Chapter 7
The amount of money was enormous.
Besides, up until now, not a single person had ever refused one of his requests.
Duke Kalinos had never threatened anyone. He always persuaded people by creating a calm and reasonable atmosphere.
Because he always made fair offers, he took some pride in his ability to convince others.
“Do it.”
“Yes, sir!”
“This too.”
“Y-Yes! I-I’ll carry out your orders!”
The duke stroked his chin as he fell into thought.
What went wrong this time?
“So… you’ve become interested in something again. Wh-what is your new research topic this time?”
“I’m interested in marriage.”
“S-So… y-you really d-did fall for h-her…?”
His aide’s jaw dropped open.
Meanwhile, Duke Kalinos remained lost in his own thoughts.
No matter how he looked at it,Ā GiselleĀ was the perfect candidate for his marriage plan.
…She’ll come back, won’t she?
But the look in her eyes had left him uncertain.
It’s bothering me.
Since he wasn’t good at analyzing people’s emotions, he decided, as usual, to look for the answer in a book.
“I once read that obtaining talented people requires making at least three attempts. It’s written on page 3,050 ofĀ Questions and Answers for Proper Social Life.”
“…When did you memorize that…? I-I see.”
Now he had another problem.
When should I visit her again?
Still feeling strangely uneasy, morning arrived.
Then Duke Kalinos suddenly realized why Giselle hadn’t accepted his proposal immediately.
“Y-Your Grace! Count Florette has returned from his voyage after five years!”
“…What?”
Count Florette, Giselle’s adoptive fatherāthe man everyone had assumed was deadāhad returned.
And not only that…
“He has also brought back an incredible heirloom that once belonged to Count Sehera!”
The heirloom of Giselle’s biological fatherā
TheĀ Great Mage, Count Sehera.
* * *
The momentĀ MariposaĀ heard that her older brother, Count Florette, was returning, she dragged me out of the closet.
Then she suddenly prepared a proper room for me and secretly mixed a sleeping potion into my tea.
Fortunately, I never drank it.
Even so, it annoyed me.
Back then, she made sure to speak to Count Florette while I was asleep.
She had claimed that I couldn’t adjust to living here.
That I wanted to leave the estate.
She persuaded him to give me a small house and send me away.
And because of that, I had been thrown out with absolutely nothing.
But this time, I’m planning to get on Count Florette’s good side.
After I died in the original story, my adoptive father eventually visited my grave.
He apologized, saying he regretted being so indifferent to me all those years.
Honestly? If he had really wanted to care about me, he could have.
I no longer wanted to depend on anyone.
Nor did I want to give anyone my heart.
Still…
At least Count Florette was the only person who ever apologized to me.
He was the true head of this family.
Unlike the others, there was still hope of improving our relationship.
If I can win him over, it’ll make surviving in the future much easier.
Under the warm sunlight, I slowly wandered toward theĀ Trevi FountainĀ in the Florette estate.
“Hah! You’re supposed to be under house arrest. What are you doing here?”
“It’s my business. The weather’s nice.”
“Get lost.”
Even as he said that,Ā AbisanĀ didn’t dare come too close to me.
Just as I thought. Strong against the weak, weak against the strong.
Every year he poured money into the Academy, yet he still couldn’t advance beyond theĀ First CircleĀ of magic.
Even so, he constantly bragged about becoming a Great Mage.
And yet he’d always looked down on me. At least, he thought he was better because I supposedly didn’t even have enough mana to enter the Academy.
I looked around with a mocking smile.
In my previous life, this was where Count Florette and Abisan had their touching reunion.
In the original story, with Mariposa’s help, Abisan barely managed to create a tiny flicker of light using several magical artifacts.
Count Florette saw that light and praised him greatly.
“I want to make a rainbow too. With light magic.”
“You don’t even have any mana. What magic are you talking about? Planning to use another artifact? Where is it? Hand it over.”
The rumor that I had no mana had spread all over high society.
I simply raised both hands and shrugged.
“Who knows? I have absolutely no idea.”
Only a chosen few mages with exceptionally pure mana could create light magic.
“So, Abisan.”
I smiled.
“Want to make a bet?”
“What kind of bet?”
“Let’s see which one of us understands magic better.”
“…Without using artifacts, right?”
“Yep. No artifacts.”
A vicious grin spread across his face.
“So you want to get completely humiliated? Idiot.”
“Hey, you little mudskipper. I can’t hear a word you’re saying.”
I waved him off.
“Anyway, if I turn out to be better than you…”
“M-Mudskipper…?”
“If I win…”
I pointed straight at him.
“…you’ll kneel down and beg me. Got it?”
* * *
“M-My goodness! Brother! It’s been five whole years!”
Even though his younger sister, Mariposa, ran toward him with tears streaming down her face, Count Florette barely reacted.
“The estate.”
“I’ve taken excellent care of it, of course!”
“Thank you for managing the household while I was away.”
“Oh, Brother. It was only natural.”
“And Abisan and Giselle?”
“Oh, those two? I’ve raised them both properly.”
He looked at Mariposa.
Before leaving on his voyage, he had arranged for the council of elders to oversee the family’s external affairs.
But while he was gone, Mariposa had apparently managed the family’s social events, internal affairs, and household.
For that much, he genuinely appreciated his sister.
His expression softened slightly.
“It seems the children are doing well. Let’s go see them first.”
Holding tightly onto Count Sehera’s heirloom necklace, he stood up.
Mariposa hurried after him, speaking sweetly.
“Abisan should be at the fountain. As for Giselle… that child sleeps so much, and for some strange reason she loves closets, so she’s probably sleeping in one right now.”
“…Is that so?”
“Of course.”
I never knew Giselle liked sleeping in closets…
Mariposa noticed that her usually distant older brother seemed more relaxed than before.
Her eyes sparkled as she asked,
“By the way, Brother… that necklace. What kind of artifact is it?”
His answer came back cold.
“Mariposa.”
“…Y-Yes?”
“Do I have any obligation to tell you?”
“…N-No, of course not.”
Just then, they arrived at theĀ Trevi Fountain.
Count Florette witnessed an unbelievably beautiful sight.
Brilliant streams of light poured down from the sky.
At the same time, water burst from the ancient fountain decorated with little angel statues.
The light reflected off the water, creating a magnificent rainbow.
“Ah… Isn’t it beautiful? Just look at that rainbow.”
“What an incredible rainbow.”
He stared at it in amazement.
“The mana is incredibly pure. If someone cast that spell, then not a trace of impurity exists within their mana.”
He had only seen such a beautiful rainbow once before.
It had been created by his close friendā
Count Sehera.
As he gazed at it with nostalgic eyes, Mariposa suddenly covered her mouth.
“My goodness… Our precious son has finally done it!”
“Amazing. So this is the result of all his years of training.”
“Of course! My son is absolutely worthy of inheriting the Florette family!”
But as they drew closer…
Something felt wrong.
“…Abisan?”
“M-Mother!”
Abisan’s eyes were filled with tears.
Confused, Mariposa looked at the person standing opposite him.
“G-Giselle?”
The beautiful light surrounding the Trevi Fountain…
The magnificent rainbow…
It was all flowing fromĀ Giselle’s fingertips.
Her shimmering silver hair swayed gently as she waved at them with a bright smile.
“Oh my. What a beautiful rainbow.”
She glanced at Abisan with a grin.
“Don’t you think so, Abisan?”
