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[06.5]
ROYAL COLLEGIUM:
G6’S INTERACTIONS
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「OMNIA FORGE DEPARTMENT」

“Are they for real?” G6 muttered as they left the Sanctum.

Lilia remained beside her, still visibly entertained by the encounter with Lord Ray and Lord Ron.

“They must adore you greatly, Lady Reise,” she said with a bright smile.

“They have got a sister complex. It is a thing,” G6 replied flatly.

Lilia tilted her head.

“What is a sister complex?”

“It is like a dog that loses its mind every time its owner walks in.”

“But dogs are lovely.”

G6 merely shook her head. There was no point explaining further.

Lady Brenda led them away from the Magic Department and toward another section of the Royal Collegium. The path narrowed between two imposing stone buildings before opening into a quieter courtyard, where fewer Collegium personnel lingered and even the atmosphere seemed more restrained.

“We now proceed to the Department of Research and Inventory—the Omnia Vault,” Lady Brenda explained.

The reception hall beyond its entrance was unexpectedly hushed. Unlike the Sanctum, where voices and magical activity seemed to bleed through every corridor, the Omnia greeted them with polished floors, tall cabinets, and a single attendant stationed behind the front desk.

The young man looked up as they approached.

“Good morning. Welcome to the Omnia. How may I assist you?”

“Good morning, Zen,” Lady Brenda said. “We are conducting a tour. She will be working among us.”

At the mention of work, the man’s attention shifted fully toward G6.

Lilia had already released her hand and wandered toward one of the illustrated wall maps with Tina close behind, leaving Edmund standing nearer to G6.

The attendant stepped from behind the desk.

“Is she?”

He offered a polite bow.

“A pleasure. I am Zen, of the Nocturne close branch.”

“Likewise. Reise of House Worthon,” G6 stated, her voice firm.

Lord Zen’s eyes widened.

“W-Worthon?”

His gaze sharpened with sudden recognition.

“You are the Second Prince’s fiancée?”

G6’s expression flattened.

Addressing me as someone’s accessory? That does not sit right.

“No,” G6 corrected, her tone cutting. “I am Reise Worthon. I look forward to working with you, Lord Zen.”

Lord Zen blinked.

Before he could recover, G6 turned toward Lady Brenda.

“Shall we?”

Lady Brenda suppressed what might have been the beginning of a smile.

“I will show you the Omnia, Lady Worthon.”

They continued into the department, leaving Lord Zen behind with the distinct expression of someone replaying the conversation and wondering exactly where he had gone wrong.

He had heard enough about Reise Worthon to expect a proud noblewoman concerned with court, engagement, and rank. He had not expected to be corrected for attaching her identity to the Prince.

By the time Tina and Lilia caught up with Edmund, G6 was already several paces ahead.

Her gaze moved continuously across the department, taking in the doors, windows, personnel, restricted sections, and distances between corridors. She did not look particularly fascinated, yet Edmund had begun recognizing the difference between boredom and concentration.

When G6 became quiet like this, she was rarely disengaged.

She was cataloguing.

Lady Brenda led them down a wide stone corridor.

“The laboratories are usually occupied. Other departments sometimes call those who spend most of their lives here… scholars.”

There was a faint note of amusement in her voice.

G6 looked around at the unusually empty passage.

“Yeah, I can tell. Place is a ghost town.”

The rigid noble posture she had maintained during introductions loosened almost immediately. One shoulder dropped slightly, and her walk settled into something far more natural to her.

Lady Brenda stopped before a large set of double doors.

“The main laboratory.”

She opened them.

The room beyond was anything but empty.

Researchers occupied long worktables beneath suspended enchanted lamps. Some examined ancient artifacts through magnifying instruments, while others sorted brittle parchments or argued quietly over pieces of magical equipment that looked old enough to belong in a ruin.

One scholar held a glowing fragment over a measuring device. Another had dismantled what appeared to be an archaic wand into so many pieces that G6 doubted it would ever resemble a wand again.

Total geeks.

Her eyes continued sweeping the room until they stopped.

A man stood near the far side of the laboratory, partially surrounded by instruments and stacks of notes.

Elegant white suit. Gold filigree. Green hair. Green eyes behind spectacles.

G6 stared a second too long.

Is this what they call tall, handsome, and… damn. T.H.D.

She paused.

It is actually ‘Dark’.

The man looked up.

Their eyes met.

Recognition struck immediately.

Oh, you have got to be kidding me. It’s that Earl.

G6 turned around and walked straight back out.

There was no hesitation, greeting, or attempt whatsoever to pretend she had not seen him.

It was not embarrassment.

It was tactical avoidance.

Behind her, Lord Earl remained motionless for a moment before the unfamiliar styling registered beneath the familiar Worthon coloring.

“Reise?”

He set aside the object in his hand and followed her.

“Wait. Reise, what are you doing here?”

G6 did not slow.

The heels were already irritating enough without adding Lord Earl to the problem.

Her servants followed several paces behind, observing the chase in silence. Tina recognized the particular stiffness in G6’s shoulders and wisely made no attempt to help Lord Earl catch up.

Neither did Edmund.

Lord Earl, however, had known Reise too long to be discouraged by obvious hostility. He lengthened his stride and moved smoothly ahead of her before turning to block the corridor.

G6 stopped.

These damn heels.

“Oh, look who it is. Hi, Earl,” G6 said, sarcasm dripping from every word.

Lord Earl smiled, not offended in the slightest. If anything, he seemed entertained.

“Indeed. Why the avoidance? Do you need something?”

He adjusted his spectacles while studying her more openly now, his gaze moving over the hair, darker styling, changed makeup, and an expression that had somehow become even more difficult to read than before.

“Actually, yes.”

G6’s smile sharpened.

“I need you to get out of my way.”

Her expression made it clear that this was not an invitation to continue teasing.

Lord Earl ignored the warning.

“Still as direct as at the tea party,” he said, amusement slipping easily into his voice. “But let us bypass that. Why are you here?”

G6 glanced toward Lady Brenda.

It was a simple look.

You explain.

Lady Brenda understood immediately.

“Lady Worthon will be working among us, Lord Earl.”

Lord Earl turned sharply toward her.

“Working?”

His gaze returned to G6.

“You, Reise?”

The surprise was genuine, though it softened quickly into something warmer, almost proud.

“You truly have changed. Quite dramatically.”

“Whatever. Move.”

Lord Earl laughed.

“Do not be like that. You will be seeing much of me here.”

“Sorry to disappoint. I have got Open Access. I will not be stuck anywhere—especially not with you.”

That made him pause.

“You have Open Access?”

G6 crossed her arms and looked away, clearly finished with the conversation.

Tina stepped in before Lord Earl could ask again.

“Her Majesty herself arranged it, Lord Earl.”

“The Queen?”

His attention returned to G6 with renewed curiosity.

Whatever question formed behind his eyes, he chose not to ask it. Instead, his familiar smile returned.

“Well then, visit anytime, Reise. I will be waiting.”

G6 stared at him.

What is with this guy? Seriously creeping me out.

“I would rather die again than spend another minute near you,” she stated coldly before brushing past him.

Edmund offered Lord Earl a quick, apologetic bow.

“Please forgive Lady Reise. She is… quite considerate, in truth.”

Tina gave Edmund a look that questioned whether even he believed that sentence.

Lilia was already hurrying after G6.

Lord Earl remained in the corridor, watching them disappear around the corner.

“Die again?” he murmured.

The wording was odd, but then Reise had spent the last several days saying things that would have sounded impossible coming from her a month ago.

Lord Earl gave a small shake of his head.

“She does look more striking like this. It suits her new… vigor.”

The thought pleased him more than he expected, though not because she looked prettier. Reise had always been beautiful.

She simply looked awake now.

Lord Earl returned to the laboratory.

「ROYAL COLLEGIUM LIBRARY」

The library was the first place in the Royal Collegium that made G6 visibly slow down.

It was enormous.

Rows of shelves stretched almost to the ceiling, arranged through a cavernous central hall with narrow bridges and a second-floor gallery running around the perimeter. Tall windows flooded the polished floors with muted daylight, while enchanted lamps illuminated the deeper aisles where natural light could not reach.

G6 stopped just inside the entrance.

“This is… big.”

For her, that amounted to genuine admiration.

Lilia ran ahead and twirled beneath the towering shelves.

“It is even larger than the Main Palace library,” Tina commented.

“Naturally,” Lady Brenda replied, unmistakable pride entering her voice. “The Royal Collegium archives not only general reference texts, but research records accumulated by all three Professional Departments.”

She gestured toward the upper galleries.

“Rare manuscripts, restricted magical studies, military records, historical accounts, and several collections unavailable to ordinary palace libraries are stored here.”

G6’s attention sharpened.

“Can anyone access them?”

“Not all of them.”

Lady Brenda pointed toward the highest shelves.

“The upper collections contain restricted research material. Professional Card holders may request access depending upon their clearance, though some works require departmental authorization.”

Better. At least they were not using altitude as their sole security system.

G6’s gaze traveled toward the unreachable shelves anyway. Several were positioned so high that even the tallest rolling ladders would not reach them directly.

Perfect. If they think height is security, they have never met someone who can climb.

Tina noticed the slight tilt of G6’s head and the way her eyes followed the shelves instead of Lady Brenda. She leaned subtly toward Edmund.

“She is plotting something… wicked.”

Edmund followed G6’s gaze.

“I can see that.”

Neither needed further explanation.

They were beginning to understand her tells. The silence was usually the first warning, followed by the slight narrowing of her eyes and then that tiny shift of attention suggesting she had stopped merely looking at an object and started calculating what could be done with it.

Lady Brenda, unaware of the whispered assessment, continued toward the rear of the library.

“We shall now proceed to the library’s extension—the Integrated Wardrobe and Armory System. The I.W.A.S.”

G6 looked at her immediately.

“Custom utility gear?”

“Indeed. Her Majesty specifically instructed me to bring you here.”

She did? Finally, we are getting somewhere.

“I was told to show you… training wear.”

“How much farther?”

“We are here.”

Lady Brenda stopped beside what appeared to be an uninterrupted section of carved wall and pressed her Professional Card against a nearly invisible panel.

A quiet mechanism shifted beneath the stone.

Then the wall opened.

G6’s eyes sharpened with genuine interest.

“Beyond this point, only officially employed personnel may enter,” Lady Brenda explained.

G6 glanced behind her.

Tina, Edmund, and Lilia understood immediately and remained outside while G6 followed Lady Brenda through the opening.

The door sealed again behind them.

“This is a secured storage facility,” Lady Brenda said. “I oversee it as Head Caretaker of the library.”

G6 looked around.

The chamber was larger than she expected.

Racks of practical clothing filled the central space, divided by discipline and intended use. Training equipment occupied one side, while formal uniforms and specialist garments occupied another. Along the far wall stood several polished suits of knight armor preserved behind glass.

The enchanted lighting caught against steel, leather fittings, dark wool, reinforced linen, and dozens of carefully maintained weapons.

G6’s interest rose immediately.

For once, there was no pastel catastrophe, no suffocating ribbons, and no useless embroidery pretending to have purpose.

Just pure function.