The memories from that time were blurry and faint, almost fading away completely.
But at some point, my mana channels slowly began to narrow—until they were eventually blocked entirely.
It wasn’t uncommon for mana channels to change as one grew.
Still… it would be a lie to say I never regretted it.
Unlike me, Felix Roheim was someone whose magical power blossomed as he grew.
I had once helped amplify his weak mana, but separate from that, his raw mana capacity itself expanded as he became an adult.
As a result, Felix became a renowned mage knight at the Academy.
On the other hand, no matter how much magical theory I memorized, I couldn’t even produce a single spark of fire.
Watching Felix freely infuse mana into his sword and display dazzling swordsmanship had occasionally made me feel envious.
‘Come to think of it… that famous mage knight ended up becoming my boss.’
Kaien Croitz.
A genius who had reached the pinnacle of both magic and martial arts.
…Yeah. Thinking about someone so far above made me laugh a little.
Even if my mana channels were opened a hundred times over, I still wouldn’t even reach his ankles.
[That’s not a lie! Pipi is serious! Benefactor and I are strangely well synchronized—I think Pipi can become smart very quickly!]
‘Yeah, that’s great—’
Grrrrr.
At that moment, my stomach let out a pitiful growl.
Only then did I remember something important and muttered helplessly.
“…I forgot… to ask for an advance…”
Well, it couldn’t be helped.
‘Tomorrow! I’ll definitely get even a single coin in advance!’
With that firm resolution, I headed home.
As expected, there was no servant or butler to open the door for me.
I opened it myself out of habit—and the moment I stepped inside—
“Agh!”
A burning pain shot through my scalp and my eyes flew open.
Someone had grabbed my hair.
“Where do you think you’ve been crawling back in from?”
A venomous voice struck my ears.
When I turned my head slightly, I saw a woman with blazing red hair cascading down her shoulders.
Her sharp cat-like eyes and heavy makeup accentuated a teardrop mole beneath her eye.
She radiated a seductive air—this was my uncle’s daughter, my cousin, Ciela.
“L-Let go.”
“Let go? After what? Explain yourself first! The Croitz family carriage came looking for you, didn’t it? What kind of trouble did you cause to get them involved?!”
[What is this crazy woman! Pipi wants to go out right now and pull all her hair out!]
I could feel Pipi bouncing furiously in my pocket.
I quickly wrapped my arm around it to hide the swelling movement.
‘N-No. Stay quiet.’
If Pipi was discovered, I had no idea what they might do to it.
Just then, another voice joined in.
“Whatever happened, a lady should not be staying out overnight.”
It was Edward, my cousin and my uncle’s eldest son.
With neatly slicked-back red hair and a stern expression, Edward crossed his arms.
“So you’ve decided to live recklessly just because you were broken off from your engagement?! That’s unacceptable. Still, someone might—”
His eyes slowly scanned me from head to toe.
“…still be willing to take you in.”
As usual, the servants stood far away, watching with amused expressions—no one stepped in to help.
[How dare they look at Benefactor so rudely! I want to rip out their eyeballs! And what’s with their tone? They look like nouveau riche but talk like royalty!]
Pipi kept thrashing around, making my pocket bulge again.
‘P-Pipi!’
I quickly shifted my pocket behind my back to hide it.
Even so, Pipi’s rage made me feel slightly less alone.
But that comfort collapsed in the next moment.
“Did no one teach you manners? Ah, right. Your parents are dead, aren’t they?”
Ciela laughed loudly.
“….”
Humiliation burned my face.
I wanted to fight back immediately—but my body trembled instead.
When I was younger, I had once tried to talk back to Ciela.
But every time I did, my uncle would mercilessly beat me with a cane.
He said it was because, as the older sister, I failed to properly “correct” my younger cousin.
Those memories had carved fear into me. Even thinking of resisting made my body stiffen.
But I didn’t want to live like this forever.
I desperately repeated to myself.
‘Pipi… help me.’
[We’ve been waiting for that! “You can be a villain too ver.2” is now activated! Please select the severity of wrongdoing!
Mild 2. Medium 3. Severe]
Ver.2? When did it upgrade?
I didn’t even have time to wonder.
A surge of anger burst inside me as I shouted inwardly.
‘Severe! I choose severe!’
The next instant—
My hand shot forward like lightning and grabbed Ciela’s mouth.
“Mmph?!”
Startled, she let go of my hair.
‘W-What…?!’
The motion was identical to what Kaien Croitz had done earlier in the Mage Tower—when he stretched a mage’s mouth shut like it was nothing.
I had thought it was terrifyingly extreme back then…
I never imagined I’d be doing the exact same thing just hours later!
Before I could even process it, my mouth moved on its own.
“Just hearing ‘orphan this, orphan that’ is annoying. Then what’s wrong with you, having both parents alive but your personality is still trash?”
“Mmph?!”
“Were your parents so useless that they raised you like this?”
“Mmmph!”
Ciela’s eyes widened in shock.
‘Ah!’
I recognized the words that just came out of my mouth.
They were lines I had once scribbled in a notebook—things I had thought of far too late after being insulted by her.
A slightly more timid version, but still.
‘Pipi… you even learned that?!’
A strange mix of shame and exhilaration surged through me.
It was the first time I had ever said aloud what I used to only imagine.
“Mmph!”
Ciela whimpered in pain.
But I still didn’t let go of her mouth—it had stretched like a duck’s bill.
In fact, I shook it up and down.
“Watch your mouth, okay?”
Even the tone of a low-class delinquent!
‘Severe really has no brakes!’
A thrilling sensation ran down my spine along with my embarrassment.
I had always wanted to do this—to pinch that mouth that always spewed insults.
“A-Ah, miss!”
“C-Can you please stop?! Let her go immediately!”
The servants panicked, stamping their feet, but none dared approach.
Then—
“What do you think you’re doing?!”
Edward shouted in shock.
I glared at him sharply, and he instinctively flinched and covered his mouth.
Then, embarrassed by himself, he lowered his hand and pointed at me.
“Let Ciela go this instant!”
“Mmmph! Ughm!”
Ciela called out to her brother desperately.
Edward rolled up his sleeves.
“This is unacceptable! With Father absent, I must discipline you myself! How dare you commit violence within the family! Someone, bring me Father’s cane!”
A servant quickly rushed and brought it.
Watching that ridiculous scene, I finally spoke.
“I did grab Ciela first, yes.”
“Then kneel and prepare your punishment—”
“But isn’t verbal abuse also a form of violence?”
“What?”
“When Ciela brought up my dead parents, you said nothing. But now you’re suddenly talking about family values. Isn’t that funny?”
“You insolent—!”
Edward’s eyes flashed with rage.
His pride had clearly been struck.
Ciela, finally freed from my grip, clutched her swollen lips and screamed.
“Brother! She’s completely insane!”
“It does seem so.”
Edward glared at me and raised his hand.
I smiled smugly.
“Are you really going to hit me? Yesterday, Felix Roheim tried the same thing—and the Croitz knight who came to pick me up caught him and humiliated him completely.”
“What?”
Edward’s hand froze midair.
“…What did you just say? Why would a Croitz knight come for you?”
“What nonsense are you talking about?! She’s clearly insane, brother! Please discipline her with the cane!”
I shrugged at the shouting siblings.
“Didn’t you hear? I’m employed by Duke Kaien Croitz.”
“What? Someone like you—how?!”
Edward’s eyes widened in disbelief.