Episode 64
Why would the great Françoise Cassel, a mage so remarkable that he’d be recorded in history books one day, seal himself away?
From the day I noticed that Françoise had layered sealing magic around his home, I kept a close watch on him.
His behavior, habits, daily life, and everything else.
“Do you know what the prerequisite is for sealing an ability? The mage himself has to be able to sense the presence of the ability.”
“……”
“Lilliana doesn’t use her ability. It’s that the intangible power called an ability leaks out of her. Even if the power manifested outside is strong, it’s not easy for me to recognize it unless it’s actively used.”
Thanks to sharing a lab with Françoise, Emilia was able to grasp him quickly.
“Hey. Ocean sunfish. Are you listening?”
Snap. Snap.
When Françoise snapped his fingers in front of her face, Emilia quickly pushed his hand away.
“Why can’t the great mage do that?”
“What?”
“An ability is an intangible power too. Try to read it like you would divine power.”
“……Abilities differ from mana or divine power in density, form, and properties depending on each one, so it’s not easy for mages to read their traces. That’s basic knowledge even undergraduates would know.”
“Then do it.”
Françoise frowned and pushed his chair back with a scraping noise.
He crossed one ankle over his knee and rested his chin on his arm draped across his leg.
“What’s your problem? Do you need my affection?”
“Didn’t you know? That’s disappointing.”
He twisted his lips as if he’d just heard a nasty joke.
Emilia said,
“Lilliana needs your affection.”
“That sounds like you’re saying I’m just messing around.”
“You are messing around. You always take your leave every two weeks to go on dates with women.”
“Are you kidding? I have a right to rest too.”
“What about the experiments that need to be finished in one go? You always leave at 8 p.m. and go home, leaving me to work alone until dawn. It’s happened more than once, hasn’t it?”
“Why are you picking a fight all of a sudden? If it’s because of the house, I told you I’d give you money to move.”
Emilia put down her pen and sank deep into her chair.
She stared at him silently, without a single angry look in her eyes.
As if she believed she could pierce through Françoise with just her gaze.
“Aren’t you going to say you’re sorry?”
“Unfortunately, I wasn’t raised to do that.”
“Ha. You really are a madman.”
What kind of response was that?
So infuriated she couldn’t even argue, Emilia started shoving documents into her bag.
“If she take an ability-overload inducer, she might be able to recognize her ability, at least for a while. That solves the problem, right?”
“If even the slightest error occurs during the sealing process, I can’t guarantee how badly Lilliana might suffer.”
“That’s exactly why you’re here—to cast magic without any of those variables. Not confident? If you’re not capable enough, say so now. I’ll find another mage.”
There was nothing more insulting to the youngest ever Tower Master and genius mage than having his abilities doubted.
His angelically beautiful face twisted into an expression fierce enough to look like it had been thrown into the fires of hell.
Emilia sneered and walked out of the Mage Tower.
***
Marius was literally grabbed by the collar by Emilia over Regina’s hearing.
If Alice hadn’t pulled her back and Regina hadn’t said it helped things settle with Leopold, it might’ve turned into a huge mess.
“Sure, my sister had to swear a soul oath to suppress her ability because she’s the Empress. But Regina’s situation is different!”
“That’s right. That’s why I can’t even face my sisters-in-law or Miss Alice right now.”
However, having committed a wrongdoing, he spent the night listening to nagging and trying to soothe his youngest sister-in-law’s mood.
But thanks to that, the two quickly became close.
Maybe not like real siblings, but they started to show signs of being family.
“Brother-in-law. If I ever die one day, the culprit is Françoise Cassel. Just catch him and lock him up for murder.”
Emilia, sprawled across the sofa, muttered lethargically.
She had barged in without warning, carrying research data, rambled on at length about the side effects of the ability-overload inducer, and then proposed sealing magic.
Then, as if drained in an instant, she collapsed limply to the side into her current state.
“Little sister-in-law. Did you fight with him?”
“Fighting is for amateurs. I just scratched him a bit.”
“Why?”
“He lacks passion for his work. Some people are burning up inside.”
“Emilia. Sit up and eat. You’re spilling crumbs everywhere lying down.”
The moment Alice tried to pull her up, Emilia flopped back down onto the sofa.
Still, she didn’t completely ignore the nagging and stuffed all the cookies in her hand into her mouth.
“You’ve got dark circles under your eyes. Are you getting any sleep?”
“I sleep. About three hours a day. From five to seven in the morning.”
“Only two hours?”
“The other hour is a quick nap in the lab. Ah, but don’t worry. I’m not overworking myself.”
“Whatever it is, it’s not like Françoise is lacking commitment in treating Lilliana.”
“Hey, we’re family now. At least pretend to be on my side. Don’t want to be treated like a proper brother-in-law?”
Her eyes, heavy and barely open, held a flicker of devotion toward her family.
Marius spoke with complete honesty as family.
“No. He’s more serious about this than even you are.”
Emilia, in a drowsy voice, said to Alice,
“Look at him defending his friend… No wonder I can’t get close to you two…”
Her grumbling got softer and softer until she succumbed to sleep before finishing.
Marius looked fondly at his completely exhausted sister-in-law.
“My only friends are Leopold and Miss Alice, so what is she even saying?”
Alice, who had been wiping her sleeping sister-in-law’s hand, overheard Marius muttering.
“…Were we friends?”
“Aren’t we?”
The way he asked if they weren’t friends carried a hint of disappointment, making Marius inadvertently adopt a more serious tone.
“We’re family. We eat together, take walks together, share what happened during the day.”
“And we raise a child together.”
“Exactly.”
“We’re definitely not ordinary friends. Feels more like a middle-aged couple.”
“Now that’s a funny joke.”
He followed Alice with his eyes as she lifted Emilia and carried her to the guest room.
In most cases, affection led to dating and eventually marriage.
But with them, the order had been reversed.
Of course, they weren’t madly in love like Regina and Leopold.
Still, weren’t they more than just family?
After all, they worried together over their child. He figured they’d built their friendship through shared parenting.
Marius felt a little complicated.
***
The Duchess of Aykroyd was like a wicked witch grandmother.
At least in fairy tales, the witch lures you in with a candy house, but the duchess didn’t even do that.
When we reached for sweets, she said they’d rot our teeth and stopped us.
At dinner yesterday, she even forced us to eat carrots.
— You’re that old and still can’t eat carrots?
It’s not that I can’t eat carrots. I just won’t.
To prove that I could eat anything, I even ate asparagus and celery.
Sure, I couldn’t breathe for about three seconds while chewing, but that wasn’t because I didn’t want to eat it!
Anyway, the duchess spent the whole day watching us with disapproving eyes.
That’s why we carried out a covert operation and gathered in the kitchen to secretly make a cake.
‘Phew. It was hard, but making the cake was fun.’
Since the sheet cake was so big, we designated a blueberry zone here, a chocolate zone there, and piled on whatever we wanted.
“Lilliana. Let’s eat quickly and go outside to play.”
Edgar and I signaled each other under the table.
We planned to bring the cake and a letter during dinner and present them to the adults as a gift.
But of course, things never go as planned.
During lunch, the wicked grandmother was mean to my big sister.
“If you love Leopold, it’s better to stop here, don’t you think?”
“That’s not something you should be involved in.”
“As the boy’s grandmother, I have the right to speak up. For your sake and for Leopold’s, break it off. You two don’t suit each other.”
“I don’t want to argue with you, so let’s leave it here. This is between us.”
“Miss Regina, you’d best stop while I’m still being this polite.”
Regina sister trembled slightly.
Her hand that had dropped below the table had turned pale.
I laced my fingers with hers under the table.
“Don’t say mean things to my sister.”
“Little one, I was merely giving advice for your sister’s sake.”
“My sister never asked for your advice!”
“Lilliana. I’m fine.”
“I’m not fine. I’m sad because you heard mean things, sister.”
The wicked grandmother had a strange expression.
Just then, Edgar placed his favorite strawberry on my plate and whispered silently.
‘Bear with it.’
Big sister, reading Edgar’s message along with me, smiled slightly.
Then the wicked grandmother warned him.
“No playing around during meals, Edgar.”
If he kept following her, Edgar would wither away in a month.
For the sake of my big sister and Edgar, I had to step up.
‘Hmph! I won’t lose!’
I stared her down with all the power in my eyes.
Big sister, trying to break the tension, picked up a piece of meat with her fork and gently tapped her lips with it.
I couldn’t resist the meat, so I opened my mouth wide and ate it.
But then I blinked unconsciously, breaking my focus.
‘Ugh… I lost…’
Why did it have to be meat?
I’m supposed to win this for my big sister!
“Big sister. Just trust me.”
They say battles are long and drawn out.
So I’ll eat heartily and wait for my next chance.
And that’s how I ate a very combative lunch.
• ❁ • ❁ • ❁ •By Esraa• ❁ • ❁ • ❁ •
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