As the last rays of the setting sun broke through the haze shrouding the dungeon entrance, bathing Victoria and Silvia in warmth, both girls paused almost simultaneously. In unison, they drew a deep breath of the dry, warm air of the surface.
A near-instinctive sense of relief slowly seeped into their limbs along with the sunlight's warmth, dispelling the quiet tension that had hung over them while inside the dungeon.
Silvia couldn't help but raise a hand, letting the falling sunlight kiss her fingertips as a relieved smile touched her face.
Turning her head to look at Victoria, who was lost in thought beside her, she spoke softly. “Victoria... about Senior Greg...”
Pulled from her thoughts, Victoria shifted her gray eyes toward Silvia, silently prompting her to continue.
“I think... we might have genuinely misunderstood him before.”
Silvia spoke with quiet conviction. “If he really harbored as much malice toward us as he showed at the start of the term, then earlier... he wouldn't have risked his life to dive into that underground river to save me.”
She paused, her voice dropping lower yet carrying complete seriousness. “Besides, his identity as a Messenger of the Goddess... is something that absolutely cannot be forged. That mark of divine favor is more genuine than any oath or proof. I know that better than anyone.”
As a Candidate Saintess, her ability to perceive and distinguish divine aura was an instinct etched into her very bloodline.
The deep, pure divine favor of night upon Greg was impossible to fake.
Victoria listened in silence, her gaze lingering on the dark, cavernous mouth of the dungeon.
She couldn't bring herself to trust as easily as Silvia did; vigilance was as natural to her as breathing.
And yet... the look on Greg's face when he threw the gem to her without a second thought—and that almost disarmingly candid display of trust—replayed continuously in her mind.
She couldn't see through him.
“He really is... completely different from before,” she murmured under her breath, her brow remaining furrowed.
The arrogant, inept noble brat stood in stark contrast to the Greg who now remained remarkably composed in the face of danger, even entrusting precious resources to someone he considered an enemy. The two images overlapped, yet were fractured by glaring contradictions.
“Maybe...” Silvia offered tentatively, “he really just wants to sever ties with a family that might have already betrayed humanity.”
Victoria gave no answer, only tightening her grip on the gem in her palm.
The cool touch of the gem seeped through her palm like an unfulfilled promise—or a pebble tossed into a still lake, muddying what had once been a clear line between friend and foe.
Wrapped in their own thoughts, the two girls quietly exchanged speculations about Greg's sudden change as they walked down the mountain path toward the main road leading to the dormitories.
Right as they were about to step onto the main paved road, a female student suddenly darted out from their blind spot and slipped into the dungeon.
Victoria paused mid-step, her gray eyes sweeping sharply toward the entrance, but she saw nothing.
“An illusion?”
Before she could dwell on it, the moment they stepped onto the main road, three maids dressed in matching uniforms stepped out from the shade of nearby trees, surrounding Victoria in a triangular formation.
Without warning, the leader—a serious-looking maid with a chin-length bob—reached out and gently pinched Victoria's cheek with her white-gloved fingers.
“Hmm...” She felt carefully, as if inspecting a precision instrument. “While her height is extremely close to Her Highness's, her facial bone structure and muscle texture... don't appear to be a disguise or an item illusion.”
Victoria: “...Hey.”
Her cold warning was utterly ignored.
Another maid, wearing glasses and exuding an intellectual aura, adjusted her frames and unceremoniously glanced at Victoria's chest, analyzing calmly:
“Furthermore, according to our data comparison, Her Highness's bust measurement... theoretically ought to be slightly more... well, pronounced than this student's.”
A vein practically throbbed at Victoria's temple, and fine, dangerous wisps of mana began to coil around her fingertips. “It seems when I need test subjects for magic experiments... I won't have to bother making dummies anymore.”
Silvia hastily grabbed her arm, pleading in an urgent whisper, “C-Calm down, Victoria! Violent crime is strictly forbidden!”
Right at that moment, the third maid, who wore a high ponytail and looked the most cheerful, leaned in close and stared at the lines of Victoria's trousers-clad legs, gasping in awe:
“Wait! Look at the shape of her legs! Straight, slender, with smooth, flawless muscle lines... T-This is even superior to Her Highness's standard leg line after years of correction by royal etiquette tutors!”
Victoria, who had been on the verge of exploding, froze.
Her chin tilted up slightly, and the corner of her lips curved into an almost imperceptible, proud little arch.
“Hmph... It seems you three aren't entirely devoid of taste after all—hiss! Did one of you just stick out your tongue and lick me?!”
Silvia: “...”
The three maids suddenly huddled together. “It really isn't Her Highness. The taste is completely different.”
“I see. It appears we got the wrong person, then.”
Having apparently completed some rapid identification protocol, the three maids stepped back in unison, lifted their skirts in sync, and performed a flawless, textbook curtsy.
“Pardon our rudeness, fellow students. Please accept our most sincere apologies.”
Speaking on behalf of the group, the short-haired maid resumed a polite, businesslike tone. “We are searching for a... specific individual. May we ask if you have seen a red-haired girl nearby whose behavior might be... well, a bit erratic?”
“No,” Victoria answered succinctly.
All three maids simultaneously displayed unreserved frustration and headaches.
“We lost her again, as expected...”
“Her Highness is way too fast on her feet...”
“Who knows where Her Highness ran off to this time.”
They exchanged rapid whispers, their faces filled with anxiety.
“Her Highness...” Silvia repeated in a murmur, catching their hushed words.
Victoria's gray eyes sharpened as she realized who they were looking for.
Lilith Kahn.
The Second Princess of the kingdom. Enrolled in the same year as them, she was already a prominent figure at the academy.
Rumor had it that at merely Level 10, she had already mastered the rudimentary form of 【Flame Burst】, one of the supreme-tier fire spells, through sheer talent alone.
Without a doubt, she would be one of the most dangerous competitors in the upcoming Placement Exam.
Yet it was precisely this strength that drew Victoria like a magnet.
Defeating an opponent like that was the only outcome worth striving for.
With that thought, the turbulent feelings stirred up by Greg were temporarily pushed to the back of her mind.
Offering the three maids a curt nod, Victoria lingered no longer. She pulled Silvia along, hurrying away to spend every remaining second practicing her magic.
Watching the two girls hurry off into the distance, the three maids exchanged helpless glances.
“If Her Highness Lilith isn't back by lights-out...”
The glasses-wearing maid adjusted her frames, a helpless glint reflecting off her lenses. “I fear we will have no choice but to report to 'that person' first.”
“Princess Vivian...”
The ponytail-wearing maid let out a sigh. “Let's hope Her Highness gets her fill of fun and comes back before she's found out.”
Rate on N.U.
