Early afternoon had settled over the palace grounds by the time G6 and Edmund reached the West Villa's main entrance. A carriage waited beneath the trees, its polished dark wood gleaming in the filtered sunlight.
Brass fittings caught the light along the doors, while the horses stood patiently under a stablehand's supervision.
G6 stopped beside it.
"What is this?"
Edmund moved ahead and opened the door with the easy flourish of a man who had apparently been waiting all day for the opportunity.
"The most efficient transport. I will be your coachman." He stepped aside. "Please."
G6 gave him a look but entered without complaint.
The interior was spacious and absurdly comfortable, with deep velvet seats and polished woodwork that smelled faintly of cedar. She settled against the cushions as the door closed with a solid thud.
Now I feel like I am in a proper fantasy novel.
A wry smile tugged at her mouth. As the carriage began moving, she slid open the small window connecting the passenger compartment to the driver's perch.
"We shall depart," Edmund called.
A click of his tongue urged the horses onward, and the West Villa slowly disappeared behind them.
Broad, immaculate roads carried them between enormous stretches of palace gardens.
Dense greenery separated the distant buildings, interrupted by stone bridges, fountains, guard posts, and paved branches leading toward other sections of the royal grounds.
G6 rested an elbow against the window frame.
"Why the hell is our villa so far from everything?"
"The West Villa was deliberately placed away from the Main Palace and its busiest administrative quarters," Edmund replied through the opening. "Privacy was one consideration. Security was another."
She watched another stretch of landscaped grounds pass. The complex was large enough for entire sections to disappear behind trees before the next building came into view.
"That explains the distance." Her attention shifted toward the patrol routes. "Yet I don't see many knights."
"Not within the residential stretches, no."
Edmund guided the carriage around a broad curve.
"The Collegium itself relies heavily upon its secured barrier and controlled access points. The palace territory surrounding it is also considered exceptionally safe. Most Royal Knight Corps personnel have duties elsewhere."
G6 already knew the basic structure from their earlier conversations.
Borders. Expeditions. Dungeon checks. Monster suppression. Routine security divided among the three companies.
Her gaze remained on the road.
"Then why keep so many of them away from the inner grounds?"
She was assessing the security they intended to exploit rather than asking him to repeat a lesson.
"Because the Crown has no reason to station its strongest personnel where they are least needed," Edmund answered. "The Bronze Company handles much of the routine palace security, while the stronger companies are more valuable on active deployment."
He paused before adding, "Besides, anyone capable of reaching this far into the palace without authorization would already have overcome considerably greater defenses."
G6's mouth curved faintly.
Reasonable. Still exploitable.
She leaned back as the carriage continued through the enormous grounds. Gradually, the highly ornamented royal residences gave way to a quieter administrative quarter.
The building they approached was modest by palace standards: a well-maintained two-story structure with wide windows and clean stonework.
Decorative towers, excessive gilding, and unnecessary displays of grandeur had all been omitted in favor of practicality.
G6 approved immediately.
Two women in simple but elegant professional uniforms waited at the entrance. Edmund brought the carriage to a halt, climbed down, and opened her door. The moment G6 stepped onto the pavement, both women bowed.
"Welcome to the Utility Magic Department, Lady Reise."
Her gaze swept over the building. After weeks surrounded by the grandeur of the palace, its functional appearance was almost refreshing.
Not bad.
Edmund turned toward the nearest stablehand.
"Please attend to the carriage at the rear of the building."
"Understood, Sir Edmund."
"Shall we?" Edmund asked G6.
She nodded and followed him inside.
「UTILITY MAGIC DEPARTMENT」
The interior maintained the same understated practicality. Clean floors stretched between broad worktables and storage cabinets, while simple brass plates marked the doors along the corridor.
A handful of personnel moved through the building carrying folded cloth, artifact cases, ledgers, and trays of materials for various Utility Magic applications.
G6's gaze traveled across everything.
Entrances. Stairways. Personnel count. Windows. Blind corners. Far fewer staff than the Collegium.
One of the women who had greeted them outside approached with a warm, professional smile.
"We were informed of your visit by Sir Edmund. I am Felicia."
"A pleasure, Felicia. Glad to have capable assistance."
"You are too kind, Lady Reise."
Felicia's smile brightened as she lifted a small, velvet-lined box.
"Sir Edmund also requested these. If either of you encounters difficulty while away from the building, you may communicate through them."
Edmund accepted the box and opened it. Two small silver communication earrings lay inside. He handed one to G6 and kept the other.
She turned the tiny piece between her fingers.
"What is this for?"
"A communication artifact," Edmund explained. "A collaborative design developed through Sanctum and Omnia. It draws only a negligible amount of mana from the wearer."
He lightly tapped the silver setting.
"The Wind enchantment within the metal carries the voice between paired pieces over a considerable distance."
G6 raised a brow.
An earpiece. Convenient. Very convenient.
"Everything else you requested has been prepared upstairs," Felicia continued. "Please remember to return before the Fifth Bell."
"Thank you, Felicia."
Edmund inclined his head. The smile she gave him in return was noticeably warm, perhaps a little too warm. G6 observed the exchange without commenting.
"This way, Lady Reise."
Edmund led her upstairs to a private suite at the end of a quiet corridor. A common sitting room occupied its center, with two smaller preparation chambers facing each other.
When the doors closed behind them, they exchanged a look. The first phase of their plan had begun, and neither needed to announce it.
They entered their respective rooms.
G6 shut her door and approached the garments carefully arranged across the bed. Lady Brenda's jewelry box rested beside them, along with a smaller case containing the accessories she had requested through Edmund.
She began removing the outward signs of Lady Reise Worthon.
The elegant black dress came first; G6 loosened its fastenings and let the expensive fabric fall around her feet before discarding her heels and carefully arranged jewelry.
Each item felt like another layer of court expectation removed.
Standing in her undergarments before the full-length mirror, she studied the rose-gold hair and grey eyes reflected back at her. The face remained Reise's, but the posture belonged entirely to G6.
She raised one hand. A controlled whisper of Wind moved through her hair, smoothing its natural waves until the strands fell sleek and straight to her waist, their volume preserved.
Better.
G6 gathered the upper portion into a compact braided knot, leaving the rest loose down her back, then turned toward the waiting clothes.
The black cargo pants had an unusual fitted cut unlike anything ordinary noblewomen wore.
A black-and-grey, long-sleeved cropped top allowed unrestricted movement, while sturdy black boots had been made for running rather than decoration. Every piece served the same practical purpose.
Finally.
She fastened a layered black choker around her throat and added several silver rings.
Lord Earl's stabilizing ring remained where it was; she had no intention of discarding something useful when she planned to push Eclipse-Step harder than usual.
The Dimensional Vault earrings gleamed inside Lady Brenda's smaller jewelry box.
Their restrained design allowed them to blend with the other silver jewelry rather than announce themselves as magical artifacts. G6 put them on and felt a faint response as the pieces recognized her mana signature.
Good. Storage secured.
She adjusted the remaining jewelry until five small, seamless silver hoops were distributed asymmetrically between her ears, two on one side and three on the other.
The simple continuous rings suited her far better than Reise's elaborate dangling ornaments.
Her attention returned to the communication artifact Felicia had provided. It required another piercing, and G6 examined the remaining space in the mirror with a tiny smile.
Finally.
With clinical precision, she sterilized the point of the supplied piercing tool, chose the placement, and pushed it through without hesitation.
A bead of blood appeared, which she wiped away before inserting the communication earring among the silver hoops. The piece settled naturally into the deliberately uneven arrangement.
She reached for the deeply tinted eyeglasses next. They were large enough to obscure her grey eyes.
Perfect.
A dark cap completed the disguise, pulled low enough to alter the silhouette of her face without interfering with her vision.
G6 studied herself. The rose-gold hair prevented the reflection from becoming Akira Gemstone's, but Reise Worthon had disappeared beneath something much closer to the woman she remembered being.
Her lips curled.
"This turns me on."
She opened the door and found Edmund already waiting in the common room. After looking him over, she stopped.
The impeccable West Villa butler had disappeared.
Seamless silver piercings adorned his ears, and a white button-down shirt with wide sleeves and an open collar sat beneath blue suspenders.
Restrained blue accents and functional straps marked his black cargo trousers, while fingerless gloves and rugged combat boots completed the outfit.
A plain black cap rested over his dark ash-brown hair without concealing its natural volume or the silver beginning at his temples. The transformation looked deliberate rather than careless.
"Who would guess you are a butler?"
The approval in G6's voice was genuine. Edmund looked equally pleased with himself.
"Your own transformation is no less convincing, Lady Reise."
"Anyway, state the plan."
She moved toward the couch. Edmund sat opposite her and unfolded the map waiting on the low table, revealing the palace complex with its roads, walls, internal paths, main gate, and service routes.
Its scale continued to annoy G6.
"As we established, the palace complex has one primary operational gate through which ordinary traffic enters and exits."
Edmund traced the route with one finger.
"Anyone leaving openly must pass through the checkpoint. But the gate itself does not use the same kind of magical barrier protecting the Collegium. Its security depends upon identification, patrol control, observation, and the knights stationed there."
G6 leaned closer.
"So?"
"You will use Eclipse-Step."
Her eyes lifted toward him.
"You will remain physically beside me while we cross the checkpoint," Edmund continued. "The guards should perceive only one traveler."
"I have mastered Eclipse-Step. It does not just mask presence. It renders me completely invisible. Transparent."
G6 leaned back, her delivery matter-of-fact.
"But my body is adjusting. Two minutes max without significant strain."
"That will suffice."
Edmund pointed to another location beyond the gate.
"A second horse has already been placed along the outer road beneath cover. Once we pass security, we ride there together. You transfer mounts, and from that point forward, we proceed separately."
His gaze returned to her.
"You are certain you know how to ride?"
"You doubt me?"
G6's eyebrows rose.
Please. I have trained in everything from equestrianism to piloting jets. All for a clean extraction.
"Inadequacy is not in my vocabulary."
Edmund regarded her for a moment.
"I am beginning to wonder if there is anything you cannot do."
G6 ignored the comment and returned her attention to the map.
"I thought there were no knights."
"At the Collegium entrance, you saw few because its magical barrier performs most of the work." Edmund tapped the Main Palace gate. "This is different. Security here is substantial."
She considered the route.
One entrance. Several guards. Observation from above. Two-minute concealment limit.
Her current physical condition and the stabilizing ring also had to be accounted for.
Manageable.
"That's it?"
"That is it."
"Let us go."
G6 rose, and they descended the stairs together.
Felicia and several department personnel waited near the entrance. G6 surveyed their worried expressions as they approached.
"Please be careful, Lady Reise," Felicia said.
"Do not worry, Licia. I will see to her safety," Edmund assured her.
"Do not worry. If this goes sideways, I will make sure you are not implicated," G6 added.
Her blunt reassurance did little to ease their expressions, though Felicia bowed.
"We are willing to do anything for you, Lady Reise."
G6's eye twitched.
Such devotion is inefficient.
A second consideration followed.
Dangerous. Not for me. For them.
People willing to destroy themselves for someone else were liabilities waiting to be exploited. She understood that better than most.
"Then I will see you later."
She glanced toward Edmund, and they headed for the rear entrance.
A stablehand waited beside the carriage they had arrived in. One saddled horse stood nearby, and two long black hooded cloaks rested over his arm.
"Sir Edmund."
He handed them over. Edmund passed one to G6.
"Here. Wear this until we clear the palace grounds."
The heavy, near-black fabric was luxurious in quality but severe in design. Its deep hood projected far enough forward to shade most of the wearer's face, while a short braided rope fastened beneath it at the upper chest.
The restrained ends hung only a little below the fastening rather than trailing down the body.
G6 threw the cloak over her clothes and raised the hood. Its length concealed most of her unusual outfit without dragging on the ground.
Edmund did the same. Although their custom clothing remained visible through the partially open fronts, the cloaks altered their silhouettes considerably. The deep hoods left only portions of their faces visible in shadow.
"Take care of things here, Nel," Edmund instructed.
"Understood."
The stablehand bowed before turning toward G6.
"Please take care, Lady Reise."
She gave him a curt nod.
Edmund mounted first and offered his hand. G6 accepted it and swung up behind him in one smooth motion, earning an almost imperceptible lift of his brow.
Her movement contained none of the hesitation he might once have expected from Reise.
She settled securely, and Edmund clicked his tongue. The horse carried them down the secluded palace road, their cloaks falling heavily around them as the trees concealed their departure.
❈.❈.❈
The farther they rode, the quieter the grounds became. Trees thickened beside the road, and the ornamental gardens gradually yielded to older woodland maintained around the palace perimeter.
G6 studied every bend, every possible route away from the road, and every elevated position from which a patrol might observe them. Neither she nor Edmund spoke.
Several minutes later, the main gate appeared through the trees.
High stone walls extended to either side, with ramparts overlooking the road. The reinforced gate was wide enough to accommodate several carriages at once.
Edmund slowed before they entered direct sight and guided the horse behind a massive oak. G6 leaned around him to examine the checkpoint.
"Two at ground level. Two above," Edmund murmured.
"I see them."
She assessed the distance and route against the horse's speed and whatever delay the checkpoint might impose.
Two minutes. Enough.
"Make it quick. Two minutes. Starting now."
<
Light distorted around G6 until her shape dissolved from ordinary sight.
Her body remained seated behind Edmund, but its presence became almost impossible to register, as though the mind itself struggled to hold on to the space she occupied.
Edmund felt the change and urged the horse back onto the road. They approached the gate at a brisk, controlled trot until one of the knights raised a hand.
"Halt."
Edmund obeyed.
"Identify yourself."
He pushed the hood back from his face.
"Edmund Saiden."
The knight examined the identification card Edmund offered, then looked up in recognition.
"Sir Edmund. You have been rather busy lately."
"Indeed. I am in something of a hurry."
Edmund remained polite, though a trace of urgency entered his voice. The knight returned the card.
"Very well. You may proceed. Remember that the gate closes for ordinary traffic before nightfall."
"Understood."
Edmund shifted the reins, but the horse had taken only one step when a voice called from the ramparts.
"Are you alone?"
He stopped. Behind him, G6 remained motionless.
The knight at the checkpoint looked up.
"What sort of question is that? Do you see another rider?"
"I am not certain."
The man above frowned, his gaze fixed on the horse.
"There was… something."
A subtle tension entered Edmund's shoulders.
Damn. Is he one of those with Sensory Affinity? Edmund thought.
"The air moved strangely," the knight added.
"We are surrounded by trees," another guard scoffed.
"No. It was closer."
G6 kept her breathing controlled. She made no unnecessary movement, used no magic beyond the skill, and gave no outward reaction.
Edmund released a small, impatient sigh.
"If you intend to search the horse for ghosts, please do so quickly. I have errands waiting."
The checkpoint knight laughed.
"Leave him be. There is nobody there."
The man on the ramparts continued staring for another moment before reluctantly looking away.
"Very well."
"Proceed," the knight beside the gate said, gesturing forward.
"Thank you."
Edmund inclined his head and urged the horse onward at a controlled trot. A sudden sprint would have invited precisely the attention they wished to avoid.
Only after the first bend concealed the walls did he increase their pace. They continued for more than a hundred paces before the trees enclosed them again and G6 finally spoke.
"So, was he a Worthon?"
Edmund released a breath.
"No. He was probably from a Sensory Affinity household."
He slowed the horse.
"Those households tend to produce more family members with heightened sensory capability. That is why people with such talents can be found scattered among the three companies."
G6 looked back along the road.
Interesting.
Total Concealment had hidden her without erasing her physical interaction with the environment. Her body still displaced air, and the horse still carried her weight.
A sufficiently sensitive observer could notice the irregularity without seeing its cause.
Useful weakness.
She committed it to memory.
After another short distance, Edmund guided the horse beneath a thick tree. A second mount waited there, tethered where it could not easily be seen from the main road.
G6 dismounted. Her knees threatened to soften when her boots touched the ground, but she ignored the brief weakness.
Two minutes of concealment had not destroyed her body, though the strain had reached her nerves.
Lord Earl's ring had helped.
Good decision.
She untied the second horse, coiled the rope neatly, and mounted in a single practiced movement. Edmund watched her adjust the reins without hesitation or uncertainty, the animal responding naturally beneath her hands.
He stared for half a second too long.
"You doubted me."
"I merely continue discovering how alarmingly broad your education appears to have been."
G6's expression flattened. Edmund smiled.
They looked back toward the palace road, though the wall was no longer visible.
For the first time since G6 had opened her eyes as Reise Worthon, no palace barrier directly enclosed her. No annoying nobles hovering around her.
Only Edmund accompanied her, with the road and everything beyond it ahead of them.
"The capital is just ahead," he said.
G6 tightened her grip on the reins.
"Lead the way."
Edmund nudged his horse forward, and she followed. Her riding posture was low, grounded, and economical, bearing little resemblance to a sheltered noblewoman enjoying a leisurely outing.
The palace's perfectly ordered world receded behind them as the road grew dustier, wilder, and less controlled. A faint smile touched G6's mouth.
For the first time in weeks, she did not feel as though every direction had already been chosen for her.
The first barrier was behind them.
「QUEEN EUPHELIA'S PRIVATE STUDY」
Queen Euphelia sat alone beneath the muted afternoon light filtering through her study windows.
An ancient book lay open across her desk, and she had spent enough hours examining it to recognize that expecting clarity was an exercise in frustration.
Every surviving account of Cryomancy seemed to contradict another. Some scholars dismissed it as myth, while others described true ice and unnatural cold as though they had witnessed both.
The oldest passages were worse, their language blurring history, doctrine, and something dangerously close to prophecy.
Their repeated references to death, rebirth, and transformation had already led her somewhere she had never expected: to Reise.
Queen Euphelia rested her fingers against the edge of the page.
What is taking my master so long to answer? she wondered.
Her message had been sent days ago, and nothing had arrived in response.
She looked toward the ornate box near the corner of her desk.
Inside were the reports concerning Reise Worthon: the impossible appraisal, her sudden magical development, the abnormalities during training, White Drop, and the collapse.
Together, they documented a girl whose behavior after awakening bore so little resemblance to the child Queen Euphelia had watched grow up that questions persisted despite the conclusion she had forced herself to accept.
She had told herself Reise had changed.
Whatever happened during that near-death experience must have broken something inside her and rebuilt it differently.
It was the most reasonable explanation available, but that did not make it satisfying.
"What exactly happened to you, Reise?"
A firm knock interrupted her thoughts.
"Your Majesty. It is Leo."
"Enter."
Leo stepped inside with his usual impeccable composure and bowed.
"Your suspicion was correct, Your Majesty."
Queen Euphelia lifted her eyes from the book.
"So she did it."
A slow smile appeared, carrying a dangerous amount of amusement.
"She has broken out."
"It appears so."
The Queen leaned back and regarded him for several seconds before a quiet laugh escaped her.
"I wonder what will happen when an untamed lioness is finally set loose upon the world."
Leo's expression remained disciplined.
"Your orders?"
"Nothing."
His brow shifted at the immediate answer.
"Nothing, Your Majesty?"
"Nothing."
Queen Euphelia folded her hands over the desk.
"She is observant enough to notice if someone follows her, and suspicious enough to take the attempt personally. Neither outcome appeals to me."
Leo inclined his head.
"You only confirmed their departure after Sir Edmund had already passed through the Main Palace gate, correct?" she asked.
"Yes, Your Majesty. I made discreet inquiries afterward. The guards reported seeing Edmund leave alone."
"Naturally."
Her eyes gleamed. Whatever method they had used, Reise had evidently anticipated the gate inspection as well.
"Then let her be."
Queen Euphelia rose and crossed toward the window.
The enormous palace grounds stretched beyond the glass before disappearing behind distant walls and woodland.
Somewhere beyond them, Reise Worthon was moving away from the usual procession of attendants, court expectations, and half the palace watching everything she did.
The Queen's expression softened.
"Let us see what kind of person she chooses to be when she believes no one of consequence is watching."
"You are not concerned?" Leo asked.
"I am extremely concerned."
She glanced over her shoulder.
"That does not mean I intend to place her in another cage. Besides, Edmund is with her."
Something unreadable passed through Leo's eyes.
"Indeed."
Queen Euphelia noticed and, as usual, allowed him his secrets.
"For now, keep this matter between us."
"Of course, Your Majesty."
Leo bowed and turned toward the door.
"Leo."
He stopped.
"If anyone asks, Lady Reise is attending the Utility Magic Department exactly as arranged."
"Understood."
The door closed behind him, restoring the study's silence. Queen Euphelia remained beside the window for another moment before returning to her desk.
Her gaze settled on the Cryomancy tome. She should have attended to other work. Reports, court correspondence, and administrative matters waited for her, all considerably more immediate than fragmented legends about magic supposedly lost to history.
Yet Reise was outside the palace now, and the Queen could not shake the feeling that allowing the girl her freedom made understanding what she had become even more important.
She sat and turned another brittle page.
The illustration occupying its upper half made her stop. Unlike the crude sketches preceding it, this depicted a thin, unnaturally sharp blade formed entirely from glacial ice. Ancient markings surrounded the weapon, their faded ink nearly consumed by time.
A single line rested beneath the image.
Queen Euphelia leaned closer, tracing the old script with her finger until its meaning became clear.
Only one who kills can wield.
She read it again, more slowly.
"Only one who kills can wield…"
The amusement of her conversation with Leo disappeared. She looked back through the preceding pages, where references to death and rebirth had now acquired another disturbing companion.
Killing supplied no explanation of its own. It merely added a condition phrased like a riddle.
"What does that mean?"
Her brows drew together as she studied the passage.
Was it literal? Queen Euphelia wondered. Had the author meant the taking of another life, some archaic ritual, or a symbolic death? Could taking one's own life satisfy whatever these scholars meant by "kills"?
Her thoughts returned to White Drop and the question she had already put to Reise.
'Did you die?'
Reise's response had never truly resolved it.
Queen Euphelia looked down at the ancient sentence again. For the first time, another possibility troubled her: if the text referred to another person's death, whose had it been?
Her fingers tightened against the edge of the book. There had been no reports of Reise killing anyone, no known body or accusation, and no incident the Crown had concealed on her behalf. Nevertheless, Cryomancy had appeared in her appraisal.
Queen Euphelia leaned back, her eyes narrowing toward nothing.
"Just how many things are you hiding from me?"
Anger would have been simpler than the concern, fascination, and suspicion tangled beneath the question. Every apparent answer surrounding Reise Worthon seemed to expose another locked door.
The Queen marked the page before closing the tome.
She would not confront Reise with the discovery yet.
A question asked too early could reveal precisely what the questioner knew, and Queen Euphelia had spent far too many years navigating the Royal Court to make that mistake.
For now, Reise could enjoy her freedom, explore the Capital, play adventurer, and believe the palace had finally stopped watching.
The Queen's gaze returned to the window. A faint smile touched her mouth, colder than before.
"You search for your answers, Reise."
Her fingers rested on the closed Cryomancy tome.
"And I will search for mine."
Outside the palace walls, G6 rode toward the world she had spent weeks trying to reach. Behind those same walls, another piece of her mystery had just been uncovered.
Neither woman knew how much the other would eventually discover.
—To Be Continued…—