Chapter 9
Chapter 009.
As morning arrived, a line of carriages loaded with luggage stretched in front of the mansion.
Mom asked one last time.
"Want to come with me?"
"No, the dorm is more comfortable."
I wanted to stop being involved with the Miller family.
Especially Orion Miller.
At my words, Mom made a 'hmph' sound and looked at me.
Then, she lightly tapped my forehead.
"Whose daughter is so clever?"
I paused, having unconsciously been about to say goodbye.
Instead of saying 'take care' to someone I had resolved would be the last time, whether she remembered or not,
"Get along well."
If possible, it would be good to get along with the Duke and his son without fighting.
"Hey, don't send me off. It's right next door anyway."
I smiled faintly at her words.
"Call me if anything happens."
"Okay."
As if leaving on a whimsical trip, Mom left the mansion.
The lingering feeling of parting didn't last long.
Because the advancement exam in front of me was more important than Mom moving to the nearby Duke's Residence.
"You barely met the requirements for advancing to the upper grades."
The professor, who had reviewed my application, scanned me.
"As you know, you've only qualified to take the exam. There's no guarantee you'll be able to advance."
"Yes."
"Your grades aren't very high compared to other candidates for advancement."
"I know."
"Still, you don't mind?"
"No."
He stared at me intently before checking my academic record again.
His eyebrows twitched.
"I've been thinking about this for a while, but did you deliberately get these grades?"
"The lowest possible score to meet the qualification requirements. A B- in every subject."
He spread my report card out towards me.
Looking at the identical scores as if they had been printed by a machine, I shrugged silently.
'Was it too obvious?'
It was more comfortable than going all out and attracting attention.
There was no need to compete fiercely in the top ranks, nor to struggle in the lower ranks.
As if he hadn't been waiting for my answer, the professor continued with his questions.
"Why do you want to graduate early?"
"I want to get a job quickly."
He scribbled a note in response to my answer and nodded.
Before long, a recommendation letter with a few perfunctory words was in my hand.
I was walking down the hallway after finishing the interview.
I bumped into someone coming from the opposite direction, and the documents in my hand spilled to the floor.
It was the moment I was about to thank the person who had picked up the documents.
"Land of Death, huh."
I looked up at the low voice and saw a familiar face.
He stared at the documents before greeting me with a smile as if he had been painted.
"Hello."
Trevor Beril.
Although we were in the same class, I had never exchanged a single word with him all year.
He smiled kindly and handed me the remaining documents.
"You're taking the advancement exam."
"Yes."
"I've decided to take the advancement exam this time too."
"Yeah, I heard."
Trevor Beryl's eyes sparkled for a moment.
Instead of passing by, he spoke to me again.
"I'm thinking of researching the same topic."
"Oh, really?"
That was unexpected.
I thought he would choose a more popular and comfortable topic.
Considered an outstanding talent, he had never missed the top spot since his first year, thanks to his exceptional grades.
Not only was he being sponsored by the Ember Count's family, but there were also widespread rumors that he would soon be adopted.
Moreover, thanks to his excellent looks, he had quite a few female students who followed him.
I could feel the gazes of several people passing by in the hallway directed at the two of us.
"We'll be good rivals."
Smiling, he extended his hand.
Good rivals.
I was actually more surprised that he remembered my name.
"Thank you. Thanks for saying that. Let's hope for good results for each other."
He smiled at my polite greeting.
For some reason, I felt an unpleasant feeling creeping up and subtly avoided his gaze.
"Then."
Just as I was about to pass by him.
From far down the hallway, I heard the sound of someone running urgently.
There weren't many people who would cause such a commotion in the strictly disciplined Academy hallway.
My best friend, who often played a central role in that commotion and noise, was running towards me with energy.
"Don't run in your uniform, Lenny..."
No matter how many times I said it, it wouldn't work, but Lenny stopped abruptly at my words.
"It's totally awesome!"
Her touch shaking my shoulders was somewhat violent.
"There's a carriage at the school gate."
"So what."
Half of the Academy students use carriages to go home.
There was nothing particularly strange or problematic about it.
She shook her head with an excited voice.
"It's not just any carriage."
Lenny suddenly lowered her voice and began to whisper.
"Other kids might not know, but you can't fool my eyes."
"Huh?"
"They tried hard to disguise it as ordinary, but that's definitely not an ordinary carriage."
She looked around warily, narrowing her eyes.
"They tried to disguise it as ordinary, but that carriage is made of magic-treated ebony wood. It's made of the highest quality wood, and it's been treated to maintain its magic power. Look at it. The color is different."
At the tip of her finger, I saw a carriage with a familiar appearance.
"Look at the horses pulling the carriage. You won't find horses with such good bloodlines easily at any racetrack."
Two exceptional horses with unusually excellent leg muscles were stamping their feet as if they were frustrated today 'too'.
Lenny stroked her chin and began to deduce in earnest.
"Look at that coachman. He's so broad-shouldered that anyone can tell he's not an ordinary coachman."
The coachman, wearing a hat pulled low, was constantly looking around.
"It seems like there are guys spying on the Academy. I need to go contact someone right away."
Before I could say anything, she ran off somewhere with burning eyes.
I stared blankly at my running friend once, and then at the carriage in front of the main gate.
I didn't know who she was going to contact, but I certainly didn't want to get in that carriage.
"Let's go home for now."
Since I had an advancement exam coming up, I thought I should avoid as much commotion as possible and headed towards the back gate when someone blocked my path.
The man waving at me was a knight from the Miller family whom I had been introduced to by Orion.
"We would like to invite the young lady to a light tea time."
"Isn't this more like kidnapping than an invitation?"
"I can't help it. You don't answer even when I contact you through the Communication device, and the invitation is returned when I send it. Orion has been waiting for the young lady a lot."
I sighed and slowly nodded.
Avoiding the guards who were watching with curious eyes, I followed him slowly.
'I want to study for the exam.'
From Mom, who remarried right before the exam, to my new stepbrother, who was urging me to have tea.
It was as if everyone around me had conspired to ruin my exam.
Reinia Locke ran through the hallway as hard as she could and burst open a black door that was not easily visible.
Arcadia's eyes, whose sleep had been disturbed by the uninvited guest, flashed with murderous intent.
"Get lost?"
"You wake up a little, you brat."
She strode forward, kicking the scattered objects to make a path.
Regardless of the mood of the room's owner, she settled down and asked with a serious face.
"Is it difficult to use ebony wood for a carriage, apply color-maintaining magic on top of it, and even treat it for preservation?"
"Speak. Quickly."
Knowing that she wouldn't leave obediently without an answer, Jen sighed and replied.
"Unless a Magic User is riding along, the person who cast the magic would have to be at least an intermediate Magic User to maintain it."
Reinia rolled her eyes as if thinking about something.
A flash of realization crossed her serious face.
She nodded with a short sigh.
"So that's why Merian's expression was so strange."
As soon as the word 'Merian' came out, Jen's head lifted.
Seeing the green eyes staring at her, Reinia shook her head.
"Never mind. Now that I know who the owner is, it's not strange at all. That guy was a little crazy to begin with."
"Why Merian?"
"Are you all ears when it comes to Merian at a time like this?"
Reinia clicked her tongue.
She glared at Jen with dissatisfied eyes and opened her mouth.
"It's nothing much. It's because of Madam Titi's remarriage partner's son this time."
"What does the carriage have to do with that?"
"He came to pick up the kid in that fancy carriage I just mentioned."
The window that had been darkening the room was pulled open in an instant.
His green eyes, scanning the empty main gate, deepened.
Reinia crossed her arms.
"It's a little worrying, but Merian will take care of it. The other party is now family... Hey."
She stopped speaking mid-sentence.
Jen's mouth was moving non-stop, chanting a spell.
Reinia sighed and rubbed her forehead.
"Did you put a location tracking spell on her again?"
"The top floor of the Daily Coffeehouse."
"Hey, you crazy bastard. If you go there and make a mess..."
Without a word of reply, he immediately teleported away, and Reinia shook her head as if dumbfounded.
Then, she offered her condolences in advance to Merian, who would suffer between her eccentric friend and her eccentric new stepbrother.
"It's not my fault. There wasn't even time to stop him."
No sooner had she finished muttering as if making excuses than someone knocked on the door.
Knowing that visitors were rare here, Reinia flinched and hardened her face at the pale silver hair visible through the open door.
Vertein smiled awkwardly at the person in Jen's room, who was not there.
"Oops."
"Sorry. I didn't know you were here."
"Why are you apologizing? It's not my room anyway."
Reinia opened her mouth sullenly, looking at Vertein, who always had a smile on his face.
"That's good. You have something to do."
"Hmm?"
Vertein's head tilted as if puzzled.
She quickly and concisely summarized the situation.
"Jen saw the Miller Vice Duke come to pick up Merian and went crazy and chased after him."
"Jen?"
"Go and clean up the mess."
Vertein smiled bitterly at the natural commanding tone.
"I can't refuse, can I?"
"You can. If you can handle it."
"...I'll do my best."
"The top floor of the coffeehouse."
Vertein nodded and left the room.
Reinia, left alone in the dark room, sat alone and muttered in a serious tone.
"Even if I don't like Orion Miller, I really like the carriage."
Spending money as if you didn't mean to.
"Should I make one too?"
It was a story that Merian would have hated to hear.
