Chapter 4: 4

Mages were small in number, and among them, there were even fewer magicians who managed to develop their magic into an adequate level. Hence, it would undoubtedly cost a great amount of money to hire a mage. 

Under a normal circumstance, it would be a waste of time and money to hire a mage to uncover the child’s lies. However, just like Madenna said, it wasn’t so difficult for her to search for one. 

As the successor to Count Rodenherg, one of the richest men in the Empire. She only needed to snap her finger and dozens of mages would be ready to serve under her.

“We’ll work on the subject after that. I’ll instruct the butler right away to ask for the mages to come here,” 

Madenna said, sneaking into Suzanne’s side. 

“……?”

Suzanne was briefly shaken when she brought up the projection magic story earlier. But surprisingly, there was a smile on her face.

Feeling curious about her reaction, Madenna tried to go back to call the butler first. 

“’Wait a minute.”

Then, Farren called Madenna. 

“Hmm? Is something wrong?”

“No, if you need projection magic. It’s because I can do it. I’ll do it right away.” 

“Oh my.”

Madenna opened my eyes wide at the unexpected turn of events. Projection magic is quite high-level magic, because not many people know how to use it.

“Oh, it must be a sham! Don’t be fooled, Countess.” Suzanne responded half-heartedly.

When the director told her not to be rude, she kept her mouth shut, but she still had a frightened stare.

‘You were very calm until a little while ago when I said you were going to find a mage to do projection magic,……’

Why did she react like that when Farren says he’s using magic now?

Suzanne’s overreaction made me even more convinced. She was hiding something, and being overly wary of Farren. 

“You’ll see if it’s a fake later. Farren, if you know how to do projection magic, you should have told me earlier.” 

“As I told you before, the director wouldn’t listen and so I thought it would be useless even if I mentioned it to you.” 

“Hmm.”

When I looked at the director, he immediately protested.

“I thought he was lying! We don’t teach such high-level magic in orphanages!”

“We’ll decide after we see it for ourselves. Farren, like I said, I hate liars. Please don’t let me down.”

“Yes, Countess.”

“Suzanne, would you give me the brooch?”

Madenna took out her handkerchief and asked Suzanne to lay the brooch on it. Suzanne bit her lip, holding on to her brooch, yet finally was forced to put it down on it. When Suzanne handed the brooch over to Farren, he looked up at Madenna. 

“Countess.”

“Why?”

“Thanks for the opportunity.”

“I just wanted you to tell the truth. There’s nothing to thank me for.” 

It was a rather cold reaction, but he smiled gratefully at her. Returning his happy expression into a serious look, Farren held out his hand and wrapped it around the brooch. At the same time, a bluish light spread around the hand. Light floated in the air like wisp and created such a circle. At first, the circle was blurry, before it gradually cleared, drawing a certain figure with it’s hue. 

“Ah…!”

 An image of a person projected into the air, which showed Suzanne sneaking into the dark room with a brooch. 

“Su-Suzanne…?” 

It was director Lanthan. He turned his stupefied gaze at Suzanne.

“No! Farren is lying! That was all made up!”

Suzanne cried, yet the magical light kept unfolding. It showed the image of Suzanne. She was sneaking into the childrens room. Her head scanned the surrounding, before she finally opened Farren’s drawer and left her brooch in it. 

“No, Countess! Farren created it! He’s trying to pin his crime on me…!”

Farren waved his hand into the air, not responding to Suzanne’s sound. With his simple gesture, the entire circle vanished into thin air.

“… I’m done.” 

“Hey!” 

“….I’m not that kind of person.”

His eyes straightened towards Madenna, who’s expression could not be read. But truthfully, she anticipated her demise and she felt satisfied to be able to see it with her own eyes.

Before her return, no one believed in Suzanne’s misdeeds, no matter how much Madenna shouted. Rather, she put the blame all on Madenna. It was absurd how Suzanne’s fake antics could be so ingrained in others that they would believe whatever she said. She was a great manipulator indeed.

But now was not the time to indulge in such feelings.

Madenna immediately spoke stiffly, “I’m disappointed, Suzanne.” 

“N-no, that’s Farren’s made up magic!” 

“Well, I heard it’s impossible to fabricate a situation like this with the current magic techniques. No?” 

“That’s uh… that’s…”

Suzanne took a step back before she ran straight out of the room. 

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“Suzanne! … pardon me, Countess. I’ll scold that child later,” Director Lanthan bowed his head in embarrassment. 

“Then are you going to abuse this child again, director?” 

“Pardon?” 

Madenna grabbed Farren’s wrist and dragged him towards her.

“Lanthan. I have a lot of questions about how you operate your orphanage. To abuse an innocent child like this. How despiteful.” She said furiously, “The funds you have were exorbitant, but the children weren’t even managed properly. I saw the state of children and they looked dirty compared to the pictures on the list you gave me earlier.”

“Well, that’s, uh,…!”

“You took the budget from the country and tried to pocket it for yourself, right? I’m going to tell the authorities on my way back, they’ll take care of you and your crime.”

Director Lanthan slumped down the floor at the accusation. His gaze was empty with despair, he gave no care at his undignified appearance. Madenna also didn’t heed him as she continued.

“I’ll choose Farren as my beneficiary. I’ll bring him right away with me. You don’t need to bother, you’ll soon lose your authority to approve it either way, so I’ll take care of this matter by myself.” 

Madenna pulled Farren’s wrist. 

“Come on, let’s go,” Madenna said as he looked at her with a startled face. 

“What’s wrong with you?” Madenna tilted her head when she saw he wasn’t budging.

“’Me? You choose me as your protege?”

“’Yes, you showed me your meticulous control at magic and you didn’t lie. I like you,” said Madenna.

Immediately causing Farren’s face to flush red. Holding Farren’s wrist within her hold, she went down to the first floor.

He followed her in silence before finally breaking the silence, asking cautiously, “Excuse me, Countess.”

“Huh?”

“May I hold your hand properly?” 

Madenna was holding him by the wrist without much thought and he seemed to feel a little uncomfortable with the rough grip. Letting his wrist out from her uncomfortable hold, she stretched out her hand which he immediately reached for. 

“Yes, you may,” she smiled.

Farren gently held her hand, as if enclosing something precious to him. Madenna smiled at his cautious action and held his hand firmly.

She took Farren in the carriage first before investigating the orphanage for the second time. 

The story progressed differently from the original’s. She had achieved one of her goals, but her mood wasn’t jubilant nor sad. 

Her feeling was unfathomable. She felt satisfied yet anxious.

Suddenly, a little girl ran out of the orphanage building. The silver hair flying in the wind and a pretty face was revealed behind the soft strands. 

It was Suzanne. 

As soon as she found Madenna, she bit her lips. Her eyes were glossy with tears. Tears dripped down her face, down to her soft rosy cheeks, each drop glistened brightly like a diamond against her clear blue eyes.

“ Countess… It’s all a misunderstanding.”

“…”

“Don’t trust Farren. He’s a mean and sly kid. You’ll regret taking him.”

Suzanne stared at her with innocent eyes. Her eyes were clear of fault that even Madenna wanted to believe her. It made her wonder if she had made a mistake. 

Madenna went through the novel plot many times upon her return. In her previous life, she regretted not letting even a little bit of doubt about Suzanne develop. But now it was different. 

“Do you have no manners? How dare you argue with my decision.” 

“Countess?”

“Did you not hear what I said? No matter what you say, the truth was confirmed earlier by projection magic. You are the liar. You even framed your innocent friend.” 

Suzanne was stunned into silence.

“From now on, treat your friends nicely. Don’t tell lies, don’t put the blame on others. One day your lies will accumulate and the ugly truth will come out instead.”

Suzanne cried her way into the building at her harsh words. She seemed to have decided that she had failed to deceive Madenna. 

Madenna sighed inwardly. She pretended to be strong the whole time, but truthfully she was nervous as well. She couldn’t stop the trembling in her hands and her fist hurt from clenching too hard. 

‘The plot will become totally different.’ 

She stepped toward the carriage with exaggeration so that her shaky legs wouldn’t show. Then, she looked back at the orphanage.

From there, she could see Suzanne staring at her from the front door of the orphanage. She quickly disappeared as soon as she made eye contact with Madenna. It was only for a short time but she could see that Suzanne had her eyes crossed.

Her eyes were filled with pure hostility and fury. That gaze seemed to freeze her whole body. It was only a few days ago that she was dragged onto the guillotine so she couldn’t help the instinctive fear travelling throughout her body. 

‘It’s okay. Suzanne is not my beneficiary anymore, she’s but a powerless child.’ 

My actions after this will play an important factor for the future. Now that I’ve seen Suzanne’s true colors from her childhood, she would no longer be afraid.

She called the butler before she got on the wagon and ordered, “Please report this orphanage to the authorities on your way back. Tomorrow night, tell the ‘Stained Ravens’ to visit.”

“You’re going to meet him? My lord has told me to avoid dealing with them as much as possible.

“I know. But I have no choice… I need to see him, so please keep it a secret.”

 “…Yes… I will do as I’m told.” He said as he stepped down the carriage piece and immediately dealt with the instructions.

Madenna sighed and raised her head. Farren, who sat in the carriage first, smiled brightly at her. It was reassuring to see Farren in such a good mood. He will be her ally in the future, so she must keep a good relationship with him at all costs.

Madenna smiled at Farren.

TL Notes: 얼룩 갈까마귀 is the name of the organization and it literally means Spotted/speckled/stained Jackdaw. Which is so ugly, hence why I changed it to Raven. But if you guys have any better ideas, maybe you could leave it in the comments and I’ll change it to your liking. Thanks for reading!^^

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