Chapter 19 – The Duchess’s Past and the Child’s Formula
Sharon Abner was a Misherian.
The Misherian bloodline, who once lived at the far edge of the empire, was wiped out when she was only five years old.
Everyone died—except her.
No one ever discovered who was behind the attack.
“They say the Misherians were a clan of dark magicians! And you still intend to make that woman a duchess?!”
From the beginning, the people of House Abner never accepted her.
They distrusted her because of the old rumor that the Misherians practiced forbidden arts.
But her husband, Lloyd Abner, had always stood by her side.
“The Misherians didn’t die because of dark magic,” he said firmly.
“They were attacked. And I, Lloyd Abner, was one of the few who saw it happen.”
*
She still remembered the day they met.
It was right after the massacre—
The next morning, when the blood on the ground hadn’t even dried.
“Father! There’s a girl here!”
Under the bright sky, where the earth was still soaked with red,
Lloyd Abner found her hiding under the altar stones.
He had been such a gentleman—
so kind that he’d loved her for who she was, never once judging her bloodline.
But he’d died far too young.
After his death, the hatred she faced only grew worse.
***
“I’d rather die than see a witch with Misherian blood inherit the Abner name!”
“Who knows? Maybe Lord Lloyd himself was bewitched by her dark spells!”
***
In the end, Sharon had been left completely alone—
with two children to raise and an entire family to manage.
Her violet eyes darkened as she recalled it all.
Finally, she spoke softly, her voice heavy with resignation.
“At that time, I had no choice but to make a very unfair deal.”
Across from her, Annelia sat quietly, not moving an inch.
She was listening so intently that she didn’t even blink.
That silent focus somehow made Sharon continue speaking.
“No one would lend me money. Not a single person.
So when someone finally offered, I had to take it—no matter the conditions.”
The one who offered help had been the Coel family.
Specifically, the lady of the house—Camilla Coel.
A terrible contract, Sharon thought bitterly.
She had received the initial investment and the refining formula in exchange for seventy percent of the mine’s profits.
It was madness.
But back then, she’d had no other choice—without that deal, the Abners would have gone bankrupt.
Later, when the mine had stabilized, she’d gotten the chance to renegotiate the contract.
But that was when something completely unexpected happened.
“For several years now, fewer people have wanted to buy our mana stones.”
Annelia’s eyes widened.
“Why?”
“Because it was discovered that our mine’s stones are… contaminated.”
Right when she had planned to revise the contract,
Reports began to show that the mined stones were losing quality.
After several investigations, they’d found the truth—
The entire vein itself was becoming tainted.
“The deeper we mined, the worse the contamination grew.
It took longer and longer to purify the stones.”
“…”
“And even if we managed to purify them,” Sharon said quietly,
“Buyers avoided anything from a corrupted mine.”
She let out a long sigh and leaned back against the sofa.
“The mine lost its value. Most of our business partners stopped buying.”
The only one left was—of course—the Coels.
Camilla had called it loyalty.
She’d said she would keep buying the stones out of kindness.
no matter how worthless they were.
But Sharon now knew better.
Still, she straightened up and looked at Annelia again.
“Even so, the Abners aren’t hopeless.”
“…”
“We have other businesses besides the mine—
for example, our weapon contracts with the Imperial Army.”
Annelia nodded quietly.
“We’re not rich, but we’re not destitute either,” Sharon said.
“And didn’t you once say that when you grow up, you’ll make your own magic formula?”
“Yes! I will.”
Annelia paused, hesitating a little before asking,
“But… why did the mine suddenly get contaminated in the first place?”
Sharon froze.
“Why?”
“Yes. In books, it says that before land becomes corrupted, strange things happen first.
Like monsters appearing nearby… or someone casting a bad curse…”
Sharon blinked slowly, her brow furrowing.
“…Wendel.”
“Yes, my lady.”
At her command, Wendel moved to the bookshelf and began pulling out a thick stack of reports.
“The contamination reports…”
Her fingers flipped quickly through the papers—until she stopped.
She spread the documents out across the desk and read carefully.
The pages were filled with notes about falling crystal quality and traces of corruption spreading through the veins.
But there was nothing—nothing at all—about the kind of warning signs Annelia had mentioned.
Her face grew tense.
“…Something’s missing,” she murmured.
Back then, when she first received the report, she’d been preoccupied with her weapon project.
She hadn’t had time to review the mining documents in detail.
And those reports—written in overly technical, confusing language—had been handled by someone else.
Someone who’d volunteered to “help.”
“Sister! You must’ve been shocked! Leave this matter to me—this is my area of expertise! I’ll find a top geologist to investigate for you!”
***
Camilla’s cheerful voice rang in her mind.
Sharon slowly lowered the report, her expression grim.
Then, from the sofa, she heard a small muttering voice.
“Huh. Why does this remind me of Gerard? He once lied about spilling my milk—just so he could drink it himself. I was so mad.”
Wendel and Sharon exchanged glances.
A short silence followed.
Then Sharon said softly,
“Annelia.”
The child looked up at once.
“Yes?”
“That refining formula you mentioned earlier…”
“Yes! Ria knows the refining formula!”
“Could you explain it again? In detail.”
Annelia’s eyes went round, then she smiled brightly.
“Okay!”
And she began to explain.
***
The refining formula was one of the most complex types of magic circles.
Both Sharon and Annelia knew that.
“So, um… I don’t know all of it yet,” Annelia admitted.
“I haven’t learned how to expand the last part.”
Sharon blinked. “You mean… you know everything before that?”
“Yes! But Ria thinks even this much could still make mana stones!”
Sharon’s face grew serious.
“Could you show me? I’ve never studied magic, so it’s hard for me to follow your words.”
Annelia nodded eagerly.
“Well, you see, the raw stones from the mine are full of rock and mana mixed together.”
“Right.”
“The refining formula’s job is to find the useless rock and separate it.”
“I see.”
“But the hardest part is finding those useless bits. So…”
With surprising skill, Annelia picked up a pen and began changing symbols in the air.
“I think it’d be better to change it like this.”
Sharon frowned slightly, not fully understanding the difference.
So Annelia explained gently,
“Instead of removing the impurities, we can use a purification circle to absorb them into the stone instead.”
In truth, the refining and purification formulas were closely related—
The difference lay in a simple shift of perspective.
Her little hand moved quickly as she scribbled across the paper.
“If we adjust this line here, and then change this part too…”
“…”
Sharon said nothing.
“If we do that, the amount of mana stones increases, and the refining time gets shorter too!”
It was the same improvement I had used in my past life—the one that tripled the Longton family’s fortune.
“See? It’s super easy! It’s not finished yet, but once I get a teacher, I can complete it really fast!”
She grinned proudly.
Then, seeing Sharon speechless, she swallowed nervously.
It’s not that complicated, she reassured herself. It should be fine to show this much.
After all, she’d first come up with the idea when she was six in her previous life.
“…Amazing,” Sharon whispered at last.
Her face was serious, almost reverent.
Annelia froze, then gave an awkward little smile.
“N-no, thank you.”
It had been a long, long time since anyone had praised her like that—
and for some reason, the warmth of it made her chest ache just a little.
