“You accuse me of caring more about myself?”
Riftan's tone brimmed with utter disbelief.
Tears threatened to escape Maxi's burning eyes, which she held back with sheer force of will.
“C-Can you deny it?” she exploded.
"You never listen.
You never try...
to understand what I want!
Because I refuse to follow your wishes and hide in a castle!
I want to do everything with you, be the person by your side!
But that means...
that I can t-hurt you again...
and that's why you push me away...
over and over again!"
Her voice was shrill when she finished.
Riftan's eyes sparkled as he grabbed her arms, bringing his face closer to hers.
His throat moved with fury.
Although he looked frighteningly serious, Maxi felt no fear.
She stared back at him, her gaze venomous, waiting for him to explode.
In the next moment, his primordial anger disappeared behind the mask of a cold knight.
He released her and took a slow step back.
“Think what you want,” he said before walking away.
The anger that had been simmering in his chest crumbled like sand as Riftan left the room, the door clicking closed behind him.
Maxi closed his eyes.
From that moment on, he started ignoring her completely.
Hurt by his silence, Maxi moved her things to the wizards' quarters.
Riftan wasn't the only one who didn't want to interact.
Just when she had begun to believe they were getting closer, he had closed the door in her face.
Now she didn't know what else to do.
Maxi massaged her throbbing temples, looking out the window at the gray sky.
What did he want from her?
Although it was clear he couldn't bear the thought of them being apart, he was always eager to keep a distance between them whenever she got too close.
The Pamela Plateau expedition and the extreme circumstances of the war had temporarily paused their conflict.
Now that they had both broken up, he seemed to be looking for new reasons to keep her at a distance.
Maxi bit his lip.
Was this what he wanted?
Keep a safe distance so none of them get hurt?
Did he want their wedding to resemble the apathetic arrangements of many in the aristocracy, concerned only with keeping up appearances?
Maxi grabbed a piece of parchment from a stack on the table to shake off his dark thoughts, but his head was too full to absorb the ancient scribbles.
After frantically rubbing her forehead, she bent over the table.
Anette, who had been stealing glances at her, sighed.
“Why don’t you take a nap instead?”
“I’m not tired.”
"Then you can stop being a nuisance, I mean.
Go lament your despair in your room," Anette said heartlessly, scribbling on her parchment.
Maxi shot him a glare before standing up.
Officially, she was helping translate the records of the dark wizards whenever she could, but she knew she wasn't doing her part.
Feeling defeated, she dragged herself to the door.
As if taking pity on her, Celric, who was reviewing more records by the fireplace, said gently, "It's clear that something is worrying you, and you're only going to get more depressed if you're at the mercy of your own thoughts.
Why don't we go out for something to eat?
It's not like there's much more for us to work on after those paladins' intervention."
There was a note of bitterness in his last sentence.
Clearly, he was unhappy with the Temple Knights' unannounced seizure of the records a few days earlier.
There was little the magicians could do as mere assistants on the expedition; the Osiriya Basilica had financed and led the enterprise“simply put, the church had the right to all records.
Although the mages were allowed to keep their discoveries personal, the remainder were loaded onto Osirian baggage wagons, essentially halting all research.
Celric looked at the pile of documents on the table.
"It shouldn't take more than a few days for us to finish the rest.
We can take our time with them until the army leaves for Osiriya."As soon as he said the words, those sitting around the table quickly stood up.
Before Maxi could do anything about it, more than ten wizards took her out of the building.
They talked about various topics as they headed to the kitchen.
Most of the talk revolved around the council that would be held at Balbourne, speculating on how the negotiations would go, and even betting on what share of the spoils would be awarded to the Wizards' Tower.
As Maxi followed a few steps behind her noisy classmates, she spotted a knight in White Dragon armor standing next to Princess Agnes, his golden hair flowing down.
They were quickly heading behind the castle.
Freezing in place, Maxi studied the knight's back.
A hood covered his head, but his height was evident even from this distance.
She felt her chest tighten.
Standing in shock, she watched the figures enter an empty courtyard.
Coming back to her senses, she told the mages to move forward before rushing after the princess and knight.
The pair walked for some time and stopped in an open area at the edge of a wall.
Maxi hid behind a large tree when the knight turned to look back.
Soon, voices reached her.
Although she was too far away to catch what they were saying, she realized that the man's deep voice did not belong to Riftan.
His shoulders relaxed in relief.
At the same time, she felt her stomach tighten and her eyes burned with tears.
What was I really thinking?
Crouching down, she buried her face in her knees.
After a while, he heard Princess Agnes' exasperated voice.
Maxi peeked out from the tree and saw Elliot Charon calmly trying to explain something to the princess.
When the knight took a piece of paper from his chest, Agnes took it and seemed to evaluate its contents for a long time.
There was an unusual air between them.
What reason would these two have, of all people, for such a serious clandestine conversation?
Maxi watched furtively from the shadows when he suddenly remembered the similar private conversations between Riftan and the princess throughout the campaign.
His face darkened.
She had always assumed they were discussing the war.
Now she realized that they might be talking about something she had no idea about.
Was there another reason why Riftan had sent her back to the Wizards' Tower?
Was there some serious problem that made him act coldly to send her somewhere safe?
She was pondering these concerns when someone tugged on her arm.
With a small cry, Maxi turned her head to see Elliot's serious face.
The knight seemed surprised and quickly released her.
"M-Forgive me, my lady.
I thought someone was listening from behind."
Maxi blushed intensely.
It was painfully evident that she was doing just that.
Upon realizing this, Elliot closed his mouth, looking quite embarrassed.
“I saw you both from afar…” Maxi began, “but I missed my chance to talk to you.”
Her eyes darted behind him as she mumbled her flimsy excuse.
To his surprise, Princess Agnes was no longer there.
The conversation had apparently ended while Maxi was lost in thought.
Relieved that the princess hadn't witnessed her shameful behavior, Maxi turned her attention to Elliot.
The knight was visibly tense and disconcerted.
Seeing that he didn't seem to be angry at all, Maxi chose to boldly continue.
She straightened up and said, “It looked like you guys were discussing something serious, so I didn’t want to get in the way.”
“How much did you hear?” Elliot asked after a while.
His discerning eyes searched her face.
Maxi considered pretending to know more to get the knight to reveal something, but eventually gave up on the idea.
She doubted he would fall so easily.
“I-I couldn’t hear anything,” she confessed, “but I saw you hand something to the princess.”
Elliot pursed his lips.
Maxi waited for him to offer an explanation.
When he remained silent for a long time, she felt her irritation increase.
"The day we arrived..." she began, "Sir Ursuline came to Riftan urgently.
Riftan told me it was because of a trade conflict, but that's not really the reason, is it?
There must be something much worse...""Ma'am.
I am not authorized to tell you anything.
If you really need to know, I suggest you speak to the commander."
Maxi stared at the knight's dark face.
Seeing that he was unlikely to be persuaded, she let out a dejected laugh.
“So… he’s hiding something from me.”
“…”
“And strictly instructed you and the others to keep me in the dark.”
The knight neither confirmed nor denied, keeping his mouth resolutely closed.
That was answer enough for Maxi.
She rubbed her throbbing eyes and huffed in irritation.
His chest was close to exploding with frustration.
She was completely tired of Riftan hiding the truth, of the way he coldly turned his back under the guise of protecting her.
She was tired of standing outside its walls, begging to be admitted.
Running a shaking hand across her forehead, she said, "I-It's okay.
I won't pressure you any further."
“You should ask the commander“”
"No.
I know...
that he will refuse to tell me anything."
Sensing the resignation in his voice, Elliot looked uncomfortable.
“And if he has no intention of telling me anything…” Maxi continued, no longer bothering to appear indifferent, “I have no intention of asking.”
A few days later, the coalition army left for Osiriya.
The soldiers called up from each unit had been ordered to return home with their compensation, and their forces were now half of what they used to be.
With more men separating during the journey, just over six thousand remained when they reached the Osirian border.