When I was young, my hobby was sneaking into my father’s study to steal books and read them in my mother’s room.

I always had to hide in dark corners to read because my father would become furious if he knew I was looking at books.

‘Poor thing.’

Whenever this happened, my sick mother would say incomprehensible things while looking at young Cordelia.

‘Why?’

‘Because you won’t be able to have what you want.’

‘But I don’t want anything.’

Then her mother stroked Cordelia’s head and said,

‘You’re a greedy child, Cordelia. My daughter. I wonder if you’ll be satisfied with just one book when you grow up? It’s human nature to become curious, want to know more, and actually want to go places as you read.’

‘Huh?’

‘Poor thing. Your father will surely hold you back. If only you had been born somewhere else, not from my womb.’

‘But I like you the most, Mother!’

When she said this, her mother would hug her tightly. It was one of the few beautiful memories Cordelia had.

Her mother’s face gradually becomes blurry.

Her consciousness, which had been deeply submerged, rose to the surface.

She sees the familiar ceiling.

As she blinks, Emily, who was sitting beside her, brightens up and says,

“Are you feeling a bit better?”

“…Yeah.”

“Hic. We almost had a disaster. The physician said if we had been a little late…”

Emily burst into tears in the middle of speaking. Her eyes were already red.

“The Madam, hic, keeps saying it’s nothing, but the Young Madam hasn’t opened her eyes for four days…”

“Four days? I’ve been, ahem, unconscious for four days?”

“Yes. Thankfully, the Master brought all the nearby physicians and pressured them to save the Young Madam.”

“Huh? Craig did?”

She only blinked at the unexpected mention of Craig’s name.

She recalled his bewildered face before she lost consciousness.

“Yes. The atmosphere was so tense that the physicians were trembling as they examined you. Moreover, with the Madam…”

Speak of the devil, as if knowing she had woken up, Leonard burst through the door.

Emily quickly made way when she saw Leonard arrive.

He stood beside the bed where she lay and stared at Cordelia without saying a word.

As the silence stretched on, Cordelia spoke first.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Are you stupid?”

“What?”

“You have a peanut allergy, and you just eat without checking if it contains peanuts? Is your head just a decoration? Why do you wear it?”

“Is that what you say to someone who just woke up?”

It was just like him to hurl insults instead of offering words of comfort to someone who had nearly died. But strangely, she didn’t feel bad hearing his sharp words. Cordelia just chuckled.

“But I miraculously didn’t die.”

“Miraculously? Miraculously?”

Leonard let out a scornful laugh, seemingly dumbfounded.

“…I’ve never seen anyone as foolish as you.”

“Yes, yes. I’m sure you think so.”

“Not only do you carelessly eat whatever is given to you.”

“How could I refuse when the Madam offered it?”

“Do you not have a mouth or a tongue? Why couldn’t you refuse? You’re lucky she only put peanuts in it, what if she had added poison? Would you still just nod and eat it even then?”

“Aish, I wouldn’t eat it if it had poison. I’m not that stupid.”

Cordelia pouted. Leonard shook his head briefly.

“You fool. Haa. Forget it. Anyway, we’re going to clear things up here now, so stop groveling and smiling at that woman.”

“When did I ever grovel? Wait, clear things up? What do you mean?”

“This castle. You’ve recovered enough, it’s time to clean out the filth.”

Leonard’s face grew unprecedentedly cold. He glared at the window with his arms crossed.

It seemed that Helena was included in what he called ‘filth.’ Cordelia became afraid to ask how he planned to deal with Helena.

“Ah, right. Special training starts tomorrow.”

“What? Suddenly, what special training? I just woke up.”

“Is that important? What if you eat something with peanuts again and die?”

Leonard spoke curtly and turned to leave the room. Cordelia reached out and grabbed the hem of his clothes.

“Wait a moment.”

“What is it? Let go.”

“What about the letter?”

He stared at Cordelia’s face with an ambiguous expression before handing over a crumpled letter from his chest. Cordelia grasped the letter tightly. Then she couldn’t take her eyes off it for a long time.

Leonard spoke casually as if in passing.

“Tuition.”

“What?”

“Your brother said he needed tuition money. The money…”

“It’s all lies.”

She tore the letter to shreds without blinking. This time, it was Leonard who was taken aback.

“What are you doing?”

“I should have torn it up sooner, getting caught up because of this.”

Cordelia ground her teeth as she reduced the letter to powder.

“Tuition? Ha, as if he could get into any school with that brain. Dennis could barely write his own name by the time he was ten. I’d sooner believe a passing dog could write.”

“So you’re saying it’s just an excuse to get money?”

“I told you before. To my father, I’m just a hole for money to come out of.”

She looked at the paper shreds that were once a letter with eyes full of contempt.

“And this isn’t the first time my father has sent such a letter. He’s been consistently sending them since two months after I got married.”

At first, she had opened them thinking they were letters of concern, only to be disappointed time and time again.

As these kinds of letters continued, she felt pity for her father, then anger, and finally shame. She also felt sorry for herself and her wretched situation.

“I ignored them all. I never even mentioned it to the Madam.”

“Why?”

He asked. His expression was one of pure curiosity. Cordelia let out a weak laugh.

“Because I didn’t want to become more pathetic by bringing up money when I was already being ignored. I didn’t want to become more miserable here.”

“…”

“It makes it seem like I was really sold for money. Well, to be honest, that’s actually true.”

Cordelia laughed self-deprecatingly.

A breeze flowed in through the slightly open window. Cordelia’s hair fluttered a little.

Leonard unconsciously reached out towards her but then flinched. It’s a strange thing to say, but at that moment, it seemed as if Cordelia might disappear from before his eyes at any time.

“Oh, right. Thank you.”

“Suddenly?”

“Just, for standing up for me at the dinner table and all… It feels really nice to have someone get angry on my behalf. I’ve never had anyone fight for me except myself.”

“Hmph.”

Leonard turned his head sharply, raising his chin. Then he flicked his hand slightly. Cordelia yawned loudly as she lay down on the bed.

“But why am I so tired? Master, later, yawn, homework, yaaawn. Check.”

Cordelia fell asleep mid-sentence. Leonard stared blankly at Cordelia’s peacefully sleeping face with a complex expression before leaving the room.

* * *

“Oh my, how is Lady Cordelia? Has she regained consciousness?”

As Leonard exited the room, Baron, who had been waiting like a dewdrop on the window frame, asked fussily. Leonard ignored his words and said only what he wanted to say.

“Call Beluce.”

“Pardon? That mad dog, ahem. That fellow?”

Baron reacted immediately to the name Beluce, like a bird struck by lightning.

“Isn’t he too conspicuous? Although Maximilian hasn’t yet discovered my coming here, if Beluce comes to Abrams Castle as well…”

“Sooner or later, Maximilian will have to notice my existence. We can’t stay flat on the ground forever out of fear.”

“If you need subordinates, wouldn’t it be better to call Lord Mervan instead?”

“If that stiff-necked fellow suddenly appears in this backwater for no reason, Maximilian will immediately think something’s odd. But Beluce is like a stray dog, so he’ll think nothing of it.”

“But, but if Beluce comes here…”

Baron, who knew Beluce Ingrion’s personality better than anyone, struggled to continue speaking.

Given Beluce’s tendency to charge in without thinking when things go wrong, it was clear that this small castle would soon be turned upside down.

However, despite Baron’s attempts to dissuade him, Leonard’s will was firm. He surveyed the long corridor with a cold expression.

“This damn castle, I need to clean it up quickly. There are too many things getting in the way. It’s annoying how those who don’t know their place keep trying to climb up.”

“…Haa. I understand.”

“And.”

Leonard paused for a moment. Baron held his breath along with him.

“Find out about the Vasquez family.”

“The Vasquez? Why? Do you still suspect that Lady Cordelia has a connection with Maximilian?”

Baron’s expression immediately turned serious. Leonard was about to say something but then shook his head.

“No, it’s not that. Just… Anyway, find out everything. From the current head of the family to their assets, bloodlines, everything.”

“Yes. I understand.”

As always, Baron bowed his head submissively and disappeared from view.

* * *

After that day, the castle became excessively quiet.

Not only Helena but even Lily and Arnold had not been seen by Cordelia.

Finding it strange, she asked Emily, who said with a seemingly delighted tone, “That day, the Master got furiously angry and made threats.”

“Threats? What threats?”

“He said that if anyone touches the Young Madam one more time, no matter who it is, he’ll cut off their head and hang it on the castle gate. Actually, the cook who put peanuts in the Young Madam’s soup had his head hung on the castle gate.”

“Oh…”

Hearing this, Cordelia felt a surge of gratitude towards Leonard. She thought he must care for her as his disciple after all.

“That’s not it. Do it again.”

“Like this?”

“Again.”

“This…”

“Again.”

“…”

“Again.”

The surge of gratitude dissipated in an instant.

To be honest, from morning till night, she did nothing but magic training every day.

Spending over ten hours together daily, she reached a level where she could guess Leonard’s words just by his eye movements or the subtle changes in his lips.

“Like that…”

“You mean don’t do it like that and use my head? I know. I know, but what can I do if my body won’t cooperate?”

“Don’t just…”

“Don’t just talk, but do it? I got it, so please be quiet for a bit.”

“…”

Leonard looked at Cordelia with a very strange expression, but she was so focused on the magic that she didn’t notice.

After more than two weeks of intensely dedicating herself to magic like this, she finally succeeded in creating a small magical spark.

“Gasp! This, look at this! Master! Quickly, quickly!”

“Ah. Yes.”

“This, this is it, right? I succeeded, didn’t I? I did this, right?”

“Mm.”

Unlike Cordelia, who was jumping up and down with joy, Leonard was utterly unimpressed.

“That’s exactly the magic I succeeded in when I was five years old.”

“That means I’m at least at the level of five-year-old you, right? Not bad for a beginner, isn’t it?”

“If you’re satisfied with being at a five-year-old’s level, then it’s not bad.”

Ugh, if only I could slap that annoying mouth once.

However, soon that thought was overwhelmed by the joy of her magical success.

“I think I understand a bit of what you said now, Master. That the body should remember, not the head.”

“Right. You need to repeat it thousands, tens of thousands of times so that your body remembers it in any situation.”

“Yes. I’ll do that.”

She smiled brightly at Leonard.

Suddenly, he turned his head sharply, avoiding her gaze. Then he added gruffly,

“Don’t make a fuss. You’ve just barely shed your trainee status.”