[– Variables Don’t Adjust at Will –]
“What?”
I alternated between staring at the two people with their dumbfounded expressions and then brought a hand to my cheek.
“I already admitted it was a foolish mistake on my part, apologized to Velkina, and settled the matter. So, who are you to judge? Isn’t that right, Velkina?”
“Y-Yes!”
“As if anyone would believe such nonsense…!”
“I know, acknowledging your own inferiority complex isn’t easy. I used to be like that too. But once I admitted it, I felt much better. Why don’t you try it as well?”
Looping my arm through Velkina’s on my free side, I spoke in the most annoying, mocking tone I could muster.
“Instead of pathetically picking on a junior’s talent out of jealousy, why don’t you work on improving your character? I mean, I wouldn’t know how that feels since I’m already someone with a much more refined personality! Haha, now if you’ll excuse us, we’re off to have lunch!”
After firing off my words as carelessly as I pleased, I cheerfully walked out of the office with Velkina.
…. Now that I think about it, didn’t I recently decide to work on maintaining consistent character behavior? Did I just expose too much of my inner self?
“…Ahahaha!”
As soon as we had put some distance between ourselves and the office, Velkina burst out laughing.
“Ve-Velkina?”
“W-What’s wrong, Velkina?”
I was startled, and so was Jin, who had been nestled in Velkina’s arms, he looked up at her in surprise. Velkina wiped away the tears that had come from laughing so hard and responded.
“No, it’s just that what Senephin said was so funny. I know you don’t have any sort of inferiority complex toward me. You just said all that to give those seniors a piece of your mind, didn’t you? Thanks.”
“…. It’s true that I used to give you an even harder time than they did, though.”
“Hmm~. But when I first joined this magic research institute, I didn’t really know how to navigate workplace life, so I was pretty arrogant. That’s on me.”
Even though that didn’t justify what Senephin had done, Velkina’s willingness to let it go so easily was likely thanks to her characteristic positive mindset.
“To be honest, I don’t really get all this talk about talent or whatever. Sure, I guess my looks are a bit better than average, but that’s never brought me anything good since I was a kid.”
Normally, it might sound like the typical complaints of someone who has everything, making it easy to take it the wrong way. But when Velkina speaks, you can genuinely feel her sincerity and empathize with her words.
“More than those things, I feel so proud and happy when I realize that I’m a good and precious person to Senephin. I was thrilled earlier when you stood up for me.”
“W-What do you mean! It’s actually Velkina who I think is like an angel and so amazing for forgiving all the embarrassing things I’ve done in the past.”
Velkina firmly held my hand.
“Hehehe, I was ready to use any means necessary if those archmages kept pushing, but since things worked out smoothly, in the end, they should be grateful to you, Senephin!”
“That’s right. I could have helped as much as needed, too.”
I couldn’t bring myself to ask, “What exactly do you mean by ‘any means necessary’?” because I was afraid of the answer.
More than that, describing the archmages ‘too far’ Velkina, aren’t you acting quite differently from how your character was in the game?
“A-Anyway… um, there wasn’t any trouble with His Highness the Crown Prince yesterday, was there?”
“Trouble? Not really. We just danced, had a brief chat, and then I returned quickly. You and Luminus weren’t there, so I got bored.”
Judging by her reaction, it didn’t seem like she had fallen for Kalt or had anything special going on with him. I breathed a huge sigh of relief in my heart.
“Shall we go have breakfast? I heard they paid extra attention to the menu today since we have guests.”
“Wow, sounds great! I’m going to have two servings!”
“Hmm. I suppose I could do the same.”
I felt a deep sense of camaraderie and happiness seeing my friends so enthusiastic about eating.
Thankfully, for a while after that, nothing out of the ordinary happened. No one caused trouble for Velkina, and Kalt seemed busy with his official duties, so we didn’t run into him either. In the meantime, I spent my days leisurely hanging out with Velkina and Jin, mostly filming mukbangs together. The only downside was that Lumins was so busy it was hard to see him.
I let my guard down, thinking everything would remain peaceful — until something completely unexpected happened.
On the second day of the conference, after attending Lumins research presentation in the afternoon and having dinner with Velkina while chatting away as usual, I returned to my dorm room. As I often did, I was reminiscing about Lumins fan moments when someone rang the doorbell.
It was odd, who would come by at this hour? Feeling curious, I opened the door, only to find a woman I had never seen before standing there.
“Are you Senephin Cromwell?”
She was a dignified middle-aged woman, dressed in luxurious clothing. Judging by the fact that she wasn’t wearing the standard-issue cape of the magic research team, she didn’t seem to be a researcher. Most likely, she was one of the guests attending the conference.
“Yes, that’s me. What brings you here?”
“The Crown Prince wishes to see you.”
What? Excuse me? What? Why?
My shock must have been visible on my face because the woman calmly responded with a composed expression.
“”He mentioned it’s not to hold you accountable for any wrongdoing, so there’s no need to be tense. He will explain the details himself.”
“…Ah, I see…”
Since it was the Crown Prince himself who had summoned me, I couldn’t exactly refuse. I grabbed my outerwear and cape, put them on, and followed the woman out of my room.
As we made our way to the accommodations reserved for VIPs, my mind was an endless swirl of confusion and speculation.
The most likely scenario was that he wanted to address the incident from a few days ago when I had behaved somewhat irreverently. But apparently, it wasn’t about that.
Then, could it be that he wanted to enlist my help to win Velkina’s favor, given that I was positioned as her friend? The thought, though my own speculation, was plausible enough to send a chill down my spine. Should I pretend to cooperate and sabotage his efforts instead?
Before I could even resolve my internal dilemma, I realized we had arrived at the Crown Prince’s quarters. Passing through tight security and a lavish reception room, the woman led me to an inner door. She knocked and announced,
“Your Highness, I have brought Senephin Cromwell.”
“Hmm. Let her in.”
The woman nodded slightly and opened the door for me. Swallowing nervously, I stepped inside.
The room appeared to be a library originally, with bookshelves lining all the walls. At the center, seated at a desk and working on some documents, was Kalt.
The last time I saw him, he had been dressed in a dazzling ceremonial uniform, but now he wore a simple black shirt. Even in such plain attire, his striking features made him shine effortlessly.
I bowed deeply, showing the appropriate respect.
“…. It is an infinite honor to meet the pride of the kingdom and the embodiment of light, the Crown Prince, once again.”
“Cut the formalities. Just sit over there for now.”
Kalt gestured curtly toward a sofa across the table. I lifted the hem of my robe and carefully stepped back to choose the sofa nearest to the entrance, where I quietly seated myself. Kalt flopped onto the sofa opposite me, resting his chin on his hand, his sharp gaze locked on me.
For about 30 seconds, he said absolutely nothing. What in the world was he doing, calling me here and then just staring at me? Of course, he was the Crown Prince. I couldn’t exactly complain.
Those 30 seconds dragged on awkwardly, feeling like the longest in the history of time, until he finally broke the silence.
“… What are you, exactly?”
“…. Excuse me?”
His unexpected first words completely caught me off guard, and all I could do was stare at him, utterly confused.
“I mean your identity. Cromwell family, 6th-tier mage in this research institute. I know all that already. That’s basic stuff I’ve already looked into.”
Sweeping his bangs back, Kalt tilted his head and continued staring at me, this time with an intense focus.
“When you’re in this kind of position, dealing with people is part of the job. It becomes easy to see through them. When we first met on the promenade, I could feel it. You have this… way of observing people, almost like you’re testing them.”
“………….”
I clamped my lips shut, simply meeting his gaze in silence.
“And after that, when I showed up as Crown Prince, what did I see? You acted like you needed protection from others, pretended to feel sorry toward me, but you weren’t scared of me at all.”
“……..”
“Answer me. You knew I was the Crown Prince from the very beginning, didn’t you?”
This is why I’ve always disliked prince-types. Can’t they just let things slide once in a while?
I let out a deep sigh. There was no point in pretending innocence in front of someone with this level of insight, it would only make things worse. It was time to face the music.
“…. I apologize for behaving in a way that seemed like I was testing you, Your Highness. I assure you, I had no malicious intent.”
“Oh? So you’re admitting it, then.”
“I happened to catch a glimpse of Your Highness’s face during an opportunity in the capital.”
“If it wasn’t malicious, then what was your intent?”
I grunted inwardly and finally spoke half-heartedly.
“With all due respect, but I have heard a few small rumors regarding Your Highness’s romantic entanglements. I was concerned that the innocent Velkina might fall for Your Highness and end up getting hurt, so I intended to put up a bit of a wall. Please forgive me with your broad heart.”
“Well, that’s quite an unexpected remark.”
“….. I am but a foolish soul swayed by baseless rumors.”
At my answer, Kalt let out a faint laugh. What else could I do? The damage was done, there was no turning back now.
Still, putting that aside, he wouldn’t have called me here just to confirm that trivial matter. What could this be about? Was he going to dig deeper into the reasons I already knew his identity? Surely, he wasn’t going through all this trouble simply because he didn’t like me.
As if reading my thoughts, Kalt straightened his posture, adjusted his tone to be more princely, and got to the point.
“You may or may not know this, but the capital is currently selecting exceptionally skilled magicians for a certain purpose.”
I tried not to betray my discomfort and shook my head as if I knew nothing. But, of course, I knew.
This is exactly how the main adventure of Arlandast Saga begins.
“Among the selected members for the Magical Research Institute are Second-Class Magician Lumins Hardelf and Apprentice Magician Velkina.”
“….. I see.”
“The appointment of Lord Lumins is as good as finalized. As for Lady Velkina, I plan to confirm her during this inspection tour.”
I knew that too. According to the game’s storyline, those two would soon leave the Magical Research Institute and head to Holnar, the capital.
“Regarding what happened on that promenade truthfully, I was on my way to meet Lord Lumins unofficially. I figured the inspection tour would keep me too busy to do so later, so I intended to confirm matters in advance.”
“…. Ah.”
No wonder Lumins had such a calm reaction when Velkina worried that I might get punished by the crown prince. They’d already met.
“But here’s the thing, the person I assumed would naturally agree to leave for the capital told me something unexpected. They had a condition.”
“A condition..?”
“Senephin Cromwell. They said they would only accept if she were also included in the selected group.”
“…..What??”
“Exactly. My initial reaction was just as bewildered as yours.”
Kalt pointed a finger at me as he spoke, then leaned back against the sofa.
“We investigated whether we might have overlooked some extraordinary talent. But upon looking into you, we found nothing remarkable, just a magician of ordinary background and average aptitude.”
“…. I apologize for that.”
I replied politely, though my mind was in turmoil. I couldn’t comprehend why Lumins would set such a condition. In the original story, Senephin Cromwell was a trivial character who appeared briefly at the beginning and then vanished without significance.
Only Lumins and Velkina were supposed to head to the capital. None of this made sense.
“And to top it off, when reviewing the magical photo in the investigation report, I realized it was that woman, the one who argued with me on the promenade. This felt too important to let slide, so I revealed my identity as the crown prince. Yet, as I mentioned earlier, you already knew I was the crown prince when you confronted me, and even after that, you’ve shown no fear toward me, a rather peculiar behavior.”
I clenched the hem of my skirt tightly and kept my lips firmly shut.
“On top of that, after the dance, I also mentioned this matter to Lady Velkina, and she said the exact same thing. She refused to go unless Senephin Cromwell accompanied her.”
“….. What?”
“With all this, wouldn’t it be strange if I didn’t find your identity suspicious?”
I had no response. I couldn’t say a single word.
