Katia von Trackia. Fifteen years old.
She was the daughter of the Trackia Duke House — a girl who had been chosen as the fiancée of the Second Prince, Aster, when she was ten years old.
Five years had passed since then. Through her education at the Royal Palace and her own tireless efforts, she had mastered etiquette, politics, and culture all to a level that could only be called perfect.
She had grown ever more beautiful in appearance as well, and with her dark purple hair and amethyst eyes, she had become so lovely and elegant that she was called a fairy of the night.
With her earnest and proud personality, she was said to be the perfect fiancée of the prince — with one single exception.
That one exception was nothing so dire as some fatal flaw, and therein lay the problem.
"Miss Katia von Trackia! Would you please come to your senses — you are suspected of plotting to overthrow the state!"
Such a suspicion, one she truly had not the slightest clue about, was leveled at her.
She was being chased by Chris von Frenbreed — said to be the Second Prince's right hand, and someone who should have been on her side.
She could never have imagined that she would end up cornered in an alley like this, with soldiers under his command closing in.
"...The one who should really stop this is me."
Glaring at Chris, Katia retorted just as she had when he had abruptly appeared moments ago.
"There is no ground for such a suspicion, and — more importantly. Even if there were, what are the charges? Mobilizing soldiers without any charges and attempting to unilaterally arrest the daughter of a duke is a complete overstep of authority — it cannot be allowed."
"Ha ha, that sounds exactly like the lines of a cornered villain!"
Yet Chris, in the same manner, dismissed what should have been a perfectly legitimate argument with nothing but arbitrary assumptions.
"Indeed there are no charges — not at present, that is. But as I said before — the one who ordered this is none other than His Highness, the Second Prince Aster!"
Katia gritted her teeth.
"Your Ladyship surely knows His Highness's greatness better than anyone? A prince of distinguished looks and mastery of both the pen and the sword, who at the age of fifteen has already slain numerous monsters — a true hero prince! And it is he who gave the order: 'Seize Katia!'"
"...So what?"
"Heroes are, at times, not bound by reason. If His Highness Aster has decreed it, then there must be a profound meaning behind your arrest, and it must absolutely be correct. Before his words, the presence or absence of charges is but a trivial matter, wouldn't you say?"
This was absurd.
Even if they were royalty, there was no way they could simply disregard the laws established in this country without any reason.
If those laws were broken indiscriminately, the order necessary for people to live would collapse. That was only natural.
...And yet, at the same time, she was certain.
That absurd argument would get accepted, one way or another.
That was how absolute the prince's word was, and how no one around him dared to question it.
If she meekly allowed herself to be captured by Chris —
that is, if she went along willingly — then
her own guilt
would be the same as acknowledged.
And so,
she would have false charges fabricated after the fact, and — though she had no idea what the prince's intentions were — things would play out exactly as he wished.
Katia had learned, painfully, over these five years, that this was simply how the current aristocratic society worked.
That was precisely why she absolutely had to avoid being captured here.
With that thought, Katia lowered her hips and took a combat stance.
"Oh my, you still intend to resist? Very well. Even a criminal should be allowed at least the right to struggle."
Seeing that, Chris maintained his composure while curling the corner of his mouth upward with a hint of pleasure.
"You lot, don't lay a hand on her. She is, after all, a high-ranking Bloodline Magic user. Leave this to me and focus on making sure she doesn't escape."
After giving those orders to the surrounding soldiers, he deployed the magic he had already finished chanting — multiple orbs of light materialized behind him.
Bloodline Magic — Magic Bullet Archer.
The powerful Bloodline Magic that guaranteed Chris's position as the right hand of Second Prince Aster.
After deploying it as if to show it off, he called out to Katia in a mocking voice.
"Go on, try resisting. ...Not that the resistance of a villain amounts to much. You were going on about charges, but surely you intended to have your father, the Minister of Justice, sweep the whole thing under the rug?"
"— Take that back."
"Huh?"
"You're free to say whatever you like about me — but I will not tolerate you insulting my father in front of me!"
Halfway succumbing to the provocation, but also with the firm conviction that she had no other choice, Katia began her chant as well.
"Sing of peace on the eve of the end; dawn shall no longer come here; the age of salvation lies behind reality — Bloodline Magic — Netherworld of Salvation!"
In response, a horde of specters emerged from the netherworld.
Lacking physical form, they nevertheless gathered together, condensed, and converted, manifesting behind Katia as a mass of high-density magic power — just as Chris's had.
Bloodline Magic — Netherworld of Salvation. Its effect was the manipulation of spirits.
It was said to be magic that used the lingering attachments of the dead as a medium to link the netherworld and the living world, drawing tremendous energy from departed souls.
In principle, it was a Bloodline Magic so powerful that it would by no means pale in comparison to Chris's Magic Bullet Archer.
Both sides readied their respective magic — Chris with mockery, Katia with a sharp gaze — and the two Bloodline Magics clashed head-on in the center.
The result was obvious at a glance.
"...!"
"Ahahahahaha!"
Chris burst into laughter, while further ahead, Katia clutched her body amid a cloud of dust.
Which magic had been superior was clear from the attitudes of both.
"How wretched — and how fragile this magic is!"
"Nn—! You...!"
Katia gritted her teeth and fired the next shot, but it too was effortlessly swatted aside by magic Chris had cast without even breaking a sweat.
It was not a difference in technique. Simply put, there was a despairing gap in their magic output.
"Just as the rumors say, Miss Katia! She has inherited a superior magic, yet for some reason cannot wield it to its full potential — the name 'Flawed Lady' rings true!"
Indeed.
That was precisely the single flaw about Katia mentioned earlier.
At the age of six, Katia had awakened to the Bloodline Magic, Netherworld of Salvation.
It was one of the inherited magics of the Trackia Duke House, and it should have boasted performance befitting that heritage.
Yet for some reason, the magic Katia wielded suffered an extreme reduction in output, falling to the lowest tier even among Bloodline Magics.
"It's obvious just from looking at the magic! The terrifying power to manipulate the dead, and its flaw! This alone proves you must have done something shameful — some act of defiance against the gods!"
"That's right! It must be divine punishment!"
"Lord Chris, do it! Bring the hammer of justice down on this foolish lady!"
The soldiers surrounding them began to follow Chris's one-sided accusations.
Silencing them, Katia deployed her magic once more, but as before — no, even more so this time — she could not lay a scratch on Chris's magic.
(...More than I had imagined...)
She had known her magic was flawed, but it was still, for all that, a duke house's Bloodline Magic.
She had thought she could at least create an opening to scatter the surrounding soldiers and flee... but the gap far exceeded her expectations.
"Well then, Miss Katia — is your resistance at an end?"
Chris asked, not even bothering to hide the expression of pleasure he took in overwhelmingly suppressing a vastly inferior opponent.
That expression infuriated her, and she tried to deploy her magic once more — but that was when Katia realized.
Her magic would not come.
(! — Already —)
"It seems you're out of magic power."
She had burned through too much magic power during the chase leading up to this point.
Chris pointed this out with a thin smile, then deployed a massive orb of light behind him.
"I have received His Highness's orders that rough measures are acceptable. Having you resist would be troublesome, so why don't you go to sleep?"
Without hesitation, he fired it straight at Katia.
(No — way)
That single blow would surely be powerful enough to tear away her consciousness.
And then she would be dragged away by them, her future reduced to either imprisonment or the stripping of her rank.
(How much — how much have I — )
Ever since that day, she had desperately worked to fulfill her duties as a noble.
She had never once slacked off in her daily training or studies. She could declare with pride that she had done nothing to be ashamed of.
And yet — this.
Bloodline Magic. A Heavenly Gift bestowed by the gods. If mere aptitude could justify any injustice and trample any effort —
— then what on earth were they living in this country for?
(...Thinking about it now is pointless.)
The massive orb was already bearing down on her. From here, there was nothing she could do about this magic.
In that final moment, as her thoughts slowed to a crawl, what flickered through her mind like a revolving lantern was the memory of a boy she had parted from long ago.
"That's beautiful magic, Kati."
When she had awakened to the Bloodline Magic, Netherworld of Salvation, those around her — everyone except her family — had loathed her.
It was a terrifying, foul magic. This kind of thing could not be called Bloodline Magic.
But among them all, there had been one boy who praised her without any hidden agenda — purely and sincerely.
He was someone who brimmed with magical talent more than anyone.
That was why, even when told he had no Bloodline Magic, Katia had never believed it.
"I believe in you. You're not someone who belongs in a place like this. I believe that someday you'll become an amazing magician and stand before me again."
"An absolute, absolute promise — okay!"
She remembered with a wry smile that she had actually said something like that.
(I was such a fool back then.)
She knew now that such a thing was impossible.
In truth, she had not heard a single thing about his whereabouts since then. His very survival was unknown — and more likely than not, he was already dead.
...But.
In this situation where she could do nothing on her own.
In this injustice that warranted a hundred complaints.
If she could hope for even a small miracle — she thought.
With resignation mingled in her heart, in a voice on the verge of tears, she spoke words from the bottom of her heart.
"...Help me, El."
"Here."
An answer came.
Katia's eyes went wide. An instant later, what unfolded before her was a wall of light so bright it was blinding.
In the very next instant, the magic bullet struck it. A tremendous shockwave erupted between the two, sending dust and wind swirling.
Yet not a shred of it reached Katia behind the wall.
When the dust eventually cleared, before her eyes stood —
"Um... I honestly don't fully understand the situation, but —"
A single boy.
He looked to be about the same age as Katia. Silver hair, emerald eyes. The face, so similar to Chris who had just been targeting Katia, bore an expression gentle and serene — nothing at all like Chris.
"You appeared to be in trouble. ...Ah, and also —"
There was no mistaking him.
His height, his features, his voice — all had grown considerably, and for some reason his manner of speaking was a bit different too.
But she had not forgotten him — not for a single day since that one.
"Just as I promised, I've come back as an 'amazing magician.' ...It's been a while, Lady Katia."
That boy — Ermes von Frenbreed —
was now standing before her, having fulfilled his promise from long ago.