OHNIR – Chapter 10
Chapter 10: Trump Card
In the original plotline, Satrick, who had unintentionally witnessed Kelusta using her superb magic to play with water, began trying to get close to her to increase his leverage for the succession.
At that time, the scene of the male and female leads’ first meeting was almost identical to the present.
In the original world, Kelusta was deliberately given a hard time by a noble girl, who arrogantly demanded she deliver a thick stack of homework to the potion master’s office. —Yes, that very fierce and strict potion master, who never showed any mercy when punishing people.
However, by this time, the deadline he had given the noble girl had long passed. The master, who always valued “punctuality” the most, would surely feel he was being mocked and would then give the person delivering the homework a harsh lesson.
Even if the noble girl wouldn’t be punished due to her status, she couldn’t avoid a severe scolding. It was precisely for this reason that she, on a whim, found a commoner like Kelusta to be her scapegoat.
The high stack of homework she was carrying blocked her view, and the path to the office was rarely trodden. Kelusta, momentarily careless, was walking along when she bumped hard into someone.
White pages scattered everywhere. The girl, about to fall backward, was pulled back to her feet by a long, strong hand. She widened her eyes slightly. Sunlight streamed quietly through a crack in the castle window, illuminating the man’s light-blond hair, as if coating it in a holy light and reflecting a faint halo.
………………Hold on.
Let’s not dwell on such a boring “hero saves the damsel” scene. Anyway, everyone can guess what happened next. Because she was accompanied by His Highness, the Prince of Nobili, the potion master, for once, said nothing. After saving her own skin—or rather, a huge number of points, definitely enough to make her repeat her first year—Kelusta expressed her sincere gratitude to him. With this chance encounter as a foundation, Satrick began to seek more opportunities to “coincidentally” run into her…
“The world lines are beginning to converge, temporary host,” the System, clearly very familiar with this kind of scene, prompted. “I believe you’ve probably realized the reason for Gloria’s sudden change in attitude toward you.”
Of course, Kelusta understood. She was trying hard to control her expression, not letting it turn too grim in front of Satrick.
The trigger for this plot point was the event of “her water magic being noticed by Satrick.”
Obviously, the only recent opportunity for her to use water magic in front of others, and for Gloria to notice that Satrick had his eye on her, was that one time.
—By the swan lake.
I was careless, Kelusta thought to herself.
Gloria, the final boss, possesses a strong desire for control and exclusivity. In the “Origin of Magic” route, this was demonstrated to the fullest.
Before Wend met Kelusta, his relationship with his sister was actually very good. It could even be said that the reason Gloria willingly inherited Persedoro’s shackle was to protect her younger brother, Wend. However, later on, Wend fell in love with Kelusta. Discovering that her most important brother no longer belonged exclusively to her, Gloria quickly descended into darkness. She didn’t even hesitate for a moment when she personally killed Wend in the ending.
Kelusta’s choice to avoid further interactions with the other male leads was partly due to her fear of Gloria going berserk.
“To think that a moment of carelessness led to the worst-case scenario,” Kelusta sighed, saying resentfully, “Now I have to do everything I can to shake off Satrick. Otherwise, I’m afraid Gloria won’t even look at me in the next life.”
The time she spent pondering, to Satrick, looked like she was dazed by his appearance. Whether it was his good looks or the fame of his face, the first heir of Nobili was clearly used to being stared at blankly by countless girls. He raised an eyebrow, smiled politely, and said in a gentle tone, “Respected lady, are you all right?”
Her train of thought interrupted, Kelusta almost subconsciously shook her head. It was only when she met the concern nearly overflowing from those sky-blue eyes that she seemed to startle awake, curtsying to him. “Thank you, Senior. I’m fine.”
Satrick nodded lightly, showing none of the distant coldness he displayed in front of other commoners. Instead, like a genuinely friendly and enthusiastic senior, he carefully advised her, “This garden hasn’t been tended to in a long time. You should watch your step when you walk. —This time you ran into me, so there was someone to help you up. If it weren’t for me, wouldn’t you have been injured?”
Hilarious. If it weren't for you, would I have bumped into thin air and fallen?
Kelusta scoffed inwardly but maintained a serious expression, nodding repeatedly.
She knew Satrick had taken a fancy to her magical power and that she couldn’t get this prince, whose mind was full of schemes and power balances, to give up so easily. For now, Kelusta just wanted to get away as soon as possible, so she decided to say nothing, leaving him with no opening to continue the conversation. She planned to figure out a long-term solution after she got rid of him.
After all, it was their first meeting, and unlike in the original plot, Kelusta wasn’t in any danger. Feeling that he had left a good impression on her, Satrick indeed didn’t say much more. He simply nodded to her and left directly.
But the prince, feeling quite pleased with himself, had no idea that the moment he turned around, the seemingly docile girl behind him instantly changed. She irritably twirled her hair with her fingers, pursed her lips, and, in a most unladylike manner, rolled her eyes dramatically at the prince’s back.
You little brat, just making trouble for me.
Satrick wasn’t an immediate problem. As long as she avoided him, it was unlikely she’d be cornered like in the garden every single time.
The most important thing was how to win Gloria back.
In her dorm room, Kelusta, deep in thought, felt like she was about to go bald. Whenever she got frustrated, she couldn’t help but pull at her hair. Strands of her silky, light-brown hair fell to the floor one by one. It wasn’t until she had pulled out a dozen or so that the System finally couldn’t bear to watch anymore and intervened.
“I don’t know how to make the boss understand that you’re actually trying to avoid Satrick like the plague,” the System said kindly. “But I can confirm that if you go to see Gloria with a bald head, I can immediately apply to headquarters for the next mission.”
Kelusta silently let go of her hair, irritably punched the soft pillow in her arms, and sighed deeply. “I was just wondering if I should slap Satrick in front of Gloria. That would definitely prove my innocence… But if I really did that, I wouldn’t have to worry about clearing the game anymore. It would be more practical to just pray my death isn’t too miserable.”
“…” The System didn’t know whether to praise her for her willingness to sacrifice herself for the mission or scold her for being dim-witted. It remained silent for a moment, ultimately refraining from commenting on Kelusta’s mental theatrics. It just tentatively suggested, “Why don’t you… just tell her directly?”
“Tell her directly?”
“Yes. Based on an analysis of Gloria’s character profile and her reactions to your previous interactions, temporary host, I’ve discovered that she seems to really enjoy being praised and complimented by you,” the System said.
“Huh?” Kelusta blinked, thought for a moment, and then said something astonishing, “So she likes simps?”
“…No, I don’t think so,” the System said, speechless. “In the original plotline, Starangui’s attitude toward Gloria was always one of ‘fawning,’ but Gloria’s was primarily one of ‘using’ her. She didn’t show the slightest mercy when she finally eliminated Starangui.”
So, she definitely didn’t like simps—or rather, anyone other than Kelusta who acted like one.
Kelusta shivered. She thought about it carefully but was still confused. “So, by your logic… she only likes it when I simp for her?”
“…Perhaps, that is the case.”
Gloria hadn’t ruthlessly exploited every bit of Kelusta’s value like a tyrant, the way she had with Starangui—after all, she knew that Kelusta possessed powerful water magic.
On the contrary, in their interactions, it seemed Gloria was the one in the “giving” position. The silver-haired girl’s act of standing up for her in front of the tower that night was proof enough of this.
Kelusta: “…”
System: “…”
Kelusta said blankly, “So… what, does being praised by me give her a special sense of accomplishment, to the point that she becomes a better person? In that case, I praise you every day, so how come you’re not any nicer to me?”
The System also said blankly, “I don’t know about a sense of accomplishment, but… you’ve never praised me every day, have you?”
The two of them fell into contemplation in unison.
Finally, Kelusta cleared her throat and made a decision. “Whatever. I can’t think of any other way, so let’s just give this a try!”
After a pause, she added, “Even if it doesn’t work… I still have one last chance with the Probability Increase MOD. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it!”
Two days later, at the Holy Light Magic Academy library.
The feng shui seemed to be bad today. The library was completely empty, without a single soul in sight. When Kelusta went to sign in, even the librarian was nowhere to be found.
Theoretically, unregistered students were not allowed to enter freely, but Kelusta had already decided to play her trump card—the Magic Mirror—today. Before arriving, she had the System activate the Probability Increase MOD.
A precious opportunity couldn’t be wasted. So, Kelusta stood before the empty registration desk, gritted her teeth, and glanced around guiltily. Then, like a nimble little cat, she ducked low and quickly slipped inside.
The library was deathly quiet. Combined with the overcast sky, the usually dim lights seemed even gloomier. Kelusta felt a chill run through her. She looked around helplessly but didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary.
“…System?” Kelusta asked. “Why do I feel like something’s off?”
The System was silent for a moment, seemingly scanning. Kelusta waited quietly. About two minutes later, she received a reply: “Detected some residue of Dark Magic… Temporary host possesses latent Light Magic potential. This should be the cause of your discomfort.”
“Dark Magic?” Kelusta’s mind went blank for a second. She frowned, confused. “Didn’t you say that Duke Silentdis is the one who currently inherits Persedoro’s shackle?”
“…That is correct. But the infants of the Silentdis family are born with Dark Magic,” the System said gently, in a tone one might use to comfort an idiot. “Have you forgotten, temporary host? Without magic, Gloria and Wend would never have been able to enroll in the Holy Light Magic Academy.”
Kelusta: “…Oh.”
She didn’t know if it was really her own lack of intelligence or if the residual Dark Magic was affecting her, but in any case, she had truly forgotten.
“We already used the Probability Increase MOD, right?” Kelusta suppressed the discomfort in her heart, took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and walked deeper into the library.
“It has been used.”
“Then… that means the Dark Mage here at this time must be—”
After rounding two rows of bookshelves, in a spot very close to the book depository, she saw, as expected, a head of long, silver hair.
When the other person sensed someone and spun around abruptly, fixing her with a pair of eyes as dark as ink, Kelusta dug her fingers into her palm, forcefully suppressing the fear that surged up from the bottom of her heart for a moment. She then let out an imperceptible sigh of relief.
Good, I made it… before she found the Magic Mirror.
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