"Become a proper noble."
These were the words that left the strongest impression on Katia von Trackia.
They were a favorite saying of her mother, Theta von Trachia.
Her mother was a kind person.
She always looked after Katia in place of her father, who was busy with official duties. Thanks to that, Katia felt she had been able to spend her childhood without ever feeling lonely or deprived.
And that was her mother's favorite saying.
"In exchange for the happiness we enjoy now, when others' happiness is about to be taken away, we must protect it. People who have the heart to do that are called nobles. Remember that."
What her mother was saying was not something Katia, who wasn't even five years old at the time, could fully understand.
She didn't even grasp that she was happy in the first place, and since she had known no world other than this one since birth, she had simply taken it all for granted.
But soon, Katia would come to learn.
That the place she stood was terribly fragile—like thin ice spread over a sea of blood.
◆
One day, Katia visited a northern territory with her mother for the purpose of inter-noble exchange.
There, without any warning whatsoever—a horde of monsters suddenly appeared.
The so-called
Great Flood
phenomenon.
It was a disaster caused by an undiscovered wild Dungeon that had been left unconquered and continued to swell in size.
She remembers it vividly. The black tsunami that filled the ground, and the process by which it devoured the peaceful townscape in a gruesome, all-consuming manner.
And also—the figure of her mother, who had single-handedly charged into that hellish sight.
Her mother was not a powerful mage. Even the magic she had inherited was said to be inferior compared to Katia's.
Yet she had not flinched by even a fraction. She fought, and fought, and fought on to the very end.
She was unable to destroy everything, but she held her ground until reinforcements arrived from the Royal Capital. Without her, the people living in the north would most certainly have suffered casualties.
She had protected them all. The happiness of everyone but herself—at the cost of her own life.
Looking at her remains, Katia remembered the words she had once been told.
"In exchange for the happy life we enjoy now, when everyone else's happiness is about to be taken away, we protect it. The person with the heart to do that is what we call a noble."
She finally understood what those words meant.
That they existed to protect the happiness they had always taken for granted, from that terrifying force.
She also understood why her mother had said "heart" rather than "strength."
Unlike her mother, who had stood against it all alone back then—
Despite having been granted magic far stronger than her mother's, the other nobles had been seized with terror by the horde of Monsters, abandoned the people they were meant to protect, and fled for their lives. Her mother's way of being was far more noble than any of theirs.
In this country, magic was everything.
Katia believed she had first begun to doubt that principle—an axiom taken for granted in Yustia—on that very day.
Burned into her eyes was the sight of her mother's back. That dazzling, noble bearing—Katia longed to be like it.
And so, she made her decision.
She would become like her mother. She would make that ideal her own—someone more noble, more upright, and more beautiful than anyone else.
She would become a strong, proud noble who helped and protected the weak.
Two months after her mother's death, Katia's magic was identified. The magic she had been granted was extremely powerful, but some spoke ill of it, saying its nature was horrifying.
But there had been a boy who praised it, calling it beautiful—and that was what gave her the strength to keep going.
She didn't believe magic was everything. But there was no denying it was the most useful power for slaying monsters, so naturally, it couldn't be dismissed.
He was a wonderful mage who loved magic purely and spoke of wanting to help others through it.
That was a philosophy Katia found appealing, and when she learned he didn't possess Bloodline Magic, she couldn't believe it.
So she never abandoned him—and even if he failed in his efforts and was cast out of his home, she believed that was when she would stand by his side and protect him.
That was why, when she heard that he had been expelled from his home that day and his whereabouts were unknown, she was consumed by a grief so piercing it felt like being torn apart—just as she had when her mother died.
But she wasn't allowed to stop.
She became engaged to the second prince, Aster. She heard he was a wonderful mage as well. If so, then supporting him was what was best for the country and its many people.
She told herself that, cast off her grief, and headed for the Royal Palace.
Aster was every bit the incredible mage she'd heard about. His Bloodline Magic in particular was, in a word, incomparably powerful—she thought nothing could surpass it when it came to slaying monsters and protecting the people.
So she believed that properly supporting him was henceforth her duty—or at least, that's what she'd thought.
"Pointless. All you need to do is nod along with what I say."
"'This would be better'? Who do you think you're talking to? As if I could ever be wrong."
"I am a perfect mage. I'm not some 'defective' failure who needs your looking after. One look at this magic should make that obvious."
Something was wrong.
She should certainly respect Aster's magic. But... being granted extraordinary magic didn't mean everything he did was justified, did it?
If it were "him,"
he never would have become like this, even if granted the same magic. He would have listened to what others had to say and been considerate of those around him.
If Aster's personality and way of thinking were left as they were, the country would eventually fall into disorder and things would become irreparable. And the ones who would suffer the consequences first would be the very people they were sworn to protect. That was how a feudal system worked—she couldn't just turn a blind eye.
Trusting that instinct, and having received her father Yurugen's permission to proceed with her approach, she decided to patiently continue offering her counsel—believing it was for the good of the people.
But Aster's character didn't improve over the course of five years. If anything, it only grew worse, becoming outright arrogant.
The way Aster looked at her grew more and more disdainful, and as a result, she was treated like a pariah even within the Royal Palace.
It was painful.
No one listened to what she had to say, no one believed in her—and that was painful.
On top of that, the flaws in her own magic were becoming more and more noticeable.
Bloodline Magic could sometimes be quite underwhelming at the moment it was first granted. But that was typically temporary—most of the time, the issue would resolve itself once "the body's growth caught up to the magic." Katia had assumed the same would be true for her... but there were absolutely no signs of that happening.
Gradually, the title of "Flawed Lady" spread—and Katia's standing in the Royal Palace eroded further and further.
Painful. Suffocating. There were nights she couldn't sleep, and she could feel herself being pushed to her mental limits.
But—
she could not simply
stop.
Because this was her duty. To protect the happiness of the people, she had to devote herself entirely.
She enrolled in the academy.
The title of "Flawed Lady" had already spread far and wide, but she was still a daughter of a ducal house. The academy being its own separate world, there were no overtly hostile glares like there had been in the Royal Palace, and some students even showed her a measure of respect. It gave her at least a small reprieve from the suffocation.
But—as if to make up for that—a fellow student in her year was being subjected to intense hostility from a portion of the student body.
Sara von Hartmann. A daughter of the Baron Hartmann family, and a girl who possessed two Bloodline Magics—a rarity known as "Dual Aptitude."
She was being bullied by students of higher standing who exploited their social rank to torment her.
Of course, that was unforgivable. And what infuriated Katia most of all was this: the very marquess's daughter who had called her "the Flawed Lady who can't use magic" had the audacity to sneer at Sara, saying "A baron family like yours had better know its place."
How dare she.
After tearing into her for her social standing rather than her magic, she had the gall to turn around and use status instead of magic to mock Sara with the very same tongue.
"You don't need to listen to a word someone like that says—someone with no convictions to speak of."
Those were the words Katia declared the moment she appeared on the scene, right where the marquess's daughter was in the middle of belittling Sara.
She silenced the girl with a single glare when the noble daughter tried to protest, then stepped in front of her and spoke directly.
"You're Sara von Hartmann, aren't you? I'm Katia. Have you heard of me?"
"Y-yes… the Trackia Duke House's… P-please, forgive me…!"
"…Forgive you? Whatever for?"
The words had barely left her mouth before she realized what the girl was thinking. She must have assumed Katia had come to bully her out of jealousy over her magical talent, just like everyone else.
"How unjust. I would never do such a thing."
It was true—she couldn't deny that she admired Sara's abilities.
But… she would never stoop to something as foolish as tearing her down over it. Sara's magical talent was unquestionable, and she would one day be invaluable in protecting the people. She was a prodigy whom petty jealousy could not be allowed to destroy.
So Katia took Sara by the hand, smiled gently, and said:
"The reason I came here today is because I have a favor to ask of you. Won't you… become friends with me?"
Sara was an extraordinarily good person.
She was perhaps a touch too humble, but she was honest and pure of heart, never once letting her innate magical talent go to her head. Her appearance was equally endearing—Katia had lost count of how many young nobles she had seen completely captivated by the angelic girl. If anything, Katia herself had been rendered more than a little breathless on occasion.
So of course it made sense that she had been chosen as the fiancée of their fellow classmate, the Second Prince, Aster.
And from now on, even if it meant working alongside Aster, Katia was genuinely happy about it. She had done everything in her power to protect Sara from the wave of bullying that would only intensify as a result.
…And yet.
"How unsightly, Katia! To commit such evil deeds, driven by nothing but ugly jealousy!"
With a single outburst before the eyes of the public, Aster set everything into motion.
"…What do you mean?"
"Don't play dumb! I heard Sara's shoes were hidden after school! That was your doing, wasn't it!"
For some reason, Aster had been trying to pin every bit of harassment that had occurred so far on Katia.
"Ah, Prince Aster… Lady Katia is…!"
"Sara, you're too kind. I understand the desire to protect her… but that is this woman's true nature!"
Of course, Sara knew it wasn't Katia's doing — she had spent the entire day by Katia's side, serving as living proof of her innocence. She tried to speak up, but Aster's loud, presumptuous declaration drowned her out, making her flinch and fall silent.
"Is that really true…? I thought those two were on good terms…"
"No, wait. Isn't it stranger that Lady Katia wouldn't be jealous, given her position? Wasn't the whole point of keeping her close so she could torment her up close?"
"Exactly. Besides, if His Highness Aster says so, there can't be any mistake."
"That's right. Lady Katia… she really was hiding her true nature all along!"
And so, one after another, the surrounding students began to side with Aster, none of them questioning her claims.
Once again, that painful, suffocating atmosphere was being recreated — this time within the academy.
From there, things moved quickly.
Katia lost every last ally within the academy, and the other students tore her away until she couldn't even remain by Sara's side.
Even then, every act of harassment against Sara was blamed on Katia, and the problem only snowballed further.
In the end, it was Aster's own declaration that led to the annulment of the engagement and Katia's expulsion from the academy itself.
…She had wanted to become like a mother.
To protect the weak, to devote oneself to safeguarding someone's happiness.
She had admired that way of being and made it all the way here — and yet.
"Ahahahaha! It's useless — you can't escape from me!"
Reality was suffocating in every possible way.
Her engagement had been dissolved, and she had been expelled from the academy.
On top of that, for reasons she could not fathom, she was now being branded a criminal and hunted down.
"You must have done something deplorable — something that defies the gods!"
Why? That was all she could think.
Ever since that day, she had desperately devoted herself to fulfilling her duties as a noble.
She had never slacked off in her daily training or her studies. She could say with absolute certainty that there was not a single shameful thing she had done.
"His Highness has authorized me to use whatever force may be necessary. Since you would only cause trouble if left conscious, perhaps we should put you to sleep instead."
And yet, everything had gone mad.
The weight of that reality, and Chris's magic closing in before her eyes — as she felt an emotion that was neither fury nor resignation, but something caught somewhere in between —
— He had come back for her.
Sorry for the extended flashback arc — the story will start moving forward from here.