Chapter 26: The Truth Reflected in Light.

Amelia stared in stunned silence at the other Lease, who held Seira in his arms.

She had thought Lease changed because he met Seira.

That Seira had incited him to spread those rumors and frame her.

Yet now Lease wore a face more twisted than she had ever seen, speaking words that cornered her without mercy.

(Was Lease dissatisfied with this engagement from the very beginning?)

They had been engaged for so long, yet he had never once voiced any complaint.

Because of that, she had assumed he accepted it too.

As Amelia reeled in shock, the illusory pair began to discuss their plan right in front of her.

“First, you approach Seira. I’ll join after gauging the situation.”

“Got it. The more witnesses, the better. Hehe… I wonder what kind of face that girl will make.”

Exactly as events had just unfolded, they laid out their scheme—and then, abruptly, the two figures vanished.

“This is nonsense! You did this, didn’t you?”

Seira raised her voice and advanced on Amelia, all traces of her earlier delicate demeanor gone.

“No, it wasn’t me. I couldn’t do something like this.”

Amelia denied it immediately.

She knew this was light magic.

Only members of the royal family could wield such magic.

Still, it felt slightly different from Julius’s magic.

“Liar! You’re trying to frame us with false accusations and get us expelled from the academy, aren’t you? How cowardly!”

Ignoring Amelia’s denials completely, Seira tried to press closer—only to suddenly disappear from right in front of her.

(Eh?)

Startled by the abruptness, Amelia searched for her.

Then she saw Sarju’s red-haired escort knight, Kaido, who had pulled Seira away from Amelia.

“If anyone was trying to frame Amelia with false accusations, it was the two of you.”

A calm voice rang out across the scene.

With the escort knight present, it was only natural that he would be here too.

The moment people noticed him, those who had been watching with interest hurriedly bowed their heads.

Lease and Seira, of course, did the same.

Showing disrespect to him was unforgivable.

Sarju approached Amelia with slow, deliberate steps, walking straight to her side.

“The image you just saw wasn’t conjured by magic—it was a direct reproduction of a past conversation that actually took place here in the academy.”

“Th-that’s impossible…”

Both Seira and Lease visibly faltered at his words.

They seemed desperate to make excuses, yet unable to refute Sarju’s magic, they simply paled and hung their heads.

“Do you need more proof?”

Sarju asked the silent pair.

Before they could respond, another scene of Lease and Seira appeared.

“The new student welcome party is coming up soon. What are you planning to do, Lease?”

“Of course I’m not giving her a dress. After all the bad rumors I spread, she won’t have any friends left. She’ll probably show up alone and miserable.”

“Lease, you’re terrible.”

Seira giggled.

Lease pulled her closer.

“The only one I love is you. Ideally I’d attend with you, but it would be a hassle if Amelia saw us.”

So he had deliberately refrained from sending Amelia a dress or contacting her.

Someone had once said there was no way the son of a marquis like Lease would forget such a thing—and they were right.

“But you’re going to provoke her into causing a scene so she gets expelled, right?”

Just like what happened with Emira—if someone was expelled from the academy, they would be barred from using magic for the rest of their life.

“After marrying that girl and inheriting the count’s house, I’ll bring you along no matter what anyone says.”

“Yes. As long as I can be with Lease, I don’t care about anything else.”

After that, the two of them laughed while reading the letters Amelia had sent to Lease.

Unable to bear watching any longer, Amelia averted her eyes.

“I’m sorry, Amelia. I didn’t intend to hurt you.”

The one who apologized was not Lease, of course, but Sarju, who had used the magic.

“No. This isn’t your fault, Sarju-sama. In fact… I’m glad I finally heard his true feelings.”

She shook her head as though shaking off the past and forced a smile.

Lease may have been different from what she believed, but the days she spent with him had once been precious to her.

His betrayal had gradually faded their color and shape, yet she hadn’t been able to discard them completely.

Because those words had never come directly from Lease himself.

But now she could finally let go of those old memories for good.

“Spreading baseless rumors to ruin Amelia’s reputation, and even plotting to take over the count’s house—this is quite malicious. It won’t be Amelia who gets expelled. It will be the two of you.”

“…Ah.”

At Sarju’s words, Lease collapsed to the ground as though his legs had given out.

Unless one graduated from the Royal Magic Academy, using magic would be forbidden forever.

For a noble, that was tantamount to having one’s future sealed shut.

Lease’s value as an earth magic user—the very reason the Renis Count house had desired him—would vanish.

Even Amelia’s father, after such a public scandal that tarnished his daughter and stripped Lease of his magic qualification, would surely no longer force the marriage.

“Unlike you, Amelia is exceptional. She’s only just enrolled, yet her advancement to Special Class A is practically assured. Moreover, she’s assisting with my research. Attempting to frame someone like her makes your crimes grave indeed. Prepare yourselves accordingly.”

Advancing to Special Class A meant the possibility of becoming a researcher at the Royal Magic Research Institute after graduation.

And it was well known that serving as Sarju’s assistant required far more than ordinary knowledge.

The surrounding students seemed astonished by Amelia’s excellence.

Hearing it, Lease bit his lip in frustration.

She recalled hearing that he had dropped from Class A to Class C.

Come to think of it, Lease had never liked it when Amelia studied magic.

As the prospective son-in-law who would marry into the Renis house, he had often studied magic alongside her under tutors.

The tutors always praised Amelia as outstanding, yet afterward Lease would invariably become sullen.

He had told her that since he would inherit the count’s house, she didn’t need to study magic so intensively.

Instead, he said, she should focus on patrolling the farmlands and compiling crop data.

In hindsight, perhaps the many outings Lease arranged with her were meant to keep her from learning magic.

“So you were jealous of Amelia’s excellence and tried to diminish her value to make yourself look better?”

That was why Sarju’s words rang so true.

“…!”

“Sarju-sama!”

Enraged, Lease tried to lunge at Sarju—but Kaido, the escort knight, would never allow it.

Lease was immediately restrained and handed over to the academy guards.

Left behind, Seira remained sitting in a daze.

She too was soon taken away by the guards.

Until formal judgment was passed, both would likely be confined to their rooms in disciplinary custody.