The carriage to the West Villa was silent. G6 stared through the window as the palace grounds passed beyond the glass, while Tina and Lilia sat opposite her without attempting to interrupt.
Too many people were examining the same thread from different directions. None possessed the complete picture yet, but loose ends left alone long enough eventually tangled.
Those stupid lowlifes.
Pete had been handled for now. Captain Sebastian remained suspicious, while Riza and the others had become another inconvenient variable G6 had not expected to encounter inside the palace.
Then there was Queen Euphelia. The woman had covered for her and Edmund before the King without being asked, which troubled G6 more than an outright accusation would have.
An enemy was simple to understand; someone performing unsolicited favors was not.
Her attention shifted toward another unresolved problem: Reise Worthon. The original woman had left behind too many contradictions. The book had presented one version of her life, while reality continued supplying pieces that refused to fit.
Tina had known Reise long before G6 ever opened her eyes in this world.
"Tina."
"Yes, Lady Reise?"
"Let's talk later."
G6 kept her eyes on the passing scenery. Across from her, Tina's face brightened as though her lady were finally turning to her for support again.
"Absolutely, yes, Lady Reise."
Lilia smiled beside her. G6 offered nothing further.
I have to find out what exactly happened to Reise before I was fucking dragged to this hell.
Several minutes later, the carriage entered the West Villa grounds and stopped before the main building. Tina and Lilia stepped down first, followed by G6.
Leo was already waiting near the entrance. Their gazes met, making a greeting unnecessary.
"You two, wait for me here. I will be going to see the Queen."
"Do you not need company, Lady Reise?" Tina asked.
"I will manage."
G6 approached Leo as the two maids bowed.
"Then we will be waiting, Lady Reise," Tina said.
G6 followed Leo around the villa rather than through the connected buildings. Queen Euphelia's private residence stood beyond the gardens in front of Annex-Uno, far enough from the busier portions of West Villa to provide privacy whenever she stayed there.
"Is she already there?"
"Yes. In fact, we arrived not long ago," Leo answered from behind her.
G6 fell silent again. She had no intention of entering the office angry. Anger made people careless, and Queen Euphelia was not someone she intended to approach carelessly.
The woman concealed things beneath pauses, carefully chosen words, harmless smiles, and the irritating maternal concern she kept trying to force upon G6.
Fine.
G6 could play too.
By the time they reached the private residence, her expression had returned to its usual cold neutrality. Leo accompanied her through the reception chamber and toward the Queen's office, but G6 did not wait to be announced. She opened the door and stepped inside.
Queen Euphelia sat quietly behind her desk.
"You are becoming ill-mannered, Reise."
"I simply don't have any respect for you."
G6's low voice carried enough menace to make the Queen's brow twitch.
"Leo, wait outside."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
He bowed before leaving and closing the door. G6 approached the desk and stopped directly across from the Queen.
"You knew from the start, didn't you?"
"No."
The immediate answer narrowed G6's eyes.
"I suspected you were hiding something," Queen Euphelia continued, leaning back. "That is not the same as knowing what it was."
G6 waited. The Queen noticed.
"You wish me to continue?"
"Tell me more."
A faint curve touched Queen Euphelia's mouth.
"Edmund leaves regularly after lunch. Before your recent change in habits, that meant very little. He has responsibilities of his own and permission to move through the palace grounds without someone counting every breath he takes."
She folded her hands on the desk.
"Then you suddenly developed an unusual enthusiasm for the Utility Magic Department."
G6 remained still.
"Your schedule became conveniently difficult to verify. Edmund continued leaving with remarkable regularity. I instructed Leo to record his departures and returns at the Main Palace gate."
G6's gaze sharpened, but the Queen continued before she could draw the wrong conclusion.
"I did not have either of you followed. If I had, Reise, I would have known exactly where you went long before today."
Fair.
Queen Euphelia opened a drawer and removed the Guild report.
"I did not know you were the adventurers. Not until this."
She placed the parchment on the desk, unfolded it, and turned it toward G6. The aliases were plainly visible: G6 Arcadia and Eddie Saiden.
The Queen tapped the second name.
"Edmund and Alistair are the only Saiden men known in this kingdom."
She paused.
"'Eddie Saiden'?"
For the first time since entering, genuine irritation flickered behind G6's eyes. Queen Euphelia noticed, and her smile deepened.
"I confess, I almost admired the simplicity."
G6 said nothing.
"Almost."
The Queen leaned back.
"Had Edmund chosen practically any other surname, I might still have been left with nothing more than suspicion. But Saiden?"
G6 stared at the parchment. No brilliant royal surveillance operation had exposed them, nor had Leo secretly stalked them through the Capital. Edmund had simply signed his own surname beneath a disguise.
She was never going to let him forget this.
"The moment I read it, the other inconsistencies became considerably more interesting," Queen Euphelia continued.
She had no need to recite every detail like a detective announcing a grand conclusion.
"The timing of your absences. The condition in which both of you returned. Tina quietly seeking treatment. Alistair preparing a recovery tonic."
Her gaze moved over G6's clothes.
"And then there was your appearance today."
G6 glanced down.
"The last time you entered my office, your dress had a slit nearly to your rump."
Her expression flattened as Queen Euphelia raised a brow.
"You hate suffocating clothes, yet you suddenly arrived in a heavy coat and gloves."
The Queen folded the parchment.
"And Edmund looked as though Leo had been ordered to execute him when he reached for the report."
That sounds like him.
"So no, I did not know from the beginning."
Queen Euphelia tapped the folded report once.
"Eddie Saiden sold you out."
G6 stared at her through the silence.
"Then why cover for us?"
The Queen did not answer immediately. G6 recognized the tiny delay before a politician selected whichever portion of the truth would prove most useful.
"I don't care about your concern. Tell me what the fuck you want from me."
Queen Euphelia's expression hardened slightly.
"Must there always be something I want?"
"Yes."
"That is a miserable way to view every act of kindness."
"An unsolicited favor always comes at a price, Your Majesty."
The honorific sounded more insulting than G6's usual casual address. Queen Euphelia noticed.
"So that is what you believe?"
"I don't believe. I calculate."
"And what has your calculation decided about me?"
"That you saw something useful and protected it before anyone else could touch it."
"Useful?"
The Queen's brows lifted as G6 stepped closer.
"You knew exposing us in that room would've accomplished nothing for you. The King asks questions. The Dukes ask questions. Prince Dio starts sticking his nose where it doesn't belong. The Guild gets dragged into it. Edmund gets investigated."
She took another slow step.
"And then your little mystery becomes everyone's mystery."
G6 stopped before the desk.
"You don't like sharing information."
Queen Euphelia regarded her for several seconds before unexpectedly smiling.
"You truly are unpleasantly perceptive."
"Thanks."
"It was not praise."
"I accepted it anyway."
The Queen breathed out through her nose.
"Very well. Since you insist on reducing everything to advantage—yes. Revealing you would have created a scandal I did not need."
G6's expression remained unchanged.
"Edmund is attached to the royal household. You are the daughter of the First Pillar and the woman publicly expected to marry my son. Two people in your positions secretly leaving the palace under false identities to perform Guild work would become political entertainment for months."
"Sounds like your problem."
"It becomes yours the moment the Court Houses decide to use it against House Worthon."
"Still not convincing."
Queen Euphelia's gaze sharpened.
"And I was concerned."
G6's jaw shifted almost imperceptibly. The Queen caught the movement.
"Yes, Reise. Concerned."
"Stop."
"Why?"
"Because you're doing it again."
"Doing what?"
"Talking like some worried mother."
Something quieter entered Queen Euphelia's expression.
"You are going to have to accept eventually that some people may care what happens to you without expecting payment."
"No."
G6 answered before the Queen could continue.
"People expect something: loyalty, gratitude, obedience, affection, leverage. Sometimes they don't even know they're collecting it."
Her grey eyes remained flat.
"But they collect."
Queen Euphelia studied her more carefully.
"And Edmund?"
G6 said nothing.
"Does he collect?"
The silence persisted.
"Tina?"
Still no answer.
"And that child, Lilia?"
G6's stare grew colder. Queen Euphelia had found a pressure point, but she did not press it carelessly.
"If I had not covered for you today, what would you have done?"
"So? You want me to be indebted to you for saving our asses? I could get out of that trouble. I'd push all the blame onto Edmund and watch him get scorned by your rule-runners. And I wouldn't care."
The Queen regarded her for several seconds.
"You would sacrifice Edmund."
It was not quite a question. G6 met her gaze without guilt, hesitation, or visible affection, but Queen Euphelia had spent too many years dealing with nobles and liars to mistake a blank expression for an empty one.
"You expect me to believe that?"
G6's eyes sharpened.
"Edmund risked his position to help you. Covered your absences. Entered danger beside you. Returned injured and still protected your secret."
The Queen tilted her head.
"And you would discard him because it became convenient?"
G6 remained silent as irritation curled low and hot inside her.
Of course she would not. Edmund had earned something she gave very few people: trust.
It was neither blind nor sentimental, but the practical trust of knowing he would speak when necessary, remain silent when it mattered, lie when required, and stand beside her without demanding explanations.
That mattered. Queen Euphelia did not need to know how much.
"I told you already that you wouldn't like to imagine the measures I'm willing to take, the obstacles I'm willing to erase to get what I want."
G6's voice lowered as the Queen rose. She left her chair without haste and walked around the desk until only several feet of carpet separated them.
"Then tell me. What exactly do you want?"
The question irritated G6 more than the accusations had. Unlike the others, it offered no convenient tactical answer.
What is it that I really want? What's the exact reason I'm even in this mess?
Freedom was obvious. Information was always necessary, and perhaps she wanted a way home.
She wanted to understand why the book kept failing to match reality, why Reise had died, and why Akira Gemstone had awakened inside a life that should never have belonged to her.
Right. What I want… what I really want is the truth.
She wanted to stop moving blind and discovering another missing piece beneath every answer.
To end this fucking cycle of mysteries.
To finally be able to proceed.
G6 looked at the Queen with no intention of giving her that answer.
"What I want is none of your concern. Stop acting like a concerned mother. I know people like you. The way you speak, the way you pause before you answer… the way you looked at me in that meeting room at the Collegium Library…"
She stepped closer.
"I know your mind is running through a dozen ways to use me. You see right through me. And I know I am nothing but a tool to you."
Queen Euphelia held her ground.
"My concern for you is genuine. I have no need to use you as a tool. You are the daughter of—"
Mana gathered around G6's fingers. The Queen saw it just before the compressed Wind Blade crossed the office in a blur.
—SHATTER!
One of the tall windows exploded outward into the garden. The remaining panes trembled in their frames as G6 lowered her hand, her breathing unchanged.
"I told you to stop playing games."
Queen Euphelia examined the shattered window before returning her attention to G6. Neither spoke for several seconds.
"You did that deliberately."
"Obviously."
"To my window."
"You have more."
A small, incredulous laugh escaped the Queen.
"You are unbelievable."
G6 waited until the amusement faded.
"Very well."
Queen Euphelia returned behind the desk. G6 recognized the movement as a change in tactics rather than a retreat.
The Queen opened a drawer and removed an old, heavy tome. She placed the Cryomancy text on the desk and turned directly to a marked page, where ancient writing surrounded the illustration of a weapon formed from unnatural ice.
Her finger settled on the single sentence beneath it.
"I found this while continuing my research."
G6 looked down.
"The surviving writings surrounding Cryomancy are incomplete and old enough that I refuse to treat every sentence as unquestionable truth. But there is one line I could not dismiss."
The Queen read it aloud.
"'Only one who kills can wield.'"
G6's brows drew together.
What is that supposed to mean?
"I do not know," Queen Euphelia admitted.
That caught her attention.
"It may be literal. It may be ritualistic. It may refer to taking another person's life, one's own life, or something whose meaning has been lost."
She turned back several pages.
"Earlier passages connect Cryomancy to death and rebirth. White Drop gave me one possible explanation for that portion."
Her fingers returned to the marked sentence.
"But this line complicated everything."
G6 remained silent. Queen Euphelia looked directly at her.
"You are no longer the Reise I knew, are you?"
The room seemed to narrow around them. The Queen had not discovered Akira, but she had reached close enough to the truth to demand care.
G6 let the silence stretch before allowing the smallest change to touch her face.
"You're right. I told you already that I am not Reise anymore. Not the one you used to know."
She walked toward the couch and sat.
"How many times do I have to spell it out to you?"
A smirk followed. Queen Euphelia continued watching carefully.
Ah. She wants a sob story.
G6 could give her one, provided it was not the real one.
"When I thought I was going to die from taking the poison, I had a ridiculous dream."
Her gaze drifted toward the shattered window.
"It felt endless."
The Queen remained quiet.
"A different world. Different rules. No one cared who my father was, what House I belonged to, or what Prince I was supposed to marry."
A faint trace of amusement entered G6's voice.
"People survived because they were useful. They died because someone was faster, smarter, or decided they had become a problem."
Queen Euphelia's brows drew together slightly.
"In that dream, I learned that a single, precise cut could prevent a war. That eliminating one loud, greedy voice could save a thousand silent ones."
G6 returned her gaze to the Queen.
"There was no good. There was no evil. There was only order and chaos. And in that dream, my purpose was to impose order."
She leaned back and paused.
"I was not a hero. I was not a villain."
Her mouth curved faintly.
"I was a… conclusion."
Queen Euphelia said nothing. G6 looked down at one hand.
"The Reise you knew walked into that poison believing her entire life had already ended."
Her fingers began closing slowly.
"Then she dreamed of someone who didn't beg. Someone who didn't wait for permission. Someone who didn't need a Prince to decide whether her life had value."
Her fist closed.
"Imagine drowning in that dream long enough that when you finally wake up, everything you cared about before looks small."
Queen Euphelia's expression had gone still.
"The person dragged back onto shore might have the same face," G6 continued softly. "But maybe she doesn't breathe the same anymore."
The metaphor settled between them, carrying enough truth to feel real and enough deception to lead somewhere else.
Queen Euphelia glanced toward the Cryomancy text.
"And this?"
She touched the ancient sentence.
"'Only one who kills can wield.'"
G6 looked at it.
"'Only one who kills can wield'? I killed myself, and so I wield it."
The Queen returned her gaze to the text.
Possible, but nothing more, Queen Euphelia thought.
The authors had left no explanation precise enough to establish what kills meant. G6's interpretation fit the words, but several others might fit just as easily.
What the Queen knew was simpler. Lady Reise Worthon had taken White Drop and nearly died.
The woman who awakened afterward had changed so profoundly that everyone around her was still learning how to speak to her.
Queen Euphelia suspected that the dream was both exaggerated and partially fabricated. The near-death experience itself, however, and the transformation that followed were impossible to deny.
She moved to the chair opposite the couch and sat.
"That dream… That feeling of purpose, of clarity… If you were given a chance to grasp it again, to feel that reality in this world… would you take it?"
G6 watched her.
She seems smart. Did she really buy it?
"I already grasp it."
Her voice became a soft, sinister purr.
"The warm blood of that so-called new-type demon you all fear felt like slaughtering a giant pig."
Queen Euphelia went still as G6 smirked.
"So it was you who killed it."
The answer she had intended to seek through other means had arrived without further comparison of the Hobgoblin's wounds against Edmund's fighting style. G6 had claimed the kill herself.
"If I'd known it would be used as evidence before the throne, I would have convinced Edmund to bring you its head as a trophy. Pft."
Reise sounded genuinely disappointed, which was perhaps the most troubling part. Queen Euphelia stared at her before glancing toward the broken window.
"Very well. I can see that if I tried to cage you completely, every window in this entire chamber would be shattered."
G6 followed her glance.
"You are not truly serious about sacrificing Edmund, are you?"
Her attention snapped back to the Queen.
"Don't dare use Edmund against me. You will not like the answer I give you."
Queen Euphelia's expression shifted as the truth beneath the earlier lie finally showed itself.
"I thought as much."
G6 said nothing.
"But Edmund will eventually be placed in danger if this continues."
The Queen leaned back.
"Let us make a deal, Reise."
"And yet you claimed this conversation was not a transaction."
Mockery dripped from G6's words.
"My concern was not. This is."
Queen Euphelia's composure remained undisturbed as G6 crossed her arms.
"I will maintain the explanation I gave before the King. The connection between Eddie Saiden and Edmund will remain restricted, and I will prevent your Guild identities from becoming entertainment for the Court."
G6 listened.
"In exchange, if one of these excursions leads you into something that is no longer an ordinary Guild problem—something you believe could threaten this kingdom—you report it to me."
The Queen asked for neither an oath nor a declaration of loyalty. She proposed protection in exchange for useful information, without demanding an alliance with the Crown.
G6 considered the wording. It still left sufficient room for judgment—her judgment.
Bingo.
"Is that all?"
"For now."
"Then I have a proposal. Three full days at the Collegium, and three full days at the 'Utility Magic Department.'"
Queen Euphelia stared.
"You are proposing to spend three consecutive days outside the palace?"
"It's not a bad deal. It gives us ample time, and it benefits you as well."
G6 held her gaze.
"Take it or leave it."
The Queen considered the demand in silence.
"Prince Dio is oddly interested in you these days. He will give me a headache questioning this sudden change."
"That's your problem, not mine."
"Naturally."
Nothing in G6's expression suggested she intended to negotiate downward.
"Fine," Queen Euphelia conceded.
Faint satisfaction settled beneath G6's expression.
"Promise me a few things."
"I don't make promises."
"Then consider these orders. Do not come back covered in bruises. Take care of yourself. Do not do anything recklessly stupid. Return before the palace's last bell. And, most importantly, stay alive."
The final condition carried none of the political calculation G6 preferred dealing with, making it considerably more irritating.
"If that's all, I'll do my best to adhere to your… suggestions."
Contempt sharpened the last word, but Queen Euphelia chose not to argue over terminology.
"Do you believe what I told you?" G6 asked abruptly.
Not completely, Queen Euphelia thought.
Parts of the dream had been too carefully shaped. Its core, however—the near-death experience and the violent division between the woman before White Drop and the one afterward—fit too many things she had witnessed herself.
"I believe enough of it to understand why the woman before me no longer resembles the girl I remember."
G6 studied her.
"I see. If there's nothing else, I'm leaving."
She stood, but the Queen stopped her.
"I am not yet finished."
Queen Euphelia folded her hands.
"Now that our initial conflict is resolved and our deal is sealed, I believe I have a right to know what is happening beyond my Capital, do I not?"
G6 smirked and sank back onto the couch.
"At least offer me some tea."
The Queen looked at her, then at the broken window, before returning her attention to G6. Nevertheless, she retrieved the tea waiting on the counter and placed it on the center table between them.
G6 took her first sip before beginning. The Guild had received the safe version of events; Queen Euphelia would receive more.
"According to Edmund, the goblins weren't behaving like random monsters."
The Queen's attention sharpened as G6 explained the horde's unusual coordination. They had not appeared to wander independently into the forest and gather by chance. Their movements resembled an organized foraging group, which Edmund considered abnormal for ordinary goblins.
The Guild already knew the obvious facts. Nearly a hundred goblins had been eradicated, a newly formed dungeon had been discovered and collapsed before they left, and a Hobgoblin had emerged from it.
What the Guild did not know was what had happened around those events.
"The Hobgoblin wasn't mindless either," G6 continued. "It adjusted."
"To you?"
Queen Euphelia lowered her cup.
"Yeah. Nothing impressive, but it watched what I was doing and reacted accordingly."
The Queen's expression grew more serious.
"There was something else. Before it came out of the dungeon, something attacked me."
"What sort of attack?"
"It looked like a Wind Blade."
"Wind?"
"Maybe."
G6 took another sip.
"I only saw it once. It felt like Wind, moved like it, and cut through a tree cleanly enough to look like a Wind Blade."
She set down the cup.
"But the Hobgoblin never used it again."
"So you cannot confirm that it possessed a Wind affinity."
"I said maybe."
G6's gaze flattened.
"Don't turn an assumption into a fact."
Queen Euphelia regarded her for a moment before nodding.
"Fair."
The response appeared to satisfy G6.
"There was also something wrong with the forest."
"Wrong in what way?"
"It was alive and green, with trees standing and plants everywhere."
G6's expression remained flat.
"But there was no natural mana."
Queen Euphelia became completely still.
"What… This is far more extreme than mere monsters appearing! Reise… how can you be certain the natural mana was gone? That is impossible. Nature is mana."
That was how Einston's scholars understood it. Living forests continuously generated and circulated natural mana through the land, vegetation, water, and everything sustained within them.
A forest could be damaged, diseased, burned, or stripped bare. One that remained visibly alive while producing no detectable natural mana should not have existed.
"Apparently my body can tell if there's mana or not. It probably has something to do with my own mana being immeasurable."
Queen Euphelia frowned without immediately agreeing. Most people experienced the effects of natural mana without consciously isolating its presence with anything approaching G6's precision.
Reise's magical condition had already proven abnormal enough, however, that dismissing her observation simply because the Queen could not explain it would have been foolish.
"And you are certain?"
"Completely."
Queen Euphelia set down her cup and remained silent for a moment.
"What else?"
G6 considered how much to reveal.
Not everything.
"We found black paper."
"Paper?"
"After the dungeon collapsed. It was buried among the debris. Black paper. Red writing."
"What did it say?"
"No idea."
The Queen's brows drew together.
"Edmund spent most of the night in the Collegium Library investigating the markings," G6 explained. "He confirmed the writing strongly resembles surviving records associated with the Charnel Land, but he failed to decipher it."
Queen Euphelia's expression changed.
"Associated with the Charnel Land."
"That's what he found."
"How certain was he?"
"About the resemblance? As certain as the surviving records allow."
G6 lifted her cup.
"About what the damn thing actually says? Nothing."
The Queen considered that in silence.
"The records are incomplete?"
"Yeah."
"And the symbols could not be translated."
"No."
"Where is the paper now?"
"Safe."
Queen Euphelia paused.
"Reise."
"You asked where it was."
"I noticed."
"And I answered."
G6 calmly drank her tea beneath the Queen's stare. Eventually, Queen Euphelia abandoned that particular battle.
"Do you believe the paper caused the disappearance of the natural mana?"
"We don't know."
G6 answered immediately.
"It was inside the collapsed dungeon. The writing was strange. The forest had no mana. That makes it suspicious. It doesn't make it the cause."
Queen Euphelia nodded slowly. At least Reise was not drawing conclusions from evidence she did not possess.
"And the forest?"
"What about it?"
"Was the natural mana still absent when you left?"
G6 paused only long enough to drink again.
"No."
"It returned?"
"Yeah."
"When?"
"Before we left."
The Queen leaned forward.
"Did you discover why?"
"No idea."
G6 had reached the limit of what she intended to share.
She had revealed enough to establish that something deeply abnormal occurred near Oak Village, but she had said nothing about the shallow cut on her finger, the blood that struck the dried red writing, or the blue and violet light that erupted across the paper.
The natural mana had returned almost immediately afterward. Those details remained between G6 and Edmund for now.
Queen Euphelia studied her for several seconds. G6 could almost see the questions forming, but the Queen did not ask them. Perhaps she understood that pressing too aggressively would simply end the conversation.
Instead, she rose and crossed toward the desk.
"The King has already ordered the northern barriers examined, especially those nearest the approaches associated with the Charnel Land. We have received no confirmation that any barrier has failed."
"Then don't call it a breach."
"I did not."
Queen Euphelia turned toward her.
"But writing resembling surviving Charnel records appearing inside Einston territory is serious even without one."
G6 agreed with that much.
"The distance itself makes a direct connection difficult to establish," the Queen continued. "If something had crossed from the northern reaches and traveled openly through the kingdom, there should have been signs elsewhere."
"Exactly."
G6 rested her cheek against one fist.
"Edmund already jumped to that conclusion. I shut him down."
"I can imagine."
Amusement briefly touched Queen Euphelia's face.
"We don't know who made the paper," G6 continued. "We don't know who brought it there. We don't know if it came from the Charnel Land at all. All we know is what the writing resembles."
"Then that is what we will treat as fact."
Finally, someone who understands evidence.
The Queen's expression remained troubled.
"A living forest without natural mana. An unusually coordinated goblin horde. A newly formed dungeon. A new-type displaying intelligence beyond what should be expected of it. One attack that may—or may not—have resembled Wind magic."
Her gaze hardened.
"And an object bearing writing associated with surviving Charnel records."
"Pretty much."
Queen Euphelia looked toward what remained of the window.
"That is already more than enough."
Before either could continue, the office door opened. Leo entered, examining the Queen, G6, and finally the shattered window.
He paused while G6 calmly drank her tea, then made the intelligent decision not to ask.
"Forgive my interference, Your Majesty, but the King requests your attendance in the Main Palace immediately. It seems an urgent matter requires the attention of the Head Pillars and the Courts."
He presented an elegant paper bearing the royal seal. Queen Euphelia accepted it and scanned the contents.
"Very well. I will come at once."
She turned toward G6.
"Reise, we will continue this another time."
"You're the boss."
The Queen had started toward the door when G6 spoke again.
"Can I have that book?"
Queen Euphelia stopped slowly. G6 pointed toward the Cryomancy tome resting on the desk.
"It is the original text on Cryomancy Affinity Theory."
"I know."
The Queen glanced at the shattered window before looking back at her.
For several seconds, her expression suggested that handing an ancient magical text to the woman responsible for the missing pane might qualify as questionable judgment.
Nevertheless, she returned to the desk and retrieved it.
"Very well. It may help you."
She held out the tome.
"However, do not attempt everything written within merely because some ancient scholar recorded it. Much of this text remains theory."
G6 accepted the heavy book, but the Queen did not immediately release her hold.
"And I still have not received word from my master."
Their eyes met.
"Exercise restraint."
Only then did Queen Euphelia let go.
"Keep our deal. And remember my orders."
G6 looked at the book in her hands. She had secured three days of freedom, the Queen's protection for their ridiculous aliases, and the original Cryomancy text.
Not bad.
Not bad at all.
❈.❈.❈
The sky had begun turning orange by the time G6 returned toward the West Villa. She took the usual route through Annex-Uno, whose quiet interior had grown dim beneath the fading light. Her black clothes blended easily into the lengthening shadows.
A smile appeared as she climbed toward the second floor and the open bridge connecting to her quarters.
"That old woman's maternal instinct will put her in danger someday."
G6 laughed quietly to herself.
"How can people be so easy? Now I've taken care of two things. Secured my three-day liberty and the book on Cryomancy."
She glanced down at the tome.
"I even got the original version, with the Queen dancing in my hands."
Whether Queen Euphelia would have described the meeting the same way was irrelevant. G6 preferred her own interpretation.
At the second floor, she examined the corridor.
Is it because only men live here? This place is so bland.
She continued toward the open bridge and found a man leaning against the railing.
What's that geek doing here? It's too early for him to be back.
G6 stopped without speaking. Lord Earl turned, his startled expression followed by a visible jump.
What is he so scared for? He must be looking for his death.
A woman dressed entirely in black, standing silently in a dark corridor, had apparently done little for his nerves. G6 resumed walking until the remaining sunlight reached her face.
Lord Earl cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses. His gaze dropped to the book in her arms.
"Why are you back so early, geek?"
G6 spoke as though she had not threatened to maim him earlier.
"I was not in the mood to work, so I excused myself early."
"Ah. Whatever."
She moved to pass him.
"Please forgive me for my ill-mannered actions earlier, Reise…"
The unusual seriousness of his voice made her stop and turn.
"It was nothing. I am not mad at you. Forget it."
"Really? Are you certain?"
"I don't like repeating myself."
Relief returned visibly to his face.
"Then I will take your word for it."
"Then I'll be going."
"Might we talk longer? If you are not in a hurry."
G6 stopped again.
"What exactly do you want to talk about?"
"Perhaps some words of wisdom, or about that book…"
Lord Earl's attention returned to the tome.
Words of wisdom? About this book?
"What?"
"I was the one who issued that book to Her Majesty. For her to give it to you without any formal documentation…"
"Oh, this?"
G6 looked down at the Cryomancy text before showing it to him.
"I am simply interested in it. As you said, Her Majesty fancies me enough to lend it to me."
She regarded him for a moment.
"Alright, then."
Lord Earl's face brightened.
"Shall we talk in my office?"
G6 nodded. They returned through Annex-Uno until he reached a pair of ornate doors and opened them.
His rooms were exactly what she should have expected from a wealthy scholar: spacious, elegant, and full of evidence that he had no concept of owning a reasonable number of books.
The first room served as his study. Shelves occupied most of the walls, papers stood in stacks beside his desk, and several artifacts rested in various stages of examination along a long worktable.
G6 scanned everything once.
"You're really a nerd even in here."
"Well, that is the field of work I am best at."
Lord Earl closed the door and went to the counter to prepare tea. G6 made herself comfortable on the couch.
"But you're also good at fighting. I kind of hate the fact that I've only won twice against you."
Lord Earl paused with his back toward her. A small smile appeared before he resumed preparing the tea, then carried the tray to the center table.
"I also won once against you," he said, sitting opposite her. "I know that you were holding back your real potential back then."
"Who knows?"
G6 still held the book.
"So, what exactly do you want from me?"
Lord Earl drank before answering.
"Releasing spells without a chant. The strength of your Wind affinity. Your rapid adaptation whenever you are shown something new."
His gaze dropped briefly toward her hands.
"And the fact that your technique frequently develops faster than your physical conditioning can follow."
G6 remained silent. He had personally observed those things, but they established nothing beyond what he had seen.
"We have known each other for a long time, but I do not know what happened in the three years we were apart."
His expression grew thoughtful.
"However, I am certain you have changed. And Her Majesty somehow knows most of the reasons."
G6 offered no response.
"Her Majesty requested that book from me. It is considered the oldest surviving text on Cryomancy, perhaps the original copy, although its contents remain theoretical."
His attention returned to the tome.
"Yet she has now placed it in your hands."
Lord Earl adjusted his glasses.
"Then I learned that you are apparently the only member of the Royal Collegium staff whose registration is held directly under Her Majesty rather than the Professional Guild."
He leaned back.
"Whatever exists between you two, Her Majesty clearly does not intend to share it with others."
After a pause, he added, "Not even her own family."
"What exactly are you trying to say?"
"In that particular area, nothing."
G6 raised an eyebrow.
"I do not want you to act carelessly. I do not want you to draw unnecessary attention to yourself."
His voice remained calm.
"If the Queen is taking such measures to protect something surrounding you, then providing the Court with reasons to investigate defeats whatever she is trying to accomplish."
G6 stared at him as the Grand Arena returned to mind. His unusually sharp reaction, followed by his hand closing around her wrist, took on a different implication.
So his sudden outburst earlier was for this reason?
Lord Earl had spent more time personally observing her combat methods and rapid adaptation than most of those around her. A public display meant more to him than it did to the people cheering from the gallery.
He could have just said so. What a lame guy.
"The Court? Ah, are you referring to those weird nobles on the other side of the throne room earlier? I don't care about them."
"You should at least remain aware of them."
Lord Earl settled naturally into his familiar lecturing manner.
"The Court Houses have challenged the influence of the Pillars many times before, and House Worthon attracts more scrutiny than most."
G6 listened.
"Rumors of treason, accusations of excessive influence, complaints regarding the authority held by the Pillar families. Most collapse because they lack evidence."
He adjusted his glasses.
"That has never stopped ambitious nobles from searching for something better."
How would I know about that stuff? It's not like I live here.
"Ah, so you're concerned," G6 said flatly. "So you won't question me about this book?"
She waved the tome slightly.
"Hold it with care!"
Lord Earl nearly lurched forward. G6 stared until he visibly forced himself back into his seat.
"I will not. I do not wish to pry. I respect whatever secret you and the Queen are keeping."
She studied him, but no trap followed. He offered neither a disguised question nor an attempt to extract information because he had demonstrated concern.
This geek.
A smile appeared.
"That's why I like you the most."
Lord Earl froze, his face and ears turning bright red.
"What now? Don't tell me you're sick. Your face is bright red. Tsk, what a bother."
"I am not sick."
He touched his face and took a slow breath.
"Anyway, if there is any script in that book you do not understand, do not hesitate to ask me."
"Thank you for that. I'll keep it in mind."
G6 glanced at her cup.
"I won't be able to eat dinner now. I've already had enough tea."
She drank the remainder in one go. Lord Earl smiled despite himself, his relief at her lack of anger embarrassingly obvious. G6 either failed to notice or had categorized it as another of his strange habits.
"Then, if that's all you wanted to talk about, I'll be going now. I have a prior arrangement."
She stood.
"Reise. Wait for a moment."
Lord Earl reached into his coat and removed a small velvet jewelry box.
"Here, this is for you."
"What's this?"
"It is… um… a necklace."
Necklace? Hmm. Is this one of those tools?
G6's expression brightened.
"Is this a magic tool?"
She opened the box. A thin silver chain held a faceted grey pendant that initially resembled an ordinary gemstone, though the faint mana within it made its purpose apparent.
Its color reminded her of her own eyes.
Oh. This looks more like jewelry than a magic tool.
Lord Earl seemed amused by how much more interested she had become at the possibility of magic.
"The pendant is constructed from several compatible high-grade magic stones. Its function is mana preservation, like a small vessel you can fill with your own mana."
"Filled with mana?"
"Yes."
He settled comfortably into explanation.
"Tools like this are often carried during long expeditions. Once charged, the stones preserve that mana until the wearer needs it."
He indicated the pendant.
"The artifact has a fixed capacity. It does not increase simply because the wearer possesses a larger reserve."
G6 turned it beneath the light.
"For an ordinary expedition mage, the amount would be substantial enough to serve as an emergency reserve. Escape magic, a defensive spell, or one final attack when the mage's own core has been exhausted."
How meaningful that fixed amount would be compared with G6's reserve was another question.
Then why give this to me? Does he also suspect my activity?
"Why give me this?"
"When I saw it the other day on my brother's table, its color reminded me of your eyes."
Lord Earl smiled, but G6's attention lifted immediately.
"What?"
His eyes widened as though he had understood what he said only after saying it.
"I… I mean, I knew you would like it and accept it as my apology gift."
G6 regarded him for another moment before closing the box.
"Then I will gladly take this."
She secured it beside the Cryomancy tome.
"I will be leaving now."
"Let me at least walk you back to your chambers."
She did not object. They left the study and made their way through Annex-Uno together. When they reached the open area on the main building's second floor, G6 stopped.
"Then, I'll be seeing you around. Thanks for the gift again."
Her expression remained flat despite the words.
"It is nothing."
Lord Earl glanced toward the connecting halls.
"I suppose we cannot have dinner together tonight. Prince Dio and Keith will likely remain late at the Bastion, as will Zen and Brenda."
Preparations for the new recruits were still underway at the Royal Collegium.
"I guess so. Like I said, I'm full from the tea anyway."
"I will be returning to the Collegium to assist them. Keith must be in a foul mood over my absence by now."
G6 could imagine that without difficulty.
"Alright, then take care."
Lord Earl nodded and smiled. G6 turned toward her chambers, while he remained where he was for another moment before heading toward the stairs and the route back to the Collegium.
Neither noticed the servant entering the adjoining passage.
She stopped at the sight of the two Pillar heirs parting. Nothing initially seemed unusual until her gaze dropped to the small velvet jewelry box in G6's hand.
Lord Earl had given Lady Reise jewelry, walked her back personally, and received her thanks for the gift.
Perfectly innocent explanations existed. He might have been apologizing, the necklace might have been an artifact, or the exchange might have meant nothing at all. Unfortunately, innocent explanations rarely survived long in servant gossip.
The woman remained silent until both had disappeared. By the time she reached the lower floor, she was already deciding whom to tell first.
—To Be Continued…—