CH 6

Even though the rumor was bad, meeting the real person helped me realize that there was nothing for me to worry about. 

They all went back after I bid them goodbye, and we would see each other on the next day. 

After I saw them off,  I thought more about Emilia. Surely both Karl and Emilia seemed really close to each other, as expected from the person who received Karl’s trust. Even if she was the mentioned Baron’s daughter, after our meeting I can affirm surely that the rumor was not supported by any fact at all. 

Enough with being swayed by others gossip, Alicia! 

Because I stood firmly without moving towards the door, Karl became worried and raised his voice. 

“What’s wrong? Are you alright? Emilia may have caused you discomfort because of her personality. You must be surprised. I intended to introduce her to you tomorrow, but everyone ended up coming because I wanted an update immediately. I apologize.”

“No. I too arrived earlier than expected.It’s okay.”

When I tilted my head to the side and said that, Karl seemed relieved.

“ Let’s do a proper introduction tomorrow, shall we?”

“Please, I will be in your care. I’m happy to be able to meet such good people like your friends.”

“Yeah, I’m proud of them.”

It clearly felt like he was boasting about his friends. I smiled at him. 

We sat down on the sofa. 

When I took a break in my bedroom, Karl took the time and contacted Daddy, after a long conversation, he finally gave him the permission to tell me about the magic. It could not be delayed any longer, we started talking right away after his conversation with Daddy. 

First of all, I had to stop assuming that everything I heard  was like what I knew from my previous life. Even if it’s something small, I have to ask right away when I don’t understand something. The only thing I can do right now is to ask.

Seeing me take a strong resolution, overwhelmed with questions, Karl gently poked my hand to get my attention. 

“A,Alicia. I understand that you are eager to know the answers for a lot of things. H,How about having a cup of tea, and getting down to business smoothly?”

Before I knew it the tea was prepared and served. I took it from Karl, gripped it carefully and drank it all in one sip. My mind seemed to calm down thanks to the warm and delicious tea.

“I am sorry, Karl. I just have too much to ask…I must look like a kid to you.”  

“It’s alright. I have forgotten that my duty was to explain to you who can’t see. You don’t need to worry about it. However, let’s do one question at a time, shall we?”

“I understand. I see, for the start, can you tell me how many types of magic are there? The only ones I know are your attack magic and my stamp magic. Of course, father did cast deffense magic on me from time to time, but I could not understand how it works or what it looks like.”

“It’s that so. Now that you mentioned it, back when we were kids, we started your training without any proper explanation. This time, I will try to explain using methods I learnt at school then.”

Karl began to tell me about the many types of magic and their usable ranges, how it performs in reality little by little in detail. Just like when he was a kid, he always speaks in a theoretical way but really easy to understand. 

According to his explanation, normally, magic is sometimes visible, other times it can be heard, sounding like your voice coming in and out, the magic activates just like that. Most of the time we use it without realizing, in short, your imagination is the trigger for magic to happen.  

After his long detailed explanation, it was time to talk about my condition. Karl faced me and then gave a heavy sigh. 

“By all means, mostly, the reason why you can not use magic is because you can’t imagine things normally. For example, the horse, before the magic inside me activated, I imagined the shape of the object rising from the ground and moving forward. However, you didn’t seem to know the shape of the horse, you even thought it was a living creature. If you keep doing that, I can’t be sure of the outcome.”

“I can’t see so I can’t understand its shape or colors and imagining it is difficult. As expected, there is nothing good coming from these eyes.” 

Karl gently comforted me while I rested my chin on my palm, lost in thought. 

“Yeah. That is why you couldn’t use magic until now, maybe it will be even harder in the future. About your stamp, without having any shape and normal imagination, it broke out just like that. When I had a conversation with the Duke earlier, he told me after everyone in the Duke’s family understood the difficulties, they decided not to  talk about magic in front of you.” 

“My father?”

“Yeah, the Duke regretted so much.” 

“It’s that so…” 

I never thought the reason why I can’t use magic was because of my blindness all along. I felt hopeless. 

“You don’t have to feel depressed like that. Aren’t you the Holsten family’s only princess!? There aren’t any chances for you to use it after all.”

“I don’t understand..”

“I think it’s not that different from things until now. To assist nobles on a daily basis, the servants use magic to do all the work. For Nobles, especially ladies, the time they get to use their magic is nearly none. Even if they do, it is only the defense one for sure.” 

From Karl’s explanation, the servants mostly use their magic on a daily basis. What we use is usually for defense. Things like horses are used only for moving, apparently your magic acted like a switch, resembling one that you use to turn lights on and off. 

Now that you mentioned it, I never went anywhere by myself. And if you ask me if I needed light or not, I would say I don’t necessarily need it. The magic didn’t exist in my previous life, the feeling of wanting to try it is unbearable. Even the head Knight, required to obtain a certificate which was strictly restricted in order to use attack magic. 

In the case of Karl, he only used attack magic to protect me from the dangerous beast. It was one exceptional case. Of course they also teach magic at the academy too, however, the teaching focused more on how you can instinctively use magic in an effective and theoretical way rather than how to fight. Only the students who wished to join the Knight order are the only ones who can attend attack magic classes.

According to Karl, my impression of magic is quite unique. I would unconsciously take the magic and split it into separated categories like gas, electricity, water. If there is something which cannot be categorized, I would just accept it and think of how convenient it was. 

The image of magic that my previous life fabricated crumbled down instantly. My silly self even thought that using magic normally will be like ‘bang bang’, just like what Karl did before. 

“I lived comfortably without any concern for 18 years and finally learned the truth now. What a life..”

“But there is one magic you can use, or rather I should say I want you to use it.”

“What is that?”

“It’s defense magic that protects yourself. To be honest, if you leave the Duke residence like this time again in the future, my worries for your safety will increase. You couldn’t do anything except stamping after the last training. I was thinking, if I can really make you truly understand it’s concept, wouldn’t you be able to use it?” 

With new resolution, Karl’s body tightened with sudden tension and turned his head towards me. However, with the fact that I can’t see, the hope I kept for so long is getting smaller and smaller. 

“But..I’m blind..”

“The defense magic is casted on yourself. It doesn’t matter if you are blind, you can imagine your own body right? “

“Yeah, I can at least do that..” 

“Because the effect of defense magic will disappear after a day, you need to cast it again everyday. We can say this magic is definitely used by the nobles and Royalties. It doesn’t activate with your imagination, just do it like when you pray to god for your safety. It’s close to that. The Duchess was in charge of casting protection on you everyday. But from now on, in order to cultivate a better understanding, even just a little bit is fine, I suppose you do practice everyday.”

“Now that you explained it, I think I understand it a little. After the dangerous encounter with the beast, I surely had the feeling that someone was casting protection on me everyday. Yet, I couldn’t tell who was doing that. But I remember I felt my body become lighter and warmer after receiving kisses on the hand from my parents.”

“I think that was it! I can sense the Duke couple’s aura heavily coming from you. To their daughter who cannot cast protection on her own at this age, it is normal for the parents to do it instead. It’s everyday’s magic, I am sure that you will be able to do it in no time.”

Listening to what he was saying, I tightened my hand in response and opened my mouth. 

“…I..I want to try doing it one more time. You even took your time and listened to my problems. I decided, I will go and try to ask Father for permission.” 

“That’s right! The Duke forgave me and even gave me permission to tell you about magic. I’m sure he will be more open to talk about magic with you from now on. Of course I will do what I can to help you, Alicia.”

“I could never thank you enough. If everything works out, I would love to try casting a protection spell on myself first. Karl, can you teach me like before? 

“My pleasure.”

I became excited after hearing his answer. 

“C..can I ask you.. what kind of magic you can use?”

I couldn’t hold back my curiosity. If you know one thing, you can’t help wanting to know what’s next. Karl repeatedly said “hmm, what kind~” for a while, then took my hand and left a kiss on it.

“Eh?”

At that moment, I could feel my body starting to float up gradually. 

“Like this?”

“This is so cool!! How can you do this?”

“I looked at you, I thought it would be great to see you floating so I imagined it.” 

“Can anyone do this?”

“I wonder? I’m from the Royalty so my magic is stronger than everyone else. For things like this, I wouldn’t know if I don’t try.”

“So cool..”

I tried to flap my arms to see if anything would happen but my body was still steady floating in the air. 

“I will drop you off now.”

After Karl said that, my body slowly went down and returned to the sofa. 

“ How was it?”

“It was really fun! You were so cool, Karl!” 

“You are praising me too highly. That’s right! Tomorrow is the open campus day, there will be a magic teaching class open to the public too. How about trying it out?” 

“Really? If so I would love to!” 

Karl looked at Alicia who was repeatedly leaning her body back and forth because of excitement. He couldn’t hold back and embraced her. 

“Let me be honest here, I don’t like you becoming excited over something that is not me. Aren’t you coming over here to see me?” 

My face heated up quickly from his words. 

“Karl! Don’t say like I did something bad! Geez..of course I came because I really wanted to meet you! It’s just I was curious about things..” (● ˃̶͈̀ロ˂̶͈́)੭ꠥ⁾⁾

I covered my tomato-alike face and rested my head on his chest. 

…Wait a minute? Was Karl.. this big before? (*) 

My mind was filled with excitement, that the feeling of wanting to meet Karl again was totally forgotten. And now it rises up again. 

That’s right! Isn’t this the first time we met after I realized my feelings for Karl?!

I didn’t know what to do so I tried to wrap my arms around him. 

I clumsily put my hand on his arms and hugged his back. Replying to my failed attempt to hug him, his body seemed like jumping up for an instant and next thing I knew I was being embraced tightly by him. I could feel his strength through his arms and that somehow erased all my anxieties and put me at ease. 

I took a deep breath and whispered to him. 

“I had always thought that it is natural to have you by my side. But because of that I didn’t realize the most important thing. You know, Karl? Now I do. I love you.” 

Karl sighed deeply and relaxed his body while lifting my face up then touched my cheeks with both of his hands. 

“I know.” 

He replied in a deep voice. 

——

(*) she meant his build, his body size and because he became taller than her now. 

~Karl and the self-protection spell~

In front of Alicia, who was clumsily hugging him after she adorably confessed her love, Karl couldn’t hide his happiness and his face showed excitement unlike his usual straight face. 

He even tried to play cool and said ‘I know’ to her, but his heartbeat was so loud that he was afraid Alicia would notice it and that thought made him even more nervous. 

He did his best to keep out all the bugs that tried to approach her until now. The moment he has been dreaded so much has finally arrived, how could he remain calm through this!?

He thought distancing himself from Alicia would help her realize her feelings. So after enrolling in the academy, he was glad and felt good about his decision even if he had to suffer the loneliness of staying away from her. 

He held her delicate body and wished for this moment of happiness to last longer. 

Karl gently took Alicia’s chin and brought her face closer to his. Her lips were a few inches away from his. ‘We’re both 18 already, so…’, he thought and lowered his gaze then..

ーBzz!!

“It hurts!”

“Hm? What’s wrong, Karl?”

It seemed the protection spell that the Duke casted on Alicia worked fine. 

His heart was burning inside but he needed to keep his composure. 

“I think it’s just a normal static electrical reaction.”

“It’s that so? But you sounded…”

“I’m fine, I’m fine.” 

He could feel a warning from the magic surrounding her so Karl pulled himself back and sat away from her a little bit. The tension was real. 

“This.. this is..” 

As expected from the strongest magician, even if it is a basic one, the Duke’s protection spell could overwhelm and neutralize Karl’s magic instantly. Despite his attempts at breaking through, the more he tried, the harder it was for him to come close to Alicia. In other words, he has never seen a defense magic this strong that could injure someone. 

The magic that was cast on Alicia seemed to have an intelligence of its own. It didn’t see Karl as Alicia’s harmless childhood friend, but a person who could mentally harm Alicia based on his actions and decided to fight back. And right now the magic was ready to attack Karl again. 

“For… for now, let’s get you to become able to cast defense magic on yourself as soon as possible.”

Karl tried to maintain his composure but to tell the truth, he was on the verge of getting his face beaten by the Duke’s defense magic. 

-Alicia and the day of open campus-

“Welcome! We’re selling student’s handmade cookies~”

“How about a cup of delicious coffee to start your day?~”

The next day, I waited for Karl to come and fetch me. When we arrived at the campus, there were sounds coming from every corner and overlapping with each other. It was so fascinating that my body couldn’t stop trembling from excitement. 

I lived as the Duke’s cherished princess inside the residence, walking on the street was an idea that I could never have dreamed of. That’s why for a person like me, being able to be at this crowded place made my heart pound non stop with excitement. 

I turned my head to Karl who carefully escorted me and asked him a favor. 

“Karl? I want to try some cookies. Do they also serve tea with it?” 

“……” 

There was no response from him so I tried to ask him again. 

“Karl? Is there something wrong?”

After a short silence, he released his strength on his arms a little bit and put his left hand on my shoulders. 

“No, did you say cookie?”

“Hhm? Yes..” 

I could feel the coldness and stiffness from his voice when he answered me back. 

“Wait here for me. I’ll be right back.” 

He left me but he didn’t go too far. Near where he was standing, I could sense someone else’s presence and it seemed that Karl was requesting a favor from that person. Maybe a friend of his? I thought and decided to wait for him. 

Karl immediately returned to Alicia’s side, took her hand and led her away from the shop. 

“Hhm? We are not going in?” 

“Ah, we need to be more careful on campus. I already arranged a waiting room for us. Let’s go there for now.” 

I really wanted to go in but just like that, we ended up leaving and went to the waiting room. 

To be honest I felt a little bit dissapointed. 

“Karl? I was looking forward to their cookies and hoped to enjoy my time a little more over there. Can you tell me why we have to move to this quiet place?”

My shoulders dropped due to frustration, Karl stopped and took my hand. 

“I’m sorry to make you feel that way. I wish to be able to go around and enjoy the festival with you too. But there are so many people, I can’t be sure of your safety.”

“Was it that difficult?”

“Yes. Also a lot of people are coming here for the first time too because of open campus day. Don’t you remember the Duchess went to meet with her acquaintances right after we arrived here? At a place which is the most crowded at this time of year, I can’t bring myself to escort you around.” 

At his words, I squeezed the hem of my dress. Now that he mentioned, in my previous life, if a place was so crowded like Tokyo’s intersection, people would hit their shoulders and it would be difficult to just cross it. 

“That’s why you led me here?”

“Yes.”

Karl gently patted my head while my mouth filled with sighs. Suddenly there were knocks on the door.

“Come in.”

The door opened and someone came in right after Karl said that. 

“Pardon me, I must have made you wait for a long time. It’s me, Mikhail.”

“Ah, thank you for coming. Can you set a table over there for me?”

“At your command.”

“Where is everyone?”

“They are currently helping with their class. If there is something you want please call me. Then please excuse me.” 

Finishing his words, Mikhail somehow put the table down and prepared the seats for us then left the room. 

“Come, Alicia. Until there are fewer people, let’s enjoy tea here. Mikhail has brought us the cookies from the shop you liked.”

I lifted my face up at his words. I could smell something delicious. I knew my appearance was causing everyone a hard time, but I could not stop my nose wide open. (*)

(*) a metaphor, means she cannot hide her happiness because everyone is so nice to her. 

“Oh my, how nice of him!”

I turned aside and took Kate’s hand as she helped me settle down on the sofa. Looking at her face lightened up with happiness, Karl couldn’t help but feel a tickle inside and let out a chuckle.

“Let’s enjoy the snacks here for the time being. We’ll go out again later when everything calms down. Also, the open public magic class that I told you about before, we can participate together too in the afternoon.”

“Magic class!? I’m so excited! You must help me to go there! Promise?”

“I can’t say no when you ask like that.”- Karl’s voice was full of kindness and sweetness that made Alicia feel warm inside. 

“Of course I will, my only princess.”

(*) a metaphor, means she cannot hide her happiness because everyone is so nice to her. 

~Karl’s worries~

Karl made sure Alicia safely settled down then finally gave out a sigh of relief. 

Right now, Alicia was extending out her hand to grab some of the cookies which were brought by Mikhail from the shop. She gently touched the cookie to identify its shape first, then smelled it, and enjoyed the sound of the cookie as she broke it in half. He thought and wondered how could she be this lovely and remembered what he had said to her. 

He didn’t lie to her, but did not tell her the truth either. After bidding goodbye to the Duchess, Karl took Alicia’s hand and happily enjoyed the time walking around together. It was true that he simply wished for her to make the most of today’s open campus event

…at first!

With the rumor of the Duke’s only precious blind princess who never came out of her residence coming to this kind of event for the first time, she eventually attracted everyone’s attention when she arrived. 

He was careful not to let Alicia notice but each step they took the more bugs appeared and their will to approach her were noticeable on their faces. He couldn’t do anything because the opponents were the student’s parents who were difficult for him to deal with.  

He could somehow understand their interests in Alicia because despite her being blind she is still the daughter of Duke Holsten. When he realized their intention, his body moved unconsciously and led Alicia away from the parents. However, when they got closer to the coffee shop, ladies and young men who wanted to get close to Alicia were watching them nearby. Being watched and the possibility of them following them into the shop they were heading to made Karl refuse to go in. 

Mikhail, who was nearby the shop, noticed that Karl was calling him. Karl asked him to get some refreshments and to prepare a waiting room for them to escape in the meantime. 

Alicia looked disappointed and it broke his heart so bad. She was always beautiful but today’s dress highlighted her beauty more and made her so eye-catching that people couldn’t help but steal a look at her.  

Beside her shining platinum blond hair with her violet eyes were known as uncommon, she also received a balanced mix of beauty from both the Duke and Duchess of Holsten. So it’s natural for her to be noticeable. 

More importantly, due to her blindness the way Alicia walked was unusual. Hesitant, weak, these feelings they felt when they saw her stirred their insides, it was the desire to protect her.

Those students he thought hadin control also began to give him the jealous look. He didn’t mind those young men but suddenly a thought of Alicia getting abducted ran through his mind. It worried him so much that he made a decision to retreat to a secured room for her safety. 

However he already agreed to go with her, but the shop was so crowded so he hesitated at first. He sighed and thought it would be okay to go there later. 

“Karl, what’s wrong?” (・・?)

The maid who always sticks to Alicia like her shadow went to the shop to know more about their menu in order to give a detailed explanation to her master later. She also tested for poison on the food that Alicia was interested in without her knowledge. When she finished tasting, the maid turned over and made a sign to Karl, noting that the food was poison negative. Understood, Karl looked at the innocent Alicia and sweetly smiled at her. 

“How does it taste?” 

“Oh, I think this cookie is so delicious! What about the steamy fried potatoes?”

“Oh, Southern cooking, they fried those bananas with oil. Isn’t it a little bit unusual? …but fried potatoes?” 

After the horse matter the other day, Alicia was again being taken back by another strange subject. When Karl replied back with confusion, she lowered her head and looked in the other direction. 

“Hmm, it’s nothing. I see, so there are no potatoes… Then I really want to try it when it’s still hot!” 

“? Of course, then in the meantime take a break here. I have to take care of some business so I must leave for a while.” 

“Oh, I’m really sorry. You have to take care of your class too. I must have taken a lot of your time. You’re also a student of this school. Don’t worry about me and go” 

“Thank you. Then I will take my leave.” 

Karl felt delighted at Alicia’s answer as he knew she was the only one who generally cares for him. He gently took her hand and gave her a kiss to activate the protection spell. 

When he left, she quietly spent the rest of her time inside the room. 

~Alicia and the marauder~

After Karl left, I enjoyed the cookies with Kate giving out explanations for each. My mouth was filled with delight. These cookies I’m having right now tasted like those crepes I had from my previous life. It was more delicious than I expected. 

After a while, my throat became dry from having too many sweets. 

“Kate? Can you go and fetch me some water?” 

Among the things that Mikhail brought in, there was no water or neither tea. Kate quickly replied to me, “I will get it right away” then left the room. 

However, it didn’t take long for the door to be opened again. Did Kate forget something before she went out? 

“You’re back, Kate. Is there something wrong?” 

“…” 

“Kate? What’s wrong?”

There was no answer. The silence scared me so I tried to change the conversation. 

“Maybe you are not my maid. My name is Alicia, Alicia Holsten. And you are?” 

Even if I couldn’t see, I tried my best to feel any movement or sound from this mysterious person. But despite my efforts, the person still remained silent. 

“Could you please state your name?”

I panicked and stretched out my arms to search for that person. However my hand was strongly grabbed suddenly. 

“Excus… ah!”

When I realized, my hand was harshly pulled forward and I fell hard to the ground.