As I sat silently, just watching Heyman, he soon turned his back on me.
“Do as you please. It doesn’t change anything whether you’re here or not.”
After finishing his words, Heyman brushed past me and disappeared into the mansion.
What is it about the Head of the Magicians’ Association that he doesn’t even want to show his face to me?
Fine, you jerk. I won’t go either. Today, I’ll hold back for your dad’s sake. If it weren’t for Duke Bergo, I would have plucked your pink hair and made a broom out of it.
Just then, a cool breeze blew, tickling my hair and washing away the faint discomfort.
I felt refreshed, as if I were on vacation.
Alright, let’s go to my room and try writing in my diary.
For some reason, I feel like I might be able to write in my diary today. You know those days when you have baseless confidence, like you might win the lottery.
Of course, most of the time it’s just a hunch, but since I’m the lucky winner of the lottery, maybe my intuition will be right this time.
Just as I was thinking that, I turned my head towards the entrance and saw seaweed-like turquoise hair filling my vision.
The man, wearing a long cloak that reached his ankles, quickly closed the distance and was soon standing in front of me.
Is he Jeon Woo-chi or something? Why is he using teleportation?
‘What is a Taoist? A Taoist makes it rain in a clear sky and folds the ground to run!’
As a scene from a movie played in my head, an exciting traditional Korean music beat echoed.
The man, who had stopped abruptly in front of me, smiled brightly. He looked to be in his twenties but somehow seemed older.
“Who are you?”
“Nice to meet you, my Lady. I’ve heard much about you, but this is the first time we’re meeting. I am Idalon, the Head of the Magicians’ Association of Dorgan.”
Dorgan? Are you crazy?
“Ah, yes. I’m not feeling well, so I’ll be going.”
My instincts were screaming at me to run, but he didn’t seem to have any intention of letting me go.
“I sense a divine aura from you, my Lady.”
“I don’t believe, I don’t buy, I don’t perform rituals, and I don’t study anything.”
I quickly answered as if blocking a scam and tried to leave, but he was persistent.
“Haven’t you experienced something significant recently?”
I’ve encountered this tactic many times in Korea.
“Why? Is there an ancestor who had a big accident, and I need to resolve their grudge? Or is my inner anxiety something that can be cured by a spirit?”
I retorted sarcastically, and Idalon laughed heartily as he replied.
“Of course not. I only asked because your divine aura seems not of this world, so please don’t be offended and consider it. Have you really not experienced anything significant recently? Like a great fortune or a misfortune equivalent to it…”
I experienced the great fortune of winning 1.7 billion and then the misfortune of falling into a place without a bank.
But I had no desire to agree with this fake young man’s words.
There seemed to be a reason why Heyman, who had comforted me with magic during a sleepless night a few days ago, was avoiding him.
As I silently glared at Idalon with a displeased expression, Gray, who noticed us, quickly ran over. He, too, seemed not to want me to encounter Idalon and approached me with a flustered look, passing by Idalon.
“Why are you out here? Go inside, I’ll take you to your room.”
“No. I’ll go in by myself, so you go to the second brother. With this person.”
“Oh, okay. Just a moment. Go in with Anne.”
Anne, who had been watching us from a distance, sensed the strange atmosphere and quickly ran over.
I gave Idalon a brief nod and passed by him.
Then Idalon spoke softly to the back of my head. Despite the low volume, it was a strange voice that sounded as clear as if it were directly in my ear.
“We’ll meet again soon.”
I entered the mansion, leaving the fake young man behind, but the atmosphere was quite different from before.
This uneasy and uncomfortable feeling was clearly coming from that strange fake young man.
“Anne. How old is this person called Idalon?”
“You mean the Great Magician Idalon?”
“Great Magician?”
“He’s said to have the most enormous amount of magical power among living magicians! He’s called the Great Magician because he’s the strongest magician on the continent!”
Is he like a national representative magician or something? But why does he feel so unsettling?
Unaware of my unease, Anne continued chattering excitedly.
“His age isn’t known. It’s certain that he’s lived for a very long time, but no one knows his exact age. He can freely use high-level magic, and…”
“And?”
“He occasionally visits the Duke’s mansion to teach magic to Young Master Heyman. It’s amazing that he’s receiving direct instruction from the Great Magician, who’s the Head of the Magicians’ Association.”
“…Hmm, well…”
Heyman didn’t seem to be so proud of it.
Judging by how Heyman told me to go inside with cold eyes as soon as he heard Idalon had arrived, there must be some reason.
As I tried to end the conversation with an unconvincing response, Anne quickly added:
“But I wonder why Idalon only teaches Young Master Heyman? I’ve heard there are people with even stronger magical power than Young Master Heyman.”
“Well, it’s probably because this is the Duke’s family. I guess power needs to be backed by authority, whether it’s magical power or whatever.”
I gave a vague answer and entered my room, but a strange discomfort continued to follow me.
Anne was right.
Despite there being people with stronger magical power, why did it have to be Heyman? It seems odd to say it’s simply because of the Duke’s family background.
After pondering for a while, I flopped onto the bed.
No! Let’s stay put! Instead of meddling here and there and causing trouble, let’s practice writing in the diary here!
What do Heyman and Gray have to do with me? I’m going home.
What use is family? This place is fake, I’m fake. Everything is fake anyway.
Trying to ignore the anxiety rising in my heart, I opened the drawer and took out the diary.
“By the way, how is this supposed to be Madame Lemsha’s whatever hot time?”
If it really had such content, I might actually read it. From what I can see, it’s written in my style, but it looks like a diary I’ve never written in.
Grumbling, I grasped the fountain pen.
I opened the diary and placed it on the floor, then stepped on it with both feet to hold it in place. I gripped the black fountain pen tightly with both hands to prevent it from bouncing away. Then I slowly closed the distance to the paper.
“Ugh… Please, huff… Ah! Come on!”
Damn it, why isn’t this working!
“Hey, let’s settle this today.”
I tried to press down with my whole body, but every time I got close, the pen kept slipping from my hand due to the strain.
Not enough strength? Then I’ll just have to build strength.
I put the pen down for a moment and lay face down on the bare floor.
And then, I attempted push-ups for the first time since middle school fitness tests. Even with my knees on the ground, it was difficult to do more than five.
“One! Two! Three! Fou-argh!”
Even with a battle cry, only four? This sickly weak body, I swear.
But I felt like my arm muscles had built up a bit compared to before.
“I will definitely go home.”
I should have stopped then. I should have stopped and tried again after getting stronger, instead of being greedy with insufficient strength.
I tried again, but I still lacked strength. So this time, let’s do push-ups while holding onto the table.
Getting up and holding onto the table made it easier than on the floor, and I managed to struggle through ten.
Next, I put both hands on the wall, leaned my body slightly, and moved as if doing push-ups. I wasn’t sure if this counted as exercise, but after about thirty, I could feel the strength building up in my triceps and latissimus dorsi.
Alright, I’ve pumped up my muscles like this, let’s see if you can resist now, diary.
This is my peak performance since entering this body. No one can stop me now.
It was a lone struggle unfolding in the corner of the room. Once again, I gritted my teeth and grasped the fountain pen.
I gripped the fountain pen with both hands as if I was about to burst it and slowly lowered it towards the paper. As expected, when I got close, it stopped moving as if hitting a wall.
But there was a glimmer of hope. It didn’t feel like a hard wall, just a force pushing back, so I felt like I could touch the paper if I kept pushing.
“…Hnnnngh…!”
As I was struggling to push it down, whether due to the sweat on my hands or this damn fountain pen throwing a tantrum, the pen suddenly sprang from my hands.
And the bouncing fountain pen hit me square in the middle of my forehead.
“Ouch!”
“My lady? What’s wrong? Are you alright?”
Hearing my painful cry, Anne knocked on the door from outside. Anne shouldn’t come into this room right now.
I’ve been sweating from doing push-ups for several minutes, and this cursed diary appears as an erotic novel to other people.
Reading an erotic novel while dripping with sweat would make me look like a crazy pervert, wouldn’t it?
But Anne, worried about me, burst through the door.
“My lady! What’s wrong!”
I hurriedly looked at the open diary. It’s fine as long as the cover isn’t visible. The writing on the white pages should be small.
But this mischievous diary was annoyingly showing its cover, already closed.
To my eyes, it’s just a plain diary without any writing, but to Anne…
Anne’s bewildered eyes darted around.
“Ma-Madame Remsha’s Dangerous Contract?”
“Huh? Is it part 2?”
“Part 2? You’ve seen part 1?”
“…Did I?”
I was so flustered that I unconsciously spoke formally. Seeing my confused state, Anne was startled for a moment, then awkwardly smiled and slowly backed away.
“…Your precious… hobby… I-I’m sorry for interrupting. I was startled by your scream… I’ll keep this a secret from others. You might be embarrassed. W-Well then, I’ll be going now.”
Before I could explain, Anne hurriedly left the room, backing away quickly. I tried to call out, ‘Wait…!’ but Anne’s footsteps beyond the closed door were already fading away.
Only after Anne’s footsteps had faded, indicating she was far away, did I rub my forehead and pick up the pen again.
I’m dead today. You bastard.
I continued doing push-ups until nightfall. I’d rest for a bit, then do more, rest a little, and do more. I kept repeating this until my arms were completely drained of strength and I collapsed on the floor.
When this body gets stronger, I won’t let that diary off easy.
Maybe that’s why, at dawn, after finally falling asleep from wrestling with the diary, my upper body felt crushed with pain.
To make matters worse, my wrists were also in pain. My entire forearm felt like it was being wrung out, and everywhere from my shoulders to my shoulder blades ached.
“Ugh… Anne, save me.”
Glorious muscle pain enveloped my body.
This isn’t what I wanted. Can’t you gain muscle without muscle pain?
Do all those gym-goers go through this ordeal before getting their bulging muscles? Indeed, there’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world.
I tried to lift my head with tears in my eyes, but even that was difficult as the serratus anterior muscles below my collarbone felt like they were being torn to shreds.
“…Oh, I think I’m really screwed.”
I couldn’t move a finger.
“Anne!”
It was dawn, with a bluish light breaking. As soon as Anne saw my condition, she panicked and went to wake the doctor who was always on standby in the mansion.
Then came Marcilla, the head maid, followed by Duke Bergo who rushed in after waking up, and even Gray.
“Lea, what happened? Daddy’s sorry. Did going out to the garden for tea put too much strain on your body? From now on, I’ll always have someone by your side to support you.”
No, the tea was delicious. I just…
“What on earth did you do? Why can’t you move your body!”
I did too many push-ups. Because I was greedy for muscles…
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