Despite the many people moving around in the lobby, the atmosphere was tense, like the audience just before the protagonist delivers their first line on stage.
Occasionally, a low sigh would flow out like the sound of an instrument being played.
They unknowingly held their breath, completely focused on every step Navia took.
Just then, a maid with auburn hair hurried down the stairs. In her hands, she held a thick towel gracefully. It was Charlotte.
"Miss, you'll catch a cold. Wrap yourself in this towel."
To Navia's surprise, Charlotte was attentively looking after her, causing her to momentarily show a shocked expression. Her eyes, wide and round, soon softened.
The dignity that was felt until now seemed like an illusion, replaced by a clear and cute smile.
"Thank you, Charlotte."
The servants, who had forgotten even how to breathe, finally let out a long sigh.
They scratched their heads, bewildered at how tense they had been while watching Navia.
Navia bit the tender flesh inside her mouth as she wrapped the towel around her body, thinking about Black Moon, causing etiquette to slip her mind again.
'It's okay. It's probably better to show some knowledge of manners.'
After all, Navia was disguised as a nobleman's daughter.
It was safer to meet Nikan's expectations until she left this place.
Navia, accompanied by Charlotte, looked down at the Black Moon as she ascended the stairs.
'What kind of power is this?'
The Black Moon, which had been scattering dangerous light when it absorbed Wood's magic, was now as tame as a wild beast hiding its claws.
'I should change my clothes and go to the library.'
The Agnes Ducal family was wealthy.
But that was all they had. It was the Agnes family's chronic weakness.
Their water magic was undoubtedly strong, but it lacked versatility.
In contrast, what about the Eseled family?
Regardless of their magical ability, they always produced a genius magic scholar every generation.
The Agnes family created a library with an enormous collection of books in an effort to compensate for their weakness.
They probably owned the second-largest collection of magic books after the Eseled family.
Unfortunately, Navia had already read most of the books in the library in an attempt to discover her regression ability.
'Still, there might be something I missed.'
"Big sister?"
Suddenly, Navia, who had been walking with her eyes down, lifted her head.
In her field of vision, she saw a girl with lovely pink hair.
"Vivian."
Vivian, holding a bear doll half her size in her arms, spoke to her personal maids standing nearby.
"Look, Maki. Isn’t that Navia unnie?"
"Hehe, seems so."
Vivian tilted her head in confusion.
"But why is unnie here? This is the third floor."
It was an innocent question, but if someone else had said it, it could have been taken as impolite.
Charlotte's expression hardened.
In contrast, Vivian's maids covered their mouths with handkerchiefs, giggling.
Navia, who should have been embarrassed, was instead as calm as a lake without even a small breeze.
The giggling maids gradually stopped laughing as they sensed something was off.
Navia finally spoke.
"I'm sorry, Vivian. Your maids were laughing so loudly I couldn't hear. Could you repeat that?"
"That...!"
The maids couldn't refute anything and just covered their faces with embarrassment.
Vivian repeated her words innocently like a parrot.
"Unnie's room is on the second floor. Did you come to the third floor to see me?"
Navia smiled slightly.
"Oh, that? Father said I could use the third floor too."
"Really? That's great! I'll play with you every day!"
Vivian, with a radiant smile, approached Navia and embraced her waist. However, she suddenly stepped back in surprise.
The maids, who had been giving Naviya an intimidating look, overly protected Vivian.
"Why are you acting like this, miss?"
Vivian frowned.
"It's uncomfortable because it's damp. It's dirty!"
"What..."
Charlotte was about to refute with a trembling voice.
"Charlotte."
Naviya quietly held back Charlotte.
She understood the anger her master felt when she was treated disrespectfully.
‘But if I argue, we'll be at a disadvantage.’
It was an unavoidable situation. Vivian was the true princess of Agnes, who could be forgiven for anything she did, while Navia was just a substitute for Vivian.
Furthermore, Navia had endured far worse than such treatment for a very long time, making her immune to feeling hurt or angry about it.
"It's fine; we can have Navia unnie handle these annoying things. Unnie always listens."
Ignorant innocence.
Navia's natural understanding was that it should be this way.
Still, Navia always strived to be a good sister, a kind sister.
Taking care of Vivian when she caught a slight cold and nursing her throughout the night was nothing short of a duty. She had even cooked a bowl of porridge to soothe her when Vivian threw a tantrum, claiming she had no appetite.
In truth, other than the unpredictability of her magic surges, Vivian was perfectly healthy. It was Navia, who couldn't eat properly and had no time to rest, that occasionally fell ill.
But it was fine. Wasn't Vivian a pitiable child with a limited lifespan?
‘And we are sisters.’
Every time, Vivian's chronic illness was cured. Whether she resented it or not, Navia had saved Vivian from the danger of magical reversal disease.
‘And I died.’
Always. Every time.
But she didn't want to blame Vivian.
Honestly, she was tired of caring.
Navia skillfully wore the mask of a good sister and smoothly uttered the falsehood.
"Oh, sorry. We were playing in the water with brother, and we all got soaked."
Navia deliberately mentioned playing in the water.
‘It will make Vivian angry.’
Outwardly, it would seem like an answer that tried to cover up Wood's mistake foolishly.
Charlotte, of course, as well as the other maids, did not understand the underlying meaning in Navia's words.
"What?! Why did you all play without Vivian? That's not fair. Unnie, you're bad. Vivian wants to play in the water too!"
"You'll catch a cold, Vivian."
The maids were in a difficult position. They had quickly picked up on the situation in the corridor.
Now was not the time to insist on playing in the water with Wood.
Maki, Vivian's chief maid among the maids, looked at Navia with audacity.
"If you were going to make excuses, you should have been smarter about it, fake lady! You act like a stupid fake noble!"
"Miss, how about playing with toys in the bathtub instead?"
"But I want to play with brother too, unnie said so!"
Navia, though feeling cornered, didn't give in.
'If I were to make excuses, I should have done it more cleverly. I seem like a foolish fake lady!'
"Miss, please don't act this way, and how about playing with toys in the bathtub?"
"But Vivian wants to play with brother too!"
Navia gently persuaded, "Vivian, let's play later. brother is busy right now, so we can't play together."
"Lies."
Vivian responded with a pouted face, saying, "Hmph!"
"Vivian will ask brother herself."
"Oh, Miss!"
Ignoring the hands that tried to pull her away, Vivian resisted Navia's feeble attempt to stop her.
"Don't stop me!"
Navia retreated with a dejected posture.
"Let's go together, Miss!"
The maids glared at Navia fiercely and followed Vivian.
When Charlotte saw the third floor becoming empty, the suppressed frustration burst out.
"How can Miss endure this? Especially Maki...!"
Navia calmed Charlotte with a serene remark.
"It's okay. It's not the first or second time."
Charlotte was left breathless by Navia's calm words.
'Right...'
Navia was always like this.
Whenever her chest tightened with an indescribable feeling, Navia would suddenly make an absurd request.
"Charlotte, could you prepare chilled tea and pumpkin porridge? Say it's for Father. The kitchen servants will do as they're told if it's Father's meal."
Charlotte found it hard to understand why the request for Nikan's meal came up in this situation, but she obediently agreed.
"I'll change your clothes, Miss."
Navia declined with a shake of her head.
"I can do it. Just bring Father's snack as soon as it's ready. I'll be in the study until then."
Charlotte, touched by Navia's unexpectedly mature behavior, nodded.
"I'll do as you say."
After sending Charlotte away, Navia returned to her room, changed into dry clothes, and dried her hair.
'If I go to the study and search through the books for a while, it might get cold.'
It would be nice if there were warm water.
Since Navia only had Charlotte as her personal maid, unlike Vivian, who had three, there was no one to make such a request to.
Instead of warm water, Navia put on an extra layer of clothes and headed to the study.
It wasn't uncommon for her to go to the study.
'Especially when Edward gives me homework, I often end up staying there all night.'
Apart from that, there were many times she sought refuge in the study, engrossed in her work to escape the punishment she received for her mistakes.
Creak.
Since no one but Navia used the study in Agnes, the door wasn't properly oiled. She walked around the study, familiar with its layout, and gathered all the books with promising titles, stacking them on her desk.
In reality, she didn't have high expectations.
'Even up to the last round, I've searched all the libraries and studies accessible, but there were no special records.'
Perhaps this ability would be no different.
"But I should still look."
Navia turned the pages of the books.
