The Magic Count’s Bride (2)

In the well-polished mirror stood herself from her girlhood.

She had likely grown younger by ten years. It was the age when she had spent her days training in magic under her grandfather, her master.

Her mouth hung open. Yes—just as noted before, Noi was not used to being startled.

“You’re a restless girl, aren’t you…? Who is she, really? This girl.”

“No idea. I found her lying in the garden.”

“In the—garden—? There’s no way someone would just be lying there!”

“Say what you will. Ah, but I did get her name. She said it was Noi.”

“With hair that white, I suppose the name is not strange.”

While Ornis and the Hyuetos Magic Count talked beside the dazed Noi, none of it registered with her at all.

(—Spool and spool, ’round and ’round.)

Noi began to sing in her head. She tried to calm herself by doing something familiar. And for Noi, the most familiar thing was—twisting mana.

But something was wrong.

Puzzled, Noi twirled her fingers in circles. It was the pose apprentices first used to practice manipulating mana—in other words, the basic form.

Yet no matter how much she turned her fingers—

“What are you doing? Moving your hands like some kind of mage?”

The Hyuetos Magic Count tilted his head, watching her hands as if he were seeing something unexpected.

“No matter how much you want to use magic, it’s difficult without mana, you know.”

“Huh?”

Noi let out the silliest sound of her life.

Such a thing was impossible for all eternity, in all the world, across all ages.

To Noi, mana was something she could never be severed from. If she were to count off what made her who she was, the vast mana she possessed would be on the thumb—the very first feature to name.

And now—just as he said—she could not feel it at all.

(—My mana… is gone?)

It had never happened, nor had she ever heard of it.

It wasn’t the usual temporary mana drain that returned with rest. Within her body, Noi could not feel a shred of mana.

She was aghast. Because she knew her mana to the core, she needed no futile struggle to grasp the truth.

“When you say there’s no mana—what do you mean by that?”

Above the stunned Noi, Ornis asked the Hyuetos Magic Count suspiciously.

“Is it even possible to live without mana…? Er, she is alive, right?”

“She’s alive.”

The Hyuetos Magic Count chuckled dryly at Ornis, who had edged back a little.

(…R—right. Even if I can’t use magic, it doesn’t matter! I’m alive!)

If she was alive, her legs could move. If her legs could move, she could go to Kardia.

She could think about herself later. First and foremost, she had to make sure he was safe.

But if she could not use magic, she would have to beg someone for help. Even if her mana was gone, she still had savings. As long as no one gouged her shamelessly, she could repay help with money.

Noi steeled herself and lifted her face. Smiling cheerfully at her, the Hyuetos Magic Count spoke without losing that smile.

“That said, I understand the longing for magic. There’s to be a festival in the capital celebrating His Majesty’s fiftieth year on the throne, so let’s look for some amusing magical toys there.”

“…Fiftieth—year on the throne?”

The Esria King Noi knew was Fengalow’s father. He was only around forty-five; the number fifty made no sense.

(Ridiculous. That’s impossible.)

A bad feeling swirled in Noi’s head. Forcing out her voice, she asked the Hyuetos Magic Count,

“…I’m sorry, but—”

“Mm?”

“What year is it now… in the Esria Kingdom Calendar?”

“What year was it again?”

“Year 482.”

Ornis answered in place of the Hyuetos Magic Count, who did not remember.

Noi’s peppermint-colored eyes widened so far they looked ready to spill out.

(What does this mean…? What happened…?)

She could not understand the situation at all.

“…Who in the world am I? …Where is this?”

The Hyuetos Magic Count turned a pitying gaze on the stupefied Noi.

“—Don’t tell me you’ve lost your memories?”

“No wonder. I thought her reactions were dull.”

Though Noi had not even answered yet, Ornis said something rude. But Noi had no room to care.

(Lost… my memories? No, I should have them. I’m Noi Galenée, I became an adult ages ago, I’m the kingdom’s greatest mage, I live on the mountain beside the capital, and it’s Year 382 in the Esria Kingdom—)

Yet of those memories, everything except her name was different.

In this state, she could not claim she had sound memories.

“It seems… so. I don’t fully understand it myself.”

When Noi nodded vaguely, Ornis twisted his fine features.

“You talk awfully old-fashioned for a child.”

“She says she has no memories. She might be unconsciously copying the speech of the person who was closest to her. I’ve known someone like that myself.”

Narrowing his eyes as if reminiscing, the Hyuetos Magic Count gently touched little Noi’s head.

“You must be anxious. You’ve nowhere to go. You can stay here.”

“Sensei.”

Ornis turned a cool gaze on the Hyuetos Magic Count. Knowing she was the cause made Noi feel awkward.

(…Even if I rushed back to the capital—)

After a hundred years, Kardia—the source of her worry—would surely no longer be alive. In fact, there was likely not a single person left whom Noi knew.

(Besides…)

The very fact that a hundred years had passed was proof that the Demon King had been erased back then. Just as the Starseer foretold, Noi had defeated the Demon King.

(—Losing my mana must be the price.)

If it had been for the sake of saving the world, she could accept this.

(…What should I do now?)

She had lost her mana, her title, and her goal.

(Go home?)

But with a hundred years gone by, she did not even know if her home still existed. And if it did, some other family might be living there.

Whether returning home or setting out on a journey, she needed certain things.

(—Oh. Money.)

Noi had no money now.

Having no mana meant that all the achievements she had built up until now were gone.

If only she had her bank card, she would not struggle to live—but before she died, Noi had entrusted that card to Fengalow.

If she barged into the palace claiming, “I’m Noi Galenée, who lived a hundred years ago. I left my card with a king several generations back, so please return it,” she would be turned away at the gate without question. If she was unlucky, she might even be executed.

And even if it were returned to her, without mana the Sphinx would just gulp her down next time. Withdrawal would be impossible.

(Damn it. Do I… really have nowhere to go?)

No—she did. She did.

(Luckily, a hand has just been offered to me!)

With new hope, Noi turned to the kindly Hyuetos Magic Count, gentle as a messenger from heaven.

“Um—!”

—But the world was not so sweet.

The lovely man she had thought a messenger from heaven had, before she knew it, changed his aspect to that of a sly demon.

“That said, I am, after all, a Magic Count. And as you can see, I have a nitpicky disciple.”

“Excuse me? You don’t mean me, do you?”

At the Hyuetos Magic Count’s very apologetic expression, a vein throbbed on Ornis’s forehead.

“There’s my disciple to consider, and my position as well…”

The hand that had seemed extended toward her dangled before her eyes, swaying—and for some reason, he would not let her take it.

“Keeping a complete stranger in the manor is… you see?”

Noi just stared blankly at the Hyuetos Magic Count, who wore an exaggerated “What a dilemma” face.

“If she were at least someone I knew—someone important to me—then I could keep up appearances and persuade my disciple.”

The Hyuetos Magic Count gave a tiny laugh at Noi’s continued, blank incomprehension, cleared his throat once, and looked at her seriously.

“For example… a fiancée.”

At last, Noi realized.

(Ah! I see—?!)

At the offer so far removed from goodwill, Noi’s mind spun at full tilt. In matters of magic no one surpassed her, but outside magic she was, regrettably, the very last in line.

(If I become his fiancée, he’ll let me stay here! …Wait—th—this man…! Didn’t he just use me, earlier, without a shred of hesitation…?)

Noi broke out in gooseflesh at the sheer fishiness.

(A fragile little girl collapsed here, with no memories and nowhere to go, anxious out of her wits…?!)

It was grasping—no, the bare minimum expected of an adult, it was not.

If it were Noi, she would have taken the girl in with a ready yes. In fact, that was how she had raised Kardia.

But the Hyuetos Magic Count had no intention of withdrawing his position, whatever Noi’s circumstances.

For Noi to survive, she needed to be looked after here. To put it plainly, she had to become his fiancée—just as the Hyuetos Magic Count wanted.

In so doing, simply by housing one little girl, he gained the card he needed to turn away the nagging matchmaker.

No one would truly believe that a backerless, unknown girl was the “fiancée” of a man called a count.

(Still, it would do as a stopgap.)

Noi was adult enough to reach for an easy method when both could offer something simple to ease the way.

She stood, recalled the motions her old nurse had drilled into her, and sank into a curtsey.

“I am inexperienced, but I humbly ask your favor for many years to come, my betrothed.”

“I’ll make you happy, my bride.”

The Hyuetos Magic Count took a lock of Noi’s white hair and brushed it with a soft kiss.

—Thus, the mage Noi Galenée became a bride, a hundred years later.