The Princess's Choice
I tuned out the annoying voice of the royal guard assigned to me and crossed my arms, staring straight ahead.
…That was definitely an Ether Runaway.
The sight of uncontrolled ether surging wildly in every direction was crystal clear to the princess’s eyes. Not that it was possible to miss it. After all, that damned runaway was the reason she’d suffered so much without proper recognition.
The royal flame was as fickle as the personality of its first master, the Heavenly Martial Ancestor. It chose which descendant to bless and how powerful an ability to grant entirely on a whim… but the biggest problem was handling the power itself.
Those of the bloodline who awakened the Royal Flame became easily swayed by emotion from that moment on. They lost their calm and turned hot-tempered. Worse, the flames were dangerous to control—if not handled properly, they could harm the user and frequently triggered Ether Runaways.
The old fossils in the palace droned on every day about how only those who tamed the flame through endless mental discipline and practice could be recognized as true descendants of the Heavenly Martial Ancestor…
Try doing it yourselves. You think it’s that easy?
The princess knew she had a childish side to her personality. Whether it came from her ability or not didn’t really matter. She was a noble princess, after all—she could afford to be a little rude. But the moment she actually used her power, that cursed temper made her excited and impatient, rendering her unable to control her ether.
No matter how powerful the flames she could summon, it was meaningless if she failed to regulate them and fell into a runaway state.
From the first time she could use her ability until she entered the academy, Ether Runaways had always been her greatest obstacle.
But that girl…
When she first enrolled, she had heard there was a healer in the same class, but that was about it. No matter how rare healers were, the palace wasn’t without them. If she wanted, she could have as many healers willing to serve her as she could kick with her feet.
But she had never heard of a healer capable of curing an Ether Runaway.
Just the ability itself was astonishing, but Jeong Wol-ha also highly valued that composure. It was as if the girl had dealt with Ether Runaways many times before—approaching the target with minimal damage and achieving her goal instantly.
Even if her personality was disappointingly bland compared to her ability, the princess had planned to take her anyway. At this level, there was no need to hesitate.
“…That one has to be mine.”
“I still think flying through the sky is the coolest thing… Ah, what did you say, Your Highness?”
Completely ignoring Kim Yeon, who had been muttering to herself, Jeong Wol-ha stepped forward and glared at the ridiculously tall girl from Daeseong who was now looking down at the students.
While she hid her nervousness and focused, Wi Ha-yeon seemed to notice her gaze. She turned, the corner of her mouth lifting into a smile, and spoke.
“I will choose… Miss No Chae-a.”
“Yes, it will be my pleasure, my lady.”
Yes!
Leaving behind the sight of the bespectacled girl responding slyly to Wi Ha-yeon, Jeong Wol-ha cheered inwardly. Hmph. Whether she failed to recognize that girl’s true value or was simply confident she didn’t need her… the choice had now passed to her.
A certain person’s back appeared in her mind.
Someone born with overwhelming talent, who could wield the royal flame with perfect freedom. The only person who always greeted her with the same warm smile, even though she never revealed anything to her. The heir to Daehan and her proudest older sister.
If she could just stabilize her Ether Runaways, she would be able to use her power freely. Then her sister would no longer treat her like a child and push her away forever.
“Next, Jeong Wol-ha.”
Snapped out of her private fantasies by the teacher calling her name after Wi Ha-yeon stepped back, she walked forward.
When she turned to face the students, her eyes landed on that girl with the dazed expression.
Moderately long black hair and a plain appearance. Aside from being rather cute, she looked like any ordinary student you might find anywhere—but her ability was the real deal. Actually, it was probably better that she looked so ordinary.
After all, she wouldn’t dare refuse a princess’s proposal. She would probably be so overjoyed by the honor of serving alongside royalty that she wouldn’t know what to do with herself. Commoners still held fantasies about the royal family, so she just hoped the girl wouldn’t get too clingy.
Jeong Wol-ha stared at the girl, who was making a stupid face as if lost in thought, then shouted with eyes blazing like flames.
“I…”
Huh? Huh?
Huuuuh?
What the what what what?
I, who had been spacing out while waiting for my turn, snapped back to reality in shock. I had been a little worried when Wi Ha-yeon gave that meaningful smile, but she ended up picking someone else and I felt relieved. I never expected the princess to drop a bomb like this.
Well, thinking about it, I guess it makes sense. From the princess’s perspective, she could just think, ‘I’m second place, so I’ll just pick the highest-ranked support-type student.’ I had assumed she would pick one of the students sitting with Wi Ha-yeon’s group, but…
Ugh, what on earth would she even use someone like me for…?
My brain felt like it was overheating.
“S-Seol….”
Na-rae, sitting next to me, shook my still-frozen self with worried eyes. Ah, I was spacing out and not saying anything again….
I could feel the other students staring at me with strange looks. Ack, this is so uncomfortable.
I tried not to make eye contact with anyone and sneaked a glance at the princess. She seemed angry that I wasn’t answering. Her eyebrows were furrowed, and she was glaring at me with a terrifying expression.
C-calm down.
R-right. This isn’t the Great War era anymore… there’s no need to be so nervous. The princess is just another person like me….
I swallowed hard, lowered my head, and spoke.
“I-I’m sorry.”
“…?”
A silence like a bucket of cold water fell over the auditorium. The students, who hadn’t quite grasped what had happened, began whispering among themselves after a few moments.
“S-she must be crazy! To dare refuse the princess…”
“If it were me, I wouldn’t be able to refuse even if I was scared of that death glare…”
“…Hehe.”
I slightly raised my head and peeked through narrowed eyes, trying not to be too obvious. Ah. I’m screwed.
“…!”
She was pissed. Really pissed. Even without using her ability, the princess’s face was burning bright red, as if it would swallow everything around her. Kim Yeon was fidgeting, alternating glances between me and the princess with an expression that clearly said ‘How dare you…!’
Na-rae grabbed my arm, trembling beside me.
“S-Seol…. W-why did you do that…?”
“Umm….”
Even if you say that… I hate being the center of attention, I hate getting involved with important people, I’m not planning to join the Royal Guard after graduation or anything… and honestly, I don’t really care about grades or any of that. I didn’t even want to come to the academy in the first place.
Thinking that way made the pressure feel a little lighter. Yeah, let’s be confident. It’s perfectly fine to refuse.
I turned away from Na-rae and looked straight ahead.
“…! …! …!”
Never mind. This is incredibly stressful.
“If you’ve been rejected, just pick someone else and move on. Let’s finish this quickly so we can go eat.”
Even after the teacher spoke while scratching his head in annoyance, the princess continued fuming for several more seconds. Finally, she seemed to calm down, composed her expression, and spoke.
“…I choose Han Je-ha.”
“Yeees…. Your Highness….”
As I listened to the sleepy-looking female student answer in a drowsy voice while yawning widely, I kept my gaze lowered, avoiding eye contact with the princess at all costs. If looks could kill, I would have died about five times by now.
She’s not secretly setting me on fire with her ability, right? Her gaze feels so hot….
Whatever. The milk’s already spilled. Let’s not overthink it. There’s no turning back time now….
I deliberately looked away as the princess stormed back to her seat in anger and pretended to be distracted.
“Next, Baek Seol!”
…Oh right, it’s my turn immediately after. I wasn’t expecting this kind of dramatic effect….
The worry that choosing someone right after rejecting the princess might earn me too much resentment flashed through my mind, but the teacher—who either didn’t know my feelings or didn’t care—called my name without mercy to move on to the next step.
“Wow, who could she possibly be teaming up with to turn down the princess…”
“Doesn’t she already have offers? With an ability like that, every guild would be drooling over her…”
Even as that happened, the excited students around me kept throwing out all sorts of comments about me. This is harder to endure than I thought….
The situation where everyone was staring at me, whispering, and talking about me… Some people might enjoy this, but I absolutely hate it. Please stop….
…At this point, I might as well finish it quickly. The sooner the better.
Ignoring the surrounding gazes as much as possible, I stepped forward. Avoiding everyone else’s eyes, I looked at only one girl and spoke.
“I…”
I can’t hear anything. I can’t see anything. I can’t hear anything… I can’t see anything….
After gaining courage through self-hypnosis, I finally managed to finish my sentence.
“I’ll team up with Yu Na-rae!”
The last part came out as a high-pitched scream, but once I finished speaking, a sense of relief washed over me.
However, along with that relief came a chilling silence.
“….”
For a moment, all the students lost their words. They either looked at the person next to them, at me, or at the princess. Not many people actually looked at Na-rae… probably because they had no idea who she was.
Someone pointed at the electronic scoreboard and started whispering, and the hall quickly filled with noise again.
“…Who’s Yu Na-rae?”
“F-rank? She turned down the princess to team up with an F-rank? Puhahaha!”
“Isn’t that quite a bold choice? Hohoho!”
…The princess must be hearing all of this too, right? I don’t even dare look in that direction….
“Your Highness! The fire! The fire! P-please calm down!”
“Kkuk… kick… kikik… I got rejected by an F-rank…. Kkukuk…”
…I probably shouldn’t look. Yeah. Let’s not look…!
Um, the important thing is Na-rae.
I quickly came to my senses to check on Na-rae’s condition.
…Where my gaze landed, Na-rae was staring with her eyes wide open in shock, her hands trembling violently. When our eyes met as she pointed at herself with a half-checked-out expression, I felt like I could hear her inner voice.
I-it’s really me…?
I pushed the image of a rabbit that had escaped its cage only to be caught again out of my mind and thought, I think I might have done something terrible to Na-rae….