Previously
Cecilia experiences a dream of a teenage Rosivius weeping in despair after being rejected by the Magic Tower, a pivotal moment in his descent into villainy. Three years have passed in reality, and Cecilia visits the Narcissus Palace training grounds where her Direct Squad of twenty commoner trainees is flourishing.
I recalled Rosivius, whom I had last seen in a dream a few months ago.
He had set out brimming with hope that he would enter the Magic Tower, only to return to Alvinus after being turned away on unacceptable grounds.
That child, weeping endlessly in self-pity… and those slender shoulders of his….
Fleeing, only to be captured by the marquis’s knights.
Fleeing, only to return on his own because he had nowhere else to go.
Fleeing, only to be carried back battered and bruised….
And at the depths of his despair, he had glimpsed a faint glimmer of hope, only to be rejected even by the Magic Tower… Oh, those miserable shoulders.
‘Rosivius will enter the Academy next year.’
Anyone wishing to carry themselves as a noble in the imperial capital had to enter the Academy.
The Academy, which one enrolled in at the age of thirteen, was a symbol of wealth and power, its exorbitant tuition leaving even certain nobles unable to attend.
Yet it was the place where children of the nobility acquired refined culture and forged connections, so the capital’s nobles sent their children there without exception.
It was also a display of a family’s fortune.
And since Marquis Alvinus was obsessed with appearances, he was not about to flout the custom.
‘That’s why, even though he considered Rosivius a thorn in his side, he brought him back every single time.’
If he appeared to neglect his half-sister’s son, the family’s reputation would suffer.
Still, it seemed he cared too little to bring him along to build social ties from an early age, given that Rosivius had yet to attend a single imperial banquet.
‘He enters the Academy next year, yet he hasn’t shown his face this year either. Only the Harvest Festival remains… Will he not come even then?’
Rosivius, who would take his very first steps into high society upon entering the Academy next year.
And naturally… his life there would not be easy.
At the Academy, too, he would face scorn from his peers for being the illegitimate son of an illegitimate daughter—the decisive catalyst that drove him into the dark arts to teach himself magic.
‘His role is rather vital, so things mostly have to unfold as they did in the original story… but I wish he wouldn’t be so lonely…’
Ever since realizing the child in the dream was Rosivius, my thoughts had lingered on him for a long time. The trouble was that I had no real means to intervene.
No matter how formidable imperial authority was, I could hardly exile the marquis’s son who had never even been presented to the public.
Nor could I overturn the Magic Tower’s verdict….
‘My direct squad, meant to serve as my hands and feet, is still in training. Even once they become active, they won’t be able to meddle in affairs at the Academy…’
Whenever that sense of helplessness washed over me, I found myself clinging to the rigid mold of the original story, as if trusting in some coercive force that governed it.
‘That would be salvation.’
And that salvation wouldn’t have to come at the expense of someone else’s misery… right?
If we stripped away most of his wickedness, perhaps the fate that ended in his death could change, and he might find happiness after all.
“Ah, oh dear, look at that…”
While I was lost in thought, Cain had been watching Rena and Leoport spar, clicking his tongue over and over.
Rena was running rings around Leoport with her nimble movements.
“Cain.”
“Yes, Your Highness. I’ll fetch the wheat bread as soon as Paulina Bakery’s holiday ends…”
Cain replied briskly, like a seasoned expert at bread errands.
‘Hmm, maybe I’ve been saddling him with that too often.’
Fetching the wheat bread from Paulina Bakery recommended by Emily, along with the meatballs from ‘The Princess and the Nightbird,’ had turned into a regular errand twice a month.
Those richly seasoned dishes provided a welcome splash of excitement in Cecilia’s bland, wholesome diet, and I had grown thoroughly hooked on them.
‘Ah, just thinking about them brings that delicious flavor right back to the tip of my tongue.’
‘Once Cain becomes an official knight, I’ll have to find a way to set up regular deliveries instead of sending him.’
I smiled to myself, satisfied with the plan, then continued,
“You’re receiving your knighthood at this upcoming Harvest Festival, aren’t you? How do you feel?”
“Ah… well, nothing is decided for certain yet.”
“Sir Lancel said you would pass without a doubt.”
“Master is only flattering me.”
Cain scratched the back of his neck with an embarrassed laugh. Having shot up to Lancel’s height, he now looked every bit a grown young man.
I looked at his sturdy frame and spoke in a tone brimming with confidence,
“Of course you have to pass. I have plenty of tasks waiting to entrust to you.”
“Pardon?”
I met his eyes with a faint smile.
It was time to pick up the pace of preparations.
The Harvest Festival, held early every November, was the final festive week of the year.
On opening day, the Imperial Palace bustled with its own brand of frenzy.
Contests like the hunts or best-crop displays took place in the plazas or the woods north of the capital, but both the opening and closing ceremonies were held at the palace.
Once this event wrapped up, not a single banquet would be hosted until the New Year celebrations two months later, so all the nobles residing in the capital attended without exception.
Freesia Palace, where preparations for the opening ceremony were underway, was humming with activity today as well.
Especially my dressing room….
“Ugh, Batty, this is suffocating!”
“It is early winter, Your Highness. It cannot be helped.”
“But I was perfectly fine until now!”
“You are attending the knighting ceremony today, are you not?”
Saying so, Batisha attempted to bundle a woolen cloak over the coat I was already wearing above my dress.
I was already layered in three pairs of tights and breeches beneath my skirt.
“It is an outdoor event. You may not feel the cold when you first step out, but standing around for long will chill you to the bone.”
Mary backed her up, brandishing a fur scarf.
‘Ugh… I’m not even cold…’
To me, the climate of this world was remarkably mild.
Even without Rebecca lending her holy power, the summers were merely warm, and the winters were only slightly chilly with a dusting of snow, completely devoid of biting frost.
‘Probably because the capital sits in a temperate zone of the continent…’
Having lived a past life in a harsh climate, this weather felt wonderfully gentle.
‘Well, Cecilia’s body has always been frail, so I understand their worry…’
All this fuss likely stemmed from the fact that the first time I fell gravely ill was due to a sudden spring chill after the baptism ceremony.
Resigned, I accepted the fur scarf, the woolen gloves, and even the magical hand warmer.
Before the opening ceremony began, on an afternoon when the sun was already slanting toward dusk, the knighting ceremony was held in the training grounds before Narcissus Palace.
The very grounds where my followers had poured their blood and sweat three years ago to overcome brutal competition.
“To think that Cain and Eileen, the eldest two, are becoming official knights right here…!”
I murmured to myself, stepping into the training grounds with fresh emotion.
A grand viewing stand befitting an imperial occasion had been erected to receive our family.
“Come, Cecil. Over here.”
Father welcomed me onto the stand, looking rather moved that I was attending this ceremony for the first time.
I climbed the steps slowly, taking care not to let the weight of four layers of clothing show in my legs.
‘I definitely need to shed all this before heading into the opening banquet.’
I sat beside my parents and Crown Princess Grace, looking down at the dozens of knight trainees lined up in neat formation.
This was the ground where those who had passed the imperial army examinations from across the empire swore their oaths of loyalty to be ordained as knights.
‘It really is chilly, though.’
Tightening my grip on the magic hand warmer inside my glove, I surveyed the surroundings.
In the front row to the right, Cain and Eileen stood side by side. After a grueling month in the selection trials, both had passed with stellar marks.
‘No surprise there. Lancel discovered a real knack for leadership while drilling my squad.’
I sneaked a glance at Lancel, who stood beside me as my personal escort.
‘He must feel proud and moved seeing his very first pupils become knights.’
True to form, not a single ripple showed on his face.
Cain and Eileen were clad in the formal attire of the Temple Knights, crisp and impeccably pressed without a single crease, looking as though it had just been tailored.
Tension was written plainly across Cain’s face, whereas Eileen’s expression remained entirely blank, giving no clue as to what she was thinking. Only her high ponytail was pulled back more neatly than usual.
Though she was a year older than Cain and had reached adulthood last year, she had preferred to be appointed this year so as not to stand out on her own.
Even so, she carried out every single task asked of her with utter precision….
“Lancel, how does it feel?”
His bronze-skinned face remained motionless.
“…It feels as though moments are flashing before my eyes.”
Did his voice waver ever so slightly?
His expression hadn’t changed, yet I could have sworn the rims of his eyes had reddened on the inside.
‘Life flashes before your eyes before death, you sentimental instructor…’
Swallowing that retort, I answered,
“You’ve worked hard. Hang in there a little longer until Rena and Derek are knighted.”
The youngest of the first intake, Rena and Derek, were sixteen this year and would come of age in three years.
At that point, I planned to return all the knights on loan from Roselia to their original units.
Starting today, with Cain and Eileen’s appointments, I would send back two of the eight knights who had guarded me since childhood.
Over the next two years, as the rest of the trainees were appointed, I would gradually return the remainder.
“Do you know that every member of the Sixth Squad considers guarding Your Highness a great honor?”
Startled by Lancel’s unusually long sentence, I looked up at him.
And though his expression remained flat, having spent twelve years by his side let me discern that he was trying to smile gently.
“Ever since that day, they willingly resolved to revere and serve you as their liege.”
I smiled, recalling what Roselia had told me before about how they felt.
“Naturally. I’m only sending you away because I don’t want a generation gap hanging over my teenage years.”
The ghost of a faint smirk crossed Lancel’s face.
Bit by bit, I was bidding farewell to my peaceful childhood, preparing for the future I wanted.
All for the perfect stage of the original story.
“Cecil, how have you been?”
“Brother!”
“I heard some of your trainees were appointed as knights today for the first time. Congratulations.”
“Thank you, Brother. How have you been? It’s been so long, Your Grace.”
“Greetings to the Little Star of the Empire. It seems Your Highness has grown even more mature.”
In the grand banquet hall after the knighting ceremony had concluded, just as everyone was preparing to dance, my brother Theodore arrived with his wife, the Young Duchess of Glintia, to greet the imperial family.
Last year, Theodore had married the heiress of the Glintia Duchy, one of the most powerful neutral families.
Though Rebecca had entered the church, she still frequented the palace, making him the first to truly leave our household.
“Cecil, did you spend the summer well?”
“Of course!”
Theodore looked down at me with nostalgia, as though he hadn’t seen me in ages.
Though he had started a family of his own and was naturally preoccupied with it…
“Truly, seeing you after all this time…”
“Haha, I haven’t grown much, have I?”
I was well aware that Cecilia’s physical growth was dreadfully slow.
He kept gazing down at me with his blue-gold eyes, laced with obvious sorrow. He always voiced his regret over living so far from me.
“Honestly, dear… Cecil isn’t your daughter; she’s your sister.”
“Still, darling, how can I not miss someone I used to see every single day?”
Theodore sighed.
‘If my husband were like that, I’d be thoroughly annoyed…’
I glanced at the Young Duchess of Glintia.
She truly seemed broad-minded, as befitted the heiress of an affluent family built on commerce and mining.
“You can visit her whenever you come to the capital, at least until she marries.”
“…That’s harsh. How could anyone take her away from me…”
Theodore spoke sorrowfully. Fortunately, his wife was understanding.
“Don’t worry, Brother.”
I recalled my grand plan to remain in the Imperial Palace indefinitely through my own squad.
“If I make myself useful to Father and Grace, I won’t ever need to marry.”
In my past life, I had learned never to depend on fragile emotions like love.
I would manage my squad thoroughly, secure an essential post, and remain in the palace for good.
As I scanned the hall with pride, my eyes settled on a boy standing across the room.