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Chapter 17
After my mother passed away, I was so preoccupied with training and managing the estate that I had no time for anything else. I withdrew completely from social gatherings and barely interacted with other nobles, even those I had been friendly with.
However, there were two exceptions—Mostin and Sion. I continued to meet with them regularly.
‘That’s how important they are to me.’
Today, I was on my way to the House of Duke Fredo for one of our gatherings.
I rested my chin on my hand and gazed out the window of the moving carriage. Just then, I saw three young children playing in the central plaza—one girl and two boys.
A girl and two boys, huh…
The moment I saw that combination, it automatically reminded me of the first time I met those two.
✦
The empire stands on three mighty pillars.
Alton of the North.
Fredo of the West.
Aglara of the South.
Coincidentally—though some called it a blessing—children were born into all three ducal houses in the same year.
That would be me, Bellady Alton.
Mostin Fredo.
And Sion Aglara.
Mostin and Sion, children of families that frequently interacted, had been friends since before they could even walk.
In contrast, the Alton family had long walked its own path with little interaction with other noble houses. Plus, I was the only one of the three born female, so I spent my early years with almost no connection to them.
Time passed, and when I turned ten, an incident occurred.
That year, a school that had been under construction on the outskirts of the capital—ordered by the late emperor—was finally completed. Every newspaper in the empire ran the headline:
“The First School for Commoners Is Finally Complete!”
It was the fruit of the late emperor’s long battle with the noble council, finally realized under his son’s reign.
To promote the milestone, the emperor held a grand opening ceremony, attended by royalty and many influential nobles. My mother stayed behind with young Meldor, while I accompanied my father to the event.
That was where I first met Mostin and Sion.
The two were already inseparable best friends at the time. They barely acknowledged me and busied themselves playing together.
I didn’t care much about them either, so after a brief greeting, I mingled with some girls my age.
The event seemed to proceed without any issues. After the royal family left and nobles began to trickle out…
Disaster struck.
The incident that still makes headlines to this day—the Kennewb School Bombing.
A small faction of nobles, furious about building a school for commoners, had planted a bomb inside the building.
Fortunately, no one died in the attack. The perpetrators, conscious of the potential consequences if noble casualties occurred, only targeted an auxiliary building in the back.
It was pure luck that the collapsed structure was empty.
The problem was—we had been in the garden of that annex.
Me, Mostin, and Sion.
It was a complete coincidence that we were there.
I had followed a stray cat.
They had wandered off looking for a quiet place to play.
“This is our spot. Can you leave?”
Sion blinked his golden eyes at me.
I tilted my head.
“Why should I?”
“Um… there are two of us and only one of you.”
“I might be alone, but I was here first. You’re the ones bothering me.”
“…Oh, right.”
Then Mostin grinned.
“Come on, why not play with—”
BOOM!
I remember it like it was yesterday.
The deafening roar that cut off Mostin’s words. The acrid wind that slammed into us.
And the moment a massive shadow from the collapsing building loomed over Mostin’s young face.
“Watch out!”
I moved without thinking—grabbing Mostin and Sion into my arms.
Flash!
At the same time, the necklace I wore lit up, and a blue protective barrier surrounded us.
High-ranking noble children often wore accessories embedded with protective spells, just in case. Mine was a necklace enchanted by my mother.
Two more barriers appeared above mine—green and purple. Mostin’s and Sion’s.
Three layers of shields protected us. But not even they could completely block the impact of a collapsing building.
Mostin and Sion crouched in my arms. I kept my eyes locked on the falling debris.
Time passed—how long, I didn’t know.
Then, silence.
“I-Is it over?”
“Seems like it.”
They opened their eyes and looked around.
Though there had been three barriers, the green one was long gone.
Only a faint purple circle and my solid blue shield remained.
“You guys really need to upgrade your accessories.”
At my words, Mostin and Sion glanced awkwardly at their own brooches—one set with peridot, the other amethyst.
Mostin’s peridot had shattered. Sion’s amethyst was deeply cracked.
“What gem is yours?”
Sion asked, and I lifted my necklace.
“Diamond.”
Only certain gemstones could hold magic—ones exposed to natural mana over long periods.
Even the amethyst in the gun and the sapphire in the greenhouse were magical stones like that.
Magic-capable gems were rare. And among them, diamonds—like mine—existed in only three pieces.
My necklace sparkled without a single flaw, befitting its rarity. Its powerful shield continued to protect us.
I spoke proudly.
“You should be grateful. You’re only alive thanks to me.”
The enchantments were carved by my mother herself—a top-tier mage—into a pure diamond. It was strong.
Being inside the blue barrier felt like being in her embrace. Plus, the fact that my family surpassed the others gave me a certain thrill of superiority.
Mostin scratched his head.
“Yeah… we would’ve been toast without you. Thanks.”
Sion flushed slightly and dipped his head.
“Sorry about earlier. I wasn’t trying to pick a fight.”
His bashful apology made me nod.
“Apology accepted. Now let’s get out of here.”
“Get out? Shouldn’t we wait for the adults to rescue us?”
Mostin asked. I shook my head.
“The barrier won’t last forever. Even if it’s strong, it’s not invincible.”
Sion nodded.
“You’ve got a point… but…”
He looked at the debris blocking every path and sighed.
“How do we dig our way out?”
“Just follow me.”
I kicked a chunk of rubble aside.
CRASH!
With a loud rumble, the debris tumbled.
“What are you doing?!”
“Are you crazy?!”
Sion and Mostin rushed to pull me back. I looked up calmly.
“As long as the barrier is active, we’re safe no matter what. I saw the way out earlier when everything started collapsing.”
I headed toward more rubble.
“We need to escape before the barrier disappears.”
Mostin grabbed my wrist, his brown eyes serious.
“What if someone else is still trapped in here?”
“So we just wait around? What if the barrier fails?”
“Even so, we can’t abandon others to save ourselves.”
“That’s just a guess.”
“So is your guess that the adults won’t come in time.”
Our opinions clashed sharply.
Then Sion stepped in.
“Let’s not waste energy arguing. I’ll use magic to scan for any living beings nearby.”
The Aglara family was known for producing powerful mages, and Sion had already shown promise.
“That much time you can give me, right, Bellady?”
His golden eyes were calm as they met mine.
Besides my mother, no one had ever spoken my name so familiarly before.
It felt strange. I slowly nodded.
“…Alright.”
He placed both hands on the ground and closed his eyes. Purple mana pulsed around him.
Moments later, his eyes opened.
“There’s no one else around.”
“Really?”
Sion brushed back his sweat-drenched purple hair and smiled.
“Yeah. Looks like there’s a crowd outside, but no one else in here.”
“Great!”
Mostin looked relieved and beamed at me.
“Tell me the direction. I’ll clear the rubble!”
“I can do it.”
“Come on, let me do something!”
“Yeah, Bellady. Let Mostin handle it. He’s trained with a sword since childhood—he’s good with physical stuff.”
“Yup! I’m strong!”
The two boys had tossed aside their earlier tension and giggled together.
I sighed and pointed.
“Fine. Start with that pile. I just want to get out of here already.”
“Got it! Leave it to us!”
“Hey, I’m helping too!”
The two eagerly moved toward the rubble I indicated.
More debris crashed down as we moved. They flinched but didn’t back down.
Sion and Mostin worked swiftly, using magic and strength in turn. Watching them, I felt something strange—envy.
Because I’d never had friends like that…
As we worked, light gradually came into view.
“We’re almost there.”
“Ugh! But this last stone is heavy!”
“Argh! It is!”
The final chunk was bigger than either of them. No matter how hard they pushed, it didn’t budge.
I stood back for a moment, watching, then stepped forward.
“Move aside. I’m going to lose my mind watching this.”
“You want to help?”
“I’ll do it alone.”
“But we couldn’t even move it toge—”
Before Sion could finish—
I kicked the boulder.
BOOM!
With a thunderous crash, the massive stone shattered into pieces.
