The biting flash of a blade came from the rooftop above the sleeping quarters. The attacker's speed caught everyone completely off guard.
Everyone, that is, except the one person the attack was aimed at: the Imperial Princess.
Clang.
A straight-bladed elven sword blazed with a blinding light, yet its edge did not bring the gory spectacle one might expect. The short sword Seraphina drew from her hip intercepted what should have been a killing blow with room to spare.
Even as she held her own against the attacker, she tilted her head almost lazily and caught sight of those eyes, molten like burning gold, and the pointed ears that were unmistakably inhuman.
"Well... an elf. I didn't even know about this. An elven Martial Saint actually appearing in your royal palace. Is this some kind of welcoming ceremony from the Kingdom of Aurum?"
The Imperial Princess glanced toward Faust with a smile. "If it is, then I'll have to think quite a bit higher of your kingdom. That's quite the original way to say hello."
The flames seemed to dance within her glazed violet eyes.
"And if it isn't, then would you mind terribly if I helped deal with this little pest?"
Faust had been pulled behind Viviana in that instant, because in the split second the attack came, Viviana had already layered him in shield after overlapping shield.
It was nothing particularly sophisticated or elaborate as spellwork went, but bolstered by the power of Nightly Reverie, the combined strike from two powerhouses at full speed and force had not allowed Faust to feel so much as a ripple.
The Prince of Aurum furrowed his brow, his gaze sweeping back and forth between the princess and the elf, unable to make sense of how the confrontation had even begun.
Seraphina and Mistoria shouldn't know each other at all.
The princess had only ever appeared during the Imperial Civil War, and while Mistoria had been famous for quite some time and had traveled through the Empire, she had already returned to the Kingdom of Darkfold well before the Civil War broke out.
It was precisely because he knew the two had no connection whatsoever that Faust had felt comfortable bringing Seraphina along.
Yet the Elven Martial Saint had taken one look at the princess and immediately bared her teeth, drawing her blade and slashing without hesitation.
That brief, single strike had held nothing back, a full and unfiltered demonstration of a legendary hero's capabilities.
Had the Imperial bloodline's Radiance not been so absurdly powerful, Seraphina's head would already be rolling on the ground.
"Mistoria," Faust said, "what is the meaning of this?"
The elven woman glanced at the prince, looked again, blinked, and just like that the sharpness in her gaze dissolved into something almost clear and still.
"You haven't been taken hostage?"
So she'd mistaken the situation for a threat against me.
Faust didn't know whether to laugh or sigh. "Of course not. Surely it doesn't even look that way?"
Mistoria sheathed her blade and glanced at Seraphina with a flat, unbothered expression.
"My apologies. I was impulsive. My hand moved before I could think. My instincts told me... you were dangerous."
The princess slipped her defensive short sword back into her belt with her usual composed smile.
"Think nothing of it. I've grown rather used to attacks out of nowhere. After all, who am I to complain about such... special treatment?"
The Imperial Princess waved the whole matter aside with remarkable generosity, without the slightest inclination to demand any kind of explanation.
When Faust looked over, he caught Seraphina twirling a strand of her sky-blue hair around her finger, and she gave him a little wink.
The implication could not have been clearer. It was the draconic aura clinging to Seraphina that had triggered Mistoria's instincts. Judging by how practiced and unbothered Seraphina looked about it, this was apparently a familiar occurrence.
Once the misunderstanding was cleared up, Mistoria hugged her sword and took her leave. The Imperial delegation was escorted by the handmaids to their guest quarters to rest.
Even though Mistoria had gone straight for Seraphina's head and made no attempt whatsoever to hold back, neither party treated the incident as anything of consequence, as though it were nothing more than a trivial footnote.
That attitude was enough to thoroughly baffle Faust. They were far too casual about this. If he hadn't personally witnessed the lead-up, he'd almost have thought the two were in on it together and performing the whole thing for his benefit.
Something felt off. Very off.
Faust walked back to his bedchamber lost in thought.
"Your Highness... tonight, with that Imperial Princess... was it really only about the alliance?"
Before she left, Viviana finally couldn't hold back any longer.
In her capacity as a royal guard, the golden-haired girl was usually quiet and reserved, especially when Faust was in the middle of serious affairs.
Unless spoken to directly, Viviana would not interrupt. But tonight had been different in a way she couldn't quite ignore. Faust had, in an almost unprecedented move, sent her away and held a private conversation for quite a long stretch of time.
She had no interest in whatever classified matters had been discussed. It was simply that she could sense, instinctively, that the prince was weighed down by something. His brow hadn't relaxed once.
Faust, deep in thought, looked up at the sound of her voice and turned toward the girl who had grown up beside him.
Her delicate, beautiful face carried a heavier shadow of worry and unease than usual.
"Is there anything I can do to help?"
That Viviana loved him was beyond any doubt. Faust was completely certain of that.
But even after the intimacy they had shared more than once, he still held himself back from using words like "like" or "love" with any casualness.
Because Faust didn't know whether he truly loved Viviana.
Honestly, when he searched his own heart, the fondness he felt for her right now was real and undeniable.
But was it genuine?
The Cinderella scenario had never ended.
Did he love Viviana because fate had nudged him toward it, or was it something that had grown from his own will?
It was that uncertainty which made every moment with Viviana feel like walking on thin ice.
But was that even the right way to think about it? Before, under the influence of Cinderella, he had treated Viviana as a tool.
And now, also because of Cinderella, he was bending over backwards to please her, anxious about gain and loss at every turn.
For crying out loud. When did he, Faust, become such a wishy-washy mess?
The quiet night breeze drifted through, and the clear white moonlight fell across the bridge of the girl's nose. Faust watched that quietly beautiful moment, drew a slow breath, and said with calm sincerity:
"Viviana. I like you."
"Mm, mm... huh?!"
The golden-haired girl, who had braced herself to hear some piece of troubling news so she could help carry the burden, nodded along automatically, then froze, her violet eyes going wide with stunned disbelief.
"Your Highness?!"
"No hidden meaning behind it. I just wanted to say that you're adorable."
Before Viviana could gather herself, Faust shut the door in her face.
"Your Highness! Your Highness!"
Viviana knocked on the door outside, again and again, and received no reply.
She paced the corridor back and forth, round after round, until at last she leaned close to the door frame, and whispered softly, reluctantly:
"Your Highness... good night."
Only then did she finally leave, glancing back three times with every step.
"Ha... hahaha..."
From behind the door, Faust watched his childhood friend's adorably flustered reaction and broke into a full, unrestrained laugh.
It was only the second time, outside of their very first meeting, that he had teased Viviana like this.
He should have done it ages ago.
At the same moment, Mephisto's voice came through, warm with approval:
[As expected of you, Faust.]
Faust stretched with a lazy yawn.
"Hm? You're not going to tell me I'm being mean-spirited?"
[Why would I? You handled that beautifully. Better than beautiful. I honestly thought it would take you a while longer to break through that wall between you.]
"Spare me the riddles."
Faust clicked his tongue, then asked:
"What you said earlier, about making up your mind only after meeting me. What did you mean by that?"
[Exactly what it sounds like. I have been waiting for a child of humanity with enough of a chance to actually matter.]
Even stripped of all embellishment, Mephisto's voice carried unmistakable delight.
[Someone who is resolved to resist fate, yet is not consumed by it.]
[Whether you adore fate or despise it, whether you blindly defy it or blindly follow it, all roads lead to the same trap: you sink deeper in.]
[As you saw just now, the elf was drawn by fate's pull and raised her blade at the princess without question. The awakened princess, knowing this, chose to defuse a collision that was meant to happen.]
[And yet, whichever choice was made, both remained within fate's wheel... within the great wheel of existence. How would you ever know that your very act of defying fate is itself written into fate's script?]
Faust: "No inception nonsense!"
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~ Push the story forward with your Power Stones