“As Your Highness is well aware, Lady Flora is the type of woman to demand perfection in all her endeavors. It seems inconceivable that she would resort to a course of action so overtly risky as mana manipulation. So let us consider what might warrant such a risk. What does Lady Flora fear the most? One might suggest it is wounding her own pride. However, I contend that it is the potential disgrace to the duchy bearing her name that truly terrifies her.”
As Teodore spoke with alarming insight into Flora’s character, I found myself hanging on every word.
“If Lady Flora were to present herself at the Saintly Trials and be found woefully inferior to her fellow candidates, she would certainly become the subject of ridicule. The prospect of being a stain on the storied excellence of the ducal House of Sanchez must have been a burden too heavy for her to bear.”
I...was absolutely speechless. The descriptions Teodore dared to attach to Flora, so stark and damning, sent a jarring dissonance thrilling through me. It was as if he had declared night to be day, the moon to be the sun, north to be south... Yet for all my confusion, I couldn’t entirely reject the logic in his assertions. Perfection, that relentless tyrant, demanded no less than everything from Flora. She might very well welcome death over dishonor. However, despite Teodore’s insightful critique of my sister, there remained one nagging question he had left unanswered.
“Then how would you explain the numerous feats she has accomplished prior to today?” I asked. “Flora has healed countless grievous injuries. Witnesses can attest to this—I can attest to this.” I pointed towards my eyes, as if to say, How would you explain what I saw with my own two eyes?
In response, Teodore narrowed his playfully. “Yes, I’m sure you can,” he muttered under his breath. Pushing up his glasses, he added, “Then allow me to ask you this, Your Highness. How many of her so-called miracles do you think you’ve truly witnessed?”
“Well, I would think almost every one,” I replied. “She made sure to carry them out in my presence...presumably to spite me.” My face contorted bitterly at the memory.
Teodore, however, had the audacity to smile in the face of my distress. “Good. That should lend credence to what I am about to suggest. You see, I believe Lady Flora has been benefiting from your remarkable ability to amplify arcane ability for...her entire life.”
In a flash, I remembered the time we had all witnessed Ed’s mishap in the foothills of Mount Gespenst. Ed appeared to connect the dots at the same moment, understanding washing over his face. “Remarkable is right,” he nodded in agreeable approval.
Despite Ed’s easy demeanor, this revelation struck me deeply, and I sat there, unblinking. Teodore’s words were hard to deny. I had never consciously boosted Flora’s power, but I couldn’t rule out the possibility that I had done so unwittingly either, especially as I’d only learned of my ability to do so in the past several weeks. The incident with Collett during my journey to Malcosias came to mind. I certainly hadn’t meant to heal him. I mean, I had, but not because I’d known I could.
Indeed, it was a little hard to digest at first, but the more I pondered, the more it all made sense. Especially because now, thinking back, I can’t recall a single instance of Flora using her magic outside of my presence. This was the ultimate irony, wasn’t it? That I had been the unwitting source of her celebrated powers all along? I felt almost exploited, but I supposed that since it had been in the pursuit of aiding those in need, no real harm had been done. In addition, it was probably inaccurate for me to frame the situation in a way that implied that my sister had ever used me consciously; her pride would never have permitted her to rely on a “disgrace” like me.
“Thank you, Teodore. I think I understand now,” I said. “Though I do have to ask one thing—how did you arrive at the conclusion that Flora was employing mana manipulation?” I was curious to know what methods Teodore had used to eliminate all of the other potential causes of Flora’s condition.
Behind his eyeglasses, his peridot eyes gleamed momentarily before his gaze dropped away from mine. “The decisive element in my diagnosis was the assessment of her arcane energy pathways. Though it must be said that I found her other symptoms to be highly suspect.” He crossed his arms and gazed down at Flora. “While Your Highness’s healing was remarkably thorough, it couldn’t quite mend the damage to her mystic channels. The effects, markedly unique to mana manipulation, suggested internal rupture. In addition, I recalled the contents of the documents we discovered in Archbishop Mills’s private quarters, detailing his personal research into mana manipulation... Documents which we disposed of properly, of course,” he added with a nonchalant shrug.
Exhaling a long sigh, I took a moment to process Teodore’s thorough, evidence-based conclusion. I had to commend his diligence—and his discretion. This is why he ordered everyone else out of the infirmary, isn’t it? Another physician could have examined Flora and arrived at the same conclusion. This prudence was a small courtesy Teodore had extended to me because she was my sister.
I glanced at the blond lord. He regarded me with a severity that made me shrink back almost instinctively. He adjusted his posture and stood more erect. “Now that the mystery is revealed, Your Highness, what shall be our course of action? Lady Flora has dabbled in forbidden arts. We could easily bring her to justice.”
An uncomfortably wicked smile rose to my lips. His deference to me over the more authoritative prince in the room hinted at one thing—he was offering me the opportunity to exact my revenge.
Mana manipulation was outlawed in most countries. If Flora were formally charged with pursuing such arts, it would undoubtedly spark controversy, bringing grave consequences for someone who had long been celebrated as “perfect.” It would be a classic tale of a fall from grace—her life would be irreparably marred by scandal. There was no more fitting way to make her suffer for all the pain she had caused me, but...
My eyes drifted to her silvery-white hair, fanned out across the snow-white bedsheets. I raised a hand to examine a lock of my own hair, its ashen color—a trait I had been mocked for my entire life—now gleaming with a newfound luster.
“That’s all right,” I said after a beat. “Since we lack irrefutable proof of her misdeeds, let us keep silent on the matter.”
Teodore paused briefly, then shrugged. “Very well.”
Ed, too, looked slightly dissatisfied. “If that is your wish, Lina.”
I had to admit that it was a difficult decision. Did I harbor a desire to see Flora suffer for what she had done to me? Perhaps in some manner...but not like this. For all her recklessness, Flora hadn’t harmed anyone else. The only victim of the consequences, the sole bearer of risk for her actions, had been Flora herself. In light of that, her dabbling in forbidden arts seemed like something we could overlook.
As I wrestled with accepting the decision I had made, Flora stirred. A soft grunt escaped her lips, and her eyelids fluttered open, revealing padparadscha sapphire orbs that locked onto me. “Mother?”
Her voice was a frail croak as she extended a stiff arm towards me. A pale hand brushed past my cheek, then turned inward, caressing my skin with a gentleness reserved only for the most precious treasures. Never before had I witnessed such tenderness, such affection, from her.
She...must think that I’m Mother. I may like to believe I resemble her; from a distance, my ashen hair could pass for black, but...
Hadn’t Flora always vehemently denied any resemblance between us?
Still caressing my cheek, she smiled. “Oh, Mother. How I’ve longed for this day. Now, we can finally be—”
“I’m sorry, Flora,” I managed to whisper. “It’s only me.” It felt necessary to shatter her illusion if she wouldn’t snap out of it herself. I cut her off and gently lowered her hand from my face. “I’m sorry,” I repeated.
She froze, blinked several times, then her expression twisted into a mix of disgust and shock. That’s more like it, I thought wryly.
“Carolina?! What are you... I’m dead, am I not?!” Flora sputtered. Struggling to prop herself up on her elbows, she forced her torso upright and continued to stare at me, shaking her head as if trying to dispel the reality before her eyes.
“Flora, you’re very much alive,” I replied calmly. “This is the cathedral infirmary. You were brought here after I poured all of my power into saving your life.”