In Type-Moon: Creating a Magecraft Family Lineage

Lu Kang left the imperial princesses' chambers.

As he stepped out of the pavilion, sunlight streamed into his eyes. Dappled light decorated the courtyard before the palace gate. The harsh Moscow winter had ceased in mid-April, and now, at the end of May, the wind carried the scent of spring.

Lu Kang, who, despite now being the nation's prime minister, still wore his priest's robes, stopped in the courtyard. His long boots left shallow prints in the slightly damp earth. At the end of the trail of footprints, the man in his early twenties glanced sideways. A flash of silver flickered in his vision, quickly hiding behind the shade of a nearby grove.

Lu Kang smiled. "Stop hiding," he said. "If you want to hide, you should hide that dazzling hair of yours first. This little bit of shade can't hide your radiance, Anna."

"Ooh..." A small rustle came from behind the trees. Strands of silver-white hair shimmered brightly in the stunning midday sun. After a moment's pause, Anastasia emerged, her light blue eyes peeking out from under her bangs.

The girl said, "Good afternoon, Godfather." The charming and lovely princess curtsied slightly, her figure, wrapped in an angelic goose-down dress, appearing even more graceful and cute. Her well-defined curves were no less impressive than her mother's, Tsarina Alexandra. But if the Tsarina was a ripe peach with a mature charm, then Anastasia, though well-developed, was still a budding fruit. She looked the very model of a gentle and elegant royal, but to Lu Kang, who was used to her occasional shyness and mischievous liveliness, it felt forced.

But Anastasia didn't wait for his response and continued, "Where might Godfather be going?" She was asking a question to which she already knew the answer.

"To the Imperial Council Chamber," Lu Kang replied.

"Not to see Mother?" Anastasia blinked.

"You knew, yet you still ask?" Lu Kang said, his tone unapologetic.

"..." Anastasia blinked again. Having long understood the thickness of this man's skin, she couldn't help but marvel at it. Perhaps this is the mythical 'Wailing Wall'? she thought. With a mischievous thought in her mind, the princess pursed her lips, not expecting much. But just as she was about to speak, she heard him speak again.

He continued, "If I don't go see your mother, how can I assign more homework?"

"N-No, not that! Please have mercy!" Anastasia shook her head like a rattle drum.

"So you're afraid of that too?" Lu Kang's expression was relaxed. He did, in fact, visit the Tsarina's chambers every day, but of course, it wasn't for that. It was just for daily conversation and discussions on imperial administrative strategy. Alexandra was a very capable woman, not much inferior to Nicholas II. The only reason she had trusted Rasputin so unconditionally in the original history was that her devout faith—one could even call it extreme blind faith—had overridden her suspicions. Discussing matters with her allowed Lu Kang to better formulate imperial policy.

But there was no rush right now.

"Your Highness, would you care to stroll with me in the garden?" Seeing Anastasia's hesitation, Lu Kang took the initiative to invite her, knowing the young girl's simple wish in chasing after him.

"Mhm." The princess did not refuse. She just looked up at the clear sky and said softly, "Speaking of which... it seems His Eminence Lu Kang and I haven't walked together like this for a long time."

"It has been one hundred and seventy-three days since the war began, more than half a year," Lu Kang calculated precisely.

"You've been counting the days?" Anastasia's red lips parted slightly, her light blue eyes looking at the young priest with a hint of surprise.

"Of course." Walking side by side in the courtyard, Lu Kang's face was a picture of nonchalance. He responded to the princess's surprise with a faint smile. "I'm not like Your Highness, whose heart is filled with nothing but romance novels."

"Ooh..." Anastasia blushed.

The wind blew towards them, rustling through the lush grass and trees nurtured by spring. The rare and ornamental plants swayed, and it wasn't just leaves that danced in the wind, but also the girl's long, smooth silver hair and her dress. Her delicate face glowed with a pale light in the wind. Her steps paused, and her shapely calves, wrapped in black silk, were revealed under her skirt.

She suddenly said in a low voice, "Your Eminence... I don't want to study those things anymore."

"What?" Lu Kang didn't catch that at first.

"I don't want to study the knowledge and doctrines of the Bible anymore," the princess said, raising her hand and placing her clenched white fist over the soft part of her chest. She thought to herself that she had to say it, to say what she had been thinking for a long time. And so, the look in her light blue-green eyes as she gazed at him became one of unparalleled determination.

She said, "I want to follow you and learn how to govern the country!"

"Govern the country?" Lu Kang tilted his head and squinted. Is this girl having another whimsical idea? he wondered. Just like the first time they met when she claimed to be looking for books on military strategy to hide her true purpose. But when he saw the seriousness hidden deep within her beautiful, light blue-green eyes, he paused.

She's serious. He could see it.

"Why?" he couldn't help but feel curious. What could make a girl who had lived deep within the palace her whole life have such a thought?

"I haven't been able to speak with you alone like this for a long time," Anastasia said, turning to face him. She looked up at him, her face, framed by swaying silver hair, pale and delicate. Standing in the sunlight, her posture was erect, her long dress swirling.

"When I was in the library, I could spend every day with Your Eminence, reading books together, basking in the sun together. I felt very comfortable, very at ease," she said. "But ever since the war started, everything has changed. Father left Moscow for the front lines, and you have grown more distant from me. I can feel that you have entered the world of adults, while I am still standing in the same place..."

"If this goes on, I will gradually become unable to see you, won't I? Just like Sister Maria and Sister Tatyana..." A deep melancholy appeared in Anastasia's light blue-green eyes. She was sad, and also afraid. As she had said, ever since Lu Kang had walked out of the library, ever since he had stepped into the Imperial Council Chamber and transformed from a librarian into an important minister, their opportunities to be alone had become fewer and fewer. The common topics they had to talk about had become thinner and thinner. Such a thing... the princess absolutely could not accept it.

Hearing her words, Lu Kang thought to himself that her two sisters would probably want to beat her up if they heard this. "What is the social and political system of the Tsarist empire?" he suddenly asked.

"Eh...?" Anastasia didn't react.

"The answer is a capitalist society with an autocratic monarchy," Lu Kang said, shaking his head. He then continued, "What is the fundamental cause of the World War?"

Anastasia's eyes widened, her face a mask of confusion.

"It is the uneven political and economic development of capitalist countries. In other words, an uneven distribution of spoils," Lu Kang said with a smiling shake of his head. "These are just the basics, my dear princess."

The princess's face flushed red again. She wanted to say that she could learn what she didn't know, but the two basic questions he had just mentioned made her see stars. The imperial princesses rarely interfered in politics, and they had always been well-protected by Nicholas II... It was normal for her not to know, normal for her not to understand.

"You don't need to learn. This is fine as it is," Lu Kang said. "Actually, I have been waiting for Your Highness for a long time."

"W-Waiting for me?" Anastasia's eyes widened again, her light blue pupils reflecting the magnified face of the man who had bent down slightly. He was close to her. The man's hot breath rushed towards her face, making her blush instantly. She parted her red lips, her breath as fragrant as orchids.

"Anna is fine just as she is," Lu Kang said. "You don't need to learn, because you possess a talent far more excellent than playing politics. Did you 'see' it?"

...See what? The princess hadn't even reacted when the rustling sound suddenly grew louder. But it wasn't the sound of vibrating leaves, but the cold glint of light from within the grove. It was the gleam of a blade. It was an ambush by hidden attackers!

Anna's heart leaped. Her light blue-green eyes reflected the black figures that had suddenly emerged from the grove. They were well-hidden, clearly professional assassins. She had long heard that the old nobles were banding together to make a move against Lu Kang, but she never thought they would be so bold as to do it in the palace!

But while the girl was startled, Lu Kang was completely unconcerned. He paid no heed to the assassins coming at him from all directions. He could feel the mystery attached to these attackers. They were magi—or rather, 'spellcasters' who used magecraft for combat. If he had faced such an attack when he first entered the court, he might have needed to be on high alert. But now, with the foundation of his system of mystery established, they posed no threat to him.

So he just stared fixedly at the girl before him, at her long, silver-white hair, and even more so, into her pair of light blue-green eyes. The glint of blades came from all sides. The young priest, however, asked with a smile, "Did you see it?"

Of course I saw it! I saw the assassination! Anna wanted to say, but she suddenly stopped. Because... she really did 'see' it. She saw a field of wind and snow. And she saw the natural spirits spiraling within it.

She suddenly remembered a time when she was very, very young, when she had once gotten lost in the snow while out. At that time, she was only seven. A seven-year-old girl, separated from her attendants, should have been a dead end in the icy and snowy environment. But in the end, she had successfully returned to the Kremlin. Because at that time, she had met the natural spirits of the Tsarist empire, which were said to be born of the wind and snow in legends. It was a manifestation of nature, given a doll-like form because of the hope in the girl's heart. It had no self, no consciousness, neither living nor dead, just a manifestation of the girl's soul.

Nature had responded to the girl's heart and helped the seven-year-old princess return home. The spirit from that time was precisely the figure that appeared before her eyes now—a small figure, the size of a palm, like a little scarecrow doll. It had been by her side ever since. It was just that she couldn't see it.

And now, Anna saw it. Because under Lu Kang's verbal suggestion, she had remembered this event—an event that those around her vaguely remembered, but that she herself had forgotten.

'Demon or Sage?'

'Her teacher, the person she both revered and loved, the great and wicked Lu Kang, gave her the revelation of fate.'

'And so, Anastasia remembered everything, and the spirit responded to its contract with her.'

—From "Russian Folk Songs: The Last Princess"

At this moment, Anastasia had activated her 'Spirit-Sight' and saw the world that ordinary people could not see! The advancing assassins stopped in their tracks. The air before them was as sharp as a harsh winter. They felt as if they had crashed into a world of ice and snow. Even though winter had already passed, at this moment, it seemed to have returned with a howl!

....

Joine support me to read the story in advance

My patron: patreon.com/ImNova724

HP : The Frail-Looking, Iron-Fisted Beauty of Harry Potter 30 Chapter

In Type-Moon: Creating a Magecraft Family Lineage 100 Chapter

Type-Moon, is this really not the Reverse Side of the World? 63 Chapter