ALL NOVEL Chapter 60
“Ice Ball, Mana Wall.”
A magic circle resembling a mystery sprang into existence in an instant from Acella’s wand.
Mana, which was merely flowing energy, turned into ice and was shot towards the enemy, becoming a shield to protect the caster.
—Pababak!
Acella’s offensive magic hit the training scarecrow in succession.
Seymour, who was watching the scene, stroked his beard and nodded his head.
“Looks like you’re getting pretty accustomed to continuous casting. Indeed, ice magic suits you better than fire or lightning. Focus on improving the precision of these spells.”
“Yes, Master.”
Acella wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand.
“Shall we take a little break? The attending physician advised taking a rest once every hour.”
“I’ll try just a little more.”
—Kwahng!
Acella continued her practice.
Right now, she needed to hone her skills just a bit more.
She absolutely couldn’t lose to George.
After all, in duels like this, losing meant losing everything.
Even if it was a clash between heirs, the Emperor wouldn’t highly evaluate a ruthless killer.
As long as he wasn’t pushed too hard, George wouldn’t really take her life, but the attending physician was an exception.
He was full of thoughts about killing Lars.
In this duel, she absolutely had to overwhelm her opponent.
Fortunately, Seymour was on Acella’s side as a magician.
“A trial by combat, you say? I won’t allow my apprentice to lose to some sword-wielding fool.”
Seymour raised his left hand and cast a spell with a pat.
The sword and shield held by the scarecrow were sent flying and clattered to the ground.
“Disarm spell. Second rank. It’s an essential spell when you have to face a frontline by yourself. Speaking of which, Acella, I haven’t taught you much practical spells yet.”
“I might be able to create an opening now. But there’s hardly enough time to cast just the defense. Even if I buy time, if I can’t cast the next spell first, it’s going to hurt us.”
“Us? Are you worried that your partner will get hurt?”
Seymour’s eye narrowed as he asked, and Acella hesitated to answer.
“Well… if the prince gets hurt, then it would be my turn afterward.”
“Haha, back in the day, you would have thought to toss him as bait and focus on casting a big spell.”
“That would be one strategy. But it has high risks. If I fail, there’s no going back.”
The thought of her magic missing or failing was already an uncharacteristic one for Acella.
Seymour smiled at the changes he observed in her recently and leaned in to whisper.
“Shall I tell you a secret? This is a trick I usually don’t reveal to anyone.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Aren’t you curious about how I cast spells at high speed?”
“Of course. You can activate spells just by twitching your fingers, skipping incantations.”
“I store my spells.”
“Store?”
Acella tilted her head at the strange sound she heard for the first time.
“More precisely, I remember spells perfectly. No matter how familiar the magic, the form, size, and mana capacity of an incantation change a little each time you cast it.”
“That’s true.”
“When a spell becomes perfect and consistent, it’s automatically entered through the body’s reflex. You don’t think when dodging a flying ball, right?”
“Are you saying that you train your body to cast spells automatically with a specific action?”
“That’s right. From my experience, the best way is to bend the second joint of a specific finger.”
Seymour extended his left hand. Clearing his throat, he subtly bent his ring finger.
Then—Whahak! A hole opened in the sky without warning, and a flock of pigeons poured out, quickly flying off in all directions.
“Hm, I was thinking of summoning a storm spirit, but the nest location must have changed.”
“You stored the summon?”
“Not only that. I can store hundreds of spells depending on the combination of which fingers I bend.”
“What if you accidentally cast a spell during daily life?”
“You can prepare preliminary actions as well. In my case, I need to clear my throat once.”
“I see.”
With a pat, Acella neatly crossed her arms at chest level.
As she bent her left ring finger, she practiced the disarm spell.
“It looks cool, but if you lose even one arm, you won’t be able to use it.”
“There is that drawback.”
Acella continued practicing the spells she would use in the duel.
Even after Seymour’s lesson ended, Acella didn’t stop her magic training.
She reviewed and repeatedly practiced what she had learned today.
She tried using the spell storage Seymour taught her, but it wasn’t easy. After all, a person’s reflexes wouldn’t develop overnight.
“Hmm.”
Tired from the repetitive work, Acella decided to take a break, as Lars had advised.
Her way of resting was practicing her favorite magic.
She could have hobbies like horseback riding or hunting like other princes and princesses, but Acella enjoyed using magic the most.
Especially these days, there was a spell she wanted to use as soon as possible.
“Clairvoyance.”
A fifth-tier spell that ordinary humans couldn’t even reach.
Unless it was for basic living, magic split into countless branches.
The most basic are elements, but there are numerous branches even within the elements, and usually, a magician would only learn a maximum of three branches of magic in their lifetime.
Clairvoyance was a time-based magic. Since Seymour had not mastered the time branch either, he had researched it through books and taught it to her.
Since it was a challenging spell for Acella, she was still in the practice stage.
“What if I set the basic circle to a higher dimension?”
She interpreted and transformed her circle in her own way.
Five was difficult. The circle was limited to a 128-sided figure instead of a circle.
As she infused mana, the violently spinning magic circle always seemed lovely to Acella.
—Whahak!
“Huh?”
Usually, the connection to Clairvoyance would break here, but today the initial casting phenomenon occurred.
Acella’s vision, hearing, and all her senses suddenly flipped.
For a moment, Acella was startled, but soon realized she had succeeded in Clairvoyance.
Her body remained the same. It was just that she couldn’t move freely. Even her breath seemed to be taken at a whim of another will.
‘Where is this…?’
It was a familiar scenery.
It was a place she had visited before, just before the winter chill had completely faded.
The Marquis of Gothberg’s estate.
“Acella, get a grip.”
A voice beside her gave her a warning. It was Empress Camilla.
Acella brushed her slightly startled heart.
What Clairvoyance showed her was one of many possibilities.
A scene that could have existed in the future, something that might come to pass.
“I’ve been indebted to you. May you maintain your health.”
Her attending physician bowed and then left for the marquis’ estate.
Acella was briefly surprised, but soon tilted her head.
The attending physician was dressed in formal attire, not a gown.
It was a face that had been among the final candidates for the selection exam.
Gis, that was his name.
The attending physician was fired from his position.
Like any healer, he was of no help to Acella.
“I’m sorry, Your Majesty.”
The Marquis of Gothberg bowed his head in apology.
The best talent from the marquisate’s cultivation center was revealed to be incompetent, leaving Camilla indebted.
“Marquis, unfortunately, that attending physician was an incompetent who was even driven out from the inner palace. He couldn’t even measure one of Acella’s magic circuits.”
“Hmm.”
“This is a major loss for the Moonlight Palace. Compensation will be necessary.”
“…As much as possible.”
“Is the saint’s revelation still ongoing for the young lady?”
“That is…”
“I would prefer if she were to be served at the Moonlight Palace from now on.”
Camilla used the attending physician’s case to gain an advantage over the marquis’ estate.
Though it wasn’t planned from the start, she must have been waiting for an opportunity to pick at such things.
Since Camilla had frequently seen her use others for her benefit, Acella could easily understand her intentions.
‘If I hadn’t picked Lars…’
Was this something that could have happened as well?
The Moonlight Palace was still… flowing according to Mother’s will.
‘Then where is Lars?’
Just as Acella was wondering, bang!
The door to the reception room opened, and a disheveled young man stumbled in, holding a liquor bottle.
“Hey, isn’t it only right to welcome your fiancée first when she arrives?! Huh?!”
He was so drunk that his face was bright red.
Seeing him ramble on in broad daylight, Acella couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Lars! This is a space for distinguished guests! Get out of here!”
“Ha! Do you think I would be stuck inside the house until I die from my father’s orders?… You’ll see, that girl will become the Empress! Huh, I mean, she’s a high-ranking person!”
“Knight, remove Lars this instant!”
Tanya dragged the drunken Lars away.
What a pathetic state he was in!
A feeling of joy crept from deep within Acella’s heart upon seeing him.
‘Lars, you really should be grateful to me.’
If I hadn’t picked you, you would still be a fool in the marquis’ estate.
I made you capable of being someone.
You have to see this scene.
“I’m sorry for showing such a pitiful sight. I’ll make sure to compensate for the attending physician incident…”
—Whahak!
After the short spell casting ended, Acella’s vision returned to normal.
She lightly clenched her fist.
“Hmm… It wasn’t a perfect casting.”
Complete Clairvoyance was supposed to allow seeing multiple possibilities simultaneously and roughly designate the desired time or location.
Ultimately, the purpose was to find political clues for inheritance.
But.
“Lars, such a foolish man you are.”
Acella thought she needed to find a way to record the scenes she observed through Clairvoyance in a recording sphere.
If he had just seen that scene, he would turn obedient like Max.
After finishing her enjoyable hobby time, Acella entered into real practice again, preparing for the trial by combat.
*
The schedule had become quite busy due to the trial by combat.
She trained swordsmanship with Tanya, examined Acella’s condition, and created potions and shots.
Amidst all that, there was one more task she needed to attend to. She headed to the annex of the inner palace.
The annex was a ward. It was not accessible to the public and was exclusive for royalties.
Currently, there was one external patient inside.
Needless to say, it was the Western Duke.
She knocked on the threshold in front of the hospital room, where knights were guarding.
Aldrich, the bishop healing the duke inside, peeked out with a frown.
“What is it? The Duke’s safety is handled at Mokhwi Palace. This is a decree from Your Majesty.”
“I know. I’m only checking the condition.”
“Why are you butting in! Are you going to try using folk remedies again?”
“It’s medicine.”
“It’s the same thing…!”
“Is it Teacher Gothberg in there?”
A voice came from inside the hospital room. Aldrich couldn’t block me any longer and stepped aside.
Upon entering, the duke was lying on his bed with a haggard face. He smiled brightly upon seeing me.
“It’s you, Teacher! I’ve been wanting to see you. I’ve heard there was a problem.”
“Haha, it’s nothing serious. How’s your health?”
“Thanks to you, I’m much better. If it wasn’t for you, I would have already been underground. It was a deadly black magic. I could feel death creeping up to me the moment I drank.”
“You’ve suffered. Here’s a prescription and medication that will help with the symptoms. If you follow this, your recovery will be faster.”
I handed the duke a script. I had written down food and exercise tips that would help with detoxing.
I reminded him to take the medication only when his condition worsened.
“Thank you. If it’s your instruction, I can trust and follow it. Please convey my lack of manners for not being able to express my thanks directly to the princess.”
“Leave it to me.”
Now I judged that I could leave the duke to the healers.
I left Aldrich, who was still unhappy mouthing about folk remedies, and exited the hospital room.
Poison is a vile means of ruining a healthy human body.
I wonder if George would reflect on this if he experienced it himself.