Chapter 16: Bonds

Part 1

He had been trapped alone in the darkness for decades, centuries, millennia…..for so long that he could hardly remember.

Which was why he craved for light. The black darkness squirmed out of the way when the gentle light fell down into it, and he always huddled up on top of the one corner of the roots that the light fell upon.

The darkness was cold and damp, and the light was new to him. He, who remained trapped in the darkness alone after everything else had escaped it, had only the moon floating high in the sky on the other side of the hole to fixate on.

He was trapped in the darkness, and the moon and the golden moonlight it showered down was so beautiful to him. It was the only thing he could see in the darkness, and his soul sought the moon’s brilliant golden light. He thought that the golden light was the only thing of worth in the world.

He wanted to reach out and grab it, but he could not. He spent his time desperately trying to grab hold of the light. His soul, which had originally been black, began adorning itself with the golden light without his notice like a chick chasing after his mother. Though, the fact that he was still fundamentally black hadn’t changed, of course.

He craved for divine power like crazy because he wanted to feel the light. He needed divine power to remain conscious, and he needed even more divine power to borrow the spirits’ powers to create a body for himself so that he could feel the light.

But he was always lacking divine power. He used up what divine power that dribbled down from the roots in no time at all if he created a body, so he spent most of his time barely holding onto his consciousness without being able to feel the light.

His thirst for life only grew worse as he repeated this time and time again. He wanted life so desperately it drove him insane.

But then, something strange had happened one day. He had been able to separate out only the trait of life from divine power! This had been the result of his tenacity, as he so desperately craved for life more strongly than any other. And the rest of the power was dead!

The energy, in which only the trait of power remained after the trait of life had been removed from it, was like fine dust that had lost the warmth of light. He observed the energy. It alarmed him. He objectively understood the energy’s shape and scale now better than when it had still been divine power, and he grasped the mechanisms behind it.

What could this energy do? He tried using the energy to call the spirits. But the spirits rejected the dull and unpleasant energy that reeked only of death. He was disappointed.

Then, he began analyzing and analyzing the body he received after offering the spirits divine power. He was only able to do this because of the knowledge he had gained after observing the dead energy that consisted only of the trait of power without the trait of life.

He learned that powers were made manifest by the twisting, tangling, and rearranging of divine power. In other words, his body had been made by borrowing the spirits’ powers to twist and turn and arrange divine power into complicated formations, thereby manifesting those powers —it was difficult, but he learned that it was possible to create his body even when using divine power that lacked the trait of life. And, after hundreds, thousands, and tens of thousands of rounds of trial and error, he finally succeeded in mimicking the spirits’ powers and recreated his own body.

But there were flaws to mimicking the spirits’ powers like this that he could not ignore.

First, he could use the power imprinted on his fragment of chaos naturally and without any trouble, but he had to go through the agonizing process of wracking his brains to figure out the structures of how other gods’ powers worked and arrange the energy himself if he wanted to use them.

Second, he could only mimic other powers —he could not manifest them completely. Unlike his own power, which he didn’t need to keep supplying with energy to because it was applied as soon as he used it, artificial powers were dispelled after a set period of time. In other words, the dirt created by the spirit of earth stayed there forever once it had been created, but the dirt that he made would vanish after a while.

But there were amazing advantages to using the dead energy too, in that the energy wasn’t consumed upon use. It was only consumed when he used his own power.

The gods would call this energy ‘demonic power’ one day. And they would call the powers that the Demon had mimicked ‘magic’.

He separated life out of divine power and used it to maintain his consciousness, and he used demonic power to create himself a body. The only difference was that he no longer felt warmth coming from his body. The body that the spirits created for him had required endless amounts of divine power, but in return, it had carried out life functions ceaselessly, was dynamic, and overflowed with vigor. On the other hand, the body he made for himself was still and did not feel like it was alive.

That being said, he could still feel his senses and think, just like he could when he had a body created by the spirits. He was satisfied just to be able to maintain his body for longer stretches of time. It was only then that the divine power dribbling down from the roots was actually enough to sustain him.

He now had a toy. He didn’t need the demonic power anymore once he had finished making his body. He absorbed divine power to maintain his soul, and he could mix together demonic power, which only accumulated once he was done creating his body, and make earth, water, fire, and wind at will so he could play. He had long since grasped how the spirits’ powers worked while he had been researching how to make a body, and he could mimic them perfectly.

Demonic power was a good toy, since it never exhausted no matter how much he played. He was happy with everything. He liked the way his demonic power was dyed in the golden light, and he found it fun to use demonic power to make things with.

Countless time passed and his ego grew stronger than any other’s because he had endured spending all that time completely alone. He was very efficient in his use of divine power so he could save and save and save what little of it he had, and he was more skilled at handling divine power than any other because he had spent so much time mimicking the spirits’ powers with demonic power while playing.

His fragment of chaos couldn’t produce divine power, but the demonic power circling within his heart only continued snowballing. It was then that he started creating a metal that looked like the golden light. He, who was obsessed over the golden light, was very satisfied with the metal he had made —gold—, and he began stockpiling it inside the place where he was staying.

And so, this was how he had spent his time…….

But one day, he started feeling odd emotions in one corner of his heart. He hated, he was sad, he loathed, he was frustrated, he was greedy, he was disgusted, he was angry, he was miserable…….

He did not know what the feelings that had suddenly began torturing him were. The only things he knew were the silent darkness and the moon, and all he could do was lay there and let the unidentifiable feelings ferment because he had no one to vent to.

And so, unable to control his emotions, he would suddenly erupt and fall back into a daze over and over again like an invalid.

And that wasn’t all —at some point, memories he couldn’t identify began boiling up and invading his brain. The main actors in those memories were beings with very long bodies. They fought, screamed at each other, and killed each other in the mysterious memories.

He had only been able to play with the spirits’ powers in the darkness, and so he began taking an interest in the sudden negative emotions and memories he experienced. He could taste the gods’ feelings and experiences indirectly through those memories. He then began substituting those feelings and experiences for his own, and those memories eventually became completely his.

He continued to dig around the memories that had seeped into him with great interest until one day, he decided to abandon his form and made a new one that looked like the ones he had seen. He became a god with black hair and eyes —the color of his soul.

He was digging through his memories like he always did when one day, he looked up at the sky in one of his memories. He recoiled in shock. The moon was present in the skies of his memories too, but there was also something strange there that wasn’t the moon. Unlike the golden moon, it was crimson and so vividly bright that it hurt his eyes. And its light was also golden.

What is that?

I wonder what that is?

But it was different from the golden light of the moon. And it was different from the gold he had created too. He was obsessed over that golden light, and he stopped looking at the moon. And then, for a long, long time, he devoted himself to figuring out what it was.

It had happened while he was remembering the crimson something from his memories as usual. The sky on the other side of the moon had suddenly ripped open. Then, shortly thereafter, a light that was so hot and so warm he could not bear it had poured in. He was mesmerized by the unexpected but brilliant light.

He had seen it. The golden light that was his everything —the sun, which scattered its crimson light out everywhere like water from a cataract.

He stared at the blinding sun in mute amazement. He had thought that the light belonged to the moon, but it didn’t. The moon was merely reflecting the light given off by the sun.

And then, he met her when she peered in from the rift.

‘You’re so blinding.’

‘It makes me want to stay close to you.’

‘So please, stay with me.’

I like you so much.

You’re beautiful.

I love you.

He loved her. He was grateful to her for being the first to talk to him, she was so precious to him for being the first to teach him warmth, and she was so beautiful when she laughed out loud that he found himself mesmerized. He found it adorable when she spoke to him at length about the sword, and he was so envious of the absolute affection she held for the sword even as she looked lovely while she affectionately tendered her sword. He thought she was cool as she taught him how to wield the sword like a hardworking yet strict teacher.

He was proud of the fact that she was the strongest god in the world, he wanted to hold her as she sought rest at his side, she was so filled with life, unlike himself, and he loved her like crazy for bashfully whispering her love to him. He didn’t need anything else so long as he had her.

He was parched whenever she wasn’t there. But his thirst went away, as if he had drunk multiple jars of cool and refreshing water, when she was by his side. He had thought that she was all he ever needed.

But he had been arrogant. He had received the countless wicked memories, spanning immeasurable years, and emotions from the other gods, and he coveted life endlessly as if it was in his nature. He had spent almost an eternity in the dark prison, and he ultimately could not socialize into the rest of the world. The gods who learned about him called him the Demon.

He raged.

‘It wasn’t my fault. You were the ones who made me like this. Why are you getting angry at me? Why are you trying to erase me, and why do you call me a Demon? You abandoned me all to myself while you lived in happiness, and you pushed all of your negative emotions onto me.’

Even she had distanced herself from him after learning what he was. She had coldly cast him aside. And so, he despaired.

‘Do you loathe me for being like this?’

‘I love you no matter what you do.’

‘I haven’t changed. This is who I am. I love you like crazy, but I hate the other gods. This is me.’

‘I love you, and that has never changed. So why are you casting me aside? Why can’t you accept me for who I am? I’ll love you forever no matter how much you change!’

‘And what about our promise?’

He had loved, and so, his heart had been pierced by it.

His heart had shattered like a glass ball that had been hit against a solid rock. His heart, imprinted by betrayal, gushed forth a plethora of new emotions, and those new emotions threatened to cover up his love. The dam, once protected by his love, broke, and all sorts of evil feelings began eating away at his heart. Thorny vines of malice wound together and covered up the flower of love until it was no longer visible.

And yet again, he slept alone in the darkness for decades, centuries, and millennia. His soul had been shredded to pieces, and only a very small fragment of it remained inside his heart. And the only memory that remained in that fragment of his soul was the memory of her sword piercing through his heart.

His heart produced cruel emotions, like his rage and hatred toward life, his desire to live, and his hunger, even as he slept as if that was its very nature. It also produced dismal emotions, such as his betrayal, sorrow, and fury, because he couldn’t understand why she had done it. His feelings wrapped around him like a dense layer of black and poisonous smoke.

The tiny fragment of his heart could not withstand all of his evil feelings. His feelings filled up the dark space he was in and piled up and piled up and piled up, and then it condensed and condensed and condensed……until it reached a point where the space was saturated beyond its limits. His feelings ripped through the earth and spilled into the world. And the world usually plugged itself back up. The world ripped and ripped and ripped. And the world plugged and plugged and plugged.

Then, one day, he strongly sensed his own soul nearby before the world had completely plugged itself back up again, and the shock jolted him awake.

~~*~~

“Sniff, sob. What do I do, Lord Heinrich?”

Heinrich stared down at the woman, who had already been fatally wounded by the wound on her abdomen by the time she had reached him, in devastation. She was pallid as she bled profusely from the stomach and poured tears out from her eyes.

“I want to live. I want to live, and give birth to this child, and get my revenge on those demons…….”

She desperately tried to stop the blood from seeping out of her stomach with a trembling hand. Perhaps it was because she hadn’t been pregnant for long, or perhaps it was because she had been skewered by sharpened steel, but her stomach remained hair-raisingly flat even when Heinrich had poured his best medicine over her.

“This child is my only remaining family now. But, but…… Is my baby still inside me……?”

The woman’s eyelids quivered as she looked down at her stomach before she passed out. Heinrich ground his teeth in regret.

The Roygen woman, who had just barely managed to conceive from the seed of the Bahamut imperial family, was bleeding copiously from the stomach. Heinrich shut his eyes in dismay. But just then…

Shh…….

A chill ran down Heinrich’s back as he suddenly felt like prey who had caught a predator’s eye.

Shhhh…….

Black smoke poured out from nowhere. It swallowed Heinrich and the woman in an instant and left them in a black darkness that didn’t allow in a single ray of light.

Heinrich blinked as he clutched his wand tightly. He wondered if the bastards from Bahamut had found them and cast a spell on them. But he instinctively realized that this wasn’t the case. He felt the presence of something far greater than they. He felt like he was being devoured whole, like an insect swept away by a storm.

And just then, a large crack of golden light appeared on the upper side of the woman’s chest and she broke open like something was breaking out from her shell.

Swooosh!

There was an outpour of golden light.

“Ack!”

The blood drained from Heinrich’s face. He stepped back on his quivering legs.

A giant golden eye had appeared from the crack. A single golden eye was shining in the pitch-black darkness. The shining eye gave Heinrich goosebumps.

He tried to cast shielding magic. But the mana did not budge. Why? Why wasn’t the mana listening to him? It was supposed to follow his instructions obediently, and yet it wouldn’t budge.

Heinrich couldn’t do anything in the darkness, and the gigantic eye belonging to some mysterious creature terrified him. The eye stared down at the woman’s stomach while Heinrich was rendered immobile.

[My soul is inside this woman’s body……. The fetus inside this wench carries it……. I feel a pure-white mound of flesh that’s been touched by nothing but sweet divine power and my very own soul……. But the mound of flesh is torn……and the fetus will soon expire……. I wish to retrieve my soul……. But……I cannot…….]

The voice echoing inside Heinrich’s head spread like ripples on the water’s surface.

[I……what do I rage against……? Why am I angry……? All I remember is being betrayed by a woman……. What is it that I yearn for……? I cannot know……. I want to know……but……I cannot move because there is a sword pierced through my heart…….]

A giant claw appeared from the darkness.

[And so……I will take the fetus’ heart and make it my second……. I will take this fetus on the brink of death and have it be reborn as me……. And the sweet divine power the fetus was holding will nourish me with life…….]

The mana, which had remained frozen when Heinrich had tried controlling it, rushed toward the claw and swirled around it like a storm.

[I will connect my second heart to my immobile one……. I will start anew with no memories, but I will have my ego and gather the fragments of my soul……. And in the end, I will seek me out and take back my first heart and my memories…….]

The golden mana rent the woman apart. Heinrich was so startled that he didn’t know what to do, and the golden mana cut open her womb and settled inside it. The golden mana vanished, and the woman’s stomach stiched itself back together again like two droplets of water converging together. Heinrich gasped as he watched. The eye then looked to him.

[Do you have a fragment of my soul as well……? You, too, will offer me my soul one day……. But, until that day comes, you will watch over my other self……for you will die if you don’t……]

The darkness opened its maw. It had fangs sharper than the blades of axes. It laughed eerily. Then, it raised its claw. Golden mana gathered at its claw and shot out toward Heinrich like a beam.

~~*~~

“Ughh…….”

Heinrich woke up from his nightmare drenched in a pool of sweat in the highest floor of his dwelling, the Grey Magic Tower.

“Hmph!”

He opened his eyes wide, unable to breathe, and sat up. He coughed relentlessly as he struggled to catch his breath.

‘A dream……no, a memory…….’

He grabbed a towel from the table beside him and wiped away the beads of sweat from his face. He pushed his round glasses up his nose with a trembling hand. He closed his eyes and reminisced over the past that had taken place following his dream.

It had been cruel, but Heinrich had attempted to destroy the fetus.

The Demon……. It hadn’t called itself as such, but it was obviously the Demon. It had been the real Golden Demon who granted those who benefitted from the Bahamut imperial family’s fragments an incredible control over mana, and it had told Heinrich that he must protect the Demon’s other self before he finally died by the Demon’s hands…….

He had not been in his right mind, and he had tried to murder the unconscious woman as soon as he had exited the darkness. Rage had taken hold of his entire being. He could not allow his beloved niece, the only family he had left, to perish because of him.

But his head had hurt like it was about to burst open as soon as the thought of killing the mother and fetus had entered his mind. He had tried repeatedly, but he could not kill them because his head had burned in pain whenever the thought had crossed his mind. And so, Heinrich had had no choice but to protect both mother and fetus like he had originally planned.

And then, Arhad had been born. The woman had died as soon as she had given birth, as if the child had sucked out the life from her. She had left Heinrich with the request to watch over her child.

“Arhad…….”

Heinrich muttered Arhad’s name as he recalled the latter’s childhood.

The child had been as a blank page. He had always been in a blank daze when he was awake unless he was drinking milk, eating baby food, or relieving his bowels. He neither laughed, nor cried, nor spoke. The wet-nurse who had nursed the child as a baby had asked if the child was retarded, but Heinrich figured that there must be something different about him because he was the Demon.

Heinrich couldn’t tell whether Arhad was a human or the Demon because, while Arhad looked human, he was still connected to the Demon’s heart locked away in Pandemonium —and Heinrich feared him. This was why Heinrich had always kept the child locked up in the tower and had monitored him closely unless the wet-nurse was here, but the child had remained blank even after turning four, then five.

It had happened just as Heinrich had started wondering if something had gone wrong. Light had suddenly returned to the child’s eyes. He had been observing the change carefully when, surprisingly, the child had said,

“I won’t kill you.”

Slaaam!

Heinrich, who had been lost in thought, turned his head when he heard a door slam loudly shut. He thought he had heard a door smash into a wall and break apart before he heard a set of hurried footsteps. The footsteps grew farther away.

Heinrich was thirsty, so he poured himself some water from the kettle on the table and into a glass cup. He got up and slowly walked up to the window with his cup in hand. He looked up at the sky. The many birds in the air were chirping. White clouds floated in the air and concealed the sunlight.

A short while later, a certain figure quickly ran outside the tower. Heinrich stared at his retreating figure.

The child had grown up well. He had seemed somewhat lacking in terms of emotions, but he was no different from any other human. His looks were superhumanly captivating and he had the strange power to draw people to him, but he was still just human.

Arhad had told Heinrich that he would not kill him, but Heinrich had kept him locked inside the tower all throughout his childhood because he had still been afraid nevertheless. But he soon learned that it had all been pointless anyway. A grave flaw had taken hold in Arhad’s heart.

Arhad had suddenly started slipping out of the tower without a word one day. Heinrich had frightened upon learning of Arhad’s absence and had chased after him every time, only to find him on a mountain or at the entrance to one of the four corners. And every time, Heinrich had found Arhad drenched in blood alongside the carcasses of monsters whose hearts had been burst open.

His heart consumed divine power quickly, for whatever the reason. Heinrich had found no problems with Arhad’s heart when he had examined it. But the divine power was a problem. Arhad used up the same amount of divine power in just one month that most people used up only after ten years.

Arhad had called his condition a heart condition. And he had said that he would sleep for a long, long time until he was supplied with divine power again if he ever ran out.

It was possible that Arhad might catch Bahamut’s attention if he continued carrying out his massacres. And so, Heinrich had told Arhad to stay in the tower while he personally went out to gather divine power from monsters’ hearts and condense it into a liquid drug that Arhad could take. But the divine power in Arhad’s heart dried up quicker and quicker as he matured.

Eiji had come to them when Arhad had been in his teens and Heinrich had been worrying over Arhad’s worsening symptoms. The boy, who burned with hatred and vengeance, had called himself the only surviving Roygen apart from Arhad.

The boy had been fervent about ending the Bahamut line. And Eiji, the very same boy, had said that he was one of the bosses of the Black Fox who was responsible for gathering intelligence on Arhad. That was when Heinrich had stopped worrying that Bahamut would somehow catch wind of Arhad.

Then, they had formed Camastros. They had begun recruited talent from various backgrounds. And they had started a turf war with the Black Fox…….

Which led to where they were today. And Arhad had always been as still as the eye of a storm until now.

Yet, that very same Arhad had lost his composure and was running off to somewhere with great haste. Heinrich looked down from the window and mumbled,

“Since he’s in such a hurry, he must be going to that girl…….”

~~*~~

“…….”

The morning sun poured its warm and golden rays over his face. Arhad grimaced and covered his eyes with his hand to block the rays as they scattered into a golden light.

He loved the sun’s light like crazy. He had thought that the yellowish golden light was the most precious thing in the world before he had learned about the sun. He had tried to take after the golden light, and he had also chased after it.

“Was it a dream?”

You were never a light that I could grab hold of no matter how hard I tried.

“Was it all just a dream?”

Arhad muttered to himself for a while like he had lost his mind before he abruptly jumped up. He snapped back to his senses after pouring cold water over his head and put on the first set of clothes he saw. He kicked open the door as hard as he could and ran over to where she was most likely to be.

His body moved beyond human limits and, though the distance was relatively short, his breathing never disturbed. He did not sweat a single drop of sweat, and the only thing that disheveled him was the wind tussling his hair. And yet, his breath was harsh as it escaped his lips, and beads of cold sweat had formed on his forehead.

As he’d expected, Ianna was most certainly training hard with her sword in the training hall filled with light. Arhad collected his ragged breathing and grabbed hold of a tree. He wiped away the sweat on his forehead. Ianna’s ears prickled, and she turned to where the noise was coming from. Arhad was nervous.

“Arhad?”

She called out to him after seeing how bizarrely he was acting. Arhad bit down hard at his lips when Ianna called him name. His lips were dry and cracking.

“Yesterday…….”

Arhad could not find the words to continue. He hadn’t known what to do with himself ever since Ianna had declared that she would be his yesterday. It was something he had seen only in his dreams and fantasies, and yet it had become as reality without any warning. He wondered if it was all just a dream, and he was drawing a complete blank because he had no idea what was happening.

But the feelings that surged through his entire mind once he had finally understood the situation were pungent joy and delight. His entire body flushed the very moment her lips had touched the back of his hand. Her round head as she stooped down to kiss him was so blindingly bright that his eyes hurt. The joy, which he would never trade for even the most precious of treasures, had pounded at his mind and made him dizzy.

He hadn’t been in his right mind after that. All he remembered was the joy that had surged within him that made the rest of the world seem so far away, and that he had laughed like he had gone insane before grabbing her tight by the hand, saying something, and pulling her into his arms. He had been overcome by satisfaction, satiation, and drowsiness as soon as Ianna, who had initially pulled back out of bewilderment, was in his embrace.

He had returned to the tower after sending her back, and he had fallen into a sweeter and deeper sleep than he had ever known as he savored the lingering feeling of holding her in his arms. But his anxiety had crept back as soon as he had woken, and it gnawed away at his happiness.

‘What if it was a dream? What if it was all just a dream?’

He no longer wanted to cling to vain hope.

Ianna looked puzzled, unable to understand what he was trying to say. His heart sank heavily. It squeezed so tight that he felt like his blood was pooling down at his feet. His body cooled in temperature. He clutched at his clothes.

‘Was it really just a dream? It was probably a dream, right?’

Arhad wasn’t confident. He feared nothing else, but there was just one thing that he did.

“Yesterday…?”

Arhad’s throat was so parched when she asked back that he couldn’t speak.

I didn’t want to make a scene of myself like this, I wanted to ask you confidently and tell you that I wanted to keep you by my side, but my memories of being betrayed by you, of being rejected by you, of always being refused by you remains in a corner of my mind and turns me into a coward.

“Was it……a dream?”

You’re the closest thing to a demon in my eyes. How are you both good and evil? Regardless of whether you are right or wrong, you are good to someone if you grant them happiness, and you are evil to them if you drown them in misery and despair. You gave me warmth and you took it away, you drove me to the edge of a cliff and you only ever rejected me —so you’re the evilest demon there is in my eyes.

“Pft.”

Ianna laughed as she watched Arhad fidget nervously. The laugh that escaped her lips pushed up her disheveled hair before it fell back down again. Ianna placed her fist at her mouth and laughed a little before putting her hand back down and looking directly at him.

“Would you like me to put what I said in writing?”

“In writing……,”

Arhad mumbled blankly before Ianna flatly continued,

“Or perhaps I’ll take it back?”

“Don’t you dare.”

His reply was immediate this time. Ianna laughed at the absurdity of it all.

“Then, do you still think it was a dream?”

“No……it doesn’t appear so.”

“Did you have a nightmare? You don’t seem quite awake just yet.”

Ianna walked up to him. Arhad watched her unclouded face with a trembling gaze. Teasingly, Ianna said,

“I wonder why? Whenever I see you……I almost feel like I’ve met someone whom I’ve beaten half to death before deciding to spare. You’re like a quivering beast who’s terrified of being beaten again. Did I ever beat you like that? I don’t recall ever doing so.”

You aren’t completely wrong, Arhad thought as he unconvincingly told her she was being rude, and Ianna grabbed Arhad by the hand when he continued acting so unconfident. She asked,

“What are you so afraid of?”

Arhad thought his heart might stop when he felt her warmth on his frozen fingers. A comforting warmth whisked away the cold that enveloped him just like when he was drinking hot tea. The anxiety hidden deep withing the depths of the sea bubbled up and erupted through the cracks in the melting sheet of ice that covered it.

“……I’m afraid that you’ll suddenly leave me without looking back even though you’re being so warm to me now.”

“Then you’re a coward. You’ll never get anywhere if you’re so afraid of something that hasn’t even happened yet.”

But you’ve done it to me before…….

Arhad swallowed down the words that had nearly escaped his lips. Ianna stared back at him before covering his hand she was holding with her other hand as well. The fact that her hands were grabbing so tightly onto his larger one made him forget how to breathe. It wasn’t only warm now —it was burning with such intense heat that he thought the heat would devour his hand whole.

“I dislike repeating myself.”

“…….”

“I will follow you. I will wield my sword for you. I felt like I will win many things of worth if I wielded my sword by your side…….”

Ianna’s eyes were steady as they glistened. Their light, as warm as the sun in the sky, was directed solely at Arhad. Arhad felt dreadfully parched as he received that light. Ianna continued,

“No, that’s not it.”

What? Arhad asked with his parched throat. Ianna narrowed her eyes and smiled like she was having fun.

“I want to stay by your side. I want to follow you. This is both my will and my desire.”

His heart was beating like crazy. Thump, thump. His heartbeats rang as loudly through his head as if a monster was pounding away at a sturdy door. An urgent thirst clawed at his throat the way green grass thirsted for water during a drought.

“So you needn’t be so anxious anymore.”

Ianna smiled so brightly and so clearly after saying that. She held his hand and smiled only for him. Arhad’s mind went blank. Her smile was what he had once coveted so badly it had driven him insane.

That which had once approached him like a light illuminating the darkness. That which he had been happy just to look at. That which had once made his entire being shiver as he stared at it in a trance. That which moved his heart so much it hurt just to imagine it in his mind.

And that which she had ultimately never showed him during the war…….

Her smile, which she had suddenly began showing him one day, melted his frozen heart into a puddle of thrill. It melted his heart and drew out the emotions that had been sleeping inside.

He surged with feelings other than his overwhelming possessive desire whenever he saw her……the despair, rage, frustration, gloom, emptiness, sorrow, and misery that had been piling up since time immemorial. But, almost hilariously, her smile seemed to erase all those negative emotions and wipe them clean away in just a few short repetitions.

Arhad placed his other hand over his mouth.

Her laughter greedily carved away at his heart like a merciless mob. It cut and shred apart his anxiety, his terror, his loneliness, and his vexation and reduced them to ruins before dragging out the weak but scalding thing hidden inside.

The thing that had shrank back and only peeked out occasionally. The thing that had been breathing only feebly, almost as if it was dead. The thing that had been carefully hidden between his other evil feelings. The thing that he hadn’t been sure had still yet existed or not. He had thought that it might have vanished completely because it had been so long. And yet, that feeling, which had been the root of all the others……suddenly shot forth.

Arhad’s face flushed feverishly whenever he saw Ianna smiling. There was light filling her countenance when she smiled. There was warmth dwelling in her smile. Arhad’s eyelids burned.

Ahh, I, and you…….

“……?”

Ianna stopped smiling and tilted her head to the side, wondering if the man standing before her had eaten something gone bad. Arhad grabbed hard at her hands, which she herself was grabbing him with.

And he pulled her into a tight embrace. He wrapped around her shoulders and bound her tightly by the waist, and he brought her completely inside his arms. He buried his cheek against Ianna’s crimson hair. He held onto her, the girl who barely reached past his shoulders, tightly, as if she was his lifeline. He hugged her firmly as she stiffened up in surprise, and he closed his eyes to savor her warmth in his arms.

“Sigh…….”

Arhad could finally breathe again. Ianna didn’t push him away. She neither pushed him away in disgust nor did she draw her sword to point at him. She simply blinked with subdued eyes as she peered past his shoulders. Even as time passed and passed and passed……. Ianna said nothing as she stayed in his arms. And Arhad was so warm and so satisfied even with only that.

He could get addicted to this warm and cozy time.

“This isn’t a dream, right?”

“……No.”

If so, then what should he do now? He was afraid of the delicate yet ardent feeling that had peeked out from within his cracked heart. He wanted to deny how weak that tenacious yet reckless feeling made him. He tried not to think about it because he didn’t know how he would change if he acknowledged it completely. That feeling would never disappear no matter how hard he denied it, though perhaps he could still hide it.

He unwittingly grew yet more afraid. What happens if you leave me again after teaching me such happiness? That’s when I’ll truly go insane. He was dizzy. Arhad held Ianna tighter.

……I’m not a pushover, you know.

I’ll never let go of you now that you’ve come to me of your own accord. I don’t have the time or the extra chances anymore. And it’s the same for you. If you leave me……I’ll really turn on you this time, and I’d rather use my own hands to…….

Just then, Ianna raised her arms and hugged him back. It was only then that Arhad could fully escape the cycle of this thoughts. He clenched his hands into tight fists as he clutched at the small figure in his arms.

You don’t know how insane I am. You don’t know that I’m standing on the boundary between the normal and the extreme, that I’d completely lose all ability to reason if I lose my balance even just a little. After all, you’re so young —you’ve only been alive for a mere sixteen years.

Which is why I’m doing my best to cherish you. I’ll cherish you always, just as I have been. If you had chosen to stay by my side when I was younger because you’d taken to me, I would have never completely exposed myself to you until the bitter end. So, that’s why you have to stay with me. You must never leave me. You have to stay by my side and smile at me, and talk with me, and you have to stay in my arms like this.

Yes, this is more than enough for now. Arhad did his best to suppress the feelings in his heart. He buried his face in Ianna’s hair and laughed in bliss.

He held her tightly for a while before he finally let go of her first. Arhad was all smiles and joy. Ianna stared at him with a strange look in her eyes as she awkwardly straightened herself out.

“You seem……very happy. Considering how suddenly you pulled me into a hug.”

It was only then that Arhad realized that he had pulled her into a hug on impulse and mentally kicked himself. He wanted to hold her hand, plant a kiss on the back of her hand, and pull her into a hug whenever he saw her, and he only grew greedier when she didn’t push him away. Arhad blushed a little.

“Sorry.”

“Not at all. It wasn’t unpleasant. It pleases me to see you be so overjoyed that you don’t know what to do with yourself.”

“Forget joy. I feel like I could almost start dancing.”

Arhad…dancing? Ianna imagined it in her head and huffed out a short chuckle.

“I’d like to start learning how to control divine power for real starting next year.”

“Sure. Let’s do that,”

Arhad answered readily. She wouldn’t use her divine power recklessly once she knew how to handle it properly, and neither would she avoid him again. He was wondering how he should go about teaching her when Ianna cautiously posed him a question.

“There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask…….”

~~*~~

Part 2

Knock knock.

Heinrich, who had been reading in his bedroom, looked up when he heard someone knocking.

“It’s me.”

“Come in.”

Swing.

The young man with black hair and gold eyes swung open the door and walked in. His lowered eyelids raised as he looked Heinrich in the eyes. Heinrich flinched. He had recalled the giant golden eye from his dreams for a moment.

“Did I wake you?”

“No. I woke up before you came back. What brings you here?”

“Well……Come in, Ianna.”

Arhad gently stepped back from the doorway. A crimson-haired girl appeared from behind him.

“It’s been a while. Have you been well?”

“Come on in, Little Ianna.”

Ianna, who had bowed to Heinrich in greeting, straightened herself out. Heinrich looked back at her as he took a sip of water. The girl always wore a fiercely intelligent and upright air about her. She also gave off a very peculiar aura.

His heart tickled whenever he saw her. But his thoughts were never dirty. It simply felt as if something fundamental inside him was stirring and reacting to her. Why was that?

‘Is the Demon sharing his feelings with me, even if only a little?’

Heinrich determined that his reaction must also be connected to Arhad’s attitude somehow. Heinrich didn’t quite know what Arhad was —was he the Demon?—, but Ianna disturbed Arhad’s emotions and he fixated on her so obsessively that it was beyond reason.

Heinrich stole a glance at Arhad and was promptly alarmed.

Arhad wasn’t even looking back at him. He was staring solely at Ianna as she bowed, as if she was the most endearing thing in the world. He wasn’t bothering to hide his disturbed emotions or his smile, like a youth fallen hopelessly in love, and he seemed to worship her as if she was something divine and as if he would offer her anything in the world that she wanted. ……Did Ianna realize how Arhad seemed to feel about her?

Arhad’s hand flinched as it reached out. Ianna whipped her head toward him, having felt something strange, only to see Arhad smiling back naturally with his hand back down by his side. Ianna tilted her head to the side, puzzled, before turning back to Heinrich.

‘Apparently not.’

She wouldn’t be so calm if she knew about how Arhad had been as a child, if she knew what his personality was actually like, or if she knew what kind of being he was.

Heinrich’s heartbeat quickened. If he was correct in his guess that the Demon was sharing its emotions with him, then Arhad was unmistakably in love with Ianna. See that look on his face. He looked so impatient to pull Ianna into his arms. Heinrich recalled the times when Arhad had acted strangely because of her one by one.

He had lost contact with Arhad when the latter had said he would visit the Temple of Laos, and it was only a few days later that Arhad had returned exhausted and had immediately fallen asleep in the tower. Heinrich had been dumbstruck when Eiji had told him about what Arhad had been up to. Apparently, Arhad had chased after some girl, eliminated a horde of minotaurs and one of Wiffheimer’s disciples while protecting her, and kissed her fingers while she slept —Heinrich could hardly believe his ears.

And that wasn’t all. Arhad had gone to see the Swordsmanship Department’s swordsmanship competition, an event he had never taken an interest in before, as soon as he woke, then he had gone out of his way to avoid the girl when she took an interest in him, and then he had suddenly recruited her into Camastros…….

Even worse, Arhad had used bringing over materials to Maimayè as an excuse to accompany the girl as she traveled South this summer even though they had been on a tight schedule before school started again, and then he, who had only lingered around the entrance to the four corners even when he had gone to kill some monsters, had entered one of them while completely ignoring an important meeting with Prince Schneider…….

He had fretted all day long just because the girl had pushed him away once, he had waited nearly all night in front of the girls’ dormitories only to bring her back to the tower to sleep in the end, and he had been so furious at Keigus Dimitri, another of Wiffheimer’s disciples, for causing the girl to avoid him in the first place that he hadn’t known what to do with himself, only to murder the mage just a few days later…….

And now Arhad had bought her bouquet worth eighty-nine gold during the school festival and had also almost thrown away 500,000 gold for her without any hesitation whatsoever…….

The Golden Demon apparently loved gold. And, though Heinrich wasn’t exactly sure about what Arhad was and Arhad, too, had not told Heinrich much about himself, Heinrich was certain of the one fact that Arhad, as the Demon’s other self, had a deep connection to it. Heinrich had been so alarmed when he learned about just how much gold Arhad had possessed without his knowing.

Did Arhad love the girl so much that he was even willing to throw away his precious gold for her with no hesitation whatsoever? That just made him a crazy idiot. And a very crazy idiot, at that, not just any old crazy idiot. Heinrich sighed and shook his head before he realized what he was doing.

Still, he liked the Arhad he saw now much better than when Arhad had only been callous. It was awkward, but it was also new, and it gave Heinrich a measure of peace to see Arhad be so clumsy and lax.

Heinrich brought them to the sitting room. He sat opposite of them so he could see them instead of sitting at the seat of honor.

“Well, what is that that you and Little Ianna wanted to ask me?”

“Ianna’s decided to join Camastros completely.”

“Meaning?”

“She will come to the Bahamut Empire with me. And she will stay by my side as my knight even after I’ve become emperor.”

Goodness……. It looked like he had indeed managed to win her over. Heinrich looked to the both of them. The cruel Demon from ancient times and the strong girl who was the object of his rabid love……. It almost sounded like a storyline straight out of a silly romance novel favored by young girls. And yet, such a plot was unfolding right here before his very eyes.

“And Ianna also has something she wanted to tell you, Lord Heinrich.”

“And what would that be?”

Heinrich looked to her with curiosity.

“Please allow me to be blunt. What do you think about having Herrace learn how to control his divine power instead of lessening what he has?”

Heinrich startled and looked to Arhad in shock. Had he really told her that much? Arhad nodded.

“Ianna knows pretty much all there is to know. She knows about the Demon’s fragments and about divine power, and she also knows how to call forth the spirits. You may speak freely about the Demon’s fragments with her.”

‘Which means that she only knows ‘pretty much’ all there is to know, but not actually all of it. And if I can only speak freely about the Demon’s fragments, does it mean that she doesn’t know about Arhad’s real relationship with the Demon yet……?’

Which meant that he would have to leave that part out of his explanations. Besides, that was something that Arhad needed to tell her himself. Heinrich collected his breathing.

“To start from the conclusion —it’s impossible. Or rather, it would be so difficult that it may as well be impossible.”

“But why is that? Isn’t Herrace’s problem that he has too much divine power? It would take great effort, yes, but shouldn’t things work out if he controls his divine power instead of mana? I don’t think it would be a terrible idea if someone who already knows how to control divine power teaches him.”

“That is not the root cause of Herrace’s problem. There is more that I wasn’t able to tell you back then.”

Heinrich placed a hand on his forehead as his head began to ache. He continued,

“I take it that you know the Demon’s fragments are literally fragments of the Demon’s soul……?”

“Yes.”

“I am an owner of one such fragment.”

Heinrich had once been a talented mage of Roanne birth, but that hadn’t been enough for him. His thirst for knowledge and his desire to research magic had boiled like volcanic lava, and he had put his own family behind as he set off on a journey across the world. His beloved family, who had always supported his endeavors, had wished him well on his travels.

His house had been a baronage, but they had not been very wealthy. Still, they had always been overflowing with warm smiles, and they had been a harmonious family who always trusted one another. They had even skimped on food to help support Heinrich’s dreams. Heinrich had wanted to let his family live in luxury once he had become a great mage. He loved his family, and he had sent them letters and gifts periodically even while he was on his adventures.

[Will you accept it?]

He had come across a fragment of the Demon as his greed peaked, and the fragment had come into contact with his soul. It had tempted him by saying that it would live in his blood in exchange for granting him great power. And Heinrich had made a grave error in his youth all because of his excessive greed.

Heinrich had gained incredible power over magic after accepting the Demon’s fragment. But in exchange, he had lost his grandparents, his parents, his younger brother……he had lost his entire family. All save for one.

The Bahamut imperial family had learned of the fact that he owned a fragment not too long after, and he had agreed to go to the empire with little other choice when they threatened to kill him if he did not become their subordinate.

And he had learned about the characteristics of the Demon’s fragments that the imperial family had uncovered during his stay there.

A Demon’s fragment. The Demon appeared before those who craved for power like mad or those who were brimming with negative emotions. It would grant a person’s lineage an incredible control over mana in exchange for living in their bloodline for nigh-eternity.

But any shareholders who lacked talent would simply perish.

He had rushed to learn news about his family only to find that they had already long since died unnatural deaths. His good and greedless family had not been able to withstand the Demon’s fragment. Either they had died because their hearts had exploded while they were trying to control mana, or they had passed away suddenly because their divine power had been quickly consumed.

His only surviving family was his younger brother’s daughter who had been married into House Bendham. Heinrich thought that his guilt would strangle him to death, though he knew he had to stay alive for his beloved niece’s sake. The fetters of blood he had bound his family in would never disappear until his entire lineage died away. That was what a Demon’s fragment was.

Heinrich had knelt before the emperor to beg for permission to travel south. The emperor had granted him imperial sanction and had ordered him to gather both talented personnel and more fragments of the Demon.

According to the information he had learned in Bahamut, there was no way to retract a Demon’s fragment once it had already been absorbed into the blood. The two things he absolutely had to do to keep his bloodline alive were first, to continue supplying divine power to his surviving family, and second, to kill off all those who were gathering the Demon’s fragments.

Which meant that he would have to kill the Bahamut imperial family. They had been gathering the Demon’s fragments since times immemorial, and they possessed the largest of the fragments. They were the strongest bloodline in the Age of Magic, as well as the most dangerous.

They considered Heinrich as their subordinate for now, but they would destroy his heart and rip out the fragment should he ever leave their command. They would take the fragment after he had died even if he didn’t.

And even if they didn’t take his fragment, they would contact Heinrich’s descendants and coerce them into servitude and would simply collect the fragment then if they determined that Heinrich’s descendants were not worth their time. Even then, they would simply exterminate Heinrich’s bloodline and take the fragment anyway once they were almost done collecting all the fragments. Ultimately, Heinrich’s bloodline was destined for annihilation.

Which meant that Heinrich had to eliminate the imperial family first.

He resolved himself to do so, and thus he had promised to cooperate with another certain lineage that also hated the imperial family.

That lineage had been from a minority group who had inherited elven blood ages ago and had lived near the Himalapè Ice Fields. They had been alienated from their elven ancestors because the other half of their bloodline carried a fragment of the Demon. The elves had hated them and had chased them out of the forest, but they protected themselves by using the power granted to them by the fragment, and they inherited a love for nature from the elves and lived in peaceful harmony with it. And, at some point, they had started calling themselves the ‘Roygen Clan.’

One day, however, the Bahamut Empire had invaded their lands. The imperial family, who were stronger than any other, had crushed the Roygen Clan completely. And that was when the Roygen Clan had become the imperial family’s slaves. But the proud Roygen Clan never truly submitted, and they had harbored a deep hatred for the imperial family deep in the pits of their stomachs.

The Roygen Clan had been tasked with researching the Demon’s fragments because they were genetically very intelligent. In fact, most of the imperial family’s knowledge regarding the fragments had been the fruit of the Roygen Clan’s research.

The Roygen Clan had dreamt only of their revenge as they continued their research at the behest of their mortal enemies. Their grudge against those who had trampled over their peace and freedom was unfathomably deep. But revenge had evaded them because the imperial family grew only terrifyingly stronger with time. And the Roygen Clan had grown only more terrified still as they learned more about the Demon. And then, they had realized. That the imperial family would become as demons whom none could stand against once they had retrieved all the fragments. What would become of the world then……?

Eventually, the Roygen Clan decided to risk stealing the blood that the imperial family had kept pure through intermarriage. Heinrich had collaborated with them.

And Arhad Roygen had been born as a result.

Heinrich told Ianna everything he knew about the Demon’s fragments, Arhad’s material family, the Roygen Clan, and about the Demon itself —all save for the part about Arhad’s heart.

“Roygen…….”

Ianna tried saying the name out loud after learning about it. Roygen, Arhad Roygen. I see. It was his mother’s surname.

“Did you know that the Demon’s heart lies in Pandemonium?”

“Yes, Arhad told me.”

“I don’t know what exactly Pandemonium is, but it is said to lie beneath the surface.”

“You mean underground?”

“Yes. Our world is said to be a globe. Pandemonium rests at its center. Pandemonium is the Great Chaos…… It was once called the birthplace of the gods, but that changed at some point and it is now known as the Demon’s Den. Recall the Holy Book.”

Ianna recited the Holy Book, which she had memorized. Then, Heinrich continued,

“According to the context, we can assume that the Demon is sleeping in Pandemonium. In Pandemonium rests the Demon, whose heart was pieced by a god in the ancient past, and the evil emotions and malice that pour out from its heart occasionally breaks open the earth and seeps into the world.”

Heinrich took a sip of tea.

“The malice scatters and transfigures normal creatures into powerful and hungry monsters, and there is no way to turn a creature back once it has been turned into a monster. They will simply live as monsters for the rest of their lives. The rifts are usually sealed back up immediately, but sometimes the process takes a little longer. And this is especially true in the four corners.”

Ianna’s eyes glistened. This was new information.

“Then what about here, at the center of the continent?”

“This place is a holy land of sorts. I don’t know what it was that God Laos did, but there are hardly any rifts around here.”

Still, Heinrich added, the Demon’s powerful aura occasionally managed to break through and turned creatures into monsters and sometimes even turned people evil or into monsters as well.

“The Demon’s evil aura turns monsters into beings that detest life, but it also makes them stronger. Their teeth become sharper, their claws more pointed, their horns grow larger, and their poisons become more potent. Sometimes, they even become able to control mana.”

This was apparently why monsters were so fundamentally strong.

“Bahamut has been combing through the four corners and the Lotso Mountains in search of such ‘rifts into Pandemonium.’ There are two reasons why they’re looking for them……. First, is because they want to train up an army of monsters. The chief mage under the Bahamut imperial family……a bastard by the name Wiffheimer Potestas, specializes in psychic magic just as I do. And he is also an archmage.”

Heinrich recalled Wiffheimer Potestas, whom he hadn’t seen in a long while. Wiffheimer was crazy for power and war. He experienced ecstasy when he commanded the monsters under his control, and he enjoyed destruction. He was the strongest and most evil mage of all time. He wasn’t all that different from the Bahamut imperial family.

“He’s an owner of a fragment like I am, and he’s mastered the art of brainwashing monsters and controlling them. The bastard and his countless disciples are planning to create an army of monsters, and they’re probably brainwashing monsters even as we speak. And the imperial family is more than happy to support them. They have yet to find a rift because they close up immediately after they’re formed……but it would pose a huge problem if they ever managed to. It would make it possible for them to mass-produce monsters.”

Ianna recalled the waves upon waves, like a tsunami, of monsters she had fought during the war against Bahamut in her past. The monsters had occasionally broken free from the hordes, but they had been under Bahamut’s control for the most part. The monsters and the Bahamut army had poured down south from the Lotso Mountains like a deluge, and they had ruthlessly trampled several peaceful countries out of existence.

‘Indeed……it actually did happen.’

“I’m told that their monster army is still growing by the day. The Bahamut Empire was aiming for a large prize in the midst of the darkness. But then, the Roygen Clan stole the possession rights to the fragment that the emperor once owned, and the imperial family’s power was halved because their power was now shared with the Roygen Clan. The imperial family massacred the Roygen Clan in their rage.”

Ianna realized something as she listened to Heinrich’s story and looked up.

“Was the children’s song you told us about before……?”

“Yes. It originated from the Roygen Clan.”

Ianna recalled the song that Heinrich had sung before and asked,

“How did the Roygen Clan learn about the Demon? Did the spirits tell them?”

“Hmmm… By chance, are you aware that the soul is also called an archive for memories?”

“I’ve heard about it, but I don’t think I’ve quite grasped it conceptually yet.”

“Then what about the fact that memories stored inside the soul can only be reminisced over if the soul has a heart it has imprinted on?”

“Yes…oh, then…….”

Ianna recalled how Arhad had once told her that he remembered the Demon’s memories.

“Did the song come from the Demon’s memories?”

“You knew? In that case, I’ll explain things under the assumption that you know everything that you already need to know, Little Ianna, so let me know if there’s anything that you don’t.”

“I will.”

“Only Laos, who created the world, knows exactly how a soul is born and circulates the world, but there is one thing that we can say for certain. For example…”

Heinrich began to teach.

“Let us assume that your soul, Little Ianna, escaped your body and gained a new body and a new heart. Your soul has divine power, which is the fuel it needs to perform psychological actions, so you would be able to think, but you would not be able to remember the thoughts and feelings you experienced while you were still in your original body. This is because you now have a new heart.”

Heinrich continued when Ianna nodded in understanding.

“Now, assume that your soul escaped your new body and went back to your original one. You’d then be able to recall all of your memories. You’d even be able to remember the memories you made in your new body too. This is because memories pile up in the soul and because your original body was your soul’s true vessel.”

“Oh…….”

“But, even when your soul is in your new body, you can still vaguely remember things from your original body if you experience something similar to something from your memories or if you see something that you’ve seen before —as if you’re peeking through a door that sometimes slips open. These are moments of déjà vu —when you feel like you’re seeing something again even though you know you’ve never seen it before.  Still, you’d need a heart that had been sealed away in order to remember things clearly.”

“I see. I understand. So, is that how the Roygen Clan learned about the Demon?”

“Perhaps that’s how they learned some of what they know, but not all of it.”

Heinrich chuckled when Ianna looked baffled.

“The Demon’s soul was shredded into pieces, and each fragment carries only a portion of its memories. And the Demon’s colossal heart lies in Pandemonium. The first owner of the Roygen Clan’s fragment had glimpsed a rift into Pandemonium once. Apparently, they were influenced heavily by the Demon when it happened and recalled some of the Demon’s memories very clearly. Everything I told you and the others last time was true, Little Ianna.”

“So, everything that you said was a legend was actually from the Demon’s memories?”

“Indeed. I only called them legends and theories because it’s difficult to explain to an ordinary person.”

Heinrich smiled upon seeing how excellent a student she was. He continued,

“Besides, the Roygen Clan didn’t see the Demon as something evil. They faulted those who had driven the Demon into a corner instead. And they began worshiping the Demon because of this. They even took on the name of the being that granted them power. Indeed. The Golden Demon’s true name……”

Heinrich cleared his throat.

“Was Roygen…….”

Ianna had thought it had simply been Arhad’s mother’s surname, but it was not. The Demon’s name was Roygen……. Ianna tried mouthing the name again.

“Now’s not the right time, so just call me ‘Arhad Roygen’ for now.”

The name he had first introduced himself to her as so many long years ago was not Arhad Ro Ralzo Bahamut, but the name that had remained in her heart until the day she had died.

‘But ‘Roygen’ was the Demon’s name……?’

Throb…….

Her heart suddenly squeezed. Ianna furrowed her brow a little at her heart’s strange reaction. Her constricted heart immediately relaxed itself again, but in the moment it had squeezed so hard it had hurt.

“In any event, everyone in my family save for Herrace’s mother died when I absorbed the Demon’s fragment. But even she passed away after giving birth to Herrace.”

Ianna ignored her heart and focused on what Heinrich was saying instead. Heinrich, whose heart ached just thinking about the tragedy, let out a long sigh.

“The Demon’s fragments boost affinity and volatility, but not receptivity or willpower. The Demon’s fragment is a blessing to those who have talent, a strong ego, or a lot of greed, but it’s a curse to shareholders who don’t have any of those things. It’s a double-edged sword. And Herrace…….”

The shadows under Heinrich’s eyes grew darker. He had been so happy when Herrace had been safely born and had grown up well enough to try controlling mana. But Heinrich had fallen into despair as soon as Herrace had tried.

“He has so much divine power that it’s almost strange. And due to the fragment’s influence on top of that, his affinity is so strong that he couldn’t possibly train up either his receptibility or willpower. He shows incredible talent when he controls mana because of the fragment, but the problem occurs after he’s done controlling it.”

Herrace’s affinity was so dreadfully strong because mana circled around the Demon’s fragment even when he didn’t forcefully draw it to him. It circled around him explosively when he fortified his sword or cast magic. Mana was supposed to break away in a heartbeat after it was done being controlled, but it refused to leave the Demon’s fragment, which was a part of its true master. It didn’t matter much if the controller cut the mana off by force, but it became a problem if it was left ignored.

If it stayed with something alive for a long period of time, the circling mana stopped belonging to the Demon and started being seduced by the sweet divine power inside the controller’s heart. It sought out its master, but the Demon did not regulate it. Which made the mana think that it didn’t matter if it devoured the divine power it found. And then, mana overload would occur.

“It becomes more likely for someone with a lot of divine power but with a weak ego to experience mana overload even when they don’t benefit from a Demon’s fragment. It’s worse for Herrace because he not only has a lot of divine power naturally, but he also receives my fragment’s influence as a shareholder. He probably has one of the best affinities in the world. But because he can’t cut away the mana that floods into him…….”

“Hmmm…….”

Ianna organized everything Heinrich had told her. Herrace naturally had a high affinity because he had been born with a lot of divine power. But his affinity had skyrocketed because he also shared the effects of the Demon’s fragment owned by Heinrich. Mana swirled around Herrace and obediently did as it was told when he was controlling it, but it flooded into his heart to eat his divine power the very moment he stopped. It then surpassed his relatively small receptivity in an instant and put him in a state of mana overload.

“So in the end, Herrace’s main problem is his receptivity and willpower.”

“Yes. I’m sure you already know that willpower is affected by one’s personality. Herrace is much too kind in nature. He puts others ahead of himself, and he isn’t greedy at all.”

Herrace had exceptional talent. But he was kind, timid, and greedless. The fact that he had been born with a lot of divine power would have been a blessing had Herrace been an ordinary person. But the fact that the effects of a Demon’s fragment had been thrown into the mix posed a problem. Heinrich clutched at his head.

“There are actually three reasons why I gave Herrace the medicine that temporarily stops his heart. First, was to stop the mana overload. Second, was to protect Herrace’s hopes. And third, was to give him the chance to give up on controlling mana altogether…….”

“Last time, you said that it was to decrease the amount of divine power he had and lower his affinity?”

“Divine power……. Haha.”

Heinrich laughed dispiritedly. He continued,

“I can refill anyone’s divine power whenever I please. Divine power……is something you can simply collect from even the likes of monsters. I……have developed a method to extract divine power from the heart and turn it into liquid form.”

Ianna recalled how Arhad had once stolen divine power from a monster. And she also recalled the mysterious medicine he had used.

Indeed. He had applied that very same medicine to her forehead. It had undoubtedly been made by Heinrich. The miracle of her wound healing completely in just a single day could only be explained as a phenomenon made possible by divine power. It was the medicine Arhad had given her while wearing the black robes, and it was also the same medicine that Arhad needed to take because his heart condition required him to keep absorbing divine power.

That medicine was made from divine power.

“The only problem with that medicine is that it puts a strain on the heart. It wouldn’t matter how much of it you took if only it didn’t strain the heart. The heart can’t withstand it.”

“I thought that divine power was effective at restoring the body. Isn’t that so, Arhad? That’s the medicine you gave me before.”

“Yes,”

Arhad readily admitted to it.

“Oh? You used that medicine again?”

Heinrich looked to Arhad, bemused.

“I couldn’t stand to see the wound on Ianna’s forehead. But don’t worry. I can replenish it on my own.”

“…….”

Ianna was lost in thought. She had a few misgivings. The spirits had said it was impossible because it belonged to another being’s soul, but why wasn’t it possible to restore the heart using divine power?

“Does divine power not affect the heart?”

“Divine power cannot restore the body, strictly speaking. It simply revitalizes it and quickens its rate of recovery.”

“Oh.”

“It is possible for divine power to revitalize the heart or re-energize it from a state of fatigue. But it cannot restore the heart if it begins suffering anomalies from continuous strain. The heart is special, and it’s different from the rest of the body. It can’t be substituted with anything else.”

Heinrich sighed.

“I check up on Herrace periodically……so I will have him give up on controlling mana when the time is right. I’m sure he’ll agree to give up if he isn’t able to control mana by then. I’ll give him back the divine power he’s used up until now because he couldn’t give up. And his weakened heart will grow stronger again if he stops trying to control mana.”

Ianna rubbed her chin in displeasure as she recalled how Herrace had cried.

“But is that the right choice to make?”

“It is not. But it is the safer one.”

“Then, why can’t he control divine power instead?”

“It’s too dangerous. Controlling divine power is the same thing as using the lifeforce in your own body. You could even drop dead if things go wrong. Do you truly think he can learn to control divine power when he can’t even control mana? And besides, there isn’t anyone who can teach him properly in the first place. Even I don’t exactly know how to control divine power.”

Ianna stole a glance at Arhad.

“But isn’t Sir Arhad over here able to control divine power? Besides, he agreed to teach me how to do it next year…….”

Heinrich initially opened his eyes wide when he heard that Ianna would start learning how to control divine power, but then he remembered that she had won the swordsmanship tournament at her young age and had such amazing talent that she could even dye mana crimson. Moreover, there was no way that Arhad would do something that was dangerous for her.

“Sir Arhad told me that he would put my divine power back inside my heart if I accidentally let it escape me. It doesn’t seem that dangerous to me if he can do that, so why can’t Herrace learn from him as well?”

“I couldn’t put someone who’s already busy through that much trouble. You’re a special case, Little Ianna. Little Arhad likes you quite a lot, after all. And it would tire Little Arhad out enormously, since controlling someone else’s divine power requires incredible focus.”

“…….”

“And, like I said earlier, it is illogical for someone who can’t even control mana to try controlling divine power.”

To be honest, these weren’t his only reasons. Arhad had perfect and total control over mana —He wouldn’t even have to control divine power. Arhad was capable of regulating the mana that was flooding into Herrace, which meant that Herrace would have been able to train his control over mana that way.

But Heinrich was too afraid to ask because Arhad was the Demon. He had grown accustomed to the fact that the Demon was Arhad’s true nature, but he had never forgotten it. He did not want the Demon to be anywhere near Herrace, the sole surviving member of his bloodline. Heinrich closed his dry eyes and pressed at his brows.

“I am a foolish grandfather. This is entirely my fault. But that being said, it’s not like I can tell Herrace everything either. And, above all else, I don’t want Herrace to learn that the grandfather he so trusted is the very culprit who murdered his entire maternal family and come to resent me. I am truly……so foolish.”

Heinrich stopped speaking after that. Ianna pondered for a while with subdued eyes. Putting everything else aside, it looked like Herrace would have to harden his heart a bit.

“Willpower. In that case, I’ll try driving him into a corner.”

“A corner?”

Heinrich looked up and asked back when he heard Ianna’s sudden words. Ianna looked back at him in earnest.

“They say that people mature and grow stronger only after overcoming adversity. But Herrace has never faced enough adversity to make his willpower grow stronger. Even when he suffered from the curse of mana, he was never truly in danger because he always had his medicine.”

“…….”

“At the moment, I’ve been keeping him from straining himself so his weakened body can grow healthier again, but I’ll try increasing the amount of training that he does and try cornering him until he feels like he’d rather die than train. Isn’t it better to at least try everything that can be tried? Herrace said he’d entrust everything to me —Lord Heinrich, won’t you give me your permission as well?”

Herrace had said he was entrusting everything to her? Heinrich, who had watched Herrace’s face slowly be overtaken by resignation, understood that his telling Ianna this was also his way of placing his very last hopes on her.

“I think he’d have a better chance if he trained his mind to be more tenacious rather than to hope for a future where he’d have to rely on medicine forever. I will try training Herrace.”

Heinrich was looking back at Ianna blankly when Arhad, who had been listening from beside her, suddenly chuckled quietly.

“There’s a good chance it’ll work.”

Heinrich looked to Arhad in alarm. Heinrich did not want for Arhad to take an interest in Herrace. Which was why he had never introduced the two. And Arhad, too, had never shown any interest in Herrace, whom Heinrich had ever so carefully hidden away from him, either.

Heinrich had relaxed a little after Arhad had grown up and had once showed him the heart-stopping medicine and had explained Herrace’s condition to him, but when he had asked Arhad if it was possible for Herrace to learn how to control mana, Arhad had only said that it depended on the person —he had neither confirmed nor denied that it was possible. Rather, Arhad had never cared much about others to begin with.

Heinrich’s heart shook when even Arhad agreed that it might work. Ianna’s composed visage reflected in his eyes. Hers was a face he could trust.

‘Can she truly change the situation?’

“If you don’t mind, could I ask you to refill the divine power that Herrace has lost?”

“I will.”

“And, if I successfully learn how to control divine power, and if Herrace successfully learns how to control mana, then I’d like to try teaching Herrace how to control divine power myself. Is that all right with you?”

Heinrich nodded with renewed vigor. There was nothing more he could ask for if she could truly manage to do that.

“But, why are you doing so much for Herrace? Is it because you pity him?”

Heinrich was curious. Herrace and Ianna were total strangers, and they had only known each other for about a year. Ianna shrugged.

“It’s partially because I personally promised him that I’d help, but it’s also because I’m happy for the trust Herrace has in me. I don’t want to betray his trust. And it’s also because I happen to like him quite a bit.”

Heinrich looked to Arhad just then before he could stop himself. He was worried that Arhad, who was madly obsessed over Ianna, might do something to harm Herrace because of what she had said. But Arhad looked serene, for some reason. Heinrich was relieved.

Was it only a problem if someone wanted to monopolize Ianna or try to take her from him? After all, Prince Schneider had seemed to have wanted Ianna is his own grasp. Herrace, on the other hand, was still apparently okay because they were only friends. Now that Heinrich thought about it, Arhad had left Eiji untouched as well.

‘In short, it means that he won’t allow anyone to monopolize her. Like if they were liege and knight, or in a romantic relationship……. But then, what will happen if Herrace begins developing romantic feelings for her……?’

A chill ran down Heinrich’s back. It looked like he’d have to give Herrace a word of caution.

Arhad proposed that Ianna come over for some tea before classes started, to which she agreed and followed him into his room.

His room was tidy. Both sides of his room were lined with bookshelves crammed with books both related to their major and not —perhaps he liked to read. There was a shiny black leather sofa made from water buffalo skin, a luxurious grey carpet, a white bed, and a plain magic lamp sitting atop a simple hardwood table. Ianna liked tidy things, though, so his room suited her tastes quite well.

The one thing that stood out in his otherwise plain and tidy room was a shelf lined with various porcelain teapots and teacups. Ianna walked over and studied the elegant porcelain. Next to that shelf was a darker shelf containing various tea leaves organized in paper envelops.

“Let me know if there’s any particular tea you’d like to drink.”

“I’m fine with any milk tea. I’ll leave the type of tea up to you.”

“All right.”

Ianna wandered about the room and read the titles of the books lining the shelves while Arhad was brewing the tea, and she eventually found several swords leaning upright against one corner of the room.

She considered all swords to be of equal value, but Arhad’s swords seemed special to her for some reason. Was it because they belonged to the amazing man who had always defeated her?

Ianna carefully held one up and stroked its scabbard. Arhad, who had been watching her even as he was making tea, asked,

“Do you want it? I can give it to you if you’d like.”

“No thank you. It’s just…….”

“Why not? It’s a fine blade.”

“I will be getting a precious sword of my own soon enough.”

She had been exchanging letters with Chendelf through Hanidelf. It would apparently take at least another year before the sword was finished. Chendelf apparently needed to hammer it at least ten-thousand times. But it was only a year —it wasn’t too long a wait.

Ianna turned around after returning the sword to its place and plopped down on the sofa. She watched from afar as Arhad poured the steaming water from the teapot into her teacup.

“Have you ever seen a rift into Pandemonium?”

“No,”

Arhad replied decisively. He continued,

“I don’t know any more about the Demon than what Lord Heinrich’s told me.”

“Then what about the Demon’s treasure trove of gold?”

“Like I told you yesterday, I just happen to glimpse some of the Demon’s memories from time to time. I fumbled around the area I saw in the Demon’s memories and just so happened to find it.”

“You must have amazing luck.”

Ianna accepted the teacup Arhad offered her. A gentle fragrance tickled the tip of her nose. Arhad’s choices were impeccable. The tea was just the right amount of sweet and it didn’t leave behind an aftertaste on her tongue —she rather liked it.

Ianna took a sip of her tea. It was just the right temperature, and its fragrance smelled luxurious. Arhad had a surprising knack for making tea.

“I’ve been thinking this for a while now, but you’re very skilled at making tea.”

“I’ve always liked tea, and I got skilled at brewing it while trying out this and that. I’m glad to know you like it.”

It was a rare hobby for a man. Arhad brightened up when Ianna approved. Ianna touched her teacup with the back of her hand. The days were growing colder. Arhad’s room was neither hot nor cold, but the world outside his window was growing bluer and colder as autumn passed into winter. The trees grew bare as their leaves fell and rolled across the ground, and their naked branches shivered in the chill. The warm teacup felt all the more pleasant as she looked out at the cold scenery outside.

“Please don’t drive me out if I come here for no real reason other than to enjoy a cup of tea.”

“You’ll be coming over for tea? I’ll have to work harder and get better at brewing it.”

Ianna chuckled a little at Arhad when the goodwill on his face hadn’t changed in the slightest as he responded. She could openly display her own fondness for him because she knew that he would always accept her, because she knew that he would never reject her.

People generally thought that Ianna was always bold and fearless, but that wasn’t necessarily the case. She was always passive when it came to personal relationships. Ianna didn’t care about bad relationships and she had no problem making someone whom she was on bad terms with feel pathetic about themselves, but she didn’t quite know how to deal with those with whom she was on good terms. She would return the goodwill presented to her in kind, but she was rarely the first to offer it.

Ianna took a sip of her tea.

‘Someone who’ll always take my side no matter what…….’

Yesterday.

Arhad had hugged her tight as soon as she had straightened herself out after swearing her oath. Her eyes had opened wide. Then, Arhad had whispered,

“I will become emperor for you without fail…….”

“…….”

“And I’ll give you glory, riches, and power —I’ll give you everything.”

She had wriggled a bit because it was hard to breathe, but her resistance was nothing but a weak struggle before Arhad’s extraordinary strength.

“I will slaughter all who dare insult you. And I will win anything you may desire and grant it to you. So, you have to stay by my side……. I won’t forgive you if you leave me. I will never forgive you if you break your oath.”

Ianna had opened her mouth only to close it again without saying anything. Arhad had said something strange. His goal was to eliminate the imperial family so he wouldn’t be killed at their hands. But to Ianna, his excited mutterings had sounded almost as if he was promising to usurp the imperial throne just to give her glory, riches, and power.

She had stiffened up a bit when she realized that Arhad’s frame was wrapped completely around her own. The way his arms were wrapped around her back had felt awkward to her. She had never been held so tightly by anyone in her past life. And she had never once embraced the prince, who had been her liege in the past, either. Not only had the queen, Lilith Tarwitt, been extremely possessive in her love for her king, but Ianna herself had disliked being embraced so much that she might as well have had mysophobia.

Even in this life, she had only been held a couple times by Isphee, her nanny, when she was a baby and had no say in the matter, once by Lebony when Lebony had lost her mind, and once by Isphee and Sarachè each after she had killed her mother. And yet, she had been pulled into Arhad’s crushing embrace so many times that she had lost count by now. She must have been hugged by him before she could realize what was going on at least six or seven times by now.

He had hugged her this morning, after the school festival was over, too.

The first time had been sudden and forced on her. The second had happened by accident after they had sparred for the first time, the third had happened out of rage and worry, the fourth had happened when she had put herself at risk, and the fifth had been out of his kindness as he comforted her. The sixth had been from overflowing joy. And the seventh —he had hugged her today out of anxiety……. She was gradually growing used to the hugging, slowly, like the way ink seeped into paper, and she had wondered if she should shake him off moving forward or not —she would have done so as a matter of course in the past.

‘Can I just let it be?’

Ianna had repeated the question over and over again in her head as Arhad hugged her. And she had made a decision. She decided that being hugged wasn’t all that bad.

She didn’t shake him off like she would have in the past, and she even felt like it was only natural even when his hugs came without warning —she felt secure in his arms, even…… Was it because she had resigned herself to the treatment, because she had grown used to his hugs, or was it because she herself actually wanted to be hugged on a sub-conscious level?

Being hugged made her feel like she was laying down on a soft and comfortable sofa, and she almost even felt anxious to be pulled into the arms of someone bigger than her when she wasn’t. Peace filled her heart when she was hugged.

‘To think that there would be a day when I felt this way about another person.’

She would have been uncomfortable and even repulsed had it been anyone else, but she had even sobbed her eyes out before this man twice previously. She couldn’t believe how relaxed she felt just by being in his arms.

It’s embarrassing to admit, but I don’t dislike being held by him. No, rather…… Ianna’s cheeks flushed red all the way to her ears.

She had lowered her gaze. Her hair had caught her attention as it tangled against Arhad’s chest and draped over his arm like a curtain. She had never seen her hair adhere so close to another. Ianna had closed her eyes. It hadn’t seemed like Arhad would let her go until he was satisfied. She had hesitated for only a moment before leaning into the man whose arms probably would not have budged even if she rested her full weight against him.

She could not refuse him, nor had she particularly wanted to, and so she had figured that she might as well enjoy it. Her heart had grown all the heavier when she had seen how violently happy his reaction was.

So this is how much you had wanted for me to be with you in your future…….

Ianna had felt like she had finally found a place where she could rest with her heart at complete ease. He was a rival who looked to the same future as her, a companion who could stand as her equal. A king to whom she would offer her everything…….

A special person the likes of whom she would never find again in her life.

Ianna’s heart had raced. What else will I be able to see, hear, and feel as I stand by your side? What kind of special worth will I hold as I serve you as my king? I’m so excited.

Yes, I will stand by your side in hopes of a better future, and I will wield my sword in this life so I can be with you.

“…….”

And now she was drinking tea with Arhad. Ianna closed her eyes and smiled gently as she savored the tea’s warmth. Arhad’s gaze never moved from the smile lingering on her lips.

~~*~~

Part 3

“So, after discussing a few things with Lord Heinrich, I’ve decided to put you through hellish training during winter break after Founding Day.”

Herrace, who had sunk down to his feet in exhaustion after his training was over, listened to Ianna’s explanation in mute amazement with eyes as blank as a dead fish.

Ianna snuck a glance at Herrace’s body. He was still as skinny as ever, but he looked much healthier now that he hadn’t tried to control mana in nearly a year. He had more than enough basic stamina now.

“I’m going to train you so hard that you’re going to want to die. But you’re not allowed to give up if you truly want to control mana. I won’t let you run away either. I’m going to give up on you the very moment you give up on yourself.”

“……Sounds pretty scary. But I’ll do my best!”

Herrace clenched his hands into tight fists. Ianna hoped that his blazing passion would last. She recalled the harsh training she had put her soldiers through in her past life and considered them.

“You’re debuting in high society next year, right, Little Ianna?”

Ianna came back to earth and looked to the innocent expression on Herrace’s face.

“Yeah.”

“Oh, then please be sure to share a dance with me.”

“I might step on your feet since I’m not that good at it, you know?”

“That’s all right. I’m looking forward to your debut, Little Ianna.”

Herrace laughed in good cheer. They conversed for a while until another student came over to say that Professor Filliger had summoned Ianna. Ianna remembered the 500,000-gold check. Perhaps he was calling her to return it.

“Oh.”

Ianna was startled and voiced her astonishment, for once, when she stepped into Professor Filliger’s room. She looked directly in front of her. There was middle-aged man in amazing shape standing alongside Professor Filliger, who was standing at ceremony in his own office, as a certain young man winked at her and smiled while lounging on the sofa.

“We’ve met, yes? Miss Ianna, who is worth 500,000 gold.”

“I am humbled by your presence, Your Royal Highness the Prince.”

Ianna greeted Schneider courteously. She could guess why he was here. She knew him well, after all. Which was why she didn’t voice her doubts.

Filliger and the middle-aged man left the room after telling the two of them to converse freely. The middle-aged man had seemed to want to speak with Ianna, but he ended up leaving without a word when Filliger jabbed him in the side.

Ianna kept her head bowed as she awaited Schneider’s next words. Schneider looked at the crown of her head before slowly saying,

“Raise your head.”

“How could I dare presume to look Your Highness in the face?”

“Have you deluded yourself into thinking that you are a commoner after spending so much time among them?”

Schneider clicked his tongue. He continued,

“As a daughter of House Roberstein, one of the Five Founding Houses, you have more than enough right to look me in the face. Raise your head.”

“Would I not have been allowed to raise my head had I not had the right as a daughter of House Roberstein?”

“Meaning?”

“I am me. I do not need my house’s name.”

There was hidden meaning behind Ianna’s words. She was planning to leave House Roberstein behind in two years, so she would not be one of the nobles under Schneider’s banner.

Schneider recalled Ianna’s circumstances and looked down at her as she denounced her house’s name. Ianna and House Roberstein were hostile to each other, according to his investigations.

“In that case, raise your head because I would like to see the face of the skilled swordswoman who won the swordsmanship tournament.”

The prince ordered her to do something she could not refuse. Ianna looked up and looked Schneider straight in the eyes with her own clear ones, so clear that she seemed to have never refused him in the first place. Schneider’s silver eyes and Ianna’s red ones directly reflected each other.

Schneider Lezè Roanne. The prince who had harvested her in her past life. But that would no longer be the case now that she had started life anew. She belonged to Arhad in this life. Schneider’s face froze stiff as he felt the solid wall she was putting up between them.

“……I was had. To think that someone would actually pay 500,000 gold and simply leave. Whomever it was certainly brought me back to my senses. But where on earth did someone so affluent come from? Was he someone you know, Miss?”

“I know that he manages a company or two, but I haven’t known him for long…….”

Ianna dodged the question. It would spell trouble if Schneider found out who Arhad was. She was between a rock and a hard place. She obviously couldn’t answer, but she could also be arrested for failing to answer to royalty if she didn’t because she was only a mere concubine’s daughter.

“I looked into the man who bought you for 500,000 gold, but all I learned was that he was a small merchant from the Kingdom of Killiko to the east. I dug further because there was no way that a small merchant could simply throw away 500,000 gold like that, and I found that the merchant’s face did not match that man’s profile. It was a fake identity.”

“Is that so? But I know neither his name nor his station. So I cannot answer even though you ask. A thousand pardons, Your Highness.”

“I see. Still, considering that he was willing to spend 500,000 gold on you when you don’t know either his name or station, does that mean he fell in love with you at first sight?”

“May I ask what it is that you are truly trying to ask?”

“I would like to ask you about your relationship to that man.”

“He is someone whom I wish to follow.”

Ianna did not dodge the question this time, and instead drew a distinct line.

“When you don’t even know who he is?”

“He has saved me before, so I would repay the favor. I know nothing about him……but I’ve learned that he has both incredible economic might and that he was willing to part with 500,000 gold because he, too, wanted me. Regardless of who he is, I do not dislike the idea of working under someone who treasures me so. After all, I am of the belief that it doesn’t matter who someone is so long as they are good to me.”

“Goodness, I’ve erred. I should have stuck to that auction until the bitter end.”

Schneider clutched at his forehead as he carefully scrutinized Ianna with his silver eyes.

“Who am I?”

“Your Royal Highness Schneider Lezè Roanne, the Prince of the Kingdom of Roanne.”

“I am indeed. And what do you feel about serving under me, whose identity can be vouched for, rather than a man’s whose identity you don’t know?”

It was a sudden proposal. He continued,

“I need talent. And your skills will be a great strength to me. What is it that you want? Status? Material goods? Glory? I’ll give you everything. So grant me your strength.”

Ianna lowered her eyes instead of replying. She had already accomplished all of that before. She had risen to the station of duchess, she had owned immense wealth, and she had even been the army’s commander-in-chief. But it had all been in vain. The things she had received to protect herself with had not given her happiness.

Ianna did not regret her past life. She never had. But neither had she ever wished to live that life again.

……After all, she hadn’t been happy.

Ianna closed her eyes. There was someone who would walk by her side now. Arhad, her companion whom she could rely on. Status, wealth, glory. She had already gained everything of worth that others coveted in her past life. So instead, she wanted the spiritual things she could gain only by standing at Arhad’s side in this one.

“My apologies. Since Your Highness wishes to bring me under your banner, I would assume that you have looked into my past.”

“Mm.”

Schneider did not deny her claim.

“Pardon my discourtesy, but please allow me to say this first.”

Ianna did not wish for Arhad to grow anxious because of Schneider. Nor did she want Schneider, her liege in her last life, to approach her due to his greed and labor to win her over in vain. She continued,

“I will leave House Roberstein upon my graduation from the Institution. I am planning to leave the Kingdom of Roanne as well. I am grateful to Your Highness for how much worth you must see in me, considering your offer, but I must humbly apologize, for I am not able to comply with your wishes. There are many other individuals of merit here at the Institution —I would ask that you extend your offer to one of them.”

“…….”

It was human nature to not be able to give up on something you’ve worked hard for, like how people clung to money to try and recover at least the principle amount should they lose it. It was far better to cut things off before they truly started.

“The thing is, Miss Ianna, I am the type of man who must always get what he wants,”

Schneider replied at leisure. He continued,

“I trust that you know one must seek approval from the state if you wish to leave the nobility? I will not permit it.”

Ianna was momentarily at a loss for a reply because she was blindsided by his response. Why not? His high and lofty pride should not have been wounded by her discourtesy, and he hadn’t wanted her for that long as of yet.

Ianna was thrown off for a moment, but she quickly regained her composure. He continued,

“I also especially and dreadfully loath to let talent slip from my fingers. And so, I will not allow you to leave the kingdom either.”

“A thousand pardons, but I am of the understanding that one does not need the state’s approval to disown an illegitimate child or to dissolve an adoption. All a noble needs to do is to report it. And it is also to my understanding that all one needs to give up their citizenship of the kingdom is to apply.”

“Those laws have changed just recently. And in your case, Miss Ianna, I will see to it personally that you will not be allow to give up your citizenship.”

Ianna was rendered speechless. Schneider crossed his arms. He continued,

“I can understand why you would want to leave this place, considering how you’ve been treated until now, of course. But it was House Roberstein, not the kingdom itself, that mistreated you so, was it not? I would rather not lose talent that’s caught my eye before I even had the chance to test it out.”

There was nothing Ianna could say in reply.

“I am not a man to give up on something simply because it already has an owner. Rather, I’m the type of man who would even dispose of the original owner. But it looks like you might despise me if I did that. Especially considering how dissatisfied you seem even now.”

“I cannot understand you, Your Highness. Why would you go so far?”

“Allow me to say that I’ve simply taken a liking to you, Miss Ianna. I’ve heard that you will be making your debut on Founding Day this coming January. I will prepare for the event with everything I have, so do look forward to it. I will attempt to woo you over with my overflowing charm. I am a busy man, so I will take my leave now.”

Schneider left after he had said everything he had wanted to say. Ianna stood silently and looked back up only when Filliger reentered the room.

“Hmmm…….”

“You’ve heard, I take it?”

“Yes, as I was standing just outside the door. I could not help that my hearing is good.”

Filliger, who was faithful to the royal family of Roanne and had once been a general of the royal guard, could not help but be uncomfortable about the fact that Ianna intended to leave the kingdom. He was still uncomfortable as a teacher, even if not as a citizen of the Kingdom of Roanne. Besides, it would be nigh impossible for Ianna to leave the kingdom when someone as influential as the prince himself was being stubborn about refusing to let her leave.

The middle-aged man standing next to Filliger stepped forward just then.

“It’s nice to meet you, Miss Ianna Roberstein.”

Ianna looked up and carefully scrutinized the man’s face. His frame and countenance reminded her of a large bear…… His was a familiar face she had seen often in the past. And, as if to prove her suspicions correct, there was a roaring bear drawn on the house crest he wore on the left side of his chest.

“I am humbled by your presence, Marquis Gellonian Chaipan.”

“Oho, you know who I am?”

“I could not call myself a citizen of the Kingdom of Roanne if I didn’t even recognize the man who is known as the kingdom’s sword, Marquis Chaipan.”

“Hoho,”

Gellonian laughed merrily.

“Do you remember Sir Frederick Holt from the Allacamorah Forest?”

“But of course.”

“The man’s told me much about you, Miss. I hear that you not only stopped a charging minotaur, but that you even slaughtered it outright?”

“Yes, I did,”

Ianna replied without a hint of embarrassment, and Gellonian, a knight at heart, liked her confident attitude all the more. Filliger, too, smiled as he nodded by Gellonian’s side.

“To be honest, I was hoping to bring you under my own banner, Miss, but it’s proven to be quite the challenge ever since auction. I figured I should be satisfied just to get to know you.”

Gellonian extended his hand to Ianna.

“Ask for me should you ever need any assistance. I’ll let my butler know to treat you as an honored guest in advance. Oh, and I know that students of the Swordsmanship Department are dispatched to different nobles’ lands to gain practical experience while subjugating monsters —if you’d like, why don’t you apply to work with my Knights of Exatium?”

Gellonian Chaipan showered Ianna with his unreserved goodwill. Ianna shook his hand.

“Thank you for your consideration. I’m acquainted with your knights already, Marquis, so I would very much like to apply to work with the Knights of Exatium if at all possible.”

“You hear that, Filliger?”

Gellonian looked to Filliger with a pleased look on his face. He continued,

“Be sure to ignore the others and give the young lady priority if she applies to work with the Knights of Exatium.”

“Miss Ianna is one of the best students in the department anyway, so she’ll be able to work with whomever she wishes to.”

“Of course. The young lady is more than capable of doing whatever she wants even without your help. Hahaha.”

Filliger pushed a portrait hanging on the wall to the side as Gellonian laughed heartily. He had a secret safe there. He pulled out a ring of keys from his pocket and undid the four sets of locks that kept the safe secure. Then, he carefully took the 500,000 check that Arhad had thrown out from the safe.

“I could hardly sleep properly all this time because of this.”

Gellonian grew curious and peeked at what Filliger was holding.

“Oho, is this the rumored 500,000-gold check? Goodness, it isn’t even an ordinary check —it was a blank check until the 500,000 was penned in?”

“Don’t touch it without permission. What would you do if you accidentally ripped it with your brute strength? Miss Ianna, I ask that you return this to the man who bid on you. And let him also know that he need not pay the one hundred gold because it was our fault for not setting a bidding limit in the first place.”

“I will.”

Ianna accepted the check and tucked it carefully inside her pocket. Filliger laughed an empty laugh as he watched.

“You truly are quite bold. I was so shocked when you ripped the first check to pieces that I actually dropped my jaw.”

“Oh yes, it was quite the spectacle.”

“I lost myself for a moment back then. I’m quite embarrassed about it now.”

Ianna double-checked to make sure that the 500,000 gold was securely in her pocket before bowing from the waist. She continued,

“I’ll be taking my leave now.”

“All right.”

“How regretful. Oh, I heard that you’ll be debuting this January on Founding Day, Miss. May I ask you for a dance as well?”

“It would be an honor —I was worried that I might not have anyone to dance with at my own debut.”

“Hmm? In that case, may I ask you for a dance as well, Miss Ianna? Though I don’t know how happy you’ll be to dance with a couple of old geezers like us.”

Ianna looked to Filliger and Gellonian in turns and smiled gently.

“Not at all —I am grateful for your offer. I’ll have to practice so I don’t step on your toes, Professor, Marquis.”

Ianna left the room after that. She had a serene look on her face. Schneider had brought a load of problems with him, but it didn’t matter to her what he did. No one could coerce her into anything. If she could not leave the kingdom lawfully, then she would simply leave illegally.

Arhad, however, apparently did not share the sentiment.

“It that so?”

Arhad answered calmly after putting down his book when Ianna returned his check to him and informed him of what had happened. He did not budge a muscle from the sofa. He was pretending to be warmly tolerant of what he had heard in his knowledge that Ianna was his, but Ianna wasn’t fooled. Arhad was doing his best to suppress it, but his entire being was practically drooling with a chilling bloodlust. Ianna knew that what she was about to say was absurd, but she also knew that Arhad was always irrational when it came to matters that related to her.

“I trust that you aren’t considering anything rash and ridiculous like murdering Prince Schneider.”

Arhad finally looked up. His taciturn gaze told Ianna that her outlandish guess had been on the mark.

“You can never know what’s on another’s mind.”

“Pardon?”

“People can always change. ……So long as they are human.”

Arhad brushed back his hair. He continued,

“I get anxious. You’re still young, and I don’t know where you might run off to because there’s still so much you haven’t experienced yet. Should I eliminate everything that might become a threat……? Or, should I take the imperial throne earlier than I had planned?”

“I would hate it if you ruined your plans just because of me. I did not resolve to stand with you just to see you do that.”

“I knew you’d say that. But I don’t have anything to give you yet. I have nothing to tie you down to me with.”

Ianna smirked.

“And why not? Don’t you have money? I thought you were so rich that you could give me enough gold to bathe in if I asked.”

Arhad shook his head no when Ianna cracked a joke.

“That’s not what I meant. I meant that I can’t quite give you everything you need just yet. I can’t stand up to the nobility and defend your honor because I’m still in hiding, and the truth is that I lack in comparison to the prince at the moment…….”

Ianna reached out and took Arhad’s hand. Arhad looked up. He looked into her unwavering red eyes.

“Why are you so anxious? What is it that’s making you so nervous? I gave you my oath.”

“You’re still so young……so I don’t know if and when you’ll change your mind.”

“I am your knight. Please grant me your trust. And I’m young, you say? But I’m already all grown up.”

Arhad barked a laugh at Ianna’s discontented words.

“I feel like I become a fool……whenever I’m with you.”

“I quite agree. Why are you fretting over something so pointless? What do I need to do to stop you from being anxious?”

Arhad stared into her as he answered,

“I’d like you to stay by my side forever.”

“Am I not here with you now?”

“I want to bind you up tight so that you can never run away.”

“And now you’re just being absurd.”

Arhad pulled Ianna by their still connected hands. Ianna staggered as she lost her balance and placed her other hand by Arhad’s head. She naturally ended up looking into the gleam in his eyes.

“I’m rather sorry, now that I think about it. It would have been better for me if the Swordsmanship Department had accepted the 500,000 gold. It would have put you 500,000 gold in debt. Will you take this if I give it to you?”

Arhad flapped around the check he was holding, prompting Ianna to push his hand away.

“I’m not planning to leave you even if I’m not in your debt. I didn’t decide to stay with you just because I wanted you to do something for me. I’m here because I thought your life would be exciting.”

“But don’t people normally only stay in one place if they’re paid to stay there? Very well. Let me know if there’s anything you want.”

In his anxiety, Arhad continued to parrot his request that she let him know if there was anything she wanted. Ianna stared down at him. Before, he had been nervous about losing her goodwill because he had wanted to make her his, and now he was afraid that she would leave him. Had he been born under a star of anxiety or something? Had everything she had said to him until now not been enough?

But even Ianna was a little embarrassed to keep repeating what she had said. And so, she resolved to stay things as straightforwardly as she could just one last time.

“I did not decide to stay by your side because I wanted money or anything of material worth. I vowed to be as your sword because you liked and wanted me, and because I feel as though I will be able to gain something that could never be converted into money if I stay by your side. And…….”

Ianna grabbed Arhad by the collar. Their faces pulled closer together. She continued,

“When I look to you, I feel like I can become someone amazing and valuable. I like that. That’s more than enough for me. It even makes me euphoric. And I like you back because you make me feel this way. And that’s why I want to stay by your side. Is this not enough for you?”

Ianna straightened herself out as she shook Arhad’s hand away.

“I will not say any more regarding this matter.”

“…….”

Arhad blushed bright red.

“……I’d be nice……if you could say that to me……every day.”

“No thank you.”

Ianna shot him down. Arhad simply smiled because he was accustomed to her cold responses. Ianna stole a glance at him. Not only had the anxiety vanished from his face, but he even looked rather excited. Arhad stared at her openly and laughed freely.

“Still, let me know anytime if there’s anything that you want. I’ll give it to you at once.”

Ianna was almost embarrassed to know that he was not only so good to her but that he would even give her the world if she asked for it. Did he really like her that much? The darkness had lifted completely from his visage.

She did not welcome the idea of saying something like this to him all the time because she wasn’t exactly the best at expressing herself with words. Still, she felt like the words had been worth saying because he was so visibly delighted.

Now that she thought about it, this was the man who had been so happy that he hadn’t known what to do with himself when she had given him a simple wet towel during their expedition south.

Ianna harrumphed with her armed crossed as she looked to Arhad. She figured it wouldn’t be a terrible idea to resume the experiments she had paused at some point in hopes of clearing away his anxiety completely. Then, she had an idea and immediately decided to test it out.

~~*~~

“Did you hear?”

The streets were filled with gossip about the new laws that Schneider had enacted.

“His Highness Prince Schneider declared that nobles will have to receive approval from the state if they want to disown illegitimate children.”

“Wouldn’t the nobility dislike that? Don’t they normally only raise their illegitimate children until they’re of age and kick them out of the household if they don’t like them?”

Nobles basically treated their illegitimate children like property. Nobles who had a heart would take in the children they had fathered if said children pounded at their doors and claimed to be related to them by blood, but those children would generally be married off to talented commoners to tie talent to the household or be used as tools to unite two nobles houses.

“The nobility didn’t really seem to mind. It’s basically just a confirmation, or so they say.”

“But why did the prince suddenly propose a law like that……?”

Eiji, who had been walking along the streets while wearing a robe, whispered to Arhad, who was walking beside him.

“Was it entirely because of Little Ianna?”

“Yes,”

Arhad frigidly replied. He continued,

“But I won’t let him tie her down like that. All I have to do is to keep that law from being officially approved.”

“By whom? The king? But we don’t have any ties with him.”

“There’s still one more incompetent puppet prince out there, no?”

“Are you referring to the crown prince? But we don’t have any ties with him either?”

“I have economic ties to the first concubine’s cousin’s business. I should be able to work something out if I put pressure on that business in secret. The first concubine is only concerned about keeping Prince Schneider in check —she probably couldn’t care less about national security even if she tried. She’ll be dying to do anything that might get in Schneider’s way.”

~~*~~

“My Lord Brother.”

Schneider gripped the edge of the desk. There was fire in his eyes. He was currently confronting the crown prince, Fernando Luria Roanne. He continued,

“Why must we quarrel over something like this? What is the problem here?”

Fernando brought his quill pen to his paper with apathy on his face.

“House Roberstein is one of the Five Founding Houses. They are one of the kingdom’s pillars. I hear that the count was forced into marrying a commoner because he had been swindled. And not only is his illegitimate daughter a crazy bitch who murdered her own grandfather, she’s even hated by everyone in his lands.”

“…….”

“Why are you trying to keep House Roberstein from getting rid of that wench? Do you have something going on with her? Does Miss Tarwitt know? How dare you let your eyes wander when you’re already betrothed to such a lovely young lady?”

Schneider slammed his fist down against the desk. Fernando was shocked and glared back at him like a venomous snake. Schneider was practically spitting at Fernando as he said,

“……I pray that you mind your words. I am not interested in Miss Roberstein in that way. Is that the only thing you care about, Lord Brother? That girl is an individual of remarkable talent. She won the swordsmanship tournament at the tender age of just sixteen. Can’t you see how amazing she’ll be when she’s fully mature? She’ll slip through our fingers and leave for other countries if she’s not tied down by the noble duty of fealty for the royal family. We absolutely must tie her down!”

It was difficult to become a citizen of Roanne, but it was easy to give up one’s citizenship. There were plenty of people who wanted a Roanne citizenship, as Roanne was the greatest country in the world. Those who wished to stay were welcomed, and those who did not were chased away. That was Roanne’s pride as a nation. Fernando still looked lukewarm as he replied,”

“Our Kingdom of Roanne has plenty of talent. The kingdom is practically overflowing with it. Why must we cling so hard to one wench? And she’s a girl at that……. Does that not hurt your pride? Is the Swordsmanship Department that lacking in talent? I, for one, find it hilarious that anyone would want to kick away their status as a member of Roanne’s nobility of their own accord. And it is ridiculous that we are arguing over something like this. Enough. Hey, you over there. Bring me those papers. And tear up that stupid new law.”

Schneider kicked the wall as soon as he had left Fernando’s room. Then, he glared at the door he had just walked out of.

“It’s vexing to think that I share blood with a fool like him.”

“Your Highness.”

Schneider looked up in rage, but his features immediately smoothed out when he saw the elderly man standing before him. It was Viscount Gerard Hephlood —someone he treasured.

“Trying to tie her down by force will only win you her ire.”

Gerard Hephlood. He had taught her while she was still living in the Roberstein lands, and he had been shocked to learn how skilled she was at the sword. But he hadn’t thought it was unreasonable. Ianna was a girl who would do anything she said she would, after all.

Schneider stared at Gerard and openly voiced his marvel when he recalled the viscount’s past.

“Now that I think about it, I recall that you were once sponsored by House Roberstein to do research?”

“Yes.”

“And you’ve met the young lady?”

“I’ve taught that child personally.”

“Oh? And how was she?”

“May I ask what you mean by that? Her temperament? Her talent?”

“Tell me everything.”

“She is a girl who works hard at everything she does. And she is strong-willed and upright. Though it was only recently that I learned she was skilled with the sword…….”

“Hmmm. The more I learn about her, the more I want to keep her talent by my side.”

“Only her talent? I trust that you still intend to take Miss Lilith Tarwitt as your princess consort? You will only be keeping Miss Ianna as a knight?”

Schneider flinched.

“……Why are you asking me such an obvious question?”

“You would need to do everything in your power to keep her from leaving House Roberstein if you meant to take her as your princess consort. After all, politics dictate that it is difficult for a member of the royal family to marry at will. I am sure you were already well-aware of this, Your Highness.”

Calmly, Gerard continued,

“But, if you only intend to recruit her as a knight, then I would think that it is wiser to let the young lady do as she pleases and win over her favor. The young lady that I know detests those who get in her way, likely because she has a tendency to push through and do what she wants to do. And she absolutely hates being restricted.”

“Kgh. I should have left a stronger impression on her back then, but I couldn’t because of that bastard……. I’ve messed up. To be honest, I don’t have a good point of contact with the young lady. That was my only chance, but I’ve lost it thanks to that 500,000-gold bastard. Should I gift her something? Oh, but I’d still be competing with that 500,000-gold bastard if I spent money on her…….”

Gerard looked at Schneider with a strange light in his eyes when the latter groaned.

“May I ask why you’ve taken such an interest in the young lady? There are plenty of people under your banner already, no?”

“I just had this feeling as soon as I laid my eyes on her.”

Schneider’s eyes darkened as he brushed back his silver hair. He continued,

“I absolutely must not let her go. That’s what my intuition told me.”

~~*~~

Part 4

“Are you two dating?”

“What?”

It had been several weeks since the school festival had ended, and finals had been concluded as well. Ianna would be done with her first year once the semester was over, and winter break was only a few days away. Unlike her peers, who visited the library to study only during the exam period, Ianna spent any extra time she had brushing up on any knowledge she lacked on a general basis, though she still spent most of her time training with her sword. Which was why she had become regular study buddies with Rikijen, who holed himself up in the library alone unless he had a debate or a policy research meeting to attend.

“Well, I mean… You’ve been spending so much time together after the school festival, and he seriously spent an entire eighty-nine gold on you. Some people have been joking about how the man who was willing to buy you for 500,000 gold might be Sir Arhad too. Though no one believes it because his voice was so different.”

Ianna looked uncomfortable. She absolutely did not want for Arhad’s identity to be revealed because of her, even if he had been wearing a mask and had altered his voice.

“Ack.”

Eiji was sitting at the table reading with them today, and he started tapping at Ianna with a slightly flushed expression on his face after being startled and letting slip a sigh.

“Wait. Seriously?”

“We are not dating.”

“C’mon, you just don’t know how these relationships work.”

“I don’t want to date. It’s pointless and vain. As for love……who could say? But I don’t ever want to learn more about it.”

Personal relationships were difficult. After all, relationships could only be established by mutual give and take from both parties. And romantic relationships were the most serious among them. Such relationships were doomed if the other party didn’t reciprocate. You would want to monopolize the other party, want them to look only at you, be anxious if they showed any sign of interest in another, and want to be repaid for anything you gave them……it was a blind and reckless one-on-one relationship.

Love was the most beautiful thing in the world when it came true. Ianna enjoyed watching over cordial couples like Denma and Dante from Elona’s Paradise. But love was also the most desperate and wretched feeling in the world when it was one-sided.

Ianna recalled Lebony, who was always endlessly desperate in her memories. The woman, who had cast everything else aside and had grown vicious and wicked, had been like a nightmare to Ianna. Lebony had thrown away her entire life for the useless emotion called love, and in Ianna’s eyes, she had been the worst kind of fool there was even if it had partially been because of her unbearable loneliness.

Love was a relationship that could not succeed without the other party’s cooperation. Ianna felt a strong revulsion as soon as she entertained the notion of love in her head. She even felt like it was akin to forcing two unmatching pieces of a puzzle together. She was a puzzle who could be completed even if she was alone. Polishing her sword and shining brightly on her own was everything to her in life.

‘The thought that I’d abandon myself to an emotion like love? Ridiculous.’

And on top of everything else, love was fleeting. It was an emotion that flared up quickly and cooled down just as fast. There existed special cases, like Lebony, but lovers frequently sulked and argued and broke up even if they had once been overflowing in passion and had whispered their love to one another. Ianna had seen many such lovers who whispered of their love so ardently they seemed to have gone mad only to reach their limit in just a few years. Love was a dynamic emotion that came and went in but an instant. Mutual love could become unilateral in but a single moment.

‘They want to put the notion of love between me and Arhad?’

Ianna thought of Arhad and shook her head. She did not wish for that to happen. Their relationship was wonderful and perfect as it already was. They were liege and retainer as well as rivals……. It had only been possible because Arhad had been captivated by her skills. And their relationship would continue on forever so long as she continued to temper and polish those skills.

Ianna was perfectly happy with the way things were now. She wanted to maintain the status quo. She did not want to force such a fleeting and imperfect emotion in the middle of the relationship they currently shared.

But what if Arhad was the one who fell in love with her? And what if he later changed his mind? Then, she would lose both his love and the relationship they currently shared. And only she would be left with her one-sided feelings for him in the end.

Unrewarded feelings still hurt even if they were love. And Ianna no longer wanted to hold onto such unilateral feelings. This was why she was never the one to make the first move when forming new relationships. She would begin exchanging emotions only after the other party had shown her theirs, and she had never been the first to express her interest in anyone. And when someone she had goodwill for cut off their goodwill for her, she also cut off her own. This was the standard for relationships that Ianna had set after being rejected so many times when she was younger.

Then, wouldn’t she simply be able to change in response if Arhad changed first?

……That would be impossible.

Ianna did not think she would be capable of hating Arhad no matter what he did anymore. She liked Arhad. Which was why it would be impossible for her to cut off the goodwill she felt for him. The very thought that his feelings might change unilaterally was horrid to her, which was nothing to say of the possibility that their relationship might shatter entirely. She did not even want to entertain the notion.

This was why Ianna found it unpleasant when people labeled their relationship as one of love.

“Aren’t you thinking a little too into this? Dating’s just dating, isn’t it?”

“I don’t want to be persuaded into it.”

“Jeez. It’s nice, you know?”

Ianna replied with a sour look on her face when she heard Eiji’s response.

“What is? Putting your lips together and licking each other’s tongues? Or getting buck naked on a bed together to have intercourse? Well, I suppose it should be more than sufficient for satiating any base desires.”

“Ack.”

This was essentially what the nobility did behind closed curtains, after all. The obscene and the decadent.

Rikijen gasped when he heard Ianna’s outspoken reply and Eiji tapped her on the shoulder in alarm.

“Hey, hey. How can you be so bold about saying things like that?”

“What’s there to be embarrassed about? This doesn’t even come close to the dirty jokes that men like to share amongst themselves. I’ve even been lenient about my choice in diction. I thought men liked to talk about fondling the breasts, about how buttocks are works of art, or about how they’d spread a woman’s legs wide open and shove their……”

“Stop! That’s……ahhh!”

Rikijen’s pale face grew bright red and Eiji blocked his ears while making a bizarre noise.

“I don’t want to hear things like that from your mouth, Little Ianna! Right, Rikijen?”

“I have to agree.”

“You two are ridiculous.”

Ianna smirked at them. Eiji cleared his throat.

“Well……anyway, that’s just a physical relationship. But there’s something else that’s more passionate about dating.”

“And you’ve experienced such feelings before, I take it?”

“Sure, all the time.”

Ianna clicked her tongue when Eiji stuck up his nose.

“Watching you just makes me realize how pointless love it all the more. I’ve seen your supposed lover slap you across the face and tell you to fuck off before.”

“…….”

“Love is fleeting, and it’s also the most unpleasant feeling in the world if it’s not returned. And I dislike things that I can only have if someone else does something for me first.”

Ianna flipped through her book as she continued,

“I like things that I can achieve solely through my own efforts. I have no intention of being passionate about something uncertain that I can never know if the other party will give to me or not. It’s far more efficient to spend my time training with the sword instead of chasing after something like that.”

“Even if it’s Sir Arhad?”

Ianna’s hands stopped moving.

“……Why do you keep bringing up his name? I already told you that we’re not dating.”

“Well, Sir Arhad’s at a complete loss right now because he likes you, Little Ianna. And you’re pretty passionate when it comes to him too. Aren’t you?”

Ianna took a moment to reply. Eiji and Rikijen awaited her answer with their hands clenched into fists. Finally, Ianna opened her mouth and said,

“……What I feel is something completely different. And that’s true of him as well. Don’t go deciding things on your own.”

“Love can bud from anywhere. You have special feelings for Sir Arhad, don’t you? So why don’t you at least try dating him for a……aaaaack!”

Ianna grabbed Eiji by the ear when he tried to sneak in a suggestion.

“You keep coming back to this —I know what dating is and I also have a basic idea as to what love is, and I have no plans of experiencing either.”

“Ah, okay, I get it! Just let go of my ear……ack!”

“E-excuse me!”

A certain man walked up to their table while Ianna was pulling at Eiji’s ear. Ianna was a little taken aback as she looked up at him because she thought that he had come over to ask them to be quiet. She realized that it might be difficult for him to censure her, a noble, so she spoke up first.

“My apologies. We’ll be quieter.”

But the man didn’t respond. He simply stared into Ianna’s face with his own flushing scarlet. Ianna stared back at him, without letting go of Eiji yet, and wondered what his issue was, when he took a deep breath and pushed something out toward her.

“Please accept this!”

The man ran away like a shooting arrow when Ianna accepted it in the heat of the moment.

“……?”

Ianna tilted her head upon seeing the roundish and pink sticker sealing the envelop, whereas the blood drained from Eiji’s face as he dropped his jaw.

“I-is that…?”

“Is this a challenge letter? It’s been a while since I last received one of these.”

Crash!

Eiji’s chair fell over backward and Rikijen slammed his head against the table when they heard what Ianna had said. Rikijen groaned and rubbed his forehead as he got back up and said,

“Not at all. It’s quite obviously a love letter.”

“A love letter?”

Ianna had a strange look on her face as she sliced through the sticker with a paper knife and took out the letter inside.

Hello, Lady Ianna. You might be a bit bewildered by this sudden letter. I would like to spend some time with you on Founding Day, if you’ll allow me.

I fell for you at first sight. I’d like to get to know you better, Lady Ianna. But I don’t expect too much because of the difference in our respective stations. I don’t mind even if you only accept just to kill time. And I don’t mind if you think this is just a joke. I will be happy just to be able to look back and remember spending time with you.

If this is all right with you, please meet me in front of the Dolphin Fountain in the Central Plaza at 8 p.m. tonight.

– Spearsmanship Department 6^th year, Kinachio.

“…….”

Eiji’s face stiffened up as he read the letter over Ianna’s shoulder.

“Does this crazy bastard want to die?”

he mumbled quietly. Rikijen read the letter too and added,

“I’ve heard his name before. He’s quite popular among the ladies, since he’s from a wealthy family and he’s well-mannered.”

“So are you gonna g-g-go?”

Ianna made a strange face when she heard the tremble in Eiji’s voice.

“No? Why would I, when I don’t even know him? But why are you…….”

But just then.

“Please accept this, Lady Ianna!”

Yet another man handed her yet another letter.

Ianna left her two noisy friends behind and returned directly to the dormitories. She felt like she would not only continue to be pestered by her friends but that she would also keep getting these weird letters if she stayed.

‘Now that I think about it, it’ll be Founding Day soon.’

January 1^st of the Roanne calendar was the day that the kingdom had been founded. According to her contract, she would have to participate in the celebrations and make her official debut into high society. And she had agreed to meet with Cherno and Sarachè over break to discuss the details.

Ianna let out a long sigh. The days had grown colder before she’d noticed, and her breath was white as it escaped her.

“You’re back, Little Ianna!”

Priscilla welcomed her back in good cheer as soon as she stepped into their room. Ianna was rendered speechless upon seeing the large stack of papers at her desk. She picked up one of the letters from the pile and opened it.

Your parents must be gods, Lady Ianna.

Ianna furrowed her brows upon reading the unexpected words. What the hell?

For they have poured the light of the stars twinkling in the skies into your eyes. I saw an angel standing among the light and flowers during the fashion show. I only pray that your gaze, filled with the stars’ light, would look to me for even but a moment. Won’t you please spend Founding Day with me? Please post your reply on the third dummy in the Swordsmanship Department’s second training hall, which you frequent.

– G. H.

Ianna folded the absurd letter back up.

“What is all this?”

“What do you mean? —they’re obviously love letters. They’d been crammed under the door when I stepped in, you know? I was waiting for you to come back.”

“Love?”

Ianna opened yet another letter.

Lady Ianna, I first saw you standing beneath the shining sun.

But you were brighter than the sun itself.

From that day on, I could look only to you the way a sunflower looks to nothing but the sun.

Plants wither and die when they don’t receive enough sunlight.

Likewise, I, too, shall wither and die if I am not able to see you even if from afar, Lady Ianna.

But plants can die if the sun shines on them too brightly as well.

That is who you are to me, Lady Ianna.

Can you hear it? The sound of my heart drying up and burning to ashes? Won’t you please save me from my plight?

I will wait for you on January 1^st.

– Stewardship Department 3^rd year, Leviritio.

Ianna read the letter from top to bottom with a strange look on her face. This was the first time in her life she had ever received such cheesy letters. The slather of flowery words made her uncomfortable. She might have grabbed the writer by the throat if he had recited these words to her face.

Then, something else caught Ianna’s eyes. It was a bottle filled with hard candy. There was a small piece of paper affixed to it. She unfolded the paper and read it.

I prepared you some candies since I figured you must always be tired.

It was unexpectedly normal. Ianna intoned upon reading the very normal sentence and tilted her head to the side as she read the next.

Thank you for always running around my head so busily.

I like you.

– J. S.

Ianna crumpled up the paper in her hand. She wanted to murder the bastard who had written it. She sighed and tossed the crumpled paper on top of the stack on her desk and sat down on her bed. Then, she looked to the stack of papers on her desk with a peculiar light in her eyes.

“Are all of these love letters……?”

“Of course. Founding Day is on January 1^st! Legends say that if you spend time with your lover on Founding Day, Queen Roanne de Roanne, the legendary queen who founded our kingdom and was the recipient of many marriage proposals from countless men, will bless you so your love will succeed. Ahh, it’s so sweet!”

Priscilla wriggled before triumphantly placing her hands at her waist. She continued,

“Didn’t I tell you? I said that I wouldn’t be taking any responsibility for what happens next. Look at how everyone’s sending you love letters because they fell for you at first sight. Ohohohoho.”

‘Is this really what she meant?’

Ianna stared at the heap of letters.

I like you, I love you…….

‘What do the people who sent those letters even know about me that they can say things like that so easily? What do they even know about me that they can speak of their love for me so readily, that they send me letters asking me to spend time with them?’

Ianna felt sick as she heard the empty words of love spoken by those who uttered it so easily. And she felt despondent as she saw the pile of that which she had wanted so desperately in the past. Was something that she could get so easily, something that could be uttered so readily, really the sincere affection and goodwill that she had craved so desperately for in the past? She felt as if her past self had been turned into a joke.

“Hey, hey, aren’t you going to open up the rest? I’ve been waiting so long for you to come back and open them.”

“I am not going to read them. I will be throwing them all away when I head out tomorrow morning.”

“Eh?”

Priscilla, who had been looking as if she had a spoonful of sweet chocolate on her tongue, dropped her jaw.

“It is better cut things off right from the beginning if I can’t return their feelings. Besides, I have neither the time nor the intention to involve myself in something like love. Moreover…”

Ianna opened up one of the letters.

“Just reading these makes me feel like I’ll break out in hives —are these empty words really supposed to be confessions of love?”

Ianna threw the letter aside with a twisted smile on her face. Then, she ignored the rest of the letters and laid down on her bed.

Seeing how displeased Ianna was, Priscilla gingerly said,

“Little Ianna, I think you’re putting too much thought into your idea of love. Dating is just a way to get to know someone better. I’ve dated several men already myself.”

“It’s a pointless waste of time.”

“……You’re just like a delicious piece of bread that’s gone cold, Little Ianna. And there’s no chocolate or jam filling inside. And besides. It’s pretty obvious that Little Arhad has a thing for you.”

Arhad again. Ianna scowled and turned back toward Priscilla.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Goodness, there’s only one reason why a man would take such good care of you.”

Priscilla leapt out of her bed and walked up to Ianna. Ianna moved only her eyes as she looked back at her. Priscilla placed her hand beside Ianna’s face and looked down at the younger girl with fire in her eyes. Ianna stared directly back up at her.

Priscilla gulped. The mess of Ianna’s crimson hair, her lovely forehead, her bright eyes, her sharp nose, and her sensual lips. Beneath them were the sharp angles of her clavicle, peeking out from beneath her clothes, and farther down were her voluptuous and elastic breasts, which were difficult to believe they belonged to a girl who had yet to fully mature. Her slender waist, and her flat stomach which betrayed no excess fat. Looking down at Ianna as she lay in bed made Priscilla’s heart skip a beat.

Wow, this girl, isn’t she so sexy? How much more beautiful will she be when she’s more mature? Even I might assault her at this rate. What if Little Arhad suddenly comes loses his mind because of her, when even I’m like this?

Priscilla’s eyes gleamed as she saw through Ianna. She lifted Ianna’s chin with a serious expression on her face.

“Sexy Ianna, please be my model……no, I mean, please be my girl……oof.”

Ianna, who had been watching silently because she had no idea what Priscilla was doing, shoved the other girl’s face away. Priscilla yelped as she was pushed away.

“Ow, my nose. But anyway, that’s probably how Little Arhad feels.”

Ianna had no idea why people kept tying her and Arhad together like this. Arhad had never once tried to whisper his love to Ianna in the past —he had simply wanted her because of her talent. The only emotion she had been able to read from him was his amazingly excessive possessive desire. He had simply wanted her in his grasp. Just like how a swordsman felt when they saw a good sword.

Did that count as love? Ianna did not think it did. Arhad had said that he had fallen for her, but he had been referring to her as a swordswoman who was skilled with the sword —he had not meant that he had fallen for Ianna as a woman.

But Ianna decided to confirm it anyway since people wouldn’t stop pestering her about it.

“What are your opinions of me? Do you love me?”

“…….”

The tea he had been drinking spilled out from Arhad’s lips. And the book he had been reading dropped from his hands. His entire body tensed up, and his eyes began to shake.

Arhad quickly wiped at his mouth and stooped down to pick up his book like nothing had happened in an attempt to hide how bewildered he was. Ianna smirked when she saw how he reacted.

“It’s ridiculous, right? But people keep saying that you’re in love with me. And I find that rather uncomfortable.”

Ianna’s eyes took on a chilling color. She continued,

“It’s not just with you —I have absolutely no intention of being in love with anyone. I am more than satisfied already with the relationship that we share now. Would you not agree? Please answer me in no uncertain terms. And then I can tell everyone else the same.”

“…….”

Arhad quietly observed how incredibly displeased Ianna was being and fell into thought before carefully saying,

“I see you as a remarkable swordswoman……whom I want to watch over and keep by my side.”

“I knew it.”

It was only then that Ianna smiled and plopped down on the opposite end of the sofa that Arhad was sitting on. She had asked him such a pointless question because of those stupid love letters, which were only good as kindling.

‘Those damned love letters.’

“Do you really like my sword that much? I’ll work hard to keep supporting you,”

Ianna said happily as she leaned back against the sofa. Arhad stared at her quietly for a bit before returning to his book. Ianna was still smiling as she stole a glance at him. She figured he must be reading a rather difficult book, as he was wearing a rather grave look on his face even though he was normally expressionless.

‘But what do I think of him?’

Ianna crossed her arms as she continued to observe Arhad.

He was her master. He was someone she wanted to follow. Someone she wanted to assist. Someone she could rely on. Someone she liked who had a special place in her heart. Someone she didn’t want to lose. Someone she wanted to be with.

Arhad was special to her.

“Why are you staring at me?”

Arhad asked, unable to withstand her gaze.

“Hmmm.”

“…….”

Ianna was being weird today. Arhad closed his book, feeling a little anxious because Ianna was scrutinizing him and observing him for some reason that he couldn’t fathom, and poured her a cup of tea that he had prepared for her in advance.

“I think you’re very handsome,”

Ianna said nonchalantly as she accepted her teacup. Then, she resumed staring at him. She was almost certain now that he was the man who had hugged her tight during the minotaur incident, and she was curious as to what he had meant when the nuance in his words suggested he had known her from even before that……but she had never quite found the opportunity to ask him about it.

She might be manly, but she was still a woman and it wasn’t appropriate for a man to suddenly hug a random woman from behind like that. Nor was is appropriate for him to kiss a sleeping woman’s fingers. There would be nothing he could say in his defense if she called him out for sexual harassment.

Besides, she had no definite proof and she hadn’t seen his face because of his robes, so there was nothing she could do if he tried to dodge the question. She had to approach the matter carefully. She would come to know the truth eventually if she learned more about Arhad. And so, she decided to learn more about the mysterious medicine, which connected him to that event.

“Anyway, is your heart truly all right?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“But there must be some kind of problem, considering that you can fall asleep out of nowhere.”

“All I have to do is keep taking my medicine.”

“What exactly is that medicine made of? And could you tell me more about your illness too?”

Arhad glance at Ianna and replied,

“It’s made of divine power and various medicinal herbs that help fix divine power into physical matter. To be precise, the divine power is from the hearts of various living creatures that Lord Heinrich has mashed up. My heart is always lacking in divine power, so I have to fill it back up periodically. If I don’t, I fall into a coma because my soul isn’t supplied with enough divine power to sustain itself.”

“Is this because of the Demon’s influence?”

“……No. It’s just a congenital disease. Other Demon’s fragment owners don’t have this illness.”

Ianna then decided to ask about the strange way he had acted during their expedition to the South.

“Is that why you killed the monsters so recklessly when we traveled to the South? Please tell me this time instead of dodging the question.”

“You’re technically right, but the circumstances were a little different. I wasn’t in need of divine power back then. But I was lacking it because something sucked it out of me.”

“Something?”

Arhad quietly took a sip of tea.

“The Demon’s heart, which is somewhere is Pandemonium, absorbed my divine power through a large rift that had opened up somewhere in the four corners.”

The Demon’s heart, it’s true form, had sucked his divine power out of him…… Ianna mumbled to herself before looking up after coming to a sudden realization.

“……Did you know that would happen during the journey?”

“Yes.”

Ianna swiftly furrowed her brows upon hearing his affirmation. She slammed her teacup down on the table.

“Wait, but you still accompanied me to one of the four corners anyway? Were you in your right mind?”

“I had originally meant to stop accompanying you after you were introduced to the Jabellon Company because there was a lot I had to do for Camastros and also because of that, but…….”

Ianna recalled how Arhad had initially wanted her to go with the Jabellon Company. She hadn’t realized that he had actually been really busy because he had agreed so readily when she had asked him to accompany them instead.

‘But why did he agree if he was busy and he knew that it would put him at risk?’

Arhad looked a little embarrassed and tried to cover his face with his hand when Ianna looked back at him incredulously.

“You could have been in danger, and because you asked it of me.”

“Because I……asked it of you?”

“I was so happy that you asked me for something. Which was why I decided to drop everything and just go with you.”

“…….”

Ianna stopped asking further into it and dropped her gaze to the concentric circles of her teacup and tea. Then, she said,

“You’re an idiot.”

“Perhaps.”

He wasn’t perhaps an idiot, he unquestionably was one. The fool. Ianna’s ears flushed a little red beneath the cover of her crimson hair.

“……Enough of that. Please stop doing things like that going forward. Also, I’d like to hear more about your future plans.”

“What plans?”

“Your plans for usurping the imperial throne. There’s nothing concrete that I know of.”

“Hmmm…….”

Arhad slowly organized his thoughts before nodding and saying,

“Nothing will change much for the next two years……that is, until I graduate from the Institution when I’m twenty-four. I’m planning to focus on weakening the Black Fox and strengthening myself and Camastros. Then, once I’ve graduated…”

“Once you’ve graduated?”

“I’m planning to go to the Kingdom of Woodruff.”

The Kingdom of Woodruff was the only kingdom to the east of the Bahamut Empire in the North. Arhad continued,

“Their blood may have thinned out over the generations, but there are a lot of clans living there who’ve inherited elven blood like the Roygen Clan. There are a lot of small conflicts in Woodruff because they hate the Bahamut Empire. I’ve bought myself a peerage under the name Count Semastair in Woodruff. I’m planning to get in contact with Bahamut nobles who have grievances against the empire and focus on capturing them into our fold, and I’ll take the Bahamut imperial family’s heads when the opportunity presents itself.”

Ianna, who had been listening earnestly to Arhad’s plans, tilted her head to the side.

“I’ve heard that Bahamut is almost like a theocracy in that they practically worship the imperial family. Will it be possible to win over the nobility?”

“A theocracy……it’s not quite like that. There are a lot of people who believe in the Faith of Laos, and there are also a lot of people who are frightened by how cruel the imperial family is. Besides, it’s difficult for people to prosper there because there are a lot of monsters in the North, and much of the land is barren. The Bahamut Empire solves these issues through the slaves they won through war, the tributes paid to them by other countries, and the Black Fox’s capital and manpower. No one can speak out against the imperial family because they’re the ones standing above everyone else as absolute rulers with their powerful might.”

“Are you planning to eliminate the imperial family and take their place?”

Arhad nodded.

“One reason why I’m weakening the Black Fox is because the Black Fox’s upper brass is abnormally loyal to the imperial family, but the more important reason is because I need to decrease the imperial family’s credibility. The empire will be in trouble if the Black Fox’s earnings start to dwindle. The nobility will be shaken when that happens, not to say anything of the public sentiment.”

“I understand.”

“Then, once I’ve taken the throne, I’ll start a war and capture territory in the South. An empire that sustains itself with slaves and tributes from other kingdoms can’t last for very long. Only countries that can prosper independently will last. This is yet another reason why I’m weakening the Black Fox. Drugs, slaves, intelligence……the Black Fox is a large criminal cartel that has a monopoly in these three areas. But, excluding intelligence, the other two aren’t things that will help stabilize the empire in the long-term. Slaves might have their uses, but I’d prefer to create a cleaner empire if at all possible.”

Ianna quite liked Arhad’s stance. But to usurp an entire empire…….

Ianna thought of Rikijen, who was extremely interested in all things related to Arhad. Rikijen Rostari. The boy who would one day become the prime minister of the Bahamut Empire at a young age.

“Now that I think about it, it didn’t seem like Rikijen was a part of Camastros —will you take him with you?”

“Rikijen?”

“That child follows you quite ardently, you know.”

Arhad shook his head no.

“Rikijen’s much too young. He has a lot of talent, but there’s still much that he needs to learn.”

“I see. But how do you know him anyway?”

“It’s nothing important. I saved him from a wicked noble who was about to murder him and gave him something to eat as I was passing by……and I decided to sponsor him on a whim. Why, do you want to hear the story in greater detail?”

“No. That’s all right. I should hear that story directly from the actual person in question.”

“I figured you’d say that.”

“More importantly, I have a request to ask of you. Would you please hear me out?”

Arhad perked up when Ianna mentioned a request.

“Ask me anything.”

“Then, could I please have a bit of your time over break?”

Arhad nodded back immediately without even asking her any questions. He was always prepared to do anything she asked of him.

Arhad had given her his consent, and Ianna left the room looking content because she had perfectly accomplished everything she had set out to do when she had first sought him out. Arhad watched her retreating figure with a complicated look in his eyes before returning his gaze to the book he had been reading.

Bam!

Then, shortly after Ianna had left, Eiji kicked the door open and walked in. Arhad closed his book. It wasn’t possible for him to concentrate on it anymore.

He placed his book on the table. His hands had been trembling so hard that his book hadn’t only been crumpled as he put it down, it had nearly been ripped in two.

“Look here, is this really the time for you to let Little Ianna go off like that?”

Eiji immediately beat down at Arhad as soon as he entered the room. He continued,

“Do you think that she’s a jewel who’s already in your grasp or something? Are you sure that you have the time to be all confident like you normally are right now?”

“Confident……?”

Arhad’s lips twisted into a frown. Who was being confident? —he was always endlessly timid and anxious when it came to Ianna.

The first time he had whispered his love to her, she had failed to understand him and had pierced through his heart with her sword. The second time, she had been brimming with hostility and had always rejected him, and he had ultimately stabbed her through the heart with the intention of putting an end to everything.

It was only now, the third time, that she understood him, that she wasn’t hostile to him, and that she had willingly chosen to stay by his side. She relied on him, spoke her heart out to him, hugged him back when he hugged her, and, most importantly, smiled for him often. Sometimes she smirked quickly, sometimes she smiled boldly, and sometimes, she laughed out loud in a pleasant cheer. Arhad’s heart skipped a beat each and every time a smile graced Ianna’s lips, and it filled him with joy. He was happy just to see her smile.

Badump, badump……

His heart was racing. The frail emotion that had been hidden among the rotten ones was still hotter and more fervent than the others. But on the other hand, it was also greedy, blind, and caused him to grow parched.

Ianna’s smile was like a dagger that dug out all the rotten emotions, split open his heart, and fished out the frail emotion hiding inside. But Arhad forcefully pushed it back inside. He forced himself to not think about it. Because he knew that he would be devoured by an unbearable greed, that he would burn in his desire for Ianna to a point that it would be incomparable to what he felt now, the very moment he acknowledged it.

Ianna.

Arhad’s eyes grew murky. Her crimson hair fluttering in the wind, her flushing ears peeping through between the strands, the crescent moons of her proud eyes, and her lovely smile that seemed to enshroud her entire being in a beautiful radiance.

“Arhad.”

The kindness in her voice as she spoke his name, and her lips from which his name was uttered. From time to time, he would be bewitched as his entire soul was seized by that frail emotion and he would find himself reaching out for her before he realized what he was doing. And every time that happened, Arhad repeated to himself,

You’re just a young girl, and you are only a knight whom I have just taken hold of.

Arhad was extremely happy with the bond he had finally managed to forge with Ianna, to the point that the word ‘extremely’ hardly did his joy justice. If this was the extent of their relationship, if he didn’t let that emotion show, if he wasn’t any greedier than this, then he would be able to be with her forever.

Which was why Arhad treated his current relationship with Ianna like a piece of glasswork that could shatter at even the slightest impact. He paid attention to Ianna’s each and every word and action because he was afraid that it would warp the brilliant relationship they currently shared. He would give her whatever it was that she wanted, and he would correct anything and everything that she disliked. If he had been ardent but anxious before Ianna had given him her oath, then he was maddeningly happy but anxious now. Anxiety was an emotion that would grip his heart forever regardless of whether Ianna was with him or not. He did his best to erase his anxiousness because he knew that Ianna didn’t like to see him anxious. He wanted to grow more confident while doing whatever it was that Ianna wanted so he could drive his anxieties to one corner of his heart and lock it there.

Arhad was sure that he could hide his anxieties away completely one day if Ianna continued to stay by his side. Though, of course, his anxiety would break free of its cage and become as madness should she ever abandon him.

Which was why Arhad repeated to himself whenever the monster called anxiety threatened to devour him whole.

Stay like this and maintain the status quo eternally.

Stay with her forever in this never-changing relationship.

No matter what.

He would keep that which he was keeping so tightly under wraps inside himself hidden. He would push it back inside his heart should it ever peek out. His heart had sunk, more than it ever would have had he been shot by an arrow, when Ianna had asked him about it just as he had been thinking this. He had even forgotten how to breathe for a moment.

“Then what are you, if not confident? You’re not thinking that Little Ianna’s a fish that you’ve already caught or anything, are you?”

“Is that how I seem to you?”

Eiji was truly speaking nonsense. There was nothing at leisure about him when it came to Ianna. A fish that he’d already caught —if Ianna was a fish, then she was a shark whom he could never keep in a tank. She was normally docile, but she would break free of the tank and escape at his smallest blunder.

Which was why Arhad was doing his utmost to refrain from doing anything that could sour her mood. He had been observing her nervously ever since she had sworn her knight’s oath to him. Arhad glared at Eiji with raised eyes.

“In any event, why did you come here out of nowhere to prattle nonsense at me?”

“Do you even know what’s happened to Little Ianna between yesterday and today? She’s been receiving love letters —dozens of them.”

Arhad’s, who had been looking back at Eiji in discontent, eyes shook.

“Love letters?”

Arhad recalled how Ianna had abruptly come up to him and asked him if he loved her out of nowhere. Was this why she had asked that? He had never been so bewildered before in his life. He had clenched his trembling hands so hard that he had ended up crumpling up his book. His heart was shaking even still.

“Little Ianna might be an illegitimate child, but she’s not just any illegitimate child —she’s the illegitimate daughter of House Roberstein, one of the Five Founding Houses of Roanne. Illegitimate children are normally married off to other illegitimate children, to the heirs of lower-ranking houses, as mistresses to high-ranking nobles, or to noteworthy commoners, remember? She’s the perfect prey for some of the students here at the Institution.”

“Ianna plans to leave House Roberstein. The hyenas after her will scatter of their own accord when she does.”

“Well, politics aside, there are a lot of people who still admire her in secret. People are all over her, you know? But what are you doing? You should know best that you can never know what might happen to someone. Don’t you like Little Ianna?”

Arhad slowly shook his head no.

“Ianna has no interest in playing love. Neither, for the matter, do I.”

“I know that Little Ianna has no interest in dating, but you……never mind. Anyway, just keep in mind that there are a lot of guys chasing after her right now,”

Eiji said sulkily before he walked out of the room and closed the door behind him.

Arhad leaned back against the sofa. Ianna’s repulsion toward dating was appropriate, given her circumstances. Which was why he had been relieved. Ianna would get rid of the other men on her own, and she would always stay by his side so long as he never let the emotion show.

But if, just if, there was a bastard out there who could potentially disturb the bond that he and Ianna currently shared……. Arhad’s golden eyes curled into a grin.

He would behead the bastard immediately and erase him from the world.

That was all he had to do.

~~*~~

Ianna stuffed the love letters inside a box and threw the entire thing in the garbage incinerator. The heap of letters went up in the crimson flames. Ianna felt dispirited as she watched them burn.

House Roberstein was a renowned house that had stood beside the Kingdom of Roanne since the kingdom had been founded during the dawn of the Age of Magic. Illegitimate daughters of nobles were often married off to noteworthy commoners of talent, and on that front, Ianna, the illegitimate daughter of House Roberstein, presented very charming prospect of future success in the eyes of the men in the Institution. Ianna, of course, was perfectly aware of this.

Ianna stared at the letters as they burned black inside the incinerator. Naturally, it wasn’t that she didn’t think that at least a few of them had been written with genuine goodwill toward her. This life was incomparably different from her last, after all…….

But she also felt that their alleged sincerity, which amounted to little more than a few lines of ink on a mere sheet of paper, was haplessly trivial and vain.

The sincerity in the letters could hardly even begin to compare to Arhad’s, who had confronted her head-on, even when she considered all of them together. Arhad looked to her with greed and goodwill that was hundreds, no, thousands of times greater than what sincerity those letters held.

Ianna no longer craved for others’ goodwill. It wasn’t that she didn’t need it because she had given up on it like she had in her past, but rather because she currently received so much of it that she could wrap her arms around it and it would still spill over. And of course, those feelings that she embraced were not of a love shared between lovers.

Ianna turned away from the letters and walked. She left the incinerator behind without sparing the letters a second glance as they were reduced to ashes.

~~*~~

Part 5

Scratch scratch.

The quiet sound of a pen scribbling across paper echoed throughout the room. The orange flames from the brazier gave warmth to the otherwise cold atmosphere.

On the expensive marble floor was a carpet made from the fur of a rare animal called an elpapa, and on the ceiling was a mural of beautiful flowers in full bloom that a painter had drawn on with their entire heart and soul. There was also a hardwood office desk and chair made from the best mahogany, a shiny black sofa made from the leather of a peridon, which was said to have the softest skin in the world, and bookshelves lined with books filled the walls to either side.

All sorts of business were handled within this study. And Shailince, a middle-aged woman who still looked as elegant as a flower blooming between sheets of ice despite the years that had left their mark on her, was handling documents in the office with an expressionless look on her face.

“Your Majesty, Her Imperial Highness the Princess is here to see you.”

“Open the door at once.”

The glittering door decorated with only the finest jewels was opened immediately upon her words, and a young lady stepped gracefully inside. She had black hair and black eyes. Apart from her skin, which was as white as snow, the beautiful woman was all black in color, and her name was Isabella.

“I’ve returned, Lady Mother.”

Isabella lifted up the hem of her robes as she curtsied to Shailince. Shailince nodded back at her daughter with affection in her eyes.

“Come closer, Isabella. You there. Bring us some warm gailè tea.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

A lady-in-waiting bowed from where she had been standing by the door and made herself scarce. Shailince walked up to Isabella and stroked the latter’s cheek.

“Are you unharmed? Your face looks just fine.”

Isabella grinned and raised her lovely hand up for Shailince to see. Her hand was as pale as white jade, and there was no flaw to be found anywhere on it. And yet, her rounded nails were dyed pink.

“But of course. My hands have not grown any rougher, for I’ve left all the busywork to the knights. Please don’t worry about me. But dirty things kept getting under my nails, so I dyed them with garden balsam. Isn’t it lovely?”

“It pains me to see you suffer because of your fool of a father. Then again, who would have known that something like this would happen just because he was having too much fun with his nether regions.”

Shailince smiled frigidly. Her smile alone, and the bloodlust dwelling within it, was more than enough to bring a chill into the once-warm room. The flames of the brazier became as the flames of hell, and the flowers on the ceiling became as thorny flowers made from ice. The beautiful mahogany furniture was dyed black, and you could almost hear the death cries of the elpapa and peridon from the carpet and sofa respectively. Isabella grinned.

Shailince bit down at her lip because just thinking about her husband made her seethe with rage. It was all well and fine that he took the wenches to bed. She herself enjoyed nightly activities with other men in her own bed, so there was nothing she had to say about it.

But the idiotic fool should have been more careful about where he spilled his seed, or he should have at least made sure to clean up after himself. Thanks to his indecisive idiocy, they had practically handed over half of the fragments that Bahamut had been gathering for centuries to some bastard from god knows where.

Isabella intoned and tilted her head to the side.

“But is that wench really dead? If she isn’t, I’d like to take her in and have some fun with her. I cried so much as a child because that thieving bitch stole half of the fragments that our lineage had absorbed into our blood…….”

Isabella sighed.

“Ahh, I still cannot forget the great sense of loss I felt back then. I truly hate it.”

Her eyes, which had only been pitch-black like a doll’s until then, began shining with an eerie light. A moist tongue, as red as a drop of blood spilt on a white sheet of paper, slipped out from between her lips like a snake’s and licked them.

“If I ever find that bitch, the first thing I’ll do is rip out that vile womb of hers.”

“Pull yourself together, Isabella. How goes your search for the Demon’s fragments that were scattered throughout the North?”

“Oh my.”

Isabella, who had been brimming with her cruel fantasies, came back to earth upon hearing her mother’s question and beamed as she placed a hand on the left side of her voluptuous breast.

“I don’t think there are many left in the North now. Neither my heart nor my blood seems to react no matter how far and wide I travel.”

“Is that so? Then perhaps it’s almost time to begin combing through other regions. We’ve recovered some of our power thanks to you and Taylon……and, while I dislike the idea, it seems far more efficient that we ran through the lands on our own feet instead of leaving things to the bastards in the Black Fox.”

Shailince lifted her fingers. The edges of her nails looked as sharp as a blade. She continued,

“I suppose it does get rather boring to hole up in the palace instead of making use of our great power. I like having authority, and I also like it when others look up to me in reverence. But……in the end, I like it most when I look terrified humans in the eye.”

“Of course, of course. Ahh.”

Isabella suddenly let out a strange moan. Though she didn’t express it audibly like Isabella did, Shailince, too, flushed red in the cheeks as she tasted the height of pleasure.

“It appears that my Lord Brother has retrieved another fragment. Mother, you know how I experience this peculiar pleasure, like what I feel when my Lord Brother takes me violently, whenever we collect a new fragment?”

The edges of Shailince’s lips curled into a smile and she languidly sank into the sofa as she watched Isabella flush and writhe.

“I do. Our lineage tastes both pleasure and the feeling of filling something that we lack whenever we retrieve a fragment…….”

“Then…”

Isabelle wrapped her hands around her cheeks and looked ecstatic.

“How will it feel when we burst open the heart of the one who has stolen what was ours and the half we lost returns to us……?”

Her pink nails, which clashed against the whiteness of her skin, flushed darker.

~~*~~

The wind was blowing. But then, the wind suddenly changed direction and flowed another way as it stirred up a queer current.

This was a certain place in the vast Lotso Mountains. A lone man, who had been climbing up the mountains, opened his eyes wide as he discovered the strange flow of wind and chased after it.

Then, he stopped in his tracks. The wind was being sucked into a deep valley that looked like the earth itself had been torn apart.

Badump, badump.

His heart was racing.

He stood before the colossal rift before him and shuddered.

“At long last……”

He had found a rift into Pandemonium.

The man took a single faltering step toward the rift. He continued to peer into it as if he was entranced.

The outpour of knowledge and memories.

The thrilling destruction and remembrances.

And yet.

“……Huh……?”

The man’s lips twisted for a moment while he was basking in the psychological onslaught with pure bliss on his face.

~~*~~

Ianna was reading in the library. Building up knowledge in various areas was helpful to living life. Ianna either studied or read during her spare time, because she planned to take away as much knowledge from the Institution, which was furnished with it, as she could before she turned nineteen and her life would quickly become busier.

“I’m so jealous of you, Lady Ianna,”

said Rikijen cantankerously as he heaved over a hefty stack of books relating to his major like he always did.

“What? Why?”

“Why is he so interested in only you? We’re both in our first year, and I’m the top of my department just like you’re the top of yours……. I’m quite envious.”

Rikijen slammed his books down on the other side of the table. He massaged his stiff arms for a bit before sitting down while gritting his teeth. He continued,

“I’m going to study as hard as I can.”

“The person whom you said you wanted to follow —it’s Arhad, isn’t it?”

“It is,”

Rikijen answered without a moment’s hesitation. He had known that Ianna had realized ever since she had first demanded Arhad’s schedule from him. He wore a venomous look on his face as he opened up a book to where his bookmark was.

“He’s done me a great kindness, and I wish to work under his banner because I know just how great he is.”

“So what exactly did Arhad do for you?”

With a straight look on his face, Rikijen replied,

“I’m not going to tell you because you’re my rival.”

“Suit yourself.”

“Oh jeez. Shouldn’t you ask at least thrice if you’re curious?”

Ianna stared back at him for being ridiculous.

“You always quip back at me no matter what I say. Are you a sissy?”

“What? Why would you think that?”

“Or are you on your period?”

“You’re insane……. In that case, are you actually a man?”

Rikijen’s face was flushed red as he closed his mouth. His hand, which had been furiously flipping through the pages of his book, slowed down as his mood settled. And he began focusing on his studies. Ianna, too, focused on her reading once their conversation had died down, so they stopped exchanging words.

Time passed, and Rikijen pushed up his glasses as he abruptly said,

“My household was ruined by a noble.”

“Is that so?”

Ianna did not look up from her book. It wasn’t unusual for a commoner’s business to be ruined by a noble.

“Are you familiar with House Owen?”

“Of course. It’s one of the Five Founding Houses.”

“The viscount’s second son is a thug and a drug addict. He’s one of the Black Fox’s more generous customers. My parents were florists. My mother was very beautiful, and my father was someone who couldn’t stand for injustice. And the bastard would frequent our store to steal looks at my mother’s face. He bought a lot of flowers from us too. I’m fairly good at memorizing faces, so I still remember his quite clearly.”

Rikijen’s tone was cold, as though he was speaking about something else’s affairs.

“One day, the bastard got high and broke into our house with a few members from the Black Fox and destroyed everything.”

“Hmm.”

“And then they raped my mother in front of my father, my younger siblings, and me. As a group.”

Ianna looked up from her book. Rikijen’s grey eyes looked murky behind his glasses.

“My mother lost her mind. My siblings and I were too young to understand what was happening, so all we could do was cry. My father had passed out because the bastards beat him up, and he left to protest to House Owen as soon as he woke up because he couldn’t hold back his fury. He was whipped to death for slandering a noble.”

Ianna quietly listened to his story.

“And, do you know what the bastards did next? They tried to murder the rest of my family to keep their honor, because they needed to bury the incident.”

The book Rikijen was holding crumpled in his hands.

“No, they didn’t try to murder us —they killed everyone but me. They murdered my mother and my two younger siblings. Lord Arhad searched through their clothes to confirm their identities after he’d killed them, and I saw that they had the crest of House Owen embroidered on the left side of their chests. They probably kept their house crests on their person like fools because they never imagined they’d die like dogs that day.”

Rikijen clenched his teeth together. There was a sharp glint in his eyes.

“Just what exactly is this honor that nobles speak so highly of? Is honor just another name for their disgusting deeds? I can’t even imagine what other noble houses must be like if even the reputed House Owen acts like that. To be honest, I find the whole lot of them revolting. How many secrets are the nobility hiding in the name of safeguarding their so-called honor……?”

Rikigen gathered his ragged breathing. He regained his usual composure and pushed his glasses back up.

“I will never forgive House Owen. And I will have my revenge on them someday, somehow. It’s impossible for me to train in the sword to kill them directly, but I will get stronger as I support Lord Arhad and I will find a way to slaughter those vile bastards with my own hands.”

“……I see.”

That was all that Ianna said. A clumsy attempt at consolation for his family circumstances could become as a poison to him. There was no point in asking if he was all right because he clearly wasn’t, and it was similarly pointless to assist him when he was blazing so furiously in his desire to take revenge with his own hands.

“Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.”

And so, all she had to do was to offer him her assistance if and when he asked for it.

“Very well. After all, it’s very like you to lend a hand only just before I end up dropping everything, isn’t it, Lady Ianna?”

Rikijen smiled.

“I will support Lord Arhad for the rest of my life. He protected me from House Owen, and he still continues to sponsor me even now. I wish to repay him for everything he’s done for me.”

Rikijen closed his eyes and looked directly at Ianna upon opening them again.

“And I am truly glad, from the bottom of my heart, that you will walk the same path as me and stand by his side, Lady Ianna. I respect your outstanding talent, and I admire your excellent character.”

There was no hint of a jest in Rikijen’s words. His eyes were crystal clear as they locked onto Ianna’s. He smiled a little, seeming a tad embarrassed, once he had said his piece and extended a hand out to her.

“I was lying when I said I was envious or when I called you my rival. I’ll be in your care moving forward.”

“……I as well.”

Ianna smiled back at him. It was an honor for the future prime minister of Bahamut, who would one day look down upon the masses from above, to regard her so highly. Just then, Rikijen gingerly added,

“So, won’t you please put in a good word about me to Lord Arhad? And could you please forget how rude I was toward you when we first met? I might get killed if he learns about how rude I was.”

~~*~~

“Lady Lalatua……. About Founding Day…….”

“Sigh.”

Lalatua let out a sigh as she saw the orange colors stretched out before her.

Lalatua loved magic. She had long since decided to dedicate her everything to it. She was magic, and magic was her. Her life was filled to the brim with magic, and it would always be filled with only magic even in the future.

Magic was so, so fun. Which was why she had cast aside even her own family for it. Her family, too, had abandoned her because of her lunacy. Lalatua’s eyes had been filled with only magic, and that was why she had followed Heinrich and had applied to the Institution. Recently, however, a certain individual was being so stubbornly adherent to her that it was beginning to get annoying.

“You’re quite persistent, aren’t you?”

He wouldn’t leave her even if she attacked him with magic. He wouldn’t leave even when she ignored him. Taro ignored her station as a princess and the rumors that stated that she wouldn’t hesitate to do even the cruelest things as he recklessly charged toward her like a rampaging rhinoceros.

Taro liked Lalatua, but he never approached her without permission, as if she was something sacred. He looked to her as if he was an ardent believer standing before the goddess he revered rather than as a man who greedily wanted to pull the girl he liked in his arms or kiss her passionately. It needn’t be said that he liked her so much that his attitude toward her was closer to divine reference rather than overflowing affection.

Lalatua had been courted often. But each and every one of her previous suitors had left her like a butterfly fluttering away from a flower they had taken a moment’s rest upon after catching a glimpse of her true personality.

Lalatua had never met anyone like Taro before. He would clutch his face and smile with joy even after she slapped him —he was as crazy for her as she was for magic.

She had considered secretly having him killed at first, but he was both her teacher Heinrich’s dear grandson’s friend and Ianna’s, a girl she had taken a liking to, peer. Which was why she had simply decided to treat Taro as a servant of sorts instead.

And so, Taro was the first suitor who had ever gotten close to Lalatua in her life.

“I’ll cover all the costs, so please just stay by my side…….”

Lalatua had been planning to do magical research on Founding Day. But Taro, who believed in the legend of Queen Roanne de Roanne, was clinging to her with tears in his eyes. Lalatua had a fickle change of heart as soon as she saw the earnest look on his face.

“Fine.”

“Really? Is it a d-d-date?”

“What date? I need to go out and buy magical ingredients.”

But it still means we’re goin’ together! Taro beamed sunnily. Lalatua huffed —and she left Taro behind her.

~~*~~

The semester concluded shortly thereafter, and the Institution conducted its end of year-cum-graduation ceremony. Heinrich, who was calling out the top students of each department’s names one by one so they could come up for their awards, cleared his throat and called out loud and clear upon seeing a name that he welcomed on the list.

“The top student of the Swordsmanship Department, first-year —Ianna!”

Ianna, who had been waiting in the darkness behind the large curtains bearing the Institution’s insignia, climbed up to the platform.

Clap clap clap clap—

She climbed up the cold stone stairs slowly……one step at a time. A deafening applause followed her. A loud cheer erupted for her and her alone as she reached the highest step, where Heinrich was, from which she could look down at all the students standing below.

“Congratulations, Little Ianna.”

“Thank you.”

Ianna smiled as she shook Heinrich’s hand, and she turned and bowed to the sea of students spread out before her. Applause enshrouded her like thunder. And so, her turbulent year had come to a close.

~~*~~

Afterward, Ianna met up with Cherno and Sarachè at a teahouse.

“Ianna. I never realized how truly bad your situation was, and I’ve reflected on my own actions for only watching over you from afar. I’m sorry. I’m sure you hate us, right?”

Ianna had promised to see them over break. Cherno was silent as he held his steaming teacup in front of him, and Sarachè apologized to her with a look of resignation on her face.

“It’s all right. I am fine.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“There is no need for you to feel so guilty. I truly don’t mind. Besides…….”

Ianna gathered her breath as she saw how truly apologetic Sarachè looked. She continued,

“I always refused your goodwill, my Lady, but I have always known that you were kind. So please don’t feel guilty over me. And thank you for always being concerned for me.”

Sarachè was a pitiful woman who was without fault in this matter. The harmony of her household had been broken because of Lebony. She had been forced to endure the fact that her beloved husband had slept with another woman, and she had been forced to watch miserably as that woman’s belly grew round with her husband’s child. And yet, she had still been a kind woman who had done her best to be warm to Ianna, that woman’s daughter, in both Ianna’s past and current lives. And she had even died at Ianna’s hands in the past.

Her smile had vanished, and the blood had poured out from her nose and lips and left her face pallid. Her slender frame had fallen over backward. The servants had screamed as Cherno and Harchen had wailed. Lebony had betrayed no expression, and Ianna had been left kicking her feet wondering why Sarachè had suddenly started bleeding after drinking the fragrant tea.

The scene was still left vividly in Ianna’s mind. After all, her entire life had been cast down into an abyss after that event…….

Which was why she grew uneasy and wanted to take some distance whenever she saw Sarachè alive. She impulsively wanted to turn away from the kindness in Sarachè’s visage and have nothing to do with her. Which was why she had been colder to Sarachè than had been necessary. She had not wanted to accept Sarachè’s kindness.

Still, she knew even in her very bones that Sarachè was kind. Sarachè had always been genuinely kind to her. Ianna had been the one to shake her off because she was being influenced by her memories from the past. She had simply been imprisoned in her own obstinacy, like she had been with Arhad…….

And so, Ianna said,

“Thank you. And I’m sorry.”

Sarachè was kind. Ianna had simply been reluctant to confront Sarachè’s kindness.

“No. I’m the one who should be sorry. And thank you for thinking this way.”

Ianna was grateful. And she was not spitting out the words sarcastically like she usually did. Sarachè listened quietly as Ianna spoke and brought her quivering hands together as she lowered her eyes.

She had realized that Ianna’s heart, which she had tried so hard to grab hold of, had already left her behind. Ianna had at least felt some spite toward her back when Ianna had been rejecting her, but the fact that Ianna was talking to her as if nothing was wrong meant that she truly had no more feelings to spare Sarachè.

Sarachè wanted to take hold of Ianna. Not only out of guilt, but also because she was fond of Ianna as a person. She wondered why. Ianna was Lebony’s daughter, and the child had only ever pushed her coldly away, but Sarachè could not find it in herself to hate her.

Isphee, Karnitz, Gerard……the people whom Ianna liked. They always sang Ianna’s praises. They loved Ianna and regarded her dearly. And, though Sarachè had begged them to stay with House Roberstein, both Isphee and Karnitz had shaken their head no and had left the household after Ianna had left. Anyone could tell just how charming Ianna was just by seeing how she had managed to completely capture their hearts.

Ianna was such a talented girl, and everyone only ever wished her happiness, and House Roberstein, which had only ever treated her poorly, could not hold her back.

And, Sarachè also realized that letting Ianna go was the only thing she could do if she truly wished the best for the girl.

Ianna was a good child to a fault.

“I…….”

Cherno, who had been listening in to their conversation, suddenly cut in.

“I felt so guilty whenever I saw you. No, to be precise, I felt depraved.”

“…….”

“I know that I am an inflexible nobleman. So allow me to be frank. When I was younger……I loved Sarachè ardently, and I planned to love only her for the rest of my life.”

Cherno had watched his parents be considerate to one another and live in harmony since he was young and had developed strong family values as a boy, and so, he had passionately decided that he, too, wished to love only one woman and live together with her and their cute little children as a young man.

Sarachè, the lovely and kind young woman whom he had met at a party, had set a fire in his heart, and she had accepted his proposal for marriage after he had wooed her fervently. Harchen had been born shortly thereafter, and they had been enjoying a bashful and cozy life as a young family. And then Lebony had broken into the picture.

“But, when I was faced with the prospect that House Roberstein could be ruined, I went ahead and married Lebony so I could win Horby’s support.”

Cherno had felt ashamed for abandoning his moral values, felt guilty toward his beloved Sarachè, and he had also experienced a powerful sense of depravity. Still, he was a nobleman among nobles and had wanted to take responsibility for the things he had done, and so he had tried to treat Lebony as a proper wife.

Then, not too long after their marriage, Cherno had learned that Lebony had used underhanded means to get him to marry her. He had not been able to bear the hatred he had felt toward Lebony back then.

“I hated Lebony for making me do the things I did so much it nearly drove me insane. I also hated myself for not being able to kick Lebony out, and my stomach churned at the mere sight of her. And I felt like needles were stabbing my heart whenever I saw you because you took after her so strongly. I knew that everything was my fault, that you had done nothing wrong, but I ignored that fact. Indeed. And that’s why I neglected you…….”

Cherno placed a hand over his forehead with guilt written plainly on his face.

“But I never realized……that the rumors would spread so far without my notice. And people were hurting you because of them. They were hurting you when it was my fault……. How did I never realize?”

“…….”

“Perhaps it was because you always acted like everything was fine, but I won’t make excuses for myself and say that I only listened to what I heard people say to my face or that I didn’t pay any heed to the rumors people were whispering behind my back. No, it wasn’t because of any of that —I just didn’t want to pay any attention to you. Everything else was just an excuse. I have nothing to say for myself. All I can say is that I’m sorry. Everything was because of my own shortcomings.”

Cherno, who had been looking at the flowers in a vase with exhaustion in his eyes, let out a sigh.

“Indeed. I should have never married Lebony in the first place if I wanted to prioritize my values. No one would have been hurt had I never married her. But I chose to protect House Roberstein over protecting my values, and I should have never hurt you, the child I had with Lebony, because I was the one who had chosen to marry her in the first place. Everything was my fault. And I am sorry for hurting you despite that.”

Cherno poured out his heart to her. Ianna nodded.

“I understand.”

“I’m sorry. Don’t forgive me.”

“No. I understand, like I just said, and I forgive you. I accept your apology. I suppose being single-minded simply runs in our blood.”

Cherno was not in the wrong. His entire life had been upturned because of Lebony, and he had been forced to father a child he had never wanted. Then, he had later found out that Lebony had masterminded the entire incident, and, though she hadn’t known anything at the time, Lebony’s daughter had even murdered his beloved wife.

If Ianna had been in Cherno’s shoes, it was entirely possible that she would have had both Lebony’s and her wicked daughter’s heads because she was so seething in her rage. But Cherno hadn’t done that, and neither had he kicked Lebony or Ianna out of the household because he had wished to protect the household to the bitter end. And he had done that in this life as well.

“I understand both you and the people of the household, my Lord. And I also understand why I received the treatment I did while I was living in the annex because I understand the crimes my mother has committed. I understand why people looked at me the way they did. It all happened because I was born, after all.”

Ianna gathered her breath. She continued,

“……But yes. I understood in my head and I thought that I didn’t care, but it looks like I never fully understood it in my heart.”

She had been very young before being reborn. And she had been hurt considerably when she was younger. She had been a child in need of love and shelter. She had starved for love as a child, and as an adult, she had been so lost in the injustice, her frustration, and her despair that she hadn’t known what to do with herself. Which was why she had tried to force herself into understanding the reason why people hated her. Her situation had been so unjust that she wouldn’t have been able to bear it otherwise.

She had told herself that she had no right to think that everything was unfair, but she had been so seized by the injustice and her own obstinacy and it had led her to her ruin. She had told herself over and over again in her head that she understood everything, but she had never truly understood anything in her heart.

‘I understand you.’

But what wrong did I ever do?

‘I understand why you hate me.’

All I wanted was your goodwill.

‘I have no right to think that this is unfair.’

I didn’t know anything when I was younger.

I didn’t know what death was, and I didn’t know that the tea Mother gave me was actually poison.

‘I don’t care if you hate me.’

Everything that made you hate me —I never did any of it because I wanted to.

‘I understand you…….’

And that’s why I tried and tried and tried so, so hard. But you never saw me as my own person no matter how hard I tried.

“Is there no one? No one who will see me simply for who I am?”

There had been no one.

Ianna had thought that everything was so unfair when she was younger, but she had buried her wounded self deep inside her heart and had continued trying to understand her situation even as she kept getting hurt. But the little girl whom she had buried had never died and had simply festered there. Until just recently, that is.

Ianna closed her eyes.

“I know it’s too little too late, but I will take measures to erase the rumors about you.”

“No. You don’t need to do that. Neither you nor the Lady spread those rumors on purpose, my Lord. Besides, those rumors aren’t untrue. People have judged me after seeing the truth. And I would like to change the way they look at me with my own merits. I do not wish for their opinions of me to change just because another began sheltering me.”

Ianna had not been hurt after being reborn. After all, she had already experienced everything before, and she had already given up on everything. But in her heart remained the little girl who had been festering since even before her first life had ended. Her unresolved sorrow and the injustice of it all had continued to torment Ianna. She would not have been so cold to these people when she was younger if her feelings had been resolved.

But she had finally matured and moved on now. Her childhood had ended when she had fully exposed her wounds and had been embraced by someone absolute who would always take her side, when she had met someone who would always stand with her. The wounded girl in her heart had been dragged out and accepted. And so, she had moved on completely.

Her memories of that time still remained, of course, but her feelings had been resolved and tormented her no longer. She had not been hurt in her childhood in this life, and she had accepted their apologies. It was only now that she finally understood the people sitting before her. Ianna was a child no longer.

“Thank you for telling me this, even if only now,”

Ianna said with a bright light in her eyes. She continued,

“I think I’ve found a resolution for everything I was feeling.”

“We told you that we would let you do as you wished,”

Sarachè spoke up hesitantly. She continued,

“I know fully well now that you’ll be fine on your own. And I acknowledge that I was being nosy. I made you a promise because I was worried for your future, but I can see now that my promise was pointless to begin with…… So, what do you want to do?”

“Why are you saying that? There is no need for you to ask me separately. Even if the Count said that he would let me do as I wished, he is his own person and you are yours, my Lady. I intend to hold up my end of our contract even if you tear it up and terminate it. I agreed to it with my own mouth, and I even signed it with my own hand.”

Ianna quietly took a sip of tea. Her heart was as clear and untroubled as the surface of calm waters. She continued,

“I will graduate from the Institution in two years after my third year, and I will leave this kingdom after I turn nineteen. And I will remove Roberstein from my name once I graduate.”

“……I see.”

“I will entrust myself in your care during the six parties I am to attend while I am seventeen and eighteen. But I would like it if you refrained from trying to introduce me to other nobles while I attend them.”

“All right.”

“And, like I told you a few days ago, I will hold my debut with the other young ladies who came of age on Founding Day.”

Most young nobles held their debuts in their own manor on their birthday, but they could also choose to debut on Founding Day on January 1^st with a group of other nobles. This tradition had started out of consideration for the children of lesser nobles. Lesser nobles could not hold grand debuts for their children even if they wanted to because they did not have the power to invite higher-ranking nobles to their parties. But their children would still be able to meet many other nobles, even if they couldn’t be in the spotlight, if they debuted at as group on Founding Day.

Young noble girls dreamt of their debuts. This was because they were chaperoned by either their mothers or by another older woman and were prohibited from meeting young noblemen on their own before they debuted.

“Very well. Oh……. But Princess Angelina will be holding her debut on Founding Day as well…… Will you be all right?”

“I am aware.”

Ianna was planning to secretly avoid getting unwanted attention. She recalled what she knew about Angelina Muziniel Roanne, the princess who was a year younger than her. She had sparkling silver hair that reached her waist and her tender personality took after the queen’s, and she was reluctant to stand before people and hated being at the center of their attention. But she was so lovely that people called her an angel. Many young noblemen dreamt of falling passionately in love with her and sung praises of her beauty as they eagerly awaited her debut.

“His Majesty said that Founding Day would be more decorous this year for the Princess’ debut.”

That was why there were still a lot of nobles in the area even though the school festival was over —they were all staying in the capital until January 1^st. There were even foreign nobles who were staying behind to participate in the party on Founding Day.

“What will you do for your dress?”

“I will find something white and basic to wear. And I will prepare some cheap accessories to wear without bothering to make sure they go well together.”

Ianna did not want to care about her attire. Nobles had to wear white when they debuted, so she was planning to wear whatever she had that was white.

“But that’s…….”

“No thank you.”

“I was thinking that maybe the young lady who made your dress for the school festival could make you another one? We will pay her for it, of course. There are many other madams we could ask as well, but that young lady seemed to know you best.”

“No.”

Ianna refused curtly. It was all too obvious to her that Priscilla would pour her heart and soul into every stitch if she asked her for a dress. Ianna never praised her openly for it, but she regarded Priscilla’s skill and her delicate embroidery very highly. And Ianna did not want her debutante dress to garner her extra attention. She was happy to wear something that was mass-produced.

Ianna pushed her thoughts about her dress into one corner of her mind and braced herself to ask something that she had wanted to ask from the very beginning.

“……How are Isphee and Karnitz faring?”

“They didn’t tell you? Isphee quit her post after you left our lands, and Karnitz followed suit a few days later.”

‘So they quit without even telling me.’

Ianna let out an even breath. She was sure they were both doing fine. She had left them with no small amount of money, so they were surly at least eating properly.

“Ianna.”

Someone called Ianna’s name just then. Ianna was not being as stiff or frigid today as she was when she had been living in the Roberstein household, but there was still something stiff and cold about her bearing. But all that coldness melted away completely at once, like melting ice, as soon as she heard that voice. Cherno and Sarachè were shocked.

Ianna raised her gaze from her teacup and looked past them. There was a faint smile alighting her lips. They felt like they had seen a budding flower. Cherno and Sarachè turned around, curious to see who had been able to change Ianna so with just their voice alone.

He was a strapping young man in a neat outfit. His sturdy build and tall frame made him impossible to ignore, and the masculine cut of his features made him seem far more attractive and colder than any noble. The expression on his face was so sharp and aristocratic that no one would have doubted it if they were told that he was a foreign prince or the only son of a very wealthy family.

And yet, his golden eyes were filled only with warmth, consideration, and even an unconcealable fondness as he looked to Ianna. It was obvious that he cherished Ianna dearly even at a first glance.

The smile vanished from his face and he hesitated for a moment when he saw that Cherno and Sarachè were sitting opposite of Ianna, and he looked between the three of them in turns.

“Allow me to fulfil the fourth condition I promised you, my Lady. I will follow after that man upon graduating.”

“Will you be marrying him?”

Ianna’s face stiffened when she heard Sarachè’s ginger question.

“That’s not what I meant. I meant that I would be following him as a swordswoman.”

“Hmmm……I see.”

Sarachè stole a quick glance at the young man —Arhad. Ianna had flatly rejected the notion of having any sort of romantic relationship with him, but the young man’s expression hadn’t changed in the slightest. It made Sarachè wonder if they truly were only knight and liege.

But Sarachè’s womanly instinct told her otherwise. That light in the young man’s eyes earlier —that hadn’t been the type of light one carried when looking to a girl who would only be his subordinate.

‘I’m pretty sure he’s in love with Ianna.’

Sarachè had very good instincts. Ianna furrowed her brows when she saw Sarachè taking an interest in Arhad.

“Please tell no one about him. Please do this if you truly feel sorry for me. I no longer carry any spite for House Roberstein, but if you or the Count accidentally say anything that might negatively affect that man…….”

Ianna, who had relaxed somewhat, immediately grew thorny. She had become like a hedgehog trying to protect something precious to her, or like thorns of a rose that would allow none to approach her. She continued,

“If that happens, I will wholly consider House Roberstein as my enemy and I will not show you any mercy in what I will do next.”

Her enemy? In what she would do next? Cherno and Sarachè stiffened up in fright as they heard the threat hidden in her words. Ianna gripped the table as she stood up.

“That is all I wanted to say, so I will see you again on Founding Day.”

Ianna grabbed Arhad, who had been watching over the situation, by the wrist and dragged him out of the teahouse. Arhad turned to look at Cherno and Sarachè as he was being dragged out. And he smirked. Then, he turned forward and took in Ianna’s figure from behind.

They walked for a while when they were outside before Arhad asked,

“Why did you call me over, Ianna?”

Ianna stopped walking and turned toward him. She stared at him for a bit before dropping her gaze.

“I wanted them to see you.”

She chose her next words carefully.

“I wanted then to stop worrying and concerning themselves over me. I wanted to let them know that I didn’t need them anymore. Yes…”

I wanted them to know that I no longer needed their protection. That I no longer craved for their affection. That I have someone now who will give me everything I need even if they don’t.

“I wanted to show them that I have someone who will stand with me now.”

Ianna smiled gently. My useless past will torment me no longer. I have you now, after all.

Ianna let go of Arhad’s wrist because she grew a little embarrassed and she walked a few steps ahead. But Arhad didn’t follow her. She turned back around. He was standing still with a slight flush on his cheeks, and he looked so happy he didn’t know what to do with himself. Ianna flashed a grin upon seeing him before pulling something out from her pocket.

Swish—

And she threw it at Arhad. It flashed as it reflected the sunlight while it was in the air. It had been sudden, but Arhad caught it with one hand with ready ease. A golden chain dangled from between his fingers. Arhad looked carefully at what he was holding, curious as to what it was. It was a golden pendant shaped like the moon that was sparkling with jewels.

Arhad tried to figure out what it was and studied it cautiously only to find that it didn’t seem to have anything to do with House Roberstein, and he looked back at Ianna with a quizzical look on his face.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a gift.”

“…….”

Arhad stiffened up.

“A……gift?”

“I don’t want to be the only one receiving things all the time. I bought it with the money I’ve been saving up. Though it’s cheaper than the flowers you bought me.”

Arhad took a closer look at what he was holding. The pendant was shaped like a delicate moon and was sparkling with beautiful jewels. Ianna watched as he continued to stare at it before she slowly opened her mouth and said,

“You always remind me of the night. And night……is a time when all of creation rests.”

And I think of you as my refuge. But Ianna did not say this out loud. She simply smiled and turned back around because she was embarrassed. Then, she briskly began walking.

Arhad clutched his gift tight in his hands.

“……Well, I’m just trying to say that I’ve taken a liking to you. This is the first time I’ve ever gifted anyone anything, so please be sure to treasure it.”

It was embarrassing. This was the first time in both her lives that she had ever spent money on a gift to another. But she thought about how he had been happy just for a simple wet towel, happy just because she sought him out, and happy just because she walked around with him, and so she had bought him a gift because he was always so anxious. She was a little nervous because this was the first time she had ever taken the initiative to do something for another.

Arhad did not express whether he liked or disliked her gift. He didn’t even start walking after her. Ianna grew puzzled and stopped walking to look back at him. And she stopped in her tracks. Her eyes widened. She simply stared at what he was doing. She felt as if time itself had stopped.

Arhad was standing in place while holding the pendant to his lips. He was holding it so, so carefully, as though it was precious…….

For some reason, Ianna felt as if she had seen something she was not supposed to see.

Shhhh—

The wind blew. Ianna never looked away from Arhad even though her crimson hair obscured her view. Arhad brought the pendant down from his lips slowly before putting it on with his eyes still cast down. His golden eyes were filled with pure delight when he looked up again.

“……Thank you.”

Time resumed its flow. Ianna, who had been frozen in place, blinked. She shook her head, wondering why she was acting like this, as she came back to her senses. Ianna gently closed her mouth when she saw from the bliss on his face that Arhad had truly liked her gift, and her expression relaxed.

“You’re welcome.”

And she nodded, pleased with herself. She felt good —this was the first time she had ever given anyone a gift, and Arhad clearly liked it a lot. And so, she softened her stiff expression and the edges of her eyes curled into crescents. There was a faint blush lingering on her ears and cheeks. The even whites of her teeth peeked through between her crimson lips as they curled into a smile.

“Haha…….”

A laugh escaped her lips.

Shhhh—

The wind blew. Arhad squinted, and he brushed away the black strands of his fringe when they got in his way. There were a lot of people on the road. And yet, only one color dyed it vividly. It was the color of the precious light that saturated the monochrome.

The crimson mess of hair fluttering in the chilly wind beneath the shining sun in the blue sky, and Ianna’s smile peering through from behind it. Arhad’s heart was in chaos. His reckless gaze captured everything that Ianna was.

Something in his heart shattered. And its blackened pieces scattered everywhere. And the fragile emotion that was pure, ardent, covetous, blind, and yet also constant reached out toward Ianna desperately. It surged up to his throat and made it hard for him to breathe.

It was hot. Arhad looked to Ianna as he touched his throat.

He was parched.

……And it drove him insane.

—“Bonds” End

—Adonis Part 01 Complete