“He didn’t get that collar from me. Although that should have been obvious.”
“…”
“And let me add that because Nival is a diligent young man, the collar is scheduled to come off tomorrow.”
“Me, diligent? I’m flattered, Miss Brigitte!”
“Nival, there’s no need to cry over it.”
“But…how else can I express how deeply I feel?”
“You could also keep it to yourself.”
Several people laughed, but Lisa, who until a moment ago had been performing a one-woman show, was not among them. It seemed the students watching them couldn’t contain their amusement over the exchange between Brigitte and Nival. But Lisa must have thought they were laughing at her own embarrassing mistake, because her cheeks flushed even redder. She glared fiercely at Brigitte.
“Don’t you make fun of me, you worthless Red Fairy!” she screamed, her voice filled with intense loathing.
Red Fairy.
That awful name.
“His Highness abandoned you, you sorry, useless excuse for a person!” she ranted. “I’m the one he loves! Don’t you dare talk down to me!”
The air froze. Brigitte stared silently at her.
She might not be able to understand through words.
Still, Brigitte couldn’t just let her say whatever she wanted—for Lisa’s sake, if not her own.
“Miss Selmin, I—”
But Lisa’s next words stopped her mid-sentence.
“Your own father called you a changeling, didn’t he?” She curled her lips triumphantly. “Is that why you’re not very smart? And that eerie light in your emerald eyes, it makes you look like some sort of demon!”
…Stop.
Her words stuck in her throat.
Don’t talk about my father…
Her heart was racing. She grasped her left hand with her right as if to protect the ugly burn scars, but still Lisa went on shrieking.
“How about living up to expectations for once, you good-for-nothing!”
She heard her father’s voice attacking her as a child.
As soon as they got home from the contracting ceremony, he had dragged her to the drawing room and shoved her hand into the blazing hearth.
She remembered the sound of sizzling flesh. The agony of it.
She had writhed and wailed, sweat and snot pouring down her face as her whole body grew so hot she felt she would lose her mind.
“Please stop!
“It hurts, you’re burning me, please forgive me, please forgive me, Father. I’m sorry, I’m sorry I’m a bad girl, Father, Father, Father…”
Over and over, she had begged for forgiveness. But her father did not release her hand.
In the end, he had hissed, “This is not my child.”
I can’t breathe…
Brigitte watched in a daze as Lisa went on yelling, now that she’d gotten warmed up, but Brigitte couldn’t make sense of words. It was like she was in a dream. A nightmare.
As she stood there in a stupor, she realized something for the first time—something that in the moment, she hadn’t had the presence of mind to question.
I wonder why the drawing-room hearth was burning at all when we came home that day.
She shivered.
The chill that ran down her back was so powerful, it took away her ability to think.
She couldn’t stay in this dream.
Confused, she looked around. Everything in sight was covered in frost. Brigitte gaped.
How could this be happening? How could the air be so bone-chillingly cold?
…It’s summer right now…isn’t it?
There was only one person here capable of something like this.
Yuri…?
But she couldn’t speak his name. The only thing that escaped her lips was a puff of white breath. Her body, too, felt frozen in place. She shifted her eyes toward Yuri—there was no emotion in his expression.
Unlike when Nival had incited his ariel to violence the previous week, no spirit towered behind Yuri. Yet the air brimmed with his awesome magical power, so strong that it brought everything nearby under its control.
As Brigitte, Lisa, Nival, and everyone else stood frozen, Yuri easily lifted his head and turned his intimidating gaze on Lisa. He was the most beautiful creature in this frozen white world, but his eyes were sharp as knives.
“You fancy yourself the prince’s representative? You, a petty baron’s daughter?”
His voice was terrifyingly glacial.
Brigitte was shocked. She had never heard him speak like that before.
“……”
Fear sprang to Lisa’s eyes. But she could not move, as if her feet were frozen to the ground.
“I thought I warned you that if you interfered with me again, I would not overlook it.”
…? Interfere…?
But Lisa herself must have understood because her face was whiter than the chill crawling up her body.
“You’ve ignored my warning—that must mean you are prepared to accept the consequences.”
“…!”
No!
Frost crept over Lisa’s feet.
I have to stop him, Brigitte thought.
If she didn’t, an irreparable rift would open between Joseph and Yuri—or more accurately, between the royal family and the House of Aurealis. Lisa was Joseph’s chosen companion. If Yuri was deemed to have treated her violently, the gates to the bright future before him could slam in his face. Brigitte couldn’t stand the thought of it.
I have to stop Yuri…
The other day in class, Brigitte’s spirit—at least, what seemed to be her spirit—had wiped out the storm raised by the ariel. But she had been calling her spirit for the past few minutes, and it had not responded. She would have to rely on her own strength.
Just then, she realized something.
I think I can move my hands.
A second later, she knew why.
She always wore white gloves. She used to wear a different pair, but the ones she had now were a gift from the cottage servants to celebrate her enrollment at the Otoleanna Academy of Magic. They were made from materials used by the best adventurers in the kingdom: dragon skin and scales and magical spider thread, said to withstand even fire.
Perhaps they weren’t quite fitting for an earl’s daughter. Still, the thoughtfulness of the present had made her very happy. She sensed in the gift a wish, almost a prayer, that no one would ever hurt her again. It had touched her deeply.
And now, the protection of those gloves allowed her to move her hands.
Yuri…!