The Snow Fairy
The necklace was gone.
She had searched all the way to the innermost shelf, and it was just as she feared. Nowhere was the thing she sought.
Odelli's face grew grave. What in the world had happened?
Perhaps, when he lost his memory, the seal came undone with it.
That happened, sometimes. Mana flowed according to the will of the one who used it, and a seal was usually raised to protect someone, or out of a resolve never to let a thing pass into another's hands. The man he was now would have forgotten even that purpose. By the sheerest ill luck, the seal had broken.
It was also possible that Ludville himself had undone it and taken the necklace away. But somehow, that didn't sit right.
There were still things left inside the vault. At a glance, every one of them looked useless: a crude chip of stone, a worn scrap of metal, a piece of old cloth without so much as a pattern. There was no telling why they were kept under lock, and they might easily have been taken for refuse.
But Odelli knew what they were. Magical relics that had once shaken an age. Things Ludville had gathered across thousands of regressions—things that must never be allowed out into the world.
...Whoever it was hadn't even touched what was truly valuable.
In the end, all that had been stolen were things that glittered on the surface. They didn't even know these objects were worth tens, hundreds of times more than any jewel. The work of a clumsy little thief who couldn't tell worth from shine.
And Ludville's necklace would have looked like nothing more than an unusual gem.
Of all things, they had carried that off.
Odelli swallowed a short sigh. The red pendant on that necklace was no mere ornament. It was a Blood Crystal—a shard crystallized from Ludville's own life force. The Blood Crystal was a kind of key. A master key, able to trigger a spell array, and able to release it.
Only if the necklace is set into the heart of the array can the formula be safely undone.
Cut it by force instead, and every last bit of the backlash would pour into Ludville's body. In the worst case, he could die where he stood.
Without realizing it, Odelli curled her hand into a tight fist.
Back in her room, she paced, following the thought onward. Who had taken the necklace? It was something that must never leak outside.
Whatever it takes... I have to get it back.
That was when it came.
Knock, knock.
Someone rapped at the door of the annex. Odelli stopped mid-step and turned. A moment later the door eased open, and through the gap came a face drawn tight with nerves—a small body that flinched the instant it saw her, a voice trembling, unsteady.
"Ah, hello, my lady. It's an honor to serve you."
For a moment, Odelli forgot to breathe.
...Leona.
A memory from long ago brushed through her mind. Was this the work of the Jewel of Regression, sunk now into her body? The instant she looked at this small child, a memory that had been faint returned so vividly it might have been unfolding before her eyes.
A dark study. A small body collapsed on the floor. A hand gone cold. Eyes that had not even been closed...
Ah.
She understood. She knew who had taken the necklace.
"...Wow."
A small breath of wonder at her ear brought Odelli back to herself. It had come from Leona, standing face to face with her. The girl's eyes went perfectly round, her expression that of someone doubting whether what she saw could be real.
"You look just like the Snow Fairy..."
Odelli said nothing.
"Th-there's a kind fairy who helps people lost on the snow-covered mountains. You look exactly like the picture in that book, so I..."
Leona had been babbling, spellbound, and only then clapped a hand over her mouth.
"I—I'm sorry! Forgive me. That was rude."
It was this guileless nature that had left Leona living in the annex rather than the main palace. She did not mix easily with the others, and neither did Odelli, so in the previous life the two of them had become each other's dearest friends.
"I've heard of the Snow Fairy."
"Oh! You have?"
Leona, who had been wilting, brightened the moment Odelli answered her and fussed with delight.
"It's a northern legend—how do you know it? Do you have an acquaintance from the north?"
Odelli laughed aloud before she knew she meant to.
"Someone very precious to me."
As she said it, she gently took Leona's hand, as if giving back a small warmth she herself had felt a very long time ago. Startled by the sudden touch, Leona stared down at that hand for a moment, then cried out in a rush.
"My lady, your hand is freezing!"
"...Is it?"
Odelli's answer was a little rueful. It seemed she had not managed to give the warmth back after all.
"They said you were frail.... I should put more wood on the fire right away. I'll fetch a hot-water bottle, too."
"...Yes. Thank you."
"Please lie down and get under the covers. In the north, once you catch a cold it lasts a really, really long time. You have to be careful."
Truly, she had not changed in the slightest. In the previous life she had been the little maid who never left Odelli's side for a moment. In an annex no one else would approach, she had been the only child to hold out a warm hand.
But Odelli had not been able to feel that warmth for long. Leona had left the world far too soon. It had happened not long after they met.
I cried so much.
All through the funeral her chest had ached, as if she had lost an old friend. Leona had been a rare child, innocent and tender, and in a short while Odelli had grown quite fond of her... even so, she had thought that depth of grief was strange. After all, it had been a brief bond. They had known each other only a few months.
Only now did she understand. That loss had not been a parting suffered in a single life alone.
The warm child who, whenever Odelli took to her bed, had held her hand with tears standing in her eyes.
The very same face that had once clung to her hand and said it through tears.
...I missed you.
Odelli looked at Leona in silence.
In this life, I will never lose you.
She made the vow quietly. Never again would she let this small, gentle hand lose its warmth.
And...
If I'm right, the murderer who killed this child is the one who stole Ludville's necklace, too.
Leona had lost her life to a petty thief inside the mansion. She would catch him. She had to. Catch him, and then... well. What should she do with him?
In that moment, Odelli recalled the ability she had first come to know through Ludville's memories.
A power of attack—something she had never even imagined. She hadn't known her purification could be turned to such a use... In the memory, she herself had wielded that ability with considerable skill.
Shall I practice?
A cold light came into Odelli's eyes. She had no intention whatsoever of sending that man neatly off to prison.
