Politics—the ohing I wao avoid since being Ryn Ashford. A, here I am, caught between two siblings pulling me in opposite dires.

  Since school started, the Phantoms and I have yet to explore the huh floor of the dungeon. But that isn’t the only thing weighing on my mind. Every day, the Prind Princess grow friendlier with my friends a’s all an act. They clearly have something pnned.

  But my thoughts keep cirg back to what a told me during the ball. What exactly is so bad that she needs me for? And why did the Priurn from abroad?

  These questions pgue me daily.

  Elnora, Alex, Lilli, and I have been attending csses, sitting through Professors Norfock’s and Adeline’s lessons. Ms. Adelieags are of little use—her knowledge is obviously limited, though I’ll admit her nature magic is impressive. Sihe semester started, she’s softened a bit, her usual stern demeaniving way to more casual discussions.

  Norfock, however, is aory. He’s always drunk, stantly sparring with students, and making us fight monsters under extreme restris—all while he lounges bad ughs like the drunken lunatic he is. Oddly enough, he seems to go easier on Prince Lucas. I ’t help but wonder if something’s at py here.

  To avoid unwatention, we’ve taken to eating lun Evastor’s office. The Prind Princess have been keeping too close of an eye on us tely.

  Alex sighed as he leaned back. “This is the tenth time some royal girl has approached me with a marriage proposal.” He shook his head in exasperation.

  “I hear you,” Lilli muttered, rubbiemples. “My father keeps receiving tless marriage requests for me, but I keep deing them… He’s happy with all the attention roup is getting, though. He takes pride in it.” She shook her head again, clearly frustrated.

  I sat at the round table in the middle of Evastor’s office, watg as he and Elnhed together, caught up in their own versation.

  “How about you, Elnora?” I asked. “Has aried anything?”

  She g me before shrugging. “Uh, no. Not a sihing.”

  “LUCKY!” Lilli groaned dramatically.

  Alex kept shaking his head as if drained by the endless attention.

  Evastor, who had been quietly , suddenly spoke. “Well, that’s to be expected.”

  He picked up his por tea cup by the haook a slow sip, and smirked.

  "If you actually paid attention to politics like the royal you are, you'd kly why the Prind Princess want you on their side," Evastor said, taking another slow sip of his tea.

  "W-why?" I asked, fused.

  Evastor waved a hand toward Alex. "Go on, Alex. Inform them."

  I turo Alex, narrowing my eyes. "YOU KNEW AND FAILED TO TELL ME?"

  Alex smirked. "I HAVE EARS UNLIKE YOU!" he shouted back pyfully.

  Before either of us could escate, Lilli and Elnora both stood up and smmed us back down into our seats.

  "Behave," Lilli muttered.

  We both cleared our throats before Alex tinued. "As I was saying… The Prind Princess are currently at a stalemate. Sihe Queen died giving birth to Princess a, Prince Lucas has loathed both her and their father, King Burgess. It’s rumored that he left for schooling abroad because of that hatred. Some say he’s a prince hellbent on revenge, while others cim a is inexperienced and undeserving of the since she’s the sed-born."

  Evastor set his cup down and cleared his throat. "King Burgess—"

  At the mention of the name, Elnora suddenly stiffened. Her expression darkened, her gaze unfocused.

  We kept talking, unaware.

  Evastor tinued, "He has the sht to decide who will rule Idelia . And since a is his favorite, she’ll most likely be chosen. This division is why they want—"

  SLAM!

  Elnora’s head hit the table.

  "ELNORA!" I yelled, rushing to her side.

  Evastor was already there, catg her before she could slump over pletely.

  We id Elnora down against the nearby wall beh a rge window, propping her up carefully. Evastor swiftly grabbed a wet cloth and pressed it to her forehead. I sat beside her, holding her hand, while Lilli and Alex stood nearby, worry etched on their faces.

  Knock, knock, knock!

  "We know you're in there, Ryn!" A familiar voice rang out from the waiting area—it was the Prind Princess.

  "You ot be back here," Evastor muttered, his eyes flig toward the door. Then, in a hushed voice, he turo Lilli and Alex. "You two, e with me."

  As they followed him to the entrance, Evastor smoothed out his expression and opehe door, bowing politely. "Good evening," he greeted.

  Standing before him were Prince Lucas and Princess a, their usual ente of students clustered behind them.

  "I've heard Ryn and his party are here," Lucas said coolly. "I wish to speak with them immediately."

  Evastor’s lips curled into a smile, though his eyes remained sharp. "I’m unsure about Ryn... but I do have these two," he replied, stepping aside just enough to reveal Lilli and Alex.

  Princess a tilted her head, a note of doubt in her voice. "A-Are you certain he isn’t here, Sir Headmaster?"

  Evastaze so hers, his gre unwavering.

  Lucas crossed his arms. "And you are certain?" He tried peeking over Evastor’s shoulder, but the headmaster did not move an inch.

  A moment of silence passed—thick with unspoken tension.

  "F-Fihese two will do," Lucas finally ceded, stepping back.

  "Yes, indeed!" a chimed in, f a bright smile.

  Lilli and Alex exged exhausted gnces before stepping forward, following the royals into the waiting room. However, as they entered, somethi... off.

  The paintings on the walls no longer depicted the eerie purple monsters. Instead, they dispyed portraits of the royal family and creatures stripped of their ominous auras. The entire room had ged—its freen and purple hues now repced with regal golds and whites, colors befitting the kingdom. It was as if the very space itself had beeten to fit the presence of royalty.

  As Lilli and Alex disappeared with the group, Evastor’s expression darkened. He remai the door, watg them go, then raised a single finger.

  A pulse of ice magic fred from him, and the entrance sealed shut with solid stone.

  Turning on his heel, Evastor strode back toward his office, his gre still lingering. He passed the receptionist without breaking stride.

  "If they return, ensure you cast Bckout," he ordered.

  Then, pushing open the door to his office, he finally let his expression soften. His eyes nded on Ryn, still by Elnora’s side, still holding her hand.

  A rare, almost amused smile flickered across Evastor’s face.

  Elnora y there, sweating, her breath shallow and unevely, I lifted her head and pressed a cup of water to her lips, allowio sip. She was slipping in and out of sciousness, her body frail, as if she had caught a simple fever.

  "It's like she has a on cold," I muttered aloud.

  Evastor stood close behind me, his preseeady but unreadable.

  "She'll be fine as long as you stay near her."

  I ched my jaw, frustration bubbling up. "You ’t promise that," I surning to gre at him, worry evident in my eyes—aion I barely reized within myself.

  Evasthed, his expression calm yet firm. "I'll tell you this—when your mana is in close tact with another, your vitality and other attributes increase."

  "H-How do you know that?" I demanded.

  A ghost of a smirk tugged at the er of Evastor’s lips. "There’s a lot I know," he replied smoothly. "And I ot tell you yet. It is as my liege has anded."

  That was the st straw.

  I shot up from my seat, grabbed the front of Evastor’s light blue kimono, and smmed him against the wall. The impact sent a sharp crack through the stone.

  "There is so much I don’t uand!" My voice shook with raw emotion. "Why am I here? Why didn’t you just let me die?! How do you know she’ll be—"

  "Cough, cough…"

  Elnora’s weak, muffled voice cut through my rage.

  My grip oor’s clothing loosened instantly. I let go and rushed back to Elnora’s side, watg as she stirred, her face twisted in disfort. She muttered in her sleep, her words barely audible, as if trapped in a nightmare.

  Behind me, Evastor adjusted his robes, brushing off the dust from the cracked wall. Yet, when I gnced back at him, he didn’t look angry. His expression remained unreadable—except for the smallest flicker of something in his eyes.

  Something I couldn't pce.

  A straion flickered ior’s eyes—it seemed like joy.

  Meanwhile, Elnora began muttering again, her voice ced with distress.

  "F-Father… MOTHER—NO! NO!" she suddenly screamed, her hands grasping at the air as if trying to hold onto something unseen.

  "I—I ’T HIDE! NO, YOU ’T! DON’T PUT ME IN THIS CHAMBER—NO!"

  A brilliant green light surged from her fiips. Before I could react, a mana-fed sword erupted into her hands, its glow eerily simir to my own.

  I instinctively stepped back. "Elnora?!"

  She lunged without warning. A sharp whistle cut through the air as she swung at me.

  "Tch—!" Evastor and I dodged in unison, standing side by side as she took another erratic step forward, her swleaming.

  "W-What’s wrong with her?" I asked, my grip tightening on my own bde.

  Evastor’s eyes widened—an expression I had never seen from him before. "She’s experieng a memory intervention," he muttered, his usual posure wavering. "We ot hurt her. We have to restrain her. If we hold her down, we disrupt the in—"

  A fsh of green steel cut the air.

  Blood spttered across the floor.

  Evastor staggered back, a fresh cut trailing across his cheek. His dragon-scale reflexes had barely saved him from a deeper wound.

  "Tch…" Arike.

  DING!

  He blocked it—this time using his forearm, the hardened dragon scales catg the bde just in time.

  "I-I TOLD YOU I WON’T LEAVE HER!" Elnora screamed, her voice full of anguish.

  It was like she was sleepwalking, yet her attacks were terrifyingly precise. I had sparred with her tless times, and she had never e close to nding a hit oor before—yet now, she had drawn blood.

  How? How could she jure the same sword as I do?

  Her movements were erratic, yet deliberate. She vanished from in front of Evastor and reappeared near me, her sword sshing down in an arc.

  "WAIT, DON’T!" Evastor shouted.

  DING!

  I barely mao blo time.

  Our mana-fed bdes cshed, sending a shockwave through the room. The forpact hurled us both backward—

  CRASH!

  I smmed into the window, the gss spiderwebbih my weight.

  THUD!

  Elnora flew back as well, colliding with a bookshelf.

  Before she could hit the grouor dashed forward, catg her just in time. His arms softened her fall as she stirred, her breath unsteady. Slowly, her glowing eyes dimmed, and the energy around her began to fade.

  She was waking up.

  i Chapter: Act 2 - 23. Nightmare's and the Mana Sword