Chapter 4
“At least for a while, no crazy idiot is going to propose to me.”
Anyone who proposed after seeing that performance had to be completely insane.
And as far as I remembered, there wasn’t anyone that crazy in high society.
I happily walked down the road wearing my trash-bag outfit.
“Wow. It’s not even raining anymore. There aren’t any random rocks on the road, and the air is so fresh.”
It was incredible.
This was the first time since regaining my memories that I had felt this refreshed.
It really did seem like this world had stopped forcing ridiculous misfortune onto me.
‘Now I need to become strong enough to stand up to Lady Mariposa…’
As I happily walked along, thinking about how to grow stronger…
I happened to pass the training grounds near the front gate of the mansion.
There, Abisan, Lady Mariposa’s son, was practicing magic.
He smirked and roughly shoved my shoulder.
“Hey, disgrace of the family! Where’ve you been?”
I was about to answer, I just ruined my engagement ceremony, but years of fear sealed my lips.
This jerk had beaten me countless times before.
As I instinctively trembled…
He grabbed me by the collar with one hand and dragged me away.
“Come with me.”
“You can take my beating instead.”
Because my body was conditioned by fear, I couldn’t think properly.
I was dragged all the way to the training grounds.
A familiar face greeted me.
“Young Master Abisan! Where have you been? We haven’t finished practicing Fireball yet!”
“Ah, Master! Sorry!”
“But I don’t think I can practice Fireball today.”
“Just hit her instead.”
“You always beat her whenever I couldn’t cast magic anyway.”
Abisan’s casual words echoed in my ears.
His magic instructor looked at me with calm, cold eyes.
“That’s true.”
“You’ve brought the girl who gets beaten.”
“C-Cough!”
After Abisan let go of my collar, I was shoved onto the ground.
Exactly as usual.
I need to get up…
I need to dodge…
But my body won’t move.
It was pathetic.
All I could do was sit there and endure the humiliation raining down on me.
If nothing changed…
The instructor would soon start kicking me again.
“Giselle.”
“I assumed you’d be begging Marquis Berto and Duke Leshaniel for attention again.”
“Marquis Berto is away on a voyage.”
“And Duke Leshaniel has gone on a pilgrimage to the Mage Tower.”
“They won’t be back for a while.”
“So you’ve been quietly staying home.”
“Not like you have any friends.”
As I watched the instructor loosening his shoulders, preparing to beat me…
I bit my trembling lip.
“…Did you just say…”
“…Marquis Berto?”
“Hah.”
“Your so-called childhood friend.”
“The one you keep following around like a pathetic puppy.”
The moment I heard Abisan’s mocking voice…
My mind suddenly cleared.
Fear?
Why am I worrying about something like that right now?
I brushed the dirt off my clothes and stood up.
“No.”
“I don’t chase after that manipulative bastard anymore!”
“…What?”
Whether he understood or not…
Just thinking about Marquis Berto made my blood boil.
He was Regret Male Lead No. 1.
He suffered from a mysterious illness that caused him unbearable pain whenever he held a sword or used magic.
Strangely…
Whenever he held my hand…
The pain lessened.
I worried about him.
I thought he was my friend.
So I often held his hand to ease his suffering.
…But what did that jerk do in return?
He spread rumors that I was hopelessly in love with him.
Nothing but lies and manipulation.
What a professional propagandist.
Grinding my teeth, I clenched my fists.
“I don’t want trash like him either!”
Abisan laughed.
“Wow.”
“Have you gone crazy?”
“You really don’t know your place.”
“Should I teach you a lesson?”
The instructor nodded.
“Young Master Abisan.”
“You should practice Fireball on her.”
“Try burning her hair.”
Both men smiled cruelly.
“That’s right.”
“A useless girl with no mana and no magic is nothing like me.”
“It’s time someone taught her properly.”
I frowned.
“Who said…”
“…I don’t have mana?”
“You don’t.”
“That’s why you kept begging Duke Leshaniel.”
“‘Your Grace! Your Grace!'”
“You practically worshipped him.”
“I wasn’t the one begging.”
“It was Duke Leshaniel.”
Regret Male Lead No. 2—Duke Leshaniel.
He was garbage too.
The genius who dreamed of becoming the youngest Master of the Mage Tower one day suddenly fell under a curse.
He lost all of his mana.
There was only one way to break it.
Steal the mana of someone born with an enormous amount of it.
Permanently.
And the person he found…
…was me.
A girl with an absurdly powerful mana heart who had no idea how valuable it really was.
“Duke Leshaniel.”
“That shameless mosquito.”
“How dare he make me an offer like that?”
I didn’t care whether he was a Duke or the future Master of the Mage Tower.
He was just a mosquito.
A parasite that survived by sucking someone else’s mana.
Abisan frowned.
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
“Not only are you talking back…”
“You’re glaring at me too?”
“Sorry.”
“I may have had my blood sucked by a mosquito…”
“But I’m still better than you.”
Perhaps he couldn’t believe the family’s “disgrace” was speaking to him so casually.
Abisan shouted at his instructor.
“Beat her already!”
“She needs another lesson!”
“I suppose you’re right.”
“Only a beating will make her obedient.”
The instructor raised his rod.
He swung it toward me.
But instead of shrinking back…
I calmly raised my hand.
“No.”
“I’m not going to quietly endure it anymore.”
Fwoosh!
Before the rod could touch me…
It burst into flames and crumbled into ashes.
I smiled as a blazing Fireball floated above my palm.
Then I slowly walked toward the stunned Abisan.
“You know…”
“I think I’m actually better at casting Fireball than you are.”
Both Abisan and the instructor stared at me in shock.
I took another step forward.
The flames dancing at my fingertips brushed past them.
The ends of both their hair caught fire.
“Aaaah!”
Abisan screamed and fell backward onto his rear.
“W-You!”
“You can use magic?!”
“N-No!”
The instructor shouted.
“That stupid girl must be using an artifact!”
Looking down at the panicked pair, I dusted off my hands.
An artifact?
As if.
Where would I get the money to buy something like that?
The truth was much simpler.
Every time Abisan came here to learn magic…
I was dragged along as his punching bag.
While getting beaten, I secretly watched and memorized every spell.
Thanks to that idiot…
I had learned magic up to the Second Circle.
I didn’t know anything beyond that.
And because that damned mosquito had drained most of my mana…
This Fireball was the strongest spell I could currently use.
Before they recovered from their shock…
I turned and sprinted toward the exit.
As I ran, I shouted over my shoulder,
“Haha!”
“Look at your hair!”
“It’s all burned and curly now!”
“You look hilarious!”
“Hey!”
“You disgrace of the family!”
“Have you lost your mind?!”
“Remember this!”
“From now on…”
“I’m never going to lose to any of you again!”
Abisan…
And Regret Male Lead No. 2, Duke Leshaniel.
Both of them shared the same dream.
To become a Great Mage.
The person you all look down on…
…will become the Great Mage you’ve always wanted to be.
Just wait and see.
A Great Mage…
One of the five most powerful magic users in the Empire.
People so influential that even the Emperor treated them with respect.
If I become a Great Mage…
Not only will I become stronger…
I’ll completely derail the original story.
Two birds with one stone.
As I ran out through the gates of the Florette estate, I quickly organized my plan.
1. Recover my stolen mana.
2. Find a capable teacher and properly learn magic.
3. Become even stronger by collecting artifacts, potions, and other magical items.
The first priority…
Recover all the mana I had lost.
Fortunately…
Because I’d read Will You Regret It After I Die?, I already knew exactly how to restore my mana.
The method was…
“Welcome, cust…omer…?”
The owner of a restaurant, dressed in clothing covered with skeleton patterns, abruptly stood up in surprise.
This was The Dangerous Fire-Breathing Dragon, a restaurant secretly owned by the Kalinos family under another name.
