Chapter 03
I didn’t want to believe the reality before my eyes.
“It’s rare to see your face. I think this is the first time this year.”
“…I suppose so.”
I had hoped I wouldn’t have to run into him this year, next year, or ever again.
“You seem displeased to see me.”
“Because I am.”
“Why? Is my face that unpleasant to look at?”
“Well, that’s…”
Asuka stared straight at me. His immaculate face sparkled under the sunlight.
‘Damn it, I really hate that bastard, but I can’t bring myself to insult that face of his.’
As I fell silent, he let out a faint laugh.
“Right, I missed you too.”
“Hey! When did I ever say I missed you!”
“You had that expression.”
“It was never!”
I looked up at that shameless face.
No matter how many times I looked, it was that damn Asuka Willovice.
The youngest head of the Dawn Tower, the only son of the Duke Willovice family, and my bitter rival throughout my academy daysāthat great Asuka Willovice had graced me with his presence in person.
‘Of all times! This is just fantastic!’
Despite my loud internal thoughts, I tried to keep my expression as natural as possible.
“So, what brings you here?”
“I was curious how you were doing. Wondering if anything had happened to you while you were under house arrest.”
His pale lavender eyes stared fixedly at me. It was a gaze that made it hard to read his true intentions.
‘Did this bastard come knowing something?’
I didn’t know how long I had been unconscious, but I could bet it wasn’t that long.
‘It would be hard for him to have confirmed a timeline interference and identified me as the culprit in that short amount of time.’
So this sudden visit was probably a coincidence. I desperately hoped so.
‘Wait. But how did he get to my front door? What about the external security barrier?’
Just as I thought that to myself, Asuka, standing in front of me, answered.
“Ah, I reversed the security barrier. The structure was too simple for whoever set it up.”
“…”
The person who had set up the mansion’s security barrier he just mentioned was me. And I had put considerable effort into it.
“Why did you break someone else’s defensive wall of your own accord…?”
“We’re not strangers, are we?”
He retorted with a face that showed not a trace of guilt. I was an idiot for even attempting a normal conversation with him.
“Oh, right. We’re not strangers. We’re worse than strangers!”
I pulled on the doorknob. But faster than me, Asuka’s hand grabbed the doorframe.
“Grrr…”
I pulled harder, but the door didn’t close; instead, it opened wider and wider.
I was dumbfounded. How does this bastard, who’s supposedly stuck at the top of the tower doing research, have such good arm strength?
“Why! What did you come here for anyway!”
Feeling like I’d lose in a contest of strength, I urgently asked his business. He used his free hand to pull something from his jacket pocket and gave it a light shake.
It was an elegant envelope with the seal of the Duke Willovice family stamped on it. That was probably the reason he had come to my house.
“Give it here.”
I lunged forward to snatch the envelope. But Asuka was a step ahead and raised his hand high.
Asuka, who had everything, also had a towering height. No matter how far I reached, I couldn’t catch the envelope fluttering up there.
“Not going to hand it over?”
“Is there any etiquette that lets you turn away a guest at the doorstep?”
“I never invited you. And why bring it yourself in the first place? You have plenty of people to run errands for you.”
“Since you’re the esteemed ‘Royal Chief Mage,’ I had to deliver it personally.”
At his clearly teasing tone, I glared at Asuka.
“Did you come here to fight?”
“Not really, but…”
His eyes, as he drew out the ending, glowed strangely.
“You’re jumpy, Rel. Like someone hiding something in their house.”
*Flinch.* I stiffened and watched his expression. Asuka was still wearing that meaningful smile.
“Are you going to keep me standing at the door?”
*Gulp.* I swallowed dryly.
“…Just hand it over and leave.”
After a quiet war of nerves, I eventually stepped aside.
If I stubbornly resisted and this bastard caught on to something suspicious, it would be a disaster.
As I moved back, Asuka walked in as naturally as if it were his own home. Anyone watching would think he had an appointment.
I quickly scanned his back.
Unlike me, who was fidgeting like a puppy in need of a bathroom break, Asuka was completely composed.
“Did someone come by?”
“Ah, no? Why would someone come?”
“You seem a bit different from usual. Forget it if I’m wrong.”
Ugh, his eyes are still sharp, this bastard.
Using magic leaves traces. Ordinary people can’t see them, but Asuka was an exception.
‘Because he was born with a magical eye.’
No matter how much my basement laboratory was shielded, this guy would undoubtedly have sensed a dissonance in the surrounding mana.
Anyway, I started feeling strangely irritated just looking at this bastard.
His luxurious, well-tailored suit, his radiant skin that showed he ate and slept well, his relaxed demeanor like someone without a single stressāand most importantly, Asuka’s outer coat bore the ‘Morning Star’ brooch, the symbol of the Dawn Tower Master.
‘Looks good on him.’
While someone else was stuck here under house arrest.
For some reason, my chest felt heavy. If I had become the Dawn Tower Master, I wouldn’t have received such an unjust punishment.
“Haaa…”
I couldn’t bring myself to say anything and just let out a deep sigh.
I wanted to shout at him to get out right now, but I couldn’t, and there was a reason for that.
Asuka and I were irreconcilable rivals, but my relationship with his parents, the Duke and Duchess Willovice, wasn’t bad.
More precisely, it was closer to me being unilaterally indebted to his family.
—
*’So you’re Lelsis.’*
The Duke Willovice, who had visited the orphanage I belonged to by chance, quickly recognized my talent for magic.
*’Would you like to learn magic?’*
*’If I learn that, can I eat delicious food?’*
*’Huh?’*
*’Can I also have my own warm bed and room?’*
The Duke and Duchess readily decided to officially sponsor me that very day. I learned later that this was highly unusual.
At first, I was just overjoyed. After I started staying at the Willovice mansion, I could wear nicer clothes and eat better food than at the orphanage.
Next, I felt proud. It felt like I, a lowly orphanage kid, had become as special as a character from a fairy tale.
*’She’s six? She’s the youngest sponsored child ever! She must be quite a talent.’*
Being praised by those around me made learning magic enjoyable and happy.
Before I knew it, my life’s goal was set in stone.
*’I’m going to become the greatest mage when I grow up!’*
The dream of an orphanage girl who had never possessed anything seemed like it would shine forever.
Until I learned about the talent of the true genius, Asuka.
As I went back and forth to the Willovice mansion, I gradually realized that Asuka’s level was different from everyone else’s.
Even in the same class, while I learned one thing, he mastered ten. And when I tried harder to catch up, he’d crush me with even more overwhelming skill.
*’As if my talent meant nothing.’*
That was when the competition between Asuka and me began. From the childhood years when the sponsorship started, through adolescence, and all the way to the academy.
I constantly tried to beat Asuka, and he effortlessly stayed ahead of me, as if mocking my efforts.
—
*’But still, she’s just a commoner. She’ll never beat Asuka even if she dies and comes back.’*
*’How pitiful. Born in the wrong era, destined to be eternal second place.’*
In the end, the common-born orphan never beat the young noble even once until graduation, and she was even denied the qualification to challenge for the Dawn Tower Master position she had longed for so long.
The one and only thing she had ever desired.
*’You already have so much, so why do you have to take away my one and only dream?’*
It was unfair. It was unreasonable.
But neither the published grades nor the time that had passed could be undone.
It felt like standing before an enormous wall.
*’If only Asuka weren’t there.’*
I would have received more recognition.
I could have become the greatest mage.
If only Asuka Willovice didn’t exist…
‘Dwelling on it makes me sick, really.’
I shook my head vigorously as if to shake off the thoughts.
Anyway, for that reason, Asuka was to me a terrifying but utterly unavoidable natural disaster.
Whenever this despicable life rival of mine showed his face, I wanted to throw him out immediately, but I held back, thinking of the Duke who had helped me.
“Wait, where are you trying to go?”
I stopped the natural disaster that was heading toward the reception room as if it were only natural.
“Not even going to offer me a cup of tea?”
“The tea leaves are all gone. Just say what you came for and leave. I’m busy.”
At my words, Asuka tilted his head.
“You have nothing on your schedule today.”
How do you know that…
I was dumbfounded, but I couldn’t back down here.
“I’ve got something urgent to deal with.”
He blinked expressionlessly, then let out a faint sigh.
“If it’s urgent, I suppose I have no choice.”
Asuka lazily held out the envelope.
Before he could start playing games again, I snatched it and tore it open to find an invitation inside.
” There’s a Spring Banquet at the Swan Mansion soon. Mother must miss you.”
The Swan Mansion was Asuka’s family home, the Duke Willovice’s residence.
