Noble Lady Reformation Guide - Chapter 220

A woman sat bound in the pitch-black basement.

The massive magic circles surrounding her seemed excessively large for restraining someone of her petite stature.

Yet it was unavoidable. This woman—gasping for breath with disheveled hair—was the most dangerous prisoner currently held in Gremfort Palace.

Capable of creating absurd variables and anomalies with minimal magic power, she was none other than the imperial regicide.

Having earned Princess Rozelyn's hatred, she wasn't even permitted an easy death... Her fate remained a recurring agenda in royal court discussions.

Princess Rozelyn wanted to tear her apart immediately if possible.

However, Kochella—the 6-Star Transformation Mage who designed these containment circles—held a slightly different opinion.

- Click, click

As Marilyn slowly raised her head while catching her breath, light poured through the basement entrance.

The elderly mage commanding the royal magical advisors entered with a relaxed smile. Settling before Marilyn, Kochella spoke in a tranquil voice:

"Shall we talk?"

The battered Marilyn responded with a hollow, disbelieving laugh.

Lady Rina—arguably the only sane person in Sepia Dormitory—surveyed her fellow students with growing unease.

As expected, several students fascinated by Iris Dormitory's herbal research had attempted to replicate it, resulting in a massive explosion.

While Iris members systematically studied the organic dynamics between magical artifacts and chemicals, Sepia's approach differed entirely.

"Lady Rina! D-did you see that?! Such a huge explosion...! A-amazing...!"

"N-no...! First we need to clean this up...!"

"Y-yes...! But... wasn't the explosion incredible?"

Rina felt dizzy. Lady Trisha would surely look devastated if word reached her.

Between Lady Road who periodically vanished, Lady Delarton obsessed with explosives, and Lady Riman with her stray cat-like tendencies of hiding anywhere... every single student here was uncontrollable.

"Th-the Amarilis House main building has important guests right now...! If they notice this mess, who knows what'll happen...!"

"R-right...! W-we'll get penalized if this continues...! B-but the explosion was spectacular, right?"

"That's not the point right now! We need to report to Lady Trisha and start cleaning up first—"

"S-so... if crescent moon herbs and magic crystals caused this much explosion... what would happen if we synthesized rootgur mountain herbs with higher magic concentration?!"

"Gasp... Lady Delarton..! What are you saying...!...Let's try it now!"

"I knew Lady Evelyn would understand!"

Rina's breathing grew ragged. While academic passion and curiosity were positive traits in this land of learning, one needed to consider timing.

The thirst for knowledge suppressed in their noble households had finally found release in Ravenclaw Academy's utopia. Exploring, researching, and fully expressing their talents—this ideal was being realized here, but—

"P-please... think about the time and place!"

"Lady Rina! If not now... when?! If Lady Aiselin finds out and disciplines us, we'll never get to conduct such research again!"

"Lady Delarton's right! If not now...! We'll never get to synthesize rootgur mountain herbs! This is our only chance! Could you... could you really pass this up...?"

"Please just stop! PLEASE!"

Watching Lady Delarton roll up her sleeves with determination made Rina feel like her eyes were spinning.

If Trisha heard about this, she'd clutch her head and collapse.

"Alright, let's go again!!!!!!"

- BOOM! KABOOM! KWA-GA-GA-GAK!

"Wh-what's happening? Are we under attack? Who dares assault an imperial facility?"

"No, Chairman Damon. This is... just... an internal matter..."

"Internal matter...?"

It was rare to see the battle-hardened Chairman Damon so flustered.

Derek strode down the corridor with Damon, massaging his temples.

"This would be Sepia Dormitory. Some curious young ladies must be conducting explosive experiments again. Though strictly prohibited by academy rules..."

"Wh-what kind of... How could this...?"

Damon couldn't help his astonishment.

Ravenclaw Academy was currently the most prestigious noble education and magic institution on the continent. Frequent explosions were unacceptable.

Of course, controlling adolescent girls wasn't easy.

But these weren't ordinary girls—each came from aristocratic families. If this escalated, assigning blame would be unavoidable.

'Is this man... unable to properly control his academy?'

Even for a genius mage of impeccable character, managing such an institution was no simple feat.

Yet this facility's importance couldn't be overstated. Mistakes weren't permissible here.

'Is this level of operation acceptable?'

Derek clearly sensed Damon's doubts—understandable given his position as head of the central noble council. Having the academy appear unreliable to such a figure was problematic.

Despite issuing special notices for proper conduct during the visit, this still happened.

- KWA-AK! KWA-GAK! KWA-GA-GA-GA-GAK!

"Th-that's... another explosion...!"

Damon was already sweating profusely, eyeing Derek sideways.

Could such an institution really be entrusted with noble scions representing the empire's future?

As these doubts surfaced, Derek's eyes flashed.

The sudden ominous aura made Damon halt mid-step.

"My apologies, Chairman. For you to witness such disgrace during this important visit."

Derek seemed different.

Maintaining composure that made Damon's earlier doubts seem misplaced, yet fundamentally changed from before.

Taking a deep breath, Derek wiped his face. After several calming breaths while gripping a windowsill, his eyes widened.

After struggling to establish Ravenclaw Academy, coordinating with Aiselin to build systems, meticulously preparing for distinguished guests while maintaining magic training, teaching direct disciples, and even fighting a war at Count Elvester's manor—

When he finally thought to rest and recover, students occupied dormitories, disappeared, fought, and now caused explosions—all while Damon visited.

Though Aiselin would handle it eventually, witnessing this during such an important visit made him realize something was fundamentally wrong.

Perhaps it had been wrong from the start.

As this monologue unfolded, a sinister aura began radiating from Derek.

"Baron Ravenclaw... are you... alright...?"

"Yes... perfectly... fine... May I... handle something quickly...?"

Damon gulped watching Derek.

He intuited that neither Princess Rozelyn nor Kochella had likely seen Derek like this.

A grand mage reaching 5-Star level at a young age.

Damon's skeptical gaze faded as he sensed the extraordinary magic power radiating from Derek.

Something... something was happening.

"Wait, you've never seen Derek completely lose it? Surprising. Uncle Jayden, you've known him longest—thought you'd have seen it at least once."

"Saw him scouting lagging porters during labyrinth expeditions or bar fights in Tavern Street."

"Those don't count as real anger. No wonder you don't understand why we mercenaries always obeyed Derek... This is truly surprising..."

Tavern"Beldern's Tear"

News of the brutal battle in Count Elvester's territory had reached Evenstain.

Tavern owner Jayden smiled warmly at the letter from Ravenclaw Barony—unusual as they typically only exchanged seasonal greetings. This one contained a special request for Pellin to visit the barony before summer's end.

Though technically Derek's official concubine, Pellin—who detested noble culture—rarely visited aristocratic areas.

With Derek's established authority, neither was bound by familial formalities, allowing Pellin to continue her mercenary life.

But summoning Pellin now suggested important reasons.

Discussing possibilities with Jayden led to reminiscing about their mercenary days with Derek.

Chugging mead before exhaling deeply, Pellin's shoulders seemed lighter.

"When Derek reaches his limit... just... just don't provoke him... Don't even breathe... keep your head down... eyes lowered..."

"Derek's always been rather dull. Hard to imagine him truly angry."

"It's... once every few years... when all misfortunes converge, exhaustion piles up, everything goes wrong, and words stop working... When he decides terror must be instilled to solve everything... That's when you see the real Derek. Rare as legendary creatures..."

"...Hard to picture."

"Outwardly, it's hard to tell. Derek excels at emotional control. Even furious, he rarely shows it, maintaining his usual gentle tone as if resolving matters peacefully... But that's... the final warning..."

Setting down her mug, Pellin's fingertips trembled as if recalling something, her body shaking with chills.

"Never provoke Derek when he's like that... Never..."

"...?"

Discipline.

Leaders must enforce order when their group strays.

As a lifelong leader, Damon knew how grueling this was. Correcting a misguided group was harder than building anew.

- WHOOSH!

- CRACKLE! BOOM!

- SCREAMS!

Watching Derek stride toward Amarilis House's central garden amidst swirling magic, Damon reflected:

Discipline—easier said than done.

It required unimaginable effort—akin to reconstruction. Complete overhaul of a wayward group.

In the magical tempest, Derek marched forward with rolled-up sleeves, one hand covering his face, radiating indescribable malice.

One must remember—this man was a 5-Star grand mage.

His usual benevolent leadership made it easy to forget. Here stood Derek Raidof Ravenclaw—a magician beyond any academy member's league.

"Gasp...!"

"Wh-what in the world...!"

A gale-force wind swirled around Derek as he strode past Sepia Dormitory's shattered walls.

Young ladies in the garden clutched their clothes, needing to grip structures to avoid being blown away.

And when the troublemakers beyond Sepia's walls met Derek's gaze through his fingers—those eyes like death's shadow—

"Please... just listen..."

That murderous glare in the distance.

All color drained from Sepia students'faces.

"Eeek...!"

"...? What's wrong, Lady Trisha?"

"I-I don't know... Suddenly felt chills..."

In Ravenclaw Academy's east wing—Revilton Culture Hall—Trisha trembled while having tea with Elente. Sudden chills crawled up her spine.

'Wh-what now...? No way... right...? Everything's... resolved... isn't it...?'

As Elente looked puzzled, Trisha forced an awkward smile.