Royal Castle of Sheldiawald

“This time, a bundle of keys has gone missing. What’s going on?!” a royal palace guard exclaimed, placing a hand on his head.

“This is very concerning. A thief is roaming free inside the royal palace!” another guard responded with a scowl.

For the past month, the royal guards had been receiving reports of several areas in the royal palace being broken into. Despite their efforts, they had yet to catch the perpetrator.

“At first, it was the Royal Archive, and then the Main Administrative Room was broken into. And now the keys? What’s their goal?” the guard said, crossing his arms with a serious expression.

“In any case, we have to catch them as soon as possible! Tell the other guards to raise security!”

***

The Kingdom of Sheldiawald had been snowing ever since the day after Evernight, enveloping everything in white. Despite this, it didn’t hinder the townspeople of Eldora from continuing to enjoy the festivities.

“Have you awakened?” Esmeraldo peeked in from the door of Annette’s room.

Annette still curled up under her blanket as she said, “I have, but the bed is just so comfortable.”

The little dragon slowly approached the girl. “The prince’s aide had told us that he would come to fetch us.”

“Ughh…. That’s right. I have to get ready before Lord Lucas comes.” Annette sluggishly sat on her bed.

Today, she had promised to visit Henry’s “house” again together with Esmeraldo. As for Miss Cynthia, she had humbly declined to let the young people experience youth among themselves.

An ordinary carriage soon arrived at Miss Cynthia’s house. It was Lucas, who came to escort Annette and Esmeraldo without drawing people’s attention.

“Have fun!” Miss Cynthia said as she saw them off.

As the carriage passed the street, Annette could see some children in their winter clothing playing in the snow cheerfully. Some of them built something out of the snow while the others threw snowballs at each other in laughter. Meanwhile, the adults tried to scoop some of the snow using magic to the side.

It didn’t take long for the carriage to arrive at the royal castle. The moment they entered the main gate, Annette noticed there was not a single pile of snow on the main path.

“Um, Lord Lucas, may I ask something?” Annette spoke up.

Lucas noticed that Annette had been pressing her face against the carriage window. “Are you curious about why the royal avenue was free of snow?”

Annette turned to Lucas and nodded.

“Our royal avenue is engraved with magical formulas to warm the road and melt the snow. Since the ground here is elevated, the melted snow can drain into the palace’s drainage system, preventing the surface from being slippery,” Lucas explained.

“Oh! That is very convenient.” Annette was amazed.

“Well, it’s convenient only because the ground here is sloping. The same method can’t be used in flat areas like the city, since the water would only melt and refreeze, making the streets slippery.”

“I see.”

Their carriage arrived at the entrance of the royal palace as Lucas finished his brief explanation. Some of the palace attendants had waited for their arrival and greeted them the moment they stepped down from the carriage.

“Welcome to the Royal Palace of Sheldiawald.” The attendants bowed.

“Let me escort you to where Prince Henry is,” Lucas said, leading both of them inside the palace.

The royal palace looked far more elegant, decorated with a lot of lavish furniture and fabrics. It had a large, elaborately designed magical chandelier and a lot of lanterns inside, brightening the palace interior. Lucas led them to climb a large staircase on the right and pass through some spacious corridors, until they arrived in front of a large, intricate double door.

Once he pushed them open, Annette let out a gasp. It turned out that behind them was a room full of bookshelves. Inside, Henry stood alone between the shelves, a book unfolded in his hand.

“I have brought Lady Heinz and her companion, Your Highness.” Lucas bowed to Henry as he reported to his master.

“Thank you, Lucas. Good morning, Annette, Esmeraldo,” greeted Henry.

She let her hair down today. That’s new, Henry thought as he noticed the slight change in her appearance.

Annette quickly bowed to the prince, while Esmeraldo innocently stood still next to her. “Good morning, Your Highness. Um, this place is…?”

“This is the Royal Library, Eden. It’s not as impressive as the one in Athenya, but we have quite a collection as well. There are more ancient royal texts here,” explained Henry.

Annette cast her gaze around, astonished by the number of books. “This place is amazing, sir!”

Henry smiled.

Of course he is showing off our library to her, thought Lucas as he silently squinted at Henry.

Annette’s focus shifted towards the book in Henry’s hand out of curiosity.

“Ah, this book I was reading is about fire magic spells,” Henry said as though he could read Annette’s mind.

Annette looked up to face Henry. “Fire magic?”

“Yes. I had recently learnt how to wield fire magic, you see.” Henry lifted one finger and briefly cast a small flame.

And of course he wants to show off his magic to her, thought Lucas again.

“Oh, I see. Um, I didn’t know that you could wield two elements, sir.”

“Well, it’s nothing impressive like yours. I’m still struggling. It has a different feel to my usual earth magecraft. For example, this spell here…” Henry pointed to the writing inside the book.

Annette walked closer and stood right next to Henry to take a look.

“To fashion the magic of Summer into the form of a spear… and to cause it to fly at the utmost speed… um, that it may pierce the target with fineness… and thereafter bring forth a blast upon its striking… hmmm…” Annette paused. “It’s talking about a fire arrow spell, I believe!”

Henry mischievously smiled as he glanced at the girl next to him. “Yes. It’s the ancient fire arrow spell. It has a longer chant, but its attacks are stronger and faster.”

“Ah, yes. It used a more beautiful chant to launch a higher-quality fire arrow attack. Um, I think this is very interesting because the present-day magic spells were simpler and easier to cast since… they prioritise casting speed over quality after all… But if we follow this spell, not only would the attack maintain its strength, but we could also adjust this part to set our own—”

“Would you like to demonstrate it for me, Annette?”

“Eh? Me, sir?”

Henry’s smile widened.

He definitely planned this, Lucas quietly observed his master.

Meanwhile, Esmeraldo had been staring at Lucas silently all this time as he tilted his head.

***

Bam!

Annette had blasted the target dummy made of earth using an ancient fire arrow spell. They had moved to an open area where Henry and Lucas usually practice their magic.

Lucas, who stood next to Esmeraldo, was left speechless as he witnessed Annette’s magic attack for the first time, especially since Annette seemed to cast the elaborate spell quicker than he imagined.

“That’s very fast.” Henry stared at the now-broken earth dummy, clearly impressed.

“Eh? Oh, um… Should I make it slower?” asked Annette innocently.

“Hm? That’s not what I mean. It’s your casting time. That’s impressive,” explained Henry.

Some people had to articulate every chant clearly to help them focus their mana, while those who were already accustomed to the spell could cast without speaking it aloud. Despite this, it didn’t always guarantee faster casting. They still had to summon the element first, then cast a spell to command it.

Yet, Annette seemed to have mastered the spell and cast it as though she were merely breathing.

“Hm, speaking of which, your light arrow was also impressive. It was beautiful,” Henry casually added.

“Eh? M-my light arrow? Did you see that too, sir?” Annette blinked in surprise.

“How could I not? It shone brightly in the dark that time after all.” Henry smiled.

I thought you were unconscious after Mia attacked you, sir?? Well, he saw me healed him too, I guess, thought Annette.

“I wonder, could ancient magic spells win against divine magecraft?” asked Henry.

“Hmmm… divine magecraft would have a very high chance of winning, I believe, sir.”

“What if light magic goes against dark magic?” Henry was intrigued.

“Hmmm…” She fell silent for a moment, pondering. “I believe light magecraft would have a very high chance of winning. Light magic can’t be affected by dark magic and dark magic can’t dispel light magic, after all.”

She raised a hand and cast a small light magic shield, and then without a pause she summoned a tiny dark magic spear on her other hand.

“When the dark magic attacks, the light magic shield will be able to block it…” Annette struck the small white shield with the black spear a few times.

Lucas silently stared at them with his eyes wide, watching Annette maintain both forms of magic without the slightest difficulty. Beside him, Esmeraldo innocently observed the human mages as he silently gripped onto Annette’s clothes.

So this is the divine magecraft, the magic of light and dark? thought Lucas as he witnessed them up close.

The girl then dismissed them, and cast a tiny light magic spear and a small dark shield, and pierced the shield with the spear. “...While if the light magic attacks, the dark magic wouldn’t be able to block it.”

“Hm, does that mean light magic is invincible?” Henry bent forward a little and placed a hand under his chin as he stared at the magic in Annette’s hands.

She tilted her head, thinking.

The girl then dismissed the dark magic shield and recast the light magic shield and struck the shield with the white spear. “Even if light magic is unaffected by other elemental magic, it doesn’t make its own kind ineffective. Hence, a light magic barrier can block light magic attacks.”

“Hm, I see. And I assume that dark magic would dispel the four basic elemental magic.”

Annette nodded. She recast her small dark magic shield and a tiny fire spear. The moment the fire spear touched the black shield, it instantly dispersed.

As both Henry and Lucas stared closely at Annette’s little display, loud shouts suddenly came from afar.

“How dare you! Stop yourself at once!”

“You are not getting away!”

“Eeiik!!” Annette flinched at the sudden voices.

A group of royal palace guards chased after a man who frantically ran in Annette’s direction. Her eyes widened as she saw him and a bunch of guards running towards her.

She froze.

Lucas instinctively stood in front of his master, fully on guard, as Henry grabbed Annette by the arm and pulled her in.

W-what is happening?!