Science/Magic

Eres Skysword had always been called a genius.

The day she was born, the mana in the surroundings created a vortex around her, as though celebrating her existence.

Even when she was just a baby, her talent was already clear for everybody that saw her.

And that talent showed since she was a child.

Unlike her twin brother who was unable to use mana, she was a genius able to use almost any technique after trying it once.

Martial arts, magic, secret techniques. It was as though she had been blessed with all the talent in the world.

However, Eres did not like it.

Her enormous talent meant that the expectations on her were equally high. Even as a child, she was forced to spend almost the entire day training until she was too tired to continue.

'You are a princess, that is your duty.'

'You can't waste the talent you were born with.'

'You are the hope of the entire Alterna.'

Every time she asked for a rest, or when she said that she wanted to play, she received these words.

Many times, she wanted to cry. She wanted to tell her father and mother that she did not want that talent. She just wanted to rest.

She wanted to tell them that she was not a tool.

But she never dared.

Eres was a timid and obedient child, and when she saw the expectations in the eyes of the people around her, she was too afraid of betraying them.

Perhaps that was the reason she became so close to her twin brother.

Unlike her, her twin brother was talentless. He was born without the capacity to use mana.

If she was an unprecedented genius, he was a useless child without the slightest speck of mana in his body.

Some people even said that she had swallowed his talent in the womb, leaving him with nothing.

To be honest, Eres resented her brother at the start. Unlike her, he could play as much as he wanted, he was never forced to train, and he never had to study magic.

But soon, she started to pity him.

Because she could see the sneers in the faces of the people that talked about him.

Perhaps due to that, she started to talk to him.

That was when she realized it. Unlike the others, her twin treated her like a child.

He never told her to train more, he never scolded her when she was lazy, and he never resented her for having the talent that he did not have.

Even when she did something wrong, her twin brother usually took the blame for her because he was her 'big brother'.

Eventually, Eres became more and more attached to him.

Every time she had a bit of free time, she asked him to play with her, and her brother, with a smile on his face, would put down the book he was reading and nod.

But then, that day arrived.

Without a warning, they took her brother away, separating him from her.

She cried, she raged, and she screamed, but she could do nothing. She did not even have the strength to search for him.

That was the first time in her life that Eres wished to be stronger.

She wished to be strong. Strong enough to defeat her father, strong enough to search for her brother, and strong enough to protect him regardless of the words of others.

Thus, she trained.

Harder than ever, longer than ever, without caring about her tired body.

In the nights, she cried silently below her bedsheet, murmuring the name of her brother and making up her mind to train harder the next day.

And in her despair, her talent blossomed.

Her mana grew faster than ever, and her power skyrocket in an almost miraculous way.

She learned to dual-wield magic and martial arts, something considered close to impossible, with ease.

She learned [Skysword], the secret technique of the royal family said to be one of the most complicated techniques in the world, before becoming fifteen.

And she created [Skyflames], a miraculous technique praised even by demigods, with just her own effort.

Before anyone noticed, she had been called a never-seen-before genius.

[World Burning Princess Witch], [Alterna's Loftiest Flame].

People praised her and envied her talent.

But none of them knew about the true reason she trained so hard.

To find him. To protect him.

And now that she had found him, she was not going to allow anyone to interpose between the two of them.

"Yes, nobody can separate from my brother."

With a soft mutter, Eres looked at the young man in front of her.

Nathan Sigel, ranked sixth among the students in Academy City, and the former leader of [Wings of Liberty].

But right now, he was looking at the princess with an expression of fear and disbelief.

His sword had been destroyed, burned to cinders by a transparent flame, and his mana had been consumed before it could injure the black-haired girl in front of him.

"How is it possible…?" He asked with a pale face, his entire body ridden with injuries.

But Eres did not reply. She just walked slowly towards him, with her sword pointing downwards and transparent flames burning silently around it.

"Do you give up?" She asked indifferently.

Nathan bit her lips with an unwilling expression and glared at Eres.

"… Princess, do you know what you are doing?"

"I know." Eres nodded. "I'm leaving this club."

She then stared at him for a few seconds before shaking her head.

"You are weaker than I expected."

With these words, the Princess of the Kingdom of Alterna turned around and left the club, leaving behind an injured Nathan and the members of [Wings of Liberty] looking at her with complicated emotions.

But when she arrived at the entrance of the club, she found a beautiful woman waiting for her.

"… Eres."

The princess frowned, but she did not stop walking.

Right now, she did not want to talk to this woman.

The woman put on a complicated expression. Sighing, she spoke up to her back.

"… I know why you want to leave the club, Eres. But you know that you should not. Remember your position, daughter."

"My position?" Eres sneered. "Was that the reason why you abandoned brother back then?"

"Eres�� I…"

"Brother already knows that you are in the city. If you are planning to meet him, do it quickly. And leave after that, none of us want to have you nearby."

The queen bit her lips and opened her mouth to say something, but in the end, she stopped herself from speaking.

There was no point in giving excuses after so many years.

Only–

"… There are some things that, as a queen, I must do."

Eres looked at her mother and sneered. Then, she left without looking back.

She did not want to talk to this woman anymore.

…

Meanwhile, Nathan looked towards the entrance of the club with a resentful expression.

Now that the princess had left, [Wings of Liberty] would suffer a heavy blow.

A third of the members of the club would leave it. Perhaps more.

And most likely, some clubs would try to use this opportunity to become the new 'Human Club'.

'Dammit!' Nathan cursed in his mind and punched the floor. 'That Princess! Bitch!'

However, the princess was underestimating him if she thought that she could leave the club without consequences.

"Are you sure about this information?" He asked the student beside him.

"Yes, leader. Someone confirmed that he saw Princess Eres leaving the headquarters of [Machine Revolutio]."

"Is it so?" Nathan's eyes flashed with a scheming a ruthless glow.

'… [Machine Revolutio], huh? It looks like I need to teach a lesson to the princess.'

"Find a way to mess with that club. It's better if you destroy it or if you get it out of the top one hundred clubs. But remember, you can't leave any clues behind. It can't be related to [Wings of Liberty]."

"I understand, leader. We will start to investigate tomorrow."

"Do it. I want results in one week. I want to see the princess's face regretting this."

"Understood."