Eye of the Storm

Another year already passed.

The Winter Magic Palace Battle was just around the corner.

Lately, an unsettling atmosphere had permeated the Empire.

The conflict between the First Prince’s faction and the Third Princess’s faction had reached a fever pitch.

The world felt like the calm before a storm.

I wished things could just pass without incident, but a storm was a calamity.

It would surely sweep away much in its wake.

And so, before the Winter Magic Palace Battle…

I had one crucial matter to resolve.

I needed to reconcile the two women who had fought because of me.

“Honestly, bickering like children… still sulking?”

Seron grumbled, trailing close behind me.

I was sorry, but by my standards, they were all still children.

If anything, this was a perfectly normal exchange of emotions.

Relationships forged in the immature years of adolescence were bound to encounter problems.

Of course, we were already adults in this world, so it was a rather pointless thought.

“Prince Sweet Potato, hurry and patch things up. I’ll be spitting fire if they’re like this during the Winter Magic Palace Battle.”

“I doubt they’ll be like this even in the Magic Palace, but…”

“That magic fox is capable of anything.”

Seron’s assessment of Sharin was harsh.

It seemed that even in Seron’s eyes, Sharin lived freely and untethered.

Content to live indifferently to how the world turned so long as she wasn’t impacted.

I wanted to dispute it, but in truth, Sharin didn’t show much enthusiasm for anything besides magic and me.

A reflection of her childhood, perhaps.

As I was mulling over these complicated matters, Seron abruptly held something out in front of me.

Looking closer, it was a small gift box.

“And take this.”

“What’s this?”

“A gift, what else could it be? Prince Sweet Potato, it’s your birthday tomorrow, you know.”

Birthday.

Come to think of it, it was.

More precisely, it was Vicaimon’s birthday, but still, a birthday was a birthday.

“I was originally planning to give it to you tomorrow, but I’ve got a good feeling, you see?”

That was the first I’d heard of that.

“Are you really going to give me that kind of look?”

“I’m just curious where you got the conviction that your intuition is so good.”

“If nothing else, I get a distinct sense of misfortune.”

That, one had to admit, was a rather believable assertion.

Unfortunately, Seron’s luck was truly abysmal.

Not that massive calamities occurred, but she was plagued by a litany of petty misfortunes.

The fact that she was experiencing a premonition of bad luck suggested an awakening of her very instincts.

It was grounded enough.

“For some reason, I have a feeling I won’t be able to give you this gift tomorrow.”

Seron’s brow furrowed.

As if to punctuate the moment, a single strand of hair stood stubbornly erect on her head, adding an extra layer of credibility.

Suppressing the urge to tug on that rebellious hair, I gazed at her, fiddling with the box I’d received.

“Can I open it?”

“Heh, sure, I’ll allow it.”

Seron grinned broadly.

It seemed giving me a gift brought her an immense amount of joy.

I untied the neatly wrapped red ribbon and lifted the box’s lid.

Inside, lay a bracelet with a tiny, embedded ruby.

“It’s a tool blessed with the power to heal wounds once a day.”

“That’s a blessed artifact sold by the Order, isn’t it? These things are terribly expensive.”

Unlike High Potions, which provided performance commensurate with their cost, these blessed items were disproportionately pricey.

Their healing capacity couldn’t match a High Potion.

Nor could they compare to a practicing cleric.

The reality was, they were often dismissed as overpriced luxury goods.

“High Potions require a considerable sacrifice, though. This heals you without any such price.”

Seron sighed, lightly tapping my arm.

“I was just hoping it might mean you get hurt less.”

I’d appeared before her in a rather dishevelled state on more than one occasion, hadn’t I?

She probably thought of me as someone who inevitably returned with injuries, no matter where I went.

This bracelet was a gift to alleviate Seron’s worries.

It wasn’t just for my sake, but for hers, that I should wear it.

“I’ll wear it all the time.”

“If you do, I’ll feel like it was worth giving to you.”

Seron blushed slightly, wrinkling her nose and tapping her foot.

Always feigning indifference, but still doing something so undeniably endearing, like only she could.

The bracelet fit perfectly on my wrist.

Still, it was a decent safety net to have.

Even a minor injury would heal quickly with this.

“Well, aren’t you just bursting with gratitude? Am I not simply the most adorable thing ever?”

Seron stood on her tiptoes, puffing out her chest in mock pride.

Even so, she glanced at the inside of my collar, checking for the bandages beneath the curtain.

More than me, she earnestly hoped for the return of my emotions.

That heart, it fills me with gratitude.

Thankfully, the joy that remains within me still knows how to appreciate devotion.

“Alright, with this, I’ll worry less, even in the Demon Realm.”

“…Just in case, I’m saying this now, this doesn’t mean you can run wilder just because you have it, got it?”

“What do you take me for?”

“A tin can with no self-preservation.”

Accurate, that.

Seron’s sense is surprisingly sharp today.

Anyway, while sharing this and that with Seron, another day of the year slipped by.

As we welcomed the New Year, we exchanged a few well wishes with familiar faces along the way.

But everyone seemed preoccupied with the Demon Realm raid right around the corner, not placing much importance on the New Year itself.

They had already indulged during the Christmas festivities, after all.

Now was the time to maintain a calm sense of tension.

And then, an unforeseen problem arose.

January 1st, morning.

Iris was summoned back to the Imperial Palace with the Emperor’s sudden summons.

The reason being the Emperor had fallen gravely ill.

The Emperor had been bedridden for quite some time, as it was.

So, he was someone whose days were already numbered.

However, a nagging feeling clouded my face.

‘…Even in the official records, there was a time when the Emperor fell ill and summoned Iris.’

It was clearly something that had happened before in the official records.

But there was a difference in timing from the original event.

The Emperor’s summons should have been during the summer vacation.

The summons was advanced by at least half a year.

My eyes narrowed.

‘Even if the official records have changed…’

Could even the Emperor’s health be expedited?

There was a distinct whiff of something fishy in the air.

This situation was undeniably unfolding intentionally.

‘Could it be the doing of Heavenly Grace Gong?’

Heavenly Grace Gong had made the Emperor gravely ill.

That thought took root, but I quickly shook my head.

Even for Heavenly Grace Gong, such a deed would be difficult to accomplish.

Moreover, the First Prince’s faction was currently driving the Third Princess’s faction into a corner.

Even if the Emperor were to fall ill at this moment, it would actually be a disadvantage for the Third Princess’s faction.

‘It isn’t the doing of Heavenly Grace Gong.’

Tampering with the Emperor carries a significant risk.

So then, what could be the reason for the Emperor’s sudden illness at this juncture?

My eyes narrowed to slits.

The word “what if” drifted into my thoughts.

Indeed, *what if*.

Truly a *what if*, but what if the person who brought the Emperor to his sickbed resided with the First Prince’s faction?

A time when the First Prince’s faction was fiercely driving the Third Princess’s faction into a corner.

If the Emperor fell critically ill during this period, naturally the vassals below would waver.

Would they choose the unstable Third Princess’s faction, or the First Prince’s faction?

That was obvious, even without seeing it.

The Emperor’s illness was clearly working to the First Prince’s advantage.

‘In the official records, the Emperor’s point of sickness was always the same, so I never considered it.’

Even then, the Third Princess’s faction was in a more precarious position than the First Prince’s.

Once might be coincidence, a quirk of fate.

But beyond twice, thrice, it becomes inevitability.

My mind is a tangled knot.

I don’t particularly think of the First Prince as a virtuous man.

He, too, is a man who will use any means necessary to become Emperor.

A man with the unwavering belief that the Empire will only prosper if *he* is Emperor.

That was the First Prince.

He’s a man who would not hesitate to kill even his own father to bring an end to the current state of affairs.

A man who’s already on his deathbed from illness.

He’d likely think it better for him to die than for the Empire to be shaken by the Emperor’s prolonged illness.

I felt like I’d witnessed the distasteful, grimy face of politics.

‘The Duke of Chenhye, and the First Prince, too.’

Both vying for the throne, engaging in fierce strategic warfare.

Which of the two will ascend to the Emperor’s seat?

One thing is certain: the Duke of Chenhye is not a man who will quietly accept having the throne snatched away.

“I even prepared to celebrate Oppa’s birthday, but it seems I’ll have to do it when I return,”

At that moment, Iris, waiting for the carriage, wore a slightly sulky expression.

As a teaching assistant in the second-year martial arts class, I came to see her off.

In this regard, being a teaching assistant is wonderfully liberating.

More than that, she prepared a birthday gift after Christmas?

Perhaps because I’m her first friend, she’s going above and beyond.

“We already had a big party on Christmas. That’s enough.”

“Even so…”

Iris grumbled, glancing sideways at me.

Hania stood beside me.

Originally, Hania would have accompanied Iris, but the timing was difficult.

With the Winter Magic Tournament fast approaching.

With Iris, one of our strongest assets, away, we couldn’t afford to let Hania leave as well.

“Hania, please take good care of Oppa while I’m gone. He’s always getting injured.”

“Yes, I’ll watch over him carefully.”

Hania yearned to follow Iris, but her forced restraint was palpable.

As Hania sniffled, Iris and I locked eyes.

“Iris, the atmosphere is unsettlingly strange.”

“I think so too.”

Iris concurred with my assessment.

Even to her, the current turn of events felt off.

But that didn’t mean she could avoid visiting the Emperor in his critical state.

Whether Iris liked it or not, she was a contender for the throne.

If the Emperor were to pass away, she would immediately have to compete with the First Prince for the Imperial seat.

It was a critical juncture in determining the sovereignty of the Empire.

While the Mana Crypt was important, the Empire was paramount; there was no other way.

“If, by chance, Lord Cheonhye demands something you don’t want, return to the Jerion Academy.”

Then I can resolve things, one way or another.

Iris offered a bewitching smile.

“How reassuring. Thank you, I’ll keep that in mind.”

With those final words, Iris departed in the carriage sent by the Imperial family.

The carriage carrying her sped away into the distance.

“…Lady Iris, she’ll be alright, won’t she?”

Hania tentatively asked, watching the departing carriage.

I patted her shoulder and nodded.

“It’s Iris. She’ll be fine. More importantly, we need to focus on the Winter Mana Crypt War.”

“Ah, right. I should hurry and finish so I can welcome Lady Iris back.”

“I’ll see what I can do as well.”

Hania and I spoke thus as we turned back.

And the next day.

I realized that Seron’s ominous premonition had been frighteningly accurate.

“The Winter Mana Crypt has opened early.”

Professor Veganon’s declaration marked the beginning of the Winter Mana Crypt War.