Chapter 31

“We’re about to cross the border to the Kingdom of Crohn, either tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.”

Dave muttered as he looked outside the carriage. Though he was already in his mid-30s, he boasted the appearance of one in his early-20s, no different from five years ago.

Yurina often wondered if he used specially formulated cosmetics, or if he was an elf or a dragon, creatures you could only find in a fantasy.

“Really? How do you know? I only see plains.”

Unlike the western part of the empire, where the expansive Texian mountain range lies, the eastern part of the empire consists of vast plains. The border between the Kingdom of Crohn and the Empire is formed by the Maorun River, which meanders through the fertile plains. But no matter how far Yurina looked outside, she couldn’t see the Maorun River.

Dave smiled lightly as Yurina frowned while looking at the dust fly outside the window.

“My lady, do you remember when I told you in class that the mana concentration in the Kingdom of Crohn is stronger than in the Empire?”

“Of course I remember. You said that is one of the reasons why the Kingdom of Crohn is much more advanced in magic than the Empire, despite being far behind the Empire in other aspects.”

“You remembered well. Like Mr. Raynald, the young lady is also a diligent student.”

“Don’t flatter me– that was nothing. This is basic magic common sense, isn’t it?”

‘He treats me just like a child.’

Even though Yurina knew he saw her as one, it was still a little too much.

And it wasn’t just now. Dave used to give her empty praises all the time, calling her smart when she spouted common sense that everyone knew.

He complimented her over everything. She had wondered how Dave was able to comfort and teach the tricky Raynald, and realized his secret was praise.

‘But I’m not a child.’

His secret technique, which would have worked on 12-year-old Raynald, did not work on her. Yurina threw a sharp look at Dave, who was smiling happily at her, and then reached out the window.

“My lady, it’s dangerous to reach out like that!”

Betsy, who happened to be yawning next to Yurina, shouted in surprise.

“It’s okay. There’s nothing dangerous about putting your hand out when there’s no tree. By the way, Dave, about mana concentration, does that mean the mana concentration here is getting stronger?”

“If I teach you one thing, you learn two. Yes, that’s right.”

“I’m not a child. You don’t need to compliment me.”

Dave smiled and reached out to Yurina, but quickly withdrew his hand.

She was already 15 years old.

Although she was not an adult yet, she was no longer a 10-year-old child who could have her head pat regardless of status differences. Despite being three years shy of adulthood, her appearance was already that of a young lady.

With a slight grimace, Yurina pulled his hand over and put it on her head. He shook his head as he smiled in surprise and tried to pull his hand away.

“There’s no one watching, Dave.”

“Oh? But my lady, can’t you see me? I also have eyes.”

“Hey, Betsy agrees with me. Isn’t that right?

“That’s right.”

Yurina smiled alongside Betsy, and moved Dave’s hand to rub her hair.

“Dave’s like an uncle. I’m not asking you to call me Yurina instead of My Lady. So isn’t this okay?”

Dave bit his lips for a while and then moved his hand to stroke her head. Yurina closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling. His comforting touch made her feel better.

She felt like a pet in need of affection, similar to how Raynald was when he was younger, trembling alone in the corner. Yurina thought, maybe she herself just needed that warmth and comfort.

‘It’s inevitable.’

When she suddenly lost her life and loved ones and woke up in this world, she was so scared and lonely even though she tried her best to act calm. But now, even the family members that she couldn’t accept at first now felt like her real family. It was all due to their unconditional love.

Although they had differing statuses and were not related by blood, Dave was also one of the family members who treated her with such affection.

More than anyone else.

“Ah.”

Her heart sank as she remembered her pinky-promise of protection with Raynald. Raynald treated her with more warmth and affection than anyone else, and the thought of him suddenly made her frown and sigh aloud.

Yurina quickly closed her mouth. She had long sealed her feelings of longing deep within her heart, but she could feel the overwhelming emotions start to overflow.

“My lady? What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing.”

“You don’t suddenly have motion sickness, do you? My lady, do you feel nauseous?”

Yurina shook her head at Dave and Betsy, who both looked worried, and took a deep breath. She quickly seized control of her heart, which had been wavering dangerously.

‘We’ll see each other soon anyway.’

She stuck hand out of the carriage again, thinking positively.

“Let’s continue our conversation. You said the concentration of mana has been increasing since we’re getting closer to the border? How can you tell?”

Dave sighed with relief at Yurina’s calm voice and replied.

“If you don’t feel it, you should stop practicing magic.”

“I don’t feel it. Should I have quit magic before then?”

“If you concentrate, you should be able to feel it.”

“Really?”

Yurina closed her eyes and concentrated. She focused on her fingertips, gathering the mana within her body. She could feel the amount of mana on her fingertips now had increased compared to what she had gathered in the imperial capital before.

She gathered momentum and released the mana. A glowing sphere of mana that was a little larger than what she could conjure in Carthia mansion floated in the carriage.

“Wow, my lady! It’s a lot bigger than I’ve ever seen before.”

Betsy clapped her hands with surprised eyes. Dave also nodded with a satisfied look.

‘It’s not a big deal.’

Somehow, she felt embarrassed by the excessive responses, so she smiled awkwardly.

“How is it, my lady? It’s definitely stronger, right?”

“Yeah, it is. Look at the size of the light sphere. I didn’t know I could make something this big.”

“And it’s less physically draining.”

“Oh, come to think of it, it really is.”

Yurina was pleasantly surprised to find that she was relaxed and breathing comfortably. In the mansion, even creating a small sphere had her gasping for air.

‘I wish my innate ability was this good.’

She sighed as she watched the glowing sphere flying around her.

Five years ago, Yurina did not watch Raynald leave for the Kingdom of Crohn with confidence. It wasn’t that she doubted his skills. But unexpected variables can always occur, so it was best to be ready for them.

When she leaves the mansion, she is always accompanied by an escort. When Raynald graduates in two years, she will be escorted by him. But she can’t always rely on her escorts to protect her. What if something happens to them or they’re caught off guard?

So, Yurina decided to learn how to defend herself. In the face of true danger, her meager skills would be useless. But this minimum amount of preparation could still help her.

Initially, she tried to learn to use a dagger, but she changed to magic part-way through because of Marquis Carthia. He had come running out, protesting profusely. He refused to allow her to hold such a dangerous object.

Yurina did agree with him. No matter how skilled you were, there was always a situation where you could be endangered by using a sharp dagger.

But while Yurina had magical abilities, hers were insignificant. She didn’t feel sorry for herself though. Rather, she found it amusing as it was what she expected.

‘There’s no way the wicked villainess would have a talent for magic.’

In this world, three things are needed to use magic.

Although there are varying levels of mana concentration, natural mana existed everywhere, so it was mana affinity and mana in the body that determined magic talent.

Magic can be cast by combining mana within the body and natural mana. The higher one’s mana affinity, the more mana there was in the body, and the more mana in the body, the more advanced magic a wizard could use.

Yurina had a good mana affinity, but she didn’t have much mana in her body.

No matter how hard she tried to increase it, there was a limit to the amount of mana within a body. The maximum amount was set at birth, and nothing could change it. Therefore, the magic that Yurina could use was simple magic at best that didn’t use a lot of mana.

For example, heating cold tea or creating a small light like before was simple magic. If she concentrated, and used all of her mana, she could perform simple healing magic. But in that case, she would end up exhausted and would need to sleep the whole day to recover.

She hasn’t even thought of using healing magic ever since she passed out after trying to heal a scratch on her arm.

‘I understand why Dave was surprised to see Raynald heal me the first time.’

According to Dave, Raynald had some of the highest levels of body mana, even amongst the best wizards. He was able to instinctively capture mana, almost as easily as he breathed. His mana affinity was also at the highest levels.

It was not always a good thing to have high levels of mana in your body, because if you didn’t also have high mana affinity, you’d end up suffering from constant fevers and dying.

Yurina watched the light sphere float around the carriage with a smile. It looked like a cute cat. But with a fading breath and a shake of her hand, the light sphere disappeared without a trace.

“Dave, you graduated from the Royal Academy of Crohn, right? How do you feel about returning to the academy after all this time away?”

When he heard this question, Dave wiped cold sweat off his forehead. He smiled tightly but kept his mouth shut, unlike his usual conversational self.

“What’s with that look on your face? Are you so thrilled that you can’t speak?”

But his expression said, ‘I never thought I’d walk into hell again, miss.’

Yurina examined his still smiling face,

‘I’ve seen that face a lot.’

Dave’s current expression was similar to one made by a fourth-grade senior in her past life. He had been on his way to get feedback on his graduation thesis from his academic advisor. She had felt so sorry watching him say comforting words to himself.

“If you can’t avoid it, enjoy it.”

Some of the senior’s more mischievous colleagues giggled at him, saying he looked like a cow being dragged to the slaughterhouse. Little did she know, soon she would be suffering the same pain a year later.