Soon Aqua realized that nothing was really working out.

None of the problems she’d been trying to solve in her mind were going the way she thought.

So out of frustration, she got up and headed toward the kitchen, where a bunch of sweets and desserts Cassius had made had been left there.

Even though she didn’t particularly have a sweet tooth, she absolutely adored the sweets Cassius made. They were so delicious.

She never knew her brother had such a talent.

But that only made her more depressed.

While she was in the capital, away from him, her brother had grown up to be someone she couldn’t even recognize.

Someone with so many talents of his own, building relationships she knew nothing about.

And because of this, she wondered if Cassius even cared about his sister at all.

Of course, they were brother and sister. But it had been so long since they’d properly met. Not to mention what she had done to him earlier.

So, she wondered if Cassius even loved her anymore.

Her mood was already down, and thinking about this made her even more depressed. She let out a deep sigh.

But just as she passed one of the several tables in the massive library, she suddenly stopped.

Something caught her eye.

"What in the world?"

She turned to look at the table.

It was absolutely covered with stacks of paper covered in runic language.

Complex runes. Magical equations. Mana projections.

The language used by mages to create spells, to map out their structures, to design the very foundations of magical theory.

And this wasn’t beginner stuff. This was advanced. Archmage level. The kind of runes that only the most learned mages could even begin to decipher.

Aqua’s breath caught.

She stepped closer, her eyes scanning the papers.

There were graphs, tables, diagrams, quotations—all sorts of complex apparatuses used in mana research.

It was like stumbling upon a treasure trove of forbidden knowledge. Her heart began to race.

She sat down in the nearest chair, pulled a stack toward her, and began to read.

—

To truly understand what Aqua was feeling in that moment, one had to understand what magic actually was.

Most people thought of mages as people who chanted spells and magic happened.

And technically, that was true.

But the truth was far more complex.

The verbal chanting that most people associated with magic was just a trigger.

The actual spell itself was formulated entirely within the mage’s own mind, like placing multiple intricate building blocks together in perfect harmony to finally take proper shape and form a functional spell.

Minor spells were relatively simple—just a few basic equations fitted together correctly, which enabled straightforward effects like a fireball or water cannon or simple barriers.

But much more complex spells were incredibly intricate, with several pathways that had to be interconnected with one another in precise patterns to actually establish something stable and powerful.

Aqua often used an analogy to explain this to non-mages: 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

If you wanted to check the time, the simplest method would be to look up at the sun and determine its position.

As long as you had basic knowledge of solar movement, you’d be able to roughly figure out what time it was.

Or you could use something like a sundial, still simple, but more accurate.

But if you wanted a truly precise method, you would need to build a proper mechanical watch with multiple gears, springs, and interconnected systems working in perfect synchronization.

Making such a watch wasn’t something just anyone could do. Only expert craftsmen with years of training and deep understanding of mechanics could create something so intricate.

Similarly, basic-level spells were like looking at the sun—simple, intuitive, accessible to most people with magical affinity.

But advanced spells were like building a watch from scratch—extremely difficult, requiring not just power but deep theoretical knowledge and perfect execution.

Only people with certain natural affinity to mana combined with exceptional intelligence and dedication could master such techniques.

So really, mages weren’t just people blessed with magical affinity, though that was certainly the foundational requirement.

They were also extremely intelligent individuals.

Scientists and researchers in their own right, who spent countless hours studying, going through multiple tomes and ancient texts, deciphering forgotten knowledge, and integrating various discoveries into their own understanding to create something new and functional.

Only when you could truly comprehend these underlying concepts could you become a real mage.

Not just someone who could throw fireballs, but someone who understood the fundamental laws governing reality itself.

And Aqua herself was precisely such a genius.

Not only did she possess extreme natural affinity with all five classical elements because of her unique bloodline.

But she was also a prodigy when it came to comprehending the theoretical aspects of mana manipulation.

She could look at a complex magical equation and see patterns that others missed.

She could take fragments of broken spells and stitch them back together.

She had made senior mages weep with frustration and awe at her prodigious talent.

But right now, looking at the papers spread across the table, she felt like a child staring at a college textbook.

The data before her was rewriting the laws of magic. It was putting forward new theories, new boundaries, new ways of understanding mana that she had never even considered.

And the worst part?

The more she read, the more it made sense. It was like someone had reached into her mind and untangled knots she hadn’t even known were there.

Her eyes, which had been dull with depression moments ago, were now shining.

She felt her knowledge expanding, her understanding deepening.

It was as if she had gained more insight in the past ten minutes than she had in the past ten years.

But there was a problem.

Despite being a Archmage mage and being hailed as a prodigy across the continent—there were concepts on these papers that she couldn’t fully grasp.

She understood them vaguely, enough to know they were brilliant, but the deeper implications eluded her.

She was used to being the smartest person in the room and making senior mages look at her with awe and envy.

But right now, she felt like an elementary school kid trying to figure out Phd thesis.

It was humbling.

And it was thrilling.

But what she could understand was this: whoever had written these papers was working on something related to spatial magic.

A realm that hadn’t been properly explored in recorded history.

There were theories about warping space itself, about folding distances, about creating pockets of reality where the normal rules didn’t apply.

The very concept made her head spin.

Whoever was doing this research was a genius the likes of which she had never encountered.

And she couldn’t even compare herself to them.

The theories they had created, the problems they had dismantled and rearranged—it was like watching a master painter work, except the canvas was the fundamental nature of reality itself.

She needed to know who had done this.

Could it be someone from the magic tower? Maybe an Archmage she hadn’t met yet?

Or perhaps one of the legendary Supreme Mages had left their notes behind?

But no—this was her home. Her brother’s library. Why would someone else’s research be here?

She thought about the people she knew in the household.

Aisha was brilliant with magical arrays, but this was beyond her. Diana was a healer, not a theorist.

None of the sisters had this kind of training.

Then realization hit her like a thunderbolt.

"No way." She whispered, staring at the papers in awe. "Could it be? Could it actually be...?"

She said the name under her breath, almost afraid to speak it aloud.

"Is it actually Cassius who did this?"

But the moment she said his name, a voice spoke from right behind her.

"You called, Aqua?"

"!!!!"

This immediately made her jerk upright in absolute fright.

She slowly turned her head like someone expecting to see a ghost looming over them.

And to her utter disbelief, she saw Cassius, her dear brother standing right there, his hands clasped behind his back and a calm, pleasant expression on his face.

Almost as if he had been standing there the entire time, watching her.

The moment she saw him, she absolutely freaked out internally.

Not only had she completely failed to notice his presence—he had approached her like some kind of assassin, making absolutely no sound.

But there was also the fact that she had been actively avoiding her brother for days now.

After everything that had happened between them, just looking at Cassius made her panic immediately.

It made her think about what she had done to him, about the shame and guilt, about how he might view her now.

She had been terrified of his reaction, so she’d been running away.

And even right now, that same instinct overrode everything else she was feeling.

She immediately jumped out of her chair and turned to run away, to escape from Cassius as if he were some monster that was going to swallow her whole.

But then—

Just as she took a few hurried steps—

She stopped herself.

She realized what she was doing.

Just moments ago, she’d been complaining that everyone else was enjoying themselves with Cassius while she was left alone.

But that was her fault. She was the one pushing her brother away.

He hadn’t done anything wrong. He treated her the same as always.

She’d been terrified of his reaction, unable to face him.

But she couldn’t keep running forever. Especially now that she’d finally come back home.

If she kept avoiding him, if he thought she was trying to distance herself from him...

That would be devastating.

She loved her brother more than anything. She would absolutely fall into despair if he had second thoughts about their relationship.

Enough is enough.

Even though she was terrified, she decided to face her fears.

She turned around.

She clenched her fists, took a few steps forward, and looked at her brother with a resolute gaze. He looked back at her calmly.

Finally, in a fluster, she spoke.

"Cassius." She said, her voice cracking. "About what happened before. In the bathroom."

She swallowed hard.

"I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry!"

She couldn’t meet his eyes. She stared at the floor instead, her hands fidgeting, her fingers twisting together like she was trying to wring water from a stone.

"Back then, I wasn’t in a reasonable state of mind. I-I ended up doing something unforgivable to you, and I want to apologize for that. Truly."

"But I-I didn’t want to do anything like that at all!"

She took a shaky breath.

"The truth is...after I saw what you were doing to Portia, my own emotions got worked up. I felt...I felt things that I shouldn’t have felt. And because of that, the bloodline inside me got agitated."

"It magnified everything I was feeling, and I lost control."

She glanced up at him, then quickly looked away.

"I don’t know if you already know this, but I’m not fully human. I’m half human, half fairy. My mother is the queen of the fairy race, that’s why I have such good affinity with magic."

"Fairies are naturally attuned to mana, especially natural elements. But sometimes..."

She bit her lip.

"Sometimes members of my race have too much condensed mana in their bodies. It influences our emotions. Whatever we’re feeling gets amplified, and we can have...outbursts. Breakdowns."

"It’s something that’s quite common among my people, especially for someone like me who has a massive amount of mana."

She finally looked up at him, her eyes pleading.

"That’s why I did what I did. I was worked up, and the emotions got magnified, and I just...I pounced on you. I did something so inappropriate. So wrong."

Her voice grew smaller.

"I know what I did is unforgivable. I’m not trying to make excuses. I just...I just hope you don’t push me away for this, Cassius. I hope you don’t treat me differently."

"Even if you can’t treat me the same, I still hope you don’t abandon me."

She looked at him, her eyes desperate.

"I sincerely do love you, Cassius. And I...I don’t want my mistake to break our relationship."

She fell silent.

Now that she’d finally said everything, she felt a massive burden lift from her. She’d wanted to say this for so long, but she’d been too scared.

Now that it was out, she was glad.

But now she was terrified of his reaction.

She was sure he wouldn’t accept it easily. Maybe he would think about it. Mull it over. Maybe he’d ask for some reasoning.

Or worse—he wouldn’t want any reasoning at all. He’d just push her away for what she’d done.

That terrified her the most.

But she knew she’d made a mistake. There was nothing she could do about it.

If her brother really wanted to push her away, she would go along with it. She wouldn’t argue.

That was what she deserved.

But the thought made her feel like she was going to break.

Just as she felt tears beginning to spill over—

Cassius’s voice came as he finally spoke.