“This is a letter sent directly by Her Majesty the Emperor. It’s something that can’t even be opened unless it’s by Headmaster Silvanus. Guide me to him at once!”
“I’d like to, but…”
The Academic Dean turned pale and looked on the verge of tears. Though he couldn’t know what contents the letter held, his instincts told him that turning away a letter sent directly by the Emperor could cost him his head.
‘A personal letter?… Damn it.’
Nigel, who had been watching the scene from Rowen’s shoulder, squeezed his eyes shut.
That golden lion seal. Just looking at it made him feel suffocated. To Nigel, his mother, the Emperor, was both a towering mountain and a perfect ruler. She was the strong monarch who had single-handedly held the empire steady after the previous Emperor’s passing.
And yet, she had always been kind to Nigel. Nigel truly respected—no, admired—such a mother.
That’s why he tried even harder not to leave any blemish on the Emperor’s record. But it wasn’t easy. No matter how hard he tried to follow her, he felt like he couldn’t even reach his mother’s toes.
‘You don’t have to go to the Academy. I know you’ve already learned all the necessary knowledge.’
The Emperor had said this while looking down at her son standing before the throne. He had grown into a young man who could now stand alongside the Imperial Knights lined up on either side.
Jet-black hair and violet eyes. Gone was the image of the child who used to run to her with tears in his eyes.
‘…I don’t want to be a burden on your path, Mother. I will return as a more perfect heir.’
Except for those stubborn eyes. The Emperor pictured her late husband’s face in her mind and, as if she had no choice, permitted him to enter the Academy. She had meant for him to enjoy some leisure at school before ascending to the throne.
But to Nigel, it was different.
He nodded with a face as stern as a general heading to battle.
‘I will prove my abilities.’
Leaving behind the perfect Imperial Palace, the place he had chosen to be recognized purely by his skills was this very Academy.
And yet, having made such bold declarations and left the palace—how long had it been since he enrolled, and now he’d gone missing, causing his mother to send a personal letter?
That letter felt to Nigel not like his mother’s concern, but like cold rebuke, like a finishing blow. Imperial Knights bursting in before the entire student body, the Emperor’s letter fluttering about—what a sight.
‘To think I can’t even handle Academy life properly…’
Nigel’s face burned with shame. It was fortunate that the frog’s thick skin prevented his complexion from showing. He didn’t want anyone to see him like this.
‘I absolutely can’t let them find out. At the very least, I need to walk out on my own two feet, looking like a proper Crown Prince, and resolve this situation.’
Nigel gritted his teeth. It wasn’t simply for survival. Even to protect his own pride, he couldn’t reveal himself before them right now.
“Move aside. If the Academic Dean won’t cooperate, we’ll do this our way.”
Sir Rodrick, as if he could wait no longer, put the letter back inside his coat and sliced his finger through the air.
“While I deliver this letter to the Headmaster’s office, Squad 1 will search the main building, Squad 2 the dormitory! Find His Highness the Crown Prince! Immediately detain anyone acting suspiciously!”
“Yes, sir!”
Bang, bang, bang. Dozens of knights stormed into the building. Rough footsteps began echoing at the entrance to the student cafeteria where Rowen was.
It was then.
From among the Academy staff gathered behind the knights, a maid timidly raised her hand. She was a maid in charge of cleaning the dormitory.
“Um, excuse me… Sir Knight! I have something to tell you…”
Sir Rodrick’s sharp gaze turned toward her.
“Is it about His Highness’s whereabouts?”
“Yes… though, it might not be important.”
It was clear why he was an Imperial Knight—Sir Rodrick’s presence was overwhelming. The maid, frightened by the knight’s piercing stare, almost stopped speaking.
“In the current situation, everything is important. Speak.”
“Well… it was the morning His Highness went missing.”
The maid began speaking in a trembling voice. Nigel, hiding by the window and eavesdropping, felt a chill run down his spine. No wonder she looked familiar—it was that maid. He could almost feel again the terror of death he’d experienced that day.
“That day, I was walking down the hallway when I saw His Highness’s door wide open. So I went inside, but His Highness wasn’t there… But there was one strange thing… There was just a single frog on the bed.”
“…A frog?”
Sir Rodrick furrowed his brow.
“And while we were trying to catch the frog and looking for it after we lost it for a moment… I saw Young Master Rowen Ashfield coming out of the room with it.”
“Rowen Ashfield?”
Having devoted most of his life to the Imperial Family after completing his knight’s oath, Sir Rodrick was well acquainted with Rowen Ashfield, Crown Prince Nigel’s long-time friend.
The boy had made quite a good impression on Sir Rodrick for managing to stay by the side of the fastidious Crown Prince.
“Yes. Originally, I wasn’t going to mention it, but…”
The maid trailed off uncertainly, then ultimately finished her statement.
“…But the fact that there was a frog in His Highness the Crown Prince’s room seemed strange no matter how much I thought about it…”
Hmm, Sir Rodrick’s eyes flashed sharply. The room where the Crown Prince disappeared. A frog left behind there. And Rowen Ashfield, who took it and hurriedly vanished. His instincts told him immediately.
This was no simple incident. Rowen Ashfield knew something. No, perhaps that frog might even be decisive evidence related to the Crown Prince’s disappearance.
“Where is Rowen Ashfield now?”
“I-I heard he’s in the cafeteria right now…”
The maid pointed toward the cafeteria windows.
Things were taking a strange turn.
“Huh? This could get dangerous…”
Rowen, who had been secretly listening to the entire conversation from inside the cafeteria, grinned and showed his teeth. Though he’d wanted to see his hero up close, now wasn’t a good time.
“I’ll have to get his autograph later.”
Rowen stepped back from the window and turned his gaze. His eyes met with the green frog sitting on his shoulder.
“Even Sir Rodrick doesn’t seem like he’d understand my situation.”
Rowen pondered briefly.
The Imperial Knights had stormed the Academy to search for the Crown Prince. They would surely turn every building upside down. From the knights’ perspective, the fact that a frog had been left alone in Nigel’s room at the time of his disappearance was suspicious enough.
It seemed best to get to his room as quickly as possible, before the knights, and hide the frog.
Rowen’s judgment was swift.
He roughly wrapped Nigel in a napkin, stuffed him into his pocket, and stood up. Swoosh— He donned the cloak he’d carelessly left on the table, lightly cupped Nigel in his pocket, and whispered.
“You got something to eat, right? Then just hide for a little longer.”
He left the dishes on the table and exited the cafeteria through the back door. Fortunately, the knights were concentrated in the plaza in front of the main building. Students who had been enjoying their leisure time followed along, murmuring about the knights’ sudden search.
Rowen quietly sprinted down the corridor. Inside his pocket, Nigel organized his thoughts.
‘Mother finally made her move.’
This wasn’t a simple search. The Emperor was now summoning Silvanus. The Dragon’s Covenant made between the founding Emperor of the Kaiserion Empire and the Dragon. When a descendant of the Emperor faces danger, the Dragon must answer that call.
That persistent resonance was probably ringing in Headmaster Silvanus’s head like a bell tower even now.
‘…I can only imagine how annoyed he must be with that personality of his.’
Bang!
In his rush, Rowen slammed his dormitory door shut without controlling his strength.
Then—screech, click. He wedged a chair under the doorknob to prevent the door from being opened from outside.
Thump, thump, thump. The sound of military boots echoing through the corridor stopped right in front of the dormitory door.
—”Young Master Rowen Ashfield. I know you’re in there.”
Sir Rodrick’s low, heavy voice penetrated through the door crack. The doorknob blocked by the chair rattled and screamed.
—”Open the door. This is a search by Imperial command. If you refuse, we will enter by force.”
‘This is insane.’
Rowen bit his lip. He could feel the small creature wriggling in his pocket. Rowen took the frog out of his pocket and hid it under the blankets on the bed.
The knights outside were desperate right now. If he opened the door? They would immediately seize this frog first. They would obviously treat this little creature not as a living being but as ‘evidence in the Crown Prince’s disappearance case’ or a ‘suspicious magical beast.’
Under the pretext of securing evidence, they might cut it open or subject it to painful magical detection experiments.
Rowen couldn’t bear to see such a horrific sight. Though it had only been a few days, this creature was clever enough to understand his words. He had clearly grown attached to it.
—”One.”
Sir Rodrick began counting down.
