Moonlight Ball

Chapter 21

He always smiled with a pleasant look on his face, but honestly, he was picky about who he genuinely smiled at. He’d also been like that when he was the second son of the Duke family, and when he entered the Magic Tower too.

Elaine and Rosemary? It was nonsense, yet something was still bothering him. Sidrain stroked his chin. As usual, his shaving was impeccable and his chin felt as smooth as pure silk. He pondered for a while, unable to shake the feeling that he was missing a piece to this puzzle.

Thinking back he recalled when Elaine had first entered the royal palace and the state of rage that he’d been in. He was about to kill Rosemary, but of course, they’d prevented that. But the anger from the Magic Tower was justified and Sidrain was going to make Rosemary kneel; the Magic Tower had lost Iris Elaine. She was one of the most favored disciples of the Magic Tower’s owner and the most abundant wizard there. Iris couldn’t quite reach the same level of mana as her teacher, but in terms of her magic, Elaine had had to step back several times. So how could he expect the Magic Tower to not react after finding out about her death? It was both a matter of pride and a real loss for the Magic tower. Iris Elaine was having to perform her daily tasks and by losing her, the tower was in a situation where many other tasks would have to be allocated to other disciples now; the royal family was in trouble.

The situation had taken an unexpected turn when Elaine had started saying that he was concerned about Rosemary and had stopped staring at her with a death wish in his eyes. Since that moment, things had become very strange indeed. Rosemary had then jumped in front of the sword to protect Elaine and he’d hugged her in thanks. And then, Rosemary had begged him last night to rather be intimate today, just before her affair? It made no sense. Everything felt weird and devoid of substance like a desert mirage; something was wrong.

Sidrain usually had good intuition and when he’d become a sword master, his feelings had gotten even stronger. So what had felt so out of place last night? After thinking for a while, it finally struck him. I could feel magic in Rosemary’s body! He genuinely hated her so he wasn’t interested in such things about her before all of this happened. But now he was certain that he’d felt magic in her when he’d laid her down on the bed. And, he vaguely recalled that it had felt like unfamiliar magic.

Rosemary didn’t perform any magic. Although he knew that she did possess some, it wasn’t a significant amount. She could’ve used that magic if she had learned how to control it, but Rosemary never bothered to try and he knew that magic deteriorated if one didn’t learn how to handle it. But last night he’d sensed magic that was powerful and lively, which he’d never felt before in Rosemary’s body.

Sidrain’s tired red eyes looked about; something had changed. His handsome forehead started frowning. There has to be a puzzle piece that I’m missing, he thought.

That night, Sidrain lay on the roof,  just above Rosemary’s bedroom, gazing at the bright shining stars. But he wasn’t lying on the palace’s dirty roof for the fun of it, he was a sword master and from this vantage point, he could hear the voices in Rosemary’s room. Suddenly, she burst into song.

“Life has become this way anyway. Let’s live a good life. Let’s live a good life!”

Sidrain almost jumped to his feet in fright.

“Life is like this. They say this world is much better than having to roll in a field full of dog crap. Let’s live a good life, let’s live a good life!”

What countryman song was this? he wondered. He’d never heard Rosemary sing a song.

Rosemary knew that her voice was as beautiful as her appearance. She sang when she wanted to and even though they knew what kind of a crazy woman she was, people were often seduced by her voice. She had such a beautiful voice and her singing skills were outstanding; the woman singing now, was a bit tone-deaf.

“Let’s live a good life, let’s live a good life!”

Singing only what sounded like the chorus, repeatedly, it seemed as if she didn’t know the words to the song all that well. Sidrain chuckled to himself as he was able to sing the song more correctly than she could. That’s a half-note higher. No, you should go lower from there. You are known to be crazy and now you are tone-deaf as well? Sidrain’s eyebrows lifted as he sensed a great deal of magic below him; someone had most certainly used magic.

Finally, a night guest appeared and Sidrain’s face broke into a smile. Now, let’s hear exactly what the two are up to.

Rosemary’s delightful voice spoke, “Teacher!”

Elaine’s voice penetrated Sidrain’s ear, “Yes, Iris. How are you today?”

Sidrain stopped breathing. Iris, Iris Elaine? For a moment, everything that had been going on flashed through his mind. It’s Iris Elaine in Rosemary’s body! Immediately, he understood everything that had transpired, and in an instant, the puzzle was completed. Iris Elaine was alive, and residing now in Sidrain’s palace. He raised his head in shock and looked up at the night sky. More stars were sparkling, tens of thousands of times brighter than before.

This morning, Arthur, the chief, had had a rather nonsensical idea. He’d said there was a plague moving through the palace and it was quite a plausible idea now. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be another way to explain this situation. What else could explain all of this if it weren’t a plague?