A profound silence blanketed the training arena, broken only by the soft patter of falling sand. Everyone stared, stunned by the cataclysm G6 had summoned and banished with a word.
"Eh? Whatever," G6 said, as if dismissing a world-ending tornado was a minor inconvenience.
"'Whatever'?" Earl repeated, his voice sharp with panic and exasperation as he strode toward her. "That was not the spell!"
<< Aura of Finality: Deactivated >>
Huh? It activated on its own?
A wave of crushing exhaustion followed. Her knees buckled, and she dropped to the sandy ground.
"Are you okay?" Earl's scolding tone vanished into genuine alarm as he knelt beside her.
Ah. This is annoying. Am I really overpowered or just weak? Fuck.
"I'm fine. Just leave me alone for a moment," G6 gritted out, voice strained.
"Use your ring. Channel a hint of mana into it," Earl instructed, low and urgent.
G6 focused, circulating a small stream of mana to her hands. The sleek black ring glowed with a soft blue light.
Whoa. The effect is different when you're wearing it. Soothing.
"How is it?"
"Better. Still aches, but I can move."
"The earring restrains your mana output, but the strain on your body was still immense." He offered his hand to help her up.
"SHE'S HOLDING MY REISE AGAIN!" Keith whined, dramatically brushing sand from his clothes.
"Shut up," Prince Dio commanded, gaze fixed on Earl and G6 with unreadable intensity. This insufferable geek. "Edmund, Tina. Clean the sand off the table," he ordered, diverting attention.
"At once, Your Highness." Edmund, Tina, and Lilia swiftly began clearing the aftermath.
"EARL! IS THE SITUATION UNDER CONTROL?" Prince Dio's voice carried across the arena, sharp and clear.
"It is. Do not mind us." Earl called back without looking away.
"Let's review the fundamentals. Before you attempt to level the Collegium again." Earl's tone left no argument.
"Yeah, whatever. You're the one who told me to do it."
"Listen to me, Rei. YOU WILL LITERALLY KILL YOURSELF CASTING SPELLS OF THAT MAGNITUDE." His voice was grave. "Your body cannot handle it."
"Stop nagging!"
"Then listen! Your body requires a mana restraint and a stabilizer ring just to manage basic fatigue. Do you understand how serious this is?" He scolded, drilling reality into her.
I know, geek. That's why I'm doing this. It makes me sick every time I'm reminded how restricted I am.
Earl made her start over. For an eternity, they practiced 'Wind Blade' and 'Gust' on a loop, repeating until the output was perfectly measured at a novice's level.
Earl, she quickly learned, was a strict, perfection-obsessed instructor.
After thirty minutes of relentless repetition, G6 muttered, "Gust," breath coming in short gasps. A moderate gust of wind formed, pushing the target back as intended. She braced her hands on her knees, reaching her limit.
"Not yet." Earl stated.
"Give me a break," she snapped.
"Not yet." Unmoved. "This will build your endurance." He walked over and stooped to look her in the eye, a faint, knowing smile on his lips. "Aren't you in a hurry?"
This damn geek psycho. He sees right through me.
"I am not in a hurry, geek. I mean, Earl."
"Ah, Earl is really into teaching Reise. I almost feel bad for her now," Keith mused from the sidelines.
"That is simply Earl being Earl," Prince Dio replied, arms crossed as he observed.
"Now, let's practice the exchange between Wind Blade and Gust again," Earl began.
Tch. He's so annoying.
"Fine, fine."
"Wind Bla—" G6 was cut off by a voice echoing from the archway.
"Pardon the interruption." A staff member projected his voice. "There is a sudden summons to the meeting hall. Immediately."
"Meeting hall?" G6 whispered.
"That's rare. Unprecedented, actually." Earl's tone shifted to serious contemplation.
The group converged. "Do not bother cleaning up. The summons is immediate," Earl informed everyone.
"Reise, bring only one servant," Prince Dio added.
Huh? Is that a rule? Eh, whatever.
"Edmund, with me. Lilia, Tina, wait in my office." G6 commanded.
"Understood, Lady Reise." Tina bowed. The group moved quickly, leaving the training grounds.
Walking through the grand halls, G6 brushed sand from her black training clothes, though evidence of her activity was plain.
"We will await your return, Lady Reise." Tina said at the staircase.
G6 gave a curt nod, and the party continued.
"Where is this meeting hall, anyway?" G6 asked.
"Ah, that's right. You wouldn't know, my Reise." Keith fell into step beside her. "It's hidden behind the Royal Collegium Library. They do love to conceal important places among books."
"Ah." A cold, monosyllabic reply that made Keith pout.
"I wonder what this is about." Earl mused quietly to Prince Dio.
"The same thought occupies my mind."
❈.❈.❈
They reached the vast, quiet library and proceeded to a specific bookshelf. Prince Dio pulled a single, unassuming volume. With a soft click, a section of the wall swung inward, revealing a lavish hallway. At its end, ornate double doors.
Prince Dio pushed them open. The meeting hall was vast and opulent, walls made entirely of crystal-clear windows that let the sun devour every corner. As they entered, they were met with confused, slightly disapproving stares. Their ragged state—still dusted with sand—stood in stark contrast to the pristine formality.
G6 was momentarily hidden by the three tall men flanking her. It shielded her from the room's occupants and blocked her own view.
The assembly was significant. The room was filled with the heirs of the Three Pillar Houses, save for Eliza. And presiding from the head of a long, oval table was the Queen herself.
"Mother." Prince Dio addressed her, formal.
Mother? So that's my boss? Tch. That witch.
"Good morning, Your Majesty." Keith and Earl greeted in practiced unison, deep bows. "And to the esteemed members of the Three Pillars."
G6 stepped out from the protective wall of men. The full scene came into view. The Queen sat at the center of power, flanked on her opposite sides by the eldest sons of House Worthon and House Nocturne.
"Good morning. You all look… rather well-traveled." The Queen's voice was a smooth, amused drawl.
"Good morning, Lady Reise." Eliza called sweetly, a move deliberately designed to draw every eye to G6. All heads turned toward the group's rear.
Tch. I hate women like her. Always trying to pull attention.
"Ah. Likewise." G6 responded with casualness utterly out of place.
She stepped fully into view. "MY REISE! DID YOU—" Ray Worthon began, voice booming with concern before cut off by the Queen clearing her throat—a silent, potent command for silence.
"Good morning, Your Majesty." G6 directed a more appropriate, if flat, greeting.
"It appears you are keeping… active, dear Reise. Please, all of you, sit."
The four took seats: Prince Dio, Earl, Keith, G6. Edmund remained standing a few paces behind her chair.
"This assembly concerns the knight recruitment initiative." The Queen began without preamble. "It was initially scheduled for Captain Kepler's return, but we must proceed without delay."
Looks like someone's in a hurry. Got a hot date?
"Excuse my interruption, Your Majesty." Prince Dio interjected. "Might I ask the reason for such urgency?"
The Queen exchanged a weighted look with the Pillar heirs. "It is a matter of prevention. Intelligence suggests the Southern Kingdom has been aggressively recruiting knights for two months… This is a preemptive measure."
"Are they mobilizing for war?" Earl asked, tone sharp and analytical.
"We cannot be certain. However, prevention is superior to cure." She began issuing commands with cool efficiency. "Prince Dio, oversee all preparations. Earl, effective immediately, you are stationed at the Bastion. Inform Zen and Brenda to remain as well."
She turned her gaze. "Keith, focus on Eliza's endurance training. Strengthen her healing capabilities; it could save a fortune in potions."
A heavy silence fell. This was not a discussion; it was strategic mobilization.
Kingdoms war, huh? Not my type of scene. Way too messy. Loud. Attention. The best way is to silently end the string puller.
"I also want a census of all Adventurers across the kingdom who hold an S-Rank in Physical Enhancement Magic. And identify any… special cases."
Special cases? What's that?
"Special cases?" G6's blunt question cut through solemn decorum.
"Indeed. On rare occasions, commoners are born with a unique magical affinity that resonates with a noble bloodline. The odds are approximately one in two million."
"You mean they're probably some noble's illegitimate kids?" G6 said, a sharp smirk playing on her lips.
The entire room froze, every eye locking onto her as if she'd voiced a terrifying, unspoken truth. "Or they could just be special." She added flatly, then sank back into her seat, using Keith's frame as a shield.
The Queen let out a soft, airy laugh. "That will be all. You have one week." She turned to the other Pillar heirs. "Elder siblings, maintain vigilance. Nocturnes, compensate while Earl is at the Bastion. Worthons, continue work on advanced spells and potions."
Ray and Ron offered a curt, synchronized bow. The Nocturne heirs—Earl's older brother and sister—nodded, expressions unreadable.
"Hey, Keith." G6 whispered.
"What is it, Reise?"
"Where are your siblings?"
"What do you mean? Captain Kepler's my brother." As if obvious.
What? Really? That Captain everyone's talking about? The one Tina was gushing over?
"Really? That talk-of-the-town Captain? Then why are you here? Are you the family's black sheep?" G6 needled him.
"Kepler is just the eldest! He gets the spotlight first!" Keith pouted.
"A typical loser's defense mechanism."
Their hushed bickering began to seep into the quiet room.
"And for Reise." The Queen called, voice slicing through their argument.
Me? What does she want now? Tch.
G6 sat up straight, features schooled to neutrality. "Yes, Your Majesty?"
"How is your remedial training progressing? Are you managing well?" The Queen's tone dripped false concern.
"Yes. With the… generous help of Keith, Earl, and… Prince Dio." Soft but laced with sarcasm only she could hear.
"I am glad to see you are getting along with them again. I trust you are not forgetting our… understanding, correct?" Sweet, but the hidden threat was clear as glass.
"Of course not… Master." Mocking deference.
The Queen laughed, a light, tinkling sound disconnected from the tension. "Then you are all dismissed. Thank you for attending."
Everyone stood and bowed, filing out.
"Reise, a moment, if you please. Stay behind."
Dio, Keith, and Earl halted, gazes snapping between G6 and the Queen. "Do not fret. I will return her shortly." The Queen's smile was placid.
"Edmund, wait for me outside." G6 instructed, then walked calmly to stand before the Queen.
As the others left, the heavy ornate doors shut, sealing her in a soundproof chamber of sunlight and power.
❈.❈.❈
Outside, the three men and the steward walked down the lavish hallway back toward the library.
"What was that about?" Keith asked, breaking the silence.
"Her Majesty has been showing… particular interest in Reise this past week." Earl mused, adjusting glasses.
"Let us not speculate on matters that are not our concern." Prince Dio stated, though his own curiosity was plain.
"Give me a break, Prince Dio. On her first day, you lost your composure because she wouldn't speak to you!" Keith teased.
"Indeed. Keith told me everything. You were rather… lame flame." Earl added, fueling the fire.
"I will personally roast both of you. And, why you two only chooses whenever you feel like addressing me as 'Prince'?" Prince Dio warned, a faint shimmer of heat wavering.
Instead of answering, they both looked away.
Edmund followed quietly, perhaps the only one with an inkling of what the private audience might entail.
They reached the library door and stepped back into the hushed world of books. They were immediately greeted by a frantic Brenda.
"WHERE IS LADY REISE?" she demanded, desperate.
"Great, another geek." Keith muttered.
"You shut up!" Brenda snapped without looking. "Earl, what's wrong? Why isn't she with you? Is there an emergency?" Her distress was palpable.
"There is!" Brenda declared, ecstatic with panic. She spotted Edmund, rushed to him, grasping his shoulders. "Did I do something to offend Lady Reise?!" Eyes welling with tears.
"My Lady Brenda, whatever do you mean?" Edmund bewildered.
"Her changing clothes are gone from the storage room! She's not coming here anymore! What did I do wrong?"
"My lady simply finds it more convenient to keep her effects in her villa or office. Please, rest assured, Lady Reise is not angry."
"Truly? I thought… I had lost the honor of attending to her grace." Relief mixed with devotion bordering on something far deeper.
"What is wrong with your cousin, Earl? Is she losing her mind?" Keith asked, baffled.
"I confess, I do not know." Earl equally perplexed.
"Oh, be quiet!" Brenda whined, finally noticing Prince Dio. "Oh? You're here too?" Her casual tone spoke volumes of long acquaintance. She composed herself. "You all may go. I will wait."
"I will wait." Prince Dio stated.
"As will we. We arrived together." Keith added.
"Do not get in my way." Brenda's focus singular and intense.
"What?" both Earl and Keith asked in unison.
They were unaware of the terrifyingly effective manipulation G6 had performed. She had subtly mirrored the face of her brothers—the object of Brenda's crush—a psychological trick to hijack existing affections and redirect them. The result: Brenda utterly smitten with Lady Reise.
Yes, G6 was a frighteningly manipulative woman.
"Are you not returning to the Bastion yet, Your Highness?" Eliza asked, directing full, simpering attention to Prince Dio.
Prince Dio offered a brief, cold glance. "I am waiting for Reise."
"I see… Lady Reise is not yet dismissed…" Faux sympathy.
"Why don't you go on ahead, Eliza?" Keith intervened. "We can discuss our training arrangement later."
"Oh, that's right. We are to be trainee and mentor once more." Eliza bestowed a sweet smile.
"That's right. Dear Eliza." Keith's smile so forced it was almost a grimace.
"Then, if you'll excuse me, I should prepare. I wouldn't wish to intrude." Masterclass in painting herself as the delicate, out-of-place flower.
"There is no need. You may wait and return with us. It is our common destination." Earl stated, tone leaving no argument—a simple, professional assessment. "Brenda, a word regarding your reassignment." Deftly shifting focus to his distraught cousin.
❈.❈.❈
The ornate door clicked shut, sealing them in a sun-drenched cage. The moment it closed, G6's posture shifted from faux-submission to a predator's easy stance.
"What is it, boss?" All prior pretense gone.
"You can drop the act now." The Queen's tone was calm, but the warmth had bled out, leaving something cold and analytical.
G6's brows furrowed slightly. What is she playing at? Don't tell me… does she know I'm a fake?
"What do you mean?" Voice a flat, neutral slate. Panic was an amateur's emotion.
"I was informed by the main palace's Apothecary Department." The Queen's eyes sharp and assessing. "Not long after you arrived… you requested a 'white drop'."
White drop? Hmm… the small, unlabeled vial I found stashed under the bed.
"What about it?" G6's response gave nothing away.
"Reise…" The Queen's voice underwent a subtle shift, the stateswoman's mask cracking to reveal something like genuine concern. "Did you try to kill yourself?"
G6 remained silent. Tactical patience. Let the Queen reveal her hand.
"The day you acquired it was the very day you came to my chambers. You asked if there could be another woman better suited for Prince Dio, someone who could make him happy."
Oh? The original Reise did that? Wait. This isn't an accusation; it's a confession. A crucial piece.
"I could feel the despair clinging to you. I saw the darkness in your eyes, the emptiness in your smile. You must forgive me for not realizing the depth, for not pulling you aside sooner." The Queen's worry felt real, raw.
G6 let out a heavy, measured sigh and tilted her head back, as if bored. "Don't be, Your Majesty." Her voice was chillingly calm. "You weren't wrong."
She brought her gaze down. The grey of her eyes seemed to swallow the light. They were no longer the eyes of a troubled noblewoman.
"I did indeed try to kill myself that night." A clinical report. "And in a way, I suppose I succeeded. The weak thing that lived in this skin… she died."
She took a single, silent step forward.
"But death doesn't always bring an end. Sometimes, it's an awakening. It woke something in me that had been sleeping. Something your precious Reise spent her entire life trying to silence."
Her lips curved into a smile that held no warmth, only a razor's edge.
"Something untamed. Something that doesn't feel the cold because it is the cold. Something… dangerous." Her voice dropped to a whisper that seemed to lower the temperature. "Something that knows, in its very bones, that the only purpose of light is to be extinguished."
The Queen was utterly still, regal composure the only thing holding back a visible shudder.
"You saw a shadow in my eyes that day?" G6 continued, head tilting. "That wasn't a shadow. That was the shape of something real staring back. That darkness is out now. It is me."
Another step, silent and fluid.
"And you can't begin to imagine the things I would do, the lines I would erase, to take what I want. Not as a petulant child, but as a fundamental law of nature. A threat does not ask for permission. It simply is."
Not a boast. A statement of fact. A warning from a force of nature.
The Queen absorbed this, maternal concern evaporating under the heat of this terrifying revelation. She straightened, a strange, calculating look replacing the worry.
Silence heavier than any spell.
The Queen's concern solidified into grim understanding. "I will still continue to support you." Voice regaining its steel. "I will pry no more, for now. I know you are still Reise. Just… not the Reise I knew."
She met G6's lethal gaze without flinching. "Sometimes… a necessary darkness is what a kingdom needs to survive the light."
The phrase struck a chord. Familiar. A core tenet, a slogan whispered in the halls of her former life.
'A necessary darkness on the sidelines is what keeps the world in balance.'
This queen wasn't just offering comfort. She was speaking a language G6 understood. She wasn't afraid of the monster; she was considering how to use it.
G6's eyes fixed on the Queen, expression unreadable.
Ah. She's one of those.
A swift, cold categorization. Familiar from her old life: the powerful figures who understood some problems existed in a moral grey area the law couldn't touch. The ones who hired her kind.
"Take back what you feel you have lost, Reise. Then we will talk further." The Queen's tone shifted from strategic ally back to maternal concern. "But no more self-destruction." Gentle but firm. "And, do not push yourself too hard. Do not attempt Cryomancy yet; I have not heard back from my master."
"Fine." G6 filed the information away.
Did she just completely ignore all my murderous intent? Or did she just accept it?
"Let us go. I am sure those children are waiting." The Queen gracefully guided G6 back toward the hidden door.
❈.❈.❈
They walked in a silence that was its own conversation. When the bookshelf swung open, the eyes of their waiting audience immediately glued to them, searching.
"You see? They have been waiting." The Queen observed brightly, the perfect monarch once more.
"Then I'll be leaving." G6 said.
Before she could turn, the Queen spoke again, voice low but sharp. "I am aware of those… extreme intentions, Reise. I nearly lost my composure in there." A small, knowing smile—not of a mother, but of a proud master looking upon a formidable apprentice. Then she left, exit as regal as her entrance.
The others could only stare, utterly confused by the Queen's final, cryptic words.
Is she a psycho? Wait, Dio seems too normal for that. Maybe she's a masochist. That damn crazy witch.
"Shall we return to the Bastion, Lady Reise?" Edmund inquired, breaking the silence.
"Alright, let's go. Thanks for waiting." G6's voice returned to its usual casual bluntness.
And so, the new generation of the Three Pillars walked on, united by duty, circumstance, and the unknowable future, each step taking them further into a destiny irrevocably changed by the unforeseen darkness that may occur—and by the dangerous darkness walking among them.
—To Be Continued…-–