[V12C22] Investment Towards the Future

By the time Cyril and the others descended to the first floor, the sun had already set.

Glenn had a craving for meat, so he headed into the kitchen with Karina to prepare dinner. Meanwhile, Cyril was showing Monica the magical formula written by Melissa.

Lana accompanied Monica, sitting on the sofa and reading the formula with her. Of course, Lana did not know much about magic, but having her nearby visibly eased Monica’s tension.

The night brought a slight chill with it, so they covered Monica’s nightgown with a white coat.

The coat seemed way too heavy for summer, but perhaps it was just right combined with Monica’s thin nightgown.

For a moment, Cyril thought this might be the coat he gave Monica in Jausuka, but upon closer inspection, the embroidery was a different color. Even so, Cyril felt a strange sense of déjà vu when looking at it.

(…Oh right, the decorative beads.)

The coat had tassels adorned with white decorative beads, and one of those beads was missing.

There was a cute snowflake pattern drawn on each bead. Apparently, this was where the bead that ended up in Cyril’s pocket came from.

(So it was from Monica’s coat?)

Cyril did not have the bead on hand, since it was still back on the desk at his mansion. He decided that he would return it to Monica once this matter was settled.

Meanwhile, Monica finished reading the formula and hesitantly spoke up.

“Um… I’m, erm, done reading…”

“Can you handle it?” Cyril asked.

“Y-Yes!”

Monica stuttered, but there was no hesitation in her response. As suspected, she did not lose her knowledge of magic.

Lana applied a large hairpin to tie up Monica’s hair, revealing the shadow clinging to her exposed nape. The sight of it was eerie, making Cyril shiver.

Monica moved over to the mirror, and Lana raised a hand mirror from behind to assist in her visibility.

While observing the back of her neck through the mirrors, Monica traced the location of the mark with her finger… before frowning and lowering her hand.

(Is starting with an advanced spell too difficult…?)

Perhaps it would be better to have Monica practice with an easier spell first. However…

“…Hmm.”

Monica suddenly threw off her coat and started unbuttoning her nightgown.

Cyril watched in astonishment as Monica slipped out of the nightgown.

Since he was standing diagonally behind Monica, he had a clear view of her shoulders and back. Thus, he saw it.

“…!”

Her pale skin was covered in scars, far too numerous to be written away as a simple accident. These were clear signs of violent abuse.

As Cyril frowned in realization, Lana draped the coat back on top of Monica.

“Monica!!” Lana shouted.

“…?”

“You can’t take off your clothes in front of a man!”

“Eh? Um, s-sorry…”

Monica let out a muffled apology, though her face indicated she didn’t understand why she was being scolded.

Lana sighed as she adjusted the coat, then turned to Cyril.

“Ashley-sama…”

“…I-I will take my leave now!”

Without giving Lana a chance to continue, Cyril escaped into the hallway, awkwardly moving his right arm and leg at the same time.

As he closed the door with trembling hands, he heard a voice from his right hand.

“Good grief, what an inexperienced boy you are.”

“…Sophocles.”

“Just in case you ask, I am forbidden from teaching you how to erase your memories.”

The mocking voice of the ring caused Cyril to glare back and groan.

“I would never ask for such a thing.”

Cyril leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. He envisioned a girl driven to the brink of insanity, her back covered in scars.

“…I must never forget.”

During their time at Serendia Academy, Cyril had seen Monica collapse multiple times.

Back then, he simply considered Monica as a troublesome junior who he needed to take care of. But now, he understood the truth.

All this time, Monica was doing her best for the sake of others.

(Even on that snowy mountain…)

She stabbed countless thorns into her tiny hand and jumped into the mouth of a white dragon. This was the reckless act that had saved Cyril’s life.

(…How pathetic can I be?)

Cyril made a promise to himself. He must never forget Monica’s scars or her tears.

This was his duty as someone who failed to be kind to her.

“Those who walk the path of Knowledge must not avert their eyes from the cruel truths they are exposed to.”

Sophocles began shining iridescently on Cyril’s right hand. This was the calm voice of a sage who had witnessed several lifetimes worth of tragedies.

“Accept it and move forward. Only then can you be acknowledged as…”

——Toom-toom.

The sound of a trumpet overwrote his words of wisdom. The sheer volume of it caused Cyril to widen his eyes and turn toward the living room.

“W-What in the world…!?”

“I was trying to say something cool!!”

“Wha…!? …What happened?”

Cyril quickly suppressed the urge to shout as he opened the door to the living room. There, he found Glenn and Karina in aprons, dancing around Monica.

“That’s amazing, Monica! The shadow on your neck is completely gone!”

“Waha! That was so cool!”

Glenn was circling around Monica like a large dog observing an object of interest, while Karina was tapping a pedal-like object at her feet.

This pedal seemed to be connected to a trumpet box by a tube, as cheerful notes echoed in sync with Karina’s foot movements.

Then, Glenn lifted both of his hands in front of Monica.

“Monica, Monica! Hands up!”

“…? Eh?”

“High five!”

“O-Okay.”

Monica hesitantly raised her hands, then Glenn slapped his much larger hands against hers. The force caused Monica to flinch back and freeze like a startled squirrel.

Meanwhile, Karina and Lana followed suit.

“Me too, me too!”

“Hey, wait your turn!”

As Monica remained frozen with her hands up, Karina and Lana gave her a high five as well.

Their excitement caused Cyril to raise an eyebrow.

“Making so much noise at night will disturb the neighbors…” Cyril muttered.

However, Glenn simply nodded as if he understood exactly what was going on.

“Ah, you wanted to do it too, right Vice President?”

“What? No, I…”

Cyril fell silent mid-sentence, noticing that Monica was staring at him.

Lana grinned and pushed Monica over to Cyril.

“Come on, Monica. Hands up!”

“Mm.”

Monica nodded and raised her hands in front of Cyril. Her round eyes looked tense, but with a hint of expectation visible.

“…”

Cyril had no choice but to give in.

After gently tapping Monica’s hands, Cyril escaped into the kitchen with an unbearable sense of embarrassment.

“I’ll help prepare dinner!” Cyril shouted.

“But we’re already done,” Glenn replied.

“Then stop playing around and let’s eat already!”


Monica looked down at the hands she had touched everyone with. Her lips were quivering.

The wonderful memories described in Lana’s letter seemed so unreal. They were just a distant dream to her.

But as she spent more time with the people of this house, she felt the fuzzy contours of that dream growing sharper and more concrete.

She wanted to reclaim what she lost more than ever before.

Monica squeezed her hands and let out a quiet laugh.

“…Eheh.”

＊　＊　＊

After dinner, Cyril, Glenn, and Monica reviewed a set of documents on the living room table, discussing their plans for tomorrow’s operation, as well as what spells Monica was capable of using.

Lana was unable to contribute, so she decided that the least she could do was prepare some tea for them.

However, Lana headed into the kitchen to find Karina using the stove for something.

“Karina, what are you doing?”

“Oh, President Colette. I wanted to help out a bit too.”

Karina retrieved a set of tools and paints from her hip pouch, impressing Lana with how much she managed to fit in there.

However, Karina also revealed a brooch and a handkerchief from her pocket. The brooch was clearly a magical tool.

“Karina, is that…?”

“Clifford-san gave it to me, saying ‘Don’t hesitate to use it if anything happens to Lana.’ It seems a little extreme, but it’s for self-defense~!”

Lana could not help but facepalm. She could tell it was a high-end item by the quality of the gem used, so the spell it contained was probably very powerful.

Why would Clifford give such a thing to Karina…? Averting her gaze from the magical tool, Lana examined Karina’s handkerchief.

The white linen edges of the handkerchief were sewn with lace. Lana recognized the pattern immediately.

“Eh, n-no way… C-Can it be…?”

Lana had once seen the work of the Empire’s greatest lace artisan in a museum. His signature style was delicate lacework patterned like the wings of a fairy, turning any piece into a brilliant work of art.

“Is… Is this really Kollwitz lace…!?” Lana asked, gulping in anticipation.

“Technically yes, since it’s a practice piece I begged Kollwitz-san for. It should give a pretty good enchantment rate for a practice piece though.”

“P-Please let me have a closer look at it… No wait, gloves. Where are my gloves? I can’t sully it with my bare hands…”

Some pieces of Kollwitz lace were on the level of national treasures.

The works of his disciples occasionally reached the marketplace, but those made by Helmfried Kollwitz himself were never traded in public.

So why in the world did Karina possess one of his practice pieces?

Lana glanced back and forth between the beautiful lace and Karina, who was disassembling the brooch with her tools.

“Karina, what are you doing…?”

“You know, I never cared about how the things I made were used… But that was a mistake.”

Karina spoke while heating the brooch’s metal fittings over the stove’s fire.

Illuminated by the flames, her youthful face showed no emotion. This resembled how Monica looked when she was focused on something.

“It should have been obvious if I took a moment to stop and think about it. But as a girl, I was just happy to have work displayed in the workshop… so I stopped thinking. I told myself that I didn’t care. That I would be happy as long as I could make things.”

Karina continued heating the metal fittings, then bending them with her tools. She repeated the process of heating and bending several times as she continued.

“But now, I’m thinking about making something to help Monica-chan… And once I started thinking again, I got the feeling that I could create something really amazing, even with makeshift tools and materials!”

Karina overwrote her expressionless face with a proud smile.

That sight triggered a certain thought in Lana.

(…I would love to have her working for me.)

Of course, now was not the time to say such things, so Lana kept that to herself.

Instead, Lana sat on the nearby chair and rolled up her sleeves, asking, “Is there anything I can help with?”

“Waha!” Karina laughed, pausing her work. “In that case, I want to sew something onto this handkerchief… Also, I might be a bit short on gemstones…”

Karina seemed a bit hesitant to mention her need for gemstones.

However, Lana immediately removed all the accessories she was wearing and placed them on the table.

“Go ahead, use as many as you need.”

Karina still seemed apologetic, so Lana made an exceptionally charming wink and continued.

“This is an investment towards the future of Sazandol.”

Chef Ranking (Higher = Better at Cooking)

  • Isaac: Skilled enough to satisfy even Lana Colette’s gourmet palate.

  • Melissa: Has the talent to make anything delicious, but only cooks once or twice a year. When she does, it always becomes an incredibly extravagant feast.

  • Glenn: Good at more than just meat dishes. His cooking tends to be a bit rough, but generally tasty.

  • Raul: Focused on vegetable dishes. Focuses on bringing out the flavor of the ingredients.

  • Silas: Often cooks lightly-seasoned meals for his elderly master.

  • Ray: Doesn’t care much, but good enough to cook an ordinary meal if he puts his mind to it. He once thought it would be lovely to help Frieda in the kitchen, but she had done everything so splendidly that there was nothing left to do (aside from taste testing).

  • Cyril: Generally doesn’t cook, but can make simple meals or help out. Always follows instructions to the letter.

  • Monica: Asking her to cook is pretty sketchy. Tends to come up with her own interpretations for instructions. However, she is capable of perfect measurements (using the precision scale).

  • Louis: Cooked for himself before marriage, so he thinks he can cook. However, he always ruins everything by slapping jam on it at the end. Rises to average level if no jam is available.

  • Nero: No cooking. Only eating.

  • Hilda Everett: Keep away from the kitchen.

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