***
A voice rang out, “Come in.”
“I am seeing Your Highness.”
Filina spoke in a proper voice and bowed her head. Letting her in, Lawrence quietly closed the door behind him and stepped outside.
Filina glanced at Weaver, who was standing beside her. He was staring at her with a frown on his face.
“Where are you looking now? Princess Debussy.”
Noticing her, Ian asked with a look of discontent.
“No, I guess I have to call you Sir Debussy.”
He looked at Filina and said softly.
“Raise your head.”
Filina straightened her back with a slow motion. As soon as she did, his golden eyes and her gaze intertwined directly.
Ian rested his chin on his hand against Weaver’s desk, staring at her.
“…… I thought you’d be crying, but you look better than I thought.”
Filina’s brow furrowed.
She couldn’t understand why in the world Ian was even here. No, the Imperial Palace sponsored the Swordsmanship Academy, so it was normal that he came here.
She just didn’t understand why he had called her.
By now, he should be playing tag with Cecilia.
He would have seduced Cecilia to achieve his goal.
Ian used her to become emperor, but Cecilia couldn’t see into any particular future. It was not her will to have such power in the first place.
Ian found out about this fact later, and he tried to find a way to see his future through Cecilia at any cost.
He ended up visiting a certain person who was well versed in the reasoning of the world, and he learned that the only way to see his future was to bind her body completely.
The moment she came to love him, he would be able to see his near future through his dreams.
“Could you excuse us for a moment? I want to follow Sir Debussy’s progress.”
With his eyes still fixed on Filina, Ian spoke to Weaver.
It wasn’t enough that Ian had come suddenly, Weaver now had to leave his office. He couldn’t help but had to nod and turn around.
On the other hand, the way he glanced at Filina was all the more curious.
A few moments later, a quiet air descended in the office as Weaver left, closing the door behind him.
Ian stared at Filina silently.
From her red hair, tied high, to the fine collar insignia near her shoulders and the Swordsmanship Academy mark on her left chest, to the buttons with the eagle on them, to the hem of her pants, which fell neatly without a single crease.
He observed Filina obsessively.
“The school uniform looks pretty good on you.”
Ian muttered in a muffled voice.
He didn’t know she would pull off the military uniform this well.
“Were the uniforms always this luxurious?”
Ian had a serious look on his face as if he was really curious.
“Your Highness.”
Filina sighed as she called him, and Ian frowned.
“Why did you call me?”
“…Your tone is hard.”
“At the Academy, it’s language etiquette to say things like this. I don’t think Your Highness knows.”
“I know. But it doesn’t make me feel very good to hear it from you.”
Filina looked at Ian with a puzzled expression. He was watching her quietly, his eyes calm.
She said in a slightly annoyed voice.
“My class is still going. I’ll leave now if there’s nothing important.”
If she gets to the lecture hall now, she won’t have to make up for her class later.
However, Ian didn’t seem to have the slightest intention of letting her go.
Rather, he didn’t like what Filina had just said.
“Are you saying that your classes are more important than me?”
It was a childish question. Filina put her hand on her forehead, looking tired.
“Why did you come all the way here….”
Fortunately, words from her lips were not heard by Ian.
She looked bored.
She didn’t want to get any more involved in the original story. She knew that her efforts would be of no use to her.
No matter how much she changed the original story, she couldn’t avoid the ending of death.
The endless repetitive story made even a normal person go crazy. She was choked up with a heavy feeling of tightness in her chest.
After she entered the academy, she felt like she was out of the original story. The breathing that had been tightening around her neck finally got better.
And yet, she had to face Ian again.
She was under the pressure of never being able to get out of the original story.
“I’m just……….”
While staring at Filina silently, Ian slowly lowered his eyes and opened his mouth.
“I was just curious.”
He muttered as if it was an excuse.
“How are you adapting?”
Filina lowered the hand that was on her forehead and looked at Ian. Ian, on the other hand, couldn’t even make eye contact with her, but quietly added his words.
“I’m worried………..”
Filina looked at him awkwardly. Ian was biting his lower lip with an expression of unknown meaning. His gaze wandered aimlessly.
If he had told her this for the first time in her life, she might have believed him without a doubt.
Maybe, she would really fall in love with him like Filina in the original story.
The other person may have said it without meaning, but that one word would have been a very big comfort to someone in an unfamiliar and scary world.
“Your Highness wasted your time on useless things.”
Ian’s confused gaze turned cold at the sound of Filina’s quiet voice.
“I’m not as weak as you think, Your Highness.”
Ian raised his head and looked at her. The look on Filina’s face as she looked at him was simply heartless.
“As you can see, Your Highness, I am in very good health.”
“…”
“I hope you won’t call on me again for such a personal matter.”
Ian’s face hardened coldly.The stiff air was cold enough to give Filina goosebumps.
Ian spat out bleakly as he looked at her.
“I made a mistake.”
Filina frowned at his words as if to say what he meant. Then Ian said in a hard tone.
“The better you adapt here, the less helpful it would be to me.”
“What……?”
“I’d rather you have a hard time in military school to break your wicked pride. Only then will you desperately want someone’s help.”
He added the words with a twisted smile on his face.
“Of course, I must be the one you’ll ask for help.”
“To his outburst, Filina quickly replied.
“No, no matter how much I can’t hold on, I will never ask Your Highness for help.”
Despite her elaborate voice, Ian only smiled as if he was amused.
“Then, I will do my best to bother you. In the end, you will have no choice but to come to me with your own two feet.”
Filina asked him with a look of incomprehension.
“Why are you being so unreasonable?”
“Because you make me angry.”
“I’ve never offended Your Highness.”
“No, you always make me angry, Filina.”
Ian continued, his golden eyes shining brightly.
“There is one thing you must remember.”
“…”
“The more you push me away, the more I will want you.”
At Ian’s pious voice, Filina could only look at him blankly, unable to make any reply.
“If you wish to avoid me so much, try to find a more effective way.”
Ian smiled smoothly, his head tilted at an angle.
***
Leaving the office building and walking across the performance hall, Filina spotted Hugh hanging out near the demon breeding ground.
It wasn’t yet the end of class, so there was no one around.
Generally, classes at the Academy were packed from morning to night, except during breaks. Filina had no choice but to leave early because she had been called to the office, but she didn’t know why Hugh was wandering around at this hour.
Moreover, as she watched him, the way he was staring at the door of the demons’ cage was completely suspicious.
She narrowed her eyes and walked stealthily over to Hugh. Then she heard him murmuring as he stared at the tightly closed lock.
“…… Wow, you’ve warded the place quite meticulously.”
“Warding? It’s just a lock.”
“Look clearly at the lock. You can see black circles drawn here and there. How many circles can you draw…?”
Hugh stopped answering and made a questioning face. As he turned around, his gaze collided with Filina, who was standing in front of him with her face close to his.
“Arghhhh!” Hugh was startled.
He stepped back in surprise. Filina finally straightened her back and said in a calm voice.
“What are you doing here?”
He grabbed his chest and sighed heavily.
“You startled me.”
Filina averted her gaze and pointed with her chin to the door of the demons’ cage Hugh had been looking at.
“What kind of warding is going on here? This door is easy to open if you just unlock it.”
At Filina’s words, Hugh asked with a questionable face.
“Have you seen someone open this door?”
“Of course. I’ve been here before.”
Hugh’s eyes lit up as Filina shrugged.
“Really? How did you get in? Did you steal the key?”
Filina looked at Hugh absurdly.
It seemed like he was asking the question by comparing his thinking level to what he was supposed to do.
She said as she looked at Hugh with an absurd face.
“Really, you’re skipping all of your classes, aren’t you? And Vice Commander Carmen is a team leader of the First Order, but you’re fearless.”
Hugh didn’t seem to know that Filina went to interview with Carmen during sword training at that time.
At the time, they had a joint class with the 1st Order, and Henry had taken over the management of the whole class for a while when Carmen took Filina for the interview.
However, Hugh, despite being in the 1st Order, didn’t know anything about the situation at the time.
The conclusion was that he had skipped the class, just like now.
Hugh said mischievously, his eyes folded thinly.
“Ah, it’s because the formation isn’t well-formed.”
With that, he spread one of his fingers and held it out to the lock on the door of the cage. A white light began to rise around the lock.
But then the black circles on the lock flared up red and repelled his magic.
“Look at this.”
Hugh said knowingly.
“The lock has special magic applied to it so that it cannot be opened without permission. Probably, a barrier has been installed so that it can only be opened with a key.”
“It’s a breeding ground with monsters, isn’t it from a management standpoint?”
“…. Well. The magic is too strong for such a simple reason.”