Chapter 38

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However, the air turned frosty like the cold and bitter wind during winter. But Katria did not care one bit.

“Hmm. I thought you’d break my neck the moment I learned the child’s identity. You’re surprisingly merciful, Gerard.”

Then, she smiled at the sight.

“Am I too useful for you to kill? Or perhaps you feel the same way as I do?”

Katrina asked Gerard. She also wanted to activate her magic eyes to determine if Gerard was speaking the truth or not. However, she immediately closed her eyes without being able to do so. Then, she stood up from the sofa and staggered to where Gerard was.

“Gerard, don’t worry.”

Katrina’s slim fingers reached out and swept Gerard’s cheek. She had always liked to feel things with her fingertips rather than looking at them through her blurry vision.

“It’s easy to block my mouth. Just give me a kiss. Just like always.”

Gerard did not respond but Katrina had already pulled him closer and placed their lips together. But she could only smile bitterly.

“What a bad man. You’re the only man who can use me like this, Gerard Verchester.”

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Starting the next day, Lestia gained a new teacher.

“Hello little lady! I’m Katrina Lockevest and I have decided to teach the lady on how to use the magic book from today onwards.”

“Yes? Magic book?”

“That’s right. I might have the magic eyes but I have studied magic books back in the academy. You can ask me anything!”

This was one of the things that Gerard had asked Katrina to do.

― Lestia is the ‘One who Interprets’. I want you to provide her with the basic knowledge so her power will not pose any danger to her.

‘What a daring guy. I can’t believe getting a kiss would mean that I will be left in charge of his sister’s education. Haaaa. He’s really a bad guy.’

Katrina grumbled but deep inside, she felt that this was a pleasant situation.

She was on vacation from the academy anyway. Besides, the longer she stayed in Verchester Castle, the longer she could appreciate and admire Gerard. And the fact that the little lady in front of her was the ‘One who Interprets’, an existence that hasn’t appeared in 200 years, is interesting enough.

Katrina observed Lestia. Then, she began asking her questions.

“Little lady, you don’t have any attributed magic?”

“Yes…”

‘Hmmm. Did the attributed magic not manifest on her since she was born as the interpreter? If that’s the case, then there is a possibility that the ability to interpret magic books is a magic that is passed down by blood.’

A long time ago, wizard families were joined through weddings. In those cases, their children would only inherit one of the two families’ magic. However, their third generation did not bear any wizard child. Because of that, the Imperial Family banned nuptials between wizard families.

“Then, can you read the flow of mana?”

“Yes. I think I can read it a bit.”

“If that’s the case, then I don’t think interpreters are much different from lineage wizards. Reading the flow of mana is as natural as breathing to lineage wizards.”

Lestia twisted her fingers when she heard Katrina say that.

“That, uhm… It hasn’t been that long since I was able to read the flow of mana.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

Lestia told Katrina about the fire incident in Verchester Mansion. She only told Katrina since she looked like she was close to Gerard and was the professor in charge of Mathias so she thought that she was someone that could be trusted.

“Uhm. I started to be able to read the flow of mana after reading the magic book.”

Katrina was lost in thought after hearing Lestia’s explanation.

‘Does this mean that her abilities will not be triggered if she doesn’t read a magic book? Perhaps… the reason why interpreters haven’t appeared in 200 years is because they intentionally avoided magic books. Then, the little lady’s mother might not be just an ordinary courtesan.’

However, this was just a hypothesis that Katrina has established. She did not want to bring up a useless story and place the little lady in front of her in trouble. If she did that, then Gerard might hate her.

“Well, you don’t need to mind this, little lady. What’s important is that you’re able to read the flow of mana, right? And that is something advantageous, especially when you’re studying the magic book.”

“Is that so? What a relief.”

Lestia’s gloomy expression cleared up.

“That’s right. Don’t worry. I will tell you everything.”

“Yes…! Thank you.”

“Oh my. You’re so polite. You’re a very different student from Mathias.”

Lestia was a very interesting and attractive young lady that stimulated Katrina’s interest as a wizard and a scholar in so many ways.

“Well then, shall we interpret this first?”

Thud.

Katrina dumped her large suitcase on the desk. The suitcase was filled with thick magic books.

“Wow! They are all magic books!”

Lestia’s sweet voice cheered loudly. Katrina couldn’t help but giggle as she cheered up.

“Little lady, you’re an 11-year-old that’s so happy to see such thick books. Do you know that it’s a really weird sight?”

“Ah. I always get happy whenever I see magic books like this…”

Lestia dropped her head shyly.

“Hoho. What an amazing little lady.”

At that moment, Katrina realized that the smile on her face did not waver or leave the whole time she faced Lestia.

‘I’m not someone who smiles and laughs like this.’

She coughed several times in embarrassment as she warned her firmly.

“But once you read these magic books, those thoughts will disappear, you know? These books are so tricky that they can’t be compared to the magic books in the Verchester Duchy!”

After a while…

Katrina lost her words as she watched Lestia write interpretations after interpretations of the books on the paper.

“Little lady, I don’t think you need to learn anything from me. This is amazing. How can you interpret all of this at once?”

“That… That’s probably because I’m the ‘One who Interprets’…”

Lestia replied shyly. Katrina shrieked as she bumped her head on the desk.

“This is a scam, a scam! Do you know how hard it was for me to read just one book?”

Shocked at her outburst, Lestia waved her arms and tried to pacify her.

“Katrina-nim! Pl… please calm down!”

“Heuk, heuk. I tried so hard to read every letter with my blurry eyes and feel it with my fingertips! The days I spent in the academy are meaningless!”

However, Katrina was extremely excited. The joy of seeing the interpreter in action overpowered her sense of inferiority. So, her head that was buried on the desk was fiercely raised once again.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. I like students who are talented.”

Then, she opened another magic book and placed it in front of Lestia as she looked at her with sparkling eyes.

“Then, this time read it with your mouth and not just with your eyes.”

“Yes? With my mouth? But if I do that then the magic will be activated?”

Lysian had always warned him to be careful.

Can I really do that?

Lestia was worried. But Katrina’s stance was firm.

“That book is alright. Trust me little lady.”

‘What do I do?’

Lestia was hesitating but she also knew that Katrina was an academy professor. Perhaps, it was okay if a person like her allowed her to do so.

“Then, I’ll read it.”

After hesitating for a long time, Lestia finally read the magic book outloud.

Twinkle~

Golden magic circle twinkled in her gray eyes the moment she started speaking. Even the magic book started to glow in response to her voice. As she read the contents of the book, a golden magic circle glowed under Lestia’s feet.

‘Huh? This… I think it’s magic that will create something.’

Lestia was taken aback.

This was the first time that she had read a magic book that contained the way to create something. All of the magic books that she had read in Verchester Duchy were mainly about theories about the flow and application of mana. That was also the reason why she was able to disrupt the flow of mana and stop the fire when Verchester Mansion caught fire before.

‘I wonder what will be created once I read all of this?’

Lestia was a bit afraid. She did not know what she was creating. However, she also couldn’t stop reading the magic book. The mana that flowed out of the magic book created a flow that she could not resist the moment she began to read it out loud. She could instinctively tell that she could not stop this flow of mana.

But the more she read, the more her puzzle pieces came together. Quitting halfway meant that she was ruining the puzzle.

‘I don’t want to mess up and ruin it. I want to finish this properly.’

This was what her instinct told her.

Then, the magic book asked Lestia.

[ Everything has been prepared. Now is the time to choose. ]

To be exact, she read the sentence that told her to choose.

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