IWMHWD 11

Chapter 11 – Master and Disciple
November 11, 2023

“I have no strength. Even though I want to escape this wretched hell, all I can do is endure. I have to pretend I’m fine—pretend nothing’s wrong—because that’s the only way I can keep going.”

Tears spilled out like a dam bursting. Cordelia tried wiping her wet cheeks with both hands, but it was hopeless.

She sobbed like a child. Everything she had bottled up came pouring out.

“I—I probably look desperate and pathetic to you. But I’m doing my best—sob—I’m doing everything I can…”

“……”

Leonard said nothing, just stared at her.

Only now did he realize how deeply his careless, offhanded words had wounded her.

She always smiled no matter what he said, so he had truly thought she was fine.

“…Hic…”

“You’re right. No one has the right to judge others so easily.”

“I—I have pride too—hic—It’s not because I’m stupid.”

“I’m sorry for what I said just now.”

Leonard said it sincerely. Hearing his words, Cordelia’s overwhelming emotions slowly began to settle.

He continued to stare at her tear-streaked face, then suddenly said something completely unexpected.

“In return, I’ll give you power.”

“W-what do you… mean by that?”

“I’ll take you as my disciple.”

The words slipped from his mouth impulsively. Leonard didn’t fully understand his own decision, but he didn’t regret it.

“Wha—? What are you suddenly talking about?”

Cordelia, still disoriented from crying, couldn’t make sense of his words at first. She just looked at him with her teary eyes.

“You said you were being ignored because you’re weak. If you become my disciple, at the very least you won’t be treated like that anymore. So say you forgive me.”

“Wha—?”

“Say it. Now.”

He acted more like someone demanding forgiveness than asking for it. Under pressure from his insistence, Cordelia reluctantly muttered,

“Sniff I—I forgive you…”

“Good. Now repeat after me. Ah, but we’ll need a witness. Baron, come out.”

“You called, Master.”

Baron, who had been lurking and waiting for a chance, popped up from Cordelia’s puddle of tears.

“What a moving moment! I never thought I’d live to see the day my master accepts a disciple!”

He fussed dramatically, pulling out a handkerchief from inside his coat and handing it to Cordelia. She wiped the remaining tears from her eyes with it.

“Sniff Th-thank you…”

“There there, no more tears on a day like this!”

“Repeat after me.”

Leonard swooped down like a hawk and grabbed Cordelia’s hand. Then he began muttering an incantation in a language she didn’t recognize.

“What are you doing? I said repeat after me.”

“Uh… What is this… hic… anyway?”

“You wanted to become my disciple, didn’t you? Are you seriously hiccupping in the middle of a sacred disciple-binding ritual?”

“What’s a disciple-binding ritual… hic?”

“To think I’d accept someone who doesn’t even know what the ritual is… Ugh. This is not how I imagined my first disciple ceremony going. No flowers, no ring, and my one and only disciple is crying and hiccupping all over the place.”

Leonard looked increasingly irritated as he grumbled that this was the worst ceremony he’d ever seen.

Then came a long, complicated chant.

Thanks to Cordelia’s stubborn hiccups, it took a while for her to repeat the whole thing properly.

As she stumbled through the final phrase, Leonard exploded.

“Could you stop hiccupping already?!”

“I—hic—can’t help it—hic—what do I do?!”

“Both of you, enough. All that’s left is the witness oath.”

Baron cheerfully recited the final lines of the ritual.

As he finished, a brilliant light wrapped around Cordelia’s body. Strange, intricate patterns began to appear on her skin.

“Gasp—what is this?!”

“It’ll be over soon,” Leonard said flatly.

Just as he said, the light soon faded. Thankfully, the patterns that had covered her body disappeared without a trace.

Cordelia looked herself over, unimpressed.

With all that flashy light, she expected something extraordinary, but she didn’t feel any different than before.

“So… is it over? Why is becoming a disciple so complicated? Isn’t it just about learning magic?”

“What? Don’t tell me you begged me without even knowing what it means to become a mage’s disciple?”

“Um… If I learn magic, doesn’t that make me a disciple?”

Leonard was dumbfounded by her naivety. Baron tried not to laugh but failed, his lips twitching.

“Ha… It’s not like I can take it back now.”

“Congratulations, Master. You’ve finally obtained the disciple of your dreams.”

“Shut up.”

“Haha, the number of mages who wish to be Leonard’s disciple is, with a little exaggeration, as many as the stars in the sky. If the Mage Association finds out, everyone will envy Miss Cordelia.”

“Oh, uh… Okay.”

Cordelia had heard of the “Mage Association,” referring to the Rophael Mage Society on the Wilas Archipelago, but otherwise knew nothing about this world. So she felt nothing in particular.

She was just happy—finally, she could learn magic.

“Then, am I officially your disciple now?”

“Call me Master.”

“What?”

“We completed the disciple-binding ceremony, so address me as your master—and be respectful. Understood?”

“I already treat you respectfully. How much more—ugh, fine. I’ll do it. I’ll be respectful.”

Leonard glared at her with wide eyes.

Even though this started as the price for forgiving him, it now felt like she’d received some grand blessing.

Cordelia pouted, and Leonard shouted again,

“To become my disciple, the Grand Duke of Reviche knelt for three days! Ha. Whatever.”

“Yes, yes. I’ll serve you, Master.”

She smiled brightly through her swollen eyes.

Things had gone a bit sideways, but just as she had hoped, Cordelia became Leonard Atillier’s disciple.

* * *

“You did well.”

The next day, after officially becoming Leonard’s disciple, Baron showed up unexpectedly. Appearing atop a glass of water, he splashed around excitedly.

“I never knew you were such a skilled actress, Miss Cordelia!”

“Actress? What are you talking about?”

“The things you said to Master yesterday. Didn’t I tell you? The sun gets the traveler to remove their coat, not the wind. He was clearly restless when you didn’t visit for a few days.”

“Oh…”

Only then did Cordelia understand what Baron meant. She shrugged.

“That wasn’t acting. I was so angry, I completely forgot what you said.”

“…I see. If those were your true feelings, you must have been deeply hurt.”

“It’s okay. In the end, it worked out. I finally get to learn magic.”

Cordelia smiled.

Back then, she had been so angry that she didn’t care about Leonard or anything else.

She had thought she was fine. But maybe not. Or maybe Leonard meant more to her than she had realized.

Baron floated out of the cup and approached her, smiling kindly.

“Write down every name.”

“Every name?”

“Everyone who’s ever insulted or mistreated you. When we leave this mansion, not a single one will go unpunished.”

“Thank you.”

Cordelia returned his kind smile.

“But rather than revenge, I’d prefer to walk away with a fair price. I just want to escape this hellhole as soon as possible.”

“I see…”

Baron looked slightly disappointed but didn’t argue.

Cordelia had imagined magic would be like this:

With a flick of her fingers, stars would swirl in the air. As her skirt swayed, flowers would bloom in the fields.

But reality was cruel—no, downright brutal.

“You can’t even do that?”
“What’s that head for? Just a neck cover?”
“Don’t write it down! Do mental calculations—how many times do I have to tell you?”
“What good is seeing mana flow if you’re too dense to use it?”

She had only been training for three days, but she had already heard those insults countless times.

Sadly, while Leonard was a genius at learning magic, he was a terrible teacher.

“For crying out loud, just do it!”

Thanks to that, Cordelia’s temper was starting to fray. Leonard raised an eyebrow.

“‘For crying out loud’? What next—are you going to curse at me too?”

“Me? How could I ever speak that way to my esteemed master?”

Cordelia quickly backed down and smiled sweetly at him. Then she changed the subject.

“By the way, what happened to you?”

“What?”

“I mean, how did someone as powerful as you get taken down… by your brother?”

“He’s not my brother.”

Leonard cut her off coldly. Cordelia just shrugged.