“Dad!”

I shot to my feet.

That silhouette rapidly approaching on horseback was unmistakably Dad.

The boat was drawing closer to land, so even from a distance, our eyes met for an instant. In the hand holding the reins, Dad was carrying a purple box.

[ He said he failed to give you something important... ]

Ruby? Why on earth are you...

Dad seemed to be saying that with narrowed eyes.

That was when it happened.

“What are you?”

Licht drew his sword and aimed it at the boatman.

“First you fell on purpose... and now you’re only pretending to row.”

“What? I-I haven’t done anything...”

“Honestly.”

Licht smiled gently. The magic tools floating around us cast sharp shadows over his smooth face. He seemed to have grasped the situation in an instant.

“Why does my brother always make such terrible moves...?”

The prince advanced without hesitation and swung his sword at the boatman. Aaaagh! A scream rang out.

Of all times, why now?

I chewed hard on my lip and moved my magic. I had to nullify the magic tool the boatman had installed on the floor.

Just as Licht said, the boatman must have slipped on purpose.

I had realized he was carrying a magic tool only after the boat set off. I had thought he was simply a sticky-fingered servant who had stolen an expensive magic tool.

I never thought he’d be one of the First Prince’s people.

“P-please spare me...!”

The boatman curled in on himself, pretending to be terrified, and acted as if he was begging desperately. At the same time, the way he slowly groped along the floor was laughable.

You’re going to set off a magic tool in front of me?

With one hand braced against the side of the boat, I cast nullification magic. Blue magic raced quickly along the hull. It reached the magic tool installed on the floor in an instant.

At the same time, the man stomped down on the magic tool with a crack.

“This is the end— huh?”

Of course, the explosion he had hoped for did not happen.

“W-what? Why isn’t it going off?”

Licht glanced at me, let out a short sigh, and was about to restrain the boatman again.

“Damn it!”

The man moved like lightning and whipped a sharp needle out from beneath a nearby silk cushion.

“Licht, watch out!”

Licht dodged nimbly, but the boatman grinned wide enough to split his mouth.

Because among the ornaments the prince brushed against as he evaded, there was another sharp needle hidden.

“You petty little...”

Licht pulled the needle out of his palm with a groan, and at that moment, his body swayed hard. The boatman did not miss the opening. He seized the sword and lunged at the prince.

Poison?

“Rubian, don’t come near me!”

Licht shouted. He stopped me, saying we did not know where else poisoned needles might be hidden. Even as the poison spread through him, he checked again and again with bloodshot eyes to make sure I was unharmed.

The boat rocked uncontrollably as the two of them grappled.

Just as I tried to cast another spell, my shoulder slammed violently into the hull.

Splash! Because of the impact, the potion I had been holding fell into the lake.

“No!”

“Ruby!”

Dad’s voice came from far away.

Reading the ominous energy aboard the boat, Dad jumped down from his horse and began striding into the lakeshore with loud splashes.

Launch a boat now!

Dad shouted, rare fury bursting from him.

“The potion...”

I had to retrieve it.

But Licht first...!

“Ghh, let go of me! I said let go!”

“Shut up!”

Even gasping from the poison, Licht refused to release the man to the very end. But I could clearly feel the strength draining from his body. I was just regaining my balance and moving my magic to help him when—

“You damned Imperial bastards!”

The man, soaked in madness, struck Licht with a thud and knocked over a nearby lamp.

Whoosh. Fire caught on the wooden pleasure boat.

“If it’s come to this, then all of you can die!”

The boatman smashed even the spare oil bottle all at once. A dry winter wind blew past, and the flames grew in an instant.

“Rubian, run...! Ugh.”

Licht tried to come toward me reflexively, then staggered and collapsed. He had reached his limit long ago.

After shouting for me to hurry and escape, breath coming in short gasps, Licht lost consciousness.

One side of the boat gave way with a loud crack. The hull lost its balance and began sinking rapidly.

Licht is going to die at this rate!

I cast gravity magic on Licht as he slid down the boat. His limp body floated up.

With the casting of the spell, the marks on the watch that showed my magic reserves decreased, and I felt heat beneath my nose again.

My magic...

The bleeding that had barely stopped seemed to have started again.

“Ha, haha! Let’s see how well you all survive this...!”

The boatman, laughing like a madman, tried to jump into the lake. I was about to force myself to cast magic, thinking I had to catch him, when—

Whoosh, thud!

An arrow flew from somewhere and pierced his chest.

It came from Mom, standing on the opposite shore.

Crack.

At the same time, the boat could no longer hold out and tilted.

Splash!

With Mom’s demon-like face shouting orders around her behind me, I was dragged into the black lake. The irresistible cold current invaded my whole body.

Dad.

Before I sank, I saw Dad throw himself into the water without a moment’s hesitation.

But I could not return to Dad’s side yet.

Even as dizziness from magic depletion overtook me, I pushed my magic to its limit.

I borrowed the power of the lamp magic tools floating on the surface to illuminate the water and found the potion sinking in circles. A round magic circle appeared at my fingertips. The current gently moved against its own flow and soon brought the potion into my hand.

I gritted my teeth. This was my limit.

If I used any more magic, it might affect the spell holding my mark still.

Ruby!

The tension drained out of me, and the strength left my body.

I heard a voice calling my name from somewhere far away.

My body kept sinking, endlessly, endlessly.

Like someone whose ankles had been seized by sticky mud, I was being dragged rapidly toward the bottom of the lake.

But I knew.

I knew there was someone here who would pull me toward him with the strongest gravity in the world.

Dad...

Rubian!

I felt hands seize my body tightly. Holding me in his arms, Dad surged quickly toward the surface.

Suddenly, I noticed the bandage wrapped around one of Dad’s fingers where his hand held my shoulder. The bandage was a mess, half undone. Beneath it, I could see a wound that looked as though it had been cut by a glass.

And the thin line of blood seeping from it...

Could a coincidence like this be called fate?

Click.

The stopper slipped off the potion bottle in my hand.

Even through my fading consciousness, I thought it was fortunate that the lid had been loose.

The liquid, glowing in brilliant five-colored light, poured out as if it had been waiting. It looked like a galaxy embroidering the black universe.

My long hair danced beneath the surface of the deep lake.

But what touched it first was the blood still flowing from me.

And Dad’s blood.

Stay conscious, Ruby.

Firm arms held me tight and shot swiftly toward the surface.

Bubbles burst from my mouth. I was starting to run out of air. Dad seemed to be saying, Please.

But did Dad know?

That I was the one who wanted to say that.

“Ruby!”

The empty potion bottle drifted quickly away behind Dad’s back.

My chin, resting on Dad’s shoulder, lost its strength and tilted. Even as my consciousness grew distant, I clearly took it in with my own eyes until the very last second.

The blood of Dad and me, swirling together amid the sparkling light.

That’s a lie...

Beneath the sapphire light of the lakeshore.

The moment my truth began to bloom.