The Magical Holy Woman Seraphina - Chapter 31

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Holy Mage Seraphina
Chapter 31
“What? Let’s run away.”
As playfully as I could. Smiling. Like it was all a joke.
The truth was I was so mortified, so embarrassed, so furious at being humiliated in front of everyone that I wanted to just walk away from it all.
But I couldn’t.
Because then I’d just look ridiculous.
So I was laughing it off instead.
Arden didn’t respond right away.
I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.
I was just hoping he wouldn’t say something like: ‘Well, you have to admit senior had a point too, right? After all, she was a customer. Have you tried this? Have you tried that? Your tone could have been softer.’ That’s all I was praying for.
‘Not that I’d have much to say even if he did. I can’t exactly whine that he’s not taking my side.’
So caught up was I in composing myself that when Arden finally answered, I didn’t catch it at first.
“Yes. Let’s go.”
“Huh?”
“Let’s go. Run away.”
……
“We can leave right now, can’t we?”
Where would we even go? He glanced at his watch as if checking the time, then looked directly at me and asked.
“The Imperial Palace?”
“The Imperial Palace?”
“Yes. The Imperial Palace.”
“Oh….”
Is this guy insane?
“Let’s go right now. Go see His Imperial Majesty and tell him this wretched nation has no idea how to respect anyone, that the moment people gain even a shred of authority they start abusing what little power they have, and it’s ruining society, and the whole place will collapse next week unless he does something about it.”
……
“Bring a pillow. In case we need to lie down and stage a sit-in.”
“…You’re joking, right?”
“I’m not the kind of person who makes jokes.”
He really meant it—let’s go right now. Arden stepped forward.
“What are you doing? If you’re not coming, I’m going alone.”
Is he out of his mind?
The shock was so sudden that all my anger vanished in an instant.
“Seraphina!”
The Manager—the previous one had been fired, and this was the new hire—came hurrying down from upstairs when she heard the commotion.
“Next time someone like that comes in, don’t bother with them—just throw them out!”
“But she was a customer…….”
“A customer has to actually benefit the shop! All she did was cause trouble—how is that a customer? …But who is this handsome imperial knight here?”
“He came to run away with Seraphina.”
“Oh, running away’s fine by me.”
Rest up today and come back tomorrow! The Manager’s hands pressed against our backs, shoving Arden and me out the door.
As I looked up at him in bewilderment, Arden tilted his head.
“The Imperial Palace is that way.”
“How long have you been watching?”
“Since that guy told senior, ‘If you’re in a bad mood, maybe you should have studied harder in school and gotten a better job.'”
Walking with Arden toward the Capital’s Central District 1.
Was I really going to the Imperial Palace?
No, not really.
‘I’ve finally gotten some free time—I’m not about to waste it cooped up in some cramped little room.’
I was planning to go to the Library and catch up on some books I’d missed.
Sit at the long table in front of those tall latticed windows where sunlight poured in, feel the pages turn under my fingertips, and maybe just space out while watching the sunset.
Pick up some ice cream and grilled chicken skewers from the vendor stalls on the way.
“Why didn’t you mention that you’d left the Academy?” Arden asked, breaking into my thoughts as I was deliberately trying not to dwell on what had just happened.
“Huh?”
“Just now, when that woman was running her mouth. You know, when she said ‘Don’t talk about things you don’t understand—I’m from the Imperial Academy.’ Why didn’t you fire back at her?”
The same person who used to hold her own against professors in sharp, measured words all through school! Arden’s voice suddenly got louder.
“Because you didn’t say anything, that woman thinks she won!”
She had to stay quiet because she was an employee, while that woman got to say whatever she wanted, and now the woman was walking away thinking she’d won through sheer logic and intelligence!
“Waah, waah, waah!” Arden practically shouted.

“If you were going to tell me, you should have shown me the brooch at least. You wore that school brooch all the time—when else would you use it if not now?”
“…….”
“…….”
“…Arden, are you angry?”
“Very angry!”
“Heh.”
He certainly looked it—pouting like a seven-year-old.
Strangely, the more I watched Arden sulk, the more my own irritation melted away.
The fact that my mood could lighten just from watching someone angry on my behalf—was this the power of empathy?
I laughed softly and spoke.
“Not attending the Academy doesn’t mean you deserve to hear things like that.”
“I’m sorry?”
“If I’d said ‘Well, I attended the Academy,’ it would’ve sounded like everyone who didn’t go deserves to hear insults like that. So I didn’t say it.”
Whether someone went to the Academy or not, nobody should speak to others that way.
“…That’s true, I suppose.”
“Right.”
“You’re right.”
“…….”
“…….”
“But here’s the thing. I actually know that woman from before.”
“What?!”
Arden’s voice rose sharply—loud enough that a passerby shot us a disapproving look and turned away.
Instead of saying sorry, I mouthed an apology and pulled Arden to the side. Surprised, he came along without protest, and I asked him.
“Remember when I told you I was once punished in place of another student?”
On the opening night of Opera Sernier.
When you asked if I had painful memories I wanted to forget, you answered that you’d once touched a cicada with your bare hand. And I said I’d been falsely blamed and scolded for something another student did.
“That teacher who scolded me back then—she’s the woman from earlier. I was fourteen at the time.”
“…….”
“I didn’t remember her, but I knew who she was the moment I saw her face.”
The memory had burned itself so deeply into me that nine years later I recognized her instantly. For her, apparently, it was nothing worth remembering. I added this with a wry smile, and Arden fell silent.
After a moment of silence, Arden asked quietly.
“What happened?”
“Nothing serious, really.”
Bringing up a story from nearly a decade ago made me feel foolish. I scratched the back of my hand and continued.
“When I was fourteen, she was my homeroom teacher. Back then, there was a stove in the middle of the classroom.”
You know the kind—long and narrow, used to heat soup and brew tea and such.
“Yes?”
“One student put a stick in it, lit it on fire, then held it toward a friend. It left a burn on the friend’s arm.”
Naturally, the parents were summoned.
“The problem was that the child’s parents had absolutely vile temperaments.”
“Don’t treat our child like an aggressor. Even if it’s true, how could you shame our child like this in front of all the other students? Do you know our older brother is a lawyer with access to the Imperial Palace? We’ll make sure you never teach again.”…
“They screamed and shouted at the teacher in front of all the students, backed her into a corner completely.”
The teacher is still incredibly young, isn’t she? Maybe just past thirty now?
“Back then, she was green—about our age now.”
Even when the principal came to intervene, those parents were completely unreasonable, and the teacher had to worry about her own position rather than seeing the aggressor punished.
“Ma’am, that’s not what I meant. Sir, surely it hasn’t come to a formal report yet…” That’s all she could stammer out.
“And that’s when cornered, the teacher’s eyes landed on me.”
“…On you?”
“Yes.”
“What happened when you appeared?”
Not understanding, Arden furrowed his brow. He still looked handsome even with that scowl, so I just shrugged.
“The teacher blamed everything on me to try to solve the problem.”
“‘Wait, that’s right. Seraphina was on stove duty this week, wasn’t she? So she would’ve had the key!’
“‘What?’
“‘Seraphina, tell me. Did you tell that student to bully your friend?'”
“…Does that even make sense?”
“It does.”
That’s how people are. When they’re cornered, that’s what happens. By instinct, they look for someone to dump responsibility on.
Even if the method makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.
“But I had no one to fight for me, no parents to protect me, and I just happened to be standing there. That was my misfortune.”
“…then.”
“Predictable, isn’t it.”
‘I can slip branches through the gaps here perfectly well without poking them all the way inside. How does being assigned to the stove today mean I encouraged this?’
‘Seraphina, why are you like this? Your teacher isn’t even punishing you right now — just admit it quietly….’
‘I didn’t do anything. Why should I admit to something I didn’t do? The one who swung the branch at a friend was Paul, not me — Paul should admit it first!’
‘Can’t you keep your mouth shut?’
‘I can’t!’
Crack!
“You’re right — from childhood, I was the kind of child who never backed down from a single word. Even when the flustered teacher singled me out and started babbling incoherently, I could counter her easily enough.”
But when she chose to dump the blame on me in front of everyone, and I kept firing back point by point, what else was she going to do?
“…So she hit me across the face.”
“I had bruises all over this cheek, see?”
I grinned and turned my right cheek toward him. Arden didn’t smile.
‘Hah, hah….’
‘…….’
‘Seraphina, I normally don’t bring up others’ weaknesses. You’ve been ruined because you have no parents to educate you properly. Don’t feel wronged by it — you deserved that beating.’
‘…No.’
It’s the opposite.
I wasn’t ruined because I had no parents to educate me — I was hit because I had no parents to protect me.
“I thought of one last rebuttal, but I couldn’t say it. I was too afraid of getting hit again.”
The caretaker at the orphanage where I grew up was kind, but she had no power to advocate for me.
“That night my face hurt so much. The pain kept me awake.”
Whimpering through the ache, I lay awake the whole night thinking.
If only I’d had a mother and father.
“I was always afraid of sleeping alone at night, so I always slept right beside my parents.”
Whenever they left the house, I wouldn’t sleep until they came back.
But that night I was so frightened and they weren’t there. No matter how long I waited, they never came….
That was when it truly sank in.
My mother and father — they were gone from this world forever.
“…….”
“I was really just a child, wasn’t I?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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