The Beginning of a Rocky Road

"I heard you had a dispute with your tutor." As Fatenai stepped into the study, before she could even offer a greeting, Duke Wisdom's voice rang out. He appeared taciturn and was a difficult person to converse with, yet he was exceptionally blunt, leaving no room for anyone to play games.

"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 rarely faced severe punishment, but it always found ways to make her "regret" the things she had done.

Fatenai would not allow her efforts to go to waste. She said, "I apologize, Father, but I refuse this proposal. Anyone could teach better than her..."

"Or is it that you don't want to take these lessons at all? Fatenai, this is not just for the audience with His Majesty, but for your future life. You need to learn more about social interaction, and more importantly, your actions today prove that you are destined to be unqualified in the social sphere," Duke Wisdom said, following her line of reasoning.

Fatenai had nothing to say. To the nobility, her dispute with Cachey was indeed incredibly rude.

After a moment of silence, Duke Wisdom wanted Fatenai to leave—he had always found her sensible, and her actions today surprised him. But regardless, he did not believe Fatenai had any reason to act this way, and therefore, she needed to apologize for her behavior.

"I am sorry, Father, but I refuse," Fatenai repeated.

Duke Wisdom frowned and turned to look at his only daughter. Fatenai was wearing a pale purple ruffled dress with petal sleeves today. Her face was pale, her lips were pressed tightly together, and her blue-violet eyes were full of stubbornness, as rigid as Duke Wisdom himself.

"Do not bring shame to the family, Fatenai," Duke Wisdom said. The implication was clear and startling—Duke Wisdom had already framed the matter as something very serious.

This might have been the first time Fatenai had spoken so willfully, yet she received not a shred of forgiveness.

Fatenai held this Duke in awe in her heart, but the disappointment also caused her to question him while her head throbbed with pain: "Is not bringing shame to the family equivalent to throwing me away into some upstart family? Duke, I do not feel that I have ever done anything to wrong the family, other than being unable to use Mana."

Nobles were not good at expressing their emotions, and Fatenai had learned this well, but today she had to try to get to the bottom of everything.

"What do you mean by that?" Duke Wisdom was stunned.

Fatenai looked at the increasingly stiff and cold-faced Duke Wisdom without a hint of fear: "Am I just a commodity to the family? Am I to be used to exchange for sufficient benefits while I still have value?"

"Lonai... how could you..." Both of them wanted to speak again when they suddenly heard Lady Wisdom's voice. Fatenai turned in surprise; she did not know when Lady Wisdom had pushed open the door and entered the study. "Lonai... you need to marry into a good family. Don't you know that you have already become the subject of discussion among the nobles?"

Fatenai believed she could argue something out with Duke Wisdom, but she never believed she could gain any understanding from Lady Wisdom. Even though they were both women, Lady Wisdom was a true noblewoman.

Marriage was the only way out for a noble girl, especially one like her who had already lost her future.

"No... Mother, I have had enough." Fatenai shook her head. Watching the tears roll down Lady Wisdom's cheeks, she wanted to reach out and wipe them away, but Lady Wisdom shook her head, brushed her hand aside, and walked to Duke Wisdom's side.

Fatenai did not know what to say and let her hands drop.

"Fatenai, I don't know why you have such thoughts, but you have no choice. You are a part of the Wisdom Family, and you should strive for its glory for the rest of your life." Duke Wisdom patted the back of the Duchess, who was crying until she was breathless, and looked at Fatenai with a decisive and cold gaze. "Go back. If you don't like Cachey, I will change your tutor, but regardless, before you meet His Majesty, you must learn how to become a qualified bride."

Fatenai had once admired this decisiveness and coldness, but now she hated it to the core.

She did not know how she returned to her room. Anna quietly helped her change into comfortable clothes, letting her rest for a while.

"It seems you failed, Miss?" Hermes looked at her dejected appearance and spoke only when her eyes regained some focus.

Fatenai did not speak. She collapsed onto the bed and stared blankly at the ceiling.

"Fine, Hermes," Fatenai suddenly spoke, which left Hermes somewhat confused. He only saw her rise slowly after speaking, light shining in her blue-violet eyes. "You win."

Half a month later, Fatenai welcomed the day of her departure for Dryden, the King's territory.

During these days, she did not see the Duchess again—perhaps the Duchess simply did not wish to see a daughter who did not put her heart into proper matters.

Fatenai did not blame her. She knew that perhaps for the Duchess, being able to marry off a daughter currently labeled as "useless" was the best thing. There was no need to make things difficult for the Duchess over values she deemed incorrect—this feeling was similar to pitying her while feeling helpless herself.

Since the argument with her parents that day, Fatenai had become unexpectedly quiet and followed the family's arrangements—Duke Wisdom had replaced her tutor, and she continued her etiquette lessons that felt like they would never end.

Fatenai comforted herself that this gave her a reason to leave Theretine aside—however, Theretine, left to his own devices, was quite content to amuse himself alone, showing no signs of boredom, which actually earned him some admiration from Fatenai.

On this day, Fatenai was woken up by Anna. Before dawn, she had already changed her clothes—by the time she was fully awake, she was already dressed and holding her suitcase, ready to leave.

Fatenai sighed and headed straight out.

"Is Mother not coming with me?" Fatenai asked as she walked down the corridor—when she passed Lady Wisdom's room, the door was tightly shut.

After receiving a firm reply from Anna, Fatenai sighed and walked downstairs. When she turned the corner, she noticed a woman in a black dress standing in the hall. Her fair face was expressionless, and a pair of blue-violet eyes made the atmosphere around her, which felt like she was heading to a funeral, suddenly loosen. Although still a bit stiff, it was not overly rigid.

She was a woman much like Duke Wisdom, but Fatenai had never seen her before.

However, she knew that Duke Wisdom had a younger sister, her aunt, Lelia Wisdom—there were not many who possessed the bloodline of the Wisdom Family. Just looking at the woman's distinctive eyes and the age displayed by her appearance, she could confirm that this was the aunt she had never met.

But this Lelia Wisdom had never visited her before, and she had once thought that the Wisdom Family had no such lady.

"Hello, Fatenai, I am Lelia." Lelia's introduction was brief, with a touch more detachment than Duke Wisdom had shown her. "I promised your father I would take you to Dryden. If you have prepared your etiquette, come with me. If you are not prepared, please return to your room, lie down, and treat all of this as a dream."

Fatenai was a bit surprised; she had not expected this aunt to say such things to her. The severity was similar to Cachey's, yet Lelia was more adept at it.

"Very well, hello, Aunt Lelia." The etiquette Fatenai had been accustomed to since childhood made her respond subconsciously, which surprised Lelia as well.

Similarly, the surprise in both of them was fleeting. Fatenai followed Lelia out the door. The black carriage was pitch-black—no one came to see them off on this journey, as if the young lady were merely going for a walk outside and would return soon.

After getting into the carriage, Fatenai's impression of this aunt became much more complex—although the carriage was not large, it was decorated with understated luxury, a level of opulence that even Fatenai rarely felt so struck by.

"It is still early morning. Are you cold?" Lelia sat in the carriage and glanced at Fatenai opposite her.

"Not at all..." Fatenai, perhaps out of politeness, did not want to cause trouble for this aunt who did not seem very friendly. However, Lelia did not consider her answer at all. She stood up slowly, her eyes fixed on the black chandelier that seemed to be a decoration on the carriage ceiling—if she hadn't looked up, Fatenai would not have noticed it.

Lelia slowly took off her gloves, reached out a fair hand, and gently touched the chandelier on the ceiling. The wick inside the chandelier ignited out of thin air, and along with her movement, warmth spread through the space, making Fatenai feel much warmer all at once.

Fatenai could not help but be amazed; this was the first time she had seen the use of so-called Mana.

"Allentia bestowed Mana upon humanity, and only the noble may use it," Lelia put her gloves back on, straightened her back, and said as if in passing, "Only commoners would look for matches to start a fire; those are the result of the blasphemy against the gods from the previous life—as nobles, our bloodline has always carried the ability to use Mana."

"Is there anyone who is a noble but cannot use Mana?" Fatenai asked with a smile.

"You are the first, and I hope the last," Lelia's bluntness was no less than Duke Wisdom's. "For a noble, your inability to use Mana is no less surprising and strange than a commoner being able to use it."

Fatenai acted as if she had not heard the sarcasm in Lelia's words and asked, "Can commoners also use Mana?"

"A small number of ungrateful, lucky ones who call themselves mages, completely disregarding the Goddess," Lelia said.

After saying this, she had no further interest in talking to Fatenai, closed her eyes, and remained sitting perfectly straight.

This was going to be a less-than-interesting journey, Fatenai knew clearly, and she looked out the window, lost in thought.