“Hey! You’re supposed to pick ‘talk’ in these situations! Get with the program!” Given our social ranks, perhaps I should’ve thought better of scolding her, but she betrayed the natural order! My hands were tied.
“Mmgg... Whew!” Emilia said. “Mary, it warms our heart to see you’re as open-minded as ever!”
Oh, God, I’m seeing yet another individual who will threaten the integrity of my stomach lining. Am I being tested? Since I’d wanted to speak with the queen of Relirex, I did think that there was a chance that Emilia would butt in, but I hadn’t expected it to happen so soon. “I thought for sure I’d be seeing Lady Elizabeth or some kind of official before you came around.”
“Heh heh heh. Our accursed aunt couldn’t keep us down forever! She may have been able to keep us from seeing you all time and time again by demanding we finish our work first, but we’d been hiding an escape plan up our sleeve...so when we heard you were up to something interesting, let’s just say we found our way here. Tee-hee! ♪” She knocked the side of her head and stuck out her tongue like a mischievous imp.
“So, basically, you came here without permission...” As I shuddered at the implications, my resident problem child gave me a second helping of her “tee-hee” pose.
“Now, jokes aside...” Emilia started.
“That was a joke?! Oh, come on!” I shouted. Any sense of our stations I may have still been holding on to had been officially blown out of the water as I let my compulsion to retort take the wheel. So, she actually did go through the proper channels, but she just said it that way to tease me, I guess? She is just teasing me, right?
“Heh heh heh... We heard, Mary. You have business with our mother, do you not?” Seeming to have had her fill of getting a rise out of me, she decided to get down to brass tacks.
“Y-Yes, I do... I was looking into the Argent Knight when... Well, stuff happened.” Of course, since I’d still been trying to process the first part of our conversation when she suddenly switched gears, I only barely managed to cobble together a reply.
“Xeoral, was it?” Emilia asked. “We never would’ve expected that the legendary island and the Argent Knight were linked somehow.”
“I don’t know for sure yet,” I replied. “I want to know more about Xeoral precisely to confirm my suspicions, that’s all. It’s also partly to help Noa regain some of her memories.”
“Noa? Ah, the girl who was targeted by the Argent Armor, yes? Does she have any ties to the Argent Knight?”
I was surprised that she knew so much. It’s not like I’m hiding Noa away, so it’s not really a problem, I guess. In fact, it helps move the conversation along. “I don’t know yet,” I replied. “I’m looking into all of that.”
“Hmm, we see. Then let us go!” Emilia declared, standing up from the sofa like she was ending our conversation.
“Pardon?” I just stared at her in shock
“Make haste! Get ready!” she ordered. “We’re heading for Relirex!”
“Whoa there! Wait a sec! What are you on about?” I was so far removed from her train of thought that I pinched my brow, hung my head, and did the open-palm “stop it” pose to try to get her to slow down.
“You would like to meet our mother, correct?” Emilia asked.
“Yes, but why do we need to leave this very second?” I asked.
“Ah, that’s simple—if we allow you to attempt the official route, you’ll surely never manage to have a proper conversation with our mother.”
I was wary I was being pranked again, but for the time being, I decided to ask for more information. “Wh-What do you mean?”
“Don’t tell us that you’re blissfully unaware,” Emilia replied, apparently astonished by my lack of knowledge.
“About what?” I glared at her dubiously.
“Mother has been confined in the depths of the castle since ages ago.”
“H-H-Huh?! Wh-Wh-What?! Wh-Wh-Why?!” I was so terribly surprised my voice was practically vibrating like a pulled guitar string.
“Heh. You know of the ancient battle between the Dark Lord and the Argent Knight, we presume?”
“Y-Yeah.” I knew it was a topic that Emilia and the other demons tended to refrain from touching on, so I trod lightly and replied as simply as possible.
“It is our mother who guided the two to clash,” Emilia said.
My jaw went slack in pure astonishment. As in, she committed treason? Did the queen rebel against Relirex? Forget confinement, worst case, she could’ve been killed for her crimes!
But since the Argent Knight won and she sided with him, she should’ve gained political power, right...? No, it’s not that simple. If she’d been able to take control, she obviously wouldn’t be imprisoned right now, would she? What’s going on? Trying to imagine how things had gotten to this point was turning my brain into oatmeal.
“A-Are you allowed to tell me this story?” I asked.
“Why not? Everyone in our kingdom knows of it.”
“I-I see...”
“In any case, were we not to escort you, there are myriad excuses our kingdom could create to prevent you from enjoying a proper conversation with our mother. That wouldn’t do, now would it, Mary?”
I was losing all sense of good judgment in the face of her steadfast determination. What if Emilia came flying over the moment she heard about my goal? If she’s here for my sake, far be it from me to heartlessly ignore the goodwill of a friend. “O-Okay,” I said. “Got it. I’ll get prepared.”
I agreed to Emilia’s plan with a heart full of resolve. I could’ve sworn I saw her grin triumphantly the moment I confirmed I’d do things her way, but it was so quick that I assumed my eyes were playing tricks on me...
And so, that’s how I ended up following Emilia to Relirex without Magiluka and the rest of my friends.