Chapter 21

Chapter 21

As everyone stared on in confusion, Isidor pushed through the crowd surrounding him and strode toward me. His legs were so long that he closed the distance in what felt like a heartbeat.

“Where are you headed?” he asked affectionately, his friendly eyes twinkling at me.

“Why do you want to know?” I replied quickly, staring at the ground to avoid looking at the kick in the teeth that was his gorgeous face. My voice came out deeper than usual because I was tense, making it sound as though I was angry at him.

“I thought we could have some tea if you have the time.”

“It seems like you already have plenty of people lining up to do just that,” I said, gesturing at the crowd behind him with my chin. Frightened by me, they kept their distance, murmuring among themselves and watching us.

“Oh, don’t pay them any mind,” Isidor whispered, leaning forward. His baritone voice vibrated pleasantly in my ears.

My god, he’s a total lady-killer. “Do I look like someone who cares what other people think? Are you really that clueless or are you just pretending to be?” I spat at him, doing everything in my power not to fall victim to his charm.

“Haha!” he laughed suddenly.

What in the world? Don’t tell me this is one of those cliched moments where he tells me that I’m the first person who has ever been this cold to him. “I’m busy. If you’ll excuse me,” I said, pushing the silly thought out of my mind.

“That’s too bad. I wanted to discuss social clubs with you today.”

Social clubs? I stopped, rooted in place. This unexpected proposal was actually very interesting to me. Any club that the House of Bisconti’s heir was a member of would likely be suitable for me as well. And since there was no character by the name of Isidor in the novel, he definitely didn’t belong to Omicron.

But why wasn’t he in the novel at all? Based on his looks alone, the author was an idiot for not making him the main protagonist. Since Isidor wasn’t one of Mia’s suitors, I knew nothing about him at all.

I have no idea what he’s trying to do here. I’ll have to ask the guild master to collect information on Isidor Bisconti for me. After a moment's hesitation, I spun around to face him again. I had no idea why he was approaching me like this, but I wasn’t in a position to ignore his bringing up social clubs. “I need to go to class right now. We can talk later.”

“Yes. Let’s do that.” Isidor gave me a stunning smile despite my unenthusiastic response.

Yikes. His face was a thing of danger. Though it would cost a lot of money, I resolved once again to ask the guild master to investigate. Then I quickly made my way to magic class.

* * *

The magic building was damp and dark. I felt repelled by it as I entered, similar to the way I felt when mana was forced into my body. It reminded me once more that Deborah’s body was certainly not that of a mana user’s.

I’ve got no innate talent, so money is my only option. Once again reminded of the necessity of coins, I walked down a corridor that was lit with glowing mana stones. Today’s class would be about magical formula theory. Since I couldn’t actually use magic, I’d been forced to select only the theoretical courses. The theories would do me no good if I couldn’t put them to use. I wondered what I actually got out of attending these classes if anything at all.

Pressing my lips together, I stepped into the classroom. The murmuring died down instantly, and fearful eyes locked onto my face. I felt as if I were starting to get used to this reaction as I found myself a seat. I even felt a little relieved, since it seemed like I was successfully staying in character as a villainess so far.

Moments later, a tired-looking man wearing a black robe stepped up onto the platform at the front of the classroom, accompanied by his assistant. He looked exhausted, had dark circles under his eyes, and walked with a slouch. Feeling a sense of déjà vu, I narrowed my eyes.

Why does this mage remind me of an engineering student? I realized I hadn’t seen hide nor hair of Veleque recently since he hadn’t left the Magic Tower at all. When I’d asked a maid what was going on, I’d been told that he had run into some problems while working to create some kind of artifact. I’d run into him in the corridor the previous week and he’d swooped past as if he had no desire to even talk to me. Perhaps he had been too tired to pick a fight?

I suppose being a mage might come complete with the three D’s—dirty, dangerous, and demanding. I began to wonder if my lack of magical talent wasn’t actually a blessing in disguise. As I sat there doubting the desirability of a mage’s job, the teacher’s assistant produced a stack of handouts and dropped them on the table with a loud thud.

He gestured at the stack with his chin. “What you see here are all the formulas that you’ll have to familiarize yourself with this quarter. Those who are incapable of self-study or lack logical reasoning skills will find it difficult to keep up,” he said in a distinctly grouchy tone.

The gathered students exchanged nervous glances upon hearing this biting declaration.

Ugh. Having spent a lot of time with my easy-going university tutors, encountering this grim professor made me feel gloomy. In fact, I felt as though I’d suddenly returned to my previous life.

“You’ll be taking a simple test today. Solve the problem, and once you are done, you may leave.” The mage, obviously putting as little effort as humanly possible into actually teaching the students, quickly left the classroom, leaving behind his assistant.

A formula test? Now? She had taken classes about magic circles all throughout the academy break, and Deborah had hated magical formulas more than any other subject. There was almost no information about formulas in Deborah’s fragmented memories.

I definitely won’t be able to solve them. I’ll just have to sit around for a bit, then leave. This was such a waste of time. Frankly, I didn’t know why I was even here at all when I had no ability to sense mana. Honestly, I want to just give up. But Deborah had begged and pleaded to study magic at the Academy, and I knew the duke would not be pleased if I suddenly changed my mind.

How do I get out of here? As I pondered the best way to escape, the assistant began noisily writing the problem on the blackboard with a piece of chalk.

Huh? I stared at the problem, suddenly overcome with the feeling that I might know how to solve it after all. I wrote down the answer and turned it in before anyone else, before leaving.

* * *

“Why does this answer sheet only have the solution, with none of the process written out?”

“That’s Lady Deborah’s,” explained the teacher’s assistant.

The magical formula professor, Kyle, frowned and pursed his lips. “She must have threatened one of the other students and copied their answer. She’s just like the rumors say. How did the House of Seymour produce such a pathetic human being?”

The house’s twin heirs made other mages despair with their genius-level talent. Lady Deborah, on the other hand, caused everyone to question how she could possibly belong to the same prestigious family.

“How irritating.” Kyle threw the answer sheet onto the floor, grumbling angrily. He would have liked to summon her and lecture her for her behavior, but she was the master of the Magic Tower’s beloved daughter. He feared the unpleasant consequences that might await him if he tried.

Ignoring her cheating wasn’t fair to the other students, however, and it undermined his authority as a professor. This displeased him greatly. He scratched at his hair angrily. “I should call her over and give her a warning, shouldn’t I? Tell her that she shouldn’t be cheating. Damn it, I’m not a nanny. I’m already busy enough as it is. Must I also teach her basic manners?”

“But... Lady Deborah was the first to turn in her answer sheet. She could argue that she didn’t cheat, and we’d have no evidence against her.”

“Really?”

“Yes. No matter how fast you are at solving formulas, the problem should have taken at least fifteen minutes to complete. She was done in five.”

“Ah, I understand. She just guessed and got lucky. I guess she’s incredibly lucky, eh?”

“Indeed.”

“And not just lucky. She’s also very beautiful. Though such a strong-willed woman isn’t really my type.”

“Not mine, either.”

“She should have just learned to control her temper and married into a respectable house. What is she doing taking my class when she doesn’t even know how to use mana? People collect magic circles and memorize formulas as if their lives depended on it in order to get into the magic institute,” Kyle muttered testily. He kicked at Deborah’s answer sheet with his foot.

* * *

As soon as I arrived home, I summoned an attendant and told him to get ready to accompany me to the library in the annex. I was curious to see if I’d understood the problem correctly when solving it.

It’s pretty big, though nowhere near as big as a college library. The Seymour library was but a faint memory in Deborah’s mind, telling me just how little reading she had done in her life. When I arrived, the eyes of the man sitting at a desk near the entrance widened noticeably. He seemed surprised to see me.

“Lady Deborah, is there a specific book you are looking for?” he asked dubiously. He didn’t seem to find me as frightening as the other servants did, which had to mean that his position in the house wasn’t as low as the others. If he was a librarian, that meant the man was educated. Hazarding a guess, he was probably the son of an important vassal.

“I’m going to have a look around.”

The man sighed briefly, sending a pointed look at the high-heeled shoes I was wearing. He sounded as though he were addressing a wayward child. “Let me give you a word of advice and spare you some wasted energy, my lady. This library mainly contains imperial history books and magic tomes. You won’t find any of the romance novels that are in vogue among the ladies here.”

Wait a second. What’s with this idiot’s attitude?