Ayo, sorry for acting up on the last version of the chapter. I went too far on the shitposting. But here's the more decent one. Do enjoy it.
Her ring's color faded. Even slowly, Radea Ascart's magic tool reacted to Maria Campbell's overwhelming light attribute and became a pale bright yellow -almost entirely white- to the point it even stopped glowing.
Radea took some distance, aware that more contact would likely break the delicate artifact and explaining why her engagement ring had mana-sampling properties wasn't something she wanted to talk about. Everyone simply assumed it was an odd trinket that just changed colors from time to time, and that was what Radea felt more comfortable with people thinking.
It wasn't as if she didn't trust Millie and the kids, but Maria's magic was so rare that neither Nicol nor Sophia had seen the ring turn this particular color.
And Radea knew the children were more than capable of drawing conclusions from that.
The ring didn't visibly change when she grabbed Teresa Campbell, but that could mean anything. From the woman having no magic at all, to her being eclipsed by her daughter's power. It mattered very little to Radea, as long as the ring did not start displaying purple hues.
Speaking of…
"What's with this appearance, young man?" She approached her son and patted his lower back so he would stand straighter. Nicol grunted a bit, but otherwise just followed along and did what Radea implied.
The child of the Hunt smirked behind her hand, while prince Alan shook his head. Radea was aware this made Nicol acutely uncomfortable, but she didn't come to the Claes manor just to lend a supporting hand to Millie.
Nicol silently stared at her. He knew his mother, alright. Radea simply smiled demurely and motioned for him to take his place at the table. What she saw was so unexpected that she couldn't quite hide her surprise.
Nicol's color had been a deep green for the longest time. It changed some months after that incident, though. Before his color was weaker, but still a good hue that signaled he was very well attuned to his element.
Granted, she didn't always have the ring on her. Only during social events, and only during some at that. The fact that it was fashioned after her engagement ring was only to fool the naked eye, but this artifact was, in the end, a scrying tool.
Nicol's color had hues of purple, not as much as when Dan casted his charm. But still the boy had dark magic clinging to him.
Why was that? As she understood, Dan had taken into account Maria Campbell's existence to weave the enchantment. There should have been no trace of dark magic, the artifact left no doubt in Radea's mind about the strength of the girl's magic. Dan's power wouldn't be able to cling to Nicol even if he flexed the full extent of his knowledge. Then why…?
Did Nicol dispel it without light magic?
"...Radea?" Millie snapped the blonde out of her thoughts.
"It's alright." Radea felt her chest growing as she realized her child had somehow found a workaround.
Somehow, someway, that abnormally clever child kept on growing beyond her darling husband's expectations.
She didn't know the details, but she would be a failure as a mother if she didn't feel proud. Okay?
With that said, that wouldn't do. This little exercise was meant to be cleared in a certain way. Otherwise, there was no telling what the ruinous power would do to Nicol's mind.
She almost lost him once, Radea didn't want a repeat of that.
May the bastard rot in hell.
"So, Maria-san?" Since Millie was busy thinking about Keith, Radea took the initiative to do some small talk. It put the blonde girl in an awkward spot, but she was the one Radea knew the least about. So it wouldn't come as strange if she was the one the lady was the most interested in.
"...Yes?" Why was she so guarded? Radea would have thought Maria had seen and experienced the world the children brought forth. Why did she look so hesitant? Was it something Radea said?
Oh, dear. She shouldn't have pounced on the poor girl like that…
"Again, I am so, so sorry for scaring you like that." Radea bowed slightly, flustering the blonde even more in the process "Please do enjoy yourself as usual, we are not here."
Millie scoffed, but her mood had improved a lot since Radea arrived at the manor. That was excellent, though Radea didn't really know how much it was the company helping the Claes matriarch, and how much it was her putting up a strong front. It kind of mixed together when it came to her dealing with Rina-rina, as Millie's own mother instincts kept her from breaking up in front of her daughter.
"I… I wouldn't… I mean…" How cute! Maria was just adorable, although that loss of words would be a no-go if she was Radea's child. There are ways to stall for time that prevent someone from making a fool of themselves. And she expected her children to at least know this much.
Well, Sophia was also the right kind of cute. So if people bothered to realize her cuteness, she too would be able to pull that off.
"How is she supposed to answer that, Okaa-sama?" Nicol's attitude got a reaction from the Campbell matriarch, who was still unused to being around the upper class -even more than her daughter- but Radea simply smiled.
She knew he would raise the subject, which was exactly what she wanted.
"However she wants, darling." Radea beamed at him, making Nicol sink a little on his seat "Hasn't she earned at least this much?"
The silence clung heavy at Radea's implication. Even Nicol couldn't really challenge her words since he was the one that would not be present had Maria failed to use her magic.
Radea knew she was touching a delicate subject, she would probably have snapped if someone else dared to so much as comment about it, but her son's safety came before comfort. And if she had the girl's profile correctly…
"I… I haven't earned anything." Maria looked at her tea, stealing glances at her friends sitting to either side of her "I just did what I could… I don't deserve to be praised this much."
"That's not right!" Rina-rina intervened after swallowing… Did she just…? The whole thing? How? "Maria-chan is amazing! There's no one like her in the whole world!"
"It just so happened that I have the right type of magic!" The girl tried to push away the praise. It made Radea feel strange, as she had seen both of her children do the same in the past.
It was… Discouraging. When people got along because they had the same kind of insecurities, or methods of coping with them. Especially if they were Radea's own. She did her best to raise them right, and yet things always found ways to go wrong.
Nothing was ever perfect, but it had never been so vexing to be shown first-hand such a fact.
"And that's how things are." Alan-sama crossed his arms, nodding sagely and making Radea's children add their own acceptance of his words "They're not in any other way. There's no Maria Campbell without light magic, so that couldn't be avoided."
The prince looked at Sophia with clear eyes, crimson eyes reflecting emotions that Radea felt bad about reading. Since they were not meant for her. But she did, because after the silent exchange, the voice of the prince was filled with more conviction.
"What you had control over, was whether or not you used your talents to help. And that has merit, Maria-san." Alan-sama finished, looking awkward when his words fell short of the philosophical edge he probably was going for.
That was fine. He put emotion in what he did, so even if it wasn't perfect it came out just right.
"I, for one, I'm deeply grateful you're here with us." Sophia beamed at the light mage, stretching to grab at Nicol's hand.
The elder brother didn't say anything, but nodded regardless as if to not be left out of the loop.
At some point Millie started smiling again. Not the strained lip service Radea found her with, but a genuine, albeit tired, happiness.
That was it. She needed to be strong for Keith, but she needed to be stronger for Rina-rina in front of her.
Things were looking up, at last. There were still things that needed to be sorted out but… Well, one thing at a time.
"Millidiana, dear. You'll have to excuse me for a moment." Radea stood up, letting the children talk among themselves while the Claes matriarch exchanged pleasantries with Teresa-san.
It took Millie a bit by surprise, but she accepted nonetheless. The mood was fine, at least good enough for Millie to keep doing her thing in Radea's absence. And it wasn't as if the Ascart matriarch was expecting to take long, so there was nothing to worry about.
Not in the tea party, at least.
"That's not the way to the powder room." At some point, the child of the Hunt had joined Radea on her way away from the rest of the gathering.
Radea turned around with a neutral smile, not really bothered by the abruptness of the implied accusation.
"I am well aware." Radea stated. She didn't care about this child trying to make herself look in control. Radea had been raised by one of the most ancient aristocratic bloodlines, after all. If Mary wanted to intimidate her, she should have at least brought a knife to do it.
"May I inquire where Radea-sama is going, then?" The dangerous tone almost made Radea chuckle. She supposed it was to be expected, since this girl was by far the most cunning among the group. Second only to Gerald-sama.
And the third prince was under Dan's bewitchment, so he didn't count at the moment.
"I suspected you'd have questions for me, so I went ahead and got some privacy." Radea replied, noticing the smallest hint of doubt in the child's eyes while she did "Was it not the right move?"
"So you know about the Dark Magic." Tsk. There were ways to go straight to the point, and then there was this. Radea understood the girl was very worried about the situation, but that was hardly the way a lady of society should behave "I knew something was amiss, but I didn't want to believe that filth went so deep into our rulers."
Now, that was plain slander. But of course, Radea didn't rise to the provocation.
"You are fundamentally mistaken. As I can assure you things aren't how they seem." She closed her eyes, trying to get her thoughts in order. She, in fact, did not appreciate her husband being implied to be some sort of scoundrel playing with people in the shadows. But the suspicion was hardly unfounded, she had to remember "However, that's as far as I can tell you. My apologies."
"You do realize Nicol-sama was infected with that accursed magic, right?"
"Indeed." Radea nodded "Ah. Do make sure Maria-san uses her magic on him. I ignore how that spell came undone, but it should not have happened like that. It might have dire consequences."
"Brainwashing your own son has dire consequences to begin with!" The girl's voice reverberated through the corridor.
Radea waited for a moment, unsure if she had missed any servant on her way to this particular part of the manor. But when nothing happened, she gave the girl her attention again.
"I know." She spoke softly, working her way into Mary's defense as the girl probably expected Radea to suddenly turn into some kind of manic "But it's how it has to be."
She could see the girl's mind racing, piecing together what Radea said. As well as her body language and the context she already had.
Dan should have at least tried to cover all bases, but stretching so thin would probably have consequences. Especially since attuning every spell to be as non-invasive as possible took time.
Radea would have rather not had her own child influenced by such dark power. But there was so much they could do in front of the ruinous power. They couldn't protect the children forever, and at some point they would not even have the power to attempt to.
One day, the princes, Nicol, Sophia, Mary, Rina-rina, and even Maria… One day they would be alone in a world full of malice. And no one would have their back, except themselves.
If the trials gave them the tools to recognize interference, and allowed them to fight it off even slightly then all that was missing was a light mage they could trust.
And from the impresion Maria Campbell gave Radea, the girl was just the perfect candidate.
Alan-sama already passed, Nicol both did and didn't for some reason, and Gerald-sama was still stuck in the world his own ego brought forward.
It worked. Or it seemed to, at least. So Radea had no choice but to harden her heart and let Dan's plan run its course.
So she did what she had to. She refused to elaborate and left Mary to obsess over her own thoughts.
Radea wasn't sure if she did the right thing. But the main objective of the trials was for the children to grow stronger bonds of trust, so she was hoping she didn't spit on Dan's plan with this little stunt.