She wanted me to realize that she wasn’t Elena at all, but really Karina herself…
Across the table, Ed rubbed his furrowed brow.
“You’re saying…Elena is behind this?”
He fell silent for a few moments, thinking over my hypothesis. Then he muttered, “Hmm.”
“…So, your theory is that Elena and Princess Karina have switched places? But when they visited Najir, Elena seemed most surprised and impressed by my Illusion demonstration. It didn’t seem at all like a magical technique she had already mastered.”
“You’re right. But…” I thought back to something that happened a while back. “But…when Elena came to Najir…”
The break-in happened.
Someone had stolen Classified Books from the library’s classified section. And they’d disguised themselves to look like Ed while they did so.
Was that Elena too, using Illusion to mimic Ed’s form?
But Ed shook his head.
“Certainly, everything would make sense if Elena could use Illusion magic. But the stolen books were returned within hours. This means someone would’ve had to break through the magical shield placed on the library and use Transference magic to put them back. Back in Najir, Elena simply didn’t have the magical ability to do any of that. Nor did she have the ability to use Illusion magic.”
Ed was right. Only it’d make such perfect sense if Elena was behind everything. I crossed my arms, thinking hard.
“Speaking of which…”
It was the first time I met Karina.
“She’s amazing. She can replicate any spell, just by watching it being cast once!”
During my visit to the Sunruta Kingdom, I’d visited their Magical Research Lab with Karina. And I vividly remembered her saying this about her friend Elena, the skilled magician who she’d left behind in Nigren.
“Just by seeing it once? If that’s true, that’d make her what we call an Eidetic Magician…someone who can replicate any spell after seeing it only once. The literature says that several such magicians have existed over the centuries. But I’ve never seen one in real life. She must be the only one alive in the world now.”
Ed’s eyes were wide with genuine shock.
We’d learned about Eidetic Magicians at Grail Academy. People with this ability were able to reproduce spells from memory with perfect accuracy after seeing them performed. It was an incredibly rare skill, possessed by only the most gifted magicians of their age. There were rumors Longile himself was one.
“If she really is an Eidetic Magician, then she’ll be able to use any of the magical techniques she saw while she was in our country. Every Eidetic Magician known to us has been an absolute genius. Even worse, she’d be able to comprehend and execute spells that are recorded in our Classified Books, as well…”
“No! Not the classified magic as well!”
I shuddered in fear.
That’d mean the Witch would be able to use magic that I could only dream of. Magic that even Ed couldn’t conjure.
I fell silent again, thinking hard.
The current “Karina” was so very horribly similar to the nasty Karina I remembered from my old timeline.
And Daniel said he saw the Witch of the South use Illusion magic in a dream…
What if it wasn’t a dream?
What if Daniel, too, remembered the world of our old timeline?
I have to talk to Daniel. Right now!
I leaped to my feet, looking down at Ed.
If Daniel really did have his memories of the old world, it might not be the best idea for me to turn to him for help in this world. But right now, he was the only one who could possibly help me.
“Ed, I need to see Daniel right away! Please accompany me.”
Daniel was probably still dancing at the ball.
Ed saw the urgency on my face and nodded, his lips pressed tightly together.
“Certainly, Princess. I will go with you.”
Ed stood up, holding his hand out to escort me.
As we approached the ballroom, we could hear lively music and animated voices from within. I peeked in through the door, and that’s when I noticed a man rapidly approaching me.
“Princess Annabel! I wondered where you’d gone!”
It was Claude, looking very upset indeed.
Apparently, he’d been busy networking with the foreign dignitaries when he suddenly realized I was missing and became quite panicked.
“Claude, I’m really sorry! But more importantly, have you seen Prince Harold and Prince Daniel?”
“Prince Harold and Prince Daniel? Yes, I saw them just over there, chatting.”
Claude pointed. Yes, Daniel was having an animated discussion with Harold in a corner of the ballroom.
“Ed, could you wait here a moment?”
“Certainly.”
Dressed in casual clothes as he was, I couldn’t bring Ed into the ballroom with me. It’d be very rude to the Nigren royal family, who’d put on such a lavish party. I left Ed by the door and hurried over to Daniel and Harold.
As I drew nearer, they both noticed me and stopped their conversation, smiling at me.
“Prince Harold, may I have a word? I have one of my country’s magicians waiting in the hallway.”
Harold looked over my shoulder toward the doorway, spotting Ed in his black magician’s cape. Immediately, he knew that we wanted to discuss Elena’s condition with him.
“All right. Let’s talk in a separate room.” Nodding, Harold turned to Daniel. “I’d like you to consider what we just discussed. But right now, I’m afraid I need to have a private talk with Princess Annabel…”
“Oh, about that…” Knowing I was being terribly rude, I nonetheless interrupted Harold while he was still talking. “I want Prince Daniel to join the discussion as well.”
“You want Prince Daniel too?”
Prince Harold looked confused, as if he wasn’t sure what I was trying to do.
“I need Prince Daniel’s help. Please!”
According to Ed, we knew for sure that “Elena” was under several spells and that there was a high possibility she wasn’t really Elena at all. In order to figure out what was really going on, I wanted to discuss everything with Daniel and, if possible, find out more about these dreams he’d been having.
Prince Harold looked slightly perturbed but nonetheless seemed to realize from my solemn tone and expression that this was necessary.
“All right. Prince Daniel, will you join us?”
“Certainly.”
Daniel nodded, smiling his usual easy smile.