Rumors that quietly take shape

As my consciousness receded from that cold, dead, pitch-black abyss, and returned to my physical body, a bone-deep weariness washed over me.

It felt less like a meditation and more like a protracted struggle against an ancient behemoth.

Cold sweat drenched my back, and a pervasive, aching weakness permeated my entire body.

Opening my eyes, I saw that the bright afternoon sky outside the window had softened into a gentle, orange-red hue.

The lingering glow of the setting sun streamed through the windowpanes, casting long, slanted shadows across the study’s carpet.

The cup of black tea on the table had long since grown cold.

I stared blankly at my hands.

These delicate, pale hands, without even the slightest trace of a callus, concealed within them a slumbering monarch capable of overturning the world and striking terror into hearts.

That vast sea of magic, where a dark moon hung high…

It was a power that could never be adequately described by the word ‘genius’.

It was the domain of a monster.

I finally understood why Lilliana in the game had been so arrogant, so utterly dismissive of others.

Because, in her world, everyone else truly might have been nothing more than…

Ants, easily crushed with a casual flick of the wrist.

But I was not her.

This immense power, to me, was not a scepter but a set of shackles so heavy they threatened to crush me at any moment.

I couldn’t control it; I didn’t even know how to fully awaken it.

The meditation just now felt more like an accidental glimpse than a successful act of mastery.

Slowly, then…

At least, I now knew of its existence.

I massaged my throbbing temples, the panic of being unable to use magic now replaced by a far deeper anxiety.

‘How am I supposed to conceal this power?’

Just then, a soft, tentative knock sounded at the study door.

“Rap, rap!”

“Young Lady?”

It was Anna’s voice, tinged with an anxious tremor.

“Dinner is ready. Would you… like to have it now?”

Only then did I feel a hollow emptiness in my stomach.

I had eaten almost nothing since noon.

“…Bring it in,” I replied.

The door creaked open slightly, and Anna wheeled in an elegant dining cart, stepping cautiously into the room.

She seemed wary of disturbing me, her footsteps barely audible.

She meticulously arranged the lavish dishes on the small round table in the study, her head bowed the entire time, not daring to meet my gaze.

Seeing her fearful demeanor, a strange discomfort settled in my heart.

Once upon a time, I too had been a corporate drone, forced to constantly cater to bosses and clients, intimately familiar with such involuntary humility and bitterness.

“Anna.”

I spoke suddenly.

“Yes, Young Lady!”

She flinched, nearly dropping the serving plate.

I looked at her, trying to keep my voice as even as possible:

“You haven’t eaten yet, have you?”

“Huh?”

Anna froze, seemingly completely bewildered by my words.

“…Sit down and eat with me.”

I uttered words that even I found unbelievable.

Anna’s eyes widened instantly, her pupils filled with a mixture of terror and disbelief, as if I had just declared my intention to eat her for dinner.

She dropped to her knees with a soft thud, her voice trembling uncontrollably.

“Young Lady! Please have mercy! D-did Anna do something wrong? Please punish me! But, but something like this… it simply cannot be!”

Seeing her on the verge of tears, I finally realized…

How utterly scandalous my actions had been in this rigidly stratified world.

‘Sigh… I’ve messed up again…’

I sighed helplessly, rising from my seat and walking over to her. I didn’t reach out to help her up, merely speaking in a soft tone:

“Get up. I have no intention of punishing you.”

“But…”

“It’s just that eating alone feels rather lonely.”

I averted my gaze, looking out at the setting sun, which was about to dip below the horizon, and spoke in a voice that was almost a murmur to myself.

“Just… keep me company. Bring your own dinner over as well.”

Having said my piece, I ignored her, returning to the dining table and picking up my knife and fork.

Anna remained kneeling, staring blankly at my back, seemingly still unable to recover from the profound shock.

After a long moment, she shakily rose to her feet and, in a trance-like state, retreated from the study.

A few minutes later, she re-entered, carrying a simple plate containing only black bread and vegetable soup.

She didn’t sit, instead standing far off in the corner, her head bowed, eating small, silent mouthfuls.

I knew this was the greatest concession she could possibly make.

I didn’t press her further.

The study was quiet, save for the faint clinking of cutlery against plates and the equally restrained sounds of our chewing and swallowing.

It was an unsettling meal, yet one imbued with a strange, undeniable harmony.

Just as we were nearing the end of the meal, Anna seemed to finally muster her courage, speaking in a voice so low it was as if she feared even the walls might overhear her.

“Young Lady…”

“Hm?”

“Today… there were many rumors about you at the academy.”

My heart gave a sudden jolt.

The hand clutching my knife and fork unconsciously tightened.

“…Is that so?”

“Y-yes, Young Lady,” Anna’s voice dropped even lower.

“Everyone is saying… that today, you seemed… different from before. Not only did you help that commoner special enrollee at the school gates, but you also… you wore plain clothes to the opening ceremony, and you didn’t sit in the front row as usual…”

She dared not continue, but her meaning was painfully clear.

My supposedly clever actions, taken to avoid the plot, had not made me inconspicuous at all. Instead, they had become the greatest anomaly in everyone’s eyes.

I had tried to detach myself from the persona of ‘Lilliana’.

Yet the result was the creation of an entirely new ‘Lilliana’—one even more mysterious and perplexing.

“…And also…”

Anna hesitated for a moment before speaking again.

“Just now, the servants in the kitchen were discussing… they said I looked very happy when I went to fetch your dinner today… and asked if you had perhaps bestowed something upon me…”

As she finished, a faint blush crept onto her cheeks, whether from shame or something else entirely, I couldn’t tell.

I set down my knife and fork, my appetite completely gone.

It seemed my supposed safe haven had long since been infiltrated by invisible cobwebs.

My every action was not only spreading through the academy but had even reached the ears of the servants in the ducal manor.

I had tried to avoid the spotlight at the center of the stage.

Yet, unexpectedly, they had instead shone an even brighter spotlight—one named ‘scrutiny’—on me, the oddity hiding in the corner.