A few days later in Count Trow’s office.

The Count clicked his tongue while glaring at his eldest son who was watching his reaction.

“So Baron Durford failed in his attempt to do something to Leah Piert with the potion he stole from you?”

Count Trow recalled the letter from the spy he had planted in the Piert ducal family.

He’d heard that Leah Piert had collapsed at her recuperation site and was sick for three days before waking up – it seemed she had taken the potion.

“To think she survived, what a lucky wench.”

“The Baron seems to be quite anxious.”

A few days ago.

The bakery owner who sold the cookies that Leah ate was attacked and collapsed on his way home.

The Trow family found the culprit who beat up the bakery owner, and he quickly confessed who had hired him.

It was Baron Durford.

“So the Baron is finally trying to clean up his mess.”

“You should have seen how frightened he was. It seemed like he wanted to kill Leah Piert too if he could, just to destroy the evidence.”

The Count’s eyes gleamed.

“…Well, that’s not impossible, is it?”

“Pardon?”

Lord Trow unconsciously frowned.

There was no way a coward like Baron Durford could pull off something of that magnitude.

“Father, are you serious? The Baron is far too predictable.”

Even this time, he had used such an obvious thug that it was clear who had attacked the bakery owner.

It was fortunate they had found and dealt with it first, otherwise the Piert family would have discovered it immediately.

“If we goad him and provide him with underworld connections, won’t he cause trouble on his own?”

Lord Trow felt uneasy.

“Is it really alright to be so deeply involved with such a fool?”

He worried it might backfire on them instead.

“Even fools have their uses.”

Count Trow instructed.

“Make sure you encourage him well. But don’t leave any direct evidence.”

Will this work?

Lord Trow was skeptical but had no choice.

He had to make up for his big mistake of letting the Baron steal the potion.

“Yes, Father.”

***

Leah was full of enthusiasm.

She couldn’t help it.

‘What’s your dream, our Leah?’

‘To live long.’

After blurting out that answer, Leah Piert (age 7) had given a bitter smile and asked, ‘That’s an impossible dream, isn’t it?’

Since then, she had only one life goal.

To live sweetly and long, and die late!

“Let’s start the lesson quickly.”

Helix smiled at her urging.

“I’m glad to see my first disciple in a long time so enthusiastic. Today I’ll teach you the basics of magic.”

He began his explanation.

“There’s something everyone misunderstands when they first encounter magic.”

Helix stated firmly.

“Magic is not done with mental strength, will, or emotions.”

“It’s not?”

“No.”

After confirming it again, Helix continued.

“Sometimes those things can help when you hit a wall in magic or in crisis situations. But in normal cases, they’re actually harmful.”

“Why?”

“Because using magic like gambling ultimately hurts the mage.”

Helix pointed to the pile of firewood next to the fireplace.

“If you know exactly that your fireball burns five logs at once, when you need to burn twenty logs, you’ll know to shoot exactly four fireballs.”

“That’s right.”

“But if you’re greatly affected by emotions and condition, your fireball might burn thirty logs sometimes and only one log other times. Not being able to predict your own power like that becomes dangerous for the mage themselves.”

Leah agreed with Helix’s words.

If you’re confronted by an attacker, your ultimate finishing move fireball turns out to be just match-sized?

Take this!

Ouch, that stings! Do you really want to die that badly?!

You’d only end up provoking your opponent more.

“Then what should I do?”

She asked, and Helix answered.

“You need to make magic become second nature to your body.”

Just as swordsmen might strategize in their minds while their bodies move according to training, he said it’s better for mages to think of possible methods while letting magic flow naturally through trained instinct.

“I’m not really getting it.”

“You’ll understand naturally once you create specific mental images and practice repeatedly. Imagine you’re holding a magic wand.”

“Like this?”

“Straighten your back more.”

He moved behind Leah to correct her posture but hesitated.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

Helix took Leah’s hand and sent some kind of refreshing energy flowing through it.

“What’s this?”

“My mana.”

“So mana feels different for everyone.”

His hands are so big and firm.

As Leah thought this absently, Helix was thinking to himself.

How can her hands be as soft as cream?

He quietly let go of her hand and grabbed her arm to stretch it out.

Pong.

“Ah, that tickles.”

Helix’s mana passed through her palm, traveled up her arm, seemed to trace around her heart, then headed toward her dantian*.

(T/N: Dantian is a major energy center in the body, often located in the lower belly.)

“Remember this flow of mana now. You need to practice thinking about reversing this flow.”

Leah nodded and stretched out her arm as he had guided.

“Should I stretch my arm like this?”

“Naturally, like this.”

Helix gently stretched her arm out.

“Like this?”

“Your mana sensitivity is good but your posture is completely wrong.”

“That’s because I’m uncoordinated.”

Helix sighed lightly as he adjusted Leah’s posture.

His long fingers pressed against her lower back.

“This time, try moving the mana in the opposite direction.”

Pong.

Helix’s refreshing mana entered from her back toward her dantian.

His mana guided her, flowing through her blood vessels, circling toward her heart and into both arms.

Thump.

There was a response from both Leah’s heart and dantian area.

“Now.”

Leah concentrated more at Helix’s words.

“Your breathing is irregular. The foundation of power is circulation. Don’t tense up, slowly.”

He made an audible breath as if demonstrating.

“Hoo.”

“Hooo.”

“Again. Breathe with the flow of mana in your body. Hoo.”

“Hoo.”

Leah focused on the power within her while trying to steady her wavering breath.

Crackle crackle.

She felt energy rising somewhere in her body like sparks.

‘I think I almost have it…!’

Helix watched anxiously from the side.

She was certainly working hard, but she had zero basic understanding of how to move and utilize her body.

‘Even for a noble lady… doesn’t she at least dance?’

After watching her struggle for an hour.

Finally, unable to watch Leah strain any longer, he spoke up.

“Leah, have you done any exercise? Dancing perhaps?”

She shook her head.

“I was weak since childhood, so I just sat at balls.”

“Then what activities do you usually do?”

“Um… breathing?”

“…”

Whether in her previous life or current one, she had lived moving only her fingers.

“This won’t do.”

Helix said gravely.

“We need to increase your activity level first. The mana isn’t circulating in your body.”

“What? Mages have to care about that too? Doesn’t mana take care of itself?”

Helix gave her a rare look of exasperation.

“Proper mana dwells in a healthy body.”

“…Hearing that moral physical education combo is draining my energy.”

He ignored her grumbling.

“Let’s start with hiking the back mountain.”

***

“You said this was a walk!”

Leah shouted from the ridge of the Hel Mountains.

“What’s the problem?”

Helix replied calmly without a single irregular breath.

He was practically skipping up the mountain path that others would struggle to climb, without even a twitch of his eyebrow.

Leah looked up at him with deadened eyes.

“Helix, be honest… you’re not human, right? Are you actually my little brother’s pet?”

“There’s a flaw in your logic, Leah. Though I haven’t met your little brother, if your brother isn’t human, wouldn’t that mean you’re not human either?”

He was pedantic yet logical.

“Oh my, anyway, I can’t go any further.”

Leah plopped down.

“We’re only at the ridge, what are you saying?”

“I’m telling you I couldn’t even manage a walk around the mansion, let alone the ridge. If you push me suddenly, I’ll collapse.”

Helix clicked his tongue as he looked down at Leah.

“You need to walk at least a bit more. Don’t you need to teach your mana how to move too?”

“…ugh, right. Nothing comes without effort.”

Helix looked surprised as Leah groaned and stood up.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“When you said mana takes care of itself, I thought you were trying to become a mage without effort.”

“That was just something I said once.”

She declared.

“You said I can become healthy. I might not try hard at other things, but I’ll work really hard at magic.”

“…Is there no option to work hard at everything?”

“What if I get sick?”

Leah smiled.

Unlike her playful tone, it was a smile tinged with fatigue.

“At first, there were so many things I wanted to do.”

She looked down at the Piert ducal family’s villa below the mountain as she spoke.

“I wanted to eat lots of delicious desserts, get pretty dresses made every season, go to balls and dance with wonderful partners…”

Leah’s voice became hoarse.

“But then I nearly died throwing up all night after eating just two slices of cheesecake.”

“…”

“After that happened a few more times, I realized. No matter how much wealth and honor the Piert ducal family had, my world would be narrow.”

The times spent lying in luxurious beds, enduring fever and pain.

Those suffocating and painful times made up most of her life as Leah.

“…I understand that feeling.”

Helix nodded heavily.

“I was confined too.”

Leah looked at Helix with fresh eyes.

He was a man who had been sealed away for a long time.

She felt a bit sorry and awkward.

It felt like complaining about wrinkles to a chrysalis.

“No, I’m not saying I suffered as much as you did.”

“Suffering is suffering, regardless of how long it lasted.”

What the.

Leah clutched her chest internally.

When you suddenly speak like a sage like that, it makes my conscience ache even more.

She hesitated before mumbling.

“…Anyway, I’ll work hard at magic.”

“Alright.”

As Helix smiled and reached out to pat Leah’s head.

Rustle.

Suddenly something began falling on their heads.

“…Snow?”

Leah was startled.

“At this time of year?”

Snow falling in early autumn.

Helix watched the increasingly heavy snowfall and said.

“I have an idea what this might be.”