Re: The Villainess Does It With Class

"Brother? Are you okay?" I asked him this.

He hadn't said anything and just stood there in front of me with a frown on his face. Usually, he would be more enthusiastic than that and would discuss it with me. 

So what's the deal now?

"How is that possible?" Nathan questioned.

It was soft-spoken but I caught it because I'm literally invading right into his personal space.

"Hmm?" I blinked at him stupidly.

"How do you have magic?" Nathan fired back. "How are you able to do that?"

Blinking, "I… well…" I trailed off.. I was also beginning to get confused now as well. "It's from my soul…? Herman bloodline? I'm actually an innate type just like you and father..."

Nathan shook his head, "No… no… That's not right."

Eh?

"You know how the Herman bloodline works, don't you? The male will always have two children. Only two of them and they could only be one son and a daughter," Nathan started explaining to which I nodded, going along with him. 

I learned about our family history long ago. It was right after I woke up in this body. I needed to gather information if I wanted to live here normally so I scourged the family library and interviewed the people in the household discreetly.

"And the daughter of the Hermans would only give birth to a son. Take Her Majesty for example…" he continued. "And the reason for that is because of our rare bloodline."

"Yes…" I agreed.

I don't know where he's going with this but alright, I'm listening closely, brother.

"Herman's bloodline has half of the blessed genes so even though we are seen as an average family, half of it is what makes us special. And because we're a hybrid, we can't have what a pure bloodline has." 

"And also because we're a hybrid, we can have what normal people don't. The sons are given the talent of the swords and they are born to be generals. Always," Nathan stares straight into my eyes that mirror his, "But the women stay the same," He then concluded.

My brows furrowed further.

"Eh? What do you mean?"

"Nadia, the Empress can't use magic and neither do the rest of the women in our family," he said.

It was now my turn to look at Nathan weirdly, utterly gobsmacked by his statement just a second ago.

"But Lord Janus says I can…" I pointed out in confusion.

And what a shocker that was...

Nathan's brows knitted together, "That's what I'm puzzled about. How?"

Silence passed between us as we processed our thoughts, both still staring at each other and looking very much confused. Not as confused as my brother though.

I don't actually have to think that deeply because I already have an inkling for the reason why I'm an exception to this rule. 

It's because I'm not the original Nadia. I'm a different soul. I came from a different land and thus why the impossible is possible now.

Hmm…

Biting my lip, I stole a glance at my troubled brother again.

'Not that I'm ever going to tell him that but yeah… That clearly explains it.'

I backtracked and thought back at my decisions leading to this. Maybe I shouldn't have let myself be swayed by my emotions. Look at what happened… 

I was too thrilled to know that I could use magic that I forgot the one glaring thing I should be careful of. Goodness, how much trouble would I be in if I don't start minding my words?

"Maybe I'm just lucky?" I muttered slowly in an attempt to cover up my slip of the tongue.

At the same time, my brother also said something.

"Maybe it's because of mother?" Nathan said out loud, still looking deep in thought though.

My head snapped up to him.

"What?"

He just mentioned our mother, didn't he?

Nathan dropped the hand that was stroking his mouth and looked down at me. He looked so serious that I'm starting to get nervous about what he's about to divulge.

"I saw mother do things sometimes…" He whispered. "I can't remember well but there was an instance where she was in the garden and there was a… there was an injured bird that couldn't fly…" Nathan started narrating. "I gave it to her. And she… I remember seeing a faint light in her palms. And then the bird flew…"

Nathan's eyes locked on mine, "She then told me it's a secret."

It's a secret and yet you're telling me now… 

'Mother did that?'

Nathan looked so troubled it's almost funny to see.

"I'm not even sure if I've remembered it right…" he mumbled.

I recalled the fuzzy memory that flashed to my head a while ago and immediately partly believed him whatsoever. Partly because it's still not confirmed whether Helen also has an affinity to magic but I have a hunch that it really is. I mean, what else could that memory be?

She was teaching young Nadia some kind of technique to access your anima or something like that. So there must be really more into my mother's family background… But we have no other information aside from she was an orphan and was taken in by a noble couple.

Or it could also be a misdirect. Like she was just guiding us younglings on how to use our gift. And maybe my brother was the one who did it and not mother… 

Honestly, there's a lot of possibilities.

'Wait… Why do I feel like there is something more to it?'

First of all, why would she teach young Nadia when she's not supposed to have any magic affinity? That was never mentioned in the book I've read…

Wait, no. Why am I still so hooked on the novel when it's already established that this world is real, it exists, and it's not a product of someone's imagination. But then again, the mystery surrounding the book is also not answered too. Why did it exist? Why is someone's story… 

Oh my God. This is crazy… All of these just don't make sense...

Questions… and more questions just kept piling up. So much mystery… so much enigma...

Maybe Nathaniel is right? Mother has magic and then Nadia might have inherited it or something… And the book doesn't mention it because it's not important? 

No, I need to deviate from the novel, seriously. 

Maybe the memory doesn't mean it that way. Maybe she's not teaching little Nadia magic but something else instead.

'Ugh, this is messing up my head!'

"That's it… I need to research more…" I grumbled to myself.

I was only going to focus on magic and its properties but it looks like I have another thing to add to my list.