The outing preparations were quickly finished.
While Marin double-checked the situation outside the room, I took out something I had hidden deep in the corner of a drawer.
It was a shabby pouch. Confirming the existence of the object inside with my sense of touch, I slipped it into my bag.
After packing a few other things, Marin returned.
"It's almost the changing of the guard. If you leave then, you'll avoid suspicion."
Her face couldn't hide the anxiety as she spoke.
She asked, grabbing at straws.
"Lady, can't you just go out with me? We could use the same method we used when we escaped last time."
She was talking about when we escaped to find Aen.
It wasn't that I hadn't considered it for a moment.
"I'm sorry, Marin."
I refused her offer to the end.
I was sorry to Marin, but I couldn't help it.
I couldn't reveal where I was going to her either.
"I'll be really careful. Nothing that Marin is worried about will happen."
"...You don't have to convince me. If that is the Lady's will, I will simply strive to make it happen."
With those words, Marin slipped one half of a divided ring onto her finger.
"Thank you, Marin."
I offered a heartfelt thank you and slipped the ring onto my own finger.
The moment the two rings settled on our fingers.
Whoosh-
Magic power leaked from the rings, enveloping Marin and me.
'Ugh.'
Something felt strange. It was as if I were a rubber band, my body stretching up and down.
The sensation was so unfamiliar that I squeezed my eyes shut.
I could feel the ring that had been loose gradually fitting my finger.
Soon, the strange sensation of my body stretching disappeared.
As I slowly opened my eyes, the magic power that had enveloped us like mist was gradually fading.
Before I could even take in the surrounding scenery, I knew.
The height of my vision had changed!
"Lady...?"
I was startled by the voice from below and lowered my head.
"Wow, so this is what I look like. It's amazing."
"...Marin?"
"Yes, Lady."
A black-haired, red-eyed girl smiled brightly at me.
That's... me?
"That's strange..."
I murmured unconsciously.
Marin tilted her head. Her black hair swayed gently with the movement.
"Is there something wrong? The magic seems to have worked..."
"No, it's not that."
I shook my head, looking at 'me' with curious eyes.
"It's just that my appearance is more than I thought..."
Quite cute...
It was an embarrassing thought that I couldn't bring myself to say out loud, but it was the truth.
'Is it because I'm seeing myself through someone else's eyes?'
The feeling was completely different from when I looked at myself in the mirror.
For one thing, my body, which I thought was a bit chubby, looked much healthier than I expected.
I had been so thin before that even with some weight gain, I just looked like I was at a good weight, and my milky white skin was glowing.
'And I seem to have grown a lot.'
I knew I had grown taller, but it was hard to realize since I saw myself every day.
But seeing myself from Marin's eye level, I could see how much I had grown.
And above all, my red eyes.
My red eyes, which everyone had pointed fingers at and called disgusting, were actually...
'Not bad.'
No... beyond not bad, they harmonized with my white skin and black hair, sparkling with their presence.
I wasn't as dazzlingly beautiful as Miracle or the members of the Rodbel family, but I could see my own charm.
"You think you're lovely too, don't you, Lady?"
Marin asked with a grin.
I missed the timing to retort, startled and pressing my lips tightly together.
My face flushed slightly.
"It's amazing to see myself like this too."
Marin looked up at me with sparkling eyes.
I was so fascinated by the new expression on her face that I stared back at her, and then.
Ding- Ding- Ding-
The bell rang, announcing noon.
Marin's expression became serious.
"You understand, right? Don't be nervous. After you pass through the front door, there's a back door used by the servants."
Marin gave me the last of the directions and precautions.
"...Then, come back safely, Lady."
"Yeah, I will."
After exchanging greetings, I walked briskly towards the door.
Fortunately, I quickly adjusted to Marin's body.
How should I put it?
'It's like going back to before the regression.'
Perhaps that's why. I became even more determined.
"Hoo."
I took a deep breath in front of the door.
Then, I opened the door and left the room immediately.
As expected.
As soon as I went out, I was met by the knights guarding the front of the room.
I could feel their eyes scanning me.
I tried my best to act as if nothing was wrong, staring straight ahead.
Soon, their gaze fell away.
I slowly moved my feet.
I crossed the hallway with a pace that was neither too fast nor too slow.
And as soon as I turned the corner.
"Hwah...!"
I exhaled the breath I had been holding in.
My heart was pounding as if it would burst.
But still...
"They really don't recognize me..."
Even though I had already confirmed that I looked like Marin through the mirror, I was still uneasy.
But the magic really hid my existence thoroughly.
I went down the stairs quickly, muttering to myself.
"Magic is really amazing."
With this kind of ability, I could understand how Estio could have secretly brought a huge monster into the Labyrinth Forest.
I already knew how amazing magic was, but experiencing it directly made me even more astonished.
Moreover, magical tools are meant to help use magic more easily and efficiently, so they can't replicate the true power of magic.
Then how much more amazing is the true power of magic?
'Miracle, a disciple of Elbert Beden, went to the battlefield while still enrolled in the academy and performed brilliantly.'
And Miracle was revered as a talent who would become the archmage succeeding the first family head.
I've never seen Miracle's magic directly, but it must be incredible.
'No, I have seen something similar.'
It was probably Miracle's magic that pushed me into the Abyss.
'If I could use magic, I wouldn't have been helpless.'
I looked down at my hands.
I became lost in thought.
In the past... I knew my magic level was '0', so I never even thought about learning magic.
But isn't it different now?
'The Evil God said someone stole my magic.'
I don't know when it happened or who stole my magic.
'But it's different now.'
The unidentified purple crystal that sprouted in the library a few days ago.
If that was really my power...
'Maybe I have the magic of Rodbel flowing through me.'
If I could just harness that power, I could accomplish a lot in the future.
The problem is...
'It's hard to learn magic on my own.'
Even magical geniuses need a teacher to guide them at first.
Like Elbert Beden, who nurtured Miracle's talent, I need a teacher to guide me.
Even if it's not a magician as great as Elbert Beden, if there's someone who can teach me magic...
'Maybe I can learn magic too.'
But where would I find such a person?
All of Rodbel's magicians were under Elbert Beden.
Without Elbert Beden's permission, no one can teach me magic.
'The Duke...'
No, no. Besides the Duke's help, there was one more way.
'Going to the Academy.'
Magic was included in the regular classes at the Academy.
The children of the Empire's nobles enter the Academy at the age of 11.
In a few months, Miracle and Vansis, who had delayed their admission for the qualifying exam, will be admitted there as well.
Then I...
"..."
While I was thinking, I had already arrived in the first-floor lobby.
"...Let's achieve the immediate goal first."
I put my thoughts about magic aside for a moment and walked quickly towards the front door.
And just as I was about to leave the building.
"Marin?"
A familiar voice rang in my ear.
Startled, I turned around.
"What are you doing here?"
A green-haired man strode towards me.
He stopped right in front of me and said.
"Not staying by the Lady's side."
Unlike when he was talking to me, his voice was even lower and colder.
Looking at him, I suppressed a groan that was rising up.
"...Butler-nim."
It was Ligrin who had caught me.
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