“The Viscount’s words have merit. Do as you wish. I will respect Your Highness’s decision.”

Lynen slightly bowed his upper body while placing his hand on his chest. He lightly touched what he had been keeping in his inner pocket.

Then.

Plop. Roll…

A small orb fell from Lynen’s chest.

Right after his extremely awkward “Oh, a mistake.”

A large griffin jumped out of the vision orb, fiercely cutting through the space between Lucilia and the Viscount as it soared upward.

—SCREECH!

“Eek!?”

“Ugh?!”

The griffin rose vertically through the air, then passed through obstacles at lightning speed. It twisted its body left and right, sometimes even flipping upside down.

At the same time, the blonde hair of the woman holding the griffin’s reins fluttered violently.

It displayed a three-dimensional image played by the vision orb.

“W-who is that person? Has such a talent existed in the empire?”

Lucilia’s mouth fell open at the incredibly fluid riding skills. Her voice became urgent without her realizing it.

“This person is perfect. This is the one! Duke, who on earth is this person? Hmm?”

“This person is…”

Lynen picked up the vision orb.

At the same time, the blonde woman in the three-dimensional image lowered her head as she descended for landing.

Cat-like upturned eyes and an arrogant smile.

A fierce impression, but a blonde beauty who shone just as brilliantly.

Lucilia couldn’t fail to recognize this person.

“…!!”

“Calliphe Offensa.”

Lynen continued with a strangely satisfied voice.

“My future wife.”

“Th-that’s impossible!”

Viscount Gallard made a sound resembling a weed being pulled out, his throat constricting.

* * *

A choking sound escaped from my mouth.

“Ugh.”

After countless bouts of vomiting, my throat strained and my stomach churned. I couldn’t even stand without leaning against the wall.

This indicated a symptom of magical incompatibility.

“Huff. I think I’m almost there…”

Wiping my mouth, I looked at the creatures that had tormented me all day.

They were small monsters in a cage, Pignia.

These monsters, combining a guinea pig’s body with a piranha’s teeth and aggression, ranked as lowest-grade monsters with almost no intelligence. The Magic Tower primarily used them for experiments.

I brought them also for experimentation.

However, even after more than five hours, I hadn’t achieved the desired result.

I downed another stamina potion, having lost count after the twentieth bottle.

It became difficult to distinguish whether I represented a noble lady or a crazed mage at this point.

All of this aimed to recruit the Crown Princess.

“Let’s cooperate, shall we?”

Whew. 56th attempt. I placed my hand close to the Pignia cage and concentrated.

‘I need to focus my internal magic power… and draw it out to a single point.’

As soon as I tried to move my magic power, cold sweat broke out and my stomach turned.

But strangely enough.

‘…It’s more bearable than before.’

Yes. Just a little bit, but enduring the magical incompatibility symptoms had become easier.

‘Is this because the contaminated magic and my magic have slightly separated?’

Magic remained beyond my reach, but I could attempt to simply move magic power.

I experimented with magic penetration.

In other words, poking the monster’s core with magic power.

When the Crown Princess hears that I know how to handle griffins, she will surely seek me out. This preparation proved absolutely necessary for that moment.

‘The Crown Princess doesn’t have contaminated magic like me, nor can she follow my ability application method.’

So I devised a way to mimic my ability application method with ordinary magic power.

That was magic penetration.

‘But this is harder than I thought.’

I refined my magic power to be as sharp as a needle to stimulate the core. But maintaining it proved difficult. The monster’s energy kept knocking it down.

The monster functioned like a vaccine while I occupied the position of a virus.

‘I’d rather just beat up the Crown Princess’s griffin myself.’

But that approach carried a high possibility that the griffin would attack the Crown Princess when I wasn’t around.

In the end, if she planned to handle it herself, she needed to tame it directly.

So I researched griffin riding during the day and this method at night.

Not particularly for the Crown Princess.

Solely for Noah and me.

‘Focus, focus.’

I closed my eyes and repeatedly honed my rebellious magic power, which behaved like a delinquent teenager.

I felt like I was dying from magical incompatibility, but simultaneously, the sensation of moving magic power on my own felt exhilarating.

‘This is my power. The power I had forgotten.’

So listen to your master!

I gritted my teeth and pushed my magic power like a syringe needle. Toward the core of the monster, inside the nape of the Pignia.

As I approached the core, the monster’s energy swarmed to repel me.

But now I want to go home too!

I shouted with the resentment and anger of an office worker who had worked overtime for a week straight and on weekends.

“XX, get out of my way!”

“SQUEAK!”

Thwack. After feeling something being pierced by my magic power, the Pignia flinched.

The creatures that had desperately tried to tear me apart suddenly became docile and started watching my reactions.

“…Huff, huff. Success.”

I tried the experiment on other Pignias as well. The result succeeded.

Perhaps because they belonged to the same species, the location of their cores matched.

“Then for griffins… uh…”

Is this mucus flowing from my nose?

My vision tilted sideways.

Thud.

“Oh my goodness! M-miss!”

Lina, who had waited outside the door, must have heard the sound and rushed in.

She lifted me in her muscular arms and wailed.

“Huhu, miss. Why do you insist on torturing yourself with that paper-thin body?! You don’t even have core muscles!”

Lina, you… you’ve become quite outspoken since gaining confidence…

Cough. A stream of blood trickled from the corner of my mouth. So what came from my nose was also blood.

‘I need to hear about the palace situation from Lynen.’

Whether things proceeded according to the original story. Whether any unexpected variables emerged. Whether Noah had somehow fallen out of favor with the Crown Princess.

‘I need to check.’

As I forcibly tried to lift my head to regain consciousness, Lina comforted me.

“Oh my, now I understand why you told us to keep this a secret from the Duke until the work was done! The Duke would be horrified if he saw you in this state. Please rest.”

Ah, right. There’s Lynen.

‘If it’s Lynen, I can entrust it to him.’

So I think I can rest a bit now.

“Relieved…”

“Miiiiss!”

I fainted.

* * *

“Impossible!”

Lucilia shouted.

The servants passing through the corridor flinched at the Crown Princess’s sudden outburst, but skillfully pretended not to hear as they passed by.

Lucilia panted as she walked.

‘Take lessons from Calliphe Offensa?!’

It felt like the world played a trick on her.

‘I’ve never even heard that woman is good at riding griffins!’

But the recorded video provided clear evidence. The three-dimensional vision orb made by the Magic Tower ranked top-of-the-line among vision orbs. Tampering with it was absolutely impossible.

That meant Calliphe represented the best choice as an instructor for griffin riding.

So in truth, when Duke Ortega showed her the vision orb, she experienced tremendous conflict.

She could barely hear Viscount Gallard’s protests beside her.

Even if her pride suffered, even if she hated it, the answer already existed.

‘I… need Calliphe Offensa’s help.’

Yes. She had to admit it.

The only person who could help her now was that woman.

‘But I absolutely refuse to be the first to ask for her guidance!’

Even temporarily, she couldn’t accept that woman as her teacher. She couldn’t become that woman’s disciple!

‘It would be nice if I had a chance to observe her from the side. I could figure out how she tames griffins.’

But they weren’t close, so what excuse could she use to visit the Offensa lady?

“Hmmmm.”

She needed to clear her head. Lucilia opened the door to the greenhouse garden she always visited at times like this.

But as soon as she entered, she bumped into someone who was just coming out.

“Ah!”

“Ugh!”

Lucilia, who had been staggering, immediately became angry.

“Who dares to enter this place without my permission— huh?”

This little boy who had fallen on his bottom. He looked somewhat familiar.

“You’re… the kid who’s been lingering in front of the palace for days, aren’t you?”