The vacation has begun.
A long two-month period to rest the exhausted body and mind from studying and exams.
“Long time no see, Noelle.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Noelle greeted me with a slight bow, having seen her for the first time in nearly four months.
“You’ve had a tough time.”
“Thank you.”
With a thud, the carriage began to move just before departure.
“Aike!”
I heard a voice calling my name from outside.
Turning my gaze to the window, I saw Reina waving at me along with Anna, who had her head bowed.
Reina had said she was leaving for lunch with Raynen.
I gave a slight nod in their direction.
“Go!”
With Noelle’s shout, the carriage took off.
On my way back to my hometown, Arcadia, after quite a while.
The sky was clear.
“I’m home, Father.”
“Welcome back.”
The first thing I did upon returning to the family home in Arcadia was to greet my father, who was managing affairs in his office.
My father, whom I hadn’t seen in a long time, looked at me with a stern expression before turning his eyes back to the documents.
“I heard there were various incidents at Arcana.”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“You’ve done well. We’ll talk about it during dinner.”
“Understood.”
I bowed my head in greeting and exited the office.
Outside, my mother was waiting for me.
“Long time no see, Aike.”
“I’m home, Mother.”
I lowered my head once more to my mother, who greeted me with a bright smile.
“Tired, are you? You should rest in your room.”
Following my mother’s advice, after spending nearly all my time in the carriage for the past four days, my body felt extremely stiff.
Of course, I had eaten and slept outside of the carriage, but apart from that, I had been sitting there the entire time.
To think I’d have to go through this again two months later when returning to Arcana.
Maybe I should have stayed at Arcana during the vacation.
I had a slight regret about that.
However, upon returning home, that feeling faded as the comfort of being back intensified.
“Sigh.”
Still, as mother said, I was tired for the moment, so I changed my clothes and returned to my room, throwing myself onto the bed.
Come to think of it, I wouldn’t be able to see my brother this time.
He’s currently with the Knight Order on the frontline, so there’s nothing I can do about it.
“For now, I’ll sleep.”
Honestly, I wasn’t that sleepy.
But lying down makes it human nature for one’s eyes to get heavy.
Before I knew it, fatigue washed over me, and I quietly blinked away.
There was still a lot to do ahead.
However, I figured it would be okay to let go of the accumulated fatigue from the past four days in sleep, just this once.
If I slept too much, I would have trouble sleeping at dinner, but two hours should be fine…
Anyway, Noelle would probably wake me up just in time for lunch.
★
I thought so as I drifted off, only to awaken at dinner time, 6 PM.
‘Lady thought it would be better not to wake you, considering you might be tired.’
I couldn’t understand and asked Noelle, and that was her response.
I hadn’t planned on sleeping that long at all.
But it was already in the past.
There was no point in worrying about it now.
Slowly changing my clothes, I made my way to the dining hall for dinner.
And what I saw in the dining hall was—
“Oh.”
The food spread out was nothing short of extravagant.
I remembered that my brother always felt this way when he returned from Arcana during vacation.
I could now understand my brother’s feelings of looking forward to the holidays.
“Aike, did you sleep well?”
“Yes. Thank you, Mother.”
I exchanged brief words with my mother, who arrived at the dining hall around the same time as me, before taking my seat.
Shortly after, my father arrived and took his place at the head of the table, signaling the start of dinner.
The home-cooked meal I hadn’t had in a while was obviously excellent.
Though, given that my recollections of food from my past life consisted mostly of gruel, I could be satisfied with just about any meal.
“I heard there was an ambush at Arcana. Thanks to you holding out, there wasn’t much damage.”
“Yes, I was just lucky.”
“Tomorrow, we can finally have a spar again. Your skills must have improved quite a bit, right?”
“You can look forward to it.”
“I heard you also visited the Magic Tower? At Miss Charlotte’s suggestion.”
“Yes, Mother. I didn’t learn any specific magic, but I was able to learn a lot.”
After finishing our meal, our family didn’t leave the dining hall but continued our conversation.
Of course, the topic was mostly stories about my experiences at Arcana.
“So, was there any chance to talk with Lady Reina after such a long time?”
“Even Rickard didn’t respond when I contacted him directly.”
Just as the topic of discussion seemed to dwindle, my mother asked such a question.
My father also looked at me with interest.
They had worried a lot when communication with Reina suddenly ceased.
Especially my mother, who seemed to view Reina somewhat like a daughter, worried more than slightly.
“There were no issues at all.”
Of course, this was a lie.
But I could never tell my parents that Anna had gone missing or something like that.
“It seems like I was just busy, and our messages got tangled.”
“Then I’m relieved to hear that.”
My mother sighed and placed a hand on her chest.
Come to think of it, I wondered if my parents didn’t know about the rumors regarding me and Reina floating around at Arcana.
Naturally, there were quite a few nasty rumors mixed in, but it would be best if they hadn’t heard anything at all.
“So, what should we do about that?”
After finishing dinner and returning to my room, I sat down at my desk and opened my notebook.
It was a notebook where I had been jotting down all the necessary information and any relevant content from the original work since possessing this body.
The story I was focused on was in the middle of the notebook.
‘Trials of the Magic Tower’
The first step for Sophia to become a Saintess.
Unfortunately, due to my current lack of skill, I had to skip that part.
“This is problematic.”
If Sophia couldn’t become a Saintess, it would truly be a disaster.
Not for me, but for the Astria Empire.
Of course, nothing might happen immediately, but Sophia needed to have the powers of a Saintess for the final battle against Avatarara.
Even if Reina managed to create a world where she could be together with the Crown Prince, if the Empire were to collapse, it would all be for naught.
“Should I push through regardless?”
Now that I’ve become friends with Atal.
If I push hard enough, it wouldn’t be outright impossible.
There should be a way to take the test to confirm the qualifications of a Saintess.
But if I did that, there would surely be issues with legitimacy.
Having a valid reason for holding office was also quite important.
“…This is truly troublesome.”
I wondered if I could ever find the answer.
My head was pounding.
Well, Avatarara wouldn’t start properly until next year, so there was still plenty of time.
There was nothing I could do but think that way.
★
It was a dark and spacious room.
A hooded man sat in a grand chair.
The chair was adorned with extravagant jewels that didn’t match the atmosphere of the room.
It was as if sitting in this chair was a privilege meant for the chosen.
The man didn’t find it awkward at all.
Such a thing was entirely natural for him.
“The moment has come, Your Highness.”
“Bid him enter.”
“Yes.”
At the command, the door to the room slowly opened.
Through the open door, a man slowly walked in.
The hulking figure, with a long scar etched on his right eye, was Rex, who had once ambushed Arcana.
“You’re late.”
“My apologies, Your Highness. I was pursued quite a bit, and it took time to shake them off.”
“Of course. You directly ambushed Arcana, after all.”
The man let out a slight chuckle.
“Rex. I’d expect you not to let our name leak. But what about the fact that you have become known throughout the Empire?”
“…I’m sorry.”
Under the man’s reprimand, Rex clenched his teeth and bowed his head.
This was clearly a grave mistake for Avatarara, and Rex had no excuses.
“I believe anyone can make mistakes. But I did clearly state, you were not needed to take action. Ignoring those words has led to this consequence. No matter how capable you are, it’s something I cannot overlook.”
“I will accept any punishment.”
“Two months of confinement. I trust you know the meaning of this.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Without hesitation, Rex knelt down and adopted a posture of submission.
“Alright. Then let me ask you a question.”
“Anything, I will answer.”
“Since you attacked Arcana, you’ve presumably gathered some information. I would like to know what that is.”
Normally, this information would have been relayed to the man later by his advisor, Ed.
But his curiosity got the better of him.
No matter how much a barrier protected Arcana.
Even if their opponent was of the Golden Generation, he never expected Rex wouldn’t be handled.
“Do not hide anything; tell me everything as it is.”
“Yes, certainly.”
What on earth happened, the man could barely contain his curiosity.
“Hmm.”
After Rex finished his tale and exited the room, the man fell into deep thought.
“Seems like we have more opponents to watch out for.”
To be frank, this was entirely different from what the man had been considering.
The Golden Generation of Arcana.
Among them, there was only one person he had been wary of.
Leon Aigis Astria, called the greatest genius in the history of the Empire.
He had thought everyone other than the Crown Prince was nothing to worry about.
Yet the story Rex conveyed was unexpectedly alarming.
‘First of all, the man I aimed to kill, Aike Akses, is definitely hiding something. His skill is merely that of a low-tier knight. I believe he will likely grow further.’
The second son of the Akses House.
‘And Sophia Eris. She seems to show extraordinary talent in Light Attribute Magic. Even if she was untrained, healing so many injuries in a single Bless is no easy feat.’
A special admission student of commoner origin.
‘Most significantly, the most dangerous is the traitor, Reina Rozelia. The magic she used is certainly not of an ordinary student level. I would deem her as a threat on par with Leon Aigis Astria.’
The eldest daughter of the Rozelia House.
“The Golden Generation—wasn’t just a myth, after all?”
Of course, the man never imagined losing.
They were but saplings.
Avatarara had been plotting for centuries, hardly comparable to mere sprouts.
But he understood he could never let his guard down.
“A bit early, but it’s time to start preparing.”
The man quietly contemplated.
And thus, the narrative began to twist.
In a direction no one could foresee.
