The Academy became rowdy since classes hadn’t started yet. Students were told to stay in their dorms but they obviously didn’t listen. Because of this the dorm buildings were filled with a commotion.

The first year building was the noisiest out of them all. This was because the seniors visited the first year girls in an attempt to form relations. Not a friendship kind of relationship, though.

The academy was a place where a man and woman could find their future lovers so it wasn’t unexpected that they would be searching for potential mates. Well, most of them—the boys especially—were just looking for a quickie before leaving the poor girls alone.

Olivia wanted to avoid facing these kinds of men so she decided to come to the garden which was near the female dorm buildings. It was called the High Gardens. She had invited Lauran to come with but Lauran had to leave on short notice.

Thus, Olivia invited her knight, Elna to join her.

Of course, Elna—who was used to being a servant—wasn’t a very good conversation partner.

Olivia looked silently at her red necklace’s gem. She had carved the shape and made the necklace herself. The “gem” in this case referred to the crystal that she received from Luke back in Lockinge city.

She fell in love with the unique color of the crystal and the shine it gives off when held in the sun. It was even more reflective than any diamond she had gotten her hands on even though it was far more delicate.

Despite being a very inexperienced jeweler, Olivia could tell from her eyes alone that this mineral was very valuable. Even the artisans and local jewelry shops had told her that it was very valuable and that she shouldn’t sell it off.

It was an unknown mineral which she had never seen before.

“That is quite the beautiful necklace you’re wearing, Livia.” A voice came from the entrance of the greenhouse.

Elna stood in front of that person, “State your business.”

“If this were outside the academy, dog, then your tongue would’ve been cut off for speaking to me like that,” the person flicked her hair.

“Let her through, Elna,” Olivia spoke with her gaze still fixated on her necklace.

“What do you want, Celeste?”

Olivia addressed the yellow haired woman. She was a bit taller than Olivia and more well-endowed. The two were a few years apart so Celeste was a bit more developed and had the body of a mature woman already.

“I don’t need a reason to visit a friend, right?” Celeste sat down without permission.

“You don’t need to pretend we’re friends in front of Elna. She wouldn’t make it public since it would ruin the picture we want to paint as business partners. Her revealing it would affect me as well.”

“I see. Well, then I don’t need to pretend.” Celeste smiled warmly. Her tone was the same as when she speaks to others but Olivia could sense a kind of venom in her voice.

“So I ask you again: what do you want?”

Celeste sighed loudly, “Why do you always think I want something whenever I approach you?”

“Because you’re a snake who hides your fangs under that gentle nature you mimicked from your mother. You even fooled Arnold with it all these years.”

“My own friend calling me a snake is very sad. It breaks my heart,” Celeste pretended to cry.

“What is it, Celeste?” Olivia wanted to complain over being disturbed but decided to swallow her anger.

“I’ll start then. As you know, I’m part of the Crown Faction which supports big brother Julius’ rise to the throne,” Celeste began speaking, “Unrest is beginning to spread among the rest of the faction members. The senior nobles especially.”

“Unrest? Why exactly?”

Celeste looked at Olivia in disbelief, “Because of you. Why is the daughter of the empress not supporting any of the factions. You should know that I won’t hold it against you if you don’t want to support your brother.”

“I don’t care about whoever takes the throne. Father isn’t stepping down anytime soon so it’s not a subject that needs to be addressed right now.”

“The important thing when selecting a heir is how much influence the heir has over the people and the nobles of your empire. Time is important when gathering strength to combat an opposing faction. You will have enough time to build your influence and make connections which will help you become Emperor. I’m sure both your eldest sister and eldest brother have taken that into consideration.”

Celeste’s words implied that Julius and Ronia(the eldest sister) have enough time to strengthen each of their factions. The other princes and princesses had already lost in the battle of who was to inherit since Julius was the first born.

But Ronia complicated his ascension. She had expressed her desire to her father to ascend instead of her brother. Because of this, two very powerful factions had come into existence more than a decade ago and existed still today. The norm since the founding of the empire was to select the eldest as the heir.

But if a capable candidate for the throne comes along then everything changes. Favoritism over age wasn’t the biggest factor anymore. The eldest could be born an idiot while even the youngest could be a genius born only once every 100 years.

“If the civil war taught us anything it’s that you mustn’t hasten the process of ascension. Look at what happened when your sister started making rumors that your brother was dead. Because of this her reputation took a dive. Impatience can bite you in the butt. The Imperial and Crown factions were on equal footing back in the day but the latter had caught up and even taken a broader leap ever since.

Because big brother Julius holds such power over the empire now, the people—including your other siblings—decided to join his faction, leaving Ronia behind with only her loyal followers. But what would happen if Julius fails to protect the border which was given to him to protect?”

Julius was tasked with protecting the border which separates the continent of humans from the nightmare monsters said to have been from the Intermid dimension. His job was to lead the Imperial Army for the time being until a new supreme commander was enlisted. Of course, this itself wasn’t an easy task since experience and talent in tactics wasn’t something every goddamn noble has.

“The people would lose their trust in him.” Olivia replied to her question.

“Exactly, Livia. It’s like he’s walking on a thin rope. The people would be the thousands of swords below that rope. Their trust and beliefs would disappear once he showed weakness. Isn’t it sad how their opinions could change so quickly?” Celeste put her hands under her chin as she leaned forward and looked Olivia in the eyes.

“The border is an important place that separates us from being invaded by otherworldly monsters and enemy nations. If my brother doesn’t lead his people to protect it then he would be committing treason against the empire. This is the responsibility he has as the one who has the best chance of succeeding the throne.”

‘Even the other nations that assisted us in protecting the border would rebel. If that happened then only the Great Nobles would stand between us and our enemies.’

“Who really knows,” Celeste shrugged again, “But what you say would only be true if he chose to not protect the border. In other words, this is purely hypothetical.”

“….”

“We only need a commander on the frontlines then the crown prince would be able to come home. Didn’t the previous commander die due to uncertain circumstances?”

“What’s your point, Celeste?”

Olivia couldn’t understand why Celeste would bring that up. It was a decade old incident. The supreme commander was duke Marcus von Berkley’s great-uncle who was an excellent general, even greater than Marcus in his prime.

He fought in hundreds of battles in his 60 years of living. One could even say that the battlefield was his home since he would always go to one even if it either small skirmishes or large scale warfare.

“I’m saying that if you join the faction and help Julius then we would be able to win this battle.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“You don’t have to hide it anymore. I know that you helped him win that war in his first campaign.”

Olivia looked to the corner and noticed that Elna’s eyes had widened.

‘I was right. She really is a snake.’

She intentionally mentioned this in front of Elna to see what her reaction would be. But Olivia had trust that her knight wouldn’t just blurt out something like that.

The problem, however, was the witch in front of her.

“Do you really want to know why I don’t want to join any of you right now, Celeste?”

“Of course I do. Why else would I bring it up? But think about it. Isn’t it odd how the commander, who led the soldiers and knights to protect the border, died just before the civil war?”

“You should be careful about the things you say, Celeste. Even if I do hate my sister, I will not let your foolish accusations be left unpunished. Your words can harm the reputation of the imperial family.”

“Calm down, dear. I’m not implying anything.”

Though she said that, Celeste looked at Olivia with a face that said, “Or am I”.

“But still, this is the perfect time for your sister to get a head start over your brother. She’s smart, I’ll give her that.”

“You’re still talking about that?”

“Sorry, sorry~. Anyway, I should get going. A student council president shouldn’t be slacking off right when I should be at my busiest. Ciao.” Celeste stood up and left the table. She spoke as she walked towards the door of the greenhouse, “Think about side you’re going to be on. Being neutral as a royal will only bring trouble to your doorstep.”

In other words, she’ll be forced to choose even if she doesn’t want to.

Olivia felt a headache coming. This was why she hated politics. Why did she need to involve herself when she wasn’t interested in who became Emperor?

Whether it was her sister or brother, Olivia would request either of them to build her a mansion far away from the capital where she can study the art of war in peace and return to the empire to lead her own army. Of course, to lead an army, she would need an army.

Olivia wouldn’t bother with that now though. She didn’t need to win over the hearts of people to raise an army. All she needed was money so she can buy her own soldiers.

That was exactly why she was so invested in ensuring her business does well.

“Your highness…” Elna spoke up with a tone different from what she usually referred to Olivia, “Y…You aided in winning… a battle which will forever be remembered in our history books…”

“…I only gave my brother instructions, Elna,” Olivia spoke while gazing into her teacup, “I’m certain my father would’ve been able to do the same. My brother is a stubborn man so he wouldn’t have accepted help if he wasn’t in a situation that could’ve ended his life. Especially from a young girl. He called for father yet I was the one who answered. Was he disappointed? I think he was. But his opinion of me changed ever since that day. I wasn’t his stupid little sister anymore but a woman he saw as his equal.”

Olivia realized she had spoken too much, “Forgive me. I never speak this much in your presence.”

“No, no. If anything, I am honored to have served you all these years. I didn’t know that you were such a prodigy.”

Olivia smiled thinly, “Prodigy is used for fighters in this empire.”

“Then a genius.” Elna smiled.

Olivia chuckled, “Yes, indeed I am.”

She wanted to jump into a hole at her self-praise.

Julius would’ve probably said the same thing if he was here. Why wouldn’t he see his sister that way? She was the one who led an entire army to victory during the time of war and bloodshed by only giving a few instructions to him.

The crown prince was able to come home due to her help and he was able to stop the civil war between his faction and his sister’s faction.

‘If I’ll have to choose then it doesn’t matter which one of them I hate or like the most. My decision should be based on whether or not they can help me with my dream.’

She wanted to rule the battlefield as the first female general in the empire’s history. If even one of them could make her dream a reality then she wouldn’t hesitate on who to side with.

Julius was a big brother she loved dearly but Ronia was someone she considered a witch who destroys lives even if she sits in that tower of hers all day every day.

Favoritism between the two of her siblings wasn’t what will determine her decision.

Because when you are a member of the imperials, family doesn’t come first. Merits gained from decisions are the most important.

If Julius came back after successfully repelling the empire’s enemies and protecting the borders then Olivia would side with him. But if he were to allow the border between man and beast to be breached then Olivia would side with Ronia.

Olivia knew that many people would hate her if they knew about her condition for joining either faction. The veterans of the last war would even have her killed since there was a possibility of her becoming their enemy.

But.

Celeste was her biggest worry right now. What will Celeste do if she ever found out about Olivia’s condition?

Also Olivia didn’t believe Celeste when she said:

You should know that I won’t hold it against you if you don’t want to support your brother.

“Let’s get back to class, Elna.”

“Yes, your highness.”

The problem won’t resolve itself so Olivia had to think of a way to avoid being “killed” by her former best friend if she were to join the Imperial faction.