“Headmaster Olston! The fire in the west wing of the Hohle Dormitory has now been stopped. The hole in the roof has been sealed as well by the mage engineer corps.”

  “...What else?”

  “Luckily, no one’s hurt. That’s been fully confirmed, though the students in the Hohle Dormitory building are very shaken.”

  “I see.”

  Headmaster Manfred von Olston turned away from the stressed mage professor to face Alexa, Phoebe, and Areya. Even William was standing at the side, his face dead neutral as he straightened himself with the discipline of a veteran military man.

  Phoebe and Adele looked as if they had gone white from fear of death, but on the other hand, Alexa held her chin up high, giving occasional side-eye glares at Wilhelm, who had the gall to ignore her as if she were nothing.

  This darned peasant…

  “So, Your Highness,” Manfred began. “First of all—”

  “Hmph. I have received a significant amount of XP from it,” Alexa looked away as she pouted. “That and only my room’s roof was ruined. So, why the big fuzz?”

  “The glyph spell that would have aimed the fireball it generates below the paper instead of above it was just beside the one you copied,” Wilhelm said. “This is why I gave you direct instructions to only use normal ink for now.”

  “Well…” Manfred narrowed his eyes at Alexa. “Would you take responsibility now, princess? The two ladies beside you already confessed their part in this incident.”

  Phoebe and Adele both visibly shivered.

  “Princess, you on the other hand have so far continued to not just evade answering me but you are also justifying the incident quite insistently,” Manfred continued. “Based on all of that, I can see that it’s very likely that you are the main culprit in this incident. I believe your knight was seen carrying a lot of spellbooks from Mr. von Eisen’s office, so it’s also likely that you’ve also looted a staff member of this academy.”

  “I gave them permission to take books from my office,” Wilhelm corrected on the side, still painfully neutral. “So it technically is my fault.”

  “Very bold of you to try to take responsibility. That spine of yours is impressive as always, Wilhelm, but I seriously doubt you gave your students the right to loot half of your bookshelves.”

  “...I should have given her a copy of the titles of the books she needed,” Wilhelm said. “I apologize. I may need extra training in learning how to impart precise instructions to students, sir.”

  “You do bear a lot of responsibility for this incident, as you were taken into the academy to teach only anti-demon tactics, not to tutor a student on how to cultivate one’s magic,” Manfred scratched his beard. “But regardless, Her Highness over here is quite…”

  “Fine,” Alexa gritted her teeth, still trying to look away as she gripped the hem of her skirt. “…It’s my fault. I forced Wilhelm to buckle by pressuring him with my authority as royalty, a-and I ignored Wilhelm’s warnings to only use normal ink.”

  Alexa looked down, twiddling with her fingers.

  “Look, I managed to level up my glyph magic to level five, so I felt way too excited,” Alexa sheepishly said. “And one thing led to another and then suddenly I was drawing a fireball glyph and then…”

  She went silent, and so did the room.

  Then…Alexa whispered in a low tone.

  “...Boom.”

  “Just boom? There’s a ten-meter hole on your roof,” Wilhelm said on the side. “Tch. You’ll be the death of me.”

  Shut up, I don't need you to remind me of that!

  “That was the first spell you managed to do since you were born, correct?” Manfred asked.

  “Yes,” Alexa said, a bit tearful. “...I got carried away, I suppose.”

  The old man sighed.

  “No one’s been hurt, and the only thing burned is your room. I’ve seen worse accidents in this academy each month. But still…for glyph magic to blast a hole in a magically reinforced roof that we had to call in the Perlenstadt garrison’s mage engineers to fix it hastily,” his tone turned icy, as he looked at Wilhelm. “That makes me gravely concerned.”

  “I-it’s not his fault, I already told you!” Alexa shouted from the side. “I was using the highest grade of mana ink with me. I believe that when I drew it, there was so much mana on the page, that it was enough to blow the roof wide open.”

  “Is that so?” Manfred seemed skeptical, still eyeing Wilhelm a bit. “The students reported that the fireball rose high, before coming down on the nearby river, and causing a distant explosion.”

  Alexa stiffened.

  Then she remembered something when she was searching for a page that depicted the ‘best fireball’ that she could draw. The words on top of the page of the glyph she chose and copied were repeated in her mind.

  Artillery Fireball.

  “But it was just a fireball…” Alexa mumbled.

  “Fireballs usually fly away straight before dissipating once they run out of mana,” Manfred said. “Mr. von Eisen, would you explain why you possess a spell that’s clearly developed for military use?”

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  “She definitely touched the spellbook reference I’m developing for emergency combat applications. It appears that she fumbled the contact fuze sigils on the glyphs too, so she only has a blown open roof instead of her room being reduced to ashes,” Wilhelm said. “That kind of dumb luck is unlikely to persist. Again, apologies. I’ll stow it away better next time. Quite frankly, I am surprised that she even found it, considering it was under my desk’s drawers, beneath my personal letters and files.”

  “I see. To touch another young man’s personal belongings, Her Highness sure is quite the bold one then.”

  “Please, Headmaster, don’t make it sound weird. She’s already too embarrassed.”

  Alexa was beet red as the two men talked with each other.

  On the other hand, the one who truly looked like she wanted to die was Phoebe, as she was the only one brave enough to touch Wilhelm’s desk itself in the service of the Crown Princess.

  Instead of correcting Manfred however, she seemed to have kept herself shut, thus drawing all of the attention to Alexa instead, when Alexa was desperately waiting for someone to fix the misunderstanding.

  I can’t believe this. Now I look like the dirty girl here. How can you do this to me, Phoebe?

  Those squishable cheeks of hers. Alexa wanted nothing but to angrily pull both of them until they were red after this treacherous betrayal!

  “So, princess,” Manfred called out again. “It seems that everything is truly stacked against you.”

  “As I’ve said earlier, I’ll take personal responsibility for this,” Alexa said, gritting her teeth as she tried to stand straight. “Please direct all of the punishment on me alone. As Crown Princess, my subjects were merely following orders, and I was the one issuing them. Therefore, I am the only one at fault.”

  Yeah, that’s right. Direct your anger to me. I’ll redirect it to these fools myself later. I’m being so badly humiliated here, yet they leave me alone? Just you three wait, when I have my way with all of you, you’ll all regret not taking the blame today—

  “Alright…” Manfred sighed. “Your Highness, you will be suspended for a week. That will be all.”

  As she watched Phoebe, Adele, and Wilhelm leave unscathed, Alexa curled her fist. Oh these three, they pushed it too far now…

  +++

  “Mhm, Your Highness, these biscuits are quite good!” Phoebe said with a smile.

  “Quite frankly, I can’t believe you’d still celebrate after all that,” Adele elegantly bit on one of the biscuits. “But I suppose Her Highness never fails to splurge when she wins.”

  “Of course. You know me too well,” Alexa boisterously said as her two friends enjoyed their little tea party. “It is only natural after all. This day may have gone sideways, but I have achieved magic! Such an awesome milestone deserves nothing less than a full celebration.”

  Alexa took a spoonful of the fancy parfait on the table, enjoying the sweetness and coldness of it. A blissful smile appeared on her face, lit up only by the weak moonlight above. Sure, she’d been suspended, and that would mean a lot of missed lessons for most of her studies.

  But that just meant more time for now to practice magic! She could make do, so there was no problem.

  On the matter of punishing her subordinates, well, that could wait for later. She’d remember it anyway, as she totally never forgets grudges, so for now, they were free to enjoy some fine sweets and drinks.

  On the edge of the covered rooftop, on the other hand, two men stood side-by-side, one holding a glass of fine wine, and the other a metal flask containing liquor.

  Alfred seemed like he was glaring at Wilhelm as his hold on his glass trembled a bit.

  Wilhelm on the other hand had a small, stupid grin on his face, and he even dared to take a sip from his flask.

  “My, look at those two,” Alexa mumbled. “They always ruin the atmosphere whenever they’re together.”

  “They’re brothers, aren’t they?” Phoebe curiously asked.

  “Don’t say that out loud,” Adele said, taking another sip of her tea. “Sir Alfred might get angry.”

  “You know,” Wilhelm finally spoke up as his lazy smile widened. “You’ve been glaring at me for the last ten minutes. I can buy you an eyepatch too if you’re that into it.”

  “Shut your trap,” Alfred broke his glare and drank his wine fully, before placing the glass on the banister. “I can’t believe you lowly shithead placed the princess in trouble.”

  “Tch. You were supposed to keep watch over her. What are you even getting paid for?”

  “Are you implying that I’m not doing my job? If you want it mano-a-mano, we’ll settle it here, no magic, no nothing, just two swords till one of us dies.”

  “Heh, keep blabbering, tough guy. I heard she didn’t let you in her room because you insulted glyph magic, when it’s her only hope in the short term. I didn’t know you were that evil.”

  “Considering how those glyphs of yours blasted a hole in her rooftop, I think I had the right idea all along. Now are you in for a duel to the death or what?”

  Alexa groaned as she looked away, focusing on eating the chocolate biscuits on her plate.

  Geez, these two manchildren are so annoying. Why’d they have to pick this place to bicker?

  “U-um, they’re not really going to a fight, right?” Phoebe asked.

  “Who knows? They both tried to kill each other once already,” Adele said. “They just hate each other that way. It is what it is. I suggest you don’t prod too much into the business of men, especially Sir Alfred’s.”

  “Oh…I apologize,” Phoebe looked down. “I didn’t mean to…”

  Alexa finally turned red, glaring at the two.

  “Hey, you two! Knock it off, will you? You’re scaring Phoebe here,” Alexa shouted.

  “Apologies, Your Highness,” Alfred turned to Alexa, placing his hand on his chest and bowing his head a bit. “This one-eyed freak is truly an unsightly, violent, and dangerous creature. I’ll dispose of him at once.”

  “Says the one inviting me to a bloody duel,” Wilhelm laughed again, annoying Alfred enough that his hand touched the hilt of his sword. But Wilhelm ignored him. “Whatever, I guess I shouldn’t be here. I was just waiting for Phoebe anyway.”

  “M-me?” Phoebe asked, surprised. “But why?”

  Wilhelm sighed.

  “I just need to ask a few questions. But you’re too busy,” Wilhelm said, turning his back to them. “Guess I’ll just do that when we bump into each other again. Have a good evening, you four.”

  In seconds, Wilhelm left the area, while Alfred still glared at him.

  “‘Good evening’ my ass. That commoner thinks too highly of himself. Someone ought to cut him down to size,” Alfred said. “Ruining a tea party for girls by standing near them like a creep, he’s sure got some nerve.”

  “I think that’s simply consistent with the two of you,” Alexa said, waving her gloved hand at him. “Now, shoo. You don’t belong here either. We’re having a girly talk, and you’re eavesdropping.”

  “But I’m here as your bodyguard. After what happened earlier, it is unacceptable to leave you unsupervised—”

  “Do I look like I’m going to practice glyph magic right now?”

  Alfred groaned, but he relented and left as well.

  “Now that the distractions are out,” Alexa took a deep breath, before looking at Phoebe, while the moonlight behind her shone brighter. “About your innate abilities as the ‘saintess’. Do you have an idea how it works?”

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