The afternoon sunlight filtered through the carved glass windows of the corridor, casting mottled shadows across the mahogany round table.
Lady Elsa sat leisurely in a rattan chair, enjoying her afternoon tea.
In the semi-open small living room on the second floor, sunlight spilled through the lattice windows onto a round table covered with a floral tablecloth.
However, her tea table was somewhat different from those of ordinary noblewomen.
Besides the exquisite bone china teacups and several plates of excellent pastries, several transparent glass test tubes were scattered along the edge, along with a few low-grade magic crystals of various colors emitting a faint glow.
Lady Elsa picked up her teacup and took a light sip of the warm black tea.
She set the cup down and pinched a dark red magic crystal with two fingers, tilting it against the sunlight to carefully examine the mana patterns within.
At that moment, a set of extremely faint footsteps stopped outside the door.
Lady Elsa did not lower the crystal immediately. Instead, she tilted her head slightly, looking past the rising steam of the teapot at the silver-haired figure standing in the doorway.
Standing tall and straight, she maintained the standard maid’s posture that no one could find fault with.
“Ailiya?” Lady Elsa withdrew her gaze and tossed the magic crystal back onto the table. “Is something the matter?”
Ailiya bowed slightly, just about to speak.
But Lady Elsa waved her hand gently and smiled to herself.
“If you’re worried about Leo, you can rest easy.”
She took another sip of tea, her tone casual, lacking the indignation a mother should have after seeing her son beaten.
Ailiya’s expression remained calm as she followed the Madame’s lead. “You are magnanimous, Madame. Young Master Leo will eventually understand your painstaking efforts.”
“Hopefully,” Lady Elsa said, shaking her head helplessly.
Ailiya’s gaze swept imperceptibly over the test tubes and magic crystals on the table before returning to the Madame.
“Actually, I came to see you for something else,” Ailiya said in a flat tone. “I would like to request a library key to make it easier for me to enter during my free time.”
“A library key?” Lady Elsa paused, then nodded in realization. “That’s right, I did promise you when I recruited you that you could freely browse the collection in the manor.”
“You’re quite the diligent child, thinking about reading right after finishing your work.”
With that, Lady Elsa set down her teacup and reached for a small velvet bag at her feet.
She pulled the drawstring and rummaged through it for a moment. With the crisp *clink* of metal, she found the key and handed it over.
“Here, this is the spare library key,” Lady Elsa said with a smile. “With this, you can go in anytime.”
“Thank you, Madame.”
Ailiya took the slightly cold key with both hands and tucked it securely into her apron pocket.
She had no intention of lingering and bowed slightly. “Then I will not disturb you further. I’ll take my leave.”
“Go on,” Lady Elsa nodded gently.
Watching Ailiya’s slender silhouette disappear around the corner of the corridor, Lady Elsa finally withdrew her gaze.
She picked up the now slightly cooled black tea and took a leisurely sip. Then, she picked up two magic crystals and toyed with them, looking out at the garden thoughtfully.
***
Meanwhile, on the other side of the second floor, the scene in Leo’s bedroom was entirely different.
Ian had just withdrawn the soft green glow of healing magic from his fingertips.
Although the bruises on Leo’s face and body had mostly faded, a faint lingering pain remained.
At this moment, Leo had wrapped himself entirely in the covers like a caterpillar, staring resentfully at the wall without a word.
Ian pulled up a chair and sat down. Seeing him like this, he couldn’t help but chuckle.
“What’s wrong with our mentally strong Young Master? You’re usually so rambunctious. Why are you hiding under the covers sulking now?”
“Shut up, leave me alone!” Leo turned his head abruptly and glared at him.
“If you were in my place, beaten into a state where you couldn’t fight back by a servant with a damn cleaning brush, you’d be like this too.”
Ian stroked his chin and asked, feigning confusion, “But Young Master, I recall a few days ago in the alley behind the tavern, weren’t you also beaten by those rogue mercenaries?”
“You couldn’t fight back then either. Why didn’t I see such a big reaction?”
“That’s different!”
“Oh? How is it different?”
“It’s just different! Mind your own business and stop asking!”
Leo’s face flushed red as he pulled the blanket higher, refusing to communicate.
Seeing Leo’s stubbornness, Ian cleared his throat.
“Young Master, a temporary defeat is actually nothing.”
“Look at the great mages and famous Paladins in history. Which of them didn’t experience bitter setbacks in their youth?”
“As long as you are willing to settle down and study magic properly with me, sooner or later, you will achieve accomplishments even more dazzling than theirs…”
Ian painted a grand picture, trying to set up some glorious role models for him.
But it was clearly useless; Leo had taken a completely brazen stance of indifference, even rolling his eyes.
Seeing that the motivational speech wasn’t working, Ian adjusted his glasses and decided to switch to a more realistic hypothetical question.
He dropped the playful tone and became more serious. “Leo, let’s make some assumptions.”
“If… I’m saying if, you encounter a more dangerous situation later, like meeting a monster in the wild or getting caught in some conflict, and there happens to be no one around to save you, what will you do?”
“Furthermore, your mother can’t protect you forever. How do you plan to live in the future?”
However, facing these soul-searching questions, Leo’s rebuttal was so blunt it was somewhat speech-defying.
“I am a member of the Kastian clan. That name is the greatest protective charm. No matter who it is, they have to think twice before acting. No one would dare kill me; at most, I’ll suffer some physical pain.”
“As for my mother, not causing trouble or making enemies for her is the greatest help I can give.”
“I’ve been hanging around for so long, and the greatest danger I’ve faced was being beaten by a few mercenaries. Your assumptions simply don’t hold up.”
Having said that, Leo suddenly grinned, revealing an extremely punchable expression as he shot back.
“Instead of worrying about these vague possibilities for me, Teacher Ian, you should worry about yourself.”
“The possibility of being expelled from the Academy because you can’t pay your tuition is probably much higher than the dangers I might face, wouldn’t you say? Hehehe.”
Ian’s eyebrow twitched uncontrollably. ‘This kid really knows how to poke where it hurts.’
“Little Young Master Leo,” Ian said with a fake smile, “cursing others with words isn’t a very good habit.”
“Heh, you’re the teacher who started cursing me first, okay?” Leo shot back, not backing down at all. “Loading all those unlucky assumptions onto my head.”
Ian let out a long, helpless sigh, completely giving up on continuing this topic. “Fine, say what you will. I’ve wasted all this breath just to make you understand reality and learn some real skills.”
“Heh, what use are the skills you taught me?” Leo frowned, a trace of resentment in his eyes.
Ian chuckled, his tone laced with a hint of helplessness. “Heh, Young Master. Do you really think you have a chance to win against her just because you usually use small tricks to catch me off guard once or twice?”
“I usually just go easy on you to see what you’ve learned.”
“Tch, you’re bragging,” Leo curled his lip. “You haven’t fought her either. How do you know for sure you’d win?”
“I won’t fight her. There’s no point,” Ian said calmly. “But I can teach you. At the very least, I can teach you until you have some ability to protect yourself.”
“Think about it. If you face her again or encounter other dangers in the future, you’ll be able to hold your own.”
“You could even fight her fairly and squarely, instead of being beaten by a brush with no dignity like today.”
That sentence hit Leo exactly where it hurt.
Thinking of the humiliation at the training ground today, Leo gritted his teeth and waved his hand irritably. “Fine, fine! Stop nagging. I’ll learn, okay?”
But he looked at the sky outside and shrank back into the covers. “But it’s too late today, and my whole body still hurts. Come back and teach me tomorrow.”
“All right then.” Seeing that he had finally achieved his goal, Ian quit while he was ahead and stood up. “There really isn’t enough time today anyway. Get some rest. I’ll go prepare for tomorrow’s lesson.”
***
After leaving Leo’s room, Ian made his way to the manor’s Library out of habit.
Ian walked to a row of tall bookshelves and caught sight of a familiar silver-white figure by chance.
Ailiya was sitting quietly on a single-seater sofa by the window, holding a thick book.
But what Ian found strange was that although she was flipping through the book, her eyes were closed, as if she were sleeping or performing some strange meditation.
‘This is truly an odd way to read.’
Ian walked over curiously and greeted her in a low voice, “Miss Ailiya, what a coincidence. Are you here to read as well?”
There was no response.
The girl remained with her eyes closed, seemingly entirely immersed in her own world.
“Miss Ailiya?” Ian called out twice more experimentally.
Only after a moment did her eyelashes tremble, and she slowly opened her emerald eyes.
She glanced flatly at Ian, who was standing nearby.
“Yes.”
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