Chapter 6: On the Road

The next morning, the convoy set out on time.

Three carriages rolled out of Phineas Castle through the morning mist, the sound of wheels crunching over snow fine and monotonous.

The last luggage carriage was loaded with boxes of all sizes. From the middle carriage, which housed the maids, came the soft murmur of conversation, while the atmosphere in the foremost carriage was peculiarly quiet.

Luolan sat by the window, an open book on his lap, yet his gaze wandered to the fleeting scenery outside. The morning fog hung like gauze, shrouding the distant forest in misty hues, and the occasional rook swept overhead, vanishing in an instant.

His thoughts, however, were wholly absorbed in endlessly reviewing the plot of the Capital’s Saint Canon. Not a single word from the page entered his mind.

Opposite Luolan sat Chloe, her face stern since they’d boarded, but her eyes drifted to him from time to time. Today, the young lady wore a crisp traveling dress, her silver hair bound with a ribbon, revealing her slender, fair neck. Her fingertips tapped absently against the armrest, secretly plotting how she might create a chance for the two of them to be alone during the two-day journey.

Yet whenever Chloe recalled Elia’s admonitions before departure, she was filled with inexplicable irritation… What did it matter to be a noble, or to inherit the name of House Phineas? If you can’t grasp what you want, then it slips away all the same.

Seated beside Luolan, Elia was quietly and skillfully handling the tea set. She poured steaming black tea into three cups, then slid two towards Luolan and Chloe, taking the last for herself. Without a word, she shifted half an inch closer to Luolan’s side.

Chloe hastily averted her gaze.

“Mr. Luolan,” Elia said softly, “the tea will get cold.”

“Ah, right.” Luolan, snapping out of his daze, lifted the cup and took a sip, letting the mellow aroma of black tea linger on his tongue.

Chloe watched, her fingers tapping a faint rhythm on the armrest.

“Elia, why don’t you go to the back carriage and check on the maids, see if there’s anything they haven’t prepared…”

“Grandmaster.” Elia didn’t move. “I’ve already checked many times before departure.”

The maid turned her head slightly, smiling at her. “Is Grandmaster worried about something? Or perhaps, you simply wish to send me away?”

For a moment, the carriage was so quiet that only the sound of wheels remained.

Luolan’s hand, holding the teacup, paused midair. He lowered his gaze without a change in expression, pretending not to hear the exchange as he fixed his eyes on the book.

Chloe’s cheeks flushed, unsure whether she’d been caught out or was just embarrassed, and she turned away to gaze out the window.

Outside, the morning mist was dispersing, revealing undulating mountains in the distance.

“…I just wanted to double-check, that’s all.”

Her words were feeble.

Elia sighed softly and stood, smoothing the creases in her skirt.

“I understand. Please wait a moment, Grandmaster.”

The convoy halted at the roadside for a brief rest. After Elia stepped out, only Luolan and Chloe remained in the carriage. The instant the door closed, Chloe turned her head, her ruby-like eyes fixed intensely on Luolan.

He could feel the heat of her gaze from across, but didn’t look up.

“Luolan.”

Chloe spoke softly.

“Hmm?”

“It’s nothing…”

He raised his head and saw Chloe sitting primly, yet unable to conceal her nervousness.

Just as she was about to speak again, Elia returned, offering a slight bow to Chloe and then placing a few fresh, radiant apples on the table.

“All is well, Grandmaster.”

She announced.

Thus, the first half of the journey passed without incident.

The carriage rumbled smoothly along the road, the winter sunlight shifting slowly across the open pages of Luolan’s book.

He’d maintained the posture of reading for two hours, yet hadn’t finished a single page. Opposite, Chloe had long since fallen asleep against a cushion, her silver hair cascading like a waterfall, gently rising and falling with the carriage’s motion.

Elia remained seated beside him, quietly holding a book of her own, though her gaze drifted now and then to the boy’s profile.

Seven years now, she’d watched him grow from a thin boy into the clear-eyed youth before her, seen him teach Chloe how to control her magic, watched him accompany Grandmaster in training on snowy fields until dusk.

By rights, she should feel grateful to him… Yet every time Grandmaster Chloe looked at him, a certain gleam in her eyes set off alarms in Elia’s heart.

Luolan’s gaze shifted from his book to Chloe’s sleeping face.

—The Capital’s Saint Canon.

This time, the Saint Canon was attracting so much attention, partly because it marked the debut of new powers in the Holy See following the death of the old pope… and partly because it was also the early admission exam for the Royal Academy of Altlas.

For a Royal Academy, early admissions were only natural. And as an academy, dividing students into various ranked classes was also to be expected.

The Academy of Altlas classes were roughly divided into three tiers: the beginner “Morning Star Class,” the intermediate “Arcane Class,” the advanced “Celestial Crown Class,” …and the legendary “Radiance Class,” with only a handful of members. After all, it was normal to say there were three levels but actually write four.

But what truly concerned Luolan was not this, but rather the future Saintess he would soon encounter at the Saint Canon—Ophelia Blanchet.

Ophelia Blanchet.

Strong, holy, beautiful, noble—the perfect protagonist template. She should be the same age as Chloe, perhaps also making her way to the Capital at this very moment.

In the original storyline, Chloe, due to frequent magical outbursts, ended up in the Morning Star Class during the test, while Ophelia smoothly entered the Celestial Crown Class. Such a stark contrast, combined with the surrounding environment’s ridicule of Chloe, the fallen noble, became one of the driving forces behind her later descent into darkness.

Though the atmosphere at the Academy of Altlas appeared friendly, Luolan knew the reason it could consistently produce so much talent for the Rodland Kingdom was its brutally competitive elimination system.

While “equal treatment and merit-based advancement” was the Academy’s core principle, the treatment students received at different levels varied dramatically.

Therefore, the very first thing Luolan needed to do at the Saint Canon was awaken his inner competitive spirit, and help Chloe gain entry into the Academy’s Celestial Crown Class—taking that all-important first step.

Dusk spread like a thin wash of ink, slowly dyeing the snowfields.

Inside the carriage, Luolan rested with his eyes closed, while Elia cut apples into cute little bunny shapes and placed them before Chloe. Chloe herself, both hands cupping her chin, stared out the window, looking thoroughly out of sorts.

Outside, the snow had stopped.

She’d spoken seventeen sentences to Luolan today.

The total response she’d received was less than twenty words.

Just as Luolan sighed in resignation and was about to say something, a deep rumble began to shake the ground.

The tremor grew nearer and nearer, as if something was pounding the earth. Luolan and Elia exchanged glances, preparing to step outside to check, when the carriage suddenly lurched violently to one side.

It wasn’t a mere bump—it felt as if some force had flipped them from below.

“Grandmaster!”

Luolan reached out to pull Chloe into his arms, his fingers already brushing her flying silver hair. But Elia was even faster—like lightning, she thrust her left hand against Luolan’s shoulder and hurled him through the carriage window. As for herself, she scooped Chloe into her arms, pushed off the slanting carriage wall with her toes, and leaped out of the shattered carriage like a bird in flight.

Wood splinters and snowflakes whirled in the air. Luolan crashed through the window and rolled across the snowy ground, tumbling twice before steadying himself.

There was a hint of personal grudge in Elia’s action. Luolan looked up to see her land lightly with Chloe in her arms, her eyes sharp as she locked onto a shadow sprawled across the road.

The two carriages behind them had screeched to a halt, guards’ shouts and the sound of swords being drawn rising in chorus. Their own carriage was now nothing but a shattered wreck, while the culprit lay slumped beside the debris.

It was a Magi-Bear, its body covered in deep, bone-baring wounds, dark red blood seeping into the snow. Its eyes glowed crimson, and a resentful whimper rolled in its throat as it swallowed its final breath.

“What in the world is going on?”

Luolan muttered, standing up and brushing snow from his clothes, then approached to confirm that the Magi-Bear was indeed dead.

Moments later, the crisp sound of hooves echoed from the distant forest.

A troop of knights surged forth from the end of the road like a tide of white. Their horses’ hooves shattered the snowy crust, spraying fine flecks of snow. The leader wore a suit of silver armor, an intricate fleur-de-lis engraved on his chest.

His face turned ashen the instant he glimpsed the battered House Phineas crest dangling from the carriage wreckage. Even dismounting, he nearly lost his footing.

“Please forgive our negligence.” The knight removed his helmet, cradling it in his arm and bowing his head. “This Magi-Bear attacked our convoy. During our pursuit, we did not expect it to break through the barrier and disturb your party in its dying throes. All losses—House Blanchet will bear them in full.”

“What did you say? Blanchet?”

Chloe started, unconsciously gripping Elia’s sleeve as her gaze followed the direction the knight had come from.

Ahead, a carriage surrounded by knights halted on the road. Its polished wood and gilded decorations proclaimed its owner’s status, a stark contrast to the wreckage all around.

In the next moment, the carriage window slid open, and a girl’s face peeked out.

Golden hair rippled in the breeze, amber eyes clear as crystal. Upon seeing the stunned Chloe, she smiled, her eyes curving into two crescent moons as she happily waved.

“Ophelia Blanchet?” Chloe murmured. “You… Why are you here?”