He tried to hold back.
The arrogant attitude as if granting permission.
The casual way of speaking as if it were natural.
Not only setting conditions, but also making absurd claims that he wouldn’t even show proper respect.
Though his insides were boiling, because Sylvia did not step forward, Theodore tried to restrain himself.
But.
“You’ll die soon.”
‘How much more should one endure?’
‘If you still held back after hearing that, could you really call yourself a guardian knight?’
So Theodore’s anger flared.
So that Sylvia, barely holding herself together, wouldn’t crumble at such pitiful words.
So that the noble Imperial Princess’s dignity wouldn’t fall any further, the knight gladly unleashed his wrath.
The furious heart awakened his aura, which surged forward like a pressure to suppress Hio.
The murderous intent fully saturated with the rage of a high-ranking knight.
Yet even under such intense murderous aura, Hio did not even twitch his eyebrow and calmly continued speaking.
“It must be chills and trembling.”
Startled, Theodore froze.
The murderous intent that was swelling slowly dissipated.
“Thoughts of death must have naturally come to you, weighing heavily on your mind.”
Sylvia’s unknown chronic illness—
Its exact symptoms were being recited through Hio’s mouth.
Hearing this, even Sylvia’s expression spread with shock.
“Nightmares come as often as they can, and your mind is worn down, but your body remains surprisingly intact. So naturally, no one could understand. They just diagnosed it as a mental problem. Tsk tsk… foolish.”
Forgetting even the Imperial Princess’s grace, she covered her mouth with her hand.
That much surprise had taken over her.
Because there was not a shred of error in Hio’s words.
Sudden tremors without any warning.
An eerie symptom where the body uncontrollably shakes as if possessed by something.
And whenever it happens, thoughts of death flood the mind.
Visions of being torn apart in pieces.
Or having your throat slit, your heart stabbed.
The cruel, vividly imagined end of oneself.
How could that man grasp all of this just by a brief glance?
Seeing the two so stunned, Hio continued speaking.
“If you wanted to cure it, you should have searched history books, not medical texts.”
“If you wanted to cure it, you should have looked in history books, not medical texts.”
“Of course, even looking wouldn’t have helped. What could you hope for in an era that lost magic?”
“Well, it wouldn’t have helped anyway. This is an age without magic.”
Mimicking Furnel’s words like a parrot, Hio echoed them.
In his head, the bewildered voice of Furnel sounded.
“…What are you doing?”
What Hio was actually saying to Sylvia was just him repeating the excited ramblings of Furnel.
“If you’re going to do it, do it properly. Your tone lacks dignity. Just repeat exactly what I say.”
Theodore and the stunned Sylvia, now focused entirely on Hio, had long forgotten their anger.
Watching the two, Hio said:
“Just because your body looks fine doesn’t mean it actually is.”
“Just because your body looks fine doesn’t mean it is.”
“Who knows when it might break down? You might be fine today, but suddenly push past your limits and collapse tomorrow.”
“Who knows when it might break? You might be fine today but suddenly go beyond your limits and collapse tomorrow.”
Sylvia’s eyes trembled violently.
‘Who could remain calm upon hearing that they might die tomorrow?’
“It’s because you were born with an uncontrollable excessive ability. Who can blame you?”
“It’s because you were born with excessive ability. It’s not your fault.”
“So you must use your power as little as possible and endure. Though even then, I can’t guarantee you’ll survive the year.”
“Hm? Hurry and tell her. This is the most important part. The more you use that excessive power, the more the fatigue builds and death draws closer.”
Despite Furnel’s urging, Hio remained silent, quietly watching Sylvia.
The Imperial Princess.
A being of noble blood.
But in truth, just a girl who simply wanted to live.
How could he say to such a girl, “You’re going to die soon”?
How could he say, “There’s no way”?
How could he say, “You just have to endure”?
“I mean……”
So Hio looked at Sylvia.
He read the faint glimmer of hope in her beautiful silver eyes.
“Let’s try to survive. I’ll try to find a way.”
Words he knew he couldn’t keep escaped his lips.
For now, live hard.
Death was looming, but live with a flicker of hope.
Until the moment of death, struggle with all your might.
“That’s my second condition.”
***
Eastern Empire.
The fortress of the Count of the Eastern March, the greatest power in the East.
That was their destination.
Historically, the Count of the Eastern March held strong military power due to the region’s geographic significance.
Thus, the royal family was careful to maintain good relations with the count.
One outcome of this was marriage.
The second Empress of the late Emperor, and Sylvia Verden’s birth mother, was the only younger sister of the Count of the Eastern March, Yon Torno.
Sylvia was heading there.
The Empress, who was naturally frail, had passed away shortly after giving birth to Sylvia, but Yon Torno would not ignore his only blood relative.
Surely… he wouldn’t.
“Hio Pavlenko.”
***
At the low, stern voice, Hio answered brightly.
“Hm?”
“When we arrive in the city, buy a horse.”
“I don’t know how to ride.”
After deciding to accompany the Imperial Princess, they were heading toward the Count of the Eastern March’s territory.
Unlike Hio, who assumed they would walk, Theodore and Sylvia came out of the village and mounted horses.
There were only two horses for three people.
Since they were going to ride together anyway, Hio naturally moved toward Sylvia’s side.
But a brutal murderous intent hit Hio, so he ended up mounting Theodore’s horse and riding alongside him.
“Hio Pavlenko.”
“Why?”
“Take off that weird hat.”
“No. A magician without a hat is strange.”
The oversized hat kept poking his chin, and Theodore grew annoyed.
“Hio Pavlenko.”
“Hm?”
“Haven’t you learned to ride yet?”
“Magicians usually don’t ride horses. A horse-riding magician sounds strange.”
Silent tension rose behind him, and Hio shut his mouth.
He had teased the taciturn knight for fun, but now he wondered if Theodore was genuinely angry.
“Fine. I’ll buy one when we get to the city.”
“I told you you don’t know how to ride.”
“Trying now, it seems doable.”
“Alright. Change your clothes before entering the city. Standing out is bad.”
“Hmm… Because crazy sociopathic princes are chasing Sylvia and you?”
“Don’t casually mention the name of the Imperial Princess.”
“So crazy sociopathic princes are okay?”
Hio smiled faintly and continued confidently.
“It’s fine. Those two won’t look for Sylvia for the time being.”
That was certain.
More precisely, they wouldn’t have the capacity to care about Sylvia.
After all, the princess was just a pretext.
The princess disappeared? Then they’d simply create a new pretext.
What mattered now was the power to win the war, not just the pretext.
Unless the winner had already been decided, they wouldn’t care about Sylvia.
“So don’t worry and let’s go.”
***
The road to the East was long.
They stopped at a city to buy Hio’s horse and replaced the tired horse, then set off again.
In those few days, Sylvia and Hio grew considerably closer.
Sylvia, who had used the dignified tone of an Imperial Princess, gradually shifted to a more casual way of speaking, similar to how she spoke to Theodore — like a peer friend.
And one more thing became clear.
“You read that every day? What book is it?”
“An ancient spellbook? Do people really read that?”
“Ancient language… I learned a bit as a child, but you can read all of this?”
“Wow, that’s really difficult.”
Sylvia Verden, the Imperial Princess of the Empire, was surprisingly talkative.
Curious and full of questions.
She had spent her life in the Imperial Palace, so it was understandable.
‘Better bright than gloomy, wasn’t it?’
The strange part was… how she managed to spend so much time with that taciturn knight.
“Hm? You mean with Theodore? Boring? What’s that?”
“Boring means no fun. Look at Theodore. He’s quiet and gruff, so isn’t he boring?”
Sylvia was visibly flustered at Hio’s words.
“No, no. Theodore isn’t boring.”
She stammered from embarrassment.
“You’re really bad at lying.”
“I’m serious. Theodore’s a bit gruff, but he listens well and is fun.”
“…Sorry, Your Highness.”
“No! That’s a misunderstanding, Theodore!”
Even while traveling, she never missed practicing magic.
Of course, “practice” meant reading the Second Circle Spellbook or doing Mana Breathing Technique, and even that wasn’t often.
On days staying in inns, in her room.
On camping nights, in front of the campfire before sleep.
When Hio was reading his book, Sylvia would quietly come close and watch him curiously.
“…Why?”
“Because it’s fascinating.”
“I can’t concentrate. Go to sleep already.”
“Okay.”
She answered well enough.
Just answered well but didn’t move a muscle.
“Sigh…”
Eventually, Hio closed his book and looked at Sylvia.
“Why? What’s so fascinating?”
Sylvia’s gaze was fixed on the spellbook Hio held.
“Magic, right? Why can’t I do it?”
Along the way, both Sylvia and Theodore had witnessed Hio’s magic multiple times.
Of course, mostly just Fire to light campfires, and Aqua or Ice spells.
Still, Sylvia never mocked magic.
She was genuinely interested.
“I’m a genius, so it’s possible. You’d have a hard time…”
Just as he was about to say “hard time,” a sharp gaze pierced him from somewhere.
Turning his eyes, he found Theodore glaring at him from where the campfire’s light didn’t reach.
“Hard… not so hard?”
“Hm? What do you mean?”
“…Never mind. More importantly, tell me about Yon Torno, Count of the Eastern March. Can we be sure he’ll help us?”
Hio’s change of topic worked, and the shadow on Sylvia’s face deepened.
“Yon Torno. Truly a noble man. I know he values bloodlines and is stubborn.”
“Hm… That won’t be easy.”
He was a figure with power and wisdom to have ruled the troubled Eastern region for over ten years.
In the East, he was almost like a king.
Even a brief description painted a clear impression.
Of course, Yon Torno was a well-known NPC that Hio had heard of.
But that name was limited to the East; he hadn’t taken part in the civil war, nor had much ambition for power or honor, so they’d never met.
“Before everything happened, he promised to support me. But whether that means even the war, the civil war… that’s something I’ll have to persuade him about in person.”
“We must persuade him no matter what.”
For a princess without power, this was an essential mission.
If the Eastern victor, Yon Torno, supported Sylvia and raised troops, the fight would be worth trying.
But this was not something Hio could resolve.
He was truly a noble.
He might not even share a meal with Hio.
“Yes… We must succeed.”
The shadow over Sylvia’s face only deepened further.
Several days later.
“Her Highness the Imperial Princess is arriving! Open the gates!”
The three arrived at Yon Torno’s fortress.