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There was no need to scrub the floor with a rag myself. I raised my small, still-damp hand, which carried the lingering scent of the musty cloth, and snapped my fingers lightly. I felt the energy around me ripple.

Magic.

***

“I took a quick look, and she was throwing a tantrum. She kept insisting she was a Saint and demanding how anyone dared to punish her.”

“Hmph…”  

Lady Jesper’s eyebrows shot up sharply at the words of Noah, the grandson of the Duke of Elpinard.  

Noah was the eldest son of the Elpinard heir, destined to one day inherit the title of viscount and eventually duke.  

Quick-witted and adept at winning the favor of adults, Noah easily gained the approval of even those as stern as Lady Jesper.

Lady Jesper was an old friend of the late Duchess of Elpinard and had been responsible for the etiquette education of the Elpinard children for decades. Even the two sons of the current Duke, now fully grown, had been under her tutelage during their childhood.  

Even the domineering and fearsome Duke of Elpinard respected Lady Jesper’s judgment when it came to the education of his children.  

Noah was fully aware of this.

He knew that if Lady Jesper were continually provoked, the “rolling stone”—the unwelcome addition to the household—would face significant trouble. She might even be expelled from the family. Today was the day to set off the trap he had carefully laid.

How furious would Lady Jesper be when she saw the state of the storage room?  

Angered, she would report to the Duke that this so-called Saint was beyond saving and advise sending her back to the central church or another family.  

Even if the Duke didn’t outright expel the commoner girl, he would no longer tell Noah to treat her with respect as an elder.

“Well, let’s see.”  

Lady Jesper, brimming with anger, started walking towards the storage room, with Noah following close behind, pretending to dissuade her, all the while smiling slyly.

If Lady Jesper stormed in now, that rolling stone wouldn’t be able to offer any excuse and would get scolded again.  

The thought of a flustered, teary-eyed Reshia made Noah’s heart race with anticipation.  

As they neared the storage room, Lady Jesper, without warning but with the grace befitting an etiquette teacher, flung the door open.

Lady Jesper froze at the sight before her, and Noah, peeking out from behind her, was equally stunned, his eyes wide with surprise.

What lay before them was a scene they hadn’t anticipated in the slightest.

***

The door swung open.  

The stern and strict-looking elderly woman, Lady Jesper, scanned the interior of the storage room with wide eyes, then spoke, bewildered.

“It’s… very clean.”

That’s right. The storage room was spotless.

The room wasn’t just clean—it was gleaming, with a shine that caught the light and reflected it in every direction. Here, there, everywhere, the surfaces sparkled. Even the items that the infuriating nephew had ordered his servant to smash were fully restored, leaving no trace of damage.

“W-What is this…?”  

The nephew, who had personally orchestrated the chaos in the storage room, rubbed his eyes in disbelief, looking around frantically.

“It was definitely a mess!”

His voice, tinged with confusion, made me smirk inwardly.  

‘Hmph. This is what we call magic, you annoying little brat.’

The noble White Mages might have been interested in elegant and flashy spells, but Black Mages like myself specialized in highly practical magic. Simple domestic spells, like cleaning or cooking, were as easy as eating cold soup. Moreover, because Black Mages draw upon external mana, I could cast spells even in this reincarnated child’s body as long as I knew the principles. 

If I had been a White Mage, who required years of training to accumulate internal mana, using magic in this young body would have been unthinkable.

‘See? This is why using external mana is so effective.’  

Even those White Mages, who used to criticize the instability of external mana, would have to admit that in situations like this, Black Magic was far more useful.

Lady Jesper, who had been observing her flustered nephew, frowned and let out a deep sigh.

“Noah, you claimed that Miss Reshia threw a tantrum and made a mess of the storage room, didn’t you?”  

“Yes, yes! That’s exactly what happened!”  

“Then tell me, where exactly is this mess? If you can’t explain properly, you’ll be copying the etiquette book ten times over!”

At Lady Jesper’s stern gaze, Noah’s face turned as white as a sheet. Was he already imagining himself painstakingly copying the thick etiquette book, which could probably be used as a weapon?

“Th-th-that…”

The confident expression he’d worn earlier had completely vanished, replaced by a look of panic. Just then, a long shadow fell over the trembling nephew.

“Here you are.”

The moment he arrived, the atmosphere shifted, his presence commanding and almost intimidating. The dashing blond man was someone both the Black Mage of Despair and the timid Reshia knew all too well.

“Lord Axel.”  

“U-Uncle!”

Axel Elpinard.  

The second son of the Duke of Elpinard.  

The hero who had helped slay the Mad Dragon.  

Master of the Mage Tower and a notoriously strict and rigid White Mage.

Both Lady Jesper and the nephew hurriedly offered their respectful greetings to him. Axel, however, showed no interest in their greetings, his icy blue eyes scanning every corner of the storage room with an almost chilling intensity.

‘Still as handsome as ever,’ I thought, observing Axel’s face with a nonchalant air.

His face was slightly more mature than the last time I saw him, but he hadn’t changed much. Contrary to the common stereotype that mages are frail bookworms, Axel Elpinard boasted a near-perfect appearance. He was tall, with well-defined muscles, and his sharp, handsome features were framed by neatly kept blond hair and piercing blue eyes. His remarkable looks made him immensely popular, despite his cold and prickly demeanor.

“What brings you here?”  

Lady Jesper asked cautiously, clearly surprised by Axel’s sudden appearance. It was only then that he slightly inclined his head in greeting.

“There was a movement of mana in this area a short while ago. It wasn’t dangerous, but I came to check just in case,” he replied. His tone was notably respectful, likely because Lady Jesper had once been his etiquette teacher.

“Mana movement?”  

Lady Jesper’s eyes widened in disbelief at the explanation. I felt a pang of guilt and quickly lowered my gaze.  

‘As sharp as ever, this guy.’

Axel had always been sensitive to the flow of mana, likely due to his naturally keen senses. It seemed he had detected the small bit of magic I had used, even though it was just a simple household spell with minimal mana disturbance.

“Perhaps there’s been a mistake? Miss Reshia has been in the storage room the entire time, cleaning as punishment for missing a week of lessons,” Lady Jesper suggested, trying to make sense of the situation.

“She did…?”  

Even with my head bowed, I could feel Axel’s gaze fixed intently on me.

‘This is perfect,’ I thought. I had already planned to find an excuse to meet either the quack cleric or Axel to explain the situation. Now, Axel had shown up on his own, saving me the trouble.

‘Looks like his sensitivity is actually useful for once.’

All I needed to do now was create a situation where we could be alone to talk. But despite knowing what needed to be done, I found it difficult to get the words out. Reshia, in her timidity, always addressed Axel as “Lord Axel.” Despite being his legal sister, the difference in their status meant that this was the standard way for her to address him.