Chapter 1. I was abandoned by my family
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https://ko-fi.com/s/8529d5becf
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‘I didn’t do anything wrong, did I?’
Leticia let out a long sigh as she stopped by the square before returning to the Achilles’ mansion.
She had enough money to sponsor a child named Ronan Hillary. Elle gave her a lot of gold coins in thanks when the wishing bracelets became popular and made a lot of money.
The only thing she was worried about now was that she might have done something unnecessary.
Leticia wandered around for a long time before remembering what Seios said.
[Has anything happened to you lately?]
[What do you mean?]
The question sounded unusual to Leticia, who asked what he meant with a strange expression, but Seios said it was nothing.
‘There must have been something else.’
In the end, Leticia left the academy without an answer.
‘I am glad that you can use my energy to find out what my ability is.’
It was comforting to know the experiment will be starting soon, even if it’s still uncertain whether it will be successful or not.
As Leticia passed by a merchant with a smile on her face.
“Here’s your fortune for today. Come choose one!”
The merchant shouted, waving a small container with long white pieces of paper. Leticia had been walking by without a second thought, stopped and looked back.
Today’s fortune?
She knew there was no credibility at all, but somehow she was curious and handed a coin to the merchant and pulled out a note.
Leticia immediately opened the note and read it. She tilted her head slowly to the side.
“Unexpected luck comes to those close to you.”
Luck? What good luck is coming?
Quickly reading the note again with a curious look on her face, a noble voice was heard right next to her.
“I wish I were that lucky.”
“You are…”
It was the woman who’d spoken to her at the Hunting festival.
The red eyes that had been twinkling incessantly closed smoothly into a smile as soon as their eyes met. It was apparent to anyone looking that she was happy to see her, Leticia took a step back and looked closer at her opponent.
“You look different today.”
Is it because her hairstyle and outfit are different?
In just a few days, she looked quite the opposite of what she saw at the hunting banquet, so much so that she looked like a different person.
The blonde hair, which had flowed smoothly down her back, was now so short it barely touched her shoulders. Her clothes were also a more comfortable fit, so it looked much better on her.
Her red eyes were still cold and creepy, like she was staring straight through you.
“Because I had to be formal then.”
“Really?”
Leticia looked at the woman who spoke with a slight lift of her shoulders. She tried to move away from her, but the woman followed Leticia persistently.
“It’s nice to see you here. Why are you alone today?”
“I had something to do.”
Leticia walked forward without sparing a glance back. The woman had a pitiful look on her face as she asked.
“Don’t you like me?”
At that, Leticia unintentionally turned her head to look at the woman.
She hadn’t expected her to ask that so openly, so Leticia frowned slightly as if she was troubled.
“It’s more that I’m uncomfortable, than I don’t like you.”
“Why?”
Leticia sighed, the woman seemed to refuse to acknowledge what she’d said without hearing an answer.
“I feel pressured to be unilaterally friendly. I don’t even know your name.”
She didn’t know how much the woman knew about her, so that she could feel comfortable enough to talk to her like this.
“Oh, it was because of the name?”
Upon hearing the reason, the woman smiled broadly with a relaxed expression.
“Call me Keena.”
“It’s not just because of the name. No, that’s quite enough.”
Leticia cut her off at once and walked away quickly again. She thought it would take a long time to explain it so she tried to leave, but Keena doggedly followed her.
“You’re in a hurry, aren’t you?”
“Why are you following me?”
“Bored.”
“….”
“You should talk comfortably, too. We’re the same age.”
Leticia’s face hardened at once when she casually mentioned her age.
“How did you know?”
“What.”
“My name, my age. What else do you know?”
For some reason, Leticia had a strong hunch that she knew more about her, and that feeling came true.
“I know you much better than you think.”
“You…”
Leticia stopped walking and grasped her skirt. Keena recognized the expression on her face and quickly raised her hands up.
“Oh, don’t be so wary. I don’t mean any harm.”
“You think I’m going to believe that?”
“A little bit, maybe?”
“….”
There was no need for further conversation, so Leticia turned around with a loud huff. She wanted to get back to the Achilles mansion right away.
But Keena seemed intent on following Leticia to hell and back, and not letting her go.
“Anyway, now that we’ve met, let’s pretend it’s fate and walk together.”
“No!”
“Don’t be so stingy… Watch out!”
Leticia couldn’t see properly in front of her because she was turned around shouting at Keena. She ended up bumping into a man who was coming from the other side. Keena grabbed her shoulder belatedly. She was still grateful for the catch, otherwise she would have fallen to the ground.
She looked to Keena and gave a nod of thanks for the rescue. Then she turned to the man she had bumped into.
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t watching where I was going. Ah…”
As soon as she recognized the person who she ran into, Leticia let out a shallow sigh.
“Isn’t that your sister?”
“I think you’re right.”
“The sister who was expelled from the Leroy family?”
Xavier was surrounded by his classmates, who seemed to have come out to relax after training.
‘It’s bad enough to have run into Irene, but Xavier too.’
She kept running into people who were uncomfortable at the sight of her today.
He tried to pretend that he was okay, but he was already showing signs of discomfort.
Xavier stared at Leticia and frowned stiffly.
“Who’s my sister? It’s been a long time since she was excommunicated.”
He wasn’t wrong, but the words somehow horrified a corner of her heart.
Leticia clenched her teeth and smiled. Her mouth felt dry and her fingertips were trembling.
“I never had a brother like you.”
She couldn’t stay disheartened because she was abandoned.
On the contrary, she wanted to show that she was doing well without them.
It was at the moment that Leticia tried to pass Xavier with a calm expression.
“Do you want me to read your fortune to you?”
Keena spoke to Xavier, while quietly looking back and forth between him and Leticia. When did she pick that up? She was currently holding a note with today’s fortune written on it.
Xavier frowned as if he was displeased, but Keena casually opened the note. As soon as she checked it, the corners of her mouth rose while she wore a peculiar expression.
“Be careful because you’ll get angry if you talk uselessly.”
“What?”
“Today’s fortune is for you.”
Keena kindly smiled and put the note in Xavier’s hand.
“Don’t show how empty your head is.”
“How dare you! Do you know who I am?”
Leticia stepped in front of Xavier as he tried to roughly grab Keena.
“Stop it!”
“She insulted me first! How dare a commoner talk to me like that!
“You’re the one who’ll lose if you make any more of a fuss, Xavier Leroy.”
At some point, the people of the square began to gather. They whispered as they watched Leticia and Xavier in the center of a commotion.
“Let’s go, Xavier.”
“Yeah, you don’t have to deal with them anymore.”
“Let’s go back now.”
The classmates tugged Xavier’s arm, worried about the whispering around them. Xavier stared fiercely at Leticia and Keena before turning away.
Keena watched them leave with glittering eyes and asked Leticia.
“How did I look? Wasn’t I cool? I was quite useful, wasn’t I?”
Her eyes sparkled like a puppy dog looking for a compliment. Leticia couldn’t help but smile.
She couldn’t tell if she was a good person, or a bad person. What she did know is that she was grateful for what Keena had done for her.
“Yes, thank you.”
“Only in words?”
“Then what else do you need?”
“There needs to be a reward.”
“What kind of reward do you want?”
At Leticia’s bewildered look, Keena gave a big grin instead of answering.
***
“What’s wrong?”
Emil hadn’t seen much of Xavier after he fell off his horse, so he’d gone to see how he was doing. When he entered his room. Xavier had a serious look on his face, so he asked him what was wrong.
“I guess I wasn’t lucky today.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I ran into HER.”
He could fully tell who Xavier was talking about without asking him who.
“There isn’t anything on me, is there?”
“What?”
“I washed up as soon as I got home because I heard I’d be unlucky if I was with her.”
His blue eyes were trembling with nervousness.
“Don’t worry, you’re fine.”
“I hope so, but what’s wrong with your face?”
At first glance, Emil’s expression seemed no different than usual. But to anyone who knew him well there was a slight hint of anxiety.
Worried about his appearance, Xavier asked him carefully. Emil shook his head as if it was nothing.
“It’s not a big deal. It’s just…”
The atmosphere of the house seems to have changed at some point, so he was worried.
He thought he was just imagining at first. He first felt it when Leticia was excommunicated, and figured it was normal for the atmosphere to feel chaotic and disjointed.
He was wondering if it was really that simple. but he had his doubts.
Somehow it felt ominous, so he must have had a dark expression on his face without realizing it. He looked at Xavier and pretended that it was nothing.
“How is your injury?”
“I’m fully healed and I’m training again.”
“That’s a relief. Father has high expectations for you.”
Soon there will be a competition between noble families to see who’s better at swordsmanship. In the Leroy family, Xavier was the best at swordplay and was expected to participate.
“You can trust me, I won’t let you down.”
“Yeah, then I have to go.”
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to see Irene.”
Lately, he couldn’t leave her alone because he was always worried about her dreary appearance.
Xavier clicked his tongue as Emil rose from his seat.
“Well, she lost her mind when she lost her test paper.”
“I’m sure she’s just in shock because her grades have dropped.”
“It must be hard for you having to deal with that depressed girl.”
At that, Emil grudgingly left Xavier’s room. There wasn’t a particularly deep conversation, but Xavier’s physical condition had improved and he was relieved.
So Emil walked slowly down the hall and went to Irene’s room this time.
“Irene, it’s me.”
“….”
“IRENE?”
No matter how much he knocked, there was no response. He could definitely hear clear movement in the room.
“I’m coming in.”
At the end of the sentence, Emil carefully turned the doorknob into the room. As he circled the room, he saw a small impression of a body curled up at the desk.
Emil slowly approached her.
“IRENE?”
“….”
“IRENE!”
“Eh, Brother Emil!”
Emil tapped Irene’s shoulder slightly because he wasn’t getting an answer from her no matter how much he called her. Only then did Irene notice him. She was surprised and quickly covered the paper she was writing with her hands.
“When did you get here?”
“I just knocked and there was no answer.”
“Ah… I’m sorry.”
“What were you doing?”
When Emil’s eyes looked towards the paper, Irene quickly hid it under a book with a pale face.
“It’s nothing.”
“….”
Irene seemed uncomfortable, so he pretended not to notice and asked her.
“How’s your studying going?”
“Good. I’m confident about this test.”
She nodded as if he didn’t need to worry, but her expression showed her anxiety. There was something strange going on, but he held back asking because he was worried if he asked more Irene might have a breakdown.
“Okay, work hard. I’ll be rooting for you.”
“Thank you, Brother.”
Though she was barely smiling, Irene’s eyes kept turning towards the door.
She seemed to want him to leave as soon as possible. Emil had no choice but to leave the room after his words of encouragement. As soon as Emil was out of sight with the sound of the door closing, Irene breathed a long sigh of relief.
“Why did he come into the room?”
She been shaking and out of breath the whole time
With a much lighter expression on her face, Irene checked the paper she had hidden under the book.
‘This is just a precaution, I prepared it just in case.’
She repeatedly bit her lips.
Irene’s small paper was filled with magic formulas.
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Note from Baset – I want to say a big THANK YOU to Jengamon for the kofi! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°