Chapter 3: The Magic Tournament

Chapter 3: The Magic Tournament

It had been a while since my grandmother had come into my life. It seemed like there had been some hard feelings after my mother died, but once she understood the situation had nothing to do with my father, her feelings completely flipped.

As for the rest, might made right! She prostrated herself before the incomprehensible great being that was Lou. She also shed tears for me and my brother as we cooperated in the pursuit of strength. It seemed she felt extreme empathy for us.

Well, at this point in my development, I was going through some changes that only girls understand, so I was glad to have my grandmother around now!

That aside, I had no idea my mother’s family, the Trundles, was a line of prestigious warriors. They would do anything to win, and my brother had inherited a lot of that blood—for example, you could see it in his fondness for concealed weapons and sneak attacks...

Apparently, my grandmother had been number three in the military when she was young. However, she rose to that rank based on her fighting strength and knowledge; her magic was only just good enough to manage in daily life.

How could she see Lou? According to him, “She’s exceptionally perceptive. She probably thinks she just has ‘good intuition,’ but isn’t she always making accurate judgments two steps ahead thanks to her perceptiveness?! It’s an impressive talent. Not to mention she’s extraordinarily strong! And, of course, her wavelength is similar to yours.”

We received training from our superwoman of a grandmother from then on, and when my brother came home, the three of us would go to the Trundle domain and shoot off some large-scale new magic attacks, making sure not to damage the environment.

The Trundle domain was a day’s travel away from the royal capital, and it served as the last stronghold remaining to protect it. Nobody dared to enter the domain without permission. Anyone who served a thug was bound to be a thug themself. We were ready to kill any poachers the minute they tried anything; it would be great for our secret training, after all.

Then, one day, grandmother came skipping to the Granzeus mansion with an interesting piece of information.

“Larouza, you were selected to enter the academy-wide magic tournament this year? I heard you’re the only first-year who’ll be participating!”

Our grandmother’s intel-gathering operation had no blind spots!

“Yeah, I am. What about it?”

An awkward silence briefly filled the room before my grandmother decided to continue pressing forward. “That’s wonderful, Larouza! Congratulations! When I was a student, only second-years and up were able to participate!”

“It’s not like I was chosen for accomplishing anything. My teacher just told me to enter last week.”

As always, my brother was apathetic to the 359 degrees of his circle that didn’t involve his family. Pride and prestige meant nothing to him.

“A tournament?” I asked.

“Students enter the magic academy at thirteen years old, and the school goes from Year 1 up to Year 5 at eighteen. The magic tournament is held once a year among the most skilled students regardless of year, and they choose the strongest student as the winner.”

“Wow! That’s awesome! You have my support!”

Was there an event like this in the book? Maybe it had been cut short in my time because of the conflict with the neighboring kingdom.

“Thank you, Serephione. I appreciate it, but it’s going to just be a bother to be grouped into the ‘academy level’ where we can’t use new magic or combination magic. I can probably manage by brute forcing the competition with single-type magic, but considering the future, it would make me stand out in a bad way.”

Well, if you break right into the top level in your first year, it might make the rest of your school career difficult. Hm, wait... My brother wasn’t the type of person to care about that, was he?

“I just want to have a quiet, simple life—until I’ve completed my conquest of all the books in the academy library, that is.”

Hmm, so it’s not pressure from upperclassmen that’s the issue. He just doesn’t want to be talked about.

“Larouza, you frightening little boy!”

Grandmother, you’re grinning!

Our father was smirking. “I understand how you feel, Larouza, but you can’t keep your skill hidden forever. I think it would be a better plan to put up a proper fight and show your skill so nobody has any complaints. That would mean you could be a surface-level shield for Serephione and Lou. Your grandmother and I will support you from the shadows. Consider it.”

“Okay, I will.”

Sorry for being such a high-maintenance daughter and fluffball...

“I want to see my brother fight people outside of our family, though... Maybe I should go watch in disguise?”

“Should I use perception-altering magic so nobody remembers us?” suggested Lou, resting his adorable toe beans on my lap and looking up at me.

“No, don’t worry about it. That would be asking too much. Everyone is already putting in so much work to protect me.”

“Well... Why don’t we go as support? It would be unnatural to keep Serephi too hidden. We’ll make her presence known, and then we’ll make sure everyone knows to keep their hands off her because we’re protecting her. But Serephi, you’ll get some derisive looks as our Magicless daughter. Are you okay with that?”

“How fun! I’ll put on my best act as a sweet little weakling!”

“Huh? No way you’ll get derisive looks if I have anything to say about it,” my brother declared. “We’d just attract troublesome insects that way. Serephione, come looking as plain and unremarkable as you can.”

Got it! I’ll make sure it doesn’t get out that my brother has such a plain little sister! I won’t bring shame upon him!

“Interesting. Things are starting to get exciting.” My grandmother chuckled.

With that, it was decided that we would go on a family outing to support my brother.

The magic academy was in the south, far from the capital.

When my father helped me out of the carriage and I looked at the magnificent gate, tears unconsciously came to my eyes. Because I was nostalgic for it? No! Because I was frustrated!

In the book, after I was consumed by the war with the neighboring kingdom that would begin in just a few years, I put my power to full use as the prince’s fiancée. But then the prince, my friends, and even my brother... All of them turned on me when the heroine showed up.

“Fighting won’t resolve this! Let’s talk it over!”

“If anyone can create a world where we don’t have to hurt each other, it’s you!”

All that came out of their mouths were empty, sugar-sweet words.

What Maribelle, the heroine, had said was righteous, and when I read the novel, I had taken her at her word. But now that this world had become reality and I was in the shoes of the villainess, I couldn’t agree with her any longer. Talking it over was the job of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and government officials; it wasn’t a little girl’s place to stick her nose into politics!

In times of war, it was essential to operations to separate the soldiers and the brains. The army wouldn’t function if the soldiers asked “Why?” or “How come?” at every turn. The staff, the diplomats, and the soldiers each had to fulfill their own roles. As a student of the magic academy at the time, my role was to be a soldier, a pawn. All I did was earnestly fulfill the role I was given, yet I was assaulted by their criticism.

“Doesn’t it hurt your heart to kill people so casually?”

“You’re so coldhearted.”

I’m coldhearted? But it was your heartless words that made me get blood on my hands!

“You’re not worthy of being in the royal family.”

Huh? It was your dad who gave me the extermination order, though!

That was why I’d sold myself to the neighboring kingdom—

“S-Sere...? Serephione? You’re spacing out... What’s wrong?”

“Oh... It’s nothing.”

It surprised even me how much I’d absorbed the feelings of the book version of myself. It was as if I’d walked her path myself. Were all reincarnations like this?

Between my current self, my past self, and my self from the book, my mind was at once in order yet muddled together.

I couldn’t have my head in the clouds. I couldn’t let this consume me. I was entering enemy territory. I couldn’t afford to let my guard down.

“Sere?”

“Sorry, Lou. I’m okay.”

For the first time in this life, I stepped foot into the academy that I had such mixed feelings about.

The instant we stepped into the spectator area of the elliptical stadium, a buzz ran through the crowd. Was the discord between my father and grandmother more infamous than I expected?

The two were friendly as they entered. My father, wearing a spotless navy suit, and my grandmother, looking good in a sleek lavender gown, each escorted me by the hand. Though I was the cause of the discord between my grandmother and father, she firmly held my hand with a serene smile. She can put on a classy smile after all!

All I wore was a completely unremarkable ivory dress with a black satin ribbon around the waist. My hair was loosely gathered to one side in a platinum hair clip decorated with emerald and agate, matching my grandmother’s.

Lou was riding on my shoulder (the one I didn’t have my hair resting on, of course), having used illusion magic on himself, me, and my father. His eyes darted around suspiciously.

We immediately devised illusion magic following the boy discovering Lou after my magic exam. It refracted the light in front of Lou to make what was behind him look like it’s in front of him, like a lens. He concealed himself with it whenever he left the Granzeus residence.

Normally, magic users who were experts in all four types of magic, such as military commanders and leaders as well as the nobility, would be able to at least see Lou’s outline. There were probably about ten such people in any given kingdom. But with his illusion magic, Lou should only have been visible to either Granzeus-level exceptional magic users or people he allowed. We had no way to prove this, though.

I heard whispers from all around the venue.

“Psst... Why haven’t the Granzeuses shown their faces much recently?”

“Psst... There’s the Magicless girl everyone’s been talking about. The poor earl.”

“Psst... Is that the lucky goddess of the Trundles?! That gorgeous lady took a thousand heads?”

“...Grandmother, what do they mean you ‘took a thousand heads’?”

My grandmother chuckled. “Young Serephi, a secret makes a woman, woman.”

That’s a famous line from a female thief in an anime from my past life! It carries over to all lands!

The person in charge of organizing the venue came over to us. We told them that we were the family of a tournament entrant, and they led us to the front row in the middle of the stadium. I sat down with a handsome man and gorgeous witch on either side of me.

“We stand out here. It’s like we’re a spectacle,” I said.

My grandmother smiled, opened her large fan with a fwup sound, and hid half of each of our faces. That sounded heavy! That fan must have something crazy built in!

My father suddenly moved the pointer finger on his right hand; he was using soundproofing magic. Yes, papa could use newly-made magic too, so what?

“Serephi, do you see that section at 2 o’clock surrounded by the red curtain?” my father asked. “The royal family is in there. His and Her Majesty aren’t in attendance today, but it wouldn’t be a bad idea to remember their faces.”

“I heard a member of the royal family will be in the tournament today,” my grandmother grumbled. “It would be better if they disappeared before our Larouza puts them to shame, though. What a pain it would be to get into conflict with them!”

“Lou, is the boy from before here?” I asked.

“Hm... He’s not.”

I saw a few children and their servants. Among them was him—His Highness, the Second Prince Gardner. His blond hair and blue eyes screamed “prince.” In the book, he was my fiancé, but he was a stranger to me in this life. I was relieved. The current Gardner was innocent, though, being a young child.

“Serephi, do you think you can knock that off? You look like you’re about to kill somebody,” my grandmother chided me.

“...I’ll be careful.”

I closed my eyes and rubbed the inner corners with my fingertips. I noticed that papa seemed concerned, though.

The magic tournament began at the scheduled time. My brother appeared bored as he racked up victories, not even using his dominant hand.

The matches apart from my brother’s were uninteresting. All they did was yell magical incantations they learned in school, like “Firewall!” or “Avalanche!” and the strength of those individual attacks decided the match. Even if it was single-type magic, I thought they should have used tricks like timing their repeated attacks, positioning them to corner the opponent, or rapid-firing—but the fact that they were using incantations at all was bad. All it did was show their cards to the enemy.

“Father, is it a rule that they have to use incantations?”

“At the academy, they use incantations when studying magic. They think that’s just what magic is. And transitioning to incantation-less magic would require them to reconstruct all the concepts they’ve learned so far. It might not be possible for them yet.”

“They don’t realize that incantations are for fools until they enter a real battle. They’ll sure learn in a hurry when their lives are in danger, though... What fools they are, taking peace for granted. We haven’t gone fifty years without war once in recorded history.” My grandmother gave a bitter smile behind her fan.

Last year’s winners and high-level students are apparently seeded, so maybe we can have high expectations going forward?

As we paid attention to the match in short glances, Enrique served us, and we began to eat our packed lunches.

Under the clear, sunny sky, free from my hellish routine training sessions, surrounded by my beloved father, sweet grandmother, and the hopeless fluffball dribbling crumbs from atop my head, I watched my handsome brother calmly and collectedly mowing down his enemies from on high. The lunches Matsuki had put his whole heart into preparing shone with energy.

What a delightful day! If this isn’t happiness, then nothing is! I bit into my little sandwich, smiling from ear to ear.

“Yum! This is delicious!”

A stir suddenly passed through the crowd. Huh? Did I miss a good moment in the match?

Papa suddenly took on an intimidating aura. What, is there an intruder?

“Father, is there a scoundrel?”

A troubled expression flickered over papa’s face, and he plopped me onto his lap. His hands were occupied from holding me, so I fed him his favorite roast beef sandwich.

“Eee!”

“Psst... The angel is feeding the demon lord?”

“Psst... It’s too much, I’m dying from cuteness overload...”

“Psst... So not even the demon lord can prevail before the young twilight fairy...”

“...Tch, what vile pests.”

P-Papa?! What are you clicking your tongue for?!

“Father?”

“Don’t worry about it, Serephi. Let’s have dessert.”

“Wow! Chocolate cake!”

The crowd buzzed in excitement.

“Hm?” I was confused.

“Sere, hurry and pass it!”

“Okay, okay, here you go.”

“Oho, Serephione’s joy has destructive effects,” my grandmother chuckled. “You must understand how my husband felt now. Fathers with daughters always have to be on guard!”

The matches proceeded as scheduled, narrowing the entrants down to four. It was finally time for the semifinal matches.

My brother was one of the semifinalists, of course. I imagined him thinking that he should make his skill known as our father said.

The crowd inside and outside the venue went wild at the fact that my brother had advanced to the semifinals as a first-year, and the underground high-stakes betting saw a lot of activity as well.

When my grandmother gave me this information, I told her “I bet he wins,” and handed her ten thousand gold.

Even though my brother’s won fight after fight, given he’s just a first-year, his odds should be ten-to-one! If I can’t avoid becoming the villainess in the future, he’ll need some money saved for his sister’s escape! Win this one for me, big bro!

My brother appeared to the sound of trumpets. Loud cheering enveloped him. I mouthed “Go for it!” to him, and he gave me a wink in return as if to say he understood. Oh, the girls behind me are swooning now...

Anyway, getting back on topic, I was trying to figure out who my brother’s opponent was. His robe color indicated he was a fourth-year. He was a tall, slim boy with unusual silver hair. Oh, he finally looked this way.

“Ah...”

I recognized his face. He was quite young, but his features held the groundwork for a face that would later be described as carrying an unparalleled ruthlessness. His sharp blue eyes had a freezing gaze. An artificial smile played at his mouth.

It was Emperor Gillain of the Galé Empire. He was the only person who needed me after the Second Prince Gardner abandoned me—the wartime emperor of the neighboring kingdom.

“You’re exceptional,” he’d said. “Come to my side. I’ll make a place for you that doesn’t exist in Judore.”

There was nothing in it so sweet as love or romance. Emperor Gillain was as honest as he was cruel. I’d understood that he merely needed me as a weapon. Even so, he was my salvation in the book. Although he’d thoroughly washed his hands of me and I thus became a prisoner of my mother country, I had no regrets for taking his hand...

“The imperial prince of Galé?! He’s studying abroad here?”

“Ahh, how naive of the royal family. How can they just let a Galéan walk around freely in the epicenter of Judore’s magical development? Their sense of danger is too weak.”

Ah, that’s right—before he succeeded to the imperial throne, he was just one of many imperial princes. Galé was a meritocracy. Emperor Gillain would go on to kick his many siblings to the side and take the imperial throne. He was exactly ten years older than me. At sixteen years old right now, he was most likely studying abroad to gather information in preparation for battle.

“My time studying abroad in Judore felt like soaking in lukewarm water,” I remembered Emperor Gillain saying. I rather liked his biting derision, even in the book. Regardless, I had chosen another path: I wouldn’t go to the magic academy, I wouldn’t go to war, and I wouldn’t meet Emperor Gillain.

“Sere, your heart rate is too fast.”

I looked up in surprise. Lou was looking at me with concerned sky blue eyes. How can their eyes be the same color yet look so different?

“Lou, will you really come on a journey with me?”

Lou licked between my eyebrows. “What are you afraid of, Sere? Our hearts are one. We’ll always be together. If you go on a journey, I’ll go too. If you fall over, so will I. I can feel your pain. It’s heavy, Sere. Relax.” He nuzzled my cheek with his head and ears.

I felt like crying. “Sorry, Lou. I shouldn’t have doubted you. You’re my companion. I’m glad.”

Just when I thought Lou had tilted his head, he nibbled my neck.

“Huh?”

Lou’s magic coursed through my body. The sensation was stark and refreshingly cool, like a snow-covered mountain in midwinter. The murky-black anxiety inside me dispersed. It felt like an embrace from a silver goddess.

“I’m always absorbing your tasty magic, Sere. I should return the favor.”

Transferring magic to someone, a part of your life force, was the ultimate symbol of affection. Furthermore, this was from one of the four heavenly beasts, an object of awe and fear.

Pathetically, it was just then that I understood for the first time that I was unique and special to Lou.

Lou... Loudarylphena would never run to the heroine.

“Thank you, Lou. I love you.” I held back tears and squeezed Lou in a hug.

“Is everything okay, Serephione?” My father was looking at me with concern.

“I was just feeling a bit down because he seems scarily strong.”

“I see... Serephi, sorry in advance.”

With that said, my father shot a thin magical needle from his pointer finger at my brother’s neck. He nodded at my brother when he turned back. My brother gave a long blink. This exchange took only a moment. Nobody should have noticed.

It was a signal to change plans. My grandmother and I were expressionless, but we understood my father’s intent. There was nothing to be gained by winning against royalty from another kingdom. Done unskillfully, it would only land him on Galé’s blacklist.

The starting whistle blew. After they sized each other up motionlessly for a moment, the emperor, the edge of his mouth turned up in a smirk, created a net of lightning and surrounded my brother with it at once. Naturally, he didn’t use any incantations or any easily understandable movements.

My brother instantly created a wall of earth inside the net to guard himself. Then he shot fire projectiles from its gaps, but a barrier in the holes of the net bounced them back off.

A barrier that deflected attacks—I had never seen that in this world before. Had Galé’s magic made more progress than ours? Or was it unique to the prince?

My brother electrified the knife he was holding and threw it. Could a combined physical and magical attack break through the barrier?

It broke through! The knife went for the emperor’s hand inside his robe. Oh, that’s right, the emperor is left-handed. He’s rapid-firing magic with his left hand.

Bam! The emperor reacted in an instant, kicked the knife down, and looked back at my brother before closing the lightning net all at once and destroying the wall of earth. My brother was trapped in a golden net.

“I lose.”

The crowd went wild for the best match of this year’s tournament!

“Now, isn’t that a passable way to lose?” my grandmother said with a smirk.

“Grandmother, the way you’re smiling is suspicious!”

“Everyone seems quite taken with Larouza’s honorable defeat... I appreciate the sentiment, but the truth is, they’re quite mis-taken.”

“Is this really the time for puns, Grandmother?”

My brother literally leapt in front of me. “Sorry, Serephione. I promised you I would win.”

We spoke with the awareness that the gallery was listening in.

“You were amazing out there, brother. But since you lost... Would you give me all of your next break?”

I’d make him pay me back the ten thousand gold I lost with his body!

“Aw, Serephione, you leave me no choice.”

He picked me up from papa’s lap along with Lou, touched his forehead to mine, and smiled.

Oh, the girls behind me are getting nosebleeds again! Judging by the amount, it looks like they need a trip to the nurse’s office!

As my brother and I were fulfilling our mission as actors, a wind carrying a massive magical power blew past us.

Just as my father and grandmother took hold of the weapons under their clothes and stood up, a young man appeared directly in my line of vision, which was higher up with my brother holding me—it was Emperor Gillain.

After assessing the situation, my father narrowed his eyes and slowly yet coolly lowered himself to his knees.

“I am honored to be graced by your presence, Your Highness, Prince Gillain of the Galé Empire. I am Count Isaac Granzeus of the Kingdom of Judore. I am accompanied by my family. What may such a minor noble family as ours do for you today?”

“I came to see the face of the first-year who disrespected me by holding back in our match—but now I’ve found something more interesting. You. What’s your name?”

Emperor Gillain never raised his voice. It was composed, deep, and commanding.

The emperor wasn’t taking his eyes off me. He’d found me. I didn’t want to make contact with him in this life. Could he make even fortune bend to his will? I quietly got off of my brother’s arm and knelt down.

“It’s an honor to meet you, Your Imperial Majesty. My name is Serephione Granzeus. I am the daughter of Count Granzeus.”

“Show me that thing on your shoulder, Serephione.”

It couldn’t be! He shouldn’t be able to see him. Lou used three layers of illusion magic. Does this mean he’s sensed a holy beast who’s subdued himself as much as possible? I pushed down my shock with all my might.

I glanced at my shoulder with Lou on it, then the one without, then tilted my head.

“Is there something strange about my shoulders?”

He chuckled. “You’re playing dumb to me? I like your nerve. Serephione, this kingdom is a waste of your potential. Come to my side! I’ll make a better place for you than what exists in Judore.”

I nearly forgot to breathe. It was strikingly similar to what he’d said in my past life.

“Your Imperial Majesty...”

“Your Highness, she is but a Magicless girl!”

Looking in the direction of the voice, I saw a fancily-dressed girl from the academy. I awoke from my reverie.

Is she trying to get with Emperor Gillain? I’m telling you this for your own good... You should stop. He’s too much for you to handle.

“‘Magicless’...? So you can already perfectly manipulate your magic at this age. I like the sound of that even more.”

Emperor Gillain took my tiny hand and brought me to my feet as if he was dealing with a proper lady. Even though I knew only misfortune awaited me if I took his hand, my chest felt tight knowing that he still wanted me even when my magical talent was limited. This was the one person who expressed desire for me, even in this world.

“Your Highness, my daughter is only six years old. She has no remarkable talents and merely spends a quiet life at our home. I request you refrain from toying with her.”

“Who’s toying with who? You even have a Trundle playing along... Well, so be it. It’ll be brought to light eventually.”

As soon as he made this dangerous statement, he made three shallow cuts on his left hand. I had no idea what made that necessary.

Suddenly, a ray of bright light shone down from the heavens! The light fell onto Emperor Gillain’s right shoulder and began to take shape.

Rainbow wings, a golden crest, tail feathers like flame itself reaching from the emperor’s shoulder all the way to the floor—it was a noble crimson bird. Based on my knowledge from Japan...it was the Vermilion Bird!

I wondered how many people in the area had witnessed this scene.

My father, brother, grandmother, and Enrique all went pale in the face, knelt down, and hung their heads. As far as I could see, nobody else in the vicinity was prostrating themself.

Only magic users go to this academy, right? Could the other people in the gallery only see a bright light? I suppose the emperor understood that when he chose not to use any particular concealment or illusion magic.

No, that’s not it. He’s taking this opportunity to make a distinction between all of these people: who can see the Vermilion Bird and who can’t—that is, who in the Kingdom of Judore is a powerful magic user that’ll trouble him in the future, and who’s just part of the disorderly masses. It was bold and effective. He had caught not only Lou, but the rest of us as well.

Regardless, I hadn’t known Emperor Gillain had a holy guardian beast. Was he able to find me in this life precisely because we were fellow holy beast owners? Did he want me back then because I had one? A needless sense of loss raced through my heart.

“Sere, we can’t hide any more now that that’s here. We have to go.”

I put up strong illusion magic around us. We didn’t have the luxury of living as self-assuredly as the emperor. Lou and I weren’t in the mood to come out to all these strangers. It didn’t seem that anyone here could see Lou, but we couldn’t let down our guard.

I made it so that we appeared to be behind a thick layer of mist and didn’t draw anyone’s attention. Then I nodded to Lou. His silver-white figure wavered into view like a mirage.

“...So, Magan has passed.” A mature voice, one not belonging to Lou, resounded in my head.

“I inherited his position just recently.”

It seemed that the Vermilion Bird was senior to Lou. Lou’s response was dispassionate and curt. I got the sense that they weren’t friendly with each other.

“Oh, you two have a contract. That’s unusual,” commented Gillain.

“Do you not?”

“I captured him and made him submit. He’s my servant. It’s easier that way. He does what I want.”

So that really is the difference between a contract and servitude.

I looked at the Vermilion Bird. His eyes were clear and lacked any trace of despair. “He doesn’t really look like he’s being forced.”

“I’m fond of his power,” the bird explained.

The two holy beasts and I looked at the emperor together, and he flushed slightly. Now, that was unusual.

“Hm... So he’s the guardian of the West. I’ll tell you one more time. Come to my side.”

An encounter with the emperor could only spell disaster, but I decided to count it as lucky that I got the chance to see him in a young and humanlike state.

“I’m happy that you acknowledged me and expressed a need for me, Your Imperial Majesty. But I don’t think going with you will make me happier than I am now. I’m rather satisfied at the moment.” Unlike in the book. I was telling the truth, so my smile was natural.

“Serephione, is there some reason you’re calling me ‘Your Imperial Majesty’?”

“That’s the only future I can see.”

Pain flashed through the emperor’s eyes for a moment. He closed them briefly, as if to hide it, and when he opened them again, they held his usual unrevealing coldness...and also the complete opposite, a hotly burning determination.

“You have ten years, Serephione. I’ll defer it for you. When you turn sixteen, I’ll take you. You’re my empress. Prepare yourself.”

...Huh?

This completely unexpected declaration shocked me so much I couldn’t close my dropped jaw.

Who was the emperor’s consort in the book again? ...There was nobody! I can’t recall a single description of one. In the book, I’d been treated like a disposable sacrifice! What is he talking about? Our family statuses are too far apart, anyway. Does he want Lou so badly, knowing that Lou would come with me?

My brother slipped in front of me as I was in confusion from this high praise.

“Serephione is my treasure. It’s only natural that you’d want our angelic Serephione, but taking her against her will? Ha ha ha, should I demonstrate my unrestrained skill for you right now?”

My brother took out a poisoned shuriken from thin air. My father acted in concert with him by standing up, taking my left hand, picking me up, and kissing my cheek. He produced the pointer finger and thumb of his right hand with terrifying speed. He was just waiting for the chance to activate his dangerous magic. It seemed he had no intention of hiding his cheat code.

An amused glint appeared in Prince Gillain’s eyes after seeing that. “It seems I’ll have a more lively time taking my wife than I expected. I’m looking forward to it.”

When he smiled like the teenager he was... Darn it, he was cute!

My grandmother pointed her closed fan at him. No doubt if she pushed something somewhere, missiles would come flying out of it!

“It’s about time to put a stop to this conversation. Your Highness, my master Serephione is contracted. She is your equal in every way, and has no reason to take orders from you. If you wish to take Serephione as your wife, I recommend that you make the appropriate efforts. You heard what she said, did you not? She sees no merit in becoming your consort. Don’t forget that Serephione could replace you with any number of men. Do try not to get on her bad side! Oho ho ho!”

Nooo! Don’t antagonize him, grandmother!

“Your Highness, it is time to prepare for the next event. Please return at once!” Someone called from outside the spell. Even with illusion magic, if someone had a clear objective, they could tell where we were with no problem.

I snapped my fingers, and the spell broke. As it cleared like mist, I sat in my father’s lap. My brother sat in my seat, and my grandmother drank tea next to him. Emperor Gillain stood quietly in front of us with a soft smile. My, how fake of him!

“I enjoy being around you, ‘Magicless.’ I’ll be seeing you again.”

He gracefully kissed my fingertip and strode away at his attendant’s order.

Ah, all the screaming from the peanut gallery is so irritating! And brother, you don’t have to cast cleansing magic on my finger!

“Jeez... I’m exhausted. Since brother’s match is over, can we go home?”

“Let’s. We need to have a little discussion,” my grandmother replied.

“I’ll join in next time I come home,” added Larouza.

“Well done, Larouza. You did a good job,” my father praised him.

Cheers rang out. I looked at the field to see that the players for the second semifinal match had come out.

Lou’s claws suddenly dug into my shoulder. Lou, that kind of hurts?

“Sere... It’s him.”

I followed Lou’s line of sight at the sound of his serious voice.

He was right. It was the boy from that one time. He was quite a bit taller after only half a year, though.

“Brother, it’s him. Who is he?”

My family fixed their gazes on him, having inferred what was going on.

My father sighed deeply. “That’s the first prince of our kingdom, Prince Schneider,” he said with a resigned tone.

We left the magic academy quickly, acting disappointed at our family’s loss. The truth was that I wanted to hide myself before Prince Schneider noticed me. I didn’t need any more new characters introduced today. I was already on the verge of panicking.

As the carriage rocked me, I shut my eyes and remembered some information from the book.

The first prince’s name hadn’t come up even once in the book. It just glossed over him, saying that he was the sickly child of a royal mistress, so Prince Gardner was next in line for the throne as the accomplished (both academically and in battle) child of the true queen. Prince Schneider was nothing more than a background character.

Once I got home, I changed into a comfortable dress and made my way to the lounge where my father and grandmother waited.

“Father, for some reason I don’t know very much about Prince Schneider, even though he’s the first prince... I think I remember hearing that he was sickly at some point, at least.”

“Being sickly is just a front. He doesn’t often appear in public to keep it up. To put it politely...he’s staying one step back for the sake of the queen and Prince Gardner.”

So, to put it rudely, if he stuck out, he’d get hammered down like a nail. Scary!

“However, as you can tell based on the fact that he could see Lou, he’s quite the magic user,” my grandmother said. “He came off as very intelligent in your last interaction with him as well. On the other hand, Prince Gardner didn’t notice two holy beasts right in front of his nose. Hmm, if the first prince is avoiding standing out, why would he go to a grand event like the magic tournament?”

Enrique entered the room following a quiet knock.

“Lady Erza, here is a letter for you.”

“Thank you, Enrique. Let’s see... Prince Schneider is a second-year student. Last year, he led a quiet life and didn’t stand out for anything in particular, so he naturally didn’t participate in the magic tournament. However, it seems he’s changed since about half a year ago and has started to throw himself into magic quite voraciously. He doesn’t worry about how he looks to others, not even the queen. The queen herself is keeping a low profile as well, for the moment; considering the second prince is so much younger than the first prince at the moment, the second prince simply can’t compare. It’s likely the first prince encountered some great force that made him change his way of life.”

She found all that out in this short time... Grandmother’s spying is outstanding! She’s pretty scary herself.

But now I knew that I really had triggered an event back then. I was crestfallen. I wondered if he would eventually stand in my way, either as royalty or as Gardner’s older brother.

I popped a bite-size cake made especially for Lou into his mouth. He munched on it with a more humble expression than usual.

Prince Schneider, nothing more than a background character in the book, had now come to the forefront with a name. This was proof that the plot had gone off the rails. Wasn’t this something to be grateful for?

“At any rate, I’m glad we know who we’re dealing with now. Once we know who it is, we have a way to avoid them,” my father noted. “We’ll have Larouza inquire about his movements as naturally as we can, and then we’ll cut off contact as before.”

My grandmother and I nodded silently in response to my father.

“Do you think Prince Schneider has deduced the truth about me and Lou?”

“There’s nothing wiser than always presupposing the worst-case scenario is true,” my grandmother replied. “You can’t afford to be optimistic, Serephi. If you assume he knows, it’ll make you more cautious.”

“Yes, grandmother.”

“Also...we can safely ignore Prince Gillain’s ridiculous proposal, yes?”

Papa, you look like you’re about to blow your top! It’s scary!

“For one thing, father, I’m not interested in lolicons. But Prince Gillain has a holy beast as his servant, and he knows all our secrets. I don’t think we can disregard him.”

“Loli-cons?”

My grandmother chuckled. “You have to have confidence, Serephi. At least tell him something like, ‘If you let my secret out, I’ll never talk to you again.’ In love, the first person to fall loses, you know.”

No, grandmother... Even supposing there is love, it’s Lou that Emperor Gillain fell for, not me. But wait, doesn’t that have the same result? If he makes me mad, can I just tell him I won’t let him see Lou?

“In any case, we’re dealing with the royalty of a large empire,” I said. “I think it would be better to be careful not to provoke him and avoid stances like ‘She’s a child, is this a joke?’”

My father and grandmother nodded in agreement.

“Regardless, Serephi, you’ve hooked a big fish right out of the starting gate. Don’t you think the Prince of Galé was head over heels for you by the end? You make me a proud grandmother!”

Head over heels? No, if anything, he was so fired up that it put me off!

“Mother, that is absolutely not a funny joke!”

“Oh, my.”

“Don’t worry, father. Lou and I are going to be adventurers. Someday we’ll head out from the mansion in our domain, and then we’ll come back to you no matter what. I can’t get married if I’m going on a journey. Right, Lou?”

“Yeah, neither Sere nor I wants to marry that guy and live with Asu!”

“S-Serephione!”

Squeeze!

My father and I hugged each other tightly.