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Chapter 5: My Young Mistress Seems a Bit Tsundere?

After finishing dinner with the sisters Darly and Daisy, Daisy began pestering Ryan to teach her water magic.

Ryan was about to say yes, but Darly couldn’t stand it and dragged Daisy away to start washing dishes.

Ryan looked around and realized his work for the day was almost done, so he yawned and headed back to his room.

Back in the butler’s quarters, Ryan lay down on his bed, and although Old Lamb had died here earlier that day, he felt no unease.

Even sleeping atop the dismembered corpses of his comrades was routine for Ryan.

Ryan was quite satisfied with his butler duties that day.

He only had to care for the children and handle trivial tasks, and with two maids helping, it wasn’t tiring at all.

Coincidentally, Ryan’s role as a knight had cut him off from society for ten years, and if he were suddenly forced to live on his own in the city now, even with the transmigrator’s memories, he would struggle to find his footing.

Lying in bed, Ryan listened carefully to the faint sounds in the silence and slowly closed his eyes.

♤ ♡ ♢ ♧

At nightfall, the door to Nanali’s chamber opened slowly, and her petite figure tiptoed through the darkness until she reached the dining table.

She gently pulled out the chair and sat down without making a sound.

Looking at the spacious surroundings, Nanali exhaled softly, extended her right hand, and her sapphire-blue eyes glinted faintly in the moonlight.

“Through the veins, feel it…”

Whispering under her breath, Nanali silently recited an incantation.

In the next moment, Nanali felt something being drawn into her body, traveling within her and leaving a trail of warmth.

Then a faint golden glow appeared on her hand, and a small flame flickered in the darkness above Nanali’s palm.

The flame was tiny, fiercely resisting the encroaching darkness as if it would extinguish at any moment.

Even so, joy lit up Nanali’s face.

Unfortunately, after a short while, the flame succumbed to the darkness and vanished.

“…I failed again.”

The look of joy on Nanali’s face faded with the extinguished flame.

Afterwards, Nanali tried summoning the flame several more times, but each attempt ended in failure.

In the end, Nanali gave up, sat in the silent darkness, and looked down at the tabletop, her thoughts unknown.

“Miss, who taught you magic? A teacher from Alcot Academy?”

At that moment, a voice came from beside her.

Startled, Nanali lifted her head abruptly and turned toward the voice like a frightened kitten.

She saw Ryan standing not far away beside her, smiling at her.

Upon seeing Ryan, Nanali pressed her lips together, blushed, and said, “Y-you… when did you…”

It was evident that Nanali’s tone was somewhat panicked.

After all, choosing this quiet late hour and practicing magic in complete silence clearly showed she did not want anyone to see her.

Ryan pinched his chin and said:

“I was here during your third-to-last attempt at magic. Did I startle you? I’m really sorry.”

After locking eyes with Ryan for a moment, Nanali’s emotions finally settled and her tone turned cold again:

“As you have seen, I was merely practicing magic, and it has nothing to do with you. I hope you will forget everything you just witnessed.”

It seemed their young mistress still had some pride.

As for the coldness in Nanali’s tone, Ryan realized it felt more like a facade, as if she was deliberately hiding something to keep others at a distance.

Yet Nanali’s deliberate concealment was somewhat clumsy.

Despite Nanali’s clear attempt to dismiss him, Ryan did not respond and instead silently raised his hand.

As Nanali looked at Ryan’s raised palm in confusion, a roaring flame suddenly appeared in his hand.

The flame was far brighter than the small spark Nanali had summoned, dispelling a large area of darkness, and its form reflected in Nanali’s pupils.

“I actually know a bit about this type of magic. Perhaps I can assist you, miss.”

Ryan said with a faint smile as he observed Nanali’s changing expression.

Nanali stared at the flame in Ryan’s hand for a moment, then opened her mouth as if to speak but gulped back her words, her face flushed red.

After a moment, Nanali whispered in a voice softer than a mosquito’s buzz, “Rowan…”

“Rowan?”

Ryan looked puzzled.

“My magic teacher, Rowan Winsor, is a renowned mage in Art City…”

Nanali said shyly with her head lowered, and if Ryan looked closely, he would see her cheeks were so red they seemed to bleed.

Nanali’s words answered Ryan’s initial question and also indicated she was willing to accept his help.

After all, she could not directly ask Ryan to teach her magic, whether because she had just tried to drive him away or simply due to her personality.

My young mistress really is a bit tsundere?

Ryan seemed to have discovered some remarkable trait in Nanali.

As for the mage Nanali mentioned, Ryan had already noticed during her attempt that the teacher’s instructional method was flawed.

Everyone’s magical aptitude is different, so a single casting method cannot work for everyone.

Nanali had magic aptitude, but that mage clearly taught every student using the same method, which happened to be ineffective for her.

Logically, if that mage always used that approach, there should be many kids like Nanali.

To confirm, Ryan asked, “Among that mage’s students, how many fail to learn magic?”

“About two-thirds, I guess.”

Nanali answered, and compared to before, she was much more cooperative.

It was clear Nanali really wanted to learn magic.

In that case, it confirmed the mage was the problem.

However, even so, one-third of the students could cast magic, which seemed too many.

He guessed that among those students, many were self-taught or exceptionally gifted prodigies.

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