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I—Belltina—was suddenly told by my father to leave the house that day. Things might have gone differently if we had had a proper conversation, but while part of Bell was anxious upon hearing that, there was also great relief.

◇◇◇

When I was born, my parents were apparently happy at first. Being a proud noble, father believed that a noble should have abundant magic power befitting their status, so he was happy that Bell had the foundations for abundant magic power. I can recall how he angrily told Bell this.
Everything changed after Bell’s sorcery lessons began. Bell’s magic power gradually increased to the point of surpassing the standard for nobles, but after seeing how my sorcery wouldn’t improve no matter how hard I tried, father had since started yelling at me. Before I knew it, there were no more sorcery lessons, and mother wouldn’t look at Bell anymore.

Since then, Bell shut herself in her own room and would constantly try to watch out for father’s presence, because father would yell at me if we ended up crossing paths. If not, he would still have an annoyed and displeased face. I was so scared, so afraid, that whenever it felt like father was coming near my room, I would immediately hide under my bed. I didn’t even want to eat with them, so Bell ate alone in her room.
But since I don’t really get to eat food properly that way, one day I got the courage to sneak to the kitchen, and since then I would ask for a portion of food there. With me leaving my room now, Bell became more vigilant of father’s presence, and on the occasion that Bell bumped into him, she would get yelled at and run crying back to the bedroom.

As Bell’s days continued like this, the day when Bell was bestowed her Job came. In other words, it was Bell’s 10th birthday, and Bell was now seeing things she’d never seen before. At first I didn’t notice, but when I searched for father’s presence as I do daily, I saw bluish-white stuff stuck to all sorts of things. This color was thinner in the air and thicker near sorcery tools, and after seeing the bluish-white stuff inside Bell through the mirror, I had a clue what it was.
Remembering my original intention, I hurriedly checked to see if father was nearby and saw the bluish-white stuff from beyond the walls. I finally realized that this was magic power when I noticed a particularly intense presence of the bluish-white stuff approaching quickly. Knowing that this presence was father’s and what I was seeing was his magic power, I hid in a dark corner of my room.

Several seconds after, the door was violently opened, and father yelled, 「Belltina, show yourself!」 Normally, he would only scan the room and leave, but this time he directly called for Bell, so despite being afraid—since I thought that he might get scarier if I stayed quiet―I showed myself and responded, 「What might it be, father?」
Seeing me come out, father scanned me from head to toe before scoffing and handing me a piece of paper.

「You are at least capable of imbuing this with magic power, aren’t you?」
「Y-yeshh…」
「Stop dawdling!」

Being yelled at by my irate father, I reflexively imbued it with magic power. Even with how bad Bell is at control, I can at least do this much. After all, I can operate magic circles, albeit badly. It may take Bell a long time to activate and only result in substandard effects, but being able to activate it does mean that I can imbue things with magic power.
Looking at the paper, it had 【Belltina Chilandia Job: Magic Eye Holder】 written on it. I’ve never heard of the Job Magic Eye Holder before, but I immediately understood what it does. It must be because of this Magic Eye that Bell became capable of seeing magic power since this morning.

Father snatched the sheet of paper from Bell’s hands and muttered, 「Magic Eye Holder?」 with a puzzled look. It seems like father doesn’t know about this Job either.

「Has there been anything different since today?」

Father asked, but Bell didn’t respond. More precisely, Bell couldn’t respond. Judging that this meant that nothing was different, father lost interest in Bell and left the room.
It felt like a storm had just passed, and now I’m alone in my room again. While badmouthing father in my mind, I repeatedly punched the nearest pillow.

◇◇◇

After learning about my Job, father stopped coming to my room. I learned this later while sneaking out of my room for food―I was able to move around the house more easily thanks to my Job―but it seems like father is concerned about my condition. Apparently, he’s trying to find if there’s any use for this unfamiliar Magic Eye Holder Job.
Upon knowing this, Bell was convinced that my choice back then wasn’t a mistake. After all, if father had known what the Magic Eye Holder Job could do, Bell might have had to meet with father even more. If possible, Bell would rather live quietly without seeing father ever again.

Since then, I was able to have a peaceful, secluded life for a while. During this time, I learned that the reason why Bell is bad with sorcery is because her magic circuits are shorter than other people’s. While father and other people have their circuits extending up until their fingertips, Bell’s aren’t as long and extensive. Recalling what my tutor said before, shorter circuits limit the amount of magic power you can use at once, making it difficult to do sorcery. And that’s why Bell can’t do it well. Knowing this doesn’t really change anything, though.

Bell’s situation changed two years after father mostly lost interest in me, when it was time for Bell to enroll in an academy. I’d completely forgotten about it until then, but father suddenly came to me and said, 「You carrying the name of Chilandia is an embarrassment in itself. As a show of mercy, I’ll permit you to enroll in the second academy; see this as a final chance in freedom and leave the Chilandia House.」 It wasn’t just a verbal stipulation; father even provided a magic contract, so he seriously wants Bell to leave the house.

Having been here since birth and having secluded myself for a good portion of my life, the idea of leaving the house is very dreadful and worrying, but just the thought of never having to see father again gave Bell a great sense of comfort.
The thought of never having to see father brought me a feeling of liberation I’ve never felt before; I felt like I could do anything, and I was able to read the content of the magic contract with a clear mind.