Chapter 91
Chapter 91: Difficult? Then Don't Bother!
Jess Rether stared at the peculiar insignia on Viktor's chest, his eyes wide.
Viktor was flaunting it—his identity, his status, his power.
Jess felt utterly powerless. In Viktor's eyes, he was nothing more than a delusional failure.
The others in the Imperial Palace caught sight of the emblem on Viktor's chest and couldn't help rubbing their eyes.
Every noble present recognized that insignia—it would have been stranger not to.
"That's... the Mage Council's insignia!"
"Viktor actually has something like that—does that mean he's already become a Council Member of the City of Mages!?"
The Mage Council was an organization of immense international influence.
Any Council Member was received as an honored guest of whatever nation they visited.
They represented not only unparalleled strength, but a moral integrity so resolute it commanded the willing respect of all who encountered it.
At the same time, the City of Mages held a monopoly over a vast wealth of powerful magical knowledge, and even housed a dedicated corps of research Mages.
The magic luminescent lamps now in common use throughout the Empire were themselves the product of magical research conducted by the Mages of the City of Mages.
Although... Viktor's moral integrity was something that genuinely invited doubt.
Yet the fact that he had become a Mage Council Member was already set in stone.
Before Viktor, the Empire had boasted one other Mage Council Member—the Principal of the Royal Magic Academy, Rashel.
But every person present was furrowing their brow. Principal Rashel becoming a Mage Council Member had been entirely understandable.
He had long since attained the 4th Tier, and his reputation was beyond reproach.
He had devoted his entire life to the Royal Magic Academy—there was not a soul in attendance who did not know this.
The Empire had no shortage of 4th-Tier Mages, yet only Rashel had ever become a Mage Council Member.
That was precisely because the Mage Council's rigorous selection criteria had filtered out every Mage who had ever sought membership.
But what made Viktor worthy?
He certainly possessed formidable strength—but his moral character... on this point, nearly every noble present shared the same thought:
Close to nonexistent.
Was it simply because he was the youngest 4th-Tier Mage in recorded history?
"Outrageous! Why does Viktor get to become a Council Member!"
"Can someone with his kind of moral standing really be recognized by the Mage Council?"
Many of the Mages present seethed at Viktor's admission to the Council, yet his membership was now an established fact—nothing could change it.
More importantly, many had come to realize something.
Now that Viktor had become a Council Member of the City of Mages, his standing was no longer constrained by his current noble title.
Which meant.
Viktor's status and Jess Rether's.
Were no longer on equal footing.
Jess Rether stood frozen in place. Beneath the cold pressure radiating from Viktor, he opened and closed his mouth, and managed to ask with some effort.
"Vik... Council Member Clavena, what exactly are you trying to do? I was only putting forward a suggestion."
"Are you trying to make things difficult for the First Prince?"
Viktor cast him a contemptuous glance.
"Difficult? Then don't bother."
"I don't care what you're scheming, and I have no interest in knowing what orders the people behind you have given you. Remember this."
"Don't come looking for trouble with me."
He held Jess Rether's gaze, and within the man's pupils, constructed a small green Formation.
In an instant, several wild, writhing clusters of trees erupted from the golden floor of the Imperial Palace out of thin air—their twisted branches seizing Jess and hurling him clean out of the palace.
Everyone in the grand hall stared at the sudden spectacle, struck momentarily dumb.
It had to be Viktor's magic—yet not a single person had seen him construct a Formation in the air.
But that hardly mattered anymore.
In this moment, nearly every person present was left with a single, identical thought.
Viktor had flipped the table!
He had actually dared—inside the Imperial Palace, in full view of everyone, even in the presence of His Majesty—to hurl Jess out of the palace!
What gave him such audacity? Was it simply because he had become a Mage Council Member?
Yet for all these thoughts churning within them, not one person dared step forward and direct a single word against Viktor.
Faced with their shock and silent reproach, Viktor brushed off the faint, nonexistent dust from his coat, as though he had merely done something trivial.
Then, he turned around, faced Emperor Aubrey, and bowed respectfully.
"I apologize for my impropriety, Your Majesty."
Duke Livi cast Viktor an appreciative glance.
Emperor Aubrey let out a quiet, amused hum and replied with a nod.
"Think nothing of it."
***
The morning court session came to an abrupt and unceremonious end due to Viktor's sudden disruption.
Leah stood outside the palace gates, beside a standing perch on which the crow Viktor kept was perched.
Even now, Leah felt somewhat dazed.
She had prepared everything—had even deployed Chuer as a contingency measure ahead of time.
And then Viktor had suddenly returned.
And dealt with Jess Rether in one swift, decisive stroke.
"Stay away from the people around me."
The words Viktor had spoken upon his return echoed in her mind, leaving her thoughts in a mild state of disarray.
Why?
Viktor was not supposed to be this kind of person. What he had done was tantamount to openly flipping the table—putting every person in that hall, save the Emperor himself, against him.
Neither the Second Prince, nor the First Prince who had yet to show himself, would ever send anyone to draw Viktor to their side again after the scene he had caused in that hall today.
"A single stroke to resolve it all."
But this approach was, perhaps, a touch too reckless.
In Leah's own thinking, she did not want the Clavena Family to fall out with either Prince.
After all, who would ultimately emerge victorious was still unknown.
As Viktor himself had said—if the Emperor truly had only two years left...
Then two years from now, whoever ascended to the throne.
Viktor would face retaliation for what he had done today.
And yet, on the other hand...
Leah pressed one hand to her chest.
For reasons she couldn't quite explain, something warm had settled there.
Perhaps it was a long-held yearning and hope finally receiving its answer in this moment.
Just when she had thought she no longer expected anything from anyone, Viktor had once again resolved everything on her behalf.
Leah turned, and saw that Viktor was the last to walk out of the Imperial Palace.
At his side was Gwen.
At the very end, once everyone else had departed, Viktor had remained behind in the palace—seemingly exchanging a few words with His Majesty.
And so he had been the last to leave.
Leah watched Viktor, her feelings complicated in a way that was faintly difficult to name.
She opened her mouth, the intention to say something—something thankful—forming in her mind, but the words that actually came out were:
"Why did it take you so long to come back?"
There was something in her tone—something almost like a grievance.
Viktor's hands were tucked into the pockets of his coat. He glanced down at Leah.
"Helped someone sort out a few things."
"And taught the Princess her magic lessons, while I was at it."
Leah listened to Viktor's perfectly casual reply, and was just about to say something—something to convey how genuinely angry she had been—when, before she could get the words out, she heard Viktor suddenly say:
"Remember—you have a freedom that belongs to you alone."
"No one can force you into anything."
The abrupt remark cut through Leah's building grievance before it could take shape.
She stared blankly at the upright figure standing before her.
For reasons she couldn't quite trace, a peculiar feeling rose inside her.
She very much wanted to say something to him—something to get her feelings out, to be a little unreasonable. She very much wanted to act spoiled with him.
As though she believed Viktor would simply accept everything, no matter how willful or unreasonable she was.
Those words felt impossibly distant to Leah.
After her father had died, there had been no one left who could care for and shelter her the way she had once hoped someone would.
But in this moment, Leah felt something stir—a sudden impulse.
"Bro..."
She tried to let the trailing syllable of that word pass her lips, but it lodged in her throat, refusing to come out no matter how she tried.
In the end, she couldn't say it—because a fantastically ornate carriage came rolling slowly out of the darkened street corner toward them, radiating a warm, golden light.
The carriage was a peculiar thing. As a carriage, it had no horse at its front, and naturally no coachman to drive it—it moved along the road with nothing but pure magic turning its axles.
Leah looked at the private carriage Viktor habitually used for travel and blinked, slightly startled.
The carriage door swung open on its own. Viktor said, with his usual composure:
"Let's go."
"It's time to head home."
***
The carriage drew to a stop before the gates of the Delin Manor.
Leah watched as Gwen stepped down from the carriage. Kavra was already waiting at the entrance to receive her.
Before leaving, Gwen made sure to glance back at Viktor and ask:
"You won't just disappear again for days at a time, will you?"
Viktor gave a nod.
"Then don't forget to come by tomorrow morning."
As she said it, she seemed to realize how that might sound, and quickly added:
"I mean tomorrow's sword training—don't you forget!"
With that, Gwen hurriedly turned and went inside, not daring to look Viktor in the eye for another second.
Once Gwen had gone entirely, Leah sat inside the carriage watching Viktor, a teasing note creeping into her tone.
"My, my—so our esteemed Mage even knows how to nurture the relationship with his fiancée?"
Viktor didn't respond to that remark. He casually stuffed a bit of birdfeed into Weija's beak, then glanced back at Leah.
"Before you got in the carriage just now—what were you trying to say?"
Leah blinked, let out a small cough or two, and said in a deliberately nonchalant manner:
"Nothing. I just had a few things I wanted to ask you, but it didn't feel right to bring them up while we were still on palace grounds."
She was absolutely not the kind of person to be that sentimental. At her age, there was simply no way she could have said something like "big brother"—it was utterly out of the question.
Besides, she did genuinely have something to ask Viktor.
They were in the family's own carriage now, after all. If she had something to ask, she could just ask.
"Do you really intend to... support the Princess?"
Viktor gave a nod.
Leah didn't understand it at all.
"Why? The Princess has not a shred of influence. And on top of that, the Empire has never had a female Emperor."
"Then she'll be the first."
Viktor's voice came through, calm and measured, and the tone of absolute certainty left Leah somewhat at a loss.
She couldn't quite understand what gave Viktor such confidence—but she stopped herself from pressing further in a moment of impulse.
The two of them sat in silence as the carriage moved.
Before long, the carriage came to a gradual stop. Viktor pushed the door open and let Leah step out first.
The large contingent of guards that had been stationed at the courtyard entrance was gone—the space was empty.
The Princess had long since been escorted back to the Imperial Palace by Viktor. The guards had naturally no reason to remain here.
The servants, seeing the head of the household and the young mistress return, swung the gates open.
Once inside the manor grounds, Leah seemed to suddenly recall something and began:
"Oh, right—the Duke came by yesterday. His daughter apparently came down with some sort of illness. Do you have any..."
As she spoke, her voice grew quieter and quieter.
Walking past the garden—was that a soft, fluffy cloud drifting by?
Leah blinked, her gaze following the cloud upward.
Lying atop it, fast asleep, was a Flower Fairy—dressed in something that seemed rather light on coverage.
"?"
A large question mark rose above Leah's head.
What on earth was that thing?