Chapter 56

The tall person, dressed in rather worn clothes, seemed to know many of the people in the mansion and greeted everyone warmly.

“It looks like you came by the fast route. Well, you probably wanted to thank His Grace this time too.”

“Thank him for something… related to the Count Pantale family?”

“Yes. That person was part of the faction that supported Pantale.”

“Then I suppose there are factions that oppose the Pantale family as well.”

“Well, their path is completely opposite to traditional magic.”

While listening to Peter, Reina looked in that direction again and noticed something.

“Lady Estelle and Boni are already out there.”

“They are.”

Because of the crowd in front of her, Reina couldn’t go straight to the children.

She couldn’t raise her voice and ask people to move either, since that would draw everyone’s attention.

The mage spotted Estelle and Bonita and approached them with a bright smile.

“My goodness. I heard the young lady had been found, and it’s true. But were they twins? As far as I knew, only one was born.”

He looked back and forth between Estelle and Bonita, then suddenly lifted Bonita up and smiled widely.

“You look absolutely lovely, just like the Duchess.”

“Ah, n-no, wait…”

“…”

At the same time, the atmosphere turned cold.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

In the brief silence, Damian came down the stairs.

The crowd parted the moment he appeared.

The mage smiled brightly when he saw him.

“Your Grace, it’s been a while. Before thanking you, I should congratulate you first. Congratulations on finding your two daughters.”

“I only have one daughter.”

“Huh?”

Damian looked at the pink haired little girl in the mage’s arms with a baffled expression.

“That child doesn’t resemble me or my wife even a little. What exactly made you think she’s my daughter?”

The mage stared at Bonita in his arms.

Bonita, unable to grasp the situation, trembled helplessly.

He looked between Bonita and Damian with a confused expression.

“Th-that… I’m sorry, Lady.”

He set Bonita down, then this time lifted Estelle up instead.

“I guess I need to get my glasses adjusted. Making a mistake right at our first meeting.”

Now Estelle stared at him with a dazed expression.

Beaming, he spun around a few times while holding her.

“You’re making the child dizzy.”

Damian snatched Estelle out of his arms with a stern look.

Estelle ended up in Damian’s arms, her hair messy from being spun around.

“Honestly, I wanted to come sooner. I heard there was an artifact incident earlier too. Please show it to me later. It’s hard to see ancient pieces in person…”

He chattered on, bombarding Damian with questions and showing one sided familiarity.

“But Your Grace, if that lady isn’t your daughter, then who is she? Is she the young lady’s playmate?”

“Well, you could call her a friend.”

“S-she is a friend, Dad.”

“A friend, huh.”

The mage looked at Bonita, who was fidgeting awkwardly and unable to answer properly.

His gaze held curiosity, but no hostility.

“From which family…?”

“Rather than a family, she’s the daughter of the maid who takes care of Estelle.”

“…She’s not a maid. She’s Reina. She’s really kind.”

“Ah, I see.”

He glanced around at the people nearby, then fixed his gaze on one spot and strode forward.

“…”

“…?”

“That’s interesting.”

He stopped right in front of Reina.

No one knew how he had noticed her standing far back, but he approached and stared at her closely while muttering.

“How can someone be this vague and lacking in presence?”

“Um…”

“I don’t think I’d even remember her if we met once.”

“Excuse me…”

“I’ve never seen a living person feel this empty before.”

He muttered audibly as he examined Reina carefully.

“What a strange person.”

Reina stood stiffly, staring back at the person in front of her.

Then suddenly, there was a thud.

“Don’t bully my mom!”

“…Huh?”

Bonita looked up at the mage with tears in her eyes.

“My mom is really pretty. Don’t talk about her like that!”

“…Y-you mean the lady’s mother?”

The mage looked at Bonita in panic, then at Damian standing behind her with an expressionless face.

Estelle, still in Damian’s arms, was glaring at him with furrowed brows.

Damian spoke.

“That’s Reina Botn. She’s Estelle’s lifesaver and the maid in charge of her.”

“…”

The mage stood there in stunned silence for a long moment, then turned to look at Reina.

He bowed as deeply as he could.

“It’s an honor to meet you… ma’am.”

* * *

The reception room.

Five people sat on a long sofa arranged in a line.

Estelle and Bonita sat with Reina between them, staring sharply at the person across from them.

The mage smiled awkwardly and spoke.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Eleanor Beanz. Please call me Ellen.”

“I’m Reina Botn. And my daughter’s name is Bonita Botn.”

Reina bowed her head politely, then asked the mage, struck by a sudden sense of discomfort.

“Forgive me for asking, but… are you a woman?”

“Haha. I get that question a lot.”

Eleanor pointed at herself confidently.

“Biologically speaking, yes, I’m a woman.”

“I see…”

“It’s a shame I had to leave the mansion for so long. I wanted to come back sooner, but those old folks were relentless. That’s the trouble with being talented and standing out. I stand out quite a bit, you see. So I cast a perception dulling spell. It reduces my presence a little.”

“I see…”

“Of course, the effect depends on the caster, but I’m fairly good at it. Even so, I couldn’t completely hide my talent.”

Eleanor rummaged through her leather bag and pulled out colorful candies that children would like.

Animals were drawn inside the candies.

“In the end, this was all I could bring. I bought lots of snacks for the young lady, but my return kept getting delayed and they all grew mold.”

As she spoke, she divided the candies perfectly in half and handed one portion to Estelle and the other to Bonita.

“I’m only stopping by briefly. His Grace kept sending letters saying a mana measurement was needed. Once this is done, I have to head to the mage tower. I’m pretty busy.”

Listening to her explanation, a question came to Reina’s mind.

“So mages and magicians are different?”

“Yes. What I mainly do is measure a person’s mana or determine how much mana remains in mana stones at mining sites. I do other things too, but there’s no need to give long explanations ordinary people wouldn’t understand.”

Eleanor finished speaking, smiled broadly, and placed a round, transparent sphere in the center of the table.

“This is a measuring orb. Shall we start with the young lady first?”

Reina couldn’t hide her curiosity as she stared at the unfamiliar orb.

“How does it work?”

She had only asked a simple question, but Eleanor’s eyes lit up.

“That’s a wonderful question. This was first invented exactly 286 years ago. Back then, most mages specialized in destruction or combat. The profession of magician didn’t even exist yet. So they could only gauge destructive power, not attributes. But the famous Pantale family developed this orb. That was 60 years ago, and from then on, the history of magic…”

“Um…”

“Eight years after that, the profession of magician was born. They’re more sensitive to reading mana than others. Reading someone else’s mana is difficult. Everyone’s nature is different, and it’s especially hard when it comes to constitution.”

Reina broke into a cold sweat listening to Eleanor mutter enthusiastically to herself, then sent a pleading look toward Damian.

Without looking at Reina, Damian spoke.

“Eleanor Beanz, that’s enough.”

“You’re so cold, Your Grace.”

“It’s better than rambling about things no one cares about.”

Eleanor sighed deeply and looked at Reina.

“…Anyway, it’s a tool that reads mana. It can also read spell power.”

Bonita asked at that point.

“Can it read aura too?”

“Hmm. Maybe it can, but it can’t distinguish it from mana.”

“Why not?”

“It’s not fully proven yet. Some say mana, aura, and divine power follow similar principles. They all come from Bendicion, after all. Considering spell power and mana can be distinguished, that theory makes some sense. Spell power is unique to the Finecke, after all.”

Eleanor paused in thought.

“Well, once the young lord of the Pantale family awakens, we’ll know for sure. Are you interested in aura, young lady? Do you want to use a sword?”

“Yes. Is that weird?”

“Not weird at all. My dream was to become the captain of the mage tower.”

Eleanor smiled, lowering herself to the child’s eye level.

“There are no strange dreams, young lady. If there’s a possibility, it’s not a bad thing to pursue it.”