Chapter 4: The Cry of the Divine Beast
WHERE am I?
I’m trapped in some sort of small, enclosed space. My body aches from the way it’s been forced into a cramped position. I haven’t been given much to eat. I’m hungry.
But more than hungry, I’m scared. Not long ago, I could hear scattered cries of “Let me out!” and “Help me!” echoing around me. But after a few minutes, the shouts grew distant, and now all I have is unsettling silence. I have no idea whether they grew tired of speaking or if they’re dead.
I had tried shouting, too—just once.
“Please, take me back to my mother!”
However, they simply laughed my plea off. As if it were a joke.
Nobody’s coming to save us.
All they do is laugh. Laugh as they wait for us to go insane or die.
But I won’t let either of those things happen to me. I swear.
✦ ✦ ✦
“LADY Marialite, I believe this dress here would suit you best,” Sirius said with a nod. “Of course, you look good in anything, but this one perfectly matches your elegant aura.”
“Thank you, Lord Sirius,” she smiled. “Are you all right, though? Your face is beet red.”
“Oh, no, I’m fine. I’m simply excited to see you wear it,” he said, visibly thrilled as he looked between the blue dress he’d picked out and his fiancée.
Marialite had a feeling he was far meeker and sweeter when he was smaller, but she was still happy to see him enjoying himself.
In fact, the other day, a similar thing had happened with a certain lady; she gave Marialite a dress, enthusiastically telling her how the ruffles and soft fabric would complement her “relatively adorable face” (because, naturally, her own face was “a lot prettier”).
Incidentally, their choices of dress couldn’t have been more different; Sirius’ had a formal, graceful design, and they both seemed to appreciate different facets of Marialite.
Sirius, however, was most likely unaware of that fact. He clutched a hand to his chest, his eyes glimmering with passion. They said that ignorance was bliss, but Marialite didn’t consider that fact carefully enough to realize that her next words might be a mistake.
“It’s fantastic, thank you. Lady Cornelia gave me a dress the other day, too. It’s a really nice one.”
“She gave you a dress?” Sirius spat in disbelief.
“Mm-hm,” she nodded. “But when I tried to say thank you, she rushed back to her work right away…”
Sirius’ gorgeous face contorted into a very ugly expression, but at that moment, he couldn’t care less about his looks. He gritted his teeth in fury.
“She beat me to it…! What a fool I am!”
“That’s not true. I love both of them!”
“Lady Marialite…” he admired, looking at her as though she shone like the sun. However, in the next moment, he wrinkled his nose in displeasure. “If I’d known it would turn out like this, I never would’ve shown that woman mercy,” he muttered.
“Sorry, what was that?”
“Oh, no. I’m just talking to myself. Ignore me.”
Sirius was having regrets about inviting Cornelia to the palace to work as a lady-in-waiting. Shortly after the Duel of Maidens, Celaeno Palace received a letter from the Elestial household claiming that Cornelia wished to atone for her wrongdoings.
On the one hand, she was probably very shaken up by the fact that one of her own employees tried to kill her. On the other, it was possible this was yet another one of her evil schemes. Amid various complaints and suggestions, Sirius eventually decided to take Cornelia in under the condition that she live out her punishment by waiting on Marialite hand and foot.
All in all, Cornelia had ended up serving under the very person she wished to overthrow; it must’ve been tremendously humiliating for her. Now, if she ever went on another rampage, she would have Sirius’ unbridled wrath to deal with.
In addition, Lord Elestial had been ordered to apologize and pay a sum of money to each person that had ever suffered under his family’s tyranny. At first, he refused to comply, but after being threatened with the loss of his status, he decided he had no choice but to obey Sirius’ wishes. Although Lord Elestial had imagined some degree of demotion within the upper echelon, he’d never foreseen the possibility that he would have his title stripped completely. Yet, contrary to her father’s horrified reaction, Cornelia simply watched on calmly.
In truth, Sirius had assigned Cornelia to be Marialite’s lady-in-waiting because of how badly his beloved fiancée seemed to want to befriend her. He wanted Marialite to be happy—that was all. As usual, Raven saw right through his reasoning.
Even so, the fact remained that someone who had lived her life in luxury was now the one in a position of service. Cornelia struggled immensely with cleaning and cooking, but considering everything, she was making an extremely valiant effort. After a bit of practice, she was starting to get the hang of things.
“Whenever there’s something I don’t know about Celaeno, Lady Cornelia always goes out of her way to explain it to me. She’s a huge help,” Marialite said fondly.
“L-Lady Marialite, if there’s anything you’re not sure about, you can ask me,” Sirius replied, his tone a little desperate. “I’ll explain far more politely than Cornelia can—”
As though to interrupt Sirius’ jealous grumbles, a crow perched on the windowsill began to squawk.
“Oh, hello there!” Marialite greeted it.
The bird gave a louder, cheerful squawk in reply. Even though she couldn’t yet understand what it was saying, she could at least recognize a greeting when she heard one. She stretched out her fingertips, and it lowered its head slightly, asking to be petted. It was adorable.
“What’s wrong?” Sirius asked, swiftly striding over. It cawed a few times in quick succession, and Sirius’ eyes widened in shock.
“What happened?” Marialite asked, concerned.
“Do you remember that I once mentioned a magical architect named Celestine? He has finished creating his newest device, so he would like to meet with the both of us.”
Marialite certainly remembered their discussion about the eccentric engineer; he was the man who’d sealed the nation of Celaeno away from prying eyes. She was about to nod in agreement, but a certain thought pulled her back.
“Do magical architects have a very high social status in Celaeno?” she asked.
Usually, normal people couldn’t just invite Sirius to a social occasion without any formal proceedings (Marialite was a special case). If Celestine was sending such casual requests, he must’ve been looked upon very highly.
“Yes. Celestine has invented many excellent devices—not just the one that powers the mystical barrier shielding Celaeno. They have many practical uses in our daily lives,” Sirius explained. “In fact, he was supposed to receive a noble title for his contributions to society, but…” he pouted, folding his arms. “He refused it on the basis that the nobility would put more on his list of things to do. Instead, he asked me to give him a workshop wherein he could do whatever he likes. He was ecstatic when we agreed.”
“It sounds like he really loves his research.”
“Indeed. It would be no exaggeration to say that Celaeno’s continued peaceful existence is thanks to him,” Sirius nodded sagely.
“I’d love to meet him. But, will you have time, Lord Sirius?” Marialite wondered. For her, it was an honor to be invited to something by such a prominent figure, but Sirius looked a little doubtful about the whole thing.
“Yes. I’ve already seen to everything urgent.”
Sirius’ feelings for Marialite were very intense. However, he was the sort of person who wouldn’t allow that to distract him from his work, and he always made sure to dedicate enough time to both.
“Let’s make our way there right now,” he nodded before turning to address the bird. “Please let Celestine know we’ll be there soon.”
The crow squawked loudly in acknowledgment as it flapped its wings. It took off, but instead of heading out the open window, it swooped straight down towards the floor. Marialite flinched, expecting there to be a nasty impact, but its black feathers passed right through the rug and disappeared from view. She blinked in confusion.
“It’s the most direct route to Celestine’s workshop,” Sirius explained.
“I never realized it was inside the palace.”
She thought she’d memorized each and every room of the palace, but it appeared this one had slipped her memory. She pouted slightly, and Sirius quickly rushed to save her mood.
“Well, technically speaking, it’s underneath the palace,” he clarified, pointing directly below him.
There was a special way of gaining entry to Celestine’s workshop. As requested by the man himself, the construction workers did not build any stairs leading from the palace. As such, anyone apart from the crows had to use one of his magical inventions to physically gain access.
“We’ll be using this to get inside,” Sirius said, holding up a white feather.
At the very tip, Marialite noticed a small, sky-blue gemstone attached to it. It was called a spellstone, a form of crystallized magic. She reached out for it and felt a soft wind blowing from the crystal. She could just about make out the feather itself swaying slightly, too. A smile stretched across her face, amazed by what she saw.
“Ooh! It’s gorgeous.”
“Not as gorgeous as you, my love,” Sirius quipped. “This is a teleportation device. The magic running through it can fuel an instantaneous journey to the workshop.”
“Really? It looks more like a hair accessory…”
“Then what do you say we try it out?” he grinned. “Hold on tight, Lady Marialite,” he said, opening his arms wide. It was a poor excuse for a hug when a simple touch would have done just as well, but Marialite was clueless about this fact.
“Okay!” she nodded, wrapping her arms around him.