Chapter 33: Cards on the Table (1)

When Michael returned back to his room, he was exhausted. It was apparent that at least for now, he wouldn’t be able to fight against Shirley since she’d taken it upon herself to take care of him.

It wasn’t all necessarily bad, in fact it was quite heartwarming. He had learned that the woman grew up in an orphanage, taking care of all her younger siblings and acting as a mother hen.

This explained her nurturing nature.

Michael had originally planned to read the magic theory book that Charles had given him before bed, but he was far too tired to do so. So he crawled into bed, drifting off to sleep in just a few minutes.

Due to his exhaustion, he was treated to a dreamless and restful sleep.

The next morning, a rapping at the door woke him, followed by the familiar greeting.

“Good morning sunshine~” Shirley’s voice echoed in the room, “I brought you some breakfast.”

She walked in, placing his plate of food on the desk before drawing the curtains open. A quick glance outside was enough to realize that the sun had barely kissed the horizon.

“Morning…” Michael stirred, sitting up.

“Oh, what’s this?” Shirley collected the green book sitting on the desk and evaluated it.

“Ah, that’s just a book on mana theory,” Michael explained, “Charles says that I need to work on my control before he can start the lessons. I’m afraid I’m rather useless…”

The vulnerability in his voice surprised even him. It turned out that he still had a bit of a complex when it came to magic, despite now being a Crimson mage.

Shirley didn’t respond right away. She flipped through the book silently, as if deep in thought. “Wow… I don’t understand a thing,” she said, letting out a giggle, closing the book dramatically.

Michael blinked incredulously. Now that he thought about it, he wasn’t even sure what kind of mage Shirley was, or if she was one at all.

“Shirley, did you learn magic at the orphanage?” he asked inquisitively.

“Hmm? No, I’m not a mage young Michael, so how could I learn magic?” she replied, her tone cheerful despite the implication.

Shirley is ringless?

Michael was shocked. While it wasn’t necessarily rare to meet one of the ringless, it was certainly difficult to find them in the employ of the noble class, who look down upon such people.

Even in the Aurelius household, all servants could at least perform chore magic, this was the minimum standard. Thus, it was quite surprising that Shirley was in fact, without magic.

Shirley chuckled, “Why are you looking at me like that? Do you think I’m any less of a person since I’m a null?”

Michael flinched at her words.

Null was a derogatory term associated with those who were ringless. Even he who had only possessed a single white ring was sometimes called this behind his back by the servants with derision.

“Shirley… You shouldn’t say that word,” Michael said, his sadness growing.

Without a word, the young maid approached him and pulled him into a deep, yet warm hug. “You’re a kind boy Michael, kinder than most.” She said, rubbing his back.

“But don’t worry about me, kiddo. Even though I’m a ringless, I’ll run rings around any of the servants around here.” She joked, pulling back and flashing him a smile.

“Now hurry up and eat, the young miss will be awake soon. If you have any questions on mana theory, just ask her, she’s already had offers from a few of the big mage academies based on her control alone.” Shirley explained.

Ask Melody? Would she really help me? He asked in his heart.

“Right, I’ll leave you to it,” she said, smacking him on the back with force. “I’ll be back after dinner to help you bathe,”

Michael felt the wind get knocked out of him, followed by the knockout punch from her final words. Before he could even reply, Shirley had already left the room.

Once he’d recovered, Michael helped himself to the breakfast and got dressed, ready for the day. This would be his second day as Melody’s personal butler, but he still felt some trepidation.

Things were rather awkward between the two, even more so now that Michael knew what her parents were planning. While he had agreed that there were only benefits for him in this arrangement, it didn’t mean he was happy about marrying the girl.

Perhaps if things were different, I would have been used in a political marriage back in the Aurelius household too…

Michael shook his head, throwing such thoughts to the back of his mind. At least for now, nothing was set in stone. All he had to do was perform his duties satisfactorily, and he was guaranteed everything he needed.

Knowledge, connections and status.

There’s three years until we attend the mage academy, I’ll just need to hold on and learn everything I can until then, he concluded.

Michael moved over to the mirror and adjusted his collar before nodding with satisfaction.

“Let’s do this,” he announced.

Leaving the room, he made his way through the servants quarters into the main halls and eventually arrived at the family residential wing. There he saw Melody seated, bringing a teacup to her lips as one of the maid’s brushed and braided her hair.

“Good morning, Melody.” Michael called, bowing slightly.

Hearing his voice, the young girl flinched and turned to him before muttering a small greeting. It was as if she was still shy about his presence.

For some reason, this grated on Michael’s nerves.

When he had first met her in the dining room, she had been harsh, so much as calling him a wild dog. Even when they met again for tutoring, the girl had harshly criticized his mother for not teaching him mana control.

Yet now she was a meek girl?

It didn’t make sense.

Even if she knew about her parent’s arrangements, it wouldn’t have such an effect on her personality. At least that’s what he thought.

Michael’s eyes drifted to the maid who had just finished with Melody’s hair. The older woman nodded and bid her farewell, leaving the two alone.

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