CHAPTER 36 - ELISE AINDREA P5
~36.5~
*****
“Fine, I’ll call your bluff. Show me something that proves your words.”
“As you wish.” I held out my hand and formed a mass of mana. I held back enough to not cause harm to them, but put enough into it to force them to their knees. I looked over at Maya, intent to apologize for putting such pressure on her, but she was standing completely unbothered by it.
She’s quite powerful for a mortal to withstand this much mana without even a hint of discomfort. She must be SS to withstand this and hide it so well.
“What?”
I shook my head. “Nothing. I meant to apologize for the intense mana, but you’re quite unaffected.”
She shrugged. “I’m used to this. My family has close ties with the royal family of Weltwald, and the Beast Queen is SSS. Go ahead and make fireworks.”
You don’t know how accurate your description is.
After a moment, I finished preparing my spell and a total of four orbs floated above my hand. They pulsated in close proximity. The princes and the guards couldn’t even stand, so I snapped my fingers with my other hand and created a barrier around each one.
They struggled to their feet, and the prince said, “How do you have so much mana?”
I shrugged and tossed the four orbs into the sky, holding my hand up even after releasing them. They ascended quite far before I did anything. “This is a rather extreme example of fire magic.”
“Wallace, cease this instant!” came a female voice from behind me, rushing up with a guard of her own. “You will not execute this woman... what’s she doing?”
“Stay out of this, Eglantine.”
I glanced over and saw a beautiful blonde-haired girl in the same school uniform as me. I recognized her at a glance.
“Greetings, Princess Eglantine. Forgive me, I need just a moment to finish this demonstration your brother has requested.”
She looked up at the flaming orbs in the sky. The individual orbs were no longer visible. Instead, an aura of flames that emanated from them made them visible.
I could tell she was curious. “By all means...” Her eyes were affixed to the magic.
“This spell is...” I slowly closed my hand as if grasping the aura of fire above, and uttered the name of the spell. “<
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
The pulsating orbs collided, and an enormous explosion filled the sky, catching the attention of everyone in the capital.
Once the flames dissipated, I held my hand to my chest and said, “This is but one of many of my spells.”
“My word...” said Prince Wallace.
“Wow...” said Prince Allan.
Eglantine wasn’t star-struck like her brothers. She had a different look in her eyes.
Excitement.
She quickly hid that excitement and eyed her youngest brother. “Allan, tell the truth. Did this woman mock you?”
“She did.”
“Stay out of this, Eglantine. This is our business.”
“You’ll be silent, Third Prince,” she said with a sigh. “Lady Maya, thank you for sending one of your classmates to inform me of this. I do worry what could have happened if my brothers were allowed to carry on this mockery any longer.” She glanced at me, then at Maya, “I know about the scene in your physics class this morning. There’s no way you’d let this go had it escalated to blood.”
“No,” she said, catching me by surprise. She noticed my reaction and just shook her head. “Lady Elise is quite powerful and has a level head. We should count ourselves lucky that it was not some immature child with her power put into this situation.”
“Indeed.” She summoned the instructor and two of the students that were present. All three were surprised to see me still alive. She raised a barrier and spoke to the instructor for a moment. The princess was quite an accomplished mage herself, and in her final year of the academy. The barrier she used was soundproof.
Except it didn’t work on me. Though the others could not hear anything, I heard every word. After a moment, she lowered the barrier and said, “Here’s how we will resolve this situation. I will hear each witness speak their version of the events individually, both yesterday’s story and today’s.”
“Your Highness, I request you begin with me.”
She looked at me curiously. “Why is that?”
“I could hear every word spoken within your soundproof barrier.”
She chuckled. “After witnessing your spell a few moments ago, I believe that with no hesitation. You admit this now and ask that you be questioned first? Knowing that none of us would have been any the wiser, you could have simply listened to their story and modified yours according to theirs to give yourself the most favorable outcome.”
“I could have, yes.”
“Very well. I’ll hear your version of events first.”
I snapped my finger and created a soundproof barrier. With Maya being able to withstand my mana, she clearly feigned her test the day before.
She likely can hear through the princess’s barrier, too, but not mine.
“Cheeky.” She grinned. “I might be getting a little biased now.”
“What do you mean, Your Highness?”
“I am beginning to like you.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“You don’t seem to be afraid of royals, and I like that. My arrogant siblings need somebody they can’t bully around that isn’t me, including the second and fourth princesses. Anyway, we can talk more later. Tell me your side.”
“You say that as if you already don’t believe Prince Allan.”
She only smiled in response and waited as I told my version of the story.
“I see.” She shook her head, glanced at her brothers, and sighed. “To think my brothers were raised as royals and turned out like this.” She looked back at me with a rather serious expression. “On the other hand, you show the dignity and restraint expected of a proper royal. You could have very easily overpowered them, even me for that matter, Miss Blank, yet you maintained composure and tried to resolve this peacefully with only a few stray words that sound as though they were meant to test my brothers.”
“You are very perceptive, Your Highness. You even know about my rank.”
*****
Revision: 2025-2-7