The place where Riersha was receiving her lessons was a facility within the main estate where all children from the collateral families were taught. Unlike the ‘Tower of Truth,’ which was exclusively for teaching heirs, this was more like a comprehensive academy within the Arachrene family.

“There she is. Even though she’s a direct descendant, she’s out of favor with the Duke.”

“But why is Carden himself teaching her?”

“I don’t know. I heard from my mother that her abilities are so poor that she didn’t even receive a castle.”

The children, who noticed that Riersha was approaching, started glaring at her sharply. They were displeased that Riersha, who wasn’t formally recognized as an heir, was being taught by Carden. While they didn’t openly harass her, they freely murmured among themselves.

‘What should I do?’

Riersha hesitated to pass by. Although she needed to go through this path to return to the annex, she remembered tripping over someone’s foot, which made it look like an accident.

‘…If Grandfather learns that I can’t adapt here, he will surely be disappointed.’

The Arachrene family, who valued talent, actively recruited from the collateral families. In other words, these children were the future leading figures of the Arachrene family.

She couldn’t afford to cause trouble and embarrass her grandfather.

Taking a deep breath, Riersha started walking step by step. A leader among the children, leaning against the wall, spoke loudly enough for her to hear.

“Even for a Duke, giving such blatant favoritism is unfair.”

“When she doesn’t even have a proper lineage. My hair is closer to silver than hers.”

Mocking laughter followed. Suddenly, Riersha tripped over an unseen force, likely someone using their abilities.

“Aahh!”

“What, she can’t even dodge something so simple.”

“She is too different to be compared to the direct descendants… To think we’ll have to serve someone like her.”

“She’ll probably be kicked out soon enough.”

Riersha bit her lip, got up, and dusted off her dirty clothes.

“If she can’t even dodge that, she probably can’t handle magic properly.”

“What? I can’t believe there’s someone that weak.”

As the leader started, others joined in with scoffs. When Riersha tried to ignore them and walk past, the leader suddenly grabbed her hair, feeling his pride wounded.

“It, it hurts! Let go!”

“It must be a lie that she awakened any abilities. Otherwise, why would she be here?”

“Let go…!”

“Hmph, she is out of favor with the Duke, and now she can’t even say anything about this?”

The child roughly shook Riersha’s hair back and forth.

“What kind of heir is this?”

The child’s final words provoked her.

“I’m heir, too!”

Riersha pushed the child, who fell to the ground, and tearfully looked at her disheveled hair.

“Ddona made my hair pwetty this morning…!”

The child on the ground, surprised by her push, exclaimed, “You, you just pushed me?! Do you know who I am?!”

The child began to scream loudly, veins bulging in his neck.

“If our family has a problem because of this, even the Duke will be troubled!”

“Was, was does that have tho do wiff me? You scharted it!”

“This…!”

Although the child got up quickly and lunged towards Riersha, she dodged swiftly. The child fell forward, injuring his palm, which was starting to bleed.

“Oh, oh, OH? Blood! Blood! Evill, are you okay?!”

The child called Evill’s face turned pale, and then he began to cry.

“Wa, waah! Daaaaad!!”

At his cries, Riersha looked at Evill, startled. She hadn’t expected that by just dodging, he would fall and get hurt.

“You, you fell on your owhn!”

“Wait and see, I won’t let this go! I’m going to tell Father about everything that happened today!”

She flinched at those words. Unlike Evill, she didn’t have a guardian to call upon. If news of her causing trouble reached the Duke…

Riersha pointed at her own head with tearful eyes.

“You mess my hwair too! And you tipped me, I fell…”

“So what?! I got hurt because of you! You’re fine!”

Indeed, while Evill’s palm was bleeding, she was unharmed.

“I’ll ask for a disciplinary committee at the academy!”

The disciplinary committee was a body held for issues among children at the academy, and it was one of her greatest fears.

“Someone like you will be expelled for sure!”

Riersha turned pale at the mention of being expelled.

“You’re in big trouble now. Evill’s father is Marquis Crender. Marquis Crender is one of the elders of the family!”

“Never mind, she wouldn’t understand. Let’s go before this gets noisier.”

Before they attracted more attention, the children quickly disappeared. Soon, Riersha was left alone, fiddling with her tangled hair.

“…I ouch, too.”

Would any adult believe her words, unscathed as she was?

“Ddona will worry.”

Riersha untangled the other side of her hair and lowered her head.

“…I do no wong.”

Even though her eyes stung with tears, she quickly wiped them away and trudged back to the annex. She couldn’t be too late, or Sona might come looking for her.

Meanwhile, all this time, something had been silently observing the entire scene, then vanished without a sound.

* * *

On the western border of the Decler Empire.

A man with silver hair and red eyes stepped into a tent and roughly opened a letter.

[ You should hurry back, Lord Fernore.
The Miss seems to be going into trouble. ]

Fernore, who had been on the western border for four years, leading the front line to fulfill a promise with Archmond, furrowed his brows.

Could it be that Archmond hadn’t kept his promise?

…No, that seemed unlikely. Archmond was known for being true to his word, at least in what he promised.

If it wasn’t about the Duke’s business…

“Could it be a different issue?”

Fernore’s next concern was any problem related to Riersha herself. He didn’t know the schemes the cunning members of the collateral families might be plotting around her.

After all, she was currently the center of attention.

Riersha, born an Arachrene but not inheriting the complete traits of silver hair and red eyes, had her awakening much later than usual. It took an astonishing four years.

This awakening was almost a miracle.

At birth, she showed no signs of magic, leading many to half-give up on her. As she was born weak and suffering from the aftereffects of the awakening for two days, her situation was noteworthy.

The more powerful the ability, the longer the Arachrene bloodline suffered post-awakening effects. Therefore, the main estate was already abuzz with the news. The least regarded member of the family had miraculously awakened and, moreover, exhibited a strong ability.

Fernore was quite surprised when he heard the news, and that was why he deliberately did not rush back. He wanted to avoid drawing excessive attention to Riersha.

However…

Reading through the letter, he let out an incredulous laugh. A peculiar phrase caught his eye.

“A disciplinary committee?”

It was a combination of words he had never encountered before in his life.

[ The young Duke might have to attend as a parent. ]

…Attend as a parent? Him?

[ While the official documents might say otherwise, from what I have verified, the victim is Miss Riersha. ]

Fernore’s grip on the letter tightened, and with a crumple, the letter turned to dust in his hand. Clearly, in his absence, people had lost their fear.

Otherwise, how could they dare?

[ Please hurry back. If the young Duke arrives late, I might get beaten to death by Sona. ]

Fernore read the last earnest sentence and smirked.

“I guess it’s time to return.”

He couldn’t afford to lose a capable subordinate. It seemed the time had come to return to his rightful place.

__