Aidan, excited to see magic for the first time, was left disappointed as he didn't witness any spell—let alone anything fascinating. Just as he thought he might not see magic anytime soon, a beast appeared before Lily. It was a unicorn, like the stories he had read—white in colour, adorned with black flames on its neck and legs.
The moment it appeared, the temperature seemed to shift slightly from its presence. A wave of heat, brief but intense, brushed against Aidan's skin.
While focused on his mother and Lily, he didn't initially notice the maid's hesitation—her hands trembling, her eyes darting from him to her side pocket.
She was just a normal human, unlike those Rankers who wielded mana's power with superhuman strength. She hadn't realized when she'd become part of something she never wanted—but she had no choice.
She had a future to secure, a chance to rise above her peasant life, to become a noble, perhaps even a Rank One being. She had used every means to infiltrate the Wilsons' estate, be it using her body, be it by money... so how could she let this opportunity slip away?
And to think—the first person the captain assigned to Aidan was one of the maids tasked with killing him, the future heir of the Wilson estate. She glanced at the child. He's a cute little boy, she thought, but pity—fate doesn't want you to live.
"Little one, forgive this lady," she whispered with an eerie smile, her smile more than enough to know she didn't mean forgiveness even if she said it.
She stood up, her nervous hands edging toward the water container. Taking a small, deliberate sip, she noted that the heavy presence of the duchess and Lily hadn't wavered—not even once. She knew the duchess alone was more than enough to watch her, let alone that monster, Lily.
She waited, biding her time. Everything was prepared; she just needed a single moment—one brief chance. She wasn't foolish enough to act recklessly.
Her fingers brushed against the small bottle of liquefied mana tucked in her side pocket. For humans like her, it was an extremely precious resource, but for a five-month-old child, it was pure poison. It would corrupt his life force, tainting his mana and ensuring death—or worse. For an infant, however, it would simply mean a swift, painless end.
Aidan, whose focus had shifted to her, had seen and heard every word she'd whispered. One thing was clear: this woman intended to harm him.
Internally, he thought seriously. It hasn't even been long since he was born, and already someone wants me dead. If I could, I'd give them a piece of my mind—to them but whatever Aidan didn't wanted to stay in hands even for moment longer. Aidan wasn't stupid enough to risk my life.
So Aidan used the only weapon he had—a loud, piercing cry.
"WAHH!! WAHH!! WAHH!!"
He refused to stay in her arms even for one second longer. While she had accounted for Sophia and Lily, she had never considered Aidan in her plans.
Hearing his cries, both Sophia and Lily rushed over, while the maid desperately tried to calm him.
"What happened?" Lily demanded, her face darkening.
Sophia reached for Aidan, but he recoiled, still wailing. Instead of clinging to his mother, he clenched his left fist and pointed insistently at the maid's side pocket with his right index finger.
Lily's eyes narrowed. She recalled a conversation with one of his caretakers: "It's as if the young master understands how to communicate when something's wrong. If he's hungry or uncomfortable, he cries—almost like he's fully aware of his surroundings."
Aidan's frustration boiled over. His tiny body betrayed him—unable to speak, unable to expose the woman. His blood burned with helpless fury.
Then, a voice cut through the chaos.
"Why do you have liquefied mana?"
An overwhelming pressure erupted beneath the maid's feet—not on her, but from the ground itself. Sophia moved in an instant, snatching Aidan into her arms. He quieted immediately, clinging to her clothes.
The earth trembled. Fissures split the ground where Sophia had stood moments before, cracks spider webbing outward, deepening as they spread—fracturing the earth beneath.
This time, the pressure wasn't on the ground. It was on the maid.
It was insignificant compared to what Lily was truly capable of.
Both women's eyes darkened dangerously. Lily acted. Closing the distance, she placed a hand on the maid's shoulder—a wisp of mana flickering at her fingertips.
"This one wisp is enough to burn even your ashes."
Aidan watched his aunt, a strange warmth blooming in his chest. Until now, the only person he'd felt any affection for was his mother—not even his father, same for Lily too. But today, for the first time, he thought, maybe it's not so bad to have an aunt.
The maid collapsed to her knees, gasping for air, choking under the weight of Lily's power. "Forgive me, Lady Lily! I—I forgot I had that in my pocket!"
Sophia stepped forward, her voice icy. "Fool."
The maid sobbed. "I only wanted to serve the young master! I swear, my lady, I never meant harm!"
Sophia stared at her. "Call it cruel. Call it unjust. Even if this all some misunderstanding—that alone is more than enough reason for me to end your life. It doesn't matter if that liquefied mana was for you or not. You had my baby without letting me know about the liquefied mana – that is all the reason I need"
The maid's snot and tears mixed as she begged, her hands gripping the Duchess's foot, her forehead pressed to the ground. "Please, Duchess, forgive my ignorance! All of it... everything she had done—the seduction, the bribes, the betrayal... in the end, it was all for nothing." The final thought flashed through her mind - perhaps she had become impatient. Perhaps all her previous successes had gone to her head.
A few seconds later, the maid was no more than a sculpture of ice her tears froze while the blood in her veins became nothing but ice.
Aidan's eyes widened. He hadn't even seen his mother move. He'd felt nothing—no chill, no ripple of power. Yet the woman had been frozen solid in an instant.
How?
He was certain now—Lily and his mother had shielded him from the effects. But he didn't understand how.
"Humph!" Sophia snorted as they carried him back to his room, uncertain how this would affect him.
After placing Aidan in the safe room, Sophia turned toward Lily, her voice cold as frost. "You know what you need to do, don't you, Lily?"
Lily nodded silently before vanishing, her figure no longer there as she went to hunt down the culprit. Sophia's eyes remained icy looking in the distance.
Aidan, who was now tucked under the quilt, replayed the events in his mind. What was that power?
He wanted to learn it. But first, he needed to be careful. Until now, he hadn't been concerned about danger. But if one maid had tried to kill him, there could be others.
He wanted grow up. He wouldn't die young he made a decision to himself as his small fist clenched with determination. It would be a shame not to see what magic could truly do.
On Earth, power came from money—external, fragile, and bound by governments and laws. But this? This magic was his. A power that came from within.
This was true freedom. Not the illusion money created.
A yearning stirred in Aidan's heart—a desire to stand at the top of this world. The same ambition that had made him a multimillionaire in four years on Earth, the same drive that had defined him, would now fuel him in Maaya too.
And this time, his power would be real.