Feeling actual heat emanating from Karla’s fingertips, Elvan recoiled with a terrified yelp.
It was an unspeakable act, one meant to harm—it couldn’t be dismissed as mere jealousy. Still, the surrounding guards didn’t seem to understand what Karla had done, and any who did were so overwhelmed by the girl’s eerie presence that their bodies wouldn’t move.
Karla wanted to defile Elvan. She wanted to watch the innocent prince betray those he loved and who loved him. She wanted to see him sullied, wounded, sinking into self-hatred. It was one of her few pleasurable pastimes.
In the unsettling atmosphere, only Licia’s eyes, harboring a dark light, met Karla’s. Licia embodied a different type of shadow than Karla; she was a monster of desire, out to sully the prince in her own way.
A cloying, poisonous smile spread across Karla’s lips. She knew she couldn’t match the other girl, who seemed to shine like a blade in the darkness.
“Well, that was fun,” Karla said. “I’ll see you soon, Prince El.”
An uncomfortable silence fell upon the tea party as Karla left. Elvan hung his head, struck speechless by the two girls’ harsh words.
With both of the prince’s fiancées gone, Licia gently brought her fingers to Elvan’s reddened, burned cheek. “You’ve done no wrong, Prince El. You’re only human. It’s okay to need an escape in times of hardship. I’ll always be here for you when you’re in pain.”
“Licia...”
Amor and Nathanital sighed in admiration of the girl’s pure, luminous smile.
Under the table, Licia took the still-hesitant Elvan’s hand. When he reflexively tried to pull away, she pressed her small frame to his arm, holding it down. The moment his focus shifted to her, she leaned closer to whisper in his ear.
“I will heal you.”
✦ ✦ ✦
“My lady, is it truly a good idea to—”
“It’s fine,” Clara snapped, interrupting her handmaiden.
She had used her gift of Foresight and calculated that remaining at the table would have been unwise. Had she stayed, her position would only have weakened further. Still, she’d had to say something or her heart might’ve burst.
That girl...the heroine was tricking Elvan. That was all. Clara had thought that if she could explain that her hypothesis had been derived from her gift, the gentle Elvan would turn to her once more. But with emotions growing heated, her attempt at persuasion hadn’t gone over well.
Clara didn’t wish to be queen. She only wanted her Elvan back. But to be united to him, she had to become queen. As long as she had Elvan’s heart, she could overlook any dalliance on his part, but if his heart chose another...Clara wasn’t sure that she could endure it.
Her aunt, the second queen, had suffered a similar betrayal and had been unable to overlook it—had even grown ill from the heartbreak. Clara was beginning to think that perhaps her in-game counterpart hadn’t been able to bear it either and had willingly taken on the role of villainess to distance herself from the prince and the heroine.
“What of the item I asked for?” Clara questioned.
“It’s ready. Will you truly use it?” asked Hilda, Clara’s handmaiden, worried for her mistress.
Clara had saved the lives of Hilda and other veterans of the Assassins’ Guild who had tangled with Cinders several years ago. She’d given them a place to belong. Though fully aware of Clara’s actions and weaknesses, Hilda had grown so devoted that she was now entirely willing to risk her life for her mistress. She was not only Clara’s poison taster but also her eyes and ears at the academy.
At Clara’s request, Hilda had procured a specially concocted illegal poison. The mixture had been devised by a former guild member—a demoness. Because human aethercrystals were a key ingredient, the demoness had destroyed the recipe and disposed of the poison to prevent abuse. But a shaman with the guild had successfully replicated the recipe and created a small amount of the toxin.
The shaman had gone up in flames with the rest of the guild. But Hilda knew that some of the guild’s poisons, sensitive to moisture, had been kept in a separate location—and when she’d checked that stash, she’d found the remaining vial of the powerful concoction.
“If it’ll help me put an end to all of this... I’ll use it,” Clara declared.
“As you wish, my lady.”
✦ ✦ ✦
“What is it, Licia?”
“Sorry to pull you away from your duties, Nathanital. I really wanted to see you in private,” Licia said with a bashful smile.
The pair was in the academy’s chapel. Though it wasn’t quite as grand as the temple located in the royal capital, it was still moderately large, about the size of any chapel one might find in the countryside. It was managed by priests the church dispatched from the capital, but when it wasn’t in use, Nathanital could go inside on his authority as the high priest’s grandson.
Though the two were still students and only about thirteen years old, it was considered improper for a nobleman and lady to meet alone like this. But Licia’s steward, who would’ve otherwise admonished her, had excused himself to deliver a report to the Order of Shadows about the Clara and Karla situation from earlier.
“It’s okay. I wanted to see you too,” Nathanital said, looking completely besotted.
To him, Licia was special—something that the old Nathanital would have scoffed at. Before, he would’ve been wary of a girl like her, one rumored to be of common birth. However, a few months ago, something had happened that had challenged Nathanital’s values completely.
During the attempted kidnapping of Princess Elena by rogue elements within the Royal Guard, Nathanital—who had been inadvertently caught in the incident—had been saved by the princess’s personal guard. But in the process, the girl had stolen lives that had been created by the divine. Nathanital had tried to reprimand her, but she’d told him bluntly that it was none of his business and that he had no right to speak for the divine about the weight of taking a life.
He couldn’t accept those words. If he, a child of the divine and preacher of the heavens’ will, couldn’t speak for the divine, then what was left for him? Nevertheless, the girl’s words had wedged into his heart, and he’d found himself questioning everything he’d ever believed.
Licia had been the one to save him.
“You’re not wrong,” she’d told him. “Life is important. The words of the divine are important. Your words save many people, Nathanital. You’re not wrong at all.”
She had taken his hands in hers and smiled shyly.
“Relax. You’re free now. We can hold hands, okay?”
The warmth of her hands had buoyed his wavering heart. Nathanital had fallen in love for the first time with this girl who unconditionally validated everything about him. And now here they were, face-to-face in the quiet of the chapel.
“You see,” Licia began, “I want to save Lady Karla!”
“Huh?”
She explained that Karla had only done such outrageous things due to a lack of faith. For that reason, Licia wanted to reach out to a certain someone in the capital’s temple.
“I think Maiden Ursula could save Lady Karla’s heart.”
Nathanital thought about it in silence. He knew that name, of course.
Ursula had been abandoned on a temple’s doorstep. A devout follower of the Holy Church’s teachings, she’d awakened to an affinity for the light element and saved countless lives. The people revered her as a holy maiden.
But Nathanital also knew of Ursula’s dark side. She was the captain of the Holy Disciplinary Corps, a group that led sinful souls to the temple’s underground chambers to correct their spirits.
Though he wasn’t sure what happened there, his grandfather had told him that the Disciplinary Corps helped people awaken to the church’s teachings. Still, Nathanital wasn’t allowed anywhere near the underground, and so he couldn’t help but wonder what horrible things they did. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe his grandfather’s words, but...he wanted nothing to do with any of it.
How could Licia know about such confidential matters? Even within the church, only a select few were aware of this.
No, she must simply be worried about Karla...
Ursula was said to be as skilled as a Rank 4 adventurer. Surely she and her disciplinarians could educate even someone as terrifying as Karla—though it might mean that the young noblewoman would never return to the surface.
Remembering the way Karla had humiliated him at the tea party, Nathanital withheld the truth and nodded to Licia. Still, he felt as though he’d committed a grave sin. He dropped to his knees, praying for forgiveness.
Something soft enveloped his head.
“L-Licia?!” he cried out in confusion.
“It’s okay, Nathanital. You’ve done no wrong,” she assured him as she held his head close to her body. “Have more faith in yourself.”
He tried to pull away, but she only held on tighter, burying his face in her flat stomach. Gradually, her compassion wore down his defenses. As she gently stroked his head, he clung to her like a lifeline.
“I’ll comfort you, always.”
In the dimly lit chapel, silhouetted against a glowing holy symbol as she held Nathanital and ran her fingers through his hair in a motherly gesture, Licia smiled. Somewhere underneath that smile, something dark and twisted festered.