Dungeon Raid (1)
The rumor that Theodore had been crushed by me in a single exchange tore through the Academy in a matter of hours.
When a swordsman counted among the South's finest prodigies was so thoroughly trampled by the North's Grand Duke-heir, the southerners couldn't lift their heads. The northern students, meanwhile, walked with their shoulders squared — the pride was visible from a mile away.
Among the rest of the student body, reactions toward Theodore were mixed. Those who'd always resented the way he strutted around waving his sense of justice like a banner openly mocked him, but since he wasn't a bad person at heart, there was no shortage of sympathetic looks either.
The gazes directed at me, on the other hand, were a tangle of awe and admiration, fear and wariness — and there were those who eyed me with interest, clearly itching to take my measure.
If there was a silver lining, it was that the first day of the new term had fallen on a Friday, and today was Saturday — a day I didn't have to care about becoming the subject of every student's gossip.
But even this peaceful weekend morning was shattered in an instant by a knock at my dormitory door.
"Your Grace, it's Bella. Forgive the intrusion."
"Come in."
The woman who stepped through the door no longer wore the indifferent expression I'd seen yesterday. Something resolute had settled over her features.
I sat at the edge of the bed and spoke quietly.
"So? What's important enough to drag you here at this hour on a weekend?"
Bella looked at me with a gravity I hadn't seen from her before.
"...I believe I understand Your Grace's intentions now. So whatever you do over the weekend, I will report none of it. If you need me to, I can even file a false report that you've been quietly keeping to your dormitory."
I raised an eyebrow at the overnight change in her attitude.
"Yesterday you said you'd serve as the family's loyal eyes. What made you change your mind so suddenly?"
Bella drew a breath, then began to speak as if confessing something she'd held for a long time.
"Your Grace may not remember, but the first time I saw you was five years ago. Back then, you always seemed overshadowed by your brilliant siblings — withdrawn, diminished. You tried so hard to look strong, but that frail nature of yours wasn't so easily hidden. ...So two years ago, when I heard you'd been the sole survivor of that horrific Wave... I simply assumed you'd been lucky."
Five years ago. That was before I'd transmigrated into this body.
The original Caelus had been frail, that much was true. He'd awakened after his older brother sacrificed himself to save him — the sole survivor — but in the end, he'd still fallen for Elysia.
"Yesterday, watching Your Grace's sword in the training hall... I couldn't even begin to imagine how a single person could hone himself so sharply in a mere five years. With willpower that formidable, there's no room left to doubt that your decision to break the engagement with Lady Florence is genuine. And you've surely already prepared thorough countermeasures for what comes next."
The truth was that the soul inside had been swapped out entirely, but Bella had no way of knowing that. From her perspective, it was more than enough to believe I'd carved myself down to the bone through sheer, brutal effort.
Well, I had stood on the front lines of a Wave — a mere taste of the Great Cataclysm — within a year of transmigrating. It wasn't as if I'd never tasted the North's bitter cold.
In the end, it wasn't my words that had convinced her. It was the power I'd spent three years cultivating.
Bella bowed her head deeply, then dropped to one knee.
I looked down at her and answered in a low voice.
"I won't give you cause to regret that choice, Bella. See that you live up to it as well."
I cleared my throat, then continued.
"In that case, I'll give you your first orders."
"Command me."
"First. Inform my mother that I wish to see her tomorrow. Tell her I have an urgent matter to discuss — she won't refuse."
A flicker of surprise crossed Bella's face, but she nodded.
"Understood. I'll convey the message to Her Grace the Grand Duchess. Your second order, please."
"Second. Find a place where I can meet Renee Belfort in secret. Somewhere that won't be caught by anyone's eyes — especially not the Windsor Merchant Guild's information network."
Her pupils trembled, just slightly. Then she bowed her head once more.
"As you command. I'll arrange a location immediately."
"That will be all. You may go."
Once I'd confirmed Bella had bowed and left the room, I pulled the communication artifact from the inner drawer of my desk.
I channeled mana into the blue magic stone. After a brief wait, Uriel's image projected into the air like a hologram.
"Your Grace...! I didn't expect you to contact me so soon."
She looked startled by the sudden call, but the moment she saw my face, a smile of genuine delight bloomed across hers.
I would have liked to keep talking, but I had too much to do before the weekend was over. I cut straight to the point.
"Saintess, could you obtain an entry permit for a northern dungeon?"
Uriel tilted her head for a moment, then nodded as understanding dawned.
"Ah — of course. There must be any number of eyes watching you right now. Requesting it in your own name would be difficult. I'll submit the dungeon entry request myself."
It wasn't unusual for the Saintess to visit the North periodically for monster subjugation or dungeon raids. Perfect for dodging suspicion and building an alibi.
On top of that, it was a dungeon whose danger and rank skyrocketed several times over once you actually entered — far beyond its registered grade. Ideal for quietly extracting the ancient relics and starter-investment magic stones sleeping inside.
"I'd be grateful, Saintess."
"Um... Your Grace."
"What is it?"
"We're the same age, and... when it's just the two of us talking like this, you don't have to be so formal... Could you call me by my name? The way you did at the banquet?"
She hesitated, shy, but her eyes sparkled with hope as she looked at me.
"That's not hard. All right, Uriel."
The moment I said her name, Uriel's pale cheeks and the tips of her ears flushed crimson. She cupped both hands over her burning cheeks, as if trying to hide them.
"Ah..."
Uriel took a small breath, as if trying to cool her overheated face, then asked me carefully.
"Then... is it all right if I call you by your name, too?"
"I don't mind. Call me whatever you like."
The instant permission was granted, Uriel rolled my name around in her mouth, tasting it.
"Caelus... Cael..."
She whispered it, then went scarlet all over again — this time covering her entire face with both hands. Even so, the corners of her mouth twitching into a smile between her fingers were impossible to hide.
"Contact me again as soon as you have the permit. I'll handle the preparations on this end."
"Ah, I will, Caelus! Don't worry...!"
I was about to cut the artifact's connection when Uriel suddenly remembered something and spoke up in a rush.
"Ah, and Caelus! ...The clothes you lent me at the banquet — when would be a good time to return them?"
She'd already fetched the banquet coat I'd draped over her, and now she held it up gently before the artifact.
"If you send it to the Grand Ducal estate now, it'll cause a scene... and there's nowhere decent to keep it in the dormitory either. Return it when the break starts. I'll take it with me when I head north."
I'd worried she might find it a hassle to keep the coat for so long, but Uriel's eyes curved into a soft, delighted smile as she nodded.
"All right, Caelus. I'll take good care of it until the break, then."
She smiled and waved through the projection.
"I'll let you go, then. I'll be waiting for your call, Caelus!"
"Yeah. See you later."
I withdrew the mana from the artifact. Uriel's hologram shattered into fragments and vanished, and the room settled back into its previous quiet.
After the call ended, I collapsed onto the bed and clutched his banquet coat to my chest.
I'd been listening to his voice only moments ago, and now I was breathing in the scent of him still clinging to the fabric. It felt as though he were right here beside me.
Just holding his coat was enough to bring back the warmth of that night. Wearing it around my room, or curling up with it in bed, had somehow become a secret habit.
I'd held it so often that my own scent had started to overlay his. I liked leaving my trace on it — and at the same time, I felt a pang of regret as his scent grew fainter.
At this rate, won't it just smell like me by the time I give it back...?
The thought alone made my face burn. What if, by the time I returned it, my scent had soaked in too deeply?
Should I cast a purification spell on it before I give it back...?
I rolled around on the bed, still clutching the coat, mortified — but then his low voice saying my name rose in my memory, and the corners of my mouth lifted of their own accord.
Caelus...
Just quietly rolling his name around in my mouth was enough to make my heart pound.
I'd met him any number of times in my official capacity as Saintess, but it had taken three years to reach the point where I could call him by name. That made the moment he'd said mine all the more precious.
Two years ago, after the monster Wave, when I'd collapsed reinforcing the barrier — of course I'd been happy that he'd taken care of me. But back then, I'd had to tell myself he was only looking after me because I was the Saintess. That he was a man with an engagement ceremony ahead of him. I'd had to crush those feelings down and lock them away.
A Saintess who must devote herself to all people cannot belong to anyone.
But the man at the banquet had been different. He hadn't looked at me as the Saintess... He'd looked at me as simply Uriel. One person.
In front of Caelus, I don't want to be the Saintess of all people... I want to be one woman.
Just one person.
In front of Caelus, and Caelus alone, I wanted to be a woman who could be happy, who could be sad — who could even be jealous.
The happiness lasted only a moment. The word jealous brought Elysia's face to mind, and my brow furrowed of its own accord.
How could she have him as her fiancé and still fool around with other men?
A filthy woman who'd offer herself to all the world...
Caelus didn't belong with a woman like that. But the closer I wanted to get to him... the more that woman's status as his fiancée grated on me.
I pulled Caelus's banquet coat tighter against my chest.
...At the very least, I hoped that to him, I would be remembered as Uriel.