—Dragons attack, military academy students annihilated, school building in ruins.  Children did not return.

—Military academy principle vanished while searching for students.  Chancellor also injured.

—Home country ignoring Chancellor Maynard’s protests?  Shadow of military watching over the port.

Newspaper headlines conveying the changes that occurred over the past two days were posted on one of the walls of the cellar that had become a hiding place for the students.

According to the teachers, it was meant to serve as a substitute for propaganda lessons.

Lutiya muttered to himself, “Idiots, every single last one of them…”

Boring. Not a single one of them realizes they’re being made to dance like puppets. Yet every time he sneered at them, he feels like screaming, Then, what the heck am I doing?

“Hey, Lutiya, it’s our turn for watch.  Here, the lantern.”

Noin held out the lantern to him from the side as he absentmindedly stood up.  He had been acting like they’d been friends for years.  Lutiya snatched the lantern from his hand.

“I know, already.  You’ve been so annoying lately.”
“Then don’t be late.  And don’t be negligent with your preparations.  That’s what Jill-sensei has been telling us.”

Jill-sensei.

He froze at her name.  Noin, noticing, fell silent.  Even that reaction irritated him, but he held his tongue and set out to keep watch without a word.  He climbed the stairs, adjusted the pressure of his magical power, and opened the door to the outside.  What was once a kitchen was now a place where the night sky was visible.  The magic from the day before yesterday had swept everything away.

“…It completely changed, in just 2 days…”

Noin muttered as he stepped over the rubble. There were areas where the walls and ceiling barely remained, but the place was just as the newspaper headline said, in ruins.

“What, you’re getting sentimental now?  The signs were always there.”
“Signs… yeah, that’s true.  Lutiya, you’ve been avoiding Jill-sensei.”

He brought that up so abruptly that Lutiya stumbled on some rubble and almost fell.

“To be honest, I get the urge to avoid her too.  This whole Dragon Empress thing came out of nowhere… but more than that, even if I’m told Jill-sensei is a married woman, I just can’t process it.”
“Do-Don’t say that so casually!  It makes me think of weird stuff, you damn closet pervert!”
“Wh— You’re the one— no, that’s not it.  You, are you…”

A light appeared at the edge of his vision.  Lutiya pulled Noin by the arm and hid beside a crumbling wall.  Noin, knowing what to do, immediately extinguished their light.  Shadows and footsteps passed by on the other side of the wall.

“Roger-sensei, so this is where you were.  It’s rare to see you doing patrol.”
“Ohh, Jill-sensei is sharp as ever.  Well, I figured I couldn’t just leave everything to the students forever.”
“I see.  Actually, there’s something I’d like to ask you, sensei.”

Noin, looking relieved at hearing the cheerful voices of their instructors, started to rise.  Lutiya stopped him by grabbing his arm.

“I’ve already said all can, though.  Like how I got to know Hades.”
“…Thanks to that, I understood why His Majesty started saying I was his little sister…”

Noin, with a wry smile, criticized Lutiya wanting to eavesdrop.  He glared at him in return but didn’t say anything back.

“I see? Then, about what you want to ask.  Is it my true identity?”
“No, that’s not it.  It’s about His Majesty.”

His Majesty— the Emperor of Rave, Hades Theo Rave.  He was a brother in name only, there was no blood relation between them.  To Lutiya who was born after the man had been sent to the frontier, he was a stranger whose face he didn’t even know.

“I imagine him being called my older brother made him sulk.  I also understand why he joined the liberation Army— no, the Rebel Army.  But right before pushing Roger-sensei off, didn’t something happen?  He seemed to be acting strange for some reason.”
“Even if you say that, he was moving around briskly and looking grumpy the entire time, though.”

As if remembering something, Jill’s cheeks flushed.  She brought both hands to them, her eyes grew moist, and she even bit her lip.  It was an expression he hadn’t seen before.  Roger, too, stared at her in bewilderment.

Whether she noticed or not, Jill looked down and mumbled to herself in a whisper.

“—be… Being all clingy like that, he’s never done that before!  Seriously, His Majesty is such a pain.  He should just say it honestly!”
“Ri-right… uh, well, whatever the case, isn’t that something only you would understand?”
“Eh?”

Jill turned red all the way to the top of her head after a beat.

She’s acting just like a normal girl.  Lutiya scratched at the wall with his fingernails, the same way one unconsciously might at a scab.

“Ri-Right… I see.  Understood, excuse my strange question— why are you laughing!?”
“Ex-Excuse me.  It seems that the rumors of the Dragon Empress having the Dragon Emperor under her foot are true, after all.”
“He isn’t!  His Majesty doesn’t listen to a single thing I say!  Even this time, I looked away for just a moment, and he did whatever he wanted, honestly!  I asked Rho to contact him, but nothing, and Rho is being Rho and sulking!  And because of all that, I can’t just leave him… please stop laughing!”

“Sorry, sorry. Excuse me, the two of you are getting along well.  That feeling is love.”
“Is that so wrong!?  …Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to work so hard as a teacher when I have no experience at all.”

Those words that stabbed into Lutiya’s chest were cut surprisingly deep.  Unable to bear it, he stood up and quickly walked away. He suppressed his breath and presence as if fleeing.

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