A few days after the water leaper incident, Violant stood in her foster father’s bedroom. The margrave still had to rest because of the concussion he had sustained when falling from his horse. The white mare wasn’t Orderic’s battle horse and thus had no special training against fear of monsters at all. Although the margrave had been unconscious for a day, he couldn’t help himself from becoming agitated when eventually hearing details about the llamhigyn y dwr’s subjugation. Thus he ordered his foster daughter to appear before him.

Orderic lay in a double-sized canopy bed he once had shared with his late wife. Dressed in soft silken night garments and covered by a blanket despite the summerly temperatures, he sat up against a pillow in his back.

At his side stood Sir Thopas, the knight commander from the garrison and the very man who had reported about the whole incident. The tall and well-trained bearded middle-aged man was known to be a just man as true as his word. This fact gave his eyewitness report only further relevance.

“So, Violant, I just learned about it that it was you who defeated the water leaper. What’s more, you used a magic more formidable than anything you should be capable of, or anyone here for that matter. You can consider yourself lucky that the price you had to pay for it just resulted in temporary loss of consciousness. Don’t you know that you should inform me immediately if you experience any change in your magic aptitude.”

“Well.” the red-haired girl smiled awkwardly “It is true that my magical aptitude has somewhat increased but I didn’t have any kind of problem and it has just been a few days to boot.”

“Didn’t I say immediately?” her foster father emphasized “I don’t just say this as a joke. What if something goes wrong? In the worst case you could lose your life! I have lost enough people in my live already. Please don’t risk me losing you too.”

Faced with her uncle’s concern Violant felt guilt welling up in her heart. For her it hadn’t been such a severe issue, especially since she was already a 26 years old adult inside.

“What’s done is done.” Orderic conceded “Now tell me, how much did your aptitude rise?”

“Oh, not so much.” the girl tried to appease her uncle “Just about six times the amount from before.”

The margrave’s complexion paled visibly and he audibly sucked in air. Then he shouted: “Are you mad, Violant?! Six times? Do you know how much six times are? This amount of magic aptitude is enough to make you one of the top ten magicians in the whole kingdom! It is enough to wipe a town like Avallach from existence in mere seconds! Just imagine your magic had gone haywire! We could’ve all been dead, Avallach an icy wasteland for eternity! How dare you to conceal such crucial information from me?”

Although six times a mediocre amount of magic didn’t seem to be much, one had to know that a human’s compatibility with magic was extremely bad. When Violant had her magic aptitude classified as mediocre, that naturally meant only according to the standards of magic users. Over 90% of the population were unable to use magic at all, and among the last 10% primarily consisting of nobles many who were able to light a candle or fill a basin with water at best. Those negligible talents weren’t even considered when the ranking system was implemented. As such, Violant’s “mediocre” magic was already quite impressive, for it was the minimum magic aptitude necessary for magicians working for the country to be recognized, and only rarely an individual with a higher magical aptitude appeared. Already a doubled magic aptitude was enough to declare someone a prodigy, not to speak of six times that. In the eyes of the denizens of the other march the human magic aptitude was laughable though, for the magical energy had its origin in that otherworldly realm and most of it remained there. It was like comparing the amount of water in a desert with the ocean and the fishes laughing about the humans’ pitiful swimming ability.

“I’m sorry, father.” Violant apologized ruefully. Even with close to three decades of life experience she had made a major mistake. Magic is and was always a dangerous substance, demon’s daughter or not. Not without reason were the kingdom’s laws especially strict regarding the usage of magic in its borders, human or otherwise. The returnee had seriously underestimated the seriousness of the change in aptitude.

“Well, there’s nothing we can do about it now.” Orderic gave up and signaled Sir Thopas that he could leave now. The knight commander was aware that every word spoken before should be treated with the highest confidentiality. He wasn’t the margrave’s trusted loyal subject for nothing.

“The best we can do now is increasing your amount of magic studies and switching your tutor from Mortimer to someone else. Mortimer clearly isn’t your match anymore.”

In some fields of her curriculum Violant got lessons from her cousins. The brothers were prodigies in their respective fields and wished to impart their abilities and knowledge to their beloved little sister. The girl had a lot to learn for her social debut at age sixteen after all. Mortimer taught her law and magic, Parcie riding and martial arts. The accounting lessons were more about practical work under Orderic’s supervision since she got the basics down already. Etiquette, dancing, music, poetry, and embroidery were taught by Lady Alse, the daughter of a fallen baron house who worked as a governess for the margravial house. Lessons in history and the other march where the responsibility of the castle librarian Augustine, an old and strict historian who came to Avallach under the penultimate margrave to further his studies about the other march. His “Chronicles of the History and Inhabitants of the Other March” were still the nonpareil among the kingdom’s scholars.

“If so, can we decrease my other studies instead?” Violant asked hopefully.

“Nonsense!” rejected her uncle outright.

“But neither Parcie nor Mortimer ever had to learn this much!” she protested.

“What do you think Mortimer’s successor studies are?” Orderic asked back “And although he isn’t quite adept at it he at least tried to learn the sword. About Parcie, well, he has muscles for brain tissue. Lady Alse and Mr. Augustine have begged me to take him off their hands. I am sure you don’t complain about your riding and fencing lessons, do you?”

“No, history, law, poetry, etiquette, embroidery. All that boring stuff.” Violant replied.

“Etiquette, poetry and embroidery are a must.” the margrave insisted “How will you ever find a husband without the competences expected of a noble lady such as yourself? You are still young, it probably doesn’t mean much to you yet, but believe me. History and law are necessary for you to become a good feudal lord. It has long since been a tradition of the house of Avallach that its daughters need to learn the same basics. It isn’t unheard of, after all, that we had a margravine as the head of our house. Take my late mother as an example. I believe you have a good head on your shoulders, Violant. You will be able to learn all this.”

Sensing her uncle’s goodwill, the girl pressed on: “But, let’s say I will have my whole curriculum in history, law, poetry, and otherworld studies down at the end of August. Would I then be able to be excused from my lessons? I also believe I am good enough at accounting already.”

“Fine.” Orderic sighed “But you mustn’t cut corners with your other lessons. Also, I know that you already have a complete grasp on accounting but you are too valuable a helping hand for me to simply let you go.”

“Thank you, father. I love you!” Violant rejoiced like a young girl – well, she was a young girl again – and flung her arms around her sick foster father’s neck, planting a kiss on his cheek while doing so.

The next two months Violant spent a lot of her time in the library. For the meantime she had been freed of the lessons she would be tested on. The other lessons she visited diligently. She had promised to do so after all. In fact, all Violant had to do was freshening up her previous knowledge. Thanks to her unusually great memory she could still remember most of the lessons’ contents even after twelve years had passed.

She created the impression of being busily studying though, for she always was being watched by Augustine during her visits of the library. The lank old man with a half-bald grey head and a goatee consistently examined the studying young lady through a new type of optical aid called glasses. He wasn’t quite happy that his student wanted to cut her lessons short. Neither was Mortimer but he didn’t complain about it. He knew that his sister’s interests lay elsewhere after all.

When the promised time came around, Violant was tested by a jury consisting of Orderic, Mortimer, Lady Alse, and Augustine. The tutors tested their respective fields of knowledge, with the margrave bringing up complementary questions. The returnee passed with flying colors, impressing all of her examiners in the process.

As a consequence Violant’s curriculum decreased significantly, allowing her more free time she used to engage in territory management though, at the same time reducing the workload of the margrave and his heir. Her motive, however, was to be prepared for the future. This time she wouldn’t be so stupid as to leave the management of the other march completely in other’s hands, be it Gervase or someone else entirely.