I Stole The Duke - Chapter 16

“It’s the fairy lady!”

“Watch your tongue. It’s disrespectful to give nicknames to the future Madam.”

The knights, who had been training shirtless with swords in hand, froze with their mouths agape.

“Everyone, pay no mind and focus on your tasks.”

Feeling the excessive attention on her, Puelini shouted sharply.

‘How are we supposed to ignore this…’

The knights, who had stripped due to the sweat pouring down like rain, hurried to retrieve and put on their clothes. A fairy walking alongside a monstrous bear—it was quite a sight.

“Sir Puelini, please ensure that no one comes within ten meters of us.”

“Yes, understood.”

An open space with a flat, even ground but no roof—yet with reliable security.

This was the training ground exclusively for the First Order of Knights. There was no better place for conducting an experiment.

‘Dream.’

Confirming that Puelini had turned his back, Eliana immediately summoned the system.

[Yes, I am listening. Please select a function.]

‘Display the image of the magic circle embedded in this necklace.’

Search Results for the Image

It is a magic circle emitting pink lightning.

‘Zoom in on the image.’

Eliana transferred the popup window in front of her onto the ground of the training field.

“……”

Puelini, without hesitation, dropped to one knee and watched, mouth agape, as Eliana began sketching the magic circle onto the ground using a piece of charcoal.

‘Good heavens…’

She was drawing a complex magic circle without even consulting a grimoire. It seemed the future Duchess was a magical prodigy.

‘This is going to take longer than I thought.’

Despite Puelini’s astonishment, Eliana continued, overlaying the image from the popup onto the ground like a stencil and carefully tracing the magic circle.

‘Alright, that’s one done.’

Even with the aid of the overlay, the intricacy of the design meant that completing just one magic circle took over thirty minutes.

‘Dream, did I make any mistakes?’

[Comparison complete. 99.2% match with the image.]

Fortunately, thanks to the system’s ability to highlight any discrepancies, there was no chance of errors.

By the time she had drawn three magic circles in succession, nearly two hours had passed.

“Phew, all done.”

Finally standing, Eliana wiped the sweat from her brow.

Her arms and knees screamed in protest after two hours of labor, but the satisfaction of having finished the drawings was undeniable.

“Are you finished?”

Puelini, who had been keeping the other knights at bay, approached and asked.

From what he could see, the three magic circles—each drawn at precise intervals—were identical in size and form.

“Now the real work begins.”

Eliana smiled lightly and took the magic stones she had collected from the storage room earlier, placing one at the center of each circle.

They were, in order, a low-grade, mid-grade, and high-grade magic stone.

“Lightning.”

Taking about ten steps back, Eliana called out with a nervous heart.

Crackle! Crackle! Crackle!

Immediately, three bolts of lightning shot skyward from the magic circles. Astonishingly, they were pink.

“What the—?!”

Pretending not to notice, the knights who had been focusing on their personal training couldn’t help but widen their eyes in shock.

‘What did I just witness?’

The entire training ground buzzed with murmurs.

“At least Stage One is a success.”

“There’s a Stage Two?”

Standing beside her, Puelini asked.

“Strength assessment.”

“How will you assess the strength?”

“I’ve heard this level of power can knock out an average adult male. It supposedly won’t work against someone of Sword Expert level or higher. So, Sir Puelini…”

“Yes, I will take the hit.”

Before Eliana could finish her sentence, Puelini confidently stepped forward.

“Haha, who could be more suitable than I?”

Chuckling heartily, Puelini approached the first magic circle and extended his hand.

As he concentrated his mana, a blue aura enveloped his hand.

“Ah—sorry! Lightning!”

Crackle! Crackle! Crackle!

Puelini was struck three times by the pink lightning on his hand.

“Sir Puelini, how was it?”

Eliana cautiously asked, stepping closer.

“With aura activated, it left my palm slightly numb. If a regular adult male were to be struck, he’d definitely lose consciousness.”

“Sir Puelini, if I were to fire lightning from one meter away, could you evade it?”

“I could either dodge or counter it. The moment you chant the activation phrase, I’d anticipate the spell.”

“What if the magic were to be cast from an unexpected location? Say… from the sole of my foot?”

“Haha, then I might actually get hit.”

“How powerful would the strike be if it landed unguarded?”

“At this level of power, it might not cause unconsciousness, but it would certainly impair movement for at least one to three minutes.”

“What about the difference in power based on the grade of the magic stone?”

“All three magic circles exhibit the same level of power.”

“I see… Thank you, Sir Puelini.”

With the magic circle engraved in her necklace and the support of Puelini, Eliana gradually deepened her understanding of magic. Since this part wasn’t detailed in the original novel, she needed to establish her own framework.

Eliana reinterpreted magic through a modern lens.

If magic could be considered a kind of system, then magic circles were the programming designs that activated that system, while magic stones served as its batteries.

The grade of a magic stone merely reflected its capacity—having a higher-grade stone didn’t increase a spell’s power. (The strength of magic was fixed by the design of the magic circle.)

In other words, as long as the blueprint was accurate, one could use magic without possessing mana—relying instead on capital (magic stones = money).

‘At least I’ll earn my keep before logging out.’

And thanks to her system’s search engine, as long as she had the exact term, she could always find the necessary blueprint.

“Sir Puelini, please escort me to the archives.”

“Yes, Lady Eliana.”

She didn’t know when the time would come, but before she logged out, Eliana was determined to settle the debt of responsibility she had taken upon herself.

“Huff… huff…”

Her eyes flew open, and she gasped for breath.

‘Again… it’s happened again.’

The familiar wallpaper, the distant scent buried in her memories, the blanket she hadn’t seen in years—it was the room she had used as a child.

“Damn it, damn it… that bastard Emperor.”

Her fourth execution by beheading.

No matter how many times she experienced it, the feeling of her neck being severed never became less horrifying.

“Ugh… huff… huff…”

Lurching forward, she stumbled from her bed and rushed to the balcony, retching violently. But she had eaten nothing the previous night; nothing came out.

“Hhk… sob…”

Collapsing to the cold balcony floor, she heaved dryly, only for tears to stream uncontrollably down her cheeks.

‘After everything… after all I did to become Crown Princess…’

Tears fell one by one onto the icy tiles. She had clawed her way up to the position of Crown Princess through relentless effort, only to meet the end at the executioner’s block.

“Hhk… sob…”

For some, regression might be salvation. But for her, it was nothing short of a curse.

“Hhk… Just one day, just one more day… that’s all I needed.”

Because of one day’s difference, she could never prevent the cause that led to her execution.

Like a cheap clockwork doll missing a single gear, no matter what she did, the conclusion was always execution—and she always returned to this exact day ten years ago.

Now… she could see no way forward.

“…Ah.”

Through her empty sobs, she suddenly wiped her tears and rose to her feet.

There was one thing she had never attempted. No—there was now only one thing left she could do.

“Treason.”

She whispered the word that had floated to the surface of her mind.

‘You turned me into this. So now, it’s my turn to send you to the gallows.’

She wiped her tears away completely and stood before the mirror.

“……”

Reflected in the glass was an eighteen-year-old girl with soft pink hair, standing still and composed.

‘My allies in achieving this goal…’

She studied her flower-like reflection and thought silently.

‘The Crown Prince. And… perhaps the Duke of Ascher.’

Two men’s faces rose clearly in her memory.

Knock, knock, knock.

A soft knock interrupted her thoughts.

“Young Lady, I’ve brought your wash water and the newspaper you asked for.”

“Come in, Jessie.”

Her previously cold and hardened face now bloomed with a soft, porcelain smile.

“My goodness, you’re so beautiful today as always, Young Lady.”

As Freya washed her face, Jessie stood beside her, fussing with admiration as she handed her a towel.

“Am I?”

Her voice carried innocent curiosity, yet her expression brimmed with serene confidence and pride.

It was only natural.

As the only daughter of Count Espensen, cherished and treasured, she would go on to be hailed as the Empire’s greatest beauty for the next ten years. This was none other than Freya Espensen herself.

“Here’s the newspaper, Young Lady.”

Freya handed Jessie the used towel and took the newspaper. But the instant her eyes landed on the front page, she gasped aloud.

“Ah!”

“Young Lady?”

“It’s nothing.”

Blinking rapidly, she adjusted her focus and looked again.

The past had changed.

Had the date of her regression shifted? She quickly checked, but the date was accurate—there was no mistake.

Wespera Imperial Calendar, Year 321, May 13th.

The day after her eldest brother caused the incident that led to her execution.

Today’s weekly newspaper should have featured, in bold headlines, the duel her brother had fought yesterday.

This was her fifth life after four regressions. And somehow, the contents of the past newspaper were different.

Eyes wide, Freya read the headline on the front page aloud, enunciating every word.

<Wespera Times Weekly>

[Exclusive] The New Duke of Ascher in a Romantic Scandal

A Love Marriage, Not a Political Union?

What Will Become of the Silver Cinderella’s Fate?!

‘This is impossible…’

Even the content of the article was shocking. Freya felt a wave of confusion and disbelief.

He was known far and wide as the Iron-Wall Duke.

Countless noble ladies had tried to approach Duke of Ascher, mesmerized by his appearance, but it was said that exchanging more than three words with him was a rare achievement. He treated women like stone walls.

During her four previous regressions, the Duke of Ascher had never been involved in a scandal, let alone marriage.

And now… news of his marriage?

Given everything she had come to know about his character over the years, this was an impossible development.

Something had gone terribly wrong.

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