Kira had never felt so lethargic in her entire life. Her eyes trembled as she tried to wake up, and when she obtained the energy to open it, the girl wanted to close them in reflex.

"Kira, are you awake?" There was a concerned voice that appeared beside her. Something seemed to have fallen as the sound of movement around became louder.

"Doctor, call the doctor!" A familiar voice shouted anxiously.

"Your Grace, the doctor had just left."

There was a loud noise of something hitting the table and the sound of footsteps gradually fading. "Then call him back!"

Didn't she open her eyes earlier?

"Kira, if you can hear me, please open your eyes." It seemed like her father's voice. It was full of concern.

The girl wanted to rest, hide under her bedsheets and succumb to sleep. It seemed she did not realize she closed her eyes again. Earlier she was worried she had gone blind. It almost gave her a heart attack. She was not ready to lose her eyesight. And even if she was ready, she was not willing to take on that sacrifice any time soon.

Then I will continue to sleep, the girl thought following her instincts.

Kira might have done it this time.

The girl took her time and slept while she had the chance; at some point she even felt she was back in her previous life, lying on her bunk bed after a long day of training. Those were the days where she would rather lie all day and do nothing, but it served as an inconvenience now, for she made everyone who cared for her worried. From what she learned – after she finally decided to wake up – she lost consciousness for five days.

The duke had kept vigil for three nights straight to make sure she would wake up even though the doctor had already clarified she was not in a coma. On the third day, fortunately, she somehow woke up and, unfortunately, fell asleep once more. That, she remembered. She was so weak that she could not help but go back to rest again.

The girl was found in her room coughing up large amounts of blood. The maid, who found her, felt it was weird she was not being called upon, so she checked on her, and there she found the six-year-old lying in a pool of blood.

They instantly called her father's attention, who, upon learning of the incident, fetched the doctor himself. And to the utter surprise of the latter, it was the Grand Duke himself that visited him. In turn, it made him panic and he forgot to bring all of his medical supplies. Thankfully, he was also a mage, so his magic had filled the parts where he was lacking.

After checking her, they learned that some mana malfunction clashed with her system, resulting in minor internal injury. It included a lot of bleeding, which was a sight to look at, but nothing a good sleep couldn't solve – the 'good sleep' in question was sugarcoating her sleep that extended for days.

In Kira's defense, she didn't know she would vomit blood and blackout. At that time, she practiced her teleportation magic using the instructions written in her mother's journal. She must have been caught up learning and seeing that instructions were detailed. Needless to say, she was over the moon. She could finally stop tiptoeing when experimenting with the damn black hole that could cut off body parts.

Well, she might have overdone it, which she could not deny.

The silver-haired girl was so high with success that she forgot she was losing mana rapidly. Scratch that, she perfectly knew what she was getting into. She just didn't realize it would be that bad.

At most, from what she had read, mana exhaustion would need a couple of day's rest. The worse it is, the longer the person's downtime would be. And she was also extra careful to not increase her consumption too much considering she wouldn't have classes the next day, so she took the risk.

It made her wonder though, this was not her first time doing this, and although she might not be an old hand, she had done it a couple of times to gauge what was safe and what was not.

If anything, this was her first time exhausting it while using that teleportation magic. Kira could not help but feel her body's reaction was a little over the top. Until now, she could still feel the consequences of what she had done.

Not the consequences it brought her physically, but its effects socially.

The five years old was now bed-bound and her father would not let her stand without any help even though he was aware she was already healed. She could not also go out, train, nor practice her magic during recuperation.

The worst was that her favorite maid would continuously scowl at her whenever she attempted to do something independently.

"I told you, young miss. I'll give you your water myself no need to stand up and get it yourself." The maid in question entered the room and swiftly closed the distance between them. She snatched the glass of water on the coffee table that was a few steps away from the girl's bed.

Ah speak of the devil, and the devil shall appear.

Alicia pushed her back to her bed softly as she tucked her in. "You need a couple more days to rest, young miss. This is the duke's order and you're not allowed to disobey."

"The glass of water was a couple of steps away," she replied helplessly as she obediently accepted the water that was given to her.

"Believe me, missus. If you ever faint again, our poor heart wouldn't handle it the second time. Just let yourself be taken care of this way," her maid replied as she sat on the floor and propped her chin using her bed as support.

Kira felt terrible and decided to remain silent. She had heard the consequences of her action. Duke Albert even had to postpone most of his work. They even told her the people of the estate were worried sick when they got to know the news of what happened. Speaking of her father, he had to catch up with the piled-up three-day work that he didn't do when he kept watching nights before. The silver-haired girl doesn't even know if he already took a break or slept.

"The young master even tried to sneak out of the academy to see you," Alicia informed her as she watched her with solemn eyes. "He's currently under probation from what I heard –" she paused as she put her index finger and her thumb on her chin to think," – or maybe the young master's already done with it? Also, Young Master Arthur sent a letter. It's inside the drawer of your bedside table. You can read it later."

The girl slowly sipped the water and made a hum of confirmation. As if realizing it tasted awful, she stuck her tongue out, a little annoyed.

The maid only laughed as she stood up. "Your water now has rehydrating medicine, so it will taste a little sour. You should endure it, young miss. You haven't eaten for five days straight, so all your supplements will be added to your drinks since you can't eat solid food yet."

"Don't make a fool out of me; I know there is a medicine that tastes better out there. Just tell me you're doing these things as an act of revenge and go." Kira commented sarcastically as she playfully smirked.

Alicia acted like she was so offended as she dramatically placed the back of her hand on her forehead. "Oh my, what to do? Our dark plans were exposed!"

"Cut the crap." Kira grabbed a pillow and threw it at her.

The maid only giggled and ran to the door. She poked her head inside the room again and jokingly winked.

The maid's facial expression rapidly changed from smiling to frowning once she closed the heavy wooden door.

While on the surface, Alicia was bantering good-naturedly with her young miss, but in truth, she was still worried sick. If anyone had seen her mistress' small body periodically coughing out blood, anyone would also be utterly distressed.

Usually, in everything they do and wherever they go, maids would stay alongside their masters. They would also aid them in doing their daily necessities or help them when making decisions. They would also serve as information sources, helpers, dressmakers (when needed), or nannies, depending on the situation.

The nobility had the habit of keeping five or more servants; it would be more if the master was a noble young miss. Strangely, her mistress tended to keep only one or two by her side. She would add more if either her brother or father insisted, but she'd preferred a small crowd unless called out. Maybe it was because she was too introverted due to being too intelligent at a young age, or perhaps her pride prevented others, people, from helping – any one of the two choices would still be unusual for a noble girl her age.

The little girl would not allow anyone to wait on her nor let people dress her up and bathe her. She would only let others wash her if they bothered her enough or if she was too tired to care – the latter usually happens when she had overdone her physical training.

Kira was indeed an independent child and Alicia was glad she was assigned to her. But maybe they had let her do things her way too much that they arrived at this kind of predicament.

If only she was beside her mistress during that time so that she could have looked over her and stop her if she noticed she was consuming too much mana.

Alicia gloomily sighed as she pulled the chair back from the table as soon entered the kitchen. There was a loud screech that echoed in the closed room. "Am I overthinking?" She asked the person who was in front of her. The other girl ever since noticing her presence never glanced away from the book she was reading.

"Is the young miss okay?" The woman offhandedly replied without missing a beat.

Alicia frowned in dismay as she drew invisible circles on the table. "Well, yeah," she trailed off and bit her lower lip. "But you know, I'm just worried that something might happen to her again."

"Did she say she's okay?"

"Yes," the maid instantly answered.

Finally, looking up from what she was reading, the other girl seemed to not know what she should do with the woman before her. "Then what did the doctor say?"

Alicia finally, as if giving up, slumped on the table and covered her face with both of her arms. "He said she's okay," she replied, her voice muffled.

"Then she's okay. What are you worried about?" The other girl replied nonchalantly as she casually got back to reading. "You're like a mom. You're not even in your 20s yet."

"It's rude to comment on a woman's age, Mirin. And you just don't understand. I just feel conflicted. You know, you were not there when I saw her in her room," she helplessly defended herself as she mentally reminded herself not to confide in the girl anymore when she felt terrible – even her age was attacked.

The woman named Mirin only raised her eyebrow as she lackadaisical flipped another page from her book. "I was just telling you the facts. She told you she was okay, and the doctor said she was ready to go. Don't ask for my opinion next time if you're not ready for my answer."

"You're unfeeling, Mirin." Alicia finally raised her head; she had the urge to smack someone in the face.

"And you have too much."

The maid glared at the woman in front, knowing full well she would still ask for her opinion next time even if she was already dissuaded. It's not that she does not care; she still does get offended. It was because she got used to it after living with the girl. Alicia knows she was just blunt with her words, but the girl doesn't mean any harm. Frankly, they never suited each other. They were like a contradiction and if Mirin did not grow up with her, she would be undoubtedly less likely to tolerate her.

Alas, sometimes you would meet your adversaries earlier than you should, and sometimes you would befriend them just because.

With a sigh, Alicia stood up from her seat and excused herself. "I would return to my quarters now. If you plan to sleep a little later, remember to close the main lights on the hallways."

Mirin grunted in acknowledgment then waved her hand to say goodbye.

Esternon impatiently sat on his bed as he tapped his toes on the carpeted floor.

"Estie, my boy, you just finished probation. If I were you, I would try and get on the disciplinary committee's good side before doing something stupid again." The boy said while lying on the floor, too relaxed for someone balancing knives on top of him using a metal rod.

The silver-haired boy automatically scowled at his words as he crossed his arms and paced at the foot of his bed. "It's my sister!" He shouted restlessly as if her sister was involved in something dangerous was an excuse for him to be a danger to others.

In the Roelf boy's mind, that was a valid reason. He would not let others have a good time when her sister was lying on the bed injured.

The redhead felt he was talking to a wall as he sat up, skillfully catching the knife, then tried to console the renowned siscon. "My guy, you should chill. Hold your horses, take a breather and stay put. You already received your father's letter via carrier falcon. He said she was okay. What are you getting riled up for?"

"I want to see her with my own eyes!" Esternon could not help but shout. He wrinkled his forehead as he continued to walk around the room in circles.

"Try saying that again, but calmer," the boy desperately tried to convince the duke's heir. "Your sister would be the one worrying if you continuously try to get yourself in a mess."

As if hearing a revelation, Esternon slowed down then peered at his roommate. "I just want to see my sister with my own eyes," he repeated, much softer this time.

"Yes!" His roommate rejoiced. "That's more like you, our dear stoic-top-two-from-the-swordsmanship-department. If your fangirls see you like this, they will be sorely disappointed you're this obsessed with your sister." The red-haired boy finally heaved a sigh of relief, afraid something terrible would happen if he continued to be agitated.

The duke's heir could not blame him; the last time he became this restless was when he charged through the academy's gate and violently attempted to leave in the middle of the class for he just read the content of his father's letter. The boy could not help but worry. He was like a second father to the girl. He raised the girl himself since his father and he shared the burden of having two young children in their care.

Moreover, Kira was never the type to make the people around her worry. But who knew that when she finally did, it would be this big.

"I'm sorry for causing a scene," he apologized to the redhead, then retreated to his bed meekly when he realized he was way too much of an asshole.

The boy awkwardly nodded then also sat on the side of his room, quickly storing the knife he was previously holding behind him. "Nothing serious. It's not something you should apologize for. You know it makes me feel awkward when you do that."

"It's just apologizing. It is not as if I'm giving you a large amount of money," Esternon muttered under his breath but had considered the boy's opinion nonetheless.

The boy, as if hearing something wrong, winced and sat on his bed. "Yeah, I'd rather you not do that either."

To be fair, Esternon would not pay him money since it would be rather rude if someone from nobility had to pay another with gold or silver. It would be treated as an offense instead of kindness. None of them lacked in money anyway, so it would be better to recompense them using favors.

Also, it was not as if the redhead wasn't rich either.

Ramiro Maxwell was the second son of the Grand Duke of the East. He dons the standard crimson cape for mages which weirdly suits his red hair and eyes. Although both technically had a different standing, him being the heir while the other was not, people would treat them the same because of the latter's family.

The Maxwell Duchy held power to the east side of the empire, and even if the place was significantly smaller than the north, it was wealthier economically seeing most of their lands were used as trade routes by merchants. They also have a higher standing socially as most of Ramiro's siblings, including him, were extroverted. The boy had four other siblings, three of them were much older than him and the other one was the same age as his Kira.

The first one was genius business-wise, while the other two women were twins – were the center of Yve's current social circle. Then we have the red-haired boy who was insanely good at pyro magic as well as playing with knives, literally. Lastly, their youngest – well he had yet to show his talent.

Wasn't his sister also the same age as that boy? Why was she getting into all sorts of trouble while the other children the same age as her were not? The silver-haired boy could not help but worry once again.

"I said to calm your horses." Ramiro must have noticed he was getting anxious again as he reminded him one more time. "If you continue to be this aggressive, instead of being released at the end of the year you would be locked here for some community service. It would be rather counter-productive."

"I wouldn't want that," he replied as he disapprovingly stared at the ground.

The redhead continued to coax him. "That's what I thought –" he suddenly produced a knife out of nowhere and carefully cleaned the blade," – and you remember the heir of the Archduchy? The boy was the same year as us and he was pretty fierce. I heard he joined the disciplinary committee. He would instead let you do what you want over his dead body than let you pass the gates while under probation."

Esternon perked up his ears, now a lot more interested in the conversation as he let himself fall on the bed. "Isn't that boy your classmate?"

"That Irvin? Eh, nope. He was from another class, but he had beaten me in topping our year's magician ranking last time," the boy explained as he sheathed the knife, feeling content as he placed it on his desk drawer.

"I think you have different personalities. I bet you clashed when you met."

Ramiro burst into laughter as he shook his head. "Pfft, him and me?" He pointed to himself with disbelief. "You know I don't like fights, and that boy would not beat up anyone as long as you don't bother him – or break the rules," he thoughtfully added at the end.

The silver-haired boy seemed to find his claims amusing then listened closely. "Well, I would like to fight him."

Esternon never really had a magician to spar with ever since he arrived at the academy. Also, his roommate was out of the question since he hated getting himself battered during mock fights. On the other hand, the First Prince Augustus had already beaten him many times and honestly, he was getting too tired. He was not a magician either so it was out of the question to consider him in the first place.

Ramiro rolled his eyes as if he expected the boy's answer. "Of course you do, musclehead."

"Then fight me some time."

"No way!"

"Let's spar here."

"Damn you, Estie!"