-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: The Lay of the Land
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Axel, the Master of the Magic Tower, had been neglecting the place for years, having cut off all contact.
The mages, like baby birds who had lost their mother, pleaded for his return daily, but he couldn't have cared less.
After all, the Magic Tower was a voluntary and liberal association with no compulsory obligations.
While most mages belonged to the tower for the benefits of being in a group, there were certainly those who did not.
Greslin in her past life was one of them.
She had holed herself up in the northern countryside, wondering what she would even do in a place crawling with stuffy white mages.
Axel, on the other hand, had been acclaimed by the mages of the tower and rose to the position of Master.
In truth, being the Master didn't grant him any significant authority.
He wouldn't have regretted it for a second if he quit on the spot.
If anyone was desperate, it was the old coots in the back rooms of the Magic Tower.
They were, after all, piggybacking on the name of Axel, the hero who had defeated the Mad Dragon, to secure various research grants from the imperial family and the nobility.
The reason Axel generously allowed them to use his name was so he could utilize the Magic Tower's information network, which had branches all over the empire.
The Duchy of Elpinade also had a dense intelligence network spanning the entire empire—no, the entire continent.
But those agents answered first and foremost to Duke Elpinade, so it wasn't an organization Axel could command.
Thus, Axel and the Magic Tower were in a sort of symbiotic relationship, trading his reputation for their intelligence.
The Magic Tower was always the one in need, so Axel generally ignored their requests.
Occasionally, when a message arrived saying, “You must come this time! It’s an important presentation!” he would make a brief appearance.
Such messages were delivered in person, not by letter, so there was no need to look through the pile of correspondence on his desk.
Of course, one letter had survived his merciless sorting.
‘The Magic Tower’s intelligence network.’
They had been quiet for a while, so he had assumed there was no more information on ‘Greslin.’
Unlike the leisurely way he had swept aside the letters from the tower’s old geezers, Axel tore open the envelope with a swift motion.
Inside was a piece of information he had never expected.
It was about a sighting of Hazen, Greslin’s disciple and the victim she had murdered.
Axel’s brow furrowed.
* * *
“How about sky blue?”
“I think pink would be lovely, too.”
Rose and Daisy each held up a dress, one sky blue and one pink, and looked at me through the mirror.
When I couldn't properly answer their question about what I liked, the trio of flower-named maids had stepped up, declaring they would help me discover my tastes.
Sky blue and pink.
No matter how I looked, they seemed the same to me.
My aesthetic sense had always been dull; I couldn't help it.
As I hesitated, Lily held out a lavender dress.
“I think lavender would be nice as well. It’s the very color of your eyes, Young Lady.”
“My eyes…”
I looked in the mirror.
Just as Lily said, eyes the color of a very pale lavender sparkled back at me.
The soft, ethereal color looked rather nice.
“Mhm. I think it’s pwetty.”
When I nodded, the faces of the three maids lit up.
“If you like lavender, shall we wear this for our walk today?”
At Lily’s suggestion, Rose and Daisy scurried to prepare a matching ribbon and shoes.
“We’ll match the ribbon and shoes to the same color.”
“Lavender from head to toe… just like a lilac flower!”
A delicate lilac flower.
The very idea of being compared to such a fragile-looking flower was embarrassing, and my face grew slightly warm.
‘In my past life, it was more like a Venus flytrap or a sundew…’
I was compared to carnivorous plants more often than pretty flowers.
It was the dark image that stuck to me like a shadow, all because I was a black-haired black mage.
After changing, I took a parasol and went out for a walk.
It was the first time I had ever gone on a proper walk with three maids in tow.
Before, if the servants had run into me, they would have given a cursory nod or ignored me completely.
Now, everyone stopped in their tracks and bowed respectfully until I passed.
It was rewarding to see my efforts to restore my battered reputation pay off.
Realizing that people’s attitudes toward me had shifted significantly toward favor, my steps felt much lighter.
I used to think Axel was the only one I could rely on in the Elpinade estate.
Now, it seemed I wouldn't have to walk on eggshells wherever I went.
I grinned and wandered around the Elpinade estate.
It was called a walk, but it was closer to an exploration to learn the layout of the mansion.
“The Elpinade estate is largely divided into the main building and the annex. Next to the main building is the Ivory Tower.”
“Mhm. I know.”
“The main building is primarily for official business. All the direct family members have duties to the family, so they live in the main building.”
The Duke’s office and Axel’s room were both in the main building.
“The annex, on the other hand, contains the servants’ quarters and spaces for the various tasks that keep the main building running. The guest quarters are also part of the annex.”
As Lily explained the buildings, she glanced at me cautiously.
All the direct descendants of the Elpinade family lived in the main building, but my room was in the annex—more specifically, in the guest quarters.
A typical four-year-old might not have understood the implication, but I was the clever little girl who had passed the notoriously difficult exam for the great Ivory Tower.
The fact that I alone was staying in the annex meant I hadn't been fully accepted as an Elpinade.
Lily seemed to think I would realize this and be hurt, but I didn't mind at all.
I wasn’t a real Elpinade anyway.
We weren’t related by blood, nor had I contributed to the family as a member.
Besides, I might have to return to the temple someday.
After all, I was still affiliated with the church under the title of Saintess.
I tugged on the worried Lily’s skirt and said, “It’s okay. I wike the annex, too.”
It was the honest truth, without a single drop of falsehood.
The Elpinade annex was an annex in name only; it boasted a scale comparable to the main building of any respectable noble house.
It was a far superior space than the slums where I’d spent my childhood in my past life, and even better than the mansion I acquired in the north after defeating the Mad Dragon.
But the three maids didn't seem to take my words at face value.
“Young Lady…”
A look of pity flashed across all three of their faces simultaneously.
“No. I’m weally okay. Weally!”
I expressed myself more forcefully, but it only made their expressions darken.
In the end, I decided to give up on conveying my true feelings.
‘Sigh. Forget it.’
It wasn't a major misunderstanding, so it probably wouldn't cause any problems.
I let out a deep sigh and tugged on Lily’s skirt again.
“Don’t be like that, let’s go see the garden. I wanna see the lake.”
“Shall we?”
When I deliberately shifted her attention, Lily smiled and guided me toward the garden.
However, we were forced to stop before we even reached our destination.
“What are you doing in the main building?”
We ran into Noah in the hallway. He was holding a thick etiquette book, looking as if he had just finished a lesson.
“Who gave you permission to come and go in the main building?”
Noah glared menacingly.
He’d just gotten a good scolding not long ago.
It seemed he had already forgotten.
“You don’t need pewmission to be in the main building. Anyone can come and go. Wight?”
I looked at Lily as I asked, and she bowed politely.
“That is correct, Young Master Noah. The Duke has not specifically forbidden the Young Lady from entering the main building.”
“Hmph. What do you know, you’re just a maid? As the Duke’s eldest grandson, I would know.”
