Chương 459: Chapter 454 - Curiosities

When Scarlett arrived in the foyer, everyone else was already gathered and ready to leave. She saw Garside, Evelyne, and Lady Withersworth standing at the foot of the stairs, with Rosa lingering idly nearby beside Shin and leaning against one of the walls. The rest were gathered around Fynn and his siblings in the middle of what was very clearly an extended goodbye.

From the look of things, Fynn was giving instructions to his eldest sister, Velryrth, while little Kelnorin was clinging to his arm and being pelted by a constant stream of wind, apparently determined to squeeze every last bit of fun out of his final chance to bother his brother. Themyar was off to the side talking with Kat and Allyssa—Scarlett had heard he'd taken an interest in the work of Shielders—while Inayra was trying to talk to Slate, though it wasn't clear how much success she was having.

The siblings naturally wouldn't be joining them to Elystead, so this might be the last time some of the people here saw them for quite a while, depending on how things went in the city. At the very least, their group wouldn't be back for a week or more, considering they wouldn't be able to use the Kilnstone to return. And beyond that, it wasn't even guaranteed that Fynn's siblings would still be at the mansion when they did come back.

The plan had never been for the kids to live here permanently, and Scarlett already had Garside making inquiries into finding a better place for them to stay. Somewhere they could be around people their own age, receive a proper education, and have someone to look after their needs. A few eyes turned Scarlett's way as she descended the stairs from the second floor, along with one distinctly pointed glare from Rosa, who then looked away again with a loud huff that earned her a peculiar look from Shin.

"Scarlett…" Evelyne started, her eyes moving to the phantom dragon slumbering in Scarlett's arms.

"Is that the…dragon Will you mentioned before?"

"It is," Scarlett replied, stopping next to them.

"What separates it from a true dragon?" Lady Withersworth asked, watching it with open fascination.

"I have never heard of anyone taming even a dragon before, so it boggles the mind what you did to manage this one."

"This one is not of flesh and blood, for one," Scarlett said.

"As for what I did, to be entirely frank, it may be easier for you to accept if I do not explain all of it." She held out the dragon, sprite still asleep between its horns, to the older noblewoman. Lady Withersworth looked surprised, but accepted it all the same, carefully brushing a hand over the pale scales running down its back. The lines around her eyes shifted slightly as a complicated expression passed over her face.

"My, my. Aren't you a darling, little one?" she murmured.

"Far too much so, really, considering where you come from. It's leaving me rather conflicted." The sprite's eyes blinked open. It looked up at the woman with drowsy confusion for a second, then gave a tiny flutter of its wings and floated up to settle on Lady Withersworth's shoulder. She studied it, then let out a small sigh as her expression softened somewhat, and she continued stroking the dragon's back without saying anything else. Evelyne looked from the older woman and the dragon to Scarlett.

"Are you taking that thing with us?"

"I am," Scarlett said.

"That is not the Will's true form, so it should not pose an issue. You do not have to worry."

"That's not what I was worried about."

"I see. Good." Scarlett moved past Evelyne and headed over to Fynn and the others, giving them all a look-over.

"Are you prepared to leave?" Kat and Allyssa turned to her and nodded.

"We are, yeah," Allyssa said.

"I've got a question though, if you don't mind me asking," Kat added.

"Go ahead." Scarlett gestured for her to continue. The Shielder's lips split into a light grin as she tipped her head in Rosa's direction, eyes glinting.

"Word's been going round that the two of you had a bit of a falling-out, and for once the bard came off worse for it. I've been trying to needle her into telling me what you did, but she's kept her mouth tighter than a clam, so I thought I'd ask you instead. Mind sharing?" Scarlett paused, glancing back at Rosa. The bard met her eyes for a moment, only to huff and pointedly look away again. Scarlett let out a quiet, amused breath and turned back to Kat and Allyssa.

"Tell me," she said, "has she said anything at all? Or has she been entirely silent?" Kat crossed her arms, brows drawing together.

"She hasn't said anything, no. Now that I think about it, I do not think I've actually heard her speak since…" Her eyes widened. Scarlett smiled.

"There you have it." Allyssa's hand flew to her mouth.

"Wait — did you actually do something to her? Like, some kind of spell?"

"No, not quite. I am not that wicked. I merely…taught her what happens to those who do not know their place."

"That's a bald-faced lie!" Rosa's voice shot across the foyer from behind.

"You're the purest form of—!" A sharp pop cracked through the air. When Scarlett turned, she was met with the sight of Rosa's hair erupting in every direction like an aggressively electrocuted dandelion, while a spray of harmless sparks snapped and fizzed around her head in bright little bursts, as if someone had decided to turn her into the centrepiece for a very pretty festival. Rosa's expression darkened. A moment passed.

Then Fynn's youngest two siblings broke first, the pair of them dissolving into loud, helpless laughter. Allyssa only lasted a second longer before folding in on herself with a suffocated laugh, and Kat doubled over right after, flashing Scarlett a thumbs-up that made her feel just a faint hint of pride. Even Shin cracked a smile as he took a cautious half-step away from Rosa's sparkling halo, and Scarlett caught Evelyne trying to hide what was very clearly laughter behind her hand.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Rosa's stare dragged across every one of them before landing on Scarlett.

"You're vile. Morally bankrupt. Spiritually diseased." Another pop. Her hair fluffed out even further, and a fresh scatter of sparks danced around her temples.

"If abandoning my morals for a day is the price I must pay, then I am fully prepared to bear that burden," Scarlett said evenly. She considered Rosa for a few seconds.

"Although, I must say, this rather suits you. Perhaps you would like me to make it permanent?" Rosa pointed at her like she was about to deliver some scathing retort, but then seemed to think better of it, instead making a strangled sound and whirling away. She was in the process of trying to force her hair back into order when she stormed out of the foyer into the courtyard, leaving the rest of them behind.

"That is kind of evil," Kat said through her laughter as Scarlett turned back, staring at the doors Rosa had just vanished through.

"Genuinely. You're not actually planning to leave her like that, are you?" Scarlett shook her head.

"The array producing the effect is being maintained by the Loci. It will end as soon as we leave the estate. With that said, I would not claim to be above making use of it again in the future, should the need arise." Allyssa touched her own blonde hair with a trace of apprehension.

"You wouldn't use that on the rest of us, would you?" Scarlett offered a faint smile.

"Who knows?" The young Shielder's eyes widened.

"Scarlett," Evelyne said as she walked over, glancing once towards the courtyard doors before looking back at her.

"Are we ready to leave? Time is starting to become a concern."

"Soon," Scarlett replied.

"There are two more joining us."

"There are?" Just then, a patch of shadow in the corner of the foyer thickened, pooled, and rose, giving shape to the robed figure of Nol'viz and the towering form of Carnwedain behind her. The room went quiet. For some reason, everyone was staring. Kat was the one to finally lift a hand and point straight at the giant knight looming at Nol'viz's back.

"Alright, sorry, but I think I'm somehow out of the loop again. Who's that supposed to be?" Scarlett glanced at her.

"That is Carnwedain."

"…Huh?" Kat gave her a look like that was on the same level as saying it was a horse in a dress.

"You do not recognise him?"

"No. I recognise that he's huge and ominous and built like somebody's nightmare, but that's not helping me." Kat squinted at the knight, but then she just shook her head. Scarlett considered her, then the others. Their expressions weren't much different. Faces of confusion or wariness all across the board. Even Fynn looked like he was having a hard time putting the pieces together. Finally, she turned to Carnwedain properly, studying him with quiet interest. He had promised her he wouldn't be recognised.

Scarlett had trusted that he couldn't break his word, but she hadn't known how he intended to keep it. Was this what he meant? What exactly had he done? She hadn't left him for long, which meant whatever method he'd used, he'd used it quickly. But it wasn't as if he had ever possessed some convenient ability to become forgettable. At least not to Scarlett's knowledge.

If people who knew him could look straight at him and fail to recognise him anyway, then it was likely that he had borrowed that effect from something else. Was that related to the price that he'd said he would pay? Curious. The nature of their arrangement this time was somewhat different from before, but Scarlett doubted he would explain himself just because she asked. For one thing, they were no longer part of the same party, even temporarily. Their association this time would be limited.

One of the conditions Scarlett had insisted on, if the two of them were to accompany her group to Elystead, was that they would not be staying at her mansion. On that point, she hadn't budged. Freybrook was one thing, but in Elystead, she didn't have the same safeguards in place. Still, maybe she could pry some information out of him later. While the rest were focused on trying to recognise Carnwedain for who he was, Scarlett turned back to Evelyne.

"You were concerned about us being late, were you not?" she asked.

"Unless you have complaints, we are all here. Come. Let us leave for Elystead." The doors to His Imperial Majesty's chamber opened and shut with a dull weight, and the sharp echo of steps sounded through the hall as the black-haired woman who had just emerged came to a halt. She turned, the purple folds of her gown settling about her, and regarded the two knights in white plate who stood sentinel at the entrance.

Her cool eyes came to rest upon one of them, whose face lay hidden behind a helm crested with a winged dragon. A faint smile touched her lips.

"Dame Leandra," she said, "I wasn't aware you had returned. Tell me, how goes your search for Her Highness? Have you made any progress?" The knight gave no response. The woman's smile remained.

"My, that's regrettable. Especially after you came so close, with that sighting in Ambercrest." Her gaze lingered on the silent knight.

"Still, you don't need to look so dour. Turn that scowl upside down. I'm sure Her Highness is perfectly safe. She's always been more than capable of looking after herself. She had no trouble slipping away from under your watch, did she?" The knight's gauntlets tightened, but before anything more could pass between them, a cold voice cut in.

"Lady Blackwood, His Majesty has asked that none disturb him after the evening bell. Your business with him has concluded. I ask that you leave." The woman's eyes moved to the other knight, and her smile sharpened just a touch.

"I suppose you're right, Dame Inaya. His Majesty is fortunate that his Swords are not only loyal, but attentive as well." The knight lowered their head.

"We live to serve the gilded sun of the empire."

"That you do," the woman said. She held them under her gaze for a moment longer, then turned and walked away, leaving both sentinels watching her retreating back. Her steps carried her through the inner halls of the palace, past polished corridors worked in crimson and gold, past palace guards and bowing servants. She spared none of them a glance.

The smile she had worn outside the emperor's chambers slowly faded as she made her way deeper and lower into the palace, into a quieter stretch where few servants passed and fewer lingered. Here, the halls were dimmer, lit only by occasional lamps, their glow too sparse to do much against the shadows gathering between them. She stopped before a wooden door set at a crossing, its surface more worn than anything around it, though the metal of its handle looked almost new. She looked it over, then lifted a hand.

A silver staff appeared in her grasp, a purple gem set at its crown. The gem began to glow, and somewhere farther down the hall, half-swallowed by shadow, there came a soft sound. The woman turned her head, eyes narrowing.

"And who is sneaking about here, hmm?" No answer came. Then a small figure stepped out from around the corner, followed by a much larger one in white armour, their heavy footsteps resounding against the stone. The woman's brows rose. The light from her staff dimmed.

"Your Highness, and Sir Holdger. What brings you to this part of the palace?" The girl looked back at her silently. She wore a white gown, and her bright golden hair was braided over one shoulder, the end falling nearly to where her hands were clasped before her waist.

"I was wandering," she said after a while.

"I found that door."

"Is that so?" The woman's smile returned, but the action held no warmth.

"I never knew you were so intrepid, Your Highness." The girl didn't reply. The woman kept her gaze on her, then angled her staff towards the door.

"Unfortunately, that is not a door for you to open. It would be best if you left now, and didn't come back here."

"…Why?"

"Because girls who go prying into places they shouldn't rarely know better than to land themselves in trouble. Just like your sister." The hulking knight's armour gave a low scrape of metal as he took a step forward.

"I say that out of concern, Your Highness," the woman added.

"If you wish, you can ask your father. I'm sure he will tell you the same. This is no place for you to be." The girl stood still, then gave a single nod.

"Okay." She turned and disappeared around the corner without another word. The knight stayed only long enough to look at the woman once more before following after her. The woman watched them leave, outwardly unconcerned, though her eyes narrowed further once they were gone.

"Now isn't that curious," she murmured.

"I wonder. Will our little gala be drawing even more uninvited company?" A quiet chuckle slipped out before she stepped up to the door. It opened onto a corridor of washed-out, lifeless tones that stretched into the dark, and that deadened stillness swallowed her as she passed through.