Chapter 101
Chapter 101: I Can Really Hold My Liquor (Proudly)
"Ugh......my head hurts so much....."
Leah pressed her hands against her head and slowly crawled out of bed.
How much had she drunk last night? It felt like part of her memory had vanished.
In her daze, Leah could only recall 8 empty glasses lined up on the table.
So her limit was 8 glasses? For a first-time drinker, that was probably not too bad.
Lost in thought, Leah pushed herself upright on the bed.
She shook her head a little, easing the dizziness by a fraction.
Her clothes had apparently been changed into sleepwear by a Maidservant—Leah didn't bother thinking about how she'd made it back last night.
After all, with Cocotte nearby, that 4th-Tier Mage wouldn't just watch her drink herself senseless and then abandon her.
Reassured by that thought, she stood up and drew back the curtain.
In under 5 minutes, Leah pulled open the drape and stepped out.
By then she had already changed into a fresh outfit, once again the picture of a sharp and shrewd merchant.
She tugged at her collar, revealing a fair, clean neck and delicate collarbones, her beautiful eyes glancing around with easy confidence.
Leah looked at herself in the mirror and gave a satisfied nod.
"Not bad at all."
She never liked having Maidservants do her makeup and styling for her.
They were slow, and they rarely met her exacting standards.
After all, Viktor was a Head of Household who paid absolutely no attention to family affairs.
That formidable responsibility had fallen squarely onto Leah's shoulders.
Even if technically Leah wasn't the Head of Household, everyone understood perfectly well that she was the true mistress of the Clavena Family.
Unless she married into another house.
So Leah had to maintain her most perfect, most polished appearance at all times.
The way she carried herself represented the Clavena Family's face to the world.
Once everything was in order, Leah looked radiant; the light makeup on her face concealed her slight fatigue, restoring her former commanding air.
Leah stepped out of her room. The Maidservant waiting outside handed her the financial report as usual, and Leah walked and read at the same time, signing her name along the way.
Seated at the dining table eating breakfast, Leah asked again.
"Anything else going on in the Territory?"
The Maidservant lowered her head slightly and began to explain:
"Mr. Helnersen has taken in a few more homeless 'children.'"
Leah nodded, quickly finished her simple breakfast, and pulled out a paper napkin to wipe her mouth.
Only then did she speak.
"For those who are old enough, have Leon and the others take them through training."
"Yes, ma'am."
She rose again and walked toward the office, the Maidservant following at a trot behind Leah.
"Miss Leah, the shipment from the Territory needs you to come and count the inventory."
"Miss Leah, here is the income report from the Mage Item Shop from the past few days."
"Miss Leah, the mines have been stalling lately—a lot of the workers have complaints about their treatment."
"If they have complaints, have Leon and the others go over and talk things out with those workers. Let me see what grounds they have for complaining."
"Yes, ma'am."
Before long, the entire morning passed in a blur of tedious tasks.
It wasn't until the sun had climbed to the top of the sky and begun its descent that Leah finally had a moment to herself.
She rolled her creaking shoulders and loosened up.
The exhaustion of nearly half a day's hard work left her feeling utterly drained.
But there was nothing to be done about it—the entire machine called the Clavena Family could never run without Leah, its operator, at the controls.
For everything, she pushed herself to be personally involved as much as possible, even now that she was essentially no longer returning to the Territory.
That, of course, only made her more exhausted; with messages going back and forth, it was easy to miss the best window for judgment.
She could only rely on her own experience to make the most fitting calls.
Even so, Leah wasn't particularly keen on going back.
She didn't quite know why.
Leah sat down in a rocking chair and lay back, extending one hand to examine the glove on it, turning it over and over.
The glove fit perfectly—the 6 gems of different colors set into it catching the sunlight and glittering brilliantly.
Not every Magic Stone was priceless, but a Magic Stone of this craftsmanship, capable of perfectly storing and discharging magic, fetched over a million Geo apiece on the open market.
She had no idea what method Viktor had used to permanently fix the magical energy stored within the Magic Stones onto the glove—
preventing it from slowly releasing on its own and preventing the magical power within from dissipating.
It was precisely because of that the price of this glove could very well multiply several times over.
But as far as Leah was concerned, no amount of money would make her sell it.
This was the 1st gift Viktor had ever given her. To Leah, it was priceless.
After all—
'This is what Viktor has owed me all these years.'
"Miss Leah."
A Maidservant's silhouette appeared again in Leah's field of vision under the afternoon sun.
Leah had been planning to take a nap, but hearing the Maidservant's voice, she knew something must have come up again.
She let out a sigh and was just about to get up—but then she heard the Maidservant suddenly say:
"This was sent by the Royal Family. They said it is meant to express their apologies, and they hope you will accept it."
The Maidservant held out an exceptionally luxurious gift box to Leah.
The gift box gleamed a little in the afternoon sunlight—the coiled gold ribbon appeared to be woven from actual gold thread, the outer casing was painted with intricate patterns, and it gave off a pleasant, refreshing fragrance.
Leah paused for a moment, then untied the ribbon and lifted the lid.
The interior was wrapped in a layer of golden silk. Leah lifted the golden silk aside and looked curiously at the exquisite pendant resting quietly at the bottom of the box.
At the center of the pendant was set an extraordinarily large and magnificent diamond gem, surrounded by black gemstones fitted into a matching pattern.
Beneath the pendant, there appeared to also be a handwritten letter.
—
"My sincerest apologies, Miss Leah Clavena. I feel nothing but remorse for my breach of etiquette.
Though it was Jess Rether's presumptuous behavior that gave rise to your displeasure, the fault lies entirely with me as well.
I offer you my highest regards, along with this gift, as an expression of my apology."
—Aubeny Sorel.
In the sunlight, that envelope seemed to give off a faint gleam. Leah let out a cold laugh.
"Tsk, tsk—they say this First Prince is the perfect man. I wonder how many young girls he's reeled in with this move."
"Too bad for him—I'm not falling for it."
The pendant looked extraordinarily valuable. Leah picked it up and tossed it straight to the Maidservant at her side.
"This thing—find a Mage to carve a few Formations onto it......actually, never mind, we have our own Mage right here."
"Just change its look, then auction it off."
"Someone's foolish enough to send me money—why wouldn't I take it?"
After that little episode, she didn't even feel like sleeping anymore.
She stretched lazily, seemingly pleased with herself for having just made a tidy sum of Geo.
She very much wanted to share this as a laugh—and as for who to share it with......
Leah already had someone in mind.
"Where is Viktor right now?"
"Miss Leah, the Head of Household is in the garden."
The garden?
That place had become Cocotte's territory by now—because only a lazy dog of an Elf like her would choose to live out in the garden.
Leah stood up and waved a hand.
"You go and rest. I'll head over and take a look myself."
***
"You......don't come any closer!"
Cocotte clutched her cloud beneath her tightly and retreated backward in alarm, half of the cloud already sinking into the flower bed—without her even noticing.
She looked terrified, so much so that any onlooker might have thought she was about to be assaulted.
And Viktor was standing right in front of her.
At last, Cocotte's voice rang out again.
"I absolutely refuse to be your Teaching Assistant!"
"Don't even think about having me work for you every single day!"
Viktor looked at her and said calmly:
"In a few days it'll be the Academy's exams. I need your magic to construct some spatial zones."
Cocotte was a 4th-Tier Mage and possessed enough magical power to open up small-scale spatial magic formations.
She was highly proficient in spatial magic—after all, she had originally learned it purely for the sake of a good sleeping environment.
Over time, her spatial magic had only grown more and more skilled.
"So what? If I become your Teaching Assistant, won't I be working for you every single day?"
The moment Cocotte finished speaking, a contract dropped in front of her.
Leah had appeared at Viktor's side at some point, smiling as she spoke:
"Miss Cocotte, don't forget the contract you signed."
"According to the terms of the agreement, if the Clavena Family requires any assistance, you are obligated to help."
Cocotte's eyes went wide.
"Waaah! What do you mean by that!"
But a contract was a contract—having signed this Magic Pact, there was simply no way out of it.
Viktor spoke again, his tone unhurried:
"In practice, you only need to work for me for a few days."
"Once the exams are over, the Academy will be on break, and you'll have time to rest."
Cocotte blinked.
"Really?"
"Really."
She didn't notice Leah struggling to hold back her laughter at the side, and began nodding her head like a rattle-drum.
"You said it! Once it's over, I won't need to work anymore!"
"Call me if something comes up after that—I'm going to sleep!"
Cocotte had a nagging feeling that these siblings were up to no good, but she was living under their roof and could only offer silent resistance through sleep.
She climbed back onto her cloud and drifted slowly away.
What she hadn't caught on to, however—
was that after the Academy's break, it would eventually start up again.
And that was exactly why Leah had been holding back her laughter.
Viktor turned to look at Leah:
"What is it?"
"Oh right, this."
Leah took out the letter, and a breeze swept through—the letter hovered upright before Viktor.
Viktor scanned it quickly. A ball of fire ignited and consumed the envelope.
"Don't worry about him."
A calm voice spoke, yet it carried a sense of reassurance that Leah found wholly grounding.
Since their very own Mage had said so, of course she wouldn't give it another thought.
The envelope slowly burned to ash and scattered into the air. Leah shrugged.
She was just about to turn and leave when Viktor called out to her:
"Drink less next time."
"Hm?"
Leah was caught off guard by that remark. She stood frozen in place.
A long coat swept past her in a gust, Viktor having already turned away—and all Leah could see was Viktor's figure growing smaller as he walked unhurriedly into the distance.
Beneath her gaze, it looked almost like something out of a dream.
But Viktor's words still lingered in her ears.
"I won't always be there to carry you home."
"......"
Leah reached up and touched her cheek.
Her face was slightly warm.
She didn't dare go looking for a mirror, and quickly lowered her head, refusing to let anyone else see what she looked like right now.
For no particular reason, she felt a little happy.
It seemed Leah now understood why she had been reluctant to go back.