14 Arcana Magic

"Forgive her. She never learns," Minerva frowned in distaste. Estelle was someone she had known ever since the former was born. Even though it was only five years out of the indefinite amount of years she had lived through, she had already considered Estelle as a close kin.

"No, I can't say that I don't understand her. It's just that the way she presents herself is a bit too much," Estelle shook Minerva off. The feeling of her close ones apologizing for something out of their control, especially when the one receiving the apology was herself bothered her.

"...I also have something to do," Heine interjected, his face crumpling up for unknown reasons.

"Is that so? Then, what about Minerva?" Estelle inquired.

"Ao! I'm already free from my sister's clutches, aren't you going to bring me with you?"

"I... have to endure harsh tribulations under the pretense of a 'punishment'... Minerva, I don't want to get you involved,"

"Huuh? What's this about?!"

"I'll graciously translate it for you. Estelle pushed me into the pond yesterday, so Alan punished her with seven days worth of noble education,"

"Ahh. T-then, I also have something to do," Minerva started to walk away, creating a space rift connected to an unknown destination.

Snap!

The sound of Estelle's finger snap made Minerva jolt in her place. The space rift in front of her coincidentally perished without a trace.

"I-I'm really grateful that you are willing to suffer with me, but is it really fine?" Estelle's babydoll eyes welled up with tears. "...I've made my decision. If you are insisting this hard, then we shall face this tribulation together! Thank you, Minerva, for staying with me,"

Estelle valiantly wiped her tears off.

"I, I, I.... Heine, wait a second, you motherf-"

Blink!

Heine's reaction speed was enough to barely make an escape from the young miss' cursed acting. His escaping methods were developed through real experience, it was very time-efficient and cleanly executed.

However, Minerva did not have time to praise the King's fast reactions as she was pulled by the hand, Estelle happily dragging the adult with her.

Punishments, oh punishments. If you don't drag someone along with you to face it, how would you fare?

From history, economics, magic theory, embroidery, dance, to common courtesy, Estelle had to spend half a day either sitting down and listening to the tutor or repeating the same gestures for minutes without a break.

In Estelle's mind, it was already an established fact that the higher-ups knew nothing about child rights and the mental stress their nobility classes would cause.

Alas, she was lucky to have Alan and Sheila as her parent. Although it was a truth that Estelle was way ahead of the curriculum, she was thankful that her parents did not take advantage of that fact and push her even harder.

If that was the outcome, she would have been long gone from the Dukedom.

"Minervaaa, how could my father be so heartless? I have to endure six more days of this nonsensical torture... When will they understand that a child isn't supposed to bear this much work?" Estelle complained, sighing a deep breath as she tousled her silver locks against the sofa she laid down on.

Her eyes were lifeless as she repeated the word 'heartless' while staring at the blank wall multiple times.

"Not going to console you. You dragged me with you, made me your stupid dancing partner, stepped on my foot purposely-" Minerva's words were cut off as the sound of the door opening interrupted her rant.

Clack!

"Lady Estelle, I heard that-" It was Derrick, Estelle's private knight and escort. The one who liked to mock Estelle for being short, even though it was obvious that she was only five. Comparing his height to hers was stupid.

"Ah, Derrick, you're back," Estelle's eyes lit up. She waved at the knight, who was now advancing into the room.

"You damned Witch, who are you to approach my lady like that?! What's your purpose?!" Derrick was aggravated.

Minerva's eyes shrunk, her gaze sharpened as she stood up to face the knight who now had his hand placed over his sword's handle. The silver blade pointed against Minerva, making her bite her lips and approach the man with anger.

The Knight Derrick was not someone unfamiliar to her.

"Even if I'm a Witch, what can you do? What have I done wrong? You humans are the only ones to openly despise our kin, but you chase after us when you need our power. Quit your bullshit, whoever Estelle mingles with is out of your business. Just do your job, little knight," Minerva bound Derrick's movements with her magic, disabling his ability to attack. His sword fell down, creating a huge sound as it bounced off the floor.

"This.. Minerva, Derrick is-"

"I know. I know what he has gone through, but what he did is still not right. If I have to bear the sins of every single one of my kin, shouldn't you face retributions for slaughtering my kin a while ago? You prey on the weak and powerless witches, shun the strong, but come crawling when you need us. Say, since we are so evil, what prohibits me from killing you? Your life is clearly so easy to take, why would I need to take in your insults and let it go like nothing happened?" Minerva's crimson hair seemed to light up on fire as her anger channeled through.

Derrick's mother was someone who got assaulted by a travelling Witch. As a seventeen year old teen, he was already fully aware of what a Witch's sudden visit entailed, and the screams of his mother did not better the experience.

His mother survived, only to be taken away once she gave birth to another Witch.

To Derrick, Witches were despicable beings.

"You- all are.. just the same!" Derrick spat out poisonously.

"Oh? Then, are you able to say the same thing about Sierra?"

Sierra was Derrick's little sister, the product of that day's assault.

Derrick's eyes widened as he struggled to break free from Minerva's binds.

Unfortunately, Minerva's high magic power overpowered the young knight with ease.

"You dare..!" Derrick must have cursed Minerva a thousand times in his heart. His expression was unsightly, and the blood veins sticking out of his neck and face with prominence did not help.

"What my father did was out of my reach. My mother was also taken away by him, I never even got to talk to her. Not even once. You know Sierra's the same. You know it. You just don't know where to put your grudge on, so you choose to blame me for it. Unbelievable," Minerva released her clutches.

The saying 'A child should pay for their parents' mistake' was nothing but a joke in Minerva's eyes.

She also wanted to kill that bastard of a man! It was only after she gained enough power that she executed the deed, but not once did she feel any sort of affection towards that man!

Derrick dropped down to the ground, his eyes still burning with unrelenting hatred. Minerva's words seemed to have reached his ears, but did not lessen his loathing. In fact, it might have infuriated him even more.

"Maybe.. maybe if you killed him fast enough, if you hunted him earlier, he wouldn't have lived to attack my mother," Derrick saw Minerva as one of the people responsible for his mother's tragic death.

Nonsensical as it is, Derrick's actions resulted from the lack of revenge targets he could have. His mother was gone, his father was gone, and Sierra's father- the witch had been eradicated.

The culmination of Derrick's prejudice against Minerva could be said to have been born from the fact that his mother was attacked one night before Minerva successfully killed him.

The assault caused Minerva to receive sufficient information that exposed his whereabouts. It proved that he was still near, as impregnating another would cause his powers to deplete for a short while.

The day the incident happened, Minerva visited Derrick's home to look for plausible clues. In her mind, nothing was more important than catching the bastard that terrorized so many people.

Minerva scoured through his tiny home, and sometimes even getting closer to his mother and examining her like an object.

This memory was firmly imprinted inside his mind. The calm Minerva who treads on her mission without a hitch, not minding Derrick's extra present. Of course, Minerva did leave some gifts before she left.

A crate full of precious medicine and rejuvenating products. Money was also slipped in a pouch full of gold coins.

The ingredients helped the pair of mother and son heavily. The son, who had to live off people's pity also had to bear the condemnation of those who viewed them as filthy and shameless. Thus, his earnings wasn't a lot. Minerva's gift made him able to nurse his mother back to health just in time for her to be able to reclaim their balance.

The Sullivan family continued on, with the single mother painstakingly scouring through jobs to earn money. Perhaps, Mother Sullivan knew that she wouldn't be able to live on. She told Derrick to save the funds for after she left.

Derrick, who hated how pessimistic Mother Sullivan was being watched as she grew weaker. The lively woman was nowhere to be seen, only someone who looked like time was chasing them to their demise.

Derrick knew how precious Minerva's medicine was. Even that couldn't save his mother. What else could be done?

Alas, despite all of Derrick's frustration, she still passed away after Sierra's birth. A human body wasn't powerful enough to bear the weight of a Witch's magical energy.

It could be said that they only lived on thanks to Minerva's assistance. As if she calculated it from the very start, she gave him enough resources to nurse his mother- only enough to last nine months. Because she knew that his mother wouldn't be able to live on.

However, to the younger Derrick of that time, her actions were seen as inconsiderate and insensitive. Although he knew that what she did was for the best- as just one hour of delay would cause the culprit of all this to disappear into the shadows and possibly commit another crime, Derrick couldn't accept it that easily.

"Stop it, you fool. Control your emotions," With Estelle's body in front of him, Derrick immediately dropped his sword, creating a vibrant sound along with it.

Estelle knew the underlying story. She couldn't say either side was right or wrong. Ultimately, the culprit was now dead. Minerva who didn't want to risk his resurrection cleaned him up like a madman, repeatedly torturing him and watching every single second of his agony pass. Only after she confirmed that his soul was no more, that he wouldn't enter the cycle of reincarnation did she relax and tried to forget about the matter.

"L-lady, I.." Derrick couldn't disobey his young miss, for she was precious to him as his master. However, he couldn't forgo his hatred for the Witches.

"This is not your first time seeing Minerva with me. As an escort guard, you can't distance yourself too much from your master. You must have seen how Sierra acts around Minerva. I'm not asking you to accept her, I just want you to not be hostile every single time you see her. We have an amiable relationship, it'll trouble me if you keep doing this," Estelle reprimanded.

"That.." Derrick lowered his head. He knew. He had always stayed within close proximity with Estelle, so there was no way the two could hide from him every single time. He had seen her multiple times, and in every single meeting, he evaded her to do another task.

Now came Sierra's identity.

Sierra was in a way, Minerva's half-sister. Like Yulia, the three of them shared the same father. Minerva was not even sure how many more siblings she has around the world. That father of hers was just too sickening with his acts.

If Sierra wasn't employed by the Dukedom, Minerva would probably not have cared to know about her. The only sister she kept close was Yulia. Albeit a crazed woman at times, Yulia had her compassionate parts.

Not only sympathy, Yulia saw how talented Minerva was. Thus, she helped her out. This couldn't be said for Sierra, who mostly had more human capabilities than a Witch would. Yes, she did have magical qualities, but it was lackluster compared to the other two sisters.

Minerva and Estelle did come and see Sierra from time to time. Sierra worked as a helper in the Dukedom, so it was easy to spot such a young child that stood out from the other peers.

The Duke had employed Sierra in order to protect her safety while Derrick was working, but little did she know that her lady would be acquainted with her half-sister, whose existence she never knew.

"Derrick, do you hate Sierra?"

"No! Sierra is an angel, there is no way I would hate her!" Derrick could be classified as a sis con, albeit his indifference that he used as a mask.

"Brother... You are causing problems for Sis Minerva and Estelle again!" A soft voice entered the room.