“AAAAGH! How dare he use such an impertinent spell on me?!” Cornelia bellowed.
“A-Are you quite all right, my lady? We should go back home and call again another time…”
“What?!” she barked. “If I don’t return home with that pendant in my possession, there’d be no point in wearing myself out like this! I’ve already come this far!”
Her body felt as heavy as lead, and her skin felt as though it was buzzing with a relentless electric current of pain. What was more, a sharp pain shot through her head each time she tried to cast a spell.
Her butler trailed behind her, but he appeared to be feeling no ill effects. The barrier was targeting only her, it appeared—and it was most likely Sirius’ doing. After facing off with him, Cornelia could tell his powers were either equivalent to hers or even stronger.
“What else did I expect of royalty?” she sneered to herself.
For that reason, she’d had to resort to acting like some sort of petty thief. After being told she couldn’t enter the palace, Cornelia tried to bulldoze her way through the defenses just like last time, but now, they had hindsight on their side. As she tried to force her way through, a certain magical power tried to suffocate her the moment she stepped onto the palace grounds. To get through, she either had to attack the caster of the spell or break through the barrier by brute force.
Her plan had been to shatter it, but no matter how many times she tried, it was futile. Sirius’ determination not to let her through was palpable in the air itself. However, Cornelia would not back down. Even if she couldn’t break the spell completely, she could create a tiny hole for herself to pass through. She aimed for the back door, where security was slightly lower. Then, before the opening she created for herself closed up, she slipped inside the barrier.
However, Sirius’ magic wouldn’t stand for it. With Cornelia within the bounds of its reach, it punished her with constant agony. To make matters worse, she could no longer use her magic. As her butler was unaffected by the barrier, she ordered him to cast an invisibility spell over them, but it wasn’t so effective as to erase their presence completely.
It seemed as though the soldiers had been deceived, but how much time did she have? Although she’d managed to infiltrate the palace, the problem was what to do next. It was possible that Marialite was with Sirius.
“…Eep!” she gasped, noticing that her body was becoming faintly visible again. “Don’t you even know how to sustain a spell?!” she spat at the butler, her tone high with panic.
“M-My apologies, my lady, but that spell does drain one’s energy extremely quickly…” he tried to explain, his meek voice quivering from behind. It only fueled Cornelia’s frustration.
“If such a measly spell has an effect on your energy, you must be ludicrously feeble. It’s a wonder you’re even allowed to serve under me.”
“I’m so very sorry,” he said with a strained voice, hanging his head.
“And what will apologizing about it do?” she snarled. “What makes you think you can act so high and mighty? Oh, that’s right—because you serve me. You hold a position of power because of me. If I hadn’t employed you, you would be a typical, old, senile fool.”
The butler frowned, falling silent.
“Anyway,” Cornelia said, clearing her throat. “Once we get back to the estate, I will properly inform Father of your incompetence. If you do not wish to be dismissed, you will get on your knees, and…” She suddenly froze in the middle of her cruel, anger-tinted lecture. Something was wrong.
The butler, who was behind her mere moments ago, had suddenly disappeared.
“H-Hello?” she hedged shakily. “Where have you gone?”
With him nowhere to be found, the invisibility spell upon her would also break. Right now, being alone was the worst thing she could possibly fathom.
“Is that really all it takes for you to go away and sulk? And to think you’d ignore your lady when she’s talking to you! Honestly!” she huffed. “You are most definitely dismissed. On the spot! Do you hear me? Hello? Why won’t you answer me?!”
However, no matter how many times she called out in anguish, no reply ever came. Cornelia’s body was growing more and more visible by the second—and at the worst possible time, too. She could hear some soldiers engaging in pleasant conversation, their laughs growing louder as they approached. If she didn’t do something, they’d find her. Usually, that wouldn’t bother her, but when she was powerless, it was another story altogether.
How could she ever recover from the shame of being caught by soldiers who were far weaker than her? She already felt like a fool after being abandoned by one of her most “loyal” servants. The possibility of public humiliation grew ever closer with each of the soldiers’ footsteps.
Her lips began to quiver. Never before had she experienced such frustration and fear, and before she knew it, her lips were moving on their own.
“S-Save me! Somebod—”
Somebody suddenly grabbed her arm from behind. Before she could see who it was, she was already being pulled into the shade of a conspicuously placed tree.
“Apparently, Lord Elestial’s daughter is here to pick a fight again.”
“Ugh, for real? I feel bad for Lady Marialite. She already went through so much in Pythia, only to come here to be faced with Lady Cornelia’s wrath…”
Cornelia held her breath as the two soldiers ambled along past where she stood. They had no idea the very person they were gossiping about was right beside them. With her pulse thrumming in her neck, she remained standing stiff against the tree until she was certain their footsteps were no longer audible. She pursed her lips nervously.
“Lady Cornelia! I’m so happy to see you again,” an airy tone greeted her.
The person who saved her from her predicament was none other than Marialite herself.
“Thanks. Because of your help, she managed to hide,” Marialite said as she touched the trunk of the tree. The moment she did so, a sudden light flashed around it, and the tree turned back into a small seed. Apparently, she’d grown it using her powers.
Cornelia frowned. With a mixture of irritation, relief, and surprise on her mind, she wasn’t sure how to feel.
“J-Just what are you trying to do?” she hissed.
Marialite’s pale blue irises shone with excitement, not a shred of malice dwelling within them. Although she’d never once left the country, Cornelia had heard that the world outside of Celaeno was home to a blue sky. She imagined the color of Marialite’s eyes was much like the sky of the outside world.
“You seemed a little scared that those soldiers would see you, so I thought I’d give you somewhere to hide. That’s all, really…”
“Scared? What a joke. Of course I wasn’t scared,” Cornelia claimed, crossing her arms.
“But your cat ears were drooping,” Marialite countered with a friendly smile.