「OMNIA VAULT DEPARTMENT」
"Are they for real?" G6 muttered as they left the Sanctum.
Lilia remained beside her, still visibly entertained by the encounter with Lord Ray and Lord Ron.
"They must adore you greatly, Lady Reise," she said with a bright smile.
"They have got a sister complex. It is a thing," G6 replied flatly.
Lilia tilted her head.
"What is a sister complex?"
"It is like a dog that loses its mind every time its owner walks in."
"But dogs are lovely."
G6 merely shook her head.
There was no point explaining further.
Brenda led them away from the Magic Department and toward another section of the Royal Collegium. The path narrowed between two imposing stone buildings before opening into a quieter courtyard, where fewer students lingered and even the atmosphere seemed more restrained.
"We now proceed to the Department of Research and Inventory—the Omnia Vault," Brenda explained.
The reception hall beyond its entrance was unexpectedly hushed.
Unlike the Sanctum, where voices and magical activity seemed to bleed through every corridor, the Omnia greeted them with polished floors, tall cabinets, and a single attendant stationed behind the front desk.
The young man looked up as they approached.
"Good morning. Welcome to the Omnia. How may I assist you?"
"Good morning, Zen," Brenda said. "We are conducting a tour. She will be working among us."
At the mention of work, the man's attention shifted fully toward G6.
Lilia had already released her hand and wandered toward one of the illustrated wall maps with Tina close behind, leaving Edmund standing nearer to G6.
The attendant stepped from behind the desk.
"Is she?"
He offered a polite bow.
"A pleasure. I am Zen, of the Nocturne close branch."
"Likewise. Reise of House Worthon," G6 stated, voice firm.
Zen's eyes widened.
"W-Worthon?"
His gaze sharpened with sudden recognition.
"You are the Second Prince's fiancée?"
G6's expression flattened.
Addressing me as someone's accessory?
That does not sit right.
"No," G6 corrected, her tone cutting. "I am Reise Worthon. I look forward to working with you, Lord Zen."
Zen blinked.
Before he could recover, G6 turned toward Brenda.
"Shall we?"
Brenda suppressed what might have been the beginning of a smile.
"I will show you the Omnia, Lady Worthon."
They continued into the department, leaving Zen behind with the distinct expression of someone replaying the conversation and wondering exactly where he had gone wrong.
He had heard enough about Reise Worthon to expect a proud noblewoman concerned with court, engagement, and rank.
He had not expected to be corrected for attaching her identity to the Prince.
By the time Tina and Lilia caught up with Edmund, G6 was already several paces ahead.
Her gaze moved continuously across the department.
Doors. Windows. Personnel.
Restricted sections. Distances between corridors.
She did not look particularly fascinated, yet Edmund had begun recognizing the difference between boredom and concentration. When G6 became quiet like this, she was rarely disengaged.
She was cataloguing.
Brenda led them down a wide stone corridor.
"The laboratories are usually occupied. Other departments sometimes call them… academics."
There was a faint note of amusement in her voice.
G6 looked around at the unusually empty passage.
"Yeah, I can tell. Place is a ghost town."
The rigid noble posture she had maintained during introductions loosened almost immediately. One shoulder dropped slightly, and her walk settled into something far more natural to her.
Brenda stopped before a large set of double doors.
"The main laboratory."
She opened them.
The room beyond was anything but empty.
Researchers occupied long worktables beneath suspended enchanted lamps. Some examined ancient artifacts through magnifying instruments, while others sorted brittle parchments or argued quietly over pieces of magical equipment that looked old enough to belong in a ruin.
One scholar held a glowing fragment over a measuring device.
Another had dismantled what appeared to be an archaic wand into so many pieces that G6 doubted it would ever resemble a wand again.
Total geeks.
Her eyes continued sweeping the room—then stopped.
A man stood near the far side of the laboratory, partially surrounded by instruments and stacks of notes.
Elegant white suit. Gold filigree. Green hair. Green eyes behind spectacles.
G6 stared a second too long.
Is this what they call tall, handsome, and… damn. T.H.D.
A pause.
It is actually 'Dark'.
The man looked up.
Their eyes met.
Recognition struck immediately.
Oh, you have got to be kidding me. It's that Earl.
G6 turned around.
And walked straight back out.
No hesitation. No greeting. No attempt whatsoever to pretend she had not seen him.
It was not embarrassment. It was tactical avoidance.
Behind her, Lord Earl remained motionless for a moment before the unfamiliar styling registered beneath the familiar Worthon coloring.
"Reise?"
He set aside the object in his hand and followed her.
"Wait. Reise, what are you doing here?"
G6 did not slow.
The heels were already irritating enough without adding Lord Earl to the problem.
Her servants followed several paces behind, observing the chase in silence. Tina recognized the particular stiffness in G6's shoulders and wisely made no attempt to help Lord Earl catch up.
Neither did Edmund.
Lord Earl, however, had known Reise too long to be discouraged by obvious hostility.
He lengthened his stride and moved smoothly ahead of her before turning to block the corridor.
G6 stopped.
These damn heels.
"Oh, look who it is. Hi, Earl," G6 said, sarcasm dripping.
Lord Earl smiled.
Not offended in the slightest.
If anything, he seemed entertained.
"Indeed. Why the avoidance? Do you need something?"
He adjusted his spectacles while studying her more openly now.
The hair. The darker styling. The changed makeup.
The expression that had somehow become even more difficult to read than before.
"Actually, yes."
G6's smile sharpened.
"I need you to get out of my way."
Her expression made it clear that this was not an invitation to continue teasing.
Lord Earl ignored the warning.
"Still as direct as at the tea party," he said, amusement slipping easily into his voice. "But let us bypass that. Why are you here?"
G6 glanced toward Brenda.
A simple look.
You explain.
Brenda understood immediately.
"Lady Worthon will be working among us, Lord Earl."
Lord Earl turned sharply toward her.
"Working?"
His gaze returned to G6.
"You, Reise?"
The surprise was genuine.
It softened quickly into something warmer, almost proud.
"You truly have changed. Quite dramatically."
"Whatever. Move."
Lord Earl laughed.
"Do not be like that. You will be seeing much of me here."
"Sorry to disappoint. I have got Open Access. I will not be stuck anywhere—especially not with you."
That made him pause.
"You have Open Access?"
G6 crossed her arms and looked away, clearly finished with the conversation.
Tina stepped in before Lord Earl could ask again.
"Her Majesty herself arranged it, Lord Earl."
"The Queen?"
His attention returned to G6 with renewed curiosity.
Whatever question formed behind his eyes, he chose not to ask it.
Instead, his familiar smile returned.
"Well then, visit anytime, Reise. I will be waiting."
G6 stared at him.
What is with this guy? Seriously creeping me out.
"I would rather die again than spend another minute near you," she stated coldly, then brushed past him.
Edmund offered Lord Earl a quick, apologetic bow.
"Please forgive Lady Reise. She is… quite considerate, in truth."
Tina gave Edmund a look that questioned whether even he believed that sentence.
Lilia was already hurrying after G6.
Lord Earl remained in the corridor, watching them disappear around the corner.
"Die again?" he murmured.
The wording was odd.
But then, Reise had spent the last several days saying things that would have sounded impossible coming from her a month ago.
Lord Earl gave a small shake of his head.
"She does look more striking like this. It suits her new… vigor."
The thought pleased him more than he expected.
Not because she looked prettier.
Reise had always been beautiful.
She simply looked awake now.
He returned to the laboratory.
「ROYAL COLLEGIUM LIBRARY」
The library was the first place in the Royal Collegium that made G6 visibly slow down.
It was enormous.
Rows of shelves stretched almost to the ceiling, arranged through a cavernous central hall with narrow bridges and a second-floor gallery running around the perimeter. Tall windows flooded the polished floors with muted daylight, while enchanted lamps illuminated the deeper aisles where natural light could not reach.
G6 stopped just inside the entrance.
"This is… big."
For her, that amounted to genuine admiration.
Lilia ran ahead and twirled beneath the towering shelves.
"It is even larger than the Main Palace library." Tina commented.
"Naturally," Brenda replied, unmistakable pride entering her voice. "The Royal Collegium archives not only general academic texts, but research records accumulated by all three Professional Departments."
She gestured toward the upper galleries.
"Rare manuscripts, restricted magical studies, military records, historical accounts, and several collections unavailable to ordinary palace libraries are stored here."
G6's attention sharpened.
"Can anyone access them?"
"Not all of them."
Brenda pointed toward the highest shelves.
"The upper collections contain restricted academic material. Professional Card holders may request access depending upon their clearance, though some works require departmental authorization."
Better. At least they were not using altitude as their sole security system.
G6's gaze traveled toward the unreachable shelves anyway.
Several were positioned so high that even the tallest rolling ladders would not reach them directly.
Perfect. If they think height is security, they have never met someone who can climb.
Tina noticed the slight tilt of G6's head.
The way her eyes followed the shelves instead of Brenda.
She leaned subtly toward Edmund.
"She is plotting something… wicked."
Edmund followed G6's gaze.
"I can see that."
Neither needed further explanation.
They were beginning to understand her tells.
The silence was usually the first warning.
The slight narrowing of her eyes came next.
Then that tiny shift of attention that suggested she had stopped looking at an object and started calculating what could be done with it.
Lady Brenda, unaware of the whispered assessment, continued toward the rear of the library.
"We shall now proceed to the library's extension—the Integrated Wardrobe and Armory System. The I.W.A.S."
G6 looked at her immediately.
"Custom utility gear?"
"Indeed. Her Majesty specifically instructed me to bring you here."
She did?
Finally, we are getting somewhere.
"I was told to show you… training wear."
"How much farther?"
"We are here."
Brenda stopped beside what appeared to be an uninterrupted section of carved wall.
She pressed her Professional Card against a nearly invisible panel.
A quiet mechanism shifted beneath the stone.
Then the wall opened.
G6's eyes sharpened with genuine interest.
"Beyond this point, only officially employed personnel may enter," Brenda explained.
G6 glanced behind her.
Tina, Edmund, and Lilia understood immediately.
They remained outside while G6 followed Brenda through the opening.
The door sealed again behind them.
"This is a secured storage facility," Brenda said. "I oversee it as Head Caretaker of the library."
G6 looked around.
The chamber was larger than she expected.
Racks of practical clothing filled the central space, divided by discipline and intended use. Training equipment occupied one side. Formal uniforms and specialist garments occupied another. Along the far wall stood several polished suits of knight armor preserved behind glass.
The enchanted lighting caught against steel, leather fittings, dark wool, reinforced linen, and dozens of carefully maintained weapons.
G6's interest rose immediately.
For once—no pastel catastrophe.
No suffocating ribbons. No useless embroidery pretending to have purpose.
Just pure function.
She moved slowly between the racks, examining the materials with the kind of attention she usually reserved for equipment before a mission.
Sturdy linen. Reinforced leather. Dense wool.
Flexible fabrics intended to survive movement rather than merely look beautiful while standing still.
Eventually she stopped before a row of women's combat garments.
Her expression soured.
"This looks like market clothes. It is just a plain dress."
Brenda glanced over.
"That is the standard training attire for women here, Lady Worthon. Even the Adventurers' Guild follows a similar style, though theirs is sometimes somewhat more… daring."
"Not happening."
G6 turned away.
Something farther along the wall caught her attention.
A separate rack.
Smaller. Neglected.
The clothing displayed there lacked almost every decorative feature found elsewhere.
She approached.
Lady Brenda's expression changed.
"Those were rejected. Deemed inappropriate. Lacking noble decorum."
G6 barely heard her.
The garments looked different.
Not identical to modern clothing.
They could not be.
The materials, stitching, and construction clearly belonged to this world.
But the cuts—those she recognized.
Practical.
Fitted where movement required stability.
Loose where the body needed range.
No skirt tangling around the legs.
No ridiculous volume.
This… this design is just like from my world. Our style.
She immediately selected a long-sleeved, high-collared top.
Then black trousers.
Her size.
"My lady, I said they were not—"
"I am taking these, Brenda."
G6 added a pair of sturdy black boots and placed everything into Brenda's arms.
"Have these delivered to my quarters."
Lady Brenda stared at the collection.
G6 looked pleased enough to be planning an operation.
She stepped closer.
"Keep it quiet from Her Majesty," she whispered, "and we are good."
Then she winked.
Lady Brenda froze.
Not because the gesture itself was particularly scandalous.
Because Reise Worthon had never behaved toward her like this.
There was something disarmingly familiar in the confidence.
The expression.
The shape of the face beneath the rose-gold hair.
It struck too near another Worthon face Lady Brenda was far less comfortable thinking about.
Color reached her ears.
"I could simply store them here," she offered. "You may change whenever you come to train."
G6 smiled.
Then lightly touched Brenda's chin.
"That is the idea."
Lady Brenda's breath caught.
G6 was already moving away before she recovered.
Oh, gracious heavens, Lady Brenda thought. Why is she suddenly so…
She stopped herself. No. Absolutely not.
G6's attention had already shifted to Brenda's reaction.
Interesting.
Lady Brenda had shown similar nervousness around one of her brothers.
Same hesitation.
Same difficulty maintaining eye contact.
And unfortunately for Brenda, the Worthon resemblance was strong.
G6 had Reise's face.
Her brothers had nearly the same one.
Different coloring. Different sex. Same bloodline structure.
A useful weakness, once identified.
G6's eyes landed on a belt.
She picked it up.
"Keep this with the rest, Bre—"
Lady Brenda blinked.
The casual abbreviation hit harder than it had any right to.
Did she just give me a nickname? Brenda thought.
G6 caught the reaction immediately.
Easy.
She did not need affection. She needed familiarity.
And familiarity made people generous with information.
G6 turned back toward her.
"Ah, Lady Worthon is such formal. Why not call me Reise?"
Lady Brenda stared.
"How could I address a direct heir of one of the Great Pillars with such familiarity?"
G6 studied her.
Hmm, is she lying?
She had heard Brenda use Earl's name casually before.
Not Lord Earl. Just Earl.
So this was not really about rank.
Not entirely.
"I see… was it too much?"
G6's expression dimmed slightly.
Not enough to look theatrical.
Just enough.
Lady Brenda immediately panicked.
"Oh, t-then… I will call you Lady Reise."
Her ears were still red.
G6 watched her for another second.
Lady Brenda's expression had gone distant again.
She is obviously drowning in her mental monologue again.
"Very well. Shall we?"
Lady Brenda blinked herself back into the room.
"Yes. Of course."
She looked down at the clothes still gathered in her arms.
"Allow me to secure these first."
An empty glass cabinet stood along one wall.
Lady Brenda carefully placed G6's chosen training attire inside, followed by the boots and belt.
The cabinet sealed with a faint magical shimmer.
When she returned, her composure had mostly recovered.
Mostly.
G6 noticed but did nothing.
Because of what she just showed her, she proved herself useful.
「BASTION OF PHALANX DEPARTMENT」
The second floor of the Bastion carried a quieter rhythm than the rest of the Royal Collegium.
The Bastion was unmistakably a working military department. Broad stone corridors connected offices, record rooms, personnel chambers, and administrative spaces, while uniformed knights and authorized staff moved through the building with the disciplined rhythm of people already at work.
Prince Dio walked toward his office with Lord Keith beside him.
Keith had been following him for several minutes without any apparent purpose beyond having nothing better to do.
Prince Dio had learned long ago that asking would only encourage him.
They were nearing his office when the door of a chamber across his office opened.
Leo stepped out.
The room had remained vacant since Prince Dio began working at the Bastion, and seeing the Queen's personal butler standing there immediately caught his attention.
Lord Keith noticed as well.
"Unusual to see Leo here."
Leo turned toward them and bowed.
"Good morning, Your Highness. Lord Keith."
"Good morning," Prince Dio replied.
"Hey, morning!" Keith answered, considerably more cheerful.
Prince Dio glanced past Leo toward the room.
The door remained partly open.
Inside, he caught sight of freshly arranged furniture, a cleared desk, several locked cabinets, and what appeared to be new supplies stacked neatly against one wall.
"It is rare to find you in this wing, Leo," Prince Dio said. "What brings you to that vacant chamber?"
"Her Majesty instructed its preparation. It will be occupied shortly."
Prince Dio stopped.
"By whom?"
His tone sharpened almost immediately.
"I have received no report of new personnel in Bastion. The Professional Guild has filed nothing with my office."
Leo hesitated.
Lady Reise's registration had not followed the usual procedure, and the Queen had been very clear that the details of her appraisal were to remain confidential.
He had no intention of being the man who tested Her Majesty's definition of discretion.
"Her Majesty may not have submitted the report through the usual channels yet," Leo said carefully. "However, Lady Worthon has already begun her tour of the Royal Collegium. I was preparing to meet her when she reaches the Bastion."
Prince Dio's brow furrowed.
"Worthon?"
A beat passed before recognition hardened his expression.
"Reise?"
Lord Keith straightened beside him.
"Wait—our Reise?"
"Yes, Lord Keith."
Prince Dio looked again toward the newly prepared chamber.
The conclusion came too easily.
"Why is she here? Another ploy to insert herself into my sphere?"
Lord Keith's expression soured.
He turned his head slowly toward his cousin.
"Dio."
It was only his name, but the warning was obvious.
Leo remained professionally composed.
"You misunderstand, Your Highness. Lady Reise is unaware that she will be stationed within the Bastion."
Prince Dio looked back at him.
"Unaware?"
"Indeed. Her purpose within the Royal Collegium is a matter arranged directly between herself and Her Majesty. I am not at liberty to disclose more."
That only made Prince Dio's suspicion deepen.
No ordinary Guild registration.
A private arrangement with the Queen.
A room being prepared without a departmental report.
And Reise herself apparently knew none of it.
A confidential appointment? Prince Dio thought.
Whatever his mother was doing, she had clearly chosen to keep him outside it.
Lord Keith, however, seemed far less interested in royal confidentiality.
"Well, I am coming down. Kinda miss Reise…"
His grin returned almost instantly.
Prince Dio looked at him.
Keith shrugged.
"What? I do."
Leo gestured toward the staircase at the end of the corridor.
"Shall we?"
"I will join you," Prince Dio said.
Lord Keith's grin widened.
Prince Dio ignored him.
"As department head, I should greet a new arrival personally."
There was nothing unusual about that explanation.
It was his department.
Any employee stationed within the Bastion ultimately operated beneath his authority.
That should have been reason enough.
Yet the image of Reise walking away from the Queen's tea without once looking back surfaced again with irritating ease.
The way she had spoken.
The complete absence of jealousy.
The complete absence of interest.
Even when she had looked directly at him, it had felt as though she were evaluating an object rather than acknowledging the man she had supposedly loved for ten years.
Prince Dio disliked unanswered questions.
Reise had become one.
Lord Keith gave him a sideways look.
"Yeah, yeah. Department head."
Prince Dio's eyes narrowed.
"Keith."
"I said nothing."
"You were about to."
"I was thinking."
"That is usually worse."
Keith looked personally offended.
Leo hid the faintest trace of amusement as they began descending toward the first floor.
❈.❈.❈
The main entrance of the Bastion opened into a broad receiving hall built to accommodate knights, staff, visiting nobles, and officials moving between departments.
Unlike the Sanctum's scholarly elegance or the Omnia's quieter academic atmosphere, the Bastion was unmistakably martial.
Weapon crests decorated portions of the stone walls. Noticeboards carried duty rosters and training schedules. Several knights crossed the hall in uniform, while clerks moved between adjoining offices carrying folders and sealed correspondence.
One corridor led deeper into the administrative wing.
Another eventually connected to the internal stairway descending toward the Training Arena below the Bastion's ground level.
The arena itself remained separate from the building proper—a vast, sunken open-air training ground reached either through that internal descent or by the enormous exterior gates positioned behind the Bastion.
Prince Dio and Lord Keith stood just inside the Bastion's grand entrance, several paces behind Leo, who waited with the composed patience of a man expecting an unpleasant reaction.
Lady Reise still did not know that Her Majesty had arranged for her to be stationed here.
Leo suspected that discovery would not be received gracefully.
Eliza approached from one of the adjoining corridors and slowed when she noticed them.
"Good morning, Prince Dio. Lord De Lune."
Prince Dio acknowledged her with a curt nod.
Lord Keith lifted a hand in greeting, though his attention remained elsewhere.
Eliza followed their gaze toward the entrance.
A bright voice carried through the open doors.
"We are here, Lady Reise! The Bastion!"
Lilia appeared first, practically bouncing into the hall.
Then—
G6 stepped through the entrance behind her.
Prince Dio went still.
It was Reise.
There was no mistaking her.
The same rose-gold hair. The same grey eyes. The same features he had known for years.
Yet something about seeing her now made the familiar image refuse to settle properly in his mind.
The black dress certainly contributed to it. Reise had always favored softer colors, delicate ornamentation, and everything expected of a young noblewoman preparing to become Grand Duchess.
This was sharper.
More restrained.
But it was not merely the clothing.
It was her.
Reise entered the Bastion without searching for him.
Her attention traveled over the building itself first—the unfamiliar corridors, the personnel moving through the hall, the doors branching into separate sections of the department. Her gaze moved with quiet concentration, taking in her surroundings before she seemed particularly interested in anyone standing within them.
Prince Dio's brow tightened.
The old Reise would have noticed him immediately.
She always had.
For years, he had found that attention suffocating.
Now its absence was strangely conspicuous.
Beside him, Lord Keith had fallen silent as well.
His reaction was different.
He had known Reise since childhood. He had seen her angry, spoiled, stubborn, dramatic, overdressed, exhausted, and furious enough to threaten half the servants in the West Villa.
The woman entering the Bastion was still undeniably Reise.
That was precisely why the difference struck him.
Her face had not changed.
The person wearing it seemed to have.
Lord Keith's eyes moved over the black attire and the sharper styling before returning to her expression.
Then the corner of his mouth lifted.
That actually suits you, Keith thought.
Not merely the dress.
The attitude.
That strange confidence she had carried ever since returning from her seclusion.
Eliza looked between the two men before turning toward Reise herself.
She had heard plenty about Lady Reise Worthon.
Jealous.
Temperamental.
Obsessed with Prince Dio.
Yet the woman approaching them did not appear particularly interested in the Prince at all.
G6 finally noticed the group waiting near the entrance.
Leo. Lord Keith. Prince Dio. Eliza.
Her grey eyes passed over each of them in turn.
Only recognition of their presence.
Nothing more.
Prince Dio's expression tightened almost imperceptibly.
Lord Keith noticed.
His amusement immediately deepened, though he had enough self-preservation not to comment.
Not yet.
G6 continued toward them with Brenda, Tina, Edmund, and Lilia nearby, apparently unaware that the simple act of walking into the room had left several people reassessing everything they thought they understood about Reise Worthon.
Prince Dio watched her approach, unsettled by a woman whose attention he had once considered inevitable.
Lord Keith watched an old friend who somehow seemed more comfortable in her own skin than he could remember.
Same Reise. Same face.
And yet—neither man was entirely prepared for the woman who had just walked into the Bastion.
—To Be Continued…—