In the royal palace.
Seven girls sat in the garden, talking about many things and taking a break from their hard lives.
"It's good to go out and get some rest."
Rona Flair said that while chatting with the others.
"You don't have to lock yourself in the Magic Tower all the time."
Marine Sano said that as she was worried about Rona.
Ji Jura said,
"I would love to study some strategies instead of being here."
Sona Torano said,
"You are bold to say something like that in her presence."
The Crown Princess Jina Joul didn't say anything, as she didn't want to make the atmosphere tense.
The daughter of the Shine Family, Sonia Shine, asked,
"Your Highness, are you okay?"
"Yes, I just wasn't in the mood to do anything today."
Sonia looked at the last girl and said,
"I think it's because of her."
Sonia pointed at Violet Night, who was drinking her tea in silence.
Violet looked at Sonia without hesitation and said,
"What's wrong with me? I don't think I have done anything."
Sonia said,
"Everyone knows that you two were like sisters, but now everything is cold between you."
That gave the group something to talk about, but Jina said coldly,
"Our matter has nothing to do with you."
"Ah!"
Sonia felt embarrassed, but Violet didn't comment at all, and silence fell over the garden. From any point of view, it was obvious that the Crown Princess was wrong, but no one would admit it.
Jina was especially stressed when she remembered her accusations.
"What is that?"
The group forgot what had happened moments ago when they saw something new: a lot of nobles were chained together and walking weakly.
"Kin?"
Violet noticed Kin Light among those nobles, which made Jina stand up at once to check on him. The other girls stood up as well, following her to see what was going on.
"Commander!"
Jina arrived and called the commander, who bowed to her.
"Your Highness!"
"What are you doing with them?"
"They will stand trial before His Majesty."
"What did they do?"
"Terrifying people, illegal organization, threatening others, fighting without permission, and maybe more."
Jina was surprised, but she looked at Kin, who was chained as well.
"Kin Light is my royal guardian. I want you to release him."
"Don't worry, Your Highness."
Kin spoke with brightness in his eyes. His father said,
"I didn't expect to bring trouble to you. We are sorry."
Jina smiled, trying to calm him.
"Don't worry. I will be with you there. I'm sure you didn't do anything wrong."
Kin said,
"There won't be any trial for now."
"Why?"
The commander interrupted,
"There are still three people missing. Two are in the royal infirmary, and the last one disappeared."
Jina thought for a while and said,
"So, capture the last one. And the infirmary will take care of the other two."
The commander said,
"I wish it were that easy, but it's very difficult to detect the Pure Spirit."
When Jina heard "Pure Spirit," she froze.
'Solan Neumann?! Wait! Doesn't that mean...?'
Jina was trembling inwardly, but she asked,
"Who are in the infirmary right now?"
The commander said,
"Enfel Kito and Lord Lan."
"..."
Jina forgot how to breathe for a few seconds before walking toward the infirmary.
"Take care of Kin and Lord Light."
Jina gave her last instructions before disappearing from their sight.
The girls went after her.
Marine was worried.
"Is Lord Lan okay?"
Sonia smirked.
"Why do you care about him? Don't you love your cousin?"
Rona interrupted,
"It's something you don't have to interfere with. Don't you ever learn?"
Ji said,
"I can't hold myself back from seeing if his face is broken."
Violet said,
"Is that all because he embarrassed you before?"
Before the rage erupted, Sona told them,
"Behave yourselves. We have reached the infirmary."
The girls reached the building and went to the wing where Shion Lan was.
"Shion..."
Jina whispered his name as she saw him on the bed, closing his eyes and unaware of his surroundings.
In the second bed, there was Enfel, who was weak but better than Shion.
Violet, Rona, and Marine felt worried about him. The others felt sorrow. Whatever had happened, even if they didn't know him, they couldn't laugh.
The academic physician came and started examining him.
"What? What brought you here?"
Jina didn't expect to see the academic physician instead of the royal physician in the infirmary.
The physician said,
"Because I am the one who has dealt with Shion the most. I was brought here to heal that scoundrel!"
He activated his spells, saying,
"I regret the day I healed him for the first time! I was brought here to make sure he isn't going to die because of his stupidity!"
Jina wanted to stop the physician, but she felt a strange power making her retreat.
"He is very angry!"
The girls sensed the rage in the physician, so they retreated as well.
Jina wanted to know what had happened, so she decided to ask her father.
"I think we will see a show."
Ji said that while following the princess with the other girls.
---
Shion was in the Stellar Domain, but the wonderful scene was now...
"Damnit!"
The blue and red stars were weak and about to fade, and even his soul was weak.
"That's the consequence of using a power that doesn't belong to you."
Shion heard Shi Yun Lan, but he couldn't find him.
"Don't worry. Your power will come back before the academic year."
Shion asked,
"How do you know that?! I know my body better than anyone! This will take two months of training!"
Without saying a word, a powerful energy caused the stars to shine again. The stars weren't completely healed, but Shion could move properly again. He looked around for Shi Yun Lan.
"How did you know?"
"..."
But there was no response from Shi Yun Lan.
"Doesn't matter! I will wake up!"
When Shion opened his eyes, he felt something strange, as if he were going to die, so he quickly turned his head but regretted it at once.
"Aaaaaahhh... hello—"
"Shion Lan. Didn't I tell you not to harm yourself?"
The physician was angry, and Shion couldn't say a word.
"You came here to kill me, didn't you?"
Shion shook his head, but he felt anxious.
"Tell me, why should I have to see new wounds and injuries on your body?"
"Because—"
"Shut up!!"
The physician silenced Shion and said,
"Because you are annoying. Because you are stupid. Because you are a scoundrel!"
Shion said,
"I came for one man, but I found a battle! It wasn't my fault!"
"You know what, boy?! I want to quit the academy!"
The physician announced that Shion had woken up and left the place.
"He is angry but kind-hearted."
Enfel commented.
"Enfel! Are you okay?!"
Shion tried to stand, but he couldn't.
"I'm well, Lord! You don't have to move!"
Enfel smiled.
"The physician healed me first, then he healed you."
Shion was relieved after hearing that.
"Enfel, I'm sorry for involving you there."
Enfel said,
"Lord Lan, I'm not a normal child. I'm at the seventh level, so I have to work hard to stand with you."
"That's...."
Shion couldn't say anything. Enfel was right. He must train hard to stand with him if something like the Noble Alliance happened again.
Shion rested in his bed until he regained the ability to stand again.
---
In the Lan Family mansion.
Solan lost her energy to maintain her spiritual form, so she escaped, but she was worried about Shion as the royal army had taken everyone.
Rita Lan wasn't feeling good either.
"It was her fault! If she hadn't talked!"
Rita was talking about Pearl Jewel, who had encouraged Shion to go there.
Pearl said,
"I told Shion many times not to trust her."
Solan blamed everything on Pearl to make her aunt angry with her.
"Shion was about to take you for a picnic, but she dared to come here with her malicious presence!"
Solan made sure that her aunt hated Pearl, so she tried to gather her energy, and the spirit floated around her.
"Now, I will go to Shion. Do you want anything else?"
Rita said,
"Tell him I missed him."
"Well."
Solan transformed into her spiritual form and disappeared.
Rita breathed slowly.
"Pearl was right to confront the others, but I couldn't make Solan annoyed."
Marie, the maid, entered and asked,
"Milady, I don't understand why you love Pearl."
Rita said,
"She is different. She tried to hide her feelings toward my son and help him at the same time without causing any harm."
Rita felt embarrassed for talking about Solan in her absence.
"Solan is my son's lover, but I think she is... trying to possess him?"
Marie listened carefully.
"Pearl isn't that jealous, but Solan would cause a disaster if she suspected that Shion had talked to another woman!"
Marie explained,
"That's because Pearl isn't his fiancée. If that happened, Lord Lan would have a headache. A woman wants to possess her man no matter what happens."
Rita asked,
"Are you in love with someone?! You're talking like an expert!"
"I heard that from my friend in the royal palace."
"..."
Rita felt disappointed.
"I thought I was talking to an expert. You're an amateur."
"..."
No one talked after that.
---
In the royal palace.
King Jord Joul found a document that seemed new to him.
"The Ocean's Core Guild? What is it?"
The king opened the document, as he had some time before the trial, but he found a lot of information.
"That's.....!!"
It was about a crime that took place ten years ago. The victim was Deci, the first wife of Avar Jewel and the mother of Pearl Jewel.
But he found something dangerous: one of the Six Great Families was involved in the crime.
King Jord found a message in the document.
"Your Majesty,
I'm Pearl Jewel, the head of the Ocean's Core Guild. I don't want to reopen the full case. All I want is to tarnish Avar Jewel's reputation, my father.
Now, you have the document that was in Avar's possession. He wanted to use it to blackmail a noble.
Maybe that noble was involved, but the main reason is my father. All I want is to make him a criminal, hopeless, and homeless. I want to avenge my mother.
If you don't want to, it's okay. I just don't want this document with me. Don't worry, I don't have a copy.
Your subject,
The Ocean's Core Guild."
"..."
King Jord felt relieved.
It wasn't that he didn't want to uncover the truth, but the price was too expensive for the family that would lose its reputation.
King Jord made his decision.
"So, Avar wanted to blackmail a first-rank noble? He crossed all the lines! A mess would spread throughout the kingdom if that were published!"
He clenched his fist.
"Both the father and his daughter didn't see the true problem! It wasn't a normal murder! It was a betrayal of the kingdom!"
One of the Six Great Families was a traitor.
The king summoned the Shadow Forces.
"Your Majesty!"
The king ordered,
"I want all the information about him!"
He threw the document, and they saw the noble. They froze for a moment, then nodded.
"As you wish."
They disappeared, leaving the king alone.
"It should have been a problem between nobles, but it turned into something different."
King Jord breathed coldly.
"I think I have to put him under observation. I wish he isn't a traitor or..."
A golden aura destroyed his room.
"Father!"
King Jord heard his daughter, so he composed himself and smiled.
"Enter!"
Jina entered the room and noticed the destruction.
"Father? What happened here?"
"It's nothing, little girl. I was just preparing myself for the trial."
Jina remembered and asked,
"What happened?! Why are all those nobles chained? Why is Kin chained? Why is Shion hurt?"
"Shion, huh?"
King Jord knew that his daughter was asking about Shion, even though he had been mentioned last.
Jina blushed, but she said,
"Whatever! What happened there?!"
"A lot of things, but Kin is innocent."
Jina asked worriedly,
"What about Shion?"
"He is innocent too. As I thought, you were asking about him."
"..."