> [ Spell Lock ] - 3th circle spell.
>
> Element: none/universal.
>
> Type: Metamagic.
>
> Classification: Trap. Information. Variable output.
>
> Target: A spell construct.
>
> This forensic magic locks a spell construct so it cannot be discharged or dispelled. Locked constructs are removed from the control of their casters. The ongoing effects are converted into illusions if they are visible, otherwise, they just cease. The lock uses its own mana to sustain the construct so it won't dissipate. Any dispelling attempt must first overcome the lock. The difficulty to dispell the lock is based on the lock caster's spellcraft skill and the amount of mana spent to cast it. At the caster's command, the spell diagram can be made visible.
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It all came down to this. The attack at the square. Escaping from the hospital. Escaping from the inn. Meeting Pearl. Going into the dungeon. Escaping Elmhill. Returning to Yutis. What did they accomplish? A lot of things happened but the results? The negative ones were in abundance. Shinji was dead, Kazuya went rogue, the assassins that marked Lumina for death were still on the loose. And now they had a whole new deck of enemies to shuffle around. Captain zappy for example. Those that disliked Lumina. Pick a number and wait in line. At the ballroom of all places.
On the plus side, they knew exactly where they stood. How much they could push themselves. Whom they could trust. They even got their magic back with a little bonus. If only they could swallow their fears and anxieties. But their stability was precarious. They had no doubt that when the time came to restore Lumina, they would lose most of that magic.
In separate chambers, one mind echoed in the voice of two teenagers.
"I don't want to vanish." Asserted the girl.
"I don't want to lose her. She is part of me." Groaned the boy.
They could run away. The thought was abhorrent a few days ago, but it grew more and more tempting. They would take Sora and Cythrel with them. Between two powerful mages, a dragon and a trained scout, very few organizations could give pursuit and capture them. They would finish absorbing Lumina and just live on with their lives somewhere far away. But it would mean abandoning their legacy. The lemma Aidan believed in so much.
It would mean endangering Sora and Cythrel and forcing them to a life on the run. Forsaking Pearl and Claire. Rejecting Astromelicus and probably breaking Helios' heart. The King was a good man. Heck, the biggest threat to his runaway plan was the fact his parents would come to get them.
Yes, running away was not an option. Even if Aidan's parents were not top-ranked adventurers, he could never fight against them.
They could only move forward. But where would it lead them to?
Insensitive to the swarm of maids crawling around her like she was some queen ant, Dawn kept absorbed in a mental chasm of her own making. She barely registered her hair being tugged, the paint applied to her face, the tightening demon tool threatening to asphyxiate her. Even that vow she couldn't keep. The high-heeled shoes squeezing her feet, twisting it in a shape only wild animals should have. Tight stockings and gloves squeezing her limbs. The weight of the dozen skirts overlayed. Jewelry tugging her ears, necklace resting against her skin and channeling all the cold of this early Spring down her nerves. Braceletes wrapping around her wrists like snakes. Weighing her down like shackles.
"I'm cold. I want to wear the muffler." She announced to the maids.
"But your Highness, your neckline is so beautiful. Your strapless dress would be hidden by a muffler."
Bare shoulders, bare upper chest, exposed cleavage. The corselet pushed her breasts front and center to an almost painful degree. She only ignored the breast pain because her ribs were screaming louder. Long silk gloves. Stilleto heels. She could murder someone by only stepping on them.
"We are finished, your Highness. Please take a look at yourself. You are gorgeous."
And to top it all the inane praise from the maids. Dawn stood up and wobbled on the impossibly thin heels.
She almost used magic to remain standing up but remembered Pearl advised against it. Several nobles were also mages and they could sense it and even stealthily dispel the magic and then she would be making a fool of herself. No, Dawn would have to go on her own. And now that they pushed Aidan into Pearl's camp, she was alone. No escort. Defenseless.
"Give me the rapier." She asked a maid.
"Your Highness, it is not lady-like to bear a sword to a dinner party." Even though all men would be sporting a sword at their waist.
"Sylph's hands."
Dawn had enough of these meddlesome maids. She used one of the wind spells they took from Lumina's book and the rapier flew to her side, wrapping the belt around her waist and buckling up on itself.
"Take it out, your Highness. It is unseemly." The maid reached for the weapon.
Before the maid could touch the rapier Dawn drew it. Startled, the maid fell on her buttocks.
"Give me some room."
She tried a few swings and also to move in those heels. Yup, no good.
"Butterfly step."
Another wind spell, this one would reduce her weight to a fifth and make it impossible to slip or skid on any floor. Now she could fight even in that attire. Satisfied, she sheathed the rapier and canceled the spell.
Dawn would have to wait a good hour and a half after the party started to make her entry. The silver lining was having time to stuff herself with food and practice the construction of that spell until it was second nature.
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"Lord Aidan, why are you taking such shallow breaths?" Pearl asked him. Escorting a princess was no walk in the park. The guests were too keen on making connections with the heir of a foreign throne and swarmed Pearl. It was his job to make sure they kept a respectful distance from her. Especially her back. 'A dagger in every shadow'. The advice Pearl gave back then now was a maxim.
"They squeezed me too hard. I don't know how you can act so naturally in that corselet, Pearl." He whispered back.
Pearl vented. "I can't. I'm elated to know that you share my pain." She smiled at him. For the observers, it felt like they were flirting. "I can only fake it."
Aidan glanced at Sora on his right side.
"I don't wear it. I'm free as a bird." She beamed at Pearl, earning an envious look.
"Same here." Completed Cythrel in self-derision. "Not that I have anything to squeeze."
Claire approached Aidan.
"Your Highness. It is a pleasure to see you." He bowed. She curtsied.
"Same here Lord Aidan. I am sorry for my sister's behavior."
"Can we just write it off as Lumina being Lumina? I don't mind if you do."
"Sure." Claire offered her hand. Aidan bowed and kissed it lightly. When they parted, she passed next to him and whispered.
"I looked those files you asked me. There is a link. His cousin is the wife of the man you killed."
And she was gone. Captain Zappy had a motive.
They went around the party, making small talk and having fun.
Some nobles came too close and they had to enact their act. Tonight there would be a play and the whole ballroom was their stage.
"I got really lucky to win you as my escort, Lord Aidan. Too bad for Lumina though." Pearl spoke loud enough to be overheard but not too loud to sound purposeful. Their targets would know all too well that it was intentional. Her wording also was calculated.
"What a handsome lad you got for an escort, your Royal Highness." Some fat lady came to talk to them. Pearl and Aidan made their best politician smile.
"Ma'am. Pleased to meet you." Aidan bowed. He would bow a lot today.
She began to drivel on several inane subjects like jewelry and clothing. Pearl replied like a natural. Aidan stood there, studying female to female white noise. And then she commented on the chandelier.
"The ballroom chandelier is magnificent. I must say. But there is one strange thing. That centerpiece, it looks like a little dragon."
Aidan cursed inside. "To me, it looks like some abstract arrangement. Maybe from a certain angle, it might look like an angel or a lion either."
"Perhaps."
'You're too observant for your own good, milady'. Aidan thought inside.
Fat lady went away. Another noble came nearby.
"Your Highness." He finished his approach and politely greeted Pearl. She just gave him a nod, signaling she acknowledged him and that he could speak. "I'm marquis Oakley. It is really a joyous night to have three princesses gracing us with their beauty. Don't let King Helios listen to me but you are the most exquisite one."
"Why thank you, Marquis. I'm really pleased to come to Yutis. But please tell me more about you, what is your fief's specialty?"
"Grain, your Highness. We produce the best oats and barley in the entire valley." Yutis was a giant valley. That is what he was talking about. "We supply the knight corps, you've surely seen their horses. It is all due to our feed."
"Yes, I've seen the mares and stallions the knights ride. Such excellent animals. I'm sure they are of a marvelous breed." It would prove that Pearl didn't think his feed was all that made the horses that great.
"Surely, but speaking of breed, I don't recall the gentleman that is escorting your Highness, is he from Gohar as well?"
It was a blatant probe. Marquis Oakley was present at the judgment. He is one of the marked for further investigation. His line just now spoke wonders of what he thought of Aidan.
"Lord Aidan? No, he is a local here from Yutis. A fine gentleman I must add. He has been invaluable to me ever since we met, I am deeply in his debt."
The actual meaning of invaluable was up to debate, and the dirty minds of those eavesdropping the conversation were already painting them as lovers, a forbidden relationship.
An inquisitive, piercing gaze scanned Aidan from head to toe.
"From Yutis? I don't remember seeing him around in the court functions, what is your House, lad?"
"I'm an heir to a baronet near the mountains to the northeast, Marquis. Our fief is nothing worthy of note."
The northeast area of Yutis was the poorer. To the marquis Aidan immediately became just a stray cat Pearl picked up out of pity. But the Marquis got what he wanted. He scouted the terrain, assessed the worth of the man that caused the schism between the princesses. It was time to soar to new heights.
"I'm afraid I hoarded too much of the princess time, surely there is a line of others wanting to delight their eyes with your splendor, your Royal Highness. It pains me to part, but I must."
"The pleasure was mine, Marquis. I'll look forward to doing business with your fief later."
"I'd be honored."
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Keeping ongoing spells or even casting them at the dinner party was a faux pas unless you had a good reason. But Aidan had a trump, his mana sight. It was impossible to detect because it was an innate ability. It was active all the time and he could notice something he shouldn't otherwise.
A throng of nobles later and even Aidan's excellent memory was having trouble remembering all of them. He kept enduring their insufferable chatter, fake pleasantries, and blatant lies, playing the perfect escort to Pearl. He was also keenly observing her every reaction, every choice of words. It would soon be his time to play the princess part and he needed every help he could muster.
His careful attention paid to Pearl's every move didn't escape the sharp eyes of the nobility. To them, it looked like Aidan was enraptured by the princess. Not only that it also earned him a few elbow blows from Cythrel whose clumsiness level skyrocketed. His flank was a bit hurt from the repeated collisions. All accidental, of course.
"I'm thirsty. Lord Aidan, could you get me something?"
Before Aidan could fetch a drink, a noblewoman picked up a flute of bubbly white wine from a tray next to them and gave it to Pearl. It was Viscountess something if Aidan's memory served for anything.
"Here, your Highness." She offered.
"Thank you." Pearl took the flute.
Aidan quickly intercepted the flute. He just pinched the hem of the foot and Pearl froze. The drink sloshed a little but the princess was graceful in stopping her motion.
"Viscountess. If you please." He asked the woman. Heads turned.
"Is something the matter?" The woman asked with hubris.
He sighed and looked at the woman. Then at the tray with the wine flutes. The only one marked was the one in Pearl's hands. He let the dramatic pause happen and used this time to commit the diagram and the mana signature to memory.
Yes, Pearl's drink was ensorcelled. Abyss magic. Probably some nasty curse or poison, the specialties of the junction between Water and Darkness.
"Lord Aidan, what is wrong?" Pearl asked and shuddered as she sensed the unnatural wave of mana coming from Aidan into the glass held by both of them. Several of the attending nobles were mages and also perceived it. He made no effort to hide what spells he was using.
"Spell Lock."
He poured over half his mana pool into the diagram. This lock would give even Astromelicus a run for his spellcraft. And something happened. He felt his affinities click with the spell, empowering it to a higher degree. It should be impossible with a universal spell, but it happened.
"Harden Earth."
And to avoid some 'accidental' breaking of the glass flute, he increased its hardness to the level of a steel block.
He kept an eye open to see if anyone was slipping away from their vicinity, but he doubted the culprit would stay around after enchanting the right drink. It mattered little, he had his mana signature. Finding the right one would be hard, but it also meant he would identify the would-be assassin if he used his magic in front of him again.
"Viscountess, if I may be so bold, could I ask you what are your elements?" He politely inquired.
"I did nothing to the princess' drink. It is a setup! Someone is trying to frame me!" She desperately shouted and attempted to backtrack. She bumped the table behind her and dropped the tray with the bubbly wine flutes. Glass shattered and the viscountess crumbled on the ground over the shards, cutting herself.
Aidan took the flute away from Pearl. "I made no such claims, Viscountess. Why would you think that?"
"What is going on here?" Knight captain 'Zappy' showed up and made a beeline to reach Aidan. Onlookers quickly moved away from the soldier's path.
"I wished the Viscountess could explain it to us," Aidan replied.
Zappy narrowed his eyes. His rage was seething.
"Give me that glass, boy."
The knight-captain reached for his sword.