Cecil, indignant, pressed close to Roelia and whispered. Roelia closed the book she was holding and rose from her seat. Her blue eyes, free of any emotion, settled on the nobles, and the noise gradually faded.

‘I kept my movements to a minimum to avoid conflict as much as possible, and it still comes to this.’

No one ever told Roelia to stay inside. It was simply that, given her standing, she did not go out wandering in order to keep problems from arising. Causing trouble would not be good for Carlisle or for herself.

“A slave by birth, and no manners to show for it.”

Roelia was heading inside with her book when those last words stopped her in her tracks. She stood still and turned her head toward where the nobles were.

“That is a harsh thing to say, my lady.”

Percaine, who was watching from behind, stepped in. But in that moment, the eyes of the ladies who were quiet changed. Percaine, the heir to the ducal house and already holding the title of Count Erphenon, was a person of considerable standing even within noble society.

“Goodness, my lord Count. Are you taking that woman’s side?”

“The generosity of an Astrux noble can be shown to anyone.”

He made clear it was not a consideration reserved for Roelia alone, and a few nobles gave a nod. They also found it too much of a burden to treat Roelia carelessly when her identity was not yet properly established.

“Ahem! Those words are correct.”

“Oh my, I had not thought of it that way.”

The nobles were agreeing with each other and saying whatever came to mind, and Roelia did not bother to hide her scoff. One young lady, incensed by that, stepped forward.

“I suppose you are someone so remarkable that you can look down on the nobles of the Astrux Empire.”

A woman half-hiding her face behind a fluttering fan stepped up directly in front of Roelia.

“I am Brinante of House Grais, a count’s family. And you?”

“Eli Rowens.”

“My, I have never heard the surname Rowens before.”

It was a small murmur, but every noble around her heard it. They snickered and mocked, and Roelia parted her red lips.

“That would be so. It is a surname bestowed by His Majesty.”

“Ha! I wonder how one manages to receive a title without even going through the noble council.”

As Brinante’s voice grew louder, more eyes gathered. The number of people openly looking Roelia up and down also increased. Roelia’s blue eyes, clear as a still lake, settled on Brinante.

The silence stretched a little long, and then:

“For a mere noble to question a decision made by the highest authority in the empire.”

Roelia’s cold words fell.

“Wh, what did you say?”

An outraged voice rang out, but Roelia did not bother to respond and turned to walk away. Brinante’s face flushed red as she fumed, and she looked at the noble young lord standing beside her. He received her look and reached out his arm toward Roelia.

Whoosh.

Wind rose in an instant and cut between the two of them, and the arm the man extended toward Roelia shot upward into the air.

It was not only his arm. The man’s entire body was lifted completely off the ground and left dangling, and the startled man let out a scream.

“Aaaagh!”

He was only being swung about in midair, and yet he was screaming, and Roelia made no effort to hide her contempt. The corner of her mouth curled up, but her blue eyes were cold. That icy gaze turned toward Brinante, and she recoiled in shock and stumbled backward.

“Before trying to harm someone, you ought to think about this much first.”

“A, are you threatening me right now?”

“Have you not heard the rumors about mages?”

Mages gave back exactly what they received. There was even a saying on the battlefield that one should never touch a mage. If it spread even to the Astrux Empire, where mages were exceedingly rare, their tenacity spoke for itself.

Precisely because their numbers were small, the mages of the Astrux Empire were tightly knit among themselves. Roelia did not yet receive an invitation, but there was a separate social circle among mages, and even powerful nobles could not act carelessly toward them.

“Insolent!”

Magical energy traced a circular arc and scattered. Roelia was able to raise an earthen wall against the magical energy fired at her and escape the danger, but the drain on her own magical energy was considerable.

“Ugh.”

Blood surged up from inside her. She could have come through it safely by dropping the man she lifted into the air, but Roelia held on with everything she had. Keeping her expression blank left her no room to attend to anything else, and the fist at her side tightened.

“My lady, are you all…….”

Swish.

Percaine noticed something was wrong and moved toward Roelia, but a white hand swung first. The magical energy that traced a red arc flew toward the one who attacked Roelia.

“Aaah!”

The startled man screamed and stumbled backward. His panicked flailing was so absurd that laughter broke out among the watching nobles. Even through their mockery, the man kept twisting and turning to dodge Roelia’s magical energy.

“When you use magic,”

the white hand that drew a graceful arc settled gently back into place,

“you must first understand your opponent.”

Eyes like an undisturbed lake were cast across the nobles.

“Rather than swarming in like a pack of dogs.”

“You……!”

Brinante stepped forward with her face contorted, but Roelia smiled serenely and finished her words.

“Would you not agree, Lady Grais?”

“You! You……!”

Brinante was expressing her fury when she saw the red magical energy swirling in Roelia’s palm and fell silent. The magical energy still chasing the man did not disappear, and the first man she lifted into the air was still there. And yet she was casting another spell in her palm.

That alone was enough for the nobles to grasp Roelia’s ability, and they pulled Brinante back. Roelia watched the nobles putting more distance between themselves and her with an indifferent gaze, then let out a quiet laugh.

“Well then, goodbye.”

Roelia turned and put strength into her unsteady legs to walk with her head held high. Cecil, noticing the cold sweat on her, moved close to support her, but Roelia walked on as though she did not see.

Her vision blurred and blood rushed up into her mouth all at once. She barely managed to swallow the metallic blood, but a little still trickled from the corner of her lips and could not be hidden. Cecil, having seen all of it, turned back with a stiff face. She confirmed that many nobles were still watching from behind and whispered quietly to Roelia.

“Just around the corner ahead.”

“……All right.”

Only a few more steps.

The moment she turned the corner, Roelia slumped against Cecil and lost consciousness.

* * *

“Did you see that? She must be a truly remarkable mage.”

One of the gathered nobles offered a favorable remark. The corners of Brinante’s eyes climbed slowly upward, but they paid her no mind.

With the current of power shifting as it was, Brinante, from a count’s family with no one to protect her, was nothing more than a chess piece to be used and discarded. House Grais was wealthy, but that was only possible because of backing from behind.

“Indeed. With this, the reason His Majesty brought that lady into the palace is perfectly explained.”

And now that they knew that backing’s interest moved elsewhere, there was no longer any need to stay close to Brinante.

“Something urgent has come up, so I must be going. I will have to visit the Empress Dowager another time.”

“Ahem! I forgot there was a gathering at the social club.”

“Should I not come along to that?”

“I as well…….”

Brinante watched the nobles disappear one by one with their excuses and bit down on her lip. Even as she stood there trembling, she eventually moved as well, leaving behind only Percaine and the nobles who followed him.

“What tremendous magical energy.”

“Fools. That is not a matter of magical energy.”

A noble with reddish-brown hair who was standing quietly behind Percaine stepped forward. He was Linst Wyre, a retainer of House Valintar who was with Percaine since childhood and one of the five mages of the empire.

“Baron Wyre.”

“I have never seen a mage handle magical energy with such delicacy. The empire’s five mages becoming six should be cause for celebration, and yet they pull a stunt like that.”

Linst cursed Roland, the mage who broke the rules among mages and acted on his own, and still could not take his eyes off the place where Roelia disappeared.

“Is she truly that remarkable?”

“The Count of Erphenon may not understand, but among mages, yes. That woman just now cast three spells in one place. And while keeping one person suspended in the air, no less.”

Linst clicked his tongue, saying it was not worth explaining how remarkable it was. He grumbled that if someone explained it to him before the incident, he could have brought such a talent into the ducal house, but as things stood now, that was out of the question. Percaine asked him again.

“You are saying she is that remarkable?”

“What is there to say? She can do things even I cannot.”

“If someone like that joined the ducal house, would you improve as well?”

“Well, naturally…….”

Linst trailed off, sensing something was off, and turned to look at Percaine. He saw the flushed face and the gleaming red eyes, and his own eyes slowly went wide.

“Are you out of your mind? The emperor has declared he will make that woman his Empress.”

Linst stepped close to Percaine and whispered quickly in his ear. The words carried the meaning that it was a shame but nothing could be done, yet Percaine was unmoved.

“That is without having heard the lady’s own opinion.”