Chapter 5

chapter 5

A man entered the room with the Marquis.

He looked like he could be anywhere from his early twenties to thirties. He had light scarlet hair and a face that was covered with freckles.

He glanced at Raynard from afar before walking towards Yurina. He knelt down on one knee before approaching her.

“It’s been a long time, Young Lady.”

This man was widely recognized for his abilities as a mage. Not only that, but he was also knighted. Where other mages were known for their eccentric personality, he was quite ordinary.

He took the hand which Yurina had extended and gently placed a kiss on it. It was a gracious greeting that he extends only to Yurina. This was something that everyone in the mansion of Carthia knew, except for Yurina, who remained oblivious.

“It’s been a long time, Dave. You must’ve heard about him from Father. Still, let me formally introduce him to you. This is Raynard, whom I have taken in today.”

Yurina abruptly pressed Raynard’s head down to show him respect and he was hesitatingly trying to lift it.

At first, Dave narrowed his eyes at Raynard, seemingly to size up the young boy before him. Afterwards, he gave the boy a smile before returning his attention to Yurina.

“The Marquis had asked me to determine whether he had the talent or not. Do you mind if I take a look at him for a moment?”

Yurina nodded as she watched Dave take hold of Raynard’s hands. Raynard struggled at first, trying wriggle his hands out of Dave’s grasp. He was felt uncomfortable with the physical contact, but gave up shortly after. A young boy’s struggle was no match against the strength of an adult man.

It was not long before a bright light shone from Dave’s hand. It travelled up his arms, passed his shoulders and then onto his head. It seemed that the light flowed to every part of his body before returning back to his hands. By the time he released Raynard’s hands, the light had already disappeared.

Dave’s expression was replaced with one that was not only uncharacteristically serious, but also with greed.

“Young Lady!”

He had completely forgotten about the Marquis’ presence in the room as he grabbed Yurina’s hands.

“Young Lady, please let me care for Mr. Raynard!”

“No. If you want to collect disciples, look for them somewhere else.”

Since she had already anticipated his response, Yurina was able to quickly brush aside his informal behaviour and words without any hint of agitation. Raynard trembled at Dave’s words. It was like one was asking his lover’s father for permission to marry him.

Dave’s hold on Yurina’s hands became tighter.

“Won’t you take some time to reconsider before giving me an answer?”

“Well…”

Yurina thought for a moment before she pulled her hands out of his grasp.

“You can’t.”

“I can’t?! Why not?!”

Dave was so worked up that he unconsciously raised his voice, forgetting that the Marquis was not only behind him, but was also glaring at him. The Marquis coughed to remind Dave of his presence.

“Ah, I mean… How could you say no? I can tutor him. I can teach him everything that I know. If he is taught well, he could make a huge difference.”

“I will send Ray to the Royal Academy of Crohn.”

“I can do a much better job of educating him than the professors at the Royal Academy can. Not only am I an alumnus of that Academy, but I bet you that not even half the professors there had better grades than I did during my time there.”

“Even so, I cannot allow it.”

She didn’t think that dealing with Dave would be so difficult. He had never had a student thus far, so she assumed he simply wasn’t interested in training them. It turns out that is not the case.

Seeing as how Yurina would not budge, Dave sighed with a look of defeat. One can only take so much rejection.

“Young Lady, do you think that I am inferior to them? Just so you know, there is a line of people who would want to be my disciples.”

“That’s not it. I know better than anyone that you are a very capable mage. However, Ray also requires education beyond magic. Thus, I want him to enter the Academy and be taught accordingly.”

“We can do that here. Does he have a tutor?”

Yurina knew she had to be firm with him this time and without any hesitation, she responded.

“Even if the House of Carthia sponsored him, do you think that any righteous family tutor, who normally educates aristocrats, would be willing to be Ray’s tutor? Dave, you are aware of his talent, that’s why you easily volunteered to teach him. However, that is not the case for everyone.”

“I will vouch for him.”

“And to be honest, I think it would be more beneficial for Ray to interact with a variety of kids his age than to be surrounded with a bunch of aristocrats.”

Although Yurina’s reasons were good, it was not the real reason why she insisted that Ray entered the Academy.

It’s because in the original novel, Charrion was enrolled in the Royal Academy of Crohn.

However, unlike the original, Raynard might be able to get ahold of magic sooner with Dave’s assistance since the young boy was already naturally talented. Nevertheless, Yurina could not risk investing in an uncertain future.

The only reason why Charrion had the ability to shake the Empire like he did was because he had gone to the Royal Academy of Crohn. If Raynard missed that opportunity, would he have the same luck?

What if Raynard fails to protect her from Marquis De Flon in the future?

But there was an even bigger threat.

Lydia De Flon.

Before ending up in this universe, Yurina had read many other worldly romance fantasy novels. There were protagonists becoming villains, the supporting character, the villainess, etc. There were various characters in these stories.

The protagonist, who had become the villainess, was not relieved even after interfering with the encounter between the real heroine and male lead in her future.

It was because she was afraid that if the male lead and the real heroine met like they did in the original story, they would fall in love like fate. Yurina had the same worries.

What if Raynard happens to randomly run into Lydia on the streets and then falls in love with her like clockwork in the original novel? Then all that time and effort she had spent looking for him at the orphanage would’ve been a complete waste.

Then the Raynard, who was suppose to be her insurance to survive, might change his mind and decide to kill her. Just like he did in the original novel.

It would do me good to remove any elements that could bring about such uncertainty.

Since Dave realized that Yurina would not surrender to his cause and would remain completely unyielding, he turned to face Raynard, changing his opponent to the young boy.

Sensing this, Raynard slowly backed away, making a sideway gesture and quickly hiding behind Yurina. His bony hands clutched Yurina’s arm as if he was clinging on for dear hope.

Witnessing this scene, Dave sighed and retreated.

“If that is what you wish, then it cannot be helped. Perhaps I can teach him in the meantime before he enters the Academy?”

“I would appreciate it if you could. In fact, I was going to request that of you anyways, hoping you wouldn’t mind.”

“Dave, do you think you could get this child admitted in to the Royal Academy of Crohn?”

The Marquis asked suddenly as he stepped in between Yurina and Dave. Yurina’s vision was suddenly blocked by her father’s back. She had to tilt her head to the side to see.

“Admission? Marquis, are you asking if he would be accepted right now? Absolutely! He would not only be accepted, but the Dean himself might come over and enroll Mr. Raynard personally.”

Dave’s voice slowly raised and with every word, he was becoming more and more passionate about the cause.

“At first, I wasn’t able to feel any wave of mana and thought that was weird. However, upon further observation, I discovered that there was natural mana running through him and he was unconsciously capturing it. That’s typically hard to do for a mage, and yet Mr. Raynard was able to do it as simply as breathing. It’s a wonder that this child hasn’t found a patron yet. Young Lady, where in the world did you find Mr. Raynard?”

“The orphanage at Jennon?”

“But… how did the young lady know that Mr. Raynard possessed such a gift?”

“I had been coming and going from the orphanage regularly these days. Then one day, I heard a story that a child who had received the blessings of the Goddess was born with red eyes. It was in a small town, I think I heard it there. Even the Great Mage William was said to have red eyes!”

Of course this was a lie. Yurina had never heard of such a thing. There was no such phrase to begin with. However, nobody would know that. Dave had no reason to venture into town to investigate whether or not this claim was true.

In my previous life, I had read a novel where I was killed by Raynard who had become a brilliant mage. He was famous not only in the Empire, but the surrounding kingdoms too!

Rather than telling the ludicrous truth, a lie was more plausible. Yurina had decided make-up story and feign innocence like a naive little girl who believed in such mysterious rumours and stumbled upon Raynard by chance.

In the original novel, the truth regarding the red eyes was revealed only after Charrion made his first appearance. There’s probably no harm in saying it in advance, right?

Yurina grabbed Dave’s hands, who returned a puzzled look at the sudden contact.

“Listen, Dave. Isn’t it amazing? When I first heard of that story, I laughed because where in the world could one find anyone with red eyes? But then, lo and behold, I stumbled upon Raynard who possessed those very genuine red eyes. I knew immediately at first glance that he would become a great mage! Wait… why are you looking at me like that? Don’t you find it amazing? Am I strange?”

Yurina tried her utmost effort in feigning innocence and naivety, not only in her voice but expression as well.

And with her hard work, the a squealing 10-year-old child could be heard.

“You’re right, it’s truly amazing.”

For a moment, while Yurina was staring up at Dave, in the corner of his eye, she could catch a glimpse of Raynard standing by with a look of bewilderment. Dave laughed lightly and gently stroked Yurina’s head with his large hands.

“Lately, I’ve been thinking that you seem like you’ve matured, but I don’t think that’s the case. You are definitely still a child.”

“What? I am not a child. I am already 10 years old.”

She sulked. She let out a huff so loud that Raynard who was standing behind her felt second hand embarrassment.

“Yes, yes. Indeed, the Young Lady is a big girl now. As you mentioned earlier, it’s possible that Mr. Raynard might have really been blessed by the Goddess. Such an ability is hard to achieve without the blessing and intervention of the Goddess. Now, I must go back and write a letter of recommendation for him soon and send it to the Academy.”

“You’ll write a letter of recommendation for him?”

“Of course, it’s just a part of what I have to do. Although, I’m still disappointed that I couldn’t make him my disciple. However, I do hope that Mr. Raynard would be able to flourish his talent.”

Shortly after, Dave requested permission from the Marquis and left the room.

When Yurina was done talking, the Marquis smiled at the young lady and rubbed her cheeks with a loving hand.

“I’m not a child.”

He chuckled at her petulant words. She crossed her arms and pretended be upset. To appease her, he nodded affectionately with a “hm” and turned his head.

“Are you sulking?”

“I am not. That is something only a child would do.”

Once again, she heard Raynard, “Geh”, in the background. In that moment, she felt an incoming flood of embarrassment.

I can’t keep this up anymore.

Yurina tried her best to keep her face from falling apart as she quickly dropped her arms.

“Did you hear Dave? Ray is indeed talented. Will you sponsor him now?”

“Yes, do as you wish.”

Carthia was a man who always kept his promises. In addition to being a benefactor to Raynard, he promised that he would treat the young boy well and ensured that he will accommodate all of his needs. After that, he placed a kiss on her forehead and left the room.

As soon as the Marquis left the room, Yurina grinned, just like what a real child did.

Raynard, who was standing behind her, spoke up.

“So, can I really become a mage?”

“You heard what Dave said earlier.”

“Is he a great wizard?”

“Mhm. He is very well known in the Empire.”

Raynard seemed to have considered this as he went silent. In a soft tone, he quietly asked,

“So am I staying here now?”

“Mhm. In a little while, the maid will come and show you to your room. So don’t worry about being sent back to the orphanage.”

“I see.”

After this, Yurina wished to return to her quarters.

As if making up his mind, Raynard inhaled deeply and spoke up once again.

“By the way…”

“Hm?”

“……Aren’t you a child?”

He had the same nasally childish voice like she had earlier. She was speechless and embarrassed at the sudden and unexpected remark.

The fact that she was being teased by this kid was ridiculous. But more than that, she felt more irritated than the embarrassment she felt.

“Ray. Be quiet.”

“…Ah, mhm.”

Once again, an awkward air enveloped the two.