Magical transmissions came flying in from my father, brother, Enrique, and Elise informing me about what happened to the Trundle residence.
Knowing this, there was a chance that the Granzeuses could be targeted. It would be best to have my father and brother guard the mansion in the capital and our domain. I told them I was on my way to Trundle.
I sent a blue butterfly to Gillain, and he came running to the Twilight Palace within a few minutes. The date was about to change.
“I’m leaving, Gillain.”
“Are you packed?”
“Always.”
My Magic Room (Living Alone) was always so prepared, it was almost sad.
“Take Asu with you.”
“But...”
“Sere!”
“Okay... Thank you.”
“I’ll come as soon as I can.”
“You can wait until we understand the situation better. I have Miyu this time. I want to call Miyu, Lou. What should I do? I’ll need to use a new kind of magic I made with her. Should I not, since she’s in training?”
“No training can take precedence over her contractor. And the swamp in Trundle territory is holy ground to Miyu. Her homing instinct can take her right back. I’ll contact her now.”
“Wait! Tell her to come hidden. It’d be best to not have our enemies aware of Miyu’s existence until the last minute.”
“All right, Miyu is on Regan Island. She was a candidate for the successor there, after all. Let’s go in secret.” Lou shone bright and grew to his full size. I turned to look at Gillain before I got on Lou’s back, and he wrapped me in his arms.
“Make sure you call me this time. I’m in a position where Galé and I can act at short notice for you.”
“Yeah, I’ll make sure to contact you.”
Gillain’s powerful magic surrounded my body, and he kissed me casually. We had only kissed a few times, but letting him kiss me felt natural. I wrapped my arms around his neck and gently sent my magic into him. There was no guarantee that we would even see each other again, so I had no time to feel embarrassed. I put my heart into it, wishing him peace in my absence. His embrace grew tighter, maybe because he sensed it.
Gillain traced my cheek, reluctant to part, and rested his forehead against mine. “Don’t forget, I’m not whole without you.”
“I know. I’ll take care of myself. Make sure you eat the cake I made for you.”
Gillain took off his jet-black cape and wrapped me in it over my dark brown shirt, black pants, and black boots to blend into the night. It nearly touched the floor. He clipped it shut at my neck so it wouldn’t slip off. His fingers slid down my collarbone and lifted my plate up, which he kissed. It shone blue, like it had in the past.
“If only I could just hide you in my arms...” he muttered quietly. I couldn’t say anything back.
Asu spread his rainbow wings and flew off into the twilight.
The Trundles would never allow an attack. That meant something had happened to my grandmother.
“Let’s go.”
I parted from Gillain and mounted Lou. We headed north, my hair that I hadn’t had time to tie back fluttering behind me.
We arrived soundlessly in the deep of night. Asu was waiting for us there. The Trundle house that I’d known since childhood was half burned to the ground. I tried to stop the tears from welling up in my eyes.
“Miss!” One of my grandmother’s spies suddenly appeared before me and knelt down.
“Take me to my grandmother.”
There was a hidden room in the basement of the storage room behind the mansion. In it was my grandmother’s retainer Orcus and two members of his entourage, who looked at me and bowed their heads, their faces contorted in frustration.
“Erza...” Lou’s words sank into the darkness.
I couldn’t speak. Lying on the sofa, my grandmother’s eyes were sunken and hollow, and her beautiful chestnut hair had turned white...
She was alive! But she was suffering, her eyebrows furrowed.
“Miss!”
“Ziek! What’s going on?! Why didn’t you tell me anything?!” I shouted at Ziek, who was kneeling next to my grandmother, holding her hand.
“The head of the Trundle family...can’t show weakness...” Ziek said through a tearful smile, lovingly stroking her head.
“I... I want a short explanation.”
“When you left, Erza was of course sad, but she believed that you were well and protected the Trundle domain all the more fiercely. She danced for joy with me when the saint came and gave her definite information. Shortly after that...something happened. She suddenly stopped showing up in public, her orders came through underlings, and I wasn’t able to meet with her when I stopped by. When I finally kicked the guards aside to deliver your letters to her, I found her in this state. I tried to call a doctor, but she pulled a knife and asked if I wanted to expose Trundle to danger.”
I was speechless.
“I don’t know where the information got out, but we were targeted, and that’s why we’re here today.”
“But what will we do without our leader?!”
“Half a day before the fire here, hailstorms fell all over the northern part of Trundle. The hail was pebble-sized and quite large, causing extensive damage to livestock and crops. Half of the force was allocated to that area. They went so far as to manipulate the weather, making hailstorms so widespread, all to slightly thin out our defenses here.”
Terl...
“She’s cursed, Sere.” Lou scrutinized her.
Appraisal! She shone blue.
Erza Trundle (Head of the Trundle family, soldier, S-rank adventurer, servant of Loudarylphena and Serephione)
Status: Cursed, weakened
Skills: Intuition, short lance, poison resistance, determination, wisdom, guardian
Cursed...? She’s not sick or hurt. Had my charm not protected her because her body was healthy?
“Sere, put up a defense on the building!” Asu urged me.
Stunned, I put up soundproofing magic, sightproofing magic, perception disruption magic—I used every kind of concealment magic I could think of. This place had just been targeted by enemies. As soon as Lou and Asu confirmed that the magic was in effect, they released their illusions. Miyu appeared at the same time, along with the lesser dragon. Miyu’s azure hue had become stronger and more beautiful, and she was sitting on papa dragon’s head in her familiar pocket size.