Volume 1 Chapter 11 Mean Villainess, Shuddering At My Mother's Face
"Lady Elena! Lady Elenaaa!"
Congratulations, the pufferfish has evolved into its pet, the boxfish!
I wonder if I should have canceled B?
"What happened, Ms. Natalia?"
This morning, as soon as I stepped into the classroom, Ms. Natalia rushed over to me.
Completely attached, Ms. Natalia is grabbing my hand and shaking it up and down.
I feel like my shoulder might come off.
"Do you know Sir Lorentz from the Marquis Blanche family, Lady Elena? He's a year above us."
Speaking of Sir Lorentz, he's the one I ran into in the backyard, clutching his head.
He was troubled by his lack of magical power, and I taught him how to improve it.
"Yes, well, I know him."
If it's him, not only do I know him, but if we encounter each other at the academy, we exchange nods.
"That Sir Lorentz has started looking for a bride!"
"Oh really?"
Well, he's the only son of the Marquis family, so it's not surprising that he would start looking for a bride early.
There must be issues regarding heirs and such.
In fact, it wouldn't be strange at all if he had already been engaged at an even earlier stage.
"Oh really, it's not just that, Lady Elena! Your name is also among the bride candidates!"
The compatibility test wasn't just about analyzing magical power or the quality of magic—it also assessed academic ability, personality, and other traits to determine which type of Divination Magic suited each individual. In short, it was like a type compatibility chart.
For instance, if one has a wind magic type, they may be compatible with weather Divination Magic, while those with an earth magic type are likely suited for stone divination.
Until now, the classes had mostly focused on what Divination Magic is and how these compatibility types work, consisting mainly of theoretical studies.
Only after the results of the suitability test are out will the practical training finally begin.
Everyone was looking forward to that.
Of course, I was looking forward to it as well.
"I want to learn stone divination or flower divination. What about Ms. Parsley and Ms. Percella?"
Ms. Natalia also called out to Ms. Parsley and the others who were nearby.
As you might expect, their first impressions of each other were not very good, and while Ms. Natalia had started to get close to me, the others had been a bit skeptical, but now they had become quite friendly.
"I also do stone divination or flower divination. It's glamorous after all."
With a dreamy expression, Ms. Parsley replies.
Yes, stone divination and flower divination are the highlights of Divination Magic.
Basically, they target nobles or wealthy merchants, and the content of the readings is pretty standard, covering luck in finance, love, health, and so on, but they are all very flashy and beautiful to look at.
Stone divination uses gems for the readings, and just the fact that it's gems makes it inherently beautiful, but with the addition of magic, they sparkle and shine even more, making it a truly luxurious experience.
Flower divination involves reading the seeds of plants, and this particular seed seems to be special, already beautiful even before the divination takes place, but supposedly the better the divination result, the more stunningly it blooms, making it quite literally a glamorous kind of fortune-telling.
Such a visually beautiful form of divination is incredibly popular among young ladies.
However, while it may look beautiful, both the stones and seeds are said to be extremely difficult to handle, so there aren't many students who can learn it.
That's what the Divination Magic teacher said.
...or at least that's what they said.
Thinking back, I've seen that stone divination with my own eyes many times.
My mother would take me to the stone fortune-teller whenever the opportunity arose.
Even though it was a fortune-telling service aimed at nobles and the wealthy, so it wasn't exactly cheap, my father would complain about it, but each time she'd quietly murmur, 'We'll get our money's worth in the future.'
In Japanese.
Ah, that was a flag, wasn't it?
As the Divination Magic class began, the teacher started announcing the results of the aptitude test while calming the excited students down.
Watching the students react with joy and despair to the results, it wasn't long before it was my turn.
"Ms. Elena seems to be a perfect fit for learning stone divination without question."
The Divination Magic teacher said.
Cheers erupted from Ms. Natalia and everyone else in the classroom.
"It seems to get along well with all kinds of magic, but the stone has been shining even before the divination. This is the first time I've seen something like this."
The stone looks like it's happy, as the teacher handed it over to me.
It has quite a bit of weight to it, so it's relatively heavy.
Holding the stone in my hand, I rethink.
What my mother used to say, 'You'll get your money's worth in the future,' actually meant that I would get my money's worth in the future.
It seems like being the Mean Villainess might not be such a good position, but I guess that makes me one of the main characters in this otome game, just as my mother said.
I can't live quietly.
Maybe.
Well, it's fine since I wanted to learn, stone divination.
Ms. Parsley and Ms. Percella seem to have a good affinity with magic related to the moon and stars, so they both ended up learning astronomy-based Divination Magic.
I hear they predict astrology and the phases of the moon.
And it seems Leve and Rudger both have a good affinity with wind magic, so they're going to learn weather Divination Magic.
"I wanted to learn weather Divination Magic since it can help farmers."
Rudger said, smiling happily.
Seeing Rudger like that, Ms. Parsley opened her mouth with a puzzled expression.
"Farmers... commoners really find this useful for the future, huh?"
At those words, Rudger momentarily lost his smile.
Perhaps he thought he was being looked down upon.
However, Ms. Parsley's face simply showed her shock at the differences in social status she was encountering for the first time.
"Well, weather is important for farmers, right? I've heard that both sunshine and rain, heat and cold are crucial for plants to grow."
Trying to add a follow-up, I interjected, and Rudger nodded in agreement.
"Nobles may only consume, but if farmers cannot produce, they will have no income. By the way, Elena, do you also know a lot about plants?"
"I just read a little bit about it in the library."
"I only knew about the knowledge of vegetable prices skyrocketing due to extreme heat and long rains in Japan."
"Lady Elena, it seems I can learn flower divination...!"
Ms. Natalia came to report with a look on her face that seemed to say, 'I can't believe it.'
"Flower divination! You did it!"
It was only when I said that that she smiled very happily for the first time.
With that, the results announcement for the Divination Magic compatibility test ended in a rather cheerful atmosphere.
* * *
"I have decided to learn stone divination, Rolus."
"...Yes."
"Make sure to let me practice with Rolus after you learn properly."
"...Yes."
If I do not predict whether Rolus has a bright future, who will?
Even in the carriage on the way back, I was talking about stone divination, and it seems that conversation reached my mother's ears.
Is she eavesdropping?
"Oh, Elena, have you decided to learn stone divination?"
"Yes. The teacher said I have a good affinity with stones."
The indescribably smug smile on my mother's face when I answered that was a little scary.
There is no doubt that this expression means I am going along with the script.
I suppose so, but it's a bit too obvious on her face.
She's completely a creepy person.
If she weren't my mother, she would probably be the type of person I would avoid.
Scary.
"My friend Ms. Natalia has decided to learn flower fortune-telling, so the teacher was happy that both stone and flower fortune-telling classes are now together."
When I casually mentioned it as a small talk, my mother's smiling face suddenly turned serious.
That's kind of scary in its own way.
"Oh, you are friends with Ms. Natalia?"
Did I not mention it?
Rather, she knows about Ms. Natalia.
"You know Ms. Natalia?"
"Uh, yes, I think I met Ms. Natalia's mother at some soirée."
Ah, I became flustered.
This is it; Ms. Natalia is also a character from that otome game.
So that's why she had that kind of face, like she already knew.
While I was silently thinking about such things, my mother seemed uncomfortable and quickly left the scene.
'Was there a depiction of a villain and an informant being friends?'
She muttered this in Japanese, letting it slip out.
I do not know if there was such a depiction, but if Ms. Natalia is an informant, I hope she can rest assured that she has already shown some signs of it.
"Well then. I will read a book, so please brew some tea, Rolus. For you too."
"I will."
"Oh, are you saying you cannot follow my orders? You are a servant."
"As you wish, Lady."
"...It's not like I forgot to call you Servant just because I was excited about stone fortune-telling in the carriage, okay?"
Now that I think about it, I just realized I forgot to call Rolus Servant.
That was close.
I accidentally let it slip.
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