Chapter Thirty-Four: The Foolish Daughter of the Landlord's Family

Today, Dris was as peaceful as always. As people went about their usual routines, they found the streets adorned with a striking shade of pink. The girl’s shoulder-length pink hair was tied into a side ponytail resting on the right side of her head, and she wore a long pink dress. Rather than being merely beautiful, she exuded an air of charming playfulness.

The youthfulness of the girl’s face had yet to fade; she looked about sixteen or seventeen. What set her apart from ordinary folk were her eyes—black pupils inlaid with a golden five-pointed star, making them as dazzling as the night sky.

“Sigh, why must I stop in this shabby little town where they don’t even have magical street lamps? Look at these buildings, they’re practically relics from centuries ago,” complained Eve Edel Starrynight, her delicate face clouded with displeasure. She couldn’t find a single upscale shop in this town. The dusty chairs seemed as if sitting on them would be fatal.

“That’s just how small towns are. Besides, Miss, if you hadn’t stolen the Lord’s Wings of Freedom insignia to fly around recklessly, you wouldn’t have ended up here,” replied the mage beside Eve, smiling. She wore a deep blue mage’s robe and a matching hat, the emblem of her profession. Despite her efforts to tuck her long blue hair under the hat, strands mischievously slipped out. The exposed half of her face revealed she was a young and beautiful woman.

“Who knew that silly insignia would run out of magic so quickly! It’s not my fault, it’s the world’s fault!” Eve pouted, glaring at the badge pinned to her dress. She wasn’t a magister, so to experience the thrill of flight she relied on magical tools engraved with Wings of Freedom. Indulging her whims, she’d soared about for days—now, the fun was over.

“Yes, yes, whenever something goes wrong, you blame everything else. Miss, you truly have the temperament of an ugly soul, despite that lovely face,” Selan’s voice was soft but laced with clear malice, mercilessly chastising her mistress.

“Ugh, sharp-tongued Selan is as hateful as ever,” Eve groaned, wounded. Whenever she sparred with Selan, she never came out ahead. That biting tongue always left her chest aching and helpless.

“Well, after living so long, my only pleasure is watching my spoiled mistress squirm after my scolding,” Selan teased.

“Selan, are you two hundred this year?”

Eve’s sudden question was like a surprise attack. She had no idea how old the woman beside her was—she only knew her father occasionally called Selan ‘great-grandmother.’ Not grandmother, but great-grandmother! Her age must have long since shattered the limits.

“It’s not polite to ask a lady’s age so casually. I am forever ninety-nine,” Selan replied, not so easily tricked, flashing her mistress a smile only she could appreciate.

“What, admitting your age is in the triple digits won’t kill you... Ah!” Annoyed by Selan’s smile, Eve didn’t even notice someone approaching. The two collided, each stepping back from the impact. Eve landed squarely on the ground, and the fruit in the other’s arms scattered everywhere.

“Brat, do you not watch where you’re going?” Mayuna looked mournfully at her apples, now covered in dust. They were meant for a fruit salad! Anyone who interfered with her food would face her wrath.

“You weren’t looking either!” Eve retorted, angry and aggrieved. No one had ever spoken to her that way, and she refused to back down.

“Hm, those eyes... Are you from the Starrynight family?” Mayuna finally noticed Eve’s eyes—the star-shaped pupils that were a unique trait of the Starrynight bloodline. It wasn’t a large clan, merely the richest on the Holy Continent, thanks to their mastery of spatial teleportation magic.

The invention of spatial teleportation arrays spared merchants from arduous journeys and the danger of bandits. Perishable goods could be delivered the same day, though the cost of teleportation was exorbitant. The Starrynight family monopolized most of the continent’s arrays, and every activation poured gold into their coffers—they earned fortunes simply by letting others use their magic.

Mayuna’s familiarity with this family was a matter of fate. “In my eyes, there are only two things in the world…”—she recalled the current head of the Starrynight family speaking those words during a trick.

“Oh, I didn’t expect anyone in this backwater to recognize me. Since you know, just apologize already,” Eve demanded.

As the spoiled daughter of a wealthy house, her first instinct was to throw her weight around. Phrases like ‘my father is XXX’ came effortlessly to her.

“I say, you bumped into me too. Shouldn’t you apologize first?”

“Hmph, I’ve never apologized to anyone in my life. I don’t know how.”

“That fat man never taught his daughter manners…” Mayuna shook her head. Normally, her temperament would have her suspend this brat from the southeast branch with plant magic, but out of respect for Eve’s father, the Archmage, she restrained herself.

“Wait, you haven’t apologized yet!” Eve blocked Mayuna as she tried to leave, intent on not suffering any loss.

“And what will you do if I refuse?” Mayuna sneered, seeing through Selan’s true power at a glance. Perhaps that was Eve’s source of confidence, though Selan seemed content to simply watch her mistress make a fool of herself.

“Well… If you apologize and call me Lady Eve, all of this will be yours,” Eve said unexpectedly. She didn’t order anyone to act, but instead pulled ten heavy bags of gold from her spatial necklace and tossed them at Mayuna’s feet. Each bag contained a thousand gold coins. Her second skill as the spoiled daughter of a wealthy house: throwing money to solve problems.