Hilda Everett was contemplating her current life.
She had a high position in Magic Institute, had a good salary, and owned a house near the capital, but in her 40 years of living, she was still single.
Since she can't do any kind of chores she always leaves it to the experienced maids, but because of the approaching winter solstice break and the new year's holiday, the said maid took two weeks off.
The attentive and experienced maid was aware that Hilda can't do any housework, so she had prepared two weeks' worth of food for her, but the latter ruined it in a single day.
"This is strange. I had followed her instruction to just heat up the soup. But why did it end like this?"
Of course, after heating up the soup at the highest heat, the content boiled causing it to overflow, as a result, the bottom part was charred which ended in disaster.
Panicked at that sight, she tried to put the pot away from the stove in haste, only resulting in her spilling the soup over because didn't know its handle would be very hot too.
She was a brilliant researcher who can use all kinds of laboratory equipment like it was her own hands, but that talent can't help her to use the utensils in her house.
Even so, that kind of disaster alone would not make the maid fall down to her knees, sadly enough, it did not end here.
After spilling the soup over the floor, Hilda tried to clean it, but a strange thought crossed her mind, how about cleaning it with the water magic she's been developing, she thought.
"That's a clever idea. As expected of me."
So, she cast water magic with her feet to sweep the dirtied floor.
Perhaps letting the water flow in a circular motion would let the stains wash away… but the soup stuck on the floor would not come off easily. And oil stains could not be washed away with water alone.
The stubborn stain ticked Hilda so much, so she quicken the motions…
"Oh no…"
As the consequence, the momentum of the water, which was on par with attack magic, destroyed one of the legs of the four-legged table. Causing the table to tilt, letting all the precious food on the table slide down onto the overflowing water on the floor.
Thus, that's how we reached where she was contemplating her current life after the great disaster that happened before her.
She only repeated ‘what I did is just heating the soup' in a mumble, but for the person would who was aware of the circumstances, they would not be convinced by that excuse.
While her mind preoccupied with the thought of improving the magic, a knock came from the kitchen door.
During winter solstice break, most stores will be closed, and the postman will not be available for deliveries.
After all, during that time people would prefer to stay indoors and spend their quality time with their families. And having a visitor during this time only made Hilda puzzled.
"Wait a moment. Who would it be?"
Walking over in her soaking boots as the soggy sound echoed, she opened the kitchen door, and then her eyes widened.
"I-I'm home."
A petite girl with brown hair uttered those words awkwardly. It was Monica Everett, her adopted daughter.
Letting out an ‘Oh my!' involuntarily, she hugged the slender girl.
"You came, Monica! You should've told me if you're coming home."
"I-I'm sorry…"
"You see, you don't have to come all the way back here.."
"I've knocked on the front door but got no response, so…"
Monica, who's been living in this house until a few years ago, naturally had a spare key to the house. She could have just used the key to enter the house on her own, but it seems that this kind of care and attention of her has not changed a little bit.
"We better move to another place than talk in this cold place. How about you come inside… and of course, you must come from the front door."
"Is that necessary?"
"Of course, since my cute daughter has come home, I want to welcome her from the front door."
And with that words, she concealed the great disaster she had left behind in the kitchen.
＊ ＊ ＊
Six years ago, after Monica adopted by Hilda, she has been living in this house for less than a year.
Half years later, she enrolled in a boarding school Minerva, which after her life went smooth sailing until she was elected and become a Seven Sage.
For a single woman like Hilda, occupying a big house like this might be too large for her, but with so many research documents, books, and materials she had accumulated scattered around, it could be said a plus for her. And seems like that habits of hers haven't changed at all.
The first time she brought Monica to her home, Hilda said ‘normally it would be more tidy than this' to her in embarassedly. But, as more years passed, the things she added would increase and the house would become more messier than last.
Thanks to the maid's efforts it didn't become so dusty, but with too many documents she had accumulated, it was inevitable that it would still look a bit messy.
Hilda took a jar of cookies from the cupboard and placed it directly on the desk. As a person who hasn't done any hospitality in her life, she had no awareness of how to put the cookies on the plate before serving them. Monica felt strangely nostalgic since she felt Hilda has not changed in that respect.
Hilda who used to be her father's assistant, by nature, was a researcher at heart. She herself must be aware that adopting and raising a child was an unfitting role for her.
Nevertheless, in her own way, Hilda encouraged Monica, patiently reminded her of the words she had almost forgotten and gave her warm food to eat and a comfortable bed to sleep in.
It was also her who had encouraged Monica to enroll in Minerva. Monica can't thank her enough for everything that she's done for her.
"This brings back memories. The last time you came back was when we celebrated your inauguration of the Seven Sages, wasn't it? Within two years, you've grown up so much…"
Although Hilda and Monica had exchanged letters frequently, it had been a long time since they had seen each other like this, since they both were very busy with their own work.
Monica didn't think she had grown that much within two years, but Hilda saw otherwise. Honestly, Monica was happy to hear Hilda say she had grown, it made her mouth feel itchy.
"So, how long do you plan to stay here? If I remember, there would be a Seven Sage Summit in the new year ceremony after the winter solstice."
"Yes… I plan to visit the castle before the new year ceremony began…"
"I guess you would stay here until then. You can relax here. This is your home. after all… ah!"
Hilda who's been showing a motherly smile suddenly let out a small voice as if she just remembered something. And her gaze was glancing toward the kitchen.
"You see, I'm sorry if I can't prepare any food. If you want I can bring some bread and pickles… oh, I still have ginger cake, I remember I stored them in the cupboard!"
Hilda's words made Monica remember how devastating her adoptive mother was at housework.
"Um… I'll go to make some tea."
Monica was going in her stead since she felt concerned if she leave her alone, but Hilda stopped her reflectively as her face turned paler.
"Wait! You can't go to the kitchen right now… I mean… let me handle preparing the tea."
Unfortunately, she was too late as the forbidden door leading to the kitchen already opened, and Monica smiled bitterly, looking at the devastation in her sight. It seemed her adoptive mother had not changed at all, she thought.
After all, Hilda has done something similar every year ever since Monica had been adopted into this house.
＊ ＊ ＊
In the end, Monica and Hilda cleaned the kitchen until dark.
Perhaps this tragedy made Hilda looks very uncomfortable, but from Monica's perspective, it was still better that she only messed up the floor.
If it was the worst case, perhaps the small fire she lit up would burn the ceiling already, or perhaps the shelves would already fall all over the place. Her housework skill was so much worse to even be called bad.
After done with the cleaning, Hilda laid out slices of bread and pickled honey-nuts jam alongside ginger cake. Looks like she had taken all the food she stored at home.
"Nero, Nero. Wakes up. It's dinner."
Monica called out to Nero, but he didn't respond and kept curled up inside her luggage bag. Perhaps the bitter cold of the past few days has taken a toll on his body, since he spent most of the days staying in hibernation.
She was worried about him but no matter what kind of state he was in, he was also a dragon. So this kind of cold should not make him this weak.
Monica laid Nero near the fireplace and took a seat across from Hilda.
"You've come all the way back here and I could only prepare this plain food for you… I'm sorry."
"I-I think this is more than enough…"
In the first place, she was a person who had never fussed about food. But she was regretting it now since it should be her that had brought some food as souvenirs for her.
This trip came in sudden, so the thought of bringing souvenirs has never crossed her mind.
"Um… Hilda."
"What is it?"
When Monica spoke to her, Hilda had a large mouthful of bread in her mouth. So she waited until she swallowed her bread then spoke her true purpose of coming here.
"Do you know Peter Sams?"
Hilda's face tightens as her eyebrows quiver.
Her reaction alone had clear enough evidence to prove that she didn't have a good impression of the man called Peter Sams.
Peter Sams, A servant from Duke Reinberg's family and the real culprit who had cast a curse on the Green Dragon and turned it into a cursed dragon.
And he was also the man who knew something behind his father's death.
The moment Peter looked at Monica's face was also the moment he realized that she was the daughter of Benedict Rayne. Which meant, he had met her before in the past.
But Monica didn't recognize Peter at all.
In fact, only a few people know that Monica Everett was Benedict Rayne's daughter. What everyone knew was that Monica Everett was a vagrant child who had been adopted by Hilda Everett from the street.
So the people who know Monica's father was Benedict Rayne were Hilda and people who knows Monica from her childhood.
Since Monica spent most of her day in her father's laboratory, it was quite possible someone from her father's circle would remember her face. Moreover, considering how her growth was stunted and her face still likes a child's, it made her impression almost the same as in her childhood. So it would not that surprising if someone with a good memory would remember her.
Hilda was her father's assistant and also the person who came in and out of his lab the most.
That's why Monica suspected that Hilda might know something about Peter and her guess was right.
"…Monica, what brought that man's name to this conversation all of a sudden?"
Hilda wiped crumbs from her mouth and stared at Monica patiently.
Monica straightened her posture and answered.
"I can't tell you all the details, but long story short, I come across Peter. He mentioned my father's name when he saw my face… moreover, he brought up a remark that he was involved in my father's death…"
A streak of blue veins surfaced on the back of Hilda's hand, which was cupping on the table. Perhaps because of her anger, her hands were quivering.
Hilda dropped her gaze and grunted in an angry voice.
"How could I forget that bastard… There were many times when I really wanted to tear him to pieces with my own hands."
Hilda, who had just uttered the most unsettling statement, was breathing heavily, but she then take a deep breath to calm herself and spoke words to Monica in her usual rational tone.
"…Monica, you better not involve yourself with Peter Sams… There's a lot of power working behind that man. Even if it's you, you can be in danger if you try to provoke him."
As one of the Seven Sages, Monica had the status of Count Magician which was equal to the rank of a count.
Even with that title, she still would be in danger if her opponents were royalty or people with equal ranks.
Monica tilted her head and looked back at her adopted mother.
"Was Peter the reason my father was executed?"
A grinding sound came from Hilda's mouth after she gritted her teeth so hard.
The face of her adoptive mother, who always smiles gently, now had an enraged expression as if the emotions she bottled up has surfaced.
"Peter Sams could be said your father, Doctor Rayne's rival. Nonetheless, he would frequently visit his laboratory and bring up collaborative research."
"Peter was a researcher, too?"
"Yes. I was conducting an experiment on how to control a living creature with magic, a subject that could be said almost to belong to the forbidden area, while Dr. Rayne was studying the relationship between the human body and magic, so our research themes were relatively close to each other."
Eventually, he dropped bringing up the collaborative research, but an incident occurred.
There was a person who reported to the official that Benedict Rayne was studying the most forbidden magic, ‘Ressurection.'
Resurrecting a dead person was the most taboo magic in the kingdom, followed by black flame and weather manipulation. Let alone experimenting with its usability, even if it was merely for research material, they would be punished death sentence.
"As a matter of fact, Dr. Rayne did not conduct any research about resurrection. He was a person who respect life more than anything. So he would never commit such a blasphemy act of resurrecting a dead person."
But, the officer who was investigating Dr. Rayne's laboratory found several documents and forbidden books of resurrection inside.
To top it off, Peter testified to the officer that Dr. Rayne was researching resurrection magic.
Afterward, he was regarded as guilty and sentenced to death.
"We tried to argue back. We told them all of this was Peter Sams' fabrication. All the materials and the books they confiscated were things that he has been planted in Dr. Rayne's laboratory all along. But the attitude of the officials remained the same. Things were working in his favor to an unnatural degree."
Feeling something off, Hilda decided to do a solo investigation of the abnormality of Peter's circumstances… until she found out about the esteemed noble behind his back.
Unfortunately, by the time Hilda arrived at the truth, Dr. Rayne's execution had already been carried out.
What had made that unnatural execution carried out abruptly without trial was because of the pressure of that personage.
Monica clenched her fists in her lap. Although her blood drained from her face, strangely enough, she couldn't stop the unpleasant feeling. Her palm was slightly wet from her sweat.
"…can you tell me the name of that noble?"
Hilda shook her head at Monica's inquiry.
"Right now you are the Seven Sage. You might have to involve yourself with that person in the far future… so I can't tell his name."
After all, Hilda knows Monica very well.
If Monica were to come in contact with that person in the palace… she would lose her composure for sure.
And if by any chance the truth of Monica was the daughter of the sinner Benedict Rayne was revealed, she would be in a dangerous position.
That's why Hilda was keeping her mouth shut to protect Monica.
And because Monica was aware of that, she can't push Hilda any further.
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