The Villainess Is My Cute Daughter

Aria looked a little confused by the jargon she was repeating since she had never really heard about the parallel stacking method even in her past life. But Caelum immediately recognized the specific term.

His eyes widened slightly. And he just shook his head in total disbelief.

”The parallel stacking method is an incredibly advanced runic concept.” Caelum said in pure disbelief. ”How do you even know about that? Even the headmasters at the Royal Magic Academy don’t really teach that in the standard curriculum.”

Aria looked back at Adrian and waited a few seconds.

”Papa says it is a trade secret.” Aria replied bluntly.

Caelum let out a dry and nervous chuckle.

”Okay.” Caelum sighed heavily. ”But here is the thing that I feel like you do not really realize about my actual skill level. Even though I claim to be a Runic Mage... all I actually have is pure theoretical knowledge. I do not really have the practical experience to back it up.”

He looked straight down at the wooden floorboards.

”I had to drop out of the magic academy midway through my studies.” Caelum explained quietly. ”All because of my mana disease. Back then, I was only a second circle mage. But I automatically spiked to the rank of a fourth circle mage while I suffered in my bed. And due to that... even after receiving your help and beating the disease, I realized something. I realized that I am not actually on the level of a real fourth circle mage.”

He tightly clenched his fists.

”Because it feels like I am completely lacking in one way or another.” Caelum admitted. ”And I do not really know what is going on with my mana veins. But due to this... even though I have the textbook knowledge about advanced runic magic, I do not really have the hands-on experience to successfully carve an array like that. So right now, I do not think I will be able to do it even if it is theoretically possible.”

Caelum looked right back up at Adrian.

”I do not have the experience to make it succeed on the first try.” Caelum said firmly. ”And I do not want to carve something that I am not totally sure of. Especially when your actual life is on the line.”

Aria just stood there. She quietly listened to the voice echoing right inside her head.

”Papa says he will help you.” Aria told him. ”You two can just do it together. If you make any mistakes, you will have two brains working on the exact same problem at the exact same time. Papa says it will be much better if both of you work on the array together.”

Caelum looked down at Adrian’s bruised and mangled face. He just stared at the silent Lord for a few long seconds.

Then he let out a heavy sigh.

”Okay then.” Caelum agreed. ”We can do that.”

He nervously tapped his wooden staff on the floor.

”What about the base material we need to use for the new array?” Caelum asked.

So Aria looked at Adrian again.

”Papa says you can just use wood.” Aria repeated instantly. ”Because it is cheap and easy to work with quickly.”

Caelum gave a slow nod.

”Okay then. I will go grab a solid piece of wood for us to use.” Caelum decided. ”And then we can get to work.”

He turned around to leave the bedroom. But he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

”Before that,” Caelum added quietly. ”What should we do about the wooden board sitting under your mattress right now? The one with the basic healing runes. Do you want me to just replace it with a totally new one completely? Or should we just use the same one?”

Aria stared at Adrian for a few seconds.

”Papa says he will look at the current one first.” Aria answered. ”Then we will decide if we actually need to make a brand new one. Or if we can just use the exact same one we already have.”

Caelum nodded again.

”Okay then.”

He turned around and walked out of the room to find some wood.

Once the door clicked shut, Aria looked down at Adrian.

’Papa, can I help you with this?’ Aria asked eagerly through the mental link. ’I feel like I can be of really good use here. My mana control is pretty good and I should be able to carve exactly what you say. Because like Caelum said, he isn’t on the level of a real fourth circle mage yet. So I should be able to do it much better and way faster than him.’

She leaned a little closer to his face.

’Can I please help?’ Aria begged silently. ’I will make it fast.’

Adrian thought about it for a few seconds.

’Okay.’ Adrian replied in her head. ’You can help me carve it.’

Aria immediately grinned. A massive and genuine smile lit up her face.

’I love you, Papa.’ Aria beamed happily.

She jumped right up from the small stool.

’Should I remove the board right now from under your bed so you can look at it?’ Aria asked him.

’Yes, please do that.’ Adrian answered.

Aria focused her mana instantly. She used her telekinesis to gently lift the heavy mattress straight up into the air and she kept Adrian perfectly level. She quickly pulled the carved wooden plank right out from the empty bed frame. Then she slowly and gently lowered the mattress back down.

She dragged the heavy wooden board around the bed and held it right up in front of Adrian’s face.

Adrian stared at the runic carvings. He studied the complicated carved pathways for a few minutes in total silence.

’It is pretty good.’ Adrian finally said. ’But the specific circuits he carved aren’t really good enough to actually support a stacked parallel runic array. They will just... not work. It will be much better to just start with a brand new piece of wood. Because with a blank slate, we can make the pathways even better.’

Aria nodded.

’Okay.’ Aria answered. ’I will tell that to Caelum when he gets back.’

But then something unexpected happened.

Because Claire suddenly spoke up from the other bed.

”Maybe we should try getting Hugo to do it again.”