NOVPUB"...But wouldn't saying you resemble the First Princess be a compliment?"
"What part of what I just said did you not understand? My sister is dangerous, okay?"
Erendir still felt chills crawl up her spine whenever she thought about her older sister, the First Princess.
She’d come all the way to Seorn just to escape her sister’s suffocating attention and oppression, but the fear still lingered deep inside her, like a scar etched into her very soul.
That’s why Erendir never really liked Ludger from the start.
Because he reminded her of her sister.
"...Hmm. I don’t really get it."
Rine didn’t particularly feel anything off about Ludger, even if Erendir insisted he was dangerous.
Sure, her first impression of him had been terrifying—so much so that just approaching him was difficult—but once you actually talked to him, it was easy to tell he wasn’t that kind of person.
He even saved me when things got dangerous.
When she got into that scuffle at the training grounds, when the werewolf attacked, and even when she almost got caught in the Fire Giant’s rampage at the banquet.
Ludger saved her every time.
He even gave her advice about non-attributed mana, and lent her a book explaining the technique.
Huh? Now that I think about it... I've just been receiving things from Ludger, but I’ve never done anything for him in return.
Sure, there was a gap in status between a student and a teacher, but still, just taking and giving nothing back didn’t sit right with her.
Maybe I should do something for him too...
She thought about it for a bit, but couldn’t come up with any kind of proper gift.
Ludger didn’t seem like someone who needed anything.
And besides, she was still having lunch with Erendir, so there wasn’t really any room for her mind to wander elsewhere.
"Anyway! Rine, you should be careful around Ludger, okay? Promise me!"
"Uh, sure... I’ll try."
"Whew. Good enough."
"More importantly, are you doing okay now, Senpai? You seemed super busy after the last exam."
"...A little bit. But can you not bring up the exam?"
Erendir avoided Rine’s gaze, clearly feeling a bit guilty.
She had wanted to show off a cool, senior-like image, but ended up bombing the exam. It was pretty embarrassing.
And don’t even get her started on how the maids from the palace hounded her about studying, all for the sake of maintaining her royal dignity.
Not being able to see her friend Rine—one of the few friends she’d managed to make recently—was torment enough.
"Ahem. Anyway, it’s fine now. I’ve got some guaranteed free time, finally."
Of course, if she flunked the next exam, things would get even worse... but that was a problem for future Erendir.
"Ah, okay."
Rine couldn’t help but feel uneasy the more confidently Erendir spoke.
Would just thinking something like that count as an offense against the royal family?
"So, are we gonna keep eating lunch together next week too?"
Rine suddenly remembered she had made lunch plans with Freuden a while back.
She didn’t want those plans to clash.
If it couldn’t be helped, she figured she should tell Erendir in advance—whether they’d still eat together or maybe push it back.
"Well, unless our classes overlap, it shouldn’t be hard. But next week... hmm. I’ll be busy then."
"Do you have something going on?"
"There’s a big auction happening at Kunst Auction House next week. They begged me to come, like, really begged."
Erendir, despite being a princess, didn’t care much for formal events like that.
But the problem was that the Luk Corporation had gone all out for this auction, and tons of important figures from other countries would be attending.
Naturally, someone of suitable status had to represent the Empire—and unfortunately, the only one with free time and the right position was Erendir.
She wasn’t the type to ignore the responsibilities that came with her title.
So, even though it was bound to be annoying and exhausting, she had no choice but to attend as a princess.
"That sounds like a lot to deal with, Senpai."
"Aw, are you worried about me? How sweet."
"Hehe, it’s nothing."
"Still, I’m more worried about you, Rine. You’ll be lonely without me, right? Eating lunch all alone and everything."
"Yeah, well..."
With Erendir giving her such a genuinely sympathetic look, Rine just couldn’t bring herself to say she already had plans to meet someone else.
It felt like Erendir saw her as a fellow ‘loner.’
What kind of reaction would Erendir have if Rine said, Actually, I have other people to eat with?
Let’s not.
Even out of curiosity, she didn’t want to open that can of worms.
"Anyway, take care, Senpai. Don’t get hurt like me."
"You worry too much. It’s just one of those quick appearances for show, then I’m out. Kunst Auction House is super famous in the Exilion Empire, so security will be tight."
Erendir waved her hand, telling her not to worry.
"Seriously, nothing’s gonna happen there."
* * *
Lindebrune, capital of the Exilion Empire.
At the heart of the massive city, a grand, blindingly white palace stood tall, its foundations deeply entrenched under the light of the sun.
And within one corner of that palace, an audience chamber.
It was dark, despite it being midday. The shadows clung thickly to the room where sunlight barely reached.
A woman entered.
She was a silver-haired beauty, her fierce eyes flashing under the dim light.
"You summoned me."
Terrina Lionhowl, Knight Commander of the Nightcrawler Knights.
She knelt on one knee before the figure who had called her, bowing ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) her head.
"Hmm."
But there was no response.
Terrina stayed in place, head bowed, in silence.
The figure seated on the throne was hidden in shadow. Only parts of her lower body and her right hand—barely lit—could be seen.
That slender, white hand moved pieces around on a chessboard beside her.
Click.
After placing the last piece down with an audible sound, the master of the audience chamber finally spoke.
"I heard you failed the investigation."
"I have no excuse."
"How strange. Terrina Lionhowl, unable to grasp the threads of a case and forced to retreat."
Her tone might have sounded like she was blaming Terrina’s incompetence, but it wasn’t that.
The voice was genuinely intrigued—almost amused—that Terrina had failed.
"I have no excuse before you, Your Highness."
"Enough. Raise your head."
With permission granted, Terrina finally lifted her gaze.
"So you truly uncovered nothing?"
"We confirmed that some sort of experiment took place. However..."
"You couldn’t find out more than that, I assume."
"Correct."
"Hmm."
The voice seemed to consider this, then moved her hand again, picking up another chess piece.
A white knight.
"The werewolf incident in Rederbelk."
She muttered as she knocked over a black pawn on the chessboard.
"The death of tycoon Belvotte Rixon."
She flicked over another black pawn.
"The burned ruins of the factory."
Thunk. Another black pawn fell.
And when the white knight reached the edge of the board, her hand suddenly froze.
Something was blocking its path—something that shouldn’t have been there.
"Oh?"
The plan had gone off course.
If things had gone as she intended, Terrina would have uncovered the real culprit behind the incident, and tracked down those pulling the strings.
But someone had cut the flow, like a pair of scissors snapping a thread.
"There was a saboteur. One I didn’t account for."
"...A saboteur?"
"Someone who interfered with your investigation and covered up the incident."
She placed the white knight on the board.
Standing in its way was a black king.
The knight couldn’t move forward.
Just like Terrina Lionhowl, struggling with an investigation gone awry.
"If all had gone as planned, everything would have wrapped up neatly. I miscalculated."
Yet despite saying that, her voice carried a strange hint of amusement.
Terrina was quietly shocked by this.
The figure before her—the one who ruled this audience chamber—had just admitted to a mistake.
She was someone who treated the world as her chessboard, manipulating pieces and exerting control over everything.
And she had the power and talent to back it up.
At least, as far as Terrina had seen, this woman had never failed. Not even once.
"I can’t remember the last time this happened. Someone interfering, completely outside my expectations."
"Has something like this happened before?"
"It has. Ah, but you wouldn’t know—you weren’t around back then, Terrina."
"That’s true."
"It’s not much of a story, really. Just something from my younger days, back when I didn’t have much influence to speak of."
Now, she could bend even the Security Bureau—an official state agency—to her will with a flick of her hand.
But she hadn’t always wielded such massive power.
Like anyone else, she had once been alone.
"Back when I hadn’t fully built up my power, I had no choice but to rely on outside help to grow my influence."
"Outside help?"
"Ah. Don't get so worked up. By ‘outside help,’ I mean it had nothing to do with any foreign nation. I’m certain there’s nothing there for you, Commander of the Nightcrawlers. The person who helped me was just some wanderer with no roots or ties to anyone."
"A wanderer? That makes even less sense. Are you saying someone like that helped you, Your Highness?"
"Yes. That’s exactly what I’m saying."
The First Princess didn’t deny it.
Her past. Her shortcomings.
"Even though I had no power back then, I still reached out for help. It’s laughable, isn’t it?"
The master of this audience chamber. The one appointed as the next Empress of the Empire.
Aileen von Exilion, First Princess.
As she reminisced, her golden eyes curved like a crescent moon within the shadows.
Above all others.
Proud, unyielding, standing alone like a being beyond humanity—and yet here she was, openly admitting she once relied on someone else.
Terrina couldn’t believe it.
"Terrina. You think I’m joking, don’t you?"
"...No, Your Highness."
"You’re too stiff. I’m not blaming you. No one would believe it if they heard me say this. After all, I’ve become someone who seems beyond such things. But it’s the truth."
Aileen, the First Princess, carefully picked up the black king from the chessboard.
"Commander."
"Yes, Your Highness?"
"You’re fairly well-versed in military affairs, aren’t you?"
"Not extensively, but I know enough to say I’m informed." 𝘯𝑜𝘷𝘱𝘶𝑏.𝘤𝘰𝑚
"Over five years ago, there was an attempted coup by the military."
"...What?"
Terrina’s head snapped up in shock, but Aileen waved her hand.
"Just listen. It’s all over now anyway. The one behind it was Marquis Tepperon, who had control over the military. Maybe he’d gone senile in his old age, but he set his sights on the throne. He secretly formed a loyal force within the army and tried to stage a coup."
"Insane."
"Completely. But what’s more shocking is that he almost succeeded. My useless father, dulled by years of peace, had no clue. I was the only one who knew, and I didn’t even have proper allies back then."
How could the First Princess have stopped a coup led by a man who controlled the military?
"Terrina. Have you ever heard of Black Ops?"
"The Empire’s secret special forces?"
People thought the Nightcrawler Knights handled the dirtiest, most dangerous work in the Empire—but they were wrong.
There was an even more secretive group.
While the Nightcrawlers dealt with threats within the Empire, Black Ops operated beyond its borders, infiltrating other nations.
"Within Black Ops, there was an Alpha Team, composed of the most dangerous operatives."
"And that Alpha Team..."
Terrina’s voice trailed off, but Aileen smiled faintly.
"No."
"No?"
"What you’re thinking—that I commanded Black Ops Alpha Team. That’s wrong. It was the opposite."
"...Opposite?"
"Marquis Tepperon used Black Ops Alpha Team for his coup."
A team with no official record, existing only as a shadow of the Empire—Black Ops.
And Alpha Team, the first and most elite unit of six veterans.
"The one who took down that Alpha Team, alone."
"...What?"
Took down Black Ops, alone?
Terrina couldn’t wrap her head around it.
Sure, Black Ops teams were small, but each member was a human weapon. Unlike formally trained knights, they were shaped by real combat, wielding strange powers that society would never accept.
And someone took on all of them, solo?
"Back then, I was still immature, my talents not fully bloomed. But even then, I could read the flow of events."
"...I see."
"I could see the coup, the ones secretly supporting it, and the fools oblivious to it all. I could predict how they’d move. But he... I couldn’t see him."
Like this black king in her hand.
Appearing out of nowhere like a ghost, vanishing like a mirage.
"I tried to track him down afterward, but he was gone. But now, it just crossed my mind... what if that man, who vanished back then, is the same person moving behind the scenes now?"
"Who is he? This man who helped you in the past?"
"I don’t know. He never told me his real name. Just a fake one, to hide his identity."
Aileen recalled the alias, a smile playing on her lips.
"Jack the Ripper. That’s what he called himself."
"Jack the Ripper..."
The one who rips.
But there’s no way his real name was Jack.
‘Jack’ in this context was no more than a placeholder, a stand-in for ‘nobody.’
So the man who introduced himself as Jack the Ripper was simply calling himself a nobody who kills.
In a way, it was a completely half-assed alias.
But if he was the one who singlehandedly took down the Empire’s top shadow operatives, Alpha Team...
Then that name took on a whole new meaning.
"Hahaha. This is getting more interesting."
"Your Highness?"
Terrina Lionhowl stared, puzzled by the emotion flickering in the First Princess’s eyes.
Joy.
The one who always seemed bored with everything, now smiling for the first time.
"If traces remain, even if they’re faint, it means he must be out there."
"You think that Jack person is active again?"
"Maybe. Maybe not. I can’t know everything. But not knowing... that makes it all the more fun, doesn’t it?"
Aileen’s soft laughter echoed through the dark audience chamber.
Her golden eyes gleamed sharply.
"I’m looking forward to this."
* * *
"Hmm?"
Ludger, reading through the latest magic thesis released by the Mage Tower in the faculty office, felt a sudden tickle in his ear.
Is someone talking about me?
Probably nothing important.
After all, the moment his mana dropped, those damned voices started whispering to him again.
Click. Fucking divine possession.
He popped a mana pill, and the voices seemed to fade again.
Ludger shook it off and turned his attention back to the thesis, as if nothing had happened.
