Tap, tap, tap.

The sound of his cane against the ground echoed through the manor's halls.

A slow and methodic walk, his mind filled with thoughts and worries.

Business, the administration of his land, his wife, his daughters, it all worried him so much.

It is needless to say, but Duke de La Vallière was a man who cared deeply for those who surrounded him. Which is why, when his daughter reported to him that someone was smuggling tea into the castle, he almost died out of worry.

Surely, he could hide it well, he wouldn't be a successful noble if he couldn't, but the thought of someone being able to smuggle anything, even mere tea leaves, worried him to death.

Of course, it wasn't as if the current smuggling wasn't bad enough. Louise herself managed to recognize some of the many issues that could arise from it.

And that thought brought up yet another point of worry, something his wife shared with him.

Louise, his little daughter, the youngest of the litter, had seemingly taken the initiative in that situation, and sought to neutralize the threat.

Surely, it made him proud that she was growing up and acting with independence, but it also filled him with worry. Would those actions get her into trouble? Would she manage to get through the challenges of life as she was?

To know that the answer to these questions could be no… that killed him inside, just as it had when Éléonore grew up herself.

But… that wasn't enough to completely cloud his mind. No, unlike his wife, normally he would be able to worry about other things simultaneously.

The truth was, this situation was much worse than he originally imagined.

He could only hope that whatever it was that Louise would summon, it helped her as any familiar could, if not so more. Because, if this was a sign of anything, it wasn't good.

Abruptly, his steps stopped, his form facing a completely normal wall in the manor.

Raising his cane and gently tapping it against one of the bricks, he muttered an incantation.

A bright and large magical circle appeared over the wall, it crackled with energy before disappearing alongside that section of the wall.

In its place, a stairway downwards appeared.

It was a complicated application of earth, water, and wind magic, using reflective light and a clay-like material to allow for a moving wall.

Entering the secret passage, he began walking down the steps, and behind him, the wall reformed itself. Were it not for the light of torches down below, such a thing would have covered his view in darkness.

He continued down the stairway, a well-worn path he had walked many times before, and would still walk many times.

It lacked the exceeding detail normally found in the rest of the manor. A rocky and murky passage, completely unlike something someone of his stature would have. But that didn't matter, as long as it did its purpose there was no need to make it look pretty.

Finally, much to the happiness of his aging knees, he arrived at the bottom.

The room that revealed itself in front of him was simple.

A small brick corridor on the basement of the manor. The only light that came from it was from the torches hanging on the wall.

On the sides of that stretching corridor, were small rooms sealed off by iron bars. And, throughout its length, there was only a single wooden table where the guards normally sat by.

The captain of his personal guard stood up by the side of the table and bowed to him.

"Your Grace." He said with a calm voice. "The prisoner has been contained, as you requested."

The Duke nodded, pleased.

"Very well, you may leave now." With that single command, the chief of his guard nodded and went up the stairs.

Soon after, he heard the noise of the wall dislocating itself, and he knew that, save for the prisoner, he was alone in that dungeon.

He allowed himself to sigh heavily.

It had been quite troublesome to have the guards not kill the prisoner instantly.

To say the truth, that had been his first instinct as well. But, he was not a fool, he was able to see that it wasn't the best path.

Of course, seeing what's wrong is the easy part, finding what the correct path is, on the other hand…

It was complicated.

Whether or not he should report this to the royal family, and risk the possible rumors that could be spread. Whether he should make this a public execution and be hailed as a hero, but that wouldn't feel right, not when there was so much more to gain from not killing the prisoner.

There were many things to know. What were the properties of those mysterious leaves, could they be planted in their soil, some manner of substance extracted from them?

Why did this individual come to their town, why be a harmless merchant? Why not… murder indiscriminately?

There were many questions, and the possible answers told him, there was more to it all than he knew, and he would need to understand everything before making a choice.

He had wished for his daughter to have this as her first experience of noble dealings, but alas, this wasn't something that could be entrusted to her hands just yet.

Slowly, his cane tapped against the ground as he moved.

His prisoner was at the very last cell, kept as deep underground as possible.

Finally reaching the place in question, he took a final look at the captured one.

The ragged clothes, torn during the capture, the soft skin, the hands held by wall-bound steel shackles.

…the scornful look, the hateful expression, directed at him with full force.

"Now, what should I do with you, elf?"

The creature with pointy ears didn't dignify him with an answer, choosing to keep on looking at him with eyes full of scorn, in complete silence.


Slowly, she walked through the corridors of her manor, an entourage of servants following closely behind.

Her soft steps and perfect posture cut the ideal image of a noble lady.

Her hair was tied in an elegant bun, and her body covered in a frilly and pink dress.

Her expression unreadable.

The manor full of expensive furniture passed by her eyes not a glance spared to it, her mind completely away, focused on a far-away thought.

Her steps took her to her own room.

Turning to the servants that trailed behind her, she dismissed them all with a simple command.

Once she was assuredly alone, she entered the room and closed the door as quickly as she dared.

"…"

The noblewoman let out a deep sigh, bringing her hands to massage her temples.

With slow steps, she staggered to her own table. Her unreadable expression slowly giving way to a frustrated one.

Now, fully alone in her own room, she allowed her frustration to fully show and slammed her fist against the table— — —!

The wood creaked under her strength.

Although she didn't put enough to break it, there were a fair few splinters trying to cut into her hand.

"Ah, ah—" She took in deep breaths, trying to calm herself, straighten her thoughts.

Anger bubbled inside of her, a rage so hot it could melt ice.

Her teeth tightened, her eyes narrowed.

Nothing. The thought echoed in her mind.

All of them, she had interrogated all of them. From the lowest cleaner to the headmaid herself, she had oppressively questioned them for information.

Still, despite all that, she could find nothing of what she sought.

It irked her more than anything else. To be this lost, this desperate, o how she hated it.

The truth was, something was wrong with her daughter.

Little Louise, her youngest, her beloved child.

Her husband realized it as well, but in his eternal foolishness, he discarded it all as her maturing, growing independent.

Karin wasn't such a fool.

It would've been understandable if Louise had simply arrived changed, but she didn't. For the first few days, it was the same daughter who greeted her.

A small girl with a will of steel, she was improper in many ways, and had a temper similar to the one the duchess had in her own youth. But that tiny cub tried, she always tried to live up to the expectations laid on her, and occasionally she failed, trying to go too far and ending up stepping out of her bounds.

For example, when asked about her studies, her beloved daughter would proudly proclaim how she was developing, and then would carefully talk about some subject that would add detail and embellish her deeds, such as what she read and her own thoughts. Much too far, much too talkative, but still, human.

No noble was perfect, they all had noticeable flaws, and her little daughter's was her pride in herself, her wish to be praised.

That's what made her human, that's what gave her a self that showed even in the frozen ideal of a noble lady.

But… one day, all of a sudden, Louise was different.

She suddenly perfected noble etiquette. With an emotionless expression anyone could -should- understand was a tired grief.

No longer did she show her fierceness, her pride, her beliefs. She followed her rules, no more and no less.

But the worst of all was at the morning she woke up differently.

In that dining room where her family ate breakfast, when Louise stepped into the room, she saw it, that vulnerable look in her daughter's eyes, as if she was about to cry, as if she was faced with something that hit her deep within. She proceeded to immediately hug her own sister, an embrace so desperate, so filled with despair.

Karin had seen such a sight many times before. Of someone who was hurt, someone who saw, suffered, and did many terrible things. The sight of her own soldiers, traumatized after witnessing unending death and bloodshed, with bodies that moved forward by minds that stayed behind. It reminded Karin so much… of herself.

A young girl didn't suddenly become like that, not without reason.

She had been just fine the previous day, so it must've been something that happened at night.

What was it that happened to her daughter? Who was it?

Someone, on that night, broke Louise's spirit. And more than anyone else, she was determined to find out who.

She had started searching the instant she realized what could've happened, but, no matter how many servants she asked, she couldn't find a single suspect. Someway, somehow, none of them were the culprit.

It enraged her to no end. If only someone was guilty, she had thought.

Even something as unacceptable as betrayal from their own servants was preferable, because at least then she would know who did it and what happened.

It was a failure one after another. She was unable to find a culprit, and unable to keep Louise in the manor, close to her, where she would now be safe.

She tried to throw an ultimatum, to leverage the fact Louise had all the reasons to believe she was a failure and keep her in the manor. But that too, failed.

Her only slight success was Louise's personal maid.

She had made sure to question her thoroughly, deeper than any other servant. She was the greatest suspect, after all.

It was only the girl's cooperativeness that prevented her from being tortured for days on end.

She managed to ascertain that not only that girl was not a threat, she could never be one. Rather, she was the exact kind of person who she needed near Louise. A dead husk who only cared about duty, so deeply enthralled in what should be done, she never cared about what she wished to do.

Which was why she sent her with Louise with the express order of protecting her, sacrificing her own life, if needed.

But… she was no closer to finding the culprit, and now Louise was far away from her.

She needed something more, someone actively searching near Louise. Someone protecting her at all times, someone who could help.

Her eyes slowly trailed over to a pile of papers in her desk.

Before she herself could realize it, she was already writing down a letter.

There was only one person she trusted enough in. Someone who cared about Louise, someone she knew was capable of protecting her and searching for a culprit.

He was Louise's fiancé, the captain of that kingdom's griffon knights, someone she trained herself, someone she saw to the position herself.

If he was close to Louise, then she was certain, he would be able to protect and guide her.

He would only need to… go on a "mission" to patrol from Academy grounds.

Of course, this wasn't optional. She got him in that position, she would take him out if needed, and he knew this.

Only, as she was finishing her own letter, her hand stopped, unable to sign her name in it.

She wondered if this was the correct choice.

If something unspeakable had been done to Louise, would being around her fiancé be good or bad for her mind? Would he be able to protect her at all?

But… if she didn't send him, couldn't something even worse happen?

She didn't know what was truly happening, if she kept doing things while assuming all the possibilities she would never be able to do anything.

With a forceful move, she signed her own name and began sealing the letter, readying it to be sent.

It was then—

A knock on her door completely took away her attention.

This was a problem; her appearance right now was hardly something befitting a noble lady.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Lady Vallière," the voice of a servant called from the other side. "Count Mott has arrived, he claims to have a letter from the princess."


The maid silently opened the door to her lady's room.

It was a standard procedure that shouldn't warrant any thought.

The light that came from the inside reached her eyes, and she was greeted with the view of her lady sleeping—

"My Lady?" She couldn't help but mutter, a faint surprise present in her voice.

With hesitant steps, she entered the room, her head scanning the environment.

Closing the door behind her, so no one else would see that place, she tried to think of what could've happened there.

The lady's table was a mess, her candle stand had tumbled over, her books and notes were strewn about without a hint of the girl's usual tidiness. The chair had fallen in the middle of the room, and the covers of the bed had been thrown on the ground.

Needless to say, her first thought would be that someone invaded the room at night, while everyone slept.

Doing her best to keep the elegant posture demanded of her, the maid hurried to the side of her lady's bed.

The young pink-haired girl was curled up in a ball in the middle of the bed.

Still dressed in her nightgown, with pink hair falling around and over her face.

"Young Lady, please wake up." Moved by something she herself didn't understand, the maid did the unthinkable and touched her lady, doing her best to shake her awake.

Thankfully, perhaps due to her forcefulness, the young girl stirred awake much faster than usual.

"Hmmm… … Ugh." Tensing her body, the young girl pushed herself up.

Slowly, she sat up on the bed, bags below her eyes and a ragged expression on her face.

"My Lady, are you well?" The maid hurried to ask, perhaps speaking a bit too fast for what is expected of her.

"Ugh… Hm?" The young girl turned her head to the maid, still confused after just waking up. "Me? Yeah, I'm fine, why…?" Slowly, as her head wandered through the room, her voice trailed off.

Slowly, she realized why that question was asked.

"Ah, that. Sorry, I made a bit of a mess yesterday. My head was killing me." She answered as if still in a daze.

"… Has My Lady recovered already? Should I call the nurse?"

The young girl shook her head.

"No, there's no need, for now, at least." She cradled her head with her hands, still waking up.

"My Lady, are you well?" Worried for her master, the servant couldn't help but speak out of line.

But, instead of giving a confirmation, the girl could only stare ahead and let out a deep sigh. "I am not hurt nor was I harmed recently, if that's your concern." She spoke in a way much unlike normal, she seemed so much more tired, and at the same time, so much more casual.

"…" The maid stared vacantly ahead, that was as far as she was allowed to go… no, even then she had already gone too far with her questions, any more than this would be overstepping too many boundaries… "But is something bothering my Lady?"

Still, as if it was stronger than the maid herself, the question made itself existent.

"…" The girl looked on ahead, as if she too was forced to confront herself with that question. "I hate it." In the end, that's all she could say, that's all she could conclude.

"My Lady…?"

"This peace… being alive like this… I hate it." With a downtrodden expression, she hugged her knees. "My sisters are dead, my brother became a mindless aberration, my mother is a corrupted monster, everyone I know from my childhood either hates me or is dead… and I… get to live? After everything I did, without truly having anything, I have to go through and keep on going?"

The girl had lost a lot of things.

The girl took a lot of things.

In the end of it all, she had to bear it all beating down on her. When was it, she wondered, that living… that finishing her objective, became the only thing that moved her? When was it that she stopped caring about moving on, about what would come at the end of it all, and simply tried to fight without any desire to see what would lay at the end of it all?

She could no longer tell.

She couldn't remember her own death, she couldn't remember the end of the conflict. All she knew is that… she too, lost herself.

"…" The maid, however, couldn't understand a single thing her master said. Her family was alive, her mother sent her because she wanted to protect her daughter, her sisters were both alive and great women, and the Vallière never sired a man. What's more, as far as she was aware, the princes neither hated her old playmate, nor was she dead.

She didn't understand… she didn't understand, but…

She hugged the girl.

Invading her bed and crawling all the way to her, she hugged her with tenderness.

Although she long since stopped feeling such things, her mother's embrace, much like this one, always made her feel safe and calm.

The young noble did not complain, allowing herself to be hugged.

And, deep inside her chest, that husk that could no longer feel felt a twinge of something as she hugged the pink-haired girl.

Many times today had she overstepped her boundaries, still… she could not say she regretted it.

It was after a while, that the girl stirred.

"Ugh… uh…? Ancelina?" Finally awake, the young Louise asked, her voice drowsy from sleep and confused at her current predicament.

Slowly the maid parted herself from her charge.

"Do you feel better, My Lady?" Hopeful that she managed to help Louise in any way, she asked for confirmation, but…

"Better… about what?" The pink-haired noble shook her head, trying to clear her mind. "No, more important than that, why were you hugging me."

Slowly, as her consciousness returned, so did the sternness in her voice. Her displeasure over the subject was clear.

If the maid was taken aback by this change in behavior, she did not show.

"My Lady was feeling sad, so I hugged her to offer comfort." She calmly explained. "My Lady did not seem disturbed by the action."

"I… what?" The girl was clearly confused by the situation, but, slowly, she cradled her head, as if some haze made itself present in her mind. "I suppose I did." She shook her head. "No matter, what's done is done. As long as you remember your boundaries, all will be fine."

Saying those words, the girl left her bed.

In her face, the same neutral expression as always, the same tired face of someone keeping up an uncaring facade.

"Come, now, dress me."

"Yes, My Lady." Without complaints, the maid obeyed.


Alright, that's our first interlude done.

In here, we see things from the perspective of people other than Louise, in special, what it is that's going on with her mother and back at her home. There are many things Louise herself isn't privy to, and this serves to highlight that.

After this we'll be going back to the academy.

Ah, yes, I believe I should comment about this.
It has come to my notice that at least some of you were displeased by the lack of a summoning last chapter. I must say, that is perfectly understendable. I should've been more considerate of all the buildup I created, and the disappointment some of you may have had when it didn't deliver. For that, I apologize.
I'll be sure to consider such things from here on out, and I hope you'll all enjoy it!

See ya next chapter!