Chapter – 04
Something Like Magic
Even after beginning my secret training, I still didn’t really understand what magic itself was.
But I had learned a few things about mana.
First of all…
Mana could actually be seen.
It was like an invisible form of mysterious energy.
If I focused intensely enough, I could vaguely make out its shape.
Using the brief time I spent with Father and Mother each morning, I carefully observed their mana.
After watching them for a while, I discovered that, under normal circumstances, mana was condensed around the heart.
Near Father’s heart was something like a brilliant golden jewel.
Mother’s heart held a violet gemstone that sparkled softly.
And naturally…
I had one too.
Mine looked like a brilliant ruby, glowing deep crimson.
Apparently…
Each person’s mana was condensed inside that jewel.
That meant…
When I gathered mana inside my stomach during training, I was probably converting that condensed mana into a usable state.
Furthermore…
The amount of mana inside Father’s and Mother’s jewels hardly changed from day to day.
Father’s jewel contained roughly seven times as much mana as mine.
Mother’s contained about the same amount as mine.
(Using magic temporarily decreases the mana inside the jewel… but it gradually recovers over time.)
Which also meant…
A person’s maximum mana capacity normally didn’t increase.
However…
In my case…
I noticed something different.
“You’re so adorable, Lillietta.”
“Ah! That smile is just like an angel’s!”
Every time Father or Mother called me “cute,” warmth blossomed inside my chest.
The source of that warmth wasn’t simply mana.
It was the jewel itself.
After being praised, I carefully observed my own jewel.
And…
To my astonishment…
Its mana had increased.
At first…
The change was so tiny I wondered if I was imagining it.
But after several weeks…
There was no doubt anymore.
The jewel’s manaā
In other words, my maximum mana capacityā
Was steadily increasing.
Was this unique to me?
Or did every young child experience this?
I had no way of knowing.
But one thing was certain.
Whenever someone praised me…
My maximum mana increased.
(If this keeps up… I’ll surpass Father’s mana in less than a year.)
That discovery was enormous.
There was only one problem.
The nanny I spent almost every day with…
Millicent…
Had never once praised me.
“Then I’ll take good care of the young lady today.”
Wearing her usual pasted-on smile, Millicent accepted me from Mother’s arms.
Actually…
It would be more accurate to say she pried me away from Mother, who clearly didn’t want to let go.
“Very well. I’m counting on you.”
“Leave everything to me.”
“L-Lillietta…”
Watching me leave Mother’s embrace…
Father’s eyes filled with tears yet again.
“B-Be a good girl!”
Sometimes I couldn’t help wondering…
If they hated leaving me this much…
Why entrust me to a nanny at all?
Apparently…
Among nobles, children were expected to become independent from their parents early.
“…Honestly. How pathetic.”
The moment the nursery door closed…
Millicent muttered under her breath.
“For nobles to dote on their child like that…”
“How disgraceful.”
That seemed to be the aristocratic way.
I’d overheard the other servants saying similar things.
Although…
Unlike Millicent…
Their tone was more sympathetic.
“The master and mistress must be so lonely, unable to stay with the young lady.”
In any case…
Among nobles, it was apparently normal for children to be raised by others rather than by their own parents.
“Now then, Young Lady.”
“Please go to sleep.”
With another unpleasant grin…
Millicent dropped me onto the bed.
“And don’t cry unless it’s for milk or a diaper.”
“It’s such a bother.”
What an awful thing to say to a baby.
A real infant couldn’t possibly obey an order like that.
Yet…
Millicent truly was an exceptionally skilled nanny.
She could perfectly distinguish cries asking for milk or a diaper…
From every other kind of crying.
I’d tested it several times.
There was no mistake.
Whenever I cried because I was hungry or needed changing…
She came almost immediately, finished her work, and left.
But if I cried for any other reason…
She ignored me completely.
An ordinary baby…
Would probably give up crying eventually.
(A “silent baby”…)
I vaguely remembered hearing the term in my previous life.
It wasn’t medically proven…
But some people believed that babies who were repeatedly ignored when they cried eventually became expressionless.
Millicent was probably waiting for exactly that.
A baby who never cried except when absolutely necessary…
Would make life wonderfully convenient for a nanny.
But…
Raising a child wasn’t a job that should be done with such cold, mechanical indifference.
Suddenly…
The image of my little brother as an infant appeared in my mind.
Back then…
I had still been a child myself.
A child trying to care for an even smaller baby…
With no money…
No food…
And nowhere to turn.
The only thing I’d been able to do…
Was hold him tightly in my arms to keep him warm.
I’d felt utterly helpless.
But the kind neighbor who eventually rescued us had saidā
“Because you held your little brother so tightly…”
“He survived.”
“You protected his life.”
“Hold your head high.”
While raising my brother…
I had remembered those words again and again.
They had kept me going.
(…This can’t continue.)
Once Millicent finished working for this family…
She would simply become another family’s nanny.
Another child would be neglected.
Another child would grow up never knowing warmth or affection.
(I have to stop this… here!)
I had to.
But how?
(The best way would be for someone to witness her insulting me.)
If I could use magic…
Creating that situation might actually be possible.
(All right!)
I decided to devote myself to training more seriously than ever.
Two weeks later…
I finally succeeded in using…
Something that could almost be called magic.
“Hm?”
“Did I leave them here?”
Without touching them…
I managed to move the glasses Millicent had placed on the table.
Rather than magic…
It was more like a physical trick.
I’d been practicing moving mana outside my body instead of only within it.
By shaping that mana into something like an invisible rod…
I pushed the glasses across the table.
(I don’t know if this is the proper way to use mana…)
For the record…
I’d also tried making objects float like in the movies.
That failed completely.
Apparently my total mana was still far too small.
Even so…
Simply moving an object at all was a tremendous success.
There were other things I could now accomplish using mana as well…
Though whether they qualified as “magic” was debatable.
Still…
With these new abilities…
I should be able not only to teach Millicent a lesson…
But even get her dismissed.
It was time to put my plan into action.
The first step…
Was making her lose her temper.
“Waaah! Waaaaah! Waaaaaaah!!”
I cried.
I cried…
And cried…
And cried without stopping.
Naturally…
Millicent ignored me.
But I refused to give up.
I kept crying.
“Oh, enough already!”
Finally…
Just after noon…
Millicent snapped.
“Crying won’t accomplish anything!”
She shouted.
“Waaaaah! Waaah!!”
I kept crying.
It felt as though I was using every tear and every ounce of voice I’d ever possess.
“Stop it!”
“I can’t stand that horrible noise!”
“Be quiet this instant!”
Next…
I nudged the rug beneath her feet with my mana.
“Eek!”
Millicent stumbled…
Landing squarely on her backside.
Her face flushed bright red with humiliation and rage.
Still…
I continued crying.
“Damn this wretched child!”
She stomped toward my crib in fury.
Meanwhile…
Without her noticing…
I quietly used my mana to move something in the hallway.
Naturally…
My crying drowned out any sound it made.
“Waaah! Waaah!”
“You’re not hungry!”
“You don’t need changing!”
“So stop crying for no reason!”
“Waaaaaaah!”
“That’s enough already!”
The plan was working perfectly.
Her eyes had gone completely wild.
I’d successfully flipped the switch inside her.
“WAAAAAAAAH!!”
I cried even louder…
Deliberately provoking her.
“You cursed daughter of that detestable Duke!”
Millicent pointed directly at me.
“If you weren’t the daughter of a ducal family…”
“I wouldn’t even want to look at your face!”
“Stop that filthy crying this instant!”
“Shut up!”
“Shut up!”
“SHUT UP!!”
The nanny stood there…
Face bright red…
Screaming in rage.
The baby…
Equally red-faced…
Continued crying at the top of her lungs.
And the entire scene…
Was being witnessed…
By the baby’s own parents.
