---

❈.❈.❈

 

“Lady Reise! This way!”

Lilia pointed toward a secluded garden path and, before G6 could respond, took her hand.

G6 looked down at their joined fingers.

Weird. Still weird.

She did not pull away.

“So, is this path…?”

“Residents only,” Lilia answered.

“There is another entrance?”

“Yes! The main gate is outside. Not all Royal Collegium folk are Pillars.”

“So the Pillars live here?”

Edmund followed several steps behind them.

“Yes, Lady Reise. The West Villa also serves as a residence and training ground for heirs connected to the Royal Collegium.”

Tina looked toward Lilia.

“Please do not cling.”

Lilia immediately produced a pair of devastating puppy eyes.

G6 looked down at her as though calculating whether this level of intimacy was worth it.

“It is fine, Tina.”

Then she glanced backward, a faint tease entering her smirk.

“You can hold on too, if you are jealous.”

Tina paused and adjusted her glasses.

“As you wish.”

Before G6 could reconsider the offer, Tina took her other arm.

Actually took it.

G6 turned slowly toward her.

This little bitch.

Tina continued walking as though nothing whatsoever had happened.

Behind them, Edmund watched the three, and a small smile appeared despite himself.

The Wicked Rose’s thorns are… selective, Edmund thought.

 

---

「ROYAL COLLEGIUM OF SORCERY AND STEEL」

 

The residential path ended before an enormous ivy-covered wall, where a faint distortion shimmered across the surface.

Magic. Barrier.

G6 slowed.

“This is it?”

“Tap your card there,” Edmund said, indicating a crystal panel embedded within the stone.

G6 pressed her Professional Card against it.

The panel flashed, and the air before the wall rippled.

Lilia stretched upward with her own card but could not reach.

Edmund sighed, lifted her beneath the arms, and held her high enough to tap it triumphantly against the panel.

G6’s lips twitched.

Then she stepped through.

The world beyond opened into an enormous central complex surrounded by grand stone buildings with tall windows, sweeping archways and bridges connecting the different wings.

At the center stood a broad fountain, with God Eldrin rising above the water in carved stone.

Mana seemed denser here—not visible, but undeniably present, pressing faintly against senses G6 was only beginning to recognize.

“It is magnificent!” Lilia breathed before immediately returning to G6’s side.

A young noblewoman approached across the courtyard.

“Good morning, Lady Worthon.”

She bowed with practiced grace.

“I am Brenda Nocturne, of the close branch. Her Majesty requested that I guide you through the Royal Collegium.”

G6 examined her.

Her Majesty assigned someone personally? A watchdog?

Possible. Not proven.

“Pleasure. My team.”

She gestured toward Tina, Edmund and Lilia.

Lady Brenda’s eyes moved across them before stopping at Lilia.

“The child is with you?”

“She is. Problem?”

The warmth disappeared from G6’s voice instantly.

Lady Brenda noticed.

“Of course not, Lady Worthon. Forgive me.”

She stepped aside.

“Shall we begin? The Magic Department would be the most appropriate first stop.”

G6 nodded.

 

---

「SANCTUM OF HIGH ARCANA — MAGIC DEPARTMENT」

 

Conversation inside the hall faded the moment G6 entered.

Not entirely, but enough.

Eyes followed the rose-gold hair first, then the black attire, and finally the woman wearing both.

One whisper rose from nearby.

“Who is that?”

Another voice answered, “Rose-gold hair…”

“Lady Reise Worthon?” someone murmured.

“Visiting her brothers?”

“She looks different.”

“Sharper.”

Lilia’s grip tightened.

G6 noticed but said nothing.

Lady Brenda continued ahead.

“Lady Worthon, your Open Access privilege allows you to train, study, or conduct professional work throughout all three Departments at your discretion.”

G6 listened.

Oh?

Her eyes drifted toward Lady Brenda.

Is that old woman trying to gauge me in these three departments?

It would not have surprised her.

Lady Brenda began explaining the potion laboratories, research chambers and practical classrooms while G6 absorbed what mattered and ignored what did not.

Then a male voice behind her interrupted the tour.

“Reise?”

G6 turned.

“Is that you?”

A young nobleman approached quickly.

He had mauve hair, grey eyes and enough familiar structure in his face that the resemblance was immediate. The same eyes. The same sharp Worthon features. The same bloodline stamped across a slightly older male face.

He moved directly toward her with his arms already opening.

G6 sidestepped.

The man nearly embraced empty air.

Who the hell is this?

“Master Ray,” Tina greeted.

Edmund bowed.

“Lord Ray.”

G6’s attention sharpened.

Ray Worthon? One of Reise’s elder brothers.

Lord Ray turned toward the attendants.

“Tina! Edmund!”

Then he immediately tried to hug G6 again.

She evaded him a second time.

“Reise! Your hair! You look—”

“REISEEEE!”

Another voice exploded through the hall.

G6 looked up just in time to see a second mauve-haired man charging toward them with his arms wide.

“My sister!”

G6 moved.

Again.

Lord Ron missed completely, while Lilia, still attached to G6’s hand, stumbled sideways.

“Quiet, Ron. You are embarrassing,” Lord Ray hissed.

“Shut it!”

Lord Ron shoved him.

“Reise! You look amazing!”

G6 stared between them.

Second brother. Ron.

Both men carried the Worthon face strongly enough that the resemblance bordered on ridiculous. Their builds and expressions differed, but the bloodline remained unmistakable.

These two are male versions of me. Or rather—of Reise.

Which was apparently her problem now.

Lord Ron reached for her hand.

“Reise, here for me?”

G6 pulled away.

“For me—” Lord Ray argued.

The two brothers immediately began talking over one another.

Then Tina’s voice sliced directly through them.

“Masters, you are causing a scene. Lady Reise is here on duty, not a social call.”

Both brothers stopped.

Their faces brightened.

Somehow, that was worse.

They stepped closer.

G6 stepped backward until her shoulders touched the stone wall.

Fuck.

“Tired of playing the perfect fiancée?” Lord Ron asked, looking far too pleased.

“Seen the light about the Prince?” Lord Ray added.

G6’s eyes narrowed.

They do not like that Prince Dio. Noted.

The brothers crowded closer.

Neither seemed remotely threatening, which somehow made them more annoying.

Then Lilia squeaked.

G6 looked down.

The child had been boxed into the loose circle beside her, trapped between two larger bodies and the wall.

G6 moved instantly.

She slipped through the opening between the brothers and pulled Lilia with her until the child was safely behind her shoulder.

Then G6 turned.

“Back up. Now.”

The command cracked through the hall.

Both brothers stopped.

G6 looked down at Lilia.

“You okay?”

“Yes, Lady Reise,” Lilia whispered.

G6 straightened.

Lord Ron stared at them.

“Reise…”

His eyes dropped toward their joined hands.

“You are… holding a servant’s hand?”

Lord Ray looked personally wounded.

“And dodging us? Do you hate us?”

G6 stared at both of them.

Several paces away, Tina and Edmund wore expressions caught somewhere between resignation and professional mortification.

“Get a grip. You are being embarrassing.”

The brothers looked offended.

G6 regarded them again.

Are all siblings here this clingy?

Her expression remained flat.

My brother showed affection by trying to shoot me.

At least that had been straightforward.

Tina stepped forward before the Worthon brothers could begin another assault.

“For heaven’s sake. Lady Reise is on a tour. You will excuse us.”

She gave Lady Brenda a pointed look.

Lady Brenda immediately understood, and the group began moving.

G6 turned with them, pulling Lilia along before the brothers could reorganize.

Behind them, the Worthon brothers’ voices immediately overlapped again.

“Reise! We will find you later!”

“Bye, sister!”

“My sister!”

“Shut up!”

Their argument followed the group halfway down the corridor.

G6 did not look back.

Analysis: Reise’s brothers are a massive pain. The diary undersold it.

 

 

—To Be Continued…—