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“Is something troubling you?”

Orcus, drenched in sweat and collapsed in the Training Grounds, muttered as he watched Noel swing her sword vigorously.

It was the kind of feeling one gets from having seen family for years. Normally, Noel was diligent in her training, but there was an unusual discomfort in her current demeanor compared to before.

She didn’t seem happy at all.

Just a few days ago, Noel would have been radiating positive energy, happily dancing with her sword, but now she had extinguished her usual smile, her face hardened as she silently brandished her blade.

Noel’s current appearance resembled that of a practitioner enduring hardship to erase distracting thoughts. While onlookers might see it as mere concentration, Orcus sensed there was something amiss.

Although Orcus wasn’t a seasoned martial artist, something caught his eye after observing her every day.

Noel’s fierce sword strikes and the Golden Aura enveloping her were undoubtedly powerful, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that they fell short compared to her usual state. While impressive, it didn’t evoke any fear.

Whatever the problem was, Noel couldn’t focus on her sword right now.

Perhaps she was aware of it herself, as she continued to swing her sword in an effort to gather her thoughts, but from Orcus’s perspective, no improvement was in sight as time passed.

‘Has something happened recently? It doesn’t seem like there was anything particularly significant…’

The only recent event of note was when Damian had received permission for his magical research to materialize. Since it involved research related to magic tools, one would hope it would bring Noel joy rather than cause her distress.

Aside from that, what else could have affected her? While sifting through his memories, Orcus found no incidents that could potentially trouble Noel in the recent past.

Her daily routine had been the same: attending the Academy, chatting with friends, returning to the Imperial Palace, and training together.

Of course, Orcus’s reports on Noel were primarily for her protection and not to monitor her every move. If she had secretly gone out and stirred up trouble, he might not have known…

In any case, the root of Noel’s problem was something only she knew.

The fact that she hadn’t spoken about it meant either one of two things.

It was either something trivial or a deeply personal matter. Right now, it seemed more like the latter.

While Orcus considered asking Noel about it, he ultimately decided against it.

“Privacy must be respected.”

Even in a close sibling relationship, personal matters should be handled delicately.

With the Sacred Festival not far off, if things seemed dire, he’d step in. But considering that Noel had lived until now without anything worth worrying about, this could serve as a valuable experience for her.

After all, there are times when a person needs to face such burdens. If she were complacent forever, she wouldn’t grow.

In the end, it’s through worry and contemplation that one learns.

This was not meant to weaken her competition in the Sacred Festival.

*

“Nobody’s here…”

Noel, while swinging her sword, looked around.

She was the only one standing in the Training Grounds, the sun having long set. Orcus, who had set out to train with her, tired himself out early and returned to his room. Perhaps it was late, as no cleaning servants could be seen either.

After confirming there was no one else, Noel plunged her sword into the ground, then lay down on the floor and stared up at the sky.

Had anyone seen this sight, they would likely scold her to maintain her dignity, but now she was alone. The midnight Training Grounds were quiet, and there was no one to chide her.

It would have been nice if she could quietly gaze at the stars, but troubling thoughts kept interfering with her appreciation. She had swung her sword all day to erase them but felt no relief.

Even now, her eyes gazed at the sky while her head was filled with vague memories.

“Ugh, hmm…”

Ever since fainting before the Sacred Relics, strange memories had begun drifting into her mind.

Images that came to her one a day.

They were her own, but at the same time, not entirely hers.

It was undoubtedly the life of Noel Estellia, but it painted a slightly different existence from her current self.

This was too intricate and vivid to merely dismiss as a figment of her imagination; it felt as though she were witnessing another version of her life drawn with the name “if.”

While it wasn’t entirely someone else’s life, the similarities and slight differences made it inevitable to share some emotions. Thus, it was hard to treat it lightly as one would a fairy tale.

At first, she might have regarded it as an amusing diversion, but as time passed, the severity of the situations portrayed intensified, provoking a growing fear that they might happen to her.

But what was most troubling was…

‘So you’ve been here. Ah, Brother, have you heard the story already?’

‘What? Are you asking if I’m okay? Hahaha, of course! It’s something I brought up first, after all.’

‘Why do you look so surprised? Did you think Brother was forcing you into this?’

‘Who would have thought you were this clueless…? We even danced together, this should’ve been obvious! Well, as long as you understand now!’

‘Hmm, hmm. As Brother already mentioned, let me tell you directly this time. It’s a very simple proposal, so you just have to accept it! Got it? Don’t think too deeply about it! Um… let’s consider it a simple trade!!’

‘Damian, with me…..’

“Ooof! No!! Pull yourself together, Noel!!”

In an instant, blood rushed to her head, and her face flushed red.

Noel instinctively slapped her cheek with her palm, urging her mind to return to clarity after the memories surged forth.

Though she was certainly aware these feelings were not her own, they were still influencing her. The emotions, still unfamiliar to her, surged forth without any interpretation, leaving her no way to stop them.

Could it be that a corner of her heart harbored such feelings? Even though she knew they shouldn’t be, they felt like they were seeping in through a small crack.

The fact that she hadn’t been hanging out with her friends lately and had returned directly to the Imperial Palace was because of this.

The sight of these ambiguous memories overlapping with the people around her rendered her unable to think clearly. Particularly with Damian, whose presence alone made it torturous to endure the floods of emotions that swelled each time she saw him.

Noel, who was normally emotional yet rational when necessary, found it strangely difficult to regain her composure in the face of these newly arrived feelings.

Of course, that didn’t mean Noel was completely engulfed by emotions.

The life of Noel Estellia portrayed in her memories and the present herself were similar but entirely different; she could distinguish between events that had yet to happen and those that were merely complete fabrications.

The heat radiating from her face was simply a fever induced by unfamiliar emotions, one that wouldn’t last long.

She just needed a bit of time.

As the passionate turmoil began to settle, Noel continued her thoughts.

It wasn’t as if she had started imagining this for no reason out of the blue. There must’ve been a cause and a trigger that led to these memories surfacing.

And the cause was clear.

It started the day she fainted before the Sacred Relics. Ever since that day, these memories began to emerge, making the artifact the obvious source.

“Why?”

The mystery lay in why the artifact was showing her such memories.

There was no route to the Archbishop’s Temple on her way to escorting Damian, indicating that the Sacred Relics must have guided them. Originally, the Archbishop’s Temple, where the relics were stored, was not a place anyone could enter recklessly, not even royalty, unless the relics granted permission.

“Damian.”

Calling his name sent heat flaring up again, but Noel concentrated on her thoughts and resisted being swept away.

He was the person who accompanied her to the Archbishop’s Temple.

He also played a significant role in the many memories the relics showed her. There must be a reason why the artifact called out to him too.

“It’s not merely a delusion, is it…”

She hadn’t been the only one to faint that day, so for a moment, she wondered if he might have seen the same memories as she did. However, thinking back to Damian’s behavior—having continued as if everything was normal—suggested otherwise.

‘Or could it be he felt them but is unaffected?’

Thinking this made a part of her heart plunge deeply.

Perhaps it was due to witnessing too many memories that she couldn’t help but feel their emotional impact.

To erase her growing frustration, Noel stood up again. Oddly, a divine essence surged within her heart. As she pondered how to handle it, she ultimately realized there was no other way than what she had been doing all along.

Once up, Noel didn’t pull her sword from the ground.

Instead, she gathered the overflowing divine essence in her hands as if gripping a sword. In response, a blade shining with a golden hue materialized in her grasp from the empty air.

“Whoa!”

Grasping the Holy Sword (聖劍) in her hands, Noel swung it until the distracting thoughts disappeared.

 

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