Lilia stared at the teacup that had barely diminished, her eyes sullen, before calling out after the Duke's retreating back.
"I'll come to your office later and take care of it separately, Father!"
The Duke, engrossed in serious conversation with Frijian, didn't seem to have any attention to spare for this side. Lilia watched the two figures receding with reluctant eyes before sighing.
"Both of them seem to have a lot on their minds because of older sister, Mother."
"Anneliya was such a proud child from when she was young. When she set her mind on something, it was impossible to stop her."
At the name 'Anneli' that slipped directly from the Duchess's lips, Lilia's neat eyelashes trembled.
Cradling the teacup with both hands and tracing its surface with her fingers, Lilia murmured as if to herself.
"I thought she would act more maturely since she was chosen by the gods.... I guess she still holds some resentment."
The Duchess drank her tea without a word. To a casual observer, her face was no different than usual, but Lilia easily noticed that the Duchess was thinking of Anneli.
On the day Anneli was executed, the Duchess couldn't bear to watch the scene, and when news came that Anneli had been resurrected, she couldn't sleep at night for a while. It was impossible not to know that some lingering attachment remained within her.
Lilia reached out and gently covered the back of the Duchess's hand.
"Don't worry, Mother. Older sister also truly misses her family in her heart."
At the gentle comfort, the Duchess quietly took a breath. Calmly withdrawing her captured hand and grasping the teacup, the Duchess looked at Lilia with her usual smile.
"Yes."
At the warmth that slipped away in an instant, Lilia's eyes wavered briefly, but she soon put on a nonchalant, cheerful voice.
"Mother, where was I in my story? That's right, Maxel was...."
* * *
"It's been a while, brother."
Heinrich, pretending not to notice the other person as he walked toward the end of the long corridor, frowned.
His lips pressed into a thin line as he stopped walking and slowly turned around. He had thought he might meet this person if he came to the main palace, but actually facing him was entirely unwelcome.
The person standing before him was his younger brother—and this country's Crown Prince.
"I see you're on your way back after greeting His Majesty. Is Gelbun the same as always?"
"Yes."
"I wondered why you personally requested permission to go out. I heard you'd been staying only in the library?"
"There are books only available there."
At his answer, Maxel let out a faint laugh. With slightly curly golden hair and blue eyes, Maxel looked to anyone like a prince who had just stepped out of a fairy tale.
Even before becoming Crown Prince, there was a rumor—told like a joke—that half of the Empire's young ladies had taken Maxel to heart.
Heinrich remembers when Maxel became Crown Prince and thus got engaged to the second daughter of Roam.
The two made a good match. What more needed to be said? It was undeniable that the sight of the two, so well-suited for each other, tormented him even more than the fact that he had ultimately lost the power struggle.
Anneli, standing proudly, was calm and arrogant like someone standing exactly where she ought to be.
Seeing her like that, he probably thought: that could have been me standing there. How incompetent he was to have missed his chance in the end.
Such self-reproach and shame kept him confined within the palace even more.
"I heard Anneli was found near Gelbun—that was during your time in Gelbun, brother?"
"So they say."
"Did you also hear the news that the search parties from Roam and the Temple missed her?"
"As you know, I just stayed in the library and came back."
"I thought you'd be interested in news about her."
Heinrich fell silent. Maxel gazed at Heinrich like that for a moment before turning away. Beyond the large window of the corridor, the sunset was fading. Crimson light cast long shadows in the corridor.
"His Majesty wants to bring her into the imperial family. Did you know?"
"I did."
"He's probably thinking of adopting her as a daughter, but who knows. Your long unrequited love might see a graceful light. His Majesty would certainly consider such a method."
Maxel's voice was utterly indifferent. Heinrich silently gazed at Maxel's profile as he looked out the window.
"Do you think she would want that?"
"It's His Majesty's will, so her wishes won't have any influence. Besides, Anneli is a woman who has lived her whole life to enter the imperial palace. There's no place more suited for her than here."
"Then what about you?"
At the sudden question, Maxel turned to look at Heinrich. Heinrich had lost, but he was still a member of the imperial family. Maintaining a calm and composed expression was not difficult for him at all.
"If she becomes my fiancée, would you be fine with that?"
"Do I look like I'm suffering some childish fever like you?"
"Imagine it."
As much as Heinrich's lips curved, Maxel's lips stiffened.
"Her swearing eternal love with me before the gods. The sight of her in my arms, happy because of me. Kissing me, looking only at me, moving for me, allowing only me to call her name. Anneli Roam. All the things you might have once enjoyed but will no longer be permitted to you."
A deep shadow fell over Maxel's face, the smile completely erased.
The shadows created by the sunset outside the window made Maxel's expression even colder. Yet Heinrich smiled even more brightly.
"Ah, but you have that innocent 'Lilia Roam,' don't you."
"Watch your mouth."
At Maxel's low warning, Heinrich sneered.
"You should stop calling the 'second daughter of Roam' 'Anneli.' She's a woman who might become my fiancée now."
The corners of Maxel's tightly closed lips trembled slightly. Heinrich gazed at Maxel like that.
In Gelbun, Anneli had told him. That he resembled Maxel. That was an incredibly pride-wounding statement. Had he really stood before her with that kind of face? Just imagining it was terrible.
Heinrich hid his sinking feelings and continued speaking gently.
"An engagement with Anneli Roam. How joyous and thrilling. Thank you for showing me such a possibility. As expected, the Crown Prince of the Empire is generous even to his defeated rival. Thanks to you, I think I'll sleep well today."
Heinrich bowed his head exaggeratedly and turned away indifferently. In the silent corridor, Heinrich's footsteps rang out especially loudly.
"...."
Maxel, watching Heinrich's retreating back with cold eyes, also turned in the opposite direction.
The sunset light that had dyed the corridor red disappeared, and gloomy darkness fell outside the window.
* * *
"This is a bit much."
"You think so too, Lady Anneli? How could they make so many illegal magical tools...!"
"Half of these are defective. Did they inspect them properly? You're saying half are faulty?"
At my irritated question, Xenon fell silent. He moved only his lips as if speechless before pressing his forehead and groaning.
"The fact that half even work properly is the problem! These illegal magical tools haven't gone through functional safety inspections!"
"It's illegal distribution, so naturally they can't go through official safety inspections."
"...I can certainly tell that Lady Anneli and I are looking at different parts of the problem."
Xenon shook his head with a resigned face.
"You may have spent a lot of money, but give up on the ones I've set aside without thinking about the cost. If you use these incorrectly, your arms and legs will fly off. Especially this one. You pour magic power into it and it explodes—if you tried to use it, your arm would fly off before you could even throw it."
"I don't care about the money spent. Just tell me which of the usable ones are actually worth using."
Xenon, who had been about to explain why they were defective, quickly pushed them all aside. Instead, he brought over the ones that could function normally and spread them out.
"Legally distributed magical tools are required to have the creator's seal. It's not just to identify the maker—it's like a finishing process for stable activation of the magical tool, but illegal ones don't have that. So you have to keep in mind that they're generally unstable."
"I understand."
"These are what I've selected—ones I thought would at least perform their basic functions. At minimum, these will activate and work normally when triggered. But the power... might not manifest exactly as written in the manual. From here to here are attack-type magical tools, and these over here are support types."
Shall we look at the attack types first?
Scanning the items with my eyes, I picked up the bracelet closest to me. It was a bracelet with a design that clearly gave no consideration to aesthetics. Judging by its appearance alone, I really didn't want to wear it.
"Three attack spells are imbued in that one. Looking at the formulas, they seem to be fire-type, but the power might be slightly different from what's written in the manual."
"Is it a wide-area spell?"
"Probably. Fire-types tend to be wide-area by nature. Even if you try not to spread it wide, it often ends up that way. So try not to use that in narrow spaces if possible. If you're not careful, you'll be in danger, Lady Anneli."
I nodded and immediately put the bracelet on my right wrist. Then I picked up another bracelet, thin as thread.
Compared to the thick bracelet from earlier, it seemed to be made of pathetically little gold. The thread bracelet had a single round green gem dangling from it.
"This is a shield?"
"Ah, yes. Surprisingly, it seems to be a high-level shield. It's the most usable among these, but unfortunately there's a limit on the number of uses. I was curious about who made it."
"Does it block strong attacks too?"
"Yes. It can. The shield spell was made with great care compared to the others. So if you think an arrow is coming, use it unconditionally."
"Even against this fire magic?"
I extended my right wrist and asked, and Xenon looked at me with puzzled eyes. Holding the thread bracelet in my left hand, I added an explanation.
"I'm asking if I can survive alone by triggering this fire magic in a narrow space and then blocking it with this shield."
Only then understanding my question, Xenon asked back with a pale face.
"...Why must you imagine such a combination?"