* * *
“Setting aside why you’re even worrying about me… don’t. They’d have to bring at least three times that number if they wanted to kill me.”
The nerve—to say something like that in front of mages from such a prestigious school, the kind that could make you wet yourself just by looking at them.
Come to think of it, there had been an article around this time about a major clash between Latus and another school.
It had caused a stir even among the nobility.
The Pasadian school—Pavion’s faction.
A place full of outrageous monsters and eccentric geniuses.
Now everything fit perfectly.
If this was true, then they were just minnows caught in the middle of a fight between titans who ruled the continent.
They needed to alert everyone—fast.
When Anakin looked toward his companions, the knights and the Latus mages were already locked in a tense standoff, their killing intent filling the air.
“Oh dear. So there are nobles among you as well. How unfortunate. Pavion, that bat-like bastard… you chose this time on purpose, didn’t you?”
Had he planned to take hostages to escape?
If so, their chances of getting out alive were slim.
“Step away from the entrance. I don’t know what’s going on, but if these people get involved, neither you nor your school will escape unscathed.”
“That’s not happening. Not until we get Pavion—no one leaves.”
Hilde stayed silent, lost in thought, while Lillian and Iry looked tense at the sudden turn of events.
When Anakin looked back toward Pavion, their eyes met. Pavion smirked.
“Hm. What’s your name?”
“…Anakin.”
“Alright, Anakin. I was planning to deal with the people here anyway, but for your cute self, I’ll make an exception. When I break the lights, that’s the signal the fight has started. You grab your friends and run for the exit.”
“…Can you fight them alone?”
It wasn’t his concern whether the man lived or died, but there was something unpleasant about chatting with someone and then watching them get killed.
“Don’t worry. I’ll live up to Pasadian’s name. You already knew that, didn’t you?”
When Anakin’s pupils widened at being seen through, Pavion chuckled, turned around, and added one last comment.
“Out of all these people, your eyes locked on me.”
Anakin stared at his back as he walked away.
“If we can just get our hands on Pavion… damn those Pasadian bastards.”
One of the Latus mages muttered under his breath.
Meanwhile, Pavion casually picked his ear as he strode forward.
“Come on. Let the unrelated people go. Are you trying to offend a high noble?”
“Pavion!”
Bang!
The leader of the Latus mages spotted him and charged, veins bulging in his temples.
Weren’t mages supposed to fight from a distance with magic?
How deep must his grudge run if he resorted to a magically enhanced fistfight?
Even with the remaining five mages attacking from range, Pavion nimbly dodged every strike, showing off his skill.
“Still pathetically weak, I see. How’d you even get into Latus, Mustache?”
“Shut up, you rotten—”
Pavion glanced at Anakin from across the room, then flicked a transparent, razor-sharp projectile that shattered every light in the theater.
Crash!
“Now! We have to go now!”
The theater plunged into darkness, and at Anakin’s shout, people scrambled toward the exit.
It was a dazzling exchange of blows.
Massive shockwaves rang out without pause, the kind of scene you’d expect from a movie, not real life.
While they all ganged up on Pavion, the knights managed to carry the children to safety.
And even in the chaos, Anakin clearly remembered reading Pavion’s lips as he fought—just two words:
‘See you again.’
Why he’d say that to him specifically, Anakin had no idea.
But it left a bad feeling in his gut.
No matter how high one’s noble status, accidents could happen at any time.
Anakin was reminded again that in this world, power was everything.
“Is anyone hurt?”
“No.”
Sir Alex, one of the knights, asked, and the children shook their heads.
It had been a dangerous moment, but even the children, Anakin included, kept their composure.
They were clearly shaken, but didn’t show it.
Anakin remembered Pavion’s face.
That overwhelming strength changed a man’s presence—what had seemed ordinary now lingered in his memory as something monstrous.
If he hadn’t stepped forward, would they all have died?
Goosebumps prickled his skin at how his actions had changed the outcome.
“…Did you see that?”
“Yes, my lady, are you—”
“So cool… How strong would you have to be to reach that level?”
The unexpected reaction from Lillian left not only the escort knights, but also Hilde, Anakin, and even Iry staring at her in disbelief.
“You’re insane… We could have lost our lives in that situation. After all that chaos, you can still say something like that?”
“Why not? I just have to get stronger from now on, don’t you think?”
“I agree with that.”
Seeing Hilde and Lillian getting along so well, Iry wrinkled her nose in distaste.
Anakin remembered how, even just before they escaped, Iry had been completely absorbed in watching the scene unfold.
He spoke to her.
“Lady Iry, aren’t you the same? You seemed quite fascinated by the fight.”
“…”
When Iry’s cheeks flushed, Lillian and Hilde covered their mouths and laughed.
With a sharp voice, Iry shouted,
“You are truly the most ill-mannered people I’ve ever met!”
Not long after, newspapers and other media outlets were in an uproar, calling it a case of mages taking their inter-faction disputes too far.
Since it had happened in a crowded center of the city and involved noble children, high-ranking nobles especially were voicing their displeasure.
Meanwhile, the public, wary of the mages’ growing influence, had started calling for them to be reined in.
The likely source of the report was obvious—one of the many knights who had guarded them that day must have whispered it to their masters.
The exact outcome of that battle was never revealed.
Since then, Anakin had been diligently attending history lessons, doodling aimlessly with a distant look in his eyes.
The smell of old paper and heavy ink felt strangely familiar, like he’d gone back to his high school days.
It hadn’t been long since the incident, but life inside the Imperial Palace quickly dulled the senses.
He wondered—had Fabian managed to escape safely?
Well, in the original story, his name did become famous later on, so he was probably alive.
While he was lost in thought during class, the Crown Prince, who had been unusually quiet lately, suddenly spoke to him.
“Anakin, I heard you went through quite the ordeal. Are you alright?”
“Yes. Fortunately, I came out without a scratch.”
“That’s a relief. Then… would you like to take a walk by the lake after class?”
Shining auburn hair and pretty violet eyes.
Looking at his handsome features, Anakin couldn’t help but recall the image of the Crown Prince from the last time—when he had been poisoned.
“Uh, yes. But… um…”
He wanted to ask if the Crown Prince was okay now, but he hesitated, unsure if it was alright to bring up something that had already passed.
The Crown Prince easily caught on to his hesitation and smiled.
“My body’s fine. Don’t worry. I’m not as fragile as you might think.”
True enough—worrying about the Crown Prince was about as useless as it got.
In the future, he would be one of the five strongest people on the continent, a man known as the Sword Saint.
Even now, for his age, his mastery of the sword was nothing short of genius.
“Really? I’m glad to hear that.”
“…”
As Anakin’s black hair swayed and he smiled brightly, the Crown Prince gazed down at him without moving an inch.
After the long lesson ended, the two of them strolled alone through the lakeside garden as planned.
It was a place one couldn’t enter without royal permission.
The scenery was like something out of a legend, so breathtaking that Anakin found himself staring without realizing it.
The crisp afternoon breeze carried the scent of scattered flower petals.
That’s when the Crown Prince spoke beside him, his voice as calm as the lake.
“Do you like things like this?”
“Yes. It’s so beautiful…”
Anakin crouched down, gazing absently at his reflection in the water.
The cold, delicately sculpted, aloof beauty staring back still felt unfamiliar to him.
“Insanely beautiful” would have been the right phrase—an appearance that could capture anyone’s gaze so thoroughly that it was hard to look away.
On impulse, he stirred the water with a fingertip, making the reflection ripple and disappear.
“Careful.”
The Crown Prince, watching Anakin lean toward the water, spoke from behind him.
At that, Anakin stood up without hesitation.
“Do you see this view every day, Your Highness?”
“Yes. It’s nothing special to me.”
He looked at the lake with a flat, almost indifferent expression—so much so that Anakin almost felt sorry for the lake.
“The sunlight’s strong. We should rest for a bit.”
They sat across from each other at a shaded outdoor table with a perfect view of the lake.
“This lakeside was built by a master craftsman the previous emperor invited for the empress he dearly loved…”
The attendants poured tea and served sweet desserts while explaining the history and origins of the lakeside.
It wasn’t particularly interesting.
“Since I didn’t know what desserts you liked, I told them to bring everything. Do you like them?”
With the Crown Prince resting his chin in one hand, watching him as if observing a curious animal, Anakin couldn’t really taste anything—but he answered anyway.
* * *
