Chapter 8

The Johnston Duke's family owns multiple territories. Melissa, who had only ever visited the largest territory named Johnston, chose to go to a small territory called Roton, which was near the border with the Empire.

The capital of the Empire is famous as a city of music, where a diverse array of music from various ethnic groups can be heard throughout the streets. Eighty percent of the piano pieces Melissa played were composed by musicians from the Empire. She hoped that in Roton, a territory adjacent to the border barony, she might find sheet music that couldn't be obtained in the capital.

After a three-day carriage ride, Roton turned out to be a beautiful and quiet rural town, with Lake Roton, which had once been featured on a banknote, occupying half of the territory. Unfortunately, it lacked the influence of the imperial capital that Melissa had expected.

"Amazing, so beautiful... It feels like I could be drawn in."

"Hehehe. Lady Vanessa said the same thing when she saw Lake Roton for the first time."

As she marveled at the crystal-clear lake, she was laughed at by the butler standing behind her. Melissa, who was often compared to her mother, had unknowingly smiled. It was the first time she had smiled in a long time.

When she was ordered to leave the capital, it felt like being thrown into a dark void alone. However, seeing the magnificent nature and the beautiful lake made her feel that leaving the Johnston Duke's family, where she had to live in hiding, might have been for the best.

She immediately asked the butler if there were any rare sheet music, and he said she might find some in the neighboring border barony. For some reason, she was laughed at again. Although they had just met, Melissa felt relieved that she could like this butler who often smiled.

The manor was managed by an elderly couple who seemed older than her grandmother, and the butler was the husband of the elderly couple. His son was in charge of managing the territory. It seemed to be a family that had managed Roton for generations.

Melissa told the Roton servants that she couldn't return to the capital until she learned to control her magic because her younger sister and her magic were incompatible. The younger sister was a recently adopted cousin, and even though everyone understood that the legitimate daughter, Melissa, had been sent away from the main house, no one looked down on her. They welcomed her warmly.

She had a maid named Rose who was more attentive than anyone in the capital, and she could play the piano without restraint. Most of all, her encounter with a young apprentice servant at the Roton manor began to heal her wounded heart.

Noble children attend the Noble Academy in the capital for three years starting at age 13. The academy teaches necessary knowledge for nobles, such as estate management, foreign languages, geography, and environmental science. Only graduates of the Noble Academy are recognized as nobles. Otherwise, the only way to become a noble is to be ennobled directly by the king. After that, those with magic must attend the Magic Academy for three years starting at age 16, where they learn the correct use of magic. If they fail to graduate, their magic is sealed.

Melissa is almost 11 years old. The content she would learn at the Noble Academy, which starts at age 13, had already been covered in her princess education from age 6. She planned to review it so she wouldn't forget, but it wouldn't take much time. She had started training in magic control the day after her father ordered her to go to the territory, but it seemed there was a limit to the amount of magic she could use in a day. She would run out of magic before lunch if she started training after breakfast.

Melissa decided to train in magic control in the morning, play the piano in the afternoon, and study after dinner. The thought of being able to play the piano as much as she wanted, which she could only do for an hour a day since age 6, made her shiver with joy.

In the duke's family, she had used a silencing magic device, but playing the piano without it felt like her blood was boiling. After concentrating on the piano for a while, Melissa took a break and looked around to find herself surrounded by the manor's servants.

"I feel regretful for not having heard such beautiful piano music before."

Rose's words were followed by a flurry of compliments.

"Amazing!" "I'm about to cry." "This is my first time." "An amazing pianist has come to Roton!"

Melissa's heart warmed, and tears welled up in her eyes as she listened to the servants' heartfelt words about her piano playing, however clumsy it might have been. She could almost hear her mother's voice saying, "The piano will surely help you."

Melissa's daily magic control training, which she was doing to return to the capital, was a simple repetition of accumulating and releasing magic. Normally, such training isn't necessary, as one can eventually control magic through regular use. This boring training was only to speed up the process, but Melissa, being serious and accustomed to practice from her early princess education, managed to continue it every day.

Unaware that Amelia wouldn't do training that wasn't beneficial to her, and that no one could maintain such intense concentration until their magic was depleted, Melissa repeated the simple task every day. Both she and Amelia needed to learn to control their magic, meaning Melissa couldn't return to the capital until Amelia also learned.

"Miss, may I ask you for a favor?"

The always gentle butler, holding the hand of a young boy, approached Melissa.

"This is Nate, an apprentice servant. As you can see, he has severe burn scars. As part of your daily magic control training, could you cast light magic on Nate?"

Despite his long bangs, his face was visibly red and scarred, and his hands, which were partially visible, also had red burn scars. The burn scars on the back of Nate's hand, which the butler was holding, were still unstable, with blisters forming, making them look very painful.

"I don't need it!"

Nate struggled to free himself from the butler's grip.

"I apologize for his rudeness. Nate is a magic user of the same age as you and will eventually attend the Magic Academy with you. I believe he can be of great help to you."

The young magic user with a face disfigured by burns. Being a magic user, he must have noble blood. It smelled like trouble, and she should have refused.

But Melissa remembered seeing him wiping away tears in the corner after the servants had given their impressions of her piano playing.

"My light magic can only heal minor wounds. I don't think it will have the effect you're hoping for. But I can try to heal the blisters, and I want to see how far I can go."

Josh, the name of the smiling old butler.

"Yes, that's fine. Nate, this is part of your job. I order you to assist Miss in her magic control training as a servant."

And so, Melissa began casting light magic on Nate's burn scars as part of her magic control training.