The watch deployed a screen before my eyes.
Noticing it was different from the Harem System's, I wondered.
Is this another interface?
Still aiming at Layda, I held steady.
[Basic Status Vision activated. Target: Layda Alaranne.]
[Loading...]
"Deactivate!" Layda shouted while running toward me. Her index finger traced white lines of Empero in the air.
Small lines, all heading in the same direction.
All aimed at my pocket watch, which I held raised.
Lowering it immediately, I watched the screen flicker.
[Error. No user detected.]
So I had to keep it aimed fixedly at the person whose status window I wanted to see?
Raising it again, I concentrated Empero to defend myself from Layda's attacks.
[Loading...]
The attacks were blocked. Layda had used little Empero to create those small lines, sacrificing quality for quantity.
She was clearly scared. Why would she be afraid of me seeing her status?
Time had to be bought somehow.
Layda started tracing new lines, larger ones this time.
Right then I knew I couldn't block them. But if I fled, the watch would stop working.
What to do?
Only one option remained: using my Empero type. I had to find a way to use it.
"Stop!" I said, imitating what Layda did...
But it didn't work.
Layda's Empero ability worked differently from simply speaking. Speaking was only one of the conditions to activate it.
The Writer's Empero.
Think, Dariel. You must find a way out of this, or else Lianza will be left alone in this unfair world.
[Loading...]
Running backward with my arm extended, the watch fixed on Layda, I ducked to dodge the first horizontal line without breaking my aim. The second came vertical; twisting my torso, I kept the watch pointed.
Whether I could keep up with Layda, I wasn't sure.
[Loading...]
"Drop that thing, Dariel Elcronne! You can't know!"
Layda was less than ten meters away.
She traced more lines again, smaller this time.
"Deactivate!" she shouted again, opening her notebook. "Hide. Cut."
Good. First she traces the lines, then gives the orders. If she doesn't give an order, like with the two lines she just threw at me, they only function as Empero launched in the form of a cutting slash.
So you wanted to trick me, Layda?
I advanced.
My sudden boldness made Layda pause for a second.
Time I took full advantage of.
Only using my Empero to defend myself, I pushed forward. While the cutting damage of those smaller lines was much less, without protecting myself with my Empero, I would end up with very deep cuts.
And although those lines were smaller, there were many more. Evading them wasn't an option. Charging through was.
But there was still a way to advance while shielding myself.
Having built the necessary momentum, I slid across the floor, trying to keep the watch always aimed at Layda.
[Analysis complete.]
Good!
[Name: Layda Alaranne]
[Class: Heroine]
[Level: Empero Lady Rank B]
[Ability: Empero of the E...]
"What's happening?" I said, not realizing the watch had shattered into pieces.
My fingers were bleeding.
"What happened?" I asked.
"It was a good attempt."
Layda opened her hand toward me and started concentrating all the Empero she could.
Immediately, I knew I would die if that attack hit me.
"What exactly is going on here?!" someone behind us exclaimed suddenly.
Layda looked up. And changed in the blink of an eye. The timid little smile returned. Her chestnut Empero retracted until it became invisible.
"Y-Your Highness," she stammered. "It's not what it looks like. I... I asked Sir Dariel to explain some things about Empero to me. I'm very inexperienced and he was showing me how it works."
"Elcronne! I told you not to go near her. I'm going to..."
Ardwyn looked at us. His gaze traveled from Layda to me. To her fading chestnut aura. To my bloody knuckles.
"Showing you Empero? Here? At this hour?"
"Y-yes. I know it seems strange. But I was afraid to ask a professor. I'm a commoner. I don't want them to think I'm overstepping."
Ardwyn studied her. Then studied me.
"Elcronne. What were you doing?"
"Explaining Empero to her," I said.
"You're not a professor."
"I don't need to be one to help a friend where I can."
Ardwyn creased his brow. His Empero began to flutter.
"She doesn't need help from a lowborn guard." He looked at Layda. "I'll teach you. Tomorrow. After my meeting. I could even give you private lessons."
Layda's eyes shone. Innocent.
"Really, Your Highness? You would do that for someone like me?"
Surprised by how well she acted, I had to admit this Layda truly was the protagonist of The Throne of Ashes and Thorns.
"Of course. It's my duty as heir to ensure that all students at the prestigious Mayorka Academy of Nobility and Empero receive the best education possible."
Ardwyn raised a hand toward Layda.
"How about I invite you to the events hall? The night is still young and I would be delighted to share a dance with you."
Layda nodded and let herself be taken by the arm.
He led her away.
As they walked, Layda moved a hand behind her back and showed me her middle finger.
This isn't over, Elcronne.
Left alone. Kneeling on the floor. With the broken watch between my hands, covered in the blood oozing from my knuckles. With a newly awakened Empero I barely understood, and the certainty that the woman who wanted to destroy Lianza was winning the prince as an ally.
[What a night! 🎭]
Standing up, my legs wouldn't stop trembling.
Walking toward my room, each step felt heavy. The end of the hallway was dark. The lamps had gone out from the commotion earlier.
Reaching my door, I reached into my pocket for the key.
And then I heard it.
A sob.
Coming from the other side of the wall.
Lowering my hand, I leaned against the stone. Sliding my back down to the floor.
Lianza was there. She had always been there.
Her crying wasn't the contained one I heard from time to time. This was open, desperate. I heard how she punched her pillow with her fist. The frustration of a princess who couldn't show vulnerability in front of others.
Closing my eyes, I listened.
[💭 You know...? I could comfort you. I have a catalog...]
"Let me listen to her," I whispered.
[🤐]
I stayed still. Sharing her pain through the wall that divided us. Crying with her, but without tears. Those had dried up long ago.
I had to be strong. For her. For me...
For us.
⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽ ☆ ☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅
END OF ARC ONE