Chapter 12
“…What level is that girl at?”
Callista asked Theon.
“…I still can’t say.”
At the vague answer, Callista furrowed her brows in puzzlement.
“When you briefly taught Aramis mathematics at the academy, didn’t you harshly criticize him?”
“Did I?”
“You said your student was so dumb that it was no use being a teacher. Eventually, Aramis quit and split the desk with his sword. That day, he created his first aura.”
“I remember. It was a completely ignorant response.”
“You were making a twelve-year-old read a professional mathematician’s thesis.”
“That was a thesis I wrote when I was twelve.”
“Then there’s no way the student you’ve been holding onto for days is ordinary.”
Callista folded her arms and leaned back in her chair.
Her eyes sparkled with interest, but whether that was goodwill or a lethal intent was hard to tell. Maybe it was a mix of both.
“…She is not at a level to be particularly wary of.”
Theon paused for a while, then answered slowly. Though it was hard to tell at a glance, his fists were clenched tightly with tension.
Callista slowly raised one corner of her mouth.
“Very well, Theon.”
“…”
“The offer stands. Give your answer anytime.”
“…Please rest easy, Miss Callista.”
Callista took the documents on her desk as if her business was done. Theon also rose without waiting any longer.
Click.
After leaving Callista’s study, Theon stood alone in the hallway, biting his lip nervously. After thinking for a while, he murmured quietly:
“Master…”
The face of a child who read an unfamiliar magic book like a picture book, who remembered ten things for every one taught but didn’t even realize it herself, hovered in his mind.
The warm hand that gave him a sky-blue water bottle when he was suffering from coughing.
Harper was different from Callista. Different from anyone he had taught before.
Talented, but too timid to realize it. Someone who might shine brilliantly if taught.
Theon shook his head once.
He didn’t even know what he was thinking himself.
Until a few days ago, he had planned to accept Callista’s offer as soon as she returned.
Sigh…
He exhaled softly, shook his head again to dispel distracting thoughts, and moved on.
“Miss.”
She wakes me up again.
“Miss Harper.”
When am I supposed to sleep in? Jena is nice, but she’s really inflexible.
“Are you awake, Miss Harper?”
Huh? The voice is strangely soft. Different from Jena?
“Uh…?”
Opening my eyes, a woman with fiery red hair looked at me with concern.
Around sixteen or seventeen, with a kind smile and a faint herbal scent.
The last drowsiness fled, and I half-sat up.
“…Vittori?”
The person I was looking for is here.
“You know me?”
The red-haired woman — no, Vittori — smiled softly.
Of course. If you don’t know the twin siblings Vittori Müller and Aramis Müller, you’re not really a Lupherne person.
They were Lupherne vassals, the sword and shield protecting the northern border, children of Count Müller.
They resembled each other with deep red hair and black eyes but were quite opposite in many ways.
One was a genius swordsman, the other a genius healer.
“She doesn’t have a special illness, just a somewhat weak constitution. If she eats well, sleeps well, and exercises, she’ll be fine.”
Of course, the one holding my head now was Vittori, the healer.
Her brother Aramis Müller was by Callista’s side when the war ended in my previous life.
When I died by Callista’s hand, he was removing the crown from the dead Clain’s head to place it on Callista.
A prodigy who created aura at twelve and could mimic swordsmanship in a glance, though he reportedly refused the imperial title of “Sword of the Empire.”
Because he wanted to be only Callista’s sword.
And Vittori, Callista’s closest maid and friend…
“I’ll leave an appropriate diet in the kitchen. Call me if you’re sick again. I’m always at the academy.”
Vittori’s gentle voice snapped me out of my thoughts. She touched my forehead once more, advised me to drink plenty of water, and left.
As Vittori left the room, Theon entered.
His round glasses gleamed in the sunlight, and behind them were cold gray eyes.
“You collapsed? Seems like you just sleep a lot, Miss Harper.”
“Ah! No, that’s not it!”
I kicked off the blanket and stood up, annoyed by Theon’s emotionless way of poking at my weaknesses.
“Children who make a habit of oversleeping are hopeless. From now on, sleep by ten and get up at seven.”
He sat on one knee at my bed and held my feet. Something soft like down touched my feet.
“…What’s with the thick pink fuzz?”
“Socks.”
Theon fixed his cold, sharp gray eyes on my thick feet as he rolled the heart-patterned cotton socks onto my toes.
“They’re too thick.”
I wiggled my toes, but Theon pressed my big toe firmly to stop me.
“Wearing thick socks keeps your body warm, and a warm body means less fainting. You’ve got a long way to go, so get your head in the game.”
With a logical explanation, he skillfully pulled the sock up over my heel and smiled with satisfaction.
“I brought ten pairs, so rotate and wear them. I’ll check every morning.”
He showed a small pouch filled with colorful sock balls embroidered with hearts, flowers, or teddy bears.
He must have guessed I liked cute, colorful things from my flower-patterned water bottle.
Well… not wrong. Since my reincarnation, I’ve grown to like cute, colorful things more and more.
“They’re age-appropriate designs.”
Now that I think about it, the dresses he sent had lots of cute ribbons. Jena was amazed and liked them.
“Every morning… every morning, I have to see these?”
I asked, half glad, half surprised.
Callista returned. I didn’t understand why the person who should have gone there was in my room.
“Yes. Educating the lady is also a butler’s job.”
“But before, you told me to just read fairy tales…”
I recalled the library incident a few days ago. Theon said learning something useful was meaningless.
“That’s canceled. Learn something useful. Fairy tales are banned.”
“Banned?”
“Yes.”
Have you ever seen someone so extreme? Last time he took away my sky-blue water bottle, now he seems determined to completely kill my childhood innocence.
“I heard about the diet from Vittori. From now on, eat chocolate moderately. I’ll be watching.”
“No… wait, from Vittori?”
I stopped protesting and asked. Theon nodded as if it was obvious.
“She’s more competent than any doctor in the mansion.”
Ah, so it was Theon who called Vittori. Unexpectedly, he showed some loyalty.
It was true. Vittori had shown genius in medicine and pharmacy in my past life.
She had abandoned the royal academy and achieved better results at the medical school than even the professors.
“Is Theon close to Vittori?”
“Close… she’s a good colleague.”
Theon said that as if it was the highest praise he could give.
“More kind than her brother. They’re twins but very different.”
“Aramis?”
“You know him.”
Theon continued.
“Aramis is hot-tempered, drawing his sword at the slightest provocation, and barely managed to rank in the top ten percent.”
Theon spat bitter words as if he had a sword in his mouth.
But the description seemed oddly illogical.
Aramis graduated from the academy in five years instead of the usual seven to match Callista’s graduation year.
And ranking in the top ten percent is quite elite. Besides, he was a martial genius, a prodigy swordsman.
“To lose to the top ten percent of the academy… he might as well be said to have no right to exist.”
However, Theon, who graduated as valedictorian, shook his head in disbelief at such a fool existing.
“Anyway, he’s good with a sword. He’s brutal enough to cut down even children who harm my master. He is Callista’s sharpest blade.”
Swallow.
I swallowed dryly. Though I already knew, Theon’s description scared me so much I broke out in a cold sweat down my spine.
“But Vittori is the complete opposite.”
Theon continued.
“She’s warmhearted. She takes good care of abandoned cats and dogs.”
Right. Vittori is a warm person. In my past life, she was the one who drew out Callista’s warmth in the midst of cold Theon and Aramis.
If she had stayed close, maybe Callista wouldn’t have tried to assassinate me as a child.
“With a bit more training, she’ll become the ducal family’s physician.”
My expression darkened slightly at Theon’s words.
“…Really?”
“There’s no reason why not.”
…There was a reason in my previous life.
A year or two later, Vittori’s death happened.
It was the event that changed Lupherne and Callista. After that, Callista never spared those she deemed obstacles.
Whether intentional or accidental, Callista mercilessly dealt with everyone blocking her path — including me.
The elders had been preparing for a long time.
Everything happened after the Lupherne elders, who opposed Callista, brought the Müller family to their side by pressuring Vittori’s weakness.
Vittori, not wanting to be a burden, took her own life.
Exactly one month after Vittori’s death, Callista wiped out half the elders — vassals and distant relatives — and gained the position of family successor.
Igard, Bortea, and Oscen were all killed.
Clarissa was another suspected figure in the incident but survived a few years longer due to lack of evidence.
There’s a reason I remember that time so clearly.
Callista, who usually avoided unnecessary cruelty even when killing enemies, was frighteningly brutal only when purging Igard, the Lupherne elders’ chairman.
