The Kind Older Sister Is No More

It had been four days since Noel and Irene first came to Kreisen Castle. Irene, who came out to see Noel off early in the morning, tied the knot on his cloak and asked with anxiousness.

“You mentioned that you are going into the area of the Snow Forest today, right?”

“Yes, because we found out that the source of the monster emanated from there. There is no reason to waste time.”

“...it’s a monster you are fighting, right?”

Irene said with a gloomy expression in the midst of tying the knot. She learned about monsters back at the academy. Demonic monsters came from a dirty dimension where the dregs were gathered. Therefore, the area where the monsters originally appeared was a shady or hazardous place in most cases. However, Kreisen was a land ruled by the Great Kristen. The crops were always flourishing, and the inhabitants were provided with adequate living conditions. For this reason, the appearance of Kreisen’s demons was unprecedented. Despite knowing that Noel was an excellent swordsman, Irene’s mind could not be at peace when Noel would be fighting such a sinister monster.

“Yes, eliminating the monster is also one of the conditions given to me.”

“...don’t get hurt.”

Unable to stop him, Irene said in a sad voice. Noel answered with a reassuring smile.

“Yes.”

On the other hand, the mercenaries, and the knights, who were listening to their conversation, held back their desire to shout out that the person himself was a much more terrifying human being than a beast. In particular, the mercenaries who had been to all kinds of battlefields and dangerous regions with Noel were well aware that he was just masking his true self. They wished to rip his mask off and show her his true colour. That was how much of a hypocrite he was. Yet, they could not because their life might be at stake, in the worst case, their neck might come flying.

“Then, I will be back.”

With those last words, Noel turned around. Irene stood watching until he disappeared from her sight. When he was no longer visible, she returned to her room. Shortly after arriving at her room, she looked into the sparkling jewel on the ring. As expected, a star rose and was pointing out Noel’s location. These days, this had become her daily routine. After he left, she would go back to her room and observe the rising star. And whenever she had some spare time, she would go to a large vacant lot and practise magic.

It’s still difficult, though…

It was a bit tough to control the power. Parts of the castle’s walls had collapsed because she once exerted too much power. Thus everything ended after that much; she had not yet retried after that incident.

Is it even possible to control it in the first place?

Mulliman did not tell her about the methods of controlling her powers. He simply stated that her powers varied greatly depending on the amount of her inherent mana.

I’m going to try doing some magic again today.

That way she would be able to distinguish each type of power from one another. As Irene was pensive, a maid came in with a knock.

“Duchess, I have brought you tea.”

Irene, looking at the ring, raised her head and said in a soft voice.

“Leave it here and pick it up later, as always.”

“Yes.”

After the maid left, Irene took a sip of tea as usual. She wanted to savour the drink and its scent as much as possible. But Irene suddenly realised that something was off about the tea. Immediately, Irene spat the tea into a nearby vase. Upon witnessing that, Louiselle looked at Irene with a puzzled face. Irene spat out the slightest remaining trace of tea in her mouth into the vase and wiped the edge of her mouth.

“...there’s a sleeping pill in this tea.”

“Pardon? What do you mean…?!”

“I’m sure because it’s the same odour that always haunted Riel’s room.”

It was a smell that she could not help but notice. She had ingrained this scent. It had always followed like the reverberation of Riel. Drunk by the scent, Irene also used to fall asleep hazily, and not only once or twice. Irene’s heart raced ominously.

“Louiselle, I need to go to Noel right now.”

“But Madame, you don’t know where the Lord is, do you?”

“Look at the star on this ring and follow it.”

“All right, please excuse me for a moment.” Louiselle moved quickly toward her master’s standing and swept Irene up into her arms. Everything happened in a blink of an eye; so fast that Irene could not even have time to grasp the situation, let alone to scream. She could only look up at Louiselle with her widened eyes.

“Lou-Louis…”

“There are suspicious people outside the door.”

Upon saying so, Louiselle started measuring the height of the room’s dimension. Irene’s room is on the second floor of the building, of which the structure was composed of a limited number of floors. But the construction itself was so high that it could not be taken lightly. At this rate, the Madame won’t get hurt. She never cared about her injuries in the first place. However, if she hurt herself, she could not protect Irene, so the injuries must be kept to a minimum. Just before jumping off, Louiselle looked down to check on Irene. Irene’s body was shaking out of fear at the sudden progress, but she bit her lower lip not to show it as she clutched Louiselle’s hem. Louiselle looked at Irene silently for a moment. Situations as such were no longer strange to a person like herself. She did not waver in the slightest since she had been on the brink of death countless times. However…

The young Madame will be different.

Contrary to Louiselle, Irene had never experienced a crisis near death. So Louiselle tried to reassure her as much as possible.

“It’s okay. I will risk my life to protect you, so don’t worry too much.”

At Louiselle’s resolute words, Irene looked up at her. She then uttered in a slightly shaky voice.

“Louiselle too…”

“...”

“Louiselle must be safe as well. I will never leave you alone and run away by myself, no matter what happens, so you must be safe and sound if you want to protect me.”

Even in an urgent predicament, Irene was able to deliver such benevolent words and care to the other. Louiselle’s eyes, which had never trembled, began to shake at Irene’s words. She parted her lips as if to say something to her, but closed it again. She then nodded and answered in a stern voice.

“Yes, at all costs…”

After she voiced those strong-willed words, Louiselle threw herself out the window. At the same time, the door to the room swung open and men in black masks broke in. Irene shut her eyes tightly, but she felt no air resistance. It was because Louiselle had wrapped around Irene with her large body. It’s hard and cold. Feeling the presence of the armour behind her maid’s dress, Irene entrusted herself to Louiselle.

Thud!

Finally, both of Louiselle’s legs touched the ground. There was a loud noise, but Louiselle still casually held Irene and started running. She was heading toward a stable. She put Irene on the ride first, and then Louiselle climbed up afterwards. Tumultuous noise was heard from afar, but it gradually got closer and louder. Seemingly, the assassins were chasing right behind their backs. Louiselle quickly unleashed the reins and kicked the horse on the side hard with her heel.

Neigh!

Surprised by the hit, the horse ran and passed through the gate at full speed. “Louiselle, you can keep going straight in this direction.”

“Yes.”

The horse crossed the forest whilst the assassins on horseback constantly pursued them. Holding onto the horse’s neck tightly, Irene took a deep breath and cried out the name of the person whose presence she most craved for right now.

‘Noel!’

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