Wood grain showed through in the parts of the floor not covered with plants, and there were also normal indoor furnishings like a desk, a table, a rocking chair, and a sofa. The walls were lined with bookshelves crammed full of books, and dried plants I’d never seen before hung from the ceiling, along with bird feathers and animal horns.
Honestly, everything I could see was fascinating, but what really caught my eye were the plants growing along the floor. I looked at a few that seemed particularly interesting, and upon further inspection, they turned out to be rare medicinal herbs with very powerful properties.
“Huh? This herb is typically found only at the peaks of tall mountains—how is it growing here in the villa?” According to my Encyclopedia of Medicinal Herbs, this herb was supposed to push through the snow. I couldn’t understand how something that thrived in the extreme cold could flourish in a place like the royal castle, where the hot summer sun bathed everything in warmth.
And that wasn’t the only mystery. The secret room also contained rare herbs that could only be found in the deepest parts of the ocean, along with others that grew only on the horns of monsters.
I was really impressed. How did Luntia cultivate all these plants? Not to mention, if no one had been in this room for two hundred years, how were they all still lush and flourishing? The other day I’d been surprised to hear that Mirach’s village grew their own medicinal herbs rather than picking them from the forest, but what I’d seen in this room was several times more shocking than that.
Still shaking my head in wonder, I approached the next thing that had caught my eye: the giant tree. It was lined with birdhouses, so I peeked inside one of them only to see a mound of black feathers. Though they were just feathers, the moment I saw them, a chill ran down my spine and I instinctively grabbed onto Seven for comfort.
“Black feathers…that belong to a black creature? Sirius said that, besides Ludo, there are only two other black monsters on this continent. Could these belong to one of them?” I blurted out the first thing that popped into my mind, but my question was met with silence.
✦ ✦ ✦
Seven and I were still clinging to each other and trembling, but it was strange that the knights hadn’t made a single peep, so I raised my head to glance up at them.
“Canopus…” I called out, but my personal knight’s lips were tightly clenched, and he remained silent. Now that was a rare sight—he hardly ever acted like that. But when he did, it usually meant he knew the answer but didn’t want to say it.
“Canopus,” I repeated, “do these feathers belong to a monster?”
Still, no matter how much he didn’t want to answer, Canopus would always reply if you asked him a direct question.
“…I don’t think so.”
Well, that was curious. His answers normally weren’t so short. Canopus would always answer a question if he was asked, but for him not to offer even the slightest of explanations meant he really didn’t want to talk about it.
But I still wanted to know, so I pressed further. “Then what’s the deal with these feathers?”
Canopus slightly winced at my follow-up question, and after a long, thoughtful silence, he finally responded.
“I’ve never seen one myself, so I can’t say for sure. This is only speculation, but…I believe they belong to a demon.”
“A deman?” I’d never heard that word before, but I wondered if it was a type of monster. “I don’t think I know what that means. Is it a monster that’s like a person?”
“Yes. Something like that. Demon is the general classification for monsters who take human form. However, it’s been about a hundred years since they were last seen, so it’s believed that they would no longer be encountered in our lifetime.”
His voice was strained, and he wasn’t making eye contact with me, which was quite unusual. I could tell he really didn’t want to say anything more. In that case, I’d have to turn to someone else for my next question.
I glanced over at the other three knights and noticed that Scheat was looking uncharacteristically pale.
“What’s wrong, Scheat? You don’t look so good,” I called out, unable to hide my surprise.
In response, Scheat crouched down on the spot and covered his face with trembling hands. “Um, yes, well…I don’t really like black feathers. So, if you wouldn’t mind, could we stop talking about them?”
“Huh? Are you all right?” I gasped, taken aback. But this time, it was Mirach and Fackt who answered instead.
“He’s fine, but Scheat can be surprisingly sensitive at times. How about focusing your attention on something else instead?”
“There are many books in here, Princess. Ah, this one seems to be an herb encyclopedia that was made by the keeper of this room.”
“An herb encyclopedia?”
Even though I didn’t understand why, those black feathers terrified me too. I didn’t think it was necessary to keep talking about something Scheat didn’t like, so I quickly took advantage of Fackt’s attempt to change the subject. He handed me the book in question, and I moved over to the sofa to flip through it. I spent the rest of my time in the room quietly reading.
It was starting to get dark, and when the knights insisted it was time to get going, I looked up from the book I’d been reading with a contented sigh.
“This room truly is wonderful! It’s filled with so many interesting things.”
But the contents of the room must have been more intriguing to saints than knights, because not a single one of them agreed with me. Well, that couldn’t be helped. Different people liked different things.
Rising from the sofa, I stood up and declared, “Since I’ll be taking fewer princess lessons, I plan to visit this room a lot more from now on!”
Slowly but surely, I’d explore everything in that room. After all, learning new things was so much fun!
“Seven, you’ll do it with me, right?!”
“I guess I’m getting wrapped up in this too.” Seven sounded a little annoyed, but I just grinned at him.
“Weren’t you the one who said that spirits can’t stand boredom? Now you’re guaranteed to be entertained for a long time.”
“I did say that, but this wasn’t the kind of activity I had in mind.” Seven whined, but I don’t think he hated the idea as much as his words let on, since a smile almost immediately returned to his face. “Still, wouldn’t it be something if we could complete the unfinished research of the previous king? When I think about it that way, I can’t help but get fired up.”
Now that I knew what had caught his interest, I decided to heap on the praise to encourage him even further, “There are so many things I can’t understand on my own, so I’d feel a lot better having someone as smart as you helping me out, Seven!”
“You drive a hard bargain, Fi,” he moaned as his cheeks started to turn pink. “But if you’re that determined to do this, then sure, I’ll lend you a hand.”
“Thanks so much, Seven!” I swooped him up in a big hug. What a wonderful feeling! With my clever spirit by my side, there was nothing I couldn’t do!
I’d made up my mind. From now on, I’d examine everything in this room bit by bit and eventually complete Luntia’s research!
✦ ✦ ✦
However, in the not-so-distant future…
“…What? A demon?”
I was about to unexpectedly cross paths with a nonhuman, someone with black hair and dark eyes.
But that was still a little ways off. It would still take some time before I fully understood the importance of what Luntia was studying.