"I didn't think you were that much of a fool."
Grand Duke Lucan Yushargen glared at his son.
Today was the Day of Saint Whitor, one of Sibareth's national holidays and grand festivals.
For three days starting from this day, the people of Sibareth set aside all work and spend time with their families.
That morning, the Grand Duke had declared he wouldn't receive the ceremonial holiday meal if it meant seeing his eldest son.
But after his wife's earnest pleading, he had reluctantly come to the table.
Despite the holiday, the atmosphere was far from cheerful.
Servants and maids brought out one magnificent dish after another, but no one touched the food.
"So, what exactly do you expect me to do, Father—?"
Julius replied coldly.
The Grand Duke's other three children—Julius's siblings—all looked fed up.
The eldest daughter Lisbeth, the second daughter Rose Red, and the youngest son Caesarion were each silently wondering when this cold war would finally end.
"You think just because you passed the unicorn's trial, there's no issue?"
"Of course. She's fully qualified, legally, to become queen."
At that moment, the Duchess Yushargen forced a smile and said,
"Now, now, let's just eat. caetsy, I made your favorite—plum pie. Go on and have some."
The youngest, Caesarion, eagerly stabbed his fork into the pie. That started everyone else eating.
Rose Red, sipping her wine innocently, asked,
"But isn't it kind of amazing, Father? She's the first person to bring back a unicorn's mane."
"What's so amazing about that? Your idiot brother handed her Gaia's mane and told her exactly what to do."
"Huh… then even I could have done it. Hehe."
Rose Red stopped giggling when her mother shot her a look.
"To be honest, she does come across as rather brazen. She knows nothing of decorum, always talking back…Honestly, even a washerwoman might have better manners."
At Lisbeth's remark, Julius set down his fork and frowned.
"And when exactly did you meet Mia to act like you know her?"
"These days, she and you are all anyone talks about in the social circles.
They say you've been bewitched by some brazen girl with no pedigree—"
"That's enough, Lisbeth! Eat your food."
At their mother's sharp words, Lisbeth pouted and fell silent.
"So would you have preferred Mithys, Father?"
Even Caesarion, still chewing his pie, suddenly chimed in.
"She's not without her issues either. Is it too much to ask for someone decent?"
The Grand Duke's face remained sour. He barely touched his soup and bread.
Finally, the Duchess spoke with concern.
"Darling, you've lost too much weight lately. Let the future wait—please take care of your health first, alright?"
"I haven't had an appetite these days."
The Grand Duke set down his spoon and fork.
"Did the Grand Vizier say something to you? Did he suggest you marry Shamanaz instead?"
Julius's question triggered a flash of anger in his father.
"Are you accusing me of scheming? The Grand Vizier and I haven't spoken a word on that matter."
"Well, I'm glad to hear that. But no matter what you say, I will marry Mia.
I won't have any other woman, so please understand that."
"You're still too young to know anything! Do you really think that girl will settle down and live as queen in this strange land? Sooner or later, she'll say she wants to return to wherever she came from!"
Julius flinched at his father's words.
"And what makes you so sure of that…?"
"Everyone but you can see it! You're just a blind fool!"
The Grand Duke stood up abruptly and stormed out. Lisbeth followed shortly after, muttering that she'd lost her appetite.
Julius leaned back in his chair, eyes closed, an expression of exhaustion on his face.
The Duchess looked at her son worriedly.
"You're done too, Jules?"
"I'm sorry, Mother. I just can't eat anything right now."
"Jules, why don't you just ask her directly?"
At his younger sister's suggestion, Julius opened his eyes narrowly.
"Ask her what?"
"Whether she really wants to marry you—whether she's truly okay living here forever. And if you're worried she might lie… just use charm spell to make her tell the truth."
"..."
Julius didn't answer.
Use a charm spell to force the truth out of her?
But Julius didn't want the truth. What he feared… was that Mia would speak the truth.
And what if that truth had something to do with Leca…?
Clang!
"Jules! What are you doing?!"
The wine glass shattered with a crash.
He had thrown it in a fit of anger, overwhelmed by thoughts of Leca and Mia.
Watching this, Caesarion leaned toward his sister and whispered in her ear,
"When I look at our brother these days, I can't help but wonder if he's really fit to be king."
Rose Red let out a sigh.
"So this is what we have to cut down."
Mia muttered, staring up at the enormous black tree. Leca nodded. As he reached for his sword, Mia stopped him.
"There's no way an ordinary sword will do the trick. Leave it to me."
"You're going to do it, Lady Mia?"
"I've got that ancient sword your father gave me, remember? The one that can cut through anything."
Mia swallowed hard and stared up at the tree. Then she touched her earring.
With a clear metallic chime, a massive sword materialized in her hand.
Though it was enormous in size, it felt almost weightless.
A soft glow radiated from the blade.
"Well then, it's finally time to use this. I haven't had a single chance until now."
Mia gripped the hilt tightly.
A subtle vibration pulsed through her hand—as if the sword itself was trembling with excitement.
She launched herself forward and swung the blade swiftly at the tree.
—BOOM! CRACKLE! KABOOM!—
The instant the blade touched it, the tree didn't just split—it exploded.
It was as if lightning had struck.
Fragments of the shattered tree burst in all directions, forcing both Mia and Leca to shut their eyes.
"Lady Mia, are you alright? Cough, cough—"
Thick, acrid smoke poured from the exploded tree, making it hard to open their eyes.
Only after the smoke and splinters settled a bit could Mia finally look around.
"Leca, look at this. Everything changed all of a sudden!"
Earlier, the snowstorm had merely died down—but now the weather had completely shifted.
It was suddenly late-summer warm again, like in Sibareth. The trees had all vanished.
Instead, right before them was a cliffside path.
And across a dangerously swaying rope bridge stretched over the chasm stood a massive castle, completely overgrown with thorny brambles.
"That castle… that's where Roy and the salamander must be, right?"
Leca nodded.
"When the tree was destroyed, the barrier vanished completely, and the true path revealed itself.
Everything we saw earlier was merely an illusion created by the spell."
"Just as I thought…"
"Shall we go?"
They flew across the cliff effortlessly. Even after landing, Leca remained in wyvern form, keeping watch.
"We don't know when a fiend might appear. Stay alert."
"Of course."
Mia nodded.
But no monsters appeared as they flew toward the castle. Only layer upon layer of thick, thorny brambles surrounded it.
Having flown there directly, the castle felt closer than expected.
Mia had half-expected it to be some kind of desert mirage, always appearing distant no matter how far you walked.
Now that things were going smoothly, she felt oddly uneasy.
"At this rate, it's like someone rolled out the red carpet for us."
"…Perhaps…"
It could be a trap.
The words of a certain friendly old witch came to Leca's mind, sending a chill down his spine.
But if it was a trap, then it was better to charge in and eliminate the threat.
Hidden enemies should be dealt with swiftly.
"First, we need to take care of these brambles.
If we tried cutting them all, it'd take a year. Should I just burn them?"
"That might be dangerous. The brambles are covering the entire castle—if the fire spreads, the structure could catch as well. Let me think…"
But Mia was already muttering an incantation.
"…Too late. I already lit it, Leca."
"…What?"
Sure enough, the thorny vines burst into flame. The fire spread rapidly, reducing the bramble barrier to ash in moments.
"Th-that was fast…"
Leca summoned fire spirits and instructed them to prevent the fire from reaching the castle.
But the flames were already too large—his spirits alone couldn't contain it.
The fire began to lick the stone walls of the castle.
"Lady Mia! Hurry and summon fairies to put it out!"
Fairies quickly appeared and doused the flames with water.
Thanks to the fire spirits' desperate efforts to contain the blaze, the castle walls were merely scorched and nothing more.
"That went faster than expected, huh?"
"Your initiative is… astonishing, Lady Mia…"
"Let's head inside. But… I don't see an entrance."
Though the brambles had all vanished, a new obstacle awaited them:
There was no door.
Not a single visible way inside—only a tiny window high up on the towering walls.
The entire structure was surrounded by a black, churning moat.
"This has to be some kind of magic, right? Like an invisibility spell on the main gate?"
"Most likely. Or maybe through that window…"
"You mean that tiny thing?"
"Some high mages can transform into small creatures. Not all of them, but some."
"Let's fly up and check it out."
The window wasn't made of glass—it was just a small opening. Leca and Mia quickly flew up and hovered close to it.
Then they looked inside.