Lisa’s not contracted with a fire spirit.
During the magic-stone hunt, Brigitte had been wearing the hair ornament Yuri had given her. It was a magic item with the power to deflect any order of magic one time. Thanks to that, she had been able to deflect the torch that Lisa threw at her. But that meant one thing.
Someone other than Lisa or her contracted spirit lit the torch she was carrying.
Joseph’s face flashed across her mind.
Maybe I’m jumping to conclusions…
Brigitte remembered Joseph and Lisa flirting. Lisa must have thought Joseph would propose to her after he broke off his engagement to Brigitte. Even Brigitte had assumed so after he had ended their relationship at that party. But three months had passed, and no sign of an engagement had come. If anything, he had abandoned Lisa when she was in dire straits and asked Brigitte to get back together right before summer vacation.
Why is he doing this…?
“Peep…”
A soft, high voice interrupted her thoughts. The chick spirit poked its head out of Brigitte’s chest pocket.
“You woke up!”
The chick had slept through the ride to the Weir domain. The long-awaited spirit was fussed over and adored by all the servants, but it got quite a scolding when it tried to nest in Brigitte’s long hair.
“I will not have your hair turned into a bird’s nest after I’ve gone to the trouble of combing it with scented oil!” Sienna had said. After that, the chick had taken to snuggling in Brigitte’s pockets or puffed sleeves.
“…You have a chick?” Kira asked, her eyes growing wide before she smiled. “Oh, by the way, we’re having a barbecue for lunch.”
“…Peep?!”
Likely fearing for its life, the chick scrambled back into Brigitte’s pocket.
That afternoon, they used the wood oven in the garden to cook lunch. Of course, they were all children of nobles, so they didn’t actually do the cooking, just chatted while the servants efficiently prepared their meal. The table was laid with skewered pork and beef and plump sausages. There was a rainbow of fresh vegetables, too—onion rings, carrots, eggplant, peppers, and corn. Nival’s family had many vegetable fields in their domain, in addition to the imperial stock farm they ran. All the vegetables had come from these fields.
I’ve never eaten outside like this before!
Brigitte’s heart pounded as she sat beneath her white parasol. Something like this would never happen at her cottage. Sienna had bought lunch for her at food stalls in the capital before, but that was very different. She was a future spiritologist, however. She would need to make solo research excursions to forests, marshes, beaches, and all sorts of other places. Getting used to eating outside was good preparation for her future—even if this was more like eating at a fine hotel.
“Brigitte.”
“Yes?”
“Can you light the fire?”
Me?!
Brigitte was surprised to hear this suggestion from Yuri. Charcoal was piled in the brick oven, but it hadn’t been lit yet. He was waiting for her.
“Miss Brigitte, can you do magic now?” Nival asked, looking as surprised as she was. After all, in the past, she’d been unable to summon her spirit or do any sort of magic. Kira pressed her hands to her cheeks, looking a bit pleased with herself.
“I gather Miss Brigitte hasn’t shown you her contracted spirit yet, Nival,” she said.
“Her contracted spirit…?!” He glared at Brigitte as if to say, What is the meaning of this? He must have been feeling left out.
Flustered, Brigitte looked down at her pocket.
“I’m sorry, but would you mind coming out?”
“Peep…,” it answered, before chirping weakly and poking its face out. The moment its eyes met Kira’s, it disappeared again.
“…Doesn’t seem to like you much,” Nival noted.
“Y-you’re imagining things,” Kira said, looking away.
He gave her a pointed look before asking Brigitte timidly, “That column of light that rose from the Meidell residence the other day… That wasn’t…?”
She nodded hesitantly. Sienna and Carson had told her the incident was the talk of the capital. She guessed that her father was the target of these rumors, but so far, he hadn’t asked her about it.
“My ariel was acting strange that night. She showed up out of the blue and then dived right through the windowpane to get out.”
“W-was everything okay?”
“Yes, but we had to put in new glass!”
That wasn’t what she meant, but he was flashing her a toothy grin, so she just nodded. “I’m glad.”
“Anyway, Brigitte, can you do it?” Yuri asked.
She thought it over. Since everyone had warned her to wait until she was used to the sensation of her magical power being consumed, she hadn’t used magic once since the chick spirit appeared. The truth was, she desperately wanted to try as soon as she could. How could she not want to? But…
“I want to… But how do you use magic?”
“I’ll teach you. Let’s practice nearby first.”
It was an embarrassingly childish question, so she had asked very quietly—but Yuri didn’t laugh at her.
That’s all it takes to put me at ease. I am not difficult to please!
The servants, too, bowed pleasantly and left the garden. Yuri and Brigitte rose and went to a safe place where nothing would get in their way. Nival and Kira followed.
“Since you’ll be lighting an oven, you just need to use a basic spell to produce a weak flame,” he explained calmly.
She nodded.
“Magical power is constantly flowing through the contracted person’s body. Imagine concentrating it in your fingers and palms… Do you mind if I take your hand?”
“What? Oh, um, not at all.”
After a short pause, she nodded. He must want to sense the flow of magic more easily. He held out his left hand, and she placed her right, unscarred hand in it. They were joined together now, and his face was very close, too…but withdrawing her hand would make the embarrassment worse, so she bit her lip and kept it there.
I’m glad I’m wearing gloves…
If he’d touched her bare hand, it probably would have been sweaty.