I trembled as the woman shrieked in an ear-splitting voice.
“That royal wench! Can you believe what she said to me? ‘I’ll give you a name.’ How dare she patronize me like that! And you’re just as bad! You’ll ‘arrange a pardon’ for me? You royals are all so stuck-up! You should take long looks at yourselves in the mirror!” Elena was rambling, deeply incensed.
But now I knew that Elena wasn’t the girl’s real name. It was the name Karina had given her when she was brought to the palace as one of Nigren’s rare breed of genetically mutated magicians.
Presumably, the girl had kept her real name to herself.
This girl, who’d come from the mountain ranges to the south…she was the Witch of the South.
“Just tell me…why have you done all these terrible things?”
Elena snorted with laughter as I questioned her, my voice trembling.
“Terrible? They’re the ones who did terrible things to me first!”
Lifting her hands to the ceiling, Elena’s eyes unfocused, as if she was gazing at something far away.
“I’ll tell you an interesting story. When I was ten, I suddenly became capable of using magic. Then the Nigren palace men came. They ordered my family to turn me over to the state. My parents and the village elder said no. The royals had never done a single thing to help our village, after all.”
I remained silent, watching her.
A long while ago, when I was still attending Grail Academy, I’d learned about the magicians who’d started to appear among the mountainfolk due to a spontaneous genetic mutation resulting in children possessing magic. A tug-of-war over the children had ensued. I’d learned about it from Claude.
That must be what Elena was talking about.
According to Claude, the new strain of magicians belonged to a village located right on the border, belonging to a tribe that lived independently from the country of Nigren and its governance. That’s why it took so long for Nigren to discover the existence of the magicians and learn about the mutation that led to their powers.
“And then…what do you think they did?” Elena stared at me with wild eyes. “They arrested everyone! They said that refusing to comply with royal orders was a crime. And ever since that day, no one has ever seen or heard of my people again!”
I swallowed hard.
As the weight of Elena’s story and the true extent of her grudge became clear to me, I found myself filled with a sense of hopelessness.
“I hate them! I hate them all! They said it was for my own good, but they were only thinking of themselves! They acted all nice to me when they really just saw me as a wild hillfolk brat who never listened to reason! They looked down their noses at me! They treated me like a precious commodity, but if I woke up one day without my magic, they’d throw me out with the trash!”
Spittle flew from Elena’s lips.
“No…”
That wasn’t true.
That was what I wanted to say, but the words wouldn’t come.
Was it really like that, though?
Would the people of Nigren continue to treat Elena well, even if she lost her value to them? I knew that I couldn’t say for sure that they would.
“But there was one person who was nice.” Elena’s voice softened. “I liked him a lot…”
“Him?”
“The prince from the neighboring kingdom. When we met for the first time in Najir, he’d no idea who I was, but still, he smiled at me.”
I took a step back. But I immediately bumped up against the bed where Karina slept and could go no further.
The bed shook and Karina mumbled something in her sleep.
Elena watched the two of us with zero expression on her face.
“You two are lucky. You were born royalty, with everyone liking you and treating you well. One day, you will marry wonderful husbands and live your whole lives never knowing a single hardship.”
“I’m not—”
That’s when it happened.
The door to the hallway began to clatter and rattle.
“Princess? Princess!!!”
It was Ed’s voice, calling out to me!
The door had clearly been sealed shut with magic. I could hear it shaking on its hinges as they tried to break it down from the hallway.
“I’ve enjoyed our chat, but it looks like we’re out of time.”
Elena glanced at the door before grinning at me.
“Please, stop this…”
“It’s too late to stop now. But I have a plan. All I have to do is get rid of the interlopers, then erase the memories of everyone in the palace. That way, I can go back to living happily here, posing as the princess. That magician you brought with you showed me some truly useful magic.”
Elena was smiling, but her eyes were ice-cold.
She was ice-cold.
The more she’d talked, the more I came to pity her.
“Break, Spell.”
As Elena muttered the spell-breaker, the shield I’d cast between us suddenly shattered into pieces that scattered all over the ornate rugs.
This was all about revenge. It was all an elaborate plot for revenge, masterminded by a girl who’d had her family and people torn away from her.
“Stay back!”
I cast another protective spell as Elena reached for me. Immediately, she broke it again.
Harold and Daniel seemed to have become aware of the commotion from next door, and I could hear them yelling things like “Break the door down!” and “Just get it open somehow!”
“Ed!” I screamed for help. I wouldn’t be able to stop her alone.
It seemed like they’d heard me. The banging on the door became even more furious.
“There you go…running to others for help again. You just take it for granted that someone will always come to save you, don’t you?” Elena gave me a look of hatred. “That’s why I hate all of you royals.”
A flash of light suddenly emanated from her.
She’s trying to kill me!
I covered my head, squeezing my eyes shut. But I felt no pain. There’d been no attack.
Gingerly, I opened my eyes, then gasped.
Another magic shield had sprung up between Elena and me. One clearly much stronger than anything I’d ever been able to conjure myself.
“…The hell is that? Nobody told me you could do that!”
Elena was shrieking at me, her eyes wide.
Could…could it be…
I touched the Magic Stone hanging from my neck under my shirt. It glinted with red light.
The Magic Stone the Ed from my old world had given me…it had protected me.
Knowing my old Ed is still protecting me… I can do this. I have to do this.
If the magical power contained in the Magic Stone ran out, its mysterious powers would cease. And it’d take a while for it to recharge itself using the power of its caster, so I needed to act fast. Even now, Ed was outside the room, trying to break the curse that’d sealed the door.