EWOWMAIBTYPF Chapter 170

Chapter 170

 

“Mom, it’s not because of the Second Prince.”

At my words, Mom narrowed her eyes and asked,

“Then who is it because of?”

Worried she might think of Lucio, I quickly responded.

“I think it’s just that I’ve been so busy since coming to the Empire. I haven’t been sleeping enough either.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Maybe it’s just a bit uncomfortable since it’s not home.”

As I said this much, Mom’s sharp mood softened a bit.

While she reminded me not to say anything about being uncomfortable at the marquis’s residence in front of Grandpa, Dad stood up from the bed and spoke.

“Oh, the wizards and physicians from the duke’s house came by several times, worried about you. I should go let them know you’ve woken up.”

I nodded quickly, thinking of how shocked they must’ve been when I collapsed.

As Dad left the room, Mom stared at me intently.

“…Mom?”

“Adriana.”

“Yes.”

Mom’s expression stiffened oddly, and I swallowed hard with tension.

“Could it be that you fainted… because of that antidote herb?”

I paused and looked at her.

“…The antidote herb?”

Unlike Dad, who lacked intuition, Mom’s senses were always sharp.

And until now, I’d been thankful I took after her…

But now, it was a real problem.

“Do you mean Spleesia? There’s no way I fainted because of that. That’d be ridiculous.”

I laughed as if I’d heard a strange joke, and Mom, who had been frozen, slowly nodded.

“Right. Of course not.”

“…”

I tried to keep a blank expression, but my heart was pounding.

I had no idea how Mom had come to that conclusion.

I forced myself to calm down.

Leaving aside my past life, the only ones who knew Spleesia’s true identity were Raizel, the high priests of the temple, myself… and the demon.

Even Dad, a grand mage, and Jack and Allen, the sword masters, knew their powers came from mana but didn’t understand its origin.

‘Right, that’s why Terin called Spleesia a mana stone–devouring monster.’

It was ironic. Proud mages like Terin treating Spleesia, who gave mana to humans, that way.

Though, to be fair, Terin’s treasured mana stones were quite mysterious in their own right.

Mana stones were like pure condensations of the mana that mages treasured.

I remembered how, not long after arriving in Belus, Dad took me to the Duchy’s mine to show me the continent’s largest mana stone deposit.

There, I understood exactly what set my mana crystals apart from ordinary ones.

The ones from the mine weren’t gemstones but special stones that absorbed ambient mana over centuries.

Realizing this, it made perfect sense why Belus produced the most mana stones.

With so many powerful mages, magic towers, and magical knights concentrated there, the mana they used spread through nature, naturally creating mana stones over time.

But even if mana stones were special and essential for magic tools, I still believed they couldn’t compare to Spleesia.

‘Of course, the truth about Spleesia will never be revealed.’

In the book, “The Origin of Mana” I once read in the duke’s library as a child, mana was described as a gift from god.

People believed being born with mana was a blessing, and if one could use aura or magic, even more so.

‘But what if they found out it was demonic power?’

It would obviously cause chaos.

Just like punishing demon worshippers was seen as justice, a new form of discrimination might arise against those who use mana.

It made sense why the temple erased my name from myth and hid Spleesia’s true identity.

‘Of course, Raizel said mana itself isn’t evil…’

Naturally.

According to Raizel, demonic mana held a distinctly dark energy that human mana did not.

So maybe that book calling it a divine gift wasn’t entirely wrong.

You could even say that god reclaimed the power from arrogant demons and gave it to humans.

Still, why it had to be me—Spleesia—in my past life, I didn’t know.

‘Magic probably won’t be enough to fight them.’

Demon worshippers were said to gain power directly from demons through contracts.

That meant they could use magic freely like I could.

Which was why, anticipating my magic being nullified, I’d been training in new sword techniques, but I wasn’t confident yet.

‘If the ones I’m thinking of really are the demon worshippers who kidnapped me, then I…’

“Adriana?”

Just then, Mom called my name in a startled voice.

Following her gaze, I saw my fingertips trembling.

My anxiety must’ve shown in my body without me realizing it.

“Are you sure you’re okay? Why is your hand…?”

“It’s nothing.”

I quickly clasped my hands together to hide the trembling.

Thankfully, Mom didn’t push further.

Because just then, Jane entered to tell me I had a visitor.

“You’ve just woken up—should I turn them away?”

“No, I’ll see them.”

At my answer, Jane and Mom looked worried.

But I firmly gave the order to prepare me and got out of bed.

The visitor was someone I never expected.

And also someone I couldn’t just send away, even if I wasn’t feeling well.

‘It might be good to face them directly and figure out their intentions.’

 

***

 

At that time, in the parlor of the marquis’s residence.

Clara let out a weary sigh as she recalled the night before.

⟨What are you talking about, Clara? Canceling your attendance at the ball?⟩

Countess Amber had shouted furiously, unable to understand.

Ironically, it was Clara who couldn’t understand her mother.

After being so thoroughly humiliated in the plaza that morning, how could she shamelessly attend a ball at the imperial palace, surrounded by nobles?

But instead of pointing that out, Clara responded in a gloomy voice, subtly poking at her mother’s long-standing insecurities.

⟨Mother, we need to at least show that we’re reflecting on our actions. Otherwise Aunt’s heart will never soften.⟩

⟨What?! Reflecting? What did I do wrong!⟩

The Countess once again shouted indignantly, but whether she was right or wrong didn’t matter—Clara’s argument that they might suffer further humiliation if they failed to appease the grand duchess finally persuaded her.

In the end, unable to attend the ball, the Countess spent the whole night grumbling about the wasted dress and jewelry she had prepared, and how the grand duchess had always been a selfish person who thought only of herself since childhood.

And then this morning.

⟨Clara, go to the marquis’ estate in my place.⟩

Yawning deeply as if exhausted, the Countess lay back down on her bed.

It wasn’t the first time her mother had changed her mind on a whim, but still passing off a visit to the marquis’ estate was pushing it.

Clara sighed, but convinced herself it might be better this way…sending her unpredictable mother might just ruin things.

Still, Clara was in a foul mood.

While dressing, she’d heard every last rumor from the maids about what had happened at the ball the previous night.

Adriana, had been escorted by Lucio Elard, not Allen.

And if that wasn’t enough, she’d danced the Dance of Honor with Prince Nicholas—the very one quickly rising in power and now among the frontrunners for the imperial succession.

Clara bit her lip, swallowing the rising bitterness and resentment.

Why did that girl get everything good in the world?

But Clara, ever proud of her cleverness, quickly changed her mind.

Rather than opposing Adriana, she decided it would be more advantageous to use their family connection and build rapport.

As much as she hated to admit it, Adriana really did seem to be Ascart’s younger sister. According to her mother, who had met Adriana in person, she was quite naive and simple-minded.

She may not have won over Ascart as a child, but…

Clara concluded that winning Adriana over would be far easier than trying to sway the grand duchess.

And if she could truly manipulate Adriana, she might even get Ascart himself, who cherished his sister like his own life, under her thumb.

With that confident belief, Clara arrived at the marquis’ estate—but frowned.

The atmosphere in the mansion felt strangely unsettled, and no one seemed particularly welcoming.

She assumed it was because they looked down on her mother, the Countess.

‘Mother always said even Grandfather favored the grand duchess because she resembled Grandmother more.’

In truth, the uneasy atmosphere was due to Adriana’s recent collapse, but Clara misunderstood completely and stiffened her expression.

Finally, the door to the reception room opened and Adriana appeared.

“…!”

Clara froze for a moment.

As she’d expected, Adriana had a very gentle and soft look up close—but her appearance said otherwise.

She wore a rich purple gown embroidered with gold thread, every fold sparkling with thousands of crystals.

Her neck, wrists, and fingers were adorned with jewelry so extravagant it reminded Clara of her own mother, but unlike her mother, Adriana exuded a truly noble aura.

Clara, who usually chose modest and neat dresses to maintain a favorable reputation, suddenly felt terribly plain.

But she quickly hid her insecurity and stood up with a bright smile.

“Adriana!”

Then she paused again, putting on a slightly shy expression.

“Ah… Forgive me, I spoke without thinking. I offer my greetings to Her Highness the grand princess. I am Clara of the House of Amber.”

Kneeling and bowing her head, Clara thought,

‘Now she’ll say there’s no need for such formalities between cousins and help me up.’

But something was off. No reply came, no matter how long she waited.

At that moment, Clara felt something was very wrong.

The novel is now sponsored till chapter 222. I liked the number, so I took this chance to write it down (⁠ ⁠ꈍ⁠ᴗ⁠ꈍ⁠)