Just as the story was getting good, the nanny rushed in to announce that Cardan needed to see her urgently. Worried and unsure what had happened, Emilia dashed off to find him.
It turned out that Cardan had helped track down the author of the book about the macken. Overjoyed beyond words, Emilia sat in his lap and asked the old man if he was really the one who had written this book.
The old man burst into tears, begging Cardan for mercy, explaining that he had only done it out of desperate circumstances. Taking credit under a false name was indeed a crime, but part of the book's contents really had come from his own research.
Frustrated, Emilia asked him what those handwritten notes at the end of the book actually meant. The old man, still sobbing, said it was his own teacher's handwriting, and admitted he had no idea what it meant himself. But finding that person now would be nearly impossible, since he had not seen him in two full years. Still, some research documents remained at his old candle shop.
Cardan, surprised, asked why Emilia cared so much about the macken in the first place.
"Because of that curse. I have to find a way to break it and save them."
Cardan froze at her words, then turned to ask the nanny how he was even supposed to respond to that. All he could manage was a weak smile, telling her she had better work hard to break that curse for her little friends.
Then, the next day, Elvin accompanied Emilia to that candle shop, and the place looked thoroughly grim. But having come this far, they could not very well leave empty-handed. Elvin immediately took the lead, guiding the way. Inside, it turned out to be far cleaner than the outside suggested.
The old man came out to welcome them, then led the two of them up to the second floor, where his own teacher had once studied the macken flower, a plant that only appeared where monsters roamed.
Staring at the pile of notes before them, all three of them groaned at the atrocious handwriting, utterly illegible. Elvin, growing bored, wandered off to look around and stumbled upon a map hanging on the wall, a map used for the northern campaigns. But all the markings on it were clearly outdated, dating back to before the bolum had even first appeared three hundred years ago.
Elvin suddenly grew suspicious of this so-called teacher the old man kept mentioning. The old man only remembered that at fifteen, this teacher had saved his life, then taught him everything about herbal medicine. But once he had grown up, the teacher had simply come and gone without warning.
In the end, after a whole session, the two of them managed a small breakthrough. Emilia found a few more documents, and Elvin managed to secure the map.
As the two of them crossed the plaza, they spotted Tatau up near the fountain. Elvin remarked that it looked like he was setting up some kind of magical bridge for the harvest festival.
Hearing the festival mentioned, Emilia suddenly thought of how busy Cardan had been lately, wondering whether he would even be able to join the festivities this time.
Elvin smiled, crouching down to her eye level, and said he would let her in on a little secret. The Duke had ordered everyone to finish all their work before the harvest festival arrived. This year's festival was likely going to be one to remember.
Elvin himself had honestly assumed he would never see the Duke act like this again, the way he used to back when the late Duchess was still alive. The two of them would stroll through the plaza together whenever the festival came around. After she passed away, the Duke had fallen into deep grief. But thanks to the young lady, he was now so much happier than before.
Once back at the manor, Elvin showed the map to Cardan. Even the empire's most accurate maps showed discrepancies compared to this one. This map was not just complete with every marking. It was astonishingly detailed. Cardan mulled it over for a moment, then told Elvin to verify it during the next expedition.
Sitting off in a corner, Emilia suddenly piped up. "Do you have to go fight monsters again, Papa?"
Hearing his daughter's voice, Cardan immediately stood and walked over to her. "Why would you say that? I'm not joining this expedition."
At those words, Emilia nearly cried with relief. She had assumed she would have to be apart from him again.
Cardan explained that since he was not going, he would be sending high-ranking sorcerers and priests in his place. In exchange, the usual two-year expedition would now stretch out to three.
Hearing that, Emilia nearly fainted on the spot. Not wanting to hold Cardan back, she declared she would go along too. She had to train hard in magic so she could protect him someday. If Cardan had to go, she wanted to be right there with him.
She handed him the scented candle, then mentioned that on her way home she had seen Tatau preparing for the harvest festival.
Cardan, feigning a stern expression, said that if she behaved herself, she could go have fun too.
Everything was going exactly according to her plan. The old man was actually going to the festival. She jumped up laughing and pretended to say, "You're probably too busy, Papa, so I'll just go with the nanny and Elvin instead."
Watching her run off, the two of them stood there bewildered.
Hearing him say he could come along, Emilia smiled to herself and pretended not to hear properly, asking, "What did you say, Papa? I didn't quite catch that."
Helplessly, Cardan repeated that he could come along with her. Emilia laughed and ran back to him.
The next morning, Emilia woke up bright and early to get ready for the outing. The moment she finished getting dressed, a maid came to report that a child claiming to be the young lady's friend was waiting outside the door for her.
Curious, Emilia ran out and found Fay. She rushed over happily, grabbing his hand and asking if it was really him. How had he managed to find his way all the way here?
Fay paused for a moment, then took her hand and pressed it against his own cheek, smiling as he said he had missed her too much. The gesture made her whole face flush red.
"But why haven't you come to see me all this time?"
Before she could ask anything more, Cardan came storming over, snatching her up and demanding, "Who are you?" Showing up at the ducal estate with no clear identity.
Emilia turned to see Cardan's face darkened with suspicion. "Who are you? When did you get here? State your purpose clearly. How is it you've become friends with my daughter?"
Fay smiled and explained that he and Emilia had met at the royal library and become friends, and that he currently lived at the mage tower. "If you don't believe me, you can just ask the master yourself."
So Cardan dragged both children into a room and used a magical orb to contact the master, asking flatly whether he knew anyone named Fay. A child had showed up claiming the master was his guardian, a boy with black hair and golden eyes.
The master suddenly went still at that, leaving even Cardan taken aback. After a long pause, the master finally chuckled and asked why the boy was there.
"Oh, I do know him. I just happened to forget for a moment. I'm getting old. My memory isn't what it used to be. That child showed real talent for magic, so I took him in."
Then the master turned to Fay and asked how exactly he had ended up at the ducal estate. Fay smiled and said he had come to visit a friend, and apologized for not saying anything beforehand.
Seeing everything resolved, Emilia smiled and asked the master a favor. She had been planning to go to the harvest festival with her father today. Could Fay come along with them too? "I want all of us to go together."
With the master's permission granted, the three of them headed out happily to enjoy the streets.
Noticing that people could change their hair color, Emilia decided to try it too, and her hair instantly turned jet black. Fay laughed, surprised at how much her hair now resembled his own, saying it suited her well. Cardan scoffed dryly. Anyone looking at that color would say it looked more like his own.
While the two of them kept arguing over whose hair color it resembled more, Emilia had already run off happily toward a food stall selling grilled skewers.
The vendor smiled and asked if the young miss had come with her older brother. Father and daughter looked so alike. It left the woman stunned. Emilia laughed. "We really do look like a family, don't we?"
Most people around here had black hair, a result of the mage's influence. Duke Cardan included.
Just as Emilia was praising Cardan as the most handsome one, Fay, standing beside her, pouted, hurt. "I have naturally black hair too, you know."
Emilia could not help but laugh at how childish the two of them were being.
That evening, everyone gathered together near the fountain. As they passed by a man, Emilia noticed gemstones slipping loose from a child's pouch right there in the man's hand. Just as she was about to mention it to Cardan, the entire plaza suddenly erupted into chaos.
The fountain was about to explode.