One had experienced the rock bottom of his own limits, and the other had personally crafted a piece of his own dark history…
Just what on earth had happened to her brothers on that day — the day of the exam?
Knowing that same ordeal would soon come for her, Riersha felt her nerves pull tight. Her shoulders stiffened all on their own.
“…Miss Riersha, what are you doing out here?”
“Hmm?”
“Have you come to see Young Master Riscal?”
Aska, one of the Legion Commanders who happened to be passing nearby, came jogging over with quick steps. He looked to be returning from an outing — still dressed in the formal uniform worn by Legion Commanders, suggesting he’d been somewhere that required proper attire.
He greeted her with a warm, easy smile.
“It’s been a while, Miss Riersha.”
“Mm.”
Running into Riersha when he hadn’t expected to at all, the corners of Aska’s mouth rose without him even trying. But as his eyes swept the area around her, his expression shifted into a slight frown.
“Where is Sona?”
He was worried — she was wandering around alone without her dedicated knight.
“I told Sona to rest in her room on purpose before I came out.”
“Ah…. I see. But isn’t it around the time you’d normally have your afternoon snack, Miss Riersha?”
“Mm. You’re right, it is…. But I still have to go see Brother Ricador first….”
“Ah, so you’re on your way to see the second young master.”
“Mm.”
“Then why do you look so pale?”
When Riersha gave a downcast little nod, Aska’s expression grew serious in turn.
“I came after telling Grandfather I wanted to take the succession exam….”
“Ah.”
Aska nodded as though he already knew. That news had already spread to everyone who worked in the Arachrene household.
What Riersha didn’t know was that several Legion Commanders had already been summoned by Pernoa to help select the exam location and prepare the necessary arrangements — that part was being kept from her.
“So you’ve been going to the young masters for advice.”
“Mm. But I’m starting to think it was pointless.”
The more she learned about the succession exam, the more foggy and formless the whole thing felt — like trying to see through a thick curtain of mist.
Aska gave a quiet, wry smile.
“Understandable. …The elders are, without exception, a peculiar bunch.”
“You say that too?”
“Has someone else said the same thing?”
“Brother Risideon said the exact same thing.”
Riersha let out a long, heavy sigh. The wind caught her bangs and swept them across her face.
Aska watched her and let out a soft laugh.
“And on top of everything, even the exam content is under secrecy….”
“That it is. Truly unfortunate.”
And he meant it sincerely.
The Arachrene household kept everything pertaining to the succession exam in absolute confidentiality. There wasn’t any particularly grand reason for it.
It’s to preserve the heirs’ dignity.
Aska gave a small, resigned shake of his head.
Beside him, Riersha sighed again — a deep, heavy exhale.
“Huu.”
Brushing a bit of dirt from the corner of her notebook, Riersha spoke to him in a flat, weary voice.
“I’ll be heading off now. After I see Brother Ricador, I still have studying to do.”
“You must be very busy.”
“Mm. Very.”
Riersha’s nose scrunched.
“Well, goodbye then.”
“I’d love to walk you there, but I have things I need to attend to as well. Please take care on the way, Miss Riersha.”
“Mm.”
Riersha started walking again, putting one determined foot in front of the other.
Aska stood still and watched her go — and found that his feet wouldn’t move. He pressed a hand to his forehead, muttering, “What am I doing,” before quickly stepping up to her side.
“Miss Riersha.”
“Mm…?”
“The truth is — the exam has already begun.”
“…What?”
For a moment, it felt as though the whole world had gone silent around her.
What had she just heard?
Riersha stared at Aska with wide, disbelieving eyes.
The exam had already started…?
“I had a feeling you wouldn’t know. The young masters as well… there were many cases where someone became an ally midway through, or a certain incident revealed the truth to them.”
“…What do you mean by that?”
Stunned and reeling, Riersha let her mouth fall open.
Not a single thing she was hearing felt real.
“This is not a simple test of how much knowledge you possess. It is an evaluation of whether you are the kind of person fit to lead this family as the next heir.”
The easy playfulness Aska usually wore had entirely vanished.
The ambition of every noble house was to lead their family into prosperity. And the one who led the family had to be someone capable of handling any crisis with wisdom and clear judgment.
That was precisely what the succession exam measured — in its final, truest form.
“When it comes to passing the succession exam, you are not required to limit your means. There are no fixed rules, strictly speaking. Some will view your actions favorably, and others will not.”
“….”
“Even now, someone is watching your every move and evaluating you.”
“…!”
“The moment you submitted your nameplate to the Duke, the exam had already begun.”
Aska finished his explanation and grinned — the grin of someone whose conscience was considerably lighter. Riersha, on the other hand, could not smile at all.
“Wow, really…. That’s such a shock. But then, why didn’t anyone else tell me? Why didn’t my brothers say anything?”
Riersha murmured.
Aska nodded as though he understood completely.
“Because those who are direct family or the closest inner circle, even if they know the truth, are bound to say nothing.”
“…Ah. But is it alright that you’re telling me this? Are you okay, Aska?”
“Yes, I’m perfectly fine.”
Aska gave a casual shrug, unbothered.
Someone choosing to tip off an heir that the exam had begun — this, too, was considered part of the abilities of a young lady who had been raised and educated within the Arachrene household.
“Oh, and one more thing.”
Before he left, Aska glanced toward Riscal’s quarters and pressed his lips together in a barely suppressed smile — the expression of someone fighting with everything they had not to burst out laughing.
“Young Master Riscal, apparently deciding he was going to fail the exam that all the other young masters had passed, suddenly began digging a hole in the ground. And then he lay down inside it.”
“….”
“I just thought you might be curious. And it’s not exactly leaking exam content. Well then, goodbye.”
Aska disappeared entirely.
Whoosh.
The wind blew.
Riersha clapped a hand over her mouth.
Good heavens, that kind of dark history…
She was certain he would never want anyone to find out.
Then Brother Risideon must have…
Something along similar lines, she imagined.
Riersha looked down at her notebook — then quietly tore out the page she’d been writing on, crumpled it up, and tucked it into her pocket.
⁂
“Oh ho….”
From a distance, an old man who had been watching the two of them exchanged a sharp, glittering look of interest.
“So there’s already someone who told her the exam has begun… and one of the young young duke’s own people, no less.”
This was something he had not anticipated in the slightest.
Ordinarily, those who chose to become an ally of their own accord were most often those who had no master they were already sworn to follow.
Because—
“But it seems they left out the most important piece of information.”
The middle-aged man standing beside the elder remarked, his tone laced with curiosity.
The corners of his mouth curled upward.
In all the times this exam had been held, there had never been a moment quite like this.
“The fact that assisting an heir in safely navigating the exam is, officially, the equivalent of declaring one’s public support for that heir as the next young duke.”
And furthermore — those who showed no action at all during the succession exam…
Were quietly announcing to everyone around them that their chosen allegiance remained unchanged.
In short, for the entire duration of Riersha’s exam…
“Our young masters must be terribly busy as well.”
They would be scrambling — working to keep those who had pledged their support from breaking away.
“It seems Miss Riersha doesn’t yet know that part.”
“It would take all the fun out of it if she knew right away.”
The thought alone was enough to sour the mood. The old man grumbled, a slightly sour expression crossing his weathered face.
At that, the middle-aged man beside him suddenly let his expression go cold and flat, nodding slowly — the look of a man who had a great deal to say.
“I don’t want that either. Then what exactly have I been doing, stuck out here suffering through the night without even going home? The young duke’s people will have it rough for a few days and then it’ll be over, but we…! Huu.”
“…Compose yourself.”
“Might I ask — how many days has it been since you last made it home?”
The atmosphere turned solemnly still.
The old man quietly dropped his gaze downward.
What good was a generous payment deposited to your account when you had no time to spend it.
“The Duke simply cannot stand the sight of us having any idle time.”
The middle-aged man muttered irritably under his breath.
The two of them were evaluation officers assigned to oversee this exam — men who served Arcmund Arachrene, the one who had commissioned the whole affair.
