With the hall still, finally empty, Jade was breathing for the first time after a while.

This thing had happened too fast for her to think.
She, liking it or not, was under the shock.
She really wished to not be so frightened and troubled by all of this, but her heart didn't follow and clamped at each pound.
She was shivering from the scalp to the smallest fingernail on her feet, and her knees felt like they were made in clay, although she was sitting.
Vomiting should have been enough for an anxious reaction, why did her body need to shook this way.

She wasn't built to meet a psychopath and murderer on a physical and mental level.

Yet, who was he?

The boy who had approached in the library was likely of another kingdom.
With the number of occasions of Menless getting sun being counted on the fingers of a hand, a tan skin could only come either from the south or from an extraordinary secret marriage, fellows of the south not even allowed for political problems to quit their native territory.

War raged there.
Narosi and Mirut, the two biggest kingdoms of Telin, fought for Soulo; kingdom of the holy Land.
That was what the main story told.
Little did anybody know that Soulo was the actual mastermind behind this war, planning to bring down both kingdoms and conquer their territory at the same time.
This problem only to be resolved in the sequel.

Anyway, dark hair and dark skin were uncommon, certainly, but magic was even less usual.
This boy had teleported himself in front of her, abnormal for a citizen of a disinclined magic kingdom.

Conclusion, he was definitely a foreigner.

But why would a foreigner, of the south particularly, be a murderer? North Territory clearly had advantages in terms of the numbers and tacticians. Engaging conflict would definitely be a drawback on their side.
Plus, if he was a magician, he was tied to the magical kingdom of Yka, where magicians were transcribed, and, consequently, all a little controlled.

Such a complex problem couldn't pop into her life without damages.
Jade needed to get rid of it.

He was a magician.
That sentence echoed in her brain.
That psychopath could be her future killer.
How could she do anything, if he was in another country and protected by higher-ups?

Ugh, she'll need to think 'bout that later.
Her adrenaline progressively fell down, catapulting to her the tiredness she buried deep down before.

Who died?
High chance it was a noble, but who was the unlucky one?
Not one of her siblings... right?

Her father was having another chatter with newly arrived guards. Their uptight expression resumed it all. A corpse had really been found.

She made a tentative of expulsing all her problems away with a sigh, although it was vain, and rose from the first step of the silvered spiral staircase in the corner of the imperial hall.

Was Vilma emotionally alright with all those events?
And if one of her siblings had been the victim?
Will she be able to help Xander with all those obstacles in her infiltration?

She dragged herself to the circle of adults, her force seemingly running away from her body.

Why all those problems? Jade didn't have energy for all of this. If she had had a bed, she'd lie down and get up three days later, or so was her impression.

"Gentlemen, was the corpse found?" She appeared near them, the voice small and gentle, not because she wanted it like this, but because she didn't have energy to make it powerful.

Disŝiri, her father, and two other men turned around as if they had a hallucination.

"Small one, go get some rest. I'll be right back." Sir Dad began.

"Yes, Princess," Disŝiri endorsed, "following your father's advice would be best."

Yeah, children are excluded from any important activity.
But for once, she wasn't going to fight back.

Her mind was really starting to get messy again.
And the world was also starting to feel heavy.

The murder could find her somewhere else, hoping none of her siblings were involved.

"I guess I shall follow your recommendations..."
She yawned as her father called someone.

"Get some rest, small one."*

Our girl felt lifted off the floor as she wondered where Ian was.

"And the others...?" she rubbed her right eye.

"They're good. Let's sleep now." Someone taller than Sir Dad had a familiar voice.

Still, Jade didn't care who it was, she just thanked Galia with all her heart and a poor nod.

She glanced to see Benjamin holding her with both of his arms.
She loosened, smiling, before she temporarily shut her eyes.

●●●

The clock she hadn't seen before was ticking in the left corner of the bedroom.
Two o'clock.
She had slept like a baby for ten hours straight.

Jade sat slowly, her head still numb and fuzzy, as she saw the bunny.

"Slept well?"

She just responded to Spirot with a nod.

"Great. Cause I have loads of things to tell you." It started its tirade, leaping to get closer to her on the bed. "I locked the library as you told me until the guards arrival. They didn't see me, of course, but I followed them just to make sure they didn't ruin the crime scene. The corpse was the Duke of Bjørn, head of the fourth duchy of Menless. I have no idea what his role was, but the news of his death seemed pretty severe for your father. He cried... so he was maybe a close friend."

The Duke of Bjørn had been the closest friend her father had.
In the story, he had been the one you convinced her father to marry her mother.
So, Hollis Bjørn was the one she had to thank for being born.
But no matter how often Jade saw him, it was always from afar.

"Secondly, your mom and brother, Xander, have departed..."

"WHAT?"

So it wasn't just a joke or a dumb thing Lord Ulv said to distract her?

"They departed from the harbor while you were sleeping soundly in Benjamin's arms." Spirot floated to her, cocking his head like to say 'sorry' or half of the word at least.

So they were way too far away for Jade to join them.
She had failed her plan, and Xander will have to marry without love... How horrible was that?
Her beloved and kind brother tied to someone unknown forever. If she had been with them at least, she could have done something, but now it was useless. I'm useless for them. How could they love me? Nobody loves nobody if they're nothing.

"Stop blaming yourself, friend." The rabbit spoke.

"And stop reading my mind." She retorted, rubbing and hiding her eyes with all her might. "I failed everything BECAUSE I'VE SLEPT. LIKE WHAT THE—"

"STOP!"

She frowned. "No, I won't stop. Is there a way for me to join them?"

Spirot nodded as they both knew there was. "Teleportation but—"

"Teach me."

"What?" The bunny shrieked like she had made the maddest proposition ever. "Jade, I can't!"

"Why?" Her glower hardened.

"Because magic isn't a thing you learn," it warily shook its head, "it's a thing you imagine, you feel."

Great, give me even more information.

"No need to be sarcastic, friend." It glowered back. "You always have to visualize what you want to do." The rabbit laid on his back on thin air.
"To teleport, imagine the place, the people. To invocate, imagine the object that you want. To attack, visualize the power, the form and material of your strike. Etcetera."

"Nice, so I imagine mother and I will be there?" Jade beamed at that idea.

"Yes but no." The spirit shrugged, pushing her back into the bed as she tried to wriggle out of it. "I think that if you went with them, you couldn't do much."

She glared once again. "And what am I meant to do then?"

"Nothing."

It was a cold shower to her.
With the chills, the hairs raising on the skin, and the sudden awareness of all the veins snaking under her skin.

She couldn't neither make Xander and his fiancée fall in love nor stop the marriage since Lumurus needed it.
She didn't resist a loud sigh.
Spirot was right.

"I think it's a better thing you are here." It said again, an odd slyness creeping in its tone.

"Why?" She tossed out with thorn.

The rabbit smirked, smug smile on the lips. "Because a murder is way funnier than romance."

She looked at it.
It looked at her.
And they burst out of laughter, chasing the dark clouds on her mind away.

"Yeah, sure that being a ten-year-old detective is better..." Jade said in her last chuckles.

"Of course it is!" Spirot huffed in-between laughter. "You'll be better here than there."

"Better for what?" She whined. "I'm excluded from the investigation AND I'm not allowed to go to the library since Sir Dad will surely follow Mom's will. What will I do? Sip some tea with scones?"

The spirit watched her complain with a soulless smile.
"Your short-term memory is so bad, friend. You forgot about your personal servant choosing or what?"

"Well, I did forgot." She attested to the rabbit, patting it on the head for the occasion.
Jade got up on her bare feet, the cold feeling of the tiling hurrying across her whole body.
"But in my defense, Xander's problem was kind of big on the mind."
She hurried to desk.
"Let's do it right now."

"Eh?" Spirot took out after processing the information.

"Let's infiltrate the servants' quarters." She announced with a beam.

"B-but, now?" Spirot's eyes were ready to fall out. "In the middle of the night?"

"Yes." She took her pencil and began to write.

Dear Father,
With Mom's departure and the recent murder, all my condolences for this matter, you surely have enough problems to handle.
On the other hand, I need some time to breathe.
The palace being the scene of so much trouble isn't helping to ease any of my tensions. Hence, I decided to join a girl I met on my past journey out of the castle.
To reassure you, this girl knows nothing of my identity, and I'm close enough to come back by my two own feet.
All you need to remember is that I'm safe and not far away.
Please focus on the other matters.
Best regards,
Your daughter,
Jade fra Menløs

"Why lying like that?" Spirot asked, clearly doubting the utility of the sham, as it read the letter.

"Because everyone knows everything as soon as the emperor knows." Jade leaned back in her seat with a frown plastered on the face.

"Example?"

"The finalization of the magic pistols, eight hundred forty-five."

"Well, it was—"

"A confidential matter. The emperor and empress dispute, eight hundred forty-eight."

"But it wasn't—"

"Important, I know. But it's to prove you that everything is known here, willingly or not, sooner or later."

Spirot slumped on the desk as she folded the dry letter.
"Guess you're right. But lying isn't perhaps the best option."

"It is, Spirot. And believe me, it's not my favorite option either, but if my act had to last more than a week, which I hope not, at least he won't indirectly inform anyon—"

If Jade's mind was a wheelwork, we could have seen the mechanism activate in front of us.
Thanks to Spirot, a new idea emerged.

"Wait. You're correct, Spirot." She said, rolling into a ball the past paper she had written on with energy. "I won't lie."

"Then you'll do what?" The rabbit's brows flew up or something like that since surprise was all over its face.

"I'll hide."

●●●

The finely ended letter folded perfectly on the desk; Jade stood up determinedly, causing the spirit to jolt.

"So, Spirot, how do I change my appearance?" She beamed, pride and excitement boiling in her veins.

"I don't know." It shrugged. "Makeup, maybe?"

The frown of Jade was enough to pull him back to reality.

"If you want to change yourself with magic, you have to visualize how you'll look afterwards."

Jade imagined characters every day, it could be easy. Thus, she visualized.
An average girl with boring black hair and eyes, flat and tall. Clear skin contrasting with the hair but not too much. Nothing special like scars of freckles, just normal.

"And what's next?" She asked, spinning to it.

The bunny mysteriously floated to the center of the room. "Stand here and imagine yourself transforming."

The girl's long stare was the only answer heard.
"You want me to be a magical girl?"

"A what?"

Oh, it didn't have all the refs.

Well, it didn't matter if it knew or not; she was going for the most luscious transformation.
"OK, let's do this!" She burst.

In an unexpected and excited movement, she extended her right arm, then her left arm, to finish in a T-position in the middle of her bedroom, waiting for something to happen under Spirot's intrigued look.

Nothing happened.

Really? Why magic could be so annoying? Like, when you need it, there's none, but when you don't, there's plenty!

When she thought that, a violent pain grabbed her face.
Her skin was slowly peeled off her face, her eyes shut tightly, burning her brain incessantly. Her body seemed to the point of exploding at each instant. The hair, she had kept long and heavy for the ten past years, just fell off, and made her head lighter in a few seconds. Sadly, not light enough for her to not fall down.

"... friend?... FRIEND! Dear... I didn't think it would be so extreme... can you hear me?"

The bunny's voice rang too loud in her ears, but she still lamely shook her head.
"Yeah," she managed, massaging her skull where it hit the ground. "Can you keep it down, please?"

"Yes, I'll do that, but before, please look at yourself!" It shouted, deafening her for a while. "IT WORKED!"

Trying to hold her head, or more likely retaining her brain from falling out of her skull, she looked at the dainty mirror at the other side of her bedroom.

In the reflection, a teenage girl was maintaining herself on her forearm. A haircut of black tint paired with a thin emerald cat eyes were identical to her drawing. The skin as greasy as the hair; she didn't have the cleanest look imaginable. She seemed approximately around Calista's age, older than Jade predicted, but it was thankfully not too old to connect with the youngest servant.

That was a full transformation, but why the hell was it this painful?

She slouched to the ground with a small thump.
"Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I would have wanted a more magical transformation than that."

"What do you mean?" The bunny instantly interrogated. "That was amply sufficient."

"Maybe... I'd have preferred it less painful and more... glittery." Jade huffed.

"We don't always have what we wish for." It sighed as she neared the mirror, playing with her new cheeks. "Quite nice, right?"

One frown and everything felt different than nice for her. "Why my eyes are still green?"

Spirot creeped her and just stared. "Eyes are the reflects of the soul. They never change color or totally, at least." It gave a slanted look to her. "You finished abusing your cheeks?"

Jade glared at it. "It's the first-time magic's useful, let me enjoy it."

"Yes, yes, but if you have enough time between your admirations of this magnificent demonstration of magic, it could be beneficial to think of a name."

Oh, it wasn't false... if she threw the name 'Jade' out of the blue, it could raise suspicions.
A brain at two in the morning wasn't the best functioning one. (It's true, but yours is a little slow sometimes, Jade...)

"Yeah... how about... Nia?" Her lips managed without a stutter.

"Do you lack inspiration, friend? You already used that today."

A short pause caressed the conversation before Spirot surrendered.

"Sounds good to me," its eyes rolled on the name, "Nia. I'm delighted to meet you."