#49
“You know that Clum absorbs magical power, right? I’m curious about exactly how much magical power it can absorb. I plan to put various magical powers into Clum.”
“Why specifically ask Ana for this?”
“You know the Duke is excellent at magic, don’t you? I called him because I thought his son might be different from other students. Are you satisfied? Have I done something that warrants an interrogation from Your Highness? This is quite unpleasant.”
Unable to endure any longer, Yaksi revealed her discontent. She seemed so upset that she momentarily forgot Persis was royalty. In the end, it was Persis who backed down first.
“I understand. Then, shall I go first?”
“Hah, yes, yes. Go ahead. Just place your hand on it.”
Waving her hand dismissively, Yaksi watched as Persis placed his hand on the Clum. When Persis touched it, a white light rose from inside the Clum. The brightly glowing Clum was beautifully mesmerizing. It was hard to believe it had just been a black stone moments ago.
“Yes. That’s enough. You can remove your hand now.”
Seemingly unsurprised, Yaksi tapped Persis’s hand to remove it. This was a situation that would have horrified the palace employees if they had witnessed it. Persis seemed somewhat accustomed to it, as he took a step back from the Clum.
Just as I was about to step forward for my turn, Yutis grabbed my collar. When I turned to look at him, he slowly released his grip. He looked similar to how he had been before suggesting dinner—somewhat dark—which concerned me a bit.
Thinking I should ask him about it discreetly later, I placed my hand on the Clum. A small light bloomed from inside the Clum. It was a tiny light, incomparable to Persis’s just now. I felt a bit embarrassed.
Yaksi must have expected a much greater change, but all she saw was this meager light.
Yaksi, who had been staring at the Clum, waved her hand and removed me just like she had done with Persis. It seemed the result wasn’t satisfactory.
“Next.”
As I moved away, Yutis, who had been standing behind me, placed his hand on the Clum. Though not as bright as Persis’s, a brilliant light poured out. If Persis had emitted a white light, Yutis turned the Clum red. Yutis’s face, illuminated by the red light, stiffened slightly.
It seemed Yutis was hiding his power. He shouldn’t reveal that he was much stronger than ordinary students.
Fortunately, Yaksi removed his hand from the Clum without saying anything special.
“Good, well done. You can go now.”
“Is that all?”
“Yes, that’s all, Your Highness. Please leave.”
Yaksi stood up herself and pushed us out of her research lab. Then, without properly saying goodbye, she slammed the door shut. I couldn’t guess why she had asked us to touch the Clum. Was this trivial experiment necessary?
I stared at the mercilessly closed door of the research lab. Since Yaksi didn’t appear in the original story, I couldn’t predict her actions.
“It won’t be a big deal. She’s known to be an eccentric who loves experiments. Today she probably just wanted to do a little experiment in her own way.”
Persis casually spoke to me as I lingered in front of the door.
“So, don’t worry about it.”
After these cold words, Persis moved away from me. Persis gives me only minimal help. It seemed that this distance between us wouldn’t narrow even if I didn’t try to move further away from him. That was truly fortunate. I knew my place well.
I looked at Yutis, who still had a hardened expression. His face was startling just to make eye contact with. He probably thought I had noticed the power he possessed. The ominous atmosphere flowing around him wouldn’t dissipate.
“I think you’ll be good at magic later. You seem to have many talents.”
“Pardon?”
“It shone so brightly, though not as much as His Highness, which means you have talent, doesn’t it? How about learning magic while you’re at it?”
Though he’s probably already learning from the Duke.
As I pretended not to know, Yutis’s stiff face relaxed a little. Yutis nodded and agreed with my words.
“Yes. That sounds good. I’ll try learning it.”
“That’s a good idea.”
Now he’ll have to pretend to be a novice in magic as well as swordsmanship. I thought it would be quite difficult for him. Having to monitor me, attend classes, and act on top of that. One body wouldn’t be enough. I felt a little sorry thinking about how exhausted Yutis would be.
* * *
All that could be seen in the dark room was a doll wearing a deeply pulled-down robe. Even though it was alone in the room, the robed doll didn’t remove the clothing covering its face. Eventually, a single finger emerged from inside the robe and waved in the air. Then, a thin membrane around the robed doll was revealed. Small lights that hadn’t been visible until now were tapping against the membrane.
When the thin finger touched the membrane from the inside, the light wandering outside was absorbed into the fingertip. The hand moved toward a dark stone placed right in front. When the finger touched it, a small light rose from inside the stone.
Like small flames bursting, the light flickered with popping sounds from inside the stone. A smile spread across the face of the doll watching it.
“Ha, hahahaha.”
Through lips split on both sides, a pleased laugh flowed out. The laughter echoing in the room was incomparably bizarre.
The doll didn’t stop there and took out an ink bottle next to the stone. It was filled with something red. One finger dipped into the ink bottle. The doll, with its finger covered in thick red liquid, began to draw something near the stone.
Lines that looked like both drawings and letters were densely engraved around the stone. The moment the last line was drawn, the small light inside the dark stone slowly escaped and began to seep into the red drawing. The insignificant light began to shine brightly the moment it touched the drawing.
“Hahahahaha!”
A chilling laugh poured out from between the robes covering the face.
What had been searched for so desperately was right before its eyes. How could one not laugh? It was so happy that the laughter couldn’t fully stop. The laughter continued until the brightly shining light gradually diminished.
3.
What would a world without the imperial family be like? People living in this world probably can’t imagine it, but I know well. In my previous life, there was no such thing as an Emperor. It took quite a long time to adapt to the fact that there was an Emperor who had to be served wholeheartedly.
Moreover, the Duke’s family was relatively free from the class system. Those working in the mansion were called employees rather than servants, and there wasn’t an atmosphere of treating the Duke or me with excessive formality. Because of this, some nobles spoke ill of the Duke’s family, but the Duke wasn’t one to be swayed by such rumors.
However, most noble families, except the Duke, were accustomed to the monarchy system and class society. In such circumstances, what Persis suggested was not just revolutionary but extremely dangerous. Even if it was just said during an assignment, one could easily be arrested for such words.
But Iria seemed to really like the new direction Persis had taken, as she brought up all possible methods to stabilize society after the monarchy disappeared. They were extremely revolutionary proposals that wouldn’t be strange if they resulted in immediate exile.
While Rikin’s and my faces turned pale, Persis chimed in, saying they were very good ideas. It was nice to see Iria and Persis getting closer, but I didn’t want to see them being arrested by the security forces before seeing a proper ending.
In the end, Rikin and I moderated and re-moderated the proposals they had put forward to make them presentable.
I can’t describe how drained I was throughout the meetings with the four of us. One misstep and I would have been swept away by Iria and Persis. Dealing with two geniuses was truly killing me. After the group assignment, I would sleep as if I were sick. It was good that I could fall asleep quickly without distracting thoughts, but it felt dreadful day by day as my body couldn’t endure.
I needed to find the robed figure I had encountered when I went to the entrance ceremony incident site alone, but I didn’t have the energy for that. Just completing the assignment in front of me was enough to give me a headache.
Nevertheless, I somehow managed to endure. I couldn’t let their love blossom in prison.
And so, the second political science class began.
“Today’s class will start with the presentation I assigned last week. Who is the presenter?”
“I am.”
“Iria, please come to the front and present.”
Iria stood up from her seat and walked to the front of the classroom. Though it was a short time, we had found proposals that could be acceptable in this society. It might not be in the direction the teacher wanted, but once Iria and Persis were fired up, they couldn’t be stopped.
I watched Iria’s confident back as she walked forward. Her high ponytail swaying gently caught my eye. I had been worried until this very moment of the presentation, but seeing Iria step forward, the concerns in my heart vanished.
She would do well somehow. After all, it was none other than Iria. I clasped my hands together and waited for Iria to begin speaking.
Iria began her presentation, holding a simply organized report in her hand.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
