Luntia’s Key
THAT DAY, with a single key in my hand, I set out with Canopus to the knights’ training grounds. The knights of the royal guard paused their intense practice when they noticed I’d arrived. When they eventually looked at me, I held out the key I was holding to show them.
“Okay! It’s time for Detective Serafina to reveal her true abilities! Even though detectives usually work undercover, Canopus said I should show off my amazing skills to everyone. So that’s why I came here—to get some reinforcements! Mirach, Fackt, I want you to come with me!”
Although I’d just requested their help specifically, Mirach and Fackt gazed at me in silence before swallowing hard.
“Is that the key you got at the hidden palace from the First Spirit Lo—I mean, your spirit friend?” Mirach finally asked.
I nodded, confirming that was indeed the case.
“Uh-huh. Oligor said it was the key to his friend Luntia’s secret room! Oligor said I could see something interesting in there, so it’s my mission to get to the bottom of it!”
“Your ‘mission,’ is it? There’s plenty of hidden information in the world that’s better off remaining uncovered. I think leaving that key in your toy box would be a better way to memorialize your trip to the West Coast. But I’m guessing that you’re determined to complete your mission, am I right, Princess?”
When I nodded again at Fackt’s probing words, he asked another question with what seemed to be a sense of resignation.
“And the spirit told you there’s a secret room in the villa within the castle grounds?”
Even though Fackt hadn’t accompanied me to Oligor’s palace, the information he had was so accurate it was like he’d been there himself! I nodded once more, feeling satisfied. Fackt was certainly the right knight for the job!
“Yup! Since the villa isn’t being used at the moment, I had to get permission to go inside, so I asked Father if I could check it out, and he said yes! Anyway, let’s go find that secret room!”
“So the king finally gave in and granted his permission after all,” Mirach sighed.
“How unexpected. I thought she might’ve ended up stuck in a holding pattern forever. Seems like even the king is no match for the princess’s relentless pleading,” Fackt chimed in.
No sooner had they finished making their slightly rude comments than Scheat strolled over, a wide grin on his face.
“Hey, Princess, I’ll come too!”
Mirach and Fackt looked appalled at his offer.
“You must have nerves of steel, popping up uninvited and boldly including yourself like it’s no big deal!” Fackt said.
“Indeed. This mission requires brains—which means you’re practically guaranteed to be no help at all, Scheat,” Mirach added.
Their words were undeniably harsh, yet it was oddly amusing, since Scheat didn’t seem fazed by them in the slightest.
“Heh! Looks like you’re all set for an adventure, Scheat! Hopefully, we’ll find something interesting there.” I smiled brightly at him, and then the four knights—Canopus, Mirach, Fackt, and Scheat—and I made our way toward the villa.
✦ ✦ ✦
Seven was already waiting for us at the villa when we arrived.
“Fi, you sure took your sweet time!” He pouted as he buzzed around in the sky. Since my knights acknowledged him with a little bow, it seemed he’d made himself visible today.
He must be so excited to explore the secret room that he’s showing himself to the knights, I chuckled to myself. My mischievous spirit friend was always happy to find new sources of amusement, so learning about the room’s existence was likely a big thrill for him. Seeing his exhilaration made me beam with happiness.
I recalled what Oligor had told me when we last met: “This is the key to Luntia’s secret room. She got up to a lot of interesting things in there. I helped her with some of them, which made it even more fun. At first, I locked the door so nobody could come in and see…”
Oligor might have been a bit of a crybaby, but because he was a spirit, he probably enjoyed getting up to some hijinks as well. Since he’d said that whatever was in there was so interesting he didn’t want anyone else to see it, I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of secrets might be concealed inside.
Turning my gaze to the villa, I could see some knights posted at the entrance. The Second Knight Brigade, which Mirach had previously belonged to, was tasked with guarding the royal castle. Mirach chatted casually with some of the knights on duty, and they smiled before giving me a bow.
“We received word from His Majesty. Please, enter.”
“I got permission to go into the house of fun!” I giggled as I excitedly stepped through the door.
Mirach’s expression immediately turned serious as he corrected me. “Princess, this isn’t a ‘house of fun,’ this is the villa where the mother of the first King of Náv resided.”
Fackt chimed in with some additional information. “This villa was sealed off for two hundred years after she passed away.”
“So even though no one’s been in here for two hundred years, there are still guards posted at the entrance?”
That has to mean something incredibly important is being kept inside, I thought as I stepped into the foyer and looked around. It almost felt as though I’d been transported back to the Forest of Lent.
“What is this…?” I gasped, taken aback by what I sensed. When I made eye contact with Seven, I could tell he was just as surprised as I was.
“This is a space that’s really soothing for spirits.”
“A soothing space for spirits…” I mumbled, nodding in agreement with Seven.
The villa didn’t particularly resemble the Forest of Lent, but rather the atmosphere of both was similar. Just like that forest was a haven for child spirits, this villa also felt like it would be a really comfortable place for spirits to stay. As I was wondering why exactly that was the case, I noticed that the ceiling of the foyer was made entirely of glass.
“That glass is special, isn’t it? It gathers sunlight…no, gathers isn’t the right word. It’s more like it chooses what and what not to allow in.”
“Right.” Seven agreed as he flew up to the ceiling and examined the glass by pressing his face up against it, “It looks like only the purest sunlight from the dawn of time is allowed to enter this villa. What an amazing mechanism—truly the pinnacle of spirit craftsmanship.”
Hearing Seven’s explanation, I felt like I understood why the villa felt so comfortable. Spirits could make really incredible things, but no one understood how they did it. The materials they used were completely different from what we knew, and it was said they must have magical techniques that were completely unknown to us.
Now, it was my turn to share some information with Seven in return for his explanation.
“I heard that the first king’s father was the Spirit Lord, and he was also said to have lived in this villa about two hundred years ago. Since spirits live such a long time, he might still be alive, right? If that’s the case, I’d love to try meeting him someday.”
“…I’d rather not see him again. The First Spirit Lord and his entourage are in a league of their own. They’re so different from us that it’s like we’re not even the same species. Being in their presence is almost suffocating.”
Oh dear, that must mean the Spirit Lord was probably the intimidating type. If that was the case, maybe I wouldn’t want to interact with him too much either.
The knights and I ventured further into the building. Once we’d climbed the staircase, we ended up stopping in front of a certain door. There were plenty of rooms on both the first and second floors, but I sensed that this had to be the one that could be unlocked with the key Oligor gave me.
Hesitantly, I tried the key, and as I inserted it into the lock, it let out a high-pitched click while turning, confirming I did indeed have the right door.
“It worked!” I couldn’t help but give a cheer. “Now I’m going to open the door. Heh! I can’t wait to see what kind of amazing things are inside.”
Seven and I exchanged excited glances as we peered in, full of anticipation, but as soon as we saw what was there, my mouth dropped open.
“Whoa.”
The door led to a space that didn’t look like any room I had ever seen. There was a huge tree right in the middle and half of the floor was covered with all sorts of plants, all healthy and strong. I looked up, and sure enough, the same special glass was covering the entire ceiling here too, just as it had been in the foyer.