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Volume 3 Chapter 1 Part 3

「Lord Theo can come with us as well? 」

Siluca was a little surprised. After all, only Lords who are above a certain level of peerage are permitted to take part in the Lord’s Conference. Putting aside Lassic, who is the King of Selvis and possesses the title of a Viscount, Theo should not be able to attend, because right now his personal rank was not even that of a Baron.

Only monarchs with a certain peerage can attend monarch meetings. Leaving aside Lasik, who is the leader of Selvis and has the title of viscount, Theo’s title has not even reached the rank of baron.

「Sooner or later Theo is planning to return to his hometown on Sistina, right? In that case the current Lord’s Conference might be a good place for him to be, since Pederico Rossini, the Viscount of Sistina is also going to be present there at the meeting. 」

「The current Lord of Sistina… 」

Siluca narrowed her eyes like a hunter who had just found her prey.

Theo’s dream is to one day return to his hometown on the island of Sistina and liberate the people who are suffering from the tyrannical oppression of the current Lord and the heavy presence of monsters across the entire island. For Theo, the Rossini family is the true enemy that he was aiming to defeat this entire time.

「Thank you for your consideration then. 」

Siluca bowed politely to Vilar to show her appreciation.

「I should be thanking you for being so polite, but really, what I am doing here is not worthy of your respect at all. I am basically bringing you along with me just so that I can show to the other Lords that it was you who started this fight, not me and I only cooperated with you when it was the most convenient for me. 」

「Y-Yes, of course. 」

Siluca nods in haste.

「Great. Other than that, there is nothing in particular that I want the two of you to do, so you can just relax and gracefully enjoy the meeting. 」

March 8, 2013 of the Continental Callendar

On that day, a party was held to celebrate the 25th birthday of Margret, who had been Vilar Constance’s contracted Mage for a total of seven years. And on that day, her contract with Villar would be canceled.

Siluca attended the party in a gorgeous dress instead of her usual robe. She was accompanied by Theo, who was also smartly dressed from head to toe. Both of their attires have been made specially for that occasion, because according to Vilar, clothes like that are also going to be required at the Lord’s Conference of the Fantasia Union, because such meetings could last for weeks, with various feasts and parties in between the talks.

When it came to the factory Alliance, Siluca heard that the powerful Lords had at least one contracted Mage who was specialized in diplomacy stationed in the capital of Waldrind at all times, and they communicated with each other on a daily basis and the Lords themselves have only been called in to attend the meeting personally whenever there were truly important things to discuss, but supposedly ever since 「The Tragedy of the Grand Cathedral」no Lord’s Conference has been called yet, which only showed how much trust the Lords had in their Mages and how much authority they have been granted by them.

「Lady Margaret, I wish you a happy birthday. 」

Laura, who became the new Head Mage in Margaret’s place, raised a toast in her name. Luxurious dishes were then brought to the table one after another, and a band hired for the occasion began to play music appropriate for the occasion. The attendees all congratulated Margaret, and she was responding to them with a smile, but her expression was clearly stiff.

Siluca and Theo were the last ones to congratulate her at the very end. Margaret looked back at Siluca and remarked:

「What kind of face is this supposed to be? 」

And she put her hand on Siluca’s cheek.

「Huh? Is… is there something wrong with my makeup? 」

「It is not very good. But more than that, I was talking about your facial expression. You look like you are about to cry. 」

「Is… Is that so? 」
Now that it was pointed out to her, Siluca hastily tried to make herself smile, but that forced smile of hers did not last on her face for long, because she was not happy at all right now. She was feeling lonely and sad, and she was also worried about what will happen after Margaret is gone.

「I wanted to learn so much more from you, Margaret! 」

「You wanted to learn from me? I am afraid that there is nothing that I could have taught you except for some crude elemental magic… 」

「That’s not true. I am still immature and there is so much that I have to learn… 」

When she was enrolled in the Magic University, Siluca never doubted her own talent. But when she came out into the world, she soon found out that her thinking of herself as great and capable was nothing short of a terrible misunderstanding. Sometimes she was able to get things done thanks to her talents, but more often than not they turned out to not be enough.

「Not everything in the world will always go the way you want it to go. If anything, it is a given that things will more often then not go against you whenever possible. 」

Margret called out as if he heard the silent voice in Siluca’s heart.

「Exactly. It is precisely that which is pissing me off. 」

Margret laughed out loud when Siluca said so with an absolutely stern expression.

「You know, I am not saying that what you are saying is wrong… but is it really alright to claim that it is the world’s fault that things do not go the way you want them to go? 」

「I honestly think so. However, just because I think so does not mean that I am not reluctant to adapt to the world because I am annoyed that things are not going they way that I want them to go and that they do not turn out well enough for me. 」

「It is always easier to tell a convincing lie to yourself than to put in the effort to understand the truth, and comforting words are always more appreciated than the serious advice, because thanks to them the world is starting to look that much sweeter. But if you let your guard down and indulge yourself like that too much, then you will end up falling into a pitfall iout of which you will never recover. But still, even if you resort to using only your own strength to tackle the issues before you, there is a chance that you still might end up hitting a wall regardless. 」

Margret said so and stroked Siluca’s tied up hair, while Siluca started shedding tears without even realizing it.

「You are not Lord Villar’s contracted Mage, and yet you continue to cause trouble for the Earl, and you made yourself indebted to him more than once, so you need to make sure that you are going to work harder than anyone else to repay him. 」

「Yes, I understand. 」
Siluca lowered her face and wiped the tears with her fingers.

「All that I want to ask of you now it for you to take care of Artuk and Lord Vilar for me. 」

Margaret smiles sweetly and gently presses Siluca on her shoulders. Theo bowed to Margret and left the place while urging Siluca to follow him.

Theo then lured Siluca into an empty corner of the hall, fetched two glasses filled with drinks, and handed one of them to her.

「Thank you. 」

Siluca lowered her face in shame. She appreciated Theo’s consideration, but this is not something that a Lord should be doing for his contracted Mage.

Theo just nodded quietly, and he lifted the glass to himself and began to sip its contents slowly.

「It is truly gorgeous. 」

Then, while looking around the hall he spoke his words with admiration.

「I still think that the parties organized by the Factory Alliance’ Lord’s Conferences are much more glamorous. 」

After she managed to sufficiently calm herself down, Siluca answered Theo.

「It makes me feel like I am really out of place here. 」

Theo smiled wryly.

「Do not worry. You are not the only one who is feeling this way. 」

Siluca smiled wryly as well. She learned how she should behave during the social gatherings of the members of high society when she was in the Magic Academy and Magic University.