Chapter 9 : Princess Cassandra’s Unease

Princess Cassandra of the Adanani Kingdom had a favorite knight.

He was Erich, an illegitimate son of the Auler ducal family, and the half-brother of Clara, who was Cassandra’s friend.

His mother was not a noble, but a maid who served the Duke of Auler.

Cassandra first met Erich when she was still young, before awakening to her powers as a witch.

Clara, a duke’s daughter chosen to be Cassandra’s playmate, would sometimes bring Erich along with her.

Though he was her half-brother, his status as an illegitimate child meant he was treated more like a servant in the ducal household.

Clara paraded him around as if showing off her favorite doll.

And indeed, he had been a very beautiful boy.

Shimmering silver hair, pale skin like that of people from the north, and sapphire-blue eyes.

With no expression, silently obeying Clara, he had truly seemed like a living doll.

Cassandra also loved beautiful things, so she had been drawn to Erich’s exceptional beauty even at a young age.

However, she disliked Clara’s proud attitude, even without words, and pretended to have no interest.

Erich disappeared from before the two of them when Cassandra and Clara were around fourteen years old.

The reason was that Clara’s engagement had been decided.

It would look improper for a girl with a fiancé to remain attached to her half-brother, so the Duke of Auler had placed Erich into the knight order.

It felt like such a waste to send such a beautiful boy into the knights.

But around that time, Cassandra had begun awakening to her powers as a witch.

It was the first time a witch had been born in the Adanani Kingdom.

The surroundings grew noisy, and Cassandra herself became intoxicated with the power that made everything go as she wished.

Her power was said to be much weaker compared to witches born in the Kingdom of Genasis, known as the homeland of witches.

Even so, she could manipulate the people before her as she pleased.

After silencing three tutors who constantly nagged her, no one dared oppose Cassandra anymore.

Her father scolded her for it, but he had always been delighted that a witch had been born into the royal family of Adanani.

So he did not reprimand her too harshly, instead seeming to observe how great her power truly was.

As long as she didn’t use her power on high-ranking nobles, her father wouldn’t get angry.

Having learned that, Cassandra behaved selfishly toward lower nobles and those who worked in the palace.

It was around that time that she reunited with Erich, who had become a knight.

The grown version of him was so handsome it took her breath away.

This time, she wanted to keep him by her side no matter what.

She felt that strongly.

Clara, who had been an obstacle, was no longer around.

She had married the previous year, apparently taking in a husband to inherit the ducal house.

He was said to be an older, plain man, and Cassandra had celebrated the occasion grandly.

Cassandra immediately appointed Erich as a royal guard knight and kept him by her side.

When he had been a knight, he had apparently been very popular.

Given his beauty, that was only natural.

But after he became a royal guard, any woman who approached him was ruthlessly eliminated.

She also placed surveillance magic on him, along with magic that prevented him from leaving the palace.

Thanks to that, he silently obeyed any command she gave.

She would never let him go.

Erich would remain her precious doll forever.

But then, that night—

Cassandra had disliked her hairstyle and skipped the soirée held at the palace.

After ordering that her personal maid be dismissed immediately, she shut herself in her room and went to sleep.

Erich had apparently been on palace guard duty that day.

The next morning, when Cassandra woke up, she immediately tried to summon him.

But no matter how many times she called, Erich did not appear.

This had never happened before.

Irritated, she tried to use magic, but she could not sense his presence anywhere in the palace.

The surveillance magic and the magic restricting his movement had all been completely undone without a trace.

(Why…? How could this happen?)

Even a magician should not have been able to break Cassandra’s magic.

In the first place, there were very few magicians in this country at all.

And yet, no matter how much she searched, she could not detect Erich’s presence.

Not understanding what had happened, unease spread through her chest.

It was the first time she had felt such anxiety since becoming a witch.

There might be something in this country that even Cassandra could not control.

Cassandra clenched her trembling hands tightly.

“Erich…”

She softly called his name, but no answer came.