Sakuramoria

A wall rising to the heavens out of nowhere, the sounds of battle on the other side, and its equally sudden disappearance, revealing the unsightly sight of Futaba and Levizia standing with bloodied blades over the motionless bodies of the visitors—the peaceful cultural contest that had been taking place was turned into a crime scene in an instant. The solemn and even festive atmosphere evaporated into the air without a trace, and turmoil erupted all around—groups of soldiers hurried in all directions, spectators were escorted out the gates, and students were hastily counted and dispersed to their dormitories.
Despite the attack being repelled, the situation showed no sign of calming down—the thumping of boots and anxious voices echoed through the corridors for a long time. From fragmented phrases, it became clear that students were missing, and quite a few of them. This happened immediately after the attack on the queen, despite the fact that they had been accounted for by voice at the contest. This must be connected, but how exactly? Gideon recalled seeing a familiar bald head flashing through the crowd of spectators earlier. Of course, there was the link—he hadn't just wandered in here by chance; he should have guessed immediately that Rhododendron wouldn't miss a chance to carry out his assignment. And this demonstrative attack, which sputtered out so easily, was most likely intended as a distraction to quietly set a trap for the unwanted queen.

An unexpected meeting in early September had already forced him to remember what level of complications were occurring nearby, and now he had once again witnessed them manifesting into reality. In that conversation, Rhododendron had been seeking an answer from him, but had also revealed quite a lot himself. Now, all the information he had obtained resurfaced in his mind, unceremoniously pushing aside all other thoughts. And what was he to do with this knowledge? He had already reported to those who needed to know, and then... Well, he wasn't about to dive headlong into the abyss of the royal squabbles' intricacies in the naive hope of changing something or simply to get to the truth. No, of course it would be foolish to expect things to resolve themselves, that an epiphany would suddenly strike Caladium and he would recall his brother; something had to happen. Whether he liked it or not, this black hole was relentlessly pulling him in, and the question was how long he would manage to balance on the edge of the precipice.

Gideon sat on a windowsill somewhere between the floors of the dormitory, staring intently into the darkness gradually descending upon the courtyard. He hadn't expected the day to end like this. After all the damn madness that had happened at NAILS, today's contest should have been remembered as something fun and life-affirming, like a feast during a plague, before which the oppressive shadow of the intrigues engulfing the academy would recede. And now... This bright flash had sunk into the depths of the disputes between the royal offspring and their named mother. Killed citizens, missing students—this might have affected him far less if the events had happened on another day, but to collapse the meaning of an event he had helped bring to fruition in such a way... Of course, how much do such things matter when dealing with a problem of national scale, or more accurately, Caladium's anxiety over his succession. Clenching his fists, the youth silently let out a few choice words into the thickening gloom outside the window, turned away, and stared with a clouded gaze at the stairs leading up and down.

Fine. There was no point in obsessing over what had already happened. He had always preferred thinking about some distant future with progress and technology; it distracted him from thoughts of a far more complicated present. Now, such thoughts wouldn't enter his head, which felt as if it were filled with lead and yet empty at the same time; it was hardly worth even wondering how it would all be resolved. It was getting darker; the steps ahead seemed to lose volume and shape, merging into an expressionless mass of stone, just waiting for someone to trip over them in the dark. It was time to go; perhaps tomorrow would bring some clarity.

Soon, some questions did indeed find answers—the king personally arrived at the academy and told everyone about everything that had happened during this time. The picture was finally complete, extremely strange, but confirming some of his thoughts. For the most part, the monarch wasn't particularly concerned with the NAILS students or what to do with them—whether to perform experiments on them or provide compensation—Futaba held his primary attention. Gideon looked closely at his classmate sitting on the old man's lap—was she truly that magic compromise, resolving the troubles within the ruling family, and by extension, at the national level? What drove her wasn't entirely clear, but one way or another, she tried to carry out her duties with honor, and her insane dedication to changing the world for the better should not remain without support. Truth be told, he had nothing much to offer in that regard, well, except...

- Anyone else?.. No?.. Frag and Girych?

Gideon stepped forward before the royal couple.
— Your Majesty. First of all... I'll be blunt: after all these events, I do not want to remain on the sidelines, but I have few options for expressing my desire to help. Therefore—I would like to join the disciplinary committee so that in the future I can do what is in my power to assist in maintaining order in the academy.
The youth hesitated slightly before the following words.
— As for compensation... I cannot say that I personally suffered greatly during my studies. Just a bit of frayed nerves and that's all; in general, nothing especially terrible. I think a check for the modernization of the premises from the "Bless" firm would suit me quite well.