Nicole's expression shifted slightly.
Echi looked down. Nicole studied her face in silence, and finally sighed.
"…I don't know what you're hiding, but I know you mean it. You're openly telling me you can't explain, so I won't ask."
"Someday, maybe… I'll be able to tell you."
"Fine. Do as you like. You trusted me with this, so I'll trust you in return."
Nicole said it lightly and reached for the single-lens glasses she had tossed aside earlier. Casual words - but not lightly meant.
Echi's throat tightened. Truly, she thought, everything she had endured was nothing against the weight of still being alive. The feeling pressed through into her voice.
"Nicole… thank you. Really."
"Nothing to thank me for. I would have investigated and kept watch over your family even without being asked. You haven't forgotten, I'm a mage under Roaz's patronage. Of course I help Roaz."
Nicole said it casually and pulled a blank sheet of parchment and a quill from the haphazard pile on her desk.
"Tell me the full situation around finding the sword. Everything, even what seems insignificant. When are you leaving for Azenka?"
"As soon as I'm ready. The cadet exam is coming up."
"What will you tell your parents? You said you won't tell them about the sword. You're not planning to just run away?"
Echi accepted the quill and parchment and began writing out the details carefully, thinking aloud as she did.
"If I told them honestly that I want to become a knight, they'd be horrified, wouldn't they."
"Horrified? They'd be far beyond horrified. The Count might faint."
"I'll tell them I'm going on a trip."
"A trip? What kind of excuse?"
"I'm nearly of age for marriage discussions. I'm an adult now. I wanted to travel before settling down. A trip to Azenka and I'll come home after and get married."
"…And while you're in Azenka you'll sit the cadet exam. How is that meaningfully different from running away?"
"I'll come home once I'm a knight. So it's a trip. A long trip."
Nicole pressed her forehead into her palm. Echi went on calmly.
"If there's any progress in the investigation, or if anything happens, contact me in Azenka, Sister. Stay careful and don't go alone into anything dangerous. If it feels risky, reach out to me first."
"Who's worrying about whom here? You're talking as if you're certain to pass."
"I am."
"Even with the sword, you'll have to conceal it. You'll be surrounded by people who have trained for this their whole lives. Are you truly confident?"
"I'm a greater genius than any of them, so yes."
Nicole's face scrunched. Echi didn't particularly love her own talent but just now, it was rather useful. She laughed out loud. A genuine laugh, full of something she had nearly forgotten.
* * *
A week later, Echinacea Roaz departed on what her family had been told was a month-long trip. The itinerary included the holy city of Azenka.
***
The Azenka Academy selected fifty cadets each year, accepting applicants between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five. The maximum time one could remain a cadet was three years. If a cadet did not become a squire or junior knight within that period, they graduated and left the Celestial Knights Order.
Cadets lived in the academy dormitories and took turns serving the formal knights and junior knights who had no squires of their own.
Alice Winterbell, second-ranked among the new intake, was on her way back to the dormitory. She was in a foul mood. She had been certain she would enter first and then she had finished second. And there were strange rumors circulating about the freshman who had edged her out.
'A dress? Ridiculous.'
She hadn't seen the top student - they had been tested in different areas. Even so, she was certain that a frivolous, air-headed woman who showed up to the exam in a dress could not possibly have outranked her. It had to be a rumor invented by people who resented having two twenty-year-old women at the top.
'I'll see her soon enough anyway.'
The dormitory assigned double rooms, and her roommate - listed on the same acceptance notice - was the very person at the center of these rumors. Alice carried her belongings in one large bag and found the room.
'Room 101...here.'
The academy facilities were good. Alice skimmed the carved brass plate on the wooden door and knocked. It would be rude to simply walk in if her roommate was already there.
"Yes? Who is it?"
"Alice Winterbell, assigned to Room 101."
"Ah! Come in. It's open."
Alice opened the door. And froze.
Boxes, boxes, boxes. Open bags everywhere. Dresses arranged in a row. Stacked jewelry cases. Colorful silk scarves. A collection of elaborate hats spread across the bed.
In the middle of it all, a pink-haired woman was sorting through her things. She wore a fluttering skirt, lace gloves, and a hat adorned with fresh flowers.
"…What on earth…"
The woman turned at Alice's involuntary murmur and looked apologetic.
"Ah, I just arrived too. Still unpacking - it's a bit chaotic, isn't it? I'll sort it out soon. I took the bed by the window first - is that all right?"
"Who are you?"
Alice asked with a thin thread of hope. Perhaps this was her roommate's sister, or a visiting maid - eccentric for a maid, but still. Not her roommate and this year's top student.
The woman dashed that hope without hesitation and extended her hand.
"Echinacea Roaz. Pleased to meet you."
* * *
Alice Winterbell took thirty minutes to organize her belongings. Echinacea Roaz could not finish unpacking by the time lunch approached.
'There's so much of it. Why did she pack so much?'
Nora had packed for a round trip of roughly one month - meaning a different outfit for every single day.
This was the result. Going through it all alone was endless. The thought of the luggage growing further as seasons changed was already exhausting.
The Count and Countess had not, of course, sent their cherished daughter off unaccompanied. Two family knights had come as escorts, and Nora had come along too.
Echi had been cooperative until they reached Azenka then slipped out of the inn one night to submit her application for the preliminary exam, evaded the knights to actually sit it, and kept delaying her return date until results were posted.
The rest had been simple. She had sent Nora and the knights home with: 'Oh dear, it seems I've become a cadet. Now that it's come to this, I'll do my best here in Azenka. Please let my parents know.'
At first, they couldn't comprehend it. They tried to convince her it was a mistake, a misunderstanding.
They stopped trying once they saw her name at the top of the posted results list. Not a close call either - top of the class. They had left with the faces of people who had been quietly haunted.
In truth, Echi had never intended to place first. She had only aimed for the top tier - but the average level of the other candidates had been lower than expected. She had been able to observe during the preliminary and first rounds and adjust accordingly.
The problem had come in the second round, a one-on-one spar against a junior knight of the Order, conducted privately with no other candidates to compare against.
Her body at this point was not well-trained — she had only recently returned. She had to compensate with technique and mana, but using mana covertly in a spar with a Celestial junior knight was risky. She had relied on pure technique, and then misjudged her adjustment slightly.
'A telegram from home will be arriving soon.'
They would be furious. Worried.
Unable to understand. But there was nothing she could do.
She had to become a knight as quickly as possible, be rid of the demonic sword, and come home.
"…Excuse me, Miss Roaz."
Echi turned. Alice Winterbell stood there with the expression of someone who had made a significant decision.
She was striking - neatly cut blonde hair, quite tall. Echi wasn't short, but she had to tilt her head up to meet Alice's eyes. There was something prim and proper about her, which Echi didn't mind.
"Yes, Miss Winterbell?"
"…What is all of this?"
Alice's gray eyes swept over the bags still unopened on the floor. They trembled slightly.
"My clothes and jewelry."
"Is this all of it?"
"Yes. Why?"
Contempt flickered across Alice's face. She bit down on something and said, tightly controlled, "A cadet whose goal is to become a knight shouldn't need this many clothes."
"I need them."
"Cadets are provided with uniforms."
"I have no desire to wear something that shabby. Cadets are permitted to wear their own clothing, aren't they?"
"…So you mean to wear this while wielding a sword?"
"Yes. What's the problem?"
Alice broke. "Is this a ballroom? A tea party? Do you have any sense of what the Azenka Academy is?"
"There's no rule in the academy that prohibits dresses, Miss Winterbell."
"There doesn't need to be a rule
It's obvious!"
"Why is it obvious?"
"Because it isn't knightly!"
Alice's cheeks had gone slightly pink. Though they were the same age in technical terms, from Echi's perspective, with everything she had lived through, Alice seemed very young. Earnestly upset about something being unknightly. It was almost endearing.
But endearing or not, she couldn't have her roommate criticizing her every day. She needed to settle this now. Echi smiled.
"What does being knightly mean to you, Miss Winterbell?"