Genius 26

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Chapter 26. Katia

"Be a splendid noble."

Among Katia von Trakia's memories, these words stand out the most.

It was her mother, Theta von Trakia's favorite phrase.

Her mother was a kind person.

She always took care of Katia in place of her busy father. Thanks to that, Katia thinks she could spend her childhood without feeling lonely or deprived.

That was her mother's favorite phrase.

"To protect others' happiness when ours allows it. That's what we call someone with a noble heart. Remember that."

What her mother said couldn't be well understood by Katia, who was not even 5 years old.

She didn't understand that she was happy now, nor did she understand it was natural for Katia to not know any world other than this one since her birth.

However, Katia soon understood.

She understood that the ground she stood on was as fragile as thin ice over a sea of blood.

◆

One day, Katia visited the northern territory with her mother due to the interaction between nobles.

Suddenly, a horde of monsters appeared there without any warning.

It was what they called a massive stampede.

It was a disaster caused by the swelling of an undiscovered wild labyrinth without being conquered.

She vividly remembers the black tsunami that covered the ground and the process of it devouring the peaceful streets.

And—her mother, who bravely faced such a hellish scene alone.

Her mother was not a powerful mage. Even her inherited magic was said to be inferior to Katia's.

However, she fought without hesitation, fought, and fought through it all.

She couldn't destroy everything. But Katia held on until reinforcements arrived from the capital. Without her, there would have been sacrifices among the people living in the north.

She protected everything. The happiness of others—her own life.

Looking at her remains, Katia remembers the words her mother told her before.

"To protect others' happiness when ours allows it. That's what we call someone with a noble heart."

She understood what it meant.

They exist to protect the happiness they have enjoyed from that terrifying thing.

She also understood why her mother said "heart" instead of "power."

Unlike her mother, who faced the horde alone, even though she had much stronger magic than her, she abandoned the people to be protected by fear and fled ahead of others from the noble families. Her mother's way of being was much more splendid than the other nobles.

In this country, magic is everything.

She thinks that was the time she began to doubt the common sense ideology in a magic-centric country like Eustia.

The sight of her mother's back gets burned into her memory. The noble and dignified way of being was so vivid and admirable.

So Katia made a decision.

She decided to be like her mother. To be a noble who is more honorable, upright, and beautiful than anyone else.

To help the weak. To protect someone. To become a strong and proud noble.

Katia's magic got revealed two months after her mother's death. Although the magic she received was very powerful, some said it was crude due to its nature.

But she managed to persevere because there was a boy who praised her beauty.

She didn't think magic was everything. However, it was undoubtedly the most useful power to defeat monsters. So she couldn't ignore it.

He was a wonderful mage who genuinely loved magic and wanted to help others with it.

It was a pleasant idea for Katia, so she couldn't believe it when she found out that he didn't have bloodline magic.

So she didn't abandon him—she thought she should protect him if he got expelled from his home due to his efforts failing.

So—when she heard that he got exiled from his home and his whereabouts were unknown that day, she felt a tearing sadness like when her mother died for the first time since then.

However, she couldn't stop.

She became engaged to Prince Aster, the second prince. He was said to be a great magician. So now, supporting him is for the sake of this country and many people.

She told herself that and shook off her sadness as she headed to the palace.

Aster was indeed an incredible mage as she had heard. His Bloodline Magic, in particular, was unparalleled in strength, and she thought there was nothing better than defeating monsters and protecting the people.

She thought that supporting him was her duty from now on. But...

"That's ridiculous. You have to nod to what I say."

"You think 'this way is better'? Who do you think I am? There's no way I'm wrong."

"I am a perfect magician. I don't need the help of a 'failure' like you. It's clear when you see this magic."

Something was wrong.

Certainly, Aster's magic deserved respect. But, she felt it was wrong to validate everything because he had been given excellent magic.

If it were 'him,' he would surely not turn out like this even if he had been given the same magic. He would have listened to others besides himself and been able to consider others' feelings.

She felt that doubting Aster's personality and way of thinking like this would eventually lead to chaos in the country, and it would be the people they should protect who would be affected first. That's the feudal system, so they couldn't just abandon it.

She believed in that intuition and got permission from her father, Jurgen, for her policy, so she decided to patiently continue advising him. She believed it was for the people.

However, Aster's personality did not improve at all over five years. On the contrary, it accelerated—becoming so arrogant that it could be called haughty.

His gaze towards her became increasingly annoying, and she felt ostracized even within the palace.

It was tough.

It was painful not to be listened to and not to be trusted by anyone.

Furthermore, flaws in her magic began to become more noticeable.

Bloodline magic might not be so powerful when received. But it was usually temporary, resolved by what they call 'the body's growth catching up with magic.' Katia thought so. But there was no sign of that happening.

Gradually, the name 'defective daughter' spread—and Katia's position in the palace dwindled.

It was tough. It was suffocating. There were sleepless nights, and she could feel herself being mentally pushed to the edge.

But she couldn't stop.

Because it was her duty. To sacrifice herself to protect the happiness of the people.

She enrolled in high school.

Although the name 'defective daughter' had spread, she was still the daughter of a duke. There was no overt hostility like in the palace, and some students even showed her a certain amount of respect, so she didn't have to feel as suffocated.

However, instead of that, some students in her class directed strong hostility towards her.

Sara von Hartmann. The daughter of the Hartmann baron's family, she was a girl with a rare 'dual aptitude' who possessed two bloodline magics.

She had been subjected to harassment using her position by those of higher status than her.

It was unforgivable. And what was more infuriating was—when the daughter of the marquis, who called her a 'defective daughter who couldn't use magic', sneered at Sara and said, 'How dare a baron's family like yours get cocky.'

It was ridiculous.

They used their position to belittle her for not using magic but then used the same tongue to belittle Sara based on her position, not her magic.

"I don't need to listen to the words of such faithless people."

Arriving at the scene where the marquis's daughter was being mocked, Katia spoke out.

After silencing the daughter who was about to speak up with a single glare, she approached her and spoke.

"You're Sara von Hartmann, right? I'm Katia. Do you know me?"

"Y-Yes...of course...from the...Trakia duchy...I'm sorry...!"

"...Sorry? For what?"

She realized right after she said it. They thought she was also jealous of Sara's magical talent and had come to harass her.

"It's outrageous. There's no way I would do such a thing."

To say she didn't feel admiration would be a lie.

But she wouldn't make such foolish acts of belittlement. Sara's magical talent was undoubtedly useful for protecting the people in the future. She couldn't afford to lose such a talented individual out of petty jealousy.

So Katia took Sara's hand and, with a smile, said,

"I came here today to ask you a favor. ──Would you like to be friends with me?"

Sara was a very nice girl.

Although she was a bit too modest, she was straightforward and innocent without being arrogant about her innate magical talent. Katia had seen many boys in her class admire her angelic appearance. In fact, she had admired it herself a few times.

So it was natural that she would get noticed by the second prince, her classmate, and become engaged to him. Katia felt glad they could work together from now on and did everything she could to protect her from further harassment.

However...

"It's disgraceful, Katia! To stoop to such wickedness out of ugly jealousy!"

With a single word from Aster in public, everything began to change.

"...What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb! I heard Sara's shoes were hidden after school! It must have been you!"

For some reason, Aster had been trying to blame Katia for all the harassment.

"A-Aster, Your Highness...Katia-sama..."

"Sara, you are kind. I understand the feeling of wanting to protect her, but that woman's true nature is that!"

Certainly, she knew it wasn't Katia's doing, let alone being together with Sara all day proving her innocence, but Sara was startled into silence by Aster's loud voice that drowned her out.

"Is that true...? I thought you two were close..."

"Wait a minute. It would be strange for Miss Katia, in terms of her position, not to be jealous. Wasn't she putting her closer than anyone else to bully her?"

"That's right. And if His Highness Aster says so, there can be no mistake."

"That's right. Miss Katia, it seems you were hiding your true nature, after all!"

And then, one by one, the students around who didn't doubt Astor's righteousness started to join in.

Once again, that painful and suffocating atmosphere began to manifest itself at the academy.

It was quick from there.

Katia lost all her allies at the academy and was torn away from the other students, unable to even be with Sara.

Even though all the harassment toward Sara was blamed on Katia, problems escalated into a major incident.

In the end, she was expelled from the engagement and the academy itself by Aster's declaration.

She wanted to be like her mother.

To help the weak, to sacrifice herself to protect someone's happiness.

She had come this far aspiring to such a way of being—but.

"Hahaha! It's futile. You can't escape from me!"

The reality was unbearably suffocating.

Her engagement got broken, and she was expelled from the academy.

And for some reason. Now, she was being labeled a criminal and chased.

"You must have something to hide, something against God!"

Why, she wondered.

She had been desperately striving to fulfill her duties as a noble since that day.

She had never skimped on her daily training or studying. She could proudly say she hadn't done anything wrong.

"His Highness has instructed that some rough handling is acceptable from you. It's troublesome if you start rampaging, so shall we make you sleep?"

Yet everything was going crazy.

In the face of that fact and Chris's magic closing in, she felt anger and resignation.

──'He' had come back to her.