Princess Lapis
Saycell Grace knelt with her head bowed and left the Grace family mansion.
The moon hung high in the sky. The full moon overhead brightly illuminated Saycell's blue hair. Her ponytail, tied low, fluttered in the wind.
As she considered whether to cut it, a servant from the Grace family approached her.
"Will you sleep in the room?"
"... No, I'll return to the academy."
She had to face her father, whom she disliked, due to the order to report directly on the Saintess every week.
Normally, she could have slept and gone, but she wanted to escape this irritating place as quickly as possible. This servant might be a spy sent by her father.
The Grace family mansion and the academy were far apart. Even by carriage, it would take two hours. Riding a dragon would be instant, but she didn't have the skill to handle a dragon yet.
Since she didn't want to take the carriage either, Saycell ultimately chose to ride a horse. The riding experience was uncomfortable, but not unbearable.
After all, Saycell wanted to immerse herself in the military. She was familiar with grueling tasks like horseback riding and marching.
She had originally planned to enter the academy, but did she really need to be sent away like this? Moreover, it was tied to the Saintess issue, making it troublesome.
The only good news was that she could somehow talk to Elijah.
Arriving at the academy after two hours, Saycell showed her academy student ID to the bewildered military soldier and passed through. And since it was early morning, the academy grounds were as quiet as if a mouse had died, except for the cries of insects and bugs.
Entering the special dormitory, after walking a short distance, Saycell's room, 801.
Although it was early morning before dawn, the special dormitory had no special controls like roll calls. Thinking to rest fully for a day on the weekend, she opened the door with the key.
When the door opened, before Saycell's eyes stood a girl with unfamiliar golden-blonde hair and azure blue eyes. And on the next bed, Elijah was sleeping soundly.
"... Who is it?"
From appearance, it was an academy student. She couldn't have come here to steal.
Then, why was she here? She knew the faces of all students in the special dormitory, but who was this?
The blonde girl remained frozen in the same posture as if playing ice tag. With a stiff smile, she said,
"My name is Therese... I'm Elly's friend."
"Friend?"
She had heard that Elijah had friends. Since Saycell was absent, they wanted to spend time together in the special dormitory.
It was probably good for Saycell... but.
Saycell's body trembled with emptiness.
"... Until now, I hadn't spoken properly, and when I left, you brought a friend as if it's natural..."
How many times had she talked to Elijah? She had always received short answers like "yes" or "no" and lived like that.
Perhaps Elijah really hated her. With that thought, Saycell knelt and despaired.
"Hah, haha. Goodbye."
"... No, wait."
At those words, the girl named Therese stopped with her foot raised.
"Where are you going? In the middle of the night. And this person isn't your friend, is she? ... Let's have a drink here before leaving?"
In front of a complete stranger, showing such impropriety made her a bit embarrassed, so she called her over and said anything.
"Ah... something came up."
"What?"
Then, the girl Therese tilted her head as if pondering. Not expressionless... rather, bland would be better to say.
'Strange atmosphere person.'
To Saycell, that was Elijah's first impression.
"Actually, the princess is here, right? I wanted to meet her briefly."
"Are you talking about Second Princess Lapis Cavan Valmara?"
"Yes."
Even if she was a friend of the Saintess, that didn't make her the Saintess. So, what was the reason this girl wanted to meet the eccentric princess?
A girl who hadn't lived in the stifling world between nobles and the Saintess, yet entered the academy.
Saycell felt a flicker of curiosity, but she held it back for now. After all, there would be another chance to talk. She was sure of that.
"... Princess Lapis stays on the top floor. No one enters, doesn't come down, and stays there all day."
You have to sneak in without being noticed by the soldiers. As she said that, Saycell smiled.
How she had entered early morning, climbing the wall, and met by Lapis holding a sword.
- I have a message I want to convey to the princess.
At those words, the princess twitched her eyebrows slightly, then stared at her intently. Her pure pink eyes swept over her body like scanning.
Her heterochromatic eyes were said to allow reading others' emotions. The special privilege of those with royal blood. Lapis was the one who inherited that most intensely.
That was the reason other nobles of the kingdom feared and avoided her. She smiled and lowered the sword.
"Not an assassin, it seems."
The smile so far was different, a bitter smile of an adult who had seen too much.
"Can't even lie with that blank face."
"Blank..."
Why did everyone say my face was blank or strange? As she touched her cheeks gently, Lapis chuckled.
"Interesting kid. Your face is half and half, so no need to worry."
A low, husky voice for a woman. However, that added mystery to her.
She covered her mouth and laughed softly. Then gestured to follow.
"So, what business did you come for? You didn't come here alone, did you? Did the Saintess tell you? Or that red-haired kid?"
How did she know about Ophelia?
"No need to be surprised. I just overheard some rumors."
Again, reading emotions. A troublesome ability, yet a convenient one.
Because she read Saycell's mind and knew she was not dangerous, she treated her so easily.
The wide terrace and the wide room seemed to have only Lapis. As expected.
She had fled from the kingdom to the academy. This was also a part that appeared in the original novel. The kingdom academy selected based on abilities, regardless of commoner or noble.
There were many nobles here because nobles had high mana values and academic knowledge, not because they selected only noble families. The academy was a group that valued honor and power more than the outward facade of nobles.
Therefore, it was difficult for anyone to enter, and there were many with strong beliefs not swayed by money or bribes. Even if someone entered, the academy with many strong people would be the safest place for the princess now.
The place Lapis guided her to was the round table. A large round table filled with numerous books and scrolls and miscellaneous items.
"Sorry. It's a bit messy."
"No..."
Although there was a large round table with twelve chairs, there were only two people here. With a strange feeling, she sat on the round table.
Lapis also sat on the opposite side and looked at her.
"You said there's something to tell, right?"
Instead of answering, she nodded.
"No need to be formal, so speak casually."
She could read emotions. Suddenly entering her personal space, without any displeasure, and saying she would listen, she was really not like a student.
The attitude of not believing she was the same academy student as her. In the original story, Lapis appears as 17 years old. It's not impossible to enter the academy even at that age. She just didn't flaunt it openly.
If it was the Lapis she knew from the original, she wouldn't think what she was about to say was nonsense. Thinking that, she opened her mouth.
"... In three weeks, on the Eve Festival day, monsters will invade the Central Plaza of the kingdom."
"………… What?"
Oops, too straightforward. Seeing Lapis make a face as if nonsense, she froze with a stiff expression.
"S-so, to explain in detail..."
She sweated and somehow gathered her words.
"…… To summarize, in three days, during the Eve Festival, dozens of intermediate-grade monsters will appear? But how I know is a secret, and who is carrying it out is unknown. Is that it?"
"Yes, that's what I mean..."
She lowered her head. That's why she hadn't spoken. She couldn't say she knew because she read the original novel.
So, even if she said it, most would call it nonsense. Even if they said she was spreading ominous nonsense and causing misfortune, she had nothing to say.
So, she was telling Lapis, who could read emotions.
"It doesn't seem like you're lying..."
Lapis tapped the table with her finger, as if thinking. After a long while, when enough time passed that she couldn't endure the impatience, she finally spoke.
"But even if your words are true, I can't help you."
"What?"
Can't help? What did she mean? She looked at Lapis with a bewildered expression.
"Why am I stuck here? Not wanting to attend classes? Being lazy? If it were that reason, how wonderful it would have been."
She gave a lonely smile.
"…… It's not something to say to a stranger like you. Anyway, I can't help. Instead, I can provide information."
As she snapped her fingers, a bundle of papers fluttered over. Staring at the paper blankly, like with a Haxport ability.
"Recently, missing persons cases have been occurring. The targets are children wandering around the slums without money or a home."
"……"
Missing persons cases? She had never heard of it before. But this world had no smartphones, news, or TVs. There were things similar to newspapers, but she wouldn't have seen them.
"First time hearing, right? The soldiers who went to investigate the missing persons cases also went missing, the church is silent, and the kingdom isn't asking about it either. Factually, there is no one investigating except me and my sister."
She handed a map to her. There were several marks crossed with red X there. There were various other symbols as well.
"The events I predicted will happen, and this incident has some connection... even if not, at least I can catch a clue... Isn't this the information you wanted?"
She received the map. Indeed, Lapis's words were correct.
Intermediate monsters didn't appear randomly. Summoning them required enormous mana and life force. The fact that missing people were appearing at this time could mean they were gathering sacrifices to summon monsters.
But with soldiers also missing, could she do anything? She had vowed many times to do anything to stop the incidents. However, when it came to actually taking action, she was afraid.
While sparring with Ophelia, talking with Haru, sleeping with Elly today, thinking that all the contents from the original novel were lies, she had tried to escape. Because she was afraid.
Why had she reincarnated as Therese in this novel? She didn't know, but she was a weak person.
Lapis, having read her expression, continued speaking calmly.
"Do you think it's dangerous? Suspecting that I'm shirking work by lying? If so, you can forget what happened here."
She looked at her with her sharp pink eyes.
"But the one who came to me, the princess called the eccentric of the kingdom, who is stuck in the room and not coming out, asking for help, is you."
She quietly listened to the words of the princess who had fled from the kingdom to the academy. In the original 'The Holy Knight Who Wouldn't Save the World', Lapis dies. To prevent the collapsing kingdom, she protects her sister and dies.
So, she could believe it. She could engrave in her heart the words Lapis was saying without dismissing them as nonsense.
Honestly, she liked Lapis's personality.
"Telling me this means you have something you want to protect, don't you?"
Elly, Haru, Ophelia. Dormmates. Many people living in the same place, even if she didn't know their names.
Reading the emotion in her eyes, she said in a slightly brighter tone.
"And, I never said not to do it alone."
""
After Therese left.
Lapis opened her mouth.
"Now you can come out."
"Understood."
Then, a woman who had been hiding in the shadows came out. Covered her entire body with dark cloth, so the age couldn't be precisely estimated, but she looked around early twenties.
"Give this letter to sister."
At Lapis's words, the woman in black clothes received the letter and disappeared.
Lapis Cavan Valmara. To the people of the world, it was said that she could read emotions, but in reality, it was different.
What she saw was the essence. The essence of a person. That was the proof that showed her humanity.
Therese was a girl like a clear, quiet lake. So, upon seeing Therese, Lapis trusted her immediately. Her eyes had never been wrong so far.
But the Saintess was different. On the day of admission, from afar, the moment she saw the Saintess, she could feel it immediately.
If Therese was a clear, quiet lake, then Elijah was the sea of the sun where endless storms raged. If there was a key to calm her, it would be Therese alone.
Please, may this peace continue. Even knowing that it might not come true, she wished for it so.