“Pretending to be a prince and acting all high and mighty… But when a pretty girl shows up, he switches sides. Being a prince isn’t all that impressive, you know?”

Rex, who casually draped a massive greatsword over his shoulder, approached Drea with a smug smile.

“Well, yeah. Sixteen years old, isn’t it? Can’t blame you for not being able to keep your cool. You’re still young.”

As he spoke, a stubble appeared on Rex’s chin as he lifted his chin.

If he’s going to grow a beard, he should trim it properly. Why does it look like that…

Drea glanced at Rex resentfully and quickly turned her head.

She didn’t want to retort to such words.

“Hey, you albino! Where are you going? I haven’t finished talking yet!”

“Who are you calling an albino? If you annoy me, I’ll burn you to a crisp, you know?”

Drea glared at Rex menacingly, making her intentions clear.

Rex flinched in surprise, then straightened his shoulders and spoke as if he had never heard that.

“Don’t like being called n albino? You’re cute, though. Well then, Drea. Stop fussing around and just give up.”

What is he saying? Seriously.

Drea pretended not to hear and changed her footsteps.

Rex, or maybe it was Rax, followed her.

“To be honest, it’s impossible for a prince to be associated with you. No matter how fond they are of you in the royal family, he’s a prince. A prince. But what are you? You’re not even a noble.”

Ah, he’s so noisy.

If only I could use magic to mute him…

Drea once again felt the preciousness of magic and moved forward with determination.

“What else is there to see besides the prince’s face? Your personality isn’t all that great either. I’m afraid you’ll ruin the country like this. And speaking frankly, it’s the same for Queen. Why send someone who doesn’t attend classes to the academy? He’s always creating an intimidating atmosphere from behind with his expressionless face.”

“…Stop it, you.”

“Well, since his personality is lacking? There’s a professor there, so why don’t you go to class?”

Shaik’s non-participation in classes was at the request of the professors.

Everyone was intimidated by Shaik’s skills, which surpassed their own.

Despite this, they didn’t want him to leave the academy because they wanted to become the teacher of such an outstanding person.

Although the situation with Shaik had become bothersome, he always complied with the professors’ requests without complaining.

There were even times when the professors called him separately and asked various questions.

They respected him, saying that calling his swordsmanship skills at the age of only sixteen remarkable, and they even sought his advice.

‘I don’t even know…’

Drea stared at him with narrowed eyes.

Rex didn’t stop his blabbering.

“A man who can’t be kind to his own woman is trash. Although there wasn’t a courageous person to say it at the academy… honestly, the prince’s personality is garbage.”

What? Trash?

A spark ignited in Drea’s eyes.

Shaik had a rather blunt personality, but he had never done anything to deserve being called trash.

Moreover, wasn’t he the prince of this country?

Even though everyone in the academy claimed to strive for equality, Rex, one of the Queen’s subjects, openly insulted the future King by calling him trash!

“That’s a big mouth you’ve got there…!”

Snap!

“Ah!”

Drea’s hand finally exploded, striking the back of Rex’s head.

Already in a bad mood, she couldn’t bear it when a bearded fly came buzzing around, worsening her mood even further.

“You’ll regret it today, I’ll give you a taste of my fist.”

Determined, Drea’s hand ruthlessly struck Rex’s head and neck.

Even if she couldn’t use magic, she was quite a skilled fighter.

She had learned many martial arts from the countless dragon uncles at the Dragon Sanctuary.

“You… You just hit me?”

“Well, yeah. The uncles called this a preemptive strike, didn’t they?”

“T-This is…!”

Eventually, a brawl began.

At first, Rex tried to evade Drea’s harsh touch, but he couldn’t escape her consecutive blows and retaliated.

Gender distinctions were almost non-existent within the academy, especially in the swordsmanship department.

In this way, Rex and Drea fought without weapons, engaging in close combat for almost an hour.

In the end, Drea emerged as the clear victor with overwhelming strength, but both of them were heavily injured.“Heh… heh… You, you… If you dare mess with me again, I’ll tell the Ministry of Magic that I lost to you in combat. Got it?”

“T-This…!”

“Don’t live like that. Huh?”

“I-I said those things because I was thinking about you!”

“Who is thinking of whom? Ah, forget it. If you dare to wink at me once more… I’ll get you!”

Drea threatened Rex, her pretty pink eyes sparkling.

Hobbling on his broken leg, Rex quickly fled.

The sky had turned into a sunset without notice.

A cool breeze gently brushed over Drea’s face, lying flat on the ground.

“…Airo?”

Bang!

A small air spirit resembling a puppy licked her swollen cheek.

A refreshing wind passed by her torn nose bridge.

Drea sighed deeply and absentmindedly looked up at the reddening sky.

After venting her frustration with Rex, previously bothered by Shaik and Ena, she felt relieved. However, one problem arose.

“Ah… I can’t even use healing magic. What should I do about this face?”

She couldn’t enter the palace or go to the Mage Tower looking like this.

Allen Papa would go crazy, and Derek Papa would scold her endlessly.

If she went to the palace, Kalia would be surprised…

And if someone asked why they fought, she wouldn’t have anything to say.

‘We fought because I got angry after insulting Shaik!’

There was nothing she could do.

“We had breakfast together on our birthday… We were definitely going to have dinner together tonight. Ah, what should I do?”

For the first time in 16 years, it seemed she would spend her birthday morning alone.

“Sigh…”

Somehow, it felt like it would be a sad birthday from the beginning.

* * *

Unless there was a special occasion, Kalia, Simon, Shaik, and Drea used to have dinner together.

Especially during weeks with family events.

To Kalia and Simon, Drea was already family, and Drea’s birthday was an obvious family event that they had to celebrate.

“Where did Drea go?”

That’s why Kalia couldn’t help but sound puzzled when she saw Simon entering the dining room alone.

Shaik, who thought Drea would be inside the dining room, also paused at Kalia’s question.

“…I thought she would be here?”

“Didn’t you come back with Drea?”

Shaik nodded briefly with a stiff face in response to Kalia’s question.

“I had other matters to attend to, so I came separately.”

“Oh, I see.”

Kalia called for chamberlain and told him to bring Drea.

When chamberlain returned, he looked troubled and spoke with a troubled expression.

“Drea hasn’t returned yet.”

“What…? Didn’t she say where she was going?”

“No. I didn’t receive any specific message.”

Upon hearing the conversation, Simon summoned the spirits.

Since the Wind Child often accompanied Drea, he thought of asking the child.

Bang!

Appearing soon after, Airo gave a wag of its tail and circled around Simon’s feet.

“If you know where Drea is, please call her, Airo.”

Bang!

Airo responded energetically and quickly disappeared.

Before the entire meal was served, Airo reappeared.

With a gloomy face, it lowered its head.Seeing that, Kalia and Simon looked at Shaik with puzzled expressions.

“Shaik, is there something wrong with Drea?”

Drea had never missed a dinner without contacting them.

Because there weren’t many occasions throughout the year where the family gathered for dinner, it was even more unusual.

That’s why Shaik was more surprised and at a loss for words by his father and mother’s question.

He also didn’t know why Drea had missed the dinner gathering.

‘Is it because of earlier?’

Shaik belatedly recalled that Drea was about to say something to him at the Academy but stopped.

He thought it was just a casual conversation like going out to play or what to eat, so he didn’t pay much attention…

He was so preoccupied with the sight of Ena, who had the face of his lover Anna, limping in front of him that he couldn’t hear clearly.

‘…Could something be wrong?’

Shaik tried to recall Drea’s face but couldn’t remember anything.

Then, at Kalia’s belated words, Shaik suddenly raised his head.

“This is strange. She was so excited since morning because tomorrow is her birthday… I was thinking of spending some time together tomorrow.”

Birthday…

Finally, Shaik could easily imagine what Drea was trying to say.

‘She probably wanted to do something together since it’s her birthday tomorrow.’

Since then, Shaik couldn’t seem to focus on the meal.

The steak on the plate emitted a tantalizing aroma, but a corner of his heart felt uneasy.

‘She really likes this dish.’

When he remembered that it was Drea’s favorite, his appetite vanished even more.

Although he acted indifferent to Drea on a regular basis, Shaik usually treated her well around her birthday.

The mealtime, which had become silent without Drea’s presence, came to an end.

Even after returning to his room, Shaik continued to feel uncomfortable.

“…Well, she’ll probably show up tomorrow morning, making a big fuss about it being her birthday.”

Even if he tried to convince himself not to worry, there was an uncomfortable feeling lodged in one corner of his chest.

No matter how much he thought about it, it didn’t seem like he had done anything wrong…

While observing the swordsmanship, Ena accidentally stepped on Shaik’s foot and stumbled.

As a result, she sprained her leg, and Shaik couldn’t just leave Ena alone, so he supported her and went to the infirmary.

During that process, was there something he had done wrong to Drea?

No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t come up with anything.

“But why am I so worried?”

Shaik, who got up from his bed and rubbed his head.

He had been glaring at the door for a while, then suddenly got up and walked out into the corridor.

It was already past midnight, and it was time for him to wash up and go to sleep.

Seeing how quiet it was, it seemed like something was indeed going on.

“…Alright, I have to say something. It’s rude to keep our parents waiting and come in late without a word.”

With a somewhat determined face, Shaik strode through the corridor.

There was a certain cunningness in his expression, which was that of a boy.

Shaik knocked smartly on Drea’s door.

There was no sign of any movement from inside.

Thinking it was strange, Shaik awkwardly cleared his throat.

Come to think of it, it was the first time he had knocked on Drea’s door at this hour.

Drea’s absence from dinner was an odd occurrence.

Once again, Shaik lightly tapped the door and called Drea’s name.

“Drea.”

At this point, he should have expected Drea to come rushing out.

But he couldn’t sense any signs of her presence at all.

‘No way…’

Feeling a chill in one side of his chest, Shaik opened the door.

It was a dark room.

Through the slightly open window, fluttering white curtains could be seen.

Between them, the moonlight, fragmented into small pieces, illuminated Drea’s room.

Shaik’s face stiffened.

Drea didn’t come back.