Moonlight slanted across the garden path.
When Luo Lan returned, he brought four glasses of orange juice on a tray.
He first walked to Elia, who was standing a little further away, and gently set a glass down on the stone railing beside her. Elia glanced at him from the corner of her eye, and in a voice only the two of them could hear, she said, “Thank you.”
Then he walked toward the two girls sitting side by side on the bench.
Chloe accepted her glass. She looked up at Luo Lan, who was handing the other glass to Ophelia. His movements were steady—perhaps even a little too proper.
“So, what exactly happened?”
Ophelia pressed her lips together.
The sweet-tart orange juice spread across her tongue. Chloe’s concern warmed her heart just a little.
Should she tell her everything?
Ophelia tightened her grip on the glass, gazing into Chloe’s worried eyes, and finally let out a long sigh.
Then Chloe began to listen to her story.
The girl kept her voice low. She spoke of the masked man who appeared suddenly, of his ghost-like movements, of his inconceivable use of magic.
Of course, Ophelia left out the most critical part.
Chloe listened quietly, her gaze lowered, hiding her thoughts behind downcast lashes.
“That person…” The girl chose her words carefully.
“He was a scoundrel.”
“…All right, that scoundrel.” Chloe went along with the change, her tone still gentle. “From your description, he must have left some clear traits behind. His build, his voice, maybe even the nature of his magic. Even so, you couldn’t find him?”
From Chloe’s perspective, with the Blanche family’s influence in the royal capital, it shouldn’t be difficult to find someone given those details.
Especially when the other party displayed strength capable of overwhelming Ophelia.
“No.” The girl spoke softly, “No clues… at all.”
It wasn’t as if Ophelia hadn’t looked.
After she returned home that day, she mobilized all the power she could command within the Blanche family, but it was as if her efforts had vanished into the sea—there was not a single ripple of news.
It was as if the person had evaporated from Valgaard.
Chloe lifted her glass and took a small sip of orange juice.
In Ophelia’s account, this was what she found strangest.
Even after Luo Lan’s seven years of teaching, she didn’t think she was that much stronger than Ophelia.
They’d grown up together—she knew Ophelia’s talent too well. After all, many “youngest to break XXX” records came from her.
And now, this girl was telling her that someone even stronger than Ophelia had suddenly appeared in Valgaard?
Chloe lowered her gaze, watching the juice ripple in her glass.
Moreover… from Ophelia’s description, the person’s strength was far more than just “a little stronger.”
A single Ophelia was enough to subtly tilt the balance of power in the royal capital. But if someone equally young appeared, and they were even stronger than her?
What would that mean?
Chloe looked at her friend again, at the girl’s lowered brows and eyes, her white-knuckled grip on the glass.
This girl who’d always been proud as a little phoenix was now wrapped in a heaviness Chloe had never seen before.
Still, Ophelia wasn’t thinking as far or as deeply as Chloe. She just let out a long breath, pouring out all the words and feelings pent up in her chest.
Though the real problem remained unsolved, that heavy stone in her heart finally loosened a bit.
Moonlight poured over the side of the girl’s face. As she gripped Chloe’s hand, the warmth in her fingertips slowly returned.
Not far away, Luo Lan and Elia stood in silence.
Elia glanced sideways at Luo Lan’s face, then suddenly spoke: “You did come back late that night.”
Luo Lan paused, turning his head to look at her.
“His Highness heard the royal capital’s guards were mobilized,” Elia added, her gaze locked on Luo Lan’s eyes, as if trying to read something there. “He thought something big had happened in the city.”
“Oh, that… I just got held up by something.” Luo Lan curled his lips slightly. “Ran into a lost kid on my way back, crying his eyes out, so I had to take a detour to bring him home. Nothing major.”
Elia stared at him for two seconds, a flicker of doubt passing through her eyes. But she said nothing more, simply nodded lightly.
“As long as it’s nothing.”
Another brief silence fell.
Luo Lan’s gaze drifted toward the bench. Ophelia’s head was bowed, Chloe’s hand gently squeezing hers.
“By the way—they really are close, aren’t they?”
Elia followed his gaze and nodded.
“Yes. The two princesses used to be inseparable confidantes.”
Used to be.
Luo Lan caught the phrasing at once.
Elia fell quiet for a moment, her eyes drifting toward the brilliant silhouette of the distant grand building, as if recalling something from long ago.
“That was back when the late Duke Phineas was still alive, before the family left the royal capital. The two princesses were almost never apart—Her Highness Ophelia was calm and gentle, Her Highness Chloe lively and bright… Back then, you’d always see them together in the royal gardens…”
As she spoke, a clear, amplified magical voice rang out from the center of the venue, breaking the quiet around them.
The announcement was simple: Due to Grand Duke Claudia’s unexpected absence, the Alturas Institute’s resonance test, originally scheduled for after the ball, would begin early. The site was ready—interested participants should proceed to the designated area at once.
The moment Luo Lan heard the announcement, his eyes instinctively darted to Chloe, a flash of nervousness passing quickly through them.
The girl stood up with Ophelia. She smoothed her skirt slightly and called to Luo Lan and Elia.
“Let’s go too.”
As Luo Lan stepped into the brighter light, details Ophelia hadn’t noticed before gradually came into focus.
Her pupils narrowed slightly. She pressed her lips together and circled around Luo Lan.
Chloe raised an eyebrow at her strange behavior.
After making a full circle, the girl returned to Chloe’s side and whispered in her ear.
“Vivi… just what’s the background of your magic advisor?”
Chloe’s eyes remained calm and steady, as she turned her head slightly and answered in the same low voice:
“What’s got you interested in that all of a sudden?”
Ophelia shook her head, almost pressing her lips to Chloe’s ear as she continued.
“Your advisor… His build is similar, his back looks familiar, even his voice sounds alike…”
“Alike to whom?”
Ophelia paused, then gritted her teeth and spat out three words.
“That scoundrel.”
Chloe blinked.
“So… you’re suspicious of him?”
But Ophelia shook her head.
“…Not suspicious. The one thing that doesn’t match is the reaction of his magic circuits… Compared to that person, it’s worlds apart.”
“Then, do you think he could be the one you’re looking for?”
“Absolutely impossible! If he really was that guy, I’d do a handstand while squeezing oranges for you.”