11th volume prologue

We found ourselves back in our familiar guild after a brief absence. Vina joyfully rubbed her hands together while rereading the letters.

"Now everything is in order. Asura's rights to govern the province have been recognized as legitimate. The king himself will deal with the baron, but he expressed his displeasure at Katrina's unauthorized actions, which led to the destruction of an army at one of the crucial strategic points."

"I can't help if Father doesn't want to intervene. I won't ask for his permission," Katrina frowned, but deep down, she was glad that Asura's rights were not revoked.

"Now Asura possesses a fairly large province, but she's also your bodyguard, so leaving her as the young successor was a reasonable decision. I'll be able to conduct some good trade with her."

"What's this letter?" I picked up a mysterious envelope with a bluish seal and tried to open it. But no matter how I tried, the seal wouldn't budge; it seemed to be magically sealed. Turning the envelope, I saw faint symbols on the seal, vaguely resembling the language of dragons but with some alterations. "So you didn't open this envelope not out of tactfulness but because you couldn't open it?"

"Huh?" Rumy snorted in annoyance. "Well, yeah, I couldn't. This strange seal wouldn't open with a knife or fire, and tearing the envelope seemed too rude."

"So, reading someone else's letters isn't rude?"

"Just give it here!" Hilda snatched the envelope from me. "This is the seal of the great jarl; the secret is not that difficult. To prove you're from the royal family, just display some ice magic."

The girl blew on the seal, and delicate snowflakes sprang from her lips. The seal cracked and crumbled, leaving sparkling dust on the floor.

"You should have told me it was your letter."

"I should've known the royal emblems. But why would Father write to me so soon after my arrival at the Academy?" The girl unfolded the letter and started muttering to herself, "Hm-hm. Some problems have arisen... he needs my help to prevent things from getting worse... asking me to return as soon as possible... Maybe we can pretend we didn't see this."

She brought the letter close to the fireplace, attempting to burn it, but I quickly snatched it from her hand.

"What are you doing? I doubt the king would summon you for a trivial matter," I briefly scanned the letter, but it lacked details.

"Well, yeah, Father wouldn't call me just for anything, but..." I sensed a slight tremor in the princess's voice, "when I think about what awaits me there, it makes me shudder."

"Are you afraid of your father?"

"Not him," Hilda lowered her gaze, resigned to her fate.

"Don't worry; we won't let anything harm you!" Katrina confidently stood up. "If something serious has happened, our help might be required. Let's all go!"