Chapter 8: Confirmation procedure (4)

The room I returned to was quiet.

Everything, from the familiar ceiling patterns and neatly arranged furniture to the cool night breeze blowing in from the window and the newly filled bookshelves, was there.

It was the same scenery as always since becoming Sennet—

Even though several days had passed since I returned to my room, my heart still seemed to linger at the Saluut Ducal House.

“Please return safely, Sennet. Let’s have more enjoyable conversations next time! Definitely!”

Isellia’s image, carefully clasping her hands and smiling slightly as she said that, was still vivid in my mind.

Her appearance, unable to hide her regret even at the moment of departure, yet trying to maintain her politeness until the very end.

‘What if I had stayed a little longer?’

‘But if I had stayed out without a word, I would have worried my family.’

“Haa…”

I slowly exhaled.

The incident of losing consciousness due to mana depletion was something that absolutely could not be revealed to my family.

I had asked Sara to keep it a secret, but I couldn’t describe how nervous I was, just in case.

Still, apologizing to Isellia and talking about the time we spent together made it easy enough to pretend to be calm.

Fortunately, everyone was quiet now.

No one noticed anything strange and questioned me, and I was peacefully enjoying my alone time—

“She’s just a kid.”

My mind simply wouldn’t quiet down.

Isellia.

The girl I met today was completely different from the image of the villainess I knew from the original story.

A child who brightened up and rejoiced at the word “friend,” who expressed her feelings so honestly and cutely even when sulking, and who laughed so purely.

I extended my palm towards the ceiling.

The sensation of mana I felt for the first time in the midday garden.

The cold, transparent water droplet that formed at my fingertips.

And…

“Isellia! Sennet, you shouldn’t add ‘nim’! We’re friends!”

I slowly curled my fingers and smiled.

Somehow, a corner of my heart fluttered with excitement, and a small fear seemed to creep in alongside it.

‘The her I know from the original story was definitely… but that image no longer mattered.’

I still couldn’t forget the smile Isellia showed me just before I got into the carriage.

The little child who smiled and waved, saying she’d see me again.

And with a full-faced smile, vaguely swaying—

“Maybe I should have tugged it after all.”

A sigh, somewhat more serious than before, escaped me.

Yoon Sol. The three words that girl repeatedly emphasized when she said she was conceptualizing a villainess who would oppose the heroine.

“Cinnamon roll, vertical roll, drill.”

It is said that for a villainess, cinnamon roll hair, vertical rolls, and drill hair are the truth.

“I cannot acknowledge any other form.”

The shape of those soft, flowing black locks carefully curled up.

It was still an incomplete form, a medium-length bob that hadn’t grown long yet, but considering future growth, it would surely transform into an excellent drill.

I was both proud of myself for being able to endure until the end, with such a high-potential drill-hair right before my eyes, and at the same time, I felt pathetic.

‘I really should have tugged it.’

“You idiot… that’s not the problem right now.”

Leaning back against the headboard and looking up at the ceiling, I felt regret wash over me belatedly.

‘Why did I agree to be friends?’

When I possessed Sennet, I vowed to keep my distance from the main characters and live peacefully, but now I’m becoming friends with Isellia, who’s already a person of interest?

The thought that I had stepped onto a shortcut to ruin intensified my regret.

‘Should I mess up our relationship now and create one where we can’t stand the sight of each other?’

“But.”

No matter how much I tried to think that way, Isellia’s image, smiling at me all day, wouldn’t leave my mind.

The current her was so pure, a little clumsy to the point of revealing her true feelings if she let her guard down, and an honest child.

At least, she wasn’t the villainess heading towards ruin as in the original story.

I whispered softly, very softly.

“If it stays like this… it wouldn’t be bad, would it?”

I don’t know what direction this small connection will take someday,

but if she remains as she is now, ruin like in the original story might not happen.

Becoming blind with jealousy and tainted by darkness…

No, perhaps I could prevent such a future from coming?

I, who knows the original story, I, who knows that ending.

If I merely try to avoid getting involved and run away out of fear, just as I vowed at first, Isellia will eventually face the same ruin.

If so, couldn’t I stop it?

At least for now, if I can make her smile and divert her even a little from the path to ruin.

“…I’ll try my best.”

I don’t know how far I, an extra supporting character with little mana, can go, but I can’t be heartless now.

****

Once I had made up my mind, I couldn’t just sit still.

First, I had to become stronger.

Even if I knew the original story, I couldn’t know everything that would happen, so ultimately, power was necessary.

Above all, to change the future where Isellia and I would face ruin together, I had to become strong enough to change something myself.

Naturally, the first thing that came to mind was magic training.

However, that resolve was blocked by my family and Sara.

My father, who was usually the most lenient with me, reprimanded me rarely but strictly, and my mother shook her head firmly, stopping me.

My younger brother, who only appeared gruff on the surface, clung to me, whimpering.

Sara, who had already seen me collapse from mana depletion,

“If you collapse again, I really can’t bear it!”

After that day, she tried not to leave my side for a moment, and if I even leaned on my desk a little, she would check my breathing, worrying.

I ultimately had no choice but to do it in secret.

I would secretly try it once during walks, or pretend to sleep every night to deceive Sara, then carefully pull up mana while covered by my blanket.

But it wasn’t as easy as I thought.

There were moments when I desperately realized anew just how insufficient my mana was, even though I only tried to do enough not to collapse.

With just a little concentration, sweat would quickly bead on my forehead, and after a few attempts, it was difficult to gather even a single cool sensation at my fingertips.

Sometimes, the mana I had just pulled up would abruptly disappear from my fingertips, as if cut off.

Still, I did learn something about the magic I used, so it wasn’t a complete waste.

My magic attributes were water and ice.

Among these, the ice attribute heavily consumed mana.

I could easily fill three or four 3-liter oak barrels with water, but the moment I tried to freeze it, I would feel dizzy before even freezing one entire barrel.

Furthermore, what I could freeze was limited to the water magic I produced.

I couldn’t freeze natural water or water produced by others’ magic at all.

I had high hopes for dual attributes, so the disappointment was significant.

Of course, it was better than not knowing, but I still had to find a solution.

“I hope it goes well.”

As night deepened, the mansion was quiet, and only the faint sound of wind brushed past outside the window.

Sara had also left the room long ago after confirming I was asleep.

As always, I carefully pulled the blanket over me and looked at the small glass bottle clutched tightly in my hand.

A faint purple light shimmered softly in the darkness.

Mana Enhancer.

An item not easily obtainable through legal channels.

I had spent most of the allowance Sennet had saved, but I believed it would be worth it.

It didn’t matter, since I had no use for it anyway.

“It’ll be big trouble if I get caught.”

If my family found out I was trying to learn magic even to the point of using something like this… just thinking about it made me sigh.

But for now, I thought this was the only way.

I took a deep breath and carefully uncapped the bottle.

A bitter herb smell and a metallic scent wafted to my nose, but I swallowed once and gulped it down in one go.

As the sticky, lukewarm liquid went down my throat, a cool sensation spread from deep within my body.

But I felt nothing else, which puzzled me.

‘Nothing to lose,’ I thought, and slowly extended my hand.

As always, it was the task of letting only a tiny amount of mana flow to create a small water droplet.

But then—

– *Gurgle gurgle*

The moment mana flowed out, the air in the room suddenly changed.

Faster and stronger than my will, mana burst forth from my fingertips as if exploding.

Instantly, moisture in the air condensed, and a large sphere of water formed in front of me.

It was large enough to comfortably fit an adult.

“If I hadn’t jumped out in surprise, the blanket and everything would have been soaked…”

I gasped in surprise but then laughed with relief.

Normally, pulling out this much mana would have affected my head, but my mind was perfectly clear.

‘Then, what if I freeze this?’

I poured mana into the water sphere… and imagined ice.

Imagined it freezing cold and hard, clear and pure.

Mana reacted instantly.

The water sphere, which had been swollen as if about to burst, slowly lost its light right there, solidifying into transparent ice.

There was no dizziness.

My heart beat a little faster, but this was a symptom of anticipation and excitement.

What lay before my eyes was a perfectly clear and solid ice sphere, as enormous as an adult’s height.

“Perhaps… there might be a possibility? Hahaha…”

Gazang at the gigantic block of ice, I felt a sense of accomplishment for the first time.

If I continued to grow like this, I might be able to change the future I aimed for… the future where Isellia and I would face ruin together.

But at that moment,

– *Knock knock*

“Lady Sennet? Is something wrong?”

My heart sank at Sara’s voice from outside the door.

The large ice sphere still sat on the bed, and the air in the room was still cold.

If I were caught in this state, my family, and Sara especially, would surely cry and try to stop me again.

“Ah, no! It’s, it’s nothing!”

I tried to compose myself and act as nonchalant as possible, but the words that came out were far from nonchalant.

Flustered, I first poured mana into the ice sphere.

Normally, it would slowly melt and disappear, but this time, perhaps due to the mana enhancer, it melted into water in an instant.

But

“Ugh! What is this! No!”

Before all the water could disappear, it spilled onto the bed.

Not all of it, but about 25% of the water had soaked into the blanket.

And as I stared blankly at the disaster on the bed, the sound of the door opening abruptly echoed.

“Lady! What on earth—”

Sara, who had rushed inside, froze on the spot.

Sara’s gaze fell upon the bed and me standing next to it.

The damp blanket, and me standing beside it, trembling with a bright red face.

I froze on the spot, utterly without a chance to make excuses.

My mind went completely blank, and my lips trembled uncontrollably.

And…

“Huk… I’m sorry… I had a scary dream…”

Instinctively trying to salvage the messy situation, I whimpered and cried out.