The Bothersome Charm

I heard that’s the one who defeated the invading demons.

“Really?! A mere maid?”

“That’s what the guard unit says.”

“And even if she is a maid, she’s the personal maid of the duke’s daughter…”

“The duke’s daughter’s maid…? Come to think of it, she is sitting in the duke’s daughter’s seat…”

“That doesn’t seem so strange then.”

The moment I sat in the young lady’s seat, before I could even arrange my study materials, I heard the surrounding murmurs targeting me.

——Since the young lady still needs to recuperate, she can only stay in the dormitory for now and cannot attend class.

During this time, I need to attend class in her place and later pass on the knowledge I’ve learned to her.

Actually, many noble students adopt this method even without illness… some even delegate all their studies to their servants, while they themselves idle around the campus, singing the praises of so-called youth.

Well… to gain the emperor’s favor, my young lady studies diligently. She’s not the kind of useless noble who leaves everything to her servants! So I have to work hard to be useful too!

Actually, studying isn’t that difficult… after all, it’s only the first semester. The academy teaches mostly basics, and I’ve largely learned them at the duke’s mansion. I basically just need to unify the knowledge points and teach them to the young lady in the evening.

Right now, the biggest obstacle is the surrounding gossip… Even though it’s class time, except for a certain Little Black Seaweed who’s catching up on sleep, the whole class’s attention is focused on me.

“…By the way, this maid is quite good-looking.”

“Mm… now that you mention it, she really is!”

“That silver hair… it’s really beautiful…”

“She was already noticeable before, but now she looks so charming.”

“If possible, I’d love to make her mine…”

“Are you crazy! She’s a servant of the duke’s family! And you’re both girls!”

“If it’s her… I might have the resolve to take on the whole world!”

“…What the heck is that last one! Sorry, but I already have the young lady!”

In the end… the gossip didn’t stop until lunch break. Helpless, I had no choice but to follow Margaret to a deserted place to eat lunch.

As for the young lady… I left a bento for her, so it should be fine.

On the rooftop, Margaret said to me while being fed by her own sister.

‘…Now I finally understand why Margaret always teases me about showing off my affection with the young lady. It really is uncomfortable to watch… I want to be lovey-dovey with the young lady too!’

But Margaret didn’t notice my resentful gaze and continued on her own, saying:

“However, it doesn’t seem to be at the level of strong mental control yet—it only slightly affects others’ perception of you. Honestly, I also find you quite handsome now, but I don’t have any further thoughts.”

She paused, raised her head, and asked me, “Do you feel yourself releasing [Charm]?”

In response to Margaret’s question, I shook my head. “No…” From the beginning, this ability has been beyond my control. I can’t even realize when I’m using [Charm].

Hearing this, Margaret took out a strange orange monocle. Come to think of it, she had worn it yesterday during the big battle, but it was too chaotic back then, so I overlooked it.

“There’s almost no mana around… This tiny amount of mana is more like the natural emission from growth than the use of magic… No, perhaps it’s precisely this emitted mana that triggers the [Charm] phenomenon? No… can’t rule out pheromones or something…”

Margaret murmured, resting a hand on her chin. But soon, she turned her gaze back to me. “It would be better to confirm directly. Little maid, use [Charm] on me.”

“…What? Did I hear that right?”

“You heard right. Come on, use [Charm] on me, little maid.”

“…Um, Miss Margaret, I already have the young lady…”

“What are you thinking? I have Elizabeth, you know?” She rolled her eyes at me.

“The essence of [Charm] is probably mental-type magic. During the fight with the Red Oni earlier, didn’t you use this kind of magic to control us? So I need you to release [Charm] again so I can confirm the type of mana and figure out what is causing this current situation. …Of course, this is also to confirm your ability.”

Although her words were convincing, her request put me in a bind. “…But even if you say that… I don’t know how to use [Charm].”

“Recall the scene when you released it before and find that feeling.”

“…I can’t guarantee success, you know.” I closed my eyes, recalled the previous scene for a moment, and prepared a little… This time, I’ll give a simple command. Thinking that, I opened my mouth—”Come to me.”

“…!” Margaret suddenly froze on the spot, and then she actually walked over to me.

“Haah…!” After executing the command, Margaret finally snapped back to reality, covering her chest and gasping for air. “That really is a powerful [Charm]. For that instant, my body completely disobeyed me… My heart is still pounding fast.”

Elizabeth patted Little Black Seaweed on the back to ease her discomfort.

“However… it can be preliminarily concluded that this unconscious ‘charm’ is caused by mana overflow… When activating ‘charm,’ your mana wavelength exactly matches the overflow wavelength. Well… more detailed information would require further research.”

“…Then is there any way to get rid of this unconscious ‘charm’?” This situation is really troubling me…

“That will be the subject of my next research. We need to find a way for you to properly control your ‘Authority’; otherwise, the potential harm is too great. If your ability upgrades further in the future, it might not be as simple as just making people feel favorably toward you.”

As she said, Margaret lowered her head again, lost in thought. “Try to see if you can control the mana emission.”

“Control… the mana emission?” Mana leaking is a natural thing! Controlling something like that is unprecedented and never to be repeated!

“I know it’s difficult, but it’s the only solution I can think of.”

“Alright, I’ll try.” Originally, mana flows continuously in the body like blood, so I did my best to immobilize all the mana in my body… This… is surprisingly exhausting!

“How… is it now?”

“It feels like… it’s slightly less, but still there.”

“Haaah…!” Upon hearing that, I immediately released the tension. I really couldn’t hold it anymore…

“Well… this isn’t something you can master overnight. Take it slowly. We’ll continue practicing after school, and I’ll also take a blood sample for analysis.”

“Okay…” For some reason, I felt like I had become a lab mouse under observation…