I watched as the petal dropped on the water. It floated on the surface. I focused on its colour, trying to classify it in my brain. It would be nice if I'd known what kind of flower the petal originated in. I had been holding back from going crazy about plants in this world. I've already done enough damage with my drastic change of personality. I didn't want to make it worse. Still, I yearned to feed my botanist side with all these unknown plants and flowers.
The banquet was just as expected. It was a gathering among the nobility where everyone seemed to be in a competition of who's richer. They wore extremely expensive outfits paired with pricey accessories. Their talk bored me to death. So, I cleared away from them and stood by the fountain, watching petals fall on the water from above. Evi was entertaining the guests just like how she was supposed to as a princess. I didn't want to bother her.
"Greetings, Ms Resse." a woman's voice sounded beside me. I looked at my side and saw a woman older than me. I knew her. Well, the Resse of this world knew her. She was the magician that sent me that pain in the ass grimoire. Ms Ho. I wished to add an E at the end of her name because I had a small grudge on her.
"Greetings, Ms. Ho." I forced a smile. "How are you?"
"I'm fine, thanks for asking. How about you? I heard that you hurt your hand because of my grimoire." She had the audacity to smile. I had this hunch that she might be pleased to see that I was hurt. Suddenly, the grimoire she sent was actually a plot to make me suffer. I wouldn't be surprised. Resse wasn't really well liked anyway.
"It's healing fine." I replied.
"Oh? Really?" She eyed my still bandaged hand. "I thought for sure her highness would have healed it for you by now."
"I can handle it. There's no need for her to use her power." I could tell that she was trying to be condensing toward me.
"I'm sure you can handle it, Ms. Resse. It's a bit surprising, is all." She sipped her glass of wine arrogantly.
"Why is that surprising if I may ask?" I started to get annoyed.
"Well, her highness surely doesn't want her fiancée to endure such an injury. I thought her highness will heal you immediately. Maybe I misunderstood something." She smirked slightly. I could see her ass of a fake concerned face.
"Ms Ho, surely you will understand the situation where you don't want to burden your partner. You are married, surely you understand?" This was a low blow but she left me no choice. The way her face fell was worth it. She cleared her throat awkwardly.
"Was married, Ms Resse. I believe you've known about it for a while." She corrected me.
"Ah, my apologies, Ms. I forgot." Yes I could be a jerk too if I want to.
"Well, it's fine. Hm.. I should talk to the others as well. Excuse me." She left immediately. I smiled in satisfaction and continued looking at the fountain. Finally, peace.
"You handled that quite well, Ms Resse." Another voice disturbed my immersion in watching the petals drop. I forced a smile and turned to look at him. If I remembered correctly, he was another member of the council. He was probably the youngest among the other members. He was looking quite youthful, probably in his mid 30s or something.
"Is this a new hobby of the council members? Eavesdropping on the ladies' conversation." I said.
"It was unintentional. I just happened to walk by. I wanted to interrupt because she was being quite rude. However, you didn't even need my help." He explained with a hint of amusement. I didn't know what was so amusing about my conversation with that woman.
"Oh I see." I didn't know what else to say.
"You're mellowing down lately." He said suddenly. I looked at him weirdly. "It's not a bad thing, I suppose. If I can be honest, I might have disagreed with the way you behave before. These changes in you are welcoming, Ms Resse. Keep it up."
"You don't have to tell me that. I'm not seeking validation from you or any member of the council or from anyone else. These changes you see are due to my own violation. I want to change for the sake of Princess Evi. That's all." I clarified. I didn't like it when he assumed that I might be happy to be told something like that from him. He assumed wrong. I didn't give a shit about anyone else thinking.
"I guess you're really turning on a new leaf." This time it was more sincere.
"Well then, if you excuse me." I lowered my head at him before walking away. Staying there probably invited more unwanted people to talk to me.
The council had been annoyingly keeping their eyes on me. They were never this watchful in Resse's memory. They usually just ignored Resse's existence and only talked to her when they wanted to warn her about something. Mostly involving Resse's extreme control toward Evi or when Resse overused Evi's healing power. They showed no interest in her. However, lately, some of them striked a conversation with me if we happened to come across each other at the royal palace. Also, I noticed some of their men lingered around watching me. What the hell did they want with me? I would be more grateful if they just straight up ignored me. When I tried to tell this to Evi, she just brushed it off saying that it was a good thing. I didn't understand which part of being stalked was good.
"Ms Resse!" Theo came running toward me. From his panic face, that couldn't be a good news. Just when I thought I could finally find peace. Ugh.
"What's wrong?"
"Someone broke into the lab.." He told me, struggling to catch his breath.
"Hah?" My eyes widened in horror. There were so many precious items in the magic lab. That was not good.
I immediately went to the door, wanting to leave the banquet. To hell with being rude or unruly. If anything was stolen from the magic lab, it would be very bad. Theo followed closely behind me. When we were out of the hall, I teleported us into the lab. It was a big mess. Whoever that intruder was, they weren't being subtle with their entry. They must be incredibly cocky that they won't get caught or just extremely stupid.
I walked around, trying to remember the position of everything inside the lab. I walked a long the shelves and stopped when the glass case housing the sacred dagger was empty. I pursed my lips in frustration. Out of anything else, they picked the most troublesome one to steal.
"Ms Resse?" Theo called.
"The Sacred Dagger is missing. Anything else went missing?" I said.
"Everything else is accounted for." Theo was queasy.
"What's happening?" A male voice echoed from the doorway. We turned to look at him. Another member of the council.
"Someone broke into the lab." I replied.
"How could this happen? Explain yourself Ms Resse." He demanded.
"Yes, I will explain myself after I caught the culprit. Please excuse me." I purposely exit through the door so that I could pushed him out of my way. Yes, I was petty like that. I could've just teleported away but it was more satisfying to do that I guess.
"Ms Resse!" He called but I ignored him.
Here was the thing, I could track down the dagger and it pissed me off that the culprit still had the audacity to linger around at the ongoing banquet. Cocky bastard. I improved the security of the magic lab recently. Given how neglectful original Resse was, I took it upon myself to put extra layer of protection around the lab. I put a tracking spell on each items in the lab. So that, even if they are taken, I could always track them down. Well, I didn't expect that the culprit could broke through the protective charm on the door so easily though. Teleportation shouldn't be possible inside the lab while that charm was still active. When I teleported directly inside the lab, it was already an obvious giveaway that the charm was broken. Whoever that person was, they were a skilful magician.
I arrived at the banquet and immediately started looking for the bastard. I saw Evi first before spotting the thief. Her face brightened up as she saw me. I wanted to return the smile but I saw someone was walking right toward her from behind. I felt the dagger was with him. Oh my.
I acted on a whim. Without thinking twice, I casted a full body chain on that bastard. He immediately froze, and fell to the floor. Evi flinched and turned around to see what was happening. I clenched my hands so hard that my injured hand started bleeding again. I was furious so the pain didn't register to me yet. I swiftly made my way toward the bastard that was struggling on the floor. Everyone was looking at the scene, even the music had stopped.
"What's happening?" Evi asked loudly.
I grabbed the bastard by his collar and snatched the dagger from under his sleeve. His eyes widened, probably didn't expect that I would find it so soon. Evi gasped behind me.
"Well? Guards? What are you waiting for? Why aren't you capturing him yet? He tried to assassinate the princess!" I demanded angrily. "Before I burn his ass right here right now."
"Resse, calm down." Evi told me. The guards quickly on the move. The grabbed the man and dragged him out from the hall.
Evi took charge and controlled the restless crowd. She declared the banquet to end and asked the guests to remain in the hall until they were sure the threat truly gone. Everyone complied to Evi's command. Evi and the members of the council brought me into a separate room so that I could explain the situation. I told them what happened.
"This is surely a negligence from the Royal Sorcerer. How could the Sacred Dagger could be easily stolen?" The same old man that showed up at the lab a while ago spoke up, leering at me. I wanted to quip back to insult his bald head but caught myself in time. I was being childish.
"It's not so easily stolen as you may claim it, elder." I responded calmly. I lifted the dagger to show them. Evi looked at it intently.
"That's a fake one." She declared. Of course, being a royal blood that she was. She could easily tell the genuine one. The council members were astonished.
"Do you honestly think that I would let a dagger of such important to be on display in my lab?" I glared at the bald old man who was scowling at me. "I put up a proxy. The real one is securely hidden."
"Still, how did someone manage to break into your lab so easily?"
"Before you start questioning me. Maybe I should start questioning the lack of security around her highness? How can someone among the guest was able to hid a dagger under their sleeve and if I wasn't there in time, what could've happened?" I retorted.
"Don't shift the blame now." He sighed heavily.
"You're missing the point, elder. How could you think that Princess Evi's safety is a second from someone broke into my lab?" I threw a dagger glare at him. He avoided my eyes. I wished I could just throw the dagger in my hand at him.
"What Ms Resse said is true, Dalahan. How could you be more concern over the lab than her highness safety?" The youngest of the council members spoke up.
"Well, the assassination attempt wouldn't happen if Ms Resse was responsible enough to secure her lab." The bald old man wasn't going to give up. I knew his name was Dalahan after it was mentioned but out of my pettiness, he would always be bald old man for me.
"Any attempt would've failed immediately if the security around her highness tight enough. The bastard is an idiotic thief and a reckless scoundrel. To think that such person almost did it speaks volume at how much care you put in the security." I argued.
"You're turning this into a blaming game!" He accused. He was running out of thing to retort to me.
"Yes, I admit that I was being careless to let someone break into my lab." I stated.
"You're being too harsh on her Dalahan. The only female member of the council said. "I think you're forgetting it was Ms Resse herself that saved her highness. How come you're not acknowledging that first?"
"That.. Well, this whole thing was still her fault." Honestly, he played the blaming game more than I did.
"You can punish me. I admit my mistake."
"Hold it." Evi spoke up finally. "Resse, what kind of protection do you put in your lab?"
"I casted protective charm on the doors and windows. For extra precaution, I put replicas for every magical item displayed in the lab and hid the real ones somewhere. I even embedded a tracking spell on each of the replicas. In case any of them is taken, I can always track it down."
"So that's how you were able to detect the dagger so easily on that person." Evi nodded in understanding. "Also, protective charm is a powerful spell. Only a few individuals in this country are skillful enough to undo it. Surely, casting such a spell is already enough to ensure the safety of the lab. Don't you think so? The same spell is applied for the royal palace, is it not?"
"Yes, your highness." The council replied at the same time. That felt practised.
"Resse has been performing well enough, don't you think?" Evi questioned, looking at the members of council. Most of them were terse. What was happening?
"But your highness.." The bald old man was relentless.
"Enough. She passed, right?" Evi gave him a stern look. Even though I wasn't the one receiving it I had goosebumps. Evi when she was serious was kind of intimidating.
"Yes." They murmured. Evi looked satisfied and proud.
"Now, how about you all explain what's happening and apologise to Resse." Evi said.
"Ms Resse, today's occasion was actually a test we prepared for you." The man with white hair said, representing the rest of the council. I kept my face emotionless. I was feeling quite annoyed. "Princess Evi claimed that you've changed and turned a new leaf. We wanted confirmation whether you truly had changed. Hence, we arranged all this farce as an assessment."
"A test for what?" I asked.
"A test to see how responsible you are and.." He paused, checking if it was safe to continue. I didn't show any reaction. "Sane."
"I see." I said in monotone. I felt like I was being played around. It wasn't a pleasant spot.
"We want to extend our apology, Ms Resse. We know this is uncalled for and rude. However, as the council we just want to make sure." At least that sounded sincere. Well, except the bald old man that was still looking disgruntled.
"I will accept the apology under one condition." I responded. They perked up. "Stop spying on me. I don't like to be constantly watched. Now that I convinced all of you that I've changed, you can stop it right?"
"Well, we'll do just that." They agreed. Good, I could finally have my peace.
The council members left the room a few minutes later and it was just Evi and me left in the room. The tension disappeared and I felt tired and sore. I took a deep breath and went to the armchair and sat down. I winced in pain and looked at my hand. Oh my, I might have to go to the medical bay to get it treated. The blood was seeping into the bandage. Evi came to my side, looking guilty.
"Sorry. They are really persistent to do the test. You must be so upset." She said meekly.
"It's fine. I just.. Well, yes, I'm upset. Damn it, this is really frustrating." I leaned against the seat and closed my eyes. My anger from before flared up again.
"Sorry."
"No, don't say sorry. I'm not angry at you. I'm just angry at those annoying old men."
"I know you don't like them but, they're still the council." She smiled weakly.
"I know. Sorry." I frowned and looked away, clutching my bleeding hand close to me.
"You still won't allow me to heal it?" She was hovering near me, hesitant to touch. Probably because she knew I wasn't in a good mood and didn't want me to feel crowded.
"I can handle it!" I didn't mean to snap but I did. I was just too sensitive at the moment. My mind and feelings all jumbled up. I felt like a jerk. Evi looked hurt but didn't say anything. "I'm sorry.."
"No, I understand."
I couldn't handle it and stood up to hug her. I didn't mean to take out my anger on her. I was behaving like the original Resse that couldn't control her temper and took it out on Evi. I felt so terrible. She didn't deserve it. She held me back, burying her face on my chest. I exhaled, trying to calm down.
"I shouldn't take it out on you. I'm so sorry."
"Stop. Stop apologising." She mumbled out. "I understand that you're angry, Resse."
The hug lasted for a while before I finally pulled away. I felt a lot better and when all the adrenaline died down, the pain from the cursed wounds flared up like electricity just zapped me. My face paled but I did my best to stay calm. Evi studying my expression with a frown.
"You know, you don't have to act tough." She mused. "Come on, let's get you to the medical bay."