For the first time in what felt like forever, I managed to wake up by myself.

I sat up on the bed and looked at the sun shining in through the window. Another beautiful day.

Today was the last day of the Assembly, so we would just exchange a few final farewells and it would all be over.

Counting the days I had to stay here to attend the seminar, I had been in the castle for quite a while now. I was starting to get attached to this guestroom, but this was my last time sleeping in it.

Today I’d be going back to Claes Manor, and starting tomorrow, it would be business as usual at the Ministry.

I was wondering whether taking such a long leave had been a nuisance for my coworkers when I heard a knock on the door.

“Excuse me,” Anne said, walking into my room.

The sight of me sitting up in bed must have shocked her.

“What?! Young miss, did you wake up yourself?!”

“Yes, I went to bed very early yesterday,” I replied, not sure whether I should feel amused or offended by her surprise.

I usually didn’t wake up unless someone stripped all the duvets, blankets, and sheets from my bed, so I could see why she’d be shocked, but still…

“To think that you would become able to get up by yourself… Young miss, I am so proud…” she started saying, sounding honestly moved.

Now I was the surprised one, seeing her react like that, and I thought that maybe I should try to wake up by myself from now on.

Once she was done being shocked, Anne, together with the other maids, started preparing me for the Assembly. As they were doing that, we were told that I had a guest.

What am I going to do? I’m not done preparing yet! I thought, but when I heard that it was Mary and Sophia, I immediately let them in. I wanted to apologize and thank them for yesterday.

Both of their faces were grim.

“Lady Katarina, is everything alright?” the worried Mary asked me.

“Yes. I’m not hurt anywhere or anything. I’m alright!” I replied, and she immediately looked relieved.

“Yesterday Nicol told me that you were fine, but I needed to see you for myself. I know that it may be a nuisance, given the early hour, but I was incredibly worried,” she said.

Thinking back on just how many people I’d made worry, I felt bad for my actions once again. I gave Maria that speech about relying on others, but I obviously needed to learn to do the same.

“I’m sorry for making you worry. And thank you, too,” I said, bowing in gratitude to my two friends.

“Not at all! I could not do anything for you,” Mary said.

“I also wanted to search for you, but I was told not to…” Sophia concurred.

The former sounded frustrated, and the latter sad.

Yesterday, when I disappeared, Sophia and Mary wanted to join Jeord and the others in looking for me, but they were told to wait because it was dangerous.

I thought that was a good decision. Two young women had gone missing, and the last thing you’d want at a time like that is for two more to go around looking for them and disappear too.

The men who had kidnapped Maria were two ignorant, foolish nobles, and they could have hurt Mary and Sophia as well. They were smart enough to understand that, so they waited as they were told to, but they still seemed frustrated that they couldn’t help.

“I’m really happy that you two care so much about me. And if you came after me, it could have been dangerous, so I’m also happy that you two waited for the others to come back,” I said, taking one hand from each one into mine.

Their eyes were still a bit teary, but they looked nowhere near as grim as when they’d first stepped into my room. Then they left, saying that they didn’t want to interfere with my preparations.

When I was done, I looked into the mirror. The girl who stared back at me, even if not as fancy as the one who had joined the ball yesterday, definitely looked like a duke’s daughter.

I heard another knock on the door, and I immediately thought that Mary and Sophia had forgotten something in my room, but this time it was Jeord visiting me.

Why is he here already? Isn’t it too early for the Assembly? I asked myself as I let him inside.

He was already done with his preparations, and I was happy to see that his tired expression from yesterday had gone back to his usual one.

“Good morning, Katarina,” he said with a bright smile on his face.

“Good morning, Prince Jeord. Is it time to join the Assembly already? I think it’s still early,” I replied, and his smile turned into a grin.

“No, that is not why I am here. I wanted to ask you about some of the details regarding yesterday’s incident.”

“What details?”

I had already explained to Nicol and the others that I’d climbed into that room through a tree, that I’d found Maria, and just about everything else.

“About the man who helped you find out where Maria was.”

“Ohh!”

I finally realized what he meant. That would have been Cezar, who I just so happened to run into in the garden. He was waiting right outside the noblemen’s room, so Jeord must have seen him when he barged in.

“It would seem that you remember. So, may I ask you where you met him?” Jeord said, and his face now had a hint of seriousness on it.

“I was running after Maria in the garden, and I ran into him by coincidence. I asked him whether he had seen a blonde maid and said that I was looking for her, and he helped me out.”

Of course I had also met him earlier, while I was pretending to be a servant, but I felt like that detail was better kept untold.

“I see,” Jeord said, looking relaxed again. “It is just as he told me. I am glad that nothing improper was taking place.”

“‘Nothing improper’?”

“Pay it no mind. In any case, do you know who that man is?”

“He is… some kind of foreign noble, right?”

After seeing him yesterday, I was convinced that he wasn’t a servant, but I didn’t have the time to ask him who he actually was and where he came from.

Jeord, taken aback, sighed. “So you did not know. Why am I not surprised?”

“Is he a famous person?” I asked, judging from his words that I was missing something very important.

“Yes. He was the subject of much womanly talk during this year’s Assembly, but, somehow, it seems that you have heard none of it.”

I wasn’t the most savvy when it came to that kind of high-society chatting, admittedly. Unlike Mary, I wasn’t good at asking other noble ladies for information either.

“You still had not greeted him, I believe, so that is understandable. However you will certainly have to do it today, so please try to remember what I tell you now.”

“Y-Yes,” I said, nodding seriously, but Jeord grinned again.

“You surely know of Ethenell, the kingdom across the sea. The man who helped you last night is Cezar Dahl, its prince.”

“P-Prince?!” I yelped in shock.

He did look like a high-ranking noble, but a royal? A prince?! He’d even told me his name, but I had no idea.

I was sure that I’d learned the names of the royal families of the four guest countries during the seminar…

“Was there a royal family called Dahl?” I mumbled, mostly to myself.

“You probably have not heard of it during lessons. I met him for the first time during the Assembly too. Ethenell, as the new king took the throne, has undergone several important reforms. The instructors had probably simply failed to keep up to date. As he was sent here to represent his country, we now know how important of a person he is. But apart from that, we have little to no information on him.”

I was listening to Jeord’s explanation with my mouth open in disbelief. This meant that he was the most important person from Ethenell in the Assembly…

I thought back on our exchanges so far. He found me sleeping in the garden, pretending to be a servant, and asking for stories from abroad. This wouldn’t have been that much of a problem if he was just a servant, but since he was a royal, what I did could be considered very rude…

Jeord smiled at my worries. “Seeing how he acted yesterday, we can surmise that he is likely a good person. You need not worry too much. Of course, given the details of that incident, I asked him to keep it a secret. As such, today, you will greet each other as if it is the first time you are meeting each other,” he instructed me. “Now I have work to do, so I must go. I will come back here once it is time for the Assembly.”

Jeord left, and now that I was all alone, I thought about the things I had just learned about Cezar. Who would have thought that the friendly man who told me stories in the garden was a prince? He just didn’t feel like a royal. He had the same relatable, friendly aura around him that Sora did.

But yesterday he had looked completely different — like a prince, one could say. And he was even more handsome than I had thought at first, seeing him as a servant. He was on the same level as all the other love interests from Fortune Lover.

Now that I thought about it, I remembered hearing from Mary that Ethenell’s prince was popular with the other ladies at the Assembly. If she was talking about Cezar, that made perfect sense…

But this would also mean that I asked him, in person, whether Ethenell’s prince was handsome…

Now I understood why he didn’t want to talk about that.

“Haha, I guess that would make sense… but…”

I stared at the ceiling. I found out that someone I had become friends with was actually a very important person, and all of a sudden I felt an inexplicable loneliness welling up inside me.

It was time for the last farewells of the Assembly, and Jeord came to escort me to the hall where everyone would meet.

Today, “everyone” only meant the highest-ranking nobles, so there weren’t that many people around.

I started making the rounds with Jeord, greeting the various representatives from the guest countries. He was actually supposed to have finished doing this on the previous day, but he said that since he was only the third oldest prince, it wasn’t that much of a problem.

Here in our kingdom, the king decided which one of his sons would succeed him, so Jeord still had a chance of taking the crown. But the way he talked about it showed that he didn’t really care about it. And being king sounded exhausting, so I could definitely understand where he was coming from.

We met several princes and princesses, and eventually we reached him.

“I am Cezar Dahl, Prince of Ethenell. It is my utmost pleasure to meet you,” Cezar said, pretending we had never seen each other before.

His hair was combed, his clothes were luxurious, and, in general, everything about him was fit for royalty.

He’s incredible! He’s so good at playing this part! Wait, is he playing a part now or was he doing that before? I thought to myself while I said my introduction.

“I am Katarina Claes. The pleasure is mine.”

Anyone looking at us would have believed that this really was our first time meeting each other.

We then went on to exchange the usual lines:

“Coming all the way here must have been tiresome. Please rest once you are back home.”

“I hope we may have an opportunity to meet again.”

And so on and so forth.

I still felt a bit lonely about it, but I managed to behave like a proper noble lady throughout the whole thing.

I looked at Jeord to get confirmation of how well I’d done, but he was watching Cezar walk away, and his eyes had a mysterious glint in them.

He said he thought Cezar wasn’t a bad person, so what’s the matter?

“Prince Jeord? What’s wrong?” I asked him.

“Nothing,” he said, looking surprised by being addressed so suddenly. “Let us greet the next person.”

I looked at him, with his usual perfect smile, and realized that he wouldn’t answer no matter how much I insisted. So I just followed him as he approached more foreign representatives.

Once we were done greeting each other, there was nothing left to do on that day. Except for those who had special reasons to remain, everyone departed for their own countries, and the Assembly was officially concluded.

As all the foreign guests went back to their countries, we local guests would go back home. The servants prepared my luggage, and I was supposed to wait in my room until I was ready to leave, but I couldn’t resist going out to the garden on my own.

Two days before, Cezar had promised me he would meet me here one last time. Back then that was a promise between two friendly servants, but we now both knew that this wasn’t true. He was actually a prince. Go figure.

I assumed that there was no way he would come, now that his identity was revealed, but I had to wait just in case. It felt lonely to part ways like that, with only the formal greeting back at the Assembly.

I didn’t know how long I waited — it felt like it could have been several hours, or just a few minutes. Then, I heard a familiar voice addressing me from behind.

“Katarina.”

I turned around and saw Cezar, looking confused. “I really thought you wouldn’t come here anymore,” he said.

“I also thought you wouldn’t come, Prince Cezar,” I replied, and his expression turned serious.

“No need to call me that. When I’m here, I’m just Cezar.”

“Okay, Cezar!” I quickly said, realizing how he felt, and he smiled. It wasn’t that elegant, rehearsed smile I had seen earlier at the Assembly, but his natural childlike smile that made his teeth show.

“Still, you really got me. I thought you were a servant, and then I find out you’re a noble lady — a duke’s daughter no less — and even engaged to a prince!” he said with a laugh, but that definitely applied to him too.

“And what about you? I was shocked when I learned that you weren’t a servant, but a prince!” I said, puffing out my cheeks.

“You have a point,” he said, amused.

I was relieved to see that, even now that we knew the truth about each other, he behaved as friendly as before. Seeing how tight and proper his greetings had been back at the Assembly, I’d worried that he’d drawn a line in the sand which I wasn’t allowed to cross anymore.

“Say, Cezar,” I said, remembering a doubt I had, “you said that you were a mercenary before going back to your home, but was that a lie?” His nimble movements made perfect sense for a mercenary, but that was no job for a prince.

“No, it’s all true. My father was the king, but my mother was just one of his many commoner concubines. I left the palace as soon as I was of age and started wandering around, and eventually I became a mercenary. But my older brother, who had defended me as a child, was still at the palace, so I went back to help him,” he explained casually, as if it was the most boring thing in the world.

I, meanwhile, was just as shocked as when I’d heard he was a prince for the first time.

A prince leaving the palace to become a mercenary? What kind of fairy tale is this? It’d been easier to process if he’d just told me it was all a lie.

“That’s an impressive history… It sounds like something out of a novel,” is what I finally managed to say. “I wonder why none of the other ladies were talking about it.”

He was a handsome man on par with the best of our kingdom, and, apparently, he was talked about a lot during the Assembly. But I heard absolutely nothing about him being a mercenary.

“Well,” he replied, “I’m not hiding it or anything, but it’s the first time I’ve joined an international event like this, so I think it’s normal that there’s not that much information about me going around.”

I remembered that Jeord had also said that he knew next to nothing about Cezar.

“My plan was to help my brother from behind the curtains, but, as you can see, I was dragged here onto the main stage,” he said.

But between his looks and how flawlessly he moved around in the castle’s hall, that made no sense to me. “You’re made to be on the stage of high society! You’re a natural!” I told him.

“Really? I’m very good at mixing with commoners, actually,” he said with a grin.

I honestly had no idea how that could be possible, given his looks, but it could just be one of his talents.

“Whoops, time is running short. I must go back and see my brother as soon as possible,” he said, and his shoulders dropped.

This was goodbye, for real. We’d only known each other for a few days, but we’d definitely reached the point where we could call each other “friend.”

And I really liked him, too. From the first time I met him, he was really friendly and easy to talk to. Seeing him go made me feel lonely. The next time that the Assembly would be held in Sorcié would be ten years from now. I couldn’t imagine seeing him anywhere else, since he was a foreign prince.

And, even ten years later, there was no way to know whether we’d both attend the Assembly. This could well be the last time we’d ever meet.

Having to part ways with someone… It was the first time that I’d had to experience that in this life. It reminded me of when I’d departed my previous life, but with a huge difference: this time, I could say goodbye.

“We’ve only known each other for a few days, but I had a lot of fun. Stay safe as you go back home. I wish you the best,” I told him.

He showed me his heartfelt, youthful smile. “It was fun for me as well. I wish you the best too, Katarina. Oh, and stop sleeping outdoors.”

That was the last thing he told me before quickly walking away with the wave of his hand.

I watched his back get farther and farther away, and the fragrant spring wind gently caressed my face.

★★★★★★

“Are we ready to leave?” I asked as soon as I was back in my room.

“Cezar, you know it’s almost time to leave. Just where were you off to?” Janne replied, sounding annoyed.

“I was just saying goodbye to a friend.”

“Friend? Is it that servant girl you’ve been sneaking off to meet over and over?”

“Yeah. That’s the one.”

“Weren’t you talking about bringing her back home with us? Did she refuse?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

Of course, now that I knew her true identity, I could never ask her to come back with me with Ethenell. I just couldn’t be bothered to explain that to Janne, who looked surprised.

“A girl who resists your advances? Now that’s unheard of. It seems that you actually liked her, which is rare in itself… Do you want me to help?”

This childhood friend of mine never offered to do things like that, but I went ahead and refused.

“It’s not my style to keep pushing after I’ve been told no,” I said.

“If you say so…” Janne said, looking somewhat disappointed.

He was probably serious when he said that I should take her as my wife. But with Katarina, that would be impossible.

Maybe I could have had a chance if she were a low-ranking noble lady, but she was the daughter of a duke and was engaged to a prince. Anything I did to her would become an international issue.

It was clear that her fiancé loved her madly. I remembered what had happened the night before — Prince Jeord was looking for her as if his life depended on it. When I had met him during the various Assembly events, he always showed a perfect, calculated smile and elegant, polite demeanor. I thought that he was very comfortable in his role as prince, despite his young age.

But later, when I saw him near that guestroom, he was a completely different person. His elegance had given way to an anxious frenzy.

I talked to him, interested in why he was like that, and he told me that he was looking for Katarina. That was when I first learned that the two were engaged, but, hiding my surprise, I just told him what had happened so far and where I thought she could be.

As soon as I told him, he looked distraught and ran after Katarina, and it was then that I realized how much he loved her.

To me, seeing his passion was like looking at the purity of a child. I was raised in that disgusting palace, and went on to live my youth as a mercenary. To me, feelings such as these were something to marvel at.

But now, as they had to decide which of the four princes would become the next king, their country was sure to lose its beauty and tranquility. Even if the princes themselves wished for peace and equity, those around them could wish for a different turn of events.

I knew that from experience, and I decided to give him a little warning. Unfortunately, that seemed to make him suspicious towards me. The last time we met each other, I could see that his eyes weren’t friendly. They weren’t hostile, either, but it was obvious that he was wary of me.

I regretted sticking my nose into things that didn’t concern me. I would normally never say things like that, and certainly not to foreign princes, knowing that nothing good could come out of it. However, after learning that he was Katarina’s fiancé, I felt the urge to provide him with some unsolicited advice.

Maybe that was proof that I was into Katarina as well. After all, if her engagement with Jeord were to be canceled, I liked her enough to try and persuade her to come to Ethenell with me.

We just told each other goodbye, but for some reason, I felt like our paths would cross once again in the not-so-distant future. I didn’t tell her about that feeling, however.

When I was working as a mercenary, I began having a similar feeling right before I received news of my brother becoming king. I had a very good sixth sense for things like these.

’Til next time, Katarina, I thought in my heart as I told her goodbye.

The Kingdom of Sorcié flourished thanks to the many resources of its land and the development of magic through the years. I had heard that there was considerable turmoil during the reign of the previous king. But now, coming here, I saw nothing but peace and harmony in this beautiful kingdom.

And the fourth prince was just as impressive as the rumors said… Actually no, he was even more impressive.

I had so much to tell my brother, and I felt eager to see him again as I departed for Ethenell.

★★★★★★

All the foreign guests had departed, and it was time for us to go back home.

Jeord looked busy with the aftermath of the Assembly, so I quickly said goodbye and, together with Keith, rode in the carriage that would bring us back to Claes Manor.

“The Assembly felt so long, yet so short,” I said to myself while looking at the changing view out of the window.

“The whole time I was worried about whether you would do anything problematic,” Keith, who was sitting in front of me, replied coldly.

“But I didn’t make any major screw ups, so like, it’s cool, right?” I said, gesturing to emphasize my point, but my brother grimaced.

“‘Major screw ups’? What would you call running out of the ball to climb up a tree and jump into a guest room?”

“Well, that’s… You know, Jeord said we should pretend that never happened, so…”

Yesterday’s incident was caused by the ignorance of two foreign nobles, and making that public would turn into a huge problem, which is why it was decided that we would all just forget about it.

Of course, this was on the condition that the two men would apologize to Maria and be punished for what they did. According to Jeord, since Lousabre couldn’t afford being on Sorcié’s bad side, they would probably punish those men more than enough.

And so, as far as everyone knew, I had simply felt unwell and left the ball early, before I could have done anything that could warrant being scolded by Mother.

Which is why I asked Keith to keep the whole story from our family… but he just sighed at me.

“Big Sis, listen. Even if everyone decided to keep it a secret, would you really believe that no one would tell the parents of an unmarried noble lady? And Father was at the Assembly to begin with, so our family already knows everything.”

“What?!”

I felt a shiver run down my spine. I knew that Father was attending, but I assumed he didn’t know anything about the incident. And if he says that our family already knows everything…

“Does that include… Mother?!” I asked, already despairing, and Keith nodded.

“Of course. She knows that you tore your dress apart, climbed up a tree, and barged into a guest room on the second floor.”

“…Let’s bring the carriage back to the castle! We’ll stay there one more night!”

“Mother has already ordered both me and the servants to bring you home posthaste.”

“Nooooo!”

The relief I was feeling at the Assembly finishing disappeared in a flash, as did my eagerness to go back home after so long.

I wasn’t going back home. I was going back to a dreadful prison of scolding.

I don’t wanna go…

When I stepped inside, I was immediately greeted by the sight of my mother, who had been told that we would soon be there.

She quickly dragged me to her room and subjected me to an endless sermon. In comparison, those lessons at the castle were short and sweet.

When she was finally done the sun had already set, and I groggily walked back to my room, carrying with me a pile of books on etiquette that I had been ordered to study.

“Whew, I’m spent…” I mumbled as I threw myself on the bed.

“Seeing that you are this tired, would you rather stay home from work tomorrow?” asked Anne, who was unpacking my stuff.

I’d almost forgotten about it, but now that the Assembly was over, I had to go back to work.

“I’ve already taken so many days off in a row, and if I stayed home I’d just be forced to study etiquette with Mother. I’d rather go,” I said, thinking that going to the Ministry, where I could also see Maria, sounded much better than staying here with Mother scolding me and teaching me how to behave properly. Plus, I still wanted to ask Maria and Sora about their secret mission.

I prepared for the next morning and went to bed. The next day I would ride in the carriage to the Ministry for the first time in a while.

On my way to my department’s office, I met Sora.

“Morning. Sorry for getting you in trouble at the Assembly,” he told me.

“You? Getting me in trouble?”

“That incident with Maria. While I went on with my mission, I was also supposed to look out for her. But when those two men started chasing after her I lost sight of them, so it’s my fault that you did what you did.”

It wasn’t surprising that a girl as cute as Maria would have someone act as her bodyguard. Sora was much stronger than he looked, and he was used to dealing with all kinds of unsavory people.

“But it was me who decided to run after her. It was Jeord and the others who saved her, and all’s well that ends well, right?” I said, and he laughed.

“I knew you’d say something like that. Thanks. But try to be careful, okay?”

I’d lost count of how many times I’d heard those words in the last couple of days. “I will,” I said, as I had to all the others, and we continued walking to the office.

Just as we reached the door, I remembered that I wanted to ask him something. “Say, Sora, you and Maria were on a mission at the castle, right? How did that go?” I’d almost forgotten about it, given all happened in the meantime.

“Well…” he started saying, but the door opened in front of us and a familiar face came out of it.

“Oh, Mister Cyrus!”

“Katarina Claes, Sora Smith. Good morning. Back at the Ministry, I see,” he said, looking exhausted, and then walked away.

I wondered why he was in our office and why he looked so tired.

“He looked so beat. Any idea why?” I asked Sora.

“He was at the Assembly too, and don’t forget that he’s still single. I can’t imagine how many women must have approached him,” he replied.

That would have explained it. Cyrus wasn’t used to talking with women, especially young ones. Spending three days surrounded by them must have been draining.

And that also explained why I didn’t see him at the Assembly: he was probably hidden inside a swarm of girls. I really felt for him, the poor guy.

“Good morning. It’s good to see you all,” I said, walking inside the door, and I heard three replies.

“Morning.”

“Good morning! You must be tired after the Assembly.”

“Good morning.”

It was still too early for everyone to be there, but my older colleagues were already working, looking exactly like they did when I last saw them.

Laura had covered her muscular body with a cute, frilly dress, and Hart was sitting in a corner, almost invisible, staring at paperwork.

We went to greet Larna, the department director, who had come in unusually early. Normally she’d come in just in time for the start of the workday. She was a very unique woman, and she proudly said that she preferred working outside, running around from one place to the other. Seeing her sitting behind a desk was weird.

“I am coming back to work starting today, since the Assembly is over,” I said, and she smiled at me.

“I know just how tiring the Assembly was for you. I’m sure you still can’t give 100%, but just do what you can,” she said.

For a moment, I was confused that she knew how the Assembly had been, but then I remembered that she, too, was a noble lady and was probably attending as well. But she was a master of disguise, and even the face that I was looking at as we spoke was nothing but a carefully crafted fake. Neither I nor anyone else here knew what she really looked like. Even if I’d met her at the Assembly, I probably wouldn’t have noticed.

Despite attending, though, she looked as brisk as always. She didn’t look tired in the least.

“Excuse me, Miss Larna,” Sora interrupted my thoughts, “I would like to report on my mission.”

Cyrus stopped our conversation earlier, so I still didn’t know what his mission was about.

“Cyrus told me that you already reported to him earlier. Good job.”

“I am sorry that I could not gain any useful information,” he said, lowering his gaze apologetically. Did that mean that he had failed his mission?

“Sora, what was your mission, anyway?” I couldn’t resist asking.

“I told Sora not to tell you anything so that you could concentrate on the Assembly, but I guess it doesn’t matter anymore,” Larna said, and started explaining.

It turned out that the daughter of a not particularly wealthy baron from the kingdom’s outskirts had disappeared. Since it happened in a part of the countryside which was considered to be safe, everyone was in a frenzy. What’s more, the girl was a magic user, which was rare for a noble of that rank. This made her loved ones worry for her even more.

Her sudden disappearance, while surprising, wasn’t exactly unthinkable. The first assumption was that she was either kidnapped or had run away. However, the family received no notice from the kidnappers, and she had no reason to leave her home on her own.

The family then asked for the help of the Ministry, which found out something suspicious. The servants who were working in the mansion that day — both those who were supposed to be accompanying the girl and even some of the farmers working nearby — couldn’t remember what happened on the day of the incident.

Their memories were clouded, and no matter how much they tried, they couldn’t recall the facts. The Ministry assumed that Dark Magic was involved, and the people who were most familiar with it were tasked with investigating.

Sora and Maria visited that countryside manor, and, by sheer coincidence, Maria used her Light Magic to cure a wound on the hand of a farmer. When she did that, the farmer recalled seeing a carriage, probably belonging to nobles, running around near the mansion.

That was all they managed to gather, but at least they now knew that it was very likely that both Dark Magic and nobles, probably high-ranking ones at that, were involved. The next logical step was to send Maria and Sora, who could sense Dark Magic, to the International Assembly, where most of the country’s nobles would be. They would pretend to be servants and intervene if anything happened.

This mission was a bigger deal than I thought! When Dark Magic’s involved, who knows what could happen. Scary!

“I also tried to investigate a bit myself, but found nothing interesting. What about you, Katarina?” Larna asked me, and I tried to recall anything relevant that I could have heard at the Assembly.

Marriage proposals for Keith, marriage proposals for Nicol… Lots of marriage proposals… And then of course that incident with Maria and those two stupid foreign nobles. Could it be that…?

“Is it possible that the two foreign nobles who tried to kidnap Maria also kidnapped that girl?”

“Given the timing of the incident, right before the start of the Assembly, we considered the possibility of foreign nobles being involved. However, it’s unlikely that anyone outside Sorcié knows about Dark Magic, and, more importantly, the kidnapping was carried out too well. One would need to be familiar with the place. So the culprit is probably someone from within the kingdom,” Larna replied.

She had a point, but after hearing all of those stories from Cezar about how unsafe other countries were, I couldn’t help but feel suspicious. He even said that people abroad practiced human trafficking, and the government wouldn’t even care.

Why was I even discussing human trafficking with him, anyway? I thought to myself. I was running after Maria. Then, in the garden, he saved me when I heard something dangerous-sounding from those old foreign nobles…

That’s right! They were saying that one could buy magic-wielding children from Sorcié in a harbor!

I was so shocked by that information that I thought I needed to talk to Jeord and the others about it, but the whole Maria incident made me forget about it.

I explained what I remembered to Larna, and her face suddenly darkened.

“The Ministry has information on all the children who can use magic, and right now that girl is the only missing one. If those men were talking about buying a child like that, it’s very likely that they were talking about the baron’s daughter. Do you remember what those two men looked like?”

“I didn’t see their faces clearly… All I know is that they had a lot of extra weight around their waists.” To be honest, though, that applied to most old noblemen.

“I see. But still, how could foreigners manage to sneak into a noble’s mansion, and how could they know of Dark Magic to begin with? Unless, of course, someone from Sorcié helped them…” she said, speaking mostly to herself as she considered various possibilities with a finger on her lip.

After a moment, she spoke again. “Thank you, Katarina, that information will prove useful,” she said. “I’ll tell Cyrus about it and we’ll look further into it. You just go back to deciphering the Dark Covenant. And if you remember anything else, come and tell me.”

She then quickly left the office.

“There she goes…” I said, and then noticed Sora looking at me in disbelief.

“How does one manage to just forget about something like that?” he asked.

“Hm, I guess after the incident with Maria I just couldn’t think of anything else.”

Sora sighed. “Anyway,” he said, “it’s incredible that you, knowing nothing, were able to find out more information than me.” He sounded genuinely impressed.

“It was nothing but a coincidence though.”

“Coincidence, right… Just like with the Dark Covenant.”

“Yes, just like that…”

Seeing Sora’s expression becoming more serious, I suddenly felt nervous.

I’m not doing anything bad, I swear… The Dark Familiar and the Dark Covenant are just parts of the game, and I can’t do anything about that. I didn’t choose to be the villainess, so what could I do?

Maybe Sora, with some sixth sense unique to the game’s love interests, was getting suspicious of me. But what he said next disproved that thought.

“You really get caught up in the most dangerous stuff. Be real careful, alright?” he said, clearly worrying about me.

I felt relieved, and very happy. The people around me, far from suspecting me of doing anything bad, were always looking out for me, and that filled me with joy.

“Thank you!” I replied, and then we got to work.

I left Sora and went to the meeting room which I was using to work on the covenant, and found that Maria was already there.

“Good morning, Lady Katarina. You must be tired after the Assembly,” she said, and I was relieved to see that her face, which had looked so grim just two days ago, was back to normal.

“Good morning. You must be too.”

“Oh, not at all. In the end, my mission bore no fruit,” she said, disappointed.

She probably hadn’t heard of the latest news yet, so I repeated to her what I told Larna earlier.

“You are incredible, Lady Katarina. To think that you would obtain so much information without knowing anything about the incident!” she said, looking at me with awe in her eyes.

“It was just a coincidence…” I said, gesturing the undeserved awe away as if it was a fly.

“Larna said that she thinks a Sorcié noble must be involved and that she’ll look into it. What do you think?” I asked her, and she put a finger to her chin thoughtfully.

“I agree with her. Someone from our own kingdom must be involved. I visited the town where the girl lived, and it would not be easy for a foreigner to carry out a kidnapping there,” she said.

Unlike me, she had actually been to the scene of the alleged crime.

“And how did it look? I heard that Dark Magic was probably involved, but was that usual dark aura around?”

“It was a peaceful country town where you would never expect any crime to take place. Everyone, including both the farmers and the baron’s family, knew everyone else, and they all seemed to be on good terms regardless of status,” she explained. “But given that, they would probably notice immediately — and remember it well — if they saw an outsider. The fact that they did not is what felt strange. It was enough to convince me that Dark Magic was at play, even without the usual aura that comes with it. And then I cured someone’s wounds with Light Magic…”

“And when you used your magic, they remembered what happened on that day, right?”

“Yes. It was a coincidence, of course, but I think that my Light Magic counteracted the Dark Magic. I also tried doing it with other people who said that their memories were hazy, but it did not work.”

“You tried it on other people?” I repeated, surprised.

“Yes. But unfortunately none of them remembered anything.”

She didn’t know whether that depended on how the Dark Magic was used, the people that it was used on, or the limits of her own magic, but she was only able to get information from that one person, who had seen something that looked like a noble’s carriage.

“But thanks to you, we now know that foreign nobles are involved, and that human trafficking is taking place in a harbor somewhere within our country. Your help has been so useful!” she said, giving me that impressed look once again.

Oh, Maria, stop! When you look at me like that, I feel so, so…

All of a sudden, Maria dropped her gaze. “I want to find that girl as soon as possible. She is only twelve years old… She must be so scared right now,” she said, now looking horrified.

“Maria…”

After those two men dragged her into their room two days ago, thinking of that girl being kidnapped must have hit close to home for her.

“Yes, let’s do our best and save her as soon as possible. Dark Magic or not, it’s no sweat! Remember Keith’s kidnapping? And the tanuki mission? We solved those without a hitch!”

We had already been through two (three, if we count the Raphael thing at the academy) Dark Magic-related incidents, and we were successful. We even defeated a dragon during the Ministry’s examination — one or two old foreign nobles wouldn’t be an issue.

Okay, technically it was Pochi who defeated the dragon, but still… Wait, that’s right! I was supposed to keep him hidden all the time at the castle, so I forgot about Pochi!

“If Dark Magic is involved, maybe Pochi could help! Pochi!” I shouted towards my shadow, and I got a brisk “Woof!” as a reply.

I’d forgotten all about him because of the seminar and the Assembly, so I was happy to see that he was still doing fine. I’m so glad familiars don’t need to be fed…

“Yes! Pochi is always with you after all,” Maria said with a smile, hearing him woof.

“Yeah, he’s always there to save me when I’m in trouble,” I said proudly.

I wondered why he didn’t come out to save me while those stupid nobles were going to hurt me at the castle, though. Maybe it’s because I didn’t call him?

“Lady Katarina? Is anything the matter?” Maria asked worriedly, seeing me lost in thought.

“Oh, it’s nothing. Now let’s go back to the covenants! Maybe there’s some spell that can help us save the baron’s daughter!” I said.

Pochi probably had a good reason not to come out, and it’s not like I’d asked him to either.

Next time I’m in trouble, I’ll make sure to call him for help, I thought, and opened the Dark Covenant in front of me for the first time in a while.

Seeing the pages full of those complex letters I didn’t understand immediately made me feel tired.

★★★★★★

“You’ve done your best, Sarah. Thank you,” he said, caressing my head, but the disappointment I was feeling at my own failure didn’t go away.

My mission was to borrow his help and sneak into the International Assembly to get close to Katarina Claes. She had the Dark Covenant, which we had been looking for. I was supposed to spy on her and, if necessary, take away her memories — but I wasn’t able to approach her at all.

It was her Dark Familiar that had kept me from my task. Once it noticed me, it did anything it could to hinder me. As soon as I tried to get close, it would come out and bare its fangs at me.

That ungrateful mongrel, intimidating the very person who created it…

And the fact that Katarina was able to go on living normally while hiding a Dark Familiar in her shadow was bizarre. The man to whom I gave the dragon familiar ended up being consumed by darkness and going insane, but nothing of the sort was happening to her.

I wanted to find out more about her, but she was too well protected. She had so many supporters that acting uncouthly could risk endangering him.

Ever since he saved me from that dark, terrifying place, my feelings towards him had always been the same. I’d happily give my life for him.

I couldn’t let anything happen to him. The only wish I had was to protect him and to make him happy, whatever the cost. Even if it meant taking someone else’s life.

★★★★★★

I, Susanna Randall, better known as Larna Smith, was talking with Jeffrey Stuart, oldest prince of Sorcié and my fiancé, in his room.

“So you people at the castle already knew of it,” I commented, surprised.

When I had gotten some very useful information from one of my subordinates, Katarina Claes, I rushed to tell Jeffrey about it. But he had already heard about it from somewhere else. Furthermore, he had already sent one of his men to investigate, so he had more and better information than me.

“You’re as fast as always at finding out things and reacting to them, I see,” I said, and he gave me his usual relaxed smile.

“You know I prefer working behind the curtains, unlike you.”

That was a troubling thing to say, if I really thought about it. It could have been unfit for a prince, but it wasn’t surprising coming from Jeffrey, who was so obsessed with his brothers that he’d basically stalk them continuously.

“You could have told me about your new information though. Why didn’t you?” I asked, as if I wanted to scold him, and he lowered his eyebrows in a very rehearsed-looking apologetic expression.

“I only got it two days ago, and considering where it came from, I had to make sure that it was trustworthy.”

“Why? Who gave it to you?”

“The prince from Ethenell who was at the Assembly representing his country.”

“…That’s quite the source.”

“Yes, which is why I needed time to investigate properly, and, of course, to convince the prince not to talk about it outside of here.”

Satisfied by his explanation, I decided not to complain about his delay anymore.

“And it turns out that the prince got the information from the same place as Lady Katarina.”

“How so?”

“They happened to be together at the time.”

“I see…”

That meant that the sources were stating the same facts, but more importantly, I wondered why Katarina was together with Ethenell’s prince.

“I’ve written down all the details in these documents, so you can read them at your own convenience back at the Ministry. I still have much left to do now that the Assembly is over, so much so that I’ve had to cut back on enjoying my lovely brothers,” he said.

I really didn’t need to hear that last part, I thought, as he handed me the documents. Anyway, it was true that he was busy, so I quickly left and started reading while riding in the carriage that would take me back to the Ministry.

The report was a detailed, easy-to-read explanation of why Katarina and Ethenell’s prince were together at the Assembly, and how they got their information. Jeffrey’s attachment to his brothers bordered on perverse, but he was incredibly skilled at his work.

And the information on those documents, as I thought, made it seem likely that Dark Magic was at play.

Lately incidents like these had been on the rise, and I had a feeling that Sarah, the woman who disappeared from the mansion of that marquess and had tried to obtain Dark Magic, was involved. She was sometimes witnessed near the sites of crimes involving Dark Magic, but we still had no idea what her intentions were.

I could tell, however, that she probably wasn’t acting alone. I believed that there was somebody pulling her strings — someone powerful who had considerable influence within the kingdom.

Now that the royals weren’t fighting for the crown anymore, Sorcié was at peace. Were these mysterious figures planning to stain the country with blood once again?

If that’s the case, I must stop them at all costs.

Sitting alone inside my carriage, I bit my lip.

★★★★★★

A few days had passed since the end of the Assembly. After enjoying a satisfying lunch, I was working on the covenant together with Maria, when Sora, who was doing deliveries around various departments, stopped by.

“How’s it going? Made any progress?” he asked, with a teasing smile.

“Spending time at the castle without thinking about it has made it even more difficult to understand,” I said, puffing up my cheeks.

We heard a sudden knock on the door, which promptly opened. Maria, Sora, and I all stared, confused, as we saw Larna barge in.

“It turned out that Katarina’s information was on point, and the harbor that those men were talking about is probably Ocean Harbor, where trade between Sorcié and Ethenell takes place, and we’re going there right now to make sure,” she said all in one breath, as if she couldn’t waste a second before getting there.

We were already mentally prepared to be dragged to Ocean Harbor, but thankfully Cyrus walked in and managed to convince Larna that going there right now, unprepared, was a bad idea. However, she still insisted that we go there as soon as possible.

I thought that now that the Assembly was over I’d be able to rest for a while, but it seemed that I’d have no such luck — it was time to prepare for our trip to Ocean Harbor.

The Post-Assembly Tea Party

With the Assembly behind me, I decided to hold a tea party with my friends in Claes Manor.

The weather was clear, so I had a table prepared in the garden. It was nothing fancy, though, since the only guests would be the usual ones: Keith, Jeord, Alan, Mary, Sophia, Nicol, and Maria.

“Big Sister, I think our guests will be here soon,” Keith informed me right when all the preparations were complete, and I went to welcome them.

“Thank you for the invitation, Katarina,” Jeord said, casually kissing the back of my hand. He looked exhausted right after the Assembly, but he was clearly more than fine now, full of the usual sexiness that befitted a main character like him. The party hadn’t even started and I was already blushing.

“Hey,” said Alan, who had come with him. He looked the same as usual.

“I am most happy to be invited here, Lady Katarina,” followed Mary with a huge smile. She didn’t seem the least bit tired from the Assembly.

“Thank you so much for having us, Lady Katarina. I have brought you the latest novel, you see, it is a wonderful story about…” Sophia then started rambling. During the Assembly (or rather, during her whole stay at the castle), she had been deprived of her beloved books.

Now that she was able to read them again, her enthusiasm was greater than ever. She kept talking with sparkles in her eyes while she hugged her book.

“Calm down, Sophia, you’ll have time to talk about novels once the tea party starts,” her brother Nicol, calm as always, interrupted her. “Thank you for inviting us,” he then said to me with a smile.

That smile, too, was as powerful as always. Just seeing it made me black out for a second. I thought I’d gotten used to it, but Nicol must have become even more attractive after our stay at the castle. Stop, please.

“Lady Katarina, thank you so much for having me. I have made these for you,” Maria, my cute Maria, said while handing me some homemade sweets. I’d secretly hoped that she’d bring some, so I was more than happy to accept them.

“Thank you, Maria! Let’s go and eat them,” I said, and added them to the table as we all sat around it.

“To a successfully finished Assembly!” I said, raising my teacup in a sort of workplace toast.

Jeord and Keith both raised their cups with ironic smiles.

“Huh?” Alan asked, perplexed.

Mary and Maria smiled happily while raising their cups, and Sophia, who was excited at being able to read novels again, raised hers even higher than me. Nicol did it too, but without changing his expression.

Thus began our tea party.

“I’m glad nothing bad happened during the Assembly,” I said while stuffing my mouth with Maria’s sweets.

Everyone around the table replied in unison.

“What?!”

Did I say something weird? I thought, and saw Keith bring his hands to his head.

“Big Sister, you said the same thing on the trip back home from the castle. Do you remember what I told you then?” he asked me with a grave voice.

I knew my brother well enough to understand that when he spoke to me with that voice I was at risk of getting scolded, so I tried my best to remember.

“You said that, uhm… tearing my dress apart and climbing up a tree were major screw ups? Something like that?”

“I’m glad you remembered,” he said with a smile on his lips but dread in his eyes.

Okay. He’s 100% mad at me. He’s just holding back momentarily because everyone’s around. I can expect to be scolded later.

“I find it unfathomable that barging into a room with two kidnappers, by yourself, hardly registers as a bad thing to you. Your perception of things is incomparable to ours,” Jeord said as he stared into nothingness.

“I agree with him. The whole dress-tearing, tree-climbing, and kidnapper-chasing thing? We considered that to be bad, yeah,” Alan followed, nodding to what his brother had said.

Ugh… That’s right, I made everyone worry during the Assembly…

It’s not that I’d forgotten about it, of course. But well, spilled milk and all that. And that happened during the Assembly, but nothing bad happened at the Assembly, technically.

“I’m really sorry for making all of you worry,” I said, lowering my head. I could have tried to make an excuse for what I’d said, but my friends were right, so I just apologized. I only now realized how worried everyone had been.

“But,” Maria interjected, hardly after I’d finished my apology, “it was all my fault that Lady Katarina found herself in that dangerous situation. I am sorry,” she said.

I was surprised. It was true that I’d gone into that room in order to save her, but she still had no reason to apologize. She was just a victim, dragged there by those two stupid noblemen.

“You shouldn’t be sorry for anything!” I shouted, standing up from my chair.

“She’s right, Maria. You were but a victim, and have nothing to apologize for,” Jeord calmly agreed.

“Yes, don’t worry. My sister just ran off on her own. It’s not your fault,” Keith added.

“Yeah. This idiot is completely responsible for whatever stupid stuff she does. Don’t worry,” Alan continued.

“That is completely true,” Nicol finished.

Sophia and Mary were silently nodding.

They kind of made it sound like it was my fault, but, well, it was. So I joined in the nodding.

“…Thank you,” said Maria, looking up at all the people comforting her. She was blushing slightly, and she was so cute it almost hurt to look at her.

“It’s fine, Maria. I’ll come to save you if anything like that ever happens again,” I said, completely dazzled by her loveliness.

“Big Sister, have you learned nothing…?”

“I beg you, ask me for help first.”

“Are you trying to get yourself trouble again?”

“You assured us that you wouldn’t do anything dangerous anymore…”

The four boys all commented one after the other, looking at me in disbelief.

“Please try to avoid danger,” Mary and Sophia also added with sad looks in their eyes.

Ugh. I can’t really disagree with them…

I realized that I had to change the topic. The Assembly wouldn’t do, so I’d much rather talk about the seminar.

“Th-The, uhm, the seminar was hard, wasn’t it? But it was fun being all together in the castle!”

What I was trying to do was painfully obvious, but Sophia and Mary, who had spent most of their time there with me, indulged me anyway.

“Yes. Those lessons were very tiring, but it was a fun experience,” Sophia said.

“I also had fun spending time with Lady Katarina after so long,” Mary continued.

Not only did we attend lessons together, but we also ate together and our rooms were close to each other. It felt like being back at the academy.

“The shared bath was so fun too!” I said, remembering when I went there with Sophia.

“Ugh…” I heard Mary murmur while hiding her face in her hands.

“What’s wrong, Mary?”

“N-Nothing… I just remembered a sad, unfair thing that happened to me,” she explained with a sad voice.

Oh, right, she couldn’t come to the bath because she wasn’t feeling well. I’m sure she’d have liked to see the castle’s bath once. I’d better change the topic again.

“Let’s see… oh! The first day of the seminar was so hard I was close to giving up, but Keith stroked my head for the first time in a while, and that made me feel much better. Thanks, Keith!” I said, looking at my brother.

“B-Big Sister, maybe we should not talk about that right now…” he said strangely, shaking his head.

I thought it was a happy, lovely topic, but Keith looked so displeased with it that I had to think of another one.

What can I talk about? Oh, right!

“Alan actually played some songs for me one day during the seminar! I fell asleep halfway through though. I’m sorry, Alan,” I said, talking about his practice piano performance.

It was so good that I couldn’t help but get sleepy. When I woke up Alan wasn’t there anymore, so I never had a proper chance to apologize.

“…Oh, that? I don’t really mind…” he said, looking away.

Is it me or is he blushing?

I noticed that Mary was staring holes into him. I had no idea why, but this topic wasn’t a good choice either. I tried talking to the Ascart siblings next.

“Sophia, I’m sorry that I passed out when you invited me to that tea party. It was such a wonderful place, too.”

She had prepared a surprise tea party in the garden, but I suddenly passed out while we were going to Nicol’s room to invite him too. The garden looked so beautiful. It was a real shame that we couldn’t do it.

“N-Not at all, if anything, I should apologize to you,” said Sophia, looking strangely nervous as she bowed her head.

“You? Apologize to me? Why?” She hadn’t done anything wrong.

“Well, that is… you see…” She was at a loss for words, and her brother intervened.

“She must mean that she’s sorry for inviting you without noticing that you were feeling unwell,” he said coolly.

“Y-Yes, exactly,” Sophia nodded.

“Yeah, but there was no way you could know, so don’t worry. Actually, I was feeling fine that morning. You know what’s weird? I don’t even remember where exactly I lost consciousness. I didn’t go all the way to Nicol’s room, right? But I also kind of feel like I visited it…” I said, trying to recall.

“No, you never came into my room. You must be remembering wrong,” he said without changing his expression.

That was likely. Right after passing out I had a dream about the game, so that had probably confused me.

“Well, a lot’s happened, but I was just glad to be able to spend time with all of you,” I said.

We used to gather often when we were studying at the academy, but now that we were working, we didn’t have as many opportunities to meet. That made our time at the castle that much more fun, despite all that had happened. I’d had enough of assemblies and seminars, but I wished that we could all gather and have fun again.

“If you would like,” Jeord said, “you may come to visit one of the royal vacation villas. There is one of them in a lovely place surrounded by nature.”

“Really? I’d love to!” I quickly replied.

“That does sound nice. We should all go together, Big Sister,” Keith said.

“I agree,” Mary said. “Sounds wonderful, right, Prince Alan?”

“Huh? Uh… Sure does, yeah.”

“I am already looking forward to it!” Sophia commented.

“Yes, me too,” her brother agreed.

“A royal vacation villa… wow…” I said to myself, amazed. It was decided that we’d all go there together, and I couldn’t wait.

But for some strange reason, it seemed that Jeord — the one who had made the invitation — wasn’t very pleased with how things had turned out.

Nah, I’m just imagining things.