side. Anastasia (7)

My heart raced the moment I realized Allen had vanished from the dormitory. Despite the late hour, I hurriedly called for a carriage and raced toward our Royal Capital Residence. I had to see my father; I had to make him find Allen, no matter what it took.

I refuse to accept a goodbye like that.

Besides, I was the one who should have been held responsible.

As soon as I arrived at the estate, I sprinted toward my father’s study, ignoring every rule of decorum I had ever been taught.

"Father! Father! It’s Anastasia! Please! You must speak with me!"

I didn't care about etiquette. My behavior was utterly disqualifying for a daughter of House Ramslett, but I was too frantic to notice. I had this terrifying sensation that if I let things go, Allen would simply disappear forever—that I would never see him again.

The mere thought made it impossible to sit still.

"Ana? What is the meaning of this? Why are you here at this hour? I thought you weren't returning until tomorrow."

"Father, please...!"

I was practically incoherent, but I somehow managed to stumble through an explanation of the day's events. When I reached the part about Allen being forced into a duel, my father finally spoke.

"I see. I’ve been hearing reports for a while now that the boy had grown foolish, but to think it’s come to this. At this rate, maintaining the engagement will be difficult."

True to form, my father was already calculating the political fallout for the country. But I didn't care about the crown; I only cared about Allen.

"Never mind that! A classmate fought as my proxy against five opponents: His Highness the Crown Prince, Prince Claude, Marcus, Oscar, and Leonard! And he... he won! He defeated every single one of them! Please, Father, you have to save him! You can't let him be executed!"

Silence hung in the air for a moment before my father finally let out a voice of genuine shock.

"What? He defeated all five of them? Alone?"

"Yes! He is a genius—a man our country cannot afford to lose! Please, Father! I’ll do anything! Just... please!"

"Ana, compose yourself."

"Ah..."

As my father moved to soothe me, Sebas stepped into the room with tea. It was my favorite, the usual Earl Grey.

"It isn't like you to be this flustered, Ana. Just who is this boy who defeated those five? They are the strongest of their year, are they not? I doubt even the upperclassmen have someone of that caliber."

"His name is Allen. He’s a scholarship student."

"Allen? I see. So that's the one. He was a commoner adventurer, if I recall?"

"Yes."

"I see. Sebas, what do we know of this boy, Allen?"

"Certainly, My Lord. Allen is a young man raised in a single-mother household here in the Royal Capital..."

It seemed Father had already been investigating him. As Sebas began revealing secrets about Allen that even I didn't know, I felt a pang of guilt, as if I were voyeuristically stripping away his privacy.

"I see. The youngest C-rank adventurer in history, a dungeon conqueror, and a slayer of Goblins and Orcs. Impressive. And far from merely being at the top of his class, he’s the greatest genius since the inception of the academy's school system?"

"He is! And he’s diligent and possess such a likable personality! Oh, and he had been hiding his true strength—he’s a master of Wind Magic, enough to completely nullify the Crown Prince’s rampaging spell!"

I desperately tried to sell every one of Allen's virtues to my father.

"Good grief, Ana. It seems you're in no position to laugh at His Highness's foolishness after all."

"Pardon? What do you mean by that?"

I asked for clarification, but my father only gave a vague shake of his head and refused to answer.

Instead, he grilled me for every detail regarding the day's events before sending me to my room. He promised that Sebas would visit Allen's home the following morning.

Sebas will find him. I know he will. With that prayer on my lips, I finally fell into a fitful sleep.

The next day, Sebas brought Allen to the Royal Capital Residence. Father told me that he wouldn't be able to have a calm, rational discussion if I were present, so I was relegated to an observation room to watch the meeting alongside my mother and older brother.

I let out a long, heavy sigh of relief the moment I saw that Allen was unharmed.

The meeting began with harmless pleasantries.

Even so, Allen was incredible. Normally, anyone would wither under my father’s intense presence or resort to sycophancy, but Allen showed no such weakness. Even when Father thanked him for acting as my proxy, Allen remained perfectly composed, never speaking a word more than necessary.

Father must be very impressed with him.

Then, Father cut straight to the heart of the matter.

The things Allen said next were nothing short of shocking.

First, he confirmed that his farewell the previous day was indeed because he had prepared himself for expulsion. As if I would ever allow that. How could I?

Then, when he told Father that he respected me as a person for my single-minded efforts... I couldn't stop myself from grinning like a fool.

And while his comment about our difference in social standing was very typical of him, it also left me feeling strangely hollow for reasons I couldn't quite grasp.

But then came the real revelation.

Allen pointed out that if I had lost and been banished from the academy, it would have triggered a struggle for succession. He predicted that the Est Empire to the east would have used that internal chaos as an excuse to invade.

How could I have been so blind? What have I done?

I was awestruck by Allen’s profound foresight, but that admiration was quickly overtaken by the crushing weight of my own narrow-mindedness.

By rights, I should never have thrown down my glove, no matter what His Highness said to me. Because of my temper, I had forced Allen to clean up my mess, nearly costing this genius his entire future in the process.

I had spent so much time talking down to others about how a "noble" should behave, yet I was the one who had failed most spectacularly.

You're in no position to laugh at His Highness. My father’s words from the night before pierced my heart.

Overcome with a wave of agonizing regret, tears began to fall uncontrollably, staining the skirt of my dress.

The meeting ended with the promise that House Ramslett would become Allen’s official political backer.

Father asked if I wanted to see him before he left, but I couldn't possibly face him. Not like this. I couldn't let him see me as such an undignified, tear-swollen mess.

As I gave a small, silent shake of my head, Mother reached out and gently pulled me into a hug.