I was Reincarnated as the Villainess's Older Brother, but it seems My Sister is Obsessed With Me. And for Some Reason, the Male Love Interests are also Doting On Me.(BL) - Chapter 10

A few hours later—

“Haa… haa… why…?”

Gasping for breath, I collapsed to my knees. Stefan gave me a few gentle pats on the back.

“Let’s take a break. You’re nearly out of magic.”

I had tried countless times since then, but not once had I succeeded.

I tried directing my focus downward to freeze the ground, and even imagined cute little animals—rabbits, dogs, anything to help—but for some reason, all I could produce was sleet.

“I really have no talent for this…”

“That’s not true. You were the one who froze the entire lake.”

“Cheer up, brother-in-law. There’s so much of it now that if we sprinkle some sweet syrup on top, it might make a delicious treat!”

Fiona… that is not helpful. There are so many things wrong with that statement.

“Lord Clive, why don’t we take a break for lunch? Everything is prepared.”

At some point, Louis had set up a beautiful picnic under the parasol. He truly was a capable butler.

Stefan, still patting my back, offered some words of encouragement.

“There must be another reason behind it. And besides, thinking on an empty stomach won’t do you any good. Let’s eat and figure it out together.”

“Thanks.”

Fiona, Louis, and Stefan—they were all good people. I didn’t deserve friends this great.

◇◇◇◇

Under the parasol, I took a big bite of my sandwich before turning to Stefan.

“Why do you think I can’t use magic properly?”

“Since you have two attributes, both ice and wind magic coexist within you.”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“Normally, people only have one attribute—like me or Fiona. We circulate that magic throughout our bodies and release it when casting spells.”

“And?”

“There’s no precedent for your case, so this is just a hypothesis… but in your case, the two types of magic might be clashing inside you, preventing either from fully manifesting.”

…So, does that mean I’ll never be able to use magic properly?

Wait… hold on.

“But when you infused me with your magic, I was able to do it.”

“That’s because my attribute is water, and yours is ice. Since ice originates from water, they’re naturally compatible. Ice likely became dominant over wind, allowing you to succeed.”

“That makes sense, I guess.”

“If this hypothesis is correct, then as long as you can prioritize the magic you want to use and suppress the other, you should be able to cast spells properly.”

“Magic really is deep, isn’t it?”

“I’d like to try using wind magic at some point too. I’ve never been able to activate it before.”

As I murmured that, Stefan gave me a thoughtful look.

“Do you want to give it a try after you’ve recovered? You probably won’t be able to do it too many times, though.”

“Hell yeah!”

◇◇◇◇

“Alright! I’m all recovered!”

After lunch, I had taken a short nap, and now I was back to full energy. I really was like a child sometimes.

I was eager to resume training, but there was one problem—I had no idea how wind magic actually worked. Unlike ice, which I could visualize freezing water, wind didn’t seem to have a clear physical form.

I turned to Stefan for answers.

“How do I create wind? It doesn’t seem to have a tangible source like ice.”

“Great question! Do you know about high and low pressure?”

“Sort of.”

“Wind is created when air moves from a high-pressure area to a low-pressure area. The greater the difference in pressure, the stronger the wind.”

“Huh. I had no idea.”

Stefan really knew everything. As expected of a duke’s son. He must have worked harder than anyone.

“Clive, you’re the type who performs better when you construct things logically rather than relying on intuition. Try it this way.”

“Alright!”

I closed my eyes and visualized air pressure—moving from high to low, from high to low…

“Wind!”

Whoosh…

“It worked! Brother-in-law, the wind actually blew!”

The magic manifested as nothing more than a weak breeze—barely stronger than a passing draft.

But still.

For the first time since I was seven, I had successfully conjured wind magic.

I was this close to tearing up.

“FIONA!”

“BROTHER-IN-LAW!”

Overcome with joy, Fiona and I hugged each other.

Even Louis, standing a bit farther away, was silently clapping with tears in his eyes.

“To succeed on your first attempt—you really are something! As expected of my student!”

Stefan grinned brightly, and for a brief moment, I almost felt like I could fall for him. Almost. Not that I ever had feelings for him in the first place.

At this rate, I wanted to completely master magic as my own. I raised my hand and asked Stefan a question.

“Master! I want to improve even more. What do you think I should do to suppress one type of magic while using the other?”

“Hmm… can you tell which type of magic is dominant when you try to use it?”

“Not really, no.”

“I see. In that case, let’s try—”

◇◇◇◇

In the gardens of my family’s estate, I sat cross-legged on the grass.

To be clear, this was not me skipping out on sword training or my studies. This was an official part of my training.

Stefan had proposed an idea:

“Do you remember the sensation of magical circulation when you froze the lake? Try maintaining that flow without actually releasing any magic—but keep one type dominant over the other.”

“I see. So rather than focusing on the theory, I should let my body memorize the sensation instead?”

“Exactly. Since you’re naturally more inclined toward ice magic, let’s start with that first.”

And so, I was now deep in meditation.

But this was much harder than I expected. The moment my mind wandered, my control would slip.

At times like this, meditation was key. Ever since my school trip in my past life, where I first experienced Zen meditation, I had been hooked.

I had already told everyone not to disturb me.

“Lord Clive!”

“I told you not to call out to me.”

The distraction caused my magic to completely disperse.

“I understand, but I thought it best to inform you as soon as possible.”

“What is it, Louis?”

For him to interrupt me, it had to be something serious.

“Tomorrow, Prince Allen, the first prince, will be visiting this estate.”

“…Huh?”

I didn’t understand.

“Prince Allen will be coming here.”

No matter how many times he repeated it, my brain refused to process the information.

“Why? What for?”

“Officially, it is to express his gratitude for your attendance at the recent tea party.”

That… that wasn’t something a prince would typically do.

Especially Allen, who rarely appeared in public.

What was he plotting?

“Your parents will also be present tomorrow.”

“…Alright. I’ll prepare for it.”

Something about this felt off.