MTLNOVEL Chapter 20
Chapter 20
Miss Ellie's day is incredibly busy.
At six in the morning, she heads to the secret training ground for her training.
A full hour of walking.
Then, magic practice.
One hundred sit-ups with her cute little body.
One hundred knee push-ups.
Finally, stretching exercises.
Once training is over, she takes a shower and returns to the mansion.
It's a rule of the Golden family that everyone must eat breakfast and dinner together, so being late is not allowed.
Miss Ellie strictly follows the dietary restrictions she set for herself, and I record the menu in a notebook.
Today's breakfast——
One croissant.
A plateful of salad (with a little dressing)
One piece of boiled chicken thigh (made by the master)
Three slices of apple.
Miss Ellie, who declared she was going on a diet, seems very determined. I'm always worried she might collapse from hunger. When I tell her that, she always responds, "Clarice, you're such a worrywart."
Ever since that thunderstorm accident, Miss Ellie has become cheerful, almost like a completely different person. Barry and I talk about it all the time. I also know that our overly kind Miss Ellie was being taken advantage of at school.
Lately, we've become unusually prone to tears. Every morning when we see Miss Ellie, our eyes well up. She's so radiant that it's overwhelming.
When Miss Ellie was still ten years old, she once saw I had injured my right hand and, worried about me, brought me a four-leaf clover while covered in mud. I still haven't forgotten that. I asked the magic tool shop to turn that clover into a bookmark with weatherproofing. It's my treasure.
Miss Ellie isn't afraid of my husband, even though he has a scar on his cheek. She always says she likes him because he makes delicious meals. My husband has been completely charmed by Miss Ellie. He's constantly asking, "How's Miss Ellie?" "Is she well?" "Where is she?"
After breakfast, Miss Ellie changes into her uniform and heads to school with Miss Amy. They're truly close sisters. Seeing the two of them, with their similar eyes, chatting happily always warms my heart.
Miss Ellie used to feel inferior to Miss Amy's beauty, but lately, there's been no trace of that. Her once-downcast eyes now look straight ahead. She seems to have gained a sense of enlightenment. Miss Ellie is a sincere, kind, and beautiful lady. There's no reason for her to belittle herself. Perhaps she's finally realized her true self.
After reporting Miss Ellie's condition to Madam, I head into town to gather the information Miss Ellie requested.
First, the matter of the orphanage. The orphanage where she was happily volunteering ended up like that, and Miss Ellie's grief is immeasurable. I'm investigating discreetly, hoping to find any clues.
Once that's done, the next matter is about Master Cliff. He's the grandson of the Pope of the Seller Church, and he disappeared without warning. He only left behind a note saying, "Ellie, I'm sorry," and vanished. It's reasonable to assume he was caught up in some incident. He apparently had a passionate relationship with Miss Ellie, meeting secretly at the library. He's not the kind of person who would leave without saying goodbye.
It seems to be connected to the orphanage incident, and it reeks of something shady.
Since the orphanage is within the Ricky family's territory, they are undeniably the prime suspects. It's not wise to pry into other families' affairs, and that family is especially guarded, with no rumors leaking out. Just as the great adventurer Yukimura Sekino said, "Where there's smoke, there's fire," I thought they might be innocent, but given how provocative and belligerent they are, they'll slip up eventually.
The Ricky family is the one Master was narrowly defeated by in this year's Magic Battle Tournament One-on-One. They also fought two years ago and lost. There may be some lingering bad blood between our families.
Before long, it's time to pick Miss Ellie up from school. I head to Greifner Magic Academy to fetch her. With nearly one hundred percent certainty, my husband ditches his work to come by carriage. No matter how many times I tell him not to come, he won't listen, so I've given up.
Miss Ellie takes the carriage to the clothing shop Mirrors, gives various instructions, and hands over her saved-up money to the shop owner without hesitation. She's also on good terms with the young man named Joe, who once said something rude to her, and they passionately discuss design, going back and forth. She truly seems to love clothing. I'm also very excited, as it seems the outfit for Miss Amy is nearly complete.
On days she doesn't go to Mirrors, she heads to the secret training ground. There too, Miss Ellie trains diligently. She thoroughly does walking, magic practice, and strength training. She also learned "Wind" magic and seems to be enjoying it.
Yes, it's true. Amazingly, she managed to use "Lightning" magic without learning "Wind" first. Normally, that's unthinkable. To use composite magic, one must first learn two advanced magic types, so Miss Ellie must be a genius.
She's also shown a great interest in my one and only magic, "Wind," especially in learning "how to blow off the wig of an annoying noble." It's just the very basics of the basics—aiming "Wind" at the target's forehead without being noticed—but controlling mana is quite difficult, and I struggled a lot to learn it. Miss Ellie, however, must've gotten the hang of it, because just the other day, she mastered it perfectly.
On days she doesn't go to Mirrors or the training ground, she visits beauty-related shops. She's looking for ways to get rid of pimples and make her hair silky smooth, but hasn't found anything yet. Sometimes she mutters mysterious phrases like, "Don't they have Matsumoto K○shi?!" "I want Vidal S○soon's rinse," "If they had Shisei○, everything would be solved." Perhaps it's some kind of spell.
It's been three weeks since she learned she could use Thunderbolt, and Miss Ellie has visibly slimmed down. Her weight is now 94 kilos. She was 110 kilos while hospitalized, so that's a loss of 16 kilos. We'll have to take in the waist of her skirt.
After fully enjoying her after-school time, Miss Ellie returns home and has a pleasant chat with Master, Madam, Sister Edwina, Sister Elizabeth, and Sister Amy. She goes to bed at ten. She always firmly reminds both herself and me that staying up late is bad for beauty. My worry lines have become my trademark by now, so she needn't worry about me.
If it's for my beloved Miss Ellie, no hardship is ever painful. Since becoming her personal maid, I, Clarice, have been truly happy. My days are filled with bliss, like a garden blooming with roses.
However, no story is without its share of troubles.
Who could've imagined that our Miss Ellie would return home today in such a state?
I nearly lost myself in rage.
Who hurt Miss Ellie?
Where, when, and how?
We must find the culprit and punish them severely.
Who could have done this?
Our brave Miss Ellie answered our questions like this.
I just tripped a little.
○
Ellie is adorable. Shy and a little timid around strangers. But she's kind, strong-willed, and considerate of others. My precious little sister.
When Clarice burst into my room in a panic after that thunderstorm, saying Ellie had been in an accident, I was so shocked I nearly fainted. I used all the magic I could muster on Ellie, who lay collapsed by the pond—advanced "Water" healing (Cure Water) and advanced "Light" healing (Cure Light). Never have I wished more that I could use "White" magic.
A white magician who rushed over treated Ellie and somehow pulled her through that hopeless situation. According to him, it was thanks to her astonishing mental strength. Compared to his "upper-mid" level magic, my "lower-high" level spells were no match. I realized then that "White" magic was truly necessary for recovery.
After waking up, Ellie couldn't speak for a while and seemed to be having nightmares, but she soon recovered. More than anything, she became cheerful and playful. It was like she had become a different person.
But when I spoke with Ellie, all those thoughts vanished. She was still Ellie—her kindness and inner strength hadn't changed at all. If anything, she seemed even stronger. Her occasional serious expression is so admirable, even as her sister, I'm in awe.
These days, Ellie sometimes teases me. She's just awful. The other day, she told me that if I smeared slime husk jelly on my face, I could fly, then spread it all over her own face and jumped off the bed. She floated for three seconds. I thought, "That can't be true," but I accidentally believed her.
I also spread jelly all over my face and jumped off the bed. As I bounced, Ellie laughed and said, "Sister, if jelly could make you fly, it'd be sold out by now." Clarice, who was nearby, also laughed.
It was just that Ellie and Clarice had simultaneously cast "Wind" and floated a bit. I finally realized it was a prank and got mad at Ellie, but she only said, "Sister, you're so cute," and it had no effect. Ellie laughed so hard... she's just terrible.
Then Mother came into the room, saw us with jelly on our faces, and scolded us harshly. Ellie didn't seem remorseful at all and listened to Mother's lecture with a calm face.
I'm really glad Ellie got better.
Sometimes when I see her smiling face, I feel like I might cry. She was bullied at school and withdrawn for the past two years. That girl who used to walk with slumped shoulders now happily walks to school beside me. Her forward-facing, sincere self is so dear to me.
Ellie's days are busy. In the morning she goes to the training ground, practices magic, goes to school, and then heads to Mirrors. On days she doesn't go to Mirrors, she explores other shops. When shopping, she's serious and asks me all sorts of questions.
On days I don't have plans with Satsuki-chan, I always enjoy the afternoon with Ellie. It's becoming part of my daily routine.
I was so shocked I nearly collapsed when Ellie slapped that designer-aspiring youth Joe at Mirrors. I'd never seen her that angry before. But that young man deserved it. Saying such rude things to a young lady—he doesn't understand a maiden's heart at all.
After that, when Ellie said, "I want to live without regrets," I realized she had truly changed. I'm so glad she's alive. I can't thank the gods enough.
Watching that slap, which seemed to represent all the maidens in the world, was secretly satisfying.
And I never knew she loved clothes that much. She's so knowledgeable and has tons of wild ideas. When she said she'd make me clothes with her allowance, I was so happy I nearly jumped on the spot.
It's been three weeks since that accident. Ellie is still dieting. I don't think she needs to, though. But whenever I say that, she gets a sad look and says things like, "Being fat is a disadvantage, Sister," "There's a stat that says fat and ugly people earn half as much," "Being fat means you're seen as lacking self-control, which affects promotions." I don't really get it—probably some kind of joke.
This afternoon, Ellie unusually said she wanted to walk around town alone. I told her to come back soon and went home.
I regret letting Ellie go into town alone.
When she came back, she was covered in mud. Her clothes were torn in places, and she had several scrapes.
I quickly cast Cure Light while asking what happened. Clarice came tumbling in like Piggoo fleeing a wildfire, lamenting like a gypsy abandoned by the gods as she tended to Ellie.
Then Ellie answered like this.
I just tripped a little.