Chapter 6: Confirmation procedure (2)

A silence fell between Isellia and me.

She still had her hands clasped, her head bowed as if to hide her face, her posture slightly stiff.

Her lips moved slightly then stopped, as if there were still unsaid words beyond what she had already spoken.

I drank the last sip of tea and set down the empty teacup.

At this point, my objective was sufficiently achieved.

I had apologized to her, and confirmed she wasn’t an evil person… so I could relax.

But I wasn’t entirely sure what I intended to do after confirming whether Isellia was evil or not.

What exactly did I want to do?

“…Perhaps.”

Isellia broke the silence by opening her mouth.

I looked up and met her gaze.

Isellia didn’t fully lift her head, but her eyes passed over the table and met mine.

“Would you… like to walk in the garden together?”

It was an unexpected suggestion.

Her voice was low, and a strangely cautious lingering note was present at the end of her words.

It felt unlike her—almost as if she were asking for permission.

“The garden?”

When I unconsciously repeated the question, Isellia nodded slightly.

“Yes. Our garden is… tended throughout all four seasons, so I think you’ll like it. The breeze is pleasant too. It would be a shame for you to leave after only having refreshments.”

I could feel that her slightly lengthened explanation was her way of being considerate.

I pondered for a moment.

The nominal apology was already over, and I had unexpectedly shared refreshments with her, so I wondered if it was right to stay longer…

However, the small, cautious consideration in her voice from just a moment ago made it somehow difficult to refuse easily.

No, it would be more accurate to say that no particular reason to refuse came to mind.

I quietly nodded.

“Luke, please take care of the tidying.”

Isellia, after asking the servant to clean up, rose from her seat and began walking towards the inner part of the garden.

I followed a step behind her.

The sunlight was pleasantly warm, and Isellia’s unfinished drill curls shimmered beautifully in its rays.

The inner part of the garden was unbelievably neatly arranged, even more so than it appeared from the outside.

Flowers bloomed in rows along both sides of the path, most of which were varieties I had never seen before.

Even the ones I did recognize, I’d only seen them once before and didn’t really know what kind of flowers they were.

“This one is a Bluestar.”

She carefully pointed to a single bloom with her fingertip.

Sky blue. A transparent blue, like the sky, swayed gently in the breeze at the end of its slender stem.

“When I see this flower, I think of a cold candy. The kind that feels like it would melt if you touched it.”

Isellia smiled softly.

Yet, she didn’t touch the flower.

As if simply looking at it from up close was enough.

We walked a little further.

Over a vine that grew along one of the garden walls, star-shaped purple flowers bloomed profusely.

“These are Clematis. They may look like they’d wither quickly in the sun, but they’re surprisingly resilient? Their roots go deep, so they don’t dry out easily.”

She lightly walked past those flowers.

Without even brushing a leaf with her fingertip, just with a quiet, subtle smile on her face.

Her steps were graceful, and in every word, her affection for the flowers seemed to be conveyed.

I quietly exhaled, watching Isellia like that.

Walking through this garden with her now, without a word, felt strangely comfortable.

“Lady Isellia… you truly know a lot about flowers.”

As we walked along the garden path, the words slipped out unconsciously.

She widened her eyes and looked at me.

Then, she gave a small, slightly shy smile.

“Really? I’m happy to hear you say that.”

Her smile was cautious, yet unadorned.

“This garden was personally tended by my mother. Our family all loves to admire the garden together.”

As if recalling something, she slightly lifted her head and gazed at the Clematis vine.

“At first, this Clematis was very small. My father personally planted the sapling next to the arch, and my mother would come out around this time every year to check if the flowers had bloomed. My brother didn’t know the names of the flowers… but he always captured them in his drawings.”

As she continued speaking, her voice grew progressively brighter.

“I truly love these flowers and their fragrances? Each flower has a different color, and the breeze around them seems different too; just walking like this makes me feel good.”

“That’s why I still sometimes come out to the garden alone. While it’s enjoyable with my family, walking in the garden by myself is also charming, you know?”

I looked at her silently.

There was no haughtiness, no expressionless face.

Her eyes sparkled, and her expression looked genuinely joyful.

In that moment, Isellia was simply a child talking about something she loved.

Such a pure Isellia, after that incident—

“Ah, a bug…?”

At that moment, Isellia murmured softly.

Her tone wasn’t so much surprised as it was a calm complaint, like she wasn’t happy with today’s lunch menu.

Following her gaze, I saw something small and black fly between us.

– Whirrr

A small buzzing sound.

I instinctively stepped back and clapped my hands together, trying to catch the bug.

But before I could act, she lightly raised her hand first.

Then, a faint, red thread-like pattern briefly formed at her fingertip, and with a soft ‘snapping’ sound, a flame quietly bloomed in the air.

– Whoosh

A brief, precise ignition.

It was truly clean and concise magic, precisely incinerating only the single bug before her eyes.

A small wisp of smoke.

There was no sound, no burning smell.

As if there had never been any bug there in the first place.

I swallowed.

It wasn’t a simple prank.

Nor was it a game.

Magic.

The trajectory of the flame remained in my mind like an afterimage.

Right, this world was one where magic existed.

And I clearly recalled that this girl before me—Isellia Saluut—was a prodigy of fire magic.

Before she was tainted by darkness.

It wasn’t the dark crimson flame born of jealousy and rage.

Perhaps that’s why.

The flame she had just conjured was strangely beautiful… more than it was terrifying.

The trace of that brief magic, delicate, soft, and vanishing like a wisp of wind, was vivid enough to be mesmerizing.

“I’ll have to ask the gardener to be more thorough with the maintenance.”

Isellia puffed out her cheeks and grumbled, as if she had forgotten I was right in front of her.

‘…Cute.’

“Pardon?”

At my unintentional muttered thought, Isellia tilted her head slightly and glanced at me.

“What did you say?”

I couldn’t speak and just blinked.

Should I be glad she didn’t hear?

If Isellia had blushed again in embarrassment, I might have lost control and done something like last time.

“Oh, no, that… you handle magic really well, Lady Isellia.”

At my fumbled words, unable to find a suitable excuse, she shrugged slightly.

“This much is simply a basic accomplishment expected of the eldest daughter of the Saluut Ducal House, you know?”

Isellia’s unfinished drill curls bounced as she proudly placed her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest.

If I hadn’t suppressed the sudden impulse, I might have made the same mistake as last time.

“Oh, by the way, Lady Sennet, what kind of magic do you wield? Since we have the chance, I’d love to see it!”

Isellia suddenly looked up at me, her eyes sparkling.

The unique curiosity of a child brightly bloomed in her clear, vivid golden eyes.

“Well… I’m sorry. I haven’t really used magic properly yet…”

It was an honest answer.

No, strictly speaking, I didn’t even know what kind of magic I could wield, let alone having used it.

My sister wouldn’t have created such detailed settings, like what kind of magic an extra villainous supporting character named Sennet wielded, in the first place.

“Really? Then I can teach you! If it’s just how to use it, you’ll pick it up quickly!”

But at my answer, Isellia’s eyes sparkled even more.

There was even a hint of excitement in her voice.

‘How could I refuse when she’s so excited?’

“Lady Isellia, then, instead of here… should we go somewhere without flowers?”

As I looked around and spoke cautiously, Isellia also looked around and bowed her head slightly.

“…I’m truly happy for your consideration.”

She seemed to have gotten carried away with the talk of magic without realizing it, and her slightly embarrassed expression felt rather cute.

‘Right, since things have come to this, it would be good to try learning.’

‘Magic, huh.’

Perhaps because it was one of the things I had hoped for since transmigrating, a quiet anticipation was blooming in my chest.

We moved to a gravel patch at the far end of the garden, a little distance away, where no flowers were planted.

Isellia led the way, carefully lifting her skirt hem so it wouldn’t touch the dirt.

‘If it’s just an empty plot with small stones and dry ground, there shouldn’t be any problem no matter how much I mess up.’

“This spot should be good.”

Isellia turned towards me and took a step closer, her hands neatly clasped.

Her gaze was much more serious than before.

It was a confident expression, different from the bright and innocent look she had while talking about the garden just moments ago.

“Lady Sennet, let’s start by feeling mana. You’re not trying to force the power out, but rather looking for the sensation that wells up from within.”

I closed my eyes and slowly inhaled.

‘Finding the sensation, huh.’ I wasn’t sure exactly what she meant, so I just closed my eyes, but surely… a subtle energy seemed to seep in from somewhere in my chest.

This time, after inhaling, I sank my consciousness inward, deeper, as if diving deep into water.

At first, I felt nothing.

Only emptiness and vast darkness.

But as I focused a little more, a cool, transparent energy slowly began to gather somewhere around my chest.

It felt like finely flowing spring water.

It was cold but not unpleasant, rather it felt like it was clearly spreading beneath my skin.

That sensation slowly began to gather at my fingertips.

“Lady Sennet… this is…?”

At Isellia’s voice, I opened my eyes to see her with a surprised expression, stepping closer and looking at my hand.

A clear, cold stream of water extended thinly in the air, instantly transforming into transparent ice.

Long ice crystals gently revealed their form in the air.

Smooth, elongated ice that sparkled in the sunlight.

“Water and… ice? Two attributes at once?”

A clear sense of wonder appeared on Isellia’s small face.

“Dual attributes… this is truly… a very rare talent! I’ve never seen a case like this before!”

I looked at the slowly flowing water droplets and the glistening cluster of frost at my fingertips.

It was definitely my first time… but it felt strangely familiar.

A sensation that had flowed quietly somewhere deep inside me.

A power I had forgotten until now, yet one that clearly existed within me.

“Lady Sennet, how about trying to create something with magic this time?”

Isellia looked at me, her eyes sparkling.

My heart was also beating fast with the joy of successfully using magic for the first time.

I, too, was secretly excited and extended both hands forward.

Feeling the cold, clear energy at my fingertips, I gathered mana, wanting to create something cool this time.

What appeared before my eyes was…

Something long, squiggly, and with both ends inexplicably curled.

“What is this…?”

Seeing Isellia ask with a bewildered expression, I pondered for a moment, then answered weakly.

“Uh… a worm…?”

At my answer, Isellia’s eyes widened, and she couldn’t hold back her laughter.

“Pfft… Hahaha! That’s really cute! A worm… haha!”

My cheeks flushed hot at her laughter, and out of sheer stubbornness, I wanted to create something proper.

I focused mana into both hands again.

This time, I tried to shape it more thickly but smoothly.

The result…

An even more squiggly ice sculpture, resembling a wet string, was created.

“And this time?”

I answered very softly, bowing my head.

“Doesn’t it look like a snake…?”

Isellia couldn’t hold back her bursting laughter and laughed out loud, bowing her head.

“It doesn’t look like one at all!! Ahahaha~!”

My entire face flushed hot, and feeling somewhat wronged, I drew up mana again.

But each time, results contrary to my intentions poured out, and Isellia, seemingly forgetting she was a noble lady, clutched her stomach and burst into loud peals of laughter.

“…Huh?”

Had I done that about ten times?

Suddenly, my nose tingled, and a cold, thin liquid flowed down.

“A nosebleed…?”

Then the world seemed to spin dizzily, my strength drained, and my legs wobbled.

The flowers, the sky, and Isellia’s face spun around before my eyes, and I swayed forward as if collapsing.

“Ahaha… Eh? La-Lady Sennet?!”

Just before my consciousness faded, I faintly saw Isellia rushing towards me in a flurry, which was the last thing I saw.