Chapter 164: Departure Festival (2)
At the sudden words that Mercedes blurted out, the group seemed momentarily at a loss for words.
“……”
Even in that moment, her gaze continued to sweep back and forth between Lian and Cecilia.
Though her stare seemed quite openly investigative, it felt more like a scholar's characteristic curiosity than a glance with any clear intent.
“……May I ask exactly what you mean by that?”
Lian was the first to break the silence, posing the question with a very polite demeanor.
Mercedes furrowed her brow slightly, as if his formality was somewhat bothersome, and replied.
“No need to be so formal. Just speak comfortably.”
She gave a small nod and added,
“We're classmates, after all. Fellow alumni too.”
Muttering so, she immediately got to the point.
Her voice remained low and calm, but there was a clear undercurrent of irritation that anyone could hear.
“It’s because of the Departure Festival. Something… no, something very annoying is about to happen.”
Then, as if picking her next words carefully, Mercedes’ lips twitched slightly.
“My older half-brother above me—so, the Second Prince—suddenly got it into his head that the festival should be conducted in the traditional way. He insisted on it just today.”
“……The traditional way?” Cecilia asked, puzzled.
The Academy's Departure Festival was a long-standing tradition, but over time, many parts had been simplified, and its meaning had also changed.
In the past, it was solemn and quiet to the extreme, whereas nowadays, it was more or less a celebratory event for everyone to enjoy.
“Yes. The old method. And not just old—ancient.”
Mercedes gave a short, incredulous snort.
Her biting demeanor revealed a glimpse of her personality.
“In short, apparently all members of the Imperial Family and even the descendants of the Three Families are supposed to gather and reenact the old Departure Ceremony exactly as it was.”
Lian's expression grew subtly more complicated as he listened.
“But wasn’t that tradition abolished long ago?”
“Yes, very long ago. Over a hundred and sixty years, in fact.”
At Lian’s response, Mercedes shrugged.
“You must’ve known that already. And yet he’s insisting on doing it now. Today. On the first day of the festival, no less.”
Her voice plainly dripped with displeasure.
“No matter how… underdeveloped his brain may be, to that extent he’s a comp—… Oh, pardon me.”
Mercedes gave a small cough, as if catching herself.
But there was no sign of remorse on her face.
“Ahem. Anyway, he clearly wants something, which is why he’s suddenly trying to stir things up. It’s obvious. He’s probably aiming for Velita—the Second Princess, that is. As for us… meaning Behad and me, we’re not worth the trouble since we have neither power nor influence.”
Her words were sharp but accurately grasped the situation.
The invisible struggle over succession wasn’t excluded from the Academy, especially during formal events like this.
‘…Looks like something serious happened internally because of this.’
The Second Prince was currently the strongest contender for the throne, known as a hardliner and a hawk.
Ordinarily, he could’ve secured his position just by waiting calmly.
In Lian’s previous life, the Departure Festival had passed without any major problems or incidents.
‘Of course, that might’ve been because several issues aligned back then. But…’
The Cultists of the Evil God discovered just days ago in the underground waterways.
And Anguster, who was closely involved with them, now under a wanted notice.
Anguster was the problem.
He had a particularly close relationship with the Second Prince in many ways.
Because of this incident, the Second Prince must have suffered considerable damage—perhaps this sudden maneuver was a desperate attempt to recover from that.
‘Ugh, what a headache.’
Lian shook his head.
Politics was a topic he neither wanted to understand nor get involved with.
“So what exactly do you mean by asking us for help?”
Lian asked cautiously.
“Do you know the main excuse that worm of a man used to spout this nonsense?”
Mercedes, in turn, asked coldly.
Then, realizing how she might have sounded, she added,
“…I’m not angry. I just talk like this, so don’t misunderstand.”
“Yes. I don’t misunderstand.”
“Then that’s good.”
Muttering that, Mercedes glanced—almost glared—at Allen, who was standing a bit farther away.
“Anyway, coincidence or not, all the Three Families are present at the Academy right now.”
At those words, Cecilia’s eyebrows twitched slightly.
“First of all, Cecilia Everglenn here.”
Mercedes turned her gaze to Cecilia.
“And there’s also a descendant of the Poas family. One of Professor Deiare’s assistants… a senior named Revice Poas.”
Allen gave a small nod upon hearing the name.
It seemed he was familiar with them, being fellow disciples of Deiare.
“Then who’s the last one?”
Lian asked, frowning slightly.
Everglenn and Poas—he knew about those two families.
But…
‘…The last one, from the Valentin line—I thought no one from their family was currently enrolled at the Academy?’
Was his memory wrong?
As he wondered, Mercedes gave him the answer.
“I heard one of the professors is a Valentin.”
She answered with a disinterested expression.
“……Excuse me?”
Lian asked again, as if he couldn’t believe it.
Mercedes looked like she completely understood his reaction.
“I get it. I feel the same way. It’s absurd.”
She muttered to herself.
“It’s true the Three Families are represented at the Academy, but if we’re being precise, the only one currently enrolled as a student is Cecilia.”
She paused for a moment and sighed.
Her expression was one of clear frustration, as if something was stuck inside her chest.
“So from the very beginning, that guy’s claim was baseless nonsense. Traditionally, the role should go to a currently enrolled student, but he’s completely ignoring that.”
It was clear he just wanted to cause chaos and stir up trouble…
Mercedes muttered with disgust.
Only then did I begin to understand why she had come looking for Cecilia.
“I came to see Miss Cecilia for that reason. I said it was a favor, but truthfully, I came to advise caution.”
Mercedes looked straight at Cecilia as she spoke.
“I don’t know how stubborn that beetle-like scoundrel might get… but just in case. You’re the only one here who’s actually a student, Miss Cecilia. So there’s a chance he might approach you or try to pull some stunt. Not that he’d try anything outright weird, but still…”
She shrugged.
“It’d be exhausting to get caught up in a troublesome mess without even realizing, right?”
Her tone remained indifferent.
But within it, there was unmistakable concern.
Of course, the underlying reason was likely that she herself didn’t want to get dragged into anything troublesome either.
“…Thank you for your concern.”
Cecilia lowered her head in gratitude.
Mercedes hesitated slightly, then awkwardly averted her gaze and muttered,
“We’re under the same Master, after all. Fellow alumni… I might be overstepping, but that’s why I came.”
“Even so. I still appreciate it.”
“Mm…”
After a brief silence, Mercedes turned her body as if she had nothing more to do here.
“Then I’ll get going now. I have to talk to my brother as well.”
Mercedes gave a small bow to Lian and Cecilia, then finally turned her gaze to Allen.
“…See you later.”
“Yes. Farewell.”
The two exchanged goodbyes as naturally as if they had known each other for a long time.
And truly, when she looked at Allen, Mercedes’ expression seemed to soften—if only slightly.
At that sight, Lian unconsciously widened his eyes a bit.
“…You knew each other?”
Once Mercedes had left, Lian asked, and Allen scratched his cheek awkwardly as he replied,
“Ah, yes. Somehow… we happened to run into each other a few times, and started exchanging greetings.”
It looked a bit too friendly to be just greetings.
Thinking that, Lian clicked his tongue inwardly.
‘Impressive guy.’
Even the Third Prince, her twin brother Behad, found Mercedes difficult to approach due to her sensitivity and unpredictability—so when had Allen managed to get on such terms with her?
‘…Well, come to think of it, in my previous life, those two were particularly close.’
It was said that Mercedes was the only one who could subdue Allen when he was consumed by madness and bring him back to his senses.
Perhaps what he had just witnessed was the beginning of that bond.
“So…”
Lian pushed aside the complicated thoughts and turned to Allen.
“What’s going on? You looked like you were waiting from earlier.”
Only then did Allen meet Lian’s eyes properly and give an embarrassed smile.
He looked clearly exhausted, but his eyes were shining more intensely than ever.
“We haven’t had a chance to talk lately, have we?”
That was certainly true.
Ever since he became Professor Deiare’s disciple, Allen had been devoting every spare moment to training under her guidance.
To the point that even running into him in passing had become rare.
“Since it’s the festival period, Master told me to take a bit of a break.”
That’s what he said, but he looked visibly restless.
If he could, he probably wanted to dash back to the training grounds right this moment.
From that alone, Lian could tell just how rapidly he was growing under Deiare’s instruction.
“Come to think of it, during the Departure Festival, there should be things like martial arts tournaments and sparring events…”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Are you entering?”
Lian suddenly asked what came to mind.
But Allen gave a sheepish smile and shook his head.
“Master said it’s still time for me to further hone myself… so I decided not to participate this time.”
Lian murmured in surprise.
“That’s a shame. You’d definitely win.”
“You’re one to talk, Lian. You didn’t enter either.”
“Well… I’m not skilled enough.”
Lian shrugged and answered casually.
To that, Allen gave a look like, ‘Here you go again with that nonsense.’
“Honestly, Lian, you could easily make it to the finals—maybe even win.”
“Mm. Mm.”
For some reason, Cecilia nodded in agreement right beside them.
Lian simply responded with a silent smile.
“Anyway, I heard the preliminaries are starting tomorrow.”
“Then maybe I’ll go watch the prelims? I don’t have anything to do that day anyway.”
“That sounds good, but honestly, there’s not much to see in the prelims. You’d be fine starting from the main rounds.”
As the two were chatting, Cecilia quietly joined in.
“…I heard there’s also going to be a play.”
“Oh, that sounds fun too.”
Just as the three of them were enjoying a rare leisurely conversation—
“Lian.”
A low and familiar voice suddenly came from behind.
For a moment, Lian flinched and turned his head without thinking.
Standing there was someone he hadn’t expected to see at all.
Even clad in armor, their posture was perfectly composed.
A firm and manly appearance, completely unlike Lian’s.
And eyes that were somewhat blunt but familiar, looking at his youngest brother.
“…Brother?”
A startled voice escaped Lian’s lips before he realized it.
The person standing there was none other than his second older brother, Artiac Gwendil.