Light and Curses….
Back outside Emilia’s door, the dim light of the hall barely illuminated the tense figures of Anna and Amon.
They stood side by side, unmoving, their gazes fixed on the door that now separated them from their charge.
The air between them felt heavy with unspoken worry.
Amon shifted uneasily, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword.
“Hey… are you sure we should just leave her with that young man inside?” he asked, his voice tinged with concern. “Wouldn’t it be better if at least one of us were in there? You know how naïve the Saintess can be….”
Anna let out a sigh, her patience wearing thin. “How many times do I have to remind you, it’s Lady Enna now?” she said, glancing at her brother. Her voice was stern but laced with the same worry he felt. “We can’t afford to slip up and call her ‘Saintess’ here. Not in public, especially not in Killian Hall where the walls have ears. You don’t want her identity getting out, do you?”
Amon frowned but didn’t argue.
The divine barrier they had set around Emilia’s room should be enough to shield any suspicious activity, but Killian Hall’s magical walls weren’t foolproof.
Any careless leak of information could lead to disaster, and Amon knew that as well as Anna did.
“I know, I know,” Amon muttered, running a hand through his hair. “But still, it’s Lady Enna. She’s clumsy, she’s soft, and we’ve seen her trust the wrong people before. What if this-”
“What more can we do?” Anna interrupted, her voice sharper now. “Lady Enna made her decision. She’s trusting him for a
reason, and like it or not, we’re just here to
follow her orders.”
Her eyes flicked to the door again,
narrowing slightly.
Despite her outward confidence, a thread
of doubt tugged at her, too. Enna, though
powerful, was still young and
inexperienced in many ways.
Trusting a boy like Riley-a student, a
stranger, no less-was reckless.
Afterall her connections to the holy
kingdom was to remain in secrecy during
her time here in the academy…
Yet, if there was one thing Anna had learned over the years of guarding Emilia, it was that the girl had a deep sense of intuition, a connection to the divine that often guided her actions.
Still, intuition or not, it didn’t sit well with her. Amon’s concern mirrored her own,
even if she wouldn’t admit it.
They had both sworn to protect Enna with
their lives, and now they were standing
outside, powerless to intervene.
“But for her to use such a grand ceremony
for such a mysterious person… don’t you find it strange?”
“Matters regarding the Saintess’s decisions are not for us to question, Amon.”
“But-”
“She must have seen something in him, enough to make such a rash decision.” Anna’s voice softened, though there was an edge of firmness. “You don’t have to worry too much. Although it’s against our code, I’ve taken necessary precautions, just in case a situation like this does happen.”
As she said this, she pulled a small, red crystal from her pocket.
The faint light it emitted cast shadows on
her hand as she held it up for Amon to see.
Amon’s eyes widened in recognition, his breath catching in his throat.
“An observation crystal?”
Anna nodded gravely. “It’s smaller than the
usual type, but it’ll serve its purpose. It’s not a full surveillance tool, but it allows me
to sense significant changes in the room’s atmosphere.”
Amon gulped, fully aware of the implications.
The use of an observation crystal to spy on the Saintess—no matter the intention—was heresy in the eyes of their order.
“Spying on the Saintess will grant you
death, Anna. You know that as well as I do.”
“I know.” Anna’s tone was steady, but a
shadow of doubt crossed her face.
She knew the gravity of what she was
doing, how it could all end if anyone found
out.
Execution was certain for such an offense.
Honestly, Anna hadn’t wanted to buy such
an expensive item, but it had been necessary.
Unlike the Holy City or the villages and
towns outside the academy, where the
Saintess’s safety could be monitored with near certainty, the academy’s restrictions made things different.
Inside the academy, especially within its
prestigious halls, their movements were limited, and their actions were tightly controlled by the academy’s rules. Even as the personal guards of the
Saintess, their authority was nowhere near absolute here.
It wasn’t just the rules that bound them;
the environment itself posed challenges.
When they threatened Riley earlier, it was mostly for show.
They couldn’t actually intervene if something went wrong inside.
Every dorm room in Killian Hall was uniquely designed and augmented with layers of safety and precautionary magic, unlike typical student dorms.
The walls were imbued with advanced magic to ensure privacy-no sound could leave or enter the room, not even the most
powerful clairvoyance spells could pierce the enchantments.
The doors, once closed, automatically
activated a high-ranking magical barrier, preventing any unauthorized entry. Unfortunately for Anna and Amon, as mere
guards, they didn’t have the privilege of overriding those barriers.
They lacked the necessary permissions to
break through if something went wrong.
If Riley had any ill intentions, if he wanted to take advantage of their naïve Saintess, they would be powerless to stop him.
The thought made Anna uneasy, though she maintained her stoic expression.
That’s why Anna had bought the observation crystal in case situations like
this does happen, despite its hefty price.
It was a small insurance policy.
“Although this functions like any observation crystal, it lacks the ability to
project a live feed. We can only probably hear what’s going on inside,” Anna explained, her voice steady but filled with
tension. “If he so much as touches a strand of her hair, he’s dead.”
She wasn’t exaggerating. Even though the door was fortified with
layers of protective magic, she was prepared to destroy it if necessary. The thought of violating academy rules, committing a sin so severe it would mean the end of her career—and likely her life— didn’t matter to Anna in this moment.
The safety of the Saintess, her Lady Emilia, came before everything.
Rationalizing the gravity of her actions in her mind, Anna immediately channeled her mana into the observation crystal, its red
body glowing as it hummed with stored power.
She watched as the crystal floated above her palm, pulsing with energy. Soon, faint static-filled voices began to emerge, flickering just on the edge of
comprehension.
And then-
BZZT!
A bright flash of red light erupted from the crystal, filling the corridor in an instant. The overwhelming light vanished as quickly as it had appeared, leaving nothing but the darkened hall and silence in its wake.
“What happened?” Amon asked, his tone
sharp with alarm. His gaze darted to Anna’s hand, where the crystal had just been. But Anna could only stare at her now
empty palm, her brow furrowed in confusion.
The crystal, which had been their only link
to what was happening inside the room, was gone-completely vanished
trace.
“I… I don’t know,”
without a
“Hmm~” Liyana hummed softly, her voice
echoing in the boundless expanse of white that surrounded her.
It was a realm unlike any other, where everything-every detail from the sky to the ground, even the trees and the strange
beings that existed there—was bathed in the same unbroken white.
There were no shadows, no imperfections,
just an endless sea of blankness.
Except for her. Liyana stood out in sharp contrast, a
solitary figure clad in a black dress that
seemed to drink in the surrounding light. Her crimson-red eyes gleamed, fixated on the small, pulsating crystal she held
delicately in her hands.
The red crystal shimmered, growing in
intensity as she enhanced the magic within
it, feeding its power.
“Interfering with my territory… is against
||
the rules, Chaos Dragon.’ “You’ve restricted me far too much, White Queen~” Her tone was laced with irritation.
“Can’t you make an exception this time?
You’re not even letting me properly see my love anymore…” As Liyana spoke, a shift occurred within
the perfect white world.
Her eyes narrowed, and scales appeared all
over her face, the pupils in her eyes turned
vertical and the air grew heavy, thick with her power.
The ground beneath her feet began to
crack, long red streaks of light splitting
through the endless white as jagged
tendrils of darkness crawled upwards from
the cracks.
The void of nothingness that once surrounded her was slowly giving way to chaotic, writhing energy, spreading
outward like a virus.
A dark smile tugged at Liyana’s lips as she
felt her influence push against the edges of
this constricting realm. Red lightning crackled, arcing through the
sky above, the shadows beneath her feet
writhing in response to her presence. She glanced at the white figure before her-the so-called White Queen, the ruler of this realm, who remained as still and
serene as ever.
The White Queen, wrapped in an aura of impenetrable calm, merely observed. Her pale, expressionless face gave away
nothing as her bright, pupil-less eyes
locked onto Liyana’s with an almost
detached focus.
She didn’t speak, but her fingers twitched
ever so slightly—an ominous gesture.
Without warning, the White Queen snapped her fingers.
SNAP!
The effect was immediate.
The cracks that had spread across the
world, the darkness that had risen at Liyana’s feet, the red lightning streaks that
marred the pristine sky-all of it vanished in an instant.
In a blinding flash, the world reverted back
to its untouched white state, as though
nothing had ever happened.
Liyana’s smile didn’t falter, but her eyes
darkened, filled with frustration. Despite her overwhelming power, this
realm was not hers to control, and nor was the realm directly outside it.
Tsk~
Liyana clicked her tongue in frustration,
though she made no further move to
escalate the situation.
She knew better than to push things too
far, especially in the White Queen’s domain.
“This is my last warning, Chaos Dragon. Leave.”
Liyana’s ruby-red eyes gleamed mischievously as she let out a light, teasing
chuckle.
“Sure~… but only after I’m done with my business…”
Interfering in another lord’s territory was against the rules set by the Grand Designer, rules that all were bound to
follow.
But this time, Liyana simply couldn’t help
herself.
Ever since Riley had returned to the academy, her influence over him had been
slipping, although it was subtle she could sense a strain in their ever forced
relationship… and now with the White Queen’s plan beginning to set into motion,
her frustration had reached its peak.
She had to check on him.
The enchantments she had placed on the
red crystal were finally complete.
It pulsed with power in her hand, its
energy connecting to the outside world
where its counterpart had been planted.
She could have attempted her work from
the outside, sure-but she knew any
influence she tried to exert would just be
cut off by the White Queen again.
Here, within this realm, she had at least a
sliver of control, enough to complete her
task.
“Just a little more~”
The crystal in her hand crackled, glowing
brighter and brighter until finally, faint
voices began to emerge from within.
Liyana’s grin widened.
She could feel the connection solidifying,
linking her to the distant world outside her beloved toy-Riley-was growing
where
ever
more distant from her, thanks to his
time at the
academy.
Her grip on the crystal tightened as the
sounds from the other side became clearer.
At first, there was nothing but static, the
vague crackling of energy… but then,
unmistakable voices pierced through. “Is this enough?” “Ah-Ahng~! S-Senior, please be a bit more
gentle ah!—”
||
||
||
…
Liyana’s playful expression darkened, her amusement quickly vanishing as the voices
hit her ears.
The white queen who watched all this in
real time smiled for the first time…..
