(Seraphina POV)
From the fourth-floor window, the academy grounds looked peaceful—quiet corridors, trimmed hedges, sunlight sliding down the old stone walls like warm paint. It would have been a perfectly ordinary morning if not for the faint clang of metal I kept hearing from the courtyard behind the dorm.
Curiosity tugged at me.
I pushed the window open just enough to peer down through the branches of the old maple tree.
And there she was.
Mavis.
The girl who spoke like a commoner, fought like a mercenary, healed like a miracle, and looked at me as if she wasn't intimidated by the title everyone else tripped over.
She moved in the shaded courtyard, breathing hard, sword raised. Her feet slid against stone, unrefined but determined. She ducked under a blow, stumbled, then recovered so quickly I had to blink.
For a moment, I only watched.
Then my brows drew together.
Because she wasn't fighting air.
She was fighting a teddy bear.
A very furious teddy bear.
The small creature launched itself at her with a speed that did not belong to anything stitched from cloth. Every swing it made rippled with concentrated mana—thick, visible threads spilling off its fur like smoke.
What in the world—
Mavis took a direct hit to the shoulder that spun her halfway around. She grunted, steadied herself, and despite the obvious pain, lifted her sword again. Her jaw set. She lunged forward—not gracefully, but boldly. Wholeheartedly.
The bear kicked her in the face. She flew backward, hit the ground hard, and still—still—she pushed herself up, shaking off the impact like it was nothing more than an inconvenience.
My lip parted. Something warm flickered in my chest.
Most nobles I knew would have cried for a healer by now.
But she—
She laughed.
A breathless, frustrated little laugh that somehow made my own lips curve despite myself.
"That girl," I murmured, fingertips tapping thoughtfully against the windowsill, "is either incredibly brave or incredibly foolish."
Probably both.
I leaned forward, elbows resting on the window frame as I watched the scene continue. The bear shouted something I couldn't hear, gestured aggressively with its stubby paws, then executed a spinning attack that made a gust of mana scatter the fallen leaves around them.
Definitely not a normal summon.
In fact… that thing radiated more magic than half of the academy's professors. Perhaps more.
What was it?
A legendary beast? A disguised monster? A divine manifestation? No… its mana was oddly structured—denser at the core, thinning out toward the limbs. Ancient. Old enough to feel wrong in this realm.
My eyes narrowed.
And yet Mavis—oblivious, clumsy, spirited Mavis—fought it like it was simply part of her day.
Then she got knocked flat again.
Her sword clattered beside her, her breath punched out of her lungs, but she rolled to her knees and pushed herself upright. Her determination wasn't loud or dramatic. It was quiet. Steady. Unyielding.
I found myself smiling fully now, a real one—not the practiced noble smile people expected from me.
"She's cute," I whispered before I could stop myself.
Cute. Honest. Ridiculous.
And frightening, in the best possible way.
I stepped back from the window, letting the curtain fall. No one else could see this. Absolutely not. If an instructor caught sight of what she was training with—of what that thing was—they'd panic. Or worse, they'd take her away for examination.
I crossed my arms and nodded to myself.
I would need to request that these windows be blocked or the view altered somehow. As princess of Fides, I had the authority to make adjustments to the dormitories for security purposes, and this certainly qualified.
Whoever Mavis truly was—whoever she was becoming—it was too dangerous for the world to see it prematurely.
Better she remain a mystery until she could control whatever this… ability was.
Still, as I turned away from the window, the image of her—sweaty, bruised, stubbornly determined—lingered in my mind far longer than it should.
I pressed a finger to my chin, lost in thought.
Mavis.
A girl training with a creature that radiated ancient mana, and acting like that was normal.
A danger.
And—unexpectedly—
Someone I wanted to see again.
Even if I shouldn't.
Especially because I shouldn't.
I walked toward my desk, trying not to think about it.
But I already knew:
Whatever Mavis was…
She would change the academy.
Maybe even more than that.
And I would be watching her closely.