Noble Lady Reformation Guide

Once the situation had calmed down, the first thing Kohella did was use her own magic and the captured confusion mage to keep Linus alive, at least for the time being, as he was in critical condition.

The curse imbued in the Book of Longing could be neutralized simply by erasing that memory.

Manipulating the memories of hundreds of people at once required an enormous amount of mana, but with a mage barely above the initial level of one star, it took very little effort.

Only a six-star mage can subdue another six-star mage.

The young woman, completely dominated by Kohella, had no choice but to suppress the curse of the Book of Longing with her help before her mana ran out and she died.

Negotiating with a mage cornered to that extent was not particularly difficult.

When Dereck calmed the nobles in the main hall and returned to the imperial quarters, the situation was already practically resolved.

Linus, covered in blood and completely unconscious, was being rapidly treated by the medical staff, who were working desperately to stop the bleeding, and Princess Roselin, exhausted to the limit, had fallen into a deep sleep.

The grounds of Ravenclaw Academy were still wrapped in night, and dawn was still a long way off.

“We have a lot to talk about, don’t you think?”

The figure of the mage, bound to a chair with her hands restrained behind her back, was different from before.

The one who had taken on Aiselin’s appearance to infiltrate the main hall had completely exhausted her mana and had returned to her original form.

Her wavy hair, without any defined pattern, fell to her waist, and her flared skirt, soaked in blood, was covered in dust and dirt.

She was not young, but not elderly either—a woman whose appearance suggested a settled maturity.

Kohella, seated in front of her, asked with a smile etched into her wrinkled eyes.

Dereck, leaning against the wall in a corner, merely listened in silence.

“Let’s start with your name.”

“…Marilyn.”

“You’ll have to say it in full.”

“I don’t have a surname.”

Either she was a commoner without lineage, or she was lying.

It was not common for someone capable of using magic at that level to have no family background at all.

Most five-star mages or higher came from prestigious houses.

Without uncrossing his arms, Dereck glanced sideways at the woman who had introduced herself as Marilyn.

Most six-star mages were usually elderly people.

Her appearance, far too young for a mage of such a high level, raised the suspicion that this might be yet another illusion.

However, that was impossible.

Marilyn’s body was still marked by the curse of the Book of Longing.

That spell, which constantly evaporated mana, could not be easily dispelled even by a six-star mage.

Moreover, Kohella, an extremely high-level transformation mage, was watching her closely.

Under those conditions, she could not use advanced magic, and it would not even be easy for her to cast a one-star spell.

A bound six-star mage.

That image was like seeing a gigantic dragon locked behind bars.

That someone of that level could be captured or subdued was, in itself, almost unreal.

It had only been possible because Kohella, a mage of the same rank, was there.

“As I told you, if you try anything stupid, I’ll cut your head off on the spot. You are the emperor’s assassin, and even if your head fell right now, no one would hold anyone accountable. Isn’t that right?”

“…”

Marilyn was in an absolutely unfavorable situation.

The caution of Kohella and Dereck felt even sharper than before.

Having reached the pinnacle of confusion magic meant that, with the slightest carelessness, she could exploit any crack to execute some strange trick.

It was enough to sense the faintest suspicious sign to cut her throat immediately.

No one knew how far a minimal opportunity could grow.

A confusion mage of such a high level could not earn anyone’s trust.

For Marilyn, that treatment was nothing new.

“It seems that even with two or three straps around my neck, you still don’t feel at ease. Hahaha…”

Shaking her wavy hair, Marilyn bit her blood-stained lips.

At first glance, she seemed completely resigned.

The staff of Emperor Gattrel, the “Light of the Empire,” had already been recovered.

When her mana ran out, the confusion magic hiding the staff dissipated naturally.

Ironically, that precious object was hanging openly on her back.

Since she intended to hide it with magic, there had been no need to keep it far away.

“As I said, there are many things we need to talk about. If you don’t want to die, start talking. Why did you assassinate His Majesty the Emperor, and what did you intend to do with that staff?”

“Would you really believe me if I spoke?”

“That depends on what you say. All you have to do is be honest. If you don’t want to die.”

Kohella’s gaze turned sharp.

“These are not empty words, listen carefully. I’m prepared to kill you at any time. When dealing with a six-star confusion mage, I have no intention of making the imprudence of giving you unnecessary leeway.”

“I see. But even if I speak sincerely, I doubt you’ll believe me.”

Bound, Marilyn let out a dry laugh and spoke as if she no longer cared.

“What I wanted to use that staff for, why I tried to kill the emperor—even I don’t know.”

“…?”

Kohella frowned.

Dereck, leaning against the wall, also narrowed his eyes.

At this point, trying to deflect the conversation with such empty words made no sense at all.

Even so, Marilyn formed a bitter smile and continued.

“From the beginning, I’ve only been moving under orders.”

“Orders?”

Dereck let out an incredulous laugh.

It was a story far too absurd to believe.

An individual who manipulates human cognition and freely adjusts even the memories of hundreds of people—someone with such an absurd capability.

For someone like that to claim, “I didn’t know anything, I was just following orders”—who in the world would believe it?

Both Dereck and Kohella showed mocking smiles.

Seeing their reaction, Marilyn also smiled, as if that was exactly what she had expected.

“Marilyn. Do you really expect me to believe that now? Listen carefully.”

At that moment, Kohella’s gaze, which had always pretended to be gentle and benevolent, became even sharper.

“If you say something I cannot accept again, I’ll cut off an arm. Then the other one, and after that, your legs.”

“…”

“So you can disappoint me up to four times. Of course, that’s if you want to keep your limbs.”

It was clear by pure instinct.

Kohella’s words were not a bluff.

Kohella had lived obsessed with finding and studying six-star mages.

From her point of view, she would not want to kill Marilyn outright.

But mutilating her was a completely different matter.

Turning her into something worse than death was not difficult at all.

There was no need even to raise her voice to apply pressure.

Kohella was serious, and at least everyone present understood that.

“Did you really think I would accept something like ‘I received orders’? A mage who adjusts memories and cognition moving according to others’ orders?”

“Because… it’s engraved into my instinct. I still… haven’t managed to completely free myself from that yoke.”

“…”

“From the outset, it’s already strange… don’t you think? Aren’t you curious how someone like me, without a proper affiliated family, managed to reach the six-star level? Those who reach this degree usually leave a mark on history in one way or another.”

Without showing the slightest intimidation, Marilyn endured the excruciating pain radiating from the cursed seal and spoke to Kohella.

“A six-star mage who appears out of nowhere, without omens or traces of a life… it’s strange, isn’t it? Kohella, and you too, Dereck… it seems you want to know, so I’ll tell you. From the beginning, I’m not even something that can be called human.”

Marilyn wiped her bloodied lips and spoke with a bitter smile.

Too many emotions were mixed into her expression, as if she were mocking her own existence.

“I am an existence summoned through this body.”

At those words, the pupils of Kohella and Dereck trembled at the same time.

Combat, confusion, transformation, summoning, detection, and necromancy.

Those who stood at the pinnacle of each of those fields were called six-star mages.

Some revealed themselves to the world; others lived hidden forever behind the veil.

In the current era, the stars who had reached the summit of each discipline—Melverot, Marilyn, Kohella, Drest, Fina—just thinking of the weight carried by each of those names made it unnecessary to explain the authority they held in the world of magic.

However, there was a single field that remained empty, as if its pinnacle had no known occupant.

‘…’

Dereck tightly clasped his crossed arms and lowered his head.

He had already faced a five-star summoning mage.

Even while being pushed to the brink of death by Fina, that monster had moved a giant of fire and unleashed mana capable of covering an entire territory.

She controlled hundreds—thousands—of summons, as if commanding an army all by herself.

If a mage barely at the beginning of the fifth level could reach such a scale, what kind of summons would a summoning mage who had reached the six-star level wield?

It was something he could not even clearly imagine.

Even the summoning magic of Grand Duke Beltus already seemed to brush against an impossible limit.

But now, he felt that he was finally seeing a fragment of that truth.

Marilyn.

A strangely familiar name.

Where had he heard it before?

“Marilyn.”

Kohella repeated the name softly.

Marilyn turned her head, but Kohella did not even meet her gaze.

She was not calling her; she was simply savoring the name.

“It is the name of the disciple of the sixth winged angel, Rohelm, who appears in the scriptures of the Holy Cult of Rohest on the continent. The prophetess Marilyn… did you take it from there?”

“…”

The bleeding woman smiled.

“Why… do you think I borrowed it?”

The scriptures of the Holy Cult of Rohest were texts that had undergone countless revisions and reinterpretations during the process of compilation by the orthodox historian, Alon. Even the ancient angels under the chief god Rohest were figures deeply tinted by historical interpretation—closer to products of creation than to factual reality.

For that reason, the actual existence of a disciple of that angel was impossible.

She was nothing more than an idolized figure, etched into the minds of countless believers over the centuries.

A phantom existence whose reality no one could confirm.

However, a summoning mage who had reached the pinnacle did not even bother to consider such things.

In the dark expanse of the grounds of Ravenclaw Academy, for a long while, only a strange silence filled the place.

***

“….”

The emperor was assassinated at Ravenclaw Academy.

It took only half a day for that shocking news to spread to Ebelstein.

And it would probably take only a few days for it to spread across the entire continent.

It was an event of such magnitude that it was only natural for Aiselin to head toward Ravenclaw Academy early in the morning.

When Aiselin arrived at the grounds of Ravenclaw Academy, the place was still steeped in chaos.

It was said that the incident within the grounds had already been resolved to some extent and that the culprit had even been captured, but the first thing that caught Aiselin’s eye were the buildings destroyed everywhere.

‘…Buildings that we raised over months with the sweat and blood of so many workers…!’

The dormitory building had blood all over its entrance, and the interior was a wreck from the violent turmoil that had occurred.

As she gazed upon a scene that looked like a battlefield, Aiselin felt her eyes grow moist.

‘Even so… it’s a relief that everyone else seems to be safe…’

Just as Aiselin composed herself and stepped forward with determination into the grounds—

“…!”

“Hh…! Ah, no… that’s not it…”

“¿…?”

The soldiers who crossed paths with Aiselin visibly flinched upon seeing her.

After recognizing her face, they immediately adopted an alert posture, but upon observing her reaction, they relaxed again.

‘I-it’s strange… why… does everyone seem to be on guard around me…?’

Aiselin still did not know that a confusion mage had impersonated her identity.

Not even a day had passed since Kohella’s barrier spell had broken.

Even so, seeing how everyone nervously swallowed every time she passed by, Aiselin could not help but feel that she was being subtly kept at a distance.

“…Sir Delbriton. I… did I do something wrong…? Or could it be that… everyone is disappointed because, right before such an important imperial inspection, I left home… showing such an irresponsible attitude…?”

After finally reaching the Main Pavilion and meeting the head butler Delbriton, Aiselin spoke in a dejected tone.

As Delbriton organized in his mind how to explain the entire situation to her, Dereck, who had already finished the initial interrogation together with Kohella, stepped out toward the Main Pavilion.

“Ah… Dereck…! I’m here…! I heard what happened…!”

“Hh…!”

After so long without seeing him, Aiselin hurried over, happy to see Dereck.

When she suddenly appeared right in front of him, the hem of her dress swaying, Dereck—his senses still on edge—flinched and tightly gripped the hilt of his sword.

“…Sir Dereck?”

“Ah… A-Aiselin, miss.”

“E-even you too, Dereck…?”

Seeing Dereck clearly adopt a defensive stance, as if a mortal enemy had suddenly appeared before him, Aiselin’s eyes filled with tears once more.

She seemed to think that she had disappointed everyone by leaving to enjoy herself peacefully at another family residence at such a critical moment.

“N-no… this… I’m sorry. I was too agitated last night…”

It was not common for Dereck to apologize so immediately and so frankly.

But from his point of view, reacting that way was unavoidable.