And Then All is Found

Fernoville took off the red leather bracelet that had wrapped his wrist and placed it on top of the low table in the centre of the back room.

“What about this accessory? Why are you folks making a fuss about it?”

Annette, who sat in between Aldo and Henry, stared at it and said, “Um, yes, I believe this is the same emblem as the one the occultist had on his book.”

“Occultist? When did you even see one, Annette?” Miss Cynthia asked, puzzled.

“Um, that day, before the Evernight feast, Prince Henry and I saw an occultist on the street, ma’am,” answered Annette.

“Ahhh… Hm, I see. So, if this Mia’s—well, the fake Mia’s—bracelet shares the same emblem as the one possessed by an occultist, does that mean she was somehow connected to that occult group? What was the occult about?” Miss Cynthia asked.

Lucas placed his hand under his chin as he said, “I saw them multiple times too before. I believe they are a group belonging to an anti-Great Hero faction. If I recall correctly, I heard they spread words of how the Great Hero Arthur was a liar, selfish, and such.”

“Haa?! Who dares to mock our Lord?! I’ll burn them all to ash!! Where can I find them?!” Ferno cracked his knuckles as he spoke loudly, making Annette flinch slightly.

Aldo lowered his gaze. “But our Lord was very kind…”

“Precisely!! Let me set fire to their bloody mouths!!”

“Calm down, Ferno!” said Auvry as he sighed.

Meanwhile, Aqua, who was currently in the form of a small turtle on the table, fidgeted anxiously, making small tapping sounds.

“Argh!! You are noisy, Aqua—actually, never mind. Cry louder!! I allow you to!! Those bloody humans!!” Ferno said as he turned to the little turtle.

Auvry held his forehead with one hand and let out another sigh. “Not you too, Aqua…”

Henry leaned slightly towards Annette and asked, “Did Aquantine say something?”

“Eh? Ah… She is, um, crying and asked why, um… people are being mean to their Lord?” Annette answered awkwardly.

“I see.”

Miss Cynthia, who was distracted by Ferno and the tapping turtle, shook her head a little to regain her focus. “Right, there was something I wanted to report to you, Your Highness. As you might have already heard, yesterday Annette found a cluster of mandrakes hidden below the magical plant in the conservatory.”

“I have heard from Auvrygale earlier. Apparently, there was more to it, I believe.”

“Yes, Your Highness. Annette was following a student, whom she suspected to be the person behind the accident, to the conservatory. She is a third-year student named Yolanda, a botany club member. I have heard from the other club members that she was the one who had been tending the Azurebeard flowers which covered the mandrakes below. So she is most likely the person who cultivated the mandrakes.”

Lucas frowned. “Hm, so the mandrakes case might also be connected to the accident?”

Miss Cynthia nodded before she continued. “Later that day, after we reported our discovery to the faculty, we heard that a student suddenly fell ill and was in a critical condition. Apparently, that was also Yolanda.

Our physician, Miss Paula, said she was in a very concerning state with signs of being poisoned. The thing is, Miss Paula also said that her condition reminded her of the students Annette had brought to the infirmary in Mia’s case,” Miss Cynthia explained.

Lucas’s eyes widened. “Huh?! That means…”

Henry crossed his arms. His gaze shifted back to the bracelet on the table.

“To summarise, a student was harmed by Yolanda, who had been secretly cultivating a cluster of mandrakes and was later poisoned, apparently developing a similar condition to the hostages in fake-Mia’s case, while fake-Mia herself possessed the emblem of an occult group. It seemed that everything had been connected all along without us realising.”

Everyone stared at Prince Henry in silence. Just as Henry cleverly summarised, they came to a realisation that they would never have imagined before.

Hmmm… Mia was somehow connected to Senior Yolanda. Things seem to keep happening, thought Annette next to Aldo who had been quietly listening.

“Ha? Who was injured by whom, who what??” Ferno’s mind seemed tangled.

The little turtle on the table tilted her head, also seemingly puzzled.

Auvry then spoke up, “I take it that several incidents had happened since before we came and all of them are apparently connected to each other?”

“Ooohhh!” Ferno said as he slapped a fist on the palm of his other hand.

“I am absolutely baffled. So many things are going on at the same time on our campus. An occult group somehow was harming people in Athenya? Is it because it was founded by the Great Hero Arthur?” Lucas pondered.

“What?! So are those bloody humans the ones who stole the Hearts then?! Let me burn them this instant!!” Ferno yelled.

At that moment, the room fell silent. All eyes quickly shifted to Ferno, staring intensely in surprise.

“That’s a good point, Fernoville. If the people related to the occult group had been secretly roaming inside Athenya, then we cannot rule out the possibility that they were responsible for stealing the Hearts,” Henry said.

“Um, but why would those people steal the Hearts?” Annette lowered her gaze, thinking.

“Right, at first we thought they only stole the Heart of Spring, but looking at how they stole the Hearts of Summer and Winter too, doesn’t that mean they were trying to collect all four Hearts? Why? What is their goal?” Miss Cynthia asked.

Suddenly, a terrifying idea struck Aldo, who had been listening in silence.

“...Calamity,” Aldo said in a quiet voice.

Everyone once again fell silent in shock. The adorable little dragon had just mentioned the most horrifying thing that could ever happen—the very calamity that was once said to have almost ended the whole world.

“Haa?! I knew it! Those foolish humans really need to be grilled alive!!” yelled Ferno as Aqua silently shuddered on the table.

“What do you mean by that, Esmeraldo?” Henry asked with a serious face.

“Hm… Four Hearts are required to release the calamity back to the world. However, only the master of four seasons can do that. So we don’t have to worry much about it. Well, unless our Mage of Four Seasons here somehow is kidnapped by that occult group. I have the confidence that they can’t find the Heart of Autumn I had hidden,” Auvry explained on Aldo’s behalf.

“Huh?! Wait… Released the calamity back to the world, you said? Are you saying that the calamity is not gone?” Lucas asked in bewilderment.

“Calamity is not something that can be erased. Hence, Lord Arthur sealed it away and locked it behind the strongest magical seal,” Auvry answered.

“Dear me! Good thing I told Annette to hide her ability!” Miss Cynthia exclaimed.

“I agree with you, ma’am.” Henry stared at the girl sitting next to him.

Noticing his stare, Annette quickly answered, “Ah, um, yes, I will keep hiding it.”

After pondering for a while, Henry then turned back to his professor and said, “Miss Cynthia, I think it would be better for us to investigate the occult group as it is our only possible clue so far.”

“I see. Hmmm, then let’s gather at my house this weekend, shall we?” said Miss Cynthia.

All of them agreed to meet at Miss Cynthia’s house this weekend to begin their investigation. However, deep down, anxiety slowly crept in as they thought about the situation they were in.

***

A man and a woman entered a house, brushing off specks of snow on their shoulders. Soon, a young man with caramel-blonde hair welcomed them at the entrance.

“Welcome back, Lord Luvan,” the young man said as he offered a bow.

Luvan placed a hand on the young man’s shoulder. “Thank you, Rasco. Is everything running smoothly?”

“Yes, my Lord. The VIPs have been scheduled to join this week’s service for the Elixir of Youth,” said Rasco.

“Very well. I have prepared a lot of the new batch too.” Luvan glanced at the bundle the woman hugged in her arms as he took a seat on the couch.

“I’m really sorry, Lord Luvan. I didn’t think that anyone would be able to find the mandrakes while I was dealing with that girl.” The woman lowered her gaze.

“It’s fine, Becca. We still have plenty of stock to cover. There’s nothing urgent.”

“The mandrakes have been discovered? How?” Rasco asked as he turned to the woman.

Becca glanced at Rasco. “I don’t know. Don’t ask me.”

“You are the only one I can ask. Lord Luvan is busy with potion making, after all,” Rasco calmly replied.

“But I don’t know. Just after I dealt with that girl, I heard the teachers in the faculty say they found the mandrakes. It’s her fault!” Becca protested.

“Okay, I get it. Don’t speak like that, you’ll bother Lord Luvan, again.”

“I’m not bothering him,” said Becca, pouting slightly .

Luvan sighed as he rose from his seat and approached Becca. He took the bundle from Becca’s arms and gave it to Rasco.

“Store them properly, Rasco,” said Luvan as he pulled Becca by the hand and brought her inside a room.

See? I knew it, you’ll bother him, thought Rasco as he silently watched Becca and his Lord disappear behind the closed door.

Rasco then descended the narrow staircase leading to the basement. Inside a room with tables, glassware, dried herbs, and various ingredients, there was a small cabinet at the corner of the room. He opened the small cabinet, where intricate-looking vials were arranged on the upper shelf, while small glass vials of liquid occupied the lower one.

Rasco unwrapped the bundle in his hand and took out dozens of small intricate vials, carefully placing them inside before finally closing it and leaving the room.