The Third Prince of Alitus
The Third Prince of Alitus, Windsor, was the third son of the current King of Alitus. According to Ruwina's memories, he was the full younger brother of the Crown Prince and served as his steadfast supporter and political partner. Since the Crown Prince, Ruwen, had appeared a couple of times in the anime, he remained in both Ruwina's and my own memories. After all, he was the one who had presented the trophy to Rendel after winning the Four Nations Friendship Tournament. But Prince Windsor was someone who didn't exist in my memories at all. Even if he had visited the academy like this in the original story, he never met the protagonist's group or showed himself separately. I'd probably understand once I heard why he had come here.
Prince Windsor had the delicate appearance of a scholar. I seemed to recall that he belonged to an institution researching Aindiums, and it wasn't simply because he was a member of the royal family that he had been selected. When I sat down facing him beside the headmaster, he smiled faintly and set down the documents he had been reading.
I couldn't remember exactly why, but Ruwina and Line had visited Alitus when they were young. Line, who had been fascinated by Aindiums from a young age, had pestered the then-cadet Prince Windsor with endless questions, causing quite a headache for the Queen of Karmanu who had accompanied them.
The one who answered my question was the headmaster himself. He stroked his white beard and chuckled warmly.
Windsor gave an awkward smile and picked up the documents he had set on the desk.
Windsor flipped through the documents and adjusted his glasses.
Windsor looked up at me. A sharp glint flashed behind his thin glasses.
In other words, Prince Windsor wanted to hear what the headmaster and I had to say about this incident. The other investigators had probably already questioned everyone else.
I hadn't done anything wrong, yet my heart was pounding and my body felt cold. Prince Windsor flipped through his documents as he asked his questions.
I felt a pang of guilt inside, but it wasn't as if I had no prepared excuses at all. Whether they would work was another question.
As a member of the Alitus royal family, Windsor seemed ashamed that the incident had become known to another country.
I raised my right hand, palm facing upward. Fairy Number Two, who had been helping me with mana training lately, glowed and revealed its presence.
Windsor narrowed his eyes with interest as he observed the fairy, then took out a notebook.
Assuming I was Ruwina herself, a new cadet at the academy, I recounted the events at Fairy's Hill and the recent attack. Given the nature of what had happened, there was quite a bit of distortion and many parts I deliberately omitted, but the explanation didn't sound strange. The story about the Limpid Fairy was replaced with the replica, and the attack I had known about from the original story was changed to the fairies sensing something strange a few days prior.
After hearing the full account, Windsor nodded slowly.
Whew. I had finally managed to deceive the strict Windsor. But his offensive wasn't over yet.
The replica we had created had been handed over to the Aindium research institute, and Windsor naturally knew about it. I asked in a slightly trembling voice.
Windsor once again fixed his gaze on me from behind his glasses. The sharp light in his eyes sent chills down my spine.
I tried to smile as if nothing was wrong, but Windsor continued calmly.
How had Windsor figured it out? A cold sweat ran down my back.
That Kirié. She had said she was confident, but it seemed deceiving an expert was too difficult after all.
With no other choice, I revealed the truth about the Limpid Fairy. I lowered the specs as much as possible to match the replica, but Windsor's interest in the real masterpiece didn't cool in the slightest.
No. If things continued like this, Limpi would be taken away without me being able to do anything.
Even as I climbed the hill carrying a bread basket someone had prepared, my mind was racing through every possible scenario. What should I do? Should I try to pass off the Black Fairy as Limpi? No, that's impossible. The Black Fairy had a more modern system than the replica we sent to the research institute. What on earth should I do? Should I just take Limpi and escape? Hit Windsor on the back of the head and pray he loses his memory? There weren't just one or two guards attached to Windsor, so directly harming him was impossible. Not that I had any intention of doing so.
Unable to find a solution, we reached the hill. Using the excuse that 'too many people would startle the fairies,' only the headmaster, Windsor, and I entered the top of the hill.
The school tradition remained the same from ten years ago to now. Windsor looked around the hill for a moment before entering the laboratory. All the data had already been taken out, and our CT Club was using it like a secret base.
Windsor picked up a coffee can rolling on the floor, tossed it into the trash, and headed toward the hangar.
Upon seeing the Limpid Fairy, Windsor let out a short gasp and stood there for a moment, observing the black Nimust. The headmaster and I stood behind him like guilty criminals, heads bowed as we stared at the floor.
Windsor nodded in satisfaction and climbed the ladder on the back wall of the Limpi.
Before I could stop him, Windsor opened the cockpit and climbed inside. A minute later, he poked his head out and shouted.
I switched places with Windsor and piloted the Limpi myself. After finishing the demonstration and climbing down, Windsor, who had been talking with the headmaster, approached me.
This was the first I'd heard of it. So the dark attribute was a mana that only manifested in the imperial bloodline of the Empire. No wonder there were no records in other countries.
I had obtained permission to use Limpi more easily than expected. But the condition that it was only during my enrollment bothered me.
This was the pattern where Limpi would be taken away as soon as I graduated. Even if we were allies, handing over a masterpiece was too much of a burden? Besides, Limpi wasn't even an Alitus product to begin with. Meister Carol had been loyal to my grandmother. There was nothing I could do. I decided to use the last resort I had been thinking about since earlier.
While Windsor was flustered at suddenly being called 'brother,' I approached him, clasped my hands together, slightly widened my eyes, and looked up at him.
Oh dear, it seemed the headmaster had caught a cold. Windsor made an indescribably complex and subtle expression.
Windsor stepped back in confusion, and I took a step forward. Come on, remember ten years ago. Turn back into the kind Brother Windsor from Ruwina's memories! Back then, Line, who was very interested in Aindiums, had called him 'brother' and followed him around, and Ruwina had innocently copied her. It was a term filled with old memories, but it would be burdensome for the now-grown Ruwina to call him that. I continued pressing with sparkling eyes and such excessive cuteness that it made even me sick to my stomach. Finally, Windsor turned his head away sharply.
Realizing I was deliberately teasing him, Windsor shook his head and quickly left the laboratory. Good riddance. Don't come back. As I waved goodbye to Windsor, the headmaster let out a sigh.
It must have been my imagination that the headmaster seemed to have aged a bit in that short time. Anyway, I had safely protected Limpi. I had even recorded the conversation just in case, so he wouldn't be able to say anything different later.