Editing Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance:Volume14 Chapter6 (section)

===Part 4===

&mdash;Who knew how much time had passed since then?

She had lost track of time completely. In this room isolated from light and sound, only the fatigue and pain coming from her entire body gave her a concrete sense of being alive.

On the first day, she was suspended from the ceiling the whole time. However, only after a guard noticed Fianna was becoming too weak was she lowered down to the ground.

This was not because the guard pitied Fianna. It was simply because Arneus had given orders not to let her die yet.

With her arms and legs still tightly bound by chains, there was nothing she could do.

&mdash;At this moment, she heard faint footsteps outside the door.

The faint light coming from the ajar door made Fianna open her eyes.

Entering timidly was a young princess maiden in training.

Bringing a tray carrying water and bread, she gently placed it on the ground within Fianna's reach.

Previously, she had stubbornly ignored Fianna no matter what was said to her. More than likely, she had been ordered to act this way.

&mdash;But this time was different. The young girl spoke for the first time.

"Second Princess, your execution date has been decided&mdash;"

The girl reported timidly.

"Three days from now, the ceremony for the ascension of Arneus to the imperial throne will be held. The Second Princess' execution will take place after the ceremony."

"...Is that so? Thank you."

Fianna answered weakly and the girl bowed, leaving the room in a hurry."

"...I... will be executed huh?"

She murmured to herself as though ruminating over something that felt completely surreal.

Her initially defiant willpower had been eroded away entirely by now.

Her consciousness kept growing cloudy. Even thinking was very hard.

(...Kamito-kun, I want to see you one last time. Also Claire and the others too&mdash;)

In a daze, dragging the chains on her arms, she tore off a piece of bread. This bread was hard and black unlike what was served in the palace. It was impossible to swallow until one dipped it in water until it softened.

Just as she had soaked the piece of bread, brought it to her mouth and about to bite down...

Her teeth touched something hard.

Frowning, Fianna spat it out.

It fell on the ground with a clatter. A pea-sized piece of stone.

No, upon closer examination, she discovered it was no ordinary stone. Transparent, it was glowing faintly.

(...Could this be a spirit crystal?)

Spirit crystals were extremely expensive minerals and could not possibly have gotten mixed into bread by coincidence.

(Why is it here...?)

Focusing her hazy consciousness, she came to a sudden realization.

&mdash;Undoubtedly, someone had mixed it in deliberately.

The instant she realized that, Fianna recovered full consciousness.

She picked up the spirit crystal from the ground and poured divine power into it through her fingers.

Despite the interrupted link to Astral Zero, a high-level princess maiden like Fianna would still be able to refine a small amount of divine power from her own body.

Immediately, the spirit crystal's light grew stronger&mdash;

"...Princess... Your Highness... Can you hear me...?"

An extremely faint voice, accompanied by static, reached Fianna's ear.

A voice of no previous recollection. The sound quality was also poor, plus the fact of the spirit crystal's small size to begin with, it meant that was impossible to identify unless it was a familiar voice.

"...Who is it?"

Fianna asked softly. Of course, this could be a trap laid by Arneus, but she had nothing to lose under the current circumstances.

"...Someone asked me to rescue you... I am your ally."

(...Someone?)

Fianna repeated in her mind.

It was unclear who the voice belonged to. But if there really was someone like that&mdash;

Several faces surfaced in Fianna's mind.

First she thought of her friends in Kamito, Claire and the girls, but the Academy would be too far away from here. It was possible that they might not even know about her current imprisoned status.

The nobles in the anti-Arneus faction were supposed to be all arrested. Duke Fahrengart's family kept political neutrality despite not being part of the Arneus faction, so they probably would not make a move.

Fianna's father, the emperor, had not a shred of familial affection for her. Besides, he was currently suffering from the demon spirit's miasma, confined to bed.

The imperial consort was ruled out too. Adhering strictly to the Divine Ritual Institute's precepts, she kept herself thoroughly uninvolved in politics. And First Princess Linnea had not only severed her ties to the mundane world but also despised Fianna who had formerly lost the power of the spirit contract.

The aforementioned people would most likely not extend a helping hand to Fianna.

In that case, the remaining candidate was&mdash;

(The headmistress...?)

She was the only one Fianna could think of.

Greyworth had subordinates originating from Umbra. The day the incident happened, she even said she had gained an excellent pawn. Although Greyworth herself was imprisoned too as a result of the incident, it was not impossible for the witch to exert her influence while in jail.

Supposing this person belonged to Umbra, it would be only natural to keep his or her identity hidden.

"...Rescue me, how?"

The temple was under heavy guard. Even a special operative knight of Umbra would face quite a challenge to mount a rescue.

"...Biding my time. When the time comes, you will be saved."

"Time? But I will be executed three days later."

"Yes, before that, Your Highness' companions would've arrived to save you."

"...Huh?"

Fianna was taken aback.

"What do you mean?"

"It happened yesterday. Kazehaya Kamito and his friends were arrested at the Academy Town."

"Kamito-kun and the others!?"

Fianna widened her eyes.

"They were charged with conspiring with the Second Princess&mdash;possibly participating indirectly in the attempted assassination of the emperor. After all, they were your teammates."

"No way&mdash;"

"Please rest assured. They have apparently succeeded in breaking out of prison. After that, they flew away on an unregistered ship. Undoubtedly, they will be rescuing you within the next three days."

"...Impossible. They will be captured by the Imperial Knights once they come here!"

Fianna could not help but raise her voice.

Infiltrating the imperial capital to rescue Fianna would be too dangerous.

Also, there were the Numbers here.

"Besides, how do they intend to infiltrate the imperial capital?"

"That is why I will take action. To receive... them..."

"...?"

Static appeared in the voice.

The spirit crystal's glow gradually weakened. Finally, the voice could no longer be heard.

It was such a small spirit crystal after all. The spirit's power had probably depleted.

To avoid leaving evidence behind, Fianna crushed the spirit crystal and swallowed it.

"Kamito-kun..."

Kamito-kun is coming to save me&mdash;This possibility was giving her a final shred of hope.

&mdash;In that case, I mustn't waste time here.

(...Right, I have no wish to become some sort of tragic princess.)

Suddenly recalling something, Fianna bit her lip.

Then she dipped her finger in the resultant bleeding.

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