A Pale Trial

The next morning, I awoke to a phantom ache in my fingers.

Lifting my left hand, I gazed at the obsidian ring.

Chloe’s moist, warm touch from last night seemed to linger at the base of my finger, like an invisible chain subtly tightening around my nerves.

“…What a troublesome person.”

I shook my hand, attempting to dislodge that unsettling sensation.

Anna had prepared a dress far more elaborate than usual for me.

It was the official S-class uniform, complemented by a dark-patterned shawl that bore the crest of the Eckhart family.

As she adjusted my collar, her gaze was as resolute as if she were sending a queen off to war.

“Young Lady, no matter what transpires, I will always be there, watching your back.”

“…Mm.”

I replied indifferently.

It seemed the news of the Prince intending to cause trouble for me at the assembly had already reached even the household maids.

This was hardly a surprise attack; it was an outright declaration of war.

The grand auditorium of the Royal Solfege Academy of Magic buzzed with activity.

The entire faculty and student body had gathered for the monthly assembly.

Crystal chandeliers suspended from the vaulted ceiling cast brilliant light, illuminating the hall as brightly as day.

As a privileged class, the S-class naturally occupied the front row, closest to the stage.

The moment I stepped into the auditorium, the previously boisterous crowd seemed to hit a mute button, falling silent for a fleeting second.

Immediately after, a tide of whispers washed over the room.

Countless gazes fixated upon me.

Some were curious, others fearful, and a few downright gleeful.

For someone with social anxiety, this was nothing short of a public execution rehearsal.

My stomach began to ache faintly.

Yet, I could not betray my discomfort. Instead, I straightened my back, lifted my chin slightly, and adopted an arrogant posture that seemed to declare, “You commoners are beneath my notice.”

“Lady Lilliana.”

Ella Smith immediately gravitated to my left side.

She appeared rather nervous today, her small hands tightly clutching the hem of her skirt.

Despite her tension, her eyes glared fiercely at those whispering around us, much like a protective Pomeranian guarding its meal.

“Please rest assured, if anyone dares to disrespect you, I shall blind them with light magic!”

She lowered her voice, speaking at a volume only we could hear.

‘There’s no need for such violence, Miss Smith.’

“I will sever all malice directed at you.”

To my right, Beatrix Eisen’s hand already rested on her sword hilt.

She hadn’t brought her manuscript today, and her entire being exuded an aura that warned others to keep their distance, a killing intent so potent that even the noble boys who usually dared not provoke her recoiled several steps.

Sandwiched between these two formidable guardians…

I felt less like a student and more like a Demon Lord on the verge of coronation.

Just then, a commotion erupted on the auditorium stage.

The head disciplinarian, who had been delivering a dry opening speech, was abruptly interrupted by a single individual.

Alexis von Lumiere.

He was clad in a platinum-white royal formal suit, adorned with a medal symbolizing kingship on his chest.

He strode to the center of the stage, his expression stern, a resolute fire burning in his sapphire-blue eyes.

He gazed down at me from the stage.

His eyes held a mixture of pity, heartbreak, and a sense of salvation known only to himself.

“Fellow students, esteemed tutors.”

Alexis’s voice, amplified by magic, resonated throughout the entire auditorium.

“Within this sacred institution, this luminous temple of knowledge… we absolutely cannot tolerate the encroachment of darkness.”

A collective gasp swept through the hall.

Everyone seemed to sense what was coming, their gazes darting uniformly between the Prince and me.

“Lilliana von Eckhart.”

The Prince raised his hand, pointing directly at me.

“In the name of the First Prince of the Kingdom, I hereby bring forth an accusation against you.”

“You are suspected of studying forbidden dark magic, employing wicked mind control techniques, bewitching and manipulating fellow students, and even… attempting to establish a heretical faction within the academy.”

“Boom…!”

The crowd utterly erupted.

“Dark magic? Mind control?”

“Good heavens, I knew that villainous noble lady was up to no good!”

“But… she looks so calm…”

Ella, beside me, trembled with fury. Just as she was about to rush forward to argue, I stopped her with a raised hand.

Beatrix’s sword had already unsheathed an inch, emitting a crisp clang.

“Silence.”

I spoke softly.

My voice was not loud, yet it inexplicably brought the two beside me to an immediate calm.

I lifted my head, meeting Alexis’s gaze across the sea of bobbing heads on stage.

I felt no anger, nor did I offer any defense.

I simply watched him, with the sort of gaze one reserves for a child throwing yet another tantrum.

This dismissive attitude utterly enraged Alexis.

“How much longer will you feign innocence?!”

He roared.

“If your conscience is clear, then come up here! Submit to the judgment of the ‘Holy Appraisal Stone’!”

As his words faded, two church attendants ascended the stage, carrying a tray covered with a white cloth.

The white cloth was removed.

A transparent crystal, about the size of a fist, radiating a pure white light, appeared before everyone’s eyes.

The Holy Appraisal Stone.

It was a holy relic used by the church to detect high-ranking demons.

Legend had it that if one harbored evil thoughts or bore a dark curse, the stone would instantly turn black, or even shatter, upon contact.

“If you are innocent, this stone will emit an even more dazzling light.”

Alexis stared at me, his tone aggressive.

“But if you have been consumed by darkness… it will reveal your true nature!”

“Lilliana, come up! If you still care for the honor of the Eckhart family!”

This was a blatant trap.

If I refused, it would be an admission of guilt.

If I went up and the stone turned black, it would be undeniable proof.

In Alexis’s script, this was an unbeatable gambit.

Having personally experienced my suffocating magical pressure, he was convinced I was a thorough and thorough dark witch.

But all I could say was…

‘Your Highness, your understanding of power is still far too superficial.’

“…How troublesome.”

I sighed, adjusted my skirt, and began to walk, thousands of eyes fixed upon me.

My heels clicked steadily and elegantly on the steps leading to the stage.

I ascended the stage and stood before Alexis.

Up close, His Highness the Prince still looked quite unwell.

Deep shadows bruised beneath his eyes, clearly a result of either plotting this execution or suffering a sleepless night from yesterday’s blow.

“Lilliana…”

He looked at me, his voice suddenly dropping to a whisper, audible only to the two of us.

“It’s not too late to confess now. I can… plead with the church to merely strip you of your magic and confine you to a monastery… That way, you won’t have to die.”

I paused, taken aback.

Watching his conflicted and pained eyes, a realization suddenly dawned on me.

This was no execution at all.

This fellow…

He was actually trying to ‘save’ me through such a twisted method?

He believed I had been consumed by darkness, and thus, he intended to sever my power, render me a powerless invalid dependent on him, and thereby preserve my life?

‘…What arrogance, what twisted self-pity!’

A wave of nausea washed over me.

“There’s no need, Your Highness.”

I coldly interrupted his delusion.

“I do not believe myself guilty, nor do I require your pity.”

I walked past him, heading directly for the Holy Appraisal Stone, which emanated a sacred white glow.

The entire hall held its breath.

Ella clapped a hand over her mouth, while Beatrix’s palms were slick with cold sweat.

I extended my left hand, adorned with the obsidian ring…

The very hand Chloe had licked last night.

Staring at the glowing stone, I had but one thought: ‘This light is too bright, a little blinding.’

Then, my fingertip gently made contact with the cool, crystalline surface.

There was no instantaneous blackening, as Alexis had anticipated.

Nor was there any swirling dark aura, as the priests had expected.

At the moment of contact.

The dormant, chaotic deep sea within me seemed to have its appetite awakened by the pure, unadulterated light elemental energy contained within the stone.

It was as if an unsated behemoth, having skipped breakfast, had suddenly spotted a small pastry placed before it.

It merely…

…took a single sip.

“Buzz…!”

A faint hum, as if the air itself had been sucked dry, echoed through the hall.

The next second.

The Holy Appraisal Stone, which had been radiating brilliant white light, suddenly…

…extinguished.

It didn’t turn black, nor did it turn red.

It was as if a lightbulb had been unplugged; its radiance vanished without a trace in an instant.

The once translucent crystal transformed into a dull, lusterless, greyish rock, resembling nothing more than a common pebble by the roadside…

…a worthless stone.

The light elemental magic within it, and even the stone’s very material structure, had been utterly devoured by that momentary chaos, leaving behind only an empty husk.

“…”

Alexis’s expression froze.

The church priests gaped, their eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.

The students below looked even more bewildered.

“What just happened?”

Black meant guilt, brighter meant innocence.

“Then… what does ‘gone’ mean?”

In the deathly silence, I withdrew my hand, glancing at the utterly ruined stone with a faint twinge of guilt.

‘Ah…’

‘I didn’t quite control my strength; it seems… I drained it completely.’

Yet, this did not deter me from continuing my act.

I turned, facing the now utterly petrified Alexis, and gently pushed up my glasses, revealing an expression brimming with regret and innocence.

“Your Highness, it appears… the quality of this stone is rather subpar.”

I cast a dismissive glance at the tray, as if appraising a defective item.

“Unable to even sustain such an insignificant glow… are you certain this is truly a holy relic of the church, and not merely a glass bead purchased from a street vendor?”

Alexis trembled, extending a hand to touch the stone.

The instant his fingertip made contact.

“Crack!”

The grey stone, as if losing all structural integrity, crumbled into a handful of fine dust, sifting through his fingers…

…and scattered with the wind.

“…Nothing.”

Alexis stared at the empty dust in his hand, his mind utterly blank.

Not darkness.

It was nothingness.

She had… consumed the light.

“This… this is impossible…”

He mumbled, his gaze shifting from its previous resolve to a bottomless terror when he looked at me.

And a faint trace of…

…a profound shiver and obsession born from witnessing a being beyond comprehension.

I paid no further mind to the Prince, whose worldview had utterly shattered.

Gathering my skirt, I elegantly descended the stage.

The crowd parted for me like the Red Sea, automatically clearing a wide path.

Not a single person dared to speak.

For just moments ago, they had personally witnessed this Duchess’s daughter not only escape judgment, but rather…

…judge “judgment” itself.