The Rise of the Exiled Villainess

Chapter 4: Mirror, Mirror on the Wall... (Part II)

The girl sat on my lap as she began to munch cookies from the table. Without me even thinking, I picked some of the cookies and fed it to her like a pet.

“What’s your name?” I asked. This should’ve been my first question but I was caught off guard.

“Mimi!” She replied with a lot of enthusiasm.

One of the children that was seated opposite of our seat began to speak.

“Her full name is Mimosa Gallanto and my name is Madeline Gallanto. We are daughters of a baron here in Altair.” From the way she responded and her level of courtesy, I have to say she is well raised.

Of course I have to give the same approach, “My name is Ekaterina, and I’m from the Lands of Umbra.”

All of the other kids looked at me in surprise. Even Madeline is shocked upon hearing where I came from.

“U-umbra? That’s the place where there are a lot of monsters right?” I can sense the worry and fear from her words.

“Yeah, that’s where I live. While it is true that there are monsters, not all of them are bad ones and can even be used as pets.”

Mimi began to bounce while sitting on my lap, “Me wanna shee a wabbit!”

Damn dis little squirrel is too cute! I continued feeding her with cookies while her sister is giving her a glass of fruit milk. Basically, we look like a bunch of nannies.

We discussed a lot of stuff to pass the time. From hobbies up to famous spots in our own territories, I can say that I’m having a blast just from learning things from the perspective of a child (I realized I’m also one). 

It was also brought up that the duke’s son wasn’t able to attend the party because he is sick. Although the atmosphere tells me that they don’t even have any personal memories regarding the little duke himself. What can I say, Castillo Belmont is very keen about his personal relationship with his son. He also has a daughter but as of now, she is in the royal capital attending magic classes in the tower.

In regards to Rue’s case, I’m very certain that he was forced to prepare for his training... Rue will be exiled in the far southern mountains where his ancestors were said to train their bodies to become warriors. The book specifically explained the importance of the said training in order to secure the position of the next heir.  

There are several stories pertaining to the origin of the Altair dukedom. The first one revolves around the existence of Belmont and their long history of military prowess even before the founding of the empire. Belmont is actually a name that was given by the emperor but the original name of the family was Ranorke.

In the Umbral tongue, it means the emissary of death. When I was reading books related to magic in the library back at home, I came across a book about the Ranorke tribe and their lineage. The Umbral tribe and the Ranorke tribe were at war for almost ten years before the establishment of the empire. Our tribe incorporates magic and martial arts in combat, while the other one uses superior physical prowess and the will of nature to fight.  

It was then that Jeshopat proposed to have a stalemate by creating a map that will decide the territory of both sides. Considering the fact that the Ranorke were originally from the mountains, the southeastern mountain range was given to them in entirety along with the plains that were at its feet. In comparison to our territory, it wasn’t a bad trade since the people of Umbra thrive from the existence of magical beasts. Thus, Jeshopat gave us the forests and the lands that were accursed with volatile magic.

From what I could remember, the reason for that decision was well explained in a diary pertaining to the first expedition done by the soldiers of Jeshopat, and a few knights of the newly established Altair military foundry towards the Umbral valleys. Because the Knights that were hired weren’t really from the Ranorke’s territory, they had a really bad time going through the terrain and the dangerous creatures that roam around…

Also, the Ranorke’s have two names. The first name relates to their name under the empire, and the other one is a tribal name that they will only share within their families or spouse. Their tribal names were derived from the stars that they were named with when they were born. The procedure starts with the mother of the child waiting for the first night after giving birth.

While waiting, the mother will meditate throughout the rest of the day to prepare herself into a trance. The moment night falls, she will open her eyes and look at the vast sky. Even if it rains, it appears that this method of meditation works well for getting past any visual obstructions.

Amongst all of the birthmarks, only Rue was given the deadliest and the most destructive birthmark that if revealed can destroy the dukedom in ruins. This is actually one of the main reasons why he was thrown into the mountains to train. 

Three pointed crosses that overlap each other that almost look like X’s… It is the first letter of a Forbidden War prayer by the Ranorke’s which means destruction and is synonymous to the Ranorke star of Freedom. The little boy is a living, and breathing, nuclear warhead that even his father fears…

After that long-ass contemplation, I did a bit of magic demonstration to entertain Mimi and the people at my table. Slowly, people from the other seats flocked due to amusement. The noble children seem to lack a lot of entertainment back in their own households. I only used a portion of my magic to summon the same butterflies as Momma but they ain’t as luminous as the ones she made a while ago.

Mimi requested a bunny, so I used the very little amount of mana that I had to visualize a white rabbit, bouncing off in the air. Mimi is very happy with the display and is in shits and giggles, raising her hand to reach for the rabbit. I suddenly stopped casting the rabbit since I felt a bit of a headache because of my low mana pool.

The little squirrel became disappointed but her sister told the reason why. Mimi seems to understand my condition. I sure hope, however, that the rest of these punks would do the same… They keep on insisting for an encore even though I’m tired… 

Out of nowhere, one of the children who appears to be the son of a Count came forward. He seems to be a bit older than me but his gaze is telling me that he is trying to think small of my existence.

*Slap* The entire table was shocked as my body became stiff from anger. He just slapped me while I’m sitting comfortably in peace…

The boy smirked, “If I told you to continue then you should continue!” Looks like we got an entitled piece of s**t here.

I gave Mimi to her sister as I stood in front of the noble child staring at him with my veins popping.

“What? Are you just going to stare at me? Are you dumb?” He has a bunch of cahoots behind him trying to add more fuel to the flame.

Clenching my fists, I smiled at him and replied, “Ohh I’m sorry… Looks like someone raised a worm who doesn’t know manners.”

His face turned into rage upon hearing those words.

(To Be Continued)