Chapter 8
I Could Die a Noble Death Upon Seeing the Shy Face of My Absolute Fave

Three days had passed since I had that little episode of running away from home, being found, and then going for a walk in the Agate Forest with my family.

Before me now stood two buildings: one was smaller than a ducal house, but the other, a greenhouse, was just as big as one. It amazed me how these things could actually be built in a mere three days. In the arms of Father, I was looking up at the big greenhouse with a silly, open-mouthed look on my face.  

“Let’s have a look inside. I transferred the soil from there, so I hope they will grow well,” he said as he led me into the greenhouse, while my face looked even sillier.

A few melon trees were standing tall. The greenhouse had the same atmosphere as the cliff: the sun only shone through the skylight, and the grass was the same as in that place we were before. And the melons were abundant. There were several of them growing on a single tree.

“Father…?”

“We planted the new plants that Alba discovered for us here. Of course, if they don’t survive here, there wouldn’t be any point, so don’t worry, we’ve left about half of them where they were discovered. The building next to this one is a laboratory where the plants will be used in research. Father will do his best so that Alba can grow up properly, so you have to help us too.”

“Yah…”

The scale was just too different. I couldn’t believe they’d gone to such lengths for me. I was beyond impressed, I was simply bewildered. Brother, who came with me to see the building, seemed to have already known about it; he had a normal look on his face.   

“Father…um..thank, thank you…” I couldn’t find any other words to say, so I simply said that; Father then broke into a smile on his face that heavily resembled my absolute fave.

We settled down at one of the fancy tables in the greenhouse, and a maid immediately brought me a drink and a plate of fruits.

“Ah, the fruit…”

The melon fruit had been carefully cut and placed on the plate. A sweet smell wafted out from the fruit. Brother and Father sat on either side of me, their eyes glued to the plate. 

“We used a magic circle to bring these here. There, we discovered something: these fruits have the property of storing and retaining magic power. Even now, it seems that the magic released from the magic circle is currently stored in the fruit.”

As I listened to Father’s explanation, it reminded me that there was indeed such a description.

When the MC and Orsis fell from the cliff and entered the cave, they had used magic, and I remembered that the plant had absorbed it or something. Even at night, it would store mana and glow gently; the light reflected off the face of my absolute fave was so… so divine, no words could describe it—wait, I strayed off course here. Now was not the time to reminisce about such things.

At that time, the main character was using appraisal, but I wondered how Appraisal was supposed to work. It was not attribute-magic, was it?

“Father, can you use Appraisal magic?” I pulled his sleeve and asked him, to which he lowered his eyebrows. 

“I can’t do appraisal magic. Appraisal belongs to the ‘Light-attribute’, so there are only a few people who can use it.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“Alba hasn’t studied anything related to magic, so it’s no big deal.” 

I never imagined it to be attribute-magic. The MC had the ‘Light attribute’, so was that why they could use Appraisal? 

I was so busy admiring the face of Orsis-sama in the game that I had long forgotten, but now the memory came back to me; the gist of that app was something like the MC being a commoner who could use light magic, so they enrolled in the academy to gain various knowledge and develop his magic power; all in order to revive the country’s guardian jewel.

Originally, the bloodline with the ‘Light attribute’ was only supposed to be passed down through the three families that the princesses of the royal family had married off to, but it turned out that the MC could also use light magic; so, they were adopted into one of the three families and entered the academy, or something like that.

Which one of the three families it would be depended on the love interest chosen by the MC, and his ability. If I was not mistaken, they were the families of a Duke, Marquess, and Count. No matter which, it could not be better.

I only had a vague recollection of them though.

Then, at the graduation ceremony, the MC would be a couple with the one he chose, and finally, when it was time to revive the guardian jewel, he would hold hands with his beloved and infuse it with magic power. If they succeeded, that would be the true ending, I think. 

So that meant I also couldn’t do Appraisal either. Too bad.

Or rather, I couldn’t use magic myself; if I did, I’d have to use it at the cost of my life. I had been so lucky to be in a magical world; of course, I wanted to use magic as much as I could. Besides, I was supposed to have a lot of mana inside me too. Yet my body was in this sad state; I was really a good-for-nothing.  

“Father, I want to study magic.” 

I’d like to be involved at least a little bit, you know? I looked up at my father-in-law and he gave me a look, as if he were looking at a tragic figure. 

“That’s a difficult one. If you learn magic, wouldn’t you want to try using it? Even Orsis, who is so calm and collected, was so excited when he was first introduced to magic at the age of three that he used it so much that he collapsed from exhaustion. Alba, can you withstand not trying out magic once you learn it?”

“Father! Forget about that already!” Brother reacted to Father’s words with a red face—So cute!

Aaaah, that face is so precious, I can die a noble death…!

I see. So the shota Orsis-sama also had times when he got excited. I desperately wanted to see that. If I could only see it with my own eyes, I’d have no more regrets…! 

Just why hadn’t I been his stepbrother at that time…?! Oh, I wasn’t even born yet!

As I looked up to the heavens, covering my face with my hands, Father gently stroked my head, “If it bothers you that much, as I thought, it’s difficult to have you learn it, Alba.” 

“Huh? Ah? Eh?”

It appeared to him that I was worrying whether I’d use magic or not. Father, you were mistaken. I was only lovestruck by Brother’s face that was so moe in my imagination. There was no way I would voice this out though. 

But then again, it was human nature to want to use magic when you learn how to. I’d probably lose to that urge and try using magic too. Even if I knew that I would die if I used it, I would definitely still do it. 

If that were the case, it would be better not to be taught about magic from the start. But I guess that wouldn’t do either.

“…Hmm, I at least want to learn the theory. Something like, knowing what magic can be used for what kind of attribute. I also want to know what magic Brother and Father are using… When Father cast that magic, you were so cool.”

I spoke like that, and Father, who had the corners of his brows gloomily lowered until then, instantly changed to a look of delight.

Father, you’re also so cute.

“There will be someone at the institute who can do Appraisal, so keep your mind at ease, Alba.”

“Yes.”

He then offered me the melon, so I took a slice and began to eat it, and a sweet taste began to fill my mouth. I felt like my cheeks were going to fall off as the flesh seemed to melt. It tasted exactly like a melon—or should I say too good? I could eat it every day and never get tired of it.

But, it was as expected of a ducal family. The scale of how they handled things was way out of the realm of my imagination. 

The melon is so delicious that I have nothing to complain about though.