"I don’t want to be queen," I state aloud.

  "I’m afraid, Bianca," the headmaster says kindly, "that your marriage is arranged by your parents. And Ronan, I appreciate that you closed the door earlier, but it’s not polite to whisper to a classmate in public."

  I don’t give Ronan a chance to answer or apologize—though I’m not sure he would—because they’ve just given me something to grasp at, and even if it’s nothing but straws, it’s better than falling.

  "Of course, and I’m already engaged," I say, relieved. "To Marco Lacor."

  "The Crown will compensate your current fiancé for the annulment," the colonel states. "That won’t be an issue. This, of course, is a decision for the king and queen. Your parents will be informed of the proposal and the Crown’s decision. In the meantime, be careful. We will assign you a guard. We cannot allow that sword to fall into the wrong hands."

  I think about Sol and her sister. Why do I have the feeling that this isn’t about some noble from another kingdom…?

  And no, I don’t want to marry the crown prince. Not even Vincent, as handsome as he is. But why am I even entertaining Ronan’s delusions?

  Internally, I’m crying. A lot. Vincent approaches me and places a comforting hand on my shoulder. I look at him. He seems genuinely worried about me. The colonel watches us thoughtfully.

  The headmaster clears his throat and continues speaking.

  "The truth is, this item is far too powerful to be just legendary. The legendary items we know of can give something like +5 to strength, but this... increasing the health and damage of an entire kingdom... it makes me reconsider the difficulty of the boss that dropped it. The chest is elite, but the reward, a legendary item, only surpassed by the mythical ones..." He trails off.

  Then, he steps closer to the table and picks up the pup, examining it carefully.

  "This little dog—did it really contribute to the defeat of such a boss?" he continues, while the colonel looks on thoughtfully.

  "Well, was there another boss? Besides the naga, the golem, and the lich?" I ask, while winking at him.

  A gesture only he, the colonel, the baronet, and maybe Vincent—who is still at my right—can see. But I winked with my left eye, hoping Vincent wouldn’t notice. As for the baronet, he might be puzzled, but I doubt he’ll ask any questions. After all, he’s merely a spectator here, only present because he brought the chest to us.

  "There must have been one," the prince says. "I didn’t see it, but I did see that colossal scorpion pincer, much larger than those of the giant scorpions we fought."

  He scrutinizes me closely. He suspects something. And the whole deal with the seed changing size… sure, it does that, but it’s usually more discreet, and no one has ever asked me if I have two puppies.

  “Well, it’s a mystery. It must have been Ronan’s bear, and maybe the little pup, who got lost in battle, somehow managed to land an assist. Oh, my baby,” I feign concern as I step closer to the rector to pet the pup on the head. “Did you almost get killed and I didn’t even notice?”

  He looks at me with those big, innocent eyes, and I curl my fingers around him. He deserves an Oscar for this performance. He looks completely harmless and adorable.

  “It’s just your pet, a common dog. From what I can see, you were lucky to tame him and he acquired the size trait. But I don’t see any magic or other peculiarities.” He hands him back to me. I take him in my arms. “If he really wandered into that room, you’re incredibly lucky he survived—let alone that he ended up triggering the chest.”

  Judging by how my party members are looking at me, I don’t think I’ll be getting much of the loot… Maybe I should have listened to Ronan—this way, at least they wouldn’t be trying to marry me off. Breaking an engagement with Marco, a future baron, would be easy; but breaking one with the king’s heir? Not so much.

  Also… do pets here really change size? I had no idea. That explains why no one ever questioned the puppy.

  “A shame for our prince, but surely, you can challenge the dungeon again. Perhaps next time, it’ll be him who gets an item of this caliber,” says the colonel, and for once, I actually agree with him.

  I want to go back to that dungeon. And if another copy of the sword drops, then please, let Vincent bind it so they leave me alone.

  Or not… because then they’d probably just marry me to him so every citizen could get double the bonus.

  Enough already! This is too much.

  I can’t deal with this. I need to focus on what matters: I have to go back to that dungeon until the mother scorpion boss stops giving me experience. That’s what’s important. Not some future marriage that, according to the seed and the great danger awaiting me, will be the least of my problems.

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  “I’m afraid I must prohibit you from entering that dungeon again until it has been fully cataloged by the military and all of its bosses evaluated,” the rector tells us, and I can’t help but feel completely stunned—I was counting on that dungeon to level up.

  And what happens when they send soldiers, and the boss wipes them out?

  “You may return to class,” he continues. “We will store both this chest and the materials Jorund brought in the treasury office. You can come by after lunch to divide them up and let us know if you’d like us to sell any materials on your behalf. I’ll inform the professor of your first afternoon class so you won’t be penalized if you’re slightly late.”

  The prince thanks him for all of us, and we start to leave.

  “Bianca, wait,” the rector says. “Stay a few more minutes. I want to examine your new weapon in more detail.”

  “As you wish, rector,” I reply.

  Now comes the part where I make my excuse. I ask the pup to shrink and tuck him into the pocket of my uniform jacket. Honestly, it’s a relief that this divine beast can fool the rector into believing it’s just a regular dog.

  During the brief moment he was examining it—whether through magic or just a careful look—I felt a flicker of fear. Besides, if he was using an air magic identification spell, that would mean the most skilled mages can analyze not just inanimate objects, but perhaps even monsters and people.

  “So, Bianca?” the rector asks once only he, the colonel, and I remain.

  The baronet has taken his leave along with my friends. Before the office door closed, I caught a glimpse of the prince approaching him—likely to thank him for bringing us the materials and the chest.

  “It was a much larger scorpion. I severely damaged it with my spirit magic. Its carapace was incredibly tough, but by channeling fire, I managed to pierce through it. Thanks to Ronan’s zombie bear, which kept it distracted, I was able to get close enough. I think my pet must have fallen there, perhaps landing on the creature before running off to hide in a corner of the room. I killed the scorpion, followed my friends to the other chamber and the bear stayed inside, preventing the golem from escaping. When everything was over and I reentered the room, I found my pup cowering and scared. And please,” I add, “when the military sends people to that dungeon, tell them to be careful. That boss was incredibly tough. We barely made it.”

  The problem with this is that I’ve just positioned myself in the room, having killed a creature that no one saw because it was lying upside down, clinging to the ceiling of the massive chamber. I get that my friends were distracted, but not so much that they wouldn’t notice if a new boss appeared, especially one of such size. Maybe the fact that they have to keep my spirit magic a secret is what stops them from asking too many questions about exactly when I used that channeling and killed the scorpion mother.

  “I understand. Your magic is undoubtedly a gift to the kingdom,” the rector states after several long seconds of consideration. “You must continue training it. And well played—making friends with the prince was a smart move. No one has a guaranteed spot in the tournament, not even him. If he grows stronger alongside you, we will have the honor of being represented by the crown in the games two years from now.”

  The colonel nods approvingly at his words.

  Are there power struggles between the nobility and the crown here? Ugh, I really hope not. But if there are, I don’t want to know anything about them. Politics isn’t my thing. Back home, my best friend always said I had the subtlety of an elephant trampling through a horn shop. Just one more reason why I should never become a dark queen.

  “I can’t take credit for that, Rector. The prince is a kind young man who welcomed me into his group when he saw me eating alone. Just like he did with Mary. He has no idea about my power or potential.”

  The rector smiles at me.

  “That’s even better. They say the friendships you make at the academy last a lifetime.”

  We say our goodbyes and I head back to class. The sword rests at my waist, secured in the scabbard it came with in the chest. The sheath is made of ebony wood, with leather reinforcements and filigree decorations that appear to be gold. At its center—clearly visible if not for my jacket covering it—there is a decorative gemstone that could be a ruby. It also features a leather belt reinforced with golden threads and a golden buckle, the top part of which is shaped like a scorpion’s tail. It matches the hilt, which has intertwined golden cords along the grip, mimicking scorpion tails, while the guard is shaped like their pincers. Honestly, it would draw quite a bit of attention if not for the practical academy uniform jacket, which, when buttoned up, conceals both the belt and the upper part of the sheath, as well as the sword’s pommel.

  I feel relieved that at least this part—explaining to the rector what happened—has gone smoothly, and beyond that, excited about my new weapon, now bound to my soul. The only thing tainting the moment is the possibility of being engaged to Faith’s fiancé.

  Oh well...

  +1 magic damage for each type of damage used in an attack! I think and focus on the positive.

  That means if I channel the sword with fire, I get +1 extra damage from the channeling and another +1 from the sword itself. Oh… my god, could I channel multiple elements at the same time? If I could, just how ridiculously high could my damage get?

  The possibilities this opens up are insane…

  Also, if I keep the sword sheathed and use stone spikes or a water splash, they should still get that +1 damage bonus, I assume.

  I need to test all of this. Let’s see when classes end so I can try it during the supervised training session this afternoon. It’s Monday, so what’s today’s lesson? Mmm… light magic. But I can’t channel light. Well, I’ll just stay after class and train anyway.

  On top of that, it also grants +1 damage and +1 life to vassals, subjects, and summoned creatures. The goblins are going to lose their minds… Oh, my gosh, Ronan! It’s not just that Ronan himself gets an extra life point—maybe this applies to his summons too? Since, technically, they’re my subjects as well.

  This sword… it almost seems like it was tailor-made for my aetherblade specialization and my so-called future role as a dark queen.

  In dungeons, loot partly depends on the creature and partly on randomness. I slip my hand into my pocket and stroke the little pup as I walk down the hallway.

  Could this little guy—or the divinity behind him—have influenced that randomness?

  I don’t know. And since overthinking has never led to anything good, I walk into class, apologize for the interruption, and focus on what the professor is saying.

  Or at least, I try.

  Vincent glances at me—subtly, but he does. I smile at him, and he gestures as if to say `we’ll talk later′.

  Either he saw the wink, or what didn’t add up for him ever since spotting the scorpion boss’s massive pincer is now starting to make sense, with everything linking back to me. As long as he doesn’t start agreeing with Ronan’s whispered suggestion, we’re good.