"Was she Asella's personal physician? Gor, what was it?"
Georg openly ignored me as he muttered.
I gave him a fresh smile and answered.
"It's Gotberg. I'd appreciate if you remembered that from now on."
"So, what were you thinking, daring to speak without being called upon and interrupting the viewing? Can't Asella even properly train her subordinates?"
I stood with my hands behind my back and asked him.
"You watched the Princess's magic demonstration. Do you understand what problem occurred just now?"
"What? Well..."
Georg furrowed his brow.
He probably doesn't understand magic and was just pleased based on the Emperor's reaction.
"There are several types of spatial magic."
First Princess Heike, who had been quiet until now, spoke in a low voice.
"For instance, Bringer cannot retrieve items owned by others, and Summon can only call forth contracted spirits. What Asella showed was an entirely new magic."
Heike glared at me sharply.
"Physician, do you understand what makes that magic dangerous?"
I answered, hitting the core issue.
"It's magic that can instantly bring any living creature to the caster's side. The important point is that it brings living beings, not objects."
"You have the proper education befitting a physician."
Heike nodded.
"Imagine if that magic became commonplace. His Majesty the Emperor could be kidnapped from an enemy nation, putting the throne at risk."
Upon Heike's explanation, Lauga nodded as if she finally understood. Heike continued.
"Moreover, what she summoned was a red dragon hatchling. A monster that only inhabits the middle realm. The range must be incredibly vast."
Heike shot a resolute look.
Emboldened, Georg swept back his hair and boasted.
"Right, that's what I'm saying. What would happen if Asella were to betray the Empire?"
"The Princess is a member of the imperial family. The only ones she would betray are..."
I emphasized firmly.
"Ruffians who speak frivolously without knowledge."
"Pfft."
Lauga burst into laughter at my mockery. Georg, not understanding, looked around at others.
"What are you saying?"
"I'm referring to myself. The Princess often scolds me for my frivolous attitude. But, Your Highness."
I stepped forward.
Very close to Georg.
I speak in a voice only Asella's siblings can hear.
"Is that attitude appropriate? There's no guarantee that Lord Falkenhain will always be by your side when you suffer a fatal injury."
Georg's expression hardened as he finally grasped my intention.
He revealed cold anger.
"Is the Imperial Physician threatening me?"
"Not at all. I'm merely offering advice out of concern for Your Highness's well-being as your physician."
I slyly impress upon him.
Neither Asella nor I are of a rank to be mocked by you.
"If our Princess uses her new magic, Your Highness could disappear without a trace. Don't you understand why the other royals are keeping their words measured?"
"What?"
Fear briefly flashed across Georg's forehead.
Asella's Recall magic.
Using that, she could instantly summon and assassinate anyone on the continent, regardless of what protection they have.
Georg was somewhat intimidated, but he wouldn't back down that easily.
If anything, I'd just fanned the flames.
"This is insolence. Physician, I'll have your head right now."
"Me? I don't recall making any disrespectful remarks or actions toward Your Highness."
"You just did! You dare threaten me, a Prince of the Empire, with my life?"
"Oh, did I? Princess Lauga, would you testify whether I made any disrespectful remarks?"
Lauga, who had been giggling while watching our fight, answered.
"Hmm, I'm not really sure?"
"What...! No, but there were others who heard—"
Georg looked around and gritted his teeth.
The only ones who heard my remarks were the other heirs, all Georg's enemies.
They have no reason to cooperate with him.
"You, you...!"
Georg points at me with his finger, veins bulging in his neck, but there's nothing else he can do.
It's a peculiar situation where I can attack an enemy while in the heart of enemy territory.
Georg's attack-dog temperament needs to be subdued.
"The Empire's destruction bad ending occurs because of Asella's hatred for the imperial palace."
I need to remove any immediately irritating elements.
"Like physician, like princess...! Ha, Asella is that witch's daughter after all. People seem to be betting on Asella becoming the next Emperor, but that will never happen even if the world turns upside down!"
Wow, is that so.
"Soon the price for the talent implanted in Asella will devour her! When the Wolgwang Palace falls, I'll surely have your head too, physician!"
I heard something slightly concerning.
Come to think of it, Georg knew about the second magical talent implanted in Asella.
"Hmm, you mean the Princess's price."
"Yes! It's that witch's curse. She's destined to self-destruct without anyone needing to intervene! You fool."
I'd like to hear more about this.
As I was thinking about how to continue the conversation...
—Whoosh!!
The sky darkened.
A huge shadow covers us.
"What...?"
Georg looks up in confusion.
Trumpet sounds and urgent cries are heard.
"Enemy raid! Enemy raid!!"
The audience seats instantly turned into chaos.
Knight guards rushed in to escort the princes and princesses out, regular knights entered combat stance, and physicians and attendants got tangled in the commotion.
I don't know exactly what's happening, but this seems like the right timing.
"Your Highness, it's dangerous! Take cover!"
"Ugh?!"
Before the knight guards arrived, I lunged at Georg. Pretending to protect him, I embraced him and fell to the ground.
—Thud!
"Ouch!"
[Diagnosis activated]
[Injury status: Contusion]
[Injury location: Back of head]
I unintentionally tackled him. Georg hit the back of his head hard on the ground.
I'll apply medicine later.
Our figures are lost in the crowd.
The knight guards will find us soon, so we don't have much time.
I hold him down with both arms, and he can't move. He was as physically weak as I am.
"Aagh! You, you madman!"
"Your Highness, if you answer just one question, I'll put in a good word about you to Princess Asella."
"What! What question?!"
Judging by his immediate response, he must be quite afraid of Asella deep down.
The chaotic situation has caused excessive adrenaline production.
"How was the magical talent injected into the Princess?"
At my question, Georg split his lips in a grin.
"Hahaha, you're her physician and you don't know? Asella was created as a magical weapon from the beginning. I saw it myself when I was young. That's why she's not fit to be Emperor!"
"How was she created?"
Georg, adrenaline rushing to his head, exclaimed excitedly.
"They put it in her. Empress Camilla used black magic to insert the great witch's soul into her womb! Thanks to that, she inherited both talent and curse!"
So that's what it was.
I wondered why Georg particularly mocked Asella—it seems the black magic ritual he witnessed as a child left a strong impression and frightened him.
He wants to hide his fear but also needs to stay on Asella's good side since he doesn't know what she might do, which is probably why he's been providing financial support to Wolgwang Palace.
"Thank you for your answer. Please evacuate safely."
I grab Georg's collar and pull him up.
"Prince Georg is safely here!"
I hand him over to the knight guards.
One secret has been solved.
Asella's magical talent wasn't entirely her own.
"Black magic, huh."
Demon magic.
That curse must be why my diagnosis couldn't detect it.
Well, I'll set aside the details for now.
First, I needed to find Asella.
***
After finishing her magic demonstration, Asella bit her lower lip.
Her hands gripping the staff tightened unconsciously.
"...Ugh."
Pain struck simultaneously.
In her abdomen, lower left side.
4th Circle high-level magic. It required too much mana and concentration for Asella to use.
When she used too much magic, the price of her talent would overtake her like this.
The pain made her thighs tremble, feeling like she couldn't move.
"...But if His Majesty gives me a high score."
It would be worth enduring.
Asella looked toward the Emperor in the distant audience seats.
An old man she had never had a private conversation with since childhood, whom she was lucky to see once a year.
Someone she only knew intellectually as her father.
From the movement of his lips, she could easily tell what impression had escaped.
—She's a monster.
The Emperor who had been looking down at Asella shook his head and returned to his conversation with the princes.
"Is that all?"
Asella lowered her gaze.
To the audience seats where the other princes and princesses sat.
Georg, Lauga, Heike, Gunther.
Everyone feared her.
She thought that by showcasing a new magic, if not praise, she might receive some recognition.
After practicing, repeating, and working so hard.
After preparing flawlessly for today's tournament.
"...It hurts."
Her stomach hurt.
No, rather.
Her heart ached with shame for having harbored expectations toward the imperial family.
Asella finally realized.
"The imperial family is the enemy."
There are no siblings here.
No relatives.
Her mother... she decided to reserve judgment.
After all, she gave birth to her and raised her.
If she became Emperor, purging the imperial family for stable governance would be naturally accepted.
"...No."
Maybe she just wanted to see the entire imperial palace disappear.
The pain spreading from her abdomen increasingly led to negative thoughts.
Anger, hatred, and a sense of injustice deeply infiltrated each brain cell.
As she was being dominated by that sticky sensation.
"Enemy raid! Enemy raid!!"
Someone shouted, and a loud trumpet sounded the emergency.
All knights gathered at the Colosseum rose from their seats and drew their swords.
The Emperor's guard knights protected him and evacuated him first.
"What's happening?"
She could quickly grasp what was occurring.
Before the knights could assume combat positions, the sky turned pitch black, and
—Whoosh!
A gust of wind swirled as a massive being appeared above Asella's head.
"...Ah."
Asella let out a short moan as she beheld its majesty.
A dragon emitting death mana, black mana.
A death dragon was flapping its enormous wings above the Colosseum.
"Dragon! A dragon has appeared!"
"Where did a dragon suddenly come from?!"
"The Princess must have summoned it!"
The audience seats were thrown into confusion.
Asella, her hair fluttering in the gale created by the death dragon, shook her head.
"...No, it wasn't me."
She couldn't summon such a massive dragon.
Could someone have witnessed her magic just now and immediately imitated it?
But without being an exceptional archmage, one couldn't understand the spell formation combination from just one observation.
Asella shook her head to clear away distracting thoughts.
"What matters now."
It's too late to understand the situation and then act.
Dragons love prey full of mana.
With Seymour absent, Asella was the most suitable target.
Conversely, magic is also the most effective attack against dragons.
"I must...!"
Asella instinctively swung her staff to cast a spell.
Her nearly depleted mana forcibly burned through dried magical circuits to create ice spears.
—Crash!!
Spears shooting toward the death dragon.
But the shallow attack only angered the dragon.
"What is this, really."
She didn't understand why a dragon suddenly appeared from the sky.
She didn't understand why she had to be so disrespected at the tournament she had prepared so hard for.
She also hated the reality where showing these bitter emotions on her face was taboo simply because she was a princess.
...At this rate, she'd rather everything just perish.
"Princess."
A voice reached Asella's ear.
A voice she heard every morning, every noon, every evening.
Asella called his name as well.
"Lars."
"Yes, it's me."
Lars grabbed Asella's arm.