“How about this as your reward?”
“I’m very satisfied!”
As expected of a noble—so generous with her wealth. A single gold coin is worth a hundred silver coins; that’s more than an ordinary family earns in decades. When Hill was forced out of the villa, all she had were a few gold coins, and she’d already spent nearly half by now, down to counting every copper.
For a moment, in Hill’s eyes, Madam Anna was like a walking money pouch stuffed to the brim, and even her voice seemed to ring with the crisp chime of coins. Hill truly couldn’t tear her eyes away, practically ready to stick herself to Madam Anna.
Seeing her friend’s expression, all the dark and gloomy thoughts that had formed in Otis’s mind melted away, replaced by a tinge of heartache.
What was there to be jealous of?
When the goddess closes a door for someone, she always opens a window elsewhere.
Hill had lost her family, lost the comfortable life she once had; her future was like a ship at sea, with no way of knowing where the winds and waves might take her.
Look at her—she accepted without hesitation, just for a single gold coin. Yet that coin wouldn’t even cover one day’s expenses in Otis’s household. What Otis took for granted was something her friend could only dream of. The gap between them was so stark, she couldn’t help but feel sympathy.
“I’ve often heard that your teacher, Inks, is a rather eccentric man. No one can deny he’s a respectable mage, but he rarely spends much energy on apprentices with average talent.”
As Madam Anna spoke, she glanced in Otis’s direction.
Although Inks would likely be her future teacher, there was no denying the pride and aloofness in his bones—anyone in the classroom could sense it. Clumsy students weren’t worth this reluctant teacher’s time; he would rather spend those hours immersed in his own magical research.
“Our Montbatten family does have a mage, but unfortunately, he’s gone with my husband, Baron Montbatten, to Mossrock City for business, and may not return for several years. Until then, I hope that for the sake of this reward, and your friendship with Otis, you can help her.”
Madam Anna’s tone was sincere, and by the end, her posture as humble as possible—though from the very start, her attitude toward her daughter’s friend had been amiable enough.
Hill quickly said, “Madam Anna, Otis is my good friend. She and Helena never abandoned me, even when I was at my lowest—they still chose to walk alongside me. Honestly, Madam, even if you hadn’t offered a reward, I would gladly give Otis a lesson every week.”
A charming smile played on Madam Anna’s face; her pearl-like skin seemed to glow. “If that’s so, then it’s truly wonderful.”
Even if, worst-case scenario, Otis’s magical talent was hopeless and she could never become a real mage, as long as Hill—a promising apprentice—was around, perhaps the Montbatten family might one day befriend a Sequence II, or even greater, mage!
By any calculation, this was hardly a loss. A gold coin might be a fortune for commoners, but to the Montbatten family, it was less than a day’s expenses. Madam Anna might appear a carefree noblewoman, waited upon hand and foot.
But who would have thought that the Montbatten family was now in a nearly irretrievable predicament?
Her husband, Baron Montbatten, had neither talent for the extraordinary nor exceptional foresight, but fancied himself remarkable. Living off his ancestors’ accumulated wealth, he started a business in Mossrock City, dreaming of competing with those families whose depths he could not fathom.
Madam Anna knew her husband all too well, though she did not love him.
It would be only a few years, she was sure, before Baron Montbatten squandered all he took to Mossrock, and would even have to pay the local nobles a “tuition” just to return—if he returned unscathed at all. By then, the Montbatten family would be teetering on the brink, relying on arranged marriages to survive.
Her two sons, and dear Otis, would all become sacrifices to political unions.
Having once been such a sacrifice herself, Madam Anna loathed these ways with all her heart, but what could she do? To outsiders she was noble; before the Baron, she was powerless.
In the end, Baron Montbatten had married Madam Anna for appearances only.
In her youth, Madam Anna had been a renowned noble lady in Mossrock City, with a voice as clear as a lark’s and beauty surpassing the iris flower. She could speak fluent Elvish—so fluently that even bards from the Elven Empire praised her and composed romantic poems for her. Perhaps Otis’s remarkable talent in Elvish came from her mother.
A decade ago, it was said throughout Mossrock City that whoever married this young lady would be the most honored man in the city, perhaps in the entire southern kingdom.
Thus, the innocent, brilliant Miss Anna became Madam Anna of the Montbatten family.
Night was falling. The carriage left the edge of town before darkness settled. Townsfolk and the constable alike gave it respectful glances.
Before leaving, Madam Anna left Hill a parting gift—a brooch.
It was made of silver, shaped as a blooming iris, crafted with exquisite care; the veins on the petals and leaves were finely carved. Where the stamen should be, a pearl was set, brought from shores even farther than the southern Elven Empire.
Without question, this brooch was worth at least twenty or thirty gold coins.
Of course, that was Hill’s shallow estimation; in reality, it might be worth double.
Too extravagant… and she was a bloodkin!
Giving a silver ornament to a bloodkin—Hill didn’t even know what to think. Yet, faced with that beautiful lady, she couldn’t bring herself to refuse, and could only smile and accept it.
Opening the brooch’s box—even with the night grown so dark—the brilliance of that delicate accessory was impossible to hide.
Hill’s aesthetic had changed since becoming a girl; she truly felt this brooch was eye-catching. Unfortunately… it was silver.
“Oh well, I’ll just keep it for now. Something this valuable can’t be worn out and about.” Hill sighed and turned to enter the apartment.
Honestly, after leaving such a luxurious carriage to return to this shabby place, the contrast was striking. There wasn’t even a decent light source—she couldn’t bear to waste even a candle.
She placed the brooch in her desk drawer, thought a moment, and covered it with odds and ends. This was just in case someone with sticky fingers sneaked in and made off with her precious brooch.
Hill sat on the bed and began her daily, unwavering meditation.
There was no need to go hunting tonight; maybe she could spend the whole night studying Teacher Inks’s manuscript.
Ha! Nothing made her happier than acquiring knowledge—unless it was meeting the graceful, elegant Madam Anna once again. To smell that lady’s scent, and, if possible, get even closer.
For that, she could set aside her faith in the goddess a little, and fall into the arms of that noble lady.
Would the goddess mind?
She shouldn’t.
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