As Rosemarie sat on the ground, dumbfounded, a sweet aroma grazed her nose out of nowhere, making her check around. She was in a circular room that was about Rosemarie’s armspan doubled in width. The roundabout wall was filled with bookshelves packed full with books. It wasn’t clear how one was meant to get in or out, as there were neither windows nor doors. Atop the desk in the middle of the room were several bottles and ceramic containers of all shapes and sizes with vapors billowing out of them.
“The smell of Kaola...?”
“Yes, Kaola.”
“So, this is where you’ve been analyzing the Kaola, then...?” Still not understanding any of what was happening, Rosemarie stood up and approached Edeltraud. The sorcerer put their gloves back on.
“Do you know where this is?”
“...Huh? Uh, well...”
Seeing that she was stammering and unable to answer the question, Edeltraud drew a circle with their finger.
“Center of Forbidden Forest. Directly under where sacred beast rests. All those who come near eaten by sacred beast’s dreams. I’m guard of sacred beast’s dreams. This is the guard post.”
“Sacred beast’s dream...?” Those words sparked images of the animal tail she saw near the big tree in her mind for whatever reason.
(I thought it was white... but maybe it was silver...?)
By “eaten,” did they mean by that mythical silver-haired beast?
“You have Claudio’s mana. Probably why you’re safe.”
Rosemarie had been taken in by Edeltraud’s bizarre explanation, but her memory clicked upon hearing Claudio’s name.
“The inquiry! Do you know what happened with Prince Claudio’s inquiry?!” she asked, pressing Edeltraud for answers. The sorcerer tilted their head, perplexed.
“Want to go to Claudio?”
“Yes, I do! But, first, what were the results of the inquiry?!” Considering how carefree Edeltraud was acting, she assumed that Claudio was in the clear and deemed to possess mana, but she was uneasy, nonetheless.
“Haven’t been produced yet. Should be starting about now. Mm-hmm, I probably don’t need to go.” As Rosemarie stood there, wide-eyed, Edeltraud took the opportunity to slide up to her.
“I will take you there, but can you help me with little something I wanted you to test?”
“Well, if it’s something that I can do, then...” Slightly fearful and on-guard, she awkwardly nodded. Edeltraud’s ideas were always polarized between good and bad.
“Right now, Seed of Mana-Sealing in Claudio is in accelerated state. Going berserk in craving nutrients by way of mana. Therefore, giving mana should pacify it. Actually, been getting better by physical contact with you. When people take in nutrients, usually by mouth. So, streaming mana from mouth probably best. Most effective. Same when he drank Kaola tea. So, consider you are bundle of mana.”
“Yes, okay?”
“In other words, if you——Claudio, then mana might return to normal.”
“...Pardon?”
She felt like she just heard a word that was hard to comprehend. Edeltraud looked at her, confused.
“Didn’t hear? Give Claudio a——”
“I cannot!” Her face flushed red in shame. No, her whole body was hot, so she might’ve been getting red right down to the tip of her toes.
“I could never do such a thing with Prince Claudio. I simply cannot!” If she were to do that, he would surely come to dislike her. Even if it were a compromise, she was still, at her core, the detestable person who stole his mana. She thought she would do anything to help, but she also didn’t want Claudio to hate her.
“Don’t miss Claudio?”
“That isn’t what I said!” she replied, half out of reflex, which caused her to come to her senses. Apparently, she wanted to get back to Claudio’s side so badly that she would think about how bad she missed him when questioned if she missed him.
“U-Um, will just a quick one do...?” Her face was still so red that even she herself noticed, but she braced herself, figuring that the alternative was better than being stranded here and not knowing what became of Claudio.
She caught a glimpse of a smile across Edeltraud’s face.
“That’s fine. Alright, let’s go.” Edeltraud plucked off the yew branch Rosemarie stuck in the front of her dress earlier.
In the blink of an eye, the thin and scattered leaves in the sorcerer’s hand were picked up by a wind seemingly out of nowhere, then rained down from overhead.
Her wide-open eyes were quickly covered in darkness and her body started to quake. It was a sensation almost like falling from somewhere high up, where your gut felt like it was being pulled down. She found herself closing her eyes as a result.
“If mana doesn’t return, I’ll handle things. Don’t get too worked up.” Edeltraud’s voice started to gradually fade off into the distance, eventually getting erased by the wooshing sounds of the wind.
Everything abruptly lit up, and, at the same time, she felt herself cast off elsewhere.
“...!!” Rosemarie banged her shoulder, letting out a small groan.
(Three times just today... I’m going to bruise up at this rate... And will Heidi ever have a fit...)
She scanned the area while getting over the pain to find that she was under the yew tree growing next to the greenhouse Claudio gave her.
“I’ve... made it back to the castle?” Rather than being happy over making it back, she was more preoccupied with the huge leap she made from being inside the forest to being right near the castle. Although still in a perplexed state of mind, Rosemarie quickly rose to her feet.
(Where are they holding the inquiry?)
Spurring her shaking legs into action, she ran across the courtyard. She entered the building, almost tripping over herself, and bumped into the knights standing guard outside.
“Oh, Her Royal Highness?!”
“Do you know where they are holding the inquiry?!” She questioned, pulling at the knight frozen in surprise. Rosemarie was worried what kind of situation she was in at the castle at the moment, but it was more efficient to ask right here instead of running all over creation looking. The desperate ferocity on Rosemarie’s face made the knight hesitantly open his mouth.
“In the grand hall... but—”
“I thank you.” She didn’t wait for him to finish his sentence, and instead started running toward the grand hall. While she thanked her lucky stars that it was somewhere she familiar with, her heart jumped at the sound of footsteps following her from behind.
“Your Royal Highness, wait right there!”
“Her Highness has escaped from prison!”
Apparently, she hadn’t been portrayed as having run away last night. Although she was relieved to know that, she couldn’t afford to let herself get caught now.
She lifted up the fringe of her dress so that her legs wouldn’t get tangled and made her way toward the hall, albeit on a path that was bound to get her lost. However, as she did, more and more knights started chasing her down.
(No good! I’m going to be caught!)
It was when she turned the corner, half-crying, that it happened. She collided with someone. The person quickly held her up as she bounced off and flew backwards.
“I’ve caught you, Your Highness!” The deer-headed knight squeezed her arm tight.