Chapter 2: The Path to Sorcery

And so I was hired as an attendant to the margravine of Évrard, at which time my name was formally changed to Kiara Cordier.

Looking back, my life thus far had been one hell of a roller coaster. First I was born to a baronet, then I was adopted by a count, then I nearly became a viscountess, and now I served a margrave.

As for my name change, they explained to me that only highborn women could take a job as an attendant, and so we agreed we would tell everyone that I was born to the Cordier family, distant relatives of the House of Évrard—a small branch family, as I was told, who made their living as sheep farmers down in the mountains to the south of the province.

One week had passed since I was first hired. My daily duties involved waking the margravine, offering her water as needed, then accompanying her to her morning training session; while she practiced her sword swings, I was to run ten laps around the courtyard.

Then, after she’d had her breakfast, I saw her off as she departed for morning patrols. Only then was I permitted to have breakfast myself. On my first day, I was too exhausted to eat a single bite, but after a full week of this new routine, I had finally adjusted to it.

Other servants were in charge of cleaning her room, so I was basically done for the day—or so I thought, but then I was tasked with covering a shift for Prince Reginald’s lords-in-waiting. This was part of an ongoing arrangement I had requested of Reggie directly.

When I arrived at his room, he came out to meet me. Together, we and a few knight-guards from the castle town all headed to the library in the west wing of the margrave’s estate.

Compared to the boarding school library, this one was far more sophisticated. Tall bookshelves lined the chestnut-colored wooden walls, with pillars spaced evenly apart to support multiple mezzanine floors. Between each bookshelf was a small window—probably for ventilation purposes—but they were all covered with wooden shutters. The only light was that of the candlesticks on the large table in the center.

On the day we first arrived at the margrave’s estate, I’d asked Reggie if he could help me gain access to the castle library so I could “look into something.” Truth be told, I really wasn’t sure how to go about asking him; after all, if I flat-out said I wanted to study spellcasting, he might suspect me of ill intentions—and that was the last thing I wanted! But at the same time, I couldn’t exactly pretend to have a purely scholarly interest in the subject.

Then I remembered the gift the Thorn Princess had given to me in parting: the necklace with the red glass pendant. She had expressly ordered me not to lose it; maybe there was some sort of hex cast upon it? Thus, I decided to use the necklace as a pretext for my research.

When I relayed my wishes to Reggie, he seemed hesitant, but ultimately agreed to help me. Maybe he decided the necklace was in fact potentially dangerous, considering who it came from. Regardless, with the “cursed pendant” as my excuse, I was free to walk straight over to the sorcery section of the library with no guilt on my conscience... but I had no idea the prince himself was going to help me look!

And so, over the past few days, we’d visited the library religiously. I figured I could get away with stopping by once every other day or so, but Reggie insisted on accompanying me as frequently as possible so I could make up for lost time spent working for the margravine. Maybe I’d leaned a little too hard into the cursed necklace charade and inadvertently convinced him I was frightened... I felt bad for lying to him. Still, I was trying to save his life, so I hoped he would forgive me someday.

Candlestick holder in hand, I traversed the dim library and scanned the shelves. Unsurprisingly, there was no Spellcasting For Dummies in the margrave’s collection nor any sort of reference books. All I could do was pore over the history records for any mention of events involving spellcasters.

Unfortunately, the only references I found were all described in the abstract: “then the rivers ran backward” or “at once, the forest turned to flame,” like something I might have read in the Bible in my past life. You’d think history books would stick to the facts, but apparently not.

I checked to see if there were possibly any memoirs penned by spellcasters of yore, but no, that would have been too convenient. Instead, I found a journal from one of the margrave’s predecessors on the second floor. In it were a few curious passages:

x/xx

16 gold coins and 6 kilograms of actinolite ore paid to Spellcaster Rophan.

Services rendered: extermination of the tree-fairy that’s plagued us as of late.

x/xx

32 gold coins and 18 kilograms of indigo ore paid to Spellcaster Rophan.

Services rendered: emergency flood damage prevention.

Such heavy rains are uncommon lately. Once the weather clears, I must go and assess any damage done to the farming towns.

Evidently this margrave had used his journal as a ledger of sorts, and he appeared to be on good terms with a spellcaster named Rophan. Every now and then there were entries logging Rophan’s assistance with natural disasters, monster attacks, and even military battles. In return, the margrave paid him partially in ore for some reason that wasn’t clear to me. Maybe spellcasters used it in their spells?

Unfortunately, these entries were far too brief for me to make heads or tails of it, and worse, there were too few of them. I only had a limited amount of time per day that I could dedicate to reading, and it would take me an eternity to comb through this entire tome to look for more.

“Your Highness, it’s time for lunch,” announced Mabel, Reggie’s attendant, from the doorway. At fifty-seven years old, Mabel was a warm, gentle woman; paired with her full figure, she struck me as a grandmotherly sort. “You shan’t need to accompany His Lordship today, as he’s been summoned to inspect a detainee, or so I’m told.”

Reggie closed his book with a frown. “Why ask the margrave to do it? Is it the bandits’ ringleader or something?”

Mabel took the book from him and returned it to its shelf. “Apparently, they’ve caught a defective spellcaster. Rare specimen, that. The local sheriff didn’t have the first clue what to do with him.”

A spellcaster?! I nearly jumped to my feet and shouted Let me talk to him! Even if he was a “defective” spellcaster, surely he could use magic—otherwise, why would anyone arrest him? In which case, he could tell me how he got started on the path to sorcery!

Reggie must have read my mind somehow. “Could I see him for myself?” he inquired casually.

Of course, I was certain Mabel would say no. After all, they could hardly risk exposing the prince of Farzia to a dangerous spellcaster, captive or otherwise. And yet, beyond all my expectations, Mabel responded without missing a beat:

“I’ll confirm it with His Lordship, just to be sure. But first I’ll need you to run along to the dining hall for your lunch!”

“Understood. Thanks in advance.”

What the... You’re not going to stop him?!

Baffled, I nevertheless accompanied His Highness to the dining hall—after all, I was still technically filling in for his other attendants. Once I had safely escorted him there, I entered the room next to the kitchen, which served as a separate dining area for servants. Per Mabel’s instructions, I planned to grab a quick lunch while I was here.

I didn’t want to take too long and risk missing my chance to meet the spellcaster, so I wolfed down my soup and bread as fast as I could. Before I knew it, everyone in my vicinity was staring at me in disbelief, including the young boy who worked in the kitchen as the chef’s apprentice, as well as the three middle-aged female servants sitting together at the far corner table.

Uh-oh... Maybe it’s improper for an attendant to the margravine to eat like such a pig. But they’d already seen me do it, so my only option was to get out of there ASAP.

“My compliments to the chef!” I announced to the apprentice boy as he stood next to the cauldron of soup. Then I turned and bolted out of the room.

Before I made it to the door, however, I heard an angry shout from inside the kitchen.

“HARRIS! What’s takin’ so damn long?! No daydreamin’ on the job!”

Yikes... I hope he doesn’t get in too much trouble.

What I didn’t realize, however, was that all of Lady Évrard’s other attendants were equally eager eaters, and contrary to my fears, this actually convinced everyone watching me that I was worthy of the job.

On my way back to meet up with Reggie, I encountered Mabel walking at a rather brisk pace, so I followed her back to the dining hall. There, a waiter stepped out to inform us that His Highness had finished eating, and so we were permitted inside. When we entered, Reggie rose to his feet, and Mabel spoke.

“Unfortunately, His Lordship says it would be too dangerous for you to preside over the inspection. However, once the spellcaster is safely behind bars down in the dungeon, you’re more than welcome to observe him then.”

“Thank you, Mabel. Will you let me know when the margrave has returned?”

“Certainly, Your Grace.” She curtsied deeply. Meanwhile, Reggie shot me a look that said Is that alright with you?

I nodded. After all, I could hardly expect to have better luck glimpsing the spellcaster on my own, so I wasn’t about to complain. He smiled faintly.

“I’d like to take Kiara with me, if it’s no trouble. This spellcaster might have insight into our research.”

“Oh?”

Mabel looked surprised to hear this, but nonetheless complied with his request. Thus, it was decided that His Highness would fetch me when the time was right, regardless of whether Lady Évrard had returned by then.

With our meeting at an end, Reggie waved over his knight-guards, and together they headed to the courtyard to do some horseback riding and sword training. I guess a prince has to be skilled in combat to protect himself.

As for me, I decided I would check the status of the margravine’s room prior to her return, but Mabel’s murmur stopped me in my tracks.

“His Highness seems to trust you a great deal.”

I could hear a sigh in her voice, so I hastily straightened my posture. Is this what I think it is? Is she upset that a total stranger has made friends with the prince of Farzia? What if she tells me to stay away from him?! I’ll lose my chance to read up on sorcery, and then I won’t be able to save his life! In this worst-case scenario, the only option left would be to risk my job and make the trek back to the Forest of the Thorn Princess!

Technically I could think of one other place where I could learn about magic, but I really didn’t want to go through with it unless it was absolutely necessary.

Right as the panic started to overload my brain...

“I’m ever so glad to see he’s opened up to someone new.”

“Huh?!”

I... wasn’t expecting her to take this in that direction. Her lips curled in a soft, pained smile.

“I’m not accusing you of anything, dearie. I trust His Highness is a good judge of character. Besides, children can get away with looking past all the formalities. To you, he’s just a boy your age... and to him, I’m sure it’s a breath of fresh air unlike any friendship he’s ever had before.”

“Because he’s a prince?”

Was he obligated to only form connections with the children of political allies, or something like that?

“That’s part of it, but... you see, he’s had a difficult childhood. When adoption comes into play, it tends to make things more... complicated.”

“It certainly does.”

Reggie was not directly descended from the king, but rather the king’s older brother. Unfortunately, Reggie’s father died just a few years later. And when His Majesty ascended the throne, he had no heirs to his name, so he adopted his brother’s young son as his own.

To this day, the king still had no biological children, and so Reggie was his sole heir. One would think this meant the king would cherish him, and yet... I remembered our conversation about unkind family members.

“His family... doesn’t really care about him, do they?”

Which meant they probably didn’t bother limiting his interactions with other people.

Mabel seemed to intuit that I had an inkling of Reggie’s circumstances. “His Highness must have told you an awful lot,” she sighed. Not in exasperation, but relief.

It was then I realized that perhaps Mabel had wanted to have this conversation with someone for a long, long time.

“Prince Reginald is the son of His Majesty’s elder brother. And if his birth father had lived to take the throne himself, His Highness would have been first in line right after him—ahead of the current king. But then his father passed, and his mother, well... she was so distraught, she left the castle to recuperate, and after that, she was never seen again. And so His Highness was left all alone.”

Reggie was only five when he lost his parents.

“Because Prince Reginald was still too young, the previous king named His Majesty as the next heir to the throne. But because the previous king was in such good health, rumors started to spread that he would live long enough to change his mind and choose His Highness later down the line once he was old enough. And His Majesty is known to be a very jealous man. Thus, out of concern for Prince Reginald’s well-being, the previous king had His Majesty adopt the boy as his own—but this didn’t always stop His Majesty from regarding His Highness as a threat.”

Gimme a break, I scoffed to myself. Did he really feel that threatened by a five-year-old child?

And so Reggie was forced into a life of near isolation. Save for the times when the previous king explicitly invited him to royal events, he was generally left to his own devices by most everyone. After all, as much as they wanted to win favor with the previous king, that favor would only last as long as he remained alive, and they couldn’t risk putting themselves in an unfavorable position by upsetting their future king. Thus, they only interacted with the orphan prince when the previous king was around.

My heart ached for Reggie. What an awful way to grow up.

“Eventually His Majesty did take a wife, but the marriage was politically motivated—he wanted to avoid a war of attrition with Llewyne. Naturally, the new queen had no interest in making nice with any of us, nor did she see His Highness as anything more than an obstacle to the throne for her own future children. She was no mother to him.”

So Reggie spent every day living with a “family” who didn’t love him. It must have been sheer agony. I had sensed a common thread between us, but now that I’d heard his story in full, I was starting to think my own childhood wasn’t so bad in comparison.

That said, the marriage to Queen Marianne had its upsides. The king had no interest in losing his country to a Llewynian, so he kept Reggie as his heir and avoided having any children with his wife. Then, in order to foster strong connections to the noble houses, he began to send Reggie out as a diplomat. As a result, those who feared the queen naturally took Reggie’s side... but the House of Évrard was one of few who sincerely cared for him.

“His aunt, the good Lady Évrard, has fretted over him ever since he was a boy, and he’s on good terms with his cousin, Lord Alan. As such, he comes to stay at the Évrard estate fairly often.”

Not too often, however, since he had his royal duties to attend to. But at the palace, he never had the opportunity to let loose with friends his own age. Instead, as the crown prince of Farzia, he was obligated to network with a bunch of adults.

“Perhaps he’s taken a liking to you precisely because you’re so divorced from all the political baggage... I hope you’ll be there for him as much as possible,” Mabel finished. And it was clear just how desperately she meant it; I could hear it in her voice.

Reggie wasn’t without his share of allies—but only those of a political nature, which meant they were liable to switch sides at the drop of a hat to further their own interests. Not me, though; I was different. That was why Mabel saw value in having me around. And maybe that was the reason why Reggie was willing to take pity on me and help me.

But even so, I still wanted to repay him for it. Over these next two years, I was going to keep looking for a way to save him, right to the very last second. And to that end, I needed more information.

Fortunately, my biggest lead arrived at the castle about an hour later. It was after Lady Évrard had arrived back home from patrols, right around the time she’d finished changing and eating her supper. When Mabel reported the detainee’s arrival, she decided to go and see him for herself, and so it was decided that I would accompany her to the front gates.

Just in case, she instructed her other attendants to stand guard a small distance away, then asked Reggie to stay with them. Thus, I alone was free to approach the gates up close with her. As I took my place next to a castle guard, he blinked at me in surprise; evidently he hadn’t expected an attendant like myself to want to see a dangerous criminal up close.

Meanwhile, Reggie frowned disapprovingly at me, but I ignored him. If I let this opportunity slip through my fingers, I knew I would sorely regret it. I needed to find the key that would lead me to spellcasting!

As I waited, every second felt like an eternity. Then, finally, the gates opened.

The first to enter was Wentworth, along with another knight; they were followed by two soldiers carrying a third man in a faded cloak, his arms slung around their shoulders like he was drunk. Lastly, His Lordship entered along with the rest of the knights.

Evidently this “drunken” man was the defective spellcaster, though frankly, he didn’t much look the part. His hair was plain and unstyled, like the sort of person you might see in any farming village, and he wore a ratty brown jacket over an undyed white shirt and plain pants. To my eyes, he looked like any other townsperson... and yet...

The more I looked at him, the more I felt a strange weight in my chest. My heart was racing, and my throat was tight, almost as though I’d suddenly come down with something. Contrary to the common cold, however, my mind remained clear and sharp. I shivered. Why? I never felt this way looking at the Thorn Princess, and she was a spellcaster, too! Confused, I struggled to endure my symptoms.

“For a spellcaster, he looks rather ordinary,” the margravine commented, and it was then that I realized Lord Évrard had spotted us.

“I didn’t realize you were here, my lady. This is no picnic, you know. For the record, he’s not a true spellcaster... but regardless, we can’t have him roaming around and causing trouble, so I’ve brought him here.”

“Won’t that endanger everyone in the castle?”

“Admittedly I’ve never spoken to a spellcaster before, but my father always told me the defectives are less dangerous. Supposedly they’re best kept somewhere quiet.”

Meanwhile, my chest pains were growing more and more severe.

Late to the party, Alan turned up. He walked right over to the gates like he planned to observe up close, then spotted me standing there.

“Kiara, you ought to stand back. An ounce of prevention is worth—wait, what’s wrong?”

He seemed to realize that I’d lost the ability to speak. Just then, the spellcaster suddenly raised his head and looked directly at... Me?! Why?!

“H-Help m—ghrrk!”

He coughed, staining the ground with flecks of scarlet. The soldiers supporting him recoiled slightly in disgust.

“Is he injured?”

“No... I’ve seen this before. Everyone get back!” the margrave commanded.

As the soldiers moved away, the spellcaster began to plead for his life—to me.

“Please... help me... I don’t want to die... Aah... AAAAAHHH!”

As he screamed, his legs gave out and he nearly hit the ground face-first. Fortunately, one of the soldiers ran in to catch him at the last second, lowering him by the arm into a sitting position. Meanwhile, the spellcaster continued to groan and wail. It was agonizing to watch, and yet for some reason, I couldn’t tear my eyes away.

Just then, the soldier whipped his hand away in fear, and the spellcaster’s hand hit the ground with a hard, metallic THUD—the sort of sound a human limb shouldn’t have been able to make. Then the spellcaster’s body toppled forward with a loud CRUNCH, almost like someone had dropped a boulder. Someone in the crowd let out a shriek.

By this point, my chest had grown so tight, I was tempted to collapse myself. Fortunately, Alan helped me stay upright.

“Seriously, what’s gotten into you? Do you feel sick?” he asked me. I tried to answer, but my voice wouldn’t come.

Before he could lead me away, however... it happened.

A sharp, pyramid-shaped stone shot up, stabbing clear through the spellcaster’s cloak. Then another... and another... and another.

Lady Évrard clapped a hand over her mouth in shock. Reggie stared at the spellcaster, his expression grave. Alan didn’t speak, but I could feel the hand against my back trembling ever so slightly.

Then, without another word, the spellcaster crumbled into dust. With nothing left to support them, his clothes fluttered to the ground, and a strange grayish sand spilled out from the sleeves and collar. In that state, you could scarcely tell that that pile of fabric was where a human being once stood.

At the same time, I felt the weight in my chest slowly lift, and the strength returned to my legs. My mind, however, was still a jumbled mess. What were those symptoms? Why did the spellcaster speak to me? Why did he have to die like that? Did all spellcasters turn to sand when they died? Was I going to die like that? The thought turned my stomach, and a chill ran down my spine.

Out of nowhere—or perhaps not, given the circumstances—I was starting to have second thoughts about my ambition to learn magic.

Granted, the RPG never depicted whether Game-Kiara turned to sand after she was impaled on that sword. Why? Because the story only included details that directly mattered to the plot or gameplay. But just because something wasn’t shown in the RPG, that didn’t necessarily mean it wouldn’t happen in reality.

After a moment, Lord Évrard ordered his men to clean up the mess, then walked over to Reggie and the others.

“My apologies for letting you witness something so unsightly, Your Grace.”

“Unsightly though it was, I feel I’ve learned something important here today. After all, I’d only ever seen spellcasters in passing up until now.”

“They’re not all that common, to be sure... and after that, I imagine you can see why.”

I sucked in a breath. So they did all die like that?

“Of those who push past their human limits in the quest to gain magical power, I’m told the majority pass away in that fashion. Perhaps the power they acquire is ultimately so meager that it dries up almost instantly.”

So there were some exceptions, then. This came as a small relief. Maybe I could avoid it if I was careful and didn’t get too greedy.

“I’m told only a scant few ever gain the power to wield magic at will. It seems no one ever knows for sure whether a given individual will possess the aptitude for it. Out of the ten or twenty disciples a spellcaster may take, only one or two will ever truly succeed. Those who lack the proper aptitude will have to overcome their fear of a grisly death like the one we saw. Even if they succeed in controlling magic, should they ever try to cast a spell outside their means, their lives are forfeit.”

Reggie, Alan, and I fell silent.

I hadn’t realized the path to sorcery was quite so... fraught. I thought you just needed to find a spellcaster to show you the ropes. But apparently I was very, very wrong.

“That is why my father always taught me to pay the utmost respect to any spellcaster ally you may have, and take the utmost caution against any spellcaster enemy. Anyone who would sacrifice their lifespan to win a battle must never be taken lightly. As for those who fail in their quest, all that awaits them is death, regardless of whether they ever try to cast. If they’re dangerous, your only option is to fell them from a distance or simply wait until they meet their untimely end. For those who pose no danger, I was told that keeping them in a peaceful place would delay the disintegration... Sad to say, but it didn’t work out.”

The margrave sighed heavily. Meanwhile, I fought to endure the terror simmering in my stomach.

Considering Game-Kiara could use magic, it was probably safe to say I had the aptitude, but now I was getting cold feet. Granted, after what she went through, maybe the video game version of me wasn’t afraid to die, but I very much was.

I had a mission: to save Reggie. But once I saved him, everyone would find out that I was a spellcaster, and then they’d probably want me to fight alongside them in the battle to protect Farzia. I was willing to shorten my lifespan if it meant saving a friend, but how long could I keep fighting?

On the other hand, if I refused to join the fight and Reggie later died as a result, I knew I would regret it for the rest of my life.

◇◇◇

With all these worries weighing on my mind, I slowly found it harder and harder to stay focused, especially if my body was at rest.

Surrounded by the tranquility of day-to-day life—Lord and Lady Évrard fawning over each other, Alan rolling his eyes, Reggie grinning—it was easy for me to forget about the decisions I would soon need to make. But whenever I tried to read books on sorcery, my eyes would wander from the pages. I didn’t want to remember the defective spellcaster and the way he met his sorry end.

I was deterred from my research by the thought that I, too, might die like that. Instead, I wanted to forget it all and enjoy the reigning peace we had now. I would think to myself, Well, I escaped my own tragic fate, didn’t I? Maybe Reggie’s safe now, too. And from there, I’d start to wonder if maybe the RPG had nothing to do with my reality at all... but then I’d scold myself, and despair would set in all over again.

“I know better than that,” I muttered to myself.

Life wasn’t that simple. I only got out of there because I had an inkling of what was to come. But the rest of these people? They were clueless. They lived their lives in ignorance of future events, you know, like normal people. I was the only one with the power to take action, and yet here I was, hesitating. All because I was afraid for my own pathetic life.

Several days had now passed since the death of the spellcaster, and I was once again staring down at a book in the library, though not taking in a single word.

“Kiara, are you feeling okay?” Reggie asked suddenly, and I snapped back to my senses.

“Oh, sorry, Reggie. My mind sort of wandered off. I really shouldn’t waste our time like th—”

Just then, I clapped a hand over my mouth. Oh god, I just called him “Reggie” without thinking!

“F-Forgive my transgression, Your Highness! I’ll endeavor to address you formally from now on!”

Reggie smiled and shook his head. “No need to apologize. Honestly, I’d rather you spoke to me as an equal, the way you used to.”

“But sire, you’re the crown prince of Farzia!”

“Please, Kiara, you’d be doing me a favor. It’d mean a lot to me, even if you reserve it for when it’s just the two of us. We’re friends, aren’t we?”

I could hardly say no to that, now could I? Reluctantly, I nodded.

“You know, your mind seems to do an awful lot of wandering lately. Ever since that spellcaster passed, if I had to guess. Penny for your thoughts?”

I flinched, then cursed myself for wearing my state of mind right on my sleeve. The best thing I could do now would be to think of a plausible excuse.

“I guess... seeing a person turn to dust really had an effect on me.”

Thus, I framed it as though I was simply scarred by the experience in general. Surely it wouldn’t be that strange for a girl my age to be fearful of that demonic phenomenon.

“Really? You seemed to be thinking pretty hard about something. Wait...”

Oh god, is he on to me? I braced myself for whatever he was about to say next.

“Did he look like someone you used to know? Is that why his death hit you so hard?”

Fortunately, Reggie’s guess didn’t quite hit the mark. Internally, I heaved a big sigh of relief. To be fair, he wasn’t entirely off-base; one could say that spellcaster reminded me of someone. Someone I was going to know in two years unless I changed my fate. In that sense, Reggie was actually kind of right.

“Maybe so,” I replied vaguely, staring at the floor. I was afraid that if he saw my face, he’d know I was hiding something.

But then I felt his fingers against my chin—Wait, what?! He’s touching me?!—and the next thing I knew, he was standing right next to me, one hand flat on the desk, the other cupped along my jawline, tilting my face up to meet his.

His blue eyes flickered in the candlelight, boring into mine. His touch tickled me, and I could feel my face flush. But somehow, this reaction seemed to satisfy his suspicions.

“Well, your complexion’s looking a bit better now, at least.” And with that, he pulled his hand away.

Every now and then Reggie could be such a shameless flirt, and it never failed to fluster me. Then he made an interesting proposal.

“Seeing as you can’t quite focus on the search, why don’t we step outside for fresh air and a change of pace? I wager you haven’t seen much of the land, since you don’t accompany the margravine on her patrols.”

He was right, of course. Right from the first day I arrived here, I had dedicated every moment of my free time to my research. Thus, I never left the castle unless I was tasked with an errand—not even to visit the garden. Admittedly, it didn’t strike me as a particularly healthy lifestyle, so I agreed to Reggie’s suggestion.

Leading me by the hand, he guided me out of the library.

“Where are you going, Your Highness?” asked a knight stationed just outside the door—a man with dark reddish-brown hair and sharp, unfriendly eyes. Perhaps this man was one of the knight-guards Reggie had brought with him from the palace; his uniform was navy blue in color.

“I want to explore the castle grounds for a bit.”

At this, a nearby attendant dashed off.

Together, we walked through the castle until we arrived at the stables. There, we found that the attendant from earlier had arrived ahead of us to instruct the stablehand to prepare two horses: a brown one for Reggie and another one for the knight-guard.

“Do you know how to ride a horse, Kiara?”

I shook my head. I’d always wanted to try, but the count never let me anywhere near his horses. Looking back, he probably did that on purpose to prevent me from escaping.

To my amateur eyes, Reggie looked like a master rider, the way he expertly slid his feet into the stirrups. Then he grabbed my hand and pulled me up onto the horse with him. His grip was stronger than I anticipated, and in the end, I settled into a sidesaddle sitting position.

“Whoa... We’re really high up!”

I was now sitting at a height greater than my own, and my heart raced with a mix of excitement and trepidation. Then Reggie slid an arm around my waist to grab the reins.

“Don’t lean over too far, Kiara. If you fall off, it’s on you.” He snickered as I hastily straightened my posture.

Then the horse began to move forward, and despite its slow pace, it jostled me around quite a bit. Fearful, I grabbed the front of the saddle with both hands, but this didn’t help me much. It felt like I was going to slide right off any minute now. Just as I found myself wishing I could sit astride the horse like Reggie, however, I felt his arm tighten around my waist, and relief flooded me.

“Sorry about that! Don’t worry, I’ve got you. Just try to relax.” He smiled at me, and I nodded reluctantly.

A short while later, the three of us (me, Reggie, and his knight-guard) left the castle grounds. There was no moat or drawbridge between us and the sprawling meadow that wrapped around the hill, and so we headed right down the slope.

By that point, I had finally gotten the hang of riding sidesaddle. Now that I knew how to brace myself against all the jostling, I could finally focus on the scenery around me. Eventually, the path led into a leafy copse.

“Interesting... The trees grow rather sparsely here. I seem to recall the foliage was rather more abundant when I arrived, but perhaps not,” I remarked to myself.

“You can’t really see the land for yourself when you’re all cooped up in a carriage or a castle.”

“Yes, it seems I couldn’t quite see the full picture. Oh, this is quite the small thicket, isn’t it? We’re almost through it!”

On the other side of the trees, I could see more small hills, plains, and farm fields with rows of... cabbages, perhaps? What about the plot next to it—what were those little green sprouts?

Just then, I heard Reggie gasp and snapped back to attention. Before I could ask what was wrong, however, he immediately turned our horse around and goaded it into a run.

“Hold on tight!”

Terrified of being thrown off the horse, I clung to Reggie as if my life depended on it—and considering people died in horse accidents all the time, it probably did. Hence, I felt absolutely no shame in doing so.

“What’s going on?!”

“Your pursuer is here.”

“What?!” What do you mean, my pursuer?! But I was too scared of falling off to risk looking back.

Then the horse slowed its pace, and we reentered the grove from earlier.

“How can you be sure?” I asked.

“Because I saw Patriciél’s servant back there. And yes, I’m absolutely certain it was the same man.”

My eyes widened. Why? Why now, and not sooner?

“Do you think he’s been watching the castle all this time?!”

And for that matter, why would they bother going so far out of their way to get me back? Especially since I wasn’t yet a spellcaster!

“I’m afraid I can’t say for sure.” He glanced behind us, then turned to the knight. “The man who stepped out of the cottage just then—is he pursuing us?”

“No... I didn’t see a horse nearby, and I imagine he would’ve found it difficult to follow on foot,” the knight replied.

“Then perhaps we’re safe.” Reggie heaved a sigh of relief. “It’s possible someone has recently informed them of your presence here. That would explain the near month-long delay.” Evidently, I wasn’t the only one who found the time gap peculiar. His expression hardened. “I don’t think he saw you, but we should return to the castle just to be safe. Clearly I was a little too eager to take you outside... Next time I’ll have my attendants search the area in advance.”

“Oh, I couldn’t trouble you to do that! I don’t mind hiding in the castle.”

“Perhaps for now, but you know you can’t stay in there forever.”

As we spoke, our horses trotted along. Just then, I saw a group of men on horseback headed our way from the castle; I guessed that they were the rest of Reggie’s knight-guards. After all, they’d want to ensure the safety of their prince, right?

But when they approached us, they drew their swords.

“Enemies?!”

“Groul, wait!” But before Reggie could stop him, the knight had already ridden out in front of us. “Kiara, hold tight!”

He pushed me forward until I was lying flat against the horse’s back. Clinging to its neck, I looked up at the men before us.

For some reason, my brain was quick to try and interpret this predicament as an in-game battle. Only one attack was permitted per unit; even if he took down one of our opponents on his turn, Groul would still need to dodge or deflect three more attacks... and I wasn’t sure how much HP he had.

Then one of the horsemen came at Reggie. I shrieked as the man swung his sword down, and the next thing I heard was the clang of metal as Reggie intercepted it with his own. The vibration made me flinch.

Meanwhile, I held on for dear life as the horse reversed course, and the next thing I knew, the attacker had toppled to the ground. I didn’t know how Reggie had managed it, but before I could get too impressed, our horse started to charge at the fallen man. That was when my fear really set in.

I was already afraid of being attacked and killed, but at the same time, I was no less afraid of hurting people, even if the circumstances called for it. But I didn’t have the means to escape on my own, so all I could do was try to stay out of Reggie’s way... and the thought that I was a burden to him was killing me inside.

Our horse came to a stop near a second enemy, and Reggie swung his sword again... but then a third one rode up, and we were officially outnumbered. The third horseman untied his sword, backed his horse away, and called out:

“Give us the girl!”

Sure enough, they were after me. But Reggie didn’t even bat an eyelash.

“I refuse.”

The two enemies raised their swords. Reggie was going to die, and it was going to be my fault.

“Reggie, no! You can’t die here! Not for a nobody like me!”

He was the sole heir to the throne of Farzia. Without him, the nation would fall into chaos.

Not only that, but this battle was only taking place because I’d run away from school. It never happened in the RPG, and so I couldn’t guarantee Reggie would make it out alive.

“Please don’t call yourself a nobody, Kiara.” Keeping his eyes on the enemy, he held me tightly around the waist. “You’re my friend, and I don’t want you to die, so instead I’m going to help you. That’s just the way it works.”

His words struck a chord in me—so deeply, I could scarcely breathe. Meanwhile, the enemy charged at us, and a metallic clang thundered just overhead as I clung blindly to the horse. Then I heard Reggie groan, and my heart ached as if it were clenched in a vise.

But right as I turned to look up at him, Groul rode over to provide backup. Once he had positioned himself between Reggie and the enemy, Reggie steered our horse away. We now had a clear shot to the castle.

Surely Groul wouldn’t have come to our aid in the first place unless he had defeated the enemy he was fighting... or had he just shaken his adversary off for a moment? Was he going to have to fight two men at once? Would he survive?

Just as this fresh terror began to sink in, more help arrived.

“Your Grace!”

Down came three knights on horseback, whom I recognized from around the castle.

“Groul’s back there!” Reggie yelled.

Evidently, this told them all they needed to know. One knight remained with us while the other two galloped off to assist Groul. Perhaps he would make it out of this alive after all... and Reggie would make it safely back to the castle!

I was so relieved, I nearly let go of the horse. Fortunately, I caught myself, as it was much too early to celebrate. By the time we arrived back at the castle, however, I had grown so stiff that I could no longer move my arms—a fact Reggie noticed right away.

“Oh, I’ll help you.”

Gently, he pried my shaking hands away from the horse. Then he scooped me up and carried me to the ground. While I felt guilty for being such a burden to him, truth be told, his touch was exactly what I needed to calm down. That was my first experience with sword combat, and it had been a little traumatic.

“Shall I carry her for you, Your Highness?” the accompanying knight asked.

“No need. Instead, I’d like you to summon the margrave. Oh, and we’ll need to search the premises. Could you gather everyone together?”

With that, Reggie carried me to a raised flower bed and sat me down on the stone siding. Here, we were concealed from sight by the shrubbery that served as partitions between each flower bed. Now that we were away from the horses and the commotion, I could feel my trembling start to recede.

“Feel better?”

“I do. Thank you, Reggie. Listen... you can’t do things like that,” I told him in a quavery voice. “You can’t risk your life to protect me. In times like those, you need to leave me and escape. The life of a prince matters far more than the life of a nobody like me!”

“I’m not going to do that, Kiara,” Reggie argued. “Like I said, you’re my friend. It’s only natural for me to stand up for you.”

“But why put yourself in danger?!”

“Because no one in this world understands me like you do.”

It was then that I understood. My mind drifted back to the moment I first sensed a connection between us.

“Most people aren’t quite so willing to accept another person’s ugliest, most negative emotions,” he continued. “They’d rather not make waves, so instead they stay quiet and look the other way. But you? You saw the ugliness in my heart and acknowledged it outright. And that was the moment I finally felt like I could breathe again.”

I nodded. I knew what it was like to think to myself, At last, I don’t have to keep it bottled up inside. I fully understood that joy.

“Is it so wrong of me to not want to lose you?” he asked, and I found I couldn’t argue.

“But... I don’t know if I have the strength to risk my life for you,” I muttered mournfully. After all, surely that was the only way I could repay someone who was willing to go that far for me. And yet the thought frightened me.

“Risk your life? What do you mean by that? Is that why you’ve been thinking so much lately? Is something going to put us in danger again?”

He peered into my eyes, and although his expression was soft, his gaze suggested he wouldn’t accept anything but the truth. If I tried to talk my way out of it, I got the feeling he would keep asking questions until I backed myself into a corner.

Then it occurred to me: maybe it was safer in the long run to risk him thinking I was crazy. I just couldn’t bear to keep agonizing over it alone.

“Reggie, you may think me a Jeremian zealot for what I’m about to say, but I want you to hear me out. This is going to sound absurd, but... I’ve seen another world in my dreams.”

“Another world? How do you mean?”

“Two years from now, you’ll be chosen to represent Farzia in a conference with Salekhard. This castle will serve as your meeting place. And when you arrive... Llewyne will attack.”

“Llewyne’s going to attack us two years from now?”

Unsurprisingly, Reggie looked puzzled... but I couldn’t back down now. Steeling my resolve, I pushed on.

“Yes. And when they do, you’ll be killed. I don’t know what it will take to avoid that fate, but I want you to be wary of Llewyne, and of the queen. In a year’s time, I’m sure I’ll have... err... found the strength to make a stand. To protect you. But I’m scared that I won’t be able to, so I—”

“Hold on a minute, Kiara. Slow down. You saw this in a dream? A dream in which I die two years from now?”

I nodded, and my stomach tightened until I could scarcely breathe. There was no doubt in my mind that Reggie now saw me as the sort of religious extremist who saw her dreams as messages from God.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to find out for sure, because that was the moment Lord Évrard turned up with Wentworth and the others in tow.

Reggie explained everything on my behalf, and when he was finished, the margrave immediately set about making preparations to search for the servant of Patriciél. As the knights and servants all went their separate ways, Sir Groul walked up. Together, he and Reggie returned inside the castle with the margrave to discuss matters further.

Personally, I was relieved that our conversation had been cut short. Once the feeling returned to my legs, I tracked down Lady Évrard, who had already heard all about the attack.

“Don’t you worry. Stick with me, and I’ll keep you safe!” she assured me, proudly clapping a hand to her chest. Somehow, this woman managed to be strong and beautiful at the same time.

“You’re in good hands with my mother,” Alan agreed, standing in the doorway to the margravine’s room. “Just don’t leave the castle and you should be fine.”

Hold on a minute... You make her sound like she’s a knight or something! Wasn’t she originally a princess of Farzia? Why did she turn out like this?

“If only I were as strong as you, Your Ladyship. What age were you when you first started studying the sword?” I asked, hoping to talk about something else for a change. It was a question I’d been secretly dying to ask for a while now.

“She only got into it because my father—”

“Alan! Not another word!” his mother shouted, cutting him off. Then she rose from the sofa, dashed to the door, and seized him by the collar. “I told you not to tell anyone!” she growled.

“But the whole castle already knows!”

“What?! How?!”

“The better question is, why do you want to hide it?!”

This mother-son exchange put a smile on my face. It was clear the Évrard family all cared for one another very much, and the thought warmed my heart. I could still remember what it felt like to have a loving family, even if I wasn’t blessed with one in my current life.

Once she had finished giving her son a hard time, Her Ladyship turned back to me, her expression serious.

“I must say, those ruffians had quite a lot of nerve to attack you unprovoked. Even if you did run away from home, there’s still a proper procedure to be upheld! Of all the disrespect, I say!”

“Aren’t you going to have a strong word with them, milady?” Alan asked.

But the margravine shook her head. “Even if I did, I wouldn’t get much in the way of an apology. If anything, it would just give them even more of an advantage. The Kiara we have here at the castle is not the adopted daughter of the count; she’s a distant relative I’ve employed as my attendant. Even if they injured her, the most we could petition for would be to punish the soldiers responsible. Otherwise, we’d be admitting that she is, in fact, the very girl they’re searching for, and then they’ll take her away from us. Lest you forget, we’re dealing with a man who was so desperate to enact this political marriage, he was willing to drug and kidnap his own ‘daughter’ against her will. Who knows what else he might do.”

She was completely right, of course. Lord Patriciél had almost never treated me as his own child, save for the times in which he would look good doing so. Outside of those few moments, however, I was essentially a glorified servant who was given the privilege of nice clothes and extravagant meals. For him, this was no different than if his pet dog had escaped from the backyard... and if he captured me, I would inevitably be punished.

Naturally, I was eternally grateful to the House of Évrard for taking me in. But at the same time, if I truly wanted to save Reggie, perhaps my best option would be to let them take me back... My heart throbbed painfully at the thought.

“In that case, wouldn’t they realize their actions would only put us on guard?” Alan asked.

Lady Évrard tilted her head pensively. “Hmm... You bring up a good point.”

Unbeknownst to us, the answer was soon to come.

◇◇◇

Later that night, right as I was getting ready for bed, Wentworth turned up at my door to inform me that His Lordship was asking for me. From there, the two of us headed off to meet with him.

I had no idea what the margrave would want of me, but I figured he likely had some questions about the assailants from earlier. Thus, I left my room wearing little more than a shawl over my nightgown. As we walked, however, it soon became apparent that our destination was outside the castle proper. Though winter had long passed, the nights were still chilly, and I flinched at the cold. Why on earth is he taking me outside?

Fortunately, Wentworth seemed to intuit my confusion.

“We’ve apprehended the man who came searching for you on our way here,” he explained quietly.

“What?! Really?!”

I was so relieved to hear they’d arrested him that I didn’t pause to consider why I was being summoned. Instead, I followed Wentworth in blissful ignorance.

We entered the tower and headed down the staircase to an underground passageway. The longer we walked, the more I started to wonder where we were headed. “Where are we?” I asked.

“This is the dungeon, where prisoners are kept. His Highness and His Lordship are both down here.”

This came as a bit of a relief. No matter what happened, I trusted Reggie to have my back. Still... Why were we meeting in the dungeon, of all places? Was this a precautionary measure to ensure our conversation wouldn’t be overheard? Or did His Lordship want me to get a look at the detainee for some reason? Puzzled, I kept walking.

Just then, I became strangely conscious of my pounding heart. Was I afraid of entering the dungeon at night, with only torches and Wentworth’s candlestick to light my path?

But my heart continued to race long after we arrived at our destination.

“I apologize for summoning you here at this hour, Miss Kiara,” said the margrave. He was still wearing his cloak and breastplate as though he had only just arrived back home, and his sword hung at his hip.

“Thanks for coming,” Reggie added. He, too, was wearing his cloak.

“Did you need me for something?” I asked.

“Here in this cell is one of the men you saw earlier today,” His Lordship explained. “He’s been acting rather strange, you see... I wanted to wait until he calmed down a bit before I sent for you.”

He gestured to a nearby cell, but before I could peer inside, Reggie stopped me.

“I know you’ve seen this once before, but be warned: he’s in a rather gruesome state. We suspect he’s a defective spellcaster.”

I could imagine what this meant. Steeling myself, I slowly turned and looked into the cell... and the moment I laid eyes upon him, my heart lurched so hard, it nearly rattled my stomach along with it. But in my head, I couldn’t rationalize this reaction; after all, he wasn’t in nearly as bad a shape as the other spellcaster.

His back was protruding upwards, but there was no sign of any spear-shaped stones. If anything, he was just a bit swollen, almost as though he’d come down with the mumps or something.

“If only he hadn’t made me drink that potion,” he mumbled, staring into space. “It all started after I drank it... All at once, my whole body was in agony... I knew it was peculiar straight away... Scarlet, like the blood in my veins... Yes, I just knew it had to be poison. He poisoned me to keep me quiet, I’m sure of it...”

One look, and I knew at once that his spirit was broken beyond repair. Given who he worked for, I felt no sympathy for him, but it still pained me to see it.

“Does any part of what he’s saying sound familiar to you?” His Lordship asked.

“Has Lord Patriciél ever talked to you about a scarlet poison?” Reggie chimed in.

I tilted my head in contemplation for a moment... and then it hit me.

On the first day I arrived at the House of Patriciél, the count had poured me a drink; it was dark red in color, but at the time, I had simply assumed it was some sort of fruit juice. He explained that this drink was reserved “for special occasions.” After I drank it, I slept for three days straight. When I finally awoke, however, Lord Patriciél was uncharacteristically kind to me, or so I recalled.

But now here was a man who had drunk the very same thing, and as a result, he was now a defective spellcaster. Could this beverage be some kind of special potion that transformed its consumer into a caster? Is that why the count had been so nice to me when I awoke—because I hadn’t turned to dust in my sleep? That would certainly explain why he was so dogged in his pursuit of me.

If that was the case, then... did that mean I already was a defective spellcaster? Even though I’d never cast a single spell in my life? Still, it was the only thing that made sense.

I bit my lip. If I told them that I knew of the red potion—that I, too, had once imbibed it—would they think me a spellcaster? Would they toss me right into the cell with this one as a “preventative measure”? The thought drained away any desire I had to be forthright.

Instead, I denied it.

“Um, I’m not sure. I’ve... never seen anything of the sort.”

Lord Évrard didn’t doubt me for a single moment.

“Ah, I see. I was thinking perhaps you might know if any particular poison is involved in the spellcaster transformation process. You see, we’ve realized how these men were able to infiltrate our lands right under our noses.”

Because the province of Évrard was situated on the border, where international conflicts were most likely to break out, His Lordship used a network of spies to stay up-to-date on any suspicious individuals or vehicles entering his domain, their country of origin, and their numbers. That way, he could determine whether to anticipate a diplomatic negotiation or a fight.

“We’ve discovered that several of our informants have been murdered. I’ve requested more men and increased surveillance, but in the meantime, we know that the soldiers of Patriciél have killed at least two. We’ve also found two other bodies—people who somehow burned to death, even though nothing in the area showed any signs of fire damage. Ergo, we’ve deduced the following: that Lord Patriciél has concocted a way to reliably produce spellcasters, and that he is sending said spellcasters into our domain.”

Now I understood why His Lordship had turned to me for potential insight. I could remember the potion’s bittersweet taste and gravelly consistency, almost like it was made of wet sand. In reality, it was probably just added sugar that hadn’t dissolved all the way, but the unpleasant texture had left a distinct impression on me.

Of course, I couldn’t say for sure whether the drink was actually poison or not. All I could do was shrug my shoulders.

“Hmm...”

Reggie spoke up at last. “I think it’s safe to say they’ve devised some sort of formula to create spellcasters. Or defective ones, at the very least. There’s simply an abnormal amount of them wandering around lately.”

Internally, I agreed with his assessment. This was probably the reason why Game-Kiara became a spellcaster in the first place; clearly the count knew something no one else did.

In addition, I’d realized something else about the upcoming siege at Évrard Castle: if they were painstakingly assassinating all of our sentries and spies, then it was entirely feasible the enemy forces could march all the way to the edge of the border without anyone noticing.

“You may return to your quarters,” the margrave told me. “Again, my apologies for disturbing you in the middle of the night. If I have any other questions, I’ll be in touch with you again. That goes for you, too, Prince Reginald. Get some well-deserved rest.”

And so, at His Lordship’s prompting, the two of us climbed the stairs out of the dungeon and left the tower. There, we found Reggie’s knight-guard Groul waiting for us. Personally, I was relieved to see he was unharmed.

“I’m glad you’re safe,” I told him.

He blinked at me in mild surprise, then nodded slightly. “Thank you.”

I had wanted to finish our conversation from this afternoon and warn Reggie of things to come in two years’ time, but after what I’d learned in the dungeon, it was possible he would start to view me as suspicious. Instead, I decided I’d wait until the dust had settled, so to speak, and only give him the bare essentials. Thus, it was time I returned to my room.

“Well, I’ll be going now...” I began, but Reggie piped up almost immediately.

“Say, Groul, I’d like to walk Kiara back to her room.”

“As you wish, Your Grace.”

And so it was decided that Reggie would accompany me along the way. For the first time since we met, being around him now made me feel deeply uncomfortable... but why? I could try to laugh it off with some manner of lighthearted conversation, but it was hard to joke around with Groul right there.

In the end, we walked to my quarters in silence. This was actually something of a relief. Standing at my bedroom door, I turned to him and once again attempted to say good night.

“Sleep well, Reggie, and—”

“I need to speak with you. Sorry, Groul, could you wait out here?”

And with a smile, he walked past me into my room.

Reggie! You can’t just walk in without my permission!

Not that I really minded all that much, since Her Ladyship had ordered me to get some bed rest after the ambush, and so I’d had plenty of time to tidy up in there... but still, entering a young lady’s room at this hour? Think of the optics!

“Reggie, wait!”

I dashed into the room after him and found him standing near the door, wearing his usual grin. For a moment, I wasn’t sure what to say to him.

“Don’t you think... um... it’s getting a bit late? You must be tired. What about tomorrow? Yes, let’s talk first thing tomorrow.”

But Reggie flat-out ignored my suggestion and instead closed the door behind us with one hand.

“Huh?”

Uh, Reggie? Buddy? We may not be legal adults, but we’re still teenagers. Don’t you think maybe we SHOULDN’T lock ourselves up alone together in a room with no other exits? What are you doing?!

I stared at him, perplexed. Then he looked at me. Instinctively, I took a step backward... and promptly bumped up against the closed door. Then—if you can believe it—he seized me by the shoulders and pressed me harder against it.

“Wh... Wh... Wha... Wha...?”

I kept trying to ask “What are you doing?” or “What’s gotten into you?” but my mouth wasn’t working properly. Meanwhile, Reggie continued to grin in amusement, his face faintly illuminated by the single candlestick burning on the table nearby.

Stop that! You’re freaking me out... in more ways than one!

“No, I think we need to have this conversation tonight. And I know all I have to do is get you flustered to make you start talking.”

“Urk!”

Hold on a minute. You’re telling me he was angling for this on purpose?!

“I get the feeling it’s something Groul’s better off not hearing, hence I asked him to stay outside. But surely you know better than to hide something from me, right? We’re friends, aren’t we?”

That’s the reason he wanted to come inside?! To get rid of Groul and make it easier for me to spill the beans?! Just how devious is this guy?!

“You’re... You’re twisted, Reggie!” I exclaimed in spite of myself. But he didn’t even bat an eyelash.

“Kiara.” The smile faded from his face as his fingers tightened around my shoulders. “Where did you learn the information you told me earlier today?”

“Um... In a dream?” I said, though I was pretty sure I’d already told him that when we spoke earlier.

“For a mere dream, you seem a bit too certain of its accuracy.”

“Well, back at the boarding school, I was a devout student of the Scriptures of Jeremiah.”

“And yet you seemingly never make time for morning prayer, nor do you say grace at mealtimes.”

“Ngh...!”

He had seen right through me, and it was entirely my fault. Indeed, I hadn’t been conducting myself very piously at all. Unfortunately, my views on the religion of this world had been tempered by my memories of my past life. After all, if such a god truly did exist, surely they would’ve rescued me from my miserable childhood and spared me from a man like Lord Patriciél.

Now, if this god was a computer program, that I could understand. It made sense that I was an anomaly, seeing as I still possessed memories I wasn’t supposed to have. Maybe “the Goddess playing her flute” was really just a glitch in the code or something.

But Reggie wasn’t about to let me off the hook.

“You’d rather lie to me? Can’t you trust me?”

A hint of sadness colored his expression, and my chest ached like my heart was being wrung out to dry. I didn’t want to hurt him.

“It’s not that,” I replied reflexively.

“Are you scared that something bad will happen if you tell me?” he asked.

No... I couldn’t let him find out that I was possibly a defective spellcaster. Otherwise they’d all start to suspect me... and that, more than anything, was what I truly feared.

“Are you afraid of me? Or are you afraid of confessing?” he pressed. After a moment of silence, he sighed. “If you’re used to these sorts of verbal threats, then perhaps what you require is a little encouragement.”

“What?!”

What’s THAT supposed to mean?! He’s not going to choke me, is he?! Or cut me with his sword?!

Terrifying thoughts flashed through my mind one after another. Just then, I felt something brush my cheek... something far softer than a blade. My eyes widened.

Was that... his LIPS?!

Instantly, the strength drained from my legs, and Reggie grinned as if he’d planned it.

“Let me rephrase the question,” he whispered. “You’ve been doing research to try to figure out how to make yourself into a spellcaster, haven’t you?”

“Wha... How did you—”

I gasped and clapped a hand over my mouth a moment too late. After what I just said, I’d practically given it all away! And another thing: why are you trying to put the moves on me, Reggie?! I’m a little concerned that you know how to do that at age fifteen!

He peered into my eyes and smiled.

“You claimed you wanted to learn more about the Thorn Princess’s necklace, and yet you never seemed all that afraid of it. On the contrary, you were passionately focused on spellcasters of all sorts, weren’t you?”

Apparently he’d noticed some inconsistencies in my behavior; my reaction to the defective spellcaster’s death had clued him in. Good grief, how is he so sharp?! And if he’s this smart, how on earth does he get himself killed in two years?!

On second thought, perhaps his intelligence was precisely why the queen would have him assassinated.

“Although only a scant few people have a spellcaster’s constitution, and no one can predict whether they’ll have it... and yet for some mysterious reason, you seemed committed to the cause. So it occurred to me that perhaps the reason you suggested you could protect me in two years’ time is because you’ve decided you’ll turn yourself into a spellcaster before the deadline.”

Oh no, I DID suggest that, didn’t I?! I wish I could go back in time and punch myself! Ugh, how on earth can I talk my way out of this when I’m a total blockhead and he’s a mind-reader?!

It was time to throw in the towel.

“The truth is, I think I know what red potion that man was talking about... because... Lord Patriciél made me drink something just like it.”

At this, Reggie sighed and shook his head like he’d seen it coming. “Well, you don’t seem to be on death’s door, at any rate. If anything, you seem fit as a fiddle. And considering your surprise when you first heard about it, I’d wager you had no idea it had any connection to spellcasters at all.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Yeah? Good. I’m glad to hear it.” His lips curled in a relieved smile.

Wait, what? I blinked in confusion. “Aren’t you going to lock me up with that other spellcaster to make sure I don’t go crazy and start flinging spells around?”

“What? Don’t be ridiculous, Kiara. Of course not.” He stared at me like I’d grown a second head. “You’re not a danger to anyone. You can’t use magic. So why on earth would we lock you up?”

“Well, um, what if that changes in the near future?”

“Hmmm...” He paused to think. “Well, you don’t appear to have any spellcaster buddies, and the margrave’s library certainly doesn’t seem to have any useful resources for you, so I imagine you’ll have a hard time learning more about magic on your own. I’ll look into it when I return to the palace.”

“What? You mean it?!”

He nodded firmly, and I heaved a sigh of relief. The royal palace was bound to have a font of resources on the subject; plus, I had heard they hired spellcasters onsite as well. Any information found there was bound to be accurate.

“How long has it been since you drank that potion, anyway? The man in the dungeon seemed perfectly fine when we first met him near the Forest of the Thorn Princess, so he must not have drunk it until afterward. Not sure if it was the count himself or someone else who gave it to him, but regardless, that would mean it’s only been two weeks at most.”

“Hmmm... He had me drink it pretty soon after he first adopted me, so that would’ve been years ago by now. The first time I had it, I slept for about three days straight, but every time after that, it would just make me sick to my stomach for a while. I just assumed it was some sort of poison, or perhaps a bizarre health drink passed down in the Patriciél family.”

“Health drink? You have the strangest notions, I swear,” Reggie laughed. “I’d say ‘poison’ isn’t altogether incorrect, since it’s killing people in much the same way. But you, on the other hand, drank it with no problem... so perhaps you really do have the constitution for it.”

I nodded. If I didn’t, I clearly would have died by now... just like in the RPG. The real question was: why couldn’t I cast even a tiny bit of magic?

“More importantly, I’d like to know why you suddenly wanted to tell me about what will happen two years from now. Did you hear it from the count or something? Or read it in his diary?”

I could tell from the expression on his face that this question was of the utmost importance to him, and I couldn’t blame him for wanting to get to the root of the conspiracy right away... but unfortunately, I hadn’t gleaned this information from anyone here in our world.

“I really did see it in a dream. A waking dream, or something like that.”

“A dream, hmm...”

He frowned, and I could tell he was about to call me crazy, so I decided to give him the full rundown—plus or minus some minor adjustments.

“It’s hard to explain, but ever since I was a girl, I’ve had these dreams in which I get married to a man by the name of Credias. Then, after the ceremony, they turn me into a spellcaster against my will and send me to serve as an attendant to the queen. In two years’ time, Llewyne invades the country, and I’m forced to fight Alan and his comrades—only to be slain by his hand. Of course, for the longest time, I assumed it was just a dream, but then I saw the letter from Lord Patriciél, and I... I ran. I was terrified of that dream coming true.”

Granted, I still didn’t want to fight Alan, but now it was for a different reason. After all, he had been kind enough to let me ride in his carriage and hire me at his family’s estate! Plus, his parents had accepted me, too... and Reggie had supported me every step of the way as my dearest friend. I couldn’t possibly fight any one of them!

But I knew telling him all this would only confuse him, so I decided to cut the conversation short.

“I know it’s completely groundless and absurd. Call me crazy if you must, but I’m begging you, please, promise me you’ll be careful. If things really do turn out like they did in my dream, I swear I’ll protect you like you protected me, so... please don’t push me away.”

I didn’t expect him to believe me completely. All I needed him to understand was that he was in danger, and that I wanted to keep him safe.

He paused to think for a moment.

“I agree it’s a bit too far-fetched for me to believe so readily. Perhaps a Jeremian priest, but not me. You should know, however, that I already suspected the count of plotting something nefarious, especially after this most recent stunt he’s pulled. So I’m thinking we should inform the others of your concerns. No one here wants to see the castle fall into their hands.”

“But they won’t believe me...”

“Perhaps not. That’s why I’ll warn them... about the queen and about Lord Patriciél.”

Suddenly, it felt as though a great weight had been lifted from my shoulders. The margrave might not believe me, but surely he would believe the prince of Farzia! But right as I was starting to catch my breath, Reggie drew his lips to my ear once more.

“That way you won’t need to protect me.”

“Huh?”

My eyes widened. Then I remembered the feeling of his lips against my cheek, and my whole body tensed up.

“But... if a war breaks out, you’ll be better off with a caster on your side!”

Having an ally spellcaster would easily turn the tides of battle in our favor. Even if Reggie survived the siege at Évrard Castle, it wouldn’t entirely prevent the rest of the battles from taking place. Alan and the others would most likely still have to fight.

“Can you guarantee that you’ll survive the transition to a spellcaster? Besides, I thought that was the last thing you wanted for yourself! Isn’t that why you ran from the wedding ceremony in the first place? And even more so, now that you’ve seen how they die!”

He wasn’t exactly wrong, of course. I fell silent.

At last, Reggie took a step back. Then he let go of my shoulders and instead clasped my hand in his. “Not only that, but there are only two ways I can think of in which you could make yourself a caster. Either you seek the aid of the Thorn Princess, or... you return to Lord Patriciél.”

I flinched. How did he always put two and two together so quickly?

Obviously the Thorn Princess was the preferable of the two, but if I wanted to ensure I would succeed in my endeavors, then the House of Patriciél was my only option. Of course, I’d probably get forced into that marriage with the viscount all over again—hence, it was my absolute last resort. Still, it was looking more and more likely with each passing day.

Then Reggie grinned as though he’d read my mind. “I’m not going to let you do that, Kiara. I would rather die in front of you than let you go back there.”

“What?!”

How can you say that?! I stared at him in shock as he lifted my hand and bowed his forehead against my fingers.

“I want you to make me a promise, Kiara. Promise me you won’t turn yourself into a spellcaster behind my back.”

“Behind your back? Are you saying you forbid it?”

I blinked at him in surprise, and he nodded. Evidently I had heard him correctly.

“I won’t let you walk that treacherous path alone. If the situation calls for it, then I’ll go in your place, understood? Now, promise me you won’t put yourself in danger while I’m away, Kiara. You’re a very dear friend to me, and I don’t want to lose you.”

His words echoed in my head over and over. My sight blurred, and something warm dripped down my cheeks... Tears. How long had it been since I last felt this sting in my nose?

Before I knew it, I was sobbing uncontrollably into my hands. Oh, how desperately I’d yearned for someone to say those words to me. To tell me I didn’t need to put myself in harm’s way. To protect me.

As someone who never really got to experience what it was like to have loving parents, there was no one in my life I could trust unconditionally. Deep down, I’d wanted so badly to have this conversation with him, but he was the closest thing I had to a friend, and I was terrified the absurdity of it all would drive him away.

And yet, Reggie had accepted me regardless. In my relief, the dam had burst, and now the tears wouldn’t stop... but Reggie wasn’t finished.

“If you break your promise, there will be consequences. Understand?”

“I understand.”

Even if I was forced to go against my word and provoke his anger, at least he wouldn’t leave me. And I desperately didn’t want to lose him.

◇◇◇

Right as Alan reached the top of the stairs, he spotted a dear friend and called out to him.

“Re—”

Fortunately, he stopped himself just in time. Reggie wasn’t alone... and tonight, in addition to his usual knight-guard, Kiara was with him as well.

“Wh—”

He clapped a hand over his mouth, stopping himself once more. Reggie and Kiara had just walked into her room... and shut the door.

Hold on a minute, Reggie! You’re not hooking up with her, are you?! With Kiara, of all people?!

He knew the boy was rather sympathetic to her plight, but was that his true motivation?

No, no, that can’t be right. Reggie knows better than that!

If he were a normal prince, he could sleep around as much as he liked, and no one would bat an eyelash... but for someone in his position, it wasn’t that simple. If the girl in question had ties to Llewyne, he might unwittingly put himself in danger. But of course, Alan knew he didn’t have to worry about that.

The Reggie I know would never make a move on HER of all people, surely!

Not that Kiara was ugly by any means; no, she was quite pretty in her own way. But personality-wise, she was far too frivolous to be worthy of a prince. Considering she hailed from a noble family, one would expect her to conduct herself with dignity and grace, and yet here she was, swan diving off of her bed, flinging zapgrasses around, and generally acting like an oaf. No one who witnessed her behavior would believe she was once the daughter of a count.

Worse still, she had given up her title—admittedly of her own volition, but Reggie hadn’t opposed it. One would think he would have, if he was at all interested in a serious partnership with her.

They’re a little overly familiar with each other, if you ask me.

Whenever Reggie came to visit the Évrard estate, he and Alan would usually end up completely inseparable... but this time around, Reggie was spending a considerable amount of time with Kiara instead. They’d sit in the library together all morning long, and sometimes (like tonight) they’d stay that way to dinnertime and beyond. As a result, Alan was frequently bored to tears, as there was no one around to spar with.

It’s not that I’m jealous, of course. That’s not why I’m criticizing Kiara. I’m just worried about them, that’s all.

Just then, Reggie walked out of Kiara’s room, still wearing the same clothes he’d had on when he left the castle earlier... except the shoulder portion of his cloak looked to be a bit darker in color than the rest, almost as though it were damp. And it definitely wasn’t raining. Had that wet spot been there when he entered?

“What did you discuss with her, Your Highness?”

“An impertinent question, don’t you think, Groul?” Reggie replied, and Groul fell silent.

“Don’t tell me... Did they have a messy breakup?”

That would explain their midnight tryst, as well as the damp spot, if it was wet with Kiara’s tears. Yes, Alan could picture it with perfect clarity.

But in his carelessness, his whisper had grown just loud enough for the others to hear, because Reggie turned back and spotted him standing there.

“Y-You sure got back late, didn’t you?” Alan stammered hastily.

“Yeah. I was with the margrave, investigating the murder of his subordinates. I’ll tell you all the details at another time, but suffice it to say, this is turning into a rather serious matter. I wouldn’t be surprised if His Lordship recruited you to assist us first thing tomorrow.”

“Ugh... You know I’m terrible at strategizing.”

Especially when it came to conflicts between the noble houses. There was never any direct confrontation; instead, it always involved games of 4-D chess, so to speak. Fortunately, the annoyance inspired by this thought was enough to overwrite his prior panic.

“Consider it a practice run for your future reign as the next margrave! You might as well get acclimated to it now. And I know you’re not completely awful at strategic thinking, so don’t pretend otherwise.”

“It just doesn’t come naturally to me, that’s all. And when I compare myself to those with actual talent for it, I lose the will to try. Surely you must understand that.”

By “those with talent,” he was, of course, referring to Reggie.

“If you said that to your father, I wager he’d smack you one.”

“I’m more afraid of what my mother would think, to be frank. Believe it or not, she’s far more violent than he is. Honestly, which one of them wears the pants in their relationship?” Alan joked.

Reggie grinned.

“I still think you ought to familiarize yourself with the duties of a margrave. Your father and I won’t always be around to help you, you know. How will you survive when you’re on your own?”

Alan blinked at the dark implications of Reggie’s question. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Just a little advice. Nothing in this world lasts forever, Alan. Not me, and certainly not you. So it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

But this did nothing to assuage Alan’s discomfort, and he couldn’t help but press the issue further.

“I’ll accept that you can’t stay here forever. But if you won’t be around, as you claim, then what will Kiara do without you?”

For once, he seemed to catch Reggie off-guard. The prince’s eyes widened. “What’s she got to do with this?”

“What are you—I mean, you...!” Alan started to point out how he’d just witnessed the other boy waltzing out of her room, then thought better of it. “You seem quite fond of her, and she’s rather attached to you as well. Besides, she’s your responsibility, you know, since you took her in and all that.”

“Kiara’s more independent than you give her credit for. She’ll be just fine without me.”

Alan scowled.

“Come on, Reggie. Admit that you like her! I reckon you could spend your whole day with her and never once complain. If that isn’t fondness, I don’t know what is!”

But Reggie didn’t so much as flinch. “Sure, she’s a great girl, and we always have an easy time when we’re together. But, well, I’m not sure she would approve.”

What’s that supposed to mean? Alan wondered. Reggie found her charming and wanted to spend time with her, yet the decision was in her hands? Furthermore, this didn’t completely answer his questions. He was trying to ask whether their relationship was romantic in nature, and yet it felt as though Reggie had dodged with all the grace of a swan.

Every now and then, His Princeliness liked to speak in riddles... probably because he was used to people backstabbing him whenever he was candid with them. But Alan knew this was a sign that Reggie was still in the middle of making a decision about something. More than likely, he’d just asked the question a bit too early.

The question is: what is he trying to decide, and how? Was he trying to determine whether to keep Kiara around? Whether to maintain a friendly distance to prevent himself from getting too hurt when it came time for him to leave? Either way, Alan knew it would be pointless to try to pry further. He let out a sigh.

“Well, at any rate, if you need anything, just say the word. Kiara’s one of our staff now, so even if you need to cut ties with her, she’ll be perfectly safe with us.”

Then Reggie’s expression turned strangely grave. “Listen, Alan... Cutting ties with her would be no different than cutting off my own arm.”

“Cutting off your arm? You can’t be serious!”

Alan balked. Surely that had to be an exaggeration. Why, he made it sound as though he could scarcely go on living without her!

“So no, I’m not going to cut ties with her. Not unless I’m left with no other option. And if things start looking dicey, I imagine I’ll take her away with me. That way she won’t be a burden on you.”

“Reggie...”

How far are you willing to take her? Alan wanted to ask... but he knew if he did, he wouldn’t like the answer.

◇◇◇

The next day, Alan spotted Kiara with her eyes all puffy like she’d been crying. This only served to further confuse him.

“There was no breakup... right?”

After all, Reggie had likened her to his own flesh and blood. But if not, then what had made her cry? Since Alan had no idea how to handle a weepy woman, he kept his distance until the puffiness receded—though his mind remained decidedly fixated on her at all times.

Even more confusing was that Reggie and Kiara never seemed to interact in a flirtatious manner.

But before Alan’s questions could be answered, the day of Reggie’s departure rolled around.

The weather was getting colder here in the Évrard domain, and today marked the first signs of snowfall for the season. If Reggie stayed any longer, the snow would significantly hinder his journey back to the palace; hence, he was advised to return without further delay.

“You’ll see me again soon, don’t you worry,” Reggie grinned, his breath escaping his lips in a white fog as he addressed Alan and Kiara. “Especially you, Alan—I imagine we’ll get a chance to speak at the New Year’s celebration. You are coming to that, right?”

“Of course I am.”

“Good! Until then, I place Kiara in your care.” He leaned in and whispered, “Don’t let those vermin lay a single hand on my baby.”

At this, Alan finally found the answer to his quandary.

Oh, I get it. He sees her as his daughter!

That would explain why he hovered over her so much, and why he talked as though she was his highest priority. Plenty of fathers would willingly lay down their lives for their children, after all. He probably went into her room to calm her down after the ambush. It all made sense!

Relieved to have his answers at last, Alan saw Reggie off with a beatific grin. Then he turned to Kiara next to him, who was looking less than enthusiastic.

“Hang in there, Kiara. He’ll be back before you know it.”

“Huh?”

She looked confused at first, but in the end, she smiled.

◇◇◇

And so, on the cusp of winter’s chill, Reggie headed home to the palace.

I knew he would have to leave eventually; it was probably less than ideal that he’d been absent for as long as he had. After all, he’d spent a full month here at the castle, and before that, he’d gone to pick up Alan at the boarding school, and now he had a long journey by carriage ahead of him... All in all, he would’ve been away from the palace for about two months. And considering how much time it took to get here and back, it made sense that he could only make the trip once a year.

Honestly, I was sad to have to say goodbye to the friend who understood me more than anyone. The unspoken connection we had was rare and precious.

And besides... Well, how do I put this...

In my past life, I’d never experienced anything quite like this. And in my present life (at least, until recently) I’d been entirely focused on staying alive. I knew if I told someone in my past life about a situation like this, they’d think it was all in my head... No, no, no! If this was Japan, surely no one would kiss a girl they weren’t interested in!

Truth be told, I’d been agonizing over it ever since the night it happened. Once my tears dried and I came back to my senses, I realized I didn’t know how to interpret Reggie’s behavior.

If we were in Japan, I would’ve taken it as a sign of romantic interest without ever pausing to think about my “position” or my “worth.” But Farzia was more like a European country in its sensibilities, and parents kissed their children on the cheek all the time, regardless of age. I’d seen siblings do it, too. Hence, a cheek kiss didn’t hold that much significance here. Yes, it was a perfectly normal interaction, provided you thought of each other as family... right?

However, I hadn’t had much in the way of a proper family in this life, so I didn’t have much confidence in that regard. My birth father had barely spoken to me... Perhaps my mother kissed me while she was alive, but if so, I couldn’t remember it—I was a toddler at the time. My stepmother never physically touched me whatsoever, and as for the count, he treated me like a servant. As a result, I had no idea what a normal Farzian family was like.

Besides, more than anything, I needed Reggie and Lord Évrard to survive the next two years. Until then, I had my work cut out for me... and the thought was paralyzing.

For the time being, however, the Évrard estate was my home. I had made the decision to work here, and I was going to give it my very best. Our main priority at the moment, of course, was the aftermath of the ambush. When His Lordship sent word to the Patriciél estate to protest the unjust attack, he received in reply a message that stated the soldiers had simply “made a mistake,” and that the House of Évrard was free to punish them as necessary.

Lord Évrard responded by pointing out that one of the men appeared to be a defective spellcaster, but naturally, the House of Patriciél feigned complete ignorance of the matter. I could have testified to the contrary, of course, but such testimony was useless coming from me, since I wasn’t supposed to be here in the first place. In the end, His Lordship seemingly gave up.

That left one other problem: the men who had murdered the margrave’s informants had yet to be caught. And because we had yet to explain the abnormally high number of spellcasters wandering around, Lord Évrard was starting to think there was some larger conspiracy at play.

The five of us had gathered together—Lord and Lady Évrard, Alan, myself, and Wentworth for security purposes—to discuss the matter in detail.

“What sort of conspiracy, milord?” asked Alan. His father grimaced.

“According to the detainee, he was transformed into a defective spellcaster by imbibing a magical potion of some kind. As such, I’m of the belief that Lord Patriciél can mass-produce them at will. And though these poor souls are fated to die rather quickly, they still offer considerable firepower for a short time... With that in mind, it’s possible he intends to start a war to overturn the kingdom.”

At the word war, we all drew in a breath.

“If Lord Patriciél is involved, would that mean Llewyne is behind it? But their princess has become our queen! Surely they have no motive to attack!” Lady Évrard protested.

Her husband shook his head. “But the queen remains without an heir. She only sees the king during morning prayer, or so I’m told. Without a direct descendant, Llewyne will have trouble seizing complete control of the Farzian throne. Alternatively... perhaps their strategy was to wage war all along, and they only sent us their princess as a diversionary tactic.”

Yes! Exactly! I thought to myself. This was precisely how the story went in the RPG I played. First, Llewyne sent their princess to infiltrate the palace, then they cozied up to a handful of Farzian noble houses, all the while waiting for the perfect opportunity to set their plans into motion. As a result, Llewyne had no trouble invading Farzia and attacking the House of Évrard. This was the setup for the main plot of the game.

“Then why target us?” asked Wentworth.

“Even if they succeeded in assassinating the prince, there are other young men in line for the throne,” His Lordship replied.

Wentworth’s expression turned sour. “You mean... Lord Alan.”

Thinking back, Wentworth had appeared in the RPG, too. As a knight, he was a mounted unit, which meant he could travel a greater distance than the average foot soldier. This frequently came in handy, and as a result, I’d deployed him quite often. But he wasn’t the only knight available, and so I’d ultimately forgotten his name.

From there, His Lordship explained the motives a pro-Llewyne faction might have for attacking the House of Évrard, and I wondered if perhaps it was Reggie who clued him in to all this. If so, I was immensely grateful. Compared to my “prophetic dream” nonsense, this realistic approach was far more palatable for the average person.

But this wasn’t the only thing Reggie had passed on for me.

“Now, if that was all I wanted to discuss, then I wouldn’t have requested Kiara’s presence. Unfortunately, she’s in something of a precarious position.”

Here we go, I thought to myself as my shoulders tensed up. Everyone turned to look at me as I stood behind Her Ladyship.

“I’m told Kiara has previously consumed the same potion as the detainee.”

“Wait, what? But then... is she...?”

Alan’s eyes widened in shock as Lady Évrard blinked back tears. He rose to his feet, stormed over, and grabbed me by the wrist.

“Why didn’t you tell us?! Are you going to be okay?! What am I supposed to tell Reggie?!”

I didn’t understand what Reggie had to do with it, but I could plainly see that Alan was concerned for me, and it was... really touching, actually. It meant a lot to me that the two closest friends I had were both accepting of me without hesitation.

Meanwhile, Lord and Lady Évrard exchanged a look, wiping away their tears. Uh, guys? I haven’t died yet! And I’m not looking to change that! That’s kind of the whole reason I came here! But I couldn’t tell them that, of course. It’s so exhausting having to watch what I say.

Wentworth folded his arms and adopted a contemplative pose. “You’re not really going to ask that of a child, are you?” he murmured. Evidently the pieces were falling into place for him, and it didn’t sit well with his conscience. I swear, this castle is staffed with nothing but kind, compassionate people.

“Either she happened to have the right constitution for it, or she got lucky and the potion didn’t take. Regardless, she seems to be in perfect health,” the margrave explained. “So far she doesn’t seem capable of casting spells, nor was she told that the drink was related to magic in the first place. Isn’t that right, Kiara?”

I nodded quietly and let him do the talking.

“Even supposing she drank the exact same potion as the defective in the dungeon, we can’t say for sure that it’s what turned him. We can’t test the theory without a sample, and frankly, we don’t even know if he was telling the truth in the first place.”

Just to be safe, however, His Lordship asked me not to leave the castle for any reason until things had settled, then requested the margravine’s cooperation in keeping me indoors.

“His Highness the prince has entrusted her into our care, so I ask that you all look out for her to the best of your ability.”

And so I was forbidden to set foot outside Évrard Castle. Those who weren’t as intimately familiar with my circumstances were informed by Her Ladyship that “the poor thing’s simply too frightened to leave the castle after that ambush, so we’ve decided to give her room to heal for a while.” Naturally, no one questioned this. If anything, they seemed to feel sorry for me, since I was cooped up indoors.

Three months later, the remains of a defective spellcaster were discovered on a rocky riverbank in Évrard territory. And by “remains,” I mean a pile of clothes filled with sand. Within the area was a single corpse, charred beyond all recognition. But because the spellcaster’s remains were several days (or possibly even months) old by the time they were discovered, much of the sand had already mixed with the earth around it.

My confinement to the castle continued another month after that while His Lordship tightened surveillance around the estate. Then, once he was reasonably confident that no suspicious individuals were in the area, I was finally freed from what was essentially house arrest.

That said, I was still an attendant in service to the margravine. And since I could neither wield a sword nor ride a horse, I generally didn’t expect to have to accompany Her Ladyship on her patrols outside.

But that was where my expectations betrayed me.

◇◇◇

It was on the first day of spring, when the snow had finally melted.

“Let’s go outside, Kiara. You and me!” exclaimed the margravine.

“But... what if we’re attacked, milady?” I asked timidly. In the event of another ambush, I might very well run screaming from this accursed castle altogether.

But Lady Évrard simply grinned. “Oh, relax. Trust me, they’ll know better than to try any funny business while I’m around. Besides, as my attendant, there may come a time when I’ll need you to run a message somewhere. I’d like to make sure you’re acquainted with all the guards and servants so they’ll recognize you.”

And so it was decided that I would accompany Lady Évrard on an excursion alongside two other attendants, Maya and Clara, plus two knights for added protection. And since I couldn’t ride a horse on my own, I rode with Maya on hers.

Maya had served Lady Évrard since before her marriage to the margrave. Tall and strong, she was the daughter of a merchant family; apparently Her Ladyship had hired Maya on the spot after watching her carry her father’s wares. Sounds like her, alright. Nearly twenty years later and her hiring preferences hadn’t changed a bit.

With each trip we made, we went a little farther... until we eventually rode all the way to the border walls and back. And over that time, I learned how to ride a horse all on my own.

Later that year, in the fall, Reggie returned to Évrard Castle for just two weeks. True to his word, he had done some digging while he was away; he informed me that a spellcaster who had previously visited the royal palace had now gone missing. Then he was gone again, and in his place, winter arrived.

The province of Évrard saw a fair bit of snowfall, which helped defend against potential invasions from Llewyne. But though peace reigned, I never once forgot about magic. I needed a trump card, after all—something I could reach for as a last resort. Problem being, of course, that I couldn’t exactly go rifling through the margrave’s library on my own. Plus, I’d promised Reggie I wouldn’t go behind his back.

It was around that time that the Évrard family headed off to the palace to attend the New Year’s banquet, just as they’d done the previous year—except this year, Alan had turned sixteen, and so he was formally invited in his own right. He did not, however, seem enthusiastic about this.

Left behind at the castle, I spent my free time talking to my new friends: the middle-aged servants I’d first met in the dining hall. We’d chat about the castle or the surrounding towns, and once I was done eating, Harris, the chef’s apprentice, would come over to ask me if I wanted seconds—something he started asking me ever since he saw me scarf down my food that one time.

When Alan returned home, he came bearing a letter from Reggie. In it, Reggie informed me that he’d sent a messenger to speak with the Thorn Princess.

“What?! You’re kidding... Why would he do that?!”

I was shocked. What’s more, Reggie had gone out of his way to enlist a child from a nearby village to carry out the task. That wily fox! I could only imagine how easy it must have been to lure the princess out with an innocent little voice calling her name.

Apparently, Reggie had wanted to ask her about spellcasters—how they were born, how they died, and whether Lord Patriciél’s concoction did indeed aid in the process. The Thorn Princess’s response was something along the lines of “Tell Kiara I said ‘Why do you think I gave you that stone? And don’t you dare attempt to use anything else.’”

Sorry, but... I don’t understand what that’s supposed to mean!

Unfortunately, Reggie didn’t seem to, either. All he wrote alongside it was “Does this make sense to you?”

Either way, it seemed to suggest that as long as I kept the necklace close at hand, the rest would work itself out in time. Surely the Pedo Princess wouldn’t lie to us, seeing as we went out of our way to indulge her... interests. Unfortunately, she didn’t seem inclined to give us anything more to go on. All we knew for sure was that we needed the necklace—but not where or when or how to use it.

Once spring arrived, Reggie came to stay again—this time for just a week—and it turned out he’d reached the same conclusion I had.

“I get the feeling there’s a reason she can’t go into more detail,” Reggie explained.

For privacy’s sake, we were sitting atop a large boulder on a low knoll a short distance from the castle. Looking at him, it quickly became apparent that he’d had another growth spurt. He was already half a head taller than me the last time I saw him back in autumn, but even factoring in the height I’d gained myself, that gap had now doubled. Not only that, but his face had become more angular, trading in the last traces of his cherubic boyishness for chiseled, Adonis-like proportions. His shoulders were broader, and when I stood in front of him, he felt like a massive wall towering over me. His personality had matured as well.

I’d watched Alan shoot up like a beanstalk over the past year, so I’d had some idea of what to expect, but still... For some reason, it felt like Reggie was a whole different person now, and that in turn made me feel a bit shy around him. The end result was a whole lot of awkwardness. Good thing I insisted on riding my own horse up here, or it might’ve been even worse.

Not to mention, when I first sat down on this rock, I’d intentionally given him some space, but then he’d scooted closer! Admittedly, we’d sat this close back in the Forest of the Thorn Princess when I was fourteen. The memory tickled my heart... but I made sure not to let it show on my face, of course.

“Do you think that perhaps she’s bound by some sort of restriction unique to spellcasters?” I asked him.

“It certainly appears that way. Nevertheless, she claims all you need is the stone, so I think it’s safe to say you won’t be dying a defective’s death... You haven’t been messing around with any magic while I’ve been gone, have you?”

“No. Without you around, I can’t even go into the library to do research.”

I’d been behaving myself according to his wishes, but only because there was no other option available to me. Truth be told, there were times when I tested to see if I could cast any spells. But nothing happened, even when I made sure to read the spell’s name out loud. One time Maya caught me doing it, too... but I wasn’t going to mention any of this to Reggie.

“Is that so? I admit, Alan’s testified to that effect himself, but I still can’t help but worry.” His expression clouded over as he placed a hand on mine.

Whoa, whoa, whoa! You can’t do that! You’ve got two of your knight-guards watching us, remember?! All this secret hand-touching is gonna give them the wrong idea about our relationship!

Under the faint spring sun, the rock’s surface was tepid at best, but Reggie’s hand was toasty warm. My heart fluttered in my chest, and my pulse raced like I’d just run a marathon. I was so lightheaded, in fact, I ended up asking him flat-out.

“So, uh, Reggie? What’s with the hand?”

“Oh, I’m just checking.”

“For what?!”

“Don’t worry about it.”

What’s THAT supposed to mean?! I know you’re implying SOMETHING, but I don’t know what!

Since he could only stay at the castle for seven days, he didn’t have much free time to chat with me. And just like that, he was gone again.

Fortunately, Reggie was a smart guy, and over the course of his trip here and back, he managed to secure not just one, but two noble houses as allies—Alan told me all about it. In the RPG, those particular houses were unaffiliated with either side of the war, and as a result, they were wiped out by Llewynian forces. Knowing Reggie, he’d probably sown a few seeds here and there to encourage them to officially choose a side, but they’d consistently ignored his advances. Now, however, they’d suddenly changed their tune. To me, that was the real magic.

How did he pull it off? I’ll have to ask him next time I see him. Wait...

“There’s only half a year left?”

Only six months remained until the date of the fateful autumn battle in which Reggie was destined to lose his life. And if all proceeded according to the RPG script, I wouldn’t see him again until then. Panic set in, and I was gripped with restless dread. Yet all I could do was trust in the Thorn Princess and hold tight to my necklace. She was my only source of information, and if she wasn’t going to spill any more beans, then my only option was to sit and wait. Not like I was free to leave the province of my own volition.

The days passed uneventfully until the start of summer. Perhaps everyone had simply lowered their guard by then.

I was accompanying Lady Évrard to the margrave’s branch estate in the northern part of the province when a brand-new crisis arose.