Chapter 19. The Mage

“I’m not a noble. The only thing I know how to do is dance.”

Morning came. Michelle, who had woken up, curled up with her messy hair.

“I know.”

“Then why did you capture me?”

“Eat.”

Instead of answering Michelle’s question, I gave her deliciously cooked chicken. Michelle looked back and forth between me and the chicken with wide eyes.

“C-can I really eat it?”

Michelle asked, swallowing the saliva that was pooling in her mouth. Questions like how she got here and why seemed to have vanished like smoke in front of the delicious food.

“Eat, and if it’s not enough, tell me.”

“Really?”

“Don’t eat with your hands, use the fork and knife.”

“Ah! Yes!”

Michelle, with cutlery in hand, devoured the food like someone who had starved for days.

Chris, who had brought tea and dessert for her, let out an exclamation of admiration as he watched Michelle eat.

“That’s a three-person portion. She’s eating it all by herself. And she’s so small.”

“She dances, so she probably eats a lot.”

“Should I have brought beer instead of tea?”

Michelle was eating so hastily that she seemed to be choking, as she kept patting her chest.

Drinking beer at a time like this would have been a great way to wash it down.

“She needs to be sober to answer. Water is right.”

“While I’m getting water, I should also order a meal for Your Highness and myself.”

I stared at him. I didn't know that the food Michelle was eating was also our share. It smelled incredibly delicious.

“Only potatoes and bread will be left.”

I’m doomed. They’re dry and tasteless. I need to start the day with meat to have energy…

“Um…”

Michelle, conscious of my and Chris' gazes, timidly raised her hand. I nodded and gestured for her to speak comfortably.

“Could I have a little more?”

I wonder if I brought in a descendant of a great beggar by mistake, not a descendant of Antoine.

* * *

Michelle, having finished her meal, sat in her chair and maintained a straight posture. I sat across from her. And I looked at Michelle intently. With just the two of us in this space, it feels like an interrogation.

“Name.”

“It’s Michelle.”

“Last name.”

“My last name is…”

Michelle hesitated to answer. It looked like an effort to keep a secret from being revealed.

While she was hesitating, I stood up from my seat. Then I opened the door and checked outside. It was unlikely since this was a secluded place, but I did it just in case. The words from now on could be dangerous for both of us, so I needed to check if anyone was listening.

“Antoine.”

I said, looking at Michelle.

Michelle’s eyes widened. She trembled like an aspen tree, as if feeling extreme anxiety.

“It’s a common last name.”

It was common in Rumenium where I used to be. Here in Poinus… I don’t know.

“Th-that’s not a common name.”

Michelle desperately denied it with a trembling voice.

“Michelle Antoine. What’s your middle name?”

“Maria… no! No…”

She’s not very smart.

“Michelle Maria Antoine. Not a bad name. Why are you hiding your last name?”

“……”

“Do you know who I am?”

She didn’t answer the first question, but she nodded at the second.

“Then wouldn’t it be better to answer?”

“P-please spare me. I have done nothing wrong. I just danced.”

“If you’ve done nothing wrong, why are you asking me to spare you?”

“……That’s……”

“Did someone tell you that you would die if you said your last name?”

“My grandfather.”

Michelle answered with a look of resignation, as if she had half given up.

“Where is your grandfather?”

“He passed away.”

“Your father?”

“He passed away.”

“Your mother too?”

“Yes, I have no other family. No relatives either.”

She spoke firmly, as if there was nothing to be gained by looking for her family.

“Is that so? Then that’s not bad. Is your ancestor Raphael Antoine?”

“……”

Michelle clamped her lips shut with all her might. It seemed she thought she might really die if she answered this question. Even though I told her I wouldn't kill her, she didn't seem to believe me since she knew I was the 5th Prince of Poinus. Judging by the way she spoke, too. If I were in her shoes, I would probably act similarly.

So I took Michelle’s hand. And I let my mana flow into her. If she’s a descendant of Antoine, it’s obvious.

“1st Circle?”

“P-please spare me!”

Michelle knelt before me and begged, rubbing her hands together as if to wear them away.

“I’m not going to kill you. Why would I kill you?”

“Then why did you capture me and…”

“I didn’t capture you, I rescued you from being captured.”

Michelle, who had been begging with her hands, stopped and blinked her eyes. Then she wore an expression that said she didn’t know what I was talking about. She seemed to think that if she had been rescued, she should be in her dormitory.

“I know you don’t remember anything because you fainted then, but think carefully. What kind of person would put a kidnapped girl to sleep and feed her?”

“…Is… that so?”

She’s foolish. I don’t think Raphael was this foolish… I give up on making her understand. I’ll just ask what I’m curious about.

“Who did you swear an oath to? Benetuo?”

Seeing how she lightly cut through the air and drew a silver line with her hand when she danced, it was highly likely to be the god of wind, ‘Benetuo.’

“Yes.”

As expected.

“Then. What will happen to me now?”

Michelle, still kneeling, asked with eyes full of fear.

“You want to live, right?”

“……You said you wouldn’t kill me.”

“I could change my mind.”

“Please spare me. I’ll do, I’ll do anything.”

Anything. A very pleasant word came out of Michelle’s mouth.

“Let me ask just one thing.”

“Yes? Yes, please ask anything.”

“Do you like dancing?”

“I… like…”

Michelle hesitated to answer, her lips puckering. It seemed her head was trying to say yes, but her heart wasn’t following.

“I see. Then is there something else you want to do?”

“Something I want to do…”

She fell into thought. I can roughly guess what kind of life she has lived. She must have been in an environment where it was difficult to dream, buried in the struggle to make a living. It’s bitter. If things hadn’t turned out the way they did for me, she would have lived a life respected as a member of a prestigious family.

“From now on, you’re with me.”

“Pardon?”

“It’s not like you want to live your life dancing anyway. And it’s not like you have anything else you want to do.”

“That’s true, but… I can’t cook, I can’t clean… the only things I can do are dance and sing.”

“You’re 1st Circle.”

A mage in their 20s might not be a big deal. But it’s different for a teenager. A 1st Circle in their early to mid-teens, if not a genius, can still be called outstanding.

Michelle might not be a teenager. But a quick glance shows that Michelle and the 5th Prince are about the same age.

“How old are you?”

I asked for confirmation.

“16.”

“Good.”

Good. Even Chris, who sighs whenever he sees Michelle, will change his attitude. Of course, it won’t last long. Because if she’s a descendant of Antoine, she has a fatal problem.

“But… I don’t know how to use magic…”

This is the problem. Antoine was like that. For some reason, he had almost no talent for using magic. Even though he had sworn an oath to a god, he couldn't even use basic magic.

Even though he became 2nd Circle faster than anyone due to his incredible ability to feel and accumulate mana in his body, it was still the same. That’s why he was treated like a cripple before he became an archer. It was the reason Antoine’s temper became so foul.

“It doesn’t matter. I didn’t expect it anyway.”

“Then why me…”

“Don’t you want to at least become a baron?”

“I do. That’s why I danced… although it wasn’t to become a baron…”

She must have been told that if she gained fame by dancing, she could receive the rank of a quasi-baron.

“If you want to keep dancing, then do so.”

“Pardon? Then I… is it okay for me to go back to the Entertainment House? You won’t reveal my last name… will you?”

“I don’t know. But the guys who kidnapped you are still there.”

“…Hiccup!”

Michelle hiccuped, as if terrified by the memory of being kidnapped.

“Choose. Come with me, or go back to the Entertainment House and get kidnapped again.”

“…If I go with Your Highness, can I become a baron?”

“That’s up to you. But if you do well, you definitely can. If you do better, you can become a viscount, and even a count.”

As I assured her she could obtain a title, a strange light appeared in Michelle’s eyes.

“Um… then. Can I drink tea and eat things like cake?”

Was the reason she wanted a title because of food? She’s thinking about food even after eating so much in the morning? She’s no ordinary glutton…

* * *

“Haa…”

Chris, who said he had work in the morning, returned. He looked back and forth between me and Michelle with troubled eyes. And he did it repeatedly.

“What?”

“Are you really saying… that you will return right now with that friend?”

“You heard me, why do you keep asking?”

“Bringing a dancer here is a problem, but taking her away as you please is an even bigger problem.”

“Who’s going to care?”

“If someone says it’s a problem, it becomes a problem.”

“Then someone can solve it. You’re more than capable enough for that, aren’t you?”

I looked at Chris and smiled brightly.

“Your Highness.”

Chris spoke in a heavy voice, filled with the meaning that he could not accept it. In that case, I should stimulate his interest.

“She’s 1st Circle.”

I said, pointing at Michelle who was eating tea and cake. As expected, Chris' eyes sparkled. He took Michelle’s hand.

“Huh? Wh-why are you suddenly doing this?”

“Ha! How can this be.”

Chris looked at Michelle with an interested face.

“Have you learned magic?”

“N-no.”

“Then how could you create a circle without it?”

“I-I don’t know. It just appeared.”

“Just like that? You mean it appeared on its own without you doing anything?”

Michelle looked at me. Her eyes were asking if it was okay to answer. I nodded. Even if Chris knew about Antoine, he wouldn't do anything to Michelle. Because Chris is a person who prioritizes his own interests over the empire-centric laws.

“…Yes.”

“Ha! How can this be. How could something like this… research will be needed. Do you know how to use basic magic?”

“N-no.”

“You’ve made a 1st Circle this thick, and you don’t know magic?”

Chris couldn’t hide his bewilderment at Michelle’s answer. And he questioned her as if interrogating her, his eyes wide. He seemed completely unable to believe Michelle’s words. I thought he would. It would have been difficult to accept with Chris' common sense.

“Stop.”

I told Chris to stop pressuring Michelle. No, what would change if he interrogated her with wide eyes, asking why a 1st Circle doesn't know magic? She was born that way.

“Why? Why doesn't a 1st Circle know magic? Looking at the state of her circle, it seems she could even reach the 2nd Circle soon. Why?”

“I-I don’t know.”

“Then I will teach you. I will teach you from the basics, step by step.”

Chris showed an unprecedented enthusiasm. So I grabbed his shoulder.

“Even if you teach her magic for a hundred days, she won’t get it.”

“What are you talking about? She has a Mana Circle. If we go through it one by one from the basics, she can do it. She can become a stronger mage than anyone.”

“Hmm… I don’t think so.”

If she has the same nature as Antoine, the mana will evaporate the moment she tries to cast magic. This is not something that can be explained logically. It’s an innate disposition. That was the conclusion reached by the so-called great mages of that era after years of research.

“Your Highness is saying that because you do not know. Having a Mana Circle means having sufficient aptitude to become a mage. A magic circle that appears without effort is no different from a heaven-sent talent.”

The excited Chris gave a passionate speech. I looked at Chris and clicked my tongue.

‘It’s not a heaven-sent talent, but a heaven-sent curse.’

Because she has a dazzling talent, but cannot manifest it. I saw Antoine blame himself so many times by my side. He said that if he could have used magic, he would have saved many soldiers. That he could have prevented his comrades from dying. I saw him beat his chest while crying like that.

“Wanna bet?”

But since Chris doesn't accept this, I'll have to make him realize it himself. Of course, it’s not for free.

“Fine. I hope you do not regret it. I have no intention of backing down even if Your Highness wishes for it.”

“The word regret does not exist in my dictionary.”

There is only victory.