Phyllis
It was just last evening.
On the way back to the dormitory, I caught Riel wearing an expression that all but announced she was wrestling with something. When I asked if anything was bothering her, she startled and waved it off, insisting it was nothing.
...It really didn't look like nothing.
When she kept that usual blank face of hers, her feelings were hard to read — but the moment the guard slipped, they became almost transparent.
"Young Master Kyou, is something troubling you?"
"...Huh?"
"It's written all over your face."
Apparently I was just as easy to read. Having taken one look at me, my personal maid Phyllis got the whole story of the duel out of me. And in the telling, Alan's name came up. Then Riel's.
It wasn't hard to notice the way Phyllis's expression changed — something dark and unsettled crossing her face.
Phyllis Barnoa. She had served as my personal attendant since she was still a young girl, years ago now — but the truth is, I don't know much about her. For one thing, she never appears in the original novel at all. Everything I know comes from what I've gathered through our time together.
...Then again, Kyou Ventus never had a personal maid in the original story to begin with.
What I do know is this: she comes from a noble family. That said, her house has well over a dozen children — nobility in name more than anything else. And before she came to us, she served another household. When she'd mentioned that in the past, her face had gone so sad that I hadn't pressed her for details.
But this time, watching her expression shift at the mention of Riel's name, I could more or less put it together. Phyllis had been a maid in service to House Ignis.
And when I asked her about it, her answer was something else entirely.
"That household had gone completely insane."
Phyllis Barnoa was a daughter of Viscount Barnoa. That said, the viscount had five wives and well over a dozen children, and she occupied a rather awkward place among them — the daughter of the third concubine, and the eighth daughter besides. So she left home as a child, to find her own way in the world.
The place she ended up settling was none other than House Ignis, one of the kingdom's three ducal families.
But it was a strange place. A space where the common sense of this world simply did not apply. People whose every word and every gesture orbited around a single commoner boy. People who accepted this as perfectly natural.
House Ignis was a strange place.
And once the Duke and Duchess began frequently leaving the estate with their heir — the eldest son — the tendency only grew worse. What had once been mere kindness toward a "commoner boy" began to feel like something closer to worship. When that boy started pouring his attention onto the Duke's second daughter, it surfaced as the jealousy of his followers. Quiet slander. Isolation. A vicious little campaign of bullying took shape.
Phyllis, assigned as the second daughter's personal maid on account of their similar ages, found the atmosphere terrifying — and repulsive.
Does this even make sense?
Aside from the Duke, the Duchess, and the heir, who were so often away, there were three people in that house who couldn't go along with it. The eldest daughter, Eve Ignis. The second daughter, Riel Ignis. And Phyllis Barnoa.
The moment she was old enough for the academy, Eve Ignis fled the ducal house as if running for her life. Riel Ignis endured it all without a word. Phyllis Barnoa devoted herself to protecting her.
The result: Phyllis Barnoa was expelled from House Ignis.
While the Duke and Duchess were away, the head steward — who oversaw the servants' appointments — leveled a charge against her: that she was attempting to manipulate the second daughter. It was absurd, and Phyllis said as much. Lady Riel was uncomfortable around Alan Ludwig. She didn't even want him standing in front of her.
But no one believed her. No — it wasn't a matter of belief. No one in that house would tolerate a single word spoken against Alan Ludwig.
The estate was insane.
I can't leave my lady in a place like this!
Phyllis even considered absconding in the dead of night with the young girl. If it was the eldest young lady — if it was Eve, studying at the academy — surely she would protect Lady Riel. With that vague hope, she put the plan into action.
But Phyllis was still a child, and the plan failed.
"You! So you really went and did it!"
Somehow word had leaked. Knights hunted her down, and she barely escaped with her life, badly wounded. If Count Ventus, returning north at the time, hadn't found her, she almost certainly wouldn't have survived.
Leaving the still-young Riel Ignis behind in that hell became a regret that would lodge in a corner of Phyllis's heart for the rest of her life.
And then, while she was working at the count's household, a longed-for name reached her ears.
Riel Ignis.
...And Alan Ludwig.
It was the year the eldest son of the house she served — Kyou Ventus — was to enter the academy. While gathering information on that year's incoming students, she saw the name Riel Ignis. As a ducal daughter, of course her name would appear. And just as inevitably, she found Alan Ludwig's name as well.
Persistent bastard. So he'd followed her all the way to the academy.
Grinding her teeth, Phyllis followed Kyou Ventus to the academy. Not long after arriving, she found Riel. But she couldn't move rashly. She was a maid of House Ventus now, and the hours she could move freely were limited. On top of that, Alan was always trailing after Riel — and in the dormitory, where he couldn't go, the maid Ilia clung to her side.
Phyllis knew Ilia. She had been a junior who'd entered the ducal house at a slightly younger age, and Phyllis remembered looking after her well. And when the household had framed her, Ilia had been the most eager to pile on. Later, when she heard that Ilia had snatched the position of Riel's personal maid, she had thought: of course she had.
Some time passed, and at the academy Riel began giving Alan the slip, hiding herself away. But her movements then were so swift that even Phyllis could barely keep up. With her limited hours, making contact was nearly impossible.
And then, one day, while she was still searching for a chance to reach Riel, both of their names came from the mouth of the young master she served.
She had known, to some extent, that her master was on bad terms with Alan Ludwig. After all, his fiancée Liliana Edwin had fallen for Alan and abandoned him. At the time it had been a vague pity — another victim ensnared by Alan — and anger, that he'd harmed even her new master.
But afterward, learning that Riel and her young master had become friends — that truly surprised her. The Riel Ignis she had known was a girl broken by her surroundings, unable to act of her own will, her heart shut tight.
Noticing that her reaction was anything but ordinary, her young master heard the whole story of her relationship with Riel Ignis. And with his cooperation, Phyllis finally got her chance to make contact.
Disguised as a messenger, Phyllis passed through the alarm magic and entered the women's dormitory of Aurum Hall. No — she actually was a messenger. Just one whose errand existed solely as a pretext to reach Riel.
But Ilia was still there. Whether she still remembered Phyllis was uncertain — but if she recognized her face, things would get messy. Watching from outside, Phyllis confirmed that Ilia had left the room, then immediately scaled the wall and made for the window.
She knocked. Riel Ignis cracked the window open and peered outside. Phyllis called her name softly, and Riel startled, turning toward her. Her eyes went wide.
"Ph... Ph-Phy... Phyllis...!"
"Lady Riel."
It had been nearly ten years. Watching Riel recognize her instantly, Phyllis smiled.
"I-Is it really you...?"
"Yes. It's been a very long time."
With trembling hands, Riel traced the contours of Phyllis's face. When at last those hands fell away, Phyllis's own closed around them, holding on.
"It really... it really took so long."
"Ph... Phyllis..."
"This time... I can actually help you."
Phyllis had been fighting so hard to keep her composure, but even her eyes glistened with unshed tears.
"So please, my lady — if there's anything I can do, anything at all, just tell me."
She had carved out an unshakable place for herself. She had honed her skill until few forces could overwhelm her. She had found a powerful patron to stand behind her. This time, Phyllis had come to save Riel for real.
"She's waiting for you here."
The place Phyllis led Riel and me to was a teahouse. The same quiet little teahouse Riel had once brought me to, saying it was a good spot with hardly anyone around. And here, she was waiting — the person who might become our chance to break through the second crisis Alan Ludwig had brought down on us.
Phyllis held the door, and as we stepped inside, crimson hair came into view. The same blazing red as Phyllis's. She looked to be in her early twenties — a beauty dressed in an elegant, luxurious uniform.
"......"
Riel looked at her, and her gaze turned to Riel.
"Riel."
She looked at her sister.
"...It's been so long."
"...S-Sister..."
Riel called to her, the word coming with difficulty.
The eldest daughter of House Ignis, and a mage of the Royal Magic Division. Her name was Eve Ignis.