Strongest Noble's Daughter Uses Water Magic Book 2

Huge Revelation *Leia*

"Levi... I... I took your place, didn't I?"

It took Leia all the courage she could muster to say those words. These very words in which she struggled so hard to say to this girl before her. She... who Leia found out was the real Anberibca daughter. And from the expression Levi had on her face...

'Edward was telling the truth... She is his real sister,' she thought, thinking back to when she went to speak to her adopted oldest brother about Levi, and was told the most shocking truth about her.

******

*FLASHBACK*

After she confronted Edward about Levi- demanded answers about the girl- the guy made her follow him down the halls to some place away from prying ears- a place where she could get her promised answers. At least... she was hoping that would be the case, when they ended up at the library.

"What are we doing in here?" she asked.

Edward did not answer, as he simply walked into the room, with his adopted sister following him in, albiet reluctantly. No one else was occupying the room when they entered; or as it would be more accurate to say, people rarely come in here. Even the servants never step foot in here to clean. The only ones who frequents the place these days and cared about it enough were Edward and Ellie, the latter who is rarely at home these days. So to say, this is a good place to be away from people, but why here?

After a time of silence, Edward finally opened his eyes to speak. "Tell me, Leia... When you were a child, before you were brought here, before your magic affinity was revealed, what did you do? How do you spend your days?"

The adopted Fire Mage girl looked at him in pure confusion at the question. "What do you mean? I just did what any commoner kid would do; play games, help with simple chores, sometimes I would even go on small adventures in the woods with-... with my friends..." Her voice trailed off when she started to remember her home before a certain incident. Shaking the memory away, pushing it to the back of her head, she then asked, "Why do you ask? It can't be out of curiosity for what commoners do."

Edward sighed at the question, wondering how to proceed from here, as he looked at the bookshelves. "... In all my years, as far as I knew, as children, even noble children play around with kids their age, before their affinity gets revealed. But, there was one child who was different from the rest. From the moment she learned to talk, to read, rather than play around, she spent her time reading books in her family library. It wasn't just picture books, either. Rather, it'd be more accurate to say that she rarely reads such books, and find more interest in reference books and textbooks. Specifically that about magic, mana, and their concept, down to the smallest detail. All in hopes that she could use magic as great as her family can."

As he said this, Leia was surprised to see a soft expression form on Edward's face. All her time living in this very home, not once did she ever see him make that sort of expression.

'Whoever this girl is must be special to him,' she mentally concluded. Upon recalling why the two of them were in the library, though, Leia shook her head. 'No, wait. Why is he even telling me this? I thought he was going to tell me about Levi.'

"There were times when that child took a break, sure. Though she used it to see how magic was being used in person. One can't use magic until they know their own affinity, after all," Edward continued. "There was so much one can learn from books alone, especially when it comes to something practical. Magic falls under that category. That girl was so determined to be just as great as her family. But then..." He stopped himself, as he laid his eyes on a particular book on the shelf, in which he removed from its place. Opening it up, a photo was revealed to hidden within it. "One day... everything changed. All she worked hard for- after one incident... She lost everything."

He handed the photo to Leia, who took it in her hand. One look at the content within it, and the commoner-turned-noble could not believe the picture she was seeing. Not only was it a family photo- one of Edward and his brothers in their childhood- it also had a picture of a female child with them. Leia rubbed her eyes, wondering if she was imagining what she was seeing on the photo, only to see that she wasn't... There was no mistaking it; this girl on the photo has to be...

"Levi...? Wait a second, why is she in this photo?" she asked.

Edward remained silent at the question; just looked at her with a raised brow. One that said 'why do you think?'. The expression and the silence were more than enough to tell her what she wanted to know. ... And she simply could not believe the conclusion she came to; especially with the story told to her.

"No... A-Are you telling me that...?"

The male Fire Mage let out a breath at her stuttering, before nodding in response. "That's right. Levi Caribbean... Her real name is Levi Anberibca. My half-sister, who had lost everything the day her magic affinity was revealed to us."

Leia could not believe the words that came out of his mouth. All this time, she had wondered about Levi's attitude towards her, why she was so unreasonably cold to her, who had done no wrong to anyone, especially not to her. Sure, she had burned down her village, killed the man residents living there, but it was a small village where everyone knew everyone. She would've known for sure if Levi was from that very village. Despite that, out of all things, out of all possibilities she could ever think of regarding that girl... This was not one of them.

"How could you...?" she spoke then. "How could you do this?! She's your sister; your family! How could you have done such a thing? How could you just shun her away?! All because of her affinity?!"

"Because it was unsightly as a noble," Edward calmly answered. "A nobleman, especially that of a duke family, wielding Water Magic of all things... Never could there be a greater humiliation amongst us from the noble class."

"And for that very reason, you chose to abandon her? Worse, replace her with someone else who does fit the criteria of being a member of this family?"

"Everyone already knew that we have a female Anberibca your age. And before we could even write her off as 'dead', rumors already spread about; that the Anberibca daughter's magic was unlike any other. With that rumor were expectations of how far the girl could go with such power. There were even talk about how she may be the next noble to hold the title of 'strongest' if she had so much mana in her. Because of that misleading rumor, rather than simply lie and say Levi died from her own mana- a cause that rarely occurs, especially for a nobility, and even more so as a member of this family- my father went to search for a child who at least fits the description of the rumors. Rumors did not entirely state if the female Anberibca had mana that was unrivaled; just that it was unlike that of any other noble. He only thought to take in a girl with Fire Affinity, whose face is even a little bit like his or stepmother's, though with weak mana. Though expectations will be shot down, father could just shrug it off, and state that it was those people who made up expectations for him; he never said anything about his daughter's potential in magic. Never did he think he would meet someone like you; a commoner who actually meets the rumors and fit the many expectations already placed on her."

Leia did not know what to say at all to this revelation. What can she say? What can she even think of saying? Yes, she now understood Levi's hostility and how she is knowledgeable about noble etiquette. Other than that? ... Now that she knew the truth, how was she supposed to face the Water Mage girl?

"This seems a little too much for you to comprehend," Edward noticed. "Take as much time as you need to take all of this in. Once you do, I can only assume you will want to speak to her alone about this matter, don't you? To Levi, I mean."

Leia only remained silent, still trying hard to take in all this information.

"When you are ready to speak to her, come find me. I can make arrangements for you two to have a private conversation. The study hall should do; the rooms are all enchanted so no sound can go in or out of them. Whatever you two wish to say in any of those rooms will remain in there, never to be heard from another." Edward placed the book back on the shelf and began to make his leave. "That being said, everything I told you in this room, you better not let anyone else know about what we talked about. Not to your friends, not to your professors, not even to any of the servants. The less people know, the better." Without another word, he exited right out of the room.

Leia heard what he said, but she still could not believe what she found out. All this time... She thought she was lucky Lord Lennox just happened to pass the area the day she burned down her village. Turns out, it was not a coincidence; the strongest duke was truly searching that far, all for a child who can meet what rumors say about them since his real daughter couldn't. Under normal circumstance, perhaps she may find it as an honor to be adopted into a noble family- a duke family, no less. But to have it done like this? How was she supposed to feel upon learning the truth of her adoption?

'I... I need to talk to her,' she thought. 'I need to talk to Levi about this.'