"So, you are Suzumiya Kanade, aren't you?"
As soon as the question ended, I immediately noted the physical changes occurring in the person opposite me. Her brilliant lemon-green pupils suddenly contracted. Her coral-orange tail, which had been hanging loosely, slightly bristled, and her shoulders trembled faintly. She took a half-step back, instinctively widening the safe distance. It wasn't a combat-ready stance, but the freezing of a nervous system facing the risk of total collapse. Or to put it bluntly, she was terrified.
Realizing the variable was falling into an uncontrollable state due to receiving high-risk information, I understood I needed to break this tension circuit immediately. Using a deep, slow tone while maintaining absolute respect, I spoke:
"Please do not panic, My Lady. I will not reveal this to anyone."
Kanade maintained her defensive posture, her eyelashes fluttering continuously as if trying to process what she had just heard. Both her hands tightly gripped the hem of her apron.
"What... what are you talking about, Sir Zero? I am just an ordinary maid named Kanade..." Her voice trembled, the verbal shell trying to patch the holes, but clearly, the transmitted data stream was severely corrupted.
I shook my head slightly, offering a polite smile, trying to maintain a straight sitting posture even though my muscles still ached slightly from the mana overclocking earlier.
"An ordinary maid would not possess an aristocratic aura meticulously honed through every gesture, nor the signature beauty of the Suzumiya family. Furthermore, the fact that a Feline demi-human appeared at the Shirakawa estate as a surname-less maid right after the incident two years ago is a data point with an excessively high match rate. This is purely logical deduction; My Lady need not worry that someone has tipped me off."
I paused for a beat for the information to decode in her head, then slowly presented an argument to establish a state of equilibrium.
"I am someone who respects silence and system stability. Revealing your identity to any other faction brings me absolutely no practical value; conversely, it only creates unwarranted errors. Furthermore, my background is merely that of a commoner sponsored by Lady Aiselin. We, in essence, are both people trying to survive and seek shelter under this roof."
I tilted my head slightly, my sincere gaze looking straight into her lemon-green eyes, which still held a trace of vigilance:
"Your safety at this estate is something I will keep absolutely confidential, regardless of whether you agree to my next proposal or not." I lowered my voice slightly, wanting to guarantee a safe boundary for her before making my request.
"However, I am in dire need of a sufficiently refined assistant who is educated in magic. My understanding of magic, to put it bluntly, is completely different from conventional foundational knowledge. Therefore, the education and perspective of a lady from the Suzumiya family are exactly the perfect puzzle piece I am looking for to optimize my work and training. This is entirely a voluntary invitation. If you are willing, we can support each other in absolute respect. What do you think about this, Lady Kanade?"
Although her defensive layer had loosened, her eyes still held a lingering unease. Kanade lightly clasped her hands together, asking hesitantly:
"Will you... will you truly not reveal my identity?"
"If My Lady still cannot place your trust, we can completely pretend this conversation never happened." I maintained my polite smile, slowly analyzing. "However, from a perspective of benefits, revealing your identity brings me no value whatsoever. On the contrary, it could create unwarranted troublesome variables, directly threatening the stability of the tutoring job I am undertaking here."
Hearing that highly pragmatic explanation, Kanade's shoulders finally relaxed completely. The corners of her lips curled up slightly, letting out a soft laugh, as light as if a massive boulder had been lifted.
"You are truly an incredibly strange person, Sir Zero." Kanade blinked lightly, the corners of her eyes curving up, carrying a sharpness that was usually carefully concealed. "A commoner personally eyed by Lady Aiselin, possessing keen insight and a negotiation demeanor far exceeding many high nobles I have known. Your composure before my secret, something that could create massive waves... is truly beyond all expectations."
"You flatter me, My Lady." I bowed slightly in return.
Retracting her smile, Kanade took a step back, formally raising both hands to chest level and bowing to execute a standard elite greeting ritual.
"I sincerely thank you for deciding to keep my past identity a secret. Exactly as you deduced, I am the eldest daughter of the Suzumiya family, Suzumiya Kanade. Due to the tragedy of my family's extermination, I had to hide from prying eyes and seek refuge under this Shirakawa roof."
She looked up, her eyes brightening considerably when mentioning the latter half of the story.
"Regarding your proposal, I accept. To be honest with you, I also carry a very great passion for magic. It's just a pity that disaster struck too soon, causing my studies to be interrupted and preventing me from fully accessing the core knowledge. If I can assist you, and simultaneously be exposed to magic again, it would also be my honor."
I smiled slightly, feeling the sincerity from the other person's eyes. The final defensive wall had been dismantled.
Immediately after, under the shade of the training ground, we began exchanging thoughts on basic magical principles. This combination yielded performance far exceeding expectations. Kanade provided me with a foundational theoretical system and the traditional concepts of the nobility—input data that I was severely lacking. In return, I translated those abstract concepts into logical structures, explaining how mana flows operated based on the principles of navigation and energy distribution. Kanade absorbed this incredibly quickly; her lemon-green eyes continuously lit up whenever an old conundrum was dismantled by my pragmatic perspective.
The exchange was so engrossing that we completely ignored time warning signals. It wasn't until a vertical ray of sunlight pierced through the leaves that Kanade startled and looked up at the sky. Her Feline ears twitched slightly.
"Oh my, is it already past noon?" She panicked, using her hands to push herself up, her coral-orange tail swaying in fluster. "I have truly offended you; I was so absorbed in listening to your explanations that I forgot I haven't finished my morning task list. Sir Zero, may I have your permission to go resume my duties?"
"Lady Kanade." I spoke gently, slowly standing up on legs that had recovered some of their vitality. "Between us is an agreement of equal cooperation. You are my assistant, not my subordinate. From now on, you do not need to ask my permission for your personal schedule. Please go and finish your work."
Kanade froze for a beat, then smiled, giving me another slight bow before turning swiftly, gliding away as silently as a light breeze across the grass.
After the silhouette of my new partner disappeared behind the corridor, I also began to pack up to return to my room. The first thing to do was shower. I soaked in the cool water, washing away all the sweat and muscle tension caused by the aftershocks of overclocking my mana core that morning. The body needed to cool down for the muscle groups to return to a normal operating state.
After changing into a clean, neat outfit, I moved to the dining room. Surprisingly, I was currently the only one in this vast space. Perhaps Lady Aiselin and the Grand Duke or the Lady's brothers were all busy with their own schedules or dining in another area.
However, this silence was an ideal condition. I approached the table, dining leisurely but at an optimized speed, quickly reloading the necessary biological calories for my body. Once finished, I immediately stood up, returning to my room to begin organizing and storing all the valuable data regarding the magic system that Kanade had just provided.
After finishing lunch and taking a short time for my muscular system to relax, I left the room and headed straight for the estate's library. The first task was to return the two magic books I had borrowed earlier to their exact original locations. Next, I began scanning the document shelves, selecting a few more one-star magic books belonging to different elemental systems.
According to the data stream Lady Kanade provided this morning, every mage possesses an innate "primary element." Theoretically, an individual is still capable of compatibility and casting magic of other elements, but only the primary element yields a maximum mana conversion efficiency. In technical terms, that is the most optimal operating bandwidth for each person. Therefore, to establish a complete combat system for myself, testing and finding my elemental "resonance frequency" was the top priority step right now.
By late afternoon, I carried my lesson plan into the study to begin the regular tutoring session. Every data transmission process went incredibly smoothly.
Eldest Lady Aiselin's information processing speed truly impressed me. Whenever I introduced a new academic concept, those beautiful sapphire blue eyes only narrowed slightly in thought for a moment, and immediately, she could independently link the data points to produce the correct answer. Watching Aiselin untangle complex theorems, a flash of an old memory crossed my mind.
This cognitive talent... was exactly like those outstanding individuals, those students with brains so sharp they were revered by academia as "monsters" in my past life. Her ability to extrapolate and grasp rules was too perfect. I thought to myself, with a brain possessing this kind of calculation speed, had Aiselin been born in my old world, she would have undoubtedly become an eminent scientist, an intellectual asset so invaluable that she would be placed under the strictest security protection by the government.
When the clock struck 10 PM, I retracted my gaze from the pages of the book. Observing the breathing rhythm and the slight drooping at the corners of Eldest Lady Aiselin's eyes, I realized her biological system had begun emitting overload signals.
I took the initiative to close the lesson plan, speaking in a warm, deep voice:
"The clock has struck ten. Although My Lady's information processing speed is exceptionally outstanding, the physical body and mind still require a downtime to regenerate energy. We shall conclude today's lecture here. Please rest thoroughly, My Lady."
Aiselin blinked lightly, nodding in agreement. She leaned back against the velvet-cushioned chair, the fatigue unable to conceal the elegance on her face. While I was packing up the documents and preparing to turn and leave the room, Aiselin's clear voice suddenly rang out, breaking the silence.
"It seems you are quite close with Kanade?"
My cognitive stream startled for a beat. I quickly established a camouflage layer for the magic theory exchange from the morning, smiling as I turned back to reply:
"Miss Kanade has a very polite and friendly communication style. I merely happened to chat with her for a few sentences and got slightly carried away with the conversation, My Lady."
Aiselin's sapphire blue eyes looked straight at me, tranquil and deep. Immediately after, she delivered a sentence that forced the situational analysis algorithms in my brain to instantly suspend and run again from the beginning.
"I will instruct Head Butler Sebastian. Starting tomorrow, Kanade will be your personal maid, Zero."
Not waiting for me to react, Aiselin continued in a soft tone but heavily laden with the weight of someone in control of the situation:
"Kanade is actually my close friend. She used to be a noble lady, but the tragedy of her family's extermination stripped everything away. I brought her here, creating this cover so she could live safely. Therefore, when Kanade becomes your personal maid, I hope you will impart your unique cognitive knowledge to her. In return, I think her solid foundational knowledge of magic will also help you a great deal."
It took me about a second to digest the entire massive volume of data that had just been downloaded. The Eldest Lady's information-gathering network and personnel arrangement capabilities were truly astonishingly sharp. She not only clearly knew Kanade's identity but also saw through the resonance of interests between me and the two girls to make the most optimal decision for all three parties.
Retracting my surprise inwardly, I maintained my elegant demeanor, placing my hand over my left chest and bowing formally.
"My Lady's vision and ability to grasp information are truly incredibly sharp and admirable. I sincerely thank you for this special favor."
After standing up straight, I gently offered my farewell.
"I wish My Lady a peaceful sleep."
Aiselin gave a slight nod, a faint smile gracing the corners of her lips. I turned and stepped outside. And right in the moment of closing the heavy oak door, exactly like the night before, my auditory neurons caught a very soft sound, gentle and clear, ringing out from inside:
"Goodnight, Zero."
End of Chapter 14.