Raffilia doing it again.

Glancing at my father, who’s currently dominating the field, I realize—apparently, he’s about to spar against ten opponents at once. I widen my eyes in worry, but then the memory of his earlier nickname hits me.

My father spreads a black smile, and with a single, graceful flick of his sword, he sweeps through them all.

Magic is woven into his blade, and instantly, a gale erupts.

The opponents are blown off their feet by the wind, unable to stand.

But my father doesn’t miss his chance. Using the wind as a boost, he hammers them down one after another, merciless.

The fighters, left helpless in seconds, grow increasingly fearful with each one taken down.

And my father laughs—right into their fear.

“Ah… so this is the knight who wields the smile of death.”

“…Incredible… terrifying…”

Van trembled, his tail and ears poking out. I didn’t miss a single detail.

Not a cat toy—no, this was unmistakably mine.

“Eeeyaaah!”

“W-Wait! Princess!?!”

As I rubbed my fingers along Van’s tail, he flushed crimson and sighed, all flustered.

“Mmm… once I let go, I unravel right away. I must keep up my discipline…”

“Huh?”

The round tiger ears atop Van’s head twitched—then *shun*, both ears and tail vanished in an instant.

I couldn’t help but pout, shoulders drooping. Van quickly explained, flustered, that he’d been scolded by his father for it.

“Being seen like that in the human world would be trouble.”

“Ah, right. Sorry for teasing you.”

Still, I couldn’t help glancing back at where the ears had been. Just for a second.

Van noticed and gave me permission, saying it’d be better if no one was watching.

I always get to snuggle him, but Van’s thoughtfulness made me smile brightly.

Just then, a cheer erupted from the field. Dad’s undefeated streak must’ve ended.

“Ah, Papa’s done, huh?”

I’d been playing with Van and hadn’t been watching.

Meh, whatever. I figured it was safe now, so I headed over to Dad with Van—rightly drawing everyone’s attention.

“Papa.”

“Elen, did you see? Papa looked awesome, didn’t I?”

“Ah, sorry. I didn’t watch.”

I answered sharply, and Lovell looked utterly stunned.

The crowd was shocked—Dad, who’d just dominated the field, was undone by his own daughter’s one sentence. But Muskel, watching from the side, burst into laughter.

“Parents never win against their kids.”

"Seriously... I don’t even feel like I can win."

Lovell’s voice, utterly sincere, seemed to set off laughter all around. The air was thick with it.

Father lifted me into his arms and returned to the office with Muskel.

Afternoon classes were over, so the students were apparently free to roam.

"Better move quick—those students might swarm us any second."

"Yes, Papa."

Kai and Van joined the move.

Then, I noticed someone trailing behind us—quiet, sneaky, like a shadow.

"Ugh, really? Can’t do anything about it. Elen, can you handle this?"

"Understood. I’ll take Kai with me."

"Your Highness!! That boy is mine!!"

Van insisted, clearly horrified at the idea of me being burdened with such a task.

Still, startled by his sudden seriousness, I simply said, "Well then, I’ll leave it to you," and handed him over.

Kai just tilted his head, utterly confused.

"Back to Muskel’s office. Van, I’m counting on you."

"Understood."

"Alright, Muskel."

"W-what’s going on?"

Father grabbed Muskel’s shoulders, still holding my hand, and teleported.

In the next instant, Van and Kai had vanished too.

The hallway, now empty, left the trailing students wide-eyed, scanning around in disbelief.

＊＊＊

Muskel snapped back to his own room in a flash, eyes popping as he looked around.

"Impossible… that’s the 'teleportation' said to be used only by the Great Spirit!"

Teleportation magic was said to be accessible only to those who had made a pact with the Great Spirit.

Father had used this magic daily since his student days—always to escape from Agiel—earning him nothing but jealous stares from everyone around him.

By the way, spirits can all transfer—but only those who’ve made a contract with someone strong enough to actually benefit from it can use the power. Not just any old spirit, mind you. Only ones above the Great Spirit level.

Van had only just ascended to Great Spirit status, yet he was steadily growing strong enough to transfer Kai.

When Van and Kai arrived via transfer, Kai was tossed straight onto the floor.

"Whoa—!"

Rolling around on the floor, Kai had no idea what had just happened.

"Uh… you okay, Kai?"

"Ugh… sorry, boy."

Kai couldn’t even get mad at Van, who still couldn’t quite control his power. He just gave Van a sharp, silent glare, silently protesting with his eyes alone.

"Hmph… what’s the matter, boy? You wanna fight?"

The air between Kai and Van crackled with tension.

I rushed in between them, flustered.

"Ugh! Both of you, stop it already!!"

I scolded them for fighting here, and somehow both of them turned pale, nodding frantically behind my back.

I blinked, turning around—there was my father, grinning at me.

"Elen, leave those two alone and come over here."

He pulled me by the hand, and I ended up on his lap.

Just like at lunch, I sat facing Muskel, the two of us on the sofa, but while Father and Muskel chatted, I couldn’t help glancing sideways at Van and Kai.

They were still glaring at each other, subtly, just barely—still sparking, even after their apologies.

I couldn’t help worrying—were Van and Kai really okay like this?

***

Raffilia’s morning ended with the headmaster’s sermon.

I rushed to eat lunch and chased after my uncles, but couldn’t find them anywhere.

Still, at the cafeteria, the knight students were buzzing about the hero’s arrival.

I was leaning in hard on that rumor when a voice from behind me chimed in, “Ah, ah, ah,” with a smug little tone.

"Such a scandalous thing to be so intrigued by the gossip of nobles... how utterly disgraceful."

The one chuckling is Amiel, of royal blood.

Maybe it’s because she’s royalty, but Amiel has this air of authority, even though we’re the same age.

Still, everyone kept their distance, warning her not to get involved. Predictably, people started vanishing from around Amiel and Raffilia.

Still, Amiel, being a royal, had a few attendants around her.

Those few were three girls from the same noble academy. The three of them constantly mocked Raffilia.

At first I didn’t get why I was disliked on sight, but once I realized she was one of Amiel’s entourage, she became the enemy.

Amiel tended to be isolated because of her unusual background, so her cousin Gadiel and her other cousin Sauvel were always careful around her.

The three classmates, trying to cash in on that favor, seemed to be creeping close to Amiel, hoping to sip the sweet juice.

Raffilia, for her part, couldn’t stand it.

Every time she spoke with Gadiel and the others, Amiel and her entourage would interfere. Then, when they got a chance, they’d smirk at Raffilia.

She wanted to shout out loud that Amiel was isolated because people disliked her haughty attitude.

“Oh, I just happened to be curious since you were talking about your uncle.”

She emphasized “uncle” and “family” on purpose.

The boys who’d been discussing heroes narrowed their eyes at Raffilia, suspicious.

“Really? I’d love to meet your uncle. Do you know where he went?”

The boys’ eyes lit up when they heard that.

"Wait—Vanklyft Family, right?"

"Yeah. So..."

Raffilia was about to press them to hurry up when she froze at the sudden shift in the boys' expressions.

"Wait, wait!! Is that really the hero's daughter?! She was super cute, seriously!! Introduce us, come on!!"

Surrounded by "Me too! Me too!" from the boys, Raffilia was so shocked she froze solid.

"Hold on!! Elen? Who cares about Elen?! Where's my uncle—"

"That name—Elen?! Elen-chan is so cute!!"

Completely ignoring Raffilia's words, the boys gaped like fish, mouths hanging open. Then, from behind, came a mocking laugh.

"Too bad for you."

The words hit me like a slap. I spun around, ready to snap back—when I spotted a familiar face at the staff entrance to the dining hall.

"Kai! Wait!!"

Kai froze in place at Raffilia’s call, turning to look at me.

“Is there something you need?”

“Hey—you’re Elen’s guard, right? Where’s Uncle?”

“……”

“Wait—can’t you hear me? Are you deaf?”

“I’m sorry, but my master hasn’t given me permission to speak with you.”

“Huh!? What are you even saying? You’re not one of my household servants!!”

The air around us went utterly still at Raffilia’s words.

Kai was a knight-in-training, a loyal retainer of the Vanklyft Family for generations, heir to a household line that had served their lords since time immemorial.

He wasn’t some lowly servant. Not even close. And so, the daughter of the Vanklyft Family, utterly unaware of the insult she’d just delivered, left everyone frozen in place.

She’d just wounded a retainer’s pride—no wonder they were all staring, dumbstruck. Even a lord might have been forgiven for dismissing her. But a servant? No way.

“With all due respect, my master is Lady Elen—and her father, Lord Lovell. I am not your servant, not when I stand apart from your lord, Sauvel.”

Said with a crisp finality, Raffilia’s eyes widened.

“Apologies.”

The dining hall attendant called out to Kai. Kai, having answered, slipped through the servant’s entrance—no noble could possibly follow.

From behind her, Amiel spoke loudly enough for all around to hear.

“You’re absolutely terrible.”

Raffilia frowned, puzzled by the remark—then noticed the shift in the way everyone around her was looking at her.

The boys who’d been crowding her just moments ago were now watching from a distance, whispering to each other.

Apparently, they were cadet knights.

She understood she’d done something wrong—but what, exactly, she had no idea.

"This one’s a commoner, so she doesn’t understand the proper stance of a noble. Sorry, dear."

Amiel stepped in, taking over from Raffilia, and apologized to the knight cadets.

The boys just stared, utterly dumbfounded. *A commoner? And she doesn’t know her place?*

"Ah… um…"

Raffilia tried to say something—just as everyone around her stepped back, putting space between themselves and her.

It was like her entire body was screaming, *I don’t want to be near you.*

Too much to bear. Raffilia bolted from the dining hall. From behind, Amiel added, *“How disgraceful—such a lady running like that.”*

***

After that, I had no energy to look for my uncle. Just sat through the afternoon class like normal.

But word had already spread—whispers followed me through the halls.

(What is *this*, anyway?!)

By the time I was getting seriously annoyed, word came in that some hero was sparring with a knight academy student.

"Wait, what?! Why the knight tower?!?"

The girls in my class were buzzing.

The knight academy and the lady’s academy were separated by a huge distance, and strictly off-limits to the opposite sex.

(Okay, hold on. If Uncle’s there, doesn’t that mean Elen’s there too?!)

Raffilia was getting worked up—how was Elen even *there*, of all places?

She’d been pumped to finally confront her after class, but now she learned the building was off-limits to students. Her spirits sank.