Genius Wizard Conceals His Origins

A child on the verge of bursting into tears is often compared to a ticking time bomb, but in many cases, the issue can be resolved simply by giving them a toy.

An interesting point is that this strategy is not limited to just young children.

Even as people grow older, they can still enjoy playing with toys. That feeling doesn’t change.

The only thing that does change is the toy.

“――♪♬”

…And here was a person who had gotten her hands on a good toy.

A few minutes after Eugene left the room…

Julia, still sitting at the desk, started humming and swaying her body left and right.

It was a habit.

Among the many things, big and small, that she couldn’t do, one common habit was swinging her legs. So, she just started swaying her body, being light in build, and this continued until she was 19.

It was a habit she had to refrain from showing in public for the sake of appearances.

Therefore, Julia only swayed like this when she was at home.

The implied meaning is clear. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

She’s in a good mood.

In the rose scent so strong it was sometimes nauseating, Eugene’s body odor still lingered at the tip of her nose. That scent made Julia’s subtle smile even deeper.

Finally, I can chase away the leeches.

That alone improved her mood, but Eugene had brought an unexpected joy.

What she thought was just a soldier doll standing stiffly turned out to be a wind-up doll that moved on its own.

Where in the world is there such an interesting thing?

Since she became mature, it was the first time she had someone she could treat comfortably besides the servants.

Who knew the generous pocket money she never had a use for would come in handy at a time like this?

Sway, sway.

Julia continued humming, her chestnut hair fluttering.

“I’m looking forward to Monday.”

She muttered to herself, intoxicated by a strange excitement.

Immediately after, her alone time was miserably shattered.

Knock, knock. There was a knocking sound.

Julia immediately responded in a cold voice.

“Who is it?”

Someone outside the door responded. It was the head maid.

“The master is calling for you.”

“…Come in.”

Creak―

The door opened, and along with the head maid, a white-haired butler entered the room.

The butler was pushing a wheelchair, and the head maid was bringing a separate walker.

Perhaps because she was interrupted during her rare alone time, their appearance seemed particularly annoying today.

This was so even though she had almost no ill feelings towards the head maid.

“Young miss. Please grab the walker handle―”

Before the head maid could finish speaking, Julia lightly got down from the desk.

…On her two legs without a cane.

Thud!

For a moment, it seemed she was standing on her own power, but this was just a temporary balance due to the structure of her leg joints and weak muscles.

In less than a second, Julia’s entire body collapsed forward as if spilling.

“Young miss!”

The head maid barely caught her before she could plant her face on the floor.

Unlike the startled head maid, Julia’s expression was calm.

The head maid was a trustworthy person, and even if she had fallen and broken her nose, it wouldn’t have been bad. It would have been a good excuse to stay in the room.

Julia smiled brightly and apologized.

“I’m sorry. For some reason, I felt like I could walk more than three steps today.”

“…I hope you would refrain from such dangerous pranks.”

“I won’t do it again next time. Well, shall we go?” [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

Plop. Julia, semi-forcibly seated in the wheelchair, declared.

The Müller mansion is spacious.

To be precise, it was unnecessarily spacious.

It was so inefficient that it took more than 70 steps to go from Julia’s room to the master’s private study.

It was a distance impossible to make a round trip with a cane or walker, so even Julia, who extremely disliked using a wheelchair in the house, would get on the wheelchair without complaint at this time.

Swish―

The wheelchair rolled smoothly over the luxurious carpet.

As they reached the door of the master’s study, Julia quietly cleared her throat.

She needed to raise her voice.

“Phew.”

Julia took a breath and opened her mouth in a voice that could be heard beyond the door.

“Father. Did you call for me?”

At the same time, she counted internally. One. Two. Three.

Around when the number reached seven, an answer came from inside.

―Yes.

“The midterm exams at the university ended recently. Fortunately, I received good grades…”

―I see.

A monotonous reply.

This much formality should be enough.

As Julia closed her mouth, the main point she had been waiting for popped out.

―Can you use magic properly now?

“…No.”

―Keep striving. Your theory is excellent, so try to cultivate your imagination and intuition.

“Yes, Father.”

―You may rest now.

That was the end of the conversation.

The master. Father’s business was always the same content, and other small talk seemed to be of no importance to him.

Julia bowed to her father beyond the invisible wall and turned around.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes, young miss.”

She quickly returned to the room.

Eugene’s unfamiliar body odor had long disappeared.

The room was once again filled with a subtle rose scent.

The head maid and butler placed Julia on the bed like an object, gave her the cane, and then withdrew.

“…”

It’s only been a few days since the exam ended.

She didn’t feel like sitting at the desk to study. To do that, she would have to walk like a baby foal, leaning on the cane.

It was too early to sleep, but Julia didn’t mind and collapsed onto the bed.

Her face was converging towards utter expressionlessness.

“What imagination and intuition…”

A room difficult to leave even a step on her own power.

A life monotonous beyond compare.

When I can’t even imagine myself freely walking the streets, how can I imagine magic?

Facing one’s own limitations was no different from a caged nightingale checking how solid the bars are.

So Julia started humming again.

It was natural.

Why, when you promise a child a wonderful toy as a gift, doesn’t that child become happy from two days before?

Julia was the same.

The weekend passed like that.

#June 10th. Clear.

Monday morning dawned.

As if denying it had ever rained, the early summer sky was high and clear.

Julia slightly parted the curtain in the carriage and looked outside.

Whether it was because the spring air had mostly gone or because of the significant influence of the midterm exams, the atmosphere among the students on campus seemed somewhat calm.

Creak―

The carriage stopped in front of the lecture hall. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

The main auditorium. The [Understanding Literary Genres] classroom.

Leaning on her cane, she carefully descended the carriage steps and got onto the wheelchair.

At the same time, Julia saw something unexpected.

“Oh my.”

There was a person right in front of the carriage.

Although there were usually a few people standing nearby to look at the carriage due to its luxurious decorations, there was hardly anyone who came this close.

Julia raised her head to check the person’s face.

Soon, she realized it was a familiar face.

“…Eugene?”

“Yes. Why are you tilting your head?”

Eugene responded as if puzzled.

…But there was a good reason for that, as there were so many changes in his appearance.

To exaggerate a bit, if even his characteristic gray hair had been covered, she might not have recognized him.

“You’ve changed a lot.”

“I received a thousand pounds as an advance payment, didn’t I? Since I publicly declared to contract, I thought I should at least pay attention to maintaining dignity.”

That was an excuse blurted out immediately, and Julia had no way of knowing that it was all Lena’s grooming skills from head to toe.

Julia just smiled brightly and examined Eugene from head to toe.

His hair, which was always messy, was now neatly arranged.

The shirt and pants, which were neat but obviously cheap, were now tailored from a fairly high-end tailor shop. As a result, the lines of his body that had been hidden were now visible.

In a word, he looked more polished than the children of most prestigious families.

Then, realizing that she had been staring at Eugene aimlessly for more than necessary, Julia immediately changed her expression.

A customized expression.

Lifting the corners of her mouth slightly more than usual, narrowing her amber eyes a bit.

Perhaps she tried to match it? Even Eugene, whose emotions usually don’t show well on his face, let out a light smile.

He asked.

“How is it?”

“It’s not bad.”

It was an excellent pretense.

“Then, shall we attend the lecture class?”

And so, two liars began to stride across the campus.

The [Understanding Literary Genres] lecture hall was tinged with the usual gentle commotion, but its nature was quite different from last week.

Although each gathered student was talking about different things, their gazes often converged on the same places.

Two empty seats.

The relatively front seat that was custom-designed to accommodate a wheelchair, and the empty seat in the middle of the very back. [Only on Galaxy Translations! / Axiomatic]

It was already five minutes before the start of the lecture.

While it might be understandable for Eugene Oslo, who sometimes enters the lecture hall at the last minute, it was strange that even Julia, who commutes by carriage, hadn’t arrived yet.

No one brought up the topic directly, but in fact, everyone was recalling that scene from last week.

What kind of situation could it be?

With each movement of the clock’s hand, the students’ curiosity doubled.

Creak―

When the classroom door finally opened, everyone’s jaws dropped.

It was because they simultaneously saw Julia sitting demurely and showing off her seductive amber eyes, unlike usual, and the handsome young man standing behind her pushing the wheelchair.

The two of them silently moved to their seats.

And.

“Ah.”

Everyone in the classroom saw.

Eugene did not go to the back of the classroom, but naturally took the seat next to Julia.