“Isn’t that a trick?”
“No, in times like these, how could they resort to such a cheap trick…!”
The king in the special seat froze with wide eyes.
He had intended to watch the event and offer a word of praise before leaving, since public sentiment was unsettled due to the Oken Crown Prince’s delegation. Instead, he witnessed something extraordinary.
Prince Patrick was surprised at first, then realized.
‘So this is what the Piert Marquis mentioned!’
He quickly recalled the memory.
‘Please allow our Piert family to prepare the opening stage for this Sun Festival.’
The Sun Festival was an event the people eagerly anticipated. A noble family’s request to fund the festival from their own pockets rather than the national treasury was always welcome.
Especially when that family was the Piert Ducal House!
They already enjoyed sky-high popularity with seemingly nothing more to gain, and they were powerful neutrals among the nobility who had recently begun supporting the prince!
The king and Prince Patrick promptly granted permission with an “Of course, by all means.” There was also a sense of camaraderie.
‘The Piert family must be in the same predicament, unable to move in any direction because of the Oken Crown Prince’s courtship!’
‘They must be trying to make up for their recent silence with this event!’
Rikeil Piert, the young marquis, expressed his gratitude for the quick approval. Then he added a subtle comment.
‘We will prepare with our utmost sincerity, so please attend the event and grace us with your presence. If you like it, perhaps offer some words of praise.’
‘…S-sure.’
At the time, he wondered why such words were necessary.
‘I thought it was just talk to strengthen our relationship.’
Now, watching Leah Piert reveal the magic she had kept hidden, he understood what those words meant.
They were an invitation to claim some credit for this opportunity.
Tap.
Prince Patrick didn’t miss this precious chance.
“Flame of Peiren!”
He shouted as he leaped onto the platform.
“The Prince!”
“It’s the Prince!”
The people grew even more excited at Prince Patrick’s dramatic appearance.
“Flame of Peiren.”
The prince approached Leah, meeting the people’s gaze directly. He spoke deliberately.
“Who would call you, wielder of mana’s mysteries, merely the Flower of Peiren?”
Leah looked at the approaching Prince Patrick with a composed face.
‘Choosing Prince Patrick as an ally was indeed the right decision.’
As with Ruyan’s trial, the prince possessed an instinctive political sense of when and how to make his move.
“Leah Piert. Flame of Peiren.”
The prince calmly called to her.
“Will you use your power to illuminate Peiren?”
To this weighty question, Leah answered.
“Prince Patrick Peiren, my flame will never attack Peiren’s future!”
It was a scene straight out of stories.
A mage appearing suddenly. Fire magic never seen or heard before. A covenant with a young prince who recognized the mage!
As these dreamlike stories they had never imagined unfolded before them, the crowd beneath the platform grew excited.
***
Leah fueled that excitement.
She quickly waved her hand while signaling to the prince. Prince Patrick noticed the signal, drew his sword, and held it high.
Whoosh!
Flames erupted from the tip of the prince’s sword.
“Wooooah!”
The crowd cheered.
“Flame of Peiren!”
“The mage of Peiren!”
The fire blazing from the tip of Prince Patrick’s sword illuminated both his and Leah’s faces. It was a beautiful and solemn sight. The crowd, excited to see a legendary mage before their eyes, shouted.
“A miracle! It’s a miracle!”
“You fool, it’s magic!”
Someone yelled.
“Long live Prince Patrick! Long live the mage of Peiren!”
“Hurrah!”
“May the Flame of Peiren burn eternally!”
***
Among the spectators were people with uncomfortable expressions.
They were pro-imperial nobles.
“To think Peirlily was a mage!”
Some nobles were skeptical.
“Could that magic be real?”
“Then what about that fire that appears and disappears freely for so long? You think it’s fake?”
Even the skeptics soon gave up their doubts.
Even to these laymen, the flames sprouting from Leah Piert’s fingertips were clearly magic. Their concerns lay elsewhere.
“Could this have been pre-arranged with the prince?”
“The prince clearly knew Leah Piert was a mage. Otherwise, he couldn’t have responded so quickly!”
The pro-imperial nobles bit their lips.
Regardless of whose idea it was, it was a clever alliance.
A mage appearing suddenly. Who wouldn’t want such powerful and rare military strength?
Now revealed as a mage, Leah Piert would inevitably become someone the powerful would target, but in a different way than before.
“Why wasn’t she appointed as a royal mage?”
“If she were appointed as a royal mage now, would the Oken Empire sit still?”
“Then doesn’t Leah Piert gain nothing compared to the prince?”
“Why would she gain nothing?”
The speaker gestured toward the east. The direction of the Oken Empire.
“For Leah Piert’s side, announcing herself as Peiren’s mage reduces the likelihood of being entangled in troublesome matters like this marriage proposal. There’s now a justification that it would lead to a leak of military strength.”
“So that was the intention!”
In short, it was an alliance where both Leah Piert and Prince Patrick won. One of the nobles from the aristocratic faction muttered with a pale face.
“Then Prince Patrick… has gained the support of both a Swordmaster and a mage?”
Grand Duke Calosi was thinking the same thing.
Crunch.
The sound of grinding teeth escaped between his lips.
Being a shrewd politician who rarely displayed his emotions, his sons and grandsons beside him grew restless.
The Grand Duke muttered.
“That young fool, getting ahead of himself…”
It was clear whom he meant. The Grand Duke’s eyes turned to his sons and grandsons.
‘What have you all been doing?!’
His bloodline, chastised by his glare, gulped.
Walter, the third son, and Philip, the first grandson, who had approached Leah Piert, felt even worse.
‘I should have just stayed put!’
Remembering Leah Piert’s frowning face, they felt chills down their spines.
‘If she had wanted to, we might have been burned…’
Whoosh!
“Ohhh!”
The flame attached to the tip of Prince Patrick’s sword flew toward the river like a giant meteor with Leah’s gesture.
The fireball was so large that the river water and bridge momentarily lit up.
Walter Calosi and Philip Calosi, who had been standing with mouths agape, fled the scene.
‘…I nearly became a roast!’
‘Let’s avoid catching Leah Piert’s eye for a while!’
***
Regardless of the festival atmosphere buzzing with cheers, concerns, and jealousy, Leah looked up at the sky after shooting the last fireball.
Though she knew she should come down now, her white hand hesitated, groping through the air.
With each fireball she shot, her insides burned.
Not from fear of failing to capture people’s attention or having her magic recognized.
Not from worry about being unable to refuse Crown Prince Archaik Oken’s marriage proposal.
‘Helix. Are you really going to be like this?’
She lowered her hand and looked up at the sky resentfully.
‘You won’t come even though I might marry another man? Really?’
Unaware of Leah’s feelings, the audience applauded.
“Wow! Flame of Peiren!”
“Long live Peiren! Long live the mage of Peiren!”
At that moment.
Flash!
Without warning, lightning struck, splitting the sky.
“L-lightning from a clear sky?!”
“It hit the Oken delegation’s tent! The lightning struck the Oken Crown Prince’s flag!”
Impetuous people shouted.
“Heaven opposes this marriage! The Flame of Peiren is Peiren’s treasure!”
“Waaah!”
Leah stared wide-eyed at the sky where the lightning had originated. Wind blew around her body. Her body gradually rose, and her feet lifted into the air.
“The mage is flying!”
“My goodness! She’s really rising into the sky!”
Below, the commotion grew with increasing astonishment, but Leah paid no attention as she soared into the sky.
The festival scene grew distant below her. Under the wine-colored sky, the city’s rooftops and lights appeared small beneath her feet.
Fear and the gaze of others felt distant. She only wanted to rise higher. Up into the sky, higher and higher…
Suddenly,
From the cold clouds, a hot hand emerged and embraced Leah.
“Helix?”
Even as she asked, she was certain. The moment she was embraced, she felt both incredibly angry and incredibly happy.
“Is it really you, Helix?”
Still, she asked. She asked again if it was really him.
The man who embraced Leah desperately gave no answer. She pulled away from him. She grabbed his collar and yanked him close.
“That lightning was you! You don’t want me to marry the Crown Prince either!”
She looked like she might cry.
Helix squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them. He couldn’t bear it. His hands trembled as they cupped Leah’s face, which had turned blue from acrophobia and cold.
Helix spoke with a voice full of emotion.
“…I don’t know what to do with you.”
Leah tightened her grip on his collar. Her blue eyes looked straight at Helix.
“I’ll tell you.”
Cold lips crashed against rough ones like a peck.
“Stay by my side.”
“…I still don’t understand.”
He unconsciously reached out to wrap his arms around Leah’s waist and whispered.
“Could you tell me again?”
“Stay by my side.”
“Tell me one more time.”
“Stay by my side. Don’t leave me.”
Had these words always been so sweet?
When mages and kings had said them in the past, his heart had never pounded like this, but now it was beating wildly.
“…Even if I ruin you?”
“That won’t happen. You saved me.”
Leah’s cold fingers traced Helix’s face.
“Don’t die.”
Her touch was trembling and gentle, like it was confirming something precious and missed.
“Don’t sacrifice yourself silently. Don’t get hurt. Stay by my side.”
“…”
“Then, if you do that, I don’t have to be the Dragon’s Holy Maiden. If you’re by my side like this…!”
Helix urgently pulled Leah toward himself.
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