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I’m a noble, though not one who wields one of the five main aristocratic elements that make up the pillars of this country. Instead, I specialize in greenery magic.

Yet, despite all of my friends belonging to that preeminent group, I’ve never once felt inferior to them. And that’s not thanks my own mental fortitude I’m sure, but rather should be considered a testament to their inclusive and laid back personalities.

Which is why a new topic has been of keep interest within our group as of late. Albert, Alan, and Henry’s little sister has been coming up in conversation more and more.

Initially, we heard tales of how self-centered, selfish, and haughty she is. And since none of the three brothers had even one of those characteristics, we were always surprised when we heard stories of Alicia’s misconduct.

And each time we talked about her, my interest in meeting her grew. I wanted to see just how bad that little enigma could possibly be.

But when I finally did get to meet her, she was nothing like what I had heard. Even Albert had been surprised by her, saying that she was like a completely different person.

I don’t know if something happened to her or what. But in that moment when she had drawn the sword that was sheathed at Albert’s waist and cut an apple perfectly in half, my heart felt like it had been given an electric shock.

Such a technique should have been impossible for a 7-year-old girl who hadn’t so much as touched a sword before, but she performed the movement so easily.

And the surprises didn’t stop there.

Every day Alicia would undergo strict sword training practices and then spend the next ten hours reading more than a hundred books in the library. And she wouldn’t stop there. At night, she’d sneak out of her room to do some more practice swings by herself.

I couldn’t believe that these were the actions of a little girl.

Furthermore, in that first conversation with the king I realized that she has a mind like a steel trap and is wise beyond her years as well.

I was also there when she spoke with the king a second time when she stood uncowed in front of His Majesty and freely and resolutely explained her opinions.

While I was surprised that she was even able to understand the king’s words and think of ideas on the spot, what was truly amazing were the ideas themselves.

Just like Gayle had whispered that day, a genius must be what you call people like her.

I was completely shocked when a 7-year-old came up with the proposal of supporting the Calverra Kingdom’s bid for independence from Ravaal.

The idea of enriching our own economy by reaping the benefits from such a transaction…. is simply brilliant.

It’s a logical idea to improve our country’s current state of affairs. The only problem is that the Ravaal Kingdom is extremely large and influential.

There’s no doubt that we’d end up the losers if we were to pick a fight with them.

The second thing that shocked me about Alicia was how much Duke had taken an interest in her. And it obviously wasn’t just a passing curiosity, he clearly favored her right from the start.

If you count the servants working in the palace, there’s no shortage of girls who like him, but not once has Duke shown any interest for anyone in return. It was just the opposite actually; their fawning usually made him more annoyed than anything else. And yet, that sort of man actually held affection for a girl five years his junior.

If she’s this captivating as a child, I’m sure she’ll grow into a woman who can charm anyone when she’s older. With luscious black hair and clear, deep golden eyes, her features are already the best of the best. I really can’t wait to see how beautiful she’ll become in the future.

Ever since I’ve entered the magic academy, countless cute girls have approached me and yet I just can’t muster any interest in them.

The one that stood out the most was a commoner girl who managed to get into the academy. She has the same color hair as Alicia with emerald green eyes and has become the topic of many rumors circulating throughout the school. Which is an inevitable result of there being no precedent of a commoner entering the academy up until now.

Plus, she’s a rare existence who’s actually capable of wielding every type of magic. So it’s not odd that I would at least remember her. Everyone knows of her.

She’s naturally skilled and intelligent, and on top of that, she’s a hard worker. And yet she still somehow pales in comparison to Alicia.

But still, this commoner, Liz Cather, is smart enough to stand toe-to-toe with Duke and have an insightful conversation.

Everyone has already acknowledged that her abilities and intellect are far above average; even Duke was surprised by Liz’s aptitude.

And because of their similar abilities, the two talk often. As a consequence, the more they spend time together, the more people talk, gossiping that they are in love.

In the beginning, Liz was actually the target of bullying, but soon people realized how innocent and kind she is and were charmed. The bullying stopped not long after.

Before then though, there was one time I saw Liz in the midst of getting picked on and Duke swooping in to rescue her. Apparently someone had hid Liz’s textbook and so Duke silently helped her look for it.

To Duke, this was merely an act of friendship. There were no special feelings of regard or love in his actions. But it was obviously different for Liz. In every look and glance that she threw Duke’s way, her eyes were clearly filled with the soft affection of slowly blooming feelings.

And ever since then, Liz has spent as much time as she can with Duke. Yet somehow he never notices that she’s constantly blushing when she’s with him.

She’s come to me numerous times, asking for advice. She’d ask me how she might get him to notice her. What can she do to make him turn her way? And I would unconsciously end up telling her the truth, though even I feel like I was heartless for not at least trying to sugarcoat it.

“You won’t be able to. Because won’t be able to surpass her.”

And it’s no wonder why. The child’s always going way beyond expectations to the point of being astounding. Like now. She’s standing on a chair in the old, little-used library and scribbling away on the huge chalkboard while we all just stare at her back in awe.

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T/N: Surprise perspective change!!! Hope you enjoyed it, cause we’ve got one more chapter coming up from Curtis’s point of view.

On a different note…. anyone feel bad for the heroine yet? XD She’s clearly got it bad~ I can’t wait to see if she’s actually innocent, or if deep inside she’s evil hahaha.

Chapter 41
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