CH 2

Three years have passed since I was reborn into my new life as a girl. I didn’t speak clearly to the people around me because I thought it would be strange if a 3-year-old girl chatting, but I learned the language quickly, so I should have understood the general details of what world I found myself in.

First of all, my name in this life is Flora Charlotte von Carruthers. I was born the eldest daughter of Margrave Carruthers. The first beautiful woman I saw was my blood mother, Marquess Maria von Carruthers. I have two half-brothers.

My father is Margrave Albert von Carruthers, and his only wife is my blood mother, Maria. This is the Kingdom of Ploiss, and in this country, my father’s rank of Margrave is higher than a Count. If you think that a Margrave is just a way to call a Count on frontier territory, you’d be mistaken.

To begin with, even back on Earth I knew, a Margrave was on the borderland to prevent invasion from foreign powers, hence they were granted high status, vast territories, and wide-ranging authority to rule it. Yes, as time goes on, they can even be considered more important than what their rank should be. Depending on the circumstances, they may be treated like a Duke would be than a Margrave.

In the Kingdom of Ploiss, the highest rank of nobility is the Margrave, and the rank of Duke can only be obtained by royalty. Being a Margrave on par with the Duke means that you are practically one of the most powerful people in this country.

Even though we’re defending the border, peace seems to be ongoing here, and no particular wars are going on. In terms of geography, you could say we’re a rural area away from the center of the country, but Margrave Carruthers’ territory seems to be a fairly prosperous land, and it’s said that both House Carruthers and their constituents are rich.

Of course, I haven’t seen any of this personally, and I don’t know about other regions, so I can’t compare. It’s just that I’ve seen and heard stories like that.

Still, I think this territory is certainly prospering in peacetime. Judging from the dining table and the lifestyle of Margrave Carruthers, he is far from poor. It doesn’t seem to be a case of only the feudal lords living in luxury by imposing heavy taxes on the people. In that case, you should be able to hear such rumors and see them in the surrounding situation whether you wanted to or not.

Having come this far, it has become clear once again that this is not Earth after all. There is no country like the Kingdom of Ploiss on Earth. It took me three years to finally learn most of the letters and words on my own. I learned some things by asking the maids, but I can’t remember anything if I don’t have a clue first.

And I thought that there might be something to expect from this being a different world, so I looked it up. Of course, there was also magic! Magic is commonly used in this world. Not everyone can use it freely, but magic certainly exists in this world.

As far as I have read and researched on my own, the book states that magic can only be used by nobles such as royalty. However, there are people in the world who can use magic even though they are not of noble lineage. The book says that the bloodline of that person must have had noble blood somewhere in it, but I don’t think so.

From what I’ve researched, I think anyone can have magical talent. Children of wealthy aristocrats can easily demonstrate their magical talents because they can receive education from an early age. It’s hard for children of the poor who live day-to-day to find free time, so they don’t have the opportunity to study or practice magic, I’d think.

I don’t know if I have any talent for magic, but I’m struggling to find a way to use magic. I’m studying magic while sneaking into the study again today.

Until now, I have entered the study many times and read various books. Someone must have let their guard down. I’ve never been found before, so someone must have let their guard down somewhere.

In the beginning, I hid when someone passed by in front of the study. However, since no one had ever entered it, I read books thinking that they would just pass by without entering, anyway. Then, an unexpected development happened. In the study that I’ve never seen anyone else enter before… there came in the worst person possible.

“Flora, what are you doing?”

“Muh Lord…” I mumbled.

I did not stumble and mumble intentionally. Because I’m a toddler, I can’t help my words coming out garbled. I’m not doing this on purpose.

The person who entered the study was my father, Margrave Albert von Carruthers himself. I’m not good with this person. My father has very little contact with me. My two older brothers and I seem to be training a lot, so we’re often together, but I don’t remember my father caring about me at all.

He may be a strict and good lord, a good husband, and a good father. But I didn’t like him. He always has a scowl on his face and I don’t know what he’s thinking. He treats his children more like a leader than a father.

I don’t know if that educational policy is good or bad, right or wrong. The only thing I can say is that for me, this person is scary and unapproachable.

Father’s eyebrows wrinkle and he approaches me. His piercing gaze isn’t exactly what you’d expect to give his three-year-old daughter. It looks like a hunter tracking his prey. He’s so strict that I think I’ll be killed with just this gaze.

“I told you not to call me ‘My Lord.’ I told you to just call me Father,” he said. 1

“Sorry, Fat’er,” I said.

Yeesh… is this how you look at your three-year-old daughter? For some reason, my father doesn’t like being called My Lord. Even my older brothers call him that.

“I asked you, what are you doing?” Father asked.

“… I w’s reading,” I said.

With that sharp look in his eyes, I gave up on trying to tell a hastily-constructed lie. What I had just spread out and read was a book about the basics of magic. I wondered if I could somehow use magic, so I decided to look for information while reading a book about the subject.

I don’t know much about the technical terms on my own, so if I had someone to teach me, I might be able to learn magic more easily, but up until now, I’ve been acting like a normal child, so no one can teach me words or letters. No one could teach me. If such a child were to suddenly ask someone to teach them about magic, no one would take them seriously. At most, it would only be said as a child’s fantasies, “Okay, okay, when you grow up.” and such.

“What book are you reading?” Father asked.

“A magic book,” I said.

My father is the type who doesn’t appreciate it when you don’t give him straight answers to his questions, so I answer clearly and concisely. I’m tired of being so careful just to talk with him… is this really a conversation between father and daughter?

“Do you understand what these mean?” Father asked.

“The’re some terms I don’ understan’,” I said.

Although it is touted as the Basics of Magic, the content is as difficult as a technical manual, and there are many technical terms that I do not know, so it is difficult just to decipher them one by one.

“Can you use magic if you know the technical terms?” Father asked.

“I can’t use magic…” I said. “Somethin’ like that… I can’t do it.”

It seems that in order to use magic, you must first be able to have the magical capability. It seems that I can’t use magic if I don’t have the skill of “Magic Manipulation” which allows me to freely manipulate mana, so I can’t use magic at the moment.

There is also an explanation for manipulating magic power, but there are a lot of sensory matters, so I haven’t found a specific description of how to do it. I was reading the book wondering how I could manipulate that magical power, so it was only natural that there was no way I could do it.

“I see…” Father said. “Why did you enter the study without permission?”

“I’ve ne’er but told I couldn’t,” I said. “Was it not okay?”

This is the excuse I prepared. But I didn’t lie. Truly, I’ve never been told that I’m not allowed to enter the study. Besides, even if it’s someone other than me, there’s no talk of restrictions on entering the study, so it’s not like there’s a formal ban or restriction. And yet, there’s no reason for him to get angry just because I entered… or so it should be.

“I see. That’s right. I never banned you from entering the study,” Father said. “… Flora, do you want to study magic?”

Oops! This is an odd question. I never expected to be asked such a question. In a little while, I’ll be forced to practice various things in preparation for my social debut, and I’ll also be made to study manners. As the only full-blooded child of the Margrave Carruthers, I think I will be able to enter the nobles’ social circles in the future and get married to other influential nobles.

Of course, I don’t want to marry a man, but since I was born the daughter of a high-ranking aristocrat, I can’t go against the decisions between families.

But before that… I should be able to make my long-awaited social debut and spend a happy youth with cute aristocratic girls and beautiful ladies!

I got off track for a bit. If I start being forced to take lessons for that social world, I probably won’t have time to learn magic. As the daughter of a high-ranking aristocrat, it must be a storm of strict lessons in order to acquire manners so I won’t embarrass myself in public.

Before that, I want to learn the magic that I’ve been longing for… even if it’s just for a little while, I want to enjoy life in this different world and magic. It’s not like I want to fight while firing off catastrophic attack magic. I wish I could fly a little. A small wish to the extent that I want to put out a tiny spark or a piddling stream of water from my hand.

If I can do that…if I can be a little selfish…I want to study magic!

“Yes! If’can use magic, I wan’ to study!”

“…………”

Father silently stares at me. I also make as serious of an expression as possible and look back at my Father without turning away. If I act like it’s a young child’s flight of fancy here, my seriousness won’t be conveyed. I thought this was how I could show my sincerity, so I stared at my father for a while.

“I understand,” Father said. “Then, I’ll get you a tutor. If you don’t have the talent, give up.”

“Thank you, Muh Lord!” I said.

Apparently, my Father just gave me the opportunity to learn magic. My mother might have objected. It seems like people would say it’s rude to learn magic since I was the female child of a high-ranking aristocrat. I don’t know why Father let me learn magic, but I’ve come to a different world. I was lucky to be born in this house and one of the things I wanted to do in this world came true so quickly.

Of course, what I want to do most is to have fun with cute and beautiful noble girls who come to noble’s society!

“It’s not My Lord,” Father said. “I thought I just told you to call me Father?”

“Sorry, Fat’er…”

I was overwhelmed and let myself down again. Mother also wants me to call her My Lady, so I end up calling Father, My Lord, too. And my father rarely speaks with me. How long has it been since I spoke to him directly? I have almost no memory of interacting with her as a parent and child since I was born.

Forgiving my selfishness might be at least an atonement for neglecting his daughter. If I think that, maybe he’s not a bad father. Maybe he’s just a normal father who’s just not good at dealing with young children.

“And from now on, it is forbidden for you to enter the study without permission.

“Un’erstood……” I said.

I’m glad I got a magical tutor, but I was restricted from entering and exiting the study. Is that so? It would be a big problem if a child were to go in and out of the study and something happened to a precious book. It’s easy to imagine that books in this world are precious and expensive because they are all handwritten. 2 It’s natural to worry if a small child is freely coming and going in a room with a large amount of such precious items.

In this way, I was able to study magic thanks to my father’s arrangements. It would be nice if I could at least acquire simple spells before the number of lessons for a noble daughter increased… but, while I was thinking about such things, I happily let myself be kicked out of the study.