Her breath trembled as she exhaled faintly.

What if she really lost Ricador here? Would she have to stay put until dawn? And what if a monster suddenly appeared?

Having experienced several traumas in the forest before, Riersha’s body began to shake violently. Her heart thumped rapidly, and she felt her dormant magical powers whirl intensively.

“Uh…?”

She bent over, frantically clenching and unclenching her hands.

“…What this?”

Power swirled rapidly around her body. The explosive release of magic felt as though the very life was being drawn out of her.

Riersha watched in confusion.

Bubbles filled the forest, bouncing and bursting repeatedly.

‘Why isn’t this stopping?’

Riersha felt utterly drained as if her head was spinning. One thing was clear, though—she could feel the magic coursing through her body.

It was the moment she had long wished for.

The problem was that her magic was wildly erratic. It was surging uncontrollably, stirred by her emotions.

‘What should I do in this situation?’

Riersha panicked. This was completely unexpected.

Just as she began to be scared that something might go wrong, she heard a voice.

“Riersha!”

“…Daddy?”

Fernore rushed towards her and Ricador appeared pale. He seemed to be grasping Riersha’s condition then frowned with a stiff face. His expression looked serious as if losing something precious.

Riersha could feel her consciousness fading as Fernore’s urgent shout echoed in her ears.

“It’s okay. Control your magic, Riersha!”

…Control her magic. How?

She had doubts even in her losing mind.

“Calm down and stop the magic flow. If it keeps leaking out…”

Even though Fernore couldn’t finish his sentence, she instinctively understood what would come next. And she could see, disturbingly clearly, how sadly twisted her father’s face was becoming. All because she had wanted to impress everyone… She ended up making those she cared about suffering.

Riersha sobbed, tears streaming down her face.

“I’m, so sowwy, Daddy. Huwaah. I won do it again.”

As she wept bitterly and said she was wrong, Fernore pulled the child into a hug. Remarkably, as he gently patted her back, her magic began to stabilize, but the child’s crying didn’t stop.

Seeing Fernore’s expression made her realize her mistake, and her heart sank.

“Riersha sowwy…huweh, daddy sowwy.”

“Haa.”

A sigh that seemed to show relief escaped from Fernore. Even in her distressed state, that sound was unmistakably clear.

‘Brother Ricador must have been scared too…’

As Fernore caught her collapsing body, she saw Ricador frozen in fear over Fernore’s shoulder.

Riersha’s lips quivered, and then she blacked out.

* * *

When Riersha opened her eyes, a full day had passed.

Sona, with swollen eyes, rushed over as soon as Riersha woke up to check on her.

“Miss Riersha, are you all right? Do you feel any pain?”

“Am okay. Ddona. What about Daddy and Brother Ricador?”

“Ah… The Young Duke is waiting outside, and Master Ricador is…”

Sona’s expression darkened. It seemed that Ricador was in a bad situation.

“Brother Ricador no wrong.”

“I see he did something wrong.”

The door burst open, and Fernore entered, followed by a man with dark circles under his eyes. The man seemed deeply moved as he clasped his hands together as he gazed at Riersha.

“Huh, huhuh. Thank you, Miss Riersha, for waking up. Truly, thank you.”

…It was the Arachrene family’s doctor.

While Riersha lost consciousness, he looked utterly exhausted from the dark circle under his eyes. The doctor began checking her condition.

After a thorough examination, he was surprised.

“This is… remarkable.”

Fernore responded sharply to the doctor’s reaction.

“Explain.”

“Miss Riersha’s magic… it’s flowing very stably through her body. Contrary to fears of a rampage, it has settled perfectly.”

“…Stable? That shouldn’t be possible.”

The experienced doctor from the ducal household nodded with certainty. He recalled his memories from several years ago.

“When Miss Riersha was born, I checked her condition, and her magic was very unstable at the time. But now… it’s as if this stable state is her true nature, and it seems much more at ease.”

The doctor was right.

Riersha felt more comfortable than before; she could feel the magic moving inside her body. As she experimented with her magic, moving it around curiously, Fernore looked at it and sighed.

“Even more trouble than your brothers.”

“…Sowwy”

Riersha muttered sheepishly, burrowing into the blanket. Then, peeking cautiously at Fernore, she timidly asked a question.

“Brother Ricador?”

“He’s resting now. He’ll be punished later.”

It was expected since he had taken Riersha out of the annex past midnight and exposed her to danger.

Fernore’s brows furrowed.

He was concerned about Ricador’s state since he hadn’t looked well.

“Brother Ricador in trouble, my fault. I ask take me out.”

“Seems you siblings are quite close.”

His forehead seemed to have strained with tendons, but then he cracked a faint smile. Riersha shyly turned her head, feeling the sting of her father’s gaze.

“You don’t need to worry, Riersha. You’ll be punished, too.”

“….Pu, punish?”

As she heard that she would also be punished, Riersha clutched the blanket tighter. What kind of punishment would it be?

Sona looked worried beside her.

‘It must be a terrifying punishment.’

As Riersha nervously swallowed, Fernore continued.

“Write a letter of reflection and bring it to me yourself.”

Fernore flicked her forehead lightly, not causing pain. Riersha belatedly covered her forehead with her hand, making a pouty face.

“That’s overreacting.”

Fernore chuckled at her exaggerated reaction.

Covering her forehead and glancing around, she watched his laughter in a daze before finally breaking into a smile herself.

* * *

In the deep of the night, while Riersha was fully asleep, Fernore and Sona quietly left her room. Although they had not shown it in front of the child, both were deeply preoccupied with what the doctor had said earlier.

Following Fernore out, Sona spoke seriously first.

“Young Duke, about what the doctor said just now…”

“Yes, it seems someone has tampered with Riersha’s magic.”

Fernore thought that someone must have intentionally caused trouble while Riersha was in the womb, as there was no other explanation that made sense for the current situation.

Typically, children who experience a surge in their magic tend to have unstable magic flows thereafter. Their lives also tend to deteriorate rapidly. It was usually due to repeated magical outbursts.

Seeing Riersha’s magic burst in the forest felt like the world was crumbling before Fernore. He knew she was anxious about not being able to control her powers, and he deeply regretted not warning her in advance.

Similarly, Ricador panicked and lost his mind for a moment because of guilt. It showed just how severe the issue of magical outbursts could be.

However, fortunately, Riersha was exhibiting the exact opposite of what was feared. Instead of continuing to destabilize, her magic had quickly settled into remarkable stability after the outburst.

“It means something has been interfering with the circulation of Riersha’s magic all this time.”

“Yes, I think so too, Young Duke.”

__