Chapter 81: Reversal (3)

Mahina had a rough grasp of Lady Ophelia’s daily routine.

She chose to visit only when Ophelia had woken up and finished her morning preparations.

Mahina dragged her heavy feet to Ophelia’s door and knocked softly.

Ophelia would open the door for Mahina, but she never said much.

It made sense… As Merlin’s mother, seeing her child in such a state, how could she possibly give Mahina a warm welcome?

What mother in this world would be happy to see her child injured?

Allowing Mahina to visit Merlin was already an act of sufficient kindness.

Mahina understood her place. Every day, she simply stood by the door, quietly watching Merlin’s sleeping face. She never sat down, and after a moment of quiet contentment, she would turn and leave.

But today, a hint of greed arose within Mahina.

She gripped the fabric of her skirt tightly, her nails digging deep into her palms. Her voice was as dry as if she were swallowing sand.

“Lady Ophelia, may I ask you a question about Merlin?”

Ophelia’s voice was calm and cold.

“Speak.”

Although she disliked Mahina, she judged matters as they were. This time, Mahina had done her best to protect Merlin, and Merlin’s choice to use Soul Wish had been a last resort.

Merlin had blown up the mountain first, so she wasn’t entirely innocent—one could even say she brought it on herself.

The Academy was also to blame for failing to notice a Magic Beast Labyrinth deep beneath the examination site. It wasn’t entirely Mahina’s fault.

“Merlin is… about to wake up, isn’t she?”

After a moment of silence, Mahina lowered her head. ‘Did I overstep after all?’

“I don’t know.”

The light in Mahina’s dim eyes flickered for an instant.

However, Ophelia’s next words were like a bucket of ice water poured over her head.

“But even if she wakes, I don’t know what the side effects will be or how long it will take for her to recover. Her soul was already damaged, and she added fuel to the fire by cutting it further.”

“I see…”

Hearing the news that Merlin might wake up made Mahina’s heart leap with joy. Even if Merlin woke up and spoke harsh words to her, she didn’t care. The most important thing was that she woke up.

“You haven’t forgotten what I told you, have you?”

“Of course not. Today is the first step.”

As long as it concerned Merlin, Mahina would do anything. Moreover, Merlin had become like this because of her, so this was something she was supposed to do anyway.

This was something that never belonged to her in the first place.

“Take care on the way.”

“Thank you.”

Mahina bowed deeply, then stepped out of the room and closed the door quietly.

The sunlight outside was blinding. Mahina squinted and saw a brilliant flash of silver leaning against a tree not far away, arms crossed.

She saw Princess Lucia leaning against the distant tree with her eyes closed, resting. Dappled shadows from the leaves fell across her face, which was as exquisite as a doll’s. Her maid, Mary, stood properly beside her, waiting.

Hearing the footsteps, Lucia’s long eyelashes fluttered before she slowly opened her eyes.

“Is the visit over?”

“Yes…”

“You’re going to see Merlin now, too.”

“No… I already visited her.”

Even though she already knew the news of Merlin’s impending awakening, hearing it again brought Mahina joy. It was because Mahina loved Merlin so much; Merlin was her everything.

She could even hear more details about the awakening from Lucia’s mouth.

“That’s good, then.”

The relationship between the two remained as it had been—neither close nor distant. If anything, it had become somewhat awkward due to their previous arguments, but that awkwardness was barely held together by their mutual bond with Merlin.

Lucia also felt a great deal of self-reproach regarding the recent Grand Examination.

Merlinlia was a person without greed or desires. She had helped Lucia alleviate her headaches but never asked for anything in return.

That was why Lucia wanted to help Merlin as much as she could, but she had been useless at the critical moment.

‘If I had ignored that damn headache back then, increased my output, and aimed for the beast’s vitals…’

Perhaps Merlin wouldn’t have been dragged into the depths of the labyrinth. Perhaps she wouldn’t have been hurt.

“Are you going to the Talan Family Mansion now?”

“Yes…”

“Is today the day for that?”

Mahina’s body stiffened for a moment before she slowly nodded.

“Yes… though it’s already too late.”

“Then I’ll go too.”

Mahina looked up in confusion at the silver-haired Third Princess standing beside her.

“Hey, don’t look at me like that. Just consider it an act of kindness. I can’t stand idly by when I see something I don’t like. Besides, this isn’t a bad thing for Merlin.”

So, the reason she had been waiting under the tree after visiting Merlin was for this.

“I see… Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me. After all, I still have orders to carry out. What I just said was just pleasantries.”

“Mm..”

The two walked side by side, with Mary following quietly behind them.

“You won, Mahina. Have you thought of a condition?”

In this Grand Examination, Mahina had placed second, Lucia third, and Merlinlia fifth.

This was due to the two previous explosions, followed by the disastrous mudslide late on the second night.

The magical beasts still alive in the examination area were either drowned by the mudslide or scared away. The thick yellow mud covering the mountains made it difficult for students to move on the third day, and the lack of beasts meant they couldn’t earn points.

The third day had ended just like that.

Because the students of the Alchemy Department had a base score, their results were fairly good, placing them in the middle of the overall rankings.

Meanwhile, some students from the Magic Department who were eliminated at the start ended up at the bottom.

However, the Academy had no intention of canceling the exam due to the accident. Merlin hadn’t broken the rules, and going out on a campaign meant encountering all sorts of unreasonable situations.

An opponent would not always fight fair and square. The Academy hoped the students of Zelion would adapt to any battlefield condition from their student days and treat this experience as a lesson.

Though some students still expressed dissatisfaction, others found it interesting. As time passed, they gradually stopped mentioning the Grand Examination and continued their campus lives.

Lucia didn’t know that Mahina had already agreed on a condition with Merlin beforehand: if Mahina won, Merlin would drop out of school.

But… as the winner, Mahina should have the right to cancel it, shouldn’t she?

Mahina took a deep breath.

“I don’t have any conditions. I only escaped danger safely this time because of Merlin. How could I have the face to say I won? Let’s just forget about the bet.”

“Hm—”

Lucia let out a long, nasal hum.

“I thought you would use that condition to get revenge, or make Merlin leave the Academy.”

Mahina felt a jolt in her heart.

“After all, you should have guessed by now who circulated the Duke’s daughter’s secret and who published it in the newspapers.”

Mahina knew, of course. They had even published the story of how Merlin saved her using a mana core—a detail Mahina hadn’t even been clear on herself.

That person could only be—

“Of course, it was me and Lady Ophelia. Though I’m not sure why that lady stepped in at the end.”

It was a mother’s anger.