/
“Of course, it was also because it looked like a tower from the outside, so people started calling it that.”
“I see…!”
Siervian quickly followed him, ready to grab the hem of Tower Lord’s robe if needed.
Then, he brought up another topic.
“Isn’t this tree fascinating?”
“Yes!”
As she exclaimed, the Tower Lord caressed the walls inside the tree with his wrinkled hands.
Siervian looked around and carefully copied him.
“Haha, do you feel anything?”
“No…”
The tree was fascinating, but she didn’t understand what the Tower Lord implied. So Siervian decided to answer frankly.
“This tree was a gift from the elves.”
“Elves…!”
Siervian had only heard and seen elves in history books, so her eyes opened wide.
“The first emperor established this empire with the aid of the elves. You’ll learn more about this in history class soon.”
She already knew the story, so she merely nodded.
The first emperor had a close friend who was none other than the leader of the elves.
In this time, elves were deemed a fictional race because no one had actually seen them.
“The elves would talk to the tree, and the trees would create a space like this.”
Even things that seemed vague would remain as evidence in history.
Siervian heard him and caressed the tree once again.
‘Huh? It’s warmer than before!’
“Mages who officially enter this tower will receive a branch from the tree at the top of the magic tower.”
However, her thought was quickly forgotten due to the Tower Lord’s words.
“If you plant the branch in the forest, while also thinking about the kind of space you want, a special room tailored for you will be created.”
“Wow, that’s amazing!”
“It is amazing. It’s a pity that it can only be used inside this tower.”
Siervian had already imagined planting a treehouse in her palace’s garden without realizing it and now raised her head.
Turned out it was something that could only be used inside the tower.
“Also, there is a legend about a road that leads to the elves’ village inside this tower.”
The Tower Lord whispered to her like a grandfather telling his granddaughter all sorts of things.
She believed him and looked straight at the forest.
Before she knew it, they left the Tower Lord’s tree and walked side by side.
“They are real?”
“Well, it was said that elves live longer than humans. It’s likely that the elf who knew the emperor is still alive.”
The empire was founded more than 500 years ago. Hearing that, Siervian’s mouth opened in surprise.
“Oh, my disciples are here.”
“Teacher.”
“Siervian! …I mean, Your Highness.”
She heard the Crown Prince greet the Tower Lord politely as Karmen clumsily tried to pretend not to know Siervian.
“Hoho! You came later than the princess for her first class. You should’ve set an example.”
“Yes, Teacher.”
“But as long as we’re not late to our class… nevermind, I’ll do my best.”
Karmen was about to complain and instead quickly looked at Siervian and lowered his head.
The Tower Lord noticed his actions.
[Turana Ellison]
Thoughts: Oho, look at that. Is he acting coy in front of the princess?
It’s going to be comfortable teaching him in the future.
“Hello!”
Siervian smiled broadly as she read the Tower Lord’s thoughts.
The Crown Prince approached her and patted her head as a greeting.
“You came early, Siervy. Good girl!”
“……”
Then Karmen, standing next to Damian, stared at the back of Damian’s head.
[Karmen Kasselov]
Thoughts: Wait, did Damian use her nickname? Then I…!
‘Karmen, you can call me that, too.’
Wouldn’t it be fine if more people called her by her nickname?
Siervian thought they were acting strange.
“Okay, let’s go.”
“Yes!”
The Tower Lord led his disciples to another nearby tree.
Unlike the other mage’s tree, it seemed wider inside.
“In the future, you will be taking classes here. This space is called Spirit Tree.”
Siervian was confused about why it was called Spirit Tree, so she tilted her head.
“Why is it called Spirit Tree?”
“Hmm?”
When she asked the Tower Lord, his grey eyebrows furrowed slightly.
That name had been handed down from generation to generation, so he always called it by that name without thinking.
“Hmm, right. I think it’s probably named after the mana’s spirit. It’s been called that for generations. Hoho!”
“I see.”
There was a legend about mana’s spirit living in sevinel flowers. So there were many items that used spirits and fairies as a name.
The word fairy was often used to refer to these spirits in a more ‘loving’ way.
[Turana Ellison]
Thoughts: Spirit Tree suddenly sounded strange to me.
It’s because His Majesty suddenly created weird names like Mana Fairy Welfare Foundation.
Siervian read the Tower Lord’s criticism and averted her eyes awkwardly.
‘Dad, sorry!’
She also thought that name was quite embarrassing.
“Siervian… Princess. Sit here… please!”
Karmen went ahead first and casually pulled out a chair and called her.
Inside the Spirit Tree, she could see strangely-shaped chairs.
The Tower Lord noticed Karmens awkward politeness and frowned.
“No, Siervian will sit here, right?”
Just before the Tower Lord said anything, the Crown Prince stepped forward.
Then, he kindly pulled out a chair far away from where Karmen was and looked back at Siervian.
“Huh?”
“Sit here.”
“P-please sit here.”
The two of them said the same thing at the same time. Then they glared at each other.
She couldn’t understand them and tilted her head again.
‘Was the seating in this class fixed once seated?’
As they stared at each other in bewilderment, the two of them put down their chairs in front of her as if they were competing.
Siervian thought she should calm them down for now, so she quickly ran to one side and picked up another chair.
“Siervy wants to sit here!”
She placed her chair in the middle of the two, where the Tower Lord’s words could be heard the most, and shouted.
She didn’t know what was going on, but more importantly, she wanted to seriously learn.
“Okay, Siervy.”
“…Hmpf.”
“Okay, let’s start the class.”
The Tower Lord looked at his cute disciples and coughed into his sleeve.
“First, Your Highness has to learn how to feel the mana.”
“Feel it?”
“Yes. Observe the two people next to you who will use magic. Then you’ll notice the flow of mana at some point.”
“Yes!”
Perhaps because it was the first day, she followed his instruction seriously.
Siervian didn’t realize she was nervous when she put her hands together. Then, she looked at the two with sparkling eyes.
“What are you looking at with such excitement? It’s nothing much.”
[Karmen Kasselov]
Thoughts: Oh, this is more nerve-wracking than I thought. But I’m glad we took the class together.
“Let her do whatever she wants. You don’t have to look at that idiot, Siervy. I’ll show you over and over again slowly.”
[Damian Elverdotte]
Thoughts: It’s worth practicing magic for today!
“Okay, stop chatting. Now I’ll explain the principles of floating magic…”
[Turana Ellison]
Thoughts: Huh, what’s up with the Crown Prince? I thought it would be easy to teach them together, but it seems that’s not the case.
“……”
There were so many thoughts to see that she felt dizzy.
Siervian thought for the first time that she wanted to turn off the status window for a while.
However, she quickly focused on one thing.
She was distracted by the two people who made the chairs fly in front of them.
“Wow…”
“You can take your time and concentrate. Look at the flow of mana in the air.”
At the Tower Lord’s words, she fixed her eyes on the floating chair as if she was possessed.
At some point, she could see an odd group of lights when the mages were using magic.
‘I thought Tanka was showing off when he used light magic as he cleaned the library.’
However, even right here, she could see something pearl-colored subtly hovering around the chair.
‘Is that the flow of mana?’
Siervian shook her head quickly.
According to the Tower Lord’s speech, it was very difficult to see the flow of mana at first. So it didn’t make sense if she was able to see the flow of mana from a long time before.
‘Let’s focus. Focus!’
Siervian fixed her eyes on the chair for a long time.
The two people beside her worked hard using spells that they wouldn’t use normally because it was difficult.
Siervian was unaware of the difficulty while observing the chair for a long time.
‘It’s hard.’
It was the first day, it was natural that she couldn’t see the flow of mana.
However, she felt that the light that was hovering around the chair slowly became a little darker.
***
“I’ve come to pick you up, Princess.”
“Marco! Long time no see!”
Siervian greeted Marco brightly.
Marco greeted the princess politely and reached out to the carriage door that was in front of the Imperial Palace.
“Let’s go. Your escorts will be following right behind us.”
“Yes.”
Siervian took his hand and climbed into the carriage with dainty steps.
Before she knew it, she had grown a little taller. That was why she could climb the carriage herself without being carried by Ellie.
“The children seem to be adapting well in their own way. Let’s take a look at the buildings together.”