A profound silence blanketed the Training Arena, broken only by the soft patter of sand falling back onto the pale ground.
The enormous vortex was gone, not because G6 had somehow commanded the wind itself into obedience, but because she had finally recognized the obvious source of the problem—her own continuous mana flow—and severed it. Without a sustained supply, the malformed Tornado Wind had collapsed under its own unstable structure.
What remained was the aftermath.
Broken target stands lay scattered across the training floor, while sand coated the lower stone tiers, the portable breakfast table, loose clothing, and every unfortunate person who had been caught within range.
Beneath the ordinary evidence of magical disaster, however, something considerably harder to explain still lingered.
The pressure.
That brief, suffocating sensation that something lethal had turned its attention upon every living thing in the arena.
No one had moved yet.
G6 looked around at them.
"Eh? Whatever."
She said it as though dismissing the entire disaster were the natural conclusion.
Lord Earl's stunned expression snapped into outrage.
"'Whatever'?"
He strode toward her through the disturbed sand, disbelief sharpening every step.
"That was not the spell!"
<
G6 blinked.
Huh? It activated on its own?
The oppressive presence disappeared as abruptly as it had appeared, and the instant it did, the cost caught up with her.
A violent wave of exhaustion rolled through Reise's body. Her knees lost their strength, and she dropped onto the sand before she could properly brace herself.
Lord Earl's irritation vanished immediately.
"Are you okay?"
He reached her quickly and dropped into a crouch.
Ah. This is annoying.
G6 pressed one hand against the ground while she waited for the dizziness to settle.
Am I really overpowered or just weak? Fuck.
"I am fine. Just leave me alone for a moment," she gritted out, her voice strained.
Lord Earl studied her shaking hands.
"Use your ring. Channel a hint of mana into it to activate it."
G6 followed the instruction.
A narrow current moved toward the sleek black ring on her finger, and the etched metal responded almost immediately with a soft blue glow. Coolness entered her hand and traveled gradually along the overstressed nerves in her arm.
Hmm. The effect is more potent if you are wearing it.
She exhaled as another pulse of relief passed through her.
It is… ha, do I really know that word now? Soothing.
"How are you feeling now, Reise?"
"Still aches a little, but better. I can move."
"The earring restrained how much mana you could release at once," Lord Earl said, his attention shifting briefly toward the twin-piercing artifact. "That does not mean your body escaped the strain of sustaining a spell far beyond the structure I instructed you to create."
He held out one hand.
G6 looked at it, then at him.
Her own legs were still unreliable enough to make the decision for her.
She accepted.
Lord Earl helped her to her feet, keeping his grip practical and brief.
"EARL! IS HOLDING MY REISE AGAIN!"
Lord Keith's voice carried dramatically across the arena as he brushed sand from his clothes.
Lord Earl did not even turn.
Prince Dio did.
"Shut up."
His attention remained fixed on the center of the training floor, not on Lord Earl's hand, but on G6 and what had happened around her moments earlier.
That pressure was not part of the tornado, Prince Dio thought.
He had trained around powerful mages for most of his life. He knew the sensation of overwhelming elemental output, the weight of excessive mana release, and the instinctive unease caused by standing too close to a dangerous spell.
What he had felt moments ago was different.
For one heartbeat, every combat instinct he possessed had reacted as though he were facing an executioner already within striking distance.
Then it had vanished.
Prince Dio's gaze narrowed.
Another contradiction.
Another question.
He turned away before the others could notice how closely he was watching.
"Edmund, Tina. Clean the sand off the table."
"At once, Your Highness."
Tina, Edmund, and Lilia began salvaging what remained of breakfast and gathering the scattered supplies.
Prince Dio raised his voice.
"EARL! IS THE SITUATION UNDER CONTROL?"
"It is. Do not mind us," Lord Earl called back without looking away from G6.
Then his expression hardened.
"Let us review the fundamentals before you attempt to level the Collegium again."
G6 gave him a flat stare.
"Yeah, whatever. You are the one who told me to do it."
Lord Earl visibly struggled with that statement.
"Listen to me, Reise. YOU WILL LITERALLY KILL YOURSELF CASTING SPELLS OF THAT MAGNITUDE."
His outrage gave way to something considerably more serious.
"Your body cannot handle it."
"Stop nagging."
G6 lifted one hand and absently rubbed at the newly pierced ear with her smallest finger before blowing against it as though the entire conversation bored her.
Lord Earl's mouth twitched.
This woman, he thought.
"Then listen."
He pointed toward the damaged training equipment.
"Your body requires a mana restraint and a stabilizer ring merely to regulate the consequences of your current training. The restraint limits output. The ring helps relieve accumulated nerve stress. Neither one makes you indestructible."
G6's expression remained flat.
I know, geek. That is why I am doing this.
Her eyes lowered briefly toward her own hand, and her fingers curled.
It makes me sick every time I am reminded how restricted I am.
Lord Earl watched her for another moment before stepping backward.
"Again."
G6 looked at him.
He pointed toward the remaining targets.
"From the beginning."
For the next thirty minutes, Lord Earl proved himself to be exactly the sort of instructor G6 despised: meticulous, repetitive, and unforgiving.
Every Wind Blade had to reach a predetermined target with deliberately reduced output.
Every Gust had to produce enough force to move a training marker without throwing it halfway across the arena.
Whenever her angle was wrong, Lord Earl made her repeat the spell. If the pressure fluctuated, she repeated it again. I
f G6 released more mana than necessary merely because doing so was easier, Lord Earl sent her straight back to the beginning.
He did not care that she could produce something far stronger.
That was precisely the problem.
Lord Earl wanted measured output.
G6 wanted results.
Their philosophies were immediately incompatible.
"Wind Blade."
A compressed current sliced across the sand and struck the marked section of a wooden target with a clean cut.
Lord Earl inspected it.
"Acceptable."
He shifted the target.
"Gust."
G6 released a moderate current.
The target slid backward across the sand and stopped almost exactly where he had marked the ground.
She bent forward afterward, bracing both hands against her knees while she caught her breath.
"Give me a break," she snapped.
"Not yet."
Lord Earl's reply came without hesitation.
G6 slowly raised her head.
He walked closer and bent slightly until he could look directly at her exhausted face.
"This will build your endurance."
A faint, knowing smile appeared.
"Are you not in a hurry?"
G6's eyes narrowed.
This damn geek psycho.
He had noticed.
Not what she was truly planning, perhaps, but enough.
He sees right through me.
"I am not in a hurry, geek. I mean, Earl."
From the lower stone tier, Lord Keith winced in sympathy.
"Ah, Earl is really into teaching Reise. I almost feel bad for her now."
"That is simply Earl being Earl," Prince Dio replied, his arms crossed while he observed.
Lord Earl ignored both of them.
"Now, let us practice the exchange between Wind Blade and Gust again."
Tsk, how annoying.
"Fine, fine."
G6 straightened and turned toward the target.
"Wind Bla—"
"Pardon the interruption."
A voice projected from the arena's internal archway.
Everyone turned.
A Collegium staff member stood near the entrance, his posture rigid enough to announce the importance of the message before he finished speaking.
"There is a sudden summons to the meeting hall. Immediately."
G6 frowned.
"Meeting hall?"
Lord Earl's expression shifted at once.
"That is rare."
He pushed his glasses higher.
"Unprecedented, actually."
Prince Dio had already stepped away from the seating, while Lord Keith's joking expression disappeared completely.
The group converged near the lower tier as Tina and Lilia began gathering the remaining objects from the sand.
"Do not bother cleaning up," Lord Earl said. "The summons is immediate."
Prince Dio looked toward G6.
"Reise, bring only one servant."
Is that noble decorum? Whatever.
"Edmund, with me. Lilia, Tina, wait in my office."
"Understood, Lady Reise."
Tina bowed.
Lilia looked reluctant to leave her but nevertheless followed Tina toward the Bastion's internal corridors.
G6, Edmund, Prince Dio, Lord Keith, and Lord Earl left the arena together.
Evidence of the morning followed G6 through the Bastion. Dust streaked her trousers, loose strands of rose-gold hair had escaped her training knot, and a small smear marked one sleeve where she had hit the ground.
At the staircase junction, Tina and Lilia separated from the group.
"We will await your return, Lady Reise."
G6 gave a curt nod.
The others continued.
"Where is this meeting hall, anyway?" she asked.
Lord Keith immediately fell into step beside her.
"Ah, that is right. You would not know, my Reise."
His tone brightened with the joy of possessing information she did not.
"It is hidden behind the Royal Collegium Library. They do love to conceal important places among books."
"Ah."
Nothing more.
Lord Keith's expression fell.
He had clearly expected greater enthusiasm.
Behind them, Lord Earl lowered his voice toward Prince Dio.
"I wonder what this is about."
"The same thought occupies my mind."
Neither man sounded amused anymore.
❈.❈.❈
They entered the vast Royal Collegium Library and crossed between rows of towering shelves.
Prince Dio stopped before one particular bookcase, reached for an unremarkable volume, and pulled it partially from the shelf.
A soft click answered.
Hidden mechanisms shifted, and a section of shelving moved inward to reveal a concealed passage finished in polished stone and understated gold.
G6's eyes sharpened.
Of course.
At the far end waited a pair of ornate double doors.
Prince Dio opened them.
The meeting hall beyond was large and formal, but unlike the darker stone interiors elsewhere in the compound, sunlight poured through tall windows and washed across a long oval table.
Conversation quieted as they entered.
Several people looked toward them, then toward the sand still clinging to their clothing.
The disapproval was immediate.
G6 barely noticed.
Prince Dio, Lord Keith, and Lord Earl were taller than she was and had entered slightly ahead, momentarily blocking much of the room from her view.
Then they separated.
The assembly came into focus.
Representatives and heirs of the Three Pillar Houses occupied the table. Miss Eliza was the only obvious outsider among them.
At its head sat the Queen.
Prince Dio straightened.
"Mother."
Mother?
G6's eyes moved toward the woman at the head of the table.
Ah. That witch.
Another thought followed almost immediately.
"Good morning, Your Majesty," Lord Keith and Lord Earl greeted in practiced unison before bowing. "And to the esteemed members of the Three Pillars."
G6 stepped fully out from behind them.
Queen Euphelia sat at the center of the gathering, with members of Houses Worthon, Nocturne, and De Lune arranged nearby.
"Good morning."
The Queen's eyes moved over the four late arrivals, and a trace of amusement appeared.
"You all look… rather well-traveled."
"Good morning, Lady Reise."
Miss Eliza's sweet voice immediately drew attention toward the rear of the group.
G6 looked at her.
What is with this woman?
Miss Eliza smiled.
Is she trying to pin the attention on me?
G6's grey eyes cooled.
Miss Eliza's gaze shifted away first.
"Yeah."
G6 stepped into full view.
"MY REISE! DID YOU—"
Lord Ron Worthon's voice exploded across the meeting hall.
The Queen cleared her throat.
That was all it took.
Lord Ron composed himself.
G6 looked toward Her Majesty.
"Good morning, Your Majesty."
The greeting was flat, but appropriately directed.
"It appears you are keeping… active, dear Reise."
The Queen's gaze briefly touched the sand clinging to her training clothes.
"Please. All of you, sit."
Prince Dio, Lord Earl, Lord Keith, and G6 took the remaining chairs.
Edmund stood several paces behind G6's seat.
The Queen did not waste time.
"This assembly concerns the knight recruitment initiative."
The lightness disappeared from her expression.
"It was initially scheduled for Captain Kepler's return, but we must proceed without delay."
Looks like something is going on.
G6 watched the Queen carefully.
She is in a hurry.
Prince Dio spoke first.
"Excuse my interruption, Your Majesty. Might I ask the reason for such urgency?"
The Queen exchanged a weighted look with several of the Pillar heirs.
"It is a matter of prevention."
Her fingers rested lightly against the table.
"Intelligence suggests the Southern Kingdom has been aggressively recruiting knights for two months. This is a preemptive measure."
Lord Earl's attention sharpened.
"Are they mobilizing for war?"
"We cannot be certain."
The Queen's expression remained controlled.
"However, prevention is superior to cure."
She began issuing instructions.
"Prince Dio, oversee all preparations."
Prince Dio inclined his head.
"Lord Earl, effective immediately, you are stationed at the Bastion. Inform Lord Zen and Lady Brenda as well."
Lord Earl nodded.
"Understood, Your Majesty."
"Lord Keith."
The Queen turned toward him.
"Focus on Miss Eliza's endurance training. Strengthen her healing capabilities. Greater field endurance from Benedictio could significantly reduce our dependence upon emergency potions or the priests and priestesses stationed here in our kingdom."
Lord Keith's expression lost some of its usual humor.
"Understood."
The atmosphere in the room had shifted completely.
This was no discussion over ordinary Guild administration.
It was preparation.
Kingdoms at war, huh? Not my type of scene.
G6 rested one elbow against the chair as her mouth tightened.
Way too messy. Loud. Attention.
Her eyes narrowed.
The best way is to silently end the string puller.
The Queen continued.
"I also want a census of Adventurers across the kingdom who hold A-Rank or higher in Physical Enhancement Magic."
Several people around the table began taking notes.
"And identify any… special cases."
Special cases? What is that?
"Special cases?"
G6's blunt question sliced directly through the formal atmosphere.
The Queen looked toward her.
"Indeed."
She folded her hands.
"On rare occasions, commoners are born with a unique magical affinity that resonates with one of the established noble bloodlines. The occurrence is exceptionally rare—approximately one in two million, according to existing records."
G6's mouth curved.
"You mean they are probably some noble's illegitimate children?"
The entire room froze.
Several heads turned toward her at once.
No one seemed willing to acknowledge that the possibility had almost certainly crossed their minds before.
G6 looked around before leaning back.
"Or they could just be special."
The Queen released a soft laugh.
"Quite."
Her attention returned to the table.
"That will be all. You have one week."
She turned toward the elder Pillar representatives.
"Elder siblings, maintain vigilance. House Nocturne will compensate for Lord Earl's reassignment to the Bastion. House Worthon will continue its work on advanced spells and potion development."
Lord Ray and Lord Ron gave synchronized nods.
The older Nocturne heirs responded in turn.
The room gradually filled with quieter discussion as assignments were clarified.
G6 leaned slightly toward Lord Keith.
"Hey, Keith."
He looked at her immediately.
"What is it, Reise?"
"Where are your siblings?"
Lord Keith blinked.
"What do you mean? Captain Kepler is my brother."
G6 stared.
Really?
Then the previous conversation among Tina, Lilia, and Edmund returned to her.
The one Tina was gushing over?
"Really? That talk-of-the-town Captain? Then why are you here? Are you the family's black sheep?"
Lord Keith's face twisted.
"Kepler is just the eldest! He gets the spotlight first!"
"A typical loser's defense mechanism."
Lord Keith looked personally attacked.
Their whispering had grown considerably less discreet.
"And for Reise."
The Queen's voice cut cleanly through their argument.
G6 straightened.
Me? What does she want now? Tsk.
Her face returned to perfect neutrality.
"Yes, Your Majesty?"
"How is your remedial training progressing? Are you managing well?"
There was something deceptively sweet about the Queen's tone.
"Yes. With the… generous help of Keith, Earl, and… Prince Dio."
The sarcasm sat just beneath G6's polite delivery.
The Queen smiled.
"I am glad to see you are getting along with them again."
Her eyes held G6's.
"I trust you are not forgetting our… understanding, correct?"
G6 understood the warning perfectly.
"Of course not… Your Majesty."
The Queen laughed lightly before addressing the others again.
"May I remind the eldest heirs to continue your spell research and magitech development while your younger siblings attend to the more immediate field responsibilities."
She rose.
"Then you are all dismissed. Thank you for attending, and remain prepared for further instruction."
Everyone stood.
Chairs shifted as the gathered nobles bowed and began filing toward the doors.
"Reise, my dear."
G6 stopped.
"A moment, if you please. Stay behind."
Prince Dio, Lord Keith, and Lord Earl all halted, their attention moving between G6 and the Queen.
The Queen smiled pleasantly.
"Do not fret. I will return her shortly."
G6 looked toward Edmund.
"Edmund, wait for me outside."
"Of course, Lady Reise."
The others exited.
The ornate doors closed behind them.
❈.❈.❈
Outside the meeting hall, Prince Dio, Lord Keith, Lord Earl, and Edmund moved back along the concealed corridor toward the library.
"What was that about?" Lord Keith asked.
Lord Earl adjusted his glasses.
"Her Majesty has been showing… particular interest in Reise this past week."
Prince Dio kept walking.
"Let us not speculate on matters that are not our concern."
Lord Keith's grin immediately returned.
"Give me a break, Prince Dio. On her first day, you lost your composure because she would not speak to you!"
Lord Earl's mouth curved.
"Indeed. Keith told me everything. You were rather… lame flame."
Prince Dio stopped.
"I will personally roast both of you."
A faint shimmer of heat distorted the air around him.
"And why do you two only choose whenever you feel like addressing me as 'Prince'?"
Neither cousin answered.
They simply looked away.
Edmund followed several paces behind with his expression pleasantly neutral.
Unlike the others, however, he possessed enough information about Reise's classified appraisal to understand that the Queen's sudden private attention was unlikely to be casual.
He wisely kept that knowledge to himself.
They stepped back through the hidden library entrance.
Lady Brenda was waiting.
The instant she saw them, she marched forward.
"WHERE IS LADY REISE?"
Lord Keith groaned.
"Great, another geek."
"You shut up!"
Lady Brenda barely looked at him before turning toward Lord Earl.
"Earl, what is wrong? Why is she not with you? Is there an emergency?"
Everyone stared.
"There is!"
Lady Brenda answered her own question with mounting panic.
Then she spotted Edmund.
She rushed toward him and caught him by the shoulders.
"Did I do something to offend Lady Reise?!"
Edmund blinked.
"Whatever do you mean?"
"Her changing clothes are gone from the storage room! She is not coming here anymore! What did I do wrong?"
"My lady simply finds it more convenient to keep her effects in her own place."
Edmund gently removed her hands from his shoulders.
"Please, rest assured. Lady Reise is not angry."
"Truly?"
Lady Brenda's entire expression changed.
"I thought… I had lost the honor of attending to her grace."
Lord Keith leaned toward Lord Earl.
"What is wrong with your cousin, Earl? Is she losing her mind or something?"
"I confess, I do not know."
"Oh, be quiet!"
Lady Brenda finally noticed Prince Dio.
"Oh? You are here too?"
Her casual tone made the familiarity between them obvious.
She straightened.
"You all may go. I will wait."
"I will wait," Prince Dio said.
"As will we," Lord Keith added. "We arrived together."
Lady Brenda narrowed her eyes.
"Do not get in my way."
Lord Earl and Lord Keith stared at her.
"What?"
Neither man understood what G6 had done during their earlier interaction.
Lady Brenda's longstanding weakness toward one of Reise's older brothers had already existed. Reise shared much of the same Worthon family face, and G6 had noticed the susceptibility almost immediately.
She had merely leaned into the resemblance, redirecting an existing emotional weakness until Lady Brenda became absurdly eager to please her.
G6 had identified the lever and pulled it.
Nothing more romantic than that.
"Are you not returning to the Bastion yet, Your Highness?"
Miss Eliza approached from farther inside the library.
Prince Dio gave her a brief glance.
"I will wait for Reise with the others."
"I see… Lady Reise is not yet dismissed…"
"Why do you not go on ahead, Miss Eliza?" Lord Keith interrupted. "We can discuss our training arrangement later."
"Oh, that is right. We are to be trainee and mentor once more."
Miss Eliza smiled.
"That is right, Miss Eliza."
Lord Keith's own smile looked painfully forced.
"Then, if you will excuse me, I should prepare. I would not wish to intrude."
"There is no need," Lord Earl said.
His tone was practical rather than welcoming.
"You may wait and return with us. It is our common destination."
He turned toward Lady Brenda.
"Brenda, a word regarding your reassignment."
Her attention reluctantly shifted toward him.
❈.❈.❈
Inside the meeting hall, the ornate doors clicked shut.
The moment the room became private, G6's posture changed. The careful approximation of noble obedience disappeared as she looked toward the Queen.
"What is it, boss?"
Queen Euphelia remained seated at the head of the table.
"You can tell me the truth now."
The warmth left her voice, leaving behind something controlled and analytical.
G6's brows furrowed.
What does she mean? What is she playing at?
Her attention sharpened.
Don't tell me… does she know I am a fake?
"What do you mean?"
Her voice remained flat.
Panic was an amateur's emotion.
The Queen did not answer immediately.
"I was informed by the Main Palace's Apothecary Department."
G6's eyes narrowed.
"Not long before your condition changed… you requested a substance known as White Drop."
White Drop?
Recognition followed.
That thing Reise drank?
"So? What about it?"
The Queen's expression changed.
"Reise…"
The stateswoman's composure softened enough for genuine concern to show through.
"Did you try to kill yourself?"
G6 said nothing.
She held the Queen's gaze and waited.
Let's see what exactly she knows.
"The day you acquired it was the very day you came to my chambers," the Queen continued. "You asked whether there might be another woman better suited for Prince Dio. Someone who could make him happy."
G6's eyes shifted slightly.
So she did that?
The detail settled somewhere uncomfortable.
Why do I feel like there's a hidden implication in those words of Reise? Hmm.
For a moment, the question seemed to lead somewhere—not toward an answer, but toward another question she could almost see.
Before she could follow the thread, the Queen spoke again, drawing G6's attention back to the immediate conversation.
"I could feel the despair clinging to you that day."
Queen Euphelia looked away briefly.
"I saw the darkness in your eyes. The emptiness in your smile."
Her fingers tightened against the edge of the table.
"You must forgive me for not realizing the depth of it. For not pulling you aside sooner."
The regret sounded genuine.
G6 remained silent.
The Queen drew a slow breath.
"Your use of White Drop alone would have concerned me."
Her gaze returned to G6.
"But after your appraisal, I began investigating Cryomancy."
G6's expression sharpened.
There it was.
The real reason.
"I searched what remains of the oldest records available to the Royal Archive. Most are incomplete. Some contradict one another. Others read more like doctrine than magical scholarship."
The Queen paused.
"I also wrote to my master."
G6 listened without interruption.
"A reply reached me."
The Queen's voice grew quieter.
"Not an explanation. A warning."
Her eyes hardened.
"Cryomancy is so old that even surviving references disagree on what it truly is. But there is one point repeated often enough that I could not dismiss it."
She allowed a brief silence before continuing.
"It was not described as an affinity inherited through blood, nor was it treated as something that could be developed through ordinary magical training."
The Queen watched her reaction carefully.
"The oldest records call Cryomancy an acquired affinity."
That caught G6's attention.
"Acquired how?"
The Queen remained silent for a moment.
Then she answered.
"Through death."
G6 did not move.
The Queen continued before the words could settle too cleanly.
"Or, more precisely, through what those records call death and rebirth."
Silence stretched between them.
"The language differs from text to text. Some accounts are religious. Others are written by mages attempting to interpret much older material. But the same theory returns again and again."
The Queen stood and began walking slowly around the table.
"They describe someone crossing the threshold of death and returning afterward with Cryomancy bound to them. Not awakening an affinity already dormant within the blood. Not learning it."
She took another measured step.
"Acquiring it."
G6's stare remained fixed on her.
The Queen raised one hand.
"I am not telling you this theory is fact. I have no proof."
Her tone became firmer.
"There are no reliable modern cases. Cryomancy itself has been regarded as myth for generations, and even the old scholars could not agree on what they were studying."
She lowered her hand.
"But they were disturbingly consistent about the manner of acquisition."
Death and rebirth remained inseparable throughout the surviving accounts.
G6 remained quiet.
"Some texts insist the wielder must truly die before the affinity can take root," the Queen continued. "Others describe a state so close to death that the distinction becomes impossible to determine afterward."
Her expression tightened.
"And some interpretations of the word rebirth are less literal."
G6's gaze sharpened.
"The old texts occasionally describe the person who returns as changed beyond recognition. Not another person. Not another body."
The Queen paused.
"The same person… but no longer the person they were before."
The words settled differently this time, carrying a more dangerous implication.
Queen Euphelia watched G6 carefully.
"Normally, I would have treated all of this as ancient superstition."
She resumed walking.
"But then I found the Apothecary record."
Silence filled the hall.
"White Drop can kill."
The words landed plainly.
"You obtained it. Your personality changed almost immediately afterward, and an affinity believed mythical appeared in your appraisal."
The Queen stopped several paces away.
"An affinity whose oldest surviving theory claims it is not inherited at all, but acquired through death and rebirth."
Her composure remained intact, but tension sat beneath it.
"I have spent days trying to decide whether asking this would be absurd."
Her eyes held G6's.
"Reise."
A quiet pause passed between them.
"Did you die?"
G6 stared back.
There it was.
The impossible question.
Not possession.
Not Akira.
Not another soul.
Queen Euphelia had arrived at the edge of the mystery through the only evidence available to her: White Drop, a possible death, the sudden behavioral transformation, and an ancient affinity supposedly acquired only after crossing death and returning from it.
G6 released a heavy, measured sigh and tilted her head back as though finally exhausted by the entire performance.
"Exhausting," she murmured.
She lowered her gaze.
"Your Majesty, you asked whether I died."
Her voice was chillingly calm.
"You were not wrong."
The Queen became very still.
G6 continued.
"I did indeed try to kill myself that night."
She delivered it like a clinical report.
"And in a way, I suppose I succeeded. The weak thing that lived in this skin… she died."
She took a single, silent step forward.
"But death does not always bring an end. Sometimes, it is an awakening. It woke something in me that had been sleeping. Something the precious Wicked Reise spent her entire life trying to silence."
Her lips curved into a smile that held no warmth, only a razor's edge.
"Something the likes of you can't fathom."
Her voice dropped.
"Something that knows, in its very bones, that the only purpose of light is to be extinguished."
The Queen did not interrupt.
"You saw a darkness in my eyes that day?"
G6 tilted her head.
"That was not a darkness. That was the shape of something real staring back."
Her stare remained fixed on the Queen.
"Maybe that darkness is out."
She smirked.
"Maybe, that's me."
G6 took another quiet step.
"And you can't begin to imagine the things I would do, the lines I would erase, to take what I want. Not as a petulant child, but with the certainty of someone who has already decided how it ends."
From G6's perspective, it was neither performance nor boast.
It was a warning delivered as fact.
Queen Euphelia absorbed it without moving.
G6 had given her something terrifying, but not the truth the Queen feared might exist.
Nothing in G6's words suggested to the Queen that another person had replaced Reise.
Instead, the explanation fit disturbingly well with the interpretation she had found in the ancient texts: that the person who returned after crossing death might remain the same person while being changed beyond recognition.
From the Queen's perspective, Reise had taken White Drop and apparently crossed close enough to death that something inside her had broken. The woman who returned afterward behaved as though the old Reise had been burned away.
The ancient scholars had called that rebirth.
Perhaps they had meant something literal. Perhaps they had only been struggling to describe what happened when a person survived something that should have ended them.
Queen Euphelia had no way to know.
What she believed she knew was that Reise Worthon still stood before her, altered so drastically by whatever had nearly killed her that the girl she remembered had become almost impossible to recognize.
"Regardless," the Queen said at last, regaining the full steel of her composure, "I will still continue to support you."
She held G6's gaze.
"I will pry no more, for now. I know you are still Reise. Just… not the Reise I knew."
G6 said nothing.
"Sometimes…"
The Queen's expression changed, becoming less maternal and more strategic.
"A necessary darkness is what a kingdom needs to survive the light."
Something inside G6 reacted.
The principle was familiar from another life.
'A necessary darkness on the sidelines is what keeps the world in balance.'
Her eyes narrowed.
The Queen was not simply offering comfort.
She understood something G6 recognized instinctively: the political reality that law, morality, and survival did not always occupy the same clean space.
Ah, she is one of us.
G6 reconsidered almost immediately.
No, she is trying to be one of us.
It was a swift categorization.
She had known people like that before—powerful figures willing to operate within moral grey areas when ordinary institutions could no longer solve the problem in front of them. People who understood why organizations like the Gemstones existed, even if they themselves would never live by the same rules.
"You are good with your words, Your Majesty."
The Queen watched her.
"Euphelia," she said. "My name says it already, 'well-spoken.'"
G6 answered only with a smug snort.
"Take back what you feel you have lost, Reise. Then we will talk further."
The severity in Queen Euphelia's face softened.
"But no more self-destruction."
The words were gentle but firm.
"And do not attempt Cryomancy yet."
G6's attention sharpened.
"My master's reply confirmed only that the surviving records are dangerous, incomplete, and far too contradictory for experimentation."
The Queen stepped closer.
"We know the theory of how it may be acquired."
Her gaze became grave.
"We do not yet know enough about what happens once it has been acquired."
After a brief pause, she continued.
"Until I understand more, I will not have you experimenting with an affinity whose oldest surviving records begin with death."
"Fine."
G6 filed the information away.
Did she just completely ignore all my murderous intent?
A faint disbelief entered her expression.
Ha… this woman wants something from me.
The Queen turned toward the hidden exit.
"Let us go. I am sure those children are waiting."
❈.❈.❈
They returned through the concealed passage together without speaking.
When the bookshelf swung open, every waiting face in the library turned toward them.
Prince Dio, Lord Keith, Lord Earl, Edmund, Lady Brenda, and Miss Eliza were all watching, searching for evidence of whatever had happened behind the closed doors.
Queen Euphelia's public smile returned immediately.
"You see?"
She glanced toward G6.
"They have been waiting."
"Then I will be leaving."
G6 started to turn.
The Queen stopped her.
"I am aware of those… extreme intentions, Reise."
Her voice was quiet enough to make everyone listen harder.
"I nearly lost my composure in there. I thought neither of us would greet them intact."
A small smile appeared, not quite maternal and not quite political.
Then she turned and walked away with the same effortless dignity she brought everywhere.
The others stared after her before slowly looking back at G6.
No one seemed to know what to ask first.
Is she a psycho?
G6 watched the Queen disappear.
Wait, Snow White seems too normal for that.
Her eyes narrowed.
Maybe she is a masochist.
Then another judgment arrived.
That damn crazy witch.
Edmund was the first to recover.
"Shall we return to the Bastion, Lady Reise?"
"Alright, let us go. Thanks for waiting."
G6 turned toward the others, and the group began moving once more through the Collegium.
The new generation of the Three Pillars walked together beneath circumstances none of them had expected, carrying duties, questions, and secrets that had already begun reshaping the future around them.
Among those secrets walked Reise Worthon herself—the most dangerous uncertainty of them all.
—To Be Continued…—