It happened suddenly.
Rosaria stepped toward Annamaria and threw a punch with her right fist.
‘…!?’
Annamaria instinctively grabbed the stair railing and arched back, dodging, but Rosaria’s fist stopped just short of her nose.
She swallowed the gasp threatening to escape and held her breath.
Rosaria remained motionless for a moment, the silence heavy and absolute.
A cold sweat trickled down Annamaria’s back.
“…Was it just my imagination?”
Murmuring, Rosaria withdrew her fist and began to walk away.
‘What kind of person is she? Even though I used magic to vanish, she sensed my presence…’
To disappear with magic also meant erasing all presence to the utmost limit.
And yet, Rosaria had sensed Annamaria’s presence, sending chills down her spine.
Rosaria entered her own room.
Annamaria let out a quiet sigh, “What a fool… truly…”
Having left the manor quietly, Rosaria now sat beneath a cluster of rose bushes in the corner of the garden.
Large pale pink roses, wet with the early morning dew, filled the air with their sweet fragrance.
“Rosaria wants to get married… It’s because of Luca, isn’t it?”
Galileo spoke softly, his tone confirming what he didn’t want to believe.
“I suppose so.” Annamaria, too, found it hard to accept.
It wasn’t for her own happiness, nor for some burning ambition like Annamaria’s.
Rosaria sought marriage as a means to sever her ties with the Romano Family—for her brother Luca’s sake.
Rosaria must have always blamed herself for her brother shutting himself away.
She’d been convinced that if only she weren’t there, he would be free, agonizing over it all this time.
If she were gone, perhaps Luca’s heart would soften, and he’d come out of his room, maybe even take up the title.
And if Rosaria disappeared, their father would have no choice but to let Luca inherit.
The quickest way to leave the house was through marriage.
But now that the inheritance of the title was settled, even if Rosaria wanted to marry, the typical outcome would be to bring the groom into the manor.
That would only corner Luca further.
Rosaria must have struggled with this.
It was then that Jeremiah appeared.
Marriage with Jeremiah, Duke of Karana, was the only way to fulfill Rosaria’s wish.
There was no way a duke would become a live-in son-in-law.
Whether they established a new home, moved to Parsa Castle, or lived at Kino’s Residence, marriage would inevitably mean leaving Romano Manor.
With that, she planned to refuse the title inheritance.
She could keep the title even after becoming the duke’s wife, but Rosaria had resolved to cast it aside.
Even if her father opposed the marriage, the groom was a duke.
He could not refuse a duke’s request.
Jeremiah’s appearance must have been a godsend for Rosaria.
“Honestly… She really is such a fool. So foolish, it makes me angry.”
“I wish I could grab her by the collar and shout, ‘Why do you think that way, you fool!’ But I can’t say something I found out from sneaking around behind her back.”
“I’ll find Smeraldo… and I’ll win the duel with Rosaria, no matter what. I can’t lose to someone making such a foolish decision.”
If Annamaria lost, Rosaria would end up bearing a responsibility she need not feel and be forced into a marriage she never wanted.
The only rival who ever fired Annamaria’s spirit—she would not allow that person to disappear from her life for such a pitiful reason.
“Yeah, in this case, it’d probably be best for you to win, even if you have to use dirty tricks.”
Sensing Galileo’s nod, Annamaria grinned.
“In short, if I win, everything will be settled. I like the sound of that.”
She stood up straight and declared, “I’ll win, by any means necessary!”
“I’ve never seen you look more reliable than now. I’m counting on you.” Galileo muttered.
“Leave it to me! …Wait. Why are you the one relying on me?”
“Even Magic Beasts have a sense of ethics, you know. I can’t overlook this out of human decency, so I’m asking you.”
If it were a Magic Beast, perhaps it should be called beastly compassion, but it seemed Galileo possessed that sort of feeling, too.
Brushing the hair from her shoulder, she began to chant.
“I reclaim my outline and color!”
From her head to her toes, color and form seeped back, and Annamaria reappeared.
Stepping out from the shade of the roses, she headed for the entrance, venting her frustration.
“Still, what irritates me most is Rosaria’s brother Luca. Why did he become a recluse, I wonder. Hey, Galileo, what do you think?”
She knew it was pointless to ask Galileo, expecting him to give a vague answer as usual, but surprisingly, he replied properly.
“I don’t think it’s Rosaria’s fault he shut himself away. He became a recluse when he was seven, right? A seven-year-old wouldn’t develop such twisted inferiority over a one-and-a-half-year-old sister who can barely form thoughts.”
“Then why has he stayed shut in for more than ten years?”
“There must be another reason. I’m sure of it.”
“Whatever that reason is…”
Annamaria’s voice grew low.
“When this business with Smeraldo is settled, I’ll drag Luca out of that room and ask him myself. Whether he cries or screams, I’ll get it out of him.”
“Please don’t… that’s terrifying.” Galileo shivered.
“First things first. I’ll find Smeraldo.”
Breathing hard, Annamaria stood before the entrance doors of Romano Manor.
***
“Where am I supposed to search in this vast mountain range…”
At the foot of the Padova Mountains, there was a path winding gently through the forest and up the slopes.
At its end, the woods opened onto a wide expanse of pasture.
From the grassy slopes stretching like a broad ribbon, they could look down on the town of Parsa.
The summer scent of grass was refreshing.
But turning away from Parsa and looking back, a wall of steep green loomed overhead, as if about to topple down upon them.
Above the pasture rose the true Padova Mountains—gloomy, rugged peaks thick with deep forest.
It was probably Rosaria’s first time climbing to such a place.
Faced with the towering mountains and the deep green, she seemed daunted.
“They really are… so steep and wild. No wonder the infamous Great Witch Zoe once lived here. Some who defied Zoe and were turned into Magic Beasts might still be living in these mountains, even now.”
“Magic Beasts are born that way, you know. Do you still believe in those scary stories about Zoe? How adorable. Even if Zoe really could turn people into Magic Beasts, that was a hundred and fifty years ago. By now, they’ve all returned to the earth.”
Rosaria shot her a sharp glance.
“Just a fairy tale, then? Zoe’s legend. Still, I feel as if that witch’s shadow hasn’t vanished from this land even now.”
“Are you scared?” Annamaria tried to sound dismissive, but inwardly she was unsettled.
Perhaps this was a kind of sharp intuition peculiar to the Romano Family.
“You’re only feeling that way because you’re frightened. Vast, unknown places always fill people with fear.”
“Don’t underestimate me. I’m not scared. Still, it really is… too vast.”
Rosaria looked around again.
“How are we supposed to find a single person in a place like this… isn’t it impossible?”
Rosaria, looking gallant and beautiful in her riding clothes, muttered from atop her horse.
Unconcerned, Annamaria tethered her own horse to a nearby tree.
“Rosaria. Let’s tie the horses here. There are a lot of rocky areas ahead, so horses won’t make it.”
Rosaria obediently dismounted and led her horse over.
“You seem awfully confident.”
“The Padova Mountains are my backyard.”
“So you even know how to find Bruno Stecchi?”
“I do.” She replied with a smile, “Follow me. It’d be troublesome if others saw us.”
Rosaria’s expression tightened slightly.
“In a place where no one is around, don’t tell me you’re planning to…”
Seeing Rosaria’s anxious face, Annamaria let out a peal of laughter.
“Oh, please. No need to worry. If I really meant to do something to you, I could do it right under everyone’s nose without anyone noticing. I wouldn’t bother plotting in a place like this. Besides, it was you who first talked about simply pushing someone off a cliff. And I still haven’t sent you that promised venomous snake, so I don’t think you’ll push me off, will you?”
“Well, that’s true. In that case, we’re even. I feel safer.”
Watching Rosaria nod in understanding, Galileo muttered at their feet, “Is it really safe to feel reassured by that, Rosaria?”
The two of them and the familiar began climbing the steep, forested slopes on foot.
No matter how much they climbed, Rosaria didn’t so much as break a sweat.
“?”
Suddenly, Rosaria glanced behind her.