Unital Ring II: The Virtual Study Society

Meeting of Emperor and Princess

My curiosity gets the better of me, but I have no chance to ask my question as another butler enters the room and bows to Cordelia. "Lady Cordelia, Lady Sylvie is here."

Cordelia grumbles, "Speak of the devil," and tells the butler to bring her in. This Sylvie is first-seated, huh? I decide to reserve my question about how Cordelia's relationship with the newcomer to have her as a visitor and curse her name when Cordelia gasps in shock. She faces me, hands cupped over her mouth, eyes wide. "Oh no. No, no, no, no!"

"Wh-what is it?"

"I forgot Sylvie was coming today and...I was so excited seeing you that... What are we to do?"

"To do about what? It doesn't matter if someone else sees us, we got a cover."

"Sylvie isn't just 'someone'! She's-"

"I'm who?" Entering the living room is a young woman Cordelia's age. She has slightly dark skin, which I instantly hypothesize belongs to a person originally from the Dark Territory. Short, pale yellow bangs cover her right eye; her piercing left eye is bronze-brown. In her hair is a large black hairpin shaped in a fancy-styled "S". She wears a black sleeveless dress with purple accents. Matching gloves run the length of her forearms, ending just above her elbows. Hanging off her waist is a grey sheath with a simple hilt protruding out of it.

This Sylvie stands with her arms folded, staring down the Orthinanos girl. Cordelia, freaking out and unsure of what to do, clears her throat and stands up. She steps over to the newcomer and points to me and Kureha. "Sylvie, this is Jaymes and Kureha...friends of the family from up north. Jaymes, Kureha, this is Sylvie...the Princess of the Dark Territory."

Now it's my turn to freak out, though I internalize it. This girl...is my daughter? I had already thrown away the impossible argument, Not only was I told Eydis had a daughter, I'd been gone seventeen years. I logged out of the Underworld almost two minutes after Kirito and Asuna did, as one minute in real-time equaled ten years during the maximum acceleration phase. The remaining time sped the world up to the present, seventeen years later. I'm nineteen in the real world, and it's weird to admit I have a "biological" daughter two years younger than me.

She looks nothing, at first glance, like Eydis or me. Her hair color differs, for one, as Eydis' is silver to silver-brown, depending on the lighting. Mine is black as black can be. Her eye color varies too, but one can argue it's just a lighter shade of my brown orbs. Yet, despite the visual differences...I see the truth in her face. Her demeanor, if nothing else, is a mirror image of me.

Kureha, who has known me my whole life, whispers, "She looks just like him, too," confirming my thoughts. Cordelia walks back and sits down next to me, looking worried. She knows I don't want to be identified as the Crimson Emperor, for I am not truly that person now, yet the last thing I expected today was to be face-to-face with the daughter of the emperor. I may have been prepared if I went to Obsidia, not here outside Centoria.

"Family friends, huh?" Sylvie says as she sits down in a chair between Cordelia and Kureha. "Is that why you're slacking off from training, Miss Second Seat?"

"I told you not to call me that!" Giving nicknames based on a characteristic? That's what Eydis did to me when we first met after learning of my abilities, granting me the nickname "Mister Mage Knight." I see Sylvie adopted that mannerism. "Anyway, as I was saying, Princess Sylvie here is the first seat of the North Centoria Imperial Swordcraft Academy. She's also my childhood friend and rival. Despite being royalty, she has the mannerisms of a brute and the intelligence of a boar and wields a sword like an ignorant fool. How she got the first seat is beyond me."