Fenetra promptly whispered something in Marquis de Noisette’s ear. The marquis’s shoulders trembled as if he had just realized something important.
“Come, let us head inside! I am sure you are all freezing out here.” The marquis then ushered us into their warm mansion, apparently feeling bad that we were freezing in the cold. We followed his lead.
Inside, the walls, floor, and even the ceiling were all made of pure-white perlite. It was almost as if we had entered the serene halls of a temple or cathedral. Now that I had looked at the perlite from up close, it seemed many times smoother and more gorgeous than it had appeared from afar. I felt even more disappointed that we couldn’t bring it out of the region.
The walls and floor were dotted with polished magicstones as beautiful as gems. Magic circles were engraved all over, casting various spells that made living in this home more comfortable. Thanks to these spells, the room was neither too hot nor too cold—it was just the right temperature.
Van was walking far ahead of me. Usually, whenever I fell behind him, he would turn around and offer his hand for me to catch up, but this time he never turned around, not even once. Of course, this was something we had already talked about, but I still couldn’t help but be a bit hurt by Van’s cold attitude.
I can’t keep going like this. I had to keep myself together, so I pumped myself up.
Fenetra kept herself away from Van and was walking with her father at a slight distance. I had only just met her, but I could tell that her manners were befitting of someone the councillors would recommend to become the Dragon Duchess consort. On the other hand, I could definitely understand why they would consider me an ill fit for the title.
Next, we were accompanied to the living room, with Van and Roche taking the lead.
Meanwhile, Fenetra took this moment to address us attendants. “I shall be showing you the room you all will be staying in. You may unpack your belongings there after a short rest.”
I’ll be doing as she says.
The rooms were made for three occupants. Parfeil, Madeleine, and I were to stay in one room, while Lady Opera was to be in a different one with two guards disguised as additional attendants.
Once we were inside, a housemaid poured us some black tea. As we were about to settle down and enjoy our fragrant drinks, Lady Opera barged into the room.
She immediately regaled us with her opinion on Fenetra. “What is wrong with that Noisette woman?!”
“What did Fenetra do?” I asked. I thought that she had acted like a perfect lady, but Lady Opera didn’t seem to think so.
“Did you not see how she looked at us? She was looking at us like she had won!”
“She was?”
“Why would I lie about that?!”
I asked Madeleine and Parfeil if they had noticed such a thing, but they both shook their heads.
“Besides, why is a lady from a mere branch family giving orders to the attendants of the Dragon Duke? How insolent of her!” Lady Opera ranted.
“Oh, now that you mention it...”
While House Noisette lived in this mansion, this was still the Dragon Duke’s property. They were only tasked with managing this place.
“Did you not notice her tone?!” Lady Opera continued.
“I just thought she was being nice by guiding us to our rooms,” I replied.
“You are much too naive, Mille-Feuille.”
Now that Lady Opera had pointed it out, it had been strange that Fenetra had ordered us around. Maids and attendants were supposed to serve their masters. Normally, female attendants would be at the beck and call of the Dragon Duchess consort—in other words, me.
“That woman is overstepping her bounds just because the Dragon Duchess consort is nowhere to be seen. I would hope that she is not planning to steal that title.”
“You’re overthinking it. Besides, we were the ones who decided to visit in the first place,” I replied.
Lady Opera let out a big sigh. Apparently, she had a reason to be worried. “You may not know about it, but long ago, a selection process was held for my brother’s bride-to-be.”
This had taken place during the time Duchesse had sealed Van away. “So many lives were lost in the name of becoming the Dragon Duchess consort. Many are still afraid to talk of this terrible chapter in the Dragon Duchy’s history.”
One day, about fifty years ago, Duchesse had suggested there be a process to select candidates among dragonkin women to become the Dragon Duchess consort.
“We received applications from over three hundred women, and among those, about a hundred managed to pass the initial document screening.”
The first stage had been a written examination. They’d intended to reduce the number of candidates by half, but an unforeseen incident had occurred.
“Someone had leaked the answers the day before. As a result, we had to cancel it.”
The event had gotten off to a shaky start. Apparently, even Duchesse had said something similar.
“Instead of the examination, the applicants were to undergo an interview. However, a number of applicants began quarreling among each other in the waiting room.”
The ones who had quarreled with each other had been immediately disqualified. However, the next day, an unthinkable truth had come to light. “A stimulant had been mixed into the black tea served in the waiting room.”
The drug had caused the emotions of those who had drunk it to go out of control.
“After that, a number of other incidents happened, culminating in a number of deaths.” Out of the five finalists, three of them had died unusually. It was unknown whether those deaths had truly been related to the Dragon Duchess consort selection process.
Even Lady Opera had been a victim of these incidents. “I had no involvement with the selection, but assassins and venomous snakes were also sent my way.”
The culprit behind these incidents had never been found, so it still remained a mystery to this day. Apparently, this was the entire reason that Lady Opera was unable to trust women who tried to approach her brother.
“And because of that, you served me that monstrous full-course meal to keep me away from Van,” I quipped.
“Th-That... I do feel terrible about that!”
“Still, I do understand why you would reject someone based on terrible experiences in the past.”
Besides, that meal had turned out to be delicious. I’d even suggested to Lady Opera that she make the snakes at the Forêt Noire estate a specialty dish at the capital, but she had said, “Perish the thought.”
Our conversation had gone off on a tangent, so we returned to the topic of the consort selection. “In the end, the selection was canceled,” Lady Opera said.
After all that, Duchesse had met with Van’s council, and they’d picked Fenetra as the candidate for the Dragon Duchess consort. “They tried to search for the culprit but never found them, so in the end, they picked a woman who never participated in the first place.”
Fenetra had nearly been selected as the Dragon Duchess consort, but she had stepped down on her own accord due to an illness. As a result, all talks of an engagement had been shelved.
“So that means Fenetra isn’t even trying to be the Dragon Duchess consort!” I argued.
“But that was fifty years ago! She has no reason to back down now, so she could be plotting it as we speak!” Lady Opera retorted.
“Yes, but I question why she would aim for the title of Dragon Duchess consort when he’s already married.”
In any case, Lady Opera insisted that I should be cautious around her. I decided to at least follow some of her advice.
“Anyway, we need to start looking for a source for the hot springs,” I said.
“And how are we supposed to find one?” Lady Opera asked.
“We’ll use this.” I took out a magical device that I had brought with me. It was a long chain with a magicstone attached at the end. The stone was cut into a hexagonal prism. “I call this my Spring Dowsing Device!”
Madeleine, Parfeil, and the white squirrels all let out cries of excitement.
A spell had been cast on the magicstone to allow it to find hot spring sources. It would have a reaction if it found one.
“An earthquake or a strong wind can’t move this device, but it will start swaying if it ever detects a hot spring source,” I explained.
This device was Van’s handiwork. He had found time in his busy schedule to finish creating it.
“I see. My brother had been complaining about how expensive jewelry never moved you, and yet you were over the moon to receive a hastily crafted magic device. So this is the result.”
“Did he really say that?”
“He surely did.”
I had not expected him to complain about it to his sister. Until recently, Lady Opera had merely been venerating Van from afar and keeping her distance from him, but now they were unmistakably close siblings.
“I’ll make sure to be happy whenever I receive something expensive from him,” I said.
“I shall hold you to your word. Now, how exactly do we use this?”
“Hold the chain with your fingers and let the magicstone hang toward the ground,” I explained. I used the device exactly as I’d explained, and it reacted strongly to the ground. “Huh? Does that mean there’s a hot spring source right under our feet?”
“So it seems. Shall we start digging, then?” Opera asked.
“Absolutely not. Did you forget about the mansion that’s already here?”
There must’ve been several places with hot spring sources in the area. I looked forward to the search. Although I wanted to head out with the expedition team as soon as I could, I knew I should work out our plans with Van.
Would he be free around dinnertime? While I was deep in thought, one of Fenetra’s attendants arrived and informed us about the food. “Everyone, please head down to the third dining hall once it is time for dinner.”
“Thank you for informing us,” I replied.