"These places are practically neighbors, but it feels like a damn hike," G6 muttered.
She had barely crossed the Bastion's grand entrance before the complaint escaped her.
The Royal Collegium's three Professional Departments might have occupied the same heavily secured compound, but each structure was massive enough to turn what appeared to be a short walk into an irritating exercise in endurance.
The floor-length black gown did not help.
Beautiful, certainly.
The high collar, fitted sleeves, and intricate black embroidery suited her far better than Reise's pastel monstrosities ever could. Dark detailing traced the shoulders, bodice, cuffs, and waist, disappearing into the fabric whenever the light shifted away.
Unfortunately, elegance had weight.
So did several layers of skirt.
"Each structure is quite expansive, Lady Reise," Tina replied, her tone professionally neutral.
"Oh, forgive me for missing the obvious," G6 replied with a sarcastic tone.
Brenda glanced toward one of the benches positioned along the receiving hall.
"Would you care to rest a moment, Lady Reise?"
"No. Let us just get over this."
G6 adjusted the fall of her skirt with restrained annoyance.
I could walk a marathon in these heels, but not in this goddamn curtain.
Her gaze returned to the people waiting several paces ahead.
Leo. Prince Dio.
Lord Keith. Eliza.
Right. Cannot avoid the local wildlife if I want to get anything done.
Leo stepped forward and bowed.
"Good morning, Lady Reise."
Lord Keith apparently considered that his opening.
"My, my, Reise! What are you—"
"Leo. Why are you here?"
Lord Keith stopped.
His face fell.
"Tsk. Mean," he whispered.
G6 ignored him.
Leo's expression remained impeccably composed.
"Her Majesty instructed me to show you to your office."
G6 looked at him.
"Office?"
One eyebrow rose.
"Yes. Her Majesty believed a private workspace within the Bastion would be prudent, given the amount of time you will be spending here."
For the first time since entering, G6's attention sharpened completely.
So the Queen had not merely granted her access to the Royal Collegium.
She had already decided where G6 would work.
Interesting.
G6 gave a single nod.
Lord Keith, who had apparently been waiting for an opening ever since she walked through the doors, moved closer.
"Reise! Your new look is… dramatically different."
G6 looked at him.
Assessed him for a moment.
Then smirked.
"I will take that."
Lord Keith's gaze traveled over the severe black gown, the dark embroidery, and the long rose-gold hair falling in controlled waves to her waist.
"What style is this? You look… remarkably striking."
"This?"
G6 smoothed one hand over the embroidered black fabric at her shoulder.
"It is called 'mind your own business'."
She delivered the line with a mocking smile and turned away.
Lord Keith stared then grinned.
Prince Dio finally stepped forward.
"Reise."
His voice cut cleanly through Keith's amusement.
G6 stopped.
"You seem to be overlooking me. I am the head of this department. You will state your purpose here."
G6 slowly turned her head.
Her face twisted into pure, unadulterated disgust.
Behind her, Tina's mouth tightened.
"Oh, gracious… is he picking a fight?" Tina murmured.
Edmund leaned slightly toward her.
"After she tried to break the engagement? I doubt she will be gentle."
Lilia raised one hand to her mouth.
"This will not end well."
The three exchanged the exhausted look of people who had already witnessed enough of G6's interactions with Prince Dio to know exactly which direction this was heading.
Lady Brenda merely watched, perplexed.
G6 faced Prince Dio fully.
"That would be a requirement if I were Guild-registered," G6 answered, her voice dangerously calm. "But I am not. Now get lost."
Prince Dio's eye twitched.
Rules and order were not simply occupational requirements to him. They were the structure around which he organized nearly everything.
The Bastion was his department.
Personnel reported through established channels.
Assignments were recorded. Authority had procedure.
And then his mother had apparently placed Reise Worthon inside his department without giving him so much as a formal notice.
Worse, Reise herself seemed completely unconcerned by the irregularity.
Prince Dio's irritation returned to the one explanation that had made sense for years.
The old Reise.
The fiancée who had watched his every movement.
"I do not have time for this, especially if you are just here to monitor my social engagements—"
G6 raised two fingers.
Then pressed them lightly against his lips.
Prince Dio stopped speaking.
Everyone else stopped breathing.
His eyes widened.
So did Keith's.
Eliza just stared.
Lady Brenda blinked twice.
The gesture might once have been intimate coming from Reise.
From G6, it carried all the tenderness of silencing an irritating alarm.
"You know what? I do not care."
G6 lowered her hand.
"Even if you stripped naked in front of me with someone else, I would not care."
Prince Dio remained completely still.
Not because his pride had shattered into pieces around his boots.
Because there was nothing in her expression that suggested she was bluffing.
No jealousy hidden beneath anger. No wounded look. No trembling resentment.
Nothing.
Lord Keith broke first.
"Now that is a statement."
Tina muttered from behind G6.
"Called it."
Edmund glanced at her.
"Indeed."
Lilia nodded solemnly beside him.
Prince Dio looked between them.
They had expected this.
Apparently, everyone had expected this except him.
"Leo. Now," G6 commanded.
Leo gave a stiff nod.
"Of course, Lady Reise."
His professional expression survived.
Barely.
He gestured toward the staircase.
G6 followed him without another glance at Prince Dio.
Her entourage moved after her.
Lord Keith watched them leave, clearly entertained.
Lady Brenda followed more slowly, still processing what she had just witnessed.
Eliza remained near Prince Dio.
Prince Dio did not move for several seconds.
Then his jaw tightened.
❈.❈.❈
G6's office occupied a quiet section of the Bastion's second floor.
Simple yet elegant.
And, most importantly, mercifully devoid of frills.
She entered and immediately approved.
A large desk stood near the center. Bookshelves lined one wall, mostly empty for now, while two couches occupied a smaller sitting area beside the windows.
"You may rest here between obligations," Leo explained. "There is also a private anteroom."
He approached one wall and indicated an ornate sconce.
"Turn this to access it."
G6 looked at the mechanism.
"Thanks. It does not hurt my eyes."
She crossed toward the desk.
Behind it, a full-wall window opened across the distant Capital Town beyond the palace grounds.
G6 stopped.
Now that—that she appreciated.
Her eyes moved across the distant view automatically.
And probably in that distant structures view… one of them is the Adventurers' Guild.
A small smile appeared.
Not because of the décor.
Because of the vantage point.
"Yeah. This will work."
Tina watched her eyes sweep across the Capital and immediately understood that G6 was not admiring the scenery.
She was mapping it.
G6 leaned one hand against the desk.
"Cannot wait to put some muscle on this body."
The office door burst open.
Prince Dio strode inside.
G6 closed her eyes.
For half a second.
Then opened them again.
"This ends now," Prince Dio said. "Explain yourself."
G6 turned.
"Did you lose your manners with your composure? Why not mind your fucking business like you used to?"
The words came out of her mouth dry, low, and coldly.
No anger, but irritation… yes.
The words struck harder than Prince Dio expected.
G6 did not possess Reise's memories.
She did not need them.
The book had made his treatment of Reise painfully obvious. Reise's own diary had supplied what the novel omitted. And the behavior she had witnessed since waking in this world had done nothing to contradict either source.
"Hurts the ego, does it not?"
Prince Dio's expression darkened.
"Everything in this Bastion falls under my authority. That includes you."
G6 stared at him.
"If you are that curious, go ask my boss."
A taunting glint entered her grey eyes.
"Your mother."
Keith made a suspicious sound from somewhere near the doorway.
G6 ignored him.
She walked toward the couch and dropped onto it with none of the ceremony expected from a future Grand Duchess.
"Get out. I am at my limit."
Her expression was deadly serious.
Tina recognized it immediately.
This was not ordinary irritation.
G6 had risen early, spent almost an hour abusing the Worthon garden with experimental Wind Magic, dressed herself, walked through the secured Royal Collegium compound, endured two aggressively affectionate brothers, toured the Sanctum, crossed the Omnia, and then marched all the way to the Bastion in an elaborate gown she already despised.
The body was running out of patience before G6 herself was willing to admit it.
Tina stepped forward.
She bowed deeply toward Prince Dio.
"Your Highness, forgive my interruption. Lady Reise rose exceptionally early and is fatigued. I must ask you to grant her peace."
The room quieted.
Prince Dio looked toward G6.
For the first time, he noticed the slight heaviness around her eyes.
Not weakness but fatigue.
His own behavior abruptly looked considerably less defensible.
He had followed an exhausted woman into her newly assigned office and demanded answers she had already told him to seek elsewhere.
His frustration remained.
So did his suspicion.
But whatever else was happening, this was not how the head of the Bastion should behave.
Prince Dio stepped back.
"Very well."
He turned toward the door.
G6 watched his retreating back.
That guy is fucking exhausting.
The door shut behind him.
The tension dissolved.
G6 leaned farther into the couch.
"Finally."
The remainder of the Bastion tour could wait.
Leo excused himself shortly afterward, leaving G6 to recover.
Lady Brenda also needed to return to the Omnia.
Before leaving, however, she hesitated near the doorway.
"I shall visit again when my responsibilities permit, Lady Reise."
G6 looked toward her.
Lady Brenda gave a small, slightly flustered dip of her chin and hurried after Leo.
G6 watched her disappear.
She is smitten.
Very useful.
Silence settled over the office.
For approximately five seconds.
Then G6 looked toward the opposite couch.
Lord Keith was sprawled across it as though he had personally paid for the furniture.
Tina stood behind G6.
Edmund beside her.
Lilia had wandered toward the enormous window and was peering down at the Capital.
G6 crossed her arms.
"So."
Lord Keith looked over.
"Why are you still here?"
"What? I am hanging out."
"Your presence disgusts me."
Lord Keith frowned and sat upright.
"Do not be mean. Tell me why you are really here."
He leaned forward. Prying.
"Not your business."
"Just a clue. I know it is not because of Prince Dio."
His voice turned pitiful.
Deliberately so.
G6 stared at him.
I swear I will punch that look off your face.
Lord Keith widened his eyes.
It became worse.
G6 sighed.
"Fine. I am here to get training. Physically."
Lord Keith straightened.
"Oh?"
His interest became immediate.
He rested his chin against one hand.
"Want my help?"
"No. Get lost."
"But I want to help."
A hint of familiar arrogance returned.
"Not a chance."
"I will do anything. Let me in on your game."
The playful exaggeration faded slightly.
For once, he looked serious.
G6 studied him.
Annoying. Intrusive.
Too comfortable.
But he had also grown up in this world, had graduated through its systems, and worked inside the military department.
He is annoying… but potentially useful.
"Then…"
A sly note entered her voice.
"Come closer. I will whisper it."
Lord Keith immediately brightened.
He scooted closer with absolutely no suspicion.
G6 leaned toward him.
"Show me how people here use a sword," she whispered.
Lord Keith blinked.
"That is it?"
He looked genuinely disappointed.
"That is it."
G6 already knew how to use a sword.
She had been trained with blades before she was old enough to drive legally.
That was not the problem.
She needed to know how they used one.
This world's fighters had mana.
Physical Enhancement.
Combat systems she had only begun hearing about.
Her own principles might transfer.
Or they might not.
Either way, observation came first.
Lord Keith leaned back, pretending to consider the offer.
"Well…"
A dramatic pause.
"Deal."
He smiled cheerfully.
Idiot.
"Great. Nice doing business, Lord Keith. Now get out."
His face fell.
"I thought we were—"
"It starts tomorrow. So leave."
G6's voice left no room for negotiation.
Lord Keith stood reluctantly.
At the door, he turned around.
"See you tomorrow, partner!"
Then disappeared before G6 could throw something at him.
G6 stared after him.
"Partner? Who does he think he is?"
She turned toward Tina and Edmund as though the entire interruption had never occurred.
"So. What is for lunch?"
❈.❈.❈
Prince Dio sat behind his desk with his head in his hands.
For several minutes, he had done nothing except stare at the grain of the wood.
His earlier confrontation replayed with increasingly unpleasant clarity.
What is wrong with me? That was too far. Why did I react like that? Prince Dio thought.
His mother had clearly restricted information concerning Reise's appointment.
That alone should have ended the matter.
He had no right to force the explanation from Reise simply because he disliked being excluded.
If Mother issued a gag order, I should not have pressed, Prince Dio admitted to himself.
And now he had given Reise yet another reason to dislike him.
The thought sat poorly.
Not because he needed her affection.
He had spent years wishing she would stop offering it.
Yet somehow, being deliberately rejected felt different from simply wanting distance.
The office door opened.
"Reflecting on your stellar performance?"
Prince Dio did not lift his head.
It was Keith looking at him like what he did earlier was so unmanly.
"Do not you have a trainee to torment?"
"Passed Miss Eliza off to some mages from the Sanctum."
Lord Keith dropped onto the couch.
"It bothers you, does it not?"
Prince Dio finally raised his head.
"What?"
"You know what."
Lord Keith leaned back, looking entirely too pleased with himself.
Instead of responding, Prince Dio gave him a flat stare.
Lord Keith's amusement faded into something more thoughtful.
"It is simple. Reise has changed. And not just the hair or the clothes."
Prince Dio's expression tightened.
Lord Keith continued.
"I do not think she loves you anymore."
Silence.
Prince Dio's gaze sharpened.
"You keep treating her like the girl who followed you around," Lord Keith said. "That girl is obviously… gone."
Prince Dio said nothing.
"The woman in that office is different. She is here for a reason—one even your mother refuses to explain to you."
Lord Keith gestured toward the wall separating their offices.
"If you want her to even glance your way, you have to offer her something she actually wants."
Prince Dio looked away.
The irritating part was that Keith was not entirely wrong.
Reise had looked directly at him earlier.
And somehow, it had still felt as though she had looked straight through him.
He is not wrong, Prince Dio thought. She looked at me as though I were a stranger.
"And what," Prince Dio said, frustration simmering beneath the words, "could I possibly offer?"
Lord Keith grinned.
"How should I know?"
He stood and stretched.
"But I would start by not acting like her superior every time she breathes in your general direction."
Prince Dio's stare hardened.
"I am her department head."
"Inside the Bastion, when the matter concerns your duties? Certainly."
Lord Keith waved one hand.
"Outside of that? Good luck."
He headed toward the door.
"She made it pretty clear who she considers her real boss."
Prince Dio knew exactly who he meant.
Her mother.
"Just a thought," Lord Keith added. "You can keep sulking if you want."
He strolled out.
The door shut behind him.
Prince Dio leaned back.
Silence should have helped.
Instead, Keith had left his thoughts considerably louder.
Start with what she wants?
He looked toward the window.
Once, Prince Dio had believed Reise was painfully simple to understand.
She wanted him.
His attention. His approval.
Their engagement. Marriage.
Every action had seemed to circle back toward the same thing.
Now—
I used to think I knew what she wanted, Prince Dio thought.
He no longer did.
And he was beginning to suspect he never had as completely as he once believed.
How do you bargain with someone who has become a complete stranger in mere three years?
Her words returned. Her flat stare.
That casual hand against his lips.
The unfamiliar confidence in every movement.
Nothing about her physical appearance had changed.
Same face. Same grey eyes.
Same unmistakable Worthon features.
Yet every familiar expression seemed to have been rearranged into something he did not know how to read.
Prince Dio rubbed one hand over his face.
This was ridiculous.
❈.❈.❈
At some point, Prince Dio must have drifted into restless thought.
When he looked again, the afternoon light beyond his office window had softened.
Movement below caught his attention.
He turned his chair.
Reise.
She was leaving the Bastion.
The black gown made her easy to identify against the pale Collegium stone, its long skirt moving around her ankles while the dark embroidery caught occasional traces of light. Her rose-gold hair fell in loose, controlled waves to her waist.
But Prince Dio's attention moved beyond the clothing.
Tina, Edmund, and Lilia walked beside her.
Not behind. Beside.
The arrangement alone looked strangely informal for a direct heir of House Worthon.
Lilia suddenly hurried several steps ahead.
Then turned around.
The child walked backward briefly as she said something Prince Dio could not hear.
Reise responded.
Lilia grinned.
Then reached out and took Reise's hand.
Freely.
Without hesitation.
Reise looked down at her.
She did not smile.
Yet she did not pull away either.
The girl continued holding her hand as though this were already ordinary between them.
Prince Dio's expression shifted.
The child trusted her.
Not cautiously.
Not because etiquette demanded it.
She simply did.
He had spent years associating Reise with sharp tempers, rigid expectations, jealousy, and the countless unpleasant stories that followed the Wicked Rose wherever she went.
He had never associated her with this.
Not softness, exactly.
Reise still looked as approachable as a drawn blade.
But there was a quiet consideration in the way she allowed the child beside her.
The servants did not look frightened.
They looked comfortable.
That contradicted the woman Prince Dio thought he understood.
Without realizing it, the corner of his mouth lifted.
Barely.
Then he caught himself.
The smile disappeared.
Prince Dio remained at the window until Reise and her small group passed beyond sight.
Keith's words returned.
That girl is gone.
Prince Dio's eyes narrowed.
No. Perhaps. He did not know.
And that was the problem.
For years, he had been certain he understood Reise Worthon.
Now every interaction supplied another contradiction.
He could not tell whether he was witnessing a genuine transformation—
or being expertly drawn into a trap.
—To Be Continued…—