Ellendise woke up in the middle of the night, her sixth sense was warning her of an impending danger.
Her eyes snapped open and caught sight of a shadowy silhouette by her bedside.
Ellendise sat up and leaped away like a startled animal but instead of cowering away, her eyes blazed with fury.
"It is quite rude to enter a lady's room during this hour of the night." Ellendise stood up and extended her hand, not waiting for a response.
The sword on the wall flew to her hand and she grasped the handle tightly. Ellendise felt the weight of the sword that was a disadvantage to her ten year old body.
It was lighter than normal swords and easy to swing. Atleast Nitense was sensible enough to give her this kind of sword
"Interesting." The intruder said in the dead night. His familiar voice sent a chill to her spine. This was the same voice of the masked person that her Uncle had invited.
Ellendise once again probed the magic around him.
Cool, hot yet suffocating.
"Don't be alarmed. I only came here to have a talk with Lady Ellen." The tower mage advanced further without caution.
Ellendise tightly gripped her sword.
"Is that so? But isn't it a bit rude to invite yourself over during the late hours of the night just to 'talk' with me." Ellendise didn't hide the disdain in her voice.
"I do know that but Lady Ellen wouldn't mind. "
"And how do you know I won't mind?" This person was a bit weird. He didn't seem to care that his words were illogical. It was like he was purposely speaking this way to irritate her.
"Trespassing in private property and barging inside the room of the count's daughter. I'd like to know the name of the punk who's brave enough to do such a foolish thing."
The tower mage was quiet for a second. The light coming from the moon created a halo on his stagnant figure that made him more mysterious as though he was a phantom from a dream.
"Punk..?" He repeated slowly. He sounded disbelieving and was repeating the word as if he didn't believe that he was called a 'punk'.
Ellendise pursed his lips almost irritably. She didn't have patience or respect for rogues who didn't even adhere to proper etiquette.
So there was also no need for her to be courteous.
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In the middle of the night at Count Vitron's mansion, a loud explosion sounded which caused everyone to be startled awake.
"What's going on?" The count shouted while the countess got out of bed.
"That came from Ellen's room..." The countess said with a pale face as she slipped on her slippers and hurried outside without waiting for her husband.
The count was also surprised and he quickly followed after his wife. The servants got out of their room and went towards the source of the commotion.
There was smoke and debris as soon as they arrived on Ellendise's room. The cold breeze made everyone's body shake as they watched the lone figure in the room.
"Ellen..?"
The countess whispered just in time for the figure to turn around.
Ellendise was holding a broken sword and there was dust and ashes smeared on her face. A part of her night dress had been burned and revealed her white ankles and bare feet.
Ellendise smiled.
"I'm sorry, mother. But I had a late night visitor." She said in a calm voice.
Ellendise was quickly moved to a new room and tidied up by the maids.
Rachel and Jill were both fussing over her and checking for injuries while the count and countess called for the knights to look for the intruder and also dealt with the damages.
Ellendise knew that the repairs would have to wait for tomorrow since she practically blew half of her room. A gigantic semi circular hole was left to prove the aftermath of what happened.
Ellendise rubbed her cheekd tiredly while Jachel and Jill were wiping ointment on her feet. She had suffered a few scratches but that was all.
Whoever that guy was, Ellen would soon know his identity. He seemed the vengeful type.
He didn't have qualms sending fireballs towards her after calling him a punk. She reckoned that he must have been offended.
Ellendise closed her eyes. If she hadn't been practicing magic in secret, she would have died alone from all that.
That person wasn't soft at all. He had sent dozens of fireballs the size of cannonball towards her without any disregard that someone would hear it.
Ellendise wasn't quick enough to judge so she had no choice but to use her magic and defend her life. Maybe it was the adrenaline or the sudden fear for her life but Ellendise ended up countering the fireballs back with a huge blast of wind strong enough to destroy a whole in her room.
Worst of it all, she forgot to chant in the process.
Ellendise shivered and hugged herself.
"My lady, are you okay?" Rachel asked worriedly.
"Don't worry, my lady! The knights are doing their best to find the intruder! You don't have to scared anymore ." Jill encouraged.
"I'm fine. It's just a bit cold." She reasoned out although she was actually despairing at the fact that someone had found out that she managed to perform an advanced spell without chanting.
Ellendise hid in her room for the rest of the days while thinking of ways to deal with the tower mage that had intrude on her.
A height of 170 centimeters or more. He seemed bulky in his cloak but was actually very thin. His voice still sounded young as though he was in the early stages of youth. He definitely wasn't an adult yet. That was for sure.
But what made Ellendise worry was the fact that he didn't hesitate with his actions. And he fled in silence as though the aftermath didn't concern him.
Ellendise shivered again. There wasn't such a scene like this in the novel.
In fact, there were barely scenes that mentioned attempted murders in the novel. They were usually written in an ambiguous manner.
[ ....Leopold was badly injured from being ambushed by assasins. It had been a difficult situation that made him use more magic than usual.
Luckily, Letia was there to heal his injuries. ]
It didn't bother Ellendise that the author wrote in a fast paced manner because there were novels like that.
But it bothered her now because she was inside that very novel.
It turns out that ambiguity would be her sudden downfall.
The words 'badly injured' seemed like an understatement because it was written that Leopold, the crown prince, slept for seven days straight.
There were chapters that also narrated how Ellendise was hated among the female nobility and many 'schemed' against her.
Ellendise is wondering whether being schemed against meant ruining her reputation and status or killing her? There was a lot going on in that simple line.
Ellendise rubbed her cheeks again.
It turns out that experiencing the events firsthand was really different than written text.
Ellendise was wrong this time for being so relaxed. But the past five years of her life had been really happy and nothing strange had happened.
Even when she met Letia, Ellendise had never suffered any setback.
It would seem that Ellendise would have to be extra cautious this time.
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