Black Heart Chapter Fourteen

... Nothing in particular changed for Malicia's day to day life after that. It was... In some ways it was infuriating, that even after slipping up and tasting the blood in full view of everyone, it hadn't changed how Lord Ravensworth treated her even a little bit.

But on the other hand, how could it? It wasn't as though he could withdraw from her presence or look at her coldly when he never particularly interacted with Malicia to begin with. It was already impossible from the beginning to tell if a person liked or disliked someone if they were never together, after all. There was no information to work with!

Though, it would be easy to say that just making sure that you never interacted with someone if you didn't need to was a sure sign of dislike... honestly, Malicia wasn't sure. Try as she might, she couldn't really recall any point where the Lord Ravensworth took time away from the business of managing his territory to spend time with his by-blood sons either.

Perhaps that was just how this family was, with no distinction. A tangle of hot and cold relationships that were better described as lukewarm and arms-length.

In any case, he wasn't even present in the household after they made their return, when it came down to it!

They had handed over a lot of money to the church for blessings of vague and unclear benefit, after all. It hadn't emptied the estate's coffers, far from it, but it obviously wasn't wise to only spend money and not recover it.

Over time, taxes would accumulate, of course. That was the nature of the world. However, after setting aside the portion to be used for local fief maintenance, the portion to be used to pay wages for local guards and officials, and the portion to be sent further upward as the Ravensworth's own tax to their lords, what remained was only a slow but steady trickle of funds that weren't going to be at all quick to replace the money that had already been spent.

With that being said, of course, Lord Ravensworth was himself a licensed Adventurer that had passed the Academy in his time, and as such he had he usual methods of introducing short-term currency injections into his estate's coffers. Dungeon invasions. Quite large and organized Dungeon invasions, in this case, with Lord Ravensworth aiming to pull in...

Well, not the entire sum all at once. He would be pacing himself and spreading out the effort modestly over the process of perhaps as many as a half dozen different Dungeon invasions in order to minimize the risk involved. While the bribes... no, given the organization's good reputation they would be listed as charitable donations, to the church's coffers were large they weren't impactful enough to need to be replaced immediately. In addition to that, the next big expense would be until they needed to start paying Malicia's tuition... so combined with the remaining funds in the estate there would be no rush and Lord Ravensworth could take his time in the standard practice of estimating a quota of plunder to meet and then withdrawing from the dungeon once it had been exceeded, or if things became dangerous beyond initial expectations.

Of course, it couldn't all be put off forever either. If so, the possibility of large and sudden expenses... that could cause trouble later on. Since adopting Malicia, others had become aware of her existence to some degree. She had even taken part in the Emperor's congratulations when the pregnancy was announced. In other words, even if they were put under financial pressure and the coming child had a healer's Class, they couldn't easily just shoo Malicia out the door and pretend she had never been brought into the household at all.

They would be caught between two indignities and great shames. Either they would have to bow their heads and openly declare that adopting Malicia to begin with had been an error of judgement, socially tarnishing them afterward for years at least with the scandal of needing to shame themselves and break their contract for the sake of just money... or they would need to shame themselves by selling off an heirloom artifact as they scrambled to make up the difference, and face sneers for years as well for being openly known as impoverished.

A noble family must always be mindful of their finances, after all, because it would be humiliating to have to act as though they were concerned about money.

Many of the nobility's social battles secretly revolved around money, or pushed toward the end goal of money. Not for having it, but for the sake of depriving the other family of it. It was tasteless to blatantly push expenses and debts onto others, but when done carefully and with skill, edging the other party into a corner that they cannot escape from without taking on obligations to turn over more money than they could easily afford to?

In times of war, an enemy family could be carved off the map with the sword. In times of peace, they could be crushed under the weight of debt, ground down little by little by the absence of gold until they had withered away. This was the reason why there was a preference for different Classes at different times. In both cases, they were determined by how it was best to attack their enemies, and which had an advantage in what area.

From the outside and in public, it would often look as though nobles had not a care in the world when it came to their finances, never checking a price or their own funds before making a purchase, never thinking twice before picking up a bill, and never holding a grudge at getting stuck with one. That was all a lie. An act, pageantry, and a show of confidence and thoughtless security in the assurance that they would always have enough money to cover any thoughtless or frivolous expenses. The truth was far different. Nobles never paused to check their funds in public because they kept constant mental track of how much money they had and how much they could afford to waste. They didn't ask the price because they kept themselves constantly aware of what it should be. If they didn't send someone else to inquire quietly and pass word of what the item they were considering purchasing was worth some time in advance, it was because they were personally aware of about what the materials and skill involved in crafting it should be worth, with a loose estimation. And while it would be crass to show it on their faces... forcing a bill onto someone else without warning or any classy excuses or methods to convince them to gracefully accept it was the sort of move that started petty grudges which could develop into full-blown blood feuds depending on how often the embers were stirred up and the fires stoked.

... Ah well. That was the sort of heavy business that was important for nobles by blood, or those who intended to marry into nobility. It wasn't something that Malicia would likely need to concern herself with much.

For one, the Academy operated a little differently. On paper, all attendees were completely cut off from the outside and while they could bring in some personal effects, items of value and gifts of money from family outside were forbidden. In theory, a student should be able to rely on themselves and support any luxury purchases, extravagances, or equipment purchase and maintenance with their own efforts.

... In practice it didn't quite work that way. While multiple bulging coin-purses were obviously banned, the personal effects and 'sentimental' items brought into the Academy had no upper limit on their value... and as such, they could be converted to money fairly easily, though the sale price was typically poor. Similarly, even if they were funding their activities with the sale of goods from a dungeon, the Academy took no stance on how well a student negotiated a price or to whom they could sell. Thus, it was possible to get around the rule against gifts by selling something to one's noble family for a sum many times greater than the estimated market value of it.

In this way, the noble students remained on top over the commoners and could typically afford to maintain that advantage indefinitely, dining on luxury platters rather than the standard bulk buffets and so on. Malicia herself would... Well, probably not be doing that. She didn't expect to receive many valuable pieces of jewelry in advance of her attendance, and somehow she doubted that she could just send whatever she pleased here and even make a sale, never mind one weighted obviously in her favor. She'd been a commoner, though, and it wasn't really a concern... Since she only really had a Class talent for fighting with her own hands, it wasn't like she had extensive equipment maintenance expenses either. It would just be a matter of food and replacement uniforms for when hers were inevitably ruined in combat and needed replacing. They were designed to look nice even while being relatively cheap, after all, and nobody could say anything about anyone choosing to wear them instead of their personal outfits when it was a requirement to wear them during lessons.

Setting the Academy aside, after graduation Malicia understood that she would be a noble only on paper. She wouldn't really be obligated to keep up appearances as she was distanced from the family, and wouldn't need to introduce herself by the family name either... Rather, it would probably be more convenient for everyone involved for her to quietly disappear into the background. In cases of emergency she might be called upon... and if so it would probably be in her best interests to answer, as in those periods she might also be targeted by others, to remove a potential hidden card from an enemy force. But... that would require a war to flare up somehow. In an extended period of peace, Malicia could just enjoy... occupy herself invading dungeons for money.

In any case, the Lord Ravensworth was away from the estate for some time, then returned for a while, and then was away again. Her encounters with Jack reduced in frequency as, in the role of Head Butler, he stepped up taking over the matters that he had the authority to handle. It wasn't like she resented that... well, maybe a little. But Malicia had already reached a point of capability where she shouldn't embarrass the family when it came to combat engagements. The rest was polishing studies and etiquette.

That being said, of course, as the nearest healer of any description on hand, she was on call to assist in delivering the Lady Ravensworth's child, with emergency elixirs, tinctures, and potions on hand for if something went wrong.

It was messy. Messy and tiring and much more intimate of a situation than she had realized that she was going to be thrust into, but ultimately any potential tearing and bleeding that could happen was easily solved by Malicia's circulation of energy. Honestly, having all the stocks of emergency potions present was probably overkill... but so be it.

The infant was a girl. Slightly pudgy, and with thin fuzz on her head in a color that Malicia couldn't make out with the blood. With a blink, she realized that the girl hadn't started breathing yet and set her fingers on the infant's belly, circulating energy through its small body until it coughed up some fluid and started squirming in her hands. It was then that Malicia passed her off.

Was it likely that the newborn girl would even remember that there had been an adopted older sister, later in her life? Given that she would be disappearing after graduation... at what point had Malicia begun retaining conscious memories again? Well, it hardly mattered. She wiped her hands carefully on a napkin, under the Lord Ravensworth's hawk-like gaze.

"My baby?" the Lady Ravensworth asked in exhaustion, bringing her up to her chest.

"One moment, my lady." Jack said, adjusting a small magic object...a cracked lens.

As he activated it, the crack spread just a little further. This wasn't a flaw in the manufacture, but a design that prevented it from being used and re-used indefinitely as eventually the crack would spread so far that the lens would fracture apart. At that point it would become unusable, just broken chunks of metal and glass, and need to be replaced.

"Ah. Congratulations! Your daughter bears the Class of Shaman. Moderate offensive and healing abilities, as I recall." Jack said, dryly.

The Lord Ravensworth grunted slightly, with a grimace at having to write off the donations with no further action despite that a 'Shaman' wasn't particularly related to the church-adjacent classes. Meanwhile, the Lady beamed at the news. And Malicia... Strangely, she didn't particularly feel anything at all. She'd been half expecting it, of course, but in the sense of bracing herself for a sting. Instead... nothing.

Perhaps it would hit her later? Who knew. Well, in any case, her healing abilities no longer seemed needed, so she should quietly leave the scene...

"Ah. Malicia. We haven't been truly close ever since the adoption, have we?" the Lady Ravensworth called her out before she could escape. The wide, tired smile suggested that it was the happy mood pushing things forward as she continued with "It won't be long before you're away to the Academy, too. Tell me, is there something that you would like? Don't overthink it and just speak up."

... Was this a test? Malicia couldn't help but consider it one. With a new daughter born to the family, and more importantly, one with a healing-oriented class... Malicia herself had become superfluous. While she couldn't be rid of Malicia immediately, there was no doubt that Malicia would be seen as an eyesore... if not now then once the Lady had rested and recovered her poise. And Malicia had certainly never been offered anything like gifts before, beyond the silent replacement of clothes as they became bloodstained and unusable.

Under the watchful and sober eyes of the Lord, Malicia couldn't ask for anything too outrageous. Nor anything too expensive. In particular, there was no point in asking for anything just for the sake of selling it later on to fund a lifestyle in the Academy. If it wasn't clear from the beginning that that was what it was for, Malicia would be insulting the family by doing so... As such it needed to be something practical, that she would actually make use of.

"I suppose I've been thinking of picking up a timepiece. One that can be instructed to make a noise or notify persons somehow on a specified date and time." Malicia acknowledged.

Honestly, that was something that had troubled her a little, because she didn't exactly have any pocket money to work with, and so the time frame for picking one up would be a bit limited and difficult.

"Never you worry. I'll make sure that something nice is commissioned." the Lady said, smiling as she prepared a bribe for Malicia to cause no trouble and the Lord sighed, knowing that he would be the one to find a way to foot the bill.

... Malicia could hardly say 'the material doesn't have to be too expensive' here, could she? It seemed awkard. In any case, once the haze of maternal feelings passed, the Lady would no doubt recognize that much on her own. What mattered was that it was accurate and not too fragile, in any case, and not that it serve as a decorative ornament.

"Ah yes. And in honor of the Academy being just around the corner, I suppose I should... a hushed word in your ear, miss Malicia?" Jack asked.

Malicia braced herself as he leaned in and lowered his voice to a level where it wouldn't carry.

"I faked the limp every single time." Jack said, lips spread wide into a shit-eating grin that neither the Lord or Lady were at a good angle to see.

Knowing that it could only ruin the mood if she let them slip free, Malicia bit down on her lips as her cheeks puffed out from the effort of choking down and swallowing the storm of curses that she wanted to spit out at him.