My Uncle is the Strongest Dark Mage

The garden of Benedict Academy.

Despite it being early March, cherry blossoms bloomed by magic were fluttering beautifully.

Underneath them, groups of children who had grown close were walking together, chatting, creating a perfect scene of a new school term.

“…….”

Watching them, Arina strolled through the garden with a slightly envious look in her eyes.

‘At first, I was just happy about being chosen as the freshman representative.’

Was it because it was an honor she had never anticipated?

When she received the news via text, she had visibly rejoiced and even boasted about it to Cain.

Cain, however, had dismissed her excitement with a calm, “At your age, being a 2-star magician, of course you’d be the freshman representative.”

In any case, though she had accepted the position with great joy, she quickly discovered an unexpected downside to being the freshman representative.

While it had the advantages of standing out to others, leaving a strong impression on the professors, and even serving as a potential career boost after graduation—

It was regrettable that, while other freshmen were gathering in the auditorium, shyly introducing themselves and getting acquainted, she had to stand alone on the podium reading the pre-distributed freshman speech, missing out on such opportunities.

Of course, she knew that most friendships were formed in the classroom rather than during those initial introductions.

Moreover, she was aware that there were more students walking alone, just like her, than those chatting in groups.

Still, perhaps it was because she had never had a chance to make friends her age due to her circumstances growing up.

Having her own small dreams about school life, it was inevitable that she felt disappointed by such trivial things.

‘At least the uniform is pretty.’

She had thought so when she first received it, but seeing the children walking through the garden now, she realized anew how much thought had gone into its design.

Primarily a pure white base.

Accented with a blue that served as the highlight.

The cool and clean design, with its understated simplicity, subtly exuded a sense of sophistication.

But it wasn’t just the design that was impressive.

Perhaps because the academy was the top institution in the Elemental Kingdom, chaired by the Demon Lord, the uniforms—despite being distributed almost for free—were made of the finest materials.

The fabric was of a quality one would expect only from luxury brands.

The smooth, silky texture was so pleasant that it felt almost addictive.

Finding some consolation in that thought, Arina shuffled along.

‘So, it was Class A, right?’

Recalling the text message sent to her smartphone in advance—

She remembered the class assignment written there and began heading from the auditorium toward the main building, where the first-year classrooms were located.

The path to the main building wasn’t difficult to figure out.

The white building stood out clearly ahead, and even if one were directionally challenged, simply following the children walking in front would naturally lead them there.

‘My goal is to make 10 friends.’

While others dreamed of succeeding as magicians, reaching higher levels, or harboring grand ambitions, perhaps due to her lack of such desires since childhood—

Arina, who had only learned magic as a hobby, had a goal that seemed quite different from others.

“Hello.”

As she walked with determination, someone suddenly tapped her on the shoulder.

“Are you Arina Grant, the freshman representative?”

Being the freshman representative wasn’t so bad after all, was it?

Thanks to standing on the podium and making herself known, someone had approached her to talk.

Feeling genuinely happy about that, Arina turned around.

“Huh?”

And at that moment, she froze in surprise.

A girl with a bright smile was looking at her.

Her golden hair flowed beautifully, and her clear blue eyes, like the sea, seemed familiar.

Yes, to be specific, Arina remembered seeing her just a few days ago at the Grant Department Store.

Was it because of the bad memories associated with that time?

Arina’s face turned pale for a moment.

‘I thought I had forgotten about it.’

Unconsciously, she clenched her fists tightly.

But then, as if trying to calm herself, she repeatedly opened and closed her fists, sending blood back to her fingertips.

With the circulation restored, her pale complexion gradually returned to normal.

“Look, it’s Princess Maril.”

“It really is. So, it’s true she enrolled this year.”

“I heard she hasn’t formally learned magic yet, but her written scores were almost perfect?”

“That’s amazing.”

But only for a moment.

Hearing the murmurs around her and realizing that their gazes were now directed at her, Arina blinked in confusion.

So, a princess?

Really? This girl?

‘No, that can’t be.’

It must be a misunderstanding.

It was probably just a coincidence that the princess happened to pass by her.

There was no way the princess of this country would personally speak to her.

“I’m Maril Raymond. Nice to meet you, Arina Grant.”

“…….”

But that hope was shattered by the girl’s following self-introduction.

Raymond—the name of the capital city and the surname of this country’s royal family.

For the princess herself to speak to her.

It wasn’t that she felt bad about it, but it was undeniably overwhelming.

More precisely, it made her nervous.

And for good reason—this girl was one of the most noble figures in the country.

That alone was more than enough to make an ordinary citizen like Arina feel tense.

“Y-Yes! H-Hello! Princess! I’m Arina Grant!”

“Ahaha, why are you so nervous? Just relax. We’re classmates, after all.”

Unlike the Emperor of Huan, who likened himself to the heavens and demanded utmost respect, or the Empress, who ruled as the sole absolute authority directly overseeing everyone, the Raymond royal family didn’t cling to power in such a manner.

Of course, they couldn’t tolerate outright rudeness or ignorance of basic etiquette.

But in special situations like this, they tended to interact without concern for rank or formality.

Fundamentally, they were a kingdom of benevolent rulers.

Their guiding principle was that authority should stem not from orders but from one’s character and actions.

In that sense, the Raymond royal family could be said to embody the ethos of Ern Benedict, the absolute ruler of this land.

And Maril had been taught such values from an early age.

Thus, she naturally greeted Arina first and approached her.

In the process, satisfying her own curiosity as well.

“So, can I ask you something?”

“Yes…….”

“Have we met somewhere before?”

Her wide blue eyes looked straight at Arina as she asked, and cold sweat ran down Arina’s back.

A few days ago, after the Grant Department Store incident—

Arina had been left with a small question.

The news and various media outlets had been abuzz with reports about the event.

Given how much attention the incident had drawn, was it really okay for her to have left the scene on her own?

Arina had only realized later that she wasn’t the only one traumatized by the event.

Victims had received psychiatric treatment, and the deceased had been mourned with collective funerals.

Even now, it wasn’t uncommon to see people wearing ribbons in memory of the victims while walking through the capital.

But her name was nowhere to be found on the list of victims.

It was only natural.

Before the police could organize the case, Cain had taken her out of the department store.

Knowing that, she had later asked Cain about it out of curiosity.

Though it felt awkward to say it herself, she had been quite active on the 9th floor, so there must have been many who saw her.

Yet, it was strange that the police hadn’t come looking for her.

Cain calmly shook his head at her unnecessary worry and answered.

“I erased all their memories, so it’s fine. No one knows you were there.”

“…….”

“It’d be annoying if someone came looking for you while you were just resting at home, wouldn’t it?”

No, no matter what, her uncle shouldn’t have done that, considering what she went through.

At the very least, he could have arranged trauma therapy for her.

Unaware of that, she had struggled alone under her blanket, trying to overcome the trauma.

‘Well, who else is there to blame for all this?’

She thought it was her own fault for keeping quiet and enduring the hardship, worried that her uncle might get concerned.

Of course, she had no idea that Cain had already noticed her struggles long ago.

Anyway, from her perspective, Maril’s question was utterly nonsensical.

According to Cain, all memories of her should have been completely erased from everyone’s minds.

So, she thought it might just be déjà vu or a misunderstanding that brought her here.

“For example, at the Grant Department Store.”

Her words continued.

This time, she directly mentioned the incident, causing Arina to flinch visibly.

“So it’s true, isn’t it?”

Maril didn’t miss that reaction.

“You know, I have an exceptional memory, if I do say so myself.”

A talent commonly referred to as the Perfect Memory Ability.

In fact, even at this very moment, she could recall the details of events down to the second in her mind.

That’s why she had sensed something strange about the incident that day.

Within her memories, there was a subtle gap, an empty space she could feel.

Most people wouldn’t have noticed it since the events seemed to flow naturally despite the gap.

But Maril had unmistakably caught that gap.

“I keep feeling like I’ve seen you somewhere, but I can’t remember. And if there’s something missing in my memory, it has to be from that day. So, if this déjà vu is real, you were there that day, weren’t you?”

“…….”

This is bad.

It’s all ruined because of my uncle.

As she listened to Maril’s sharp reasoning, the worst-case scenario flashed through Arina’s mind.

She realizes that Arina was at the department store that day.

But the memory is gone.

The absence of memory implies that someone erased it.

And the most likely suspect would be the person who disappeared after being at the department store.

In the end, this meant Arina had become a highly suspicious individual who tampered with the princess’s memory at will.

Arina’s face turned pale as she trembled, her eyes quivering.

She looked like she might faint at any moment.

But with the strong willpower of a 2nd Class Magician, she managed to endure it.

‘At this point, I’ll just have to deny it with everything I’ve got.’

There’s no evidence anyway.

What could they do if she insisted it wasn’t her?

With that thought, Arina was about to launch her strategy of feigned ignorance.

“Ah, I’m not really blaming you for it.”

As she had been doing all along, Maril preemptively continued, predicting Arina’s reaction.

She smiled brightly, waving her hand lightly.

“It’s more like, I can’t remember certain parts, but I feel like someone definitely saved me. Who was it? That kind of thing. Honestly, I feel like I should thank you instead. Thank you for saving me back then.”

“What?”

“Let’s get along from now on. You can just call me Maril. I’ll call you Arina.”

“What?!”

Unbelievable.

Who would have thought she’d make her first friend at the Academy, and that friend would be the princess?

This was all thanks to her uncle.

In less than ten seconds, her thoughts shifted from blaming her uncle to thanking him.

Maril boldly grabbed Arina’s hand and asked.

“So? Which class are you in?”

“Class A.”

“I told you to speak comfortably. Well, I guess it’s not easy to do that right away, huh? I suppose I lacked consideration there.”

“No, it’s just… I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. We’ll be stuck together for a year anyway, so you’ll get used to it eventually.”

“…….”

“In a way, it was also my dream when I entered the Academy. My father, the king, still laughs and chats casually with his Academy friends when they meet informally. I wanted to have friends like that too. I guess I got a bit impatient.”

In a way, her reason for entering the Academy was surprisingly similar to Arina’s.

“It might be difficult now, but once we get closer, I hope we can speak casually. Since we’re both in Class A, we’ll have plenty of time to bond.”

Watching Maril confidently pull her hand, Arina gave a slightly awkward smile and spoke hesitantly.

“Ah, okay. No, I mean… sure.”

“Good, that’s enough for now.”

Thus, an unexpected coincidence turned into a meaningful connection.

On her first day at the Academy, Arina succeeded in making her first friend.

And that friend turned out to be none other than the princess of this kingdom, an unexpectedly influential figure.