Pretty?

Is it just a polite remark? But does my master need to be polite to me? Why is he suddenly saying such a thing?

My heart raced as I suddenly remembered last night’s incident, which I had forgotten while taking the exam. Cordelia lowered her head to hide her flushed cheeks.

“Lady Matilda seems to be quite busy.”

“Yes. Oh, yes?”

Walking while looking at the floor, I belatedly reacted to his words. Leonard spoke casually without stopping his stride.

“Didn’t you want to ask about your mother?”

“That’s right.”

“There’s an emergency meeting scheduled due to the recent collapse, so she said it’s difficult to make time right away.”

“Ah… That’s okay.”

It was a bit disappointing, but as long as I stay at the Magic Association, there will surely be another chance to meet her someday.

We quickly arrived at the research lab since the exam location wasn’t too far. Candias appeared in the center of the door and burst into laughter as soon as he saw Cordelia.

“Hahaha! Hey, who did you have a hair-pulling fight with?”

“Excuse me? Me?”

“Yeah, you. You. Why does your hair look like that? It’s as if you fell off a carriage and rolled on the ground five times.”

“That can’t be right.”

But the master said I was pretty…

Cordelia fumbled with her hair, quite flustered. Leonard, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, kicked the door with a loud thud.

“Ack! What the-”

“Open the door.”

“Aack! Stop kicking, you madman!”

“I said open it.”

Candias screamed. Regardless, Leonard continued kicking the door with an expressionless face. It was so severe that Cordelia tried to stop her master.

“M-Master.”

“Just because you have a hole in your face doesn’t mean you can spout whatever nonsense you want.”

“Hey! Where do I have a hole? Aaagh! Okay, okay! I got it!”

Despite being beaten like that, Candias wasn’t intimidated. He kept being cheeky until the end, only running away when Leonard raised his hand.

After causing a commotion in front of the door, we finally entered the research lab. At the entrance, there were piles of partitions, desks, and items that I hadn’t seen in the morning. I suppose these were my things that he mentioned yesterday.

Leonard turned to her and asked.

“Where should I move them?”

“Hmm.”

Cordelia carefully scanned the research lab here and there, then pointed to a corner that was adequately distant from Leonard but not too far away.

“I’ll take this spot.”

As soon as she pointed to a place with her finger, Leonard lightly waved his hand. The heavy desk moved smoothly and settled in the place she wanted.

He even moved the partitions to surround the area, creating quite a cozy space. Cordelia excitedly ran over there.

Pens, paper, and the like were neatly arranged on the wide, clean desk. She quickly sat in the chair, opened the drawers, and ran her hand over the shiny desk surface.

Leonard stood in front of her.

“Do you like it?”

“Yes! Very much.”

“Then let me tell you the first thing you need to do.”

Leonard said with a rather solemn expression. In response, Cordelia also became serious.

“What is it?”

“Go down to the first floor and bring my meal. If you say it’s for me, they’ll prepare it accordingly.”

“…Alright.”

Well, I should have known.

Cordelia, who had expected some grand mission, walked away with slumped shoulders. As she was going downstairs, she happened to see a mirror hanging in the hallway and stopped abruptly.

“W-What is this?”

Now I understand why Candias laughed so much. My hair really did look like I’d been in a hair-pulling fight. Cordelia untied her ribbon and retied her hair while looking in the mirror.

“No, how could the master say this looks pretty…”

Either his eyes were playing tricks on him, or I only looked pretty to him.

“No, oh my. What am I thinking?”

Cordelia shook her head vigorously. Even to herself, that seemed a bit over the line.

Thanks to wandering around the Magic Association on this errand, she managed to find the dining hall without much difficulty.

Cordelia awkwardly looked around and then stopped a passing man to ask.

“Excuse me. I’d like to get my master’s meal. How should I go about it?”

Upon hearing her question, the man rather rudely looked Cordelia up and down, then said with a sleazy smile.

“Meal? Ah, you must be an apprentice. When did you join the Magic Association?”

As he brought his toad-like face close, Cordelia took a couple of steps back. Perhaps because she was used to Leonard’s face, this man barely looked human to her.

“Ah, I’m not an apprentice. I’m a lower- no, intermediate level.”

“Hahaha. Listen, within the Magic Association, rank is more important than titles. If you go around lying like that, you’ll be in big trouble.”

“I’m not lying.”

“Come on, you don’t even know how to get a meal. I’m letting it slide because it’s me. What’s your name? Want to have a meal together? I’m a lower rank, so I know everything around here. I can tell you anything you don’t know.”

This felt familiar. It was similar to when she first came to the Magic Association and was laughed at for not even knowing what an insignia was. The difference now was that she wasn’t an ignorant fool anymore.

Cordelia looked straight at him and said.

“You said rank is important in the Magic Association, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Then how dare a lower-ranked magician speak so casually to an intermediate-ranked magician? So impudently? How dare you?”

“Of course I’m repeating such obvious things…”

Cordelia untied the ribbon holding her hair and waved it in front of his eyes.

“My name is Cordelia Vasquez, and I’m Acheron’s successor. And I passed the intermediate magician exam today.”

“…”

“What’s your name?”

As soon as Cordelia finished speaking, the man’s face turned pale. He spoke with his head bowed low.

“I-I’m sorry, Lady Vasquez.”

“Is your name ‘I’m sorry’?”

She hadn’t meant to mock him, but it seemed to come across that way. Benjamin trembled as if he might actually kneel down.

“Sorry, no. It’s Benjamin Lutz.”

“Alright, Lutz. I’ve only been at the Magic Association for a day, so I’m a bit clumsy. Do you know where I can get my master’s meal?”

“Yes, yes! I’ll guide you. Please come this way.”

Benjamin couldn’t even dare to make eye contact with Cordelia. After guiding her, he disappeared while bowing excessively.

As she waited for Leonard’s meal to be prepared, she noticed a commotion in one corner of the dining hall. Her gaze naturally followed. There stood a beautiful woman with black hair.

“Lydia?”

Cordelia was about to go over to her out of joy but hesitated. She remembered who Lydia’s beloved man was.

‘He says I’m precious, but the master has never said he sees me as a woman or anything like that.’

Perhaps this was all just Cordelia’s vain misunderstanding. If Leonard knew, he might sneer and say, “Me? You?” and mock her.

Thinking about it carefully, it really seemed that way.

Even calling her pretty might have just been something he said because she was his disciple.

She might have been giving meaning to everything he said and indulging in absurd fantasies.

‘When he’s so indifferent to such a beautiful and kind woman like that. Would the master even see me as a woman? Oh, Cordelia Vasquez. Get a grip.’

She suddenly felt embarrassed for filling her head with strange imaginations all day today.

It was a great relief that she hadn’t shown any signs to Leonard. If her master had known about this, he probably would have teased her about it endlessly.

As she organized her thoughts, her mind felt lighter. Cordelia approached Lydia with a more relaxed step.

People were already crowding around her. It wasn’t simply because Lydia was Elfenbaum’s daughter. Anyone would praise her upon seeing that beautiful appearance.

“Lydia.”

“Cordelia.”

Lydia welcomed Cordelia with her usual fresh smile.

“I came to run an errand for my master’s meal. Are you here to eat, Lydia? How was your sleep?”

“It wasn’t bad.”

“That’s good. Lady Rosenblur will be here soon. Even if it’s uncomfortable, please bear with it for a little while.”

“Why should I bear it? I’ll be staying here from now on.”

“Huh?”

“I’m going to stay at the Magic Association, so I need to adapt. Why? Did you wish I wasn’t here?”

“No, no. That’s not it. I’m glad. It’s nice to have a friend like Lydia in the Magic Association where I don’t have any close acquaintances.”

Cordelia waved her hands in surprise. It seems the chilly feeling she had yesterday wasn’t wrong. There was no warmth visible in Lydia’s blue eyes.

“I’m glad to have you by my side too, Cordelia.”

After acting coldly until just now, Lydia suddenly grabbed Cordelia’s hand. That hand was colder than expected, which startled Cordelia inwardly.

Moreover, with her words constantly changing, Cordelia rolled her eyes, not knowing which tune to dance to.

“Ah, haha. Let’s work hard together. Oh right, while running errands today, I ended up taking the intermediate magician exam and passed.”

“You took an exam unexpectedly?”

“Well, it just happened that way. It was my first time taking the exam, and when the examiner said I had five minutes, I thought I had to finish the exam within five minutes…”

Cordelia tried to ignore the strange feeling and rambled on about what had happened today to Lydia. Lydia pretended to listen, nodding her head a few times, but soon showed signs of boredom. Cordelia sensitively noticed this reaction and stopped talking.

“I’m sorry. I talked too much about myself, didn’t I?”

“I’m just a bit tired.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Cordelia.”

“Yes?”

“Did Leo say anything about me?”

“Ah… My master doesn’t really talk to me about personal matters.”

Cordelia awkwardly smiled and evaded the question.

“Nothing at all? Even though I have such outstanding magical talent?”

Suddenly, sparks flew around Lydia. Cordelia was startled and tried to step back, but Lydia didn’t let go of her hand.

Lydia spoke while firmly grasping Cordelia’s hand.

“What exactly is the problem? What? What more do I need to do here?”

“L-Lydia.”

“Hey! Magic use is prohibited in public spaces!”

At that moment, a man approached with large strides and issued a brief warning. Lydia’s eyes then turned black for a brief moment before returning to their original color.

‘What was that?’

I thought I might have seen wrong, but it was right in front of me, so there was no way I could have been mistaken.