Let’s Block the Ruined Route in Advance

“Eileen, congratulations, he looks so much like Lynn!” “I thought so too…” 

After the contract was signed, Cordelia and Lucia

n clung to Eileen, who had slept well thanks to Orgen’s kindness. Lucian sulked about not being able to see the ghosts.

 “Girls, Eileen needs to eat. Teacher, thank you for helping Eileen with her contract.” 

Instead of the Duke, who had been summoned to the palace early in the morning, Theresia faced Orgen. Orgen looked mischievously at the noble duchess and chuckled.

 “My, my, our little tomboy has grown up.” “And so have you. It’s been twelve years since I left for the Academy.” “And yet you are still children to me.” 

Lucian’s eyes widened as he sipped his milk.

 “Mr. Orgen was my mother’s teacher?” “Uh-huh, in case your father didn’t tell you, I taught history and humanities in addition to Elementalism. They’ve been together since Swordsmanship School. I don’t think anyone knew they were together. They were so young~” “Teacher!!” “Wow…” 

Eileen’s eyes widened a bit, it was quite unexpected that the sickly Theresia was from the Swordsmanship Faculty.

 “I’m going to join the Swordsmanship Faculty as well!” 

Lucian exclaimed, his voice full of pride.

 “I will be a stronger knight than my father and I will protect everyone.” 

Theresia and Eileen’s lips curled into smiles at the innocent, adorable dream. Orgen grinned and opened his mouth to tease them, but Cordelia spoke first.

 “I’ll be stronger than him, Eileen, because I’ll be the one protecting you.” “I told you I would protect her first!” “I already protected her once. So I win.” 

Cordelia’s expression grew impatient, one corner of her mouth turned up in a smirk, and Lucian’s face flushed.

 “Well, here we go again.” 

Ignoring the two who had started the fight as usual, Eileen and Theresia relaxed and enjoyed their meal. Orgen chuckled as he eagerly poured oil on the burning house.

 “If you’ve finished eating, I think you should all go home.” 

Tired of the children bickering until the last minute, the strange Eileen grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and dragged her out. Orgen waved goodbye with a grin, but the smile fell from his face as the door closed behind them.

 “There’s already an uproar behind you with the rumor of two precious elementals.” “There was also the matter of Luis Roban, which proved difficult to hide completely.” 

Theresia gracefully set down her glass of water, her gaze fixed on him.

 “You said both children had great power, didn’t you?” “…Yes. They will be coveted by many. Some would not want this much power in the ducal family.” 

She nodded slightly, as if she had anticipated this.

 “Then the adults will have to work a little harder for the sake of the children’s future.” 

With that, Theresia smiled innocently. It was a smile that looked exactly like Lucian’s from earlier.

 “You said I was still a child to you, right?” 

Orgen’s eyes widened a little but then narrowed to small slits. He laughed uncontrollably and clapped his hands.

 “Well, now that you’re a duchess, you’re very frugal as Master of the North.” “Don’t you think you’ve taken too much for us to be frugal?” “The economy works when those who have it spend it.” 

He swallowed the last of the pudding in his bowl.

 “Still, don’t worry about it. I’m personally interested in these sulky little guys myself.”  

* * *

  

That afternoon, Cordelia, Eileen, and Theresia had a little girls’ tea to celebrate Eileen’s birthday.

 “Congratulations again, Eileen, you’re going to be busy from now on.” “I’m excited, though, because it means I can really learn the art of elementalism.” 

Theresia looked at the giggling Eileen like she was cute.

 “Cordelia’s water and Eileen’s earth, right? Maybe we can have our own flower garden when we get good at Elementalism.” “Sounds like fun.” 

Cordelia nodded, picked up a scone, and spread it with raspberry jam.

 “I didn’t know you went to sword school, Duchess Theresia. Did you become a knight when you graduated?” 

Cordelia asked as she swallowed her scone, and Theresia smiled softly. It was a nostalgic look, as if she was

walking down memory lane, but it also looked a little sad.

 “Hmm. I was a student of swordsmanship, yes. I never became a knight due to ill health, but I wanted to be one one day.” 

That was a long time ago.

 

Eileen’s face darkened. She had heard that Theresia had been ill for well over a decade. Before Lucian was born. Before she’d married the duke.

 

She felt a pang of sadness as she imagined Theresia trying to pursue her dreams, only to be thwarted by her illness.

 “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t regret it, but I don’t. I did what I wanted to do and I met good people. It wasn’t perfect, but it gave me a lot to think about as I learned to defend myself and fight for myself.” 

Theresia stroked Eileen’s hair gently, her eyes a little sad.

 “Not all of your efforts will be successful, but there may come a day when the process unexpectedly saves you.” 

A warm but strong breeze blew across the patio. As it blew through her hair and rustled the petals in the vase, Eileen felt as if time had slowed.

 

The words, so true to Theresia’s life, seemed somehow prophetic.

 

Overwhelmed by a strange sense of prescience, Eileen clasped Theresia’s hand above her head.

  

* * *

  “Don’t feel like you’re calling the spirit or giving it commands. Think of it as your feelings. If you ask for it and feel it, it will answer you.” 

Eileen sat back, drenched in sweat. She was breath

ing so hard it felt like winter.

 

It had been more than three months since she’d studied the elementals in earnest. At first she and Cordelia had studied together, but now they had their own lessons.

 

Stretching out on the dais, Eileen looked at the chaos around her as if a severe storm had just passed through.

 “This is a natural disaster.” 

Eileen heard Orgen click his tongue and remembered a conversation she’d had with him a few weeks ago, shortly after the contract.

 “The young elemental?” “Yes. I don’t know for sure, but Star is a young elemental, maybe a hundred years old at most. While the spirits that usually contract with humans are thousands of years old.” “He’s a blob.” “Yes. That’s why they’re so pure and powerful. Spirits don’t get stronger as they age like normal life, they are born complete.” 

An inexhaustible source of power.

 

She had heard before that young spirits were as difficult to control as they were strong, but this was not difficult.

 “It’s so innocent, if you want to dig a little bit of earth, it almost splits it, if you want to cut a rock, it shatters it!” 

I didn’t even have the energy to get angry at Star, who was smiling with a

“I did good, didn’t I?”

look on his face after a serious accident.

 “You are not allowed to train with Cordelia or alone until your powers are under control.” 

As far as Orgen could tell, Star’s power was at least that of a Supreme Elemental.

 

It was fortunate that Orgen was a peerless Elemental of the same nature, and that Star was the gentlest of the Earth Elementals, or they would all have been in danger if they had made an unsupervised pact with a belligerent young Fire Elemental.

 

Especially since they still don’t know the origin of his strange life force.

 

She broke into a cold sweat.

 “It can be frustrating, but it’s important that you learn to contain it for now. Elemental power comes through channels in the soul. It’s inevitably tied to emotions.” “Yes…” 

The innocent young mind was true to its moods. To avoid being swept away by Star’s easily angered, crying, and laughing emotions, Eileen was busy centering herself.

 

She felt like a personality disorder, having just signed a contract with a spirit.

 

With that kind of emotional health, isn’t Cordelia the perfect lover?

 

Eileen nodded proudly, having buried Cordelia’s duplicity.

 *Chewing* 

Star snuggled back into Eileen’s arms, sleepy after his tantrum.

 

Still, it was much better. First, he had to wear the spirits restraints.

 

It might seem like a good thing to have such powerful elemental powers, but it was quite dangerous to get carried away with them.

 

‘Athrox…’

 

Orgen had taught me that.

 

A monster born from the assimilation of the emotions of a spirit and a spirit driven to extremes.

 

‘Maybe the original Cordelia was supposed to turn into this Athrox and blow up the Empire.’

 “When are you going to grow up, you ugly four-year-old?” *cough, cough* 

After all the rage, the sight of him sleeping soundly was a bit too much.

Visit my Ko-fi for discounted advance chapters!!