The shape would only remind someone from the Empire like her of an airship—an ordinary Republic citizen would simply think, “What an oddly carved stone.”

Aira traced the outline of the airship, a rare sight even in the Empire, and fell into deep thought.

‘How am I supposed to… Huh!’

Aira quickly ducked down. A beam of light had just swept through where her head had been.

‘Of all times!’

This was the patrol route for duty officers, but she had timed her visit to avoid them. For some reason, though, they were making their rounds earlier than usual.

Aira slowly steadied her breathing. The sound of footsteps crushing grass gradually drew closer.

“If we don’t hurry, that pig will eat everything.”

“Do we really need to be this out of breath for a midnight snack, sir?”

Aira pushed herself further into the shadow of Admiral Nüer’s statue. Thankfully, her small frame made it easy to hide. The upperclassmen on duty were apparently moving faster than usual because of a late-night snack.

“This is truly unbearable. When will I ever graduate?”

“You just started your fourth year, sir. Only one more year to endure.”

“I never thought cadet life would be this strict before even starting real military service. I shouldn’t have read Hurst Will’s biography when I was young.”

“You read that too, sir?”

“You too? I was completely fooled. So much for the romance of life at sea. I’ll probably die on a ship. God, I want to drop out.”

“But once you graduate, won’t you be a junior to Lieutenant Commander Jens Will? He’ll likely command a large vessel within a year or two, and I’d love to serve under him.”

Curled up in the shadows, Aira momentarily forgot her predicament and smiled.

They wouldn’t even need to wait one or two years. After the Servolang Naval Battle, Jens Will had immediately become captain of the Elika Ter.

It was the Republic’s newest and largest battleship—an impressive assignment for such a young commanding officer. This showed how much the Republic valued him and recognized his achievements.

By the time these young cadets made their mark, would they even be able to serve under him? He’d probably be an admiral with his own fleet by then.

As Aira smiled to herself, the two cadets passed by, continuing their conversation.

“You think ship assignments are like picking candy? Especially the Lieutenant Commander’s ship? It’ll be chaos.”

“But if my grades are good enough—”

“Stop it. Remember how graduating seniors wanting to join the Nautile caused such an uproar that there weren’t enough shore positions? The higher-ups were so angry they threatened to revamp the commissioning system. Imagine what it’ll be like now.”

“Ugh… I recognized Lieutenant Commander Will’s genius before the Servolang Naval Battle. Have you seen the artillery calculation formulas he left in the practice room?”

“I have. He’s a true genius. Serving under him, you probably wouldn’t die. But why did he hide his talents for so long? Wasn’t he itching to show them?”

After the duty officers had moved on, Aira slowly turned back and thoroughly examined the pedestal where the airship was carved.

Perhaps because the tension had eased after the patrol passed, her mind began to wander.

‘He must be preparing to board the Elika Ter by now. I think it was a ship that traveled between Oculer and the Jenover Strait. Will it take longer to exchange letters once he’s properly at sea? Should I send him a congratulatory gift for his captaincy?’

Clunk.

Something sharp caught on the ground beneath the faintly carved airship. Aira slowly felt around.

After careful examination, she found a square plate about the size of her palm. There was a hole where she could insert her finger, so she slowly lifted it.

‘What’s this?’

As she lifted the plate, soil spilled out. Underneath lay several completely worn-out gears, not even meshed together properly. They looked like discarded items someone had carelessly dropped from the practice room.

Aira picked up one of the outermost gears. Even from just touching it, she could tell it was rough from dirt and rainwater seepage. She couldn’t tell what kind of gear it was.

From what she could feel, it seemed to have the impractically decorative style typically found in the Empire…

The moment the word “Empire” crossed her mind, Aira flinched.

Even the airship clue that Jens had given her was currently exclusive to the Empire.

With a strange premonition, Aira pulled her sleeve down and vigorously wiped away the dirt while feeling more delicately with her fingertips. And finally, she found it.

“…”

Names, small and engraved on the hollowed inside of the gear.

If an ordinary cadet had discovered this, they would have thought it was trash or a poorly made gear and moved on.

Even if they had found these names, they would struggle to make any connection.

But it was different for Aira. This was what Jens wanted her to find, and he clearly thought she would recognize the shape of this gear.

“Ha…”

Her breath appeared bright in the surrounding darkness.

What was he thinking, revealing these names to her? And in such a roundabout way?

But Aira had no intention of doing anything with this information. She didn’t even feel compelled to risk turning on her gas lantern to clearly confirm the names.

After all, she had only ever had one goal.

Aira shook her head, sprinkled dirt on the gear she was holding, rubbed it to erase any traces, and pushed it back into place. After carefully tidying the area to hide any evidence, she cautiously returned to her dormitory.

* * *

“When the 3-4 Alpha D tracking mechanism connected to the steam core rotates, you must select the appropriate tooth profile, and for third-class sailing vessels, the Inreverse profile…”

Aira swallowed a yawn while forcing herself to take notes.

Sitting through this lecture on Republic steam engines with all its complicated terminology made her question what she was even doing here, a feeling compounded by her lack of sleep from the previous night.

“However, once a ship exceeds one thousand tons, the Inreverse profile no longer applies. It must be switched to the Goirux profile, which changes the direction of force and increases wear…”

‘That’s when you should bring in the 12-magic form with the 58 format.’

Aira almost absentmindedly scribbled the Imperial solution in the margin of her notes, but stopped after making only a dot in the blank space.

This was knowledge she had actively shared with the Republic forces—specifically with Jens Will—before her death in her previous life.

While fighting wars against each other, both sides had acquired considerable knowledge about each other’s weapons. But not in the detail and depth that she knew.

The Republic was clearly letting her be for now, waiting to assess her intentions and adaptation after her sudden enrollment in the naval academy. But soon they would thoroughly extract her knowledge and use it as an asset for the Republic.

When that moment came, revealing the Empire’s various secrets would essentially be selling out her homeland.

Yet Aira felt no regret whatsoever. The Empire deserved to fall.

But should she continue to pretend ignorance?

Her siblings, killing each other out of lust for power, didn’t know the foundation of the Empire.

The first among the current generation of princes and princesses to discover the secret was the 12th Princess, Larabi. The only sister Aira knew by name rather than number.

Though they didn’t share the same blood, Larabi had cared for her more than their siblings who shared a father.

When Larabi discovered the truth about the immortal imperial family in Evighkeit Palace, she shared it only with the 3rd Prince Jorge, believing Aira was too young, and discussed countermeasures with him.

Before Larabi’s late adoption, Jorge had been the only person Aira trusted and relied on, which was why Larabi trusted him.

But Jorge twisted the truth to suit his own purposes and whispered it into Aira’s ears.

All to keep the Emperor’s biological child by his side, making her believe there was nothing beyond the Empire.

And Larabi, betrayed by Jorge…

Aira squeezed her eyes shut.

‘Sister Lara, is it right to leave you in that greenhouse?’

“Aira! Have you heard?!”

Startled by a hand tapping her shoulder, Aira looked up. Somehow the class had ended, and Roje and Siris, who had been sitting at the back, had come to her seat at the front.

“…Heard what?”

Not noticing Aira’s preoccupied voice, Roje spoke with a face that seemed either shocked or angry.

“About Lieutenant Commander Jens Will! You’ve been exchanging letters with him. Did you already know?”

“Know what?”

Siris responded to Aira’s apparent disinterest with exasperation.

“About the ship Lieutenant Commander Jens Will has been assigned to!”

He wouldn’t tell her something like that. His letters were always shorter than the address, or cryptic messages that made her question his intentions.

But Aira did know which ship he would board after the Nautile.

“Well, he’s not the type to share that information. But I’d guess it would be the Elika Ter.”

Perhaps due to a slightly childish pride in knowing the future, Aira blurted out what she knew.

But Roje and Siris gave her strange looks when they heard this.

“We were guessing it might be the Tourne…”

Aira shook her head. After the Elika Ter, he had never boarded a lower-class ship. He had continued his meteoric rise to become an admiral commanding a large fleet…

“It’s the Paul Nor! The Paul Nor!”

“The Paul Nor?”

Seeing Aira blinking in complete incomprehension, Roje clutched her chest in frustration.

The Paul Nor? Wait, what ship was that?

Only then did Aira notice the chatter of cadets who had remained in the classroom after the lecture ended, gathered in small groups. Most had flushed faces and were venting their anger.

“What even is the Paul Nor? That ship should be decommissioned!”

“To treat a hero of the Republic like this! Is the government insane?”

“The President’s approval ratings are already hanging by a thread, and they pull this? This isn’t just disrespecting Lieutenant Commander Will—it’s disrespecting our entire navy!”

“Where can we file a protest?”

“Would they listen to cadets? Ship assignments are the military’s jurisdiction.”

“But we can still show public opinion…”

Aira turned to Roje and Siris, who looked as furious as the other cadets around them.

Since her enrollment, no one except her roommate Roje and Roje’s best friend Siris had bothered speaking to her. But now, people were surrounding them, eager to ask questions of the person known to have a connection with Jens Will.

Jens was assigned to a ship called the Paul Nor? Not the Elika Ter?

Aira swallowed her knowledge of the past.

Once again, the future had changed.