I became overly good at playing the role of an adopted daughter 081. The 6th Magic Tower was the most distant magic tower from Mona, the center of the Central Continent, located northward.

In other words, it was at the northernmost end of the Central Continent. It was also the nearest magic tower to Winter Castle.

Crimson was born and raised in the magic tower.

Like most mages, in his childhood, he aspired to be the grand master of magic and establish the eighth magic tower.

However, the walls of reality were high.

Sadly, Crimson’s talent and understanding of magic were inferior compared to other mages, and he eventually came to realize this himself.

In his youth, Crimson didn’t acknowledge that truth.

‘No. I’m not lacking.’

He thought this occurred because the teaching methods of the magic tower didn’t suit him.

Time passed.

“Ha! I’ll be the one to leave this pathetic tower first.”

Even in his thirties, Crimson couldn’t admit his shortcomings.

At the age of thirty-six, he finally decided to escape the magic tower.

“Did you request a voluntary resignation? Is that correct?”

“Yes.”

“What’s the reason?”

Crimson still hadn’t given up on his dreams.

“To unfold my grand dreams as a mage. To go out into the world and spread the greatness of magic.”

“I see.”

After completing the formal paperwork and a brief interview.

“All benefits provided by the magic tower will cease. Do you agree to this?”

Crimson almost wanted to say, ‘Ha! Benefits? What benefits were ever given?’ but held his tongue.

He said he agreed and signed.

“You may leave. May the blessing of mana be with you.”

Stepping out into the world at the age of thirty-six, Crimson soon found himself in a difficult situation.

He needed money wherever he went.

He didn’t not understand the concept of money.

However, it wasn’t a concept closely tied to his everyday life.

“You thief! If you’ve eaten, you must pay!”

He dealt with the rude restaurant owner who was questioning him with a simple spell, which led to the town’s guards showing up.

‘Damn it! That guy’s money! Money! Money!

While he was in the tower, he never worried about where to sleep, what to eat, or what to wear.

Basic necessities were adequately provided.

Now for the first time, Crimson had to fend for his own basic needs, and the world felt far too barren.

As time passed, he discovered.

He had to work and earn money to survive.

That’s how life was once you left the magic tower.

Eventually, he resolved to find a job.

A mage had to eat, after all.

But it wasn’t easy.

“How dare you ask a mage from the tower to do such menial work?”

“This isn’t menial work.”

“You arrogant fool! Making ice for a noble daughter isn’t menial work? How dare you insult me!”

The walls of reality were cold and tall.

The tasks that the ‘real mages’ he imagined were already being performed by the elite mages dispatched from the tower.

The missions or requests given to him weren’t something a ‘real mage’ would consider performing.

Another year passed, and when he turned thirty-seven, he finally compromised with the world.

‘Alright. If it’s a request from Bellatu, it might be worth accepting.’

He thought the world was finally starting to recognize him a bit.

The 6th Magic Tower was the closest to Winter Castle, and he’d heard that even the tower’s skilled mages fear Bellatu’s pure blood.

Having never stepped outside the tower and only heard rumors about Bellatu, Crimson had high expectations.

But what were these small, bloody heaps before him?

‘One is a cripple.

Can a cripple even be called Bellatu?

They say Bellatu’s swordsmanship is faster than magic.

But here sat a little girl who couldn’t even fend for herself, stuck in a wheelchair.

‘One seems to be barely ten years old.’

The disappointment was tremendous.

If they were true Bellatu, they wouldn’t be associated with something like the Parah Viscountcy, synonymous with luxury and extravagance.

‘Damn!’

He began to understand why a great family like Bellatu chose not to contact the tower.

After all, this was a trip for children abandoned by Bellatu or those who hadn’t even entered the competition for heirs, so the tower’s mages wouldn’t be necessary.

‘This request would be an insult to the tower mages.’

An insulting request for the tower’s mages.

And this request was directed at Crimson himself.

He was furious.

“Aren’t these the famous daughters of Bellatu? What’s the deal with these bloody heaps?”

“……”

“Are you looking down on me just because I’m no longer part of the tower? Is that it?”

At that moment, Viola moved.

*

Viola slapped Ersa with all her might.

Smack!

With a loud sound, Ersa’s head turned.

Viola was taken aback by the way Ersa’s head twisted.

‘Will it really not hurt?’

Ersa was known as the martial artist called the Sword Demon.

A twelve-year-old Viola knew that she wouldn’t get hurt by hitting her.

She didn’t expect Ersa’s head to turn that far, but thought,

‘It’s not like she’s broken from being hit; she just turned her head to the side.’

Thinking that eased her mind.

Outwardly, she glared at Ersa.

She had to firmly scold her.

This task fell on Ersa, and she was the one who hired such an arrogant mage.

As Bellatu, Viola had to hold Ersa accountable for her mistakes.

“Ersa. Is this how you’ll handle things?”

“I apologize, Princess.”

Ersa stood at attention.

“If it had been Zeno, it wouldn’t have ended this way.”

Regardless of the circumstances, Ersa was Hela’s butler.

Out of respect for Hela, it was hard to scold her any further.

In truth, she didn’t have any desire to scold her more than that.

“Thank you.”

Crimson swallowed hard at the fierce scene before him.

He was a mage, with sensitivities far greater than an ordinary person when it came to mana’s movements and flows.

‘What was that just now………?’

Sure, he understood it was a slap.

But there was a storm-like force in that little hand.

What would happen if he got hit by that hand?

If he couldn’t defend with magic and simply got hit?

Crimson’s body trembled.

‘I would’ve died from a broken neck.’

There was that much destructive power in that strike.

It contained more strength than any child he had ever seen.

Their eyes met for a brief moment.

‘Yikes.’

Her pupils were purple.

Yet to Crimson, they looked close to red.

It was strange.

Clearly purple, but why did they feel red?

Those red eyes were like those of a fierce beast.

Crimson’s body began to shake.

“Sister. If you’re okay, I’ll reschedule for three hours from now.”

“Okay.”

Hela smiled brightly.

She spoke to her butler Ersa.

“In three hours, we’ll return here. Ersa. You should have a deeper conversation with the employer during this time.

I don’t like rude people.”

*

Zeno smiled brightly and pushed Hela’s wheelchair.

“Thank you for your hard work, Butler Ersa.”

After Viola, Hela, and Zeno vanished somewhere, Ersa fell deep into thought.

She temporarily forgot about the mage in front of her.

She recalled Viola, who had slapped her.

‘Mana moved naturally.’

Viola used mana naturally, as easily as breathing, without much effort.

She hadn’t reportedly learned any formal mana techniques or swordsmanship.

‘My mana reacted without me even realizing and moved.’

She protected her cheek with mana.

It was an unconscious reaction.

‘She’s twelve years old and the ‘White Bellatu’. How is this possible?’

After experiencing it firsthand, she understood.

Viola’s mana was immense.

It was a type of mana she had hardly ever encountered before.

Though she was still young and didn’t have much quantity, the purity and concentration of her innate mana were beyond imagination.

‘They say she’s even more Bellatu than Bellatu itself.’

Today, she truly realized this fact.

If she were to guess, it seemed this was comparable to the noble Princess Medea, the likely future heir.

‘No, simply put, in terms of pure mana quality, she might even surpass Princess Medea.’

That’s how it seemed based solely on mana quality.

It was a refreshing shock.

And the fact that a princess possessed this level of talent and mana quality chose ‘White Bellatu’ was also surprising.

“Hey, are you okay?”

Crimson’s voice brought her back to reality.

Only then did Ersa focus back on Crimson.

What kind of conversation should she have with this rude and arrogant mage?

“I think it would be good for the two of us to have a private conversation.”

“A private conversation?”

“Just the two of us. In a place where no one is watching.”

Ersa took a few steps closer to Crimson.

As her face neared him, Crimson swallowed hard.

“If that’s the case, then sure. I’ll listen.”

Three hours passed.

*

“I’ll begin the body conversation.”

Ersa tore a magical scroll that prevented noise from escaping, then began her merciless beating.

“I’ll only hit the parts not visible, so don’t worry.”

She was indeed the Sword Demon.

Armed with a stick instead of a sword, she was the Stick Demon.

“The reason for your social shortcomings stems from a lack of exposure to violence. I’ve heard that the people of the tower are exceedingly gentle, raising tower mages as if they were sunlight.”

Providing a secure living environment.

Giving proper meals.

Adjusting the temperature so it’s never too cold or too hot all year round and providing clothing.

From Ersa’s perspective, who had experienced all of life’s trials, it was a paradise on earth.

“There’s not just sunlight in the world. Sometimes storms blow, monsoons come, and lightning strikes.”

She swung the stick.

Crack!

The loud sound didn’t escape outside.

Screams didn’t either.

He attempted to resist with magic, but it was impossible.

For the first time in his life, he felt a sense of powerlessness.

“Today, it will be like being struck by lightning. I hope you regain your senses after being struck.”

Ersa smiled slyly.

“I hope you think carefully about how to treat your employer as a servant.”

Those terrifying three hours passed.

When Viola and Hela arrived again, he was fortified mentally.

He bowed deeply.

“Ah, esteemed guests, you’ve arrived?”

Crimson rubbed his hands together.

He looked like a fly rubbing its legs together.

“I am Crimson, your servant who will comfortably escort you to Parah. A 2nd Circle mage, and I will utilize Fly magic to guide you. I will do my utmost to ensure a pleasant and comfortable journey, hehe.”

The social skills that hadn’t developed over thirty-seven years bloomed and grew robustly in just three hours.