Even the spirited and steadfast Evangeline would always fall silent for no reason whenever she stepped into that room.
‘It turned out better than I thought.’
The moment Calisto saw Ailien in that room, he felt a certain sense of steadiness. As if he had found the final piece of a puzzle.
Calisto’s steps toward the study were strangely light.
“Your Grace!”
But that peaceful and serene feeling did not last long.
It was because Calisto’s aide, Dorian, came rushing in, his breath caught at the tip of his chin.
Calisto, who had grasped the weight of the situation at once from that single, nearly shrieking syllable, let his gaze sink and clicked his tongue low.
“……What is it.”
“It seems you must head for the capital as soon as possible. An urgent decree has come down from the imperial palace.”
“The capital. It seems His Majesty has finally opened his ears this time.”
Calisto sneered with a cold expression unworthy of a Grand Duke.
And well he might. Every time an ominous wave of demonic energy was detected at the northern border, Calisto had requested an audience with the Emperor countless times, yet the imperial palace had always dismissed the Grand Duke’s reports with all manner of petty excuses. This was also why he had gone to Hayana Forest in search of Zeronias.
“With Lady Zeronias also away, what shall we do?”
“Contact Count Huyato. Tell him to watch the state of the barrier’s seal stones more thoroughly than ever before. The moment even the faintest abnormal surge of demonic energy is detected, disregard all formality and send a magical missive at once. And do not forget to double the reconnaissance cycles.”
“……Understood.”
Dorian bowed his head with a heavy expression.
Calisto, arms crossed, cast his gaze out the window. The north—its people and its knights—he was confident he could control and protect perfectly, even at the cost of his life.
But the other regions beyond the north’s firm barrier could not be guaranteed. Those were lands ruled by cowards who, even during the brutal days of the Human-Demon War, had been too busy preserving their own skins to step onto the front lines.
Calisto was not merely the hero of the north alone. He was the hero of the war who had defended the entire empire, and yet the great wall called the Emperor—who envied that hero, drove him toward death, and sought only his own gain—still stood like a curtain blocking his path.
* * *
Left alone in the middle of the pretty room, Ailien hopped about, unable to contain her overflowing joy. Didi chased after her in turn, while Kiki settled before the sunlit window and elegantly licked her front paw.
“Look at this! It fits Lili’s body perfectly!”
It was an armchair that seemed made just for Ailien. The child, leaning back fully into the cozy chair, swung her legs in delight.
Didi scurried quickly up onto the armrest. Ailien spoke loudly to the flying squirrel, who was blinking her large eyes.
“How is it? Does it suit Lili a bit?”
Ailien began striking poses before Didi that she must have seen somewhere. With her right arm on her head and her left on her hip, she wore a serious expression, and Didi clapped her front paws, saying everything was marvelous.
“Haah. It seems being a lady is simply in Lili’s nature.”
Letting out a satisfied sigh, Ailien let all the strength drain from her body. Having traveled a long distance since morning, she was quite tired. Her swinging legs gradually began to slow.
Kiki, who had shown no interest in Ailien and Didi’s foolish antics, slowly rose at those words and approached with leisurely steps.
Then, just as before, she nudged Ailien with her nose. It seemed she had something she wanted to convey.
“Why do you keep doing that! If you have something to say, just say it! Are you scared because the sword’s castle is so big? Lili will protect you! Lili would never abandon you two!”
It was a reassuring tone, uncharacteristic of the traitor who had earlier said she would go alone if Calisto simply left.
Kiki quickly climbed onto Ailien’s lap. Then she raised a front paw and gently tapped the child’s neck.
“Hm? Ah, that!”
Only then did Ailien understand and take out the necklace she had hidden inside her clothes. On the necklace’s cord hung a ruby that glowed softly as if cradling an ember.
When she tapped the ruby, it let out a clear ring and released an intense crimson wave. As if a small flame within the jewel had awakened, the center of the ruby flashed and scattered a pink gleam throughout the room. In an instant, a magic circle was drawn centered on Ailien.
Shards of light like dazzling petals danced in the air and gathered, and a smooth wand with a heart-shaped crystal ornament rose up from within the ruby. The rod was a pale pink, and on its handle, small white wings fluttered.
Ailien caught the wand that had popped out with a practiced motion.
“Lili’s wand!”
Watching the delighted Ailien, Kiki and Didi looked at each other.
Both of them recalled at once the day Marilyn had given that to Ailien.
‘Lili wants to steal that.’
‘……What?’
Marilyn, who had been meticulously casting spells into every corner of the house while swinging her wand, let out a hollow laugh at the child’s frank words.
Not even knowing whose sake she was doing all this for.
Marilyn, all the strength draining from her body, stopped what she was doing and sat down in her chair, and Ailien scurried over and stuck close to her side.
Marilyn lightly pinched the child’s white, plump cheek.
‘Ah!’
Ailien raised her small hand and cupped her cheek. No strength had been put into it, so it could not have hurt, yet she was putting on a show. Still, she could not help being happy with Marilyn, and she kept beaming.
‘What’s so good about a wooden stick like this.’
Marilyn muttered indifferently, swinging the wand she held. It was a tale that would have horrified anyone else to hear. That wooden stick was made of Stellia, the legendary sacred tree that grew only where a meteor had fallen.
Though all mages had their own wands, Marilyn’s was special even among them. With a black base where violet hues faintly swirled and a lightning-shaped silver thread pattern carved into it, the wand was beautiful to anyone’s eyes. But even if Marilyn’s wand had been made of ordinary wood, in the eyes of Ailien, who wanted to imitate everything Marilyn did, it would have been a splendid thing above all else.
‘Then why not just give it to Lili?’
‘Little one, this is mine.’
‘If Mari gives it to Lili, then it’s Lili’s, right?’
‘What to do? Mari has no intention of giving it.’
‘Still, won’t you give it? Lili only thought about stealing it. Lili doesn’t want to actually do it. They said only very bad people do that.’
Ailien, who had been taught that stealing was wrong, lowered her brows as if in regret. She wanted Marilyn’s wand madly, but she knew she must not steal it.
Marilyn, too, put on a similar expression as if in regret.
‘It seems you don’t know that endlessly pestering someone for what belongs to them is also wrong?’
‘Really? Then I won’t do it from now on……. Will you just give it this once? Will you give it to me?’
Ailien spread both her small hands wide and held them out to Marilyn. Marilyn was struck speechless in an instant and laughed loudly, ha ha ha.
‘All right. It’s about time I gave it to you anyway.’
‘Give what?’
At those words, Marilyn swung her wand in a great arc. Then, before Ailien, a rod with a heart-shaped crystal popped out with a flourish.
‘Whoa!’
‘It’s what Mari prepared to give Lili.’
‘It’s totally cute! But Lili likes that one better, so can’t Mari keep this and Lili take that one?’
‘No. Absolutely not.’
Marilyn, who had spoken firmly, placed the strangely shaped wand into Ailien’s hands. Ailien pouted her lower lip slightly but accepted it.
‘As expected, it suits you well. This is what you’d call mise-en-scène, I suppose.’
Marilyn smiled contentedly, saying something incomprehensible. But that smile did not last long.
Since when was it, I wonder. Sometimes, Marilyn’s gaze toward Ailien held a lingering loneliness.
‘When Mari leaves, that wand will tell you what you must do.’
‘What Lili must do?’
‘Yes, you know, don’t you?’
‘I know! Treasure! Lili is setting off to find treasure!’
