My legs went loose. I squeezed my eyes that started to burn.
Maybe tears won’t come out. But if my eyes turn red, Mother and Father will definitely ask me to sleep together, so I have to catch my breath.
I thought I could forget everything and be content with this life.
But day by day, guilt was eating me a little.
Varen was a terribly quiet area. The thing I could hear the most was the sound of the soft snow falling.
In the past, this land was returned to the Imperial Family because no one wanted to own it.
In the history of the Empire, heinous criminals were exiled here for generations, and a high wall surrounded the village so that they could not escape.
In addition, the knights took turns monitoring our family.
This is where even the common temple of light does not exist. Does this mean that the sinners living here will not be saved?
Even if I don’t believe in God, I can’t help but be miserable.
“Euel, come down!”
“Yeah, I’m coming soon!”
I hurriedly got up and changed my clothes.
“It’s cold.”
This place boasts a low temperature enough to feel the cold even with the blood of elves that flowed in me.
“Euel, come here and warm up by the fire. Otherwise, you will catch a cold!”
Father, the person who would feel the cold most in the family, beckoned me to come to the fireplace.
It wasn’t that Father didn’t think about escaping from here either.
The best way would have been to run away when the exile order was issued, but we couldn’t do that because it would harm the people working in our family and those close to my father.
Next, we can try to run away on our way to Varen, but it was impossible considering the number of guards.
I thought they would be less if we came to Varen, but for the first three years, we couldn’t even dream because the soldiers around the house were hanging around almost every day for the first three years.
“This is Jam’s strawberry jam. I had a hard time getting it!”
“This precious thing! May is the best!”
“You went out early in the morning right? It was amazing. Did you get two bottles? Take a bottle and share it with the others.”
“Oh, Madam. How could I!”
Still, this house is affluent. Through the extension work, it became bigger than any other house in Varen, and it could be used by the employees.
Maid, chef… It’s something that other Varen people couldn’t even dream of.
But after living in Hardland, which is said to be the most beautiful mansion in the Empire, I couldn’t look at a two-story house like this.
“Sister, eat quickly.”
“Gael should eat a lot too, don’t be a picky eater.”
“Yes!”
My younger sister, Ganiel, nodded her head with twinkling blue eyes.
The kid that I stole everything from. If she had been in the capital, she would have been able to have everything in her hands and be treated with respect.
What is certain is that my family is here because of me. The choice was made by that boy, but it must have been me who gave the cause.
What the hell, where did I go wrong?
“I like Sister the best!”
My younger sister, with a big age gap, was babbling non-stop without knowing the feelings inside me.
“Sister is the prettiest and the smartest in the world. She eats well and is strong!”
“You are strong too.”
Mother, who was listening, interrupted.
“Did you forget that you broke the chair leg when your sister was away, Gael?”
“Did Gael do that?”
“Yes, look over there. One stool missing, right? Gael cut all four legs in half.”
“Awesome, Gael.”
My younger sister was happy to hear the compliment, and she babbled like a bird while spreading the strawberry jam on the bread.
Life with my loving parents, my lovely younger sister, and my cherished maid was quite a bit more enjoyable than I expected.
The wounds I received in the capital healed little by little, and the things of my previous life were buried deep in my heart bit by bit.
* * *
When the woman named my mother gave birth, many shouted to kill me.
– Take that thing away. Oh my gosh, black hair! Black hair!
Even the woman named my mother denied me. That would have been the first time. The woman’s words and actions were consistent.
She always pretends to be gentle and benevolent, but inwardly she only sees me as a tool to maintain power. She considered me useless otherwise.
I knew it already, so I didn’t feel anything new.
– Then, how about stripping Lord Tessvalun as the Crown Prince? And let the second, Lord Cardo, be your successor.
– He must be expelled from the capital.
Maybe they didn’t care that I was listening, they talked about my disposition in front of me.
– Pardon me, Your Majesty, but that is too cruel.
– Yes, Your Majesty. Lord Tessvalun maintains his reason.
If Count Guard and the Archmage had not stopped him, my neck might have been severed.
The Emperor, who hated me but at the same time felt pity on me, concluded that I be imprisoned.
I wanted to see Euseniel. But I couldn’t say her name out loud for fear that it would do her harm.
I did a lot while I was locked up.
I fully accepted the magic generated by signing the contract into my body, and made the knowledge floating around in my head mine.
Even in a limited space, I practiced swordsmanship.
I got stronger.
At the age of 12, the Empress initiated the group to change the Crown Prince. I killed Duke Lantia, who was like the leader of the group, in front of his son. The next Duke Lantia swore allegiance to me.
At the age of 15, I began to look at state affairs instead of the weak Father. It was at this time that I began to appear in earnest.
The Imperial Palace was in my control, so there was no problem.
At the age of 18, I left for a while and went to see Euseniel.
* * *
“Happy 18th birthday, Euel.”
“Happy birthday!”
“Happy birthday, Miss!”
Varen’s appearance full of ice and snow remained the same, but to my surprise, I grew older. What made it surprising was it feels just like yesterday that we got evicted from the capital.
The fact that time keeps going like this made me feel strange, but I smiled.
“Thank you everyone.”
I didn’t have parties for days like I did when I was in the capital, but I had a normal life.
But the class with Mr. Bugh surprised me.
Mr. Bugh, with his gray hair mixed in places, was the son of the grandmother, whom I had helped in the city the other day. We were able to communicate through the relationship we made at that time even though now the grandmother has passed away.
He and the grandmother were exiles just like our family.
Grandmother said she was a noble, but as Father didn’t know her, it was clear that she was at least not a middle-class noble, nor did she hold any office.
“Here, the book.”
“What do you think? What do you not know? The attack magic series must have been quite complicated.”
Surprisingly, he was a wizard.
To become a full-fledged wizard, they must pass a regular exam conducted by the Magic Tower. Each wizard has different skill abilities, so levels were assigned.
Mr. Bugh said he had no level. In other words, he is not an official wizard.
“Flame-based magic was a bit tricky.”
“It’s not working well, right?”
“How did you know?”
When I asked him, he laughed. He is always bright and cheerful, unlike people from the Northern Empire.
Well, of course, there are bright people in the Northern Empire, but Mr. Bugh was different. He had the same delights of spring as the Southern Empire delegation I had encountered while visiting the palace.
“It’s cold here. The beginning of flame-based magic is to create embers, but it is too cold here to create embers.”
Whether he was a formal wizard or not, Mr. Bugh’s magic skills were very good.
“So Euseniel, don’t try to use flame-based magic recklessly. You have a lot of magical power, so it’s easy to cast big spells, but it’s hard to control the fine details, so you can cause an explosion.”
I don’t know what my magic level is, but at least this person didn’t stop teaching me.
“Being in control is really important. Even with a small amount of magic, it can exert great power.”
“For example?”
“I’ve seen cases where a 3rd-level wizard unwrapped a spell cast by a 5th-level wizard.”
“Is that possible?”
“No matter how much magic is poured into it, there are weak parts. We’re going to focus on that area.”
But it is difficult with your current skills, so you have to work harder, Mr. Bugh added firmly.
Don’t forget to rate and leave a review for this series on novel updates!
For update pings, novel discussions and/or to send mistake reports, join our server~
If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know or tag admin in comments so we can fix it as soon as possible.