Chapter 6: A New Power

　When I reached the Ministry the next day, Larna greeted me with a shocked expression.

“Miss Katarina, why did you bring your brother with you?” she asked, looking at Keith, who was standing by my side.

“When I told him that it wouldn’t take me that long, he insisted on tagging along...”

I was planning to go out to spend time with him after coming back from the Ministry, but he said that if it wasn’t going to take me that long then he might as well come with me. I tried to talk him out of it, but I never stood a chance at winning against him in a debate, so he ended up coming to the Ministry. I was embarrassed at being accompanied by my brother, but he didn’t seem to either notice or care.

“I shall not bother you while you work — I will wait quietly by the side as you perform your tasks,” he said.

“In that case, please wait in the guest room until we’re done,” Larna said.

Eventually Cyrus, Maria, Dewey, and Sora showed up. Leaving Keith behind, we all went to the garden where we’d first found out about the lost magic.

“Your brother must be worried about you,” said Sora, who was walking alongside me as he always did during work.

“Worried about what?” I asked. Now that I was a working woman, I thought that I was able to handle myself just fine.

“Exactly,” he said mockingly, refusing to explain himself any further.

We then reached the garden and approached the magic stone, taking a path that didn’t go through Cyrus’s field so that nobody would notice it.

“Is this the one? It just looks like an ordinary stone to me,” said Dewey, sounding confused. This was his first time seeing it.

“Good! Now, let’s try activating it!” Larna said excitedly as soon as we were there.

“...Calm down. Shouldn’t we check it more carefully before we do that?” Cyrus said, sporting the stern expression that he seemed to reserve exclusively for Larna.

“Don’t worry, I’ve already checked it thoroughly,” she said, implying that she’d already investigated the place when she was here without us.

“This white rock is probably a switch of sorts. The last time the stone was activated, Katarina was touching this rock while Maria used Light Magic on her, right?”

“Yes,” Maria replied.

“I’ve been thinking about it, and, taking into consideration other magic-activation conditions, I’ve reached the conclusion that when Light Magic flows into the stone, the lost magic is activated, summoning the user into another dimension,” Larna explained as she stretched her hand towards Maria. “Let’s test my hypothesis. Maria, place a hand on that stone and use your Light Magic.”

“Yes...” Maria said, taking Larna’s hand and walking towards the stone.

“Wait a second, why are you holding Maria’s hand?” Cyrus asked Larna.

“I just want to go to that other dimension together with Maria. Katarina was transported together with her, and I’m sure that this was because she was touching her at the time.”

“I agree that that’s probably the reason... but I’m not so sure Maria will be safe going together with you. I’ll come along as well,” Cyrus said.

However, since Maria already had one hand on the stone and the other hand inside Larna’s, he stopped, unsure what to do.

“It probably doesn’t matter what part of her body you’re touching. Just grab her somewhere,” Larna said.

“...Grab her... somewhere...” said Cyrus, blushing and freezing still.

He had become able to talk with Maria, but touching a young girl — and one he liked, at that — was probably still a bit too much for him.

You still have so much to learn... I thought, feeling like an old woman looking at her grandson, but apparently his hesitation was not as well received by Larna.

“What are you waiting for?” she asked, before releasing Maria’s hand, grabbing her arm instead, and then pulling Cyrus’s hand onto Maria’s.

“Maria, do it,” she ordered enthusiastically.

“Y-Yes,” Maria replied, activating her magic.

Light started flowing out of the hand that she had placed onto the stone, and then Maria, together with an excited Larna and a blushing Cyrus, disappeared.

“...It really worked.”

The three of us left were awed at what had just happened.

“I knew this was supposed to happen, but damn, they really disappeared. I gotta admit that I’m surprised,” Sora said, looking shocked.

“That can only be described as disappearing into nothingness...” said Dewey, who sounded thrilled about it.

“I was together with Maria last time, so I didn’t know how it’d look from the outside,” I murmured, impressed. Larna was talking about another dimension, but I wondered where they had gone to.

I walked closer to the stone and took a good look at it. Except for the white sparkly rock coming out of it, it had nothing out of the ordinary. That other dimension couldn’t be inside the stone itself, could it? It was a big stone, but not that big.

Curious, I tried going around it and knocking on it.

“Stay still and wait until Maria and the two directors return. It could be dangerous,” Sora said as I was circling the stone. Lately Sora was always scolding me, and he was starting to sound like Keith.

“Don’t worry, I’m just looking!” I said, but I knew that Sora would get mad at me if I spent too much time loitering near the stone.

Before leaving it alone, I tried to put my ear on it, exactly behind where the white rock was on the front, to see if I could hear any sound coming from the inside.

Out of nowhere, Pochi stuck his head out of my shadow and barked.

“Pochi! You know that you’re not supposed to leave my shad—” I started saying, when all of a sudden I couldn’t see anything anymore.

What is going on?! I thought, confused. I blinked repeatedly until I finally saw my body, but nothing else. I was inside a large empty space, with nothing but pitch-black darkness all around.

I got a feeling of déjà vu... Something just like this had happened to me recently.

Oh, yeah. The other dimension that I was teleported to together with Maria.

That other dimension was white and blindingly full of light, but this one was full of darkness.

Light and dark, like two sides of the same coin... I thought to myself, and my vision went completely dark once again. When I was able to see again, I noticed a black orb in front of me.

“Do you long for greater powers?” the orb asked with a chillingly cold voice.

That wasn’t the first time I’d heard that phrase. Maria had gone into the light dimension, which meant that I was probably in the dark, evil one. Not a good place to be in.

To be honest I liked Pochi as it was now, and I didn’t really want any more power. The last thing I want happening is to get incredible dark powers and turn into a bona fide villainess headed for doom. I’ll just be honest with the orb guy!

I don’t long for power, I meant to say, but before I could open my mouth, the orb spoke.

“If you want greater powers, find the covenant and... Oh, I see that you already have the covenant with you.”

Excuse me? Covenant?

“I don’t have that...”

“I found a truly worthy candidate this time around. You have the potential to engulf the whole world in darkness,” the orb said.

Thank you, I guess, but I don’t really want to do that. What’s up with this orb anyway? It just keeps talking and doesn’t listen to a single thing I say. The light one was kind of condescending, but this one isn’t any better.

“Really, I...”

“Very well. I shall impart all of my knowledge unto you.”

“Hey, I’m trying to say that...”

Before I could finish speaking, my bag, which was still hanging from my shoulder, started floating in mid-air. It then opened by itself, and a book came flying out of it. It was the same ancient script book that I’d accidentally brought back home with me the previous day from the warehouse.

A black mist started coming out of it, and I understood what that book was — the Covenant of Darkness.

And the most surprising thing was that it was all a coincidence: how I’d chosen that book, how I’d brought it back with me, and how I’d entered this dark dimension while it was still in my bag.

The dark orb, oblivious to my shock, spoke again. “Take it.”

As soon as I heard those words, I saw a shower of black arrows coming out of nowhere and aiming for the floating book. Neverending coils of black letters were raining down in front of my eyes. I felt dizzy, as if I had motion sickness, but the letters kept on pouring down, one after the other.

I can’t take this...

I lost consciousness in the midst of that black storm.

Pink walls, a black table, a metal-framed bed with azure duvets and blue cushions.

Oh, this is the familiar sight of Acchan’s bedroom. I must be having that dream again... This is a chance to take a look at FL2! Please, Acchan, play the game! I need as much information about it as possible!

Maybe my prayer reached her, because the TV, where the game was already on, entered my vision. The screen showed Cyrus, who had a troubled expression.

Yes! I’ll be able to learn more! Thank you, Acchan, my friend!

“There’s no need for you to do anything that dangerous. Let me protect you,” Cyrus said, sounding melancholic and looking handsome. It looked like Acchan had already succeeded in making him fall in love with the protagonist.

What scene is this? I wondered while focusing on the screen, where Cyrus’s line was followed by the protagonist’s.

“I do not want to endanger you either, Mister Cyrus. I will fight too... I want to do more than just be protected.”

That really sounded like something that Maria would say. I could easily imagine her, the strong and kind friend who I was so proud of, saying that in reality.

“Fine. Let’s go then,” Cyrus said, stretching his hand out to her.

Since I hadn’t been watching from the start, all I knew about this scene was that the two characters were in danger, and that they were going to fight against someone or something.

The screen faded into the next scene, showing a robed girl with a hood over her head... in other words, it was FL2’s antagonist and villainess, Katarina Claes.

“Now that I have this new power, I’ll finally be able to take my revenge on her!” Katarina said with an evil laugh. A mysterious shadow, looking like a wolf, was standing behind her, and she had a black book in her hand.

The person that Maria and Cyrus are going to fight against is... Katarina?! No way!

And that thing behind her, is that Pochi?! And that book, the one in her hand, is it...?!

I jumped up, and the first thing I saw as soon as I opened my eyes was the white curtains surrounding my bed.

Where am I? Why was I sleeping in here? Why was I even sleeping in the first place?

Struggling with the pain of the strong headache I’d woken up with, I was trying to figure out how I’d gotten here when the curtain in front of me opened slightly and I saw two beautiful ruby-colored eyes look at me.

“Oh, you’re awake.”

“Sophia? Where is... Why?”

“This is the Ministry’s infirmary. I happened to be here to help with some work today, and you’re here because you lost consciousness,” she explained, having somehow understood my question.

I’d heard that Sophia mainly helped out at the infirmary on the days when she came to work at the Ministry. Today must have been one of those days.

Thanks to her answer, my memories started coming back little by little. I remembered that I’d gone to that garden together with Maria and the others so that she could find the lost magic, and then...

“Big Sister, how do you feel?”

“Miss Katarina, are you okay?”

“Lady Katarina, are you well?”

Keith, Larna, and Maria appeared one after the other through the curtains.

Behind them I could see Cyrus, Sora, and Dewey, all looking worried.

“Did you find the lost magic already?” I asked them, and Maria nodded with force.

“Yes. Thanks to the help of everyone here, I was able to obtain it. But when we came back, we found you lying unconscious on the other side of the stone... How are you feeling now?”

Ah, they found it! That’s great news. And then they found me unconscious... Unconscious? Why?

“But why was I unconscious...?” I asked, struggling to remember, and Sora replied.

“When Miss Campbell and the two directors disappeared into the stone, you started walking around it to take a closer look. I tried stopping you, but you said not to worry. Then I could not hear your voice anymore, and when I went to check, you were not there anymore. I continued to look around, and eventually you reappeared behind the stone, unconscious,” he explained, speaking as politely as he could, but I got the feeling that what he ultimately meant was Can’t you learn to do as you’re told just once in your life?

Anyway, he said that I had disappeared and then reappeared... just like Maria.

It was then that I remembered a terrifying image: black letters pouring down from above, one after the other. Just thinking about it was enough to make my head spin, and I put both my palms against my temples. Was that reality, or was it just a dream?

“Lady Katarina, you are extremely pale. Do you need help?” Maria asked while looking at my face with concern in her eyes.

“I just felt weird for a second, but I’m fine now... Say, did I have a book with me?” I asked, wanting to make sure that what I had seen was real.

“Yes, it is right here. You were holding it when we found you,” said Sophia, handing it to me.

There was no doubt — this was the very book that I’d brought back home with me the previous day.

So the book was really there... but that wasn’t what mattered. What mattered was the book’s content. If it was really full of those letters I’d seen back then...

I slowly and cautiously opened the book, but the only thing on its pages was the same ancient script that I’d unsuccessfully tried to read in the warehouse.

So that was just a dream. I must have fallen unconscious because of how excited I was, or maybe I was a bit anemic, I thought to myself, relieved, but Larna started speaking while staring at me.

“Miss Maria obtained the lost Light Magic in that white dimension, as is now written on the covenant that she found yesterday. However, just opening the book won’t work... You need to use Light Magic on it. Miss Maria, show miss Katarina.”

It seemed that they had had time to research these things while I was knocked out. It was good that they’d learned how to read the book, but why would they show that to me all of a sudden? I couldn’t understand Larna’s motives.

“Yes,” Maria said while I was still thinking about it. She took the covenant out of her bag and used her Light Magic on it, at which point the book started glowing.

Wow! So this is what the lost magic looks like, I thought while peeking inside the book. Hm? All I see is the usual ancient script. I imagined there would be magic light letters or something.

“I can see characters of light appearing in the book, but nobody else seems able to,” explained Maria, who had probably guessed what I was thinking.

That was probably something that only the people who had received the light orb’s power could do.

“It really is a magic book!” I said, impressed.

“Well, Miss Katarina,” Larna said, “could you get your dark familiar out now?”

“Huh? Why?” I asked, confused by her sudden request.

“You heard Miss Maria. You need to use magic to see the characters hidden in the book. Which is why you need to use Dark Magic to read your Dark Covenant,” she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“What, wait, why? This book...?” I said, shocked, stringing words together as they came to me.

“You mean to ask why we know that your book is the Dark Covenant? We took a look at it before you woke up, and we realized that it’s very similar to Maria’s. It’s a book on basic magic written in ancient script, with a black stone on the cover in the same place as the white one on her book. I have no idea where you found that, but it’s almost an opposite version of Maria’s covenant. The logical conclusion is that while we found the lost Light Magic, you obtained lost Dark Magic. Am I right?” Larna was speaking so fast, without even stopping to breathe, that I was left astonished.

So they hadn’t only examined Maria’s book, but also the reason why I was unconscious. This would explain why none of the people around me were as surprised as I was.

I couldn’t help but be impressed by Larna’s reasoning. For as problematic of an employee as she was, her intelligence couldn’t be denied.

“Did I get anything wrong?” she asked, cocking her head to one side as I took my time to reply.

“N-No, I think you are right...” I said, and I went on to describe how I had brought that book from the warehouse back with me by coincidence, the black letters pouring down in the black dimension, and how I’d felt dizzy.

“...But it all felt so distant, like a dream. I was just asking myself whether it really happened or not.”

“That’s what I imagined. You probably thought that it was all just a dream, so you could put the book back in the warehouse and stop thinking about it... right?” Larna said.

“Huh?!”

Can she even read minds?!

“You know, Miss Katarina, you’re the type who just shows everything she’s thinking on her face,” she said. “And if it really was a dream, then we can all stop thinking about it. But if it wasn’t, that book could be useful for the Ministry. Could you try out what I said?”

To be honest, the memory of what happened in that dark dimension was so scary that I didn’t feel like reliving it, but not knowing whether it really happened or not was unpleasant in itself.

“Okay, I will. Pochi, come out,” I said, mustering my courage and summoning Pochi as I opened the book.

“Woof!” he said, happy to come out of my shadow, and I saw a faint dark mist appear around the book.

Sure enough, the page I had opened the book to was full of those black letters. More than just being written on the paper, it looked as if they were floating on top of it.

“Judging from your face, you see the dark characters,” Larna said, looking at my shocked expression.

“...Yes,” I said without taking my eyes off the book. I remembered being scared by them when I saw them pouring down from above, but now that they were neatly arranged on the pages, they only looked eerie and mysterious.

“Now that we’ve figured that out, that’s enough for today,” Larna said while forcefully closing the book in front of me. Now that I looked at it, Maria’s book had been closed as well. “Cyrus and I are fine, but you two have directly received the lost magic, so we can’t ignore the possible physical burden. Miss Katarina’s frighteningly pale, and you, Miss Maria, aren’t looking much better.”

Looking at Maria’s complexion, I had to agree with her. I couldn’t see it, but my face probably looked the same.

“The covenant is not going anywhere, so we can look into it in a couple of days. You two just go home and rest.”

We were dismissed by Larna, who said that it was probably better for Maria and I to keep our respective books. I put mine into my bag and prepared to go home.

Maria was heading to the dormitory with Cyrus and Dewey, and I was heading back to Claes Mansion with Keith and Sora. We all walked out of the infirmary together and split up in front of the meeting room. Larna said that she’d stay in the Ministry since she had to look into some things.

“Big Sister is always getting herself into trouble no matter how much people warn her,” Keith, to my right, said with a sigh.

“She really is. If she had waited patiently in front of the stone, this would not have happened,” replied Sora, to my left.

Oh no! At this rate, I’m going to be scolded bilaterally!

“But I found that lost magic, so it was worth it, wasn’t it?” I said, while walking a couple of steps forward to strategically protect my flanks.

It was then that I felt something — a cold, intense stare going through my back.

What is this? I thought, turning back, but there was nobody in sight. Did I just imagine that?

I looked at my arm and saw that it was covered in goosebumps. I had sensed something evil...

“Big Sister? What’s wrong?”

“Are you feeling dizzy again?”

Keith and Sora were worried about me, but I couldn’t bring myself to explain what had just happened. I felt that if I told them, I wouldn’t be able shake it off as “just my imagination” anymore.

“Yes. I must be tired,” I said, and we left together.

That must be it. I’m so tired that I’m imagining things, I told myself while rubbing the goosebumps off my arm.

I reached the carriage, thanked Sora for seeing me off, and left the Ministry without any more hint of that weird feeling from before.

After reaching home and eating lunch, I went back to my room. When my stomach was full, I would usually fall asleep within seconds, whether in bed or in front of a desk. But I couldn’t seem to get any rest today.

This must have been because of the dream I just had. I had already seen FL2 in two dreams, one before joining the Ministry and one right after, so this made it the third time. I had gotten very little information out of it... but what little I learned was terrifying.

Based on the dreams and on the note I had found, I knew that Katarina Claes, after being exiled, had come back as FL2’s villainess to take her revenge on Maria. Now I also knew that she’d found the Dark Covenant and had a Dark Familiar — that wolf-looking shadow — with her.

This last bit of information reflected what had happened to me today. Obtaining Dark Magic and finding Pochi, my Dark Familiar, were both coincidences. So was finding the Dark Covenant... or was it?

The events around me were starting to resemble the game’s plot to a scary extent.

Back at the academy, I had been surprised when the other noble girls publicly shamed me in the dining hall despite how I’d never bullied Maria, and I thought that this was the game forcing one of its scenes to happen through its mysterious influence.

Could the same have happened just now? And if so, how strong would that influence be?

All of my friends had been there to help me at the dining hall, but I didn’t know whether I could count on that again. I felt that the game’s influence had gotten stronger ever since I had happened to find Dark Magic, a Dark Familiar, and the Dark Covenant. Maybe I would slowly turn into the game’s Katarina and use the dark powers at my disposal to do evil, throwing myself into one of the routes leading to doom...

The more I thought about it, the more anxious I became, and I wasn’t getting any sleepier. Rather than lay in bed doing nothing, I decided to go to the garden to get some fresh air.

I was sitting under a tree, enjoying the pleasant spring breeze and the sight of my vegetable field, when I heard a voice from behind me.

“Big Sister, didn’t you say you were going to take a nap?”

“Ah, Keith,” I said, noticing my brother standing there. “I tried to, but I couldn’t fall asleep.”

“You couldn’t fall asleep?” he repeated, surprised. “You, who always falls asleep minutes after eating?”

That was true, but maybe that wasn’t something you should say to your sister’s face.

“What’s wrong? Are you worried about something?” he asked, staring into my eyes.

“Well, it’s that...”

By sheer coincidence, I had followed the game’s script and got my hands on Dark Magic, so I was worried about becoming a real villainess, losing all my friends, and having to face doom. Keith wouldn’t be able to understand that, of course, since he didn’t know that we were living in the world of an otome game.

“...I obtained forbidden powers, and I’m worried that I could become evil and be hated by everyone, and eventually... be doomed,” I said, trying to explain my worries without mentioning the game. After all, all that mattered was what I was scared about: becoming evil, losing my friends, and winding up in a catastrophic scenario.

I lowered my gaze and waited for Keith’s answer.

“You becoming evil and losing all your friends? That’s something I have trouble even just imagining,” he said with a troubled expression before sitting next to me.

“B-But look at all this Dark Magic stuff I’ve been involved in... It’s still possible.”

Unfortunately, he didn’t understand why I was so bothered. “Maybe, but it’s unlikely.”

“Unlikely, yes, but not impossible.”

“Sure, but that could be said about most things.”

I wondered about whether Keith would end up fighting against me and defeating me in real life, just as in the game. Whether he ended up putting me in prison or killing me, I was sure that he would stare at me with cold, hateful eyes when he did it.

“Even if that happens, I’ll always be by your side,” he said, much to my surprise.

“Even if I become evil? Would you still say the same thing then?”

He narrowed his blue eyes before replying. “Whatever the case, unless you want me to, I’ll never leave you. You were the one to tell me that first, remember? You said you’d stay by my side even if I ended up hurting people because I couldn’t control my magic.”

Now that he mentioned it, I remembered saying something like that.

“Of course, I’d try to keep you from turning evil, though,” he said with a playful smile. The sight of it made the fear inside my heart shrink down by several sizes.

“Thank you, Keith. Please stay by my side, and make sure I don’t do anything evil,” I said, returning the smile.

I really have a wonderful brother, I was thinking to myself when I heard a rustling sound behind me.

“Keith told us that we could wait in the mansion while he went to check on Katarina, so we should keep waiting.”

“I am afraid that we should do as Big Brother says.”

“We have waited long enough. We cannot let them stay that cozy with each other. I will go.”

“Prince Jeord, please do not make such decisions on your own. And if anything, I should be the one to go, since I was the first one to reach the mansion.”

“By only a few minutes! I am her fiancé, and as such, I should be the one to go.”

“You may be her fiancé, but I am her friend. We even slept in the same room of the castle not that long ago.”

“Oh, you mean that time when you did all you could to get between Katarina and me?”

“You still think about that? I would have expected your skin to be tougher.”

“Mary, Jeord, give it a break. This is no place for disput— Ahhh!”

I turned to the direction that the scream had come from and saw Prince Alan, with his silver hair and blue eyes, tripping out of some bushes a short distance from me.

“Prince Alan?!”

“Oh... Hi,” he said awkwardly while still lying on the ground.

“Prince Alan! Why would you go first like that?!”

“Exactly! You should let your older brother go first!”

“This wouldn’t have happened if you two hadn’t been pulling at each other so much inside that tiny bush! Why am I the one being scolded here?!”

Mary and Jeord also came out of the bush, followed by Sophia and Nicol, who asked me how I was feeling.

Keith mumbled something like “I told you people to wait,” but I couldn’t quite catch what he said.

“Excuse me, why is everyone here?” I asked, surprised at seeing my friends there.

Keith was the one to explain, with a disappointed look on his face. “Sophia told everyone that you were feeling unwell, and they all came to visit. I thought that you were sleeping, so I told them to wait while I made sure...” he said. Then, whispering so feebly that I couldn’t hear it, “If I knew they would bother us like this, I’d have sent them away at once.”

In short, they’d all come to visit me.

“Thank you, everyone!”

“Since you are my fiancée, it is obvious that I would be worried about you. And, just so you know, I will be by your side whatever may happen — forever,” Jeord said with a smile, grabbing my hand.

Realizing that he must have heard the conversation between Keith and me, I felt a bit embarrassed.

“Me too,” said Mary, pushing Jeord aside. “I will never leave you. And I will be sure to scold you should you ever stray from the path of righteousness.”

So she also wouldn’t leave me if I became evil...

“I think that forbidding her from eating sweets would be more effective than scolding her,” said Alan, grinning.

“If that happens, I will also stop lending you novels until you behave!” Sophia, visibly pained by her own words, said.

“Whatever you end up doing, none of us will ever leave you. We will always keep supporting you,” Nicol said with his dangerously attractive smile.

It’s not just Keith... All of them will stay with me, letting me know if I’m doing something wrong.

“Thank you, all of you,” I said from the bottom of my heart.

The fear that had burdened me so much had now completely disappeared. I couldn’t do anything by myself, but, with the support of all my friends, I was sure that everything would be fine.

Feeling better, I kept chatting with them and then, that night, I slept like a baby.