Chapter 191 : Chapter 191

She had saved up for a long time.

Every day, she pinched pennies, took odd jobs, and at last managed to scrape together enough money.

Then someone else bought it first.

That person was Ryan Velt.

She had looked into him. He was the son of a fallen noble house, a student with a poor reputation at the academy. Rumor said he was gloomy, temperamental, and had no friends. She had followed him, confirmed the location of his dormitory, and memorized his schedule.

Then, that night, she went.

She had thought it would be easy to steal it back. She had thought a human like him would be no match for her. She simply did not want trouble, and she did not want to expose her identity, so she had held back from using any of her true magic.

In the end, she had not even lasted thirty exchanges. All she could do was dodge in disgrace, flee in disgrace, and use Spatial Magic in disgrace to escape.

Then she fell from the wall.

Then she lost consciousness.

Then she woke up here, with Cecilia having seen through everything.

When Iruya finished speaking, she lowered her eyes and did not dare look at the woman across from her.

Her face was a little warm.

Shame.

She knew very well that what she had done sounded ugly. That item had caught her eye first, but she had not had the money to buy it. Once someone else had bought it, it was no longer hers. Trying to steal it back had been wrong.

Getting caught while stealing and being beaten into a panicked retreat was exactly what she deserved.

But some things could not be left undone just because you knew they were wrong.

Because that item mattered far more than her pitiful little pride.

It was something that belonged to the elves. It was something that had belonged to her people.

She had to get it back.

This was the only way she had, using such limited means, to gather the elven relics scattered throughout the human world one piece at a time. Every one of them might be a clue. Every one of them might help her piece together what had happened in the past. Every one of them might help her find the path to restoring the Elf Race to its former glory.

She had no other choice.

After hearing everything, Cecilia did not speak at once.

She merely lifted her teacup and took another sip.

Those ice-blue eyes lowered, her lashes casting a small shadow over her eyelids. Sunlight fell across her face, leaving it half lit and half in shadow.

After a few seconds, she raised her eyes and looked at Iruya.

“So,” she said, “the attachment you showed in your first condition, toward elven relics... was because of this.”

Iruya said nothing.

But the fingers gripping her knife and fork loosened slightly.

Cecilia did not press any further.

She simply looked at Iruya, the curve of her lips deepening just a little.

What truly caught her interest was something else.

That boy named Ryan Velt.

A human capable of forcing an elf with extremely high affinity into a steady retreat. A human with remarkably sharp instincts. A human who had noticed the abnormality of that white crystal before Iruya had—even if it had been a chance, being able to stumble into the right chance was a kind of skill in itself.

Ryan Velt.

She turned the name over once in her mind.

Interesting.

Cecilia smiled and did not continue the subject. She lifted her teacup and slowly savored the black tea, which had gone somewhat cool. Sunlight fell over her, gilding her in a faint wash of gold.

About half an hour passed.

Soft footsteps came from beyond the flowerbeds. The maid from earlier returned at a brisk pace, carrying a scroll in her hands. She came to Cecilia’s side and respectfully presented it.

Cecilia took it and unrolled it.

It was an ordinary piece of parchment covered in dense writing. Her gaze moved slowly from top to bottom, carefully reading every line.

Then one brow rose slightly.

The movement was very light and very quick, but Iruya saw it.

Cecilia rolled the parchment back up and handed it to the maid standing beside her. The maid accepted it and stepped back.

Then Cecilia looked at Iruya and smiled.

“I agree as well.”

Iruya froze for a moment.

She had assumed she would be fortunate if even one of her two conditions was accepted. The first one, taking elven relics from the ruins, was directly tied to Cecilia’s own goals. Cecilia agreeing to that had been within her expectations.

But the second condition...

That one meant helping her make a move against another person. And that person was someone Cecilia did not even know.

Iruya had only raised it on the off chance it might work. If Cecilia agreed, good. If not, that would have been normal.

Yet Cecilia had accepted both.

The taut string that had been stretched tight inside Iruya suddenly loosened a little.

“Then...” she began, about to say something.

But Cecilia had already extended her right hand.

It was a pale, slender hand with long fingers that gleamed like pearl in the sunlight. She held it out before Iruya, palm up, and waited.

Iruya looked at her, then lowered her eyes to that hand.

At last she reached out as well and lightly placed her hand in Cecilia’s.

Their hands clasped. Cecilia’s was cool, carrying the faint warmth of black tea.

Cecilia smiled.

She accepted another scroll from the maid behind her.

It was a scroll for a Magic Contract. At first glance it looked no different from ordinary parchment, but it was inscribed with countless faint golden runes, fine and densely packed, gleaming softly in the light.

“Since we have reached an agreement,” she said, “we should sign a contract.”

She spread the scroll open across the table before Iruya.

“A Magic Contract,” she said. “It binds both parties according to their Mana. If either side violates its terms, they will suffer a powerful backlash.”

Iruya lowered her eyes to the scroll.

The text was written in Human Common Tongue, clear and straightforward. It spelled out the terms they had just discussed. What she had to do, what Cecilia had to do—everything was broken down in detail and written plainly.

She did not hesitate long.

She accepted the feather pen the maid handed her and signed her name at the end of the scroll.

The instant those two characters were written, the runes on the contract glimmered faintly. A flash of pale gold passed over them, then vanished.

The contract was sealed.

Cecilia rolled the parchment back up and handed it to the maid behind her. Then she rose and adjusted her skirt.

“Well then,” she said, “now that the contract is in place, we should begin some preparations.”

Iruya looked up, somewhat puzzled.

“Preparations?”

“Preparations for enrollment, of course.” Cecilia looked at her, a faint smile in those ice-blue eyes.

Iruya stared blankly.

“Enrollment?”

Cecilia nodded.

“What did you think I was doing when I visited the academy?” she said. “Naturally, I intended to enroll.”

Iruya stared at her for a good while without speaking.

“Enroll... You are coming to Saint Roland?”

“Exactly,” Cecilia said. “And not only me. You will be enrolling with me.”

“I have to enroll too?” Iruya pointed at herself. “But I am already a second-year student in the Lower Division of Saint Roland Magic Academy.”

Cecilia waved a hand dismissively, as though brushing away a tiny insect.

“You have withdrawn.”

Iruya choked on her own breath.

“Then you will enroll again with me,” Cecilia said lightly. “What can you possibly learn there as you are now? And that identity of yours is not especially useful.”

She rose and walked to Iruya’s side.

“From today onward, you are my Personal Guard.”

Iruya looked up at her.

“And you will need a different name,” Cecilia said, her ice-blue eyes sweeping over her face. “Hmm... Ilis will do.”

She reached out and lifted a strand of silver hair from Iruya’s shoulder.

The silver strand slipped over her fingertips like the finest silk, glowing faintly under the sun. Cecilia lightly rolled it between her fingers, as though judging the quality of some rare treasure.

“In a little while, I will have forged identity papers made for you,” she said. “And I will find something to alter your appearance a little.”

Her eyes rose to Iruya’s violet ones.

“At the very least, you cannot remain this conspicuous.”

She released the strand of silver hair, then casually flicked back a little of Iruya’s long hair, as though adjusting a doll.

“The two of us will enroll together,” she said. “In the same class as your Ryan Velt.”

Then she turned and walked out of the pavilion.

The white skirts trailing behind her drifted like flowing cloud. Sunlight fell across her, bathing her in a pale golden glow.

Iruya sat there, staring at her retreating back for a long while without moving.

A breeze came through, carrying the fragrance of the flowers in the garden and stirring the loose strands over her forehead.

She lowered her head and looked at the table where she had just signed her name.

The tabletop was empty now, with only the white porcelain tea service and the three-tiered dessert stand left behind. A few pastries still remained on it: pink macarons, golden cream puffs, cakes dusted with powdered sugar.

Sunlight fell across them, making the sugar sparkle.

Iruya reached out and picked up a macaron.

She took a bite.

It was sweet.

So sweet it was almost cloying.

Slowly she chewed, but her eyes remained fixed in the direction Cecilia had gone, the direction where that white figure had disappeared.

Ryan Velt.

The name turned once in her heart.

She did not know how Cecilia intended to deal with him. She did not know whether that white crystal could be recovered. She did not know where this bargain would lead in the end.

She knew only one thing—

She had already signed the contract.

Some roads cannot be seen clearly before you step onto them. And once you do, there is no turning back.

The wind blew again, tossing her hair.

She did not bother to fix it.

She simply sat there, eating the macaron bite by bite.

It was very sweet.

Sweet enough to make her want to cry.