Chapter 83
‘Based on what I saw in his last lesson, Lucas was no joke either.’
By now, he might have received a hundred demerit stickers from his tutor.
Arriving at the door of the study, I stood on my tiptoes toward the window to peek inside.
Pop.
I barely managed to poke my eyes above the windowsill—
And there was Lucas, looking surprisingly studious.
“For the last assignment, you were to memorize the names of the past Heads of the House of Crost. Shall we hear them?”
“Yes! The 1st Head, Amstry. The 2nd Head, Lisritan. The 3rd Head, Raon. The 4th Head, Oriosha. The 5th Head…”
To my astonishment, Lucas rattled off the names of the past Heads fluently without even glancing at a cheat sheet.
‘What’s gotten into him?!’
I almost fell over in shock.
But come to think of it, Lucas had always shown a lot of passion when it came to matters regarding the House of Crost.
‘My brother… once he sets his mind to something, he really goes all out.’
He was quite a formidable person.
I continued to watch him, my trembling toes straining to keep me upright.
“What are you doing?”
“Gyah!”
Startled by the blunt, unexpected question, I slipped and lost my balance.
I turned my head to see Knox watching me with a sharp, narrowed gaze.
“I-I was just watching my brother’s lesson! Why?!”
They say a guilty conscience needs no accuser.
Was it because my life as a spy had become second nature? Even though I hadn’t done anything wrong, I stood on guard, my twin pigtails practically bristling.
“Ahem. Did I look a bit suspicious?”
“No. Not suspicious, but…”
When I composed myself and asked again to maintain my dignity as a lady, he shrugged.
“You just looked a bit bored.”
“Huh?”
“Aren’t you wandering around here and there because you’re bored?”
Oops.
At Knox’s words, my pigtails slowly drooped.
Now that I thought about it, he was right.
Calips was busy with ducal business, Kyle was busy with swordsmanship training in the Crost Knights, and Lucas was busy with his successor lessons.
Not just them—Knox, May, and Brad were all busy with their respective duties.
“…….”
Only then did I realize.
I was the only idler with nothing to do.
* * *
Back in the bedroom.
“Munch, munch.”
Roll—
Lying spread-eagle on the bed, I crunched on the cookies May had brought me.
“Come to think of it, I didn’t plan on loafing around like this from the start, did I?”
The beginning of my life of eating and playing. Let’s find its origin.
“Hmm….”
Lost in thought, I retraced the past.
First, when I returned to the Duke's Castle as the true young lady.
Delta, who had welcomed me back warmly, immediately began to shout after hearing everything that had happened in the Center.
‘You must get some rest. To be kidnapped at such a young age—you absolutely must rest and soothe your mind and body!’
Delta cursed the Duke of Pose and worried deeply that I might have suffered a great psychological shock from being kidnapped and mistreated by him.
He gave me water brewed with precious medicinal herbs and brought me sweet candies every day that were said to help me sleep well.
‘It wasn’t bad.’
At first, I felt anxious doing nothing and wanted to be productive.
However.
‘To be honest, I haven’t had a single day of rest like this since I possessed Aisha's body, have I?’
With that thought, I used Delta’s advice as an excuse to repeat the cycle of eating, playing, and sleeping.
And since I had achieved the major goal of completely breaking free from the House of Pose, perhaps now was a turning point.
The perfect opportunity to finally fulfill my bucket list!
‘…But…’
Now that I was actually playing all the time, I felt a bit unsettled.
The words the Duke of Pose tried to say before he died kept swirling in my head, too.
‘You’ll be surprised when you find out who else is targeting you besides me. It’s Ar—’
King Argen had cut him off before he could finish, but the Duke of Pose was clearly about to name him as Calips’s next enemy.
Neither of them knew, but we already knew the truth.
After all, we knew that the monster Madness Amplifier incident was a collaboration between King Argen and the Duke of Pose.
I was even a decisive witness, having seen the King use Black Magic with my own eyes.
He seemed to have let it go, perhaps thinking I was too young and had forgotten everything out of fear.
But a man that wicked would surely pick a fight with Dad again before long.
“The problem is that there’s no evidence to catch King Argen right now….”
King Argen had already pinned his crimes on the Duke of Pose. Unfortunately, there was nothing I could do for now.
“So that’s why I’m just playing around? Hmm. No. As a lady of Crost, I have to do something.”
Boing.
Contrary to my words, my baby belly, plump from all the cookies I’d eaten, poked out.
‘Ah. Is this the Korean sentiment I couldn't forget even after being reincarnated?’
I turned my head with glazed eyes and stared out the window at the falling snow.
‘Feeling guilty even while resting. I really need to give myself a break.’
With the mindset that I’d start moving tomorrow, I let out a huge yawn.
Then, the drifting snow suddenly caught my eye.
Snow falling from the sky. When the weather gets cold, snow turns into ice…
“……!”
A spark of realization flashed through my mind.
“That’s right, ice!”
It was such an obvious fact, yet I hadn’t really thought about it until now.
No. I had completely forgotten.
“If I’m Dad’s biological daughter, then I’m an Ice Ability user!”
I have something to do!
I tucked my belly, which was as round as my baby cheeks, back into my pants and jumped up.
‘If I’m of Dad’s bloodline, then it should be possible for me too, right?’
With that power, I would be able to keep King Argen in check.
Even if I were kidnapped by an adult, I wouldn’t have to be helpless!
“…But how do I do it?”
The problem was, I didn’t know how.
Looking at Calips and Lucas, it seemed their power manifested the moment they were born and they used it instinctively.
There was similar mention of it in the original novel.
“Hmm….”
After a moment of deliberation, I struck a pose.
First, I thrust my palm into the air. Then, I strained my muscles and scrunched up my face.
“Hrrngh!”
Maybe an ice crystal would pop out over my palm.
“Hrrrngh!”
Or maybe icicles would sprout from the floor with a crackle…!
…Nothing happened.
This wasn't working.
“I’ll have to ask Dad!”
Bam—!
“Father! This golden seed has finished her rest and is ready to grow again!”
I dashed down the hallway and flung open the office door.
As I looked at Calips with sparkling eyes—
“Oh? Oh, right. Well, grow to your heart’s content.”
My father, who had been quietly working, left me with those words of encouragement and focused back on his work.
As expected, everyone except me is living their best productive life. How mean!
I ran over to Dad and placed my hands on his knees.
“Dad! Why don’t I have it?”
“Have what?”
“The Ice Ability! If I’m your biological child, shouldn’t I have the Ice Ability too?”
Calips paused for a moment, then looked at me with widened eyes.
“You’re right.”
From his answer, it seemed he hadn’t thought about it once either.
I suppose things had been too hectic since I returned.
For everyone except me.
“This conversation sounds interesting. May I join in?”
Knox, who was sitting at a side desk, chimed in.
I immediately held up a hand like a blade and replied.
“No. Only ability users are allowed to participate!”
“What do you mean, ‘forbidden’? Knox, you come here too and help me think. Why hasn't her ability manifested?”
“Hmph.”
Calips responded to my joke by roughly patting my head and then gestured for Knox to come over.
Knox straightened his white, glowing monocle and answered.
“Well, let’s think about it theoretically. To prepare their bodies for ice generation, members of the House of Crost are placed in an ice cellar created by the Ice Ability immediately after birth. They spend several months there getting used to the power.”
“That’s true.”
“However, Lady Aisha was unable to go through that process due to exceptional circumstances. Therefore, in my personal opinion, perhaps her body isn’t accustomed to temperatures low enough to create ice, making it difficult for the ability to manifest….”
I gasped at Knox’s words.
“Oh no! Does that mean I can never use my ability for the rest of my life?”