Chapter 12 – Magical (2)

“My Lady, how can you be laze away today as well? The master has already said that there is a party at the imperial palace tomorrow. They have invited all young ladies so you must attend as well. Which means you should get your dress and choose your heels and accessory, so how could you be laze around like that.”

“I can just wear any dress. Nobody will pay any attention to me anyway. I don’t need to stand out.” Then suddenly a thought crossed Amethyst’s mind and her expression brightened. “Yellie, there will be other young noblemen – counts and knights – there, right?”

“Knights? Of course. Is the guy you like perhaps a knight?”

“What? No. I’m wondering if I can convince someone to teach me swordsmanship.”

“Why would you need to learn swordsmanship? You must have a knight you like?”

“You know what? forget it. How about magicians?”

“Magicians are so rare, my lady. I’ve never heard anyone hiring one before, but if you ask the Count…it might be possible. So, is your man a magician then?”

“No, it’s not like that!”

“Then why are you looking for a magician? I’m sure you know that magic isn’t something you can learn?”

“You can’t learn magic?”

“No, of course not! Only those who have the goddess’s blood are able to use magic. The guy you have in mind must be a magician. Am I wrong?”

Yellie winked at Amethyst.

“You can leave, Yellie,” said Amethyst sternly.

Amethyst sighed. ‘Forget it.’

“Okay, my lady. Froy will be coming soon, so please get ready. Don’t delay.” Yellie closed the door and left the room. She stopped monetarily and turned back to look at the closed door. Amethyst made a face each time Yellie asked her if her man was a knight or a magician, and Yellie found that interesting.

‘Something is different about the young lady. She used to be very keen on corsets, wearing only dresses that emphasize her her waist, saying that it was her only strong point. But these days she barely dresses up! She suddenly thinks her corset is stuffy, uncomfortable and burdensome and always wears clothes that one would only wear in the bedroom. Well she was always in her room so that explains it partly, but on days like this one when her tutor is visiting, it would be more appropriate if she wore her a nice dress.

Nonetheless, despite these thoughts, Yellie did not want to nag Amethyst further.

Amethyst didn’t care for Yellie’s suggestions on the other hand. She had her own considerations to mull over.

‘Only those who carried the goddess’s blood, which means they must be of royal blood. In school we learned that the goddess’s descendant became the king and ruled the Sehar empire. The Lohikin family is not a descendant of the goddess. They cannot learn magic. But from what I know – the only one of royal blood is the current emperor and the royal sibling. It can’t be that there are only two magicians in the land. Since blood is passed down from the predecessors, the wizards will be the eldest sons of the royal family and their brothers-in-law, and so on. In the end, it might be a complete stranger.’

‘The Emperor who was the direct descendant with the purest blood of the goddess might be the greatest magician.’

“What a pity. I wanted to try Wingardium Leviosa! To think that I have no chance!”

While she was lost in her thoughts, her teacher Froy had arrived and settled down.

“Right. Let’s study about the world tree today.”

“The world tree? Ah, the goddess that became the tree….”

“Yes, that’s right.”

‘Was it really necessary to study a tree? Well, since it is a part of the myth it would be weird not to know about it. Like the Korean myth of Dangeun. Guess I could ask what I’m the most curious about first. ‘

“Does it really exist?”

“Of course! It is being carefully taken care of in a shrine in the imperial palace.”

“Then it must be very old.”

“To be precise, it is 6193 years 5 months and 20 days old.”

“What? How do you know that so accurately?”

“How could you not know this, Lady Lohikin?”

“Ah, I knew. I just wondered.”

‘The world tree must be the equivalent of a calendar here. Now that I think about it they said the empire started once the goddess fell asleep as a world tree.’

‘I must study hard. The local myths seem really important here.’

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

Froy looked at her with a curious look that seemed to question her mental aptitude, but Amethyst paid no attention.

She asked cautiously, “How about you Froy? Have you seen it before?”

“No. It’s not a tree anyone can just pay a visit to see. But my cousin in the Large shrine is a disciple. I heard he is taking care of the tree.”

“Wow. If a goddess turned into a tree, I’m sure it is a very beautiful tree.”

“Yes, I hear that it is exactly like it is described. A white tree always adorned with evergreen leaves. And when the sun shines upon it, the leaves turn golden.”

“Golden? That must be splendid to watch.”

“There is something even more fascinating. Although I’m not sure it’s true. It is sort of a rumor.”

Amethyst encouraged Froy to continue. He was suddenly cautious, unlike his usual self.

“What is it?”

“My cousin says that the number of leaves that fall from the tree each day and the number of people guided to god each day are the same.”

“Guided to god?”

“Don’t you even know what that means? It means death.”

“Ah!”

Some people might not know. Amethyst muttered internally. Wait a second, they seemed to refer to the funerals as those guided to god.

“It’s not confirmed, as I said. My cousin is one of the people studying the phenomenon, so nothing is proven yet.”