Once again, Elise dreamed of Andrei.
“Sister, sister! Can you hear my voice?” Initially, it was a desperate plea, compelling Elise to strain against the enveloping darkness toward the source of the echoing voice.
“Can you hear me, Andrei? Don’t stop talking, I want to hear your voice…” Elise implored. She exerted every ounce of strength to navigate through the oppressive blackness. Eventually, the curtain of darkness lifted, allowing light to flood in. In this newfound clarity, Elise discovered her younger brother standing in an unfamiliar room, dragging his left ankle and appearing disoriented.
Andrei came to an abrupt halt, seemingly oblivious to Elise’s presence. His head lowered, and he struggled to contain his tears for an extended moment.
“Magic… you have to control the magic, Elise. I left a magic seal on your body to conceal your powers from him. Yet, it seems like your magic keeps seeping through…”
“What does that mean? Explain it more…!” Elise attempted to approach him, but darkness swiftly engulfed her once again.
Consciousness surged, as if caught in the tumultuous embrace of a roaring whirlwind. Elise blinked open her eyes, abruptly awakening to find herself on an unoccupied bed. She drew in a deep breath, her gaze sweeping the surroundings. The man who had shared the night with her had vanished, leaving behind a palpable void that hung in the air. Yet, an unexpected presence replaced his absence.
“This is…”
The aged and narrow bed found itself enveloped by luminous white lines. These lines meandered, twisted, and interwove over the bed’s pristine surface, gradually forming an expansive magic circle. It dawned on Elise that she was lying within the intricate pattern of that very magic circle.
Only then did comprehension dawn upon her. The unbridled energy that had surged forth was the unrestrained flow of her magical power.
“Did Rezette sense this…?” she pondered aloud. If so, perhaps Andrei’s cryptic words were a directive to contain her magic within, preventing it from being siphoned by Rezette any longer.
Summoning her strength, Elise struggled to rise, the blanket beneath her damp with her efforts. A translucent golden energy draped over her skin like a delicate veil, adorned with reddish stains. The lines composing the magic circle extended gently from the ethereal shroud of that magical power. Elise bit her lip and resolutely pressed her hand against her skin.
I don’t need Sameshita’s magic right now.
The sheet on the bedside remained immaculately dry, and uncertainty lingered about when Rezette might return.
As if sensing Elise’s reluctance, the graceful undulation of magic gradually permeated her body. The once-defined magic circle that adorned the bed began to blur and eventually dissipated entirely. Fortunately, it appeared manageable once Elise acknowledged her control over her magical power.
Only then did the tension dissipate. Exhausted, Elise allowed herself to collapse onto the sheet, disregarding her nakedness.
“He probably didn’t witness this scene, did he…?” she mused aloud, her gaze wandering to the curtain-covered window that bathed the room in soft sunlight. Elise clutched the cold blanket, drawing it around her as her posture shifted, revealing a trickle of warmth down the inside of her thigh.
It didn’t take long for Elise to recognize the unfamiliar, slippery substance. Her face flushed crimson with memories from the night before, accompanied by a strange sense of discomfort.
This… did it happen like this before…? Something felt distinctively different.
Rezette, in an unbroken pattern, refrained from immediately disengaging physically even after their relationship had concluded. Whether he relished lingering in the afterglow or harbored an aversion to wasting even a single vestige of their connection remained ambiguous.
Consistently, without deviation, he tenaciously attended to Elise. He meticulously cleansed her long after she succumbed to slumber and took his time adorning her, remaining steadfastly by her side until her reawakening. On days when residual sentiments lingered, he occasionally forwent his own ablutions, choosing to stay beside her as she slept.
Nevertheless, Rezette wasn’t one to abandon the vulnerable Elise to fulfill his obligations, unless an urgent matter demanded his immediate attention while she rested.
Just as Elise pondered this, a vigorous knock echoed through the closed door from the other side.
“My Lady!”
It was Ivetsa’s urgent voice. Elise hastily drew the blanket around herself just as Ivetsa burst into the room.
“What’s happening?”
“It’s not the time for this. Something significant has occurred.”
Ivetsa lifted Elise with a distressed expression, her hands trembling as she dressed Elise.
“You should come down. Outside, right now… His Grace, the Grand Duke…”
“What’s happened to Rezette?”
“He’s personally overseeing a public execution. Your Highness, it seems you should intervene.”
“Public execution? Who…?” The fear etched across Ivetsa’s face alerted Elise that something gravely amiss was unfolding. In an instant, sleep was banished from Elise’s senses. She hastily rose and flung open the window, inviting the biting morning air from the north to sting her face.
