Noble Lady Reformation Guide - Chapter 147: Kohella (2)

Kohella Deinalt Elvester.

“The old fox of Gremport Palace sent a letter saying that she would visit the Ravenclaw territory approximately four days later.

It wasn’t just anyone, but the chief imperial magic adviser and the most famous figure in the magical world, who said she would come all the way to this remote region.

Even the servants of the Baron Ravenclaw’s mansion, who had already become quite competent at attending important guests, couldn’t help but tense up again.

Every time they began to grow used to something, a new trial arrived, so the maids and servants of the mansion were already half-dead inside.

“If Lady Kohella is going to come personally, we must receive her while respecting imperial etiquette. There will be a lot to prepare…”

While the butler and the head maid frowned, Dereck continued cleaning the blade of his sword and commented as if nothing were wrong.

“I don’t think we have that much time.”

Delbriton and the head maid, Lana, looked at him drenched in sweat.

“H-how much time do we have then? With the experience of having attended important nobles before, if we had three or four days, we could prepare everything by moving fast.”

“She says she’s arriving tomorrow.”

Dereck glanced sideways at the open letter.

With those words, the expressions of the two servants responsible for the mansion grew even paler.

*

Kohella was someone surprisingly light on her feet for her position.

If she needed to investigate something, she appeared anywhere. Although, by protocol, she should travel with at least a dozen subordinates, she often disappeared by herself.

The escort was a mere requirement of etiquette, nothing more.

A 6-star mage didn’t need guards to protect her life.

So it wasn’t strange that she simply appeared somewhere out of nowhere.

At sunset the next day, the imperial adviser Kohella appeared alone in front of the main gate of the Ravenclaw mansion.

The maids had already prepared a space to store her carriage and another area for the servants who were supposedly to accompany her.

But upon seeing Kohella, they couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

She didn’t come in a carriage.

She didn’t bring servants.

She just walked while dragging an enormous magic staff larger than her own body.

She wore a light violet robe with a few ornaments, a cotton blouse, a linen skirt, and a huge amber necklace.

She walked up to the mansion as if she had just gone out for a stroll.

Gremport Palace, where her laboratory was located, was at a considerable distance even traveling by carriage, yet she didn’t look like she had made such a long trip.

“Hmm, nice mansion.”

Her voice was rough and crackly like a dry branch.

“Thank you for the long trip.”

“Trip? Nonsense. Just an old mage out for a walk.”

Dereck looked at her in silence.

The way age had left its mark on her exterior emanated a special kind of authority.

If Drest had a poor and frail appearance, Kohella looked like an elegant old woman who had aged with luxury and power.

That was natural—she had lived her entire life as the empire’s chief adviser and matriarch of the Elvester family.

Kohella sat at the reception table and pressed her back firmly against the chair’s backrest.

“The old body always complains when you overwork it. My back has been hurting a lot lately.”

“You must take good care of yourself. You are the oldest of the Elvester family.”

“Yes, yes. I heard you are the disciple of Katia, the one teaching my adorable granddaughter lately.”

Young Lady Freya of the Elvester family was being taught by Katia Flameheart, Dereck’s teacher.

Although Dereck had now surpassed Katia’s level, he still showed respect toward the one who had once been his teacher.

“Magic of 4 stars at your age—you’re advancing almost at the same pace as Lord Melverot of the north. I thought I should see your face at least once.”

Kohella let out a cackling laugh and continued.

“Well, now you are Baron Ravenclaw. I must treat you accordingly. I spoke too casually. When one grows old, one becomes accustomed to looking down on the young. Consider this the clumsiness of an old woman.”

“No problem.”

Although Dereck was a young baron from a remote region, he was still part of the nobility, so Kohella switched to a more respectful tone, though Dereck found it uncomfortable.

He didn’t know why, but that old mage was difficult to handle.

She said she spoke casually out of habit, but still insisted on treating him as a noble.

It was hard to know if there was intent behind that change.

“I brought the merit medal that His Majesty Guttrel personally bestows upon you. Reaching the rank of 4-star mage is an achievement His Majesty values greatly. It is a great honor. If you ever go near the capital, you must present yourself and thank him.”

“Thank you.”

Dereck received several letters from her and placed them on the table.

They were surely ceremonial documents of appointments and recognitions, so he didn’t need to read them to imagine their content.

“I didn’t think the chief adviser would come in person. You must have many matters to handle.”

“Of course. But lately, Lord Baron Ravenclaw has been doing many things, hasn’t he? There was so much chatter that even the capital heard the rumors.”

“I was just thinking of requesting approval from the imperial mages regarding the construction of the Academy in Duplain.”

“And that should be done before starting the construction, don’t you think?”

Kohella smiled.

She didn’t seem angry.

She was simply observing Dereck.

“Yes. As you know, I am still ignorant of noble procedures, so I made a mistake in the order of the steps. I apologize.”

“No need to apologize. For the empire, it is a good thing. Why would we reject an educational institution with a noble purpose? Although we must also confirm that the purpose is indeed noble.”

She smiled calmly, but her words had an edge.

“I am the one who confirms such things. That is why I came all the way to this remote Ravenclaw territory.”

Dereck decided to answer directly.

She had surely already deduced most of it.

“It’s not a very noble purpose. Teaching magic is interesting and useful, but of course I also have other motives.”

“I see. And will you give me a hint?”

“It’s money, of course.”

Kohella lifted an eyebrow, amused.

They say selling even a piece of string to a noble turns you into a millionaire.

An academy filled exclusively with nobles—merchants would die of envy.

“You say first, so there must be another motive.”

“It’s to restore the Duplain family.”

“Hooh.”

If he installed a facility of that level in their territory, Duplain could revive.

They were the faction closest to Dereck, practically an extension of the Ravenclaw barony thanks to Aiselin.

Kohella smiled maliciously.

“The baron Ravenclaw seems to have much affection for the Duplains. To do so much for a family that began to falter…”

There were also other reasons—bringing stability to his barony, creating a self-sufficient academy—but he didn’t mention them.

Kohella surely wanted to hear only this part.

“From the perspective of this old woman, your actions seem like moves to unite allied forces and become a power in the southwest of the continent.”

“…”

Kohella’s eyes narrowed.

The intuition of someone who had lived her life as a high-ranking noble.

Dereck thought about how to respond, but Kohella let out a light laugh.

“You don’t need to tense up so much. Not all nobles are like the Grand Duke Beltus.”

“…”

“If someone talented in magic, who will become a great asset to the empire, begins to expand his influence, we—the empire—consider it a very positive thing. You have no reason to fear being suppressed.”

Kohella was addicted to magical knowledge.

Although she sometimes went beyond all limits, she always showed goodwill toward talented mages.

With Dereck’s rate of growth, it was obvious he would reach 5 stars and even higher.

That’s why she had no intention of turning him into an enemy.

Still, Dereck didn’t lower his guard.

“Among 6-star mages there is no one normal.”

He had heard that thousands of times.

That old woman, though elegant and calm, surely had madness hidden somewhere in her soul.

Melverot watched her more than anyone else.

Hidden madness is always the most dangerous.

“If Baron Ravenclaw wishes to become a higher-ranking noble, this old woman can give you some advice.”

Melverot was not interested in politics.

Neither was Drest.

Fina even less.

Among the 6-star mages, Kohella was the one most knowledgeable about worldly power.

Her advice would be valuable.

“The baron Ravenclaw seems to not know how to use the authority he already possesses. It is good to reinforce an allied faction with the academy but, in addition to that, there is a parallel method he could employ, don’t you think?”

“…I’m not very sure what exactly you mean.”

“The baron is causing quite the commotion within the noble circle of Ebelstein, you know? I heard there are young nobles lining up to become his direct disciple. In that case, you should make use of it.”

Kohella pressed her aching back several times, leaned against the chair, and spoke with her arms crossed.

“If I were the baron Ravenclaw, I would accept at least one more direct disciple. Then, those who want to occupy that position would start appearing one after another, competing among themselves.”

“…Accepting more direct disciples is not something I haven’t thought about…”

“And even better if you announce that you will choose from among the students of the academy.”

Indeed, Kohella’s words made sense. Thanks to the fact that Dereck’s direct disciples already had considerable reputation, more and more people wanted to take that place.

If word spread that a student with good academic performance could become Dereck’s fifth direct disciple, it would undoubtedly help increase the number of applicants.

“It’s good advice. I think I can apply it.”

“There’s more. The baron Ravenclaw said he wants to push the Duplain family forward even more, didn’t he? Then, isn’t there a more efficient and easy method? You have excellent disciples, and I don’t understand why you’re not using them.”

The old fox of the empire, Kohella, had a political instinct sharp as a blade.

She even smiled with an irritating calm.

“Disciples may look the same, but there is always an order. My own disciples also have different levels of ability, but the hierarchy is very clearly defined.”

Kohella had far more disciples than Dereck. And having many disciples meant possessing an enormous level of influence.

However, properly controlling a large number was difficult, which was why the founders of magic academies usually established rules and hierarchies among them.

“If you plan to accept more disciples, it is also the master’s duty to establish order and hierarchy among them. If you don’t, the relationships become chaotic. And these ranks are usually based on the same criterion.”

“…”

While Dereck pondered, Kohella directly gave him the answer.

“Who started receiving instruction first? That is usually the clearest point for establishing hierarchy. Don’t you think so?”

Definitely someone who had spent their whole life among high nobles thought differently.

For Kohella, the network of relationships between master and disciples around Dereck was an enormous political web.

Regardless of secular titles, Dereck could create a new axis of power within his group of disciples. And in that sphere, he could have total control.

If the master treats the one who was the first to learn at his side as the highest disciple, the others will naturally follow her.

Of course, secular titles cannot be ignored.

But anyone who wants to learn from Dereck would not be able to ignore the hierarchy that he established.

The result?

One only had to think about who was the first disciple to receive instruction from Dereck.

When Dereck finished organizing his thoughts and silently looked at Kohella, she smiled from ear to ear.

He wanted to ask why she was giving him that kind of advice, but she did not answer.

“In fact, the nobility is surely already reacting. That place is full of people extremely sensitive to these things. I heard that today is the gathering of the Rose Hall, so the atmosphere must be very different.”

Hidden under the shadows of her cloak, Kohella smiled as if she could already clearly see how the power structure in Ebelstein would change.

There was still much left to discuss, but something was clear—

that old woman’s head was full of snakes.

*

– Murmur, murmur.

The Rose Hall gathering.

A routine event, but due to the recent changes in the situation around Ebelstein, the atmosphere was unusually tense.

There were rumors about many families, but the main topic was the information about the new rising force Ravenclaw, and its disciples.

The four direct disciples of Baron Ravenclaw, the most renowned instructor of Ebelstein.

Just by receiving his teaching, magical level increased by several steps. That was why, among all the young nobles who frequented the Rose Hall, the four with the highest magical knowledge were precisely Dereck’s disciples.

Diella, Ellen, Denise, Siern.

And the possible fifth disciple, about whom rumors circulated among the nobility, although only at the level of whispers.

Click.

Amid the tense atmosphere, the door of the beverage hall opened, and a young lady entered.

– I-it’s Lady Diella.

– S-should we talk to her? She’s too scary…

– Even so… if we don’t do it now, we’ll never have another chance…

Small in stature, almost like a doll, with her golden hair like threads of silk.

If you didn’t provoke her, she was a young lady as beautiful as a porcelain doll.

But everyone knew that inside her lived a beast.

Diella walked proudly among the furtive glances of the other nobles, as always. Her attitude had not changed.

If you left her alone, she was an adorable little lady; if you provoked her, she would bite without distinguishing between friend and foe.

However, no one dared say a single unpleasant word to her.

‘Lately everyone looks at me with faces that put me in a bad mood. Tsk.’

Diella walked with irritated steps.

It had been some time since the ducal house Duplain had begun to decline. Its prestige was no longer that of its golden era.

And even so—

Diella was getting closer and closer to becoming a central figure of the Rose Hall.

Even she herself was unaware of that change.

The reason?

One only had to think about Dereck’s disciples, who were forming the axis of the social circle of Ebelstein.

Diella Katherine Duplain.

She was the first to receive direct instruction from Dereck.

If the hierarchy was established by that order—

She was number one among his disciples.

Together with Aiselin, the most competent right hand of Baron Ravenclaw, Diella stood at the top of the group.

The two Duplain sisters were the right and left arms of the man who was becoming the nucleus of Ebelstein’s social power.

“You’re in the way.”

With an irritated tone, Diella spoke, and a young noble near her jumped startled and immediately moved aside.

Diella sat down, rested her chin on her hand, and looked on indifferently.

The other nobles observed her gestures as if they were vassals looking at their king.

It seemed as if a huge crown rested atop that small head.

Even when the Duplain house had been trembling, Diella was a beast that devoured everything around her with mere presence.

What would happen if she were granted real authority and power?

The answer was obvious.

A tyrant would rule.

And within Ebelstein, there were only two people capable of controlling her.

The revival of the Duplain family had already begun.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelCet