Karin's stride momentarily paused as she turned her gaze to the source of the motion she'd seen in her peripheral vision, and she closed her eyes, inhaling deeply as she turned back to her path. Just a lizard crawling on the woodwork of a house. No reason to be paranoid.

Imperceptibly to any observers, her head lowered, teeth grinding together inside her closed mouth at the thoughts going through her head.

Uneven ground, full of rubble and splinters that were difficult to traverse in the white smoke, still acrid though it was now dissipating. It had been loud before, but now, all that remained was a chilling silence despite the fire having just run its course.

Tristania had rebuilt since then. The road still bore discoloration as it hadn't damaged the stonework, but all these houses were new. There was nothing but the memories of those present to suggest that there were once older structures where the new residences now stood.

The woman forcibly slowed her pace, noticing that she had instinctively sped up. Why was she allowing this to get to her so easily? She had visited the capital many times since then, and always had been able to simply repress the memories.

"Miss Maillart!" came the voice of the third-year teacher, Mr. Ollivander as he rushed to catch the girl before she could hit the ground. "Speak to me, are you alright?"

Had she fainted again? She had done that a lot in the last few days. The smoke was really starting to hurt her head, and the sound of soldiers marching through the debris didn't help.

The streets were peaceful now. There were soldiers, but they were stationed at key intersections to guide traffic. These weren't people focused on combat, and many had either forgotten or weren't even born yet when the rebellion had happened.

In her daydreaming, Karin had ended up on an unfamiliar road, but rather than turn the way she came, she continued onward, letting her instincts guide her. It would be good for her mental state to get away from the places she recognized, away from the path the parade would be taking.

That had to be the reason behind her confusion. The last time she had attended a coronation, it had been Queen Marianne's, when the city was still in the middle of reconstruction. She had been a Chevalier then, the person standing behind her royal friend as she spoke to the people she would be leading. There had been no Henri then, he was still Henry Tudor at the time. No king, only a woman with a broken nation to pull back together.

Marianne was often forgotten about under Henri's more prominent deeds, but there was no question in the Duchess' mind that the queen consort was the person wearing the real crown. The woman had the ability to calm anyone and make them see reason, even the young Maillart when she could only see red.

Karin was an adult now, but at that moment, she felt small. A child facing something she couldn't possibly hope to match, wielding a pebble against a flail. It was no wonder that she lay on the ground, staring at the sky, black from soot though it was barely noon. She had passed the point of pain now, crossed into numbness. Why, when she, a descendant of the great Valliere family, struggled to connect just three elements, why could someone so many years her junior so completely overpower her?

It wasn't fair. Why was she cursed never to fuse her magic properly, never to control herself with the skill that even some of her servants and slaves could? Why was some random commoner she had never heard of able to bring ruin to this city with so many Square-class mages present?

The Duchess shivered involuntarily, using her cloak to hide the fact she'd raised her arm to clutch at her collar. She had broken into a cold sweat without realizing it, trembling despite the hot mid-July air. Where had she wandered to, anyway?

As she looked up at the sign above the door, she narrowed her eyes briefly, mouthing the name under her breath. The 'Enchanted Fairy Inn'. Well, it was as fine a place as any to stop at and order something to wet her throat, so she pushed the door open, listening to the chime of the bell signalling her entry.

"Feoh! Rad! Eolh! Boulder!" came Marianne's shout, the earth magic conjuring stone from the ground into a ball as Innocentius rushed forward, bringing his foot to kick the boulder forward, smashing into the Flame Serpent they were fighting and causing the spell to unravel, quickly eating away at the rock with the powerful blue fire the serpent was constructed from.

The spells had neutralized each other, allowing Innocentius to pursue the conjurer, though by now, Karin had once again lost her consciousness, unable to witness the end of the fight.

"VIP!" shouted one of the waitresses towards the back of the tavern as she noticed the woman entering, shaking the skirt of her maid outfit as she briefly bowed with a smile. "Lady Valliere, please wait for Mademoiselle to serve you!"

Karin noted the large tray the girl carried, stacked full of the various orders she was bringing to her customers. It must be a busy day, everyone was likely here to stuff themselves before the festivities tomorrow. "Thank you. Carry on."

The girl grinned, happy to be addressed by the woman, before obeying the order and going back to her work, while Karin stepped to the side, out of the way of the door as she idly looked over the seats.

Most of the people here were commoners, but she saw a few noble mantles here and there, mostly barons likely taking their families for a treat. It wasn't often that those below Count had reason to come to Tristania, this was a special occasion for them and their children.

Her gaze halted as she noticed a particularly familiar face, and she let out an exhalation of surprise before her attention was caught by a burly man dressed in an ill-fitting tank top and skirt, his hands clasped together beside his cheek as he tilted his whole body sideways.

"Welcome, welcome, Duchess!" he exclaimed in an abnormally feminine tone, and she gave him a terse nod.

"Thank you for the warm welcome. I presume you're Mademoiselle?" she asked, and he nodded, a rapid motion that felt unnatural for his manly appearance.

"Oui, though customers know me better as Elizabeth Scarron!" He quickly turned his head, searching for an empty table for the woman, before gazing at her again, a motion so quick that even she had trouble keeping track of the turning of his neck. "I do apologize, if you would like, I can ask someone to-"

"Don't. I see someone who I know." she stated, and he blinked, before smiling, closing his eyes as he stood up straight, though his hands never moved from the side of his head.

"Understood! I can personally serve you if you like, Duchess! It is quite rare that someone of your stature comes here, you see."

She paused, walking towards the seat she'd chosen as she pondered the suggestion, before shaking her head. "I'd like to see your normal customer service. Have whichever waitress is on duty at this table act as normal. Instruct her to pretend I am a commoner." Now that she thought about it, the name of this establishment seemed familiar. Hadn't a minor incident occurred back in early February?

As Scarron scuttled back into the staff area, she reached to rap on the table, announcing her presence to the man sitting there, as he hadn't even looked up from the notebook he had next to his plate, going over something he had been working on.

"Hm-Oh! It's quite an honor, Karin." the man said, and she nodded, pulling a seat out to sit across from him as he set his pencil to mark his page, closing the notebook to give her his undivided attention. "It seems I was too engrossed to notice you entering...You're here for the coronation, correct?"

"Yes, though I'm not necessarily needed as Sandalion is here." she stated, narrowing her eyes. "It's been a long time since we last met in this city, hasn't it?"

He was silent for a few moments, before reaching his hand to rub at the bald spot on top of his head as he laughed hesitantly. "I suppose it has. We've both become very different people than we were back then, haven't we, 'Heavy Wind'?"

"Mm, we have, 'Enjya'."