“Noa?” I asked.
“I... I’ve seen this before,” she said. Her memories seemed to be rushing back to her. Had she managed to catch a glimpse of the festival when she was outside of the facility? Or had she spotted a different cluster of evening primroses in the past?
“Where did you see them?” I asked.
“Xe...o...ral...” she groaned. She pressed her hands against her head like she had a splitting headache and staggered. I hastily rushed over to her and saw that she’d fainted.
“Is Noa all right?” His Highness asked.
“Yes, Your Highness,” I replied. “She fainted, but I believe she should be fine.”
“I see. It’s still concerning, so let’s head back to the villa.”
The prince looked worriedly at Noa, and everyone else quietly turned to leave. Sacher gently scooped the girl up in his arms and carried her back to the villa as I recalled the word she said before she fainted.
“Xeoral...” I murmured. I’d never heard the word before and cocked my head to the side with confusion.
“Lady Mary, did Noa say that?!” Sita said, instantly reacting to what’d slipped out of my mouth. I instinctively recoiled, taken aback by her excitement.
This bundle of curiosity really is terrifying...
“Y-Yeah,” I replied. “Have you ever heard of it, Sita?”
“Well, yeah, sort of,” Sita replied. “But all I know is that it’s a place within a fairy tale.”
“A place?”
“Yeah. Xeoral’s said to be an island in the skies that apparently existed in the mythical world. But that’s really all I know.”
She shrugged and walked ahead to join the rest of the group. Xeoral, an island in the skies... Is it related to the Argent Knight somehow? I had the tendency of linking whatever Noa said to the Argent Knight, and I laughed at myself. Nah, it can’t be. It’d be way too convenient, ha ha. No way! Besides, if our next destination were a mythic island, how would we get there anyway? We’re not heading there, are we? Please? God, you better not make it happen!
I opted to flee from reality with my refusal to accept the potential truth...but sadly enough, my premonitions tended to come true.
“Well, looks like our next destination is Xeoral! ♪” Orthoaguina said excitedly.
The next day during breakfast, the talking book completely failed to consider my feelings and excitedly told us of our next course of action. I almost leaned over the table in defeat.
“What’s Xeoral?” Magiluka asked simply.
“It’s an island in the skies that appears only in myths!” Sita said excitedly. “No one has ever actually seen the place for themselves, so we’re not sure what’s there! Whether this island exists at all is still a mystery!”
Uh, sorry, what’s got Sita so wound up? “Sita... You pulled another all-nighter, didn’t you?”
“If I can experience the excitement of unraveling mysteries, an all-nighter or two or three or four aren’t an issue for me at all!” Sita declared.
She really is true to her word. I grew genuinely worried about our resident chief librarian—I felt like she’d actually pull four all-nighters in a row if needed. I turned to her guardian for assistance.
“Rachel, do you hear that?” I asked. “I think it’s best if Sita gets some rest.”
“You’re right,” Rachel agreed. “Sita, I’ll only permit four all-nighters in a row. Anything more, and you have to rest in between,” she gently scolded her sister.
I couldn’t help but feel like that stern talking-to left much to be desired. Am I the weird one here? Is this a species difference or something?
“So, do we know absolutely nothing about Xeoral?” I asked.
“I’ve been doing some research with the staff of the Grand Archival Tower since yesterday, but we couldn’t find any books with details about the island,” Sita confessed. “Needless to say, we couldn’t find anything related to Soul Materia either.”
Or to be precise, she came up snake eyes trying to tie the Argent Armor to this lead, I suppose. I was truly grateful the employees of the tower were bustling around for my sake, but I vehemently prayed they’d get a wink of sleep.
“Well, not exactly,” Orthoaguina butted in.
“Did something turn up for you, Lord Orthoaguina?” Sita asked.
“I found a fascinating piece of text where a bard sang of Xeoral. An armor was mentioned in there as well...but both mentions are merely in a single verse.”
“A bard, huh...?”
Now, there’s a classic trope when reincarnating into another world. From the bottom of my maidenly heart, I’ve always wanted to visit a tavern and see a traveling bard singing their heart out...but first, can you two please catch some Z’s?
Despite my earnest concern for their well-being, I suggested, “Then we just need to meet with that bard, right? We might be able to reach Xeoral that way.”
“Lady Mary, we don’t know what era that text was from,” Magiluka replied. “What if this was from long ago and the bard in question has already passed away?”
“Right... Right... Good point...”
“And it feels like a trial to search for a bard,” the prince added. “If they’re famous, that’s one thing, but...”
“Right... Right... Good point...” I said again, reduced to a robot that could only walk back its comments.
“We don’t have to worry about that,” Orthoaguina said. “The bard in question is a demon who was rather renowned back in the day.”
“Right... Right... Good point... Wait, what?!” I yelped. “Really? Who is it? Spill the beans!”
“Belletochka, the Eternal Songstress,” he replied solemnly.
The name didn’t really ring a bell. This might’ve been where I was supposed to gasp with awe and nod vigorously, but my ignorance ruined the dramatic moment.
While everyone glanced around awkwardly, only one of us frowned. “The Eternal Songstress...” Prince Reifus said. “I feel like I’ve heard that name before...”
Do royals know famous bards or something?
“Could it be Relirex’s...” he mumbled.
“Ah, so you noticed, Prince. You’re very knowledgeable indeed,” Orthoaguina replied.
I felt left behind and was about to pout. “Prince Reifus, have you ever met this songstress?” I asked.
“No, but my mother has spoken of her before,” His Highness replied.
“Her Majesty?”
She does have quite a few demon friends like Emilia, for example. I’m not surprised if Her Majesty knows a demon bard too.
“Do you think we could get a vague idea of what the songstress looks like if we ask Her Majesty about it?” I wondered, trying to decide my next course of action.
“You won’t just get an idea,” His Highness replied. “I think you can meet her.” He looked around awkwardly, much to my confusion.
I didn’t expect to hear that. “What do you mean?” I asked, perplexed.
“Does the name ‘Belletochka’ and the Relirex Kingdom not ring a bell for you?” he asked, sounding reluctant to share the truth.
I tilted my head in thought. Now that he mentions it, it kinda does sound familiar... I feel like I’m so close to getting it! Argh, this is bugging me...
Rescuing me with an answer, Magiluka at last revealed, “Lady Mary, Queen Belletochka is Princess Emilia’s mother.”
“Ah, I see. Right, right, when we met with Lady Elizabeth, she mentioned that name,” I replied. “Then we can just ask Emilia and... Huh? Wait. Whaaaaat?! The songstress is the queen?!”
My voice echoed throughout the quiet breakfast room. Is it just me, or is this quickly spiraling into something much bigger than I thought? Please, please, please tell me that I’m just imagining things! Oh my Godddd!