Agnus snuck inside the Count's mansion like he always did without being detected by anyone.
Right now, he had come to end the life of the rabbit girl for being impudent towards him.
He stepped inside the new room that was occupied just a few days ago. The plain yet elegant grey wallpaper did not seem to fit the tastes of a ten year old girl. The room seemed more like an office instead of a bedroom.
Agnus had come in a time where all residents of the county were usually asleep except for the patrolling guards. However, they were amateurs that could easily be avoided so they did not pose any danger to him.
On the contrary, they were so insignificantly weak that they were not worthy of his attention. But it was different if he was evading monsters like drakes and lizardmen. They were vicious predators with sharp senses unlike humans.
To Agnus who had always risked his life and fought to ascend higher in terms of magic power, humans no longer seemed threatening to him. If it weren't for their cunning personality, most humans would have perished long ago against demons and monsters.
As a person who was used to fighting said creatures, humans did not even pose as a threat to him.
"Rabbit girl," he called out upon seeing the sprawled figure on the floor, surrounded by a bunch of books and journals. From the runic language, he could discern that they were all about magic.
His brows furrowed slowly when he noitced that she was being unresponsive. Her hands were resting forward while her face was planted on an open book.
What was this? Was she playing dead?
He kicked her leg tentatively to get her attention.
The puffy head full of silver white hair moved and slowly raised up to look at him.
Her reddish pink eyes blinked a few times. This seemingly innocent action looked exactly like the action of a the furry creature her petname was associated with.
'How peculiar..' He thought.
He watched as she slowly sat upright, clarity going back in her eyes.
"Oh..it's you." This simple remark was said with great nonchalance and in a toneless voice.
She looked like she wasn't bothered that he was there.
Ellendise slowly straightened up in a lethargic manner that was far from her usual elegant manner of moving about.
Agnus noticed that something was off and carefully examined the girl's face. Her eyes looked dull and her lips were pursed tightly like she was frowning. She also did not seem to care for her currently distraught appearance and was blankly gazing at the floor.
Then she sighed heavily once every few seconds like something was bothering her.
Agnus was suddenly unsure of his next course of actions.
But he.. he came here to teach her a lesson. She was not supposed to look like this when he has not even started just yet...
"You.." He crouched down and grabbed her head.
"What's on your mind, rabbit girl?"
She blinked again as if remembering that he was still there then her frown deepened and she sighed once more as if she was carrying the world's heavy burden on her shoulders.
He had never seen a ten year old sigh so deeply like this as if she had experienced the most frustrating, most bothersome problem in her life.
How interesting!
"Tell me why you look like this. You look like someone bullied you. Who did it? I'll kill them. I'm the only one allowed to bully you." He stated. It sounded ridiculous that his pet was getting bullied by others.
Ellendise did not spare him a glance but she opened her mouth to answer.
Somewhat sulky, she said, "My uncle said I have no talent to wield the sword. He said that my body's foundation is too weak and that I should consider practicing something else or just train and improve my magical abilities. "
Agnus didn't know where the problem was. She has no affinity for the sword but that was only normal since she was weak. He could acknowledge that she has potential in magic but the small and thin form of this ten year old girl did not fit the necessary requirements to become a magic swordsman.
In one glance, he could tell the insurmountable amount of mana in her body. The abundance of it did not fit her fragile human body.
Still, he said, "So?"
She was weak. It was a fact. What was the problem? Agnus could not understand it.
Ellendise looked at him doubtfully. "I cannot just keep relying on magic. There will be situations where I cannot use it so I have to think of another way not to end up being a defenseless chick especially in places with mana disturbance tools. I picked swordsmanship for a good reason because not only will it train my body but it will also serve as a means to protect myself."
Agnus crossed his arms. So it was like that.
"You are so stupid."
Ellendise did not react when he blurted this. Somehow, she was used to it, not getting the same reaction as others from him.
"I told you to be my apprentice. Naturally, wih me beside you, you'll never get bullied because I'll be the only one to do it!" He declared.
Ellendise rubbed her arms. She did not want to be bullied by anyone to begin with.
"Must I repeat myself? I have certain qualifications for a master. Of course, this does not include suspicious figures wearing masks to hide their identities."
Agnus was again reminded of the reason why he came here.
"Wait. I came here to kill you." He told her and stood up straight.
Ellendise was supposed to panic, right? So why did she sigh again and looked down while ignoring him? She was really bound to get killed by him.
But she really was very depressed that she could not give a care. She would get over it, just not tonight.
"You.. Rabbit girl, don't make that expression. It is very annoying." Agnus pointed out, ordering in an arrogant manner.
Ellendise turned her back at him and continued to mope, hugging her knees to her chest.
What was she going to do now? Should she just pursue poison arts again? But she already said that she would leave her past life behind.
She was no longer Rianne Luxtred who was well versed in poison and had used the very poison she handmade against people who went against her.
It was a very dark practice to rely on poison arts to subdue your enemy. However, she didn't want to go back to those days anymore.
Using poison to kill people and eliminate lives that had gone against her, she really did not want to do those kinds of things again. The only reason why Rianne used poison arts was because she couldn't fight her enemy head on and being a woman made her much weaker.
The only daughter of a rich family who was talented and hardworking secretly practiced poison arts for years. Of course, this was because Rianne as the heir was a big giant target for the greedy.
How many times had she been kidnapped when she was Rianne? How many times had people tried to kill her? How many times were she framed and humiliated?
In the end, Rianne could not rely on anyone. There was no other way but to fight for one's self.
And Ellendise also wanted to make sure that she would not have to worry about anyone or anything going against her in this life.
Once again, a heavy sigh left her lips.
This world was no longer as predictable as before. Her existence alone has caused ripples of changes that would make its mark in the world.
One such change is the young man standing before her.
'The Archduke, Agnus Scelles Palatine who is the Emperor's only brother and the current candidate for the position of Tower Master.
This man was supposed to kill the previous Tower Master three years from now when he reached the age of eighteen yet this huge event happened much earlier.
Moreover, a huge scandal concerning the Mage Tower and the nobles supporting it were uncovered by this very same man who had once led that research in the novel.'
Ellendise wanted to know what made him do it earlier but she knows that she would never get a straight answer from him. Still, she atleast wanted to try, just for the sake of alleviating her already gloomy state.
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