The View Atop the Glass Crown

Prince Henry and his aide were on their way back to the Academic Building from the training ground when the last bell rang. 

Right after they entered the building, they caught a glimpse of someone running from the corner of their eyes. It was a female student with her hair tied in a messy single braid at the back, hugging a few books in her arms.

“That girl…” said Lucas as he recognised who the person was.

Henry unconsciously smiled as both of them watched Annette hurry out of the building. 

“Is she heading towards the library? But why is she running?” Lucas wondered.

“Let’s find out, shall we, Lucas?”

“Sir…” 

Without waiting for his aide to answer, Henry changed direction to follow the girl.

Annette had successfully escaped from her class. Outside the building, she stopped running and took a breather. Her heart was beating quite fast after all her dashing about, and she failed to notice two people approaching behind her.

“Good evening, Annette,” greeted Henry.

Annette flinched a little.

“Prince Henry… Lord Lucas…” Annette quickly bowed to greet them.

“Are you heading towards the library? Why were you running?”

“Ah, yes, I want to return these books. Um, and I tried to leave before my classmates came to me.”

“Hm? Are they going to bully you?” A slight scowl formed on his face.

“N-no, sir. They’ll just… um, shower me with questions.”

“Hmmm, I see. Right, now that you mention it, I also need to return the books I borrowed. Shall we go together?”

“Your books are still inside the classroom, Your Highness,” Lucas said, squinting at his master.

Henry turned to face Lucas and smiled mischievously. “Would you take them for me, my aide?”

“I’m not leaving you alone, sir,” answered Lucas firmly.

“I’m not alone. Besides, what are you worrying about when she is here?” 

Lucas frowned as he squinted at Annette. It seemed that his job had somewhat been stolen by a younger female student. 

Lucas let out a sigh before he finally said, “Would the two of you please wait for me in the library?” He then turned to Annette and continued, “May I ask you to make sure Prince Henry won’t go elsewhere before I arrive, Lady Heinz?”

Lady? Annette tilted her head a little. “Ah, yes, Lord Lucas.”

***

“So, are you going to get some new books to read?” asked Henry.

Annette had just returned her books to Miss Sophie at the counter. 

“Ah, no, I actually still have a few books I haven’t finished reading.” Annette then lowered her voice to whisper, “Um, I also need to search for the Heart too, so…”

“Right, I see,” Henry replied.

“Are you planning to borrow another book, sir?” 

“Hm, no. I have found my answer after all.” Henry turned to the girl with a straight face. “By the way, there’s a botanical garden on the top floor, right? Let’s go there, shall we?”

“Oh… okay, sir.”

They had asked Miss Sophie, the librarian, to inform Lucas later that both of them would be in the botanical garden before heading to the main library building. 

After they climbed the endless circular stairs, they finally reached the topmost floor, the botanical garden area. 

“I thought you were used to the stairs here. I’m sorry.” Lucas felt guilty as he saw Annette trying to catch her breath.

“Ah, no, sir, well… I don’t usually, um, go all the way to the top… in one go, sir,” Annette said.

“I see. I should’ve made you climb slower or take a break.”

Any normal person would lose their breath after climbing several long stairs without a pause, but Annette insisted on not taking a break so as not to waste the prince’s valuable time.

Annette, who sensed that Henry felt somewhat concerned, quickly said, “Um, would you like to go to the balcony, sir? It’s a very nice place.” 

“Balcony? Sure, I’d love to.”

A wide balcony ran around the outer edge of the glass dome crowning the botanical garden. It was the perfect spot to get a good view of the academy grounds. 

“I see. This is very nice, indeed. I have never really gone here before,” Henry said.

Annette smiled as they took in the view in front of them. The early-winter wind grew colder as it blew hard high up on the balcony, swaying the hair of both of them.

“Say, which area have you checked so far?” Henry asked about her investigation of the Heart’s whereabouts. 

“Hmmm… so far just the first-year area in the Academic Building and the training grounds. Oh, um, I tried to check the forest too, but I couldn’t enter the old ward area since it was off-limits for students.”

“Old ward area?”

“Yes, sir. Um, it’s over there, beyond the forest and the conservatory. There was an unmaintained old building behind a locked gate.” Annette pointed a finger at the area full of trees, beyond the Academic Building Complex and the clock tower.

“Why couldn’t you check there?”

“Um… The gardener called out to me before… I could do anything.”

“Hmmm…” Henry’s peridot eyes gazed at the forest area in his view.

“I had asked Miss Cynthia to help so… We should be able to enter once she is free.” 

“Can I join?”

“No, sir.” Lucas had just arrived when he heard their last conversation.

“Lord Lucas…” called Annette.

“I had returned the books on your behalf, Your Highness.”

Henry faced his aide and asked, “Why can’t I join?” 

“You stand out too much, sir.”

What Lucas said was true. The crown prince of the kingdom was bound to attract a lot of attention in the academy wherever he went as long as there were people nearby.

“Hmmm… That’s too bad.” 

“You were seriously thinking about joining had I not—”

“Old ward area sounds like such a good place to hide things away from people, don’t you think?” Henry cut his aide off mid-sentence with a rather serious tone.

“Hmmm, now that you mention it, sir,” said Lucas.

“Look. The Academic Building Complex is where all regular classes are being held, both for intermediate and advanced courses. It’s the most crowded place and has a high risk of being discovered. Put aside the students, the professors might be able to sense it if they are close enough,” Henry explained.

“Hm, that is true…” Annette muttered.

Henry turned to face the other area as he continued. “The same goes to the Magical Study Complex where all the student laboratories are. The Faculty Building is packed with the teachers’ individual rooms, professors’ laboratories and administrative offices. But the old ward is off-limits to students and located far back in the corner.”

“Making it the top candidate of the Heart’s hiding place, I see,” Lucas added.

“There are several cabins which serve as storages in several corners, but they are not as isolated as the old ward. So I think we should prioritise checking the old ward,” Henry said as all of them gazed at the vast grounds of Athenya under the twilight sky.

***

“No, not this again, please,” muttered Miss Cynthia as she stared at the glass dome far above her. 

Miss Sophie said that that girl went to the top floor with the prince. Are they going to stay up there any longer? Ugh…

Just as she narrowed her eyes, Miss Cynthia caught a glimpse of people descending the stairs. 

I’m saved! thought Miss Cynthia as she smiled wryly.

The moment Prince Henry reached the ground floor, Miss Cynthia offered him a bow.

“Good evening, Miss Cynthia,” Henry said.

“Good evening, Your Highness. May I have a word with you?” asked the female professor.

“Shall we use the back room, then?”

Once all of them moved into the back room, Miss Cynthia spoke up, “Earlier, I got the information that the culprit we caught had been murdered.”

“Murdered?! How…?!” asked Lucas.

“It seemed that she was poisoned and died inside the cell. Also, the real Mia Palmer seemed to have been returned to her family this morning, well… in a similar state as the two students in the infirmary. Their family seems to be unaware that their daughter had been kidnapped since they had been receiving letters from their daughter.”

“So, the real Mia was kidnapped to write letters to her family?” Annette asked.

“Possibly,” replied Miss Cynthia.

Henry fell silent for a while before he said, “I see. Thank you, Miss Cynthia. We should just do what we can now. I heard that you and Annette are planning to check the old ward, Miss? I agree that we should prioritise that for now.”

“Alright, sir.”

***

“That arrogant royal! How dare he?! Wait and see how I bring huge shame and slam it right onto that annoying face of his!!”

Inside a dimly lit room, a male student opened a small vial of liquid in his hand and poured it into his mouth. 

“He is just lucky to be born royalty!! All the girls were so noisy about him but I bet his guts are actually small!!”

The male student reached the glass of water in front of him and gulped all of it down before roughly placing it back on the table. 

Tightly gripping the glass, he said, “I’ll show you what my new power tastes like!!”