Chapter 2: Temporary Alliance
“Well done. It’s dangerous, so please keep your distance like that a bit longer.”
‘What the hell is going on here?’
That was {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} my reaction the moment I saw the black flames begin to rise from the teacup in my hand after nearly five minutes of desperate effort.
“I’ll say it again: I really could’ve died, you know?”
‘For the love of god—someone help me already...’
My original plan had been simple: use a trace of white magic to subtly expose the lingering remnants of black magic in the teacup, giving Merdia a discreet hint.
Most people wouldn’t even dream of trying something so dangerous, considering how black magic was treated, but I had one thing going for me.
Do you know why the Lingarden family—riddled with internal issues—had managed to maintain its façade for this long?
It was because we carried the hereditary aptitude for white magic.
Sure, that lineage was on the verge of being cut off for reasons I’d rather not get into... but still, white magic was one of the few talents I possessed. I had trained it to the point where I could make use of it in a situation like this.
That’s why I’d planned to channel just the faintest trace of white magic into the cup, enough that only Merdia would notice it.
And yet—how the hell did it end up like this?