Chapter 186 : Chapter 186
The woman froze for a moment.
Then she smiled, as if she had genuinely forgotten to introduce herself.
“Oh, that was my mistake,” she said, setting down her teacup and straightening in her seat. “As you can see, this is one of my residences in Whitebell City. It is not especially large, but it is quiet enough.”
She paused, those ice-blue eyes resting on Iruya.
“My name is Cecilia Ishtar. You may call me Cecilia.”
Whitebell City.
Iruya knew that place. It was the nearest city to Saint Roland Magic Academy. So it seemed she had not been taken somewhere far away, nor thrown into some secret dungeon. She was still near the academy.
A reflexive breath of relief escaped her.
Then, all at once, she realized—
Cecilia Ishtar.
Ishtar.
That was the royal family’s surname.
Iruya’s fingers twitched, and the half-eaten piece of bread in her hand nearly slipped free. She barely steadied herself, set the bread back on the plate, and lifted her head to look at the woman again.
That face.
That dress.
That composure flowing from her bones—not arrogance, but the composure of someone who had been served since childhood, someone who had lived at the center of power since the day she was born.
A Royal Princess.
She was a Royal Princess.
Iruya’s mind went blank, then flooded all at once—why was a Royal Princess here? Why had a Royal Princess picked her up? What did a Royal Princess want with her? Would the Royal Princess—
“You must have many questions.”
That gentle voice cut through her spiraling thoughts.
Iruya looked up and saw the woman watching her, a look of understanding on her face.
“There is no need to rush,” Cecilia said, lifting her teacup for another sip. “You may ask whatever you wish first.”
Iruya stared at her in silence.
This woman was too gentle.
Far too gentle.
She ought to have been an untouchable Royal Princess, someone who looked down on others through half-lidded eyes, someone who treated her like an insect.
But she was doing none of that.
She was sitting there, drinking tea, eating pastries, speaking in the tone one might use while chatting with a friend.
Too gentle.
Gentle enough to make one’s spine go cold.
Iruya drew a slow breath.
“You...” she began, her voice still a little hoarse. “Why did you save me?”
As she spoke, she lifted a hand and tucked the loose hair at her shoulder back behind her ear. The motion was small and natural, the sort of unconscious gesture any girl might make.
Her fingers brushed against her ear.
Soft.
Rounded.
A human ear.
Iruya’s fingers stilled for a moment.
Then the taut string inside her loosened slightly.
It was still there.
The magical item concealing her identity—the one the elders of her clan had given her, supposedly passed down for many years, the one that let her disguise herself as a human.
She had kept it on her body at all times and had never once removed it. They might have stripped off her outer clothes while she was unconscious. They might have changed her into this gown.
But they had not taken that item away.
It was still there.
Her ears were still human. Her identity had not yet been exposed.
She lifted her head, ready to speak.
Then she saw the look on the woman’s face.
Cecilia was looking at her, and in those ice-blue eyes shone a very peculiar light—something like surprise, something like curiosity, and something like... restrained amusement.
She raised a hand lightly to cover her mouth. The gesture was graceful, the sort of unconscious reaction a noble lady might have upon seeing something genuinely entertaining.
“Oh?” she said, the curve of her lips deepening. “So that is the question you find yourself curious about?”
Iruya froze.
“I should think,” Cecilia went on, “that no one would refuse to save a lost, injured, and extraordinarily beautiful...”
She paused, and those ice-blue eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
That look—
Every hair on Iruya’s body stood on end.
In that instant, Cecilia’s gaze turned terrifyingly cold. Her pupils seemed to sharpen into blades, splitting Iruya open from the inside out, laying bare every inch of her.
Then Cecilia smiled again.
That smile was as gentle and warm as ever, as though that flash of terrifying clarity had only been Iruya’s imagination.
“Miss Elf.”
Iruya’s heart clenched as though seized in a fist.
She did not think.
Her body moved before her mind could catch up—she sprang from the soft bed and lunged toward the window.
If she could just reach it—
If she could just shatter the glass—
If she could just escape—
She made it half a step.
Then her whole body locked in place.
Not because she did not want to move.
Because she could not.
An invisible force pressed down on her, as though an entire mountain had suddenly crashed onto her shoulders and pinned her where she stood. Her legs would not move. Her hands would not move. She could not even turn her head.
Only her eyes still obeyed her.
She saw the maid by the door—the gray-dressed one who had stood there in silence this whole time—holding a golden staff.
At its tip was a crystal sphere the size of a fist, and within that sphere flowed pale golden light.
That light poured out from the crystal like water, spreading through the room, filling every corner.
Suddenly Iruya felt hollow, as though she had been emptied out from the inside.
She could no longer sense the magical particles in the air.
Those elemental spirits that normally surrounded her, ready to answer her call at any moment, those familiar, natural presences that had always felt like old friends—
They were gone.
All that remained in the room was a dead, empty stillness, a sensation of utter absence.
Her magic was still within her body, but she could not use it.
It was like a bird trapped in a cage, able to see the sky, yet unable to fly.
Iruya’s legs gave out, and she fell back onto the bed.
Cecilia watched her, the smile on her face growing even gentler.
“Do not be nervous,” she said, her voice still soft and soothing. “I told you already. I will not harm you.”
She leaned slightly toward Iruya, those ice-blue eyes full of concern.
“Although it seems you are rather agitated,” she added. “I think it would be best if you ate something first. You are injured. You have already been treated, but going so long without food is not good for your body.”
Her tone was so gentle it was almost as though she were coaxing a disobedient child.
Iruya stared at her without speaking.
But slowly, she reached out, picked up the remaining half of the bread, and shoved it into her mouth.
She chewed fiercely, as though venting her anger on it. Then she grabbed another piece and stuffed that into her mouth as well.
She drained the milk in one go, spread jam over a piece of bread and shoved that in too, then spread butter over another piece and stuffed that in as well.
She ate quickly, messily, nothing like the cautious, careful girl who had nibbled at the bread just moments before.
Cecilia watched her, her eyes curving into crescents.
“Would you like a little more?”
Iruya’s cheeks were full, so full she could only shake her head vigorously.