Her Royal Highness Seems to Be Angry Vol 2

PROLOGUE
AS A KING AND AS A FATHER

In his office in Viatris Castle in the capital of Nirvaan, King Oswald listened to a report from his chief secretary. “Is there any new information about the disappearance of the 11th army platoon?” he asked.

The chief secretary was the primary consul working under the prime minister. As Platina did not have a vice prime minister, he was the next bureaucrat in power after the prime minister to advise the king.

“I’m terribly sorry,” the chief secretary responded. “We’ve been investigating the cause and circumstances as quickly as possible, but we still have no clue.”

“I see. Report to me the instant you find something.”

Oswald groaned, holding a quill pen in hand as he listened to the report. The other day, the army’s 11th platoon, which had been training near the border, had mysteriously vanished. Such a large group had never disappeared like this before; it was an unprecedented case. Though an urgent investigation had been conducted, the results didn’t seem promising.

“Also,” the chief secretary continued, “there was another skirmish between the citizens and guards in the town of Jord, near the border.”

“Again?” After a pause, Oswald ordered, “Have someone spy on the citizens’ movements.”

“Understood.” The chief secretary bowed before taking his leave. Oswald let out a long sigh as his quill pen danced over parchment. From mass vanishings to skirmishes, there were many unsettling events that had been occurring in the country lately.

Just then, there was a knock on the door. Without pausing his work, Oswald gave permission to enter. The door opened, and a woman in a dress stepped inside. “Pardon me, Your Majesty,” she greeted.

The woman’s eyes widened slightly as her gaze settled on Oswald whose relief was palpable when he saw the familiar woman with deep indigo hair and gray eyes.

“Ah, Cordelica. It’s you.”

“I’m sorry to interrupt you when you’re busy. Thank you for your hard work,” the woman—Cordelica—said. Oswald was surprised that the second queen consort would visit him at such an early hour, when the sun had just risen.

“This is the duty of a king,” he replied. “What are you doing here so early?”

After a slight hesitation, Cordelica answered, “I came to give you a report on Rocheford’s behavior.”

At those words, Oswald almost dropped his quill pen. He’d been aware of Rocheford’s behavior—shouting and lashing out at irregular intervals—ever since yesterday’s commotion.

“Has something happened to him?” he asked.

“No. He finally calmed down in the early hours of the morning. Now he’s sleeping peacefully. I just thought to inform you of that.”

“I see.” Oswald breathed a sigh of relief. After Rocheford had lost his mother, Oswald’s consorts—Cordelica included—had been the ones to care for him.

After the queen had passed, her duties had been split between Cordelica, the second queen, and Oswald’s other queen consort. He knew how busy the women kept. In addition, the third queen was sickly. Oswald was grateful to Cordelica for making the time to check on Rocheford every day.

“Thanks for always looking after him,” Oswald continued.

“Not at all. It’s partially my fault that he turned out that way. If I’d confronted him more…”

“It’s not your fault. All the blame can be laid on my shoulders.”

“Your Majesty…”

A subtle moment of silence fell upon them. It was true that Oswald and the queen consorts had been too busy with their royal duties to pay Rocheford much attention. But it was pointless to wish after the fact that they had done things differently back then.

“By the way, Your Majesty, Sirius doesn’t seem to be here today,” Cordelica pointed out.

“Ah, he’s accompanying Tuvalu to the Filiaregis manor to deliver messages to the duke and Drossell.” Oswald had entrusted the letters he’d written last night to Sirius first thing that morning. He might have already reached the manor as they spoke.

“Oh my. You’re going to see Miss Drossell?”

“Of course. She was a major participant in the incident that occurred, so I must hear her version of the events in detail.” Saying this, Oswald glanced at a stack of papers on his document-covered desk which were clearly written on a different quality of paper than the rest. It was a regular report that Tuvalu had submitted when he visited earlier that morning.

Oswald had been ordering research into that “power” for many years, but he knew from the reports that a lack of information had put the study on hold for the past year. He didn’t believe that the power, which had already once been lost with almost all of its references burned, could be brought back so easily. But he was hoping that the power Drossell had shown at the academy could be the solution he needed.

On the other hand, she was played a role in bringing about Rocheford’s current situation. He couldn’t tell Cordelica of his hopes for Drossell.

“Your Majesty, how should we deal with Rocheford?” Cordelica asked, interrupting Oswald’s train of thought. He had yet to punish Rocheford, who had caused the monstrous riot earlier. His quill pen paused, his eyes lowering as he slowly put it down.

“He took the relic out of his own self-interest, plus he caused a great deal of damage to the academy. I don’t plan on letting him off scot-free.”

“Your Majesty…”

Now, it was highly unlikely that Rocheford would be able to inherit the throne. Which meant that he would have to summon the second and third princes, who were out of the country, back home.

Cordelica gave Oswald a wistful look as he sank deeper into his seat, but she didn’t say anything. Picking up his quill pen once more, he returned to his paperwork, putting an end to the discussion.

“Then I’ll excuse myself,” Cordelia said. “Please make a choice you won’t regret.” She smiled anxiously at Oswald, who didn’t look up from his documents. When the heavy sound of the door closing finally echoed in the room, he let out a small sigh and stood to face the window that had been at his back.

“She can see right through me…”

Cordelica had likely noticed that he’d forcefully brought an end to the discussion. Despite that, she hadn’t said a word. “I’m too lenient,” he murmured mournfully.

As the king, he had to choose a suitable punishment for Rocheford, but his personal feelings kept him from doing so. He had thought that telling Rocheford he didn’t expect anything from him and giving him that girl were in Rocheford’s best interests, but it had all stunningly backfired on him.

“I’m sure it won’t be long now,” Oswald murmured quietly while looking out the window at the royal capital’s cityscape and the vast scenery behind it. “I promise to make this country a good one.”

That was what Oswald longed for most as its king, and it was also a promise he had made to the woman who had trusted him and given up her life. The woman he loved most. Slipping his right hand into his pocket, his fingers brushed against hard, cold metal.

“Josephina…” Conjuring an image of the crown prince’s late mother in his mind’s eye, Oswald’s hand clenched around the pendant in his pocket.

CHAPTER 1
AN AUDIENCE WITH THE KING

Despite the turbulent day she’d had yesterday, Leticiel woke up feeling refreshed at her usual time. The sheets rustled as she sat up in bed, stretching as much as she possibly could while squinting in the morning sun.

Though it was good she had defeated the mysterious beast, much of the series of disturbances didn’t make sense. The monster’s identity, the reason for Rocheford’s sudden change, how the sword he’d been carrying related to everything…

After giving her eyewitness interview, she had mingled with the teachers who were too busy dealing with matters out in the field to investigate. And though she had dug for information in the Great Library, she couldn’t find anything of import. Before she knew it, the sky, tinted orange with the setting sun, had turned pitch black.

Frustrated that her search had born no fruit, Leticiel had reluctantly returned to the manor and jumped straight into bed. Ruvik was incredibly angry at her for coming home so late, and if Nicole hadn’t forced her to wash up, she would have fallen asleep with her uniform on.

“Excuse me. Good morning, my lady,” her personal maid, Nicole, said as she entered the room. Currently, only Ruvik and Nicole were able to pass through the door to Leticiel’s room, so she wasn’t bothered when she didn’t hear a knock.

It seemed like the general gist of yesterday’s events had already reached the manor the previous day, possibly because her family had connections through her engagement to the crown prince. The people in the manor had been rushing around when she arrived home yesterday, but since she wasn’t interested, she had ignored the knocks on her door, determined to stay inside.

The knocking attacks had continued until late at night. They had even come a few times while she was sleeping, annoying her enough to use sorcery to lock and soundproof the door. Good grief. I wish they wouldn’t intrude on my sleep.

“Good morning, Nicole,” Leticiel answered.

“Please allow me to help you get ready, my lady!”

Leticiel tilted her head at the gleeful glint in Nicole’s eyes. She had been expecting to simply put on her uniform and go to the academy today, but…

“Nicole, why do you look so eager when I’ll just be wearing my uniform?” she asked.

“We received a notice from the academy early this morning. It said that the academy will be closed for a while due to yesterday’s commotion.”

Leticiel blinked at the announcement, but once she stopped to think about it, many of the teachers had been injured in the battle against the monster. It was probably a struggle for them to unravel what had occurred, much less hold classes.

At the same time, Leticiel could guess why Nicole’s eyes were shining. After all, it wasn’t that long ago that Nicole had somewhat strong-armed her into dressing up.

“I’ve realized that with a little shining, you can turn into a diamond!” Nicole exclaimed, insisting, “Since you won’t be wearing your uniform today, please allow me to get you dressed!”

Leticiel involuntarily took a step back. So that’s how it was. If she didn’t have classes today, she would have to wear everyday clothes.

“Erm… Nicole, could you please wait a moment? To be honest, I couldn’t care less about my clothes…”

“Don’t say that! My lady, you haven’t realized how attractive you are! My duty is to show your noble beauty to the master and mistress… No, the whole region… No, to everyone in the entire kingdom!” Nicole blurted. Leticiel’s face twisted into an obvious frown, but she was unable to resist a smiling Nicole, who wouldn’t take no for an answer and dragged her into the dressing room.

Thirty minutes later, Leticiel walked out of the dressing room with a divine beauty and aura, having been dressed up and polished to Nicole’s heart’s content. The makeup even did a good job of hiding her expression, which gave off the impression that she had used up an entire day’s worth of energy.

Nicole may be the only person I cannot contend with…

While admiring Nicole’s fashion sense, Leticiel mentally noted that she might possibly be weak against Nicole’s arm-twisting.

Glancing around her room, Leticiel tilted her head and commented, “Now that I think about it, Ruvik hasn’t arrived yet.” He usually brought her breakfast by the time she finished getting ready, but today there was no one else in her room.

“That’s odd. It isn’t like him to be late,” Nicole agreed.

“Yes. Perhaps he’s caught up somewhere. I’m going to go search for him.”

“All right!” Nicole nodded firmly. Leticiel left her in charge of watching her room as she stepped outside. It was a straight shot from Leticiel’s room to the kitchen. She searched for any sign of Ruvik while walking down the somewhat familiar corridor.

“This is all your fault! Do you understand that?! You’re her personal butler, so how can you say that you didn’t know anything?!” She heard a man shouting from around the corner ahead.

“That’s right! You didn’t stop that girl! That’s why all of this has happened!”

“I’m terribly sorry…”

It was the first time in a while that she’d heard her parents’ voice, followed by Ruvik’s. Peeking around the corner, she saw that the duke and duchess had cornered Ruvik in the hallway and were yelling at him. Judging by the wagon that was parked beside him, it seemed like they had caught him while he was on his way to deliver Leticiel’s breakfast.

Leticiel’s face immediately went blank and a thread of ice wove into existence at her feet. With a cracking sound, it spread and crawled down the hallway like a snake, wrapping around the duke and duchess’s feet.

“Wh-What is this?!”

“Kyaaaah! What in the world is this?!”

By the time Scarlough and Diane noticed the change, the ice had completely encased one foot each. They panicked and tried to free themselves but lost their balance and fell over ungracefully.

“Good morning, Lord Scarlough, Lady Diane.” Leticiel smiled faintly as she finally made her appearance, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes. “I came looking for my butler because he was taking a while to come to my room, but what business do you two have with him?”

“Eeeek!”

“If you have something to say to me, you’re welcome to say it to my face. I may not seem it, but I do listen to others, you know.”

Leticiel slowly approached the duke and duchess on light feet.

“D-Don’t come any closer! You monster!”

“But we can’t talk face-to-face if I don’t come closer. Don’t worry, this isn’t my first time being called a monster.”

“Gyaaah!” With their feet still frozen to the ground, leaving them unable to escape, Leticiel likely looked like a grim reaper or a demon—something along those lines. The color drained from Scarlough and Diane’s faces with each step she took. To be honest, it was a little entertaining.

“U-Um, my lord…”

But they were interrupted just when things were getting interesting. The old man who served as head butler called out from a few yards away on the other side of the duke and duchess. “The prime minister wishes to meet with you,” he added.

“Wh-Why is the prime minister here?!”

“He said he has a letter from His Majesty that he would like to give you. For now, I’ve shown him to the parlor.”

“I-I-I-I’ll be right there!”

Leticiel couldn’t play any longer if they had a guest. Releasing the spell she’d been using on the duke and duchess, she turned to leave—she no longer had any business there—but the head butler also called out to her.

“P-Pardon me, Miss Drossell, but he has requested your attendance, as well.”

Of course it wasn’t that easy. Sighing, Leticiel decided that she would at least meet with the man. She could return to her room after quickly popping in to show her face.

“Ruvik, you can head on to my room without me.”

“B-But…”

“I’ll be fine. You needn’t worry.”

“All right. Take care.” Ruvik still looked somewhat anxious, but he pushed the breakfast wagon and disappeared down the hallway. After seeing him off, Leticiel started walking as well.

Following the duke and duchess, who had stumbled over themselves to get ahead, Leticiel arrived at the parlor. Sirius, the prime minister, rose from his seat on the sofa and gave them all a small bow.

“Thank you for making the time to see me when you’re so busy,” he said.

“N-Not at all. Thank you for coming, Lord Sirius.”

“I came today to deliver letters from His Majesty.”

“Letters?”

“Yes.”

Apparently, there were two letters—one addressed to Leticiel and one for Scarlough. Leticiel undid the tie holding her letter closed and read through it. It was rather lengthy, but in a nutshell, the king wished to apologize for what had happened with Rocheford and to talk to her in person.

“Miss Drossell, His Majesty is requesting a meeting with you and is waiting for you at the royal palace. Would it be possible to have the both of you come?” Sirius asked.

Leticiel redid the clasp on her letter before facing him. “When would it be best for us to visit?”

“Please come to Viatris Castle tomorrow. His Majesty has expressed that he would like to meet with you at noon then.”

“I understand. Then I will come by at that time.”

Having secured the promise of an audience with the king and not having any other reason to stay there, Leticiel decided to excuse herself. Just before leaving the room, she glanced back and saw Sirius talking with Scarlough about something.

Not far behind Sirius was a young man with ash-blond hair. When he noticed Leticiel looking his way, he gave her a small nod. The boy’s hair was naturally curly, and he had dark eyes.

If I remember correctly, that boy is…

The door to the parlor closed and the boy disappeared from her sight. Still, Leticiel got the feeling that she had seen the boy before. And that was only natural as she’d seen him collapsed on the ground at the scene of the monster’s riot the day before.

She was somewhat curious, but there was no point in wondering about it now. Turning her back on the door, Leticiel headed back to her room, where Ruvik and Nicole were waiting for her.

✦ ✦ ✦

The day after Sirius’s visit, Leticiel headed for Viatris Castle by carriage just as she had promised.

Gazing absentmindedly out of the carriage window, Leticiel could see another carriage in the corner of her vision. Scarlough was riding inside, but she couldn’t care less about him, so Leticiel ignored his carriage to focus on the town’s scenery.

Leticiel and Scarlough’s carriages entered the royal castle’s grounds without being stopped by guards, coming to a halt right in front of Viatris Castle’s main gate.

“Lord Filiaregis, Miss Drossell Filiaregis, we’ve been awaiting you.” A young man who had been standing by the gate and appeared to be a chamberlain bowed to them as they exited their carriages. “His Majesty is waiting in the parlor. This way, please.”

Following the chamberlain, Leticiel entered the castle. Naturally, being the center of the kingdom, its luxurious grandiosity was on another level from the duke’s manor. Leticiel thought she’d gotten used to seeing gaudy decorations and glittering furnishings in the past month, but the royal castle’s interior was so dazzling that it hurt her eyes.

“Please wait here a moment,” the chamberlain said to her, stopping in front of a door after they had walked for a short while. Then he knocked on the door and announced, “Your Majesty, Duke Filiaregis and his daughter have arrived.”

“Let them in,” a muffled voice replied from inside. The chamberlain silently opened the door and showed them inside.

The room they found themselves in was twice as large as the parlor in the duke’s manor. The wallpaper and carpet were decorated with glittering patterns and embroidery. Even through the soles of her shoes, Leticiel could tell that the carpet was made with the finest materials.

A large table surrounded by four plush sofa seats sat at the center of the room. Oswald Draco Alesta Platina, the forty-seventh king of the kingdom of Platina, sat in one of them. “Long time no see, Drossell,” he greeted Leticiel in a relaxed manner. On the seat beside him, Sirius the prime minister sat with a conflicted expression.

Leticiel didn’t have any memories of Drossell’s sixteen years of life, but as the first prince’s fiancée, it wouldn’t be strange for her to know the king. She couldn’t let it be known that this was her first time meeting him, so Leticiel played it safe and replied with, “Yes, it has been, Your Majesty.”

“I’m glad you’ve been well. We haven’t seen each other since the court ball held at the beginning of the year, isn’t that right?”

After a pause, Leticiel said, “Yes, I believe so.”

Scarlough, who had entered the room before her, quickly crossed the room with his head down and took a seat across from Sirius. Leticiel lowered herself into the final empty sofa chair and carefully observed Oswald, who was sitting across from her.

His hair was the color of dark chocolate, and he had red eyes and a short beard. His facial features and downturned eyes resembled Rocheford’s, but he was full of dignity, vigor, and nobility that Leticiel could never imagine seeing in the younger man. As expected of a king who had ruled his kingdom for over twenty years.

“Now, let’s get right to the point. I called you here to discuss the commotion you witnessed the other day.” Oswald paused there. Leticiel waited patiently to see what he would say next. The king inclined his head and continued, “I’m terribly sorry for the trouble Rocheford caused you. You also have my deepest gratitude for saving his foolish life.”

Leticiel heard a small gasp, though she wasn’t sure who it had come from. Even she was stunned for a moment, surprised that the king had bowed his head to her, a mere duke’s daughter, at the very beginning of his speech.

The power and position of the king in this peaceful era were different from those in the turbulent era in which Leticiel had lived. The very country itself was different as well, but Leticiel believed it was common sense that kings did not easily bow their heads in any world.

Despite that, the king of Platina was bowing to Leticiel right before her eyes. She understood that it was the greatest gesture of sincerity he was able to show his subjects.

“Please raise your head, Your Majesty,” she said, shaking her own slightly. It wouldn’t do to force the king to keep his head lowered in front of his subjects forever. “I simply did what was required of me in that situation. There’s no reason for you to thank me.”

“Sorry,” the king repeated after a short pause. At Leticiel’s urging, he slowly raised his head and smiled somewhat bitterly. “As his father, I should have done a better job of guiding Rocheford. But he’s all I have left of the late queen…”

Leticiel listened silently as Oswald clasped his hands together, gripping them tightly, and began to speak in low tones. Since insider information about the royal family hadn’t been published in any books or shared openly, much of what he said was new to Leticiel.

“Rocheford lost his mother—the queen—when he was five. He became depressed after her death…and he’s been changing little by little ever since.” Oswald stared off into the distance as if looking back on the past, his expression exuding deep sadness and regret. “Rocheford was pitiful after losing his mother. I and everyone around him spoiled him rotten. So that he wouldn’t be hurt, so he could get back on his feet… But it wasn’t what was best for him. I deeply regret the way I’ve acted as his father.”

Oswald let out a short sigh. For just a moment, Leticiel caught a glimpse of his thoughts as a father, not as the king, flickering in the depths of his eyes.

“Personally,” he continued, “I strongly feel that he takes after the queen, Josephina. I loved Josephina from the bottom of my heart. That’s why I’ve always seen the love of my life in him…”

In preparation for her audience with the king, Leticiel had done some preliminary research on him last night. After all, even if she didn’t have any memories of him, she couldn’t walk into their meeting knowing absolutely nothing.

Oswald was born as the first child of the second to last former king. He was confined in the north tower for a while, but about twenty years ago, the previous king, his own younger brother, passed away without leaving any children, and so he succeeded to the throne.

He had three wives, each of whom had given birth to a prince, but he hadn’t taken any new wives since the death of the queen. He cherished his queen consorts equally, but it was said that the late queen was the only woman he had ever truly loved.

Leticiel had learned a bit about Rocheford while looking into Oswald. For better or worse, he was simply mediocre and hadn’t acted out as a child. But after his mother’s death, his arrogant behavior began to make more of a prominent appearance. In most of what she’d read, Rocheford had been criticized for misusing the privilege he received being part of the royal family. But now, Leticiel could see that he may have had his own circumstances and emotions to deal with. Not that it changed her attitude toward him.

“Her Majesty passed away eleven years ago, correct?”

“Yes,” Oswald replied shortly. Leticiel could hear what went unsaid. Eleven years ago, the kingdom of Platina had been at war with its neighbor, the Lapis nation.

They had been battling over the kingdom’s northern border in the region of Sphylia. Oswald had been praised by his people as a good king because he had ended the war without its effects spreading to other regions and without unnecessary bloodshed. However, he had lost Queen Josephina in the very middle of the war.

“I was able to prevent the spark of war from spreading throughout the country, but there were still many casualties due to my lack of power. And…I couldn’t protect Josephina.” Oswald took something out of his pocket. It was a golden pendant. The king’s eyes were brimming with thick grief as he gazed at it. It was likely one of the queen’s keepsakes. Leticiel slowly lowered her eyes.

“Your feelings are understandable, Your Majesty. It’s only natural to feel that way, both as a king and as a father,” Leticiel spoke quietly and lightly squeezed his folded hands, showing her understanding for his personal feelings and his struggle as a king. “I’m sure Prince Rocheford didn’t mean to harm anyone. However, it is true that many of the academy’s teachers were injured, and students were involved. As a member of the royal family, he must bear that responsibility.”

Opening her monochromatic eyes, Leticiel stared straight at Oswald. The king curiously returned her piercing gaze, full of her strong will, with his own red eyes.

“You’re right. Please know that I deeply regret that my personal feelings led to this commotion and put you in danger.” Many of the teachers who had been present during the battle had witnessed Rocheford slashing at her with clear murderous intent. Oswald told Leticiel, “I want to respect your opinion. Drossell, what do you want to do?”

At his question, Leticiel blinked slowly and lowered her eyes in thought. “I’d like you to call off my engagement to Prince Rocheford. An engagement is something that is supposed to bind you to another and give you peace. However, our engagement is tormenting me. I’m not sure I can keep myself bound to His Highness any longer.”

Leticiel didn’t particularly wish to marry into the royal family. She would be happy as long as she could live a peaceful life. Also, to be perfectly honest, she couldn’t stand Rocheford’s personality. Christa would be a much better fiancée for him.

Oswald put his hand to his chin while thinking over Leticiel’s request. At long last, he slowly nodded. “Hmm, understood. I will call off your engagement to Rocheford. Sirius, bring that to me.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Sirius, who had been waiting patiently at the king’s side, handed over a single document.

Accepting the engagement certificate with Drossell and Rocheford’s names on it, Oswald ripped it up in front of Leticiel and declared, “In the name of the king, I hereby dissolve the betrothal of Drossell Noa Filiaregis and Rocheford Bellarc Alesta Platina.”

When he was done, Leticiel mentally breathed a sigh of relief. Never again would she have to deal with Rocheford.

“By the way,” the king continued, “there’s something I’d like to ask you. What was that sword you used at the academy? It wasn’t magic…was it? I’ve heard that you have no magical power.”

Leticiel observed Oswald carefully, trying to guess the meaning behind his words. Why would he ask something like that? What was his goal?

Under her searching gaze, Oswald waited patiently for an answer. She saw neither greed nor ambition in his eyes, only a strong will that desired power for the sake of justice.

“As you said, Your Majesty, that was not magic.”

“Then what was the power you wielded? If you do not need magical power, what source did you use?”

“I used material that is available in the air.”

“Material that comes from the air? Hmm…” Oswald grew silent in thought. At this point, he was almost certain that she had a grip on a power similar to what he’d been searching for. “As you know, our country’s magic has come to a standstill. The Ministry of Magic researches the development and modifications of spell techniques on a daily basis, but the truth is they haven’t reported any new spells to me in the past few years.” He paused there, brow twisting into a complicated expression. “However, there is great potential in your magic formulas, which Lucas reported to me. Eleven years ago, I was unable to protect our army’s soldiers. Our enemy used a strange power and techniques. Our magic couldn’t compete with them at all. Thinking back, their power may have been something similar.”

Leticiel perked up. Oswald probably hadn’t meant anything significant with that statement. He was simply making a guess after comparing what he’d seen and heard in the past with what he had learned now. That was why he didn’t notice the gleam in Leticiel’s eyes.

A mysterious power? What could it be? Probably not magic, if Platina’s magic hadn’t been able to counter it. Still, if it had been sorcery, Oswald should have been able to gain knowledge of it through his research. Since he was asking Leticiel to do just that, it likely wasn’t sorcery, either.

“And that’s not all,” Oswald continued. “Recently, we’ve once again been seeing disturbing movements near the border. In order to protect our land and citizens, we must raise the level of our national strength and fighting power.”

She understood what he was getting at. In his mind, magic as a skill had already reached its limits. He wanted to augment his country’s skills with the development of a new power to protect his country from its unsettled neighbor.

“In other words, Your Majesty, you’d like to use my power for your country and citizens,” Leticiel confirmed.

“Yes. As king, I must protect this kingdom’s peace and citizens. Your power may be the trump card we need to break out of the standstill we’ve found ourselves in. Will you please lend your assistance for our country’s sake?”

Oswald’s words resonated deeply with Leticiel. She had lived in a turbulent world. She understood how precious peace was and how much Oswald must desire this state for his country.

Plus… A number of faces flashed by in her mind. Mirandalette, Lucas, Ruvik, Nicole, and Zeke…

In her previous life, Leticiel had been unable to protect the people she cared about or the love of her life. That was why, in this life, she was determined to protect those she held dear.

Oswald’s request was in no way disadvantageous to her. In fact, it coincided with her own desire to do research. The king’s eyes met hers as she fixed a resolute gaze on him. “I understand,” she said. “You have my assistance.”

The king seemed relieved that Leticiel had accepted his request. “Good. Thank you for cooperating. I’m thinking of setting up a research institution for you. I’ll support you with all the buildings, personnel, and research funding that you need. Will you work there?” His offer was tempting, but Leticiel immediately shook her head.

“No. I’m grateful for the funding, but there’s no need to prepare a special organization on such a large scale. I can continue to research the spell techniques at the academy as I have been. No one else is using the former seventh laboratory at the moment, so if you could renovate it, that would be perfect.”

Leticiel had been able to achieve a few of the things on her wish list since reincarnating. One such thing was devoting as much time as she wanted into the study of sorcery. She would happily research it for the rest of her life, but she didn’t want to be forced into an institution to continue her research. If that was all she was doing, she could do it anywhere.

“Hmm, all right, if you say so. Renovating the old seventh laboratory should be fine. In that case, may I entrust you with full authority over the research and put you in charge?”

Leticiel lowered her gaze one more, another refusal on her lips. After all, she didn’t care about titles and was happy as long as she could do the research. “That would be a great honor, but I don’t deserve such an extravagant position. I want to be able to focus on my research. If my laboratory is going to be created within the academy, I believe that position should be held by the academy’s headmaster.”

Oswald put his hand to his chin and pondered Leticiel’s suggestion. “Hmm, you have a point. All right, I’ll let Lucas know.” He lowered his hand and nodded once. And so, even more work was added to Lucas’s plate. “Thank you for undertaking this research for the kingdom’s sake.”

“It’s my pleasure.” Leticiel lowered her gaze in deference before raising it once more. Their negotiations weren’t over yet. “However, there are two things I’d like to ask in return. Is that all right?”

She pinned Oswald with a dignified stare. For a moment, the king was overwhelmed by the indescribable majesty and dignity in her eyes.

“Yes. What are they?”

“Thank you.” Having received the king’s permission, Leticiel let out a small breath and broached the subject of her requests. “I’d like permission to view all books throughout the kingdom. I want the right to view all materials, from books that are already circulating to those lying dormant in the forbidden archives.”

Oswald immediately frowned. “You want permission…to read books?”

“Yes. All books, both public and private, including those stored in the royal castle’s library.”

A thousand years ago, Leticiel had reached the limit of sorcery, but that was the limit for that time period. Now that a thousand years had passed, there were other techniques other than sorcery. By applying their knowledge, she might be able to find a new theme in her research. She was also curious about the strange power Oswald had mentioned earlier, but before she could look into it, more than anything else, she would need a great deal of knowledge. It was for her own sake as much as it was to help the king, but he likely hadn’t expected such a request.

After a pause, Oswald asked, “What do you plan on doing with that permission?” His tone of voice had lowered. Naturally, he was suspicious of such a request when made by a duke’s daughter.

“I understand your concerns, Your Majesty. However, since I have undertaken this research for your sake, I’d like to deliver the best results possible,” Leticiel answered without hesitation, not cowering under the sharp looks she was receiving not just from Oswald, but from Sirius as well. “Knowledge is indispensable for conducting advanced research. I do not wish to read documents related to the kingdom’s administration. I simply wish to have as much information as possible since it is necessary for my research. Please understand.”

Oswald fell silent. It was true that important documents related to the kingdom’s national affairs were not stored in the royal castle’s library. Giving in to her request wouldn’t be a detriment to him.

“Fine,” he agreed, nodding his head after much thought. “I’ll give you access to all of the books and materials in this kingdom. I hope they come in use during your research.” But there was one place he couldn’t allow her access to. “However, I cannot grant you permission to view the materials in the royal castle’s forbidden archives. The books and materials stored there are as good as national secrets. Is that all right?”

“Of course. Thank you for considering my request.” Leticiel understood that his opinion was completely valid. No country was foolish enough to readily disclose the confidential documents at its heart.

“Not at all. This is all for the kingdom of Platina. Now…what is your other request?”

“If you’d allow it, I’d like to have a manor outside of the city prepared for me. I would like to have a place that is not the duke’s manor where I can calmly and quietly devote myself to my research.”

At this, Scarlough, who had been out of the conversational loop, jolted. Leticiel caught his flinch out of the corner of her eye but ignored him. She was well aware that he and the rest of his family hated Leticiel—rather, Drossell. She doubted he would disagree. In fact, he might even welcome the idea.

My engagement’s been dissolved, so it’d be best for me to leave the duke’s manor as quickly as possible…

When she was in the duke’s manor, she could only sleep or read. Since she had recently finished reading all the books in the manor, she had no reason to stay there any longer.

“Hmm, all right.” From Oswald’s point of view, providing her with a new residence was no inconvenience if it meant he could regulate information on her sorcery research as a national project and keep track of her progress from time to time. He nodded magnanimously before turning his gaze to Scarlough. “I have no arguments against her request, but what do you say?”

“I will follow your orders, Your Majesty.” His words were soft with absolutely no vigor in them, but they flew out of his mouth unbelievably fast. He must really want Leticiel to leave. In fact, this must feel like a dream come true for Duke Filiaregis, who wished to be rid of his pesky daughter as soon as possible.

The duke and the rest of his family were terrified of Drossell, who had the power to make even the king himself bow to her. They didn’t know anything—not about sorcery, magic formulas, or the value of their daughter, whom they despised and viewed as an abomination. Not one thing.

They never tried to see it. Not before, and not now. That was why they had left Leticiel’s treatment completely in Oswald’s hands. They never even realized the size of the prize they’d let go of.

After confirming Scarlough’s agreement, Oswald turned to face Leticiel once more and said, “Then I’ll prepare servants for the manor.”

At his offer, Leticiel slowly shook her head. Naturally, she wasn’t upset about the manor’s arrangements. “I’m extremely grateful for the offer, but there is no need for you to prepare servants.” Since she had learned how to do all of the household chores in her previous life so she could survive no matter where she found herself, to be honest, she didn’t need them.

“Then how will you care for yourself?” the king asked.

“If I may make another selfish request, I’d like to take two servants named Ruvik and Nicole who currently serve at the duke’s manor along with me. As long as I have them, I’ll be fine.” She didn’t need servants, but Ruvik and Nicole were different. She didn’t want them by her side as employees, but as people she trusted, like followers or housemates.

“But…,” the king started, perplexed.

Leticiel interjected decisively by adding, “In fact, having too many servants in the manor would interfere with my research.” In her previous war-torn world, even royalty could not afford the luxury of employing a large number of servants. That was why Leticiel didn’t like sharing her home with strangers. Her home was supposed to be a place for her to relax, so why did she have to strain herself by being surrounded by servants she didn’t know well?

Though she felt bad admitting it, from Leticiel’s point of view, she was free-spirited, went at her own pace, and could do all the housework herself, so having a large number of servants would just be a nuisance.

At Leticiel’s refusal, Oswald looked at the duke once more. “Scarlough, you heard Miss Drossell. Are you fine with that?”

“Yes, of course.” Once again, Scarlough was quick to reply. After all, he’d finally be getting Drossell out of the house after sixteen years, so he could easily spare a servant or two.

“Hmm, good. Then I’ll be sure to make arrangements for your manor and research facility immediately.”

“Thank you very much.” Thus, the conversation between Leticiel and Oswald ended amicably, with both sides’ interests aligning.

“Sorry I made you come all the way here today,” the king said. “I hope we have a chance to chat again.”

“It would be a great honor.”

“I’ll see you out.”

“No, here is fine. If you’ll excuse me…” After a deep bow to Oswald, Leticiel strode out of the parlor. She could hear Scarlough walking behind her, but she didn’t pay him any mind.

She wished she could hurry up and teleport back home, but there were plenty of eyes in the royal castle. Plus, Scarlough was with her. She didn’t want him to spot her and complicate things, so she patiently went home in the carriage just the way she had come.

✦ ✦ ✦

“…And so, the two of you will be coming to the new manor with me.”

“What do you mean, ‘and so’? You haven’t explained anything!”

Having returned to her room in the manor, Leticiel made her announcement without sharing any of the details that had led to it. Nicole was confused by her mistress’s sudden declaration and Ruvik had a resigned look on his face. Even so, he agreed, saying, “I’m more your servant than the duke’s, so I’ll follow you wherever you go.”

“I—I…” On the other hand, Nicole seemed to waver. Leticiel suddenly remembered that she had mentioned being unable to lose her job for her family’s sake.

“Don’t worry. His Majesty will be paying your salaries, so you’ll get more than you receive here. Besides, I’m somewhat indebted to the two of you.”

“Huh?! How could you tell…?”

“I’ve heard about your mother, Nicole. I thought you might be worried about her.”

Nicole was fairly easy to read. Leticiel smiled wryly at the maid, who clapped both hands on her cheeks, writhing in agony.

“I don’t care about having high or low wages,” Ruvik stated. “I’m satisfied as long as I can stay by your side, my lady.”

“Oh, that’s no good, Ruvik. I appreciate the sentiment, but I insist that you take a pay raise.” It was true that Ruvik had cared for Leticiel from the very beginning, but that was no reason to allow him to work for practically free. She wanted to reward and thank him appropriately because he took such good care of her.

“U-Um, I’ll go with you, as well! I’m your personal maid after all, my lady!”

Ruvik agreed to come with her even while quipping at her, and Nicole genuinely adored her. Leticiel smiled slightly at her trusted servants. “Thank you, both of you.”

“But if you’re going to move out of this manor, does that mean you’ll get rid of the things in your wardrobe room? I’m going to miss being able to dress you up…”

“Erm… Hold on, Nicole. That’s the part you’re sad about?”

Leticiel wasn’t confident that she’d be able to wear all of the dresses and accessories that laid dormant in her wardrobe. The move would certainly be a good chance to get rid of some of the things in there that she didn’t need.

“What do I do? You can still shine even brighter, like a jewel, but I won’t be able to bring out your beauty! It’s not fair!”

Seeing how Nicole was acting like it was the end of the world, Leticiel’s resolve crumbled, and she decided to take her entire wardrobe without removing anything.

When she said as much, Nicole exclaimed, “Really?! You won’t get rid of any of your wardrobe?”

“Y-Yes. Well, it doesn’t matter to me either way…”

“Thank you, my lady! I’ll continue to give my all in conveying your charm to the fullest to everyone around!”

“O-Okay…”

Nicole’s radiant smile made Leticiel think that she might have dug her own grave, but she smiled wryly, thinking that it was fine as long as Nicole was happy.

✦ ✦ ✦

“Your Majesty, are you sure you’re fine with that?” Sirius asked Oswald with a serious face once Drossell and Scarlough had left the parlor.

“Yes,” the king replied. “Things couldn’t have turned out better. That girl and I have both gotten what we want. For the time being.”

“Still…” Oswald had answered with confidence, leading back with his arms crossed. The king felt that he had come out with the better end of the deal, but the wrinkle in Sirius’s brow didn’t go away. “Don’t you think you conceded too much?” he asked in a somewhat accusatory tone.

Oswald sighed, shaking his head. Considering their positions—king versus the daughter of a duke—he could certainly see how it might look like he had compromised too much. But as a result of his concession, he’d be getting back so much more than the sum of the things that he’d given that girl.

“I’m proud to have done what is necessary for this country’s development. A few deals like those are nothing major. In fact, they’re trivial when you think of what is to come.”

“Perhaps so, but…”

“Plus, none of her requests have demerits for us. The top-secret documents are kept in the forbidden archives, which is managed by the Privy Council, so there should be no problems.”

“Everything is according to Your Majesty’s will.” Sirius sounded reticent, as if he still wasn’t convinced. The room was quiet for a while until Sirius suddenly broke the silence. “By the way, Your Majesty. About the first prince… What will you do?”

The king recognized the hidden meaning behind his words. He was asking about Rocheford’s punishment, which Oswald had been continuously putting off.

“Rocheford has been mentally unwell since yesterday. However, it is a result of the incident and cannot be used as extenuating circumstances.” Oswald sighed. Rocheford was still mentally ill and was currently under surveillance in his room because he was extremely unstable, rampaging like he had gone crazy one minute and then murmuring nonsense while tears poured down his face the next. However, Oswald knew that he couldn’t cover for him completely this time as most of the nobles had learned about the commotion. Since finishing his audience with Drossell, he had found the resolve he needed. To Sirius, he announced in a determined voice, “I will punish Rocheford by stripping him of his right to inherit the throne and banishing him from Nirvaan. Once his symptoms have alleviated, he’ll be sent to live in the Luce region.”

Sirius’s eyes widened slightly at Oswald’s unexpected declaration. “Your Majesty, are you sure you’re fine with that?”

“Yes. This is my decision.” It seemed like a harsh punishment at first glance, but it was the best way to protect Rocheford. By taking away his right to succeed, he would be kept away from the danger that was the struggle over the throne. And by moving him away from the royal capital, he would be kept out of the nobles’ sight. “I’d like to question him, but if even the national doctors couldn’t cure him, I doubt he’ll get better overnight. For now, he needs to recuperate somewhere quiet. Once he’s better, I’ll give him a fiefdom.”

“Understood,” Sirius replied after a brief pause. “I’ll inform the others of your decision.”

The region of Luce was a remote area in the north under direct control of the royal family. It was a scarce land without any notable industries or abundant flora, but it was a quiet place away from the tumult and discrimination found in the aristocracy. He at least wanted Rocheford to live a quiet life there. As the king, it was the best concession Oswald could make for him.

“But in that case, you’ll have to call the princes back from their countries.”

Currently, Rocheford was the only prince in Nirvaan. The second and third princes had both left the kingdom, but since he’d be stripping Rocheford of his right to inherit the throne, he’d have to call one of them back. Not having an heir in the country was a problem for Oswald.

“Of course I intend to. Sirius, arrange for a messenger at once.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Following the king’s orders, the prime minister left the room. Left all alone, the king sighed once more before standing to return to his own office.

✦ ✦ ✦

Lucrezia Academy was still closed the day after Leticiel’s audience with the king.

“Huh? The preparations have been made already?” Leticiel blinked. She had been in her room, reading a book that she’d taken from the manor’s library, when Ruvik came to give his report.

“Yes. We just received news from His Majesty that everything is ready.” This was in reference to the new manor he had arranged for Leticiel. Apparently, she would have to wait at least a day to move because there were still some furnishings that were yet to be delivered, but even Leticiel couldn’t hide her surprise. It hadn’t even been a full twenty-four hours since she had left her audience.

“Isn’t it much too fast? To have preparations for a manor complete in just one day…”

“Are you surprised?”

“No, I’m not surprised. I’m more…shocked.”

“So you are surprised.”

Naturally, she was grateful the preparations were quick. The sooner the better. But to be honest, she had expected things to take a little longer.

“In any case, I understand. Thank you.” Leticiel placed her open book on the table and stood.

“My lady? What are you going to do?”

“Get ready to move. I plan to leave here the instant I receive word from His Majesty.”

Since she could only use her teleportation to visit places she had been before, Leticiel would have no choice but to walk or ride a carriage to the unfamiliar manor. Plus, she wasn’t the only one moving. Ruvik and Nicole would be going with her, so they would need time to get ready. There was no harm in starting her work early.

“All right. Then we’ll get our things together too,” Ruvik said.

“Yes, please do. What should we do about a carriage? Should we take one of the duke’s?”

“Apparently, His Majesty will provide carriages to assist in your relocation,” he informed her.

“Oh, that will be a huge help.”

As Ruvik was explaining the rest of her plans for the day, the sound of hurried footsteps approached and there was a rushed knock on the door before it flew open.

“Excuse me, my lady! I’m sorry I’m late!” Nicole apologized as she entered. Judging by her disheveled hair and turned-up skirt hem, she must have been in a real hurry.

“Nicole, there’s no need for you to rush.”

“I’m terribly sorry! I fell asleep while resting in my room…”

“I don’t mind. In fact, you always seem busy, so you could have rested a little longer.”

“No, I couldn’t possibly! I’m your personal maid, so I must be ready and at your side at all times!” the maid replied cheerfully.

Leticiel couldn’t help but smile wryly as Nicole leaned forward, clenching both fists in a confident pose.

“My lady, would you like to begin packing?”

“No, I’ll have supper first. I’ll think about packing after I eat.”

“Understood. Then I’ll bring you your meal.”

Ruvik left and Leticiel took a look around her room to gauge how much luggage she would have.

At first glance, her room was as luxurious and splendid as befitting any young noble lady’s bedroom, but that was mainly thanks to the furniture. Since Oswald had already furnished her new manor, she wouldn’t be taking any of her furniture with her. Instead, she looked inside her drawers, dressers, and on her bookshelves. She had quite a lot of storage but had been unable to use it all, leaving many of the drawers empty. On the other hand, her shelves were filled with a decent number of items. The things that would likely take up the most space in her luggage would be the dresses in her dressing room, and her books, which were jam-packed onto her bookshelves.

When she actually stopped and took a look around the room, she realized how absurd Drossell’s life was. The outfits and accessories she had been given despite being shunned must have been a partially vain attempt to raise Drossell’s value.

“By the way, my lady…,” Nicole said as if she had just remembered something, calling out to Leticiel who was staring at the stunning sight of all the lined-up dresses.

“What is it?”

“You’ll be taking everything in your dressing room, correct?”

“Yes. What about it?”

“Well, I know I was the one who asked you to, but…how are we going to carry all of this?”

Nicole’s worries were valid. Normally, it would take at least one large wagon just to move the dresses. Although she had the king’s support in her move, he wasn’t expected to send such large transportation.

Leticiel counted the dresses while answering Nicole’s question. “It’s true that you’d need a large number of suitcases to carry them, but I can use sorc—Ahem, I mean, magic.” She pretended to clear her throat to cover up her near blunder. Nicole hadn’t been her personal maid for very long, so Leticiel hadn’t told her about sorcery yet.

“Erm… Magic?”

“Yes, magic that can create a miniature subspace.” Leticiel created a small sphere in the palm of her hand. It was the entrance to the subspace she had created by rearranging the connections between magic elements.

A subspace was a space in a different dimension from the current world. It couldn’t hold living creatures, but it could hold as many items as the caster’s abilities and the size of the space allowed. By packing her belongings into it, she’d be able to carry more luggage than she could have carried by hand, and she’d be able to take it out at any time by opening the entrance after arriving at her new home.

Of course, creating a subspace wasn’t a perfect technique, but it wasn’t likely her move would be completed with a horse-drawn carriage. In that case, there shouldn’t be a problem with her using it to carry her luggage.

“All of this should fit in the subspace. I’m the only one who can open it, and I’ll be able to take things out freely once we arrive.”

“O-Oh…”

“But too large a space puts a burden on the caster’s computing power, so it’s important to stop at an appropriate size.”

“I see…”

Leticiel tried to explain, but Nicole’s responses were lackluster. Leticiel could practically see the question marks her mind was forming.

I guess it’s too difficult to understand without any background. Leticiel ended her lecture, promising herself that she’d explain things more thoroughly to Nicole, who obviously couldn’t comprehend the concept, when she had the chance.

“Hmm… My lady, you really are amazing,” Nicole said seriously after a long pause. She gazed at her mistress, who gave her a chagrined smile, with a mixture of disbelief and awe. “I haven’t worked for you for very long, but…I’m just now realizing how wide this world is!”

“R-Right. You seem very…enlightened.”

“Yes!”

Leticiel left the dressing room, feeling conflicted by Nicole’s insistence that she was fully enlightened despite not understanding the theory itself.

She wouldn’t start packing her things for the move until tomorrow, but she was already feeling nostalgic as she looked around the room. She wasn’t attached to the duke’s family or the manor itself, but this room was where she had carried out most of her activities, so she wanted to savor it. Plus, although the move itself wouldn’t be difficult thanks to her subspace sorcery, there might be clues to regaining this body’s memories in the items within the room.

When she opened her desk drawer, she found well-used pens and ink, along with a mysterious paper that she had no clue what it had been used for. Since she didn’t know what might lead to her regaining her memories, she would take all the memorabilia and junk to her new residence and sort it out there.

A bitter smile tugged at Leticiel’s lips as she thought about how much unnecessary luggage it would add to her move. She was like a hoarder, incapable of throwing things away.

“I should be able to pack everything up tomorrow. Nicole, would you mind helping me?”

“Not at all! I’ll gladly help you!”

After she’d finished her quick look-through of the room, Leticiel sat on her sofa just in time for Ruvik to arrive, pushing a wagon loaded with her dinner.

“My lady, I’ve brought your supper.”

“Thank you, Ruvik.”

Ruvik laid the plates on the table for her. She would eat dinner first and then start getting ready.

✦ ✦ ✦

The next day, just as she had declared, Leticiel was in her room sorting through her luggage.

“My lady! What would you like to do with this?”

“Hmm… I have the same thing over here, so you may throw it away.”

She sat on the sofa while she and Nicole went through her belongings. The items were spread in front of the women, sorted into groups, and there were many piles of books on the floor.

The cleanup would have gone much smoother if she had used her sorcery, but unfortunately, Nicole had been eager to help first thing that morning. Leticiel would have felt bad refusing her assistance, so they had ended up sorting through the items a little bit at a time.

“Still, seeing everything laid out like this, it’s obvious that you have a bias,” Nicole murmured, slowing in her work. It was true that she had a considerable number of personal belongings, but many of them were books that she had used to educate herself, along with some needlessly flashy knickknacks. She didn’t keep many records of herself, and few of the items showed evidence that she had used them. The only ones that did were the books that she had read multiple times.

“That’s true. But I want to take everything I can, so I think it’s fine.”

“You have a point, but…”

Compared to Nicole, Leticiel sorted items quickly without stopping. It seemed like the duke and his wife had given Drossell everything they could find to try and raise her value. Leticiel was going to use everything she could.

After dividing the knickknacks she’d been holding into the moving piles, she took a moment to stretch. She’d been sitting in the same position for a while, so her shoulders were stiff. Just then, she saw Nicole place a booklet on top of a pile of books. Although it was a scene she’d seen many times that morning, for some reason, Leticiel couldn’t take her eyes off of the booklet.

Is that…a diary?

Since the books and notepads in the room might have Drossell’s memories or other information related to her written in them, Leticiel had instructed Nicole to pack and take all of them to the new manor because they were “sentimental.”

So she didn’t have a problem with the way that Nicole had sorted the diary. Rather, she was intrigued that she felt nostalgic looking at the diary even though it was her first time seeing it. Something pulsed in her mind and her heartbeat thumped heavily, reverberating in her eardrums.

“What are you going to do with all these books?” Nicole asked, troubled. “They’ll take up too much space if we take them all…”

Her question snapped Leticiel out of it. Following the maid’s line of sight, she laid eyes on the mountains of books piled up on the floor.

“Huh? Oh, right. I think we can take them if we find boxes big enough.”

It’d be nice to be able to carry everything in her subspace, but subspaces weren’t all powerful. For example, there was a weight limit on what could be put inside. She had already put her clothes and accessories from her dressing room inside, so there wasn’t any room for books.

“I think there are some trunks that are no longer used in the manor’s warehouse. I’ll go get them!” Nicole said, fluttering out of the room immediately after.

Once the door was shut, Leticiel looked at the diary. A breeze blew in through the windows, which were open for ventilation, and rustled the diary’s pages. Taking a break from packing, Leticiel reached out and picked it up.

It was a cute diary with small flowers drawn on the cover. It was fairly small, and not very thick. Leticiel skimmed through its contents. Although not much was written for each day, the entire diary was filled up until the last page.

The name “Drossell” was written in tiny, faint letters on the righthand corner of the diary’s cover. It was dated to ten years ago, and the neat handwriting inside didn’t look like it could possibly belong to a six-year-old child.

XX/XX

Mother yelled at me today. She said I’m an eyesore. But I can’t do anything about that. What should I do?

XX/XX

I tried embroidery for the first time! I wasn’t able to do a very good job, but if I practice a lot, I’ll be able to make a pretty flower.

XX/XX

I got yelled at again. By Father, this time. Am I not working hard enough? In that case, I need to do my best.

XX/XX

There’s going to be a tea party, but I’m not allowed to go. Everyone looks like they’re having fun when they play with Christa. I wanted to play too.

In the diary, Drossell wrote about her feelings and doubts she held for her parents and siblings, the joy of being able to do new things, and other honest feelings and hopes any child might have. Judging from the way she wrote and the entries’ contents, it seemed like Drossell was an obedient and naive child.

However, by the time Leticiel had woken up in her body, Drossell was known for her lack of magic and bad personality, as she often threw temper tantrums. What in the world had happened to change her?

“No! Stop!”

Suddenly, a young girl’s voice echoed in her mind. It sounded strange, as if she was hearing from inside her body and not through her ears.

Surprised, Leticiel dropped the diary she was holding. It fell to the floor, opening to a random page with a rustling sound. A moment later, her temples were struck by a tingling pain and a white light flashed in her mind, followed by the unfolding of an unfamiliar scene. All she could see were two girls, the scenery around them shaded gray.

It looked as if the girls alone had been cut out of a scene. They stared at each other’s faces with wide eyes. The girl with pink-blonde hair sat on the ground, while the silver-haired girl stood motionless in shock.

The girl with pink-blonde hair had a small cut on her upper left arm. The silver-haired girl attempted to reach out to her with a trembling hand, but she quickly covered her face with both hands and slumped down in pain.

“What’s wrong?!”

Leticiel was wrapped in white light once more. When her vision cleared, she saw that she was looking down upon her own room from above. It was structured the same as the room she was living in currently, but with minimal furniture and looked utterlly bleak. It was littered with knickknacks, tools, cloth, and papers. At the center of the cluttered room, a silver-haired girl hugged herself with her small hands, her shoulders quaking with ragged breaths. Three adults stood around her.

They looked down on the girl with a mixture of astonishment and fear, as if she were a monster. The mouths of all three moved as they talked, but their words didn’t reach Leticiel.

She was blinded by another burst of light and the scenery before her disappeared just the way it had appeared. “Wh-What…?” she murmured, gently pressing a hand against her forehead. It was covered in a light sheen of sweat.

Even though she’d been looking at them objectively, the sights and voices she’d experienced just now seemed somewhat nostalgic. They might have been Drossell’s memories, but she couldn’t remember anything else. She didn’t know when they happened, why things had turned out that way, or what the girl had felt back then.

Something foggy and vague swirled in Leticiel’s mind. Letting out an exhausted sigh, she turned her gaze toward the diary on the floor.

“Hmm?” Bending down to pick it up, Leticiel noticed an envelope tucked into the open page. Seeing how it had been tucked away carefully in such an old diary, it seemed to be quite important. Pulling it out, Leticiel closed the diary and removed the contents of the envelope.

Dear Drossy,

I had so much fun yesterday! Let’s play again soon!

From, Alec

Inside the envelope was a single, small page of stationery on which simple words were spelled out in a child’s handwriting.

What is this? Leticiel tilted her head at the name written at the end of the letter. Who in the world was Alec? She tried flipping the letter over, but the back was blank. “Drossy” was likely Drossell’s nickname, but who was this Alec kid to her? Who were they, and where did they come from?

Knock, knock. Someone rapped on the door, interrupting her pondering. She couldn’t remember anything else at the moment, so she decided to put her thoughts aside for now.

“Come in,” she called.

“Pardon me.” The door opened to reveal Ruvik holding a tray with a tea set on it. “I’ve brought tea. Why don’t you take a break?”

“All right, I am a bit tired,” Leticiel admitted.

Ruvik poured the tea into a cup and handed it to her. A light breeze swept through the room, gently shaking the steam that rose from the tea.

“My lady, if you’re tired, would you like to add sugar to your tea? Sugar is said to soothe exhaustion.”

“Hmm… No, I’m fine drinking it this way.”

“I see. Now that I think about it, you’ve always taken your tea straight, my lady,” Ruvik said, smiling sentimentally. Leticiel looked at the small jars of sugar and milk lined up on the tray. Apparently, Drossell also drank her tea plain.

Noticing her maid’s absence, Ruvik asked, “Is Nicole not with you?”

“She went to the warehouse to get trunks.” After she finished drinking her tea, Leticiel rested both hands on the sofa. Her fingertips brushed something. It was the diary she had been holding earlier. Staring meaninglessly at her toes, Leticiel murmured, “Hey, Ruvik…”

“Yes? What is it?”

“Do you know anyone named Alec?” she asked, referring to the name in the letter. Ruvik had served Drossell as her personal butler for a long time, so she hoped he might know something.

“Alec…?” the man repeated.

“Yes. A letter with that name was tucked inside an old diary.” Leticiel showed him the envelope.

Taking it from her, he carefully removed the letter inside and opened it. He took his time staring at the words in the letter, but finally he returned the letter to its envelope and shook his head, handing it back to Leticiel. “I’ve never heard that name before. I’m sorry I couldn’t be of assistance.”

“I see. Don’t worry about it, I just thought I’d ask.”

“I’m sorry. I started serving you when you were six, so perhaps Alec is your friend from before then.”

Placing the letter back in the diary, Leticiel hid her surprise at how long Ruvik had been serving Drossell. Still, if even Ruvik, who knew Drossell best of all, didn’t know who Alec was, she had her work cut out for her. All she had to go by was a name. She didn’t even know if Alec was a boy or a girl.

“However,” Ruvik continued, “the stationery and envelope used in the letter are of an extremely high quality, so I’d assume they are the son or daughter of a noble family.”

“Ruvik, you can tell how high quality stationery is?”

“I simply felt that it was similar to the feel of the paper used here in the manor, so it’s just a guess. Most ducal manors use high quality paper.”

“I see…” Rising from the sofa, Leticiel stood in front of the open window and spread both arms wide. The wind blowing against her face was slightly warm and smelled of grass in early summer.

“Oh?” While resting her elbows on the windowsill and staring blankly at the garden below, Leticiel noticed the soil in the flower bed furthest from the front was bare. If she wasn’t mistaken, the flower bed had white carnations in it a week ago. But now the only flowers planted in it were two light pink flowers that she didn’t recognize. “Ruvik, why is that flower bed unnaturally empty? Only a few flowers of some kind are blooming in it.”

“So it seems. Perhaps it’s an order of new flowers?” Standing beside her, Ruvik tilted his head questioningly while peering down into the garden. Leticiel decided to go downstairs to the garden to get a closer look.

“Oh, my lady.” Claud, holding a large watering can, passed her when she arrived in the garden. When he noticed Leticiel, he stopped a few steps away and made a quick U-turn. “What are you doing in the garden today?”

“I saw an unfamiliar flower blooming in the flower bed over there, so I thought I would ask what kind it is,” Leticiel said, pointing to the flower bed in question.

Claud glanced at the flower bed. “Ah, those? They’re lune flowers. They come from a country in the north. Since they’re difficult to harvest, not many are sold here in Platina, so they’re popular amongst the aristocracy.”

“Hmm, I see.” Leticiel approached the flower bed with the lune flowers and reached out to touch the light pink petals. They felt similar to a rose’s petals, and were quite soft. They felt like they would be crushed immediately if she exerted even a little force.

“By the way, I heard that you received a new residence from His Majesty, my lady,” Claud commented while Leticiel was examining the lune flowers.

“Oh, you heard about that?”

“It’s all the servants have been talking about.”

“Yes, it’s true. I plan on finishing packing all of my belongings tomorrow.” She told Claud that she had received a manor and would be moving into it as soon as her preparations had ended tomorrow.

“I see… So you’ll be leaving this manor, my lady.”

“Yes. It’s what I wished for, and I’m sure the rest of my family feels the same.” There were some people in the manor who treated Leticiel well, like Ruvik, Nicole, and Claud, but dealing with the other servants was sometimes as bad as having to deal with the duke and his family. That was why she had no regrets about her decision to leave. “But it is unfortunate that I won’t be able to see this garden anymore,” she murmured while touching the flowers that swayed in the wind. Since she’d only enjoyed three things in the manor—reading in her bedroom, gazing at the garden from her window, or taking a walk through it—she was quite attached to the garden.

“I’m sure the flowers would be satisfied if they bloomed beautifully enough to make you miss them, my lady,” Claud said, lowering his gaze.

Ruvik, who had been watching their conversation from a short distance away, hesitantly said, “Claud, I’ll be going to the new manor with Miss Drossell. Would you like to come with us?”

Claud’s eyes widened slightly at the invitation. Though it was sudden, Leticiel didn’t mind the proposal. After all, Claud was one of her few allies in the duke’s household and she was grateful to him for many things. However, Claud silently shook his head.

“No… I appreciate the offer, but my family has served the Filiaregis family since my father’s generation. I’ve served them from the time of the previous duke, plus I’m the head gardener. There are many gardeners who rely on me, so I’ll continue my work here.”

“I see,” Ruvik murmured. “Well, it’s your life, so I suppose it can’t be helped.”

“It’s not as if we’ll never see each other again,” Claud reassured. “Want to get a drink together sometime soon?”

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it? When we were younger, we often drank together in your room.”

Leticiel, who was crouched down in front of the lune flowers, stared at Ruvik and Claud as they reminisced over old memories. She’d known that they were good friends, but just how far did their friendship go back?

“Hey, Ruvik and Claud, have you known each other long?”

The men looked at each other, perhaps surprised by her sudden question. Finally, Ruvik answered, “Yes, we met each other back when I had just started serving you.”

In other words, when he first arrived at the manor. Apparently, because he was a commoner and new to his position as butler, unlike others whose families had served nobles for generations, he’d been somewhat ashamed working in the manor. Claud, who was just a regular gardener at the time, had looked after him.

“Back then, Claud’s father was the head gardener. Claud was the gardener for a number of manors—he didn’t exclusively work for the duke’s family.”

“I didn’t realize that was possible for gardeners,” Leticiel commented.

“It is, so he was often away from the manor. He asked the butlers at other manors to teach me about a butler’s duties, so I’m deeply indebted to him.”

“I see… So it’s thanks to Claud that you were able to become such a talented butler, Ruvik,” Leticiel teased, making Ruvik blush and avert his eyes. Claud watched them, grinning.

For a while after that, Leticiel stayed in the garden, asking Claud about various flowers. Since the season was changing to summer, the flowers in it had been replanted and there were parts Leticiel was unfamiliar with.

She wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but after circling through the garden and exhausting her list of questions, Leticiel decided to return to her room.

Before she left, a thought crossed her mind and she asked, “By the way, Claud, do you know anyone named Alec?” Since Claud had been working at the manor longer than Ruvik, it was possible that he knew something.

“Are you referring to one of your friends, my lady?”

“Yes…I think.” Since she didn’t have any memories, she wasn’t sure, but Claud didn’t seem to notice the hesitation at the end of her answer.

Pressing a hand to his chin, he thought for a moment before replying, “I’m not sure. I worked at a couple of manors, so I didn’t know much about your friends.”

“Oh… I see. Thank you.”

“Mr. Claud, could you please come here for a moment?” a gardener who was working on the other side of the garden called.

“I’ll be right there! Sorry, Miss Drossell. If you’ll excuse me…”

“Not at all. I’m sorry for interrupting your work.”

Claud gave her a small bow and then jogged over to the other gardener. After seeing him off, Leticiel returned to the manor with Ruvik.

CHAPTER 2
A CLAN OF SEEKERS

The chirping of birds outside her window made Leticiel sit up in bed, rubbing her eyes sleepily. Some time had passed since her negotiations with the king, and it had already been a few days since she had moved into her new manor.

Leticiel narrowed her eyes slightly from the bright morning sunlight streaming into her room. It had been impossible for her to sleep deeply in her previous life and now with a change in bedrooms in this life, she was once again experiencing shallow sleep, albeit for the first time in a while.

“I think I might have slept in…” The morning sun rising through the gap in her curtains was higher than usual, letting her know that she had, surprisingly, did just that. But since she’d felt wide awake after going to get a glass of water in the middle of the night, it made sense.

The manor Oswald had prepared for her was a small two-story house with a calming atmosphere. It was a fifteen-minute carriage ride from the capital and was about one-third the size of the duke’s manor. It also had a small garden and was such a nice property that Leticiel could hardly believe her eyes.

Her new bedroom was smaller than the one she’d had in the duke’s manor, but it still had a dressing room and its own bathroom attached, so structurally, it wasn’t that different. Taking a change of clothes from the nightstand next to her bed, Leticiel headed to the bathroom. Since the temperature was rising along with summer’s approach, it was becoming normal for her to sweat in her sleep. That was why she always took a quick bath in the morning to wash the sweat off.

“Good morning, my lady. Are you awake?” Nicole’s voice could be heard along with a knock on her door just as Leticiel was about to open the bathroom door.

“Yes, I’m awake. Come in,” Leticiel replied. Nicole entered and her eyes widened when she saw where Leticiel was headed.

“My lady, were you going to bathe on your own?” she asked.

“Yes, I was…”

“Could it be that you get out after just quickly washing your body off?”

“Y-Yes.”

“That’s no good, my lady! Such a quick bath isn’t long enough to get rid of your fatigue!”

“Huh?”

“If you’re going to take a bath, it’s important to create an environment in which you can relax and release yourself of your everyday exhaustion. I’ll get the bath ready right away, so please wait!”

“Uhhh…”

Nicole flew out of the room before Leticiel could argue. Then she ran back and forth in front of a bewildered Leticiel, sometimes slipping and falling while getting things for the bath ready.

Leticiel usually woke up early and bathed before Nicole and Ruvik would come to wake her up, but since she had slept in today, Nicole had caught her.

“Okay, my lady, I apologize for the wait! Your bath is ready!”

Leticiel swallowed the urge to ask if she really needed to take a full-fledged bath first thing in the morning. Nicole had gotten everything ready for her, so it would be rude to dismiss her hard work.

“How is the temperature, my lady?”

“It’s fine,” Leticiel replied, immersed up to her neck in a bathtub from which white steam rose. Nicole stood behind her, smoothing perfumed oil into her silver hair. Bathing in this era was done by pouring boiling water into a large container called a bathtub, diluting it with cool water, and then soaking in it. Some people would even take flower baths with petals floating on the surface of the water.

Though she had been in this world for two months and gotten used to it already, bathing in hot water had been a major cultural shock for Leticiel. She remembered the astonishment she’d felt when she saw a bathroom for the first time. Since saunas had been the norm in her time, one thousand years ago, she was mildly impressed.

With Nicole’s help, she finished washing off quickly and got out of the bathtub. Nicole immediately wrapped her in a bath towel, but the maid let out a small, surprised, “Oh…” as if she’d found something.

“Nicole? What is it?”

“Oh, nothing… I just didn’t know you had a mark like this on your back.”

Leticiel twisted her neck to try and see what Nicole was referencing to, but naturally, she couldn’t see her own back. “A mark? I have one?”

“Yes. Right in the center of your back… There’s a strangely-shaped mark about where your heart might be.” Though she pondered out loud what it could be, Nicole didn’t comment on the mark any further. Leticiel had no idea what it looked like, but her brow furrowed when she remembered that she had committed suicide by piercing her own heart in her previous life.

Of course, since Drossell and Leticiel’s bodies were different, the mark was just a coincidence. To calm herself, Leticiel scooped up water from the bathtub and splashed it on her face. The warmth of the hot water seeped into her skin, relaxing her clouded heart just a tiny bit.

After completing her relaxing bath, Leticiel got changed and returned to her bedroom. As usual, she used warm air to dry her hair by herself.

“Now that I’m feeling better, I’d like to have breakfast. May I go and make something?”

“What?! No, no! Don’t worry, I’ll make something! Please wait in the dining room, my lady!”

“O-Okay…”

As she had requested, Ruvik and Nicole were the only servants at her new residence. So naturally, there was no chef. Leticiel had offered to cook every day since she had moved in, but she was turned down every time.

Having been firmly rejected, Leticiel reticently watched Nicole’s back as she headed toward the kitchen. She was used to cooking in her previous life so it was no big deal to her, but…

✦ ✦ ✦

Fifteen days after the day she had negotiated with Oswald, Lucrezia Academy finally resumed classes.

As usual, Nicole helped her get ready and then Leticiel climbed into a carriage to go to the academy. Because she had spent so many days being dressed up by the maid lately, Leticiel was reminded how much easier uniforms were.

The main building’s hall was crowded with students that morning, but they all wore somewhat anxious expressions thanks to the monster’s disturbance. Some of them eyed Leticiel, but she ignored their gazes and walked straight through the hall.

“Hnn? Oh, it’s you, Miss Drossell. It’s been a long time.” David, the librarian whose head barely cleared the front counter, waved at her when she stepped into the library.

“Good morning, David. Yes, it has been a while.”

“About fifteen days, was it? How did you spend your time off from school?”

“I didn’t do anything special, just relaxed. But I was somewhat bored since not being able to come to the Great Library meant that I didn’t have enough books.”

“Heh heh, then you’d better read to your heart’s desire.”

“I plan on it.”

After chatting with David, Leticiel immediately went to browse the books on the bookshelves. Leticiel had spent most of the school’s closure in her new residence, but she’d had a lot of free time since she hadn’t taken any new books with her, and the garden wasn’t developed yet.

Using her usual enhancement spell, Leticiel opened a book and began to read at high speed as if to make up for the time she’d spent doing nothing at home.

Just as she was finishing her sixth book, she heard David say, “Oh my. It’s not like you to come at this time of the day,” and it broke her concentration. Reflexively looking up at the clock, Leticiel saw that she had only been in the Great Library for about two hours.

“Yeah. I thought Drossell might be here around this time.” At the sound of the familiar voice, Leticiel looked up from her book and turned her gaze to the Great Library’s entrance. “Ah, there you are. I knew you’d be here.” It was Lucas. As soon as he noticed her watching him, he stopped talking to David and called out to her.

“Headmaster? Do you need something from me?”

“No, I just came to let you know that the research facility the king promised you is pretty much finished.”

Leticiel’s eyes lit up at the news. She hadn’t expected the research facility that she had negotiated with the king would come together so quickly. “Is that true?” she asked. “I thought it would take longer.”

“Well, it’s not as if the old seventh laboratory is completely dilapidated. It just needed some new flooring, repairs on the walls and ceilings, and some other light renovations to be reused.” Lucas put his hand on the Great Library’s door, then grinned as he turned to look at Leticiel. “I’m going to go see it right now. Want to come with me?”

“Of course,” Leticiel replied immediately, a radiant smile on her lips. It was only natural—she’d been looking forward to the facility’s completion since the day she’d spoken with Oswald.

Following Lucas, she left the academy building. The renovated former seventh laboratory stood on the other side of the lake behind the main building. It looked old before, but it had been repainted in a milky white and decorated with stylish trimmings. It was still only two stories high, but it seemed like there was construction going on where the third floor would be. She could hear the sound of hammers now and again.

“As you can see, all of the building’s renovations have finished,” Lucas announced. Leticiel stared at the new lab with a gaze that seemed strong enough to see through its walls. From now on, she would be researching sorcery here. Plus, the government would be supplying her with all the equipment, materials, and funds that she needed through the academy.

“Oh, right. His Majesty has ordered us to build a sorcery training area on the roof, but it’s going to take a little more time,” Lucas added.

“I understand. Thank you, Headmaster.” Unable to wait any longer, Leticiel jogged up to the door and flung it open, racing inside. Behind her, Lucas smiled wryly at her antics.

The door opened into a hall. Before the renovation, there had been only a small common area with a hallway that led to the laboratory, but it seemed like some of the walls had been removed. Not only were there sofas and tables, but even a fireplace and flower vases. It was everything she could have possibly asked for and more.

“Well? Do you like it?”

“Yes…”

“Your lab hasn’t been moved at all, so you should be able to resume your research right away.”

“Yes…”

“…You’re not listening to me, are you?”

“Yes…”

Leticiel fervently took in the hall while only half-listening to Lucas. Her attention was completely focused on the new research facility’s structure.

Seeming to sense this, Lucas said, “Well, I’m glad you like it. I’m going to head back to work, so feel free to take a look around. It’s your facility, after all.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

Lucas patted Leticiel’s shoulder before heading for the front door. With one hand on it, he seemed to remember something and turned back. “Oh, right. I forgot.” Taking something from his pocket, he placed it in Leticiel’s hand and closed her fingers over it. “Take this.”

“Hmm? What is this?” When she looked down, Leticiel saw that she was holding a round metal plate with some sort of emblem. A transparent jewel that sparkled like a diamond was inlaid in a silver frame. Something was written on the jewel.

“What do you mean, what is it? It’s the certificate of right to view all books. You wanted it, right?”

“Oh, that’s right. Thank you.” When she took a closer look at the text, she could see that it did say “Certificate of Access to All Books.” But in even smaller font beneath that were the words, “Except for the royal castle’s forbidden archives.”

Leticiel could barely keep a grin off her face at the thought of using it to read any book in the kingdom. Not only in the academy’s Great Library, but also the royal library in the capital, which was a sacred place with the kingdom’s largest collection of books. She wanted to go when she had the time.

“Also, a new member will be coming to this laboratory. I think they’ll stop by today. Just so you know.”

“Oh, sure. Are they a helper?”

“So I’ve heard. Well, I’m off.” Having shared all of his updates, Lucas finally left the building. Leticiel was curious to see who the helper Oswald had hired would be, but for now, she would be patient and wait.

Left all alone, Leticiel immediately set out to explore. There was a winding staircase off the hall that led to the second floor at the end of it. Two doors faced each other on either side of the hallway. There was also a door in the entry hall, and when she peeked inside, she saw that it led to the dining room and kitchen.

As for the doors facing each other in the hallway, the one on the left led to what looked like a conference room. Chairs surrounded an oval table that could seat at least ten people; there was also a blackboard.

The other door led to a library. Oswald had said that he would provide her with the materials she needed for her research, so she assumed they would be brought to this room. It was already fitted with bookshelves, although most of them were empty.

“With all this, I’m going to make great progress on my research.” She could browse research materials whenever she liked, and when she got tired, she could take a break in the dining room. She genuinely felt like she could live there.

When she climbed the stairs, she was faced with a straight, carpeted hallway that had been decorated with flower vases and paintings. The old, rundown impression it had given off before was nowhere to be found. The stairs leading to the third floor were still covered with a cloth, but she was sure it would be removed once the training area was completed.

There were three evenly-spaced doors on either side of the hallway. She checked each of them, but they were all laboratories. The entire second floor is a laboratory zone, she thought while heading to the end of the hallway, where her own lab was.

“Hmm?” Leticiel noticed something sparkly on the ground near her door. Wondering what it could be, she bent down to pick it up.

It was a silver bell. It was small, only slightly larger than her thumbnail, and had a pattern carved onto it. It didn’t seem to be an ordinary bell. Plus, two different-colored strings were twisted together and threaded through it. Unlike the bell, they seemed old, fraying in some places. The strings didn’t seem to have been cut purposefully, so she wondered if they had been torn apart by a sudden force.

“What is this?” Leticiel murmured to herself, examining the bell carefully from all angles. But there was nothing about it that told her who its owner was. Thinking it was strange and assuming that someone had lost it, Leticiel pocketed the silver bell, where it let out a tiny clink.

✦ ✦ ✦

“All right… For starters, let’s move this mountain of reference material,” Leticiel murmured, staring at the piles of papers and books she had crammed into her research room. Classes had ended for the day, and she was back in the sorcery research building. Mirandalette had plans today and had needed to hurry home, so their after-class sorcery practice had been canceled.

There were three rooms in Leticiel’s research lab, one of which she used as her main research room. But because she had been too lazy to organize her materials lately, it was getting to the point where she could barely walk through it.

“Hmm… With this much stuff, I might have to make two trips even using subspace sorcery,” she mumbled while stuffing her subspace with materials. Subspaces didn’t allow an unlimited number of items, plus there was the issue of a weight limit which she had run into while moving out of the duke’s manor. She had accumulated so many research materials that she couldn’t carry them all at once.

After stuffing her subspace to the very brink, Leticiel took her things to the library on the first floor. She would continue to store the things that she didn’t want third parties seeing—such as her modified formulas—in her own research room, but everything else would take up less space if she carried it all to the library.

Storing her modified formulas in her subspace would be the best way to keep them safe, but unfortunately, it was impossible to perform a teleportation spell while one had an expanded subspace. There hadn’t been a problem when she moved into her new manor because she had gone by carriage, but she wouldn’t be able to teleport home if she kept her formulas in the subspace. Instead, she carefully kept them locked up in her research room. This was yet another drawback of subspace magic.

“Oh?” Just as she’d finished carrying all of her materials into the library, Leticiel opened the door to the hallway and caught sight of a familiar face in the entryway.

“Ah, hello, Miss Drossell. I’m sorry to intrude.” A young man with naturally curly, ash-blond hair gave her an apologetic look.

“Erm, we met at the duke’s manor the other day, didn’t we?”

“Yes. I am Tuvalu Lut Village.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. But why are you here?”

“Um, His Majesty asked me to deliver these materials to you,” Tuvalu replied, carefully peeking out from behind the aforementioned stack so that they would not fall, only half of his face visible.

“May I take a look?”

“Oh! Yes, of course.”

Leticiel took one page from the pile Tuvalu was holding and skimmed through it. It described the system for activating sorcery, but all of the information was fragmentary and a conclusion hadn’t been reached on how to actually cast it.

Wait, so sorcery still exists?! She’d never seen a document that described it so thoroughly in this era, when the knowledge of sorcery was supposedly lost. Her surprise that there were even people studying it in a world where magic was more common overwhelmed her excitement.

“Um, where did you get these documents?” she asked.

“Huh? Oh, these are research materials from my clan,” Tuvalu replied, matter-of-fact. Leticiel’s eyes widened.

“Research? You’re researching sorcery?”

“Yes. We have been doing so under the king’s orders. But there’s a total lack of materials, so we haven’t been able to make much progress…”

“I see.”

Tuvalu went on to explain that it had been a decade since Oswald had commanded the Village clan, his family, to study sorcery. An entire family studying for ten years and still not being able to understand how to cast sorcery just proved how few materials related to sorcery there were in this era.

Perhaps tired after holding the mountain of papers for so long, Tuvalu placed them on a nearby chair. Carrying them all by himself would surely be difficult, so Leticiel took half from him.

“Tuvalu, you mentioned a clan earlier. What clan is that?” Leticiel asked while opening the door to the library.

“Ah, you mean the Clan of Seekers?” Tuvalu scratched his cheek, smiling wryly.

Leticiel had never heard of the clan before. “Probably,” she said. “What is the clan like? Are they devoted only to researching sorcery?”

“No, I don’t think so. Though we call ourselves a clan, we’re scattered across the continent at the moment, and we all work on different things.” Shaking his head slightly, Tuvalu placed the materials he’d been holding on a bookshelf. Once his hands were free, he showed his left hand to Leticiel.

“What is that?” she asked.

“The emblem of our clan.” Although faint, she could see a bird was carved into Tuvalu’s left palm, its wings spread and in mid-flight. “But since the Clan of Seekers isn’t well-known, many citizens in the city go their whole lives without learning about the meaning behind our emblem.”

“I see…”

Leticiel felt like she’d seen it somewhere before. She got the feeling that there was someone with a similar emblem in her homeland of Regenerose. She wasn’t familiar with the name Clan of Seekers, but it had likely been given to the family later on. “Is there a special meaning to the emblem?” she asked.

“I’m not sure, but…there’s a legend that says the Clan of Seekers descended from spirits. Some people believe it’s proof of that.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“Well, it’s just a legend. The spirits have already gone extinct, so it’s just a rumor,” Tuvalu chatted, but something he said made Leticiel doubt her hearing.

What did he just say? “Um… Hold on. The spirits…are extinct?” Leticiel was in disbelief. As far as she could remember, the spirits were a race that were much more powerful and lived far longer than humans. It was hard to believe that they’d die off so easily.

Tuvalu seemed confused by her question. “Yes, it’s said that they’ve been extinct for hundreds of years already. Nowadays, they’re the stuff of fairy tales.”

“Oh…” Leticiel still struggled to come to terms with the fact, but she didn’t ask any further questions. Spirits hadn’t been very involved with the human race even a thousand years ago, but even so, they would sometimes come into the humans’ land to play. Whether or not they were truly obsolete, there was no way of finding out since she didn’t know where they were. Moving on, she said, “By the way, the headmaster said that a new member would be coming today. Was he referring to you?”

“Yes! His Majesty has ordered me to assist you in your research, Miss Drossell!” Tuvalu suddenly straightened, but his voice quivered somewhat. Was he that nervous?

“You don’t need to act so stiff. We’re going to be researching together from now on, so let’s get along.”

“Y-Yes!”

“Did you have to come a long way to arrive here? I’ll bring you some tea, so please wait a moment.”

Leticiel quickly made tea in the kitchen, which was already stocked, and they sat on the sofas in the hall, chatting amicably for a while.

Tuvalu was the second son of Viscount Village. Along with his parents, he had an older brother and a grandfather on his father’s side. However, his older brother had been adopted by another aristocrat’s family, so he currently lived with just his parents and grandfather. But when he entered the academy, he had moved into the student dorms, so he usually only exchanged letters with his family and saw them on long vacations.

“Tuvalu, have you always known about sorcery?”

“Yes. My family has passed down materials about it for generations, so I’ve always been vaguely aware of its existence and theories. Like how it uses something called aether and that aether and magical power repel each other. But that’s about it.”

“I see.”

“I’ve tried experiments through trial and error to see if I could use it myself, but since I don’t have much magical power, it didn’t work very well.”

Tuvalu didn’t seem upset with that at all. On the contrary, his eyes were shining. “I did my research using old documents and materials that have been passed down in my clan for generations,” he added.

“You have documents like that? Would it be possible to view them?”

“Yes, of course! I’ll bring them next time, so please teach me more about sorcery!”

Leticiel stared at Tuvalu, who sounded excited and was happily beaming. His eyes were filled with pure anticipation, curiosity, and passion. I think…he and I will get along well!

She could see that they had a common ground in their love for research. She hadn’t had any friends with whom she could share her sorcery research with even in her previous life, so it was a refreshing discovery.

“Still, are current international relations so unstable that His Majesty is going so far as to try and revive a power that went completely extinct at one point?” Leticiel murmured to herself after taking a sip of her warm tea. Now that she thought about it, she hadn’t paid much attention to what was going on in the continent. She had basic knowledge of each country, but she didn’t know much more than that.

“Yes, you could say that things are out of sorts in the continent of Astoria at the moment.” Tuvalu placed his teacup on the saucer, the porcelain colliding with a resounding clink. “The greatest cause is the war that occurred eleven years ago when the Lapis Nation used a strange power. Every country is wary of that unknown force.”

“A strange power…”

Eleven years ago, war had broken out between the kingdom of Platina and the Lapis Nation over the remote northern region of Sphylia, which had belonged to Platina at the time. It became known as the Sphylia War.

Both sides fought on the battlefield for a short period of only six months, but in the end, it was a major victory for the Lapis Nation. Realizing that they were outmatched, Platina had stopped the spread of war by ceding the region of Sphylia to the Lapis Nation.

“What was the power that the Lapis Nation used like?”

Oswald had also briefly mentioned the Lapis Nation’s power during her audience with him, but she hadn’t been able to ask about its characteristics or effects.

“I wasn’t at the battlefield myself so all my knowledge comes from what I read in books and my grandfather’s stories, but I’ve heard that it was a power far superior to magic. Its strength, the speed at which it could be cast, and even the scale of their techniques were far greater than ours. Also, it was said that the casters who defeated the king’s army all had crimson red eyes and fluttering gray hair.”

The Lapis Nation was one of Platina’s neighboring countries. Sharing borders with both Platina and the Iris Empire, it was the largest country in the world and owned one-third of the continent just like the Iris Empire, but its borders had been closed for hundreds of years.

“Still, doesn’t Platina have an alliance with the Iris Empire?”

“Yes, but it was just an alliance to oppose the Lapis Nation. It’s hard to say whether or not the nations actually trust each other. The royals of each country are currently studying in exchange programs in an attempt to soothe their strained relationship.”

“I see…”

“Plus, conflicts between those in power in the Iris Empire have risen in recent years. It seems like public safety has been declining throughout the empire. There’s even been trouble in our country near the northern border, which is shared with both Lapis and Iris.” Apparently, there had been incidents of divisions disappearing near the border, mysterious groups of people in white appearing, and even incidents of clashes between security forces and the region’s citizens. And to top it all off, the northern region hadn’t had a fruitful harvest in years, making matters even worse.

“So that’s why His Majesty wants to speed up the research into sorcery.”

“Exactly. His Majesty has been secretly looking into the ancient power of sorcery for a very long time. But since it is thought to have been lost a thousand years ago and there are only a handful of books describing it, our research is on the verge of coming to a standstill.”

While listening to Tuvalu, something about their discussion of the Lapis Nation earlier niggled in the back of Leticiel’s mind. From the explanation she had heard, it seemed like the mysterious power was somewhat similar to sorcery, but she’d never heard of sorcery changing the caster’s hair or eye color.

Now that I have the right to enter the royal library, perhaps I’ll find some clues if I look there. The sorcery otaku’s blood stirred in excitement. Though she remained expressionless, below her mask, Leticiel’s desire to research and find new information she’d never known before had her itching to start.

“Oh, by the way, His Majesty gave me this letter for you. Please take it.” Tuvalu drew a letter out of his breast pocket. Leticiel accepted it and opened the envelope.

Inside was a single piece of paper written in the king’s handwriting. It said he wanted her to give Tuvalu a lab of his own and that he had prepared a security system, but that they should still be careful.

“Thank you,” Leticiel replied when she’d finished reading. “Now, let’s go upstairs. Except for mine, all of the research labs are empty, so you may choose whichever one you’d like.” Since no one else was using the second floor, she didn’t see a point in assigning him a room.

“Really? Thank you!” After they’d gone upstairs, Tuvalu looked around and said, “Erm, I’ll take this one, then.” He had chosen the research lab on the far left side, right next to Leticiel’s.

Resolute, Leticiel decided to ask Tuvalu about the bell. “Hey, Tuvalu, have you ever seen this before?” Not many people had a reason to come to the research facility, so she thought that maybe, as someone who was involved with it, he might know, but…

“Is it…a bell? No, I’ve never seen it before,” Tuvalu said, shaking his head after he’d taken the bell for a closer look. Apparently, Leticiel had been wrong. “Did you find it here?”

“Yes, it was on the ground in front of my research lab.”

“This is exquisitely made. The design has been engraved carefully, in great detail,” Tuvalu murmured to himself, impressed, as he returned the bell to Leticiel. “Why don’t you try asking someone at the museum?”

“A curator? Why do you say that?”

“This is just one possibility, but since it’s so carefully crafted, it may be part of an antique.” Apparently, many of the paintings, vases, and other decorations used when renovating the research facility were replicas that the museum no longer needed. “The curators were coming in and out of here during the construction,” Tuvalu explained. “One of them may have dropped part of a decoration at that time.”

“That is one possibility. Then I’d better hurry and ask.” She didn’t have any after-school training today, so it was best to go right away.

“Ah, may I go part of the way with you?”

“I don’t mind. Is there something you must do as well?”

“Yes. I have to meet with the student council, so I’ll be going to the main building.”

“I see.”

Since Tuvalu had asked, Leticiel headed toward the museum with him. The sorcery research facility and the museum were both tucked in the same forest. If you were to go in a straight line, they weren’t that far away at all.

“If you’re meeting with the student council, does that mean you’re a member?” Leticiel asked.

“No, that’s not it… For some reason, the vice president has taken a liking to me, so I get called in even though I’m not a member… Ha ha ha…”

Tuvalu gave a hollow laugh. Leticiel didn’t know who the vice president was, but she could imagine Tuvalu being manipulated and having a hard time of it. She smiled bitterly in response to his dry laughter.

After parting ways with Tuvalu, who headed toward the main building, Leticiel arrived at the museum. The museum’s main building had a semi-basement structure with a long, grand staircase leading up to the first floor and main entrance. After climbing the stairs and entering the building, she found herself in a circular entrance hall with a marble floor and black marble columns decorated with metal and glass. A corridor extended off the back of the entryway, which sparkled from the light filtering through the dome roof’s skylight.

At the far end of the corridor was a staircase leading to the floor above. It had a landing with stairs leading to both the left and right sides. A statue of a woman was placed on the landing. The pedestal alone was as tall as Leticiel, the entire statue being three times her height, making it difficult to see all the way to the top.

The aura here changes depending on the time of day. She had come to the museum in the morning once for an art class, but it was completely different now in the afternoon. The orange light that dyed the hall created a somewhat somber and lonely impression.

“Oh? That’s…” As she was looking around, Leticiel heard a man’s voice from behind her, surprise clear in his tone. She turned to face him and he exclaimed, “Ah! I knew it was you, Miss Drossell.”

A young curator with an armload of scrolls and books was facing her, blinking in astonishment. Seeing him, Leticiel felt a sense of déjà vu. If she remembered correctly, she’d seen him before.

“Erm, we met before on the holy relics floor…”

“That’s right. I’m Gilm.” He was the curator who had told Leticiel stories about the artifacts from the great war of Astoria when she had visited for her art class. “What are you doing here at this time of the day?”

“Actually, there’s something I’d like to ask you.” She took the bell out of her pocket and showed it to Gilm. His eyes immediately widened.

“Where did you get this?” he asked.

“It was on the ground in front of my research lab. Since it’s so elaborate, I thought it might be part of an antique,” Leticiel explained simply.

Gilm carefully took the bell from her hand and thoroughly examined it. “Ah…this is…,” he murmured, seeming both surprised and relieved.

“Do you know what it is?” Leticiel asked.

“Yes. I believe it’s—”

“Oh, good! Someone’s still here,” someone spoke, cutting Gilm off. Though their manner of speech sounded feminine, the voice definitely belonged to a man. Gilm clamped his mouth shut and turned to face the speaker.

“Mr. Bauliogh? Is something the matter?” Gilm asked the man, who had honey-colored hair, gray eyes, and an extremely sexy gait. He had three large scrolls in his right hand and a stack of different-sized boxes in his right hand.

“Is Director Elisabeth still around? I need to speak with her… Oh, if it isn’t Miss Drossell! Long time no seeee! I’m a little bummed that you haven’t been coming to class lately.”

“Y-Yes, I’m sorry. It has been a while, hasn’t it?”

Bauliogh, the male teacher who spoke and acted like a woman, taught art at the academy. It was during his class that Leticiel had visited the museum with the rest of Primary Class 2. She had heard rumors that his feminine side was so strong that it was impossible to believe he was really a man, and that he was secretly popular with the female students.

Looking between the bell and Bauliogh, Gilm faced Leticiel and asked, “Miss Drossell, may I take this bell? I’ll look into it and share my findings with you at a later date.” In his hand, the bell let out a small ring.

“Yes, please do,” Leticiel answered, nodding in agreement. She wouldn’t be able to do anything even if it were in her possession, so she was fine with him taking it if it meant he could find where it originally belonged or its owner.

“Thank you. Mr. Bauliogh, allow me to escort you to the director’s office.”

“Okay! Then I’ll see you later, Miss Drossell.”

Gilm slipped the bell into his pocket and bowed to Leticiel before going up the stairs with Bauliogh. Giving them only a sideways glance, Leticiel returned the way she had come, as she had no more business in the museum.

Suddenly, she thought she could hear a small bell ringing and turned to see where it was coming from, but Gilm and Bauliogh were already gone. She was the only one left standing in the hall.

Leticiel tilted her head, but assuming that she had just been imagining it, she left the museum without sparing a second thought to the sound.

CHAPTER 3
THE MAGIC LOVERS’ CLUB

The day after she visited the sorcery research facility, Leticiel returned to her usual after-school routine of practicing sorcery at the magic training grounds with Mirandalette and Zeke. Since the training area on the roof of the research facility wasn’t complete yet, they would continue to use the magic training grounds for a while.

“Miss Mira, where did you get that bracelet?” Leticiel asked, noticing an unfamiliar bracelet on Mirandalette’s arm.

“My fiancé’s father gave it to me. He visited for the first time in a while yesterday.”

So it was a gift, and the reason she’d been busy yesterday was because she had visitors.

“Your fiancé? Miss Mira, you’re engaged?”

“Yes. Our families have always been close, and we often played together, so Leif… I mean, he’s my fiancé, but more than being fiancés, it’s like…we’re extremely close childhood friends!” For some reason, Mirandalette’s eyes were darting around nervously.

“It seems like many nobles end up engaged to their childhood friends.”

“It’s understandable because when you’ve been together since you were young, you have a bond already before taking the next step and getting engaged. Zeke, do you have a fiancée?”

“I’m a regular commoner, so that concept doesn’t even exist for me.”

“Oh, right.” The only commoners who got engaged were members of some of the wealthiest families. Between his good looks, smarts, and the fact that they were always with him, it was easy to forget that he was just a commoner.

“You’re amazing, Zeke. Despite not being a noble, you know more about them than I do.”

“You’re far too uninformed, Miss Drossell,” Zeke replied, exasperated. But it couldn’t be helped, because Leticiel had decided that she only needed to know the bare minimum about the aristocracy. Since they were on a break, she decided to ask Zeke about the world of the nobles.

“Apparently, nobles sometimes call each other by their middle names if they’re close,” he told her.

“Oh, is that so?”

“Yes. I heard it from a female teacher in the same research building as me. Her husband works in the same building as well. I often see them calling each other by their middle names.”

Furthermore, it didn’t just apply to close relationships like lovers or those who were engaged or married, but also friends of the same sex and siblings too.

Even though Leticiel had been engaged to the crown prince and had sisters at home, their relationships had been so twisted that they had always called her by her full name. She had assumed that was natural. Leticiel had learned something new.

Just then, she noticed Mirandalette had her head down, fingers clenched around the hem of her shirt as if she were enduring something.

Having also noticed and wondering if he had said something to offend her, Zeke timidly asked, “Oh, erm… Did I say something impolite?”

“N-No, please don’t mind me! I’m fine!” Mirandalette thrust both hands out and laughed. Had something they’d said earlier bothered her?

“Hey! Whoever’s in there, get out!”

Just as Leticiel was retracing their conversation in her head, someone pounded on the door to their booth. Again? Leticiel thought, immediately frowning.

“I’ll go see who it is,” she said, not bothering to hide her distaste.

“O-Okay…,” Mirandalette answered.

Leticiel always used sorcery to lock the booth’s entrance so no one could enter without their permission. Releasing the spell, she opened the door.

“Do you need something?” she asked.

“Don’t give me that! I refuse to forgive you today of all days!” a male student with dull orange hair spat in front of the door. He was wearing a peony badge, so he was likely an Intermediate student. Still, how could he say that he didn’t forgive her when this was their first time meeting?

“You seem to have the wrong person, so please leave.”

Leticiel tried to cut him off, but the schoolboy jabbed his finger at her face and shouted, “Wait! I’m not wrong! I’m here for you, Drossell Noa Filiaregis! I’m taking testimonies from many students. I already know that you’ve been violently chasing away the students who want to use the training grounds and monopolizing it for yourself!” When Leticiel didn’t respond, he continued, “Plus, you locked the door! How much more domineering can you get? There are students at the academy who want to use—”

“If you don’t have any business here, please leave.”

“Listen to me!” Leticiel tried to close the door, but the boy grabbed the doorknob before she could. Her expression turned into one of flat-out annoyance. Not noticing, the boy kept ranting. “This facility is to be used by students equally! Yet you’re monopolizing it without anyone’s permission!”

It wasn’t as if she was monopolizing it. Besides, there were plenty of other open booths. Why did he have to come and complain about them using the furthest booth?

“Permission, you say? I’ve received the headmaster’s permission, though.”

“Wha…?!” The boy was obviously taken aback, eyes wide. Everything about his face seemed to say, You’re kidding, right? “Th-That’s nonsense! Just one question with the headmaster will prove that you’re lying!”

“Then go and ask him. He’s probably still in his office.”

In fact, Lucas had given Leticiel priority use of the booth, likely because she was practicing sorcery. But when someone else was already using it, she had never taken it from them.

“Urk! Wh-Whatever! I have nothing else to say to you!”

“Hm. I see.”

Clearly not liking Leticiel’s reaction, the boy’s face turned bright red, and he stomped off. Leticiel watched him leave with annoyance in her eyes; he was the one who had come, gotten angry, and then left without a word of notice.

“What’s with him?” she muttered out loud, closing the door. In the end, she couldn’t understand what he had been attempting to achieve. She felt like there were more people with troubling habits ever since the uproar at the academy. She fended them off easily enough, but it was starting to become a real pain.

“Who was it?” Mirandalette asked.

“Some boy I didn’t know. He was wearing a peony badge, so probably an Intermediate student.”

“So many people have been bombarding us lately…”

“Yes, this is the third time since classes resumed.”

After shooting the light spell he’d made in his hands at the target, Zeke placed one hand on his hip as he brought the other up to his chin in thought. “They have been coming often,” he agreed.

“I wonder why. Do they all want to practice their self-defense because of the com—”

“Excuse me! I heard that I could find Miss Drossell Noa Filiaregis if I came here after class!”

“Whoa!” Just as Leticiel was about to lock the door, it flew open with a loud bang. She narrowly avoided it hitting her face.

The boy who walked inside was wearing a lilac badge. He checked the door he’d kicked open for any warping while closing it. How well-mannered… Not.

The boy had light green, short hair and brown, rounded eyes that gave off a bright impression that he was full of energy. His lilac badge suggested that he was a Primary student, but she had never seen his face before. When she glanced at Zeke, she saw that he also had a puzzled look on his face. Leticiel was in Primary Class 2 and Zeke was in Primary Class 1. If neither of them recognized the boy, he must be in Primary Class 3.

“Erm…that’s correct, but how may I help you?” she asked, slightly cautious. Contrary to her expectations, the boy suddenly kneeled on the ground and beamed at her.

“May I join you after school here?! Please? I’m begging you! In fact, I won’t leave until you agree!”

Leticiel, Zeke, and Mirandalette all froze at the boy’s pushy request, which was quite outrageous when you considered that they’d never met him before.

Mirandalette was the first to shake herself out of it. “Uh, no way. How can you say something like that after forcing your way in here?!”

As Mirandalette was chewing into the boy, Leticiel snapped out of her shock as well. “Miss Mira is right. You should at least introduce yourself first.”

“Oh! I’m terribly sorry. I’m Hilmes Leif Guerre, eldest son of Viscount Guerre!” Coming back to his senses, the boy hurriedly straightened up and introduced himself properly.

Huh? I feel like I just heard the name Leif not too long ago…

“Leif, how did you sniff this place out?” Mirandalette asked Hilmes before Leticiel could open her mouth.

“Lulu! So you really were coming here too. Now I finally know why you stopped going home with me!” Hilmes teased. He seemed casual, but Mirandalette was restless, cycling between embarrassment, panic, and anger. Oh, right. Leif is the name of her fiancé.

“I see. He’s Miss Mirandalette’s fiancé,” Zeke commented, having come to the same conclusion.

“Yes, so it seems.”

Mirandalette’s middle name was Lulu. Since they were calling each other by their middle names, they seemed extremely close, even for an engaged couple. Perhaps that was why Mirandalette had been so flustered earlier.

“I’m surprised. I didn’t think we’d get to meet your fiancé this soon, Miss Mira,” Leticiel added.

“I-It’s nothing, really… I think it’s normal… Or rather, nothing special…,” Mirandalette murmured quietly. Was the afternoon sun tinting her cheeks? They seemed somewhat red. Hilmes stared at his shy fiancée with a worried gaze.

“L-Lulu? What’s wrong? Are you okay?” Anxious, Hilmes tried to peek at Mirandalette’s face, but she whipped around and he followed, like a small animal chasing its own tail.

Is he a dullard? An image of a dog running in circles around its master was conjured in Leticiel’s mind and she hurriedly shook her head to get rid of it. Zeke shot her a suspicious look at the contextless movement.

“Oh, crap! We’re getting off topic.” Leticiel’s movement caught Hilmes’s eye as well and he turned to face her once more. She secretly thought that he seemed like a somewhat hectic person. “Miss Drossell, I shall ask again. Please allow me to practice with you!”

“Um…what made you want to join us in the first place?”

“I have many reasons!” Hilmes said proudly, putting both hands on his hips.

Leticiel wasn’t sure how to react. “Um, ‘many reasons’ doesn’t tell me much. I’d be grateful if you could list them for us.”

“Ohhh, right! Sorry!” Not having noticed it until she pointed it out, Hilmes suddenly stopped moving and scratched his head in embarrassment. “I came to learn swordsmanship from you, Miss Drossell!”

“…What?” Leticiel blurted out stupidly at Hilmes’s declaration. “I’m not teaching anyone swordsmanship.”

“I know! But I still want you to teach me no matter what!”

“First of all, where did you learn that I can use a sword?” Leticiel was proficient with a sword, but she didn’t think she was skilled enough to teach others. She hadn’t mentioned that fact to anyone or showed off anywhere, but everything made sense after she heard Hilmes’s explanation.

About half a month ago, he had met a mysterious warrior princess. During a break between classes, he had stopped by the booth next to Leticiel’s in the sword training hall to pick up something he’d forgotten. Since the sword training hall’s booths didn’t have doors, he had seen Drossell practicing with a wooden sword.

At first, he had been amazed that a woman was using a sword. By the third time he saw her practice, he realized that her form was the most beautiful out of anyone else’s he’d ever seen, with absolutely no meaningless movements or openings. It had been specialized for slashing her enemies, not for showing off. He had been fascinated.

Apparently, he was quite confident in his own swordsmanship, but seeing the warrior princess had opened his eyes to more refined techniques.

“Every class since then, I’ve peeked into the booth next door to observe your techniques, Miss Drossell!”

“…I had no idea I was being watched.” Leticiel had completely forgotten that the sword training hall’s booths didn’t have doors. She had assumed that everyone else would be in class; she regretted letting her guard down.

“I’m the eldest of three sons and I thought I was the strongest out of all my brothers. I even selfishly thought that there weren’t many people who could match my strength that were the same age as me, but now I’ve realized that I’m still no better than an ant!”

Leticiel had only learned swordsmanship for self-defense. She’d never been praised for it before, so she felt uncomfortable—half-happy, half-uneasy—when she heard that her form had changed someone’s life.

“Over time, just watching you at the training hall stopped being enough. Then, when my father returned from Lulu’s home yesterday, he mentioned that she’s always studying with you, Miss Drossell, after classes. I thought, ‘This is my chance!’ and came today.”

“I see. So that’s why you’re here now.”

“Yep! Plus, I haven’t been able to spend much time with Lulu lately, so being able to be with her is another plus. I feel like I need to join your group!” Hilmes declared.

“Oh?” Leticiel said, tilting her head. Mirandalette looked like a pigeon who’d been hit by a peashooter.

“Leif, in other words, you came here because…”

“Yeah! If I come here, I can have Miss Drossell teach me and I can spend time with you, Lulu! Plus, we can go home together like we used to! It’d be hitting three birds with one stone!” Hilmes stated with complete confidence. Mirandalette’s blush grew darker with every second.

“D-Dummy! Leif, you dummy! How can you say something like that so flippantly?!”

“Huh? U-Uh… Did I say something weird?”

“W-Well, this is… Um… heartwarming, isn’t it?” Leticiel commented.

“Y-Yeah,” Zeke agreed.

“You two! Stop making it worse!”

“Huh? Oh, right. My apologies?” Leticiel said questioningly, taken aback by the menacing look Mirandalette threw them. Zeke let out a small laugh, though Leticiel didn’t know what was funny. Why had things turned out like this when they had just been asking Hilmes his reason for coming?

“In any case,” Leticiel clapped loudly, cutting through the thick atmosphere and trying to get the topic back on track, “I’m not talented enough to receive all of your praise.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! I’ve never seen such an efficient and beautiful form before! Not even my father’s form is that clean!”

“Uh…thank you?”

Hilmes kept gushing over Leticiel’s skills, but she still didn’t understand why. After all, she had only practiced enough to be able to defend herself. If you asked her if she thought she was skilled with a sword, she would say no.

“I’ve only been watching up until now, but I’ve reached my limit for that! I want to learn swordsmanship from you directly, Miss Drossell! Please allow me to practice with you! If you can’t agree to that, at least allow me to challenge you to a match just once!” Hilmes smoothly pulled out something dark brown, elongated, and slightly curved, and offered it to her.

“Hilmes, this is…”

“I brought it from the sword training hall!”

“Uh, I don’t think you’re supposed to take these out of there.”

It was one of the wooden practice swords kept in the training hall. She wanted to tell him to take it back immediately, but Hilmes didn’t seem like he would give up.

“I didn’t know you’ve been practicing your swordsmanship, Miss Drossell! I want to see it!” Mirandalette said.

“Huh?”

“I’m interested, as well,” Zeke added. He and Mirandalette were on board with the idea.

With no way to escape, Leticiel gave in and took the wooden sword from Hilmes. “Just so you know, I only know some light self-defense techniques,” she warned.

“That’s fine!” Hilmes answered. “I just want to try fighting the owner of the swordsmanship that has captivated me!”

Leticiel still didn’t know what was so great about her form, but since she had agreed to the match, there was no point in thinking about it any longer. Moving to an open area, they both held their wooden swords up. She asked Zeke to give the signal to start the match.

“In that case… You may begin!”

“Haaaah!”

Hilmes rushed her the instant Zeke finished speaking. Since he was trained in both swordsmanship and martial arts, it was a fairly sharp blow.

Leticiel parried by hitting his wooden sword. The hollow sound of the swords clashing together echoed in the magic training ground.

Repelled by the attack, Hilmes immediately drew back, retreating, before attacking again. In contrast, Leticiel made no move to attack, focusing on defense and observing his skills. From her point of view, he was a talented sword wielder. He was somewhat sluggish, perhaps because he was still young, but if he kept training, he’d be able to become much stronger.

Still, he was missing something. He must have known this, because he was avoiding Leticiel’s vital points. He’d never faced an enemy before. That was why something about his sword felt insubstantial. In other words, his swordsmanship was artistic, not practical.

Well, there’s not much point for people in a peaceful world to prepare themselves for battle, I suppose, Leticiel thought while leaping to gain some distance, nimbly dodging Hilmes’s two-step attack, which he’d unleashed right in front of her.

“Gaaah!” Hilmes dug his feet into the ground and slammed his sword into hers. Still carefully assessing his swordsmanship, Leticiel stepped back while holding her sword sideways, at the ready.

The swords clashed again. Leticiel pulled away, making Hilmes stagger, unable to handle the recoil of the speed he’d attacked with.

His skills weren’t bad at all. Each blow had proper weight to it and his movements were instinctive. But he used too many big swings which left him open to such attacks. They might be useful in group battles, but the fact that he had too many openings was still a problem.

Their spar lasted for about five minutes with Hilmes on the offensive. Leticiel simply parried his attacks, resolutely staying on the defense. Over time, Hilmes’s frustration started to make itself apparent.

That was only natural. As the person he was sparring with, Leticiel knew best that he was going all out in his challenge. Despite that, he hadn’t been able to get even one hit in, and Leticiel’s expression had remained unchanged the entire time. Zeke and Mirandalette were speechless, as well.

Hilmes’s swings grew larger and faster as his impatience grew. Rather than prioritizing each individual blow, he had switched to a fighting style that prioritized speed.

Ah, this feels so nostalgic. Without meaning to, a smile lit up Leticiel’s face in the midst of their fierce bout. She hadn’t used her sword on the battlefield much, but she had used it to fight the strong enemies who had survived the storm that was her sorcery.

Naturally, she wasn’t using sorcery during their match the way she had back then, but she still enjoyed reminiscing about the past.

Cutting through the air, Hilmes rushed at her with his sword at the ready. After repelling him with the hilt of her wooden sword, Leticiel stomped on the completely defenseless man’s foot. It was the first time she’d made an offensive move.

Unable to deal with the attack on his feet, Hilmes lost his balance and fell over. Knowing that it was her chance to deal the final blow, Leticiel swung her wooden sword down toward him. Noticing the sword’s tip, which was coming down only a hair’s breadth away from his face, Hilmes immediately rolled to the side to dodge it.

At that point, the tables turned. Leticiel slashed at him with bullet-like speed before he could finish regaining his footing. Hilmes gritted his teeth at the speed and weight of her attack, focusing on sharpening his mind and defending against the attack.

They didn’t exchange blows for very long, but to Hilmes, it felt like ages. In the split second that Leticiel’s onslaught slowed, Hilmes speedily leapt back to regain his footing and face the warrior princess in front of him.

Hilmes was gasping for air, but Leticiel only took a few deep breaths. He shuddered at her monstrous strength, his awe and respect for it fueling his desire to beat her.

As if intending this blow to be his winning move, Hilmes changed his stance. Holding the hilt of his wooden sword in both hands, he raised it up to his shoulder and lowered his center of balance. With a small smile, Leticiel held her wooden sword horizontally.

“Arrrrgh!” Roaring, Hilmes used every bit of his strength to close the distance between himself and Leticiel, raising his sword high in the sky. He swung down in a blow that held all of his power and Leticiel brought her weapon up in an arc to meet him.

Their swords clashed. Faced by Leticiel’s efficient power technique, which had no unnecessary movements, Hilmes’s sword left his hands with a hollow clacking sound, soaring high into the air. By the time it hit the ground, he had a sword thrust against his throat.

Leticiel had circled around Hilmes’s back before he even knew it. It happened so suddenly that he could feel the blood draining from his face at the sensation of the cold wooden sword against his skin. If this were an actual battle, he would be dead.

“You win.” Leticiel came back to her senses when Hilmes raised both hands in a sign of surrender. She’d been applying a little pressure to the wooden sword at his throat.

“I-I’m sorry. Are you all right?” She immediately withdrew her sword and held out a hand to Hilmes, who had fallen on his rear. Hilmes had been a better opponent than she had expected. She had been so caught up in the thrill of it, she started taking the match seriously partway through.

“What a total defeat. You’re amazing, Miss Drossell!” Hilmes said as he grabbed her hand to pull himself up. Though he sounded frustrated, he didn’t look upset at all.

“How can a woman who was raised to be a proper lady win against a nobleman who has trained in swordsmanship?” Mirandalette wondered.

“I’ve never seen such advanced techniques before,” Zeke added. Both he and Mirandalette were dumbfounded. “Where did you get such extraordinary power?”

Leticiel shook her head while repairing the damage to her wooden sword. “It’s nothing special. Though…I may have used a little too much force. But this much is normal.”

In the time period she had lived in, self-defense meant being able to quickly and accurately defeat an enemy with as little skill as possible. It wasn’t uncommon for people to use their power to cut down others, so it was natural for everyone, commoners and nobles alike, to at least be able to do that much. Those who had diligently trained in the military were on a completely different level.

There’s no way that was normal, the other three thought at the same time. Leticiel saw nothing wrong with her swordsmanship.

Things were different in this era. People weren’t familiar with martial arts unless they were part of the military, and that level of skill wasn’t required in such a peaceful world. The martial art echelons of this world and her former world were on different levels; they were barely comparable.

“In any case, I was impressed with your skills, Hilmes,” Leticiel said.

“Really?!”

“Yes. If you were to train, you could become a fine swordsman.”

“So you’ll train me? Thank you!

“…Huh?”

Leticiel certainly recognized Hilmes’s skills and believed that he would become much stronger with more training. But how in the world had he ended up with that conclusion?

“Please wait. I said that you have potential as a talented swordsman, but I never said anything about teaching—”

“I’m looking forward to working with you, Master!” Hilmes blasted her with a full grin, not bothering to listen to her finish. If he had a tail, it’d be wagging. Apparently, he had already decided that Leticiel would be teaching him swordsmanship.

“…Fine. But please don’t expect too much.” Sighing, Leticiel gave in to the innocent twinkle in his eyes.

“I won’t!”

First Nicole, now Hilmes. Perhaps she really was a pushover.

Handing Hilmes, who was still sitting on the ground, some water, Leticiel asked him, “Hilmes, how long have you been training with a sword?”

After taking a swig, Hilmes excitedly started explaining as if he’d been eagerly awaiting her question. “Since I can remember!”

“That’s amazing. Are your parents familiar with the sword, as well?”

“That’s right! I’m the eldest of three boys, but we’re all knightlings!”

Leticiel tilted her head at the unfamiliar term. “Knightlings? Really?”

“Leif’s family, the Guerres, are a family of martial artists who have produced knights for generations,” Mirandalette explained exasperatedly in Hilmes’s place. Apparently, knightlings were the children of a knight’s family.

“But there’s a rule that noblemen’s heirs must attend Lucrezia Academy…”

“Yeah, but I was able to meet the amazing Miss Drossell here, so I’m fine with that!” Hilmes gushed.

“What are you saying? Not that long ago, you were moaning about how you wanted to go to Heingel Academy!”

“Th-Th-Th-That’s all in the past!” Hilmes stammered. For some reason, he was flustered, trying to deny the accusation, but Leticiel was more intrigued by something else that had been mentioned.

“Heingel Academy?” She tilted her head, never having heard of the academy before. She had thought the word “academy” was synonymous with Lucrezia Academy, but apparently there was more than one.

“That’s right! It’s an academy that’s also in the capital, Nirvaan. But it’s what you would call a military academy,” Hilmes answered, immediately recovering from his discomfort. Standing up, he made a fist with his right hand and explained, “It was originally established by the warrior god Heingel to train elite soldiers. But after Dietrich’s death, the country reorganized it into an institution to train soldiers and knights who would defend the kingdom, and it was named after him to honor his lifetime achievements. Marquis Horacio, Viscount Cairn, Count Beta… All of the members of prestigious warrior families graduate from there! It has also produced numerous other talented knights and soldiers!”

Hilmes’s words shot out like high-speed bullets. Hmm, I see. If Lucrezia Academy is a place to gain knowledge, Heingel Academy is a place to learn martial arts.

“Plus, Heingel Academy has a general course and a special course! Since the special course trains you on how to fight by magically enhancing your sword, it’s an elite course that you can only take if you have a certain amount of magical power! After all, being able to use magic and your sword together is the bare minimum for making a name for yourself. But using both magic and swordsmanship is suuuper hard, so there are very few families there; the Cairns, for example, have had members in the special program for generations! I’m so jealous. If I had magical power too, I could, like…have a super cool K.O. technique of my own!”

“O-Oh, I see.” Noble families’ heirs were required to enroll at the Lucrezia Academy in order to gain the knowledge they would need to succeed their families’ titles, but apparently, that rule didn’t apply to the families’ other sons. Hilmes’s younger brothers would be attending Heingel Academy, just as they wished. “You’re extremely well-versed in it. You must like Heingel Academy very much, Hilmes.”

“Ah!” The boy finally realized how much he’d let slip. Leticiel smiled wryly; he was a chaotic person, but she found it hard to dislike him. “B-But Lucrezia Academy has the Azure Lion! I don’t regret coming here! I have a lot of respect for him!”

“The Azure Lion?” Leticiel parroted. It had to be a nickname. She thought it was an innocent question, but she was met by astonished looks from the others.

“Wait, Miss Drossell, you don’t know the Azure Lion?!” Hilmes shrieked.

“No, I don’t. He’s here at the academy?”

“Of course he is. He’s the headmaster,” Zeke said. Leticiel blinked.

“…The headmaster?”

“Yes. He fought on the front lines of the war eleven years ago. His heroic achievements gained him the title ‘the Azure Lion.’”

Leticiel had never heard that before. Apparently, the Azure Lion had retired from the army due to the wounds he’d sustained during the war and been tasked with raising the future generations at the Lucrezia Academy.

“Exactly! And the Horacio family is a venerable and prestigious marquis family that has served the kingdom since ancient times! They are the elite of the elite and most of the knight commanders leading the kingdom’s knights, who guard the royal family and the royal capital, have come from their family! Not only does the Azure Lion have strong magical power, he fought bravely as a soldier himself! And when he was entrusted with command of the cavalry, no enemies could withstand his orders! Plus, he was super active in the Sphylian War! It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that he is the paragon of a perfect knight!”

Leticiel had absolutely no idea how to respond to Hilmes’s overwhelmingly zealous explanation, which left him out of breath. In fact, she was a little weirded out. “W-Wow, I didn’t know the headmaster had such a cool nickname. I’m genuinely surprised.”

Zeke gave her a half-troubled, half-exasperated smile at her overly blunt response. “Just who do you think the headmaster is, Miss Drossell?”

“Well, in any case, you may come again as long as you promise not to share what you see here with others.”

“Really?!”

“Yes. It’s all right as long as you keep your prom—”

“Thank you! I promise! I won’t tell anyone about what I see here!” Hilmes nodded with so much energy that it was a wonder his head didn’t go flying off. It was good that he was motivated, but Leticiel was worried that he was a little too passionate.

Showing off his happiness, Hilmes started humming and picked up his wooden sword, swinging it around. Mirandalette watched him with a mixture of exasperation and resignation before turning to Leticiel and saying, “Miss Drossell, I’ll be sure to keep a close eye on Leif, as well.”

Hmm, so she’s used to this sort of thing. “Yes, please do,” Leticiel replied.

Hilmes spun the sword a little too eagerly and it slipped out of his hand, spinning away into the air. Leticiel’s anxiety grew deeper as she watched him shout, “Waaait!” and chase after it. After capturing the sword, Hilmes returned and giddily announced, “Now I’m part of Miss Drossell’s club too!”

Leticiel was taken aback by his puzzling declaration. “My club?” she echoed.

“Huh? Don’t you come here for your club activity?” At Leticiel’s bewildered look, he asked, “Wait, am I wrong?”

An awkward silence fell over the four. Leticiel met Zeke and Mirandalette’s gaze, the three only now realizing that their after-school activities could be mistaken for club activities. Hilmes, who was left out of the silent exchange, had a visible question mark hovering over his head.

“Hilmes, may I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Did you come here because you thought we were a club?”

“Yeah, I did. Why?”

Leticiel let out a sigh at the casual “What about it?” expression written all over Hilmes’s face. But her exasperation wasn’t aimed at him; it was aimed at herself.

“It was a blind spot,” she said. “I completely forgot that those club things exist at this academy.”

She remembered Lucas explaining them quite a long time ago, but they had slipped her mind. She didn’t necessarily have a problem with people assuming they were in a club, but it didn’t feel right when they hadn’t created one to begin with.

Suddenly, Zeke suggested, “Why don’t we make a club, then?”

Leticiel and Mirandalette looked at him. “I don’t mind either way, but is there merit to forming one?” Leticiel asked.

“Well, I’m not sure if you could call it a merit, but by forming a circle, we’d have priority use of spaces and tools necessary for our club activities. We could use this space without worrying about others.”

“Without worrying about others, huh?” Leticiel’s mind raced. Just as Zeke said, they were a group of students actively staying behind at the academy to further their studies. Because of that, the likelihood that they would be interrupted by weird students like the Intermediate student from earlier was fairly high.

Of course, she could slap them down when they came to pick fights, but to be honest, she didn’t care about them and they were annoying, so she didn’t want to get involved with them. It was true that if they met officially as a club, they wouldn’t have people quibbling with them, trying to find fault in what they were doing.

“You have a point. In other words, it would be both a breakwater and a place for us to hide out.” Leticiel nodded shortly. They faced the birth of new enemies (a.k.a. those who wished to join the club) if they went through with it, but if she were to beat them up in a match and call it an entrance exam… No, she just had to say that they had failed it.

Making her mind up, Leticiel said, “All right. Well, it’s best to strike while the iron is hot. Let’s go to the student council room and create a club.”

“Wait, we’re going right now?!”

Mirandalette and the others exchanged wry smiles at Leticiel, who immediately moved to act, but still they followed after her. She didn’t forget to lock the entrance to the booth with sorcery so no one could take their practice space while they were gone.

“You said we’ll need an application for club creation, was it? Where can we get one of those?”

“They have them at the front desk in the entrance. You just have to fill it in and submit it to the student council.”

“Will they still be at the academy at this time of the day?”

“I think so. The student council is in charge of checking all the locks in the academy, so they’re here until the final bell rings.”

Following Mirandalette’s advice, Leticiel and the others arrived in the academy’s entrance hall. Though the front desk had already closed, there were documents placed outside of it that anyone could take freely.

“The members will be myself, Miss Mira, Zeke, and Hilmes, correct?”

“Yeah. You only need three people to create a club, so we’ve already met the bare minimum requirements.”

Leticiel frowned at the troublesome application form, which was covered in empty lines that asked them to write the club’s name, members, the activities they’d be doing, as well as the place and days. Apparently, it wasn’t as easy as announcing that they’d be making a club.

To keep the existence of sorcery a secret, they named the club the “Magic Lovers’ Club.” That way they could practice sorcery without arousing suspicion from other students.

“By the way, who will be the club representative?” Leticiel asked her friends when she caught sight of the empty “Club Representative” space on the application form while they were walking toward the student council room.

The others silently shared a look before turning their gazes to Leticiel.

“You, Miss Drossell,” Mirandalette said without a shred of hesitation.

“Yeah, it’s gotta be you!” Hilmes chimed.

“Huh?” Leticiel’s jaw dropped, and she laughed awkwardly with her mouth still half-open.

“You’ll be the one teaching us in the club, so I think it’d be most appropriate for you to be the representative,” Zeke added for an additional blow, though he did seem to struggle to get the words out.

“…What?”

Apparently, Leticiel had been unanimously nominated as the club representative from the very beginning.

SIDE STORY
AN INEXPLICABLE PUZZLE

On the night of her father and older sister’s audience with the king, Christa passed Drossell in the hallway on her way back to her room after dinner. It had been a long time since she had seen her twin sister outside of the academy. Christa only glanced in the direction the silver-haired girl was going in when they passed each other.

Drossell, who was carrying three books at her side and had one open in her hand, ignored the gazes of those around her, too focused on her reading even though she was walking. It was as if she knew the way without having to look.

There really is something off about her. Christa returned to her own room when Drossell’s figure disappeared at the bottom of the stairs. Still, the image of Drossell that she had seen earlier was burned into her memory. How can she move like that?

Throwing herself onto her sofa, Christa looked up at the ceiling and let her thoughts run wild.

She’d overheard the servants gossiping about how Drossell had been going in and out of the library lately, taking a copious amount of books to her room each time. But that wasn’t what surprised Christa.

A butler carrying a tray had been going up the stairs just as Drossell had been about to go down them. Christa had clearly seen Drossell dodge the butler while still absorbed in her reading.

Christa subconsciously squeezed the upper part of her left arm tightly. Her older twin sister had had a strange power ever since she was little. She could make objects move, make a breeze blow where there was no wind, and there was always something strange happening around her.

Those strange phenomena had disappeared for a while, but they seemed to be occurring again lately. As someone who knew Drossell’s past, the zigzagged movements she had made earlier made Christa wonder if some sort of force was at work.

“Miss Christa, do you have a moment?” There were two knocks at her door. Christa gazes shifted from the ceiling to the door.

“You may come in.”

The door opened and a butler with a tray laden with a tea set entered. It was the same butler who had almost bumped into Drossell on the stairs earlier.

“Pardon me. I brought you your after-meal tea.”

“Please put it on the table.”

The butler placed the tea set down and poured a cup of tea before bowing and leaving the room.

Christa had noticed that there was something strange with her twin sister about a month ago. It all started with a trivial moment, when Drossell had answered a teacher’s question perfectly.

At first, she had thought that Drossell had just decided to study on a whim. But from the next day on, Drossell stopped attending classes for some reason. She only appeared in the cafeteria during lunchtime and disappeared for the rest of the day.

And that wasn’t all. She spent all her time in the Great Library, which she’d never even entered before; immersed herself in swordsmanship training, which she shouldn’t even be able to do; and even received a research laboratory of her own. Drossell had changed in ways that seemed impossible to those who knew her.

It was almost as if she’d returned to her old personality, the one she’d had before her sudden change. But this new Drossell was different from her old self.

It was true that Drossell used to enjoy reading, but in the past, she preferred easy, relaxing stories, like fairy tales. Now, she only read difficult academic books. The fact that Drossell had completely severed her relationship to Rocheford, whom she had absolutely adored, only served to heighten Christa’s doubts.

Stepping away from the window, Christa opened her desk drawer and took out a letter. It was originally addressed to Scarlough, but she had pleaded with and forced him to give it to her.

It was a letter from the king announcing the dissolution of Drossell and Rocheford’s engagement. The king had written about Rocheford’s current state as an excuse for the engagement’s dissolution.

There was no known treatment for the mental illness currently plaguing Rocheford, but Christa felt like she had seen his symptoms before.

It’s similar to back then. She traced her memories to that night two years ago. That day, a party was held at the duke’s manor to celebrate his twin daughters’ birthday. The moon was exceptionally beautiful that night, with nothing but the sound of tree leaves swaying in the wind.

Though the birthday party was supposedly for both twins, in reality, people were only celebrating Christa. Drossell, who had been rejected from society, didn’t even show up, nor did people talk about her much.

The birthday party ended without any issues. But when the servants were cleaning up afterward, one of them went outside to remove the tables and found Drossell lying unconscious near a hedge surrounding the garden.

Drossell was immediately carried to her room, but she stayed asleep for three days. When even the servants who had never paid her any mind started to worry, Drossell regained consciousness with a completely different personality from before.

She seemed calm, but she would get upset over trivial things, start throwing things, and yell. Sometimes she would suddenly start crying and physically press against others, hoping that they would soothe her. Even if her actions weren’t the same as Rocheford’s current situation, they were similar.

“What in the world is happening to him?”

Thanks to the strict gag order within the academy, Christa didn’t know any of the details of what had happened at the academy. There were rumors that Rocheford had been the perpetrator, but she had no idea how the series of events had been resolved.

Still, Christa couldn’t help but feel like Drossell had something to do with the incident. Her engagement had suddenly been annulled and she had left the ducal manor. It was entirely possible that she had decided the engagement would be impossible to continue considering Rocheford’s mental state, but Christa couldn’t help but feel that her twin sister was involved somehow.

Because Drossell had changed again suddenly in the past month and was severing her relationships with people in the manor even more than before, Christa sometimes felt like she was living in the same house as something terrifying. To be honest, she had been relieved when she heard that Drossell would be leaving.

If she felt that way as someone who lived with Drossell, she could see why Rocheford might loathe his own fiancée.

“A witch, huh?”

Wanting to know what had happened to Rocheford, Christa had spoken with the curator, Gilm. Gilm said that Rocheford had said he was going to stab the witch before taking the witch-slaying sword. Was Drossell the witch he had set out to slay?

Christa huffed. She couldn’t come to a conclusion no matter how much she thought about the subject. Cutting off her train of thought, she took a sip of the tea that the butler had poured for her earlier. It had gotten lukewarm in the time she’d been thinking, but it was still better than burning her tongue.

There were containers with milk, sugar, and jam next to the teapot, but Christa didn’t put anything into her tea. Looking at her reflection in the swaying waves of the liquid’s surface, she wondered when she had started to drink her tea straight.

CHAPTER 4
WAR IN A PEACEFUL WORLD

“Ruvik, I can ride a horse. I’ll be fine on my own.”

“My lady, you may be fine with that, but I am not. Riding horseback is dangerous, so I cannot allow you to do it yourself.”

Leticiel argued with Ruvik, who was already sitting on the coachman’s seat and ready to go, in front of the main gate of a small manor on the outskirts of the royal city of Nirvaan. Two white horses were already harnessed to a dark brown carriage with an elegant design in front of her. It was a gift from Oswald that she’d received during her move. It was extremely comfortable.

Right after she’d first moved in, Leticiel had used transportation spells to go to and from the academy. But the change in her house’s location meant a change in scenery on the way to school. She had started using her horse-drawn carriage again after realizing that it wasn’t so bad to leisurely commute while admiring the scenery of the suburbs and cityscapes.

Ruvik and Nicole already had to manage the manor all by themselves, so she didn’t want to put any extra work on their plates. She had attempted to drive the coach by herself, but had unluckily been caught by Ruvik.

The butler came down from the coachman’s platform and opened the carriage door for her just as Leticiel was thinking that she had ridden plenty of horses in her previous life and could have easily steered the carriage.

“I’m sorry for the wait, my lady. Everything is ready now, so please get in.”

“…Fine. Then you’re in charge of driving, Ruvik.”

“Yes, please leave it to me.”

Leticiel climbed into the carriage and Ruvik closed the door, disappearing out of sight of her window. A few moments later she heard the crack of a whip, and the carriage lurched into movement with a whinny from the horses.

With the change in her home’s location, the scenery flowing by outside her window had also changed. Leticiel admired the idyllic plains dotted with trees and forests until her carriage passed through Nirvaan’s south gate.

Now that I think about it, this is the first time I’ve left the city, Leticiel realized, gaze tracing over the cityscapes as they passed before her. With her newfound freedom from the duke’s manor, she wanted to walk around the city and see how ordinary people lived. If she had the chance.

Finally, Lucrezia Academy’s main gate came into view across the main street. Her carriage passed through it and stopped in front of the entrance. Ruvik opened the carriage door and helped Leticiel out. “Have a good day, my lady,” he said as he saw her off.

“I will. Thank you, Ruvik.”

Ruvik returned to the coachman’s seat and snapped the reins to return home. After watching him leave, Leticiel headed for the main building.

“Oh, you’re here, Drossell. Good morning.” Lucas, who was leaning against a pillar in front of the entrance, raised one hand in greeting when she stepped inside.

“Good morning,” she replied. “I don’t often see you here.”

“Yeah. I had to wait here to catch you before you disappeared somewhere.”

“I’ll still end up going somewhere even if you wait for me.” Leticiel was somewhat upset that he was treating her like a troublesome child. She tried to ignore him and keep walking, but he stopped her.

“Wait. I can’t have you going anywhere. Not today of all days.”

“Why?” she asked.

“There’s a lecture this morning that all Primary students are required to attend.”

“Is there any point in me being there?” Leticiel asked after a pause.

“Those who rarely show themselves will be in attendance. You might hear something interesting.”

Leticiel wasn’t interested in lectures, and she didn’t have high hopes for its content, but Lucas had managed to pique her interest. Since there was a possibility she could learn something new, Leticiel decided to go.

“Fine. I’ll be there. Where will it be held?”

“In the main auditorium. It’s above the cafeteria. You should be able to find it easily.”

Leticiel would go. If the lecture was interesting, then great. If it wasn’t, she could waste time by doing something else.

Taking the offensive, she asked, “What would you have done if I hadn’t come through here?”

“You’ve been coming to school by carriage lately, right? I thought I was imagining things the day I saw you on the coachman’s seat amongst all the other students’ parked carriages.”

“Steering carriages is surprisingly fun.”

“That’s not the issue here!”

The main auditorium was located on the main building’s second story, right above the cafeteria. Leticiel climbed the central stairs and made her way there.

The ceiling was higher in the auditorium compared to regular classrooms, and the seats were lined up in a gentle slope from the entrance to the back. It could fit three or four times more people than a regular classroom, and people were already starting to fill up the seats here and there.

No one was sitting in the front, but Leticiel purposefully chose the first seat in the first row. After all, it was the closest to the exit—crucial if she wanted to leave the auditorium the instant the lecture was over.

“Ah! Miss Drossell, good morning.”

Leticiel stared blankly at the students entering and exiting through the auditorium’s door until her eyes met Mirandalette’s.

“Good morning. You’re here early.”

“That’s not true. May I sit next to you?”

“Go ahead.”

Mirandalette sat down next to Leticiel, but she seemed uncomfortable, likely because they were in the first row. “Miss Drossell, you’re brave to seat yourself in the very first row…”

“This seat is closest to the door.”

“S-So that’s why…”

Twenty minutes before the start of first period, the area around the door started to get crowded. The auditorium was full of lively chatter with twice as many students as there had been before. Some people could be heard arguing over seats.

“Good morning, you two.”

“Oh, Zeke. Good morning.”

Zeke entered the auditorium with a wave of students. There were no more empty seats at Leticiel and Mirandalette’s table, so he sat in the corner seat at the table across the aisle, right next to Leticiel’s.

“I wonder what today’s topic is,” Leticiel said to her friends sitting on either side of her. Lucas had only told her that the lecture would be happening, so she had no idea what it was on.

“It’s a lecture held by Duke Valentine, the Secretary of the Navy, and Duke Blois, the Secretary of the Ministry of Magic. It’s an annual thing.”

Apparently, the Secretary of the Army and the Secretary of the Ministry of Magic were invited to give a lecture to the Primary students every year at Lucrezia Academy. But the lectures were on different topics each year, so some years were interesting while others were boring.

Although the Secretary of the Army was supposed to come this year as usual, the army was busy with domestic affairs lately, so the Secretary of the Navy had come in his place.

“If they’re dukes, they must be two of the Five Great Dukes.”

“That’s right. Duke Valentine and Duke Blois were both marquises at one point, but they were given dukedoms in recognition of their achievements in the Sphylian War eleven years ago.”

“Hmm.” Leticiel hummed, an image of the headmaster flashing in her mind as she listened to Zeke’s explanation. Hilmes had mentioned before that Lucas’s family, the Horacio family, had the title of marquis and had been serving the kingdom for many generations.

She didn’t know what he had achieved on the battlefield during the war, but why had he not been promoted, remaining a marquis, despite even gaining the nickname “the Azure Lion”?

“That was close! I didn’t think I’d make it!” Hilmes came sprinting into the auditorium a few minutes before the start of first period. Apparently, he had slept in.

“Hilmes, hurry and sit down. It’s starting soon.”

“Ack! The only open seats are super far from you guys!”

“Well… That can’t be helped.”

Hilmes plodded off toward an open seat, exuding a pitiful aura like an abandoned puppy. Leticiel couldn’t help but feel sorry for him even though it wasn’t her fault.

The bell that signaled the start of classes rang and two men entered through the door. One man had a goatee and gave off a stern impression, while the other man was elderly and had light gray hair.

“I am Norman Scott Valentine, the Secretary of the Navy. I’ll be the first to speak,” the stern-looking man said quietly in a low voice. Those words alone were quite powerful. Quiet murmurs swept through the audience.

Duke Valentine’s lecture focused on the armed forces’ structure and the requirements for recruitment. The Platina Kingdom’s armed forces included the navy, led by the Secretary of the Navy, the army, led by the Secretary of Army, and the Secretary of Defense who managed both of them. Enrollment was not limited by social status, so anyone could enroll as long as they passed the test.

Leticiel quickly tuned out, thinking it didn’t have much to do with her, but some of the male students listened with rapt attention.

Naturally, Hilmes was one of them. He was sitting four seats behind Leticiel, but even without looking his way, Leticiel could sense his excitement from the front row. Beside her, Mirandalette pressed a hand against her forehead in exasperation.

“That concludes my talk.” As soon as he’d completed his planned speech, Duke Valentine stepped down from the podium, giving the space to Duke Blois. There were no undulations in his tone from start to finish. For better or worse, it was a lecture like any other class. Some of the students seemed extremely pleased, though.

“I am Willaims Jilva Blois, Secretary of the Ministry of Magic. All that’s left is my speech, so please listen to this old man for a little longer.”

A few small laughs were sprinkled throughout the audience, but Leticiel was still freely writing spell techniques on her paper. She was only there because attendance was mandatory, not because she was interested in the lecture.

“…And that’s why those of us in the Ministry of Magic work hard each day to develop better magic and make it more universal.” Duke Blois’s lecture progressed smoothly as Leticiel wrote down all the techniques she thought up, adding mathematical expressions and writing random deployment methods.

“For example, this is a levitation spell I came up with. It can’t levitate big items, but something the size of a writing utensil should be fine.”

Duke Blois picked up a piece of chalk and then made it float up to the chalkboard and write the magic formula. Leticiel was somewhat impressed by the finished formula. It was certainly rough around the edges, but it still had a simple structure without extraneous expressions that would burden the computing area. It seemed his position as Secretary of the Ministry of Magic wasn’t just for show.

“Sir! May I try using that spell?” a boy at the back of the auditorium called out.

Duke Blois nodded as he wrote out the chant. “Of course.”

As soon as he gave his permission, embarrassed chanting could be heard throughout the auditorium, students’ writing utensils floating in the air.

“Is being able to use magic that special?” Leticiel wondered out loud as she watched the students gleefully mess around after successfully activating the spell. To her, using sorcery was an everyday occurrence, so it was nothing to fuss over.

“I think they’re just happy. Magic is rarely used in everyday life, after all,” Zeke answered, returning his floating pen to its place. At his words, Leticiel remembered that this era’s magic wasn’t very fuel-efficient, so it couldn’t be used often.

“Ordinary people do not come into contact with magic in their everyday lives, nor do they know much about its existence. Amongst the nobility, magic is seen as one type of status.”

“Status?”

“Yes. From what I’ve heard, nobles use magic to assist their movements and make them smoother while embroidering or to gather people’s attention on them at balls—things like that.”

“I see. Basically, in the world of the aristocracy, the more performative your power is, the better.”

Wasn’t that basically street performances under the name of magic? Leticiel had known that their magic was overwhelmingly unsuitable for attacks the first time she’d seen it, but to think their powers really were just a sham…

While they were talking, Williams walked down the aisle between Leticiel and Zeke. Once the magic demonstration time had started, he had been moving between the students, answering their questions.

“What do you think? Do you have any questions?” he asked Zeke.

Zeke snapped up the chance and began asking questions. “Ah, in that case, I’d like to ask about this expression in the formula…”

Leticiel had no intention of joining their conversation. Plus, she couldn’t use magic, so she decided to just sit and wait at her desk until the end of the demonstration. That was why she didn’t notice that, after finishing his talk with Zeke, Williams had caught sight of the doodles on her papers and was staring at them like he could bore a hole through them.

The room was still buzzing with people practicing magic, but Leticiel was starting to hear quiet but malicious snickers. When she sat up and scanned around the auditorium, some students looked away while most of the others continued to laugh as if to show off. They were likely amused by the fact that Leticiel had nothing to do. How stupid.

But Leticiel didn’t seem to be the only target of their ridicule. Behind her, near where Hilmes was sitting, one bespectacled girl was sitting with her head down. She had blue eyes and blonde hair that was tied up in two high pigtails that hung below her shoulders. She seemed to be doing her best to activate the levitation spell, but it wasn’t going well.

Leticiel thought the girl might have low magical power, but Leticiel was the only one in their grade who didn’t have any magical power at all. If she just had low magical power, she was like Mirandalette and Hilmes. Leticiel had no idea why the others were laughing at her.

The girl looked up from time to time, glancing at a certain spot. Curious, Leticiel followed her gaze and saw that it led to the Secretary of the Navy, who was sitting on a chair and waiting now that his lecture had ended.

Duke Valentine either hadn’t noticed or was purposefully ignoring her, as his eyes were fixed on a spot in front of him. Perhaps they knew each other?

Some time later, the long lecture finally came to an end. After the demonstration time, Leticiel had gotten fed up with listening and had taken a nap.

“It’s oooveeer!” Hilmes immediately stood after the secretaries left the auditorium and came flying over to Leticiel and the others. “Let’s hurry up and go to the cafeteria! I’m starving!”

“Yes. We’d better hurry or we won’t be able to get seats.”

A crowd of students were already pushing through the exit, leaving the audience seats almost empty. Leticiel stood to leave as well.

“It’s gone… It’s gone!” The frazzled whisper came from behind her. When she turned around, she saw that the girl with glasses seemed to be searching for something. Seeming close to tears, she rummaged through the desk’s drawer and upended the contents of her bag onto the tabletop.

“Are you looking for something?” Leticiel asked.

“Eep!”

Leticiel could have kept walking, but it would have pained her to ignore the girl, who looked so desperate. She’d talked to the girl, hoping there was something she could do to help, but the girl was so surprised that she’d jumped and let out a small shriek.

“Um, if you’re looking for something, shall we look with you?”

“Erm… No, it’s… Uh…” The girl fumbled over her words, face turning red. She had completely lost her composure. Leticiel wasn’t quite sure how to handle the apparently extremely shy young lady.

Still, she waited patiently without rushing the girl, who finally managed to wrangle her words into choppy sentences. “M… My p-pencil case… It’s all I have left of my mother…”

Leticiel ran through her memories. When she had looked back at the girl during the lecture, there had been a pretty wooden box on her desk.

“Was your pencil case a wooden one?”

“Y-Y-Y-Y-Yes!”

Leticiel had done her best to speak quietly in a low tone so as not to surprise the girl, but she still didn’t seem used to talking with others.

Leticiel cast a searching spell on the auditorium. Knowing the shape made it easier to find objects with said spell.

“There’s a wooden object in the last desk in the last row,” Leticiel announced. “Why don’t you check there?”

“O-O-Okay, I will!” The girl immediately headed for the last seat. She bent down and peered into the desk, eyes shining when she pulled out a rounded wooden box with a mellow color scheme. “I-It’s here. I found it!”

“I’m so glad you were able to find it.”

“Yes… Yes!” Clutching the pencil case tightly to her chest, the girl smiled, thoroughly relieved. It must truly be important to her.

“Well, I’d better go now. Please take good care of that pencil case.”

The mystery of how the girl’s pencil case had gotten so far away from her seat still remained, but at least she’d been able to recover it. After saying her goodbyes, Leticiel headed for the auditorium’s exit.

“W-Wait!” the girl called, stopping her right before she could pass through the door. She was holding the pencil case against her chest and breathing deeply as if to try and calm herself. “Thank you…very…muth! Hnn…”

The girl bit her tongue in the middle of saying thanks and covered her face out of embarrassment, crouching down to hide behind the table.

“Erm, you’re welcome,” Leticiel replied to the hidden blonde girl before leaving the auditorium, followed by her friends.

The girl had left an impact on Leticiel. She murmured, “Who was she?”

“Ah, that’s Miss Veronica.” Surprisingly enough, Hilmes was the one who answered.

“Are you friends with her, Hilmes?”

“I wouldn’t say we’re friends, but she’s the daughter of a duke and is in Class 3 with me!”

“She’s the daughter of a duke?”

“Yep! Her father is the Secretary of the Navy who came today!”

In other words, Veronica was Duke Valentine’s daughter. No wonder she’d been looking his way during the lecture. But judging from the duke’s attitude, they didn’t seem to be very close.

“More importantly, let’s hurry to the cafeteria! I’m gonna go ahead!”

“Wait, Leif!”

Mirandalette hastily followed after Hilmes, who skipped down the hallway.

✦ ✦ ✦

Leticiel walked down the hallway during lunchtime. A few days had passed since the day of the lecture. Today, Zeke was helping a teacher, and Hilmes and Mirandalette were both taking the day off of school for other business, so Leticiel was heading to the sorcery research lab.

Since there was still time before afternoon classes started, many students were chatting in the hallway. They retreated to either side of the corridor when she approached, but she didn’t mind. In fact, she wanted them to retreat even further because it made it easier for her to walk through.

After rounding a corner, she caught sight of Lucas talking with someone—a female student with glasses and dark blonde hair in pigtails.

Hmm? Isn’t that…?

It was Veronica, the girl Leticiel had helped in the auditorium. She held what appeared to be a textbook or notebook, but it appeared soaked.

“Tell me if…is…”

“…fine!”

Leticiel was a good distance from them, so she could barely hear what they were talking about. Still, she could tell that Veronica was denying whatever Lucas had said. He had been asking her something, but Veronica shook her head and took a few steps back.

Suddenly, Veronica took off, heading straight for Leticiel’s direction. It seems she had forcibly ended the conversation, as Lucas reached out to try and stop her.

Veronica was unable to hide her surprise when she almost ran into Leticiel right around the corner. Still, she gave a short bow and continued running down the hallway. Leticiel watched her pass, too slow to say anything.

“Huh? Drossell?” Lucas, who’d chased after Veronica, stopped when he saw Leticiel standing at the corner and staring off into the distance.

“Hello, Headmaster. If you’re looking for Miss Veronica, she went that way,” she said, pointing in the direction Veronica had dashed off in.

For some reason, Lucas’s eyes widened in surprise. “You know Veronica?” he asked. Apparently, it was because Leticiel knew the girl’s name.

“I wouldn’t say that I know her well. I simply helped her find her pencil case after the lecture the other day. What were you talking about with her? She was crying, you know.”

When Veronica had passed by earlier, Leticiel had seen tear strains on her cheeks. Hearing this, Lucas frowned as if his suspicions had been confirmed. “So she really is being bullied…”

“Bullied?” Leticiel echoed. What in the world did that mean? “Bullied” was a word that hadn’t existed a thousand years ago.

Lucas nodded, not realizing that her murmur hadn’t been rhetorical or that she was clueless as to what he meant. “She has one of the highest levels of magical power of the students in the academy, but at the same time, she has a severe case of magical power saturation that makes her unable to use it. She’s similar to you.”

“O-Okay…”

“In aristocratic society, where your ability to use magic determines your status, Veronica has been marked as incompetent, though in a different meaning compared to you. Even at the academy, she’s looked down on by students who believe in magical power supremacy.”

Leticiel didn’t recognize the name of the disease he’d mentioned, but she couldn’t interrupt him to ask about it. She made a mental note to herself and pushed it to the back of her mind.

“I’m sure you’re aware that she’s Norman’s daughter,” Lucas continued, “but she’s twice as weak-willed as other kids her age. Norman and I fought together so I try to talk with her and stay up to date on what’s going on, but apparently that has caused the spread of malicious rumors.”

“Malicious rumors?”

“Yes. Like that she’s trying to butter me up.” Lucas bit hard on his lip, frustrated by his own powerlessness. He seemed to struggle to make a difficult decision before asking Leticiel with a conflicted expression, “Hey, Drossell. Would you mind helping Veronica out? It would be best if I could intervene personally, but in this situation, I think that would only make things worse.”

There was a deep wrinkle in his brow, and he was clenching his fists so hard that she was surprised he hadn’t drawn blood yet. He definitely had a point—if their relationship was already that infamous, Lucas intervening would only serve to back Veronica into a corner even further.

Leticiel glanced at the end of the hallway where Veronica had disappeared before turning back to Lucas and nodding. She’d already helped the girl once, so she might as well help her through to the end. “All right,” she replied. “I don’t know how much help I can be, but I’ll do my best.”

“Good. Thank you,” Lucas replied, relieved.

Saying goodbye to him, Leticiel walked down the hallway Veronica had run through, hoping to find her. Veronica was nowhere to be seen, but just as Leticiel was thinking of using sorcery to search for her, her ears caught the faintest hints of a piano melody.

It was a gentle and calm song. The sound was extremely faint, as if the piano were far away. Yet, the melody, rising and falling as it passed through the walls, calmed the listener’s mind. Leticiel immediately fell in love with it.

She remembered the academy’s floor plan and recalled that there was a music room nearby. She didn’t know if Veronica was the one playing, but she decided to check it out.

Three young ladies entered the music room just as Leticiel was rounding the last corner before it. The beautiful piano melody came to a halt the instant they stepped inside.

“Oh, Miss Veronica. So this is where you were.”

Leticiel didn’t mind stepping in and interrupting, but to better understand the situation, she peeked through the sliver of the slightly agape door.

“M-Miss Audrey…” Veronica sounded frightened. Apparently, the girl with ringlets who seemed like the leader of the three girls was named Audrey.

“Hey, you’ll listen to my request again today, right? After all, we’re friends, aren’t we?” Audrey hid her grin with one hand. Her nasally, oppressive tone certainly didn’t make it sound like she was speaking to a friend. When Veronica failed to respond, Audrey continued, “I want that golden brooch of yours. Give it to me.”

“Huh? Wh-Why?”

“Oh, are you complaining? Can’t you just ask your darling father to give you a new one? So give me yours.”

Judging by the girls’ attitudes, they didn’t actually want the brooch. They just enjoyed taking Veronica’s treasured items from her. It was the same kind of cruelty that those who killed senselessly and plundered for their own pleasure relished in.

“B-But…it belonged to my mother…”

“What? Don’t tell me you’re going to refuse to hand it over.”

Veronica fell silent once more. Audrey and her lackeys crossed their arms, staring her down while stepping closer. It was as good as a threat, but Veronica still refused to give in. Audrey’s expression twisted into a frown, and she looked like she might click her tongue. Her gaze slid to the piano Veronica had been playing.

“Well… You may not be able to use all that magical power you have, but you’re good at meaningless stuff like music. Are you so focused on this sort of thing that you can’t even listen to your friends’ requests?”

Audrey slowly and deliberately held her hands up and chanted, “Oh magic of the wind that fills my body, become a blade that cuts through everything. Gather in my hand and pierce my enemy! Wind Cutter!”

In response to her chant, wind swirled and gathered in her palms. Looking down her nose at the sheaf of papers, Audrey slowly reached for the sheet music on the piano, her wind magic spell activated.

“St-Stop!” Before Audrey could touch the score, Veronica screamed and snatched it away, holding it against her chest. Astonished by her actions, Audrey grabbed onto the other girl to try and take the sheet music from her.

“Give it to me! It’s too good for the likes of you!”

“No! I won’t!”

“Wha—?” Audrey’s eyes widened. She obviously hadn’t expected Veronica to resist this much. Immediately after dissipating the spell, she began to shout like an enraged dragon. “You! How dare you disobey me?!”

Frustrated that things weren’t going her way, Audrey reared back to slap Veronica with an open palm. Veronica squeezed her eyes shut tightly, bracing for the impact. But the pain never came.

Leticiel grabbed Audrey’s hand from behind before it could begin its downward arc. “Pardon me. I saw you trying to slap someone for absolutely no reason, so I felt the need to step in.”

“O-Ow, that hurts! Let go!” Twisting back, Audrey tried to shake off Leticiel, who had a strong grip on her arm and wouldn’t let go. But it was impossible for a simple noble lady to escape Leticiel’s grip, as she had enhanced her grip with a spell.

“I happened to pass by this door and was surprised to see a group of ladies inside trying to extort items for ridiculous reasons,” Leticiel said mercilessly and without any hesitation.

“Wha…?!” Audrey ogled at her in disbelief. “You… Take that back this instant! Apologize right now for treating me like a thie… Owwww!” Leticiel tightened her grip and Audrey’s words were cut off with a scream.

“Then why did you try to take Veronica’s mother’s brooch from her? Wouldn’t you say that it’s too good for you?”

Audrey’s words died in her throat, unable to snap back as Leticiel used her own words against her. The blood had drained from the other two noble ladies’ faces in the wake of Leticiel’s anger.

“Plus…” Leticiel released Audrey’s hand, the girl rubbing it with tears in her eyes. Her friends finally ran over to her. “If you have something to say, wouldn’t it make more sense to say it directly without using such roundabout and underhanded methods? Especially if you’re friends, as you say.”

“I—I won’t forgive you for this! You’d better watch out!” After spitting out that line, which only served to make her sound like a sore loser, Audrey flew out of the music room with tears streaming down her cheeks. Her groupies hurriedly chased after her.

“U-Um, thank you!” Veronica said, looking up at Leticiel from her seat on the piano bench. Leticiel gave a slight shrug as she looked at the door, which Audrey and the others had disappeared through.

“There’s no need for you to thank me. I just hate people who do that sort of thing. I refuse to let them get away with it when I see them.”

Of course Lucas had asked for her assistance, but that was more like a bonus. Leticiel had genuinely wanted to help Veronica.

Aristocrats nowadays must have a lot of free time, Leticiel thought, remembering back to the time when she had helped Mirandalette. The nasty girls who’d been bothering her had strange quirks and had made meaningless sarcastic remarks too.

“More importantly, I have a favor to ask of you, Miss Veronica.”

“O-Okay!”

“Could you please play the piano again?”

Veronica had been trembling in anticipation, wondering what she’d be asked to do, but Leticiel’s words seemed somewhat anticlimactic. “Th-The piano?” she asked.

“Yes. Actually, I heard you playing on my way here. It was an absolutely lovely sound that put my heart at ease. Not that I know much about music.”

Leticiel’s expression wasn’t teasing at all; she was entirely serious.

It had been a long time since someone had complimented Veronica’s piano skills. “I-I’m glad! If you don’t mind my playing…I’d be happy to.”

Following her word, Veronica spread out her music score and performed for Leticiel. Taking a seat by the grand piano, Leticiel closed her eyes and surrendered herself to the tune. When she cut off her sight and focused with only her ears, she felt strange, as if she were floating on a sea of music.

When the performance ended, Leticiel opened her eyes and asked, “Miss Veronica, do you like to play piano?” She’d never played before, but she assumed that it took a lot of practice to be able to play that well. She wondered if it was possible to become this talented just by taking lessons.

Removing her fingers from the keys, Veronica looked down. “I’m not sure. I used to play for my family. But…they never once complimented me…”

“I see. But I like your piano playing, Miss Veronica. Please allow me to listen again at another time.”

“O-Of course!” Veronica nodded vigorously, clenching both hands into fists. She must have been extremely pleased by Leticiel’s comment, a complicated smile that was both happy and embarrassed gracing her lips.

It seemed to be the key to making Veronica open up, as she gradually told Leticiel about her family while plinking on the keys.

Veronica was Duke Valentine’s daughter, but she was the daughter of his mistress, making her illegitimate. Her mother died not long after giving birth and her father had taken her in, but she didn’t fit in with her family due to her difference in lineage. Her relationships were so strained with the people there that she had chosen to move into the student dormitory when she entered the academy.

“I see… That must have been tough.”

“Plus, I can’t use magic at all,” Veronica continued. “And I enjoy gardening, but that just made people dislike me even more.”

“What? Miss Veronica, you like to garden?”

“Y-Yes. I know the daughter of a nobleman shouldn’t be playing in the dirt. It’s filthy…”

“That’s not true. I enjoy looking at flowers, but I’ve never raised any on my own. You’re amazing.”

Veronica, who wasn’t used to being complimented, shyly averted her gaze after hearing Leticiel’s genuine praise. She had probably always been searching for someone who would acknowledge her.

“I-I’d better go to class. U-Um, thank you…very much!” The clock showed that there were five minutes until the start of classes. Veronica hurriedly packed up her music score and closed the piano lid, smiling at Leticiel and thanking her before leaving.

Once she was alone, Leticiel’s thoughts turned once more to the current situation. Veronica was undergoing attacks called “bullying” by a young noble lady named Audrey and her clique. She used to have Lucas’s support, but Audrey and the others had cut that off.

I see. So this is what war is like in this day and age…

The current situation fit neatly into a war scenario. All alone in the music room, Leticiel very seriously came to a crazy conclusion regarding the definition of “bullying.”

After classes had ended and Leticiel had gone to the sorcery research lab as usual, she and Tuvalu were looking things up in the library together when she said, “Hey, Tuvalu. May I ask you something?”

“Yes. What is it?”

“What sort of a disease is magical power saturation?”

She hadn’t asked Lucas about it when he brought it up, but it was a disease that hadn’t existed a thousand years ago. Naturally, the ever-inquisitive Leticiel was curious about it.

“Magical power saturation is a disease characterized by one’s inability to release magical power to the outside world. Basically, it makes you unable to wield magic. Most cases are congenital. Since it’s a problem with one’s physical body, it’s almost impossible to fully treat.”

“Does that mean it’s seen in people with high magical power?”

“No, that’s not necessarily the case. It’s unrelated to one’s levels of magical power. But the higher your magical power is, the more susceptible you are to the disease. It doesn’t matter much to nobles with low magical power or commoners who don’t use magic in the first place.”

Tuvalu amicably told her about magical power saturation. Because he had been researching sorcery for so many years, he had read quite a number of books and references. Therefore, unlike Leticiel, who was extremely knowledgeable only in specific fields, he had gained a wide range of knowledge over various topics.

Magical power saturation was not as rare as having no magical power at all, but it was still uncommon. People with high magical power levels were more susceptible to it and, because of that, much attention was placed on the investigations into its causes and the development of treatment methods. Since Leticiel had lived when sorcery was at its peak, she had never paid any attention to whether or not her magical power levels were high or low. Plus, she’d never thought about trying to release it from her body, so it was no wonder she had no idea about the disease.

“However, it seems like the level of inability to release magical power depends on the individual. Some people can release a little, while others can’t release any at all. Some people can even release magical power through a specific medium,” Tuvalu continued.

Leticiel gave a short nod to Tuvalu’s explanation. “I see. It seems complicated.” She began processing the information she had gained. The unique handicap that was magical power saturation, the situation Veronica had found herself in, the general of the enemy forces named Audrey…

Well, if the other side wanted war, Leticiel would be ready to attack.

✦ ✦ ✦

“U-Um, what is…this?”

“You can’t fight in combat when you’re hungry.”

“Huh? Combat? What’re you talking about?” Hilmes asked.

The next day, Veronica found herself surrounded by Leticiel and the others at their lunch table. Since Leticiel was in a different class and didn’t follow the academy’s time schedule, there was a chance that she would miss the right timing, so she had asked Hilmes, who was in Veronica’s class, to step in as reinforcement.

Despite being classmates, Veronica wasn’t very familiar with Hilmes. But one of his strengths was how he wore his heart on his sleeve, so it was easy for people meeting with him for the first time to lower their guard. Though Veronica had been a little suspicious, she still showed up with him at the cafeteria.

“Miss Veronica, Miss Audrey has already declared war on you. The more allies you have on your side to diffuse situations, the better.”

“W-War…?”

“Yes. That’s why it’s important to show Miss Audrey and the others that you have allies.”

Audrey likely obsessively followed Veronica around because she thought the girl didn’t have any allies to come to her rescue. In real war, countries and regions that were judged to be isolated or unsupported were the first to be targeted. An effective way of making the enemy think you had more allies was to light many bonfires or set up more lights than necessary.

Naturally, this was a peaceful world, so Leticiel’s memories of war couldn’t be applied directly. But there was a strong possibility that knowing someone they believed to be isolated had an ally would make enemies hesitate before attacking.

“I see…? I don’t really get it, but that sounds amazing!” Hilmes replied energetically. Since she needed everyone’s cooperation to win against the bullying, Leticiel had asked for the others’ help in advance.

A perplexed Mirandalette whispered into Zeke’s ear, who was sitting across from her. “Um, is it just me, or does this sound extremely dangerous?”

“I’m not sure…but I believe Miss Drossell has a reason for all of this.”

He seemed somewhat astonished, but Leticiel’s expression showed that she was dead serious. In this world with no war, instead of slaughtering enemies with militaristic force and violence, they cut their spirits down with their words and pressure. War as a concept had merely changed its shape.

“Um, why are you…helping me?”

“Isn’t it only natural to help your friends?”

“Huh? F-Friends…?” Veronica echoed, taken aback by Leticiel’s question. Clasping her hands in front of her chest, she ruminated over the words.

“Miss Veronica, would you like to eat lunch with us from here on out?”

“I—I can…continue to eat with you?”

“Yes, of course. Besides, food tastes better when you eat with others.” Leticiel could see Audrey glaring daggers from behind Veronica, but she was unable to come closer due to the fact that Veronica wasn’t alone and there was a large number of students in the cafeteria.

Now, it’s time to settle this.

After that, Leticiel’s quest to overthrow the bully began. Since she couldn’t be with Veronica 24/7, she rallied her own friends to cooperate.

Audrey and her clique members were all in different classes from Veronica. She had Hilmes, who was in Veronica’s class, keep an eye on her during lessons, and Mirandalette accompany her during breaks up to the third period.

They had to be careful Hilmes didn’t approach Veronica before Mirandalette did. Since Mirandalette and Hilmes were engaged, people might think Hilmes was cheating if he approached a woman who wasn’t his fiancée.

But if Mirandalette were to talk to her first, it would show the others that she and Veronica were friends. If Hilmes were to get involved after that, no one would raise an eyebrow.

By reducing the amount of time that Veronica was alone, they managed to limit Audrey’s potential attack times to the morning and after school. But aristocrats nowadays had their evenings jam-packed with plans after school, such as evening parties.

Leticiel assumed that Audrey came from a very high-ranking family if she was able to openly declare war on a duke’s daughter, even if said daughter was treated coldly by her own family. As such, there was no way she had time after school. In the end, Audrey and the others could only launch their attacks in the morning.

“Miss Drossell, you continue to surprise me. I can’t believe you’re trying to resolve bullying with such logical methods.”

“Strategy is what’s most important in battles. I simply thought that this was the best way to approach the issue.”

Leticiel and Zeke each prepared their own formulas in the Class 3 classroom, which was empty save for themselves and Veronica.

There was a reason they hadn’t shown themselves to Audrey and the others yet. Unlike Mirandalette and Hilmes, who came to the academy and attended classes like normal students, Leticiel and Zeke were like ghost students who almost never appeared in classes. If they were to suddenly start showing up to lessons, Audrey and the other students would become suspicious.

That was why Leticiel had chosen to use sorcery to defend Veronica from the shadows. She had been limiting the range of Audrey’s actions in order to improve the accuracy of her defense.

“Now you should be fine in the mornings, as well.”

“O-Okay! I’ll do my best!”

The spell that Leticiel cast made it so that any textbooks or pencil cases that fell into someone else’s hands were automatically returned to their owner. Veronica’s items were often hidden from her or thrown away, so this prevented that from happening.

On the other hand, she was having Zeke use his unbalanced magical power to convert a recording spell, based on a sorcery spell technique, into a magic formula and cast it on the classroom. It was a variant of a water mirror, which could be attached to a ceiling or wall to record the scene below or in front of it. When the recording time was up, the water mirror would fold into a square, storing the recorded information in the form of an ice cube.

Recording sorcery wasn’t anything new as it had been used frequently a thousand years ago, although it had mostly been used for espionage by spies. It was an excellent technique that could even record audio if you tweaked the formula; the only disadvantage was that it could only record for a short period of time. That was why Leticiel had restricted the time Audrey could act.

A few days later after class, Leticiel and Mirandalette were heading to the gathering spot for their Magic Lovers’ Club.

“Miss Audrey has been quiet lately, huh?”

“Yes. But we cannot let our guards down.”

The battle between Leticiel and Audrey’s forces had been going on for about a week, with Zeke’s magic secretly securing evidence of the bullying. In the meantime, whether because of Mirandalette and Hilmes’s defense or Leticiel and Zeke’s spells, Audrey hadn’t made any overt moves to interfere.

Still, despite the decrease in harassment, her gaze when Leticiel saw her in the cafeteria was growing sharper by the day. It wasn’t hard to guess that she hadn’t given up.

“Honestly, Miss Veronica, you’re the worst. You can’t do anything on your own, so you buttered up to not only the headmaster, but to Miss Drossell too. Well, I suppose you suit each other, seeing as how you’re both outcasts.”

Speak of the devil and she shall appear. Audrey’s voice could be heard from further down the hallway. It seemed like she had finally caught Veronica. Leticiel had assumed that she would be too busy after classes to bother Veronica, but perhaps she had made the time to track her down.

“Good afternoon, Miss Audrey. Was that my name I heard? Can I help you with something?”

“Oh! Miss Drossell…” Audrey and her clique’s eyes widened at Leticiel’s sudden appearance before their gazes twisted into that of resentment which seemed to say, “Not you again.”

“This doesn’t concern you, so could you please skedaddle? This issue lies between myself and Miss Veronica.”

“Let me say this, then. I am Miss Veronica’s friend, so I’d say this does concern me.”

“Oh? Her friend, huh?” Audrey said after a pause. “In that case, I’m Miss Veronica’s friend too. Right, Miss Veronica?” Audrey crossed her arms and looked down her nose at Veronica, a slight smile on her face. She seemed to have absolutely no doubt that Veronica would agree with her.

“Th-That’s…” Clutching her skirt, Veronica dropped her gaze. Leticiel said nothing, simply waiting for her to answer.

The old Veronica might have gotten swept up in Audrey’s arguments, not having had the courage to go against her. But now, she looked up with a determined gaze and said in a trembling voice, “N-No! Miss Audrey, you are not my friend!”

“Wha…?!” Audrey’s eyes bulged in astonishment at Veronica’s rebuttal. Behind Leticiel, Mirandalette quietly clenched her fist in a victory pose.

“Y-You…have always bullied me. You took my things, ripped my textbooks, and did so much horrible things to me.” Veronica stared right at Audrey as she spoke, but Leticiel could see from the way her shoulders were trembling that she was battling with her fear. Careful not to let Audrey see, Leticiel stroked her back reassuringly. Veronica’s eyes widened slightly for a moment, but she took a deep breath to calm her mind. She must have gained courage from Leticiel’s actions as the quivering in her shoulders calmed down. “P-Please stop! I’m not a toy…for you to play with as you like!”

Mentally, Leticiel applauded the girl for mustering the energy to spit the words out.

Audrey was flustered by this never-before-seen side of Veronica, but she was quick to get back on her high horse with a domineering expression. “Wh-What proof do you have?” she asked. “How dare you accuse me of bullying? You’re making baseless accusations!”

She still seemed to think she had the upper hand, but Leticiel silently reached into her pocket and pulled out a palm-sized cube. With the sound of cracking ice, the box unfolded and projected the scene that had been recorded inside of it.

There was no audio, but it showed Audrey’s followers gathering around Veronica’s seat. Audrey’s mouth moved, giving a silent order, and the girls started yanking things out of Veronica’s desk and bag. However, due to the spell Leticiel had cast, the items returned to their original places when the girls tried to take them. Shocked, the girls tried to use magic spells from a variety of attributes to take them out, but all of them were repelled.

Audrey, who’d been watching the confused girls, got even angrier. When she realized the items couldn’t be taken, she scribbled insults on the desk and chair and left.

The video was from two days earlier. When Leticiel had returned after helping a teacher with Veronica, she had quickly erased the messages.

Eyes wide, Audrey staggered back. A thousand years ago, when people had noticed this spell was being used, they had purposefully left it alone, and in fact, used it to hand fake information to their enemies. But there was no way Audrey could have done that.

“Th-Th-Th-Th-This is nonsense! That isn’t me!”

“Then I’ll show you other footage. You can be found in all of the records. Don’t you think that’s a little more than just a coincidence?”

True to her word, Leticiel showed Audrey and the others almost all of the recordings Zeke had made. If, after watching the recordings, the girls still insisted they were nonsense, then they would simply have to get a third party to judge.

“Th-That’s a dirty trick! Don’t sneak around in the shadows! If you have something to say, say it right to my face!” Audrey shouted, either starting to panic or having lost her temper.

Dirty tricks? Say it to her face? “Do you really have the right to say that when you and your friends spread baseless rumors from the shadows and take advantage of your opponent’s weaknesses, pushing them to their limits, Miss Audrey?”

Audrey gritted her teeth at Leticiel’s counterargument. The other young ladies didn’t have their usual bravado. One held her head in bewilderment and fear, while the other had her hands pressed against her face.

“Besides, isn’t bullying this peaceful world’s version of war? I believe all’s fair in war.”

“Hah?! I have no idea what you’re talking about! You’re crazy!”

“There is nothing wrong with my mind. I am simply following what appears to be the customs of the aristocracy in this period.”

“Such a custom doesn’t exist!” Audrey looked at Leticiel like she had gone insane, but Leticiel simply tilted her head questioningly.

“Then what is the concept behind bullying?”

“What?! Bullying is bullying! Nothing more, nothing less!”

After a pause, Leticiel said, “So that must mean it’s harassment then. Hiding someone’s belongings and making snide comments that directly attack a person’s mind, isolating someone by spreading malicious rumors… Doesn’t that mean you’re mentally backing someone into a corner instead of using physical violence?”

“Th-That’s right! So what?”

“I see. So it’s just like what you’ve been doing, Miss Audrey,” Leticiel said with an apathetic gaze.

Finally, Audrey realized that she had dug her own grave. Her face grew red and her shoulders began to tremble.

“We still have more recordings of what you and your group have done, Miss Audrey. In fact, I’ve recorded this entire conversation. You won’t be able to talk your way out.”

Leticiel wasn’t actually recording anything, but since they had just seen the recordings, Audrey and the others’ faces paled, completely falling for Leticiel’s bluff. Their faces sure were busy, going from red to white as a sheet.

“If you’ve learned your lesson, don’t ever think of bullying someone again. I’ll back you into a corner no matter where you try to do it.”

“W-We won’t do it anymore!” Audrey spat with tears in her eyes before dashing away. The girls she had left behind hurried to follow her.

Once they were out of sight, all of Veronica’s strength left her and she sank to the floor. “Miss Veronica, are you all right?” Leticiel asked her immediately.

“I’m f-fine. You saved me, Miss Drossell.”

“Really? I’m glad,” Leticiel said, relieved. Veronica grabbed the hand Leticiel offered her and stood up, shrugging slightly and smiling. Mirandalette watched them, breathing a sigh of relief.

“I was so scared of what might happen…”

“Well, she won’t be able to make any careless moves now.” Audrey didn’t look like she was brave enough to bother them anymore. Leticiel still had proof, and there were plenty of things she could do if Audrey decided to target someone else.

“U-Um, do you think…she’ll be back?”

“We’ll fight her again if she does. Just as I said earlier.”

“Miss Drossell, you’re a reassuring ally to have, but I’d be terrified if you were my enemy.”

Leticiel could only give her a puzzled look.

After that, Audrey’s harassment came to a complete halt. Leticiel had been on alert for a while, wondering if the girls planned to surprise them when they let their guard down, but Audrey had started avoiding Veronica and the others whenever she saw them.

In the end, Leticiel had no idea why Audrey had been bullying Veronica, but after her interaction with Leticiel, she had become much meeker and didn’t bother anyone. It seemed the situation had truly been resolved.

“Um, Miss Drossell, where are we going?”

“To the gathering place for the Magic Lovers’ Club.”

That day, Leticiel brought Veronica to the magic training grounds. When she opened the door to the very last booth, where they usually practiced, she saw that Zeke, Mirandalette, and Hilmes were already there. Leticiel invited Veronica inside before asking her, “Miss Veronica, would you like to join our club?”

Veronica’s eyes widened in shock at the invitation. Because they’d been united to form a front against bullying, she knew that Leticiel had created her own club. But Leticiel hadn’t told her anything about it, and she had assumed that she would only serve as a hindrance if she joined because she couldn’t use magic.

“What? But…you never offered to let me join up until now. It’s because I’d be a bother, right?”

“Oh, that’s not the case.” Leticiel shook her head. She wouldn’t have even helped Veronica with her bullying problem if she were the kind of person who would reject a potential club member for a reason like that. “I don’t think you’re a bother, Miss Veronica. It’s just that the activities we perform in this club must be kept a secret from outsiders. I didn’t want to burden you when you were already having a rough time.”

Though named the Magic Lovers’ Club, they were actually a club that practiced sorcery. Due to the fact that Leticiel was researching national secrets, only a few teachers—such as Lucas—knew about the existence of sorcery.

Lucas had told Leticiel that he was concerned over Veronica’s bullying. Leticiel knew that it would be best not to get her involved in their secrets when she was still suffering. Besides, she couldn’t ignore the possibility that Audrey and her group might follow Veronica around until the bullying issue was solved. Preventing the leak of information was one of the bigger reasons for keeping the club a secret.

“That’s why we couldn’t let you near here until the issue was resolved, Miss Veronica. But we didn’t mean to leave you out of the group,” Leticiel explained, turning to Veronica. The other girl still didn’t seem to believe what was happening, her eyes and mouth open wide in astonishment.

“Welcome to the Magic Lovers’ Club, Miss Veronica. We’d love to have you.” Smiling slightly, Leticiel offered Veronica her right hand. Veronica hesitantly gripped it with both of hers, a smile spreading on her lips.

“Y-Yes! I’d love to join you!”

CHAPTER 5
THE CLOCK’S MEMORIES

“Final exams?” Leticiel mused over her lemon sorbet dessert. The word had just come up in conversation one day in June during lunch, a few weeks after the mandatory lecture.

“Yes. They’re almost two weeks away, so we’d better start studying.”

“Urgh…I hate tests,” Hilmes moaned. He and Mirandalette collapsed in-sync on the table like a true couple.

“I—I don’t think many people like them,” Veronica mumbled from beside them while sipping her chocolate milk.

“What will the exams be testing us on?” Leticiel asked.

“Basically, they’re meant to check that we’ve mastered everything we’ve learned up until now.”

Lucrezia Academy had two semesters per year—spring and fall—and exams were held at the end of each semester to test the students on what they had learned. The exams would be split into a written exam and a practical exam. The combined scores of each would be reflected in their grades.

“Does everyone have to take them?” Leticiel asked.

“Yes. If you don’t, you can’t move on to the next grade.”

“…How troublesome.” Whether or not she advanced on to the next grade wouldn’t have much of an effect on her ability to devote herself to her research, but she didn’t want to stay in the Primary classes when her friends would be in the Intermediate classes. She’d be lonely. “What exactly is the written test like?”

“Give me a moment, I think I have a list of exam subjects… Ah, found it!”

Searching in his pockets, Zeke pulled out a neatly-folded piece of paper and handed it to Leticiel. When she unfolded it, she saw the names of six subjects: Liberal Arts, History, Language, Mathematics, Geology, and Magic. To be honest, she didn’t know anything except for History, Mathematics, and Magic.

“So I just need to study these subjects?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“I’m so bad at math…” As usual, Hilmes had his head down on the table, but Mirandalette had sat up and was resting her elbows on it. Judging from her heavy sigh, final exams were extremely depressing.

“Why don’t we all meet up and study together? It’s more efficient to study in a group than alone, after all.”

At Zeke’s suggestion, Hilmes’s head suddenly whipped up. Leticiel thought she could see tears of relief welling in his eyes. “Really?! You’ll teach us, Zeke?!”

“Sure. If we’re going to study together, I’ll try and support you as much as I can.”

“I’d be super grateful for that! You’re my savior!”

“Zeke is known as a prodigy in our grade,” Mirandalette said, explaining Hilmes’s sudden burst of energy. “And Miss Veronica is so talented that she’s only ever gotten full marks on all of her quizzes.”

“I see,” Leticiel remarked. So his reaction was because he knew he had a strong ally to help with his studies.

“I-I’ll do my best to help too!”

“You too, Miss Veronica?! All riiight! Now I won’t fail—Ouch!” Hilmes jumped up, kicking his chair away, but Mirandalette silently stepped on his foot.

“Leif is devastatingly bad at studying. He’s never once gotten a passing score on the quizzes we’ve taken in class,” she calmly explained over Hilmes’s shouting. Realizing that he’d been too loud, Hilmes quietly took a seat again. Mirandalette was extremely good at handling him. As expected of his fiancée-cum-childhood friend.

“Why don’t we meet after school today? It’s best to strike when the iron’s hot, after all,” Leticiel suggested. She also wanted to hurry and grasp the contents of the other three subjects.

Draining his cup of coffee, Zeke nodded. “I don’t mind. I don’t have any plans for today.”

“Great! I agree!”

“Me too!” Hilmes said. “I’ll work hard!”

“I-I’m free too.”

Everyone agreed with Leticiel and it was unanimously decided that they would hold a study session in the Great Library after classes. Conveniently enough, none of them had plans that day.

After lunch, the five students parted ways in the cafeteria to complete their respective schedules until the end of classes. Mirandalette, Hilmes, and Veronica returned to their classrooms to attend their lessons, while Zeke headed to his own research lab, saying that he wanted to prepare for their study session.

Usually, Leticiel would go to her own research lab to study spell techniques but she didn’t today. Instead, she headed to the Great Library. If she went to the research lab, she might focus too much and forget her promise. She was aware that she tended to lose track of the time when she was immersed in her research.

Leticiel opened the door to the Great Library and stepped inside. At the librarian’s counter, David—who looked like a furball with his long beard and fuzzy eyebrows—slept comfortably in a tall rocking chair. Sneaking past so as not to wake him, Leticiel headed straight for the bookshelves and started perusing the titles.

While she was vaguely wondering what she should read, something she’d heard from Tuvalu a while back suddenly popped into her mind.

“Its strength, the speed at which it could be cast, and even the scale of their techniques were far greater than ours. Also, it was said that the casters who defeated the king’s army all had crimson red eyes and fluttering gray hair.”

Now that she thought about it, she had planned to look up that mysterious power in the library. Moving through the shelves, she looked for a section which seemed like it would have a lot of books on the Lapis Nation.

But whether because the nation had been secluded for many years or simply because it was taboo to write about the country, there were surprisingly few books that mentioned the Lapis Nation. Selecting a few books that seemed like they’d be close enough to what she was looking for, Leticiel sat down at a nearby table and began to read.

An hour later, Leticiel crossed her arms and frowned at the pile of books she had finished. How can there be so little information on the Lapis Nation?

She had predicted that there wouldn’t be much to begin with, but there was even less information than she had imagined. Most of the books hadn’t even touched on the Lapis Nation. And even if they did, they usually only held a few lines about the war eleven years ago. The number of clues she had on the Lapis Nation was almost unnaturally scarce.

This might be hopeless. Sighing, Leticiel picked up the next book and opened it without much expectation. As it was much thinner than the books she had read so far, she hadn’t been anticipating it to hold much information, but that slim book described Lapis in more detail than any of the other books.

So far, the only thing she knew about the Lapis Nation was that it was the largest country on the continent of Astoria, on par with the empire of Iris; that it had been isolated for many years; and that it had been at war with the Kingdom of Platina. But the book she was holding described its capital, culture, and customs, as well.

It was unclear when the nation had been founded, but apparently, it had been ruled by a female monarch since ancient times. Furthermore, they believed other countries’ cultures were heretical and had secluded themselves to preserve their own traditions.

Although there was no mention of their mysterious powers, Leticiel was able to learn information about the country that hadn’t been listed in other books.

To think I’d find a book that goes into this much detail, she thought, flipping the page and finding herself at the end of the book. However, she stared in befuddlement when she saw that there were unnatural edges in the binding after the last page. It was obvious that there had once been a page there, but someone had ripped it out. She flipped through the book once more from the beginning, but didn’t find any loose pages.

Who would do this? And why? Leticiel thought while slowly closing the book. She flipped through the other books she had on hand, but the torn-out page wasn’t in any of them.

The sleeping David shot up like a bullet when the door to the Great Library opened with a creak. He almost fell off his chair but was able to keep his balance by flapping his arms.

Two male Advanced class students wearing rose badges walked in. Behind them was a familiar boy with black hair.

“You’re here early, Miss Drossell.”

“Oh, Zeke. There’s still time until classes end, though.”

Pulling out the chair across from Drossell, Zeke set down the pile of papers he was holding and took a seat. “What books are you reading?” he asked.

“There was something about the Lapis Nation that I wanted to look up.”

“I see. Did you find anything?”

“No, nothing of note.”

“I see. Well, Lapis is a country full of mysteries.”

Zeke and Leticiel chatted for a while, and soon the other three members of their study group arrived in the library one after another. Before they knew it, there was a great number of other students in the Great Library as well, all studying together. Apparently, everyone had the same idea before exams.

“Zeke, what are we going to study today?” Leticiel asked.

Zeke picked up the pile of papers he had brought. “I thought it was best to focus on studying the subjects we’re not good at, so I’d like to have you all solve these problems first. They’re past questions that I brought from my room.”

The past questions consisted of six papers as one set. He handed Mirandalette, Hilmes, and Leticiel a set each. The paper he was left with was likely the answer sheet.

Since the sets were meant to survey their academic abilities, the talented Zeke and Veronica, who would be teaching them, didn’t fill them out.

Leticiel read blankly through the six pages of questions, completely confounded. It wasn’t as if there were too many questions. She was able to solve the Magic, Mathematics, and History questions without any problems. In fact, she’d been blown away by how easy the Magic questions were.

But she simply couldn’t come up with any answers for the other subjects. Figuring that it was best to just write something, she listed words that came to mind for each one.

They were given two hours to take the quiz, which had about twenty questions per subject, but she finished quickly. Zeke and Veronica collected their answers and worked together to grade them. Just as a note, the grades were out of one hundred.

“Huh?! I got zero points in Math?!”

“H-Hilmes, I think you need to focus on Mathematics and Geology the most.”

“Gaaaah! Nooo!”

“My Magic score is higher than I expected. I guess it’s the result of my practice with Miss Drossell.”

Hilmes was shocked by his scores, while Mirandalette was looking through her answer sheets with relief.

“As for your score, Miss Drossell…” Zeke had an odd smile on his lips as he handed Leticiel’s answer sheets back to her.

Thinking she must have done poorly, Leticiel checked her score for herself and went silent, unsure how to react. She had only made one mistake in the Mathematics section, and she had no complaints with her perfect scores in History and Magic. But her scores in the other three subjects were so low, she could barely look at them. She hadn’t gotten a flat-out zero in any of them, but none of them were above thirty points.

She’d sort of expected a result like this. After all, Liberal Arts were reliant on one’s intuition—she hadn’t been able to fully comprehend the readings in the Language section, and she hadn’t known any of the terms in the Geology section except for the proper nouns like place names and the names of mountain ranges.

“Erm, I think you’ll need to do some studying in those sections, Miss Drossell.”

“So it seems…”

Staring at her poor scores on the answer sheet, Leticiel cursed exams for being so troublesome.

After that, their group of five members met every day after classes in the Great Library for a study session.

“Miss Drossell, your answer for the third question is wrong. It’s incorrect because you used the wrong topographic measurement method.”

“Hngh… I can’t remember all this.” Leticiel groaned while glaring at her Geology textbook. When it came to studying for final exams, she had hit a major wall: her (lack of) interest.

Leticiel could happily absorb information about subjects that she was interested in, but on the other hand, it was impossible to force that knowledge into her brain when she couldn’t care less. She didn’t hate Geology; on the contrary, she actually enjoyed memorizing the names of mountain ranges and regions, but anything other than that was an utter loss. She seriously questioned why it was necessary to use different measurement methods for each terrain.

“What’s the point of learning Liberal Arts as a subject? Isn’t it enough to learn etiquette?”

“You’ll never pass if you think that way…”

Of the six subjects, Leticiel suffered the most with Liberal Arts. She was forced to learn meaningless vocabulary words that were irrelevant to her education, like the word for a series of table manners including the handling of tableware or what it’s called when a man invites a woman to dance.

She believed that it was enough if aristocrats had proper manners. What was the point in wrapping each small action in a specific word? When would she need that knowledge, which was only useful on paper?

Is it fashionable amongst the aristocracy nowadays to use these weird words? Or did they think it would be cool to name every little thing…?

Still, Liberal Arts was one of the final exam subjects, so she had to take the test. To study subjects she didn’t like, Leticiel searched through trial and error to find something—literally anything—from those subjects that she was interested in. Honestly, why did exams have to be so annoying?

Her struggles continued. One day, about a week after their first study session, all of the members of the Magic Lovers’ Club gathered in the Great Library. All except one. The weekend started tomorrow, but after that, there were only five days until the exams.

“Huh? Zeke is late today, huh?” Veronica said worriedly, looking at Zeke’s usual seat across from Leticiel which was now empty. Leticiel turned her gaze to the Great Library’s entrance. It was true; it wasn’t like Zeke to be late.

“Good point. I’ll go look for him.” Turning down the other members’ offers to go with her, Leticiel left the Great Library. Zeke had said at lunch that he wouldn’t be going back to his research lab, so he was probably somewhere in the main building or the annex. Leticiel decided to start the search for him by scouring the annex, where the Great Library was.

The annex held many rooms she wouldn’t usually visit unless she had business there, such as the teachers’ labs and storage rooms. She circled through all of the floors but didn’t see Zeke anywhere.

Next, Leticiel headed for the main building. She made sure to check the clock tower’s machine room that she came across on her way from the annex to the main building. The classrooms on the main building’s first floor were connected in the order of the reference material room, the art room, and the music room.

“Oh my, Zeke! I’m amazed that you can quadruple weave! That’s such an advanced technique!”

“I’m used to weaving by hand, but there are still a lot of rough areas.”

Leticiel came to a halt when she heard a conversation coming through one of the doors in the hallway she’d been passing through. Looking at the sign in front of the classroom, she saw that it was the art room.

She gently eased the door open a crack and Zeke and Bauliogh both turned to face her. Was it her imagination, or could she sense a strong plea for help in Zeke’s gaze?

“Ohhh, if it isn’t Miss Drossell! What’re you doing here?”

“I heard voices. What were you talking about?”

Zeke looked her way with a silent plea when she entered the classroom, but he still answered her question. “We were talking about how to weave fabric. Unlike with machine weaving, there are different ways to weave things by hand.”

“So the quadruple weave you were talking about earlier is…?

“Yes. It’s said to be the most difficult technique when it comes to hand-weaving.”

“Oh…,” Leticiel responded vaguely. She didn’t have any knowledge at all when it came to weaving, but at the very least, she understood that Zeke could use a high-level technique.

Bauliogh, who had been watching their exchange, had a mischievous sparkle in his eye. “Hmm? Miss Drossell, have you realized just how marvelous woven textiles can be?”

“Oh, no. That isn’t it.”

“Uuugh, you’re no fun! You could play along a bit, you know.” Bauliogh crossed his arms and pouted, but rather than seeming upset, he looked like he was enjoying himself.

“By the way, Mr. Bauliogh, may I borrow Zeke? We promised to study together.”

Bauliogh gave a tiny gasp and covered his mouth with one hand. Furrowing his brows, he asked Zeke, “Oh! Is that so?” Leticiel didn’t miss the way Zeke’s eyes shifted for just a moment. “Ugh, Zekey, you should’ve told me if that was the case!”

“I’m sorry. You seemed to be enjoying yourself, so I couldn’t find the right time to mention it…”

“Oh my gosh. Zekey, you’re such a good kid! I’m sorry for keeping you back, then. Study hard!”

Zeke and Leticiel bowed to Bauliogh, who gave them a fluttering wave, before they left the art room.

On their way back to the Great Library, Leticiel said, “You two seemed to be having a good talk.”

“Mr. Bauliogh and I get along well, but once he starts talking, the conversation never ends… He is a good teacher, though.”

“Shouldn’t you have told him you had plans?”

“I felt bad interrupting him. Though I also feel bad for relying on you, Miss Drossell.”

“Oh, there’s no need for you to worry about that.”

When she and Zeke arrived at the Great Library, the other three were already studying.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“No, it’s fine.”

Once everyone had finally gathered, they started their study group as usual, but…

“I can’t take it anymore. My head’s gonna explode.” Not long after they started, Hilmes threw his head back and looked up at the ceiling, his eyes rolling so far the others could see the whites of them. The energy he’d had a few days ago had disappeared and he was steps away from burning out. His head wobbled erratically, its center of gravity unstable on his neck. Leticiel could practically see the steam rising from the top of it.

Mirandalette, who was sitting next to him, also looked haggard. Her head rested on the table, both arms flung out limply on top of it.

“Come on, get up, you two! There’s still a ton of questions you have to solve!” Veronica wasn’t wearing her glasses today. She sat diagonally on the right of them and mercilessly badgered the two. It could be argued that she was the cause of their depression.

Veronica had imposed a hellish training plan on Mirandalette and Hilmes the day after their poor results on the quiz they’d done on the first day of their study group. As a result, she’d been working them to the bone every day for the past few days.

“I think this is the most studying I’ve ever done in my entire life.” Hilmes groaned.

Mirandalette and Hilmes were so pitiful that Leticiel picked up the glasses on the table next to her and quickly hooked them over Veronica’s ears.

Veronica froze the moment the glasses were on her face. Her shoulders shook as if she’d come back to her senses and she looked around nervously.

“Wh-What was I…? Wah! H-Hilmes? Miss Mirandalette? A-A-Are you all right?!”

Once her glasses were back on, she returned to her usual demeanor. Leticiel and Zeke couldn’t hide their wry smiles. None of them could have imagined that Veronica would turn into an ogre-like Spartan. It was unbelievable how different she was from her usual feeble personality once her glasses were off.

Since she had poor eyesight, she personally thought it was because taking her glasses off made everyone look like pumpkins, but who knew the real reason.

“Miss Veronica, please just let me take a little nap,” Hilmes whined.

“N-No! It hasn’t even been that long since we started!”

“We endured enough of your Spartan teaching while we were waiting for Zeke. I can’t take anymore…”

“Wh-What…?” Veronica panicked, unsure what to do when Hilmes collapsed face down on the desk and went completely still.

Watching them, Leticiel spoke up. “Hey, I have an idea.” Other than Hilmes, who was still lying on the desk, all of the others’ gazes turned to her. “Immersing ourselves in our studies for so long is tiring, so why don’t we all go into the city for a change of pace?”

Since Leticiel had been studying only subjects she wasn’t interested in lately, her head was starting to hurt. She was curious about the city and planned to go there as a way to reset her mind.

“That’s…a great idea! Sometimes you need to take a breather!” Hilmes agreed.

“I want to go to the city too! O-Of course, I’ll go back to studying afterward…”

Reacting to the words “change of pace,” Hilmes and Mirandalette sprang onto the idea of a walk through the city. Leticiel had known that the tired couple would agree with her.

“It’s true that moderate breaks are necessary,” Zeke agreed.

“R-Right. I’d also like to go!”

It was decided that Zeke would show them around the day of, since he was the only commoner and was the most well-versed in the city. And so, Leticiel and her friends made a promise to go to the city on the last weekend before final exams.

✦ ✦ ✦

On the day of their excursion, Leticiel was forcibly dressed up by Nicole, who saw her off with Ruvik.

She was wearing a neat, light blue dress with a short, cream-colored jacket and tall, brown laced boots. Nicole seemed unsatisfied with the outfit, but since Leticiel was trying to hide her status, she didn’t want to assert herself any more than that.

It was lunchtime, so the sun was high in the cloudless sky. It was the perfect weather for going out. Leticiel started walking, brushing her hair, which fluttered in the wind, out of her eyes. She would be meeting the others at Nirvaan’s south gate. She could have teleported there, but she didn’t want passersby to make a fuss, so she decided to walk instead.

“Good morning, Miss Drossell.”

Zeke and Veronica were already at the south gate when she arrived. “Good morning, you two. I’m sorry to have kept you waiting.”

“N-No, we just happened to arrive too early,” Veronica responded, waving both hands as if to shake off her apology. Beside her, Zeke nodded in agreement.

Walking around as “Drossell” with her silver hair and odd eyes would draw too much attention, so Leticiel was wearing a simple white hat with a wide brim. Looking around, she realized that Mirandalette and Hilmes still hadn’t arrived.

She waited with the others for a while until Veronica pointed toward the main street and said, “U-Um, it seems like they’re here.” Mirandalette and Hilmes could be seen dashing through the crowd of people in the street.

“Ah! Miss Drossell and the others are already here! Lulu, this way!”

“H-Hold on, Leif!”

Hilmes practiced swordsmanship so he was unfazed even while running at full speed, but Mirandalette was wheezing as she chased after him.

“A-Are you all right, Miss Mira? You didn’t have to hurry that much. We wouldn’t have left without you,” Leticiel said.

“I-I’m…fine…”

“I’m so excited to go on a walk through the town that I got too fired up!” Hilmes, who had a light sheen of sweat on his brow and a wide grin, was the perfect picture of a refreshing young lad. His eyes were shining so bright, they looked like they might emit beams of their own. Leticiel could see that he really had been looking forward to today.

“Now that we’re all here, let’s get a move on.”

“Yes. Please lead the way, Zeke.”

“Sure. Leave it to me.” Zeke smiled happily as he answered Leticiel. She was excited to walk around, as well. After waiting for Mirandalette to catch her breath, their incognito sightseeing of the town began.

“Hey, why are all those people crowded over there?!” They had only been walking for a few minutes, but Hilmes’s energy levels were already at the max.

“Ah, that’s a paper theater. This one seems to be aimed at kids, but there are stories for adults too. I often watched them.”

“What’s a paper theater? Do you watch them make paper?”

“No, it’s not like that…”

Zeke had a small smile on his face as he answered the slew of questions that Hilmes threw at him in rapid succession. The young man was acting as if he was seeing everything for the first time.

“He’s so hyper,” Leticiel commented, watching him with an indescribable expression.

She and Mirandalette were looking at a shop’s show window. The store seemed to sell household goods.

“Leif has only ever focused on his swordsmanship. He’d never really visited the city before, so it can’t be helped. Honestly, he’s so childish…” Beside Leticiel, Mirandalette gave a strained smile. At the same time, the gaze she gave the items lined up in the show window was fervent.

“Oh? Miss Mira, you seem to be enjoying yourself just as much, though.”

“O-Of course I am. I haven’t visited the city much, either. Ah, I wonder what that stall is…” Mirandalette had shyly turned away only to lock eyes on a food stall at the end of the street. Instantly intrigued, she’d blurted out her rhetorical question and hurriedly excused herself.

“That’s a clover sandwich stall.”

“Clover sandwich?”

“Yes. It’s a sandwich made in the shape of a clover. You can choose your own ingredients for the filling, and the price changes depending on how many toppings you choose.”

“Hmm, what an interesting food…”

“It’s popular amongst people in the city too. But if you’re not careful—”

“It looks good. I think I’ll get one!” Mirandalette ran off toward the stall without listening to the end of Zeke’s explanation, Hilmes flying off after her. Veronica looked between Leticiel and Mirandalette before seemingly giving in to her curiosity and timidly heading for the stall as well.

“…Shall we go after them?”

“Yes…”

Zeke and Leticiel followed the three, arriving after they’d already chosen a variety of toppings. There was a wide selection of toppings, ranging from common ingredients like meat and vegetables to sweets like fruits and ice cream.

Mirandalette had eyes only for the sweets while Hilmes chose everything that looked interesting to him. On the other hand, Veronica seemed overwhelmed by the options, as she hadn’t chosen anything yet. Their personalities are showing through their toppings, Leticiel thought, strangely impressed.

She told herself that she might as well buy one too, but there were so many different ingredients that she didn’t know what to choose. Instead of being adventurous, she meekly got the same toppings as Zeke: a standard combination of lettuce, bacon, cheese, and an egg.

“Oh? Miss Veronica, that’s…”

“E-Erm, I couldn’t decide, so…”

Veronica held a sandwich with nothing in it. Leticiel smiled vaguely, not sure what to say.

Sitting on a nearby bench, Mirandalette was quick to dig in. But after a few chews, she suddenly stopped and stared at her sandwich.

“What is it, Miss Mira?”

“…This tastes like chaos.”

Mirandalette’s sandwich was fairly hefty. Had she picked all of the sweet toppings at the stand? Leticiel could imagine that causing a chaotic flavor palette.

Zeke frowned and finished his line from earlier, saying, “…But if you’re not careful, it won’t taste good.”

“I wish you’d said that sooner, Zeke…,” Mirandalette mumbled, attempting to excuse herself.

“Miss Mira, you’re the one who zipped off to the stall before he’d finished talking,” Leticiel pointed out. Embarrassed, Mirandalette hung her head. “Would you like half of my sandwich?”

“No, I’m fine. It’s a little messy, but it doesn’t necessarily taste bad. Just…somewhat strange.” Shaking her head, Mirandalette started to take tiny bites of her sandwich. Leticiel couldn’t imagine how it tasted just from how it looked, but at least the person eating it seemed satisfied. Watching her, Leticiel suddenly remembered that Mirandalette had a sweet tooth.

“Miss Veronica, are you just eating bread?” Hilmes asked.

“Y-Yeah. But even without anything in it, it’s surprisingly good!”

“On the other hand, I think you put too much in, Hilmes…”

“Whaaat? But it’s really good, you know!” Hilmes’s sandwich, which was filled with every type of meat, was even larger than Mirandalette’s. The meat’s juices soaked into the wrapper, staining it. Just looking at it gave Leticiel indigestion.

After finishing their sandwiches, the group walked around the town while doing some shopping.

Leticiel spotted a crowd in front of a particularly large building. “What is that?” she asked.

“The Royal Lunes Theatre. They’re putting on a play for children today, so there are a lot of parents here with their children.”

“A play?! What kind of play? Is it an interesting one?” Hilmes asked excitedly.

“It’s for children? It still sounds intriguing, though. Can we see it?”

The group of five suddenly decided to watch the play at Mirandalette’s request. Theatre had been around for over a thousand years, but Leticiel was interested to see what it was like in this day and age so she hadn’t said no.

The play being shown was called The Wizard’s Apprentices Mill and Reg. As the name suggested, a girl named Mill and a boy named Reg were apprentices of a wizard, and the two used their magic to defeat enemies while improving their skills. Naturally, they weren’t actually casting the magic they used in the play, but Leticiel was surprised how real the effects looked. She sometimes thought to herself that magic couldn’t cause such amazing phenomena, but she was able to enjoy watching it until the end. She thought it was interesting that there were more decorations and props on the stage compared to a thousand years ago.

“We walked quite a bit.”

“Yeah. There’s a nice café nearby, so let’s rest there.”

The streets were crowded with people. Weaving through the crowd, Leticiel and Zeke managed to reach the café they’d been looking for. Leticiel followed Zeke inside and a staff member quickly came over to escort the group to their seats.

After sitting down, Leticiel looked around the café. It was a small shop with a stylish and calming interior. There was a large show window next to the entrance. Apparently, it was a coffee shop that also sold baked goods.

“Welcome! What can I get for you?” the staff asked, coming over with a pen and paper not long after they’d sat down.

“You can choose from this menu,” Zeke said, passing the menu that was on one end of the table to the others. The menu was covered in the names and pictures of various confectioneries. All of the sweets looked delicious and Leticiel would rather order them all than have to choose. But since she wanted to save her money for other shops, she pushed down the urge.

Mirandalette and the others seemed nervous about making their first order, but Leticiel quickly ordered a set of seasonal scones as if she were an old hand. She had often snuck into restaurants in the castle town in her previous life, so she was used to ordering.

“Three seasonal scone sets, one slice of block cake, one extra-large fancy madeleine, and straight tea for the sets. Is that all correct? Please wait a moment!” After finishing taking their orders, the staff member jogged toward the back of the shop. Hilmes had ordered the block cake, and the large fancy madeleine was Mirandalette’s order.

“If you’ll excuse me for a second,” Hilmes said, standing up. He ran past the show window to the other side of the shop, likely heading to the restroom.

“All of this is so new. My family is poor, so I thought we’d quickly get used to living like commoners, but I was completely wrong.”

“Those from noble families don’t know much about commoners’ lives because of their social status.”

“But this is fun,” Veronica said. Cheeks flushed, she took a sip of the water that had been brought to them when they sat down.

“Thanks for waiting! Which guests had the seasonal scones and straight tea?”

“These three.”

Perhaps because it was after noon and the lunch rush had already ended, leaving the café somewhat empty, their sweets were delivered quickly.

“W-Wow, it’s huge,” Mirandalette said of the giant madeleine that was placed before her. Veronica’s jaw dropped when she saw it. Apparently, the flavor changed depending on which part you were eating. “It looks good, right? I decided on it the instant I saw it!”

Leticiel decided not to comment when she saw the happy grin Mirandalette was sporting. Since Mirandalette had a sweet tooth, surely, she could finish it.

“Um, pardon me. Did you say…you want all of these to go?”

“Yes, please.”

Leticiel was drinking her water and gazing toward the show window at the front of the store when she heard the flustered staff member’s voice. She wasn’t particularly loud and her conversation with the customers blended in with the hustle and bustle of the café, so no one else was paying them any attention, but Leticiel observed the exchange.

Two women stood in front of the show window, discussing something with the waitress. A woman with a honey-blonde bob, the ends of her hair curling outward, and a woman with chestnut-colored hair in a ponytail were attempting to purchase an insane amount of sweets.

“Also, two of these, please,” the woman with the ponytail said. “Hmm? What?” She bent to hear the other girl better. “Okay, okay. Then we’ll get another.”

Leticiel could hear the woman with the ponytail pretty well, but the other girl was mumbling, her words unintelligible.

“That’s an incredible number of sweets. What will they use them for?”

“A party, perhaps?” Veronica suggested.

“Heeey, Lulu! I’m back!”

The women had finished shopping and were paying at the counter. At the same time, Hilmes returned from the other side of the show window. Without checking his surroundings properly, he made a beeline straight for Mirandalette.

“Wait! Watch out! Just stop—”

“Huh? Whoa!”

“Wah!”

Hilmes ran head-on into the woman with the ponytail, who had finished paying and was turning to leave the shop. They both fell on their rears from the force of their collision, the bag with the pastries the woman had been holding falling to the ground as well.

“Sorry! I’m sorry. Are you all right?!”

“I’m fine. I should also apologize for running into you.”

“Ahhh, I’ll help you pick that up!”

“Thank you.”

Hilmes hurriedly grabbed the bag off the ground and handed it to the woman. But when he saw her face, he froze. His eyes widened and he stared intently at her.

“Hmm?” Noticing his stare, the girl blinked and tilted her head. “Um, is something the matter?”

“Huh? Oh, no! It’s nothing! Ha ha ha ha…” Hilmes hurriedly forced a smile and laughed off the woman’s question. At the sound of his happy laugh, Leticiel could feel the temperature of the air around the brown-haired girl sitting in front of her drop by about ten degrees.

“Phew, what a relief…,” Hilmes said, stroking the front of his shirt reassuringly as he returned to his seat. Even after sitting down, he glanced back at the departing women.

“Do you know them?”

Still gazing toward the exit the women had left through, Hilmes answered, “No. Well, I know who she is. If I’m right, she’s…”

Beside him, Mirandalette, who was emitting an icy aura, picked up her fork and silently stole the slice of block cake from Hilmes’s plate.

“Huh? Lulu! Why?!” Hilmes’s gaze flickered between Mirandalette and his own plate. Finally, he seemed to realize his error after seeing the confused looks on the other three and Mirandalette’s grumpy profile. “Lulu, you’re misunderstanding! There’s a proper reason…”

“Yes, I’m sure there is. I know. It doesn’t bother me.”

“It totally is bothering you, though! I said sorry!”

Hilmes did his best to explain and stop Mirandalette from sulking, but the girl was still in a bad mood. Leticiel couldn’t help but laugh at the sight. From beside her, Zeke sent her a curious glance.

“Oh, I was just thinking how adorable they are together,” she explained.

“Aha ha, that’s true.”

After leaving the café, the group stopped in front of a small shop comprised of bricks. There were plants in the flowerbeds in front of the shop. Though it seemed old-fashioned, it had a peaceful and serene exterior.

“What is this place?”

“It’s an antique store I often come to on errands. They have a lot of unique antiques, so you might even see some fanatical nobles,” Zeke explained while quietly pushing open the shop’s door. The sound of a ringing bell echoed throughout the shop.

“Uwaaaah!” A young boy’s cry followed the bell. Wondering what was going on, Leticiel paused at the shop’s entrance and peered toward the back of the store.

At the back counter, a young man was trying to soothe a young boy of about six years old. The boy was crouching down and crying, “I’m sorry, Papa,” through his sobs.

“Hello, sir.”

“Ah, it’s you, Zeke. Welcome.”

When the boy saw Zeke, he clung to Zeke’s legs. “Did something happen?” he asked worriedly, petting the boy’s head.

The shop owner scratched his head, frowning. “Well, my son accidentally broke a clock that I had on the counter.”

“You mean the clock your family has treasured for generations?”

“Yes. It seems like he feels sorry for breaking it…”

Leticiel, who had followed Zeke further into the shop, glanced at the counter. On it was a table clock made of dark wood. It was rather compact, just the right size to be held with both hands. From the way the paint was peeling off in some places, she could tell that it was extremely old.

What looked like clock parts were sitting on the counter next to the broken body. There was a variety of jagged disk-like pieces of metal in different sizes and other small parts that she couldn’t even imagine what they were used for.

“I want to send it out for repair, but that won’t be possible until we’ve sold a few more items. I don’t even know if it’ll be possible to fix when it’s fallen apart like this.”

Next to Zeke, who was talking with the shop owner, Leticiel stared at the clock as if she could burn a hole in it.

There were clocks at the academy and Leticiel even had one in her own room, but now that she thought about it, she had no idea how they worked. When she had asked, she was told that they worked with some sort of contraption, but how had they put a device that kept time and ticked from morning to night in this small box without using magic or sorcery?

“Miss…” Leticiel was so focused that she almost missed the small voice that came from her feet. Looking down, she saw that the boy from earlier was looking up at her with eyes full of tears.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“I broke Papa’s really important clock,” the boy murmured, tears welling. Leticiel’s eyes widened slightly. “Miss, how can I put Papa’s clock back together?”

Leticiel couldn’t stand to do nothing for the boy who was trying to help his father in such a praiseworthy way. Without thinking, she said, “I’ll try and fix it.”

“Really?”

“Yes.” The boy tilted his head, worried, so Leticiel crouched down and patted his head. She would try using sorcery on the clock. She didn’t know how to fix clocks, but nothing would happen if she didn’t at least try.

A pale light enveloped the clock and the parts around it. When the light finally melted away and disappeared, it left behind a clock that had been beautifully repaired. But only in appearance.

The hands aren’t moving. I guess I can’t fix it if I don’t know how it works.

The little boy had been anxiously looking up at her the entire time. She wanted to grant his wish, plus she was personally interested in learning more about clocks. I wonder if I can borrow it in order to fix it?

Momentarily tearing her eyes away from the clock, Leticiel turned to the shop owner and said, “Um, sir…”

“Yes? What is it?”

“Would you mind me taking this clock for a while?”

“What?” The owner stared at her with wide eyes, stunned by her sudden proposal.

“It seems to be important to both yourself and your son, so I want to help you.”

“Huh? Erm, but that’s…”

“Please don’t worry about the cost. I don’t plan on asking for payment.”

“I appreciate the offer, but I couldn’t possibly trouble a customer in that way…”

The shop owner was hesitating. Leticiel waited patiently for his answer, not rushing him, but someone jumped in with an unexpected lifeline.

“I know they may be different, but I used to repair my family’s spinning machine, so I’m confident that I know my way around machines. You always take good care of me, so please let me help you.”

Leticiel glanced at Zeke. Seeming to sense her gaze, his eyes met hers and he smiled lightly, nodding.

“All right,” the shop owner agreed after a pause. “If you insist, Zeke, I’d appreciate the help.” He seemed unsure of the unexpected offer, but he finally nodded his assent after considering the persuasion from Zeke, a customer he was close with, and the financial implications.

Leticiel took the clock from him, carrying it carefully. Before she left the store, she turned and saw that the boy who had been crying was waving goodbye, sniffling his nose. The sight was so cute that Leticiel smiled and waved back.

Once the shop was out of sight, Mirandalette dropped her gaze to the clock in Leticiel’s arms and said, “Miss Drossell, I’m a little surprised that you offered to fix it.”

“Well, I couldn’t ignore someone who needed help. It’s a noble’s duty to help citizens in need.”

“Whoa! I expected as much from you, Miss Drossell! You’re so cool!” Hilmes praised.

“Miss Drossell, you’re actually really kind.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Since she didn’t want to lose any of the parts, Leticiel placed the clock in her subspace to keep it safe. She’d be walking home today, so it wouldn’t be a problem.

“The sun is starting to set, huh?” Hilmes said, shading his eyes with his right hand as he looked up at the sun, which was beginning to start its westward descent.

“Do any of you have curfews?”

“Z-Zeke and I live in the academy’s dorms, so we’re fine,” Veronica piped up.

“Leif and I still have some time, but I need to help prepare dinner, so I should probably leave after just one more shop.”

Hearing this, Zeke took a small notebook from his pocket and glanced through it before saying, “In that case, I’ll bring you to one of my top recommended spots for our last place.”

Following him, Leticiel and the others crossed the bridge over the Atris River, heading for its northern bank. The Atris River separated the northern and southern halves of the royal capital, Nirvaan. Compared to the southern half, which was a hub for commoners, the northern side was a city for nobles and held the royal Viatris Castle.

A large clock tower stood on the small hill just beside the Atris River on its northern bank. It was likely one of the tallest structures in the capital. Just looking up at it could give you a crick in the neck. Zeke headed straight for it.

“This is the Nirviana clock tower. Being the same height as the royal castle’s spire, it’s the tallest building in Nirvaan.”

Leticiel looked at Viatris castle. Now that he mentioned it, there was a tall tower rising from what appeared to be the center of the castle.

Despite the late hour, there were a good number of people in the plaza in front of the clock tower. Leticiel could tell that it was a place for people to relax. The door that led to the inside of the tower was open, showing a spiral staircase. “You can go inside, huh?”

“Yes. The Nirviana clock tower is open to all citizens, regardless of their social standing.”

As she climbed the staircase, Leticiel thought to herself that although her people had had clock towers a thousand years ago, they’d been off-limits except when they needed maintenance.

Leticiel’s group passed a few people coming down the stairs before finally reaching the observation deck at the top. There were still people up there, some of them dressed in simple clothes while others were dressed in clothes that were of high quality.

“Look! Please come over here!” Putting one hand on the hand on the railing, Zeke squinted and pointed out toward the city. Apparently, he’d been looking forward to coming here.

Stepping up next to him, Leticiel let out a gasp at the scenery that spread before her. “What a beautiful view…”

Naturally, since they were at the same height as the tallest spire of Viatris Castle, they could see all of Nirvaan from the observation deck. The cityscape was gorgeous, the northern and southern sides unified by roofs of the same color tinted orange in the setting sun.

“This is my favorite place. I come here often to think when I hit a mental block.”

“That sounds nice. Perhaps I’ll do the same.”

“W-Wow…,” Veronica murmured. With the exception of the royal castle, the buildings of this era were three stories tall at most. She had likely never gazed out from such a high place before. She, Mirandalette, and Hilmes were immediately taken in by the view.

“Whoooa! Look, Lulu! The people look so tiny!”

“St-Stop, Leif! You’ll fall if you hang over the railing that mu—”

Gong… Gong…

Suddenly, the bell above their heads started to ring thunderously. Leticiel reflexively used a spell to dampen the noise, but Mirandalette, Hilmes, and Veronica clapped their hands to their ears. Zeke seemed to be used to the noise, as he was unfazed.

“Whoa! What is that sound?!”

“The b-bell. Is it…announcing the time?” Veronica guessed.

“Yes, since this is a clock tower. There’s a bell and clock face right above this ceiling.”

The bell’s sound was carried on the wind, reaching every part of Nirvaan. The tiny people walking in the streets below craned their heads up at the clock tower as if to check the time.

“What a relief…”

Leticiel heard a quiet murmur from beside her mixed in with the bell’s chimes. Zeke seemed pleased. Suddenly, she remembered the tiny notebook he’d been holding. Had he made a list of places to show to her and the others?

Now that she thought about it, Zeke lived in the student dormitory and devoted himself to his research just as much as she did, so perhaps he hadn’t visited the town that much. She wondered if he’d purposefully done research just for today.

When she thought about how he’d thought up a plan for today and prepared a variety of things for them, part of her felt sorry for relying on him without knowing anything. But mostly, his consideration deeply warmed her heart.

“Thank you, Zeke.”

“Hmm? Did you say something?”

“No, it’s nothing.” Leticiel slowly shook her head and gazed at the sunset over Nirvaan’s cityscape. The bell rang overhead, announcing the time and enveloping her words.

✦ ✦ ✦

The day after she met up with her friends, Leticiel visited the Great Library with Zeke after they’d finished lunch. Naturally, it was to fix the clock.

“Hello, Mr. David.”

“Oh! There you are. I’ve prepared the books you asked for.” David’s tiny hand pointed at a table next to the counter. It was covered in piles of the books that Leticiel had asked him to find in advance.

“I’ll start by carrying the books over to that desk,” Leticiel said, bringing the clock out of her subspace and placing it on a nearby desk before she began to carry the books. Since she’d had her subspace active, she’d taken a carriage to the academy today.

“All right. I’ll help you as soon as I finish getting my tools out,” Zeke answered. If she had to keep going back and forth between the desks to get a book, she’d never get anything done. But because Zeke helped her carry the books, they were able to haul them over faster than she’d expected. Returning to her seat, Leticiel shifted her gaze to the box on the seat across from her.

The box’s lid was cracked open. Through the gap, she could glimpse tools she wasn’t familiar with. Opening the lid fully, she picked up the tool that was on top. “You have…a variety of tools, huh?”

“Yes. I brought them from home when I moved to the capital and thought we might be able to use them when fixing the clock.” Zeke smiled gently while returning with the last few books. Come to think of it, back at the antique shop, he had said that he used to repair spinning machines and other things.

“Zeke, are you familiar with clock mechanisms?”

“No. I did some research before coming, but not much…”

“Then perhaps we should have a book on its mechanisms. I’ll look for one.” Saying this, Leticiel began to dig through the mountains of books on the desk. Though she was sifting through a huge number of books, it didn’t take her much time. “I found three books to start with. Do you think this will be enough?”

“Probably. But is this all of the parts?”

“Let’s hope we aren’t missing any.”

Placing the three books they had unearthed from the piles between them, Leticiel and Zeke sat across from each other and clumsily began to work on the clock.

“Where does this part go?”

“Shouldn’t this gear go in first?”

“Huh? But it doesn’t fit properly. Are you sure this is the right gear?”

“Hmm… Maybe it’s not.”

Leticiel continued to repair the clock. David came over to check on their progress.

“Mr. David, this part doesn’t mesh right with the others.”

“Hmm, I think the order in which they fit is a little different. This gear should go in first. You should always go in order from largest to smallest.”

“Oh, that’s true! Then where should this disk go?”

“Perhaps here? I think it belongs next to this jagged part.”

It was Leticiel and Zeke’s first time repairing a clock, so they struggled a bit, but with David checking on them from time to time and giving them advice, the repair progressed slowly but surely.

“All that’s left is to attach this and…it’s done!”

Even though they’d started after lunchtime, they didn’t near the end of their work until the sky had already turned orange. Triumphant, Zeke grinned happily as he inserted the last part. Leticiel gave a relieved sigh that they’d at least been able to put the clock back together.

“Zeke, are you sure you haven’t fixed clocks before?”

“No, this was my first time, but it’s somewhat similar to a spinning machine’s mechanisms. Difficult, but it was a good learning experience.” Picking up the clock, Zeke did a final check to see if they’d made any mistakes. “It should move now if we wind the spring. I hope it’s really fixed…”

“May I wind it?” Leticiel asked.

“Sure.” Zeke graciously handed her the clock. Firmly grasping the neatly repaired table clock, Leticiel wound the spring on its back.

The spring wound up with a unique creaking sound. After a few twists, the hands that had been stationary on the clock’s face began to twitch and tick again, as if waking up from a deep slumber.

Without any time to be impressed that it had started working properly, something suddenly flashed in Leticiel’s mind.

Through the gap in the flash of light, she saw what appeared to be a room. Faint, miasmatic clouds filled the sky, with light flashing and drawing lines between the gaps in them.

Young Drossell’s gaze landed on the back of a young boy who was struggling to fix his pocket watch. There were wooden toys, tools, and drawings scattered around him.

“Let’s see, this goes like this…and done! I think it’ll move now!” he shouted joyfully, his dark golden hair swaying as he proudly held up the pocket watch. Though she was fully conscious and her vision was clear, she was unable to talk or move. Leticiel had no choice but to watch the scene play out as a spectator in Drossell’s body.

“Really? You were able to fix it?” young Drossell asked anxiously. The words hadn’t come out of her own volition, so Leticiel realized that this must be one of Drossell’s memories.

“Yeah! I checked it a couple times. See? The hands are moving.” The boy turned around. His light blue eyes were the same color as the sky. In his gaze’s reflection, Leticiel could see that Drossell had lit up with joy.

Bang!

Just then, a loud sound echoed in the room, making Leticiel flinch.

“Drossy!” The door burst open, slamming against the wall with a bang, a girl calling her name from behind seemingly floating after the shock. Drossell turned to look behind her.

“---!” Young Drossell said something to the girl who’d walked in, but Leticiel wasn’t able to make it out. Even though the words were coming from her own mouth—rather, young Drossell’s mouth—just that word was inaudible, as if it had been muffled by something.

Drossell took a step to run just as the midday sun peeked out through a gap in the clouds, shining brightly in the reflection of the room’s windowpane. The scenery of her dream was enveloped in a light so bright it made her dizzy. When she turned around, Leticiel thought she could see a young girl with fiery red hair smiling innocently.

“…ell! Miss Drossell!”

Leticiel’s consciousness snapped back to reality at the sound of someone shouting Drossell’s name. In front of her, Zeke was peering at her, looking worried and panicked.

“What’s wrong? Are you not feeling well?” he asked. When she had suddenly slumped forward in her seat, he had jumped up, kicking his chair back, and supported her shoulders with his hands.

With his help, Leticiel slowly sat up in her seat and shook her head. “I’m fine. I just got a little dizzy.”

“Are you sure you’re all right? Perhaps you should lie down…”

“No, there’s no need for that. Please don’t worry.”

Zeke still seemed anxious, but he respected Leticiel’s wishes. She closed her eyes for a while to try and calm down. Once she was calmer, she slowly opened them.

“Is the dizziness gone?”

“Yes, I’m fine now.” Sitting up in her chair, Leticiel pointed at the ticking clock. “Since we were able to fix it, let’s go and return it.”

“Yeah, there’s no point in holding onto it any longer. Let’s go together.” Zeke began to clean up the tools he’d used. Leticiel put the books scattered across the desk back in their places.

Once everything was cleaned up, Zeke and Leticiel left the school to head to the antique shop. With Zeke’s guidance, they easily reached it after just a ten-minute walk.

“Hello,” they said when they entered. Naturally, the shop hadn’t changed much since yesterday. No one was at the counter, but a voice called out a greeting from the back before the shop manager hurriedly appeared.

“Welcome! Oh, it’s you, Zeke! And the lady from yesterday.” He looked surprised to see them.

Leticiel held out the clock she’d been carrying. “We finished repairing your clock, so we came to return it.”

“What? Already?!” The shop owner stared at the clock as if he couldn’t believe it. But when he saw that the hands were indeed ticking, he accepted the clock with a relieved smile. “I didn’t think you’d have it fixed so quickly. Thank you. I couldn’t possibly express the depth of my gratitude.”

“Please thank Zeke, not me. He’s the one who did the repairs.”

“Thank you, Zeke. You really saved me.”

“No, I couldn’t possibly have done it myself. I received help from many people.”

While the shop owner and Zeke were talking, Leticiel sensed someone watching her. The manager’s son was peeking out from the far wall behind the counter, staring at her anxiously. “Papa, is the clock fixed?” he asked.

“Yeah, it is. See? It’s moving properly.” The manager met his son’s gaze and smiled, holding out the clock. The two hands ticked at appropriate intervals, telling the time on the face with numbers arranged in a circle.

“You’re right! Zeke, Miss, thank you!” Eyes sparkling, the boy pounced on Leticiel, taking her aback, and hugged her arm. The boy made eye contact with Zeke and beamed.

“You’re welcome. Be sure to take good care of it this time,” Zeke said gently, patting the boy’s head.

“Yeah! I promise I will!” He nodded in agreement, a big smile on his face. Then he looked up at Leticiel as if he wanted to add something.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Um, Miss, take this as a thanks!” The boy held out a box that was just big enough to hold in both hands.

“What is it?”

“A music box! I want you to have it, Miss.”

While researching clocks, she’d read about machines called “music boxes” that had similar mechanisms. If she remembered correctly, they were objects that could play music on their own.

“My son said that he wanted to give you this music box as a thank you gift if you were able to fix the clock,” the shop owner said while squeezing his son’s shoulder. “We hope you can accept it.”

The boy looked at her with a mixture of hope and trepidation. Leticiel hesitated for a moment before taking the music box from his hands. “Thank you. I’ll take good care of it. How cute and lovely it is.”

“Hee hee!” The boy’s face shone happily and he grinned after Leticiel thanked him.

“Please come again. We’ll be waiting for you,” the shop owner said.

“Thank you.”

The shop owner bowed politely. At his feet, his son jumped and waved at them. “Bye-bye Zeke, Miss!”

“Bye-bye.” After waving goodbye to the shop owner and his son, Zeke and Leticiel left the shop. The sun had already set beyond the horizon and the streets were filled with people rushing to get home.

“It’s already this late…”

“Time really flew today. Since it’s late out, I’ll see you home.”

“Thank you. I would appreciate that.” Leticiel took Zeke up on his offer and they walked together through the city, the hustle and bustle of people trying to get home before dark accompanying them.

“Zeke, why are you so good with machines?” Leticiel asked suddenly as they walked down a boulevard sparsely populated with townspeople.

“My parents own a sheep farm. So I was raised around spinning wheels and other textile-related things.”

“I see. What other sort of things are there?”

“Well… I suppose the most popular one would be the loom. Using a loom helps improve our efficiency and production, though I prefer to weave by hand.” Zeke made a gesture as if he were weaving with his hands. He’d talked with Mr. Bauliogh in the art room before about different types of weaving.

“You said before that you like to weave,” Leticiel recalled.

“Yes, I’ve enjoyed it since I was a kid. It’s fun.”

“Could I ask you to teach me if you have the time?”

“Of course.” As he watched the sun sink slowly, Zeke’s eyes squinted as he fondly recalled his childhood days. “Anyway, clock mechanisms are interesting too. I feel like they could be applied in a variety of ways, so I want to study them further.”

“Zeke, is there something you want to do?” Leticiel asked after a pause.

“Yes. I want to modify spinning machines. Right now, they are used manually, but it’d be easier for people back home if I could make them move by some other power.”

Zeke seemed genuinely excited to talk about his family and textiles, his profile sparkling as he chatted. He must truly love textiles and his hometown. The thought was so heartwarming that Leticiel let a small smile slip.

She casually looked around the city while making small talk with Zeke. Her first walk through the capital was full of new things, bringing with it memories that Leticiel was unfamiliar with.

I wonder if I’ll be able to talk about my past as freely as he does one day…

She couldn’t talk about her past life as it shouldn’t exist. And she couldn’t talk about her past in this current world, since she had no memories of it. Zeke’s profile as he happily talked about his own memories was somewhat blinding in Leticiel’s eyes.

✦ ✦ ✦

“I’m home.”

“M-My lady! Welcome home.” When Leticiel returned home, Nicole was fervently reading some sort of note in the entrance hall. When she heard Leticiel, she immediately came to greet her and put on an apron to start preparing dinner. “Dinner is almost ready, so please wait a moment!”

“All right. I’m going to head to my room, then.”

Nicole acknowledged her cheerfully and entered the kitchen while Leticiel headed to her room. After changing into a randomly-chosen dress, she dove into her neatly-made bed and rolled over onto her back. Then she gently placed the music box the little boy had given her on her bedside table.

There was a small spring on the side. Leticiel opened the box’s lid and wound the spring a few times. After a pause, a clear, bell-like melody began to play. The simple, delicate notes sank into her eardrums.

Leticiel looked out the window. The garden outside glowed silver in the moonlight, putting her at ease when combined with the slow and calming music box tune. Even though she was hearing the tune for the first time, her heart felt warm and somewhat nostalgic.

After a short while, the tune came to a quiet halt as if the notes had been sucked back into the small wooden box. Wanting to listen more, Leticiel wound the spring again.

Just then, there was a quiet knock on the door. “Excuse me, my lady.”

“Oh, Ruvik.”

Ruvik let himself into the room. His eyes widened when he heard the beautiful tune, but they quickly crinkled as he broke into a smile. “That’s a lovely tune. Where did you get this?”

“It was a gift.” Leticiel told him that she had repaired a clock with a friend.

“How nostalgic. You loved music boxes when you were a child, my lady.”

“…Yes, that’s right.”

“I often listened to them with you. All your music boxes from back then were taken away, but with this, it feels like we’ve gone back in time.” Ruvik smiled wistfully. Unable to respond, Leticiel smiled back vaguely. Her empty memories were extremely vexing.

CHAPTER 6
THE SPIRIT KINGS OF THE WEST

One week after she repaired the clock, Leticiel arrived at the academy and frowned when she saw that the entrance hall was much more crowded than usual. All of the students were huddled around the eastern wall. Was there an event or something going on?

“Ah, Miss Drossell. Good morning.”

“Good morning, Master!”

Only one person called Leticiel “Master.” She turned around to see Mirandalette, who looked somewhat nervous, and a happy Hilmes.

“Good morning, Hilmes. You seem happy today.”

“Of course I am! Today is the day our final exam results are being announced!” Hilmes said enthusiastically, breathing heavily.

“Oh, is that so?” Leticiel glanced at the eastern wall once more. When she took a closer look, she could see that there was a large piece of paper on the bulletin board there, though it was mostly hidden by other students’ heads.

“Yes! I worked super hard this time, so I can’t wait to see the results!”

“On the other hand, I’m pretty worried…”

“Come on, Lulu. You have to think positive! After all the studying we did, you’re sure to be fine!” Hilmes cheered up an anxious Mirandalette. Leticiel wondered if he was simple—pardon her, “pure”—enough to purposefully put on a show for her sake, but he genuinely seemed to believe what he was saying. His unadulterated grin brought a smile to Mirandalette’s lips, as well.

“Let’s take a look now. It’ll be even more crowded once the other students arrive,” Leticiel suggested.

“Right. I need to face reality!” Part of Leticiel felt like the other girl didn’t need to get that fired up just to view her grades.

Her eyes traced the letters on the bulletin board. Each student’s score was divided into three parts: the individual scores for the written and practical tests, plus a total score that was the combination of both. The scores were arranged from highest to lowest, with a red line drawn to separate those who had received less than the average score. Those underneath the line seemed to have failed the exams.

“…Ah! I found my score! I passed!” Mirandalette couldn’t help but shriek when she found her name on the list. She immediately bowed in apology to those around her.

“How did you do, Hilmes?” Leticiel asked.

“Heh heh… Don’t be surprised when you hear this, okay?” Hilmes crossed his arms, closed his eyes, and smiled fearlessly. Leticiel wondered if he’d really done so well in the rankings when he continued, “I’m fifth from the top of the borderline!”

“…Good for you,” Leticiel intoned weakly in the face of his smug look. In other words, he’d been on the verge of failing. But she supposed it was good that he had worked hard and passed, especially considering how much he hated to study.

Leticiel’s name was in a very conspicuous spot. As she was staring at the announcement, she heard Zeke call out from behind her, saying, “Miss Drossell, you’re here already?”

“Yes. I just found my own name.”

Drossell’s name was in fourth place for the written exam. She thought it was a fairly high ranking considering that there were around 200 Primary students.

But she hadn’t ranked at the top for the practical or combined test scores. Naturally, the practical exam had been a test on magic. Leticiel hadn’t even been able to take it because she didn’t have any magical power. Therefore, she’d gotten a zero for the practical exam, which had brought down the sum of her test scores.

Leticiel had personally been more than willing to take the practical exam with the argument that she could always use sorcery instead of magic, but she’d had to battle with Lucas, who refused to let even more of the academy be destroyed. In the end, she’d given up on the practical exam in consideration of how her sorcery was supposed to be confidential.

“It’s not a bad ranking. And it’s all thanks to you and Veronica, Zeke.”

“That’s not true. It’s because you worked hard, Miss Drossell,” Zeke replied humbly. Well, that answer certainly made sense considering his character.

Come to think of it, where’s Zeke ranked? Curious, Leticiel searched for the name “Zeke Violiss” in the rankings.

“…Well, I expected this much.” She found his name quickly. After all, his name commanded first place in the written, practical, and overall scores. If he could get scores like that without attending class, then there was certainly no reason for him to go.

Veronica had placed second in the written exam. After studying with the girl, Leticiel was fully aware of how talented she was, so she could only say that she expected as much. And below Veronica, in third place on the written exam, was Christa.

Huh. I didn’t know Christa was such a good student. Since they hadn’t been involved in each other’s lives much, Leticiel’s only impression of Christa was that she got along well with Rocheford, which therefore meant that she must be stupid. But now that she thought about it, people expected more from her than from Leticiel, so it would be odd for her not to excel.

“Hmm?” Sensing a piercing gaze on the back of her neck, Leticiel turned around. Christa was surrounded by a large number of noble boys and girls, yet she was quietly watching Leticiel. Her eyes were filled with a hidden sense of triumph and superiority.

“Still, you’re amazing, Miss Drossell! I know I may not be one to talk, but you studied so hard to make fourth place even though your scores in each subject were so shaky at the start,” Mirandalette said, her gaze impressed as she looked at the rankings.

However, Leticiel wasn’t interested in the rankings. She looked away and said, “No, rankings are trivial. To be honest, I couldn’t care less about them.”

“Aha ha! I figured you’d say something like that, Miss Drossell!” Hilmes cackled.

Leticiel didn’t care what rank she was in. Using the knowledge she had gained in her personal life was more important. No matter how high you ranked, it was meaningless if you didn’t use that knowledge.

Christa, who had overheard their conversation, glowered at Leticiel’s back as she walked off, wondering what she should do today.

✦ ✦ ✦

After getting home from the academy, Christa flung her bag on her bed without stopping to change out of her uniform. The events of that morning were still stuck in her mind.

Christa was unbelievably frustrated. Why did she have to feel this miserable when she had definitely been the winner? And how could her sister act so unaffected?

Unmotivated to do anything, Christa went downstairs to visit the garden in her uniform. She’d always taken walks in the garden to distract herself when she wasn’t in the mood to do anything.

In the evening, there were only a few gardeners—including the head gardener, Claud—working in the garden. With no particular flower in mind, Christa wandered aimlessly along the paths until her eyes landed on unfamiliar pink flowers planted on the left side of the garden.

Claud just happened to be passing by, so she stopped him to ask, “Hey, what are these flowers?”

“Those are lune flowers. The duchess had them brought in from the north. I just finished planting all the ones she ordered last week.”

“Hmm, I see.” Christa realized that she hadn’t been in the garden for over a week. It felt like time had stopped for her ever since the incident at the academy.

Looking away from the lune flowers, Christa turned and found yet another new flower. It was in what they called the flower warehouse, a place where the plants were stored before they were planted in the garden or potted.

The flower’s petals were of a strange color. Though it was dyed red in the light of the setting sun, the pure white petals shone with a faint pink, blue, and yellow sheen. There was only one flower in the storage, but it was as big as Christa’s arm and emitted a refreshingly sweet smell.

“This is…”

Christa knew the flower’s name without having to ask Claud. It was a rare flower called a mullolia that only bloomed in warm regions in the south. She’d found it while reading an encyclopedia in class at the academy and had fallen in love with it at first sight, so she’d asked her parents to buy one for her.

“That’s the mullolia I ordered for you, Miss Christa. It just arrived.” The mullolia hadn’t been repotted yet; it was still in the bag of dirt it’d been transported in. Since it had just arrived, it was only natural that it had been placed right in the ground.

Regardless, seeing that the flower she adored so much had been placed haphazardly in the ground with other flowers made Christa impulsively yell, “Why did you put the mullolia in the ground like this? Didn’t I tell you to immediately transfer it into a flowerpot? Can you not even do that much?!”

Somewhere in her heart she knew that Claud hadn’t done anything wrong and that nothing would change even if she took her frustration out on him, but she was powerless to contain her irritation.

“I-I’m terribly sorry. I’ll have it ready right away!” Claud bowed quickly and ran off to the warehouse. As she watched him go, Christa’s lips twitched in self-deprecation as she wondered what she was doing before she too left the garden.

✦ ✦ ✦

A week after the start of the long summer holiday, Leticiel teleported to the front of Lucrezia Academy, where there was a conspicuous lack of students.

Instead of going to the Great Library as usual, she passed straight through the main building and out back. The lake behind the main building, plus the forest and multiple research buildings behind it, reflected in the sun’s light.

But she hadn’t come to do research. Lately, she had been doing most of her research with her new research colleague, Tuvalu. But since he’d returned to his hometown for summer break, he wasn’t in the school’s dormitory.

Nevertheless, Leticiel had a reason for coming to the academy despite not having classes or research to do. After passing the sorcery research lab and going even further into the forest, a number of buildings became visible between the gaps in the trees.

“M-Miss Drossell! I’ve been waiting for you,” Veronica stammered. She was standing in front of one of the most opulent buildings. All of the buildings in the area had originally been research buildings at one point, but now they were dormitories for the students and staff members. They were divided according to the status of the people living there. There was a golden dormitory where the upper echelon lived and a silver dorm for lower-ranking nobles and commoners.

“Sorry to keep you waiting. It seems I’m a little late.”

“N-No! I just came a little too early.” Veronica hurriedly shook her hands in denial. While chatting about what they’d done so far over the break, the two headed toward their destination.

“Um, I’m sorry to ask you to come and help me during your break…”

“Oh, please don’t worry about that,” Leticiel reassured. “I didn’t have plans anyway, and I’m interested in gardening.”

Veronica, who lived in the dormitory, had been given a large flower bed not too deep in the forest next to the golden dormitory where she could devote herself to her hobby of gardening. Lucas had been considerate and purposefully placed it in the forest so she wouldn’t have to deal with other students watching her.

Usually, she worked with the old man who acted as a gardener for the golden dorm, but since he had taken a long vacation and wasn’t there, she had asked Leticiel to help her. She would have asked Zeke since he lived in the silver dormitory, but he had also returned to his hometown for the break.

“We’re here. This is it.” Veronica led Leticiel to a flower bed surrounded by red bricks and walled by trees. The flower bed was large enough to easily fit a king-sized bed. About seventy percent of it was already filled with a variety of plants.

“What are you going to plant today?” Leticiel asked.

“Ah, today is this!” Veronica replied, handing her a strangely-shaped seed. Rather than being circular, its edges were jagged. It looked a bit like the wings of dragons in folk tales.

“What is it?”

“It’s a dragonic flower seed. We’re going to plant it!” Apparently, it was a rare plant that could only be found in the Iris Empire. It was extremely hard to care for, and it wouldn’t bloom beautifully if you didn’t follow the right procedures at various stages.

Veronica quickly rolled up her sleeves and picked up a spade to start digging in the flower bed. Leticiel wanted to help, but since she had no gardening expertise, all she could do was pass over the watering can and other tools.

“Ah, which am I supposed to do first?” While working, Veronica suddenly stopped and tilted her head with a frown.

“What’s wrong?”

“Um… I can’t remember if I’m supposed to water it next or add fertilizer.” Shaking the dirt off of her hands, Veronica stared into space while she thought.

“Perhaps there’s a book on how to care for it in the library. Would you like me to go borrow it?”

“Eh? N-No, I can get it myself!”

“You’re more familiar with gardening than I am, so you should stay here and look after the plants, Miss Veronica. I’ll be right back.”

Leticiel used a teleportation spell to arrive at the Great Library in a single second. She thought about asking David to search for books, but unfortunately, he wasn’t in his seat. Having no other choice, Leticiel started the search herself.

She struggled a bit since she’d never searched for books on plants before, but she managed to find a few books that showed how to grow dragonic flowers. Not knowing which was best, she selected a few and placed them in her subspace for the time being.

The best way to get back from here is to cut through the woods near the museum. She couldn’t use a teleportation spell since she had opened her subspace, so Leticiel decided to walk through the forest to get back. There weren’t many trees on the academy’s grounds, but each individual tree was large enough to protect her from the strong summer sun.

During her walk, she found an area where the trees were even sparser. If she was right, it was the site of her battle with Rocheford and the mysterious monster. Many of the trees had been broken or burned during the battle. Saplings had been planted to replace them.

She planned to pass by without stopping, but when she moved, she caught a glimpse of something sparkling between the trees. It wasn’t the shine of light hitting metal, but rather something that seemed to emit its own light.

Who could possibly have business in a place like this when everyone had left the academy for the break? Leticiel cautiously moved in the direction of the light, careful not to let her footsteps make any sound. Stepping on grass and maneuvering around fallen trees, she came upon a strangely large clearing. It was the site where Leticiel had fought the monster.

There, she saw the backs of a boy and girl who seemed to be five years old. The white-haired girl and silver-haired boy were holding hands and squatting on the ground, doing something. The light Leticiel had seen seemed to be coming from the girl’s hands. Wondering what they were doing, Leticiel used a spell to see from further away and took a look at their hands.

Crack.

Though she’d only shifted her stance slightly, Leticiel’s foot stepped on a twig. The dry sound echoed in the quiet forest, making the boy and girl spin around from their crouched position.

“It’s a human.”

“Yeah, a human.”

The children stared at Leticiel with blank expressions. They were surprisingly androgynous and had similar features. The only differences that made them a “boy” and “girl” were the differences in their hair lengths and their voices.

They were both as cute as living dolls. The girl had medium-length hair and large, golden eyes, while the boy had pin-straight silver hair and wide, gray eyes. Their manner of speech was as similar as their looks were.

“Spirits…?” Leticiel hid her excitement as she stared at the children. They looked like they might be twins. And those things growing from their backs were…

The children, who would probably only come up to Leticiel’s waist if they stood up, had translucent feathers with an iridescent sheen sprouting from their backs. Leticiel only knew of one race that had wings.

“She knows about us,” the girl said, her emotionless expression not budging an inch.

“She knows about us,” the boy echoed, equally expressionless. Yet, the spirits with the same face and expression seemed to observe her with a heightened sense of vigilance.

Spirits were a race that had lived on the continent since Leticiel’s time. Other than the fact that they lived for an average of 500 years and had wings on their backs, they weren’t much different from humans.

In Leticiel’s previous life, the average human had only lived to be fifty years old at the most. Those who made it to sixty were thought to have lived an astonishingly long life. It wasn’t hard to imagine what would happen in a world like that where there was a race that lived ten times longer than humans and looked a little different.

Because of that, the spirits made their homes in places that humans couldn’t push their way into. Some spirits appeared in the human world, but most of them lived without ever getting involved with the outside world.

A technique to summon them did exist, but because it required a huge amount of arithmetic processing and magic elements that exceeded the limits of what humans could generally control, it couldn’t realistically be used. Plus, the spirits were a fickle race who wouldn’t cooperate if they weren’t in the mood even if you did manage to summon them.

For a while, the twins silently watched Leticiel’s face.

“We need to fight her.”

“We must defeat her.”

“Huh? Wait…” A light spell suddenly flew her way, forcing her to forgo asking why the spirits were in such a place in favor of jumping to the side to avoid the blast. The beam of light hit the ground behind her, gouging through the soil and exploding in a cloud of white smoke.

The light attribute was an attribute that had many sorcery techniques to protect allies, such as barriers and healing. One of the few ways it could be used as an attack was through light rays, which combined light in the air with the sun’s light and turned it into beams. Leticiel didn’t even have time to catch her breath before four beams of light emitted from a small spell technique the twins cast above their heads.

The four beams of light scattered in the air for a moment before rushing toward Leticiel at high speed. Leticiel instantly erected a Darkness barrier, tinkering with the light’s refraction to shift its focus ever so slightly. As she leapt out of the way, Leticiel’s eyes widened when she saw that her barrier had cracked.

How is a technique of that scale so powerful? Leticiel was amazed that the twins had been able to knock out that much power with the small technique they had cast. She knew that spirits were powerful beings, but they still should have needed a formula twice as large to use sorcery that strong.

Leticiel was unable to hide her discomposure, but when she looked at the girl again, she caught sight of the cause.

The boy spirit stood next to the girl, still holding her hand, but he hadn’t made any non-attribute attacks on Leticiel. Yet, their entwined hands were emitting a faint light. This meant that they were both using sorcery and proved that the boy had been using non-attribute enhancement sorcery.

It’d probably be best to do something about the boy first…

Leticiel had used non-attribute magic as a means of attack during her battle with the monster, but non-attribute techniques were not originally intended to be used to attack enemies. The techniques were often used to strengthen oneself, like with physical enhancements, or to boost other attribute magic.

In other words, the girl’s sorcery was stronger than her technique because of the boy’s enhancement technique.

“Human, do not dodge.”

“It’ll hit me if I don’t dodge, so I will continue to do so.”

“…Hmph.” Frustrated that the attacks weren’t hitting, the twins pouted as they released countless snaking beams of light that hit the ground. The snakes crawled on the ground, cutting through the dirt and burning grass as they approached Leticiel, hissing just like real snakes.

Leticiel waited for the snakes to gather in one place. Then she kicked up from the earth and formed a black cage in the place she’d been standing. The Darkness sorcery, which resembled the shape of a cage, engulfed the snakes and expanded around them, exploding like a bomb with a blast of hot wind.

The girl had been preparing another spell technique while Leticiel had been dispersing the snake sorcery. When she raised her hand, countless magic circles appeared in the sky. The magic circles glowed as they rotated at high speed, sucking in the aether in the surrounding areas. The flow of aether made the air swirl like a tornado, drawing in stones and branches.

“…I expected as much from such crazy power.” The scale and power of their sorcery was so great, Leticiel could only laugh instead of giving in to her fear.

Spirits’ greatest characteristic was that they could generate aether inside of their bodies. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that their bodies were made to use sorcery. It was also thought that humans had systemized sorcery by looking at the spirits’ techniques and imitating them.

There were also theories that said spirits created the aether in the air, but Leticiel didn’t believe in them. After all, the number of spirits was remarkably small. One spirit village was considered large if it had one hundred spirits in it. It was impossible for such a minor ethnic group to supply enough aether to cover the entire continent.

Not only could they create their own aether, but they could also take in aether from the outside world, so they tended to use large-scale spell techniques. In other words, their techniques were made to kill with one hit.

“Take this.” The radiance of the magic circles reached its peak and rays of incredibly hot light shot wildly toward the ground. Most of the surrounding aether had been used up in the attack, but there was still enough left to be used by a human.

Gathering the remaining aether together, Leticiel prepared the same spell technique while avoiding the light beams. Naturally, hers was a Darkness spell, not a Light one.

Leticiel ran while casting her spell techniques. Black light burst out of them, destroying the magic circles that had caused the rays. But just one of the magic circles managed to fire off a beam of light before it broke.

Without having to look, Leticiel could tell that the forest behind her was burning. One of the light beams had passed right by Leticiel, hitting the trees behind her and setting them on fire. “This is bad…”

If she didn’t do something, the flames would spread to the rest of the forest. Leticiel unleashed a flash of light at the spirits, not to harm them but to blind them just long enough to create an opening.

“Eek!”

“Wah!”

While the twins rubbed their eyes, Leticiel dug her heels in and jumped into the air. During the moment she passed over the burning trees, she quickly launched a series of Water formulas in a net shape and threw them below.

The net of water burst when it hit the trees, turning into a waterfall that poured into the forest. She was relieved that the fire had been safely put out.

“We won’t let you go.” Another high-power beam of light flew toward Leticiel. Since she was in the air and couldn’t dodge, she turned the water she’d released earlier into a barrier that she covered with a Darkness barrier.

The light and darkness crashed together, heat and ice colliding to produce an intense water vapor. She didn’t think she could surpass the ray of light with it, but if she could just hold it off until she reached the ground, she’d be happy.

Leticiel landed on the ground just as the duration of the technique ended and the light beams faded away. She felt a searing pain on her right arm, but when she checked, it was merely a burn from when she’d been hit with the sorcery earlier. The damage itself wasn’t that bad.

What can I do? What should I do to neutralize those two? Leticiel calmly analyzed the situation while, using as little sorcery as possible, dodging the constant attacks being shot her way.

Maybe it was because they were only using large-scale technique or because they were still inexperienced due to their young age, but the twins didn’t seem to have much control over their sorcery. They relied on power instead of accuracy.

They also didn’t seem to be very good at defending themselves. The flash of light Leticiel had used earlier to blind them was relatively easy to prevent or dispel if you recognized that it was being cast, but they hadn’t done either of those things.

I suppose it’s all or nothing. Magic circles appeared once more in the sky. Apparently, they planned to once again use the technique that shot random beams of light. Leticiel rushed to implement the idea that popped into her mind.

Light was weak against darkness, but it could also reflect off of mirrors. She would use that characteristic to deflect the attacks and send them back toward the spirits.

It was a strategy based on the assumption that the twins weren’t good at defending themselves. If Leticiel was wrong, her plan would be useless, and she would have no choice but to come up with a new strategy.

Casting a strengthening technique on her own body and sharpening her concentration to its limits, Leticiel judged the beams’ positions from the locations of the magic circles. The girl continuously attacked her with her sorcery, but she and the boy were unaware of Leticiel’s intentions.

One of the attacks had hit her leg, but thanks to her physical enhancement, she didn’t feel much pain. Running through the battlefield, Leticiel marked her landing positions one after another.

Since she’d seen the technique earlier, she had a good idea of its characteristics. Its biggest weaknesses were that the direction in which the beams were fired was fixed and that there was a time lag between the appearance of the magic circle and the actual start of the attack.

“…Now!”

Overhead, the magic circles’ rotations reached their peak, and they began to glow in preparation to launch their attacks. That was the moment Leticiel had been waiting for. Leticiel pressed her hand to the ground at the same time that the beams of light fired.

A huge magic circle appeared in her hand and all the places she’d marked earlier let off a blue light. They were a myriad of water mirrors, their surfaces coated with ice so pure it was reflective.

The beams of light struck the ice mirrors. The ice couldn’t withstand the weight of the light and quickly cracked, but it was fine because they managed to reflect the rays for just a moment.

Guided by the angles of the water mirrors she had placed, the reflected light refracted in various directions with every beam ultimately converged on the twin spirits. That was why all the mirrors were set at different angles.

The twins’ faces visibly paled for a split second. A moment later, an explosion of light pierced the heavens, so mighty that it even outshone the sun. It was so bright that Leticiel closed her eyes and looked away, but she was a second too late and a sharp pain raced through her left eye. A high-pitched, somewhat metallic sound trailed off as the light eventually scattered into all directions in the forest.

“Hah… Hah…”

It was the first time since she had reincarnated that she’d consumed so much aether and used a series of wide-range and advanced techniques. Panting, Leticiel endured the computational load that weighed on her and somehow managed to keep herself upright, her body aching from overusing the physical enhancement.

The vision in her left eye was hazy, turning white. It seemed like part of her eyeball had burned, but she hadn’t gone completely blind. She quickly cast a healing spell on her eye. Her head pounded with an intense pain as a result of pushing her concentration to its limit earlier. For a while, all she could do was press her hands against her eyes, unable to move.

“Ow…”

When her vision cleared and her headache had subsided somewhat, she made to stand but the dull pain in her leg made itself known when she tried to put her weight on it, eliciting a groan from her. Now that she thought about it, her leg had gotten hit in the attacks earlier, but she hadn’t noticed the pain until she released the physical enhancement technique.

It’s been a while since I fought such a close battle. Leticiel healed the wound on her leg and looked up where she saw that the twin spirits had collapsed on the ground. As soon as she could walk, she immediately jogged over to them.

The twins were unconscious, their hands still entwined. The hands that weren’t being held had light burn marks on them, showing that they’d been defending themselves against the reflection of the light earlier. Placing her hands over both of their bodies, Leticiel activated her healing sorcery.

When she finished treating them, the boy and girl opened their eyes and sat up. “I’m sorry I was so rough with you,” Leticiel apologized.

The twins dropped their gazes, fingers pressing against their own bodies.

“Huh?”

“We’re not burnt?”

They tilted their heads, curious. In response, Leticiel silently looked back at the battlefield and pointed at the ruins of one of the mirrors she had placed earlier. There was a tiny pool of water that hadn’t yet disappeared.

She hadn’t wanted to kill the spirits, so although she had sent their attacks back at them, she hadn’t repelled all of them. She had calculated the heat of each ray from the information she’d obtained from the first attack and applied decomposition sorcery to the magic mirrors so they would absorb the heat. Therefore, the heat from the light rays had decomposed when it hit the mirrors, the water that had absorbed the heat evaporating. The only thing that had bounced back to them was the light itself.

After seeing the remains of the water mirror, the twins seemed to understand what Leticiel had been doing and seemed even more surprised.

“…You’re not going to do anything?”

“…You’re not going to kill us?”

“Why would I kill you? I’d never do that,” Leticiel said as she cast a healing technique on her right arm. She didn’t hold a grudge against the spirits; she’d simply wanted to end the fight.

“…What a weird person.”

“…Such a strange person.”

“You think so?” The twins tilted their heads at the same time as they watched Leticiel check her right arm. It seemed like they were at least willing to talk with her. “Will you tell me why you attacked me?” she asked them. From their places on the ground, the twins looked at each other.

“Because you’re a human.”

“You’re a human…”

They said it as if the answer was obvious, but Leticiel was stunned by how overly simple it was. “Wait… That’s the only reason?”

“Yes. Humans are bad creatures that move aether. We shouldn’t go easy on them when we find them,” the girl explained.

“Exactly. Humans are dangerous creatures who use sorcery, so we should kill them when we find them,” the boy echoed.

Apparently, the spirits thought that humans who used sorcery were evil and should be treated with hostility. Though the spirits didn’t pick fights with humans themselves, they had no qualms about killing them if they came across them in the human world, just as they had with Leticiel.

In the current world, the spirits had completely cut off contact with humans by covering their villages with special barriers, making it impossible for humans to come into contact with the spirit villages. The spirits were highly restricted from going outside of them, and only the spirit kings could freely travel between the villages and the outside world. That was probably why rumors of the spirits’ extinction had started in the human world.

In Leticiel’s past life, the spirit villages hadn’t yet been enveloped in a barrier and some people had reached them after surviving a difficult path and harsh trials. What had happened between the two races in the past thousand years?

“Who said all of that?” Leticiel asked.

“Mama said it.”

“Papa told us.”

The twins stood with their hands still clasped together and they padded over to where Leticiel stood, staring up at her like they could drill a hole in her face.

“Hmm? Wh-What is it?”

“But you’re a good person, miss. Sorry we suddenly attacked you.”

“Yeah, you weren’t a bad person, miss. Sorry we assumed you were!”

“I don’t mind. I’m sorry too.” The twins finally stopped staring. Leticiel wasn’t sure how they’d come to their decision, but spirits were more sensitive than humans, so they may have instinctively sensed something.

The twin spirits bowed deeply to Leticiel, flustering her. She quickly asked them to raise their heads. Was it safe to assume they no longer intended to be aggressive?

“My name is Drossell. What are your names?”

“I’m Tina.”

“I’m Deet!”

Though they had the same face, Deet smiled where Tina didn’t. Leticiel wondered how twins could contrast each other so much.

“Still, spirits are restricted from leaving their village, right? Is it all right for you to be here?”

“It’s fine. We’re here for an important investigation.”

“It’s okay! This is the Spirit King of the West’s important duty!”

“Oh, I see… Wait, what?” Leticiel blinked in disbelief at the words she couldn’t possibly ignore. “You two…are spirit kings?!”

“That’s right. I’m the Spirit Queen of Light.”

“Yep! I’m the Spirit King of Void.”

The spirits were divided into eight tribes according to their attributes with tribes pairing up to form villages in each of the four secret areas cut off from the outside world. The spirits of wind and lightning were in the north, the spirits of water and earth in the south, the spirits of fire and darkness in the east, and the spirits of light and void in the west. The spirit kings were the most powerful leader of each tribe. There was always one for each attribute.

To think she’d been fighting against the strongest spirits… Leticiel thanked God that she’d been able to win against Tina and Deet, who proudly puffed up their chests.

“…Someone’s coming,” Tina suddenly said.

“…Someone’s coming,” Deet agreed. Even though Leticiel couldn’t see anyone or hear their footsteps, the twins were swiveling their heads, looking around the forest.

“See you later, Miss.”

“Bye-bye, Miss Drossell!”

“Oh, okay.”

Waving goodbye, the twins flew off into the west, still holding hands. In the end, Leticiel hadn’t been able to find out why they were there.

After that, Veronica—who’d been worried when she heard a thunderous roar—came running, along with a number of teachers who had been taking advantage of their break to conduct research on academy grounds. A commotion immediately broke out when they reached Leticiel at her spot in the forest, which was even more damaged than before.

“Miss Drossell!”

While the teachers were surveying the scene and calling for reinforcements, Veronica was the first to fly up to Leticiel.

“You were taking so long to get back, and then I heard explosions or some other kind of blast… Eek! Miss Drossell, your uniform!”

“Huh?” Veronica’s small shriek caused Leticiel to look down at her right arm. She hadn’t yet repaired her uniform, which had gotten torn and bloody in the battle earlier. She had only treated her wound, completely forgetting about her clothing.

“A-A-A-Are you all right?! There’s blood…on your clothes…”

“I just cut myself a bit. It’s fine. More importantly, I’m sorry to have caused such a fuss when I promised to garden with you.” Leticiel lowered her eyes apologetically as she used sorcery to mend her uniform. She was supposed to help in the garden, but that had fallen through due to the earlier commotion.

“N-No, please don’t worry about that! We can garden some other day!” Veronica smiled brightly at the upset Leticiel. They might not be able to do it for a while thanks to everything that had happened, but Leticiel vowed to make it up to her in the near future.

Immediately afterward, Lucas was dragged out to the scene. As expected, Leticiel was taken to the headmaster’s office and received a harsh scolding. Wondering just how many times she’d been in that situation since reincarnating, Leticiel meaninglessly counted the number of times in her mind.

“Don’t you know how to control yourself? It was fine before because there was an emergency, but don’t go all out in the forest when there’s nothing there! It’s a good thing there was no damage to the museum this time. What would you have done if there was?! At least practice at the magic training grounds until the training grounds on your research laboratory are complete. …Hey, are you listening to me?!”

She hadn’t told Lucas about the spirits, so he mistakenly thought that she had caused that level of destruction all on her own. Well, it was true that she had greatly contributed to the nature’s destruction, and she did regret having completely forgotten about the museum.

While listening to Lucas’s tirade, Leticiel looked out the window of his office to the sky, gazing in the direction the twin spirits had flown away in and wondering what they had come to investigate.

CHAPTER 7
ONCE AGAIN, THE DUKE’S FAMILY

One summer afternoon, Leticiel was absentmindedly drinking cold lemon tea in her room when Nicole appeared with a somewhat soulless expression.

“N-Nicole? Are you all right? What’s wrong?”

“My lady, um… I have something to report.” She even sounded like a ghost. Seeing how out of sorts Nicole was, Leticiel immediately began to prepare a healing spell.

“Report? What? What’s happened?”

“Guests…,” Nicole mumbled in barely a whisper. Her face was as pale as a sheet, making Leticiel wonder if she wasn’t feeling well.

“I have a guest? Who has come to visit?”

At this, Nicole didn’t respond. She simply made a full turn, all the blood drained from her face. Unsteady on her feet, she reached out to open the door. Unable to grasp what was going on, Leticiel followed her out of the room, confused.

There were a few harrowing moments when she was worried Nicole might fall down the stairs, but Leticiel followed her maid to the parlor.

When she entered, a dazed-looking Ruvik awkwardly turned to face her. “M-My lady…,” he said in a pleading tone.

“Ruvik? What is wrong with you two?”

“My lady, these guests are—”

Before he could finish his sentence, something came flying past him. Unable to react to the sudden movement in time, Leticiel lost her balance and fell to the floor, sending up a light billow of dust from the carpet.

“Drossell, we came to play.”

“Drossell, let’s play together!”

Looking down, Leticiel saw a boy and girl with identical faces sitting on her chest and looking up at her. “Tina? Deet?” The twin spirit kings she’d met just a week ago in Lucrezia Academy’s forest climbed off of her, sitting neatly on the floor. “What are you two doing here? Do you need something?”

“We had business in the area.”

“We just came to play!”

Tina looked serious and Deet smiled. Leticiel alternated looking at them and then glanced at her servants, who were still watched them with stunned, wide eyes. It was only natural that they were flustered and suspicious when suddenly faced by spirits, who were thought to have gone extinct.

“That woman has been surprised since we got here.”

“That man’s been surprised since we got here.”

“Well, forgive them,” Leticiel said after a pause. “I think it’s hard for them to believe that there are spirits in front of them.”

Leticiel told the twins that humans believed the spirits had gone extinct. Tina remained expressionless, but Deet puffed out his cheeks.

“Us, extinct? How rude.”

“We’re still alive! That’s so rude!”

All of the blood drained from Ruvik and Nicole’s faces at the thought that Leticiel had angered the spirits. Leticiel hurriedly explained to them, “Don’t worry, it’s fine. These children are my friends.”

“Y-Your friends…?”

“Yes. They’re friendly, so there’s no need to be frightened.” Leticiel introduced Ruvik and Nicole to the young spirits, but they still seemed unable to shake off their shock. Well, they’d just have to get used to them bit by bit. “Nicole,” she said.

“Y-Yes?!”

“Could you prepare tea? And snacks. Please help her, Ruvik.”

“Huh? Oh, yes! As you wish!”

He and Nicole hurriedly left the room. Nicole was still so shaken that her movements were jerky; who knew what would happen if Leticiel had let her get everything ready by herself?

“Snacks? We can have snacks?”

“Yes, please wait a moment,” Leticiel replied.

“Snacks! I can’t wait to eat snacks!” Deet thrust both hands into the air with enough enthusiasm to make up for the expressionless Tina. Taking advantage of the fact that Leticiel was the only one in the room, he flew around freely.

“By the way, you said that you two had business in the area; what were you doing?” Leticiel asked casually once they’d sat on the sofa to wait for Nicole.

This time, even Deet’s expression fell, matching Tina’s blank one. “We came to investigate the black fog.”

“There’s black fog in this area.”

Leticiel blinked at their serious demeanors. What did they mean by black fog? “In this area?” she asked, tilting her head. “I don’t recall seeing anything.” Nor had she heard anything about a black fog appearing in the area around the manor.

“It first appeared at your school, Drossell.”

“Then at the biggest and most luxurious building in this town!”

Leticiel gasped when Tina mentioned the academy. Could they be referring to the mysterious creature that had appeared? But she hadn’t heard of any disturbances caused by monsters since then…

“Is that why you came to the academy the other day?” Leticiel asked.

“Yes. The fog moves around, so we were investigating its movements.”

“That’s right! It moved out of the town not too long ago!”

Leticiel didn’t know what the black fog’s true nature was, but it might be best for her to take precautions—just in case. To the twins, she asked, “You said that this black mist or whatever is nearby, but may I ask where?”

“It’s in a very large building.”

“A suuuper gorgeous building!”

Leticiel could think of only one very large, super gorgeous building nearby. If she remembered correctly, there was a palace owned by the royal family outside of the city.

“But now it’s stuck in one place and isn’t moving.”

“It’s weak now. There’s no danger, so you’re safe!”

“I see. Thank you for telling me.”

Unlike Tina and Deet, Leticiel didn’t know anything about the black fog, and it wasn’t like she could see it. She would’ve been cautious, but if these children, who were royal spirits, said that she was fine, then there was likely no issue.

Leticiel played a variety of games with the twins until the snacks were ready. Despite looking exactly the same, they had different personalities and seemed to enjoy different methods of playing. Tina liked being read to, while Deet liked games that used his hands, such as cat’s cradle.

Though they were only child spirits, they had already lived longer than Leticiel and her servants. Since they could use sorcery themselves to solve whatever problems may arise, she didn’t have to worry about them hurting themselves or accidentally ingesting something they shouldn’t.

While she was reading a book to Tina, who sat on her lap, Leticiel happened to glance at the entrance to the parlor. Tina tilted her head curiously, looking up at her.

“What is it, Drossell?”

“No, it’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.” But Leticiel couldn’t fully ignore the disquieting sounds she heard coming from the kitchen now and then. She focused on the book once more, but mentally she couldn’t help wondering what was going on in there.

At the same time, Deet was sitting on the carpet playing cat’s cradle by himself. A thousand years ago, when they hadn’t had proper toys, children had played games that used their bodies, such as tag, or sleights of hand like cat’s cradle. Thanks to that, Leticiel knew quite a few games that could be played with her hands.

“U-Um, m-my apologies for the wait.” After a long wait, Ruvik and Nicole finally returned from the kitchen. Nicole was holding a bowl with a mound of sweets, and Ruvik had a tea set for four. After placing the snacks on the table, they retreated to the wall, straightened their backs, and assumed a waiting position. Was it just Leticiel’s imagination, or did they look completely exhausted?

Leticiel’s appetite was whetted by the sweet aroma that rose from the treats that had been baked to a golden-brown color. She’d had lunch just an hour ago, but now she understood what people meant when they said they always had room for dessert.

“Great! Cookies!”

“Woohoo, a tart!”

Tina and Deet pounced on the colorful sweets, stuffing their faces like chipmunks. Leticiel nibbled at the sweets between sips of her tea, but her attention kept moving to Ruvik and Nicole standing vigilantly by the wall. “Ruvik, Nicole, don’t stand over there. Come here. Why don’t you eat with us?”

“Wh-Whaaat?! W-We couldn’t possibly be so presumptuous!”

The room was filled with Nicole’s hysterical screech, Ruvik’s put-upon sigh, and the sounds of children munching on delicious snacks.

✦ ✦ ✦

Duke Filiaregis’s residence in the aristocratic quarter of the royal capital of Nirvaan was shrouded in a heavy atmosphere. His family was still suffering from the aftermath of the scene Rocheford had caused. Scarlough and Freid were scrambling, visiting here and there to try and restore their honor. Christa had stayed holed up in her room ever since her relationship with Rocheford had been hinted at, and Diane was mentally unstable thanks to Christa.

“Hah…” Claud sighed while watering the flower beds. It had been almost a week since Drossell left the manor, and the atmosphere in the manor had deteriorated with each passing day. Scarlough and Diane had been the worst, their pent-up stress causing them to find fault with the servants over the tiniest things. They’d already fired two maids in the past week, and they’d literally just fired one of the butlers earlier.

Plus, when they tried to hire new staff members, they were immediately turned down. Claud had heard that it was getting harder for them to bring new people on after firing so many. Even the head butler had been scolded the other day over something minor. Every day, angry shouts rang out in the duke’s manor over one thing or another.

“It’s probably because Miss Drossell is gone.” Claud sighed once more while looking up at the manor. Drossell had been the most hated member of the duke’s family when she was there. He knew that Scarlough and the others had talked poorly about her in the shadows, even if they never acted out in front of her. He hadn’t been able to stop them or speak with Drossell unless spoken to first.

And now, the person the Filiaregises had been using as a target was no longer in their home. Considering how bad things already were, he didn’t want to imagine how bad they could get in the future.

“Claud, I’m going to head out!” a middle-aged gardener called from behind Claud. He was leaving early because he had work at another mansion today. Many gardeners were contracted to work with multiple noble families.

“Okay, good job today.” Claud waved goodbye before taking a breath and continuing his work. He also planned to finish a little earlier than usual today; he’d promised to get drinks with Ruvik.

I’ve never been able to go out for drinks with him. Since he was a live-in servant, he never had the time…

CRASH!

The crack of something breaking cut through Claud’s train of thought. Wondering what it was, he whipped around and saw a young gardener nearby, clutching his head with both hands and trembling. When Claud looked at his feet, he saw that a pot that could barely be held with both hands had shattered. Pottery shards mixed with soil, and the plants that had been inside the pot were scattered on the ground.

Seeing that, the blood drained from Claud’s face. The mullolia, a rare flower from the south, had been planted in that large pot. It was bad enough that it had been ruined, but what made things worse was that it was Christa’s favorite flower.

Claud’s mind froze for a moment—he could easily guess what lay in store for them—but he quickly shook his panic off and ran over to the gardener. “What happened? Are you all right?”

“Sir…” The flustered young gardener was new at the duke’s manor and had only been working there a few days. “I’m terribly sorry! It’s my fault that the f-flower is…”

“Calm down. You’re not hurt, are you?”

“N-No… B-But what should we do? I’ve done something horrible!”

All of the servants were acutely aware of how heavy the atmosphere had been in the manor the past few days. Perhaps out of fear, the gardener crouched down and buried his head in his hands.

“Wh-Wh-Wh-What should I do, sir?!”

“Just calm down. First, we need to replant the flower in another pot. Leaving the shards here is dangerous, so let’s hurry and clean them u—”

“What’s going on here?” came the voice Claud wanted to hear the least at that moment. He turned around and sure enough he saw Diane, who had come down to see what the commotion was about.

Diane approached, not even attempting to hide her displeasure with her fan. As soon as she saw the mess on the ground, her eyes narrowed and her face reddened in anger.

“What have you done?! That is Christa’s favorite flower! Do you have any idea how hard it was to get it here?!” In her fury, the fan she’d been holding cracked in half with a dry sound. She threw the broken pieces at Claud as hard as she could. “Honestly, you’re such an idiotic dunce! How did someone as useless as you become the head gardener?! Don’t get a big head!”

She probably didn’t care who she vented her frustration to. Anyone would have been fine. Without Drossell as her target, Claud was the one who took some of her strikes. The reason was simple: out of everyone else left in the manor, Claud had the deepest connection to Drossell.

“Do you have any clue how much that flower cost?! How is a filthy commoner such as yourself going to repay us?!”

“I’m terribly sorry, mada—”

“No excuses! Hurry up and put the flower back in its place! Right now! Hurry up and get back to work!” Diane increased the speed of her walking while shouting in a high-pitched tone. If she didn’t need to uphold her dignity as a duchess, she’d probably be on the verge of sprinting.

However, they had just watered the flowers, and the garden paths were wet. Claud and the others had no problem traversing the paths in their easy-to-move-in outfits, but Diane and her frilly gown were different.

“Wah!” Diane lost her balance as her foot slipped in a puddle. Plus, she was about to fall right into the area where many pottery shards were peeking out of the dirt.

Oh no! If Claud didn’t do something, he’d have a catastrophe on his hands. Running up to Diane, he shoved her with all his strength. Unable to kill the momentum of their crash, he went flying into the ground.

“Ow!” Since he’d fallen backward, he felt a sharp pain in his back. In this case, his thin, easy-to-move-in clothes had worked against him.

Diane wasn’t hurt, but the impact of Claud’s push had knocked her to the ground. Her dress must have gotten caught on the shards, as it was ripped and muddy. Seeing this, her expression twisted into one that was practically demonic.

“Now look what you’ve done! Who do you think I am? I’m a duchess! You have a lot of guts, pushing me when you’re nothing but a mere servant!” She violently kicked at the ground, and with both of her eyes red and bloodshot, Diane no longer looked sane. “This dress is ruined now! It was one of my favorites, you know!”

“Please forgive me, my lady. I’ll take responsibility for everything.”

Upon realizing the head gardener was taking the fall for him, the young gardener standing behind Claud widened his eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, but Claud shot him a sharp look. Diane’s irrational anger was already directed at Claud, so there was no need for him to pointlessly get involved.

“Why is there a puddle there in the first place? I almost got injured because you don’t know how to do your job properly!”

“I’m terribly sorry,” Claud apologized, but Diane wasn’t listening. She had an extra fan that she’d pulled out to angrily smack Claud’s cheek.

“I won’t forgive you! You won’t get away with this! I’ll have you locked in the cellar with no food! Your punishment will be officially decided when my husband returns!”

“I’m terribly…sorry…”

Claud could only endure the pain and continuously apologize to a hysterical Diane.

✦ ✦ ✦

“I’m off, then.”

“Yes, take care. Have a good time.”

Time really did fly. Leticiel had played with Tina and Deet, and before she knew it, it was nighttime.

She, Nicole, and the twins were currently seeing Ruvik off at the front entrance. He’d promised Claud that they’d get drinks at a bar in Nirvaan that night.

It had been Claud’s idea. Ruvik had seemed unsure, too worried about the manor, until Leticiel heard about the offer and forced him to take the time off. Ruvik already tended to work too much. If she didn’t twist his arm into resting, he genuinely seemed like he might collapse from overworking.

“We’ll stay here a little longer.”

“We’re going to stay a little longer!”

After seeing Ruvik off, Leticiel thought the twins would say their goodbyes, as well… But they betrayed her expectations. Each of them held a cloth bag filled with treats.

“Huh? You aren’t going home yet?”

“Yeah, we’re not leaving,” they said in-sync.

Leticiel had assumed they would take their bags of sweets and go home. Clasping hands, they flew around while holding the hands they weren’t holding up.

“We still want to play, after all,” Tina said, expressionless.

“We still wanna play!” Deet pursed his lips in a whiny pout.

Leticiel smiled wryly. “Well, I suppose that’s fine. You can stay here until you play to your heart’s content.”

“Woohoo!” the kids cheered. Leticiel had no particular reason to force them out, so she decided to let them do as they liked. After landing on the ground, the twins returned to the hall.

“I’m surprised,” Nicole said, letting out a long, deep sigh as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders as she and Leticiel followed the children back inside. Her tension had lessened over time, but she still didn’t seem fully comfortable around the spirits. “To think that spirits aren’t actually extinct, and that they’d suddenly appear at the manor…”

Commoners, too, knew of spirits, though through myths and fairy tales. Many women liked the spirits of the fairy tale worlds who spread their wings and flew around. Nicole was one of them. She was so flustered while baking their snacks that she’d messed up the temperature and baking time three different times. So that’s why I heard all those sounds coming from the kitchen, Leticiel had thought when she first heard the story. Everything made sense.

“Yes, I certainly didn’t expect Tina and Deet to visit me out of the blue. But they really seemed to be attached to you and Ruvik,” Leticiel commented. At first, Nicole and Ruvik had maintained a delicate distance from the spirits, their surprise and bewilderment at the spirits’ presence preventing them from coming too close or moving too far away. But after the twins approached them, they gradually joined the play circle.

“That’s, um… They’re still children, so they’re just so cute… Oh, I suppose it’s rude to say that, right?! Erm, um…” Nicole struggled to find the right words, but it seemed like she was unable to.

It’s a good thing I didn’t tell her that Tina and Deet are spirit kings. Leticiel had only told Nicole and Ruvik that they were spirits when she introduced the twins. Considering the amount of surprise that had caused, spirit-fan Nicole might have fainted if she learned their true nature.

“It’s already getting late,” Nicole commented. “I’d better start getting dinner ready, if you have the space for it.”

“Hmm, I had quite a lot of snacks, so I’m not very hungry. But it would be unhealthy to get by on sweets alone. Tina, Deet, what would you two like to do?” Despite how many of Nicole’s homemade goods Leticiel had eaten earlier, she didn’t think they would keep her full until morning. Plus, surviving off of sweets wasn’t good for one’s body. It would likely be best to get proper food in her stomach. She questioned the twins, who were holding hands and kicking a ball around. What would they choose?

“Food? Human food?”

“Food? Something yummy?”

“Yes, I think it would be yummy.”

“Then we’ll eat.”

“I want to eat it!”

The twins responded immediately. She’d noticed it earlier, but the twins seemed very interested in the human world’s food. Were spirits not accustomed to eating things like cookies and cakes?

“Drossell, may we go back to the other room?”

“Drossell, can we continue playing the game from earlier?”

“Of course. I’ll call for you when dinner is ready.”

“Okay!” the twins chimed in-sync, raising their clasped hands together in acknowledgement before padding out of the hall.

“Well, it seems they’d like to eat,” Leticiel said to Nicole.

“All right. Then I’ll get everything ready! To think that I get to cook for spirits…”

“Wait, I’ll help you,” Leticiel said, grabbing Nicole’s sleeve as she headed for the kitchen.

Nicole turned around in surprise, her eyes wide. “Huh?! Y-You will? No, I couldn’t possibly allow that!”

“I’m a surprisingly good cook, so allow me to help.”

“Wha…?! I can’t allow you to cook… Rather, I can’t put you in danger!”

“But Ruvik’s not here today, and it’d be hard for you to prepare everything yourself, right?”

“N-No! Not at all… Wait, my lady, where are you going?!”

“To the kitchen.” Leticiel strode toward the kitchen door. She hadn’t been living in the manor for long, but she knew how difficult it was to prepare meals when there were almost no servants.

She always tried to help Nicole and Ruvik, who cooked together, but they always stopped her. Still, she couldn’t allow them to struggle all the time.

“What are you going to make today?” she asked Nicole while carefully washing her hands.

Seeming to have given up on stopping her mistress, Nicole replied while pulling out ingredients, “Well… Since they had many sweets earlier, perhaps a healthy cream soup with plenty of vegetables?”

“Then I’ll cut the vegetables.”

“Huh?! It’s too dangerous for you to use a knife, my lady! Please stand back!”

“Oh, I’ll be fine.” Leticiel picked up the knife and vegetables and began to chop them with a quick and practiced hand. The speed of her movements had Nicole gaping.

“My lady, why are you so good at using a knife?”

“Because I’m used to cooking.” In her previous life, it would have been outrageous for her to be unable to cook for herself just because she was royalty. She had learned all the skills needed to make camp so she could survive even if she found herself all alone in a forest.

For a while, Nicole still seemed hesitant to let Leticiel hold the knife. She occasionally observed Leticiel while preparing the pot, making the latter somewhat uncomfortable, but not to the point that her work was affected. In the end, she finished cutting all of the vegetables.

Nicole accepted the prepared vegetables from her. While waiting for the meat to come, Leticiel picked up a cloth to wipe up the excess water.

“Then I’ll take these… Wah!” Nicole turned to take the bowl of vegetables to the pot, but she suddenly tripped over thin air and pitched forward, losing her balance.

Without even having time to put the cloth in her hand down, Leticiel reached out for Nicole. Thanks to the physical enhancement spell she’d cast on her arm, she managed to grab Nicole around the stomach right before she fell.

“Nicole, are you all right?” Leticiel asked worriedly, gallantly holding the woman up with one hand.

Nicole took a moment to respond, too preoccupied with figuring out what had happened. “Y-Y-Yes!”

“Good. Be careful.” Righting Nicole, Leticiel smiled softly and nonchalantly returned to her work. She was so cool that Nicole’s heart raced before she came to her senses with a gasp.

“What is wrong with me? She’s my mistress…”

“Nicole, where should I put this meat when I’m done cutting it? …Huh?” Leticiel put her knife down and turned around, tilting her head at the sight of Nicole sitting with her back pressed against the kitchen wall.

BANG!

Just then, the women heard a loud sound coming from the entryway. The sudden event instantly had Leticiel on alert.

“My lady! My lady, are you here?!” Though it was muffled by the walls, she was certain that was Ruvik’s voice. Instantly putting her work aside, Leticiel hurried out to the hall and saw Ruvik, who hadn’t been gone long. He was sweating and breathing heavily, and he’d been in such a hurry that his hair and clothes were in disarray.

Behind him was a young man Leticiel had never seen before. The boy’s face was so pale, she was worried he might collapse at any moment.

“Ruvik? I thought you were going out?”

“M-My lady, it’s horrible!”

“Calm down. What happened? Who is this?” Leticiel ran over to Ruvik and patted his back, questioning him as he gasped for breath with his hands on his knees.

“Ah, that man is…a gardener from the duke’s manor.”

“The duke’s manor?” What business could a servant working there possibly have with her?

The question was quickly erased from her mind when Ruvik urged, “More importantly, my lady, it’s horrible! Claud is…!”

“What?” At Ruvik’s cry, the air in the entrance stiffened, a tense atmosphere filling the manor. Completely erasing all hints of emotion from her face, Leticiel icily asked in a quiet voice, “Ruvik, what’s going on? What happened to Claud?”

Ruvik momentarily shrunk back at his mistress’s unusual aura, but after steeling his resolve he said, “Claud has been punished for an act of disrespect against the duchess. He’s been locked in the cellar under the manor.”

“What?” Leticiel’s eyebrows twitched. According to Ruvik, he had planned to meet Claud at the main gate to the duke’s manor, but the other man hadn’t showed up at the promised time. Ruvik had simply assumed that his work had run over, but he’d realized that something was wrong when he saw a young gardener stumble out of the main gate with a pale face.

“I don’t, um… I don’t know the details of what transpired, but—”

“U-Um, it’s all my fault!” the young gardener standing behind Ruvik said, cutting him off. Leticiel shifted her gaze to him. “I-If it wasn’t for my stupid mistake…”

“Please calm down. Will you tell me what happened?”

“Y-Yes.” Hunching his shoulders, the young gardener began to share what had occurred at the duke’s manor.

It had all started with him breaking a pot with Christa’s favorite flower planted inside. Claud, who had been working nearby, immediately gave him appropriate orders to fix the mess, but Diane happened to see the whole thing and flew into an outrage.

“So she punished Claud?”

“Yes. B-But that’s not all! After that, the duchess slipped on a puddle. Claud quickly moved to save her…but in exchange, he was wounded terribly!” According to him, Diane had thrown Claud into the cellar without any food because he had broken the vase and ruined her dress, even though he had actually saved her. The young gardener had been so upset that he ran out of the manor and asked Ruvik, whom he met by chance, for help.

“How bad are his wounds?”

“There were pottery shards all over his back and arms… They cut him so deeply that he was bleeding!” The man’s expression twisted as he remembered the sight of Claud’s injuries. Leticiel’s face stiffened. They were worse than she had expected. “Despite that, they took him away… Claud was just covering for me! This is all my fault! I’m the one who’s responsible…”

“Wait a second. No one treated his wounds?” If he was that severely injured, he would have needed medical attention. But according to this man, that hadn’t happened. Leticiel struggled to believe that such a horrible possibility could be true.

“Yes. He was locked away even though he had several cuts on his arms and back.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me…”

Naturally, she was worried about Claud. But at the same time, she seriously doubted the duke and duchess’s humanity. They had never been good parents, but she couldn’t believe they were this cruel.

“Claud’s injuries are that bad?!” Nicole pressed a hand against her lips in shock, her face pale.

Lowering his head, the young man mumbled, “I’d better prepare myself to apologize to the duchess…”

Leticiel frowned, crossing her arms and closing her eyes.

“My lady, what should we do?” Ruvik asked, giving her an anxious look. There was a touch of panic in his eyes.

Leticiel kept her head lowered in silence for a while. When she finally opened her eyes, her heterochromatic eyes shone with a quiet flame. “I’ll go to the duke’s manor right away,” she declared. “I’m worried about Claud.”

She couldn’t agree with their treatment of him. It was true that mistakes had been made with the breaking of the pot, but she couldn’t forgive Diane’s unfair punishment and her inability to treat the wounds of a servant who had risked his own body to protect her.

“I’ll go with you, my lady.”

“Yes, please prepare the carriage.” Ruvik nodded and flew out of the manor. “And you,” she said to the gardener, “please come with us, as well.”

“Y-Yes!”

While Ruvik was getting the carriage ready, Leticiel turned to Nicole. “Nicole, please take care of the manor while we’re gone.”

“Yes, leave it to me!”

“Drossell, what’s going on?” While she was waiting in the entryway for Ruvik to return, one of the doors opened and Tina and Deet peeked out.

“Will you two wait for me here? I need to go out for a bit.”

“Are you going to save someone? We’ll come with you.”

“What?”

“We can’t let you save your friend all alone!”

After a pause, Leticiel gave in. “Thank you.”

Nicole saw them off as they left the manor. The carriage had already been moved in front of the main gate, ready to leave at any time. Ruvik jumped up into the coachman’s seat. Leticiel wondered where the twins would sit, but they chose to sit on top of the carriage.

“Ruvik, let’s hurry.”

“Yes. I’m ready to go.”

“You get in too,” she said to the gardener.

“Huh? A-All right!” The young man seemed hesitant to ride in the same carriage as the daughter of a duke, but he understood that this wasn’t the time to worry about such things and climbed into the carriage with only slight trepidation.

Ruvik immediately snapped the reins to get the carriage moving. It raced through the capital’s southern gate as fast as it could. The sun was low in the sky, leaving the city of Nirvaan dimly lit. Few people were on the streets. Taking advantage of that fact, they charged through thoroughfares that were less likely to be populated and reached the duke’s manor in about ten minutes.

I didn’t expect to pass through this gate again less than a month after leaving, Leticiel thought to herself as she jumped out of the carriage and headed for the front door.

“Miss Drossell?!” Having heard the sound of the carriage’s rough stop, the duke’s head butler appeared at the front door, his eyes widening at the sight of Leticiel. She tried to stride right inside, but he hurriedly stopped her, saying, “No! You mustn’t, my lady!”

“Why can’t I? I belong to this family, do I not?”

“Th-That is true, but…”

“By the way, where is Claud?”

The head butler froze at Leticiel’s abrupt question. She pressed even further. “Is it true that he was locked in the cellar even though he’s injured?”

The head butler said nothing, but the blood was draining from his face rapidly and he was trying to convey something with his eyes. Leticiel was convinced that something had happened to Claud.

“Well, whatever. Please move.”

“P-Please wait!”

Slipping past the head butler, who was using all his might to try and stop her, Leticiel marched into the entrance hall and asked, “Where are Scarlough and Diane?”

“N-No, my lady… His Grace currently has a visitor—”

A familiar voice came from further in the manor, cutting the flustered butler off. “Daniel, what is all this noise? You know we have a gu…” A door facing the hall opened to reveal Diane, who covered her mouth with a fan despite not trying to hide her displeasure. She trailed off when she caught sight of Leticiel. The hand she was using to hold her fan began to tremble and the highest visible points of her cheeks were flushed red in anger. “You! Why in the world are you here?”

“I believe this is still my family home. What is so wrong with me coming here?”

“There is no place for you here!”

“Great, I don’t need one. The feeling is mutual.”

Leticiel’s cold attitude and casual remark fueled Diane’s rage even further. “What is with that attitude?! How conceited of you!”

“First of all, may I see Claud?”

“I’m not obligated to let you see him!” Diane shouted.

Leticiel put her fingers to her chin in a deliberately thoughtful gesture. “Why can’t you bring him here? Don’t tell me he’s been badly wounded and you can’t call for him…or something like that.”

“Wha…? Of course not!”

Showing no concern at all for the glare Diane sent her way, Leticiel tilted her head even more. “I see. However, I’ve heard that you selfishly and unjustly punished a servant without even tending to the wounds that he got from protecting you.”

“Wh—?! Are you belittling me?!”

“Not at all. I simply want to verify if the story I’ve heard is true or not. Besides, as the duke’s daughter, I believe I have the right to see his servants.”

“Y-You…! How dare you speak to your own mother in that tone of voi—?!”

“I couldn’t care less about that.” Leticiel was starting to get tired of Diane’s arguments; it got them nowhere. “Will you bring Claud here? I need to tend to his wounds.”

Leticiel’s last comment pushed the limits of Diane’s patience. “Shut your mouth! There’s no need for me to follow the orders of an abomination like you!” Diane’s shout filled the hall as she huffed, looking down her nose at Leticiel. “Not only did Claud destroy Christa’s beloved flower, he almost injured me! Plus, he ruined my dress! In fact, I’d say he got off lightly with this punishment!”

Diane’s selfish excuses were the straw that broke the back of Leticiel’s patience; the barely-there sound cracked, echoing down the hall. Chills ran down Ruvik’s back at the sight of his mistress’s quiet anger. Diane, absorbed in her own world, was the only one in the hall who didn’t sense it.

“You’re neglecting another human for a selfish reason like that?” Leticiel’s tone lowered. As a noblewoman, Diane was supposed to protect those below her. Leticiel had known that the aristocrats in this day and age were different from the nobles a thousand years ago, but she still couldn’t pardon such foolish nonsense.

Diane rolled her eyes and sneered mockingly. “Selfish? Don’t make me laugh! It’s a huge deal for us! I suppose you don’t understand that, seeing as how you’re a noble in name only.”

“I don’t want to understand it. I simply expressed an opinion that I thought was natural as a human being. Do you not understand the pain and distress being hurt can cause?”

During the Astorian War, it was normal for the nobility to set up conscription and tax revenue systems to protect their people and take the lead when heading into battle. At the time, nobles were expected as leaders to be shields for their people. Leticiel couldn’t understand how these nobles could neglect their duties when this country had also gone through war before.

“Of course I don’t! I’m a duchess, you know! That man may have bled a little, but his wounds weren’t that bad! In fact, he should feel honored to have gotten his wounds from saving me.”

Diane was born into a good family, married into the house of a venerable duke, and was surrounded by people willing to put their lives on the line to protect her. She believed it was only natural that she be protected, which was why she didn’t care about those who got hurt defending her.

“Oh? His wounds aren’t that bad, huh?” A cold wind blew through the entrance hall. Leticiel fixed her icy gaze on Diane, a frosty smile on her lips. Diane’s scream caught in her throat when ice started to spread from Leticiel’s feet. “If they’re not that bad, why don’t you see what it feels like for yourself?”

Her eerie words seeped into Diane’s ears. At the same time, a sharp pain ran through her back. Diane writhed, experiencing pain for the first time. The pain didn’t disappear; the more time passed, the more it swelled, as if to exert its existence.

“Noooo! Ow, ow, ow, ow!” She was struck by a burning pain in her back. Even when she closed her eyes and covered her ears, the sight and voice of the girl standing in front of her was stuck in her mind as if to mock her.

It was a physical representation of the twisted rituals that had been going on in the manor for the past sixteen years. The person who ridiculed and the person who was ridiculed. They had simply switched positions.

“I’m sure Claud is in even more pain than this.” The despicable child’s figure arose from the darkness. There was not a hint of emotion in her expression. “Can you still say that his wounds aren’t that bad?”

Everyone in the hall started to panic when Diane screamed that she was in pain even though she wasn’t injured.

“My lady, what did you do to the duchess?”

“I let her experience the agony a wounded person feels. What other choice did I have when she refuses to listen to words?”

Leticiel had used a spell technique that caused hallucinations. The pain she was experiencing was what someone would feel if they had multiple light lacerations on their back, but to Diane, it felt like a horrific injury.

Leticiel couldn’t forgive Diane’s treatment of Claud because she had personally seen many of her subordinates and comrades die while protecting her on the battlefield in the past. Leticiel had experienced many injuries, both light and severe, in her previous life. Once, she’d even had an arm ripped off. Even if she could put her body back together with sorcery, she couldn’t erase the wounds that the pain had made on her heart, and sorcery was not all-powerful. The people she hadn’t been able to save and the parts of her that she hadn’t been able to heal were scars etched on her heart that would remain there forever.

With a snap of her fingers, Leticiel lifted the hallucination technique that had been affecting Diane. Freed from the various hallucinations, Diane slumped to the floor in a daze. She covered her face with both hands and started to cry, but Leticiel had no idea where those tears were coming from.

The door Diane had emerged out of earlier opened once more and Scarlough came out into the hall to see what all the fuss was.

“Wha…?! Why are you here?!” he exclaimed the instant he saw Leticiel. Running over to his wife, who was cowering and sobbing on the ground, he pulled her into his arms and glared at Leticiel. “You! What have you done to Diane?! Leave this home this instant!”

“Naturally, I’ll leave as soon as my business here is done.”

“I don’t remember ever inviting you inside! I don’t care what business you have. Get out, now! How dare you disobey me?!”

Disgusted by Scarlough, who was arguing just for argument’s sake, Leticiel wrapped herself in a mantle of somewhat intimidating sorcery. She started to walk toward Scarlough with the technique activated.

“Eeeek! D-Don’t come any closer! You cursed abomination!” Scarlough quickly lost his bravado, unceremoniously falling on his rear end.

“I’m here for Claud. If you want me to hurry and leave, tell me where he is.”

Scarlough scooted backward. Just when she was about to take another step toward him…

“You disrespected Drossell.”

“You insulted Drossell.”

Childish, high-pitched voices, sharp like invisible blades, echoed in the hall. A chill ran down Leticiel’s back. Thinking, It can’t be, she turned around and saw Tina and Deet piercing Scarlough and Diane with gazes as sharp and cold as icicles.

The blood drained from the faces of everyone there—Leticiel included—as they instinctively sensed the difference in power between the two sides, even if one side happened to look like young children. Since the two had been quiet for so long, she’d forgotten that they had come with her.

“You don’t have the right to say that when you don’t know anything about Drossell.”

“We won’t let you say that when you’re the one hurting Drossell the most!”

A ferocious wind erupted from Deet’s body, striking Scarlough and Diane head-on and throwing them against the wall along with the surrounding furnishings that had gotten caught up in the wind.

Since Deet was the Spirit King of Void, he excelled in Void magic. There were only a few Void spell techniques that could be used on their own, but the one he had used was one such technique. It temporarily gave substance to aether to hit the technique’s target.

On the other hand, Tina was creating a sphere of light above her head. Leticiel assumed that she was concentrating rays of heat in one place. Scarlough and Diane, who were coughing from having been slammed against the wall, seemed to recognize the object being created in front of them. Abandoning their sense of shame and respectability, they scrambled to run away.

At this, even Leticiel paled. She knew that the Spirit Queen was angry. She could understand that she was upset. But still, Tina…

That’s going a little too far!

The sorcery Deet wielded made the objects in the entry hall float and attack the duke and duchess one after another. He hadn’t hit either of them yet because his aim was so shoddy, but it was only a matter of time before he landed a blow.

Above Tina’s head, a giant ball of light that seemed more than ten times her height made the air sway with tremendous heat as it continuously grew even larger. Leticiel recognized the technique, as she had used it before, herself. It was a technique that refracted the light in the air to gather heat and create a pseudo-sun.

Spirits often had simple personalities, likely because they lived simple lives. They said exactly what they thought and acted on their words. Naturally, what humans considered common sense did not apply to them. At best, they were independent and easygoing; at worst, they were a race that acted without consideration for others.

Leticiel knew that Tina and Deet were more upfront about their emotions than adults because they were still young and she didn’t intend to reproach them for that. But unlike humans, who could only obtain aether from the outside world, spirits could also use the aether they created inside of them. Therefore, in sorcery, where the technique’s power was determined by the amount of aether and the scale of the technique, their strength was fundamentally different from humans’. Which meant that, when a spirit was serious about using sorcery, not even a human with no magical power could stop them. At this rate, the entrance to the duke’s manor would be blown away.

I suppose it can’t be helped. Leticiel immediately decided to use sorcery. It would mean making the existence of her sorcery known, but that was better than everyone in the manor dying.

Black particles gathered around Leticiel, gradually coiling around her and transforming into a jet-black dragon. The Darkness-attributed dragon dutifully obeyed Leticiel’s order and crashed into the sphere of light, swallowing it right as it was about to break through the ceiling. Hot air struck Leticiel’s long silver hair, lifting debris that had been scattered on the ground into the air.

Leticiel sensed the nature of Tina’s sorcery through the dragon technique. The Light sorcery was so highly concentrated that humans’ sorcery seemed like a silly parlor trick in comparison. If Leticiel tried hard to structure her sorcery she could probably create a concentration even higher than it, but she got the feeling that Tina wasn’t trying at all.

“Ruvik, take the gardener and leave! That’s an order!”

“Y-Yes, my lady!”

Watching out of the corner of her eye as Ruvik tumbled out of the hall with the young gardener beside him, Leticiel looked up at the light and darkness fighting each other in the air.

This is probably only ten or twenty percent of her power… How frightening.

Since she had fought Tina and Deet before, Leticiel was quite familiar with how weak their attacks had been. It was obvious from the fact that the floor and ceiling hadn’t yet been destroyed that they were using less power compared to the technique that had shot randomly at her before; likely because there wasn’t much aether in the manor.

Judging that the spirits wouldn’t want to listen to her, Leticiel—who had only used fifty percent of her power—deemed that the light spell technique would never be neutralized at this rate and summoned another Darkness dragon.

Even though it wasn’t a live creature, the second dragon roared as if it were alive before wrapping itself around the sphere of light, which had hit the ceiling.

The sphere expanded once and gradually started to turn black. Leticiel added a wind technique to circulate air through the windows and doors, dissipating the heat from around them.

BOOOOOM!

The moment finally came after a steady battle. In the very end, the sphere of light exploded and broke through the entrance hall’s ceiling, disappearing into the sky. The force of the explosion and the following gusts of wind shattered all of the windows and rubble fell from the broken ceiling. The very ground shook, cracking open. But Leticiel had put up a barrier, so Ruvik and the other servants who weren’t involved in the mess were safe.

“Wh… Wh-Wh-Wh-Wha…? My…my manor!”

“What in the world was that?! Why…why is the manor so…?!”

Scarlough and Diane were unable to hide their shock at the devastation in the hall, their faces flushing red with fury then paling in dismay. But if Leticiel had allowed Tina to activate that spell technique, the entire hall would have been blown away, not just its ceiling, so she was relieved that it hadn’t been that bad.

“Drossell, why did you stop me?” Tina asked.

“Drossell, why can’t we kill them?” Deet questioned. Both of them looked dissatisfied.

Already using sorcery to repair the manor, Leticiel replied, “Even amongst bad humans, there are people you must beat and people who aren’t worth beating. Those two are the latter. There’s no need to put any effort into defeating them.”

For the time being, she had restored the broken ceiling and stairs. But she hadn’t repaired the ornaments, like as the ceramics, so there were still pottery fragments and spilled water from the flower vases on the floor.

“Oh. Well, if they aren’t worth it, nothing else can be done.”

“Oh! If there’s no point, then it can’t be helped.”

Innocently leaving a fairly mean last comment, Tina and Deet were convinced and amicably retreated behind Leticiel. They likely hadn’t thought twice before saying it, but Scarlough was red in the face and struggling to hold his temper.

“May I interrupt?” Suddenly, a calm voice rang out in the hall. It wasn’t a loud voice, but it reached her ears clearly. The manor was still half-destroyed, but Leticiel paused in her repairs.

A tall boy came out of the door Scarlough had come out of. Though he was dressed lightly, it was obvious with one glance that his clothes were of fine quality. The young man, who had deep indigo hair and gray eyes, gracefully approached them.

When Leticiel looked at his feet, she saw that the debris on the ground was slowly parting, moving out of his way. I see, he’s using magic to create a path he can walk safely on.

“What is all of this?” the young man murmured. Behind him, Scarlough and the head butler turned pale. Leticiel tilted her head slightly at the boy with the somewhat mature appearance; tall and slender, his features made him look gentle while still being dignified.

The boy’s arrival brought a heavy blanket of silence to the entrance hall. Looking around, he asked, “It seems there was quite a fuss, but is everyone safe?” His voice echoed in the quiet hall.

“Prince Lionel…,” Scarlough murmured, his voice trembling. Leticiel raised an eyebrow at the name. Lionel… If she remembered correctly, that was the second prince’s name. For a split second, she thought she could see a shadow of King Oswald in the mature boy, who exuded a distinguished elegance and dignity despite his youth.

“Hey, Drossell, who is that?”

“Hey, Drossell, do you know him?”

“Huh?” Tina and Deet clung to Leticiel’s leg, innocently asking their questions as she studied the second prince. Talk about changing gears quickly. As she was struggling to respond, Lionel walked over to Leticiel.

“Long time no see, Miss Drossell.”

“…Same to you, Prince Lionel. I’m glad to see that you haven’t changed much.” Since he was Rocheford’s little brother, it was safe to assume that they had met before. Leticiel dipped her head slightly in a greeting and Lionel glanced down at her feet. After staring fixedly at the twins, he looked up at the night sky which could be seen through the hall’s exposed ceiling.

“Could those children be…?” Judging by the look on his face, Lionel was putting the clues together. Tina was expressionless and Deet’s smile was completely gone. The two hid behind Leticiel without saying a word, both of their gazes holding nothing but unmistakable rejection.

“It seems they’re extremely wary of me.”

“I’m terribly sorry. They both have cautious personalities.”

Lionel smiled wryly at that, but he soon returned to his solemn expression and looked straight at Leticiel while he continued to speak. “I heard about what happened with Rocheford from my father while I was studying abroad. I’m terribly sorry for all the trouble he caused you.”

“Please don’t worry about that, Your Highness. There’s no reason for you to apologize to me.” Leticiel gently shook her head. He needn’t apologize to her when he hadn’t been at school even once since she started, much less during the incident itself. She quickly changed the subject. “What business did you have here, Your Highness?”

“I came to give my greetings now that I’m back from studying abroad. Though there seems to have been a commotion…”

Lionel glanced between Scarlough and Leticiel. Seeing that her father was so agitated that he had a shifty gaze but was making no move to explain, Leticiel decided to do it herself.

“I have business with a servant named Claud. I heard that he was locked in the cellar despite not receiving treatment for his grave wounds.”

After listening to Leticiel’s brief explanation, Lionel turned his attention to Scarlough. “Is that true, Lord Scarlough?”

“N-No, it’s…,” Scarlough stammered under the weight of the prince’s gaze. He likely hadn’t imagined that Leticiel would kick up a fuss over a mere servant’s punishment, or that the second prince, who happened to be present, would hear about it. Scarlough threw an irritated glare Leticiel’s way, but he couldn’t afford to show disrespect in front of the prince and eventually started to reluctantly explain. However, his was a sugar-coated version that left out many details.

“I see,” Lionel said. “If what you said is true, the servant certainly did make a careless mistake.”

Scarlough’s explanation made it seem as if Claud had made a mistake that almost ended in Diane’s injury. Leticiel genuinely questioned his sanity.

“E-Exactly! So there’s nothing for you to worry about, Your Highness.” Scarlough was visibly relieved by Lionel’s response. He kept shooting Leticiel discouraging glares. He was obviously trying to move on from the subject, but there was no way Leticiel would let him get away with that.

“No, that isn’t what I heard.” Scarlough was stunned by Leticiel’s rebuttal. Even Lionel’s eyes widened in surprise. “Someone who was there at the time said that Claud is bleeding from cuts on his back caused by the pottery shards.” Saying this, Leticiel’s gaze moved to the young gardener crouching near the wall. Lionel followed it, catching sight of the man.

“Is that true?” he asked.

“Y-Yes… That is correct, Your Highness!” The young man froze, nervous to be questioned by the kingdom’s prince, but he answered Lionel in a high-pitched tone and timidly told the whole story.

“Th-That’s nonsense, Your Highness! That girl is trying to make us look bad!”

“Please calm down, Lord Scarlough. Listening to those who were involved is an important part of learning what truly happened.”

“Th-That’s…”

Lionel put a hand to his chin and lowered his gaze. Scarlough had attempted to verbally disparage Leticiel, but apparently he didn’t have a comeback for Lionel’s just reasoning. With no way to vent his anger at Leticiel’s refusal to move on from the subject, he glared sharply at her, but Leticiel ignored him, completely unconcerned.

Lionel, who had been deep in thought, opened his eyes and looked at Scarlough once more. “I’m well aware that I should not interfere in your household affairs, but how do you intend to punish your servant?”

“Huh? W-Well… Claud made a grave mistake. That’s why I’ve locked him in the cellar to make him repent.”

Apparently, Scarlough also thought that the breaking of the vase, Diane’s almost injury, and the ruining of her dress were serious matters. Leticiel couldn’t understand why.

“Pardon me, but is there a need to punish Claud that much?” The instant Leticiel opened her mouth, Scarlough glared at her as if to say, You again? Sparks flew between the father and daughter.

“O-Of course there is! That man ruined the most expensive flower in our household!”

“Haven’t the flowers that were planted in the broken vase already been transferred into other vases? Saying that he ‘ruined’ it is an exaggeration, don’t you think?”

“B-But his carelessness almost led to Diane getting hurt!”

Hearing this, the air around Tina and Deet—who were still hiding behind Leticiel—grew sharp once more. Patting their heads to calm them down, Leticiel said, “However, she wasn’t actually injured, was she? Because he stepped in to protect Mother. I would even go as far as to praise his loyalty. I don’t think he should be punished in this way.”

That was enough to zip Scarlough’s lips. Beside him, Diane piped up with, “B-But it’s Claud’s fault that my dress has been ruined!”

Leticiel almost let out a huge sigh at the trifling excuse, but she managed to suppress it. “Well, Lady Diane, if you liked that dress so much, why don’t you have another one made just like it? I understand wanting to treasure the things you love, but there is no substitute for the loyalty and sincerity of those who serve you. Isn’t it our duty as those who stand above the citizens to be compassionate toward them?”

Scarlough and Diane glowered hatefully at Leticiel. No matter what they said, Leticial had a fair argument for it, leaving them unable to object. Leticiel hadn’t said anything wrong, so she met their glares with a cool expression. But that only provoked the duke and duchess’s anger even more, their shoulders trembling.

“I’m terribly sorry to interrupt your conversation. It may be impertinent of me, but may I say something?” Lionel’s calm voice cut into the hostile air between the three.

Before Scarlough or Diane could speak, Leticiel jumped to respond, “Yes, of course, Your Highness.”

Scarlough glared scornfully at her as if to say, I’m the master of this house, but Leticiel pretended not to see it.

“If it is indeed true that the servant risked his own body to save Lady Diane and that he accepted the punishment for his mistakes without any complaints, shouldn’t his loyalty and extenuating circumstances be taken into consideration?”

The duke and duchess had been growing frustrated, unable to snarkily respond to Leticiel’s sound arguments with the prince present. But Lionel’s authoritative voice put an end to the verbal bout and they fell completely silent.

“For starters, why don’t you treat his wounds?” the prince suggested. Scarlough had no choice but to nod in agreement. Glaring at Leticiel in frustration, he then glanced to Daniel. Sensing the meaning behind his master’s gaze, Daniel nodded and disappeared behind a door.

The group waited for a while until Daniel came back with Claud in his arms. Leticiel felt the urge to run over and immediately start treating him when she saw Claud’s pale and haggard face, but she held back.

On the other hand, Claud gaped at the broken ceiling and stairs, unable to hide his shock at the state of the hall. Not to mention, he was likely surprised to see Leticiel, who had left the manor a month ago, and the kingdom’s second prince.

Facing Claud, who was confused by the hall’s lineup, Scarlough announced, “Claud, I am revoking your punishment.” The words were so unexpected coming from the man who had been ready to severely punish him just hours earlier that Claud doubted his hearing. Just what had gone on while he was in the cellar?

“However,” Scarlough continued, “you must be held responsible for causing such an uproar. Therefore, you will be demoted from head gardener and your wages will take a cut. Make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

After a pause, Claud replied, “Thank you for your generosity, Your Grace.” Having no idea why things had turned out that way and scrambling to make sense of the situation, Claud looked around and caught Leticiel gazing gently at him. He gave her a grateful look in return. Guessing that she was the reason the situation had been resolved peacefully, he gave a sigh of relief and deeply bowed his head.

“Daniel, treat his wounds.” The head butler, Daniel, followed Scarlough’s orders and supported Claud as they left the hall.

Watching them leave out of the corner of her eye, Leticiel approached Lionel and curtsied before him. “I’m terribly sorry for having bothered you.”

“Not at all. I simply stuck my nose into things,” Lionel said gently, his gentlemanly smile never wavering as he placed a hand on his chest and bowed slightly.

Leticiel continued with, “No, we should have been able to settle things within our family.” Whatever the circumstances or reasoning, it was thanks to his interference that everything had ended peacefully.

“I didn’t do much, but I’ll accept your sincerity, Miss Drossell.” Once their conversation had subsided, Lionel glanced out the window. It had been twilight when Leticiel came to the manor, but now the sun had fully set and the moon was floating in the night sky. “Now, if you’ll excuse me…”

“Allow me to see you to the door.”

“No, please don’t worry about it. It’s late, so you should get some rest, Miss Drossell.” Politely declining her offer, Lionel strode for the exit with a few servants in tow. After one last curtsy toward his back, Leticiel ran over to Ruvik.

“Ruvik, show me to Claud’s room. I’m worried about his condition.”

“Yes, my lady. Please follow me.”

Tina and Deet, who were still clinging to her legs, stared at her during her short conversation with Ruvik.

“Drossell, you’re not going home?”

“Drossell, where are you going?”

“No, I’m not going home yet. I’m going to see Claud.”

“Then we’ll go with you,” the twins echoed.

“What? But you two need to be getting home or the others will worry about you…”

Still, the twin spirit kings followed Leticiel as she hurried out of the hall. Lionel watched them until the front door closed behind him. Looking up at the towering duke’s manor lit in the light of the moon, he slowly walked back to the carriage with a small smile playing on his lips.

✦ ✦ ✦

Leticiel walked the halls in the duke’s manor for the first time in a while with Ruvik as her guide. The servants’ quarters were on the third floor. Ruvik stopped in front of a door at the far end of the corridor—Claud’s room.

They arrived just as the head butler and the doctor who had treated Claud came out of the room. The head butler awkwardly bowed when he noticed Leticiel, moving out of the way to let Leticiel and the others into the room. Slipping past the head butler and the doctor, Leticiel’s group found Claud lying face-up on his bed, his upper body wrapped in bandages. Claud’s eyes almost bugged out of his head when he saw Leticiel and he attempted to hurriedly sit up, but Leticiel stopped him with one hand.

“Claud, how are you feeling?” she asked.

“I’m feeling much better. Thank you.”

“Good. But please don’t push yourself.”

“I won’t. Thank you so much for earlier, miss. I have no idea what I would’ve gone through if you hadn’t come…”

“There’s no need to thank me. I didn’t do much.” Leticiel shook her head and sat on a round chair next to the bed. Claud’s wounds seemed to have been treated properly, and his complexion was better than it had been before. “Do your wounds hurt?”

“No. They just sting a bit from the medicine.”

“My lady, don’t be fooled,” Ruvik piped up. “He’s just putting on a strong face.”

“What? Really?” Surprised, Leticiel looked at Claud once more and saw that he was scratching his cheek, his eyes shifting awkwardly. “There’s no need to strain yourself. Please rest.”

“Sorry. If you insist…”

“That’s right. Please relax,” Ruvik said, pouring tea into a cup he found on the side table. Apparently, Ruvik was able to see through all lies. He truly was an excellent butler.

A knock sounded at the door. “Um, Mr. Claud… Are you in there?” It was the young gardener’s voice.

“You can come in. Is something wrong?”

At Claud’s beckoning, the young man timidly entered the room and flung his head down in a bow so quick that Leticiel could hear the whoosh of wind it created.

“Mr. Claud, I’m so terribly sorry! My mistake caused so much trouble for you… It’s all my fault!”

Claud was momentarily taken aback by the young man, whose expression was twisted with regret. But he smiled kindly and put his hand on the man’s shoulder. “Stop apologizing. It’s all in the past, so there’s no need to let it worry you.”

“Still…”

“Besides, I’m relieved. Thanks to the second prince and the young lady here standing up for us, you and I both got off with just pay cuts. Right?”

“Yes, but I really am sorry.”

Claud smiled wryly at the glum young man. He had told Leticiel and the others the truth even though he would have received the brunt of the duke and duchess’s anger in Claud’s place. Claud couldn’t blame him, and he didn’t seem to regret taking the blame for him.

Looking up, the young man told Claud with a voice full of resolution, “Actually, I just gave the duke my final notice. He agreed to let me go.” Leticiel couldn’t tell if Claud had predicted the words or not, but he wasn’t surprised.

“Really?” was all he said.

“Yes. I’m the one who caused this entire commotion and troubled you, so…”

“What will you do now?” Leticiel asked the young man, despite feeling like it was a little rude to interject. His resignation was partially her fault, so she felt a little guilty. She thought about giving him a job at her own manor to take care of him if he was searching for a job, but when he replied, he was calm and unbothered.

“I think I’ll take this chance to go back home. My father’s health hasn’t been the best, so I’ll help him tend the fields.”

“I see. Please take good care of your parents.”

“I will! Thank you so much, my lady, Mr. Claud, and you too, Mr. Ruvik! I’ll never forget your kindness!” Having said what he wanted to say, the man left the room in a completely different mood than when he had entered, his demeanor filled with resolve.

When the door had closed completely, Leticiel turned to Claud and asked, “What will you do, Claud?” Claud had been demoted and given a pay cut, but he hadn’t been fired. She wondered if he planned to continue working there despite that.

“Me? Well… I have a son, so I’ll endure things until they calm down. I can’t afford to lose a whole paycheck, after all.” Claud gave a resigned smile while thinking of his young son. Leticiel frowned slightly at the melancholic smile. “Gardening is my only talent, after all. It’d be hard for an insignificant, middle-aged man like me to find any other kind of work. They may have reduced my wages, but I managed to keep my job. I’m truly grateful to you, miss. Please let me know if there’s anything I can do for you.”

“Claud…”

A heavy silence fell over the room. Claud’s head hung low. Ruvik gave Leticiel an imploring look as if to ask her if there was something they could do. Leticiel sat still, thinking, until she said, “Hey, Claud.”

“Yes? What is it?”

“Why don’t you quit your job at the duke’s manor and come to work for me?”

Both Claud and Ruvik were surprised, their eyes opening wide at Leticiel’s casual suggestion. “A-At your manor, miss?”

“Yes. Ruvik and I have been thinking about finally getting the garden sorted out. It’s much smaller than the garden here, but we’d love to have you if you’re willing. What do you say?”

After hearing about Claud’s personal situation for the first time, Leticiel couldn’t possibly leave him be. Besides, after this incident, Claud’s position in the duke’s household had become extremely precarious. Who knew what would happen if he continued to stay there?

“But, still… I couldn’t possibly trouble you like that, miss.” Claud struggled with his words, confused by the sudden proposal.

Ruvik, who had been silent up until then, attempted to persuade him. In a serious tone, he said, “Claud, I’d like to ask you to join us, as well.” Claud’s gaze shifted to Ruvik, who glanced at Leticiel. “It’s just myself and Nicole at the manor, so we’re understaffed. It’d be a relief to have you. Taking care of Miss Drossell is…extremely difficult.”

“What? I don’t think so.”

“My lady, you’re, without a doubt, the only person who feels that way.”

Leticiel threw Ruvik a look that said she disagreed with the comment that came out of left field, but he gave her a knowing smile and simply shook his head in resignation at his mistress’s unbothered reaction.

“Drossell, will he be a new friend?”

“Drossell, is that man your friend too?”

The twins, who had been hiding behind Leticiel the entire time, floated up to Leticiel’s head and whispered quietly in her ear. They still seemed wary of Claud, so she wondered why they were suddenly asking.

“Aren’t you two still cautious of him?”

“Well, you’re you, after all.”

“Well, you’re you, Drossell!”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

Finding something about their conversation amusing, Ruvik burst into laughter. Claud was lost for words at the sight of the winged twins.

“Besides,” Ruvik continued, smiling, “you’re the one who saved me when I first came to this manor and was almost crushed by the pressure here. If you’re in a rough spot, this time, it’s my turn to help you.”

“Ruvik…” Claud lowered his gaze, staring blankly at the lamp on his table as he thought.

In his eyes, Drossell had always been full of fun the past few months. The duke’s manor would be suffocating if he stayed, and he wasn’t sure that he’d be able to safely survive his work the way things were now. The duke and duchess wanted to rid themselves of the whole mess, and they had no reason to keep a middle-aged servant.

Mentally, Claud resolvedly vowed to repay the young lady’s kindness for saving him from his predicament and follow her for as long as she needed him.

“If you’ll have me, I’ll gladly accept your offer, Miss Drossell.”

Leticiel and Ruvik shared a relieved smile. And so, Leticiel’s manor gained a new servant.

FINAL CHAPTER
THE BEGINNINGS OF UNREST

Oswald sat on the throne in the audience room of Viatris Castle. Sirius, the prime minister, stood beside him and the second prince, Lionel, stood before him. They were meeting together to hear Lionel’s report after having returned from a neighboring country. They had met with him once right after he’d gotten back but hadn’t been able to hear any details then. They had been so busy with official duties for days on end that they hadn’t had the time to actually talk.

“I said it once before, but welcome back, Lionel.” Oswald nodded magnanimously at the return of his son, who had been studying abroad in the Iris Empire, one of their allies. Lionel had left for Iris a year and a half ago. He had been planning to stay for another six months, but he’d had no choice but to return home due to the emergency situation. “I heard that you went to greet Duke Filiaregis the other day.”

“Yes. I saw Miss Drossell as well, but is she not living in the duke’s manor at the moment?”

Oswald’s eyebrows twitched. He had briefly mentioned Drossell in his letter to Lionel when explaining the commotion that had occurred around the first prince, but he hadn’t mentioned that she had left her family’s home. “Ah, I hadn’t told you yet. Drossell lives in a manor outside of the city. She moved there at her own request.”

“I see.” Lionel nodded, accepting the answer.

Resting his arms on the throne’s armrests, Oswald asked his son, “What did you think of Drossell when you saw her?”

“Well… I thought she was strange and a bit odd. We’ve never been particularly close, so perhaps I simply don’t know her well enough to comment…”

“Heh heh… Is that so? I felt the same way.” Oswald chuckled at Lionel’s response. His son had put into words exactly what he had been thinking.

“Father, there’s one more thing about Miss Drossell that I’d like to report.”

“What is it?”

“When I saw her at the duke’s manor, she had a young boy and girl with wings behind her. Could they be…?”

“What?” Both Oswald and Sirius’s eyes widened at the report. They could guess what Lionel had been hinting at. Spirits were the only winged race.

“Haven’t the spirits gone extinct?”

“I’m not sure. But when I observed them from outside of the hall, the boy and girl were using unbelievable magic. There’s no doubt that they were not human.”

“Hmm, I see…” They couldn’t be certain, but he would definitely need to talk with Drossell again at some point. Oswald decided to put the matter on hold for the time being. “Were there any issues during your study abroad?” he asked.

“No. I finished everything, so there’s nothing to worry about.” Lionel reported that, despite his sudden summons back home, he had not rushed and had calmly dealt with matters in Iris. Oswald let out a small relieved sigh, thinking that his son was as outstanding as ever.

“So, how were things in the empire?” he asked.

“Up until about a month ago, there were frequent skirmishes amongst governor-generals in the west, but they’ve calmed down. Systematic reforms are progressing through the upper echelons, but there’s no telling how long the situation will continue. As you’re already aware, the individual local consuls of that country have been growing stronger in recent years.”

“Hmm…” Oswald took a moment to think over Lionel’s words. Just like how disturbances had been occurring frequently in the Kingdom of Platina in recent years, the Iris Empire had also seen an increase in the number of disturbances. Was the peace that had endured for so many years starting to come apart at the seams?

“Also, mysterious white groups have been sighted near the border of the Iris Empire and the Lapis Nation lately. They haven’t made any conspicuous actions, but I believe we should keep an eye on them too.”

“I see. There have been sightings of those mysterious groups in our kingdom as well. We’ll have to send someone to investigate soon.”

Lionel had been sent abroad to gather information. It seemed that they should not let their guard down just because Platina and Iris were allies.

“In any case,” Oswald continued, “you must be tired after your long journey. Please submit a written report later.”

“I will, Father.”

“Also, Cordelica has been eagerly awaiting your return, so you should go see her.”

“Yes, I will.”

“You can leave now.”

“Then please excuse me.” After a polite bow, Lionel left the audience room. Oswald didn’t move for a while after he’d left, but he finally sighed and spoke to Sirius, who was standing beside him.

“Hey, Sirius. Where is my other son wandering around? Has he actually returned?”

“Yes. We’ve received reports that he has entered the capital, but we haven’t received any word from the third prince, so I’m not sure where he is.” Sirius looked pained at the admission.

Oswald sighed. He knew what his third son was like, so he had no choice but to wait for his son to come to him. “I see. Well, I’m sure he has things he needs to do too, so it’s fine. Let me know when he’s back.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Oswald stood from his throne, tossed his cloak over his shoulder, and left the room. He had no time to rest. There was a mountain of work waiting for him to get through.

✦ ✦ ✦

Christa was born as the third daughter of the Filiaregis family. She was promised everything from birth: a warm family, kind servants, and the wealth and status she needed to have any selfishness of hers forgiven.

She had a twin sister who had shiny silver hair and eyes of different color—one crimson, one blue. Her elder sister’s coloring made her look like she wasn’t connected by blood to the rest of the family, and her beauty was so unparalleled, it was nothing short of inhuman.

However, her elder twin was born without magical power. In aristocratic society, where the higher your magical power was, the better, that was a critical flaw for the daughter of a venerable ducal family.

As a result, her elder sister was labeled as an “abomination” soon after she was born. Her parents despised her sister, but in order to maintain the dignity of their family and her value as a duke’s daughter, they provided for her and bought her dresses and jewelry.

For as long as she could remember, Christa had never truly disliked her sister. In fact, she had admired her sister, who was as beautiful as a doll and did everything perfectly, with the exception of magic. And though she was clumsy and awkward about it, Drossell had opened her heart to Christa in return.

Drossell had a friend named Alec. Since she had no place at home, Drossell almost always went over to Alec’s house to play. Christa had played with Alec a few times as well, but she was told that Alec had a very weak constitution. Due to Alec’s mother’s concerns, they hadn’t been able to play together much.

To a young Christa, Alec felt like a horrible child who monopolized her beloved elder sister. Whenever Drossell came home from playing with Alec, Christa would act hurt and lonely. Drossell always gave her a troubled smile and played with her or read her books.

Eleven years ago, when the twins were five years old, war broke out in the Sphylia region in the far northwest near the kingdom’s border. The war was confined to Sphylia, so no one outside of it was frightened and they celebrated their peaceful everyday lives. Christa and her family, who lived in the capital city of Nirvaan far from the battlefields, weren’t bothered by the war at all.

But it was during that time that Alec unexpectedly passed away. It was truly sudden. The young twins hadn’t been told any details, but they overheard adults talking about how Alec had died in a fire.

Drossell was the most affected by Alec’s death. The day she heard the news, she was so shocked that she collapsed and stayed unconscious for three days. Even after she had recovered, she was present in body but not in spirit, as if her soul had left her body.

Christa went to play in her older sister’s room each day. Her family and the servants tried to stop her, but she paid them no mind. She noticed that her sister’s room was starting to get messy each time she went, but she told herself that Drossell just needed to relieve stress because her grief was so deep. Every day, she talked to Drossell, hoping to console her twin sister.

CRASH!

One day, in the early hours of the morning, Christa was woken up by the tremendous sound of glass breaking. She could still hear the sounds of other items breaking, but she wasn’t sure where they were coming from. Pulling on a cardigan, she opened her door and went into the hallway.

A few butlers ran past her a moment later, followed by her older brother, Freid. Watching them run, she wondered what was going on before realizing that they were heading for her older sister’s room.

“Christa, what’s wrong? It’s dangerous out here, go back to your room.” Her father, Scarlough, appeared.

Clinging to his legs, she looked up and anxiously asked, “Father, what’s going on?”

“Don’t worry, Christa. Just be good and wait in your room. Diane will wait with you.” Patting Christa’s head, Scarlough followed the butlers and headed for Drossell’s room. Her mother appeared in front of Christa, immediately taking her father’s place, picking Christa up and taking her back into her room.

“Mother, what happened? Why is everyone going to Drossell’s room?”

“Christa, you needn’t worry about that. That abomination is just destroying everything with her evil power.” Her mother held Christa in her arms, trying to get her back to sleep, but she stubbornly refused to allow Christa to see Drossell no matter how many times she asked. Christa pretended to fall asleep. Once her mother had left the room, she didn’t miss her chance and flew out of it.

Drossell’s room was the furthest down the hall on the second floor. Opening the heavy door, Christa let out a small shriek at the devastation she found inside. Small items, utensils, cloth, and paper were scattered across the room. She had no idea how it’d been broken, but small fragments of wood speckled the carpet. Some of the windows were broken, letting in a cold breeze.

Her sister wasn’t in the room. That made Christa even more anxious. She ran out into the hallway and searched the manor for her sister. She did not eat breakfast nor did she change her clothes. A few servants tried to stop her, and her parents tried to persuade her many times, but she never stopped looking.

Her sister must not have been in the manor, because she couldn’t find her no matter where she looked. Still, she was young enough that the duke’s manor was her entire world, and she continued to search, believing that her sister must be hiding there somewhere. When the sun began to set, an exhausted Christa returned to her sister’s room once more.

Crouching down next to the door, Christa buried her face in her knees. What thoughts had been going through her head back then? She’d likely felt sad and lonely.

“…Christa?” Finally, she heard the voice she’d been waiting to hear. When her head whipped up, she saw Drossell standing in front of her, looking surprised.

Christa couldn’t remember what happened after that. She’d been so happy that her sister was safe that she’d run over to her. She vaguely remembered saying something, but she couldn’t remember what. Before she knew it, Christa had been thrown to the ground by some sort of invisible force.

A sharp pain ran through her arm, but she couldn’t understand what had happened. Looking down, she saw a red streak running across the upper half of her left arm. Drossell stared in a daze at the blood that welled up from the wound before crouching down and covering her face.

Noticing that her older sister was crying, Christa reached out to touch her arm. At that moment, Drossell’s face whipped up and she violently pushed Christa’s hand away with a frightened expression.

Her actions surprised Christa. Servants who had heard the commotion appeared. When they saw the twins, they immediately hid Christa behind them.

Seeing Christa’s imploring gaze from behind the servants, her elder sister whispered, “S-Sorry…” Then she turned and ran off. It was the first time her sister had ever clearly rejected her.

After that, Drossell obviously started to avoid Christa. She didn’t respond when Christa talked to her and disappeared immediately when they ran into each other. Before she knew it, Drossell had become even more reticent and expressionless, and she had closed herself off to Christa.

Christa just wanted to be by her sister’s side, so why did Drossell reject her? That indignation bottled up inside Christa as she turned six. That was the first year she hated her sister.

It all started during a tea garden held in their garden. Christa had invited other noble boys and girls her age. That day, noble children from families on good terms with the Filiaregis family gathered in the garden with Christa at the center as the star of the tea party.

“Hey, who is that?” one of the girls asked, gazing up at one of the manor’s windows. The other boys and girls stirred as they all followed suit.

When Christa also looked up at the second story window, she saw her older sister standing in front of it, expressionlessly looking down on the party through a gap in the curtains. Drossell had been forbidden from going out into society since the day she used her strange powers. She had been confined to their home, but perhaps she was still interested in parties like the tea party.

As she was thinking this, Christa and Drossell locked eyes. Drossell’s gaze shifted, as if she were bothered, before she quickly closed the curtains.

“Ah, she left…”

“I’ve never seen anyone who looks like her before. And she was so pretty!”

Drossell had only shown herself for about ten seconds, but that was plenty of time to grab the children’s attention. Even though Drossell was gone and they were gathered around Christa, her older sister was all they would talk about.

Seeing this, Christa suddenly remembered that her sister was considered beautiful and rare to others. Even without magical power, she could attract people’s gazes with only her existence.

Christa was jealous. She envied Drossell. Drossell just had to stand there, but if Christa stood in the same spot, no one would even notice her. Even though Christa had loved Drossell so deeply, Drossell now avoided getting involved with Christa for reasons that Christa didn’t understand.

Wanting Drossell to look at her, to finally face her again, Christa learned how to force a smile, how to lie, and how to act. She plastered a flowery smile on her face, sprinkled others with insincere praise, and acted in a way that endeared her to others. She created a mask of a child whom everyone loved.

Eventually, the twins were given a private tutor, and she started to be compared to her sister. Drossell could instantly and perfectly complete the things that Christa struggled with. She started to feel inferior.

But Christa was willing to work hard. She devoted more time and effort than anyone else into dancing, which she was not good at, and sewing, which she hated.

As a result, she was regarded as one of the most outstanding noble girls of her age. But even then, her sister remained a presence far out of her reach. And the older they got, the more the distance between them grew.

“Don’t worry. You are amazingly talented. That despicable child is nothing compared to you.”

Her loving family always smiled gently and comforted her. But Christa was well aware that their words were lies. Drossell wasn’t the one who was nothing; she was. Her sister was far better than anyone in their household.

Since Drossell had lost her place at home, she often went out into town. That sight coincided with the sight of her going to visit her best friend in the past. Before long, Drossell had a butler she’d picked up in the city by her side and she had made a place for herself in a world that Christa knew nothing about.

Christa was unbelievably frustrated and irritated. But since she had no idea what to do with her emotions, her hatred for her sister grew by the day.

Why is it always her? What am I missing?

I just want to be with her…

✦ ✦ ✦

Christa slowly opened her eyes to the sensation of cold paper. When she looked outside through her open curtains, she saw a full moon hanging in a starry sky. Apparently, she’d fallen asleep while reading.

She felt like she’d had an important dream but couldn’t remember what it was about. But something made her feel like she saw Drossell right before she woke up…

Looking down at her desk, she saw an open textbook. There were several books stacked on the side of her desk, each of them for an academic subject she studied at the academy.

“Why…?” Crumpling an exercise paper with formulas and vocabulary words written on it, Christa slowly breathed out and held her head. “Why is it always Drossell?”

One of the villages in the duchy once came up with the idea to start a new industry on an experimental basis. Christa and Drossell had both submitted ideas for industries to their uncle, who managed the province in their father’s place. However, he had adopted Drossell’s idea which brought great prosperity to the village.

Their final exams this time had been the same. The fact that Drossell had surpassed her had a huge effect on Christa. Frustrated that her sister had dismissed it as a trivial matter, Christa had continued to study at home even though the exams were over.

“Miss Christa, do you have a moment?” a maid asked from outside her room.

“What is it?” Christa responded languidly, head still in her hands.

“Miss Salinya would like to see you.”

“Sally is here?!” Christa jumped to her feet as the door opened to reveal a woman with long, wavy silver hair gathered over her right shoulder.

“Hello, Christa. It’s been a while.”

“Sally!” Salinya was the eldest of the duke’s daughters. She was supposed to be undertaking bridal training at the home of her fiancé, a marquis. “When did you get back? I thought you’d be staying at Lord Ulster’s estate longer.”

“Our wedding has suddenly been moved up, so I came home early to start getting ready.” Saying this, Salinya walked toward Christa and held her cheeks in both hands, looking into her eyes. “What’s wrong? You look pale. Did something happen to upset you?”

Under her loving but firm gaze that left no room for secrets, Christa took a small breath and began to talk about what had happened at home, at the academy, and about her twin sister.

“I see. Drossell, huh?” After Christa had finished talking, Salinya placed a hand on her cheek and tilted her head, humming noncommittally.

“Sally, do you have any idea what’s going on with her?”

“Not yet. But don’t worry, Chrissy. I’ll do something about it.” Salinya smiled kindly in reassurance. No one noticed the light flickering in the depths of her eyes.

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Her Royal Highness Seems to Be Angry Vol 2