Arriving at the townhouse, we were greeted by the servants. I immediately asked the Butler to arrange treatment for Cassius.
While I was talking with the Butler, Adel leaned close to me, whispering.
"How about that guard, My Lady?" She gestured subtly toward Milo, who was lingering by the entrance.
"I don't really care much about him now," I dismissed. "Just tell him to do whatever he wants."
Adel nodded silently and walked over to him.
Meanwhile, two footmen helped Cassius walk, with Valerie supporting his other side. They took him to the living room and laid him down gently on a plush couch. The Butler informed me that a physician was already on the way.
I checked on Cassius. His bruises were turning a nasty shade of purple, but he was conscious.
Honestly, I wanted to know about this Transmutation thing. What Valerie had whispered to me at the training grounds had shaken me. The Royals had tried to set up Adel.
I looked down at Cassius. "There is something I want to know from you, Cassius. The first time you saw Adel's Black Transmutation, you said Black and White Transmutations are rare. Can you tell me about these two? Why did Valerie say the training ground wanted Adel to show it?"
Cassius groaned and tried to sit up, but Valerie and I both put hands on his shoulders to stop him.
"You can tell me while you're lying down," I insisted.
Cassius settled back into the cushions, staring at the ceiling. "Some people say Transmutation is a gift or a curse from divine beings... The five stages I told you about—Green, Yellow, Orange, Red, Blue—are achievable for normal people. They can be gained through intense training or heritage."
He paused, breathing heavily. "BUT... the Transmutation your maid has is a special one. Even the existence of people who have these Transmutations is believed to be zero. Myths. So when I saw your maid manifest it, I couldn't believe my eyes."
He glanced at Valerie. "Valerie was lucky that time in the tavern. She immediately gave up. If she had tried to fight your maid with her own Transmutation, she would be dead in a second. You saw it, right? How your maid easily swept an entire band of bandits without using Transmutation? Even I couldn't defeat them like that."
His voice dropped lower. "Black and White cannot be achieved with just training. Normal people like me and Valerie, or even the woman who beat me at the training ground, can never achieve that stage."
"Why?" I asked.
"You need to ask that of your maid... or the person who raised and trained her."
The person who trained and raised Adel was Mother.
Was it Mother who gave Adel the Black Transmutation? Or did Adel already have it when Father found her?
Cassius turned his head to look at me directly. "Tell me the truth!!! How many people have you seen that have these Transmutations?"
"For now," I answered slowly, "I just know two people who have Black Transmutation. And I have seen them fight each other."
Cassius and Valerie both gasped.
"Fight each other???" Cassius asked, eyes wide.
"They fought each other without the Transmutation at first. But when they finally used it, the fight was disturbed by a White Dagger that pierced the ground... and they immediately stopped."
"A White Dagger?" Valerie whispered. "Who threw it?"
"I don't know about that."
Suddenly, the servant announced that the physician had arrived.
"Great," I said, standing up. "You may treat this man here. I shall leave him to you."
Before I left the room, Cassius grabbed the edge of my sleeve.
"I have two pieces of advice for you," he rasped. "First, don't let people know about the Black Transmutation of your maid. And second... this one is for you... don't ever get away from your maid."
I understood the first advice, but the second one raised a question.
"Why do I need to stay close to Adel?"
"It is for your own good."
I looked at him for a moment. "I will take your advice. Just take your time to recover."
I exited the room. Adel was waiting right outside the door like a shadow.
Further down the hall, I saw Milo leaning against the wall, arms crossed. As I passed him to head toward the stairs, he just stared at me. My gut told me he had listened to every word of my conversation with Cassius.
I went up to the second floor and entered my room.
As I walked toward the desk, Adel closed the door softly and spoke from behind me. Her voice was chillingly calm.
"Do you want me to take care of Milo, My Lady?"
I stopped dead in my tracks. I turned around slowly. This was the first time she had ever suggested something so… permanent.
"What do you mean by 'taking care of him', Adel?"
"You know that I don't need to explain it to My Lady," she said, her expression blank. "I can make it clean and secret."
"I don't need you to do that."
"But he listened to everything. You talked with Cassius about the Transmutations."
"Just let it go."
"What will happen if he reports it to the Queen?"
"Let him report it," I said firmly. "But there is something I want to know from you, Adel."
Adel stiffened slightly. "Is it about my Transmutation, My Lady?"
"Yes. I want to know about that."
"Forgive me, but I can't tell you about that... without Madam's permission."
I walked toward her until I was standing right in front of her. "Why do I need my mother's permission? Are you not my maid? You shall answer my question, and you shall obey me."
Adel lowered her head. "My Lady should know about all of this. But even though I am your maid and your servant, His Grace and Madam are the ones who are above all of this."
"So Mother is the one who made you have that Transmutation??"
Adel just stood there, lips sealed tight.
Seeing her unwillingness to answer, I sighed in frustration and walked away from her.
"Enough of today. I want to be alone. You may leave the room."
Adel bowed and reached for the door handle.
"Wait, Adel!!" I called out. "About Milo. I want you to leave him alone. Inform me when it is dinnertime. Now you shall leave."
Adel nodded and slipped out.
When the door clicked shut, I immediately sat at the desk. I pulled the reddish book from the drawer.
There were two names I needed to research: Lady Clara and Lady Hillaria.
I turned page after page. Finally, I found their names.
Lady Hillaria was from the Antia Family, a lineage focused on military campaigns. The Antia family was one of the "Five Royal Swords." In the book, Lady Hillaria was described as quiet and deadly—her obsession with treats and tea time was a facade that made Aurelia feel deceived.
I shivered. In this reality, I thought she was a potential ally, but her family was a Royal Sword. Her fealty was to the Royal Family, not to me.
Lady Clara was from the Aliena Family. Her family was on a different path. While the Antia family focused on military might, the Aliena family focused on influence and intrigue. They were not part of the Five Royal Swords, but their work was perhaps worse. Blackmailing, intimidation, kidnapping—these were the tools of the Aliena trade. They spread hooks throughout the Kingdom, waiting for nobles to bite.
I leaned back in my chair.
There was one problem in this book versus my reality: the meeting between us. In the book, the meeting happened in the Grand Ballroom at the party—the party that would happen in two weeks.
Again, the book's timeline was different from the real world. The names and affiliations were correct, but the events were shifting. In the book, I was assigned to the Chancery, not the Arch-Treasury.
How was this different? Did my fate become twisted in a different direction because of my awareness? It was like someone—or some divine being—had twisted the narrative. Or perhaps everything in the book was not an absolute prophecy, but a rough draft.
So I didn't need to follow everything in the book.
...…
Date: 761 NE-07-14
A new day began.
Adel woke me up as usual. Everything proceeded normally, from the morning routine to breakfast.
Everyone gathered in the dining hall. Cassius looked much better; the physician's treatment had worked wonders. I told him to stay at the townhouse to recover fully, but he insisted on coming with me.
Milo had arrived early again, waiting in the living room.
I walked into the living room to meet him. He stood up immediately.
"There are some changes from yesterday," he announced without preamble.
Hearing that, I knew he had reported our conversation to the Queen.
"First of all," Milo said, pulling a letter from his coat, "the Captain of the training ground delivered an apology letter to you about what happened yesterday."
He handed me the letter. I glanced at the seal, then passed it to Adel without opening it.
"Give this to Cassius," I instructed.
Adel nodded and left the room.
Milo continued. "Second, about your maid…"
I braced myself, preparing to argue against them separating us.
"...She will keep staying with you in the Palace."
"WHAT!!" I gasped.
They didn't want to separate me from Adel? Instead, they wanted to keep her closer?
"What do you mean by staying with me in the Palace?" I asked suspiciously. "I heard that servants could only stay in the garden. Is that the case?"
"No," Milo said evenly. "Your maid has been granted access and permission to stay with you in every corner of the Palace."
What is going on here? Why did they suddenly do that?
"Third," he went on, "about your two guards. They have also been granted access to the Palace like your maid, so they can stay beside you."
He paused, looking me in the eye. "Because of this, you are no longer under Royal Surveillance. So my order to stay with you until dusk will no longer exist."
No restriction on Adel, Cassius, and Valerie. And now, they dismissed the surveillance on me.
Surely there was something behind all of this.
We stood up and walked to the front entrance. The carriage was waiting.
Because Milo was no longer watching me, he mounted his horse to leave immediately. Before he spurred his horse, he looked down at me one last time.
"Keep staying with your maid, My Lady!!"
With that cryptic warning, he galloped away.
I found his words baffling.
In a few seconds, Adel returned, followed by Cassius and Valerie. I informed them of everything.
Adel's face darkened immediately. "My Lady, do you want me to inform home about this?"
"Why do I need to inform Mother and Father about this?"
"Because it is weird, My Lady," Adel insisted. "They surely can't do all of this without any reason, unless they have something plotted behind all of this."
"You are just being paranoid, Adel," I sighed. "Surely there will be no harm in these changes. It is not so urgent that we need to ask for help from home. There are you, Cassius, and Valerie here."
I gestured to the carriage. "Let's just depart for the Palace."
I climbed inside the carriage. The others took their places on the bench.
We set off.