Brilliant blue marble reflected a shimmering light, and the dazzling sunlight streamed through the arched windows. In this place, colorful jewels embedded in the walls radiated a sense of fantasy.
In the silence, where even the chirping of a sparrow sounded loud, the sound of Persian’s footsteps echoed sharply down the hallway.
This was the Crystal Palace, the residence of King Lonas. Standing at the end of the corridor, Persian straightened his attire before speaking.
“Your Majesty, it is Chancellor Persian Cherbil.”
“Come in.”
At the sound of that solemn voice, Persian opened the door and entered.
“Chancellor Persian! I have come to request permission for a long-term business trip.”
“A long-term business trip?”
The King sat atop a grand, elevated platform. The dignity of King Lonas permeated the room.
“Yes. To process a petition received by the Chancellor’s Office, I intend to stay in Rams Territory for a while.”
As he spoke, Persian knelt on one knee and performed the knight’s salute.
“Rams Territory…”
Persian raised his head halfway to gauge King Lonas’s expression. In that fleeting moment, he caught a glimpse of a smile on Lonas’s face.
‘Dien was right!’
Persian gained confidence from Lonas’s smile. It was clear that Lonas knew Rebecca’s petition would eventually reach the Royal Castle.
“Two construction secretaries and five aides are scheduled to be deployed for the fortification project.”
“The matter seems quite serious.”
Persian continued to observe Lonas’s reaction. Despite hearing that the Chancellor and two secretaries were personally moving to the Duke of Bronin’s fief for a fortification project, Lonas did not ask for the specific reasons. This was another piece of evidence that he was already aware of the petition.
“Yes, and… the First Prince has decided to lead the fortification project.”
“That child?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Hahaha. Well, this is…”
Lonas stroked his chin with interest and looked at Persian. It was the first time the Prince’s name had been mentioned by Persian’s mouth.
“Hahaha. It seems the Cherbil family has finally chosen their path toward the First Prince.”
Persian said nothing in response to Lonas’s words. However, Lonas knew exactly what Persian’s silence meant.
“The eldest must feel reassured. Having Lord Persian of the Cherbil family by his side, after all. But, Count Persian.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Do not forget that you are my man before you are the first prince’s.”
A brief silence followed Lonas’s remark, but Persian’s spirited answer soon followed.
“…I already swore in my youth to die only by Your Majesty’s sword.”
Lonas nodded at Persian’s words. A very faint smile played on his face. After another brief silence, Persian bowed his head slightly and rose from his seat.
“I shall take my leave now.”
Persian turned around, and the sound of his footsteps echoed through the Crystal Palace once more.
“Count Persian, wait.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Persian instinctively bowed his head in response to Lonas’s low voice.
“The fortification project… thank you for looking after it.”
“…I will be on my way.”
Leaving the palace with those final words, Persian’s steps grew more energetic as he moved further away.
“Hehehe. To think he would actually tell me ‘thank you’…”
Normally, the King did not engage in personal pleasantries within the Crystal Palace. Thus, while Persian had heard words like ‘good work’ before, it was his first time hearing ‘thank you.’ Had he ever been this happy since becoming Chancellor?
Moreover, Lonas was a god-like existence to those who held a sword. Naturally, Lonas had long been Persian’s idol.
Persian maintained a jaunty stride as he headed toward his office, and soon his shoulders were even bobbing with excitement.
“You’ve arrived!”
“Yes! Good morning!”
“Eh?”
Entering the office, Persian greeted his aides cheerfully. His bobbing shoulders and rhythmic voice caused the aides’ eyes to widen in surprise.
“Wow, did something happen while I was gone?”
Persian asked, failing to understand their shocked expressions.
“Eh? No, nothing…”
“Then let’s do our best today too!”
“Ye… yes!”
It seemed something had happened to Persian, but the aides couldn’t say a word because of his uncharacteristically frivolous behavior.
“Aide Carrick!”
Persian called Carrick before entering his private office.
“Yes!”
“Summon the officials from the Construction Department for a meeting this afternoon. The Rams Territory fortification project isn’t just a simple construction job. Tell them to draft a plan with the mindset of building an impregnable fortress.”
“Understood!”
After giving Carrick instructions, Persian went into his office to conceptualize the project. He would likely leave the Royal Capital with them as soon as the proposal came up from the Construction Department.
“Is today the day Dien goes to the Academy?”
Persian glanced toward Dien’s seat. He wanted to share the joy of what happened with Lonas, but unfortunately, today was a day Dien had to attend the Academy.
“It can’t be helped.”
Taking out a piece of paper, Persian began to write a letter to Dien. He wanted to share the day’s events with him, if only through writing.
***
“Huff… huff…”
Dien, having finished his morning training, caught his breath as he entered the mansion.
Today was a day for the Academy. Since Academy classes were always scheduled for late morning, he could start his day much more leisurely than during his successor training.
After washing up and before heading out, Dien took a paper bag and stood in front of Shilona’s room.
Knock, knock, knock.
“Come in.”
Her haughty voice drifted out, and Dien opened the door.
“What is it?”
She was sitting on the bed, reading a book in the morning sunlight.
Dien walked over without a word and placed the paper bag on Shilona’s bedside table.
“Here. Take this. Nue told me to buy something for you too…”
Inside was a dress from the boutique. Shilona stared at him blankly, baffled by Dien’s unexpected behavior so early in the morning.
Feeling awkward at her silent gaze, Dien quickly closed the door and left. It was even more awkward because they weren’t on the kind of terms where they would exchange gifts.
“What in the…”
Shilona watched his departure with a strange look before immediately opening the paper bag to inspect the dress.
“Oh my… I haven’t been moving much lately, so I’ve gained some weight… I’m not sure if it will fit…”
Contrary to her words, however, a wide grin was plastered on her face. The dress Dien chose seemed to be quite to her liking.
To Shilona, who had lived as a high-ranking Saint and a Holy Knight, such an ordinary and small gift held more meaning than one might expect.
She thought about unwrapping her bandages for a moment to try on the dress, but the lingering pain made her give up on the idea.
“He has good taste in clothes. No, Nue probably picked it out!”
She hung the dress Dien gave her in the most visible spot in the room before sitting back down to read. Perhaps because something good had happened, a faint smile, like the sunlight streaming through the window, graced her face.
***
“Dien!”
“Baran! Good morning!”
As he passed through the Academy gates, Baran, who was also arriving, greeted him warmly.
“How is the successor training? Is it manageable?”
“It’s not like there’s much for me to do. I’m just learning what the aides do.”
“Always so humble!”
Baran draped an arm around Dien’s shoulder quite familiarly.
“The successor for the Baran family hasn’t been decided yet, right?”
“Not yet! You’re a special case, Dien! Where else would you find a kid our age receiving successor training?”
He was right. Receiving successor training at Dien’s age was extremely rare. Since most noble families had concubines in addition to a legal wife, it was common for a successor to be designated among many siblings only after they turned 30.
“Honestly, if it weren’t for my mother’s nagging, I’d want to give up on being the successor. Sitting still and working like an administrator doesn’t suit my temperament. I… I want to travel the continent as a wandering knight and build a reputation! After living freely and reaching a high level, I’d become an Imperial Knight and receive a high title!”
Although Baran was the eldest of four sons and one daughter and thus the most likely candidate to be the successor, he personally did not look forward to becoming an administrator.
“You’ll suffer if you leave home, you know?”
“I’ll be much happier than being trapped in the Royal Castle! Do you have any idea how many beautiful places there are on the continent?”
Dien spoke from experience, but Baran’s dream seemed firm.
“So, has your swordsmanship improved much?”
“You’ll be shocked when you see my skills. I’m practically at the level of a young master from a martial family!”
Baran bragged with a confident expression.
The two walked toward the lecture hall, chatting about everyday things.
As they neared the hall, they noticed students gathered in small groups in front of the entrance.
“What’s going on?”
Curious, Dien stood in front of the notice board the students were looking at.
“Is it already time for the thesis competition?”
Baran said, moving closer to Dien’s side.
“Thesis competition?”
“Ah! This must be your first time, Dien. But the thesis competition doesn’t really have much to do with the Noble Academy. You don’t need to pay it any mind.”
The Academy held several annual events.
Primarily, there were the year-end performance exams, and in addition, there were martial arts and magic tournaments.
There was also a fine arts festival in the spring and a thesis competition in the autumn. The arts festival was a time for students of the Noble Academy to show off their skills in art, music, and social dance. The thesis competition, however, was a kingdom-wide event where papers submitted by students from all over Delos were ranked up to tenth place.
“Why doesn’t the competition have anything to do with us?”
Dien looked at Baran with wide eyes.
“Because commoner academy students participate too. If a noble student enters and fails to make the rankings, it only damages the prestige of the Noble Academy.”
“Ah…”
That made sense.
Even if they didn’t want it, the students of the Noble Academy would inherit their parents’ positions once they became successors. It was natural for them to lead aides from commoner academies in the future. Entering the thesis competition and failing would only make them a laughingstock to commoner aides.
“Ignore it and let’s go in. Even seventh-year students fail that competition one after another. There’s nothing to gain from it!”
“Wait a second, Baran… you go in first.”
However, Dien’s feet wouldn’t move from the notice board.
What caught his eye was none other than the special privileges awarded to the winner of the thesis competition.
Magic students submitted original magic, knight cadets submitted original military tactics, and administration students submitted original policies. For commoners, the prize was an appointment as an aide. The common prize was that the proposed policy would be actively reflected in future kingdom policy selection.
Since all the privileges were tailored for commoner academy students, there were no prizes that appealed to Noble Academy students. However, the reason Dien was interested was the privilege of having the policy reflected in the kingdom’s future selections. This was an opportunity to change the Kingdom Contract Act, which had always bothered him.
The contract laws from his past life were vividly etched in his mind. If those were applied, Delos would surely gain a solid internal foundation.
After contemplating for a long time, Dien finally moved his feet. At the end of his deliberation, he had decided to participate in the thesis competition.
But before that, he needed to know the format and method for submission.
Knock, knock, knock!
After class ended, Dien visited Professor Helena’s research lab.
“Hello, Professor.”
Dien greeted Helena politely.
“Welcome, young master. You must be very busy lately.”
“Hahaha. Not at all!”
Helena knew that Dien was balancing Academy classes with successor training. She had also heard through her junior aides that he was showing remarkable talent in his successor lessons.
“Is Count Persian doing well?”
“Yes! He’s doing very well!”
“I remember when Count Persian was still receiving successor training back when I was at the Royal Castle…”
Helena closed her eyes for a moment as if reminiscing about the past.
“Ah! Forgive me, young master. What brings you here?”
“Yes, well, I came to see you because I want to participate in the thesis competition.”
Dien, who had waited for Helena’s brief reminiscence to end, spoke cautiously.
The response from the startled Helena followed.
She was so surprised that her pupils were even trembling.
“Ah… the thesis competition?”
“Yes. I wanted to see if there is a specific form for submission and if I could read previous winning entries.”
“Aha… I see…”
Her voice grew smaller, and she even began to stammer. Soon, she couldn’t hide an awkward smile.
“What should I do…?”
Her eyes continued to wander through empty air.