Although Clara had wholeheartedly hoped to pass the exam, she hadn't expected that only two applicants would remain after forty others were eliminated. She had a rough guess as to why, but she intended to confirm that suspicion in this final stage.
The interview stage.
The other person who passed alongside her was a nervous-looking young man with glasses large enough to swallow half his face.
He kept fidgeting with his sleeves while glancing anxiously at the door.
A palace guard finally signaled for him to enter.
Two minutes later, the young man walked out with the expression of someone whose entire academic career had just collapsed.
Well… that probably didn't go well, Clara thought.
And if I'm the only one left… does that mean I'm getting the job?
Don't get too excited.
When it was finally her turn, Clara stepped into the room.
She was greeted by a familiar sight.
The Belmont twins.
That was… odd.
From what she remembered from rumors- and from the novel-the final proctor of the examination was usually the Imperial Advisor.
One twin stood near the wall while the other sat behind the desk.
"Have a seat, Miss Valeria," the seated twin said.
Clara obeyed, smoothing her skirt as she sat and waited for the questions.
"Miss Valeria," the twin began, studying her carefully, "every other scholar used a dispelling charm or a magical barrier."
He leaned slightly forward.
"You… built a paper tent and ignored the problem entirely. Explain your thought process."
A pause.
"Was it a lack of magical ability… or an insult to the Imperial examination?"
Clara didn't flinch.
Her posture remained straight as she met his gaze with calm professionalism.
"It was neither," she said evenly. "I looked at the storm and realized it wasn't an attack meant to destroy the paper. If it were, we would all be dead. It was a test of temperament."
Her eyes flicked toward the faint white vapor still lingering above her desk.
"A storm thrives on two things: heat and pressure. In people, those translate to fear and reaction. If I fought it, I would be feeding it. If I ran, I would be validating its power over me."
Clara allowed herself a small, confident smile.
"I realized the problem didn't need to be solved. It needed to be de-escalated."
She gestured lightly toward the parchment tent she had made.
"By creating a small boundary and refusing to provide the 'heat' of panic, the spell eventually exhausted itself. It's a lesson in patience. You cannot reason with a hurricane… but you can certainly wait for it to realize that its thunder is falling on deaf ears."
Silence fell over the room.
The tension shifted, the earlier hostility replaced by something more thoughtful.
"You treated a high-level magical manifestation… like a tantrum," the seated twin murmured.
"I treated it like something that was tired of being loud," Clara replied calmly.
Then she added, with a small knowing smirk-
"Your Highness."
The seated twin's eyes widened.
The standing twin-who had maintained a stoic expression the entire time- looked just as shocked.
Clara leaned back slightly, confidence slowly building.
"I was merely testing a suspicion," Clara who was inspecting their faces continued.
"But it seems I was correct."
A soft chuckle echoed through the room.
"Oh? How smug."
The voice had changed.
It was lighter. Sharper. Amused.
"Then be frank with me," the voice continued. "What exactly are your suspicions?"
A dangerous pause followed.
"If you are wrong… I may have you beheaded for falsely addressing a non-member of the Imperial family."
Clara flinched.
Only slightly.
But in her previous life, after juggling multiple part-time jobs in the service industry- not just working as a librarian-she had learned a very valuable skill.
How to look calm when the customer was being terrifying.
"Princess Veronica von Aethelgard," Clara said carefully, "the rumors about your magical talent must be true."
She tilted her head slightly.
"Especially your skill in cloning magic."
The twin sitting behind the desk suddenly laughed.
"How did you know?" the princess asked, giggling. "My disguise was perfect! I even copied Terry's voice pitch perfectly!"
Yet beneath the playful tone, there was a glint of curiosity in her eyes.
Like a puzzle she hadn't solved yet.
Well… technically it's because I read the novel, Clara thought.
As a genius manipulator, cloning magic was well within the Princess's capabilities. She had used the skill several times in the book, most notably when she grew desperate and tried to impersonate Lea-though Nikolai saw through it immediately. Cloning magic is complex and mana-intensive; even the most talented magicians can only maintain it for minutes. However, for a member of the Imperial family gifted with an enormous mana pool, it was as simple as breathing.
Clara also remembered something else.
The Belmont twins had very distinct personalities. Most nobles only saw them during formal duties, so they assumed the twins behaved identically.
But Clara had noticed something.
Terry felt… off.
His mannerisms didn't match the version described in the novel. The happy go lucky guy among the twins.
Which meant the person playing him wasn't Terry.
All of this led Clara to her conclusion.
Of course… she couldn't exactly say I know because I read the novel.
Fortunately, she had already prepared a reasonable lie.
"It was all from deducing it"
"Deducing it?"
Clara folded her hands neatly on her lap, her posture still composed despite the threat hanging in the air.
"It is true that twins often possess similar mana signatures," she said calmly. "So similar that most mages would not bother distinguishing them. That was what made the disguise convincing."
The princess tilted her head slightly, watching her.
"But similar does not mean identical."
Clara continued, her voice steady.
"When the storm manifested earlier, I paid attention to the flow of mana sustaining it. High-level spells usually fluctuate depending on the caster's focus. However, the spell in the examination hall remained perfectly stable."
Her gaze shifted between the two of them.
"And yet I could sense something else. The mana from both of you… did not feel like two separate sources."
She paused briefly.
"It felt like one."
The room fell quiet.
"To maintain a storm illusion over dozens of examinees while simultaneously sustaining a physical clone would require an enormous amount of mana. Most magicians could only hold such a spell for a few seconds."
Her lips curved faintly.
"But whoever cast it did not appear strained at all."
Clara then added the second layer of reasoning.
"And there were other details."
The princess raised an eyebrow.
"The Imperial Advisor was known to supervise the final stage of the examination," Clara said. "Yet when I entered the room it wasn´t and also one of you was already seated while the other stood beside the desk."
Her eyes flicked briefly to the chair.
"In formal settings, the one who sits is the one with authority. The one who stands is the attendant."
She inclined her head slightly.
"If the Belmont twins were truly equal examiners, that arrangement would be strange."
Then the final conclusion.
"So I considered the possibility that the man standing was not a twin at all, but a clone created by the true examiner. Someone with enough mana to sustain multiple spells simultaneously."
Clara met those hidden eyes again.
"And within the empire, there are very few people capable of doing that so effortlessly."
A small smile appeared on her lips.
"The imperial family… being one of them."
Princess Veronica gave her a satisfied smile.
No, not quite a smile. It was a smirk, the kind that carried a glint in her eyes that clearly said, I've found another interesting toy to play with.
Geez… is this person really sixteen? Clara thought helplessly. And can she stop with the cloning magic already and show me her real face?!
"You have a keen sense of mana detection," the princess said casually. "Yet you don't know how to use magic."
Clara's heart nearly stopped.
A keen sense of mana detection? I just made that entire thing up!Good thing I've studied how manas worked! It had been a
reckless lie, the kind she would normally
avoid. But desperation demanded creativity.
Since it's come to this, I guess I actually have to study mana now, she thought with a quiet sigh. Otherwise I'll expose myself sooner or later.
"I've only spent my time reading books," Clara replied calmly. "Magic has never been my focus."
Which, conveniently, was the truth. For the past year she had done little but bury herself in texts. Her goal had been simple: become a reliable tutor. Mastering magic had been far from her priorities.
The princess leaned back slightly in her chair, still wearing that dangerous smirk.
"What an interesting toy," she murmured. "Fine. I'll play with you."
Clara felt an ominous chill crawl down her spine.
"You're my new tutor now."
"T–thank you for the opportunity!" Clara quickly bowed her head.
What on earth? she screamed internally. Why is she already ordering me around? Aren't teachers supposed to have authority over their students?
Just because she's an imperial princess doesn't mean she gets to-
"You're saying your thoughts aloud."
The princess spoke sweetly.
Clara froze.
Veronica was staring at her with a terrifyingly pleasant smile.
Clara's soul left her body.
There goes my chance of survival.
In the next second, Clara dropped into a crouch and bowed deeply, nearly pressing her forehead to the floor.
"My deepest apologies, Your Highness! I spoke without thinking!"
The room went silent.
For a long moment, Clara simply waited for the word execution.
Instead, Veronica laughed softly.
"You're already hired," the princess said lazily. "So I suppose I can forgive it."
Clara slowly lifted her head, disbelief flooding her face.
"Guards," Veronica continued, waving her hand dismissively. "You may escort Miss Valeria out."
And just like that, the interview was over.
Clara was practically dragged out of the room, her legs still weak from the emotional whiplash.
I survived…
She had just been hired as the personal tutor of the most dangerous character in the story.
Clara stared blankly down the palace hallway.
Good thing I wasn't punish for...insulting the princess right in front of her face…B
neing Princess Veronica's tutor is already a punishment anyways!