The courtyard was restored before noon.
The cracked stone sealed.
The soil leveled.
The blood removed.
Only those who had seen it would know a monster had torn space open there.
By midday, they arrived.
Not soldiers.
Not reinforcements.
Inspectors.
Royal mages in layered robes. Palace knights bearing the crest of the crown. Two officials carrying sealed cases of instruments.
Arietta watched from the upper terrace.
"Oh. Researchers."
One of the stationed knights corrected carefully, "Royal investigators."
"Mm. Same thing."
They began immediately.
Barrier diagnostics.
Residual mana extraction.
Ground sampling.
Measurement arrays placed precisely where the tear had formed.
Arietta leaned slightly over the railing.
Curious.
Everything look interesting when you have nothing to do.
———————
By late afternoon, the conclusion was spoken quietly between officials.
"No distortion within barrier structure."
"No foreign summoning traces."
"No ritual circle remains."
"No curse signature."
"Cause unknown."
Silence followed.
Then—
"Then what changed."
It was not asked loudly.
But everyone within range heard it.
And slowly, subtly—
Several gazes turned.
Upward.
Toward the terrace.
Arietta blinked.
"…Oh."
Right.
Her.
Arietta was escorted into a receiving chamber.
No chains.
No hostility.
But no warmth either.
Three officials sat across from her. Two knights stood behind them.
"You arrived shortly before the breach," one official began.
"Yes."
"You identified the creature's weakness."
"Yes."
"You possess knowledge of monsters not recorded in this kingdom."
"Yes."
A pause.
"How."
She answered immediately.
"I'm from another world."
Silence.
One of the knights shifted.
The official stared at her.
"Clarify."
"I'm not from this world," she repeated evenly. "Not another country. Not another region. Another world."
The room went completely still.
"And you expect us to accept that statement."
"No."
She rested her chin lightly on her hand.
"You won't believe it anyway."
Another silence.
The official's gaze sharpened.
"Then why say it."
"Because it's true."
They questioned her for nearly an hour.
About magic.
About summoning methods.
About whether her arrival could have triggered dimensional instability.
"I don't know how to open those tears," she said honestly.
"You deny involvement."
"Yes."
"You deny knowledge of how to replicate the breach."
"Yes."
"You deny intent."
"Yes."
Her answers never changed.
Simple.
Direct.
Unbothered.
When they tried to corner her in contradictions, they found none.
Her mana showed no corruption.
No abnormal fluctuations.
Nothing connected her directly to the tear.
Only timing.
She arrived.
Then it happened.
Suspicious.
But unprovable.
When she was dismissed, the tension in the room had not resolved.
It had only shifted.
Now it was uncertainty.
Klaine returned that evening.
He entered the sitting room without announcement.
"You were questioned."
"Yes."
"What did you tell them."
She looked up at him, calm as ever.
"That I'm from another world."
A pause.
"And."
"And that they wouldn't believe it anyway."
His gaze did not change.
"You were direct."
"You prefer lies?"
"No."
She smiled faintly.
"They didn't find anything."
"I am aware."
"They can't prove anything."
"No."
Silence settled between them.
He studied her.
"You are unusually calm."
"Should I not be?"
"You are the sole variable in an unexplained breach."
She tilted her head.
"But I didn't do anything."
"That does not remove suspicion."
"That's fine."
She leaned back slightly in her seat.
"They can suspect me. I'm still here."
A quiet pause.
He watched her carefully.
Trying to detect deception.
Fear.
Calculation.
There was none.
Only mild curiosity.
Only interest.
As if this were merely another unexpected chapter unfolding.
And he still did not understand her at all.