The Regressed SSS-Rank Water Mage Wants To Live a Calm Life

The scorching heat that came with daylight had just begun to dwindle, giving way to an ephemeral golden glow that shone, accompanied by the gentle evening breeze that swept over a young lady’s skin, causing her curly brown hair to flutter subtly as she closed her clear, silver eyes in a minor act of adoration, walking through a royally adorned archway.

From either side of the open archway, beautiful flowers that had sprouted amidst lush greenery swayed along with the rhythm of the gentle evening breeze. These flowers were the source of the pleasant scents that cascaded in the air, finding their way into the pointed nose of the young lady.

Clicking sounds echoed; they were the effect of her heels hitting against the cracked stone floor with every flawless step she took.

Her figure, drenched in the adornment of a noble green dress, was nothing short of beautiful, evoking an ineffable sense of prestige as the lady walked.

This prestigious, calm and collected outward appearance of hers made anyone who saw her feel like she was a person who had everything under control.

While, to her, her own outer appearance was, in simple terms, a great deception.

It was a deception in the sense that the young lady seemed to have nothing under her control. Even when she thought otherwise. This fact was evidenced by the thorns that had pricked her perfectly concocted plans.

She breathed out, her previously heaved chest deflating as she opened her eyes, gazing at the rows of flowers outside the archway.

As Young Lady Margarita watched the golden lights spill on the flowers, her thoughts trailed off.

’The high ball is tomorrow...’ She blinked. ’I...’

At that point, her lips parted to speak. But they remained frozen. And after a while of contemplation, she closed her slightly agape mouth, sighing while shaking her head.

Her current predicament was all because of that stupid man she called her father.

Yes. Her father... in fact, she didn’t regard him as her father. He was a stranger to her. He had always been.

And that dumb stranger had spoiled her perfect plans of elopement, shaking the foundations of the plan ever since the announcement of this frustrating High Ball four weeks ago.

And because of this, she and her trusted butler had worked hard in the past few weeks, trying to recalibrate their plan and somehow restructure it.

But no matter how much they’d recalibrated, the results were still the same.

She had to attend the ball. She had to endure that high society noble garbage fest. And the next chance for elopement would be at least two months from now, when the Marquis of House Silvester would be away from the capital with his trusted mages on some kind of Imperial decree by the Emperor.

This greatly pissed Rita off. It made her swallow hard just thinking about it.

She sighed once more.

’No use getting angry. I just have to bide my time and wait, no matter how annoying it may be.’

She nodded.

’I have endured nineteen years. Just two more months is nothing.’

Ignoring the gloomy thoughts, her full lips curved. She smiled.

The entire house had been busy and rowdy these past few days. It seemed the Ball preparation was no joke. And her father — no, that stupid man — took the High Ball very seriously, because the Emperor himself might be present.

Now this was the reason for Margarita’s recent joy.

The house being busy meant no one paid any particular attention to her.

Well, it wasn’t like they gave her a considerable amount of attention prior, but now, it felt like the little attention the family members previously gave to their pet had totally extinguished, reshaped to focus on their nonsensical event.

This meant Rita could wander freely around the mansion without any restraint or any of the guards to bother her.

She spent the bulk of her time in her room, studying spells discreetly and trying to break through to the 3rd-circle. She had been taking her magic studies very seriously, figuring that if she managed to at least reach the 6th-circle, she would be able to leave the mansion whenever and however she liked, and no one would stop her.

After all, only a few could hold back a 6th-circle mage, one who’d transcended the barriers of chanting spells or drawing magic circles.

Rita’s smile only widened.

She knew it was a far cry; her best bet would be to progress steadily, tackle the 3rd-circle bottleneck first, then the 4th, and progressively, before five years, she would hit the 6th-circle.

Thinking about it now, she really had a talent for magic. And she couldn’t help but wonder what her talents would be like if she really had a teacher and was taught properly from a young age.

The books Maddy, her butler, had given her were good, no doubt, but they were also insufficient. Some things required the clear explanation of a more experienced senior. Books and theory could only get a person so far.

Rita sighed, she was approaching the end of the archway now, making her way toward the lush Silvester garden.

This was the place where she spent most of her evenings these days. It was the perfect place to muse and daydream of a life beyond the confines of this estate, surrounded by flowers and pleasant scents.

Whenever Maddy wanted to speak with her during the evenings, around the time when the sun had begun to set, the silver-haired female butler always came to this place.

Arriving at the garden, Rita smiled widely, gazing skyward.

The once clear and milky waves of clouds had been tainted golden by the setting sun. Birds soared in the air, most of them locating their nests as night was approaching, the beautiful sounds of their chirpings echoing in the air. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Out here in the fields, the evening breeze felt even better, and Rita closed her eyes, inhaling deeply, the sweet scents of the flowers trickling into her nose.

She raised her arms, as though embracing the garden. And then, immediately, she removed her heels.

They weren’t tight or uncomfortable, but the moment she took them off, she felt free, her legs felt more comfortable, and her bare toes touched the grass; they even tickled her feet, causing her to giggle.

She removed her black gloves, threw them on the ground, and she began to move in the garden, hopping barefoot in a dance-like movement. Her smile was wide and childlike, her green gown swayed with every movement she made.

Then, steadily, she began to move her slender fingers, and they glowed a bright green hue as the air moved along with the rhythm of her movement.

In the next few seconds, Margarita was wrapped in an enclosure of green light, and this green light that covered her entire body pulled the flowers around her, causing them to wander in the air as she moved.

The sight was beautiful and melancholic.

Finally, Rita stopped her dance, and the light show ceased, every flower, once floating in the air, paused, and they swayed gently until they landed on the ground.

Margarita stood, her breathing a bit heavy, her forehead glistening with beads of sweat. But she was smiling.

Click–!

A small, clicking sound echoed.

Margarita’s eyes snapped wide open, and her heartbeat immediately fluttered, spiking to a high degree.

’What is that?’

She frowned, her gaze tracing the general direction of the sound.

The walls at the northern end of the garden. That was where the sound came from.

"Who’s there?"