"Go on, look at me when I speak to you! Have those incompetent maids of yours neglected to train you in basic manners?" The Duchess exclaimed in a haughty tone.
'There's got to be a limit to how much you can annoy me in a single minute, lady. I'd love to smack some sense into her, but I don't want any trouble. I'll just wait until she gets bored and leaves.'
"Tsk, such a timid girl, undeserving of that red hair of yours. If only you were born with your whore of a mother's features instead." She continued.
"Enough; I will not participate in this childish argument you're trying to start." Kedra announced, trying her best to contain her anger.
"What is with that tone? You are a mere mongrel! Who gave you the right to talk back to me?" The duchess arrogantly said.
"I believe I earned the right to preserve my dignity the moment I was accepted as a child of the Deslandes name; now, if you'll excuse me, I have business to attend to."
Without another word, Kedra turned around and began walking towards her original destination.
"Such arrogance! To claim that you are, in any capacity, a member of our family is a fine jest indeed." She proclaimed.
"The mere fact that Friedrich has neglected to properly name you is proof enough that you don't belong here." She added.
"I already have a name; there was no need to give me another one." Kedra said, stopping but not turning to face her.
"Ah yes, 'Kedra' was it? You flaunt that name so proudly, despite its origins. It's funny, really."
"What? What do you mean by that?" She said, looking back at the Duchess.
In Kedra's eyes, the woman's face was adorned by a disgusting grin, her malice practically oozing out of every one of her pores.
"You don't even know?" She said, bursting out into an ear-piercing laugh.
"Kedra was a dog's name! A small, three-legged dog that belonged to Ansel and Aline. How fitting that it would end up as a bastard child's name!"
Kedra's face dropped, her irises narrowed, and her teeth clenched. A blind rage slowly crept up within her.
'Seriously? Those fucking bastards! I remember how happy Kedra was about having a name, and now I find out it belonged to their fucking dog?'
She took a deep breath, turning around once more and resuming her step.
'Alright, calm down; I'll be out of here in five days anyway; I just have to bear with it.'
As Kedra made her way down the hall, she heard nothing more from the woman.
'It looks like she finally got bored. Fuck, and here I thought today was going pretty well.'
Reaching the hallway's last door, Kedra made an effort to rid herself of the grimace on her face, putting on her best attempt at a smile.
'I can only hope that he's more reasonable than that bitch back there.'
She knocked on the door, calling out to Rae.
"Rae? Could you open up?"
Following her words was a short silence, then the beginning of a phrase that was quickly cut off by a loud crash.
After the loud cacophony of sounds ended, Kedra heard a few grunts and then the sound of someone's voice.
"One second, I'll be right there!"
The voice Kedra heard from inside the room was high-pitched yet undeniably boyish, with a hint of arrogance mixed in.
A few seconds later, the door opened, revealing a disheveled Rae covered in shredded paper and ink.
"So what do you w— Kedra?!" He exclaimed, quickly shutting the door.
'Seriously, what is his deal?!'
"Um, Rae, is everything alright?" Kedra asked, reaching for the door's handle.
"Everything's fine! Please just wait a second." Rae quickly replied; the arrogance in his voice had completely disappeared.
'Why is Kedra here? I thought it was a maid! Damnit, I acted so rudely to her.' Rae internally cursed, quickly wiping the ink and paper off of himself.
As the door opened up once again, Rae had made himself slightly more presentable, though splotches of ink were still present on his outfit.
"So, uh, what did you need, Kedra?" Rae inquired.
"The librarian said that you have books on magic; I wanted to borrow one."
'Huh? She's interested in magic?! Finally! None of the others care about it!' Rae thought to himself as his eyes lit up, a whirlwind of excited ramblings itching to leave his mouth. But he quickly dismissed his excitement with a cough and a slight shake of his head.
"Ah, um, yes, exactly. I have books on magic; why are you interested?"
"Yes, I heard that basic magic is taught at the academy, so I wanted to educate myself on the topic before I attended." Kedra replied.
'Or at least that's the excuse I'm going with; in reality, I just want to cast spells.'
"Oh, of course. Well, uh, come on in. Sorry for the mess. I was reaching for a high-up book and fell on my desk."
At first glance, Rae's room appeared to be rather small for a noble's bedroom; however, Kedra quickly realized that any free space within the room had been filled with a bookshelf that reached the ceiling, leaving only enough space for an ornate wooden desk and a large double bed.
The floor was covered in various pieces of paper and stone slabs; bottles of ink and random tools were strewn about the floor at complete random, along with an unfathomable amount of books.
'Forget a mess; this place is a goddamn warzone!'
"Alright, let's see here: basics of alchemy; no; beginners guide to foraging; no, not that either... Ah, here it is! The basics of channeling!" Rae proudly said, holding a hefty leather-bound book in front of himself.
'Channeling? Now that I think about it, Maria did say that there were multiple ways to cast magic. Well, there's no harm in acquiring new knowledge.'
"Say, Rae, what's channeling?"
"I'm glad you asked! Simply put, channeling is—"
As Rae began explaining, his speech grew faster and faster, and his vocabulary grew increasingly complex, to the point that Kedra had completely zoned out.
"Wait, wait, wait! Can't you make your explanation simpler? I'm afraid I didn't understand any of that." Kedra said, snapping back to reality.
"Ah, sorry. It seems that I got a bit carried away. Well, in short, channeling is the act of absorbing ambient mana into one's body, shaping it into a spell, and then releasing it."
"In order to do so, mages use mana conductors in the shapes of staves or wands in order to properly control the flow of magic."
"It's important to know that mana is by principle an incredibly volatile energy; without a conductor, the act of taking in mana can result in muscle atrophy, seizures, or, in extreme cases, even death. So if you ever want to use magic, you have to remember to always have a wand on you."
"I see. Thank you, Rae."
"No problem! I'm always happy to talk about magic." He said enthusiastically.
'This guy's pretty nice—well, he is when compared to the other family members at least.'
"So, could I borrow that book?" Kedra asked.
"Um, sure thing! Just make sure not to damage it." Rae said, carefully passing the book to Kedra.
"I appreciate it, Rae. Say, If I run into anything I don't understand, could I ask you to explain it for me?"
Rae's eyes lit up as he replied.
"Of course! As I said, I really like talking about magic, and that includes teaching it as well."
"Then I'll be counting on you, Rae." Kedra said, stepping out of the room and gently closing the door behind herself.
'I should try making an ally out of Rae in these next five days; it'd be nice having a proper friend in the mansion.'