“How curious that you would ask such a question. Could it be, Nigel, you…”

Nigel unconsciously gulped. Everything caught in those insensitive eyes was a big catch.

“You were a follower of the Holy Maiden. I didn’t see you as such at all.”

Nigel was relieved at the complete miss. Then, clenching her fist, she spoke in an affected voice.

“Yes, I must protect the Holy Maiden from the Shining Rose.”

“I see, that’s a constructive goal. Though finding the Holy Maiden who could be hiding anywhere would be the first step. Judging by the lack of news from the temple about the prophecy of the Holy Maiden’s birth, it seems this Holy Maiden is a master of concealment.”

That concealment, you’ve already seen through it.

“Anyway, this Holy Maiden is quite lucky. The Holy Maiden is, to put it nicely, an honorary position, and to put it crudely, the temple’s finest product. Since the Holy Maiden hasn’t been seen for 17 years, even the temple people seem quite discouraged now.”

Rifne rubbed her sleepy eyes and spoke in a rougher voice.

“You know you could be dragged away for blasphemy, right?”

“Nigel Ars. If you’re going to be like that, you should’ve started by questioning why I didn’t report knowing the identity of a royal with succession rights to the throne.”

For the first time in her life, Nigel received a look from someone that said she was too stupid to survive in this harsh world, in short, a look of utter contempt.

“And, do you really want to know about the conditions? I’m the only one holding the key, is it right to threaten me like this?”

“Well, I was just joking because we’re friends.”

At Nigel’s words, Rifne slightly turned her head to hide her deeply reddened face. Watching Rifne, Nigel somewhat understood why Oliver played pranks all the time.

A moment later, the calmed Rifne put her head back in place and opened her mouth.

“…The condition for the Holy Maiden’s divine power to manifest is when she sincerely wants to save someone.”

As soon as she heard those words, Nigel recalled her childhood.

The summer when she was ten.

Even though she remembered not only her childhood but even her past life, these few months were like wearing glasses that kept fogging up no matter how much you wiped them, the memories were covered and unclear.

All she could remember was a small, nameless boy about her age.

While Nigel was struggling to fumble through the hazy memories, a deflating yawn was heard from across.

As Nigel blinked, trying to grasp the situation, Rifne waved her hand elegantly.

No explanation was needed. It meant she was sleepy, so get out quickly.

Just as Nigel obediently got up from the sofa and was about to leave the study, a small voice drowsy with sleep was heard from inside.

“Wake me up before going to Sienna. I’ll at least have the sense to see off my brother and friend.”

What an unusual friend.

Nigel chuckled, then went back into the study to carefully draw the curtains for Rifne’s sleep and slowly closed the door.

A few weeks after Nigel made a new friend. Despite the quite chilly weather, besides her heart rapidly condensing and expanding whenever she saw Noah, a new hardship greeted Nigel.

It all started with the mock exam for the lower-level magician qualification that she took all day yesterday.

“…So this is my mock exam result?”

Heres nodded with a benevolent smile, as if dealing with a small child.

On the paper in Nigel’s hand, A and + were beautifully lined up in pairs, and at the end, there was an F.

F. A sign that there’s no possibility of passing, nor room for improvement. Above that lone conspicuous letter was written ‘Magic Control Ability’.

No matter how many times Nigel rubbed her eyes, closed and opened them, the terrible and desperate grade remained the same.

During the test of moving objects to designated locations, even though the object soared so high it could have been mistaken for a star in the sky, and after floating in the air for a long time, it reached the ground with a loud noise, emitting unknown smoke, Nigel thought she had avoided failing.

After all, it landed on the ground without human casualties, and the goal of the test was just for the object to be in the designated position.

“I failed? But I clearly moved the object…”

“There seems to have been a big difference in the definition of ‘move’ between Nigel and the professors. In the professors’ definition, there was nothing about the object breaking through the ceiling and rising high, or damaging the evaluation room floor… right?”

Heres, who adored her students terribly, rolled her eyes and gave an ambiguous smile that was neither grinning nor frowning.

“Ah! For reference, I gave Nigel a D− considering her potential ability in that the object arrived at the designated location… but unfortunately, the other magic faculty professors didn’t share that opinion.”

At this heartbreaking love for a student, Nigel finally let out a self-deprecating laugh.

What made the not-really-laughing Nigel even more desperate was the fact that as soon as the second semester started, Nigel had been practicing diligently, following Oliver’s advice for the mock exam.

Since she couldn’t demonstrate good control of her divine power, it seemed to be time to give up on taming the magic disguised as divinity.

‘If worse comes to worst, I’ll have to lure Allen into repeating a year with me. …If possible, Beselion too.’

The shock of receiving a failing grade for the first time completely broke Nigel’s thought process.

“…So!”

At this moment, a lively voice broke Nigel’s train of thought.

“The dean has given a good solution for Nigel!”

As soon as she heard the three syllables of ‘the dean’, Nigel’s face soured.

She thought there was a grand reason like the Shining Rose behind the unconventional behavior of the one nicknamed the Sage of the Continent, but in reality, he was just an aristocrat who discriminated against students from difficult financial backgrounds.

Nigel hurled all the vulgar words she had heard in her past life and in the original novel at Widrun.

Then, with the mindset of ‘Alright, let’s see what dirty trick you’re trying to pull this time’, she firmly crossed her arms.

“We’ve found someone to give Nigel personal guidance on magic control every weekend outside!”

Nigel quietly loosened the strength in her arms.

She couldn’t just stand by and watch anymore. One-on-one special training, Nigel inwardly prayed to Kirelia that the special instructor wouldn’t be Widrun.

“And who that person is… it’s none other than Lady Meriel Dien!”

Contrary to Heres’s expectation that her student would be pleased, given the news that they had gotten along well at the ball, Nigel froze on the spot.

‘…Right, it’s my fault for being deceived all this time and praying again.’

Meriel Dien was the best choice. Not only did she obtain an advanced magician qualification before coming of age, but she was also offered a position as a royal magician by the head royal magician.

Except for one thing, the fact that she was Nigel’s older sister.

At the ball, she at least covered her eye color with a mask, but if she went to the heavily guarded duke’s mansion wearing a mask, she would arrive at the underground prison before meeting Meriel.

Unable to sort out her complicated feelings, Nigel looked desperately at Heres.

“Is it… mandatory?”

Please. If only she could give the student a choice.

“Well… as you know, Nigel’s academic achievement and the amount of magic are excellent, but…”

“My control is terrible, right?”

Heres, who loved her students very much but couldn’t lie, nodded quickly. She even seemed grateful that Nigel had said it first.

“Don’t worry, Nigel. I’ve already talked enough with Miss Dien about Nigel’s wonderful magic, and with just a li~ttle, very little time, it will improve right away!”

Heres’s large hand touched Nigel’s hair as she nodded in resignation. Nigel pulled herself together at the warm touch.

“Thankfully, Miss Dien willingly promised to guide Nigel until the promotion exam.”

No, before she could pull herself together, she collapsed completely.

No matter how much Nigel begged for time to stop, the weekend approached quickly.

As befitting an employee of the finance minister known for being meticulous and quick in handling work, Nigel arrived in the blink of an eye in front of the grand entrance that made her hesitate to enter.

She had hidden from the temple’s eyes for 17 years, not wanting to negatively influence her family, but now she was coming to Duke Dien’s mansion just because she couldn’t move a single object with magic… Nigel’s mind was in turmoil.

Some say that things not going according to plan is the true value of life, but Nigel wanted to politely return such value if that was the case.

It was far past the time that could be excused by nervousness to just stand blankly in front of the main gate. Moreover, the servant next to Nigel was smiling politely, as if asking why she wasn’t going in quickly after keeping an important person waiting.

So Nigel entered Duke Dien’s mansion, famous for its beauty, feeling like she was entering hell.

Neither the beautiful landscaping nor the elegant interior of the mansion registered in Nigel’s eyes.

Nigel just hoped that her deeply pulled-down robe wouldn’t come off.

“This is the reception room, you can wait here until Miss Meriel arrives.”

The smiling servant stopped in front of a door at the end of a corridor that couldn’t hide its wealth and dignity.

Nigel reached for the doorknob of the reception room with a nervous heart.

That’s when it happened.

Creak.

The door opened from the other side first, and dazzling platinum blonde hair greeted Nigel.