The rest of Leticiel’s day passed uneventfully. As the sun began to set in the west, she found herself in her usual booth with her friends.
“You don’t need a spell technique for basic sorcery anymore, right? Then let’s try it with this water formula.”
“Okay! Um… So if this is like that…”
“My head hurts…”
“Zeke! You’re getting caught up in Miss Mira’s sorcery imagery. Close your eyes and let your mind go blank. Get that image of water out of your head right now!”
At the magic training grounds, Leticiel was watching over her friends as they practiced their sorcery. Though most of her attention was on Zeke.
Leticiel and Mirandalette practiced every day, but Zeke would only sometimes come to their practice when he felt like it.
Since Mirandalette had low magical power in all of the attributes, she was able to practice comfortably, without any restrictions. But Zeke’s magical power was so strong in five attributes that he was under various constraints. This was particularly true when he trained with Mirandalette and he was drawn to the imagery of her sorcery. Like just now when he had been trying to use a void spell, an image of a water spell would flash in his mind, and the aether’s rebound would make him feel sick.
“I keep telling you to practice separately if it’s too much,” Leticiel huffed.
“No, I have to be able to get over it if I want to use sorcery in this age of magic.” Zeke was breathing heavily as he sat on a bench, but he was smiling. Even so, it pained her to see him like this, so she didn’t want him to push himself.
Sitting next to Zeke, Leticiel cast a healing spell on him. He certainly had a point, but had he noticed that working so hard would be pointless if he ended up destroying his own body?
Zeke’s magical power scores had looked something like this:
Fire: 550
Water: 550
Wind: 550
Earth: 550
Lightning: 550
Light: 0
Darkness: 0
Void: 0
When she had first seen his results, she had been so surprised that she had done a double take. The average magical power score was around 50 to 60, with anything over 100 being considered “high.” She’d never seen someone with ten times the average amount of magical power and with such a large gap between attributes. With such a large difference in magical power values, it was only natural that he would struggle to balance sorcery and magic.
“That’s true,” Leticiel replied, “but it’s no reason for you to be reckless. You’ve made yourself sick enough times that you fully understand how your five major magic attributes are in conflict with your sorcery, right?” Zeke was silent. “As I’ve said many times, there’s an extreme difference in your attributes. Even if you don’t try to use sorcery spells from the five major elements, you have to be extremely careful when handling aether. I understand your wish to use both magic and sorcery. But it will all be pointless if something were to happen to you.”
Zeke still didn’t respond to her lecture, so Leticiel continued, “Fortunately, sorcery and magic work differently, so you won’t have to worry about the aether’s rebound effects once you establish a calculation process. In other words, there’s no need to rush things. Do you understand?”
“…Sorry.”
Zeke was vaguely similar to the way Leticiel had been in her previous life. He refused to show his weaknesses to others and slowly wore himself out trying to solve everything by himself. In Leticiel’s case, Nao had been the one who had reprimanded and taken care of her. Now that she was doing the same for Zeke, she felt like she understood Nao’s feelings a little better.
Zeke was at a loss for words in the face of Leticiel’s scolding. He glanced around awkwardly, his shoulders slumped apologetically. It was obvious from his reaction that he wasn’t used to being scolded. It was a little cute, the way he sort of looked like a sad puppy.
“No one said you have to hurry to polish your skills. You have plenty of time, so don’t rush and just go at your own pace. I’ll be here for you as much as you’d like.”
“Thank you.” Leticiel smiled when he gave in, opening his eyes and giving her a defeated smile.
Leticiel continued to cast healing spells on him. He closed his eyes again, looking calmer than before.
“Miss Drossell, how is Zeke doing?” Mirandalette asked.
“He seems fine. He’s stable now and doesn’t have a fever like last time.”
“Really? That’s a relief!” Mirandalette sighed in relief at the news.
Just then, Zeke, who had been leaning against the back of the bench, sat up and said, “Can I go for a walk around the training grounds? I want to cool my head.”
“Yes, of course. We’ll take a break and go with you.” Leticiel readily agreed to his request, knowing what his constitution was like and not wanting him to push himself too hard to start training again right away.
The three students left the magic training grounds together. The magic training grounds were located behind the main building on the left-hand side. Behind them was a vast forest owned by the academy. The forest held greenhouses and animal breeding facilities for the teachers and researchers who conducted biology research, but students were generally not allowed to enter it.
“Huh. I didn’t know the campus had a place like this.”
“Yeah. It’s especially pretty in the afternoons when the weather is nice because you can see a beautiful sunset.”
“That’s wonderful! I’d love to see it with the two of you one day!”
The group chatted about trivial matters as they walked along the border between the forest and the wall surrounding the magic training grounds.
Since she had been focused on protecting her citizens as their princess a thousand years ago, Leticiel hadn’t had many chances to enjoy ordinary conversations with people her age before. That was why the time she spent with her friends was so novel and refreshing.
“Hey, what are you doing over there?!” The smile fell from Leticiel’s face as she, Mirandalette, and Zeke rounded the back of the magic training grounds and a voice called out to them. Turning with a blank expression, she saw the first prince, Rocheford, glaring at her along with his followers.
Nothing had happened between them for the past month. They didn’t meet at the academy or at each other’s homes, nor did they send each other letters.
Despite not having seen her fiancé for that long, the gaze she laid on him was cold. Leticiel had mentally labeled Rocheford as a “troublesome and unimportant” person. “What can I help you with, Your Highness?” she asked.
“Hmph! What, indeed. You truly are the disgrace of the duke’s family, seducing another man when you already have a fiancé!”
Leticiel didn’t respond. Apparently, he thought that Leticiel and Zeke were currently on a date.
She couldn’t help but give him a pitying look. How could he possibly mistake their current situation for a date when there were no romantic elements at all and Mirandalette was with them, to boot? Just how idiotic was he? Plus, she didn’t want to hear that from this shitty man, who had been flirting with his fiancée’s sister wherever they went over the past month.
“Y-Your Highness, someone else was with Miss Drossell and the guy—”
“Quiet! You dare to correct me?” One of Rocheford’s followers, a boy with glasses, tried to point out Mirandalette’s existence, but Rocheford was too self-absorbed to listen to him. The timid-looking follower gave Leticiel a scared look, bowing slightly so Rocheford wouldn’t notice.
Leticiel’s expression stayed blank as she watched him, but she was a little impressed. It seemed not everyone who followed the foolish prince was a fool themselves.
“Hmph! Plus, you’re associating with a slacker and a low-ranking noble lady! As the first prince’s fiancée, you should be ashamed of yourself!”
Realizing that he was referring to her, Mirandalette grabbed the hem of her uniform, which had a black line unlike Leticiel’s gold line to match her status, and twisted it in her grip.
Something inside of Leticiel snapped.
She didn’t care what he said about her, but he had insulted her friends. Hey, can I beat this guy up? I can give him a good beating, right? Wouldn’t it be better for the rest of the world and other people if I did?
Rocheford laughed arrogantly, completely oblivious to Leticiel’s cold anger. His eyes held the same scorn she had seen in them before.
“With all due respect,” Leticiel started simply, the gaze she fixed on Rocheford filled with exasperation, “how could you call me the first prince’s fiancée? Can you put your hand on your heart and swear that I am?”
“Wha…?” Rocheford stared in surprise at the blank look on Leticiel’s face. He didn’t seem to have expected her to stand up to him. “You…! Have you forgotten that you still belong to the duke’s family? You may be a failure, but that doesn’t change your bloodline. Associating with low-ranking nobles will only further lower your already poor reputation!”
“Is that so? But, Your Highness, kingdoms are supported by their citizens and the many lower-ranking nobles. It would be foolish for a member of the royal family to decide not to interact with others due to their status or inferiority.”
That was a principle Leticiel had followed in her previous life. The royal family existed to rule the country, but they only existed because of the many citizens and nobles beneath them.
That shouldn’t be any different in this world. The few upper-class nobles that existed could live leisurely lives thanks to others.
“Y-You…! Don’t get a big head!” Not liking Leticiel’s reply, Rocheford glared angrily and tried to grab her, his other hand clenched into a fist.
It was easy to avoid his attempted punch, which was thrown straight at her without any finesse. Leticiel dodged the attack without so much as a glance in his direction, casting a spell on the ground as she passed to trip him with a vine of grass.
“Argh!” Completely unable to avoid the unexpected attack from below, Rocheford’s foot was caught in the vine, and he crashed face-first into the ground. Leticiel stepped closer, staring closely at the man whose face and clothes were now covered in dirt. “Wh… Wh-Wh-Wh-What?! Do you really think you can get away with doing this to me?!” Rocheford still seemed to be caught up in the idea that she was “incompetent” as he regained some of his confidence, even as she drew closer, one deliberate step at a time.
However, he lost even that meaningless, tiny amount of confidence when Leticiel created five spears of ice around him. “Uwaaargh?!” Letting out a strange shout, Rocheford frantically tried to crawl away.