Aurora thought that Nova was actually a softie.

Nova said that Casper couldn't handle it, but was that really true? As far as Aurora could see, Casper was not a super righteous guy. He wasn't exactly kind or forgiving either. After all, he ended up killing Nova in the previous timeline, right?

So asking him to focus on the military and even raising taxes was not impossible for him. Yes, he may have rejected it the first time she asked, but knowing how much Casper liked Nova right now, if she kept pushing him, he would eventually do it.

Yet she didn't do that.

The whole revenge thing was just an act in the end. She never planned to kill him. Maybe she resented him for a bit, but why would she stick with him for several years if she actually hated him?

The answer was obvious. She was still in love with Casper, and she didn't want Casper to shoulder her plan. If her plan was being carried out, people would hate Casper, thinking of him as a terrible king.

On the other hand, she wouldn't care if the same hatred was thrown at the second prince.

Now, Aurora wasn't really trying to criticize her or anything. People do stupid stuff for love all the time. What Aurora cared about was that this could be used as a weapon. And she would.

Nova thought she could just pretend to sleep until everything was done? No way would Aurora let her do that. Nova dragged her into this mess, so Aurora would drag her back.

That's why she was sitting near the pond, the same place where she was fighting with Nova, waiting for Prince Casper.

She drank some tea while waiting. From afar, she could see a prince walking toward her.

"Hey," Casper said as he reached her. "Your maid said you're looking for me?"

"Yes, sorry to make you come here," Aurora said. "But I don't want Nova to hear what we will be talking about."

"What do you mean?" Casper looked confused. "Nova is still unconscious. How can she hear us?"

"Yes, I will explain that too," Aurora said. "But first, why didn't you sit down? Want some tea?"

Casper took a seat. "No need, but what is all this about?"

"Okay, let's make one thing clear first," Aurora said. "Nova wasn't really unconscious."

"But..." Prince Casper was going to interrupt, but Aurora continued.

"I mean she IS unconscious," Aurora said. "But she's doing it to herself. She's doing it on purpose."

"What...?" The prince was obviously confused.

"Until now, you must still be confused with her actions, right?" Aurora said as she stirred her tea with a small spoon. "What's her connection between her and the second prince? I know everything now. And I can tell you."

Casper gulped. "Really?"

Aurora nodded. "But for that, I want to make a deal with you, Prince. Nova is leaving a heavy burden on me, and I don't think I can handle it alone. So I need help. If you promise to support me, I will tell you everything."

"What do you mean by that?" Casper said.

"Promise me," Aurora said. "I can even wake Nova up. For real this time."

Casper sighed. "I'm still not sure what you're talking about, but you're not trying to give me false hope, right?"

"Of course not," Aurora said. "You can trust me."

"Fine," Casper said. "I don't know what to do anymore. If you really can wake her up, I will give you full support on whatever you want."

Aurora smiled. "Good decision. You won't regret it."

***

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Ruby regretted her decision. Sure, it wasn't all bad; at least she didn't get rejected right away. But she still regretted agreeing to wait. That alone wasn't so bad, but for how long? Who knows! She should have given Aurora a time limit!

Ruby threw her head into the pillow in frustration. She should have thought about it. Why was she so stupid?

"What is it this time, miss?" Rita asked looking at her master with concern. "Didn't you say your business with Miss Aurora was already done?"

"It did! But it isn't! It's just... complicated!" Ruby said.

"Really now?" Rita said.

Ruby sat, suddenly calming down. Aurora clearly had a lot on her mind right now, so maybe not pressuring her was a good thing. Yes, it was a good thing. She should be a good girl and wait patiently.

No, even better, she needed to do something else. After all, something had caught her interest. Who knows? With this, she might become more useful. And that's bound to make Aurora appreciate her more.

"Hey, Rita," Ruby said. "What do you know about ancient magic?"

"Ancient magic?" Rita said. "I'm not sure... Why are you suddenly interested in that?"

"Just answer me!" Ruby said.

"Well, not much, really. But I believe this sword right here was created by ancient magic," Rita said as she picked up her sword.

"What? Really?" Ruby's eyes immediately lit up.

"I can't tell you why," Rita said. "But I just feel it. This sword holds magic from the past, and it's pretty strong."

"Can I give it a try?" Ruby said, interested.

"Sure, but I doubt you can feel it," Rita said.

"Are you looking down on me?" Ruby pouted.

"No, that's not what I mean," Rita said. "It's just that this sword was specifically created for wind magic users, so your earth magic won't be compatible."

"But we won't know until I try it myself!" Ruby insisted.

"Okay, but be careful. You might hurt yourself," Rita said as she passed her sword to her master.

Ruby grabbed the sword with excitement. But that excitement quickly evaporated when she found out the sword didn't react at all.

"Huh, nothing happened," Ruby said, disappointed.

"I told you already," Rita said.

"Useless then," Ruby said, passing it back to her knight.

"It's not useless," Rita sighed. "You're just incompatible."

"Exactly! It's useless for me!" Ruby exclaimed.

"As you said, miss," Rita replied, giving up.

Having already moved on from the sword, Ruby looked like she was thinking about something else.

"I don't have any other choice then," Ruby murmured.

Rita looked at her with a questioning look, but Ruby ignored her. Instead, she walked toward the door.

"Where are you going, miss?" Rita asked. "Do I need to accompany you?"

"I'm going to meet someone," Ruby said before she stepped out. "And no, you just stay here."

She walked toward the building farthest from her gaze. If she had told herself in the past that she would come to this building so many times, she wouldn't have believed it because she didn't have a reason to come.

Ruby opened the library door. The place was quiet, especially right now because a lot of students had decided to go home, so even fewer people were there.

She walked inside and spotted a familiar girl sitting at a desk. The girl noticed Ruby and gasped.

"Ruby?" she said in disbelief. "Wh-what are you doing here? Aurora isn't here!"

"I know," Ruby said. "I'm not looking for her, I'm looking for you."

"M-me?" Sera pointed at herself.

"It pains me to ask," Ruby said, "but you're the one who most likely knows what I'm looking for. So I need your help."

"My help...?" Sera asked, still looking like she didn't believe this was happening.

"Yes," Ruby said. "You don't want to help me?"

"No-no, of course not," Sera hurriedly replied. "I'm just surprised..."

"Yes, I'm surprised too," Ruby said. "But this is what it is. So, are you going to help me or not?"

"S-sure," Sera said, standing up. "So... what can I help you with?"

"Alright, what do you know about ancient magic?" Ruby asked.

Sera blinked. "Ancient magic? That's a rare subject..."

"So you know something about it?" Ruby said.

Sera nodded. "But just a little."

"Then tell me."

"Umm... I read about it some time ago," Sera said, walking towards the bookshelves. "I'm not sure I can find it quickly, but it's said that in the past, we could actually use more than seven forms of magic. Originally, these ancient magics were created to win a war against demons. But after defeating the demons, they noticed that it was too strong and dangerous. If we weren't careful, we might end up destroying ourselves. So our ancestors decided to seal it. They wouldn't teach that form of magic to the next generation, and that's how we ended up with just seven forms of magic."

"I see," Ruby said. "But the way you said it, that means anybody can learn it? Even I can learn it?"

Sera nodded. "While the way of doing it is lost in time, I believe it is possible to learn it. But as I said before, because the information was sealed, ancient magic is basically extinct now. So nobody can use it anymore."

"Really?" Ruby said. "But Aurora can."

Sera immediately looked at Ruby. "Wha--She can?"

"You saw it yourself before, right?" Ruby said. "Her speed."

Sera's eyes widened. "Oh, so that's why! No wonder she was so strong!"

"Yep, and it would be great if I could be that strong too. So where do you think I can learn it?"

"You want to learn it...?" Sera asked in disbelief.

"That's what I said!"

"We-well, I'm not sure," Sera said. "But you might find something from old documents, old books, or anything that your ancestor left behind. I can't say they will be there, but that should be your best chance."

"Is that so?" Ruby asked.

Sera nodded, but Ruby kept staring at her.

"Wh-what?" Sera said, feeling uncomfortable being stared at.

"You can't use ancient Magic too, right?" Ruby asked.

"Of course not!" Sera said.

"Really? Even after you've read so many books?" Ruby pointed out.

"I didn't read to learn something like that..."

"What? So you read so much just for nothing?"

"It's not for nothing!" Sera said, displeased. "I might not have learned much about ancient Magic, but I've learned a lot!"

"Like what?"

"Uh... Um... It was... Uh..." Sera's mind went blank. She couldn't find something worthy as an example. She could say something like experiencing other people's point of view or learning more about the human mind, but she felt like that was impractical.

"It's fine," Ruby said. "I don't really care--"

"No! I told you, I've learned a lot!" Sera said, feeling a bit desperate. "I just can't think properly if I'm nervous!"

"Alright already," Ruby sighed. "Can you tell me more about ancient Magic then? Anything?"

"Uh... Let's see," Sera said, trying hard to think. "Well, this isn't exactly connected directly, but the language in the past was a little different from how we use it today. So even if you find some sort of hint, you might not be able to read it. So I recommend studying about ancient language like this." Sera picked a book from the bookshelves and gave it to Ruby.

Ruby opened the book unenthusiastically. She saw the last person who borrowed the book's name on the paper in the back of the book cover. It was Nova.

Ruby's interest immediately peaked. It's a fact that Nova had learned about Ancient Magic and she borrowed that book. It was a small connection, but Sera might be right. This book could possibly help her.

"Alright, I will borrow this book," Ruby said. "And do you have any other recommendations?"

"Ah, yes. I have finally found the book that contains information about ancient magic," Sera said, picking up a thick book with a golden cover from the bookshelves. "I have already told you the summary, but it might still be worth it for you to read it yourself."

"Alright," Ruby said, picking up the book that Sera offered her. "Is there more?"

"I think that should be enough for now," Sera said. "I don't think it's a good idea to pick too many books at once, especially if you're not used to reading. Usually, you will end up procrastinating and not reading any of it at all."

"Fair enough," Ruby said. In fact, she was kind of surprised that Sera was willing to use her perspective as someone who didn't read much. She expected Sera to force her to pack as many books as possible.

"Anyway, um... thank you," Ruby said, a little embarrassed.

"Ah, sure. Anytime," Sera smiled.

"But that doesn't mean I will let you get close to Aurora!" Ruby declared.

"You don't need to say that!" Sera retorted.

***