That Fits You Better, Brother
The next morning, the air at the Imperial Academy felt different from the usual.
The bell signaling the end of classes rang as always, and students poured out onto the vast plaza. Professors moved between lecture halls by grade level, but an eerie tension hung over every motion.
The murmurs were louder than normal. Whispers that should have scattered quietly now spread openly, impossible to hide.
There was one reason for it.
The council meeting from the night before.
Rumors had leaked beyond the palace walls that Crown Prince Kainar had purged numerous officials and nobles right there in the Sun Justice Hall.
At first, no one believed it. No matter how much of a wastrel or tyrant Kainar was said to be, no one thought he was the type to openly spill blood in a state council chamber.
But the rumors soon became official documents, reaching even the academy.
In the center of the massive plaza, a solemn imperial edict stamped with the imperial crest was posted. Students and professors alike held their breath as they read it.
This is an example and a warning. All shall devote themselves to the Empire.
Short, cold, and suffocatingly heavy words.
Below them were the names of the guilty. The lists of purged nobles and officials. And the fact that many of those names were tied to the families of academy students made the plaza fall even quieter.
Off to one side of the plaza, Second Prince Lucian Theodor von Solaríos stared at the edict in silence for a long while after reading it.
His face was as gentle and refined as ever—the image crafted for him as the ideal imperial among the noble youths. A soft, kind smile defined the young man.
But now, his expression was different. Frozen in disbelief. And beneath it, a thin sheen of cold sweat.
Gathered around him were the noble heirs and ladies who naturally stuck close—the ones called his confidants, or those who desperately wanted to be.
"Your Highness…"
Someone ventured cautiously, but Lucian pretended not to hear, eyes fixed on the edict.
He couldn't believe it. No, he didn't want to.
Many of those purged last night were key figures he could call his own limbs—core members of his noble faction. Outwardly loyal servants of the empire, but behind the scenes, the ones maneuvering to place him on the throne.
And they'd been swept away in an instant. By the hand of that damned wastrel crown prince.
That bastard… what the hell happened all of a sudden!
Lucian bit the inside of his cheek without realizing.
Anxiety clawed at his chest like a sudden assault.
What if. Just what if. Had the crown prince noticed something?
His collusion with the Necrovan Necromancy Kingdom. The forbidden ritual that had plunged his father—the Emperor Leoniel Kaiser von Solaríos—into eternal slumber.
That was a top secret known only to him and the Necrovan leadership.
No way Kainar could know. Impossible.
Yet the unease gnawed at him. Too many of his noble allies had died too quickly. As if he'd known each one's sins, killing without hesitation.
The Kainar that Lucian knew was just brutish and savage—not someone who wielded the blade with such precision.
I need to meet Uncle.
Ortes de Belloa. Current head of House Belloa, Lucian's uncle and the consort Violetta Arshien de Belloa's brother. One of the few in the empire untouchable.
And his mother, Violetta, needed to know too. No—she probably already did.
He needed time alone to think. This wasn't the moment for long talks with anyone.
As Lucian turned to leave—
"Lucian, brother dear."
A clear, chilling voice came from beside him. It was First Princess Astellia Mirene von Solaríos.
She stood unflinchingly in the plaza's sunlight. The imperial white hair and red eyes, her coldly beautiful face, and the faint smile at her lips. Elegant on the surface, but her gaze was razor-sharp.
"It seems most of the nobles you've been cozy with were purged by His Highness the Crown Prince."
The words were soft in tone, but blatant provocation.
Lucian's face twisted for a split second.
"…What are you trying to say, Astellia?"
"Nothing much. Just that it's a pity."
Astellia glanced at the edict and added, "I never expected the board to flip so suddenly."
That snapped Lucian's restraint.
"What the hell did you just say?!"
The entire plaza went silent. All eyes turned to the two royals.
Astellia slowly met Lucian's gaze without a hint of surprise.
"Yelling won't change the truth, brother dear."
"Shut your mouth!"
"That fits you better than me, brother dear."
Her voice remained calm. If anything, that made it more venomous.
"His Highness the Crown Prince has made his move. And most of your people got cut down. Getting emotional in this situation won't gain you anything."
Lucian's eyes flashed with murderous intent.
Astellia wasn't uninterested in the throne. She just knew better than to show her ambition.
And right now, she was subtly probing Lucian's anxiety and impatience.
She feared Kainar too. No, she had to. A savage, brutal man cold even to family. The disaster called a Sword Master. A force of nature.
That was Kainar.
Astellia knew him better than most. But that's why seeing Lucian sweat here was so intriguing.
Why is brother this terrified?
Hiding her curiosity, she left only a meaningful look.
Lucian ground his teeth.
No noble heirs dared intervene. The sharp tension between the two royals was too palpable.
Watching from afar, Serennia Rosalyn Edelwein clenched her fingertips lightly.
Luizel Marian Verde whispered breathlessly beside her.
"Purge… that's what it said, right?"
Serennia blankly stared at the edict again.
Purge. The word burned into her eyes with unnatural clarity.
Not mere punishment or judgment. Simply purge. The crown prince had swept away corrupt nobles and officials himself.
"Serennia."
Luizel called again.
"His Highness… he was scary before, but doesn't this make him even scarier?"
Serennia couldn't answer right away.
Scary. Of course. Always had been.
Kainar had always been terror to her. His gaze, his obsession, his power—he was a threat.
But now something else layered on top.
Yesterday at the academy, he'd been off. He should have come for her. Instead, he sought Aurelia. And last night, the purge in the Sun Justice Hall.
What is he thinking?
"Serennia?"
Luizel's voice snapped her back.
"Y-yeah."
"Why are you spacing out?"
"It's nothing. Just…"
Serennia shook her head briefly.
"Things seem bigger than I thought."
Luizel clicked her tongue softly.
"The whole continent's gonna flip now, not just the capital. If His Highness acts like this, the other nations won't sit idle."
Serennia nodded quietly instead of replying.
Kainar. The name wouldn't leave her mind.
Hated, feared, still incomprehensible—but not quite in the old way. The change unsettled her more.
At the same time. Deep in the White Citadel of the Gaia Holy Kingdom, an opulent reception room.
A fine white porcelain teacup sat by the window where thin sunlight filtered in. The room embodied the Holy Kingdom's restraint—elegant without excess. White marble, silver accents, faint incense rising, a silence that felt like ritual.
There sat the Pope and the Saintess, facing each other.
Urban 14th—Pope Mateus Elion de Saint Gaia—spoke first.
"Lady Seraphina, have you heard the news from the Solaríos Empire?"
The saintess lifted her gaze slowly from her teacup.
"Yes, I have."
Her clear, serene voice permeated the room softly.
"Many have died."
Seraphina Elione. The Saintess of Gaia.
Her beauty was too heavenly to call human. Silver-gold hair cascaded in gentle waves past her shoulders; her sunlit skin was glass-clear and flawless. Her eyes blended pale gold and blue in an otherworldly clarity. A face too sacred to meet directly, yet impossible to look away from—soft lines that never blurred, calm that drew you in.
Some called her God's blessing in human form. She shone that brightly.
Pope Urban 14th gazed at her briefly before speaking lowly.
"Back when Grand Light Emperor Leoniel ruled steadily, the world's order was far better than now."
Seraphina listened silently.
"No rash wars, no taut tensions between great powers. But since the Grand Light Emperor fell into that mysterious slumber and Crown Prince Kainar seized real power, everything changed."
The Pope's voice grew heavier.
"The empire expanded its territory, its military grew stronger by the day, its economy ballooned beyond others' reach. Solaríos is now a monster that even the Acreasia Alliance Kingdom and our Holy Kingdom together can barely check."
Seraphina quietly set down her teacup.
The empire was strong. Too strong. The reasons were clear.
Two Sword Masters: Crown Prince Kainar and Northern Grand Duke Cassius. Two 8th-circle sages, and most high-rank mages besides—all concentrated there.
The power imbalance was overwhelming.
The Alliance had one Sword Master, one each of 6th- and 7th-circle mages. The Holy Kingdom was similar: top holy knight Raphael de Saint Gaia, and herself as the pillar of holy power.
That balance barely held now.
Seraphina closed her eyes, then opened them slowly.
"Crown Prince Kainar."
At the name, the room's air subtly sank.
"We can no longer ignore his intentions."
The Pope furrowed his brow.
"I agree. But this purge is too radical. Is it internal cleanup, or prelude to greater war? We don't know yet."
"Then we must confirm."
The saintess spoke calmly. Then, as if struck by a thought, her eyes shifted faintly.
"What if we send an envoy?"
The Pope's eyebrow twitched.
"To the empire?"
"Yes."
"We're in ceasefire, but the distance isn't light. About 20,000 kilometers to the capital. The empire bans warps between hostile nations, and our airships can't cross their airspace. An envoy would take massive preparation and travel time."
"I know."
Seraphina met his gaze steadily.
"Still, I believe it's the best option now, Your Holiness."
"…"
"I'll go myself."
The Pope visibly stiffened.
The saintess going personally? Absurd. God Gaia’s most baptized, most holy-powered divine child entering a hostile nation?
Impossible.
"Lady Seraphina."
"I'll go to the imperial capital and gauge Crown Prince Kainar's intentions directly. The Solaríos Empire is the world's most dangerous variable right now, with him at its center. We need to know what he wants—and how far his thoughts reach."
The Pope's face showed clear opposition. Naturally. The saintess was the Holy Kingdom's symbol—second only to God Gaia. Sending her into the empire was too risky.
But she wasn't wrong. It was possible only because it wasn't wartime.
After long silence, the Pope sighed.
"I can't approve immediately."
"I understand."
"But… I'll send a missive to the empire at least once."
Seraphina bowed her head quietly.
"Thank you, Your Holiness."
And so that day, the ripples from the crown prince's purge spread beyond the academy, beyond the palace—to the deepest heart of the Gaia Holy Kingdom.
The world, unknowing, edged toward greater upheaval.