The Devil Duchess Adopts The Villainess

“Kill the girl…”

“Kill her”

“Do it now!”

Cruel whispers filled Elise’s head with promises of happiness and safety if she would only grab a sword from the guards outside and cut down the girl in front of her. A feeling of dread entered Elise’s heart as the whispers gradually became louder and louder until they drowned out her thoughts.

“Shut up!” Elise roared with a bloodthirsty snarl on her face.

The voices in her head instantly became silent and all Elise could hear was the slow throb of her heart echoing through the room. Ashley’s hands rubbing her back stiffened and she gazed at Elise with an expression of panic.

“Mommy are you okay?” her daughter asked.

Elise took a couple deep breaths and placed Ashley’s palms in her hands with a gentle squeeze of reassurance.

“I’m sorry darling, sometimes mom falls asleep when sitting down for too long, so I had a little nightmare,” she replied in a soft tone.

There was no need to burden her daughter with strange voices whose messages she could not understand. Maybe she should find Gerald and discuss the meaning of the whispers.

What did the voice mean by reading a book?

Was it related to the foreign land that she often visited in her dreams?

Elise fell into silent contemplation as she pondered over these matters with a small frown etched across her face. She was jolted out of her daze by the realization that the warm palms of her daughter’s hands were continuing to suppress the mana flowing through her circuit.

Ashley smiled at her with an oblivious look on her face as she clearly did not seem to notice that she was using null magic. This was a very common fact among children who possessed magical circuits before the age of ten.

Mana could only be consciously manipulated once the quantity of mana reached a substantial amount in the body. There were certain exceptions with children finding out their talents a little before or after the age of ten but those were rare cases.

Before the manipulation of mana could be done under the will of the user, young children would often use accidental magic under situations of stress or anxiety. These children would not be aware of the mana they drew from their body, but the effects would be equivalent to weakened tier five spells in whatever element they possessed.

“Ashley seemed to have drawn upon her mana when she touched my back during the bath,” Elise pondered to herself.

She finished washing up her little daughter and wrapped her up in a cozy towel before heading off to the bedroom. The castle lights were gradually turned off and only a few fires were kept running to provide some heat to the servants working in the night.

Elise put on a plain white sleeping gown and helped Ashley into her pajamas. When Elise saw how her daughter looked, she could not help but give the merchant a thumbs up in her mind.

Ashley was wearing an oversized teddy hoodie with cute fuzzy moon patterns embroidered into the sides, her long ashy blonde hair peaked out from the top of the hood but did little to hide the adorable face popping out from the front.

There was a small lamp burning at the side of the bed as Ashley was scared of the dark and Elise did not want her to be afraid. The soft candlelight washed over the room and gave the atmosphere a cozy feel.

Elise pulled the blanket over her shoulders and wrapped her arms around her daughter with a soft hug.

Ashley squirmed slightly but relaxed in her mother’s arms with a contented grin spreading across her face. It had only been a few weeks ago that she could not imagine that there could be a time when she would experience the love of a family.

Elise closed her eyes and prepared herself for a short rest but was distracted from Ashley’s voice muttering quietly to her.

“Mom, when can I start learning magic like you and big sisters?” Ashley asked in a curious tone.

“When you turn ten,” came a curt reply from Elise.

“How come?”

Elise was feeling very sleepy but forced herself awake to answer these few questions as only Ashley had gotten proper rest that afternoon.

She thought for a moment then gave the explanation,

“Mana training is like muscle training. What I mean is that when you are young, your muscles are still developing, and the stress of a high intensity workout can cause stress and fractures to form. Practising mana before your mana circuit has fully formed will do nothing but harm to your body so most training starts at the age of ten.”

“But Ashley you did use some mana earlier today…”

Ashley was quite puzzled by what her mom was saying.

When had she performed a spell? Why did she not feel any of the mana that her mom was talking about!

Elise observed the confusion on her daughter’s face and gave a short laugh, unlike other accidental magic types there was really not any signs that null magic had been activated. The main weapon of null magic is the complete absence of magic. That was the reason it was also known as the ‘mage killer’.

“Yes, earlier in the bathtub when you placed your hands on my back, you managed to use your mana unconsciously to seal away my mana,” Elise spoke with a small smile.

“It gave me quite the surprise. I did not realise my daughter was an anti mage with a null magic circuit!”

“What’s null magic?” Ashley asked in an elated tone, her mothers’ infectious charm had caused the little girl to get a sudden spike of energy.

“Null magic is one of the most powerful and rare physiques on the continent, when you grow older there will be many who will wish to draw you to their side. The ability to remove magic from a war can turn the tide of a battle in an instant,”

Elise decided not hide any detail as this was all information her daughter would learn about eventually.

She did not want Ashley to grow arrogant, so she quickly added,

“But it is still does not make you invincible and I will teach you all the skills you need to survive in a fight. No matter how rare the magic ability one has, I have yet to encounter one that gave the gift of immortality. Poison especially, can humble any man… no matter the strength on the battlefield.”

“And even the famous null magic circuit has one fatal counter physique….”

“Which one is that?” Ashley was now utterly engrossed in the story.

Elise gave a wink and added,

“Well you don’t need to worry about that circuit… apparently the Holy Saintess of the prophecy that the church keeps on harping on about will spread the good word of the lord throughout the continent. But it has been hundreds of years now and no saintess has appeared, so it is probably safe to say that mana circuit doesn’t exist.”

(Meanwhile in Elimason Village)

Heroine: ?????????

“Father why are my hands suddenly glowing white?!”