Chapter 53
Witch Cersia.
A calamity that devastated countless towns and cities. Her specialty was controlling people at will with black magic.
Like living dolls.
The people she controlled would turn their blades on family and neighbors, regardless of their own will.
Cersia’s vile hobby was to orchestrate massacres by manipulating dozens of people without getting a single drop of blood on her own hands.
The Imperial Family devoted itself to subjugating the infamous Cersia, and in the end, succeeded in cornering her.
Just when it seemed the witch hunt had finally succeeded, the cornered Cersia unleashed a shocking sorcery.
She switched into the body of one of the puppets she had been controlling.
While the extermination force’s attention was fixed on the empty decoy, the real witch slipped through a gap in the encirclement and vanished with ease.
Missing Cersia was a bitter loss, but it wasn’t a total loss.
She had suffered irreparable internal injuries. She could no longer use large-scale magic as before.
And so, the campaign against Cersia ended as a half-success and an unresolved mystery.
Afterward, the Imperial Family continued gathering information with only minimal personnel in case of any future trouble.
After decades of effort, they had managed to uncover a few strange rumors.
A house famed for its magic. The duke of House Edelheid had taken in an unidentified mistress.
That the two of them had a child.
That after giving birth, the mistress died.
And that child had never once shown their face to the world.
The time the witch suffered a fatal injury and vanished, and the time the duke’s illegitimate child was born.
There was no physical proof, but the gears meshed with unsettling precision.
That the bastard child was the witch Cersia. That she had abandoned her wounded body and switched into a new one.
The Imperial Family was half convinced.
Of course, it was still only circumstantial evidence.
So when the rumored bastard finally revealed herself to the world, they had intended to confirm it.
“She was blocked by that slave knight of hers….”
“I apologize.”
A piece of information surfaced in Aither’s mind.
Rumors that Edelheid had taken in a slave as a knight, and that the slave had defeated the magic knight Kalben.
It was the hottest topic in high society.
The man they had seen at the banquet, the one guarding Renoa Edelheid, was the very subject of that rumor.
“He must have been wearing the bracelet, too.”
“And yet he used mana normally.”
A magical tool created by the Imperial mages. It disrupts the wearer’s control of mana.
Even after removing the bracelet, it would take half a day to fully escape its effects, and yet he had repelled the intruder perfectly fine.
They had thought his presence was a scheme by the duke’s house to distract attention, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.
The rumor was true.
He was no ordinary man.
“Then does that mean we gained nothing at all?”
“Regarding that, if I may offer my personal opinion, I found nothing particularly unusual about the target.”
“Meaning?”
“She seemed like an ordinary young lady you could see anywhere. I didn’t sense anything especially sinister about her.”
“Are you saying she might not be the witch?”
“Please do not take this too seriously, as it is merely my personal opinion.”
A witch they had pursued for decades.
They had naturally been certain she would have switched into Renoa’s body.
And now they were being told she might not be, and not to pay it any mind?
What an irresponsible thing to say.
“For now, I understand. I’ll report to His Majesty. You look like you’ve hurt your neck, so go get it treated.”
The assassins bowed their heads and disappeared.
Left alone, Aither tapped his fingers on the desk.
“Could we have mistaken her? Was it all just our delusion?”
Had they simply stitched everything together conveniently, claiming it all fit perfectly from start to finish?
If Renoa wasn’t Cersia, then where was the real witch?
“No, it was too early to jump to conclusions.”
There were still plenty of chances left to confirm it.
***
“She was attacked in the capital?”
Renoa, who had returned straight to the duchy after the banquet,
reported what had happened in the capital to the duke and his retainers at once.
“You weren’t hurt, were you?”
“Fortunately, Sir Leon rushed over before I could get caught up in it, so I came to no harm.”
“That’s a relief. Just what fearless fool would attack our Renoa?”
Duke Pascal, chin in hand, pondered the matter.
The retainers, who had been listening in silence, each tossed in their own comments.
“There may be many who envy Edelheid, but throughout history the number of those who dared attack that family can be counted on one hand.”
“They must have looked down on our family. That would make sense, considering they sent not a legitimate child but a bastard to the banquet hosted by the Imperial Family.”
“And that’s not all. They sent a bastard to the prince’s coming-of-age ceremony, too. The Imperial Family will likely think we’re the ones looking down on them.”
Disliking Renoa’s existence wasn’t limited to the direct blood relatives.
The retainers, who were purists to the bone, were also deeply displeased that Renoa had been brought out in public.
Her very existence was a huge stain on Edelheid.
It was only because Duke Pascal, the head of the family, was so firm that they had no choice but to watch and wait.
“Mm-hm, yes, yes. Enough about that. Anything else?”
“The First Prince is said to be entering the Imperial Academy.”
The prince entering the academy was a far more serious matter than Renoa nearly being assassinated.
An immediate uproar broke out among the retainers.
“A royal enrolling directly in the academy. That is an extremely unusual move.”
“It can’t possibly be for study. He must be planning to gather noble heirs around him and build up his own power…”
“We should probably send someone suitable from Edelheid as well, to keep a close eye on the Imperial Family’s movements.”
Duke Pascal, who had been enjoying the retainers’ heated discussion, smiled faintly and turned to Renoa.
“Renoa can go.”
“That’s absurd! To send a lowborn with no pedigree into the empire’s cradle where royals and high nobles gather? Are you trying to bring shame on the family?”
“Please take that back, Head of House!”
As expected, the retainers immediately objected. The duke merely shrugged lightly.
“But there’s no one else to send, is there? Lowell and Idella are too old for the academy, and Sylvia is still too young.”
“Then it would be better not to send anyone at all!”
“Hmm. The retainers say otherwise. What do you think, Renoa?”
All eyes turned to Renoa.
The retainers’ fierce glares seemed to threaten her into knowing her place.
“I’ll go.”
But Renoa answered without hesitation.
“I will enroll in the academy and help raise Edelheid’s prestige.”
If the head of the house was going to support her, there was no way Renoa would refuse.
The academy was just like this banquet: a chance to make everyone aware of Renoa’s existence.
“You heard her, didn’t you? Renoa is working hard too.”
“But, Head of House…!”
-짝!
The duke clapped his hands.
The crisp sound echoed through the audience chamber, cutting off the retainers’ objections.
“All right! That’s the end of today’s meeting. I’m tired, so everyone dismissed.”
***
After reporting to the duke and returning to her room, Renoa told Leon that she would be going to the academy.
Leon nodded calmly, as if he had already known.
“So you really are going to the academy.”
Renoa’s brow furrowed.
“You sound as if you already knew I’d be going to the academy.”
“Huh? Ah, well, isn’t it obvious? Since the young lady went to the banquet, she’ll naturally go to the academy too.”
That might have been obvious, as Leon said, but Renoa herself hadn’t expected it.
She had thought going to the banquet was just one of the duke’s sudden whims.
But seeing that he was sending her to the academy too, it seemed that whim would continue for a while longer.
“Are you really going? To be honest, I’d rather you didn’t.”
“Why is that?”
“I have a bad feeling about this.”
The academy where [Lady Maker]’s main story takes place.
Naturally, all sorts of incidents and accidents happen there.
Especially the heroine.
The girl loved by everyone, including the prince.
Renoa grows jealous of her, since she monopolizes Aither’s attention, and bullies her.
She acts viciously and becomes more and more cruel.
She keeps crossing the line until she eventually resorts to cursing her with black magic.
That’s when Renoa is exposed as a black mage.
Leon became her escort knight to prevent that, but if he could avoid going to the academy altogether, that would be best.
He hoped Renoa wouldn’t get tangled up with the main characters.
“No. I’m going.”
“So it’s for status after all?”
“Yeah.”
Just like the banquet, it was a gathering where the many noble children who would one day shoulder the empire’s future came together.
Especially if she could build a good connection with the prince, nothing could be better for Renoa than that.
Leon had long known that he couldn’t change his master’s mind.
He let out a sigh, as if he had expected as much.
“…Understood. If you’re that firm about it, I can’t do anything. Then I suppose I should get ready to go to the academy as well.”
At those words, Renoa blinked at Leon.
Leon tilted his head at that questioning look.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Why are you going to the academy?”
“Why would you ask? I’m your escort knight. Of course I have to follow you.”
“A slave can’t possibly go to the academy.”
Renoa stated the reality bluntly.
“Gerard... no, escort knights do go to the academy, don’t they?”
In the original story, Gerard, Renoa’s escort knight, definitely went to the academy with her.
That was the whole reason Leon had become Renoa’s escort knight.
To correct her mistakes right by her side.
But.
“In that case, he goes as a noble, not as an escort knight. Logically, there’s no way a slave could enroll in the academy.”
“Huh?”
A bit of common knowledge.
A slave cannot enroll in the academy.