The Reincarnated Archmage

"I'm not going to work."

"Brother—"

"I've already finished signing the pile of doc.u.ments on my desk yesterday."

"But—"

"Me too. I'm thinking of having a day off today."

"Papa, not you too!"

"His Majesty should not complain if I didn't go to the palace today."

"His Majesty—"

"Ester, you should also take a break today. We can go to the Sapphire Lake and have a picnic there."

"That's a good idea. Maybe I can also bake a cake for our desserts later."

These irresponsible a.d.u.l.ts...

We are having breakfast right now and the first thing they said is not to go to the palace and do their work. I know that they're just worried about me. Surely, they are startled when they saw me cry last night. It took me a few hours before I calm myself down.

My emotions took over my rationality last night. After crying so much, I felt like something heavy disappeared from my c.h.e.s.t and lets me breathe and make myself calm again. But I'm also embarrassed. It's my first time crying like that which makes the whole household to be startled and worried so much.

When I woke up earlier, Nanny Bella is being too careful and too gentle towards me. She's acting as if I'm a fragile glass that needs to be handled with care. When I step out of my room, the maids were looking at me with worried eyes. And now seeing my family, I can feel that they doubled their ovrprotectiveness towards me.

"Papa and Mama, you should be a responsible a.d.u.l.t. You too, Brother. You're just new to your work so it's better if you go to work and do your job."

"It's okay, Aly. Technically, I'm Cedric's boss so—"

"So you should also go to work and supervise and teach brother how to do his job properly."

The father and son really wants to skip work today. They even try to persuade my mother to do the same. I won't tolerate it. I can already predict what will they do once they stay at home today.

"But Aly—"

"If you don't go to work, I won't talk to you all for the next five days!"

"Who says we will be skipping work today? Cedric, finish your breakfast so we can go to the palace and finish signing those doc.u.ments on our desks." Papa said as he starts eating the food on his plate.

It's a good thing that my threat is working against them. Being a favored child is really a good thing sometimes. But I should not get used to it. I don't want to be a spoiled child, which can make me irresponsible and irrational.

"Aly, are you really okay now? I can stay here at home so I can accompany you." Mama said as she looks at me.

"Don't worry, mama. I'm really okay now. And I apologize for my actions last night. It will never happen again."

"Don't apologize, Aly!" My brother said. "In fact, I should be the one who needs to apologize. I know that you're upset, but—"

I shake my head and hold my brother's hand.

"It's not your fault, brother. I'm just shocked when I first heard my condition so maybe that's the reason why I didn't handle my emotions well. I should apologize now because I will not become a great mage and it may be impossible for me to be a Prime Minister in the future."

"Listen to me. You don't have to apologize for that, Aly. So what if you can't be a Prime Minister like me? So what if you can't be a great mage? You were still more amazing than those noble ladies out there." Father said as he pats my hair.

"And you don't have to keep everything to yourself. Always remember that we are always here. We are always on your side no matter what." Mother said. "You are worthy to be the young lady of this household. No one can replace you in this house or in our hearts. Okay?"

I simply nod my head as an answer. All of them were right. So what if I can't use magic again? So what if I can't be a great mage just like in the past? I now have a new life and I'm not going to waste it. I will make a new path for myself in this lifetime. Unlike before, I now have people who will be there on my side.

-//-//-

When I make sure that my family were now going to do their work, I finally let out a sigh. They should not worry too much about me. This time for real, I'm totally fine. I guess I can now easily accept the fact that I am no longer the strongest Archmage that ever lived. I should start my new life living to the fullest. So what if I'm I can no longer use magic? This country is now peaceful, so there is no need for a strong Archmage to save everyone.

As I gather my thoughts together, I heard a soft rustling sound at the window. At first, I thought it's just the wind so I ignore it. But the rustling sound is still there. Out of curiosity, I open the window to see if something is wrong. The moment I open the window, something attacks me that makes me lay flat on the floor. I don't even have a time to scream to express my surprise of the sudden attack. Before I can look on what attacks me, I see a boy standing beside me and he's pointing a dagger at me.

Or so I thought.

The boy is pointing his dagger to the creature on my stomach. When I lift my head, I saw a black cat sitting on it. The cat slowly moves its tail while looking at me with its big, round eyes. And then I turn my gaze towards the boy.

"Who are you?" I asked.

His body flinches when I suddenly asked him. Without giving me an answer, the boy suddenly moves and jumps on the window. When I try to find the boy, he's already nowhere to be found. That boy is too fast.

"I wonder why he suddenly shows up."

'Who knows? Maybe he's being shy now that you meet him in person.'

"Who's there?"

I turn my head to scan the whole room. No one is in here. And the door is tightly close. Am I just imagining it? But I'm sure that I heard a voice.

"So weird." I mutter.

'Yes. You become so weird. What did you do these past few days?'

See? Someone is answering me! I am not imagining things. I quietly scan the whole room with my eyes again. I'm pretty sure that the boy earlier is not the one who's answering me. Then who is it?

'How heartless you are. You dare to forget me?'

My eyes land on the black cat sitting in front of me. The cat is still looking at me while moving its tail. Don't tell me the voice I'm hearing is coming from this cat? I noticed that it's not the usual cat that you can see everywhere, but to be this unusual to such extent?

'What? You really forget me?!'

"You..."

This cat is really talking! It is not unusual if an animal suddenly talks. It only means that the cat is a familiar of a strong mage. But if that's the case, then who owns this cat? As far as I know, I haven't met any strong mage in this lifetime yet.

"Aly, are you with someone right now?"

The door in my room suddenly opens. Nanny Bella looks at me then to my room.

"Who are you talking to, Aly?" Nanny Bella asked.

"Uhm... I'm... Uhh... I'm talking to this cat!" I said with a smile. "This cat suddenly enters my room and its so cute! I'm asking the cat what its name!"

Hearing my explanation, Nanny Bella can't help but laugh. It's an embarrassing explanation on my part, but I need to do it. I learned from my experiences that if ever I'm in a position where I can't explain myself, all I need to do is to act cute and innocent. So far, I've already mastered these techniques.

"Aly, cats don't know how to talk. " Nanny Bella explains in a soft voice as if she's still talking to a three-year-old child. "But what is a cat doing here?"

"Nanny, let's feed it first. I think the cat entered my room to look for food."

When Nanny Bella didn't reply, I blink my eyes twice and pout a little to be cute in her eyes. My charm works for her since she smiles at me and tell me to wait as she will fetch some milk in the kitchens. When Nanny Bella closes the door, I let out a sigh and look at the black cat again.

'I wish you asked your nanny to bring a chunk of meat instead of milk.'

"You can do telepathy?" I asked.

"Of course. I can also talk verbally. What do you prefer?" The cat answered using his tiny voice.

"I will prefer if you'll talk to me through telepathy."

'Okay.' The cat answered through telepathy.

"By the way. Who are you?"

'You're the one who named me. But now you forgot me. This is so sad.'

Then the cat lay flat on the floor acting as if he's really hurt. But wait. I'm the one who named him? But I never had a pet before. Unless...

"Lyle?!"

'Correct.'

"But..."

'Long story. I'm lazy to tell you now.' The cat, or rather Lyle, said as he stands up and climb on the sofa. 'But don't worry. I'm not leaving you again and I can now stay by your side in this appearance.'

"Lyle, why did you—"

'I heard from the maids that you cried last night. Did someone try to bully you? I thought you are someone who doesn't let people bully you?'

"No one bullied me." I said then let out a sigh.

It's really embarrassing that the people in this household are still talking about it. I should do something for them to forget it. It may be normal in their eyes since I'm currently a child, but my pride as a quiet and excellent noble lady doesn't approve my action last night. That incident will be part of my dark past that should be buried no matter what.