Chapter 8

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When I woke up, I was lying in my bedroom.

It seems I had collapsed during the oracle ceremony. As I gazed at the ceiling, the door was knocked on and Tette came in.

"Ah, Miss, you're awake?"

"Tette... Why am I here?"

I sat up and looked at her as she approached.

"You collapsed right after the ceremony ended, so we hurriedly carried you to the waiting room. When I contacted the mansion, Mr. came with a small team in about an hour, looking very worried... I thought he was going to storm the temple, he looked so fierce."

I nodded in agreement with Tette's recollection and decided not to ask any more questions, as I could imagine what happened next. I sighed deeply.

"Here."

Tette offered me a fragrant cup of tea, seeing that I was down.

"Thank you..."

I took it and sipped. I felt a bit calmer and began to reflect on the ceremony.

(I never thought it would turn out like this. I didn't even realize I was the world's strongest, at least in physical abilities. If I had known, I would have asked for mental strength too. I didn't know I was so weak under pressure...)

I took another sip of tea.

"Speaking of the ceremony, it was amazing, Miss. The temple was instantly enveloped in a bright white light, and the crystal ball shattered with a loud bang."

"Blow!"

I almost spat out the tea I was drinking at this shocking revelation, but my pride as a young lady barely stopped me.

"Did I... break it? The treasure?"

"Perhaps. The temple people said the crystal was already on the verge of breaking when the prince received the oracle, and your light was just a momentary flash."

"Can the treasure be compensated for...?"

I was dripping cold sweat, and the teacup in my hand was trembling, causing cracks to form.

"Ah, that's the thing about treasures. It immediately returned to its original state."

I felt a deep sense of relief as Tette gently took the cracked cup from my hand.

"That... that's good..."

"The temple people said that if you hadn't received the oracle, they would have rescheduled the ceremony for another day. What do you think?"

"No, I met the god, so there's no problem."

(No, that was the problem... What should I really do?)

As I fell silent in thought, Tette, who had cleared away the cup, came closer.

"Is something wrong? Was there a problem with the oracle?"

As expected of my attendant, she could tell something was wrong just by looking at me.

I decided to tell her about the abilities the god had given me.

"I... apparently, I have cheat abilities."

"Cheat abilities? I've never heard of that term before."

"Well, I guess you could say it's an unfair, out-of-the-ordinary power."

"Wow, that's amazing. Oh, do you mean the memory of your past life is a cheat ability?"

"If that were the only thing, it would have been great..."

I sighed and told Tette about the powers the god had bestowed upon me. At first, she listened with great interest, but her face gradually turned pale.

"Are you planning to become a legendary hero, Miss? I can't be a hero's companion, I'd just be a burden."

That was her final reaction after hearing everything.

"No, I just want to live a normal life with you. I don't want a life full of danger and excitement."

"Miss..."

Tette looked at me with a relieved expression, her cheeks slightly red. Why?

"But the real problem is what to do from now on. How to control and hide this power. If it becomes known..."

I shivered, hugging myself.

My insistence on living a normal life and hiding my powers was largely due to that incident.

Yes, the terrified expression on Tette's face when I first used my power. It had been deeply ingrained in me as a trauma. That time it was a misunderstanding, but there was no guarantee it would be the same in the future. I also knew from books and movies that people tend to fear and try to eliminate things that are far from their common sense...

Tette, who had been told this, hugged me as if to embrace me.

"Don't worry... We're with you, Miss. Everyone in the household, including Mr. and Mrs., loves you."

Her words healed my heart, but I also felt a sense of being crushed.

I knew one more thing. Those who support the unknown are also targets for elimination...

"Thank you... Please help me figure this out."

I loosened the arms that were hugging myself and let go of Tette.

"Tette, I'm going to see Father and Mother."

First, I needed to learn how to control my power as soon as possible. For that, I had to learn a lot. I was like a nuclear bomb with the fuse exposed.

――――――――――

A few days later, in addition to the private tutor I had called for etiquette and education, I had arranged for a martial arts teacher to come to the mansion.

I wanted to learn magic too, but apparently, there was a law that you couldn't study magic until you reached a certain age.

Fortunately, magic power only manifests when you use magic, so if you didn't know how to use it, the huge magic power was just a waste. However, there were examples of people who had lost control after using a little magic, so I couldn't be too optimistic...

(Well, but, I really wanted to try magic early. It's magic, after all! It's exciting!)

I was a bit disappointed but put on the comfortable jacket and pants prepared by the tailor, tied my hair in a ponytail, and waited in the mansion's garden. Today, the martial arts teacher was supposed to come.

(I wish I could have gotten some tracksuits, but this world doesn't have them. Maybe I should ask the tailor to make some for real?)

I pondered about my outfit while waiting.

(By the way, the person coming today is apparently Father's friend, and they fought together on the battlefield when they were young.)

When I asked Father to teach me martial arts, he was terrible.

As usual, he was overprotective, saying I didn't need it and what if I got a scratch, so I ended up saying,

"I hate Father if he won't listen to me!"

I had to correct myself a few minutes later because of the despair on Father's face. But thanks to that, he reluctantly agreed to my request.

"Miss, Baron Elexil has arrived."

A muscular, brown-haired man in knight's armor followed Tette. He had a scar over one eye and a scary face. I instinctively straightened my posture.

"Sorry for being late, Miss Mary. This one was being stubborn, so I had to knock him out and tie him up."

"Huh?"

A tied-up something was dropped in front of me.

I could tell it was a person because only the head and feet were visible.

(What? What's happening? What should I do? Help, God?)

I was completely stunned by the sudden turn of events, but the ropes loosened and the contents came out.

A boy with short, reddish-brown hair and a healthy, sun-tanned complexion stood up, looking annoyed.

His purple eyes met mine, and I felt my heart skip a beat.

His face was slightly less impressive than the prince I had met before, but it was still a well-defined, flawless face.

"Let me introduce you, my son, Zach."

(Another handsome boy... I have a bad feeling about this.)

I sighed inwardly.

Thank you for reading this far.