Reincarnated as a Son of the Sword Saint and the Sage

"I will be going now. See you later."

Waving my hand, I turned my back to Iris before I passed the gate and exited the campus.

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When the classes ended, I told the others that I would be strolling around the city for a while and promised to come back before the curfew. They immediately understood me when I said I preferred to be alone, thinking that I was up to something.

As per the academy's rule, I was in my casual wear tonight. Not my princely outfit since it could draw attention, but something a normal person wore. I assumed that this was enough to blend in with the public, so I did not change my physical appearance anymore.

Since it was about to get night, the streets of the Imperial Capital began to light up with the establishments' and stalls' lights. Citizens started to swarm the streets and roads to relieve themselves upon a long day's work.

As I walked along the road, a man then drew himself closer to me and walked along with me. He was someone I knew, and I had planned on meeting up with him.

"Your Highness."

"You are already doing good, Sergei."

The one I was with was Sergei, a queendom's knight and a newly promoted captain of a squadron. He was also the first adventurer who reached the 50th floor of the Raevender Dungeon.

After testing her strength, we immediately recruited him into our knight order. Currently, Sergei was not doing his knightly duties right now, as I gave him the task of accompanying me in the empire as well as running my errands.

I could have Michael or my other clones do the job, but I chose Sergei for this to see if he could execute this kind of mission. Also, I wanted to see how versatile he was and evaluate him to see if he could be fully trusted.

"What can I do for you tonight, Your Highness?"

"There are many things I see need investigation. For now, I am tasking you with gathering information regarding the internal affairs of the empire. It doesn't matter if they were rumors or others words as long as we can get new information."

It was true that I could just deploy my remove visions to investigate, but all they could do was observe, not to inquire about data from people. Having Sergei interact with people would make the process smoother instead of me invading their minds without knowing what I would find.

"Is there anything that is bothering you lately?"

"Not at all. I have been hearing some rumors lately that kind of relate to the issues happening in the academy."

"Like those rumors saying that a daughter of a baron was actually a member of a certain archducal family?"

"So you have heard it too, huh? I just want to make sure that everything is at bay. It would be not good if a single friction in the empire suddenly sent ripples on the continent."

"I understand, Your Highness." Sergei nodded to my words. "May I ask if I could get deep with the investigation?"

"You mean as far as infiltration? I don't know. But if you have to, you have to be extra careful not to get caught or noticed."

"I got it."

"You are quite confident in yourself, aren't you, Sergei? But don't push yourself."

After a short conversation, Sergei and I set apart in the crowd and walked in separate ways as if we were strangers.

◆◇◆◇◆◇

At night, in one of the rooms in the academy's dorms, there was a young woman with short brown hair in a one-piece white nightgown. Her name was Edith Felsvorder, and she was on her desk, writing something on paper while basked by the ambient light of the magic lamp.

Scrape. Scrape.

She was actually doing one of her academic words. While she was at it, her mind was filled with something that was unrelated to her work.

(So many things happened.) She spoke in her mind. (It's way too complimented for someone like me to handle.)

Ever since she started attending the academy, her life changed suddenly and significantly. And even before that, Edith's life has been tough due to the involvement of Melville with her and her family.

Upon coming to the academy, Melville forcefully used her body to flirt with Prince Edward, which ended up the annulment of his engagement with his fiancee, Christine.

Edith really felt bad at what had gone. But at the same time, she admitted that she developed feelings for the prince. He was like every girl's fantasy, and she was just a pitiful girl who found comfort in his arms.

One fateful day, a young man came to her rescue and set her free from Melville's control. Prince Edward organized an operation to find that young man and personally thanked him. When they found and brought him to the empire, Azrael later became friends with the prince and the other young lords.

Edith was indeed free of Melville's influence, but the organization behind her was still holding up her family. She thought that her misfortune would still persist, but she did not expect what had happened.

One day, Francis Aethel personally said to her that after a thorough investigation, they found out that her father was actually a child of the passed former archduke. Her father was not just his bastard but his firstborn, making Edith the right heir to the archduchy.

Edith was in absolute disbelief when she heard that. She never thought that her grandmother, whom she always saw as a lovely and caring person, could do that horrible thing to her family.

Francis made her understand that it did not affect how they were. In fact, they could use this to put value on her and make her more suitable for the crown prince.

He also said that the Aethel family was ready to adopt her, but he made sure that she would not be replacing him as the heir, which was entirely fine with Edith. He was implying that his family was using her as a tool for strengthening its ties with the Imperial family.

(Should I take their offer or not?)

After working with her paper, Edith leaned on her chair and looked at the ceiling, contemplating the life she would be having.