Chapter 34

The Girl Named Magnolia

A woman’s high-pitched voice echoed through the quiet library.
Instinctively, I glanced toward the door, where a girl with vibrant silver hair tied into twin tails stood.
She was probably a few years younger than me—perhaps just debuted in high society, or maybe not even yet.

Her eyes darted around, and with sudden conviction, she began climbing the library’s spiral staircase.
The library had an open, atrium-like structure, with stairs leading up to the third floor.
As she marched upward, a woman who seemed to be her maid called out to stop her.

“Please wait, my lady. There are royal guards over there. Likely assigned to the witch. Shall we ask them?”

“…Right.”

The girl, addressed as “my lady,” turned around and descended the stairs with a graceful demeanor, a stark contrast to her earlier haste.

Apparently, she hadn’t noticed anyone nearby.

I, with my unique magic of Presence Concealment, am one thing, but to not notice three royal guards…
She must be really interested in this [witch].
She narrowed her eyes, looking at the guards behind me.

“Ugh, looks like trouble’s here,” Marcus muttered under his breath, not bothering to hide his annoyance.
I whispered back to him.

“…Who is she?”

“Magnolia Everett. The young lady of the Everett Ducal House.”

(Magnolia—)

Magnolia is the name of a flower.
It’s not strange to name someone after it.
But to me, Magnolia was…

(Onee-sama and… Felix-sama’s)

The flower symbolizing their first love, marking their meeting.

She probably didn’t hear my voice.
Unaware of me, she strode forward and stopped in front of Zax.

“Where’s the Witch-sama? If you’re here, that means she’s nearby, right?”

She spoke boldly.

(I’m right here, though…)

Should I speak up and say, “That’s me!”?
But staying silent might only worsen her impression of me.

Just as I was about to respond,

Zax answered flatly, his expression unchanged.

“I have no obligation to answer you.”

“!?”

For some reason, Zax refused to reply.
I looked at him in surprise, but he wasn’t looking my way.

“W-What did you say!?”

As expected, Magnolia’s face turned bright red with anger.
Her twin tails swayed with her movements.

Her vertical curls were impressive.
The twin tails, tied at the sides of her ears, were perfectly coiled.

My hair is pin-straight and resists curling, so I struggled with it back in Tsoabella.
Are those curls natural?
If they’re artificial, I desperately want to learn the technique.
With that oddly earnest thought, I observed her.

She was a few centimeters shorter than me.
But she wore heeled shoes, so she might be even shorter in reality.

Glancing at Marcus, he shrugged as if giving up.
Magnolia, as she was apparently called, fumed and lashed out at Zax.

“You!! How long are you going to keep playing knight!? You’re the son of the Valkyrie Ducal House! I can’t believe His Excellency allows this! You shameless fool!!”

(Oh… she’s quite blunt…)

Despite her petite, delicate appearance, her words were sharp.
But Zax, unfazed, remained expressionless.

“That’s none of your concern, is it?”

With that single line, Magnolia fell silent, at a loss for words.

“~~Fine!! You’re right, it’s none of my business!! So just take me to Witch-sama already! And you, a royal guard assigned to her, are you seriously standing so far from her!? Some knight you are, it’s laughable!!”

“Your voice is too loud. Where’s a lady’s decorum?”

“…Shut up!!”

Magnolia shouted, her face redder than ever.
Like Welno earlier, she was the loudest one here—but glancing at Welno, he just shrugged, looking troubled.
He probably couldn’t reprimand a noble lady.

In this verbal sparring, Zax seemed to have the upper hand.

As Magnolia ran out of retorts, I quietly spoke to her.

“If you’re looking for the Witch of the Tower of Grief—”

I was about to say, “That’s me,” but—

She clearly hadn’t expected someone to be so close.
She whipped around with such force I thought her neck might snap, her crimson eyes wide as if they might spill out—

“Kyaaaa!!”

She let out a scream.

(Well… I figured this would happen…)

I should’ve spoken up sooner.

As I thought this, her body swayed dramatically, clearly startled.
She slipped with a thud.

“—…!!”

Her body tilted sharply.

(She’s going to fall…!!)

I reached out instinctively, but her upper body was already leaning far back.

(I won’t make it…!!)

The royal guards were behind me, and I was in the way of them helping her.
I was the closest to her.