Noble Lady Reformation Guide - Chapter 153: The Youngest Disciple (5)

The plan to establish the Ravenclaw Academy was progressing rapidly.

When Dereck went out to the site where the opening schedule was already confirmed and the civil works were in full process, he felt a strange stab of headache and couldn’t avoid pressing his temples.

“Ah, Sir Dereck. You’re here! I heard the news about the support from the house of Count Renuel. It seems we’ll be able to expand the size of the auditorium more than planned!”

Aiselin Eleanor Duplain, the noble lady so extraordinarily elegant and distinguished that even Diella, Ellen, and even that beast Trisha had been moved by her, was holding an iron shovel, with a towel hanging over her shoulder as she wiped her sweat.

To top it off, the hem of her dress bothered her so much that she had tied it up with a rope.

If she was going to do this, better not wear a dress—was what Dereck thought, but the thought vanished from his mind with Aiselin’s next words.

“Ahaha. I stepped out for a moment to check how everything was going, but the land they were clearing for the garden didn’t convince me. You only need to correct the last part a bit and that’s it, but calling the workers just for that felt like too much…”

“……”

“I finished already! The soil at the end of this flowerbed needs to be rounder so that, when we plant roses or pansies, it looks more harmonious. Once I decorated a flowerbed during a floral arrangement class, and I discovered that if the basic groundwork of the soil isn’t done well, later it’s harder to achieve a nice harmony. It’s the first time I do it alone, but it has its charm…”

Caring for a flowerbed or doing floral arrangements could be considered an elegant pastime, but deliberately picking up a shovel and digging soil was another thing entirely.

Confused, Dereck ended up letting himself fall onto any bench near the flowerbed.

“Lady Aiselin, that is…”

“Yes?”

“Nothing.”

With that naturally innocent expression, almost as if she were wagging a tail, Dereck didn’t know where to even begin pointing something out to her.

At first she had opened her eyes to commerce and administration, then to civil work and construction, and now she was even doing heavy labor on her own.

The Duplain house was already regaining strength quickly, but she still considered herself a fallen noble lady.

The truth was that the Duplain house had gone through a real crisis, so it wasn’t strange that Aiselin, with a slightly disheveled air, rolled up her sleeves for everything.

However, at this point, some things could become problematic.

“The influence of the Duplain house is beginning to grow as fast as before. Of course, it still can’t be compared to its golden age, and the size of the domain has shrunk a lot, but if you regain the authority proper of a duchy, your position will change considerably, Lady Aiselin.”

“You are right! You have helped us so much, Sir Dereck! I’m always grateful!”

“Precisely for that reason I’m telling you this—if you continue behaving like this, it could become problematic.”

“…”

Aiselin also understood, at least a little, what he meant.

She froze as if thinking, ‘Is it okay for me to be doing this?’ She felt a slight sting of guilt, but even so, she thought.

Ever since her house wavered, life seemed to have gained meaning.

Instead of being trapped in a cage reading philosophy, learning a bit of magic, and receiving lady-like education, she felt like she was sailing in a world full of rough waves.

That stirred something inside her.

But precisely because her efforts had borne fruit, the Duplain house was returning to the right path.

“I’m sorry to tell you this, but you should refrain from doing physical labor yourself.”

“W-what do you mean… Sir D-Dereck? There are still many vegetables to take care of in the garden behind the mansion…”

“…”

“Coming down, I also saw there was still some dust on the railing of the central staircase of the main hall… I planned to finish here and clean it all with the dry cloth I had already prepared…”

“Order the maids.”

“Then… what do I do about the vines on the exterior wall? If we leave them, they’ll take root between the bricks…”

“I’ll speak with the gardener.”

Dereck lifted his chin slightly and spoke firmly.

“How can the noble young lady of the house Duplain personally do that kind of work?”

“N-no… it’s my joy… it’s my only pastime!”

“It is an issue that directly affects the dignity of the house. I cannot yield on this.”

“This weekend I was thinking of making lasagna from scratch. I grew those tomatoes for that…”

She remembered the hot summer days when, under a scorching sun, she herself removed pests one by one, trimmed leaves, watered the plants, and then wiped her sweat with a satisfied expression.

“For that… ask the cook and the chef.”

Aiselin opened her mouth as if she had lost the whole world. There was no alternative.

Her social status was far too high to do that kind of thing.

When the house was wavering, it was a different story; now that it was regaining strength, she had to act according to its dignity.

“…Sir Dereck. This may sound strange…”

“…”

“Does the Duplain house… have to rise again no matter what…?”

“Of course. Think of your family and your servants, how much they have suffered…”

“That… is true…”

Aiselin bit her lower lip, holding back tears.

By her nature, she couldn’t ignore her family or her servants in difficulty.

There was no escape.

Clang! Clang!

“Move it here! Carefully!”

Shrinking a little, Aiselin sat in the shade watching the workers carry construction materials in silence.

“I heard you delegated completely to Lady Diella the authority over the staff and the students of the school. Honestly, I found it unexpected.”

“Oh, really?”

Aiselin must also have had her ears wide open regarding the changes in Ebelstein society.

Dereck’s help and her naturally tyrannical temperament had made Diella now practically capable of leading the Rose Hall de facto.

Watching these changes, Aiselin seemed half happy, half worried.

“I thought it would be difficult for her to handle people, evaluate them, and deal with them, compared to Lady Ellen or Lady Denise.”

“That’s true. But I also wanted to give the Duplain house a little push and, above all, it was necessary for Lady Diella herself.”

While they flipped through documents together, Dereck spoke in a low voice.

“Handling people is a very difficult task, you know that, Lady Aiselin.”

“That… is true.”

Aiselin watched Dereck’s expression for a moment, slowly closed her eyes, and then looked again at the blue sky at the end of winter.

“Diella will have to learn it too.”

Seeing her accept it in silence, it was clear Aiselin was truly deep-thinking.

Even if she naturally acted like a ruined noblewoman, in the important moments she always made wise decisions.

Dereck looked at her for a moment, then turned his eyes back to the construction in full motion.

“The construction is going quite fast. At this pace, we’ll meet the schedule without any problem.”

And he simply continued talking about work matters.

***

The cold that filled the hallway of the Elfontain Building showed no signs of dissipating.

Trisha suddenly hurling insults at Diella, the worst of the hooligans, a wild mare of the plains, was something no one gathered there could have anticipated.

It wasn’t just sly provocation or a battle of stares.

She used such vulgar and crude vocabulary that no one could have imagined a noble young lady uttering it, all to deliberately provoke Diella.

At this point, it wouldn’t have been strange if Diella had raised her hand and slapped her.

Given Diella’s history, she had never been someone who cared about the gazes of others.

Even in a situation like this, observed by countless noble young ladies, if something displeased her, she would kick Trisha and stomp on her.

However, Diella didn’t do it. The reason was only one when something is too absurd, it doesn’t even make you angry.

“Did I hear that wrong?”

“Are you deaf already? Let’s go at it. I’m going to crush that arrogant pride of yours.”

Bang! Fwoosh!

Suddenly, a gale exploded.

That freezing wind formed by magic burst out from Diella, upsetting everything around her.

At the center of the storm, the girl with shining, fluttering hair opened her chilling eyes impossibly wide.

Just facing that gaze, so clear even in the darkness, the noble young ladies, greenhouse flowers, trembled in their legs.

Trisha was no exception; from her nails to her arms and nape, her skin erupted in goosebumps.

Even so, she never showed it. She raised her head even higher, straightened her nose, and forced a defiant smile.

“Lately the Duplain house has been acting very conceited, and you behave as if you were someone too. That look of yours is the same as that of a sacrifice that thinks it can cling to a thread of hope to survive.”

“…”

“Diella. If it weren’t for Lady Aiselin, you’d be nothing more than a common troublemaker. You have a bad temper, a foul mouth, and the only thing you know how to do is crush others. And even with that, you act like everything belongs to you. You look like a child holding her first toy. It’s so pathetic it embarrasses me to look at you.”

“…You really are begging to die, Trisha.”

Fwooosh! Crack!

Thorny tendrils burst from the ground, and ice spears floated around.

Seeing magic manifest instantly, without even a prior chant, it was clear that Diella had already risen to the rank of 2 stars.

Diella was someone with such exceptional talent that she didn’t even require Dereck’s intervention.

She was in a completely different category from Trisha, who had barely begun to study 1-star magic.

A wall in the hallway cracked, and the heat of the magic began to rise.

No matter what happened to the Elfontain Building, the only thing filling Diella’s mind was punishing that insolent young noble who stood before her.

‘Not scary, not scary, not scary, not scary, not scary, not scary. No… actually it is a little scary. No, not that scary. No, not scary at all. Not scary. I don’t know fear. What is fear? What does it mean to be afraid?’

Murmuring, Trisha took a step back. She swallowed, but didn’t let a trace of fear appear on her face. Then she cleared her throat and spoke.

“Diella, they delegated to you the personnel authority of the Ravenclaw group, but it seems you have no intention of exercising that power the way your master wishes. You don’t want the number of the baron Ravenclaw’s direct disciples to increase. Is that it?”

“What?”

“It’s obvious. But tell me, do you really think that’s what the baron Ravenclaw wants? That you step forward, cut down the nobles who want to learn, and rule like a tyrant? Do you think that’s what he wanted?”

To keep her voice from shaking, Trisha pressed the tip of her chin firmly.

“You think you have all the legitimacy, don’t you? Because the baron Ravenclaw decided to trust in your judgment. Too bad. Because your ability only reaches that far.”

“What nonsense are you spouting?”

“It’s not nonsense, it’s a fact. The baron gave you authority, and you only think about using it as you please. Without reason, without cause, just drunk on that power.”

Trisha was so tense she was almost breaking into a cold sweat, but gritting her teeth, she maintained an incredibly arrogant expression.

Even though she looked like she was about to burst into tears, the one thing she had inherited from her father—the swagger and shamelessness—was indeed real.

She had nothing, and if someone hit her she would go flying but she must never back down.

No matter how arrogant, greedy, or wicked she appeared, she must never lower her head.

“You can hit me or insult me, but that truth will never change, Diella.”

The matter of legitimacy.

Especially when dealing with delegated power, legitimacy in exercising it is crucial.

If Diella simply didn’t want the number of Dereck’s disciples to increase then she had no argument to counter.

Even a tyrant ruling the world couldn’t act without legitimacy.

And if public opinion pointed to her as someone arrogant who only abused the entrusted power, she would face problems too.

That’s why, if she wanted legitimacy, she had to find another approach.

“I don’t care. If you want to argue that, do it in hell.”

Fwooosh!

‘Hiiik!’

Negotiation only exists among equals.

Diella’s face, already distorted with rage, was that of a furious beast. Trying to play word games with someone like that was ridiculous.

Just when Trisha’s vision began to blur.

Whoosh! Crack! Crack!

It wasn’t a good idea to cause destruction here.

The one who intervened after assessing the situation was the person who held the second place in the Ravenclaw group, the place Trisha dreamed of entering.

Bangs half pinned up, the rest of her hair fluttering behind her, and eyes as red as her hair.

Ellen of the Belmierd house.

It was the first time they saw her use magic outside a dueling hall.

Burn!

The thorny tendrils around Diella, ready to lunge at Trisha, burned and disintegrated completely.

In front of them, holding several books in one hand and shaking the other she had just used to channel magic, Ellen appeared.

“Control yourself, Lady Diella. If you want to continue, do it in the dueling arena.”

Trisha lowered her skirt more to hide the shaking of her thighs.

Ellen, shaking off the flames, shifted her gaze slightly, narrowing her eyes.

Trisha had expected this.

In such a situation, Ellen would never stay silent. She was a fair and strict defender of principles.

“And although Lady Trisha was too harsh, what she said is not incorrect. A principle must be something everyone can accept.”

Seeing Diella calm down a little, Ellen also lowered her posture slightly.

“Of course, as I said at the last meeting, I will respect Lady Diella as much as I can. But if your actions begin to affect the rules of the Rose Hall, I also have a position, and I cannot remain with my arms crossed.”

“Fine. I admit what I must admit. I was too emotional.”

Diella let out a long sigh. But, perhaps because her anger hadn’t disappeared, she looked fixedly again at Trisha, forcing her to hold her breath.

“You’re right. It’s not good to decide and announce everything according to my whim. You say I have no legitimacy, right?”

“…”

It was strange that Diella responded so obediently. She was surely plotting something.

“All right. Then I’ll set a clear standard. If you want your name to appear in the Ravenclaw group you’ll have to prove your ability. Clearly prove that you are not inferior to the others. Only then can I accept you as the youngest, or not.”

“So… you propose a magic duel?”

“Doesn’t sound bad. But I’m too busy to face you. And I don’t want to see your face. So go and defeat the one who is at the very bottom of the Ravenclaw group’s hierarchy.”

Saying that, Diella waved her hand and turned around.

“…”

Trisha mentally reviewed the hierarchy of the group.

And remembering who was in last place, she had to hold her breath. Diella, at least, acted within logic.

But there was someone who was beyond even that.

A person so reckless that it was impossible to imagine how Dereck had managed to turn her into a disciple.

If you irritated her, you died.

In front of her, one felt an indescribable murderous intent.

That girl had crushed northern beasts with her bare hands, and had been soaked countless times in human blood.

“Me?”

A low voice emerged from the crowd.

The girl with ash-gray hair, sitting lazily while playing with a strand, spoke, and people instinctively opened a path around her.

Sitting on a luxurious sofa against the wall, stroking her hair, the young woman radiated a chill that made the spine quiver just by speaking.

Normal people couldn’t identify the origin of that fear.

They didn’t understand why the gaze of that murderer who had killed so many people was so terrifying.

Sensing that murderous intent belonged to the realm of the sixth sense.

The youngest mage in the entire region to reach 3 stars.

Siern Alaina Rochester opened her eyes and stared straight at Trisha.

“Are you going to fight me?”

At that simple question thrown without emotion, the heaviness of the hallway seemed to multiply.

That someone like her was the “youngest” of the group showed how deranged the Ravenclaw group was.

Trisha swallowed.

Could she nod here?

Just a few gestures would be enough to kill her.

Courage had to be distinguished from recklessness.

This was the moment to lower her head. The impossible was impossible. No one could blame her for running away from such a situation.

Trying to hide the shiver running down her spine, Trisha straightened up and looked around.

Diella, since childhood in the study of wild magic, was a 2-star mage with mastery in ice and plant magic.

Ellen, who bore the weight of the Belmierd house, prepared to rule the world as a monarch. And Siern, who was a monster in herself.

Looking one by one at Dereck’s disciples, Trisha closed her eyes.

A small laugh escaped her. Had she lost her mind? No. It was just a strange feeling.

‘It’s always like this.’

That she could still smile in a situation like this was ridiculous.

‘All these bastards are geniuses.’

Giant mountains rising into the sky.

And she, a tiny hill among them.

What would change if she lamented, despaired, or bowed her head before a level impossible to reach?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

She remembered a clenched fist.

That old banker holding a firm fist before the young Trisha, as if trying to give her strength.

Behind that closed fist appeared the smile of a father who was no longer there.

In his eyes hid complex emotions. It looked like the face of a man who had seen his daughter’s limits.

“If it has to be done, then it’s done. The standard is clear, how nice. Hahaha.”

It wasn’t the posture of a noble heroine confronting absolute evil.

To the eyes of the gathered noble young ladies, Trisha laughing and raising her voice looked like nothing more than an ignorant girl who didn’t know her place.

A third-rate villainess.

An unbearable plebeian.

A hopeless braggart.

No matter how they saw her. Trisha had no intention whatsoever of shrinking.

“Then come on, go ahead.”

Fwooooooosh!

And so, in the magical arena of the Elfontain Building, Siern appeared wrapped in a torrent of magic so vast it was impossible to measure at a glance, ruling the field with her sovereign presence.

With just a touch of her finger, everything seemed like it could collapse.

The beast of the snowy northern steppe released a murderous intent capable of subduing an entire pack of wolves.

It was already too late to retreat. The magic emanated with such intensity that not even the protective barriers of the place seemed capable of containing it.

That was the “youngest.”

The one of lowest rank among Dereck’s disciples.

“…..”

Facing that storm of magic, Trisha gripped the edges of her skirt tightly and thought.

Actually, now that I think about it again this isn’t right.

The only good thing was that, being far from the observers’ area, no one would see the tears beginning to form in her eyes.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelCet