Strongest Noble's Daughter Uses Water Magic Book 2

Noble Complications

Every head turned to the source of the voice, where we saw the half-crossbreed princess standing there with two other crossbreeds by her side.

"Princess Ferona!" Dora gasped.

While she was looking at her with respect, and even bowed to the princess, some of the nobles around us were conflicted in how to act around the half-crossbreed princess. As for the rest of the nobles...

"Well, if it isn't the so-called 'princess' of our kingdom," the ringleader of the ground sneered. "To what do we humans owe the pleasure of this meeting, ferret?"

Ferona was not at all amused with the tone he used, as were her followers.

"You ingrate! How dare you be so disrespectful to Princess Ferona!" the male of the pair exclaimed. He with a pair of dog ears on his head.

"Do you have any idea of the punishment for showing such disrespect to your princess?!" the female of the pair demanded. She with webbings on her hands.

The Earth Mage boy only let out a laugh at the question. "A punishment? To me, a human? Towards her, a mere animal? Oh, I am so scared." His mocking made several other human nobles laugh.

"I may be a 'mere animal' to you, Michael Beldum, but illegitimate or not, I am still the daughter of Flammel Kingdom's king. In other words, your princess. Even if I am not your princess, I believe my father- your king- has made it clear a number of times before that humans and crossbreeds are to be seen as equals," Ferona scolded. "My situation out of the way, though, what in the world were you doing to your underclassmen of this prestigious academy?"

"'Underclassmen'? The only 'under' these two belong is 'under our status'. They're nothing but a commoner and a magic-less noble. In other words, people who don't belong in this academy. Just like how animals like you don't belong here, either."

Both of Ferona's followers glared at the guy upon such insult, with the male letting out a growl. Before either could do anything to the boy, though, Ferona raised a hand up to them, signaling the pair to stop. "Say what you will. However, after what we saw back at the assembly, the clear and valid proofs we had witnessed, going up against a member of a duke family- the Anberibca family, at that- do you truly mean to tell me that anyone can do what she did and live to tell tale of such feat?"

Those words caused many around us to hesitate, most likely because no one would ever have thought of going up against a member of the strongest duke's family. The thought of it made me force back a smirk from forming on my face.

'If only they know the truth about me. And if only I was still a part of that family,' I couldn't help but think. What a surprise that would be if the truth was revealed about my origin. Then again, if they were this disrespectful towards our princess, who is to say they will ever show respect towards me.

"A trick, for sure," Michael exclaimed. "Think about it. Do you really think a mere commoner- one who uses Water Magic, no less- is ever an equal to us nobles? Especially a member of the great Anberibca family. Not only that, but for Water Magic to be that strong? Come on; how dumb do you think we are?"

Ferona sighed at the retort. "I don't know if I should call you 'dumb' or 'blind'. Either way, that does not excuse your behavior towards a member of this academy. Nor does it excuse your behavior as a noble. Or do you mean to tell me you don't mind smearing your own family name in mud?"

"Big talk coming from an animal," Michael simply waved off. "You may be princess of crossbreeds, but for humans- who are far superior than you beasts- you are nothing more than a bug. A thorn to our side. Monsters who don't deserve the breathe the same air as us, and more deserve to be hunted like animals you are!"

I was baffled when I heard those words. After my first day in the academy, I was aware of how low human nobles thought of crossbreeds. But to this extent? And it seems I was not the only one, going by how shocked the princess and her followers were at his claim, as Ferona narrowed her eyes in a more judging way.

"Upperclassman Beldum... Do you have any idea what you are saying at all?" she questioned, trying hard to keep her cool, in which I was starting to respect; how calm she was attempting despite the cruel verbal a***e towards half her kind.

"Like I care. I doubt the king really meant it when he claims your kind is equal to us, anyway," Michael continued to shrug off.

"Then you don't mind if I report to His Majesty about this incident, do you?" came another familiar voice. One I didn't think I would hear so soon, even after what happened at the mock exam.

Many heads turned, and we saw Leia standing there with her arms crossed. One look at her presence, and I noticed a large number of nobles parted away from her, creating a clear path for her.

"L-L-L-Lady Leia..." Michael stuttered out.

"As much as I would love to ask 'what is going on here', just one look at the people present and the circumstance is more than enough for me to catch on," she spoke. "Upperclassmen... Are you in that much of a denial over what happened at the exam? If that is the case, then I truly wonder if you will truly be able to graduate from this academy."

I glanced at Michael at her words and saw that he wanted to retort to her words, only to hold back. No need to wonder why, though. "And just how do you mean by that, Lady Leia? I have much good grades here, befitting for a noble of my position, and my skill in both my magic and sword are just as fitting for my noble status. If anything, my future is very much so secured, as is my gradua-"

"Was I that vague?" Leia interrupted, silencing the boy. "Let me rephrase that; I truly wonder if you will be able to graduate from this academy with your spirit and your mind as is."

Those words brought confusion to the majority in the area.

"What do you mean?" Michael questioned.

"Exactly as I say it. If you are in this deep a denial over what happened at the assembly, even after witnessing the recorded proof of what occurred at the mock exam, I worry if you will truly be ready for the outside world once you graduate. From what I heard, what we first-years went through in that exam is much different from what the previous generation did. That being said, if I didn't know any better, I'd say none of you here are willing to accept the fact that a commoner is much stronger than you."

Many baffled expressions spread across the room, even from me, especially as I recall the backstory she shared with me back at the mock exam. Although everyone was convinced she was the true Anberibca daughter, I worry if anyone will suspect her true origin if she said too much about me as a commoner.

"Lady Leia, surely you jest. She's just a mere commoner who uses Water Magic," Michael weakly argued.

"Yes, she is a commoner. And yes, her magic affinity is Water. Those are the two things I agree with you on," Leia spoke. "However, you are also accusing her of cheating... a claim that is far from true. I fought her myself during the exam, and I can tell you this; Levi Caribbean is a far stronger mage than any of you. If I didn't know any better, I'd say she may as well be as powerful as a viscount-level noble."

Those words were more than enough to have everyone talk amongst themselves, speechless to hear those words, as was I.

"Lady Leia... Do you have any idea what you're saying?" Michael questioned. "You're basically accepting this commoner as-"

"Is there a problem if I am?" Leia interrupted once more. "I saw for myself how powerful Levi Caribbean is with my own eyes. I experienced it firsthand! Despite that, you really expect me to deny what occurred in that mock exam? Push it to the back of my mind like it was some nightmare that felt real? Only a weak noble who clings to their house's past achievements, refusing to accept reality as is, would ever do that! Me? I have been keeping my eyes open to reality, as a true noble should be. And you people?" Leia shook her head disappointedly then. "As a noble, I am embarrassed that you dare act this way. Even more so as a young adult."

None of the nobles knew what to say then. Rather, they could not say anything; not against an Anberibca. Truly goes to show how well respected that family was.

"And as if that was not bad enough... What were you people also thinking, acting the way you did before our princess?" Leia continued on.

Upon this change of subject- if one could call it that in this case- Michael regained his courage to speak against her. "She is nothing but a crossbreed! An animal! She has to be lying about her background! There is no way his royal highness could have ever truly had a beast as a child!"

Leia narrowed her eyes in a glare at his words. "I had thought you were foolish, acting the way you did towards a commoner who possess much more strength than any of you, but to act this way towards our princess, regardless of her race! Don't you think if she was lying about her background, the headmaster would've said so himself? He who has information of every student and staff member attending this prestigious academy! Even if he didn't, I am just as sure he would've sent word to our king about a crossbreed posing as his child, a piece of information that surely would've resulted in the king having some guards arrest her for such a lie. And yet, he did no such thing. Furthermore, have any of you ever stopped to wonder why our king constantly insisted for there to be equality between crossbreeds and humans?" Once again, no one dared say a thing in response. Whether it was because they were wondering now about the law the king had set or simply because they were frightened to say anything against her, I did not know, but I had to admit; Leia knew how to make a convincing argument. "Princess Ferona may be a crossbreed, but she is only half; the other half being human, and that from our king. You keep talking down to her like a criminal she is not... Do you have any idea of the punishment for insulting a person of noble blood?!"

Many nobles flinched upon her shout, with a few actually having lost their footing and fell to the floor.

"B-But... she's just an animal," Michael stuttered out.

"She is half-crossbreed, who is given the same right as any human. More so as she is our princess. Keep talking this way, Upperclassman Beldum... For once the king catches word of how you treat his daughter with such disrespect, I cannot even begin to imagine what will become of your family. Especially not when he catches wind of your insults toward him and his belief towards crossbreeds." That statement made the Earth Mage flinch in fear. "I am feeling merciful this time. If any of you here knows what's good for you, you will leave this instant."

No one wanted to pass on the offer, as all the human nobles around us left as quickly as they could, with Michael being the last to leave the area. As soon as they were gone, the dog crossbreed let out a huff with his arms crossed.

"Well now they became obedient dogs," he grumbled.

"It can't be helped. Considering it is how they are," the female crossbreed with webbed hands said.

"It is as Chappy said, Dingo. Especially as we know how difficult human nobles can be," Ferona agreed. "Well... At least there are some with a good head on their heads." She glanced at Leia with a soft smile when she said that, and looked down at me and Dora. "Do you two need any help getting up?"

When she asked that, it had just occurred to me that, with everything that happened, neither I nor Dora made any attempt to stand back on our feet, and hastily did just that.

"We're fine," I assured. "Thanks for the help, though."

"Yes, thank you, princess," Dora also thanked.

"Your thanks is unnecessary. I only did what anyone would've done. Or at least... I thought I did," Ferona said.

I scoffed at her words. "After what happened with those guys? If you ask me, you did what any sane person would've done."

"Yes, indeed she did," the dog crossbreed agreed, with the webbed-hands crossbreed nodding in agreement.

"I believe proper introductions are in order," Ferona said then. "We met back at the orientation on our first day. I'm Princess Ferona Flammel, a ferret crossbreed. These two with me are my escorts. Dingo Julio, the dog crossbreed, and Chaperiniel Lingua, the capybara crossbreed."

As they were introduced, Ferona's two escorts bowed in greeting. "It's a pleasure to meet you," both greeted.

"O-Oh, no! The pleasure is ours, truly!" Dora stuttered out. "I'm Dora Manichrome. And this is Levi Caribbean."

"Nice to properly meet you," I greeted with a bow.

Ferona nodded at the greeting and turned to Leia. "And lastly..."

"Leia Anberibca. An honor to meet you, Princess Ferona," the female Fire Mage said, also bowing to her.

"And I to you. Both you and Levi." I picked up my head with a raised brow when she said that. "I've had my eyes on both of you for a long while, actually. The daughter of the strongest duke, whose Fire Magic is said to be even more powerful than both the current head and next head of the Anberibca household combined, and the commoner who uses Water Magic, who got ranked fifth on the entrance exam, and then made the most contribution to her class reaching the second rank on the mock exam; and of course, there was that recording of your battle against Professor Anberibca during said exam."

I sweat dropped when she listed those feats about me, hoping she does not dig into my background to find out more about me.

"As much as I wish to speak to you both, I believe break period will be over soon. As sad as I am that our meeting was this brief, I do hope a chance will come when the three of us can have a chat," Ferona said then, holding out a hand for a handshake.

While I was unsure about being anywhere near Leia, it would be nice to have a simple chat with the princess. One does not get this sort of chance that often, especially for commoners like me. Then again, before being a commoner, I was a noble. And a duke's daughter, at that. Regardless...

"That sounds wonderful. I look forward to that day," I accepted, placing my hand in hers.

When I did, I saw Ferona looked down at our clasped hands with a brief but odd look in her eyes. "Hopefully, that day comes sooner than we think," she said, glancing back at me with a calmed expression.

As Ferona then exchanged a handshake with Leia, I could not help but wonder about the expression she gave. Why did she give that look? Was it because this was the first time a human treated her as an equal? Then again, considering what happened just earlier, that may be the case.

"Until the next time we meet, then. Good day to you three." With that, the trio of crossbreeds left the area.

"We should get moving, too," I told Dora.

As my classmate nodded, before we even took a step, Leia called out. "Wait, Levi!"

I wanted to ignore her, to keep moving away. However, with Dora here, should I act that way, it will definitely raise questions about us. Questions I much rather not answer. "I can hear you just fine, Lady Levi. Is there any reason why you are raising your voice for me?" I questioned.

Leia pursed her lips together ever so slightly at my question before resuming to speak. "Professor Anberibca would like to speak to you about something."

That... I did not expect to come out of her mouth. Edward wanted to meet with me? For what? What did I do to get his attention now? It couldn't be for what happened at the mock exam, could it? That was days ago. Still, as much as I wanted to ask, such a topic was quite risky to speak of now. Especially not when there is one person who doesn't know about my origins, and another person who does not know either my origin or Leia's.

"Did he say what for exactly?" I carefully asked.

"No. Not really. But apparently it's something urgent," Leia said.

I could only let out a small sigh at her response. Going by her answer, for all I know, Edward may want to see me to see if someone suspects me of being an Anberibca. Either that, or it could be that he- like those upperclassmen nobles earlier- did not want to accept what happened during the mock exam, and wants to have another battle between the two of us. Well... I say that, but that would not sound like him. At least not from what I remember.

'Might as well delight him,' I thought.

"Is that okay?" Dora asked before I could answer. "Break period is ending soon. Can't this wait?"

"My brother said he will provide her with a pass if it takes too long," Leia replied.

"If the professor wants to see me, can't really say 'no', can I?" I said. "You go on ahead, Dora. I'll be back soon."

"Um... If you say so, I guess," she reluctantly said, taking her leave as well.

Once she was gone, I turned to Leia. "Alright. Lead the way."