The turmoil at the magic academy had temporarily come to an end.
With the final exams settled, the storm that had swept through the entire Royal Magic Academy finally subsided.
In this season covered by ice and snow, the most anticipated day for the students had finally arrived.
Winter break had begun, and the main road leading out of the academy was packed with all sorts of carriages.
The students, eager to return home, were busy moving their luggage, excitedly discussing their upcoming holiday plans.
Helos stood before the carriage, turning back to look at the academy gates behind her.
Although she had only been here for a few short months, the things that had happened made it feel like an entire century.
Recalling her fulfilling academy life, Helos couldn’t help but sigh.
This life was a bit too fulfilling.
“Let’s go.”
Julius placed the last piece of luggage onto the carriage and walked over to her, speaking softly.
“Mm.”
Helos nodded and withdrew her gaze.
There was one person missing from this traveling group.
Christ had not returned with them.
As a High Mage of the Tower of Truth and one of the core figures in this chaos believer purge operation, he had to stay in the Imperial Capital.
The young Emperor Valerian seemed to rely heavily on him, even using him like half a chancellor.
Before their departure, Christ simply gave a brief instruction.
“Take care.”
Then he turned around and hurried back to the tower that symbolized truth.
His back looked a little lonely, a little heavy.
Helos watched her brother’s back and silently sighed in her heart.
‘I know he’s shouldering all those invisible pressures for me.’
‘Whether it’s the Church’s interrogations or the undercurrents within the Royal Palace, my frail-looking brother has blocked them all.’
‘Don’t worry, brother.’
The girl swore in her heart.
‘I won’t stop either.’
The journey home was long and incredibly boring.
Sitting in the bumpy carriage, Helos stared at the ever-receding scenery outside the window, her entire mind slipping into a state of emptiness like a sage mode.
She began to plan how to spend this holiday.
Should she try to improve the hand crossbow into a repeating version?
Or should she simply do nothing, become a lazy fish in the house waiting to be fed?
She thought for a long time, from when the sun rose outside the window to when it set, and from when the moon rose to when it disappeared.
Until the familiar city appeared in her sight, she still hadn’t figured out what she wanted to do.
By the time the carriage entered that familiar city and the duke’s mansion came into view, it felt like a soldier who had just finished a high-difficulty battle, suddenly returning to a peaceful hometown—lost.
It was as if life had suddenly become empty.
“Welcome home, my lady, second young lady.”
The old steward stood at the main gate, welcoming their return with a respectful smile.
The familiar corridors, the familiar rooms, even the smell in the air was so familiar.
Helos returned to her own room.
Though her father had suggested she move to a larger master bedroom, she had refused.
She still preferred this small room, which, though small, was full of a sense of security.
Helos lay spread-eagled on her soft little bed.
“Huff—”
She stared blankly at the ceiling, her fingers unconsciously tangling in the bedsheet beneath her.
Boring.
So boring.
She rolled over and lay on her stomach, burying her face in the pillow, letting out a muffled sigh.
She had hoped to find someone to play with or do something interesting.
But reality dealt her a heavy blow.
Eleanor was not free this holiday.
Though she had concealed Helos’s matters from the Church, as the nominal Saintess of the Southern Diocese, she still had unavoidable duties.
Especially recently, the Southern Diocese had been in turmoil due to the activities of some cultists, and many places needed her to calm them.
Although Duke Eisend felt sorry for his daughter and suppressed most of the substantive work or delegated it to subordinates, the symbolic prayer ceremonies and comfort visits still required her personal appearance.
So as soon as she returned home, Eleanor buried herself in the study, dealing with mountains of Church documents too busy to even drink water.
As for Julius…
That guy was even less worth mentioning.
“I need to get stronger.”
That was what he said to Helos on the way back.
He felt his current strength was far from enough, so he planned to use this holiday to continue honing his swordsmanship.
Not only that, he had voluntarily applied to Duke Eisend to join the territory’s Patrol Guard.
“Since those Chaos Believers dared to make a move in the Imperial Capital, it’s hard to guarantee they won’t extend their reach to Olivius City.”
Julius said that.
He wanted to use his own eyes and the sword in his hand to ensure that those cultists lurking in the shadows would never have a chance to threaten Helos’s safety.
So he was probably now braving the wind and snow, freezing on the city walls.
“Why is everyone so busy…”
Helos pouted.
She looked up at Gavi, who was quietly standing in the corner of the room, holding a feather duster, ready to clean.
“Gavi.”
“Yes, Master.”
The blonde girl immediately stopped what she was doing and turned around.
“Is there anything you want to do?”
Gavi’s answer was as standard as a textbook.
“Besides that, I have no personal desires. My primary task is to ensure your safety and take care of your daily life.”
“I knew it.”
Helos rolled her eyes helplessly.
Relying on this golem, who had a human form but was still rigid in nature, for advice was like asking a blind man to guide you.
She lay back down, and the room fell silent.
Only the sound of wind and snow gently tapped against the window.
In this rare tranquility, Helos’s thoughts involuntarily drifted back to the Rose Pavilion, back to that oil painting hanging in the corner of the hall.
That woman who always called her an idiot but had unreservedly taught her how to perceive mana.
A renowned Great Slayer of Mages, yet a drunkard who would drool at the thought of a bottle of Dawn Dew.
A master who acted like a quail in front of Julius but was as strict as a devil when teaching her.
Helos closed her eyes, a faint smile curling at the corner of her lips.
‘I wonder what that old woman is up to now.’
‘With no one sending her alcohol, will she get so desperate she crawls out of the painting and bites me?’
Speaking of which, since leaving the Rose Pavilion, her special training had been forcibly interrupted.
Although she could now skillfully use Mind’s Eye, she was still clueless about how to “shape” the curse as Sylvia had described, or perform more delicate operations.
Since her master wasn’t around, she would practice herself!
Better to rely on oneself than on others.
Helos opened her eyes abruptly.
“Forget it.”
Since she was free anyway, she might as well hone Mind’s Eye again.
Even without Sylvia pointing fingers, she could try to sense the mana flow in Olivius City, see what was different.
Maybe, like in the Imperial Capital, she would stumble upon a few rats hiding in the city?
With that thought, Helos sighed and slowly sat up from the bed.
She crossed her legs into a meditation posture.
Took a deep breath.
Emptied her mind.
Sank her consciousness into that familiar darkness.
As she willed it, the familiar layer of water ripples once again covered her vision.
The colorful room instantly lost its color, transforming into a world of mana composed of countless lines and points of light.
The floating ice element particles in the air, the faint glow of the defensive array on the walls, and the steadily beating mana core inside Gavi’s body.
Everything was as clear as usual.
But just as Helos prepared to expand her perception range to probe outside the room—
The next second, she felt something was wrong.
Very wrong.
And the source of the wrongness was inside her room.
In this private space where, in theory, there should be no third aura besides hers and Gavi’s, there was an extremely dazzling, almost blinding energy source!
That aura was not still.
It was drifting slowly in midair, like a weightless ghost.
And that cold, arrogant, ancient feeling…
Helos recognized it all too well.
So well that the moment she sensed it, every hair on her body stood on end.
Her body stiffened.
Slowly, bit by bit, she turned her head toward where the aura was.
Above her desk.
There, a figure she knew all too well was floating in midair.
She wore her signature bloodstained white dress, her light purple hair spreading out as if underwater.
Her empty eyes flickered with curiosity as she looked around this room full of a girl’s presence.
She extended a translucent finger, poked at the doll Helos had loved as a child, and made a strange expression—half disgusted, half interested.
The figure let out an exclamation.
“So this is your little boudoir, girl?”
“Your taste is pretty childish.”
Helos’s mouth fell open.
She rubbed her eyes vigorously, even pinched her own thigh quietly.
It hurt.
“What the… this isn’t a hallucination?!”
The one who was supposed to be obediently staying in the Imperial Capital, in that oil painting covered in dust, the Great Slayer of Mages who claimed she couldn’t leave the frame or the Rose Pavilion—Sylvia—was now floating alive in her home!
“S-Sylvia?!”
“Master?! How are you in my house?!”
“What? Not happy to see me?”
Sylvia turned over in the air, looking down at her utterly shocked student.
“I was worried you’d start slacking off once I wasn’t around, so I specially attached myself to the ring on your finger and followed you out for some fun—cough, I mean, to supervise your training!”