Ten minutes later.

Quietly slipping out of the room with the spirit, I arrived at the building where Raven’s room was located.

‘I heard it’s definitely here.’

Though I’d only heard about it, having never actually been here before, the scenery felt a bit unfamiliar.

I was worried about running into someone, but since it was nearing midnight and even the occasionally seen soldiers were nodding off, I didn’t face any particular difficulty moving around.

‘Well, it would have been the same if they were awake.’

Currently, the spirit and I were enclosed in a transparent barrier called a barrier.

The thin membrane, shaped like a large soap bubble, served to separate the inside from the outside space. It not only made us invisible, like transparent magic, but also perfectly blocked sound.

Moreover, thanks to the spirit’s power, even if we entered the boundary Sione had set up, she wouldn’t notice at all, making it ideal for moving around secretly.

Unlike a shield, it couldn’t block people from entering the barrier or deflect physical attacks, but it was still an excellent skill on its own.

‘I should learn this, it could be quite useful.’

Unlike magic that could accidentally reveal one’s position, this power used the spirit’s unique abilities, so there was no worry of being caught by others.

Of course, if someone could handle spirits like me, or had similar power to a fairy, the story might be a bit different.

“You, can you teach this to me?”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

“This thing.”

When the spirit poked the barrier that ordinary people couldn’t see or touch, it grinned with a sly and wicked smile.

“Hmm, it’s not impossible. You have the talent to summon me.”

“Then teach me later.”

“I won’t do it for free. Give me a full basket of what you ate earlier, and I’ll think about it.”

Eek, my buttercream cupcakes!

How hard were those to get!!

‘……I guess I won’t be seeing cupcakes for a while.’

Unlike common sweets like cookies or macarons that could be often seen around, cupcakes with cute decorations were a special menu that occasionally appeared at tea time.

With a regretful heart and dampened appetite, I reluctantly nodded, and the spirit danced a quick spin in the air as if excited.

I watched its antics with a sulky face before turning my gaze to the surrounding scenery.

‘It’s my first time here. Feels a bit gloomy.’

Raven stayed in a different building a bit far from where I stayed, and perhaps because the ceilings were low and the rooms small, it gave off a gloomy atmosphere like a warehouse.

There were many other nice rooms, but why on earth was he given a residence in such a place?

‘I should ask to move Raven’s room to the building where I am later.’

Rose Palace, which had quite a romantic story hidden in it – being secretly built by my father as a gift for my mother who loved flowers – was also their honeymoon palace.

For that reason, despite being an outer palace of the royal palace, Rose Palace was fairly large, and there were many empty rooms decorated with a bright atmosphere.

‘Is it because this simple structure of building is more suitable for surveillance?’

Unlike the building I was staying in, the windows in the exterior walls were small, and the structure was simple with only one corridor.

Though the surroundings were wide open, it also meant that it was easily visible from anywhere.

Even though Raven had been granted the freedom to move around within Rose Palace, from Sione’s perspective as the palace’s manager, she couldn’t completely let her guard down.

Being confined to his room alone now was an extension of that, I suppose.

‘Maybe she gladly accepted writing lessons to investigate Raven a bit more.’

Well, I can’t say I don’t understand such thinking.

In terms of suspicion of others, Raven was much more serious than Sione.

Whether he was originally reticent or not, I don’t know, but since he wouldn’t talk about anything other than his name, it was somewhat understandable that Sione couldn’t easily dismiss her doubts.
“I’ll have to mediate between them and make sure they get along well.”

After all, I’m the only one in the Rose Palace who can improve the relationship between the two people.

Little by little, even Raven seems to be opening his heart to me, so clearing up the misunderstandings and getting along well with everyone might not be just a dream.

I was unconsciously moving my steps, lost in such happy imaginations.

Suddenly, I started feeling a strong magical power of Sione somewhere.

“Sniff, sniff. Is there a strange smell from that door? The foulness tells me it’s black magic for sure!”

Where the spirit pointed, there was a shabby door without even a common lock on it.

Thanks to its sloppy appearance, it seemed as if you could open the door and enter at any moment, but in reality, a strong barrier was set, and it didn’t budge at all.

“Is there a little boy inside? You know about this, right?”

“Hmm, who knows? We’ll know once we go in.”

I looked up at the spirit, flashing its eyes as if it would be fun, and lightly furrowed my brow.