I frowned and was about to turn away when I suddenly stopped. Something glittering caught my eye across the pond.
At first I thought it was water droplets reflecting the sunlight, but looking closer, that wasn't it.
"What is that?"
As if winding around something and rising upward, particles of light were moving in reverse.
The light that initially swirled slowly grew stronger and stronger. Finally, the blinding particles of light burst and spread, revealing someone's fluttering hem.
He was lightly shaking off his hair when he discovered me and smiled broadly.
"Lady Anelli!"
...Xenon?
Why is Xenon appearing from over there?
My mouth fell open of its own accord. Seeing the palace people buzzing with surprise, this didn't seem to be an illusion.
As I stood there blankly, Xenon across the way snapped his fingers. With a flash, he instantly moved to stand before me.
Xenon, now right in front of my nose, grinned boldly and met my eyes. What on earth is this?
"...Are you a ghost?"
I murmured unconsciously, and Xenon burst out laughing.
"No, I am not."
"Why are you here?"
"Because Lady Anelli is here."
"No, I mean..."
"I never heard that I was dismissed, did I?"
When I was left speechless, my lips gaping, Xenon gave a faint smile. With furrowed brows, he looked at me with a hurt expression.
"Surely you're not planning to dismiss me? I came all this way, and you'd fire me the moment we meet?"
Xenon, who had asked as if joking, grew increasingly serious at my silence.
"Really?"
"...I won't."
At my words, Xenon's expression, which had stiffened for a moment, softened again.
Well, I could find out how exactly he ended up before my eyes later.
"This is the Imperial Palace."
"I know."
That's really not something to laugh about so freely.
Just as I was about to say so, soldiers armed with weapons burst forth from various parts of the garden.
"Over here! We found the intruder!"
"Get away from the Princess immediately!"
"Fetch the Chief Mage!"
The guards surrounding us each pointed their weapon tips at us. It was only natural—the Imperial Palace's barrier had been breached and some mage had warped in.
"Ah."
Xenon also seemed to realize the problem belatedly, scratching his forehead with a troubled look.
"Well, it wasn't much of a barrier to begin with, but they're making quite a fuss."
Not much of a barrier... actually, I agreed with that.
As the wyvern incident showed, it was specialized for quickly detecting intruders or magical reactions, but it didn't block physical attacks.
Even so, who just warps right into the middle of the Imperial Palace, and into a garden behind the main palace at that?
"You can't just warp in recklessly like this. It's going to be a huge problem."
"It's not that big a deal..."
"Surrender peacefully!"
See, I told you it would cause trouble.
Even surrounded by weapons, Xenon didn't seem particularly tense. Instead, he made his demand quite confidently.
"Lady Anelli needs to stop them."
"Me? How?"
"If we reveal our relationship, they'll back down, won't they? The rumor that even the Imperial Family can't touch Lady Anelli has already spread everywhere!"
"Don't tell me you believed that and just warped in without a plan?"
"This is what they call connections, isn't it?"
As I stared at Xenon who was laughing freely, I signaled to a nearby guard.
"He's not a dangerous person, but he'll need to be investigated, so take him into custody without harming him."
"Lady Anelli!"
Xenon shouted, looking at me with a hurt expression. But even I couldn't help it.
If he'd at least sneaked in, I could have hidden him. But since he boldly broke through the barrier, all the mages in the palace would have noticed. What could I do?
'I don't want to be lumped together with an Imperial Palace intruder.'
And so, Xenon was taken away.
* * *
Surprisingly, the investigation wasn't long. I don't know what conversation took place, but Xenon was released quickly, and without even stopping by the main palace, he came straight to the detached palace where I was staying.
Heinrich had appeared midway and gone in to sit in on Xenon's investigation, so perhaps he had helped somehow.
Although Heinrich didn't seem to like Xenon, the fact remained that he was released.
...Since there were no problems, he must have come to see me, right?
"How could you hand me over to the guards the moment we met?"
As soon as he sat at the table, Xenon complained about his grievance toward me.
"That's why I said you should have come through the front gate from the start."
As a mage, Xenon couldn't have not known about the Imperial Palace's barrier, so he must have warped for convenience despite knowing. Looking at him, it seemed he had regained his magical power as well.
At my scolding, Xenon pouted.
"I just marked the coordinates slightly wrong. And is it my fault that the barrier here is this weak? If they wanted to block warping, they should have set up a proper barrier from the start."
"Do you know how much it costs to maintain a barrier year-round? Even this level of barrier is already overwhelming."
"As my master said, the Imperial Palace mages are all weak."
Xenon shook his head, saying that at the Magic Tower, they'd be too embarrassed to even show such a barrier.
Perhaps because his magical power seal was lifted, Xenon, whom I met again, seemed overflowing with confidence. In the past, he would have avoided drawing attention in any way possible.
"But really, how did you get here?"
"I warped. My magical power seal is lifted now."
"I can see that since I saw it with my own eyes..."
"Have you been well while we couldn't meet?"
Smoothly cutting off my words, Xenon offered an abrupt greeting. When I looked at him blankly, he smiled awkwardly and said.
"Let's start with greetings, step by step. Even though I look like this, I was really worried. Are you hurt anywhere? You didn't bump into anything because of that sudden warp back then, did you?"
His voice as he asked was serious. It was an unexpected worry. Thanks to that, I, who had been about to question how he suddenly appeared, ended up answering first.
"As you can see, I'm perfectly fine."
For one thing, the bed was very comfortable, I was playing all day so there was no reason to be tired, and the meals were of the highest quality, so there was no way I would look unwell.
"You look like you've lost some weight to me. Could it be that the Imperial Palace food doesn't suit you?"
"The Imperial Palace chef has excellent skills."
"But your palate must have been accustomed to my cooking, so you might not have adjusted."
"Are you planning to compete skills with a professional?"
"Why couldn't I? The key is adjusting to Lady Anelli's taste anyway. Besides, no matter how delicious the food, if you eat it in an uncomfortable place, it won't digest well."
It couldn't be dismissed as a joke because there was no smile on Xenon's face. Was my appearance that wretched for him to be so serious? I was in a much cleaner state now than when we were camping.
Of course... I hadn't been able to sleep properly, my appetite had decreased so I was eating less, and my nerves were on edge from fending off uninvited guests trying to sneak into the palace.
Still, for some reason, I couldn't easily bring myself to say it was hard.
"I'm not hurt, I ate well, and I've been fine."
At my firm answer, Xenon narrowed his eyes. Then he soon nodded and murmured.
"I'm a bit hurt. I couldn't rest well because I was worried."
Scratching the back of his head, he soon laughed meaninglessly.
"Still, it's a relief. You seem to have held up well."
Strangely, no answer came to me, so I quietly sipped my tea.
'...It's warm and delicious.'
How odd. I've had tea countless times in this backyard, but only today did I realize that tea tastes good.
* * *
Heinrich stood frozen at the window with his arms crossed, lost in thought.
His involvement in the Imperial Palace intruder's investigation had been coincidental. After the Emperor finished his conversation with Anelli, he called for Heinrich, and on his way out after briefly stopping by the main palace, he witnessed a commotion.
He was surprised to discover Anelli among a group of guards and interjected, but upon closer inspection, he belatedly realized the face of the man being led away was very familiar.
The man with red hair and golden eyes was someone Heinrich had always found irritating.
He had told Anelli he would handle it himself, but in truth, Heinrich had intended to punish Xenon strictly.
If Xenon hadn't boldly presented the Emperor's invitation, that is.
「You came as the Magic Tower's representative?」
「Yes.」
The invitation he presented was genuine.
He knew they had sent invitations everywhere for the banquet they claimed to be holding for the resurrected one, but he hadn't expected them to send one to the Magic Tower as well.
「I didn't expect that while inviting a Magic Tower mage, they wouldn't have anticipated he'd come by warp.」
Even dragged into the interrogation room, Xenon showed no sign of tension as he looked around.
Come to think of it, he was like that when they met at the flower farm too.
Anelli seemed to think Xenon was a timid and weak man, but to Heinrich, Xenon was quite brazen and fearless.
The side he showed Anelli was probably all whining and pitiful acts. Otherwise, how could he be so lacking in tension?
「I didn't know the Tower Lord's invitation would be presented by a mere mage.」
At Heinrich's barbed words, Xenon smiled blandly.
「My master's joints aren't good enough for long-distance travel.」
「...Your master?」
「Yes, as his only disciple, I came.」
In that moment, Heinrich's expression stiffened involuntarily. He had thought Xenon was at best a mage playing around in the middle ranks of the Magic Tower.
As if guessing his thoughts, Xenon bowed with exaggerated formality.
「My greetings are late. I am the next Tower Lord.」
Heinrich regretted it. Why hadn't he listened to Dekin talk about his master? Dekin and Xenon were brothers, so if he had heard information about Dekin's master beforehand, he would have realized it much sooner.
An inexplicable irritation rose at the unexpected identity. Heinrich calmly suppressed his feelings and spoke.
「Unfortunately, the banquet has been cancelled. You came for nothing.」
「Thank you for your concern, but it wasn't for nothing.」
Xenon and Heinrich had been smiling at each other the entire time. If they didn't at least do that, they couldn't hide their mutual displeasure.
「As you might guess, that invitation was just an excuse. I heard that in this world, appearances matter.」
「Did you come to serve Anelli, then? Someone who's the Tower Lord's successor?」
Heinrich asked in a gentle voice. It was so soft that one might not even realize it was sarcasm.
Perhaps because of that, Xenon also answered with a bright smile.
「That's correct.」
Heinrich thought again. This man was not timid or weak at all.