noblewoman would care to ask about either of those topics…”
The young lady narrowed her red left eye and blue right eye at her butler’s plausible remark. With a calm yet happy expression, she smiled and said, “That’s fine. I’m not like most noble ladies, and the duke—I mean, Father—won’t say anything.”
“My lady, have you perhaps forgotten your own father’s name?” When Drossell didn’t respond, he said, “I’m not trying to be mean. But please remember the names of your family members, at the very least.”
“But I don’t like to waste time and effort on things I’m not interested in…”
“Errm… For argument’s sake, even if that was okay… No, it’s not okay. You’ll be inconvenienced if you don’t at least remember their first names.”
“You think so? I know all the names of the heads of noble families in this country. I’ve simply forgotten them at the moment, but I’m sure I’d remember if someone were to mention them.”
“That’s not the issue…” Stressed by the silver-haired girl’s expression, which seemed to say that she didn’t see anything wrong, the butler put one hand on the wall and held his stomach with the other.
“Ruvik, don’t die. I’ll get you some stomach medicine later.”
“Sorry…”
“Excuse me, my lady.”
“Oh, Claud. What is it?”
“The duke and the others are staring at you…”
Hearing this, the young lady turned around and saw her family staring at her from a distance. Various emotions swirled in their gazes: anger, hatred, jealousy, and confusion. She locked eyes with them for just a moment.
“I don’t care. Let’s leave them be,” the young lady replied nonchalantly, having already lost interest. Pressing a hand against his forehead, the gardener looked up to the sky in defeat.