The Awakening of Hatred and Magic

Today is Aile’s first day at the Duke’s mansion.

Areyes had just woken up from her sleep when she screamed and lunged at you, only to be pulled away by Chris.

She struggled repeatedly, only ceasing her movements once she finally grasped Chris’s formidable strength.

She gazed at you with the coldest hatred this world had ever known.

Her eyes held a terrifying glint, as if capable of devouring a person whole.

To be regarded in such a way by someone who once loved you so profoundly, your heart felt as though it were being seared by fire.

Yet, you knew you had to persevere.

Under various pretexts, you subjected her to punishment.

Aile, now convinced she stood utterly alone, resolved to embark upon a path of no return.

She vowed to avenge her teacher.

With a crash, the teacup tumbled to the floor.

“Can you not even manage this simple task properly?”

The overturned teacup, the maiden kneeling on the ground with hatred etched across her face, and… Mingqian, resplendent in luxurious robes, looking down from his elevated position.

Here, he was known as d*ck, though he never permitted anyone to address him by that name.

The maiden’s face contorted with fury as she glared fiercely at the Duke, yet ultimately, she made no move.

After a long moment, she bowed her head and spoke:

“I understand my mistake. I will clean it up immediately…”

Disregarding her maid’s uniform, now damp with tea, she knelt to gather the broken teacup.

“What is the meaning of that expression? Are you displeased?”

Mingqian’s words were precisely those of a villainous duke.

Displeased was an understatement; Aile yearned to rush forward at every moment, to tear at his flesh, to scrape the meat from his body layer by layer with a dull knife.

“Nothing, Master.”

Aile suppressed the hateful expression, returning to her usual impassive demeanor.

“Chris, make her smile.”

Mingqian commanded the girl standing beside him.

“Yes.”

Chris lunged forward, roughly pulling Aile to her feet. The maiden, still recovering from a severe illness, was utterly incapable of resisting such violence.

After accepting her teacher’s death, Aile fell gravely ill.

Throughout her sickness, she incessantly called out Mingqian’s name.

Several times, you felt an unbearable urge to rush into the room, only to be forcefully restrained by Chris.

[Do you wish for all your plans to be in vain?] she had said.

Thus, you could only pace anxiously outside the room. She was terribly ill, yet at Chris’s silent command, no one was permitted to attend to her.

It was solely through the burning hatred for revenge that Aile endured the severe illness.

Her animosity towards you deepened with each passing moment.

“Master told you to smile, didn’t you hear?”

Chris’s phoenix eyes fixed on her, and Aile knew that if she displeased the Duke, Chris would grow fiercely angry.

In such moments, Chris would inevitably resort to violence against her.

Each time she returned to her room, bruised and battered, she could only console herself with the thought that an opportunity would arise.

An opportunity for revenge would surely come.

“Smile…”

Aile forced out a smile that could only be described as hideous.

“That’s enough, Master, Chris.”

Another maiden, also clad in luxurious robes, entered from a side door. Her name was Eliza, and she was the only person in this place who showed Aile any kindness.

Eliza clapped her hands, attempting to smooth things over.

“Aile-chan has only just begun working; she shouldn’t be scolded so harshly.”

Mingqian nodded, prompting Chris to release Aile’s body with a cold huff.

“Watch yourself, little doggy.”

“My name is Aile.”

“Huh?”

“I said my name is Aile!”

Ignoring her frail body, the maiden glared fiercely at Chris.

“That’s the name my teacher gave me! I have a name! My name is Aile!”

“I’m not! I’m not his dog! You are!”

She shrieked hysterically.

“I am indeed the Master’s dog.”

Chris showed no offense at the remark; instead, she approached the maiden, seemingly amused by her outburst.

“Hah? A name given by a peasant, how utterly vulgar. Why not change it? You should ask the Master to bestow a new name upon you. Ah, how enviable that would be.”

Chris shrugged indifferently.

“Shut up! Take back your words… No one, no one can insult my teacher! Take! Back! Your words!”

She looked as though she would pounce and tear at Chris.

“That’s enough, Chris.”

Mingqian patted Chris’s head, signaling her to quiet down.

“What’s wrong with being called Aile? It’s a beautiful name. How about this: I shall name you Aile, Aile.”

Aile was struck speechless, her gaze fixed on the hateful man. For a moment, she didn’t know what to think.

‘Hateful… so hateful… I wish I could kill him with my own hands.’

Her mind felt almost entirely consumed by hatred.

Rumor had it that the Duke spared her life for a single purpose: to raise her, then to enjoy her.

The two maidens by his side served as proof.

He had personally murdered the person she loved most, and now he intended to overwrite her memories of that person with his own influence… She loathed this cursed man.

She was maddened by hatred.

‘Myself… what exactly did I do wrong? Should I not have been born into this world? Was my very existence a mistake?’

She couldn’t comprehend it.

Yet, in her current state, having become the Duke’s s*ave, her heart was solely set on revenge.

****

Aile pulled the door shut, then gently closed her eyes.

A faint magic began to coalesce within her body; since that severe illness, she could feel that her body was different from before.

During her time living with her teacher, her magic had always been bound by some inexplicable force.

Now, she could keenly perceive the presence of magic.

She softly opened her hand, and a small flame danced in her palm.

For the first time in a long while, a smile graced her lips; she had finally found a possibility for avenging her teacher.

She would cultivate her magic to its peak, then torture him to death.

She gazed at the flame as if it were the dawn of new hope.

Suddenly, the door was pushed open. She frantically tried to extinguish the flame, but it refused to obey her command, stubbornly refusing to vanish.

Mingqian, witnessing Aile’s struggle, frowned.

“Chris.”

“Yes.”

Chris lashed out from the shadows, a gust of wind instantly snuffing out the flame in Aile’s hand.

“Ah…”

Watching her hope extinguished once more, Aile’s heart clenched.

‘I’ve been discovered… discovered.’

‘What will happen to her?’

‘Even if she’s beaten, I hope she won’t be beaten to death…’

“Come with me.”

He merely uttered the command before departing.

Aile stared blankly at the Duke, unsure of what to do.

Abruptly, she felt a rush of air graze her cheek as Chris’s fist stopped just before her face.

“The Master told you to come. Didn’t you hear?”

Aile flinched, her impression of Chris consisting solely of brutality, crudeness, and… fear.

The Duke never struck her, but Chris’s punches were truly agonizing.

Each time Chris disciplined her, Aile couldn’t stand up for half a day.

Even during her days of severe illness, Chris had never shown her any kindness.

“I… I heard you.”

Aile hastily followed behind the Duke, traversing a long corridor until they reached a certain basement.

The Duke held a knife in his hand, gesturing for her to approach.

‘Ah… so this is where it happens?’

It was said that some nobles practiced ‘private executions’ (TL Note: A form of extrajudicial punishment or vigilante justice). He must be planning to kill her here.

To kill a powerless witch.

Just as he had killed her mother, and her teacher.

“I’m sorry, Teacher…”

“I couldn’t avenge you. Aile isn’t a good child, but soon, we’ll meet again.”

She believed her teacher was surely waiting for her on the other side.

She no longer harbored any fear of death.

She closed her eyes, recalling her teacher’s face.

‘Now, they could be together forever.’

But the knife never fell.

Something cold touched her lips.

“Drink this.”

Aile opened her eyes to find a goblet filled with crimson liquid before her mouth.

“Yes.”

She offered no resistance, thinking it a waste to grant her death with poisoned wine.

Her mind was entirely set on dying, devoid of any other thoughts.

Yet, after drinking the liquid, she felt a surge of heat throughout her body.

It wasn’t her physical body, but the magic within her.

“?”

She raised her hand, and the flame ignited once more, though this time she could freely control its appearance and disappearance.

“Starting tomorrow, I will teach you magic.”

Wait… Aile suddenly wanted to interrupt him.

‘If she didn’t speak now, something irreversible might occur.’

However… without this power, she couldn’t take revenge on the Duke.

‘But was it worth it?’

“You will… call me Teacher, Aile.”

The Duke smiled at her, a hint of mockery in his eyes.

Hatred flared anew in Aile’s gaze.

‘What a vicious man.’

This man wasn’t teaching her magic; he was merely trying to steal all her memories of her teacher.

Her name, her address… everything.

He sought to force her to endure this utter humiliation.

‘Did he truly believe this could shatter her spirit?’

‘Impossible.’

Even if her name, her address, everything were taken away…

This hatred alone would never fade with time.

“Teacher.”

She reverted to her expressionless demeanor, addressing the Duke.

Aile’s awakening of magic was something you had long anticipated.

You had toiled in the study for three days and three nights, meticulously writing page after page of study plans for the maiden. Only after Chris’s insistent urging did you hastily take an hour’s rest.

However, Chris reported that the maiden’s magic lines were highly unstable.

Perhaps because she hadn’t properly utilized them during her initial awakening, they were now clogged with impurities. This almost entirely severed the maiden’s path to cultivation.

Unwilling to give up, you scoured the ancient texts of the Duke’s mansion. Finally, you discovered a formula known as ‘Blood Exchange’.

This formula, simple in concept, involved feeding another person with the magic source of one’s closest companion. After ten years, the impurities could be removed.

Yet, in doing so, it would also destroy your own magic source.

Chris snatched the ancient text from your hands and burned it to ashes, but you had already memorized every single step.

Unable to defy your commands, Chris’s treatment of Aile grew increasingly harsh.

From her perspective, an inexplicable child had appeared, stealing all her affection and now threatening to take the life of the person she loved.

Daily, you extracted the magic source from your own blood to feed Aile.

The results of the Blood Exchange were remarkable, and with the ancient text’s destruction, this secret would forever remain untold.

No one could survive once their magic source was utterly destroyed.

Ten years from now, this simulated life of yours would reach its conclusion.