When My Enemies Began to Regret

“Godmother, you’re here.”

In the late afternoon, after taking harp lessons from the musician introduced by godmother, she stopped by the library.

“Fanora?”

Fanora happened to run into godmother, who was reading a book.

“I will come back later if you’re busy in here…”

“It’s the key I gave you to use, so make yourself at home.”

“Ah, can I borrow some books then? Tomorrow, Godmother will teach me about the relationship between noble families, so I want to prepare myself…”

She glanced at godmother as she sat at the square table in the library and was writing some documents.

There was no other family member of Maquil in this large mansion, so she had one idea or another about it. Fanora then picked up a book. There were only two materials she needed for the study.

Looking through the bookshelf, Fanora was distracted by the book’s title at the bottom. ‘The Planetary Theory of Nariose’ was a rare book related to astronomy.

Fanora glanced at the godmother on the table behind her for nothing. And a little later, she leaned down silently and pulled out the book. However…

“Hmm?”

On the side of the book, a white triangle was sticking out like a corner of a piece of paper. Fanora opened and checked the part because she thought one of the pages was folded. Then an old piece of paper fell to the floor.

“Drawing?”

“!”

It was a drawing sketched with charcoal. It was so well drawn that she could recognize the figure on it was Madam Maquil when she looked young.

“Godmother, this drawing came out of the book. Shall I put it back?”

“…I didn’t know this would be there. I’ve been looking for it  for a long time.”

Fanora picked up the fallen paper and showed it to the godmother. Her behavior could be criticized by godmother,, but she didn’t scold her at all.

“Thank you for finding it.”

Fanora looked at her godmother’s grim expression as she looked at the drawing and turned around while saying she needed to put the book back.

“…”

But then, one thing was catching godmother’s eyes while looking at Fanora, who turned around. Looking closely at her hand holding the book, godmother could see her hand full of calluses.

“Did you get calluses because of the strings of the harp?”

“Ah, it’s my first time playing it…”

Godmother, who examined her hand full of calluses, narrowed her brows and said, “Don’t you know that if you overdo it on the first day, you’ll only have a setback in your next schedule? Why are you being so stubborn? You should have taken a break.”

Hearing her tone, it looked like Fanora was being scolded. So she used the sentence that came to her mind immediately as an excuse. “Ah, that… It was the first time someone created such an educational environment for me, so I was delighted.”

“…!”

“And I wanted to work hard. I’m sorry, Godmother.”

“You’re sorry? What—”

“But this is only the way for me to repay it. I don’t know if the debt I owe to Godmother and Sir Ronwe is this heavy.”

Fanora laid down the four books she was going to take away on the table. Then she put her hands neatly on her belly and took a proper posture.

“I don’t know why Godmother fulfilled Sir Ronwe’s will. I’m sorry if you might be doing this when it’s something you don’t want to do…”

“…”

“I guess that’s why I was too greedy to show good results.”

A lie mixed with the truth will be only a natural statement. As such, more than half of what Fanora said now was true. It was the first time she received such an education, so she really did her best.

“…” However, godmother widened her eyes when she heard Fanora’s remarks and remained silent for a while.

“Godmother?”

“Get out.”

The next thing she told Fanora was to go back to her room when Fanora had already picked out all the books. She obediently followed her order, judging that there was nothing good about being annoying to her. However, as she opened the door and was about to leave the library, her last words rang behind her back.

“Don’t say sorry so easily in the future.”

Fanora replied that she would keep it in mind.

* * *

A few days later, Fanora faithfully followed the classes Iva Maquil taught today. As her explanation contained metaphors that were easy to understand and she showed the most perfect sample, Fanora could quickly learn it even when looking sideways. On top of that, Iva couldn’t help but be amazed by the class’s progress.

“Do you like books? At this rate, I think you will be the most shining person in the salon right now.”

“I’m flattered.”

Many nobles’ children couldn’t even turn a page of philosophical books properly, and it was the same for any literature.

Was it because her expectations were too low from the beginning? Therefore, Fanora’s achievement came as a shock to her. She originally thought of Fanora as a child and wanted to teach her step by step. Far from walking, Fanora even sprinted in progress, and for a moment, she even wondered if Fanora was a genius.

“…” But that couldn’t be true. Madam Maquil immediately looked at the girl sitting there with her sunken eyes.

Her vision showed Fanora contemplating hard to complete her assignment. 

There was no way Fanora knew that Madam Maquil thought that way.

Fanora said energetically that she would soon find the answer to her assignment. “It’s enjoyable to memorize the book because Godmother personally taught it to me.”

She smiled at Madam Maquil as she tried to flatter her, but Madam Maquil’s expression remained in shadow.

Iva Maquil’s attitude had always been like this. No matter how high achievement Fanora made, she never gave a big smile to her. She would only say, “Well done.” 

Fanora, who knew about it, felt the pressure inside because her godmother had always maintained a stern expression as if to keep the distance between them.

And a little later, according to Maquil’s education policy, which stated that one class needed less concentration if you do it all day long, Fanora began to practice harp. Since the harp lessons were entrusted to the expert, Madam Maquil diligently began other tasks in the meantime.

“The side of the annex was also very badly damaged. It’s only been a few years since I’ve been away.”

Madam Maquil lived on the estate far from the capital for a while. As a result, her mansion in the capital was somewhat neglected. Although it had been urgently cleaned for Fanora’s education, there were still parts to be repaired.

“The house without people living in it tends to get ruined quickly.”

Madam Maquil took notes of the places that needed to be fixed as she looked around her mansion. After that, she carefully checked the work of her mansion in detail, such as whether there was a lack of firewood used for cooking and whether Fanora’s room was in good condition.

“That’s what I need to know. Tell this to the cook.”

“Yes, Madam.”

The sun outside had already gone down when she finished going around her mansion and doing all the chores.

It was almost time for Fanora’s class to end. When she thought so, the musician and a little lady came out of the music room.

“Today’s lesson is over, so go back to your room and rest.”

“Yes, Godmother,” Fanora Celsius said with a polite attitude that didn’t suit her age.

Less than a week after being educated, Fanora’s standing position has already changed.

There was a saying that if you teach one, the wise disciple would learn about ten. Madam Maquil tried to hide her smile, but she couldn’t help liking how Fanora looked at her.

“At this rate, we won’t be running out of time until your debutante.”

“It’s all thanks to Godmother’s good teaching.”

Now that all of Fanora’s schedule was over, the two headed to the second floor in their own rooms until dinner started.

“Godmother, by any chance, if I do well in the exam I’m taking at the end of this week, will you please grant me a request?”

“What kind of request is it?”

“You said that I can study effectively only if I take a break. So, can you give me a day without classes once every 10 days? I want to go out and see my friend.”

“You’ll be tired if you do that.”

“I’ll make sure there is no setback in learning, so please…”

After a light chatter, the two arrived at the stair. They stood side by side and climbed the stairs. A creaking sound resounded with every step they took.

“If Lady Fanora says so…”

Suddenly, there was the sound of something breaking, and Madam Maquil stumbled loudly.

“!”

The old wooden stairs were broken, and she lost her balance. Madam Maquil reached for the railing to support her body momentarily. Still, the distance was too far; to make matters worse, her dress caught her foot, and her body tilted backward.

It was indeed a shocking moment. The sound that followed was the sound of someone falling down the stairs. Hearing the loud noise, the servants ran there. In addition, the servants swallowed their breath when they arrived there.

“…”

If you suddenly fall down the stairs where you step with confidence, you would feel dizzy because of the falling. Madam Maquil felt that way and widened her eyes. She blinked and saw the ceiling of the mansion.

“…”

But somehow, she didn’t feel any pain as she fell. At the same time, when she realized hands were holding her tightly on her waistline, Iva Maquil turned hurriedly with a surprised face.

“Lady Fanora!”

Fanora was crushed there. What did she do with her small body that was hard to control? She wrapped up the fallen godmother. 

Fanora was also shocked by the accident, then felt the tingling pain in her back and the back of her head. Fortunately, they didn’t fall from a high place, and she was still young, so there seemed to be no injuries outside.

“What is this!”

“!”

“Didn’t you get hurt for nothing when we fell together? If you hadn’t held me back, neither of us would have been hurt!”

But before Fanora could even recover, her godmother’s scolding fell. It was only after hearing her voice that she realized my own mistake.

Io’s power was not easy to use because of the price, and since she had lived as a weakling for the past 21 years, it was bound to show this side of her.

“Lady Fanora.”

When her name was called, Fanora, who was sitting down, turned her head quickly. Then godmother’s wrinkled hands touched her cheeks.

“Godmother…?”

“Your once-in-a-lifetime debutante is just around the corner. At such an important moment, I can only think of how embarrassing it would have been if you had broken your leg bone…!”

Again, she began to scold her for her careless behavior. However, when it came to her godmother’s words which Fanora had been obediently accepting, it was unfair this time. Because this happened so suddenly.

“I-I’m sorry. My body moved first, so I didn’t think about it.”

No matter how much you grew up and changed, your nature as a person would still be there. 

“Uh?”

Blood belatedly burst out from her nose as the impact of her head had been hit. As Fanora thought this resulted from her acting stupidly, she felt a bit embarrassed. So she covered her nose and tried to laugh out loud.

“…!”

But Fanora couldn’t smile any longer because of the scenery in front of her. Godmother, who always had a stiff expression like the person in the portrait, was about to cry while looking at her face.

* * *