A Reason to Trust
"Is he gone? Hey, is he really gone?"
"...He has departed. You are watching him as well, are you not?"
The princess replied to Zenia's question with a faint smile.
"Phew, he didn't catch us, did he? He wasn't acting weird or anything, right?"
Zenia, having deactivated her invisibility magic, spoke while trembling.
"It does not appear so."
"Whew, I seriously thought we were doomed."
Wiping the sweat from her forehead, Zenia tilted her head up to look at the princess.
"Are you really okay with this?"
"Well, I find your reaction more puzzling. Why on earth do you fear him so much?"
"I mean, how can you not be scared? Sure, he might be nothing compared to me, but... he's the real deal."
Zenia still remembered the dark energy he had unleashed during the tournament.
"None of the dark mages I know have ever radiated dark energy that intense."
"I felt the same. But perhaps that is merely due to our own lack of experience."
"He must be some kind of arch-villain beyond our wildest imaginations."
"Could it not be that his hatred and anger serve as the source of his power? I have heard that is typically how dark mages operate."
"There's a limit to that, too!"
Although there was a vast gulf between dark magic and standard magic, Zenia was fundamentally knowledgeable.
Even if she did not wield dark energy herself, she was wise enough not to be deceived by his facade.
"He must have committed unspeakable atrocities. But do you know what's even scarier? We know absolutely nothing about him!"
"What of it?"
"We don't know! Even if Katarin committed terrible sins, at least we know what kind of crimes she committed and how she did them, right?"
"..."
"She probably slaughtered prisoners or criminals, or maybe she used her wealth to fund bandits and pillage civilians! That's the extent of it! But that man... ugh! I don't know! I don't know! We know absolutely nothing!"
Madness and magic were inseparable companions, and that held true even for a skilled mage like Zenia.
The princess watched the frantic Zenia with a relaxed smile.
"We don't know! What on earth did he do? Did he destroy an empire or something?"
"...Surely not to that extent."
"Actually, what if we're already dead because of his evil deeds? Maybe our brains are just floating in jars somewhere, trapped in an illusion that we're attending the Academy..."
"You are overthinking, Zenia."
"And you aren't thinking enough! You're a princess, aren't you? Have a little suspicion!"
Unable to contain her frustration, Zenia shrieked at the princess.
"Why?"
"Be suspicious! There's no way a guy that handsome 'coincidentally' gained immense power through his emotions and 'somehow' ended up helping you out of the goodness of his heart!"
"But I am a princess."
"Ugh... I've always hated how ridiculously confident you are!"
It was a harsh outburst, but it was just a typical exchange between the two of them.
"Even if you don't share my paranoia, his intentions are clearly impure. Putting everything else aside, shouldn't you at least worry about him trying to seduce you?"
"I have no such concerns. I know how to separate public matters from private ones. Besides, my father will choose a fiancé for me eventually."
"Go date someone already! Learn how a human heart works!"
As if the roles had been reversed, Zenia seemed to be spewing words just to vent her anger at her.
"Calm down. Have a cup of tea."
"N-no, I can't. The effects of this are too strong. I promised myself I'd only drink it when I'm working..."
Yet, whether her body was simply honest or she couldn't resist the rising aroma, Zenia's hand was already reaching for the teacup the princess offered.
"Ugh..."
With a soft slurp, Zenia's tongue touched the tea.
"Whew... okay, let's calm down. Calm down..."
"Yes, that is it. Good girl, Zenia."
"I'm not a child..."
Zenia pouted, but she did not flare up again as she had before.
"Anyway, that doesn't resolve my doubts. Why do you trust that man so much?"
"You heard me earlier. It is because I wish to believe."
"Because you... wish to believe?"
The princess smiled gently.
"As you said, he is quite handsome... and above all, is he not a dark mage with 'a soul'—one possessing both righteousness and resolve?"
"..."
"Before I entered the Academy, dark mages were merely targets to be eliminated."
The princess looked down at the sword she always carried.
A blade stained with countless lives, carrying a scent of blood that would likely never wash away.
"There was no need to listen to their excuses—their stories. There was no need to show them mercy, nor any reason to tolerate their breathing. I believed they simply had to be killed."
"But there are some dark mages in the Empire too, aren't there?"
"They had no occasion to meet me. None of them held a status high enough to dare look the Princess in the eye."
"True. Honestly, even if a dark mage lives law-abidingly, there's a limit to how strong they can get."
Not all dark mages were criminals, even if that was the common perception.
Some chose the path of dark magic to defend against foreign invaders, while others made the painful choice to defeat monsters.
However, they could never grow strong beyond a certain threshold. Having limited ways to accumulate malice meant their growth was fundamentally constrained.
"Furthermore, I have never seen any of them clearly define what is evil and what is good."
In the princess's eyes, cleared by the aroma of the tea, a deep-seated hatred was etched.
"Whenever I condemned and hated evil, they feared me instead of agreeing. Whenever I praised and encouraged good, they found the smallest flaws to criticize."
"Well, that's usually how it goes."
Zenia shrugged.
"They are merely cowards. It is a disgrace that the Empire must borrow their strength simply because we are not yet strong enough. I believed... they were beings that must eventually be eradicated."
The princess's anti-dark magic stance was already widely known. Her clashes with Katarin were entirely predictable.
"But he was different. He did not say anything grand... yet he was so ordinary. Both in how he spoke and how he acted."
To Yurisia, dark mages were nothing but demons in human form. They were evils to be slaughtered in as great a number as possible, or at the very least, excluded from her community.
Nevertheless, the rules of the Academy were absolute. No matter how high her royal status, she could not demand that all dark mages be expelled just because she wished to attend.
The princess had tried every measure to avoid sharing classes with them, but it was in vain. In the end, she had to bend her pride.
"And then, a dark mage appeared—one whom I do not need to hate, one whom it is safe to trust."
"Is that all?"
"What a joyous thing it is. I no longer have to hate every single dark mage, and I have found a friend I can rely on."
Zenia nodded. Yurisia was her long-time friend, but Zenia had always felt that the princess was a friend far too good for her.
It was not a matter of status. It was their character. Their humanity.
"I hated them because it was necessary. As a princess who must rule the Empire with goodness and serve as an exemplar to all its citizens, I had no choice but to hate them."
"..."
"But how painful it is to inflict suffering, to hate, to despise, and to harbor anger."
Despite the deep resentment etched into her heart, the princess did not enjoy it. She tried to avoid it whenever possible, and she was genuinely happy when she could.
"If he does not change, if Wade is truly someone I can trust... then I can protect this happiness. I wish to do so. I desire it."
She believed because she wanted to believe.
Contrary to her majestic bearing, she loved people more than a dog running with its tongue out.
She wanted to love. She wanted to laugh. She wanted to be of help to others and to be the source of their happiness.
"A good dark mage can exist. It is not the nature of dark energy itself that corrupts them. The evil I have seen in dark mages is merely the evil of the individuals..."
Taking a light sip of her tea, the princess continued.
"As long as I look at him, I can believe in those things."
Emotion was a more powerful motivator than anything else. That was why the princess trusted Wade.
"I... don't know. I'll just have to pray he doesn't betray you. Well, he did seem smart... and he probably has his own ambitions. Maybe I don't need to worry?"
Zenia tilted her head, looking worried.
"I can only hope so."
Wade was not the 'first dark mage' the princess had trusted. And he would likely not be the last, even if he were to betray her.
The princess trusted people all too easily, and she was betrayed just as easily. She simply chose to believe again and again, undeterred by the pain.
"Well, it's fine! If he ever gives our Yurisia a hard time, I'll teach him a lesson he'll never forget!"
Zenia clenched her fists, steeling her resolve.
Although the princess stood a head or two taller than her and exuded majesty just by sitting, Yurisia as a 'friend' was nothing more than a pure, fragile girl.
"Yes, I will rely on you."
Even so, her smile was beautiful. It was something worth protecting.