"I heard you had a disagreement with your tutor." The moment she stepped into the study, before Fatenai could even curtsy, Duke Wisdom spoke. He seemed taciturn and difficult to talk to, yet he was unusually blunt, giving no one a chance to beat around the bush.
"Yes," Fatenai admitted.
"Then go apologize to your tutor and continue your lessons," Duke Wisdom said.
Life in the Wisdom Family had taught Fatenai that she was unlikely to receive any particularly severe punishment. But they always seemed to find ways to make her "regret" what she had done.
Fatenai wouldn't let her efforts go to waste. "I'm sorry, Father, but I refuse. Anyone else could teach those lessons better than she can..."
"Or do you simply not want to take these lessons? Fatenai, this isn't just about your audience with His Majesty. It's about your future. You need to learn how to socialize—and, more importantly, your behavior today has shown that you're bound to fail in society." Duke Wisdom followed her argument to its conclusion.
Fatenai had nothing to say. By noble standards, her quarrel with Cachey had indeed been terribly improper.
After a moment of silence, Duke Wisdom was about to dismiss Fatenai. He had always thought her sensible, and her behavior today had surprised him. Still, he didn't believe she had any reason to act this way, so she needed to apologize for what she had done.
"I'm sorry, Father, but I refuse," Fatenai repeated.
Duke Wisdom frowned and turned to look at his only daughter. Fatenai wore a pale purple ruffled dress with puffed sleeves. Her pale face was set in a tight-lipped frown, and her blue-violet eyes were full of stubbornness. She was as rigid as Duke Wisdom himself.
"Don't bring shame on the family, Fatenai," Duke Wisdom said, making his meaning clear and shocking: he was treating the matter as extremely serious.
Perhaps this was the first time Fatenai had spoken so willfully, yet she received not the slightest forgiveness.
Fatenai held the duke in awe, but disappointment and the ache in her head drove her to demand, "Not bringing shame on the family means casually throwing me away to some nouveau riche family? Your Grace, I don't think I've ever done anything to wrong the family, apart from being unable to use mana."
Nobles weren't good at showing their feelings, and Fatenai had learned that lesson well. But today, she had no choice but to try to get to the bottom of everything.
"What do you mean?" Duke Wisdom froze.
Fatenai wasn't intimidated by the increasingly stiff, cold expression on Duke Wisdom's face. "Am I nothing but a commodity to the family? Are you going to trade me for enough benefits while I still have value?"
"Lonai... How can you..." Both of them were about to speak again when they suddenly heard Lady Wisdom's voice. Fatenai turned in surprise. At some point, Lady Wisdom had opened the door and entered the study. "Lonai... You need to marry into a good family. Don't you know that the nobles are already talking about you?"
Fatenai thought she might be able to argue something out with Duke Wisdom, but she had never believed she could gain any understanding from Lady Wisdom. Though they were both women, Lady Wisdom was a bona fide noblewoman.
Marriage was the only way out for noble girls, especially for one like her, who had already lost her future.
"No... Mother, I've had enough." Fatenai shook her head. Tears kept streaming from Lady Wisdom's eyes. Fatenai wanted to wipe them away, but Lady Wisdom shook her head and brushed her hand aside, then went to stand beside Duke Wisdom.
Fatenai didn't know what to say. Her hands hung at her sides.
"Fatenai, I don't know why you think this way, but you have no choice. You're a member of the Wisdom Family, and you should devote your life to striving for its glory." Duke Wisdom patted his wife's back as she sobbed until she could barely catch her breath. His gaze at Fatenai was decisive and cold. "Go back. If you don't like Cachey, I'll find you another tutor. But no matter what, you must learn how to be a proper bride before your audience with His Majesty."
Fatenai had once admired that decisiveness and coldness. Now, she hated them with all her heart.
She didn't know how she got back to her room. Anna quietly helped her change into something comfortable and let her rest for a while.
"So you failed, miss?" Hermes asked when he saw how dejected she looked. He waited until her gaze had regained some focus before speaking.
Fatenai didn't answer. She collapsed onto the bed and stared blankly at the ceiling.
"All right, Hermes," Fatenai said suddenly. Hermes looked at her, confused. Then she slowly sat up, her blue-violet eyes shining. "You win."
A little over half a month later, the day came for Fatenai to leave for Dryden, the king's domain.
She hadn't seen Lady Wisdom since then. Perhaps Lady Wisdom simply didn't want to see a daughter who paid no attention to what mattered.
Fatenai didn't blame her. She knew that, to Lady Wisdom, getting her married off might have seemed best, given that everyone now considered Fatenai "good for nothing." There was no need to fault Lady Wisdom for holding what Fatenai saw as misguided values. It was a feeling akin to pitying her while also feeling helpless herself.
After her argument with her parents, Fatenai had unexpectedly quieted down and followed the family's arrangements. Duke Wisdom had found her another tutor, and she had resumed the seemingly endless etiquette lessons.
Fatenai comforted herself with the thought that this gave her an excuse to leave Theretine behind. But Theretine, left alone, seemed perfectly content to wander around and amuse himself. He didn't seem bored at all, which Fatenai found rather admirable.
That day, Anna woke Fatenai before dawn and helped her get dressed. By the time she was fully awake, she was already holding a suitcase and ready to leave.
Fatenai sighed and went straight out.
"Is Mother not coming with me?" Fatenai asked as she walked down the corridor. The door to Lady Wisdom's room was shut as she passed it.
After Anna confirmed that Lady Wisdom wasn't coming, Fatenai sighed and continued downstairs. Only when she rounded the corner did she notice a woman in a black dress standing in the foyer. Her pale face was expressionless, but the blue-violet eyes softened the funereal atmosphere around her. She still seemed a little stiff, but no longer quite so severe.
The woman reminded her of Duke Wisdom, but Fatenai had never seen her before.
She knew, however, that Duke Wisdom had a younger sister, her own aunt, Lelia Wisdom. There weren't many people in the Wisdom Family with their distinctive bloodline. From the woman's striking eyes and apparent age, Fatenai could tell that this had to be the aunt she had never met.
But Lelia Wisdom had never visited her before. For a time, Fatenai had even thought the Wisdom Family had no such lady.
"Hello, Fatenai. I'm Lelia." Lelia's introduction was brief, and she seemed even more distant than Duke Wisdom. "I agreed to take you to Dryden for your father. If you're prepared to mind your manners, come with me. If you're not, go back to your room, lie down, and pretend this was all a dream."
Fatenai was surprised. She hadn't expected her aunt to speak to her that way. Lelia was nearly as strict as Cachey, but seemed much more at ease with it.
"All right. Hello, Aunt Lelia." Fatenai replied instinctively, drawing on the etiquette she had been taught since childhood. That surprised Lelia a little.
Their surprise passed just as quickly. Fatenai followed Lelia out the door. The carriage was entirely black, and no one had come to see her off. It was as if the young lady were only going outside for a stroll and would be back soon.
Once she was in the carriage, Fatenai's impression of her aunt became more complicated. Though it wasn't large, the carriage was decorated with understated luxury. Even Fatenai rarely saw anything that left her so awestruck.
"It's still early. Are you cold?" Lelia asked, glancing at Fatenai across from her.
"Not really..." Fatenai might have said so out of politeness, not wanting to trouble an aunt who didn't seem especially considerate. But Lelia clearly had no intention of waiting for her answer. She slowly stood, her eyes fixed on a black chandelier on the carriage ceiling that seemed to be merely decorative. Fatenai wouldn't have noticed it if Lelia hadn't looked up.
Lelia slowly took off her glove and reached out her pale hand to touch the chandelier. The wick inside it lit by itself, and warmth spread with the flame. Fatenai immediately felt much warmer.
Fatenai couldn't help being amazed. This was the first time she had seen mana being used.
"Allentia bestowed mana upon humanity, and only the noble can use it." Lelia put her glove back on and sat upright. She spoke as if the thought had just occurred to her. "Only commoners need matches to start a fire. That comes from the desecration of the gods in a previous life. The blood of nobles has always carried the ability to use mana."
"Are there nobles who can't use mana?" Fatenai asked with a smile.
"You're the first, and I hope the last," Lelia replied, as blunt as Duke Wisdom. "To nobles, your inability to use mana is every bit as astonishing and strange as a commoner being able to use it."
Fatenai acted as if she hadn't caught the sarcasm in Lelia's words. "Can commoners use mana too?"
"A few ungrateful lucky ones claim to be mages and pay no heed to the goddess at all," Lelia said.
After that, she had no interest in speaking to Fatenai. She closed her eyes, though she continued to sit perfectly straight.
Fatenai knew all too well that this wasn't going to be a very interesting journey. She gazed out the window, lost in thought.
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