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Chapter 19
“There’s really no need to go that far. I don’t want to put any pressure on you.”
There was no reason to make things awkward for everyone around her out of sheer stubbornness.
Cecilia tried to gently decline the offer, but Alexis was already turning to look at Yulike.
“It’ll be fine, won’t it?”
“On the contrary, that would be better.”
He answered readily, then looked back and forth between Alexis and Blanche.
It was a rather meaningful gaze.
The moment their teacher’s eyes landed on her, Blanche flinched and rolled her large eyes back and forth.
As if she had a lot to feel guilty about.
When she tried to scrunch herself up and hide behind Thierry, Yulike cast her an indulgent, not-unkind glance.
“If Her Highness the Imperial Princess is watching, the stability test should proceed smoothly. I earnestly ask this of you, Your Highness.”
“Think nothing of it. I’m the one who should be grateful.”
Whether fortunate or unfortunate, the reply came out as smoothly as the smile at her lips.
So unlike the turmoil that had spread through her heart over a single phrase.
…“Smoothly,” huh.
Alexis naturally resumed escorting her. Matching his stride to his younger sibling’s, Cecilia glanced sideways at the fountain they were passing.
The engraved letters carved in relief seemed strangely pronounced.
It was close to noon, when the sunlight should have been warm and gentle, yet for that brief moment the light felt cold and transparent.
Cool droplets splashed.
Ruthlessly. Inescapably.
Passing the fountain and crossing the training grounds, a building of black sandstone loomed ahead, swallowing the surrounding light.
With five floors above ground and ten below, it was sturdy enough to withstand even a mage’s rampage.
An educational institution that had guarded the outskirts of Saint-Lorrec since the founding of the Empire.
Facing the mages’ stronghold, steeped in living history, Cecilia made no effort to hide her awe.
Perhaps her reaction was the right one, for the faces of the academy staff bloomed with pride.
Guided by Yulike, they headed to the fifth basement level, where the evaluation would take place.
The moment they entered, a vast sparring arena spread out beyond a massive glass window.
Blanche, who had been darting about beside Thierry, was the first to slip inside the arena.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince.”
“Mm.”
“The reason Blanche, an alumna, is your opponent is because there is no one who understands Your Highness’s mana better than she does.”
“That’s probably true.”
After all, they had been trading blows since childhood.
Listening to her brother’s light agreement, Cecilia gazed beyond the glass.
She wasn’t sure whether it was a magically created illusion, but what met her eyes was the interior of a half-collapsed, abandoned building.
Split in two and tattered, the structure laid bare its unsightly insides.
Dust piled thickly, furniture strewn chaotically across the floor.
A doll with its seams torn, a rug fraying messily at the edges.
A wardrobe with drawers left open, moss-covered windowsills, bluish moss creeping across the floor, and clusters of mushrooms huddled together.
Cecilia held her breath at the scene revealed in the hazy sunlight.
Abandoned by people, the ruins were dying a lonely death.
In the midst of neglect, clinging only to the faded glory of once having been someone’s warm resting place.
Her fingertips twitched. Slowly, she lowered her gaze.
Just before the sympathy seeping into her heart could turn into a sense of kinship, Cecilia began to push the emotion away.
Emotions flow, just as time does.
People change, and in the process someone must abandon, and something must be abandoned.
It was an utterly natural course of events.
If one were to resent anything, perhaps it should be the very essence of being born finite in a world ruled by time.
Or else the mere reality of having been born at all.
She neatly tied off her thoughts with that conclusion.
She knew well how futile they were—how they would only fester in the heart if left alone.
Rather than gnawing at an unchangeable reality, quiet resignation was better.
Thankfully, she extinguished the unrest before it could spill out.
By the time she regained her composure, Alexis and Yulike were still discussing the test.
“Subdue your opponent, but please…”
“Don’t injure her?”
“Yes. Keep that firmly in mind.”
“Understood. And damage to the arena?”
“That is of no concern.”
Alexis nodded indifferently, then turned back to her and carefully took her hand.
“Then, sister. I’ll be going.”
“Don’t get hurt.”
Cecilia turned toward the arena and murmured slowly,
“Come back victorious.”
Whatever amused him so much, Alexis stifled a laugh and snickered.
He kept at it until she gave him a look of disbelief.
When he finally stopped laughing, he lightly pressed the tip of her fourth fingernail.
Before she could even flinch, he bent with impeccable courtesy and placed a kiss on the back of her hand.
“As the Imperial Princess commands.”
It was a greeting as mischievous as his smiling eyes.
Click.
With the sound of the door locking, a chime rang out announcing the start of the test.
Cecilia straightened her posture and stared ahead with a composed expression.
Beyond the glass, Alexis was walking forward as he loosened his cravat.
He suddenly stopped, bit the tip of his glove with his teeth, and slowly peeled it off, revealing a stark-white hand.
KRAAANG—!
A sudden explosive roar slammed into her eardrums.
As Yulike and the others from the mage tower jumped in surprise, Cecilia expressed her own shock with nothing more than a raised eyebrow.
…Now she understood why Sir Yulike had used the word “smoothly.”
To think he’d blow away half the living-room furniture right from the start.
Blanche nimbly dodged Alexis’s attack and leapt up to the second floor.
“He’s aggressive from the outset.”
“Is he not worried about mana depletion?”
“Depletion? Hardly. His mana reserves are unprecedented even among the imperial family. There’s no way he’ll run dry.”
“So he intends to end this quickly.”
Excited chatter brushed past Cecilia’s ears.
They were the analyses and conjectures of those who had gathered, curious about the next sun of Ryusen.
She listened quietly, eyes fixed beyond the glass, forced to watch the rapidly exchanged blows with bated breath.
By coincidence—
Someone sighed as violet eyes flicked a glance in their direction.
“Wow… must be nice to be that relaxed.”
“At the very least, his mana control is top-tier.”
Technical terms—mana distribution, deployment formulas, directional control—swirled through the arena.
Even so, Blanche attempted a counterattack, only for Alexis to casually wave it aside.
After two or three exchanges, the entire spiral staircase collapsed with a crash.
Fragments scattered wildly, thunderous booms echoing again and again, grating on the nerves.
As if begging not to be destroyed, the ruins let out a desperate, relentless groan.
The crash, rumble, bang rang out so loudly she wanted to cover her ears.
While Blanche vanished from sight above, Alexis, on the lower level, lightly stamped his feet a few times and leisurely avoided the debris.
The way he moved, fluttering and light, was like a butterfly wandering the boundary between dream and reality.
Cecilia lifted her chin ever so slightly.
Perhaps from excessive tension, her jaw was clenched tight.
She tried to loosen the corners of her mouth, to ease her stiffened expression.
“It seems His Highness the Crown Prince has changed quite a bit since coming to the mage tower.”
Thierry’s voice.
The knight with faded blond hair spoke slowly and calmly, his tone perfectly reflecting his temperament as he offered his opinion.
Without realizing it, Cecilia turned to look at him.
Noticing the princess’s open interest, he hastily bowed his head.
“Why do you think so?”
Perhaps because the Imperial Princess had spoken, those around them began to fall silent one by one.
In the fully settled quiet, Thierry opened his mouth carefully.
His gray eyes were still stubbornly tracking the movements of the two mages in the arena.
“Because His Highness’s method of combat has completely changed.”
In an instant, a flash of light exploded beyond the glass.
The brilliance was blinding, making it impossible to focus on the conversation.
Her heart clenched violently.
Her already-aching grip throbbed even more.
A chill ran down Cecilia’s spine as she quickly turned back toward the arena, while Thierry continued his explanation without pause.
“What I am about to say is purely my personal opinion, Your Highness. It is nothing more than a conjecture. Please bear that in mind.”
“…All right.”
“His Highness’s former style was closer to a duel. The direction and intent of his attacks were clearly visible.”
A gentle, measured voice laying out his thoughts.
“Whether he intended to or not, His Highness revealed his intentions completely—without the slightest omission or embellishment.”
In a duel, aside from the opening move, participants face each other directly.
Right up until the moment the trigger is pulled, you have no choice but to show your opponent your entire attack.
Honest, bold, and in some ways, naïve.
“But now—”
Blanche was hurling herself desperately through a hole punched in the third-floor floor, fleeing.
Meanwhile, Alexis walked leisurely with one hand shoved into his pocket.
Crunch.
Glass shattered beneath his foot, screaming as it broke.
He indifferently kicked aside one of the larger shards, then used the still-intact stairs to descend to the second floor.
He knocked aside a spell flying toward him—and then…
“Oh—.”
With a light flick of his finger, he blew apart an entire wall.
The scale was utterly different from before; her vision flickered.
When the pitch-black haze cleared even slightly, all that remained was acrid smoke and finely scattered stone fragments.
An overwhelming amount of dust, a building continuing to crumble in a pitiful state…
Crack.
Unable to endure it any longer, the glass window finally gave up and collapsed, sacrificing itself.
Furniture that had lost parts of themselves had already toppled over, their balance gone.
Would it have looked like this if lightning had rained down like a storm?
The horrifying sounds of destruction swallowed all her senses.
Her mind went blank.
