Chapter 3: The Summons

On an afternoon with a humid early summer breeze, a familiar paper airplane appeared in front of me.

“Come to the gym after school.”

It had been a while since my last summons like this.

“Long time no see, Serephione! Are you doing well? How’s your second year going? Is your family doing well back in their domain?”

“It’s good to see you again, General Avenger. I miss my friends who graduated, but I’m doing well other than that. I’m enjoying the history of war and tactics classes that I started in my second year. My grandmother is taking care of her official duties in Trundle territory.”

“I see... Good to hear.” As I’d thought, the last part was the only thing he wanted to hear.

General Avenger was in his summer military uniform. Medals and aglets hung heavily from his neck and shoulders. Is he coming back from some official ceremony? What could he want with me when he seems so busy?

“Sorry for not contacting you very often. It took a lot of work, but now that I know that the magical knight idea I had is already in use, I was thinking about how to use it in a real war setting.”

“Okay.”

“Anybody with both magic and fighting ability can obtain the skill with practice, but you don’t often find people with that much talent. If it were to be put into practice, we would pair each soldier with a magician and have the magician cast magic on the soldier’s weapon, but...the national magician’s association didn’t agree to that... Ha ha ha.”

“Um, couldn’t you hire mercenaries who can use magic from guilds?”

“I would get opponents asking why I hire outside magicians even though we have a magician’s association. It’s also very expensive to hire mercenaries at a high enough rank that they can use magic on weapons...”

“I see...”

“But don’t be so discouraged, Serephione. There was one person who listened to me seriously at the meeting and offered to help me.”

“Okay...”

“I thought about your future as well, Serephione. I wanted to raise you as a magical knight, but no, you have abilities beyond my reach. As an educator, I have a duty to help you grow to your fullest potential.”

Huh?

“I asked him to be your teacher, and he happily agreed.”

What. Are. You. Talking. About?

“Good news, Serephione! Prince Schneider is your new teacher!”

The door to the gym opened, and the prince entered along with the light from outside. He was overwhelmingly intimidating. His royal blond hair was trimmed beautifully at his jawline, and his gray eyes shone happily. He wore a white robe instead of the trademark black robe of magicians, perhaps because he was a prince. Between the white roses scattered across his chest and his magical aura, he looked truly godlike.

“You flatter me too much, General.”

I took my knives from the holsters on each of my thighs, jumped back as far as I could, and readied my hands.

“S-Serephione...?” General Avenger’s eyes went wide as I suddenly took out my weapon.

“Lady Granzeus... Would it be fair to say it’s been a long time?”

He knew everything after all. He was just letting me think he didn’t.

“He’s finally here...” Lou got down from my shoulder, instantly recognizing the prince’s ability, and returned the intimidating look to back me up.

“The Heavenly Beast of the West is just as beautiful as he was back then.”

I was speechless. He could see Lou, even with all the illusion magic we’d cast.

“Don’t glare at me like that. I’m grateful to you two. You changed my fate when I met you that day.”

“Sere, we have to run!” said Lou. We ran for the window and jumped. Just then, razor-sharp bullets of ice flew at us. I deflected them with my knife. Lou grew to his full size and smashed the window with his thick tail.

“Serephione! You can’t pull a knife on the prince! That’s disrespectful!” General Avenger drew his sword and slashed at me. Damn it! Do I have no choice but to fight them?

Just as I swung my right hand despite my hesitation, somebody came between me and the general.

Clang!

“Kodak!” He deflected the general’s sword!

“The prince obviously started the fight, General!”

“It’s not a matter of who started it! Attacking a member of the royal family is a grave insult!”

“Ahh, but the original reason we’re in this situation is because you broke your word. You swore an oath to Lady Erza. You promised not to tell anyone about our lady’s abilities!”

“Nonsense! I had no need to keep secrets from the royal family!”

To the general—to any upright soldier—the kingdom equaled the royal family. Their life’s purpose was to protect the royal family, and that came before even the most serious of promises. A person like him could never imagine the royal family as enemies.

I’d been foolish. I’d thought that someone as upstanding as General Avenger would never betray me, but he unknowingly betrayed me because of that very uprightness.

“It is the collective will of the Trundles, Granzeuses, and beings of even loftier heights that Serephione should enjoy a healthy adolescence while having her abilities be kept secret. We all agree that the most harmful outcome for her would be if the royal family were to find out about her abilities and try to use her.”

“Harmful, huh? What a strange way to put it,” said the prince with a smirk.

“How dare you give the prince such an insolent answer!” barked the general.

“Sorry, but for me, it’s all about strength and the Trundle way of life, which is based on equality. My duty is to protect Lady Erza and Serephione with my life. Miss! Run!”

“Kodak!”

“Run!”

Lou jumped out of the window, and I started running to follow him.

“Chase them!” As the prince’s order echoed through the gym, I jumped out of the window after Lou.

“Serephi!”

I saw Nick and Alma! They were waving at me frantically, not knowing what was going on!

I clutched my treasured glass ball in my pocket. Ah... A tear trailed down my cheek. I mouthed “goodbye” to them as I picked up speed, cloaked in wind.

Goodbye, knight school. Goodbye to the place I longed for since I was three years old, my only salvation.

“To the west! My territory is there!”

“Got it!”

Lou and I used body-strengthening magic and kept running. I used shurikens to take down the skilled pursuers that Prince Schneider sent after me, but a huge magical force was approaching at impossible speed.

“Sorry, Lou. They’re going to catch up to us in a few minutes.”

“Not your fault. Let’s head for the desert just beyond this forest!”

As I ran toward the desert on the border, I exchanged my armor with a suit I had in my Magic Room.

Lou and I stood with the sun to our backs, imitating Nick. Prince Schneider stood about fifty meters away. His hair, robe, and the white roses on his chest were all intact, and he seemed to have no intention of hiding his magical power, which was strong enough to control the earth itself. It was about three times as strong as mine. Had I not put in enough effort?

“Sere, don’t let it weigh on you. It’s just a difference of age and height. You’ll grow more.”

“It doesn’t matter if I’ll grow more later. I’m in trouble right now.”

“You’re right about that.”

The wind carried the prince’s cool voice to me. “I’m glad you’ve stopped this game of cat and mouse. I just want to talk to you.”

“That attack before would have done more than hurt me, though.”

“You were running away.”

“I have a pact to hide my heavenly beast.”

“Contracts are so difficult.”

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s simple. I want you on my side. That’s all.”

The only people who’re using their power to support me right now are my family, Lou...and Gillain. “I thought all the people of the kingdom respected you?”

“That’s not true.”

“I’m just a knight trainee. I don’t know how to socialize, and I don’t have the high-level skills to tell what you’re thinking.”

“I want you to lend me a hand in the war that is coming soon.”

“With what country?” Is it Galé? Will we have a war with them like in the book? Gillain didn’t say anything last time I saw him. Are we going to declare war on them? Will I end up on the front lines again? Will I have to fight Gillain?

“Not Galé,” said the prince, as if he could see what I was thinking. “I’m going to fight Gardner.”

A civil war... “So in layman’s terms, it’s about the succession to the throne.”

“Correct.”

“I’m sorry, but please resolve this between yourselves. War will exhaust this kingdom.”

“Yes, I agree. That’s why I want you on my side.”

I was silent.

“Gardner has the queen and the magician’s association on his side. I have General Avenger and the military. If I added the demon lord of the Granzeuses, Larouza the child prodigy, the Twilight Fairy, the genius tactician Trundle, and the heavenly beast of the west, I don’t think they would start an unnecessary war knowing who I had on my side.”

General Avenger’s already been won over... He’s innocent, but it still bothers me. “Please don’t involve your subjects in a quarrel between siblings.”

“I have to. I’m tired of obeying fate.”

“I’ll state this clearly in my father’s stead... We are neither in favor of you nor Prince Gardner. If possible, we would like to see this resolved through discussion, but in the event of war, we will remain completely neutral and protect only the people of our domain.”

“Is that so?”

“I’m terribly sorry, but this discussion is over.”

I signaled to Lou and prepared to throw a smokescreen shuriken at the prince to make my retreat. But just as I held it up...

“Have you heard of ‘I Love You, My Wild Rose?’”

...my shuriken fell from my hand.

“So, you’re reincarnated too, Serephione.”

Lou and I were silent.

“Seeing as we’ve both been given a chance to meet someone from the other world, can we talk about the old times?”

Prince Schneider...is reincarnated...

“I was a high school student in Japan. Well, I say that, but I never actually went to school. I had a rare illness. My entire world, for as long as I could remember, was a hospital bed. The biggest event in my life was being moved from the pediatric ward to the general ward.”

A thin boy lying in a stark white hospital room... I could picture it easily.

“In my ward, there was a common room with a lot of books. Patients leaving the hospital would leave their books there. I naturally had plenty of free time, so I read everything. Fairy tales, manga, foreign masterpieces, literature, cell phone novels, light novels... Men’s books, women’s books, adult books, children’s books... I read them all, without a care in the world.”

Books really were the best thing to use to escape reality back in Japan...

“One of those was Wild Rose. When I read it, I thought it sucked. I wondered, ‘do girls really enjoy reading this kind of thing?’” The prince chuckled. “I guess I eventually died, because I woke up one day in this world. When my brother was born and I heard his name, I realized I was inside this stupid novel. While my memories were still mixed up, I was transferred from the castle to a detached palace. I was made out to be ‘sickly.’”

I nodded to indicate I was listening.

“In my past life, I was genuinely sick, and I died after exhausting myself struggling against the pain and fear with every flare-up. In this life, I had to fake being sick despite being born healthy for once, and while it wasn’t in the book, I was most likely destined to be killed by Gardner. It was a worse position to be in than a background character. How is that any better than my past life?” The prince gently closed his eyes as if remembering those times, then he slowly opened them again. “That was when I met you. I felt the overwhelming aura of a heavenly beast for the first time in my life. When I saw the black-haired girl with the holy beast, her black eyes swollen from crying, I knew that I’d met the villainess, Serephione.”

I thought back on the day I met him as well.

“You looked just like the character in the novel, but you were happily laughing with the holy beast, looking into his eyes, picking him up, and rubbing his cheeks. The holy beast didn’t show any signs of displeasure, so I knew that he wasn’t being forced to serve you like in the novel. At that time, you said that the holy beast was your ‘friend.’” The prince looked at Lou as he spoke and narrowed his eyes. “As I continued to monitor you, I learned that you had gotten Magicless on your magic exam and deftly avoided the route of being engaged to Gardner. That was when I knew for sure that you were reincarnated like me—it moved me to tears. And then I made my decision: I was going to resist fate too. I haven’t hidden myself away since then, and I haven’t hidden anything either. It seems I was born with exceptional abilities as a result of being reincarnated. My power is limitless if I put enough effort in. I can do things that the people of this world could never do.”

So the prince has his own cheat codes...

“That’s when things started to get crazy around me. People started to threaten my life every day. All I wanted to do was enjoy my healthy body and live my own life.” The prince looked down and slowly shook his head. “I had no interest in the throne, but last year my mother was poisoned... She’s still in critical condition. To put it in our past life’s words...I snapped. No more forgiveness.”

The warmth disappeared from his eyes. “By the way, the heroine’s made her appearance, right? Gardner and a lot of boys are head over heels for her, just like in the book. I’m sure you have trouble sleeping thinking about when Maribelle will use Gardner to take you out.”

I bit my lip. He’d hit the bull’s-eye.

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of,” he insisted. “I feel the same. I talked to Maribelle, but she just said stuff like ‘What? The first prince? I can’t become queen with this guy around... But he’s more prince-like. A new route?’ It was laughable. She doesn’t understand what you and I have to go through; she got an easy reincarnation. Now, clearly, nothing good can come of Maribelle and Gardner getting closer and brandishing their strange sense of justice. We have to nip the danger in the bud as soon as possible.”

The prince hasn’t fallen under Maribelle’s charm. Is it because he was reincarnated? Or maybe because he’s also a “villain” that would get in the way of Maribelle and Gardner’s happiness?

“I don’t want to be killed as a fake sickly prince. You don’t want Maribelle to get her way so you die imprisoned. Our interests are perfectly aligned.”

Perfectly, huh...

“Fight with me, Serephione, daughter of Count Granzeus!”

I ruminated on the prince’s story in my mind. I guess the enemy of my enemy is my friend? I can understand the hardships he went through in his previous life, and I can sympathize with the confusion and grief of being reincarnated. But...he and I are incompatible.

“Have you ever killed somebody with your own hands?” I asked.

The prince didn’t reply.

“I imagine someone of your status doesn’t need to get their hands dirty.”

“...I’m responsible for deaths, insofar as I’ve ordered people killed.”

“Well... Strangely, I remember being the Serephione from the book. I killed thousands of people. The flames I shot from my right hand could kill hundreds in one burst.”

The prince was silent.

“The animalistic screams, the smell that clings to your nose, the blood that splatters across your body... All of the ruthless pillaging... I don’t understand how, but I’ve completely synchronized with my self from the novel, and I can remember everything as if I were there myself.”

He had no response.

“With the mindset of someone who once lived in the twenty-first century on Earth, you must understand why I never want to go back to that place.”

“...I’ll just use your name. I’ll preserve you as much as I can.”

I chuckled. “Do you think I’m heartless, just like they thought? That I’m a cold person? That I can kill without feeling a thing? You must think I’m someone who can sleep like a baby at night despite remembering that hell... Otherwise, you wouldn’t ask me to join a war so casually.”

“Did you not switch sides and continue to fight with Galé instead of stopping with Judore?”

“Yes, I did! I fought day in and day out. That’s why I’m saying I don’t want to! Do you honestly think a teenage girl was fighting of her own free will?! I had no choice!”

The prince fell silent.

“You and I may have similar circumstances, but that’s just one aspect of the situation. I don’t just want to avoid being killed in prison or betrayed. I’m also fed up with being called a murderer. I’m not going to be your pawn! They told me they would keep me on the sidelines because I was a student in my past life too. Once I opened the lid, though, they had me on the front lines right up until I sold myself. I can’t believe what you say at all.”

He listened quietly.

“My dream isn’t to have the glory of serving the king. It’s to go on a journey with Lou as a normal girl and live a peaceful life. I don’t care if anyone says I’m not fulfilling my duty as a noble. What do you think happened to me in the book when I fulfilled my duty as a noble? I was blamed anyway and killed!”

Lou stretched up, put his front paws on my shoulder, and licked up the tears I hadn’t realized were streaming down my cheeks. Yet another ring of light shone around us.

“I see... If you have that strong of a will, then... I guess our negotiations have broken down.”

“Yes, I never want to fight in a war again, except to protect my loved ones. The negotiation is over.”

The prince sighed. “I understand how you feel, somewhat. I was inconsiderate. Sorry. But, I’ve already prepared for the worst. If you won’t cooperate with me, I can’t take the chance of you becoming my enemy, so I have no choice but to kill you. I’m a coward... Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize for things that can’t be resolved with an apology. A politician must be able to drink both pure and cloudy water.”

Like Gillain.

“Understood. I will dirty my hands with your blood and live with that deed on my shoulders. You’re in my way. I must eliminate you.”

“I won’t be killed without a fight. I’ll fight back with everything I have. So...I hope we can drink tea together as friends in our next lives.”

“Yes, we can have a toast to both being in over our heads. I’d like to go to a rooftop beer garden in my next life. All I could do in my last life was look at one out of my hospital window.”

“Sounds good! Beer and edamame!”

“Perfect! Let’s meet again as regular people in our next lives!”

We said goodbye in the style of our former world for the last time and jumped backwards.

“Sere! He’s coming!”

Prince Schneider took out a short wand and waved it twice like a conductor’s baton. Sharp blades of ice rained down on the desert. If even one hit me, it would be a fatal injury. Ice seemed to be his main type of magic.

“Isn’t this unfair, Lou? The prince knows everything about us through the general while he’s trying to kill me, but we don’t know what skills or weapons he has.”

“Save the complaints for later. We have to move!”

I created flames and wind at maximum magical power, used the whirlwind to blow away the ice, and sent it straight toward the prince. At the same time, Lou wrapped the whole area in a sandstorm, hiding the two of us from view. Based on his appearance, you would think Lou controlled ice and snow, but he was the guardian of the western desert. He mainly fought with sand.

The prince waved his staff at the flaming tornado. It came to a halt, enveloped in a giant square of ice. Then, at the same moment that Lou went into the sand and behind the prince, I threw several sets of lightning-enchanted orlox-horn kunai over the ice and toward the prince’s heart. His feet were stuck in Lou’s sand.

I have to kill him, or he’ll kill me! My heart hurt. Tears came to my eyes. I would have to carry this burden again in my current life. Goodbye.

Clang!

The kunai bounced off something hard. A barrier that my specially-made kunai can’t break?! Unbelievable!

I took my poisoned knife out of its holster and jumped down from on top of the ice. Then I swung my knife down at the prince’s neck with my right hand—but something blocked my blade from reaching his skin!

I aimed a kick at his side with my left leg. There was a creaking sound, and I felt resistance from his side! He folded his body over. Huh? What’s going on?

My left leg was starting to freeze from the heel. I cast fire magic on it, knowing that it might burn me. It didn’t melt. Is this the permafrost-level ice that my brother mentioned?

Lou hastily appeared from the sand and crushed the ice with his front paws. Making sure that I could move my feet again, I pulled back to survey the situation while driving my knife into the spot where I’d felt resistance before.

The sand dancing in the air lost its energy and gently fell to the ground. “Lou, did you stop the sandstorm?” I asked.

Lou intensified his magic, and his silver fur stood on end. A cold wind sent the last of the sand far away.

A shield the color of amber, about one meter in diameter, appeared in front of Prince Schneider.

Did this shield block my frontal attack? No, wait... That’s not a shield... It’s a shell.

The shell spun in an about-face and landed on the sand with a loud thump. An overpowering bloodlust the likes of which I’d never felt before pierced through me.

“Ahhh!”

Lou barely managed to catch me as I was thrown backwards.

“Lou! Lou! What is this?!”

I should have been used to the battlefield from my memories from the book, but I couldn’t stop shaking from the utter aggression I felt directed at me.

“This is terrible,” muttered Lou.

Prince Schneider pulled the knife out of his side and held his left hand over the wound. “What’s this poison? Damn it, this is a new one. I guess I can’t beat a knight school student. Hey, put a guard up a little faster next time!”

“...THE SAND OF THE WEST HINDERS MY MOVEMENT.”

“Terl...”

Terl—the heavenly beast of the north, who I was now seeing for the first time—was shining in rainbow colors as the ice crystals surrounding his amber shell reflected the light, but his eyes were clouded.

I slowly stood up and cast yet another layer of defensive and magic-resistance magic on myself and Lou.

“I’m so scared of him... Why?”

“This is just how it is when us holy beasts confront someone as an enemy. Neither Asu nor I would ever fight you with the intent to kill, right? We should have accustomed you to this, though... No, I could never do that to my dear child.”

Pain shot through my skin with just a glare from him. My knees were about to give out. This was the same as being hated by a god. I couldn’t possibly win against this colossal beast.

A huge, but familiar, ball of energy appeared before my eyes. Rainbow wings spread out from it to hide me.

“Asu!”

“I’m here on Gillain’s behalf, given that I could get here faster.”

“Why is the holy beast of the south here?! Did you steal him from the emperor of Galé?!” shouted Prince Schneider. As if I could do something like that...

Asu narrowed his silver eyes. “Terl... I see you’re being forced to serve Schneider. You, of all beings, let down your guard?”

“SAND... BLAZING SUN... WHY DO YOU STAND IN MY WAY?”

“I don’t imagine you can see my dear child’s beautiful magic through your clouded eyes,” responded Lou.

“I’ll look after this handful of a man for you... Because we’re friends, aren’t we Sere?”

“Yes. You’re an amazing friend, Asu,” I replied. He came all the way to this remote desert for me. We were best friends at this point.

“So, you’re ‘friends’ with a holy beast... I just keep learning more about you.”

The restraints that Lou had been holding Prince Schneider’s feet down with had worn off.

“This poison is harsh. I’d better pick up the pace before you call any more helpers. Terlnight! Blizzard!”

Terl collected magic above his head, and the surrounding area froze as a violent barrage of snow fell with a roar. Lou created a whirlwind of scalding sand that overpowered the snow.

I threw shurikens at the prince from Asu’s back, but Terl’s defense deflected all of them. Prince Schneider’s wand moved in response, and meteorite-like balls of ice appeared above his head. They were large enough to crush me if I were caught under one. I guess he has no intention of letting me get away out of goodwill, even though we grew up in the same place.

Asu flew up and poured lava on the ice, destroying it, yet the ice balls continued to fall. Just how much magic power does Prince Schneider have? I opened my Magic Room and sucked in the ice that Asu hadn’t destroyed. I reached its limit after twenty of those meteors though.

I shot off a lightning attack, hoping that it would turn the tides somehow, but it was absorbed by a bump on Terl’s shell.

“A l-lightning rod?”

I couldn’t figure out any weaknesses they had.

“Holy beasts typically subconsciously limit themselves when fighting to protect the environment and people. But Terl, having lost his sense of self...is like a disastrous force of nature,” echoed Asu’s voice from the sky.

I would run out of magic soon. It felt like the time I’d been captured and sucked dry of my magic in the book.

Even while poisoned, the prince had plenty of magic. He far overpowered me on that front. I couldn’t see a way to beat him except for close combat...but I couldn’t get close due to Terl’s intimidating aggression.

“Sere! Get on!”

I got onto Lou’s back as he ran, and he enveloped us in a sandstorm. I used strengthening magic on my right hand to punch the sharp ice as we zigzagged toward the prince.

Lou surrounded Terl’s body with sand. For just a second, Terl stopped moving as he absorbed the sand, reducing the prince’s protection. I used snow magic like Terl’s on my knife so its power wouldn’t be weakened, then I forcefully jumped off Lou’s back, holding my knife in both hands, and fell headfirst toward the prince. I’m stronger than him with a weapon! This will finish it!

The prince below me narrowed his eyes and grasped the rose on his chest. Vines suddenly burst forth from it, as though it were a living creature. The vines transformed into thick whips and wrapped around my knife, and I fell to the ground with a thump.

Pain shot through my body. My arms felt numb. It’s poison. He’s returned what I’d done to him... I looked up to see thorns covering the whips. They were secreting a plant toxin. I hadn’t known he could use whips as well as a wand!

“You know, my only friends in my past life were the roses I was sent as gifts. This rose is my ‘friend’ in this life as well.” He kissed the rose.

How princely. I see just how important information is now, grandmother...

Lou jumped onto Terl so he wouldn’t aim his attacks at me. Lou was trying to suffocate him by holding him down and surrounding him with a sandstorm.

“Sere! Get out of here!”

The pain wasn’t letting up. I couldn’t move. Sorry.

This was my first time being hurt so badly. My brother had always cast defensive magic on my ninja outfit and my sparring outfit for knight school. I was in my summer uniform at the moment—the uniform pants and a plain white shirt. Ah, but it was more reddish-brown than white now, given the sand and blood...

My hands were covered in blood from deflecting the sharp ice. Blood ran into my eyes. I had a cut on my forehead as well.

The prince’s whips bent above my head. How much longer could my defense magic hold?

I saw the faces of my father, brother, and grandmother in my mind. My life flashed before my eyes. No... I can’t believe it’s over for me earlier than in the book...

Gillain... I can’t protect you...

As I panted and sweat profusely, Asu swooped down from above, breathing blue flames from his beak that burned the elegant rose whips.

“Gah!” The prince looked disappointedly at the burnt remains of the rose.

Asu covered me as I cowered on the ground. “Sere...this encounter was with someone unexpected instead of Maribelle, but this is the time to execute the emergency plan. Leave this to us and go overseas!”

“But...!”

“Lou and I can’t kill Terl. It’s the law of this world. The only way to end this is to kill Terl’s master, but the prince is too strong to finish off while also keeping Terl at bay, and you’re too weak. We’re in a stalemate just trying to protect you. You can get away in a better state now.”

“But...!”

“This is exactly what you made the countermeasure plan for, right? Move according to the plan. It’s already been decided! Don’t you trust Lou and your father?”

“But...!”

I don’t want to leave!

“I believe in you, Sere,” Asu muttered, as if to soothe me.

“Go, Sere!” shouted Lou in the midst of his battle to the death.

“My one and only truly dear friend.” Asu let a tear fall onto my lips.

“Ah!”

Asu spread his wings and whipped up a wind. The high-speed winds swept me up and launched me far into the distance.

“Lou! It’s over! Retreat to the sanctuary!”

Lou, who had been biting Terl’s neck, looked around, nodded in response to Asu, began to waver like a mirage in the desert, and vanished.

Asu, after watching Lou disappear, spread his rainbow wings and flew away into the heavens.

“Terlnight, you can go too,” instructed the prince.

Terl closed his clouded eyes, turned to ice dust, and evaporated.

“Ahh, she got away. Too bad.”

The prince picked up his burnt rose petals as he held his hand to his side.

“The beer garden will have to wait.”