Isn’t Being A Wicked Woman Much Better?

"… You don't look well."

Duke Seymour spoke with a stiff expression, looking at me fiddling with a daisy.

It is shocking that two people have already pointed out that I don't look well.

‘Philap, that bastard, is he ruining my precious skin that doesn't have any blemishes or pores?'

This face is what I value the most. My irritation towards Philap grew even more.

Duke Seymour looked at me with a hardened face and frowned.

"Don't tell me, if it's because of the son of the Montez family, then please keep your dignity. Deborah. You are Seymour's only princess. I can't believe you're doing something childish that not even a little kid would do. Why on earth would you do something so petty and be the talk of the town?"

From the way he spoke to me with a displeased expression, it seemed that what happened at the academy had reached his ears.

‘Ah, let it go! I've been working so hard to build a favorable impression with you, which had fallen into negative territory.'

Something was bubbling inside.

I faced the Duke's cold eyes and opened my mouth.

"It's not because of that stupid Montez guy that doesn't understand what others say."

"What?"

"It will be difficult to believe because of my conduct so far. This time, however, unlike in the past, no witnesses actually saw me harassing that lady."

"…"

"And that is because I didn't harass her. It's just a rumor that started from the scene where Philap Montez carried an injured lady."

"Certainly, the rumors are focusing only on the actions of the Montez's son…"

The Duke was skeptical but understood what I was saying.

‘It was really shocking that Philap walked through the campus while carrying someone like a princess.'

So, relatively to that, I tended to get buried.

Just like a dark background that brightens the ones that are beautifully loved?

"Well, if you were going to cause trouble, you would have done so when that Montez guy appeared with a woman."

‘I convinced him again like this because I'm a one-dimensional villainess.'

For some reason, Duke Seymour wanted to believe my words this time; so, thinking it was fortunate, I pointed at the daisies.

"The reason why I don't look well is because I'm worried about this flower. Since it's the flower garden my Father personally made."

Duke Seymour narrowed his eyes at my words.

"I can't believe you're worried about a flower. That sounds a little absurd."

"I mean literally. As you can see, only the daisies' leaves are withering."

At my words, he leaned over and looked closely at the daisies.

"… Now that I heard that, it does look like that."

"It is not because of the atmosphere. Daisies cannot grow well in this soil."

"How do you know that?"

I pointed to the blue hydrangeas showing a beautiful shape in the distance.

"If the hydrangea is not red but blue, it means the ground is acidic. Daisies are not suited to grow in acidic soil."

Curiosity lingered around Duke Seymour's cold eyes as if he were interested in my words.

"So, Deborah. What are you going to do with the daisies now? You're worried about the flowers being planted in a soil where they cannot grow well, so will you take them all out and move them back to where they were? In the meantime, the flowers will wither and die."

Fearing that he wasn't a wizard with a strong disposition for natural sciences, the Duke immediately asked for a solution to the problem.

I aroused his curiosity as I intended to, and escaped the unpleasant subject of Philap.

"Father. Why do I have to take out the flowers when there is a problem with the soil?"

When I asked back, he tilted his head.

"So, are you touching the soil? I don't know any magic that can alter the properties of the soil so that the flowers can grow well."

"There is no need to use magic to decrease its efficiency."

This world had a tendency to be too dependent on mana and magic.

Mana is infinite and magic is close to an all-rounder, but it has also hindered people from going back to problems that can be easily solved by observing a little and using their heads.

"Then?"

"This problem is solved simply by sprinkling charcoal on the ground."

"Charcoal? How come?"

"Because you can neutralize the ground with charcoal. It has alkaline components that are opposite to this acidity."

"As you say, it is definitely a much simpler way than magic."

Rubbing his thin lips while lightly nodding his head back and forth, he suddenly stared at me with strange eyes.

"But this is the first time I've heard that you can neutralize acid with charcoal. Deborah, how on earth do you know that? Seeing that the daisies were left to wither like this, it seems that not even the garden manager knows."

"… I stumbled across it while I was looking through a book at the library."

I lied that I had seen it in the library when it was something I heard during science classes in my previous life.

It was impossible the Duke would look through those many books to confirm the veracity of my words.

"Aah. That's why you recently went to the library. To take good care of this flower garden…"

The Duke of Seymour, convinced of my behavior as he pleased, suddenly cleared his throat loudly and shook his head in resignation.

"Hm. I am dumbfounded. Do you like this flower garden that I made that much?"

"… It's a flower garden that my Father made with great effort that is more beautiful than jewels. As a member of the Seymour family, I wanted to manage this garden beautifully."

Is it just me or did my acting skills and improvisation only get better since I came here?

"Honestly, I would like you to be interested in areas that help with your horrible report card rather than flowers, but I'm still proud of you."

"I am also interested in areas that are helpful for my grades."

Looking at the Duke's eyes filling with deep apprehension, I quickly threw the bait.

There is something I've wanted to check here all along.

"What is it?"

"Recently, I am going in and out of the library to study not only flowers, but also magic formulas."

"You, studying formulas of all things?"

Duke Seymour's silver eyes showed a blatant confusion.

He seemed to be rather disconcerted and dumbfounded.

‘Wow, he's disregarding me.'

Well, that can't be helped.

Deborah hated and didn't want to see even the formulas, which were lower in difficultly, that consisted of basic calculations.

She and formulas were incompatible.

But I am a science student who also solved calculus.

"Well, Deborah, whatever you do, it's all about trying; so, try your best. The process of trying is also meaningful in life."

The Duke muttered in a slightly sad voice.

His voice contained compassion for his daughter, whose magical talent was at the very bottom of all his descendants.

"… By the way."

I spoke with a deliberately somber voice.

"What is it?"

"Why is everyone else so slow to solve the formulas? Honestly, they looked like slugs crawling around."

"What do you mean?"

"It took me less than a minute to solve the problem, so it was frustrating that the other students were taking more than 5 minutes."

Magic formula class time.

The professor named Kyle came to the class showing his strong will, gave them another similar type of problem, and left again.

‘Auxiliary magic to strengthen your magic power?'

He said it's a formula that strengthens the destructive power of attack magic, but to me, it was just an arithmetic sequence.

On the first day, I solved it right away and went out because I didn't want to waste time; but I was curious that day, so I looked around first and went out.

‘I found something interesting.'

Everyone was trying to solve it according to the inefficient method created by Tegea's Archmage.

"Was everyone else slow in solving the formulas?"

The Duke showed signs of interest.

"Yes. For example, everyone was taking 10 minutes for a problem like finding the total amount of mana for deploying wide-area magic, but I solved it in only 5 minutes."

"How did you calculate it in only 5 minutes?"

I smiled in satisfaction at the dumbfounded Duke's question.

As expected. It was clear that there is no ‘official method' here, as I had guessed.

I'll have to check out more formula books, but seeing that even Duke Seymour, the most outstanding in the Empire, reacts like that, then my guess must be correct.

"Honestly, I don't even need 5 minutes. It is possible in only 1 minute."

"You have absolutely no talent for joking. Deborah. Stop it."

"How could I dare joke like this. If you doubt it, see for yourself. I will show you."

"Let's go to the office."

I looked so serious that Duke Seymour hurriedly took the lead.

He was impatient and instructed his aide to bring him a problem with a formula for wide-area magic; and as soon as I sat down at the table, I asked carefully.

"Can you perhaps give me a demonstration on how to solve this formula first?"

"… Of course."

The Duke solved the wide-area magic formula in the method developed by the archmage of ancient Tegea.

I was a little confused as to whether there has been no progress in formulas since ancient times, or whether they can only manage mana by solving it this way.

Since I had no mana affinity, I had no way to check.

"Father. Do you really have to solve the formulas in such a slow and inefficient way?"

The Duke was caught off guard by my question and frowned.