Chapter 011
Chapter 11: The Master and the Apprentice (5)
“I have no power. Even if I want to escape this damned hell, the only thing I can do is endure. I have to pretend I’m fine, as if nothing happened, so I can get through it and keep living.”
Tears streamed from her eyes like a dam overflowing. Cordelia tried to wipe her wet cheeks with both hands, but it was futile.
She cried like a child. She let out everything she had held back for so long.
“They all look down on me because I’m submissive. I was just trying my best, no, I did my very best…”
“…”
Leonard stared at Cordelia without saying a word.
He realized too late how much damage his words had caused her.
No matter what he said, Cordelia always smiled and laughed, so Leonard thought it was okay.
“…Ugh.”
“You’re right. No one can carelessly judge others.”
“I feel ashamed for being so foolish.”
“I apologize for what I said.”
Leonard spoke earnestly. When Cordelia heard these words, her emotions gradually calmed.
Leonard looked at Cordelia, who was still sobbing, and suddenly said something.
“Instead, I’ll give you power.”
“What…?”
“I’ll accept you as my apprentice.”
Some reckless words slipped out of his mouth. Leonard didn’t understand why he said it himself, but he didn’t regret it.
“What? What do you mean by saying that so suddenly?”
Cordelia, who was busy crying, didn’t understand what he was saying at first. So she stared at Leonard with wet eyes.
“You said they ignored you because you had no authority or power. But if you become my apprentice, at least you won’t be treated this way. Just say you forgive me.”
“What?”
“Hurry up.”
He was truly brazen; it didn’t seem at all like he was asking for forgiveness. Cordelia, unable to withstand his insistence and pressure, spoke.
“Hic, hic, I forgive you.”
“Good. Now, repeat after me. Oh, I think we’ll need a witness first. Baron, come out.”
“Did you call for me, my lord?”
The baron, who had been waiting for a chance to appear, was shocked when he saw Cordelia’s tears.
“It’s a touching moment. I can’t believe I’ll see my lord accept an apprentice in my lifetime!”
The baron made a fuss, pulled a handkerchief from inside his coat, and handed it to Cordelia. Cordelia wiped her remaining tears.
“Thank you.”
“Oh, well. Stop crying. I can’t believe I’m going to cry on such a happy day.”
“Repeat after me.”
Leonard quickly grabbed Cordelia’s hand. Then he began muttering an unfamiliar incantation.
“What are you doing? Do I have to repeat what you say?”
“Oh… what are you doing now?”
“You asked me to make you my apprentice. Are you getting hiccups now? Is this really the time?”
“Hic, my lady, what’s wrong?”
“I never thought I’d take an apprentice like you who doesn’t even know what this ceremony is. This isn’t a wedding for you to be so nervous. Or… being my only apprentice is making you cry and hiccup.”
Leonard frowned, annoyed as he spoke. Then he complained that this was the worst inauguration ceremony he’d ever witnessed.
What followed was a very long and complicated process.
Unfortunately, Cordelia’s hiccups didn’t stop, so it took a long time to complete all the incantations.
When she stammered her final sentence, Leonard lost his patience.
“Oh, stop hiccuping!”
“No, no, it won’t stop, ugh, what should I do!”
“Both of you, stop. Now all we have to do is perform the witness’s oath, and we’ll be done.”
The baron smiled and completed his oath.
At that moment, a brilliant light enveloped her entire body. Intricate and strange patterns were etched across her body.
“My goodness… what is this?”
“It’ll go away soon.”
Leonard said curtly. And as he said, the light quickly faded. Fortunately, the patterns etched on her body disappeared without a trace.
Cordelia looked at her body with a puzzled expression.
It had shone so brightly that she thought there would be some changes, but nothing happened to her.
“Are you done now? But why was making me your apprentice so complicated? Wasn’t it just for learning magic?”
“What? Do you really not know what it means to become a sorcerer’s apprentice?”
“Oh… isn’t it for learning magic? That’s why I became your apprentice, right?”
Leonard was astonishingly surprised by this naive statement. The baron’s lips trembled as he tried to suppress his laughter but failed.
“Hah. I can’t take it back now.”
“Congratulations, my lady. You’ve finally become an apprentice as you wished.”
“Shut up.”
“Haha, the number of sorcerers in the Devil’s Cooperative who want to become Lord Leonard’s apprentices is as numerous as the stars in the sky. If the sorcerers find out about this, they’ll truly envy Lady Cordelia.”
“Oh, yes… what!”
‘I knew the Devil’s Cooperative was shorthand for the Rubal Sorcerers’ Association in the Willas Islands, but Cordelia, who knew nothing about this world beyond that, wasn’t impressed.’
She was just happy that she could finally learn magic.
“Does this mean I’m your apprentice now?”
“My lady.”
“Yes?”
“Now that we’ve officially held the inauguration ceremony, call me ‘Master’ and treat me with respect. Understand?”
“You need to treat me as kindly as you can, and what else should you do? Oh, right, I remember! You’ll serve me loyally.”
Leonard stared at Cordelia, whose eyes were wide open.
He had definitely made her his apprentice in exchange for her forgiveness, but now she felt like he was doing her an enormous favor.
When Cordelia frowned, pursed her lips, and snorted, Leonard shouted.
“The Archduke Levitchi knelt for three days begging to be my apprentice! Hah. Is that all? That’s enough.”
“Yes. I’ll serve you, Master.”
Cordelia smiled with puffy eyes.
Everything had gone wrong, but as planned, she had become Leonard Atily’s apprentice.
***
“Well done.”
The next day, after officially becoming Leonard’s apprentice, the baron suddenly came to visit her. He appeared above a glass of water, splashing enthusiastically, and said.
“I didn’t know Cordelia was so good at acting.”
“Acting? What acting are you talking about?”
“The things you said to Leonard yesterday. Didn’t I tell you? You need to be emotional with him to make him accept you. Cordelia didn’t visit him for a few days, so Leonard was restless.”
“Oh.”
Cordelia, who understood what the baron said, shrugged her shoulders.
“That wasn’t acting. I was so angry that I completely forgot what the baron said.”
“…This. So those words were true. You must have been really upset.”
“I’m fine. In fact, things turned out well. I can finally learn magic.”
Cordelia smiled. At that moment, she was so angry she couldn’t see anything in front of her, not even Leonard.
‘I thought it was okay, but it wasn’t. Or maybe Leonard’s presence made me feel that way.’
The baron stepped out of the glass of water and approached Cordelia. He said with a gentle smile.
“Write it all down.”
“What?”
“All the people who insulted Cordelia. When we leave this castle, none of them will escape.”
“Thank you.”
Cordelia smiled kindly at him.
“But instead of insulting others, I want to leave with something reasonable. I just want to get out of this damned hell as soon as possible.”
“Is that so?”
The baron looked annoyed but didn’t complain about the words Cordelia said.
***
This was the magic Cordelia had imagined.
‘I thought that when I moved my fingertips, a cluster of twinkling stars would swirl around me, and every time the hem of my skirt fluttered, flowers would bloom in the field.’
But reality was so cold it made her bones ache.
“Can’t you do this?”
“Why in the world do you have a head? I think you only use it to cover your neck.”
“Don’t just write it on paper; do it practically. Are you deliberately making me keep repeating this?”
“Hah. Even if you can see magical power, what will you do? Your head is like a stone.”
This was all Cordelia heard from Leonard over the past three days.
Unfortunately, while Leonard was a great scholar, he was a terrible teacher.
“Damn it, I can’t do this!”
Thanks to this, Cordelia became more and more unsteady. Leonard raised one eyebrow.
“Damn it? Hey? Did you just curse at me?”
“What? How dare I say that about my great master?”
Cordelia quickly lowered her tone and smiled brightly at him. Then she changed the subject.
“But, how did it happen?”
“What?”
“I mean, how could someone as powerful as you be outdone by his brother…?”
“That bastard isn’t my brother.”
Leonard cut her off sharply. Cordelia shrugged lightly.
“Alright. So how did it happen?”
“He used my deceased mother as bait.”
“What?”
Leonard smiled bitterly and sat by the window.
“That filthy bastard dug up my mother’s grave and took her remains.”
“W-Wow…”
It was a depraved act beyond imagination. Cordelia opened her mouth and focused on Leonard’s words.
“And then, he set a trap and killed me.”
He could still feel the sharp metal piercing his body. Leonard gritted his teeth.
“If I get out of here, I’ll tear that bastard into six pieces and feed him to the dogs.”
“Oh, um, yes. Good luck with that.”
Cordelia responded awkwardly to his terrifying words.
Though it was a brief moment, knowing his bad temper, it was clear he wasn’t speaking empty words.
“Whether you tear him apart or feed him to the dogs, do it after your body recovers. You barely ate anything today, didn’t you?”
“Don’t mention that dog food you bring. I feel nauseous just thinking about it.”
Moreover, their tastes were so picky that if there was the slightest smell in the meat, they wouldn’t touch it, calling it dog food.
He was so hard to please that if there was any trace of a meaty smell, he’d refuse to touch it, labeling it as dog food.
He was a master difficult to serve.
Cordelia clicked her tongue and sat at the desk to study.
While cleaning the messy desk, she found a thick document titled Internal Abrams Report.
