The Adored Daughter of the Disliked Duke's House: My Magic Power Increases Every Time I'm Praised, So I've Been Perfecting Cuteness Since Infancy! - Episode 24

Professor Forselis’s laboratory was located on the top floor of the north wing. From its large windows, one could overlook the courtyard and see the dueling arena.

Given that she was rumored to love dueling more than anything else, it was the perfect location for her.

Now then—

Inside the laboratory, three adults had already gathered.

There was Professor Irène Forselis, the owner of the laboratory; a large, unassuming professor; and the principal, who had given the speech at the entrance ceremony.

“This is Principal Candelarius and Professor Glouff,” Professor Forselis introduced them.

I grasped the hem of my uniform skirt and greeted them properly.

The principal wore a stern expression but returned my greeting with a nod.

However, Professor Glouff neither acknowledged me nor even looked in my direction.

Instead—

“Tch.”

He clicked his tongue in apparent displeasure.

Hmm?

I was fairly certain I hadn’t done anything to earn his resentment—at least, not yet.

“Lilietta Rosenford, over here.”

When Professor Forselis called me over, I stepped deeper into the room and saw a tattered textbook placed on the large study desk.

It was Floria’s textbook, torn to shreds.

Since Floria had been crying so much in class, I hadn’t been able to examine it properly before. Now, I took a closer look.

(Rather than being torn, it looks like it was slashed with a blade.)

The leather cover was in tatters, and the pages inside were shredded, but the cuts were clean.

It wouldn’t have ended up like this if someone had simply ripped it apart by hand.

“Are you aware that recent research has improved the precision of analyzing magical traces?”

“Yes. I read Professor Denaville’s paper on the subject.”

At my response, Professor Forselis raised an eyebrow.

“You read that paper?”

I understood what she meant.

Academic papers weren’t meant for five-year-old. She was questioning whether I had truly understood its contents.

“Yes. It described the Aurelius Method, which uses the newly invented Fluoride Spectrometer to analyze the wavelengths of Elaphim particles. According to the paper, this method allows one to identify a magic user even from minute traces of residual magic.”

I recited my explanation smoothly, and Professor Forselis nodded in admiration.

“Oh, that reminds me—”

A thought struck me.

“Professor Sébastien Glouff was listed as one of the co-authors, wasn’t he?”

As I clapped my hands together in realization, Professor Glouff clicked his tongue again.

“That’s correct. With Professor Glouff’s assistance, we used the Aurelius Method to analyze this textbook.”

I had thought it was excessive to bring in such advanced techniques for a dispute between children, but given that the case involved a duke’s daughter, it was perhaps inevitable.

“We didn’t investigate this because of your noble status,” Professor Forselis stated firmly, as if reading my mind.

“The most important aspect of elementary magical education is instilling a strong sense of ethics in young magic users. Wouldn’t you agree, Principal?”

The principal, who had remained silent until now, nodded deeply and spoke.

“Magic must never be used to harm others.

Magic exists to help people.

This school is a place to learn that principle.”

In other words, no matter who the culprit was, they would conduct a thorough investigation and administer the appropriate punishment.

The professors’ stern stance made me unconsciously straighten my back.

(If I can’t prove my innocence, I might be suspended… or even expelled. Either outcome must be avoided.)

Being suspended the day after enrolling as a duke’s daughter?

How shameful. I wouldn’t be able to face my father or mother.

But the fact that I had been called here and that they had gone to such lengths to explain everything meant—

“The analysis detected traces of your earth-attribute magic on this textbook.”

They must have compared it to the sample of my magic power taken during the health examination a few weeks before the entrance ceremony.

“I’ll ask you once more.

Did you tear apart Floria Ainsworth’s textbook?”

Professor Forselis’s expression was severe as she posed the question.

“No, I did not,” I answered clearly.

The three professors reacted differently.

But the most obvious reaction, of course, came from Professor Glouff.

“Do you really think you can deny it when there’s concrete physical evidence?!”

He yelled at me, and though the principal tried to calm him, Professor Glouff did not relent.

“To think that you’d commit the same wrongdoing as your father!

‘Bl00d will tell,’ as they say!”

My father? The same wrongdoing?

I widened my eyes in surprise, while the principal and Professor Forselis sighed and rubbed their temples.

“Your father, Bertalius Rosenford, bullied me relentlessly because of my low birth!”

Ah, I see.

So, Professor Glouff and my father were classmates.

They were around the same age, after all.

That said—

My father was far more handsome.

“If only the Aurelius Method had existed back then, I could have had him expelled!”

In other words, there had been no evidence at the time, so my father had gone unpunished.

(Well, not that my father would ever do such a thing in the first place.)

My father?

Secretly tearing up a classmate’s textbook?

Because he found them annoying due to their low status?

(Impossible.)

Professor Glouff exhaled heavily before glaring at me with sharp eyes.

“You must have been pampered by the duke and the king since you were little. Lavished with praise as a ‘genius’—how wonderful that must have been!”

This was no longer an issue of education—it was a personal grudge.

But if I were truly the culprit, his words wouldn’t have been entirely off the mark.

“But that ends today!”

With a loud bang, Professor Glouff slammed a parchment onto the desk. Attached to it were two test papers used in the analysis.

They showed a visual representation of the results.

Both sets of analyzed magic matched perfectly, indicating they came from the same person.

“This proves beyond a doubt that you are the culprit!

Confess at once!”

What an utterly disgraceful thing for an educator to say.

Had I been an ordinary five-year-old, I might have been so frightened that I confessed to something I hadn’t done.

Perhaps sensing this, the principal and Professor Forselis stepped between us.

“Calm yourself, Professor Glouff.

Before coming here, we agreed to separate this matter from her father’s past, did we not?”

The principal tried to reason with him, but Professor Glouff shook his head.

“The one who raised her is that very man. This is far from unrelated!”

A fair point.

“Professor Glouff.”

I spoke up, and all three turned to me in surprise.

They hadn’t expected me to insert myself into the conversation.

“If I can prove my innocence, then you will acknowledge my father’s innocence as well, correct?”

Professor Glouff’s face twisted.

“What?”

His low voice was meant to intimidate, but of course, I didn’t flinch.

“If you claim that my father and I are connected, then if I am innocent, my father must be innocent too.”

It was an unreasonable argument.

But since he had brought it up first, he would have to accept it.

“Hmph.”

Professor Glouff scoffed, as if doubting my ability to prove anything.

“Fine.

But if you fail, I will make public all of your father’s past misdeeds!”

What a petty man.

Still, thanks to him, I now had the chance to clear my father’s name.

“Thank you very much.”

I smiled sweetly, earning another tongue-click from him.

The principal let out a deep sigh, while Professor Forselis looked skyward.

(I’m sorry for troubling them, but…)

This was necessary to protect my father’s honor—and my own.

“Now then.”

I clapped my hands once.

At that moment, the laboratory door swung open.

Al, Leo, and Floria entered.

“Now that everyone is here, let’s begin.”