Feel the Charm of Magic

It turned out that evening study was quite effective.

The next morning, when Lux woke up and saw sunlight filtering through the curtains, her first thought was, Sunlight isn't Elemental Magic. That's an easy point to get confused about.

She'd really studied herself silly.

Shaking her head, Lux felt like she was going crazy. She looked toward the bedside, where Karya lay quietly in the warm morning light.

She glared at the hilt, still not quite satisfied. After a moment's thought, she simply jumped onto the bed, with no regard for ladylike manners, then raised her leg and lifted her little, fair foot.

You rascal!

I'll stomp—

But just as she was about to bring her foot down, Lux hesitated.

Was this... a bad idea?

After all, he was teaching her, and he'd promised to help her rescue her uncle, who was trapped in the Shadow Realm.

Lux didn't know what use this knowledge would be, or whether she'd be able to rescue her uncle in the end, but Karya was still her mentor.

Reluctantly lowering her leg, Lux changed into a long dress, put on her headband, and washed her face in the washroom beside her bedroom. In the end, she still picked up her sword and buckled it to her belt.

"Well, you're awake?" As Lux's magic began to flow again, Karya greeted her right on cue. "Your magic seems a little unstable. Looks like yesterday must have worn you out—so let's skip morning study today."

"..."

She was glad she didn't have to study in the morning or face Karya's relentless questions. But the moment she remembered this only meant not today, her happiness vanished completely.

"I'm going to breakfast." Lux pouted and pulled on her little boots. "Remember to remind me about etiquette. Mother seemed happy yesterday, and today I want to make Father happy too!"

"You really are the Crown Guard family's thoughtful little darling!" Karya was in a good mood. "But in my view, if you really want to make him happy, the best thing you can do is keep an eye on your thoughtless brother, just as you promised your mother yesterday."

"My brother isn't thoughtless!" Lux puffed out her cheeks and retorted indignantly. "He's just a little impulsive!"

"A twelve-year-old brat wants to enlist, and at a time like this, when tensions are high and war could break out. 'A little impulsive' doesn't begin to describe it." Karya made a clicking sound with his tongue. "There's only a fine line between bravery and recklessness. I wonder which side he's on."

"He's brave!" Even though Garen had broken her beloved wind-up music box and couldn't put it back together, Lux still did her best to defend her brother. "He must know it's dangerous to enlist right now, but he still won't hesitate, because it's what a noble is supposed to do!"

"Oh? A noble's virtues?"

"That's right. Virtues." Lux blinked, doing her best to find evidence to support her claim. "Taking responsibility and leading the charge. How does that saying go... 'We are supported by the people, and we defend our home.' That's it!"

"So you're proud of him?" Karya asked casually. "Because although his choice is dangerous, it fits the definition of the noble spirit in the first volume of The Grand Etiquette, right?"

"Exactly!" Lux raised her chin proudly, a delighted smile spreading across her face. "That's right!"

But she never imagined that after presenting her evidence, she wouldn't get Karya's agreement. Instead, he offered a completely unrelated "compliment."

"Our Lady Lux really is impressive! She diligently studied for an entire afternoon yesterday. Though she'd forgotten seventy percent of it by evening, she still had enough energy to notice that open book on the table—a mere decoration—and remember those utterly meaningless phrases... Truly, a remarkable talent!"

Lux had been beaming with pride, but when she heard the undisguised sarcasm, she froze.

For the little princess of the Crown Guard family, the criticism was much too harsh. She'd never been criticized in a sarcastic tone before, and Karya's words caught in her chest, leaving her almost unable to breathe for a moment.

She'd only been defending her brother. Why had the subject turned back to how she hadn't paid attention during yesterday's lesson?

And when she thought of last night's test, she had to admit she really hadn't known the answers. She was furious, but couldn't find a way to argue back...

In that moment, Lux suddenly wanted to hurl the sword as hard as she could—into the corner, outside the castle, or into the moat.

Before she could say anything else, Lady Ogesha appeared at the end of the corridor.

"Darling, you're awake!" Lady Ogesha hurried over in her well-fitted long dress and stroked Lux's fluffy golden hair. "Go on to the dining room. Your father has a meeting at Dawn Castle this morning. He probably won't be back until evening."

Hearing Ogesha say that, Lux temporarily gave up on throwing the sword away. She nodded, then took a deep breath and, following Karya's reminder, entered "noble lady" mode.

You rascal—just you wait!

Once I've learned your knowledge, I'll use your own words to argue you into silence!

Breakfast passed peacefully.

Unfortunately, Peter seemed so concerned about the situation at the front that he had no time to notice Lux's ladylike behavior. The tall head of the Crown Guard family kept his brow furrowed throughout the meal, occasionally lowering his head to think. Aside from glaring at Garen when he shouted that he wanted to enlist, he didn't say another word.

Lux felt a little disappointed after breakfast.

The girl had thought her good manners might earn her father's approval and brighten his mood. But Peter had no attention to spare for his family. His mind was entirely occupied with the conflict with Noxus, and Lux's efforts had been in vain.

Ogesha praised Lux again during their after-breakfast walk, but it still left her feeling uncomfortable.

Lux knew her uncle wasn't dead, but she couldn't tell her family about her deal with Karya. She'd hoped to find some way to cheer them up, but unfortunately, aside from the perceptive Ogesha, neither her burdened father nor her single-minded brother could understand how she felt.

Then that rascal Garen even said after breakfast, "Lux, why are you acting so stiff all of a sudden?"

His mother grabbed him by the ear and dragged him away.

"If you want to enlist... then start by training!" Ogesha seemed to have found a solution. "Your father has already spoken to the steward. While he trains the prince, he'll give you some necessary training too!"

Clearly, this was one of Ogesha's ways of dealing with Garen wanting to enlist.

Want to enlist?

Then go train!

Once you're exhausted, you won't have the energy to keep shouting about running away from home.

And so, her father left early for Dawn Citadel, while her mother took her brother away. Lux was left alone in the garden.

"Do we still have to study?" Lux's disappointment was plain to see. "Are you going to keep teaching me?"

"Before that, we need to review and reinforce a few things." Karya didn't answer directly. "Come on. Let's go to the wall at the edge of the garden and review what you learned yesterday."

To the garden wall?

Lux blinked in confusion, but still followed Karya's instructions and found an unoccupied corner.

"Good. This spot will do." Karya seemed satisfied. "Now, lean against the wall and let me feel it."

Lean against the wall?

She had no idea what he was trying to do, but Lux turned around and pressed her back against the garden wall. The next moment, an astonishing surge of magic flowed from behind her into her hand, then poured into the hilt of the sword she was holding.

The scorching sensation vanished in an instant, but even after it was gone, she could still feel that she had much more magic inside her than she had the day before.

"I imagine you're puzzled, and maybe even resentful, about why I made you memorize all that information by rote." As Lux stared in astonishment, Karya's voice sounded again. "I'll tell you: it's the foundation of magic, the foundation of everything, and the core principle of this world. Now, look at your palm!"

Lux lowered her head and saw a ball of light dancing erratically in her palm like a sprite.

It was just like when she had first awakened her magical talent the day before yesterday.

The breeze, growing warmer as the morning wore on, swept past, and the light seemed to begin dancing too.

"I've removed the Nullstone protection around you. This is the raw form of your magic," Karya explained. "Now, let's look at the advanced variations of raw magic."

As he spoke, Karya took control of Lux's body.

"Let's start with the mistakes you made last night... First, the seven forms of resonance in Elemental Magic. The weather's lovely, so let's use light and wind as examples."

The ball of light grew indistinct, ethereal, and unstable—"This is resonance."

The ball of light made a whooshing sound like a strong wind—"This is harmony."

The ball of light grew bright enough to be almost blinding—"This is amplification."

The ball of light dimmed, and Lux's palm felt chilly—"This is harmonization."

The ball of light became an elemental sprite, half light and half wind—"This is manifestation."

The ball of light scattered with the wind, illuminating a corner of the wall—"This is diffusion."

Finally, the ball of light rapidly changed shape in Lux's palm, becoming a brilliant emblem. Lux recognized it as the crest of the Crown Guard family. "This is crystallization."

"Look closely at the details of the emblem. See those radial lines? That's the basic form of Light Magic after crystallization! If you can't remember this, you won't even be able to create your family crest!"

After seeing the radial lines on the crystallized emblem with her own eyes, Lux instinctively wanted to nod. But with Karya controlling her body, she couldn't, and could only watch him continue his demonstration.

"Next, let's look at the difference between sunlight and light elements..."

"..."

"..."

And so, as Lux stared in a daze, Karya used the energy stored in the Crown Guard family's Nullstone to show her a number of intricate magical tricks.

The tricks had almost no destructive power, but they required precise control of magic. Through them, Karya corrected each of the mistakes Lux had made during the previous night's evening study, proving with practical examples that the theories he'd taught her were true and accurate.

When Lux regained control of her body, she still didn't trust magic, but she couldn't help being amazed by its subtlety.

The girl was a little tired, but her spirits had clearly improved. She looked full of energy again, and Karya, sensing the change, finally let out a long breath.

It seemed that after the three-step process of cramming, review, and practice, Lux had finally become a little more proactive about learning magic.

The little leek had finally begun to sprout!

Teaching was no simple task.

In truth, if Karya had taken control of Lux from the start and drawn mana from the Nullstone to perform these magical tricks, then no matter how intricate they were, they could never have interested her. Instead, she would have been frightened and might even have reported him.

Even a carefree child would have trouble accepting that her body was no longer under her control.

By contrast, first teaching her some theory and reinforcing her memory, then showing her the facts, was a way to help the girl accept magic as quickly as possible.

After all, fear often came from the unknown. Once Lux had studied magic theory—even if the teaching had been rote, and she understood only what happened, not why—she could still begin to think that "magic is controllable."

And once she realized that magic followed rules and could be controlled, her fear would dissipate.

Lux still didn't understand much about magic, but she was clearly far more eager to learn. Only when abstract theories and visible spells came together could she grasp the true essence of magic. Karya had always believed in the unity of theory and practice, even back in Shurima!

However, although Lux looked excited, Karya had to end the lesson for the day.

Karya was, after all, a Darkin.

Although he had no intention of controlling or possessing Lux, and although he had used some of the magic stored in the Nullstone wall as a source of magic power to avoid directly controlling Lux's magic as much as possible, that series of spells had still pushed her to her limit.

A nine-year-old girl had little resistance to the corrupting influence of the Void. Her excitement was only on the surface; in reality, Lux's mind had reached its limit.

In that state, she couldn't manage either spell practice or a lesson in theory. With her mental focus scattered, she couldn't take anything in, and her thoughts would become a tangled mess.

At that point, it was better to chat and help her relax.

So when Lux returned to the reading room, opened the massive book she kept around for appearances, and prepared to begin her studies for the day, Karya told her there would be no lesson.

"I think we need to get to know each other better," Karya said. "I also need to learn more about this era and this country. That will be a great help with your lessons."

"So?"

"So, lovely Lady Lux, would you be willing to chat with an old fellow like me?" Karya's voice softened, for once. "Let's call it... a little work-life balance."