"So care to explain?" Arte asked, once they got to a discreet place to talk.

During the discussion she had with Rubi, Ana was slightly briefed on what kind of position Arte held in the Rose Blanche, as even though she and Arte shared the same mansion, he never took the time to properly explain what his role in the establishment concretely was.

Arte was assigned a task similar to Mael's prior to his detention: to act as a sort of "noble protector and benefactor" for the Rose Blanche and its denizens. However, unlike Mael, Arte could not use healing magic, so his role was mostly to appear as a noble beacon for the Rose Blanche flowers to find safety behind.

He seemed to be the most suitable candidate for the position since, in addition to being Arte, the son of a formerly well-known teleportation magic user, he was one of the few who had received personal teaching from a former Fourteen, from whom he even received a token of heritance. Humble though he may be on the matter, it remained a fact that Arte was no small personality.

So, even though his fame could not compete with Mael's, who, along with the red princess, established an unrivaled reputation during the calamities, Arte and his reputation were sufficient for the Rose Blanche and its Flowers.

Ana understood that by taking the choice of staying in the Rose Blanche for a few days, or at least until she uncovered the truth, there was a small chance she would run into Arte, who she was well aware was frequently around, but she chose to take the risk, hoping that she would be lucky enough not to run into him until the end of her investigation. It seems she wasn’t so lucky.

"I can explain," Ana said for the second time of the day, sighing at the labor that awaited her before she explained lengthily and thoroughly all that had happened that had led her to this situation. "I can explain, but it will take a while."

"I have plenty of it, and so do you, I believe."

"Sigh. Okay, okay, I'll explain..."

Ana hurried herself for the second time that day to explain why she had sneakily broken into that girl's house, while also taking care not to reveal the part of her story she deemed too problematic to explain.

"That’s pretty much how I came to be in that room."

"Ana,... Seriously? Arte sighed, perhaps exasperated.

"Yep, seriously," she replied, embarrassed to be in a situation where she, who has taken on the role of some sort of elder sister for the two of them since Arte moved into their mansion, could be rightfully reprimanded by him. "Sorry." Ana mumbled.

"Tell me, who? You earlier told me that you learned about Arisa— the girl from earlier, whom you believed had the answers you were looking for from someone. Who is that someone?"

"That’s… I can’t tell you."

"Why?"

"It's a secret," Ana said, seeing how tired Arte was of her. "Listen, I'm truly sorry, but I can't tell you because I know it might bring upon her problems she didn't ask for, while I literally left her with no choice but to speak out the words that led to that room out of her mouth."

"So, she's a flower…"

"You can keep guessing, I just hope you won’t count on me to either confirm or deny anything," Ana stubbornly announced.

"Fine, I’ll forget about this, but Ana, pretending to be a flower for two days straight—what train of thoughts led you to—at home, we were starting to get worried to see you missing, without a single word of warning left behind."

"I’d like to make it clear that it was not initially my plan; it was an accident. But yeah, I know that doesn’t wash off the fact that I still remain the culprit for allowing myself to be taken along in this masquerade. But that’s it; I know I wasn’t right in this, but this is the way I am curious, problematically, mostly."

"So that’s what led you to her room, curiosity?"

"Yes."

"I just wanted to talk. Ask questions."

"Which questions?"

"The ones I’m curious about. The ones about that night."

"If that is what you came to her room for, I think it is time for you to go back home, Ana. She has no answers to these questions of yours."

"How do you know?"

"Because I know she doesn’t."

"Forgive me, Arte, but allow me to harbor doubts when it comes to that."

"I know you came here most likely because I failed to provide you with the answer you were looking for, but you must know that she does not have the answer you are looking for," Arte declared, his voice raising up.

"Then let me just talk to her. I want to hear that from her mouth."

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

"No I won’t! I’m not allowing you to mention that subject to her!" Arte strongly refused, causing Ana to back away from him. Upon seeing how he overreacted, Arte immediately apologized. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean—"

"No, I'm the one who is sorry," Ana said, approaching Arte and nudging him on the side. "What do you think about the two of us chilling out for a bit?"

Arte nodded at Ana’s proposition, agreeing that both of them got carried away.

The two remained silent for a while before Arte announced, "I’m sorry, Ana, but I really can’t allow you to ask your question to her."

Which prompted Ana, more understanding than she did a moment before. "May I ask why?"

Arte was about to say no, but perhaps realizing that this would not satisfy Ana, he offered a partial explanation: 'The things you want to ask her are sensitive, and I think the wounds are still too fresh for her to just talk about them, like you wish to."

"You want to ask her what she knows about the night her brother died and about the person who, as we all know, is responsible for her brother's and the other men's deaths that night."

Upon hearing Arte's words, Ana realized how thoughtless she had been in wanting to discuss that topic with the girl.

Ana had learned from Rubi that the girl was the sister of one of the sooted gardeners; it was for this reason, as well as the fact that there was a rumor that she could be in the middle of the entire incident, that Ana believed speaking with her would provide her with an interesting perspective on what had transpired that day.

Ana, ecstatic at having discovered what she believed to be a solid lead, failed to consider, let alone care about, anything other than the possibility that she was getting closer to the truth she sought.

"I see… I understand," a seemingly resigned Ana said.

"But—though I cannot have you talk to her about that subject, I can answer questions you have for her in her stead."

Surprised by this sudden change of heart, Ana asked, 'You're sure?' since Arte had so far been so determined to keep her away from the answers she sought.

"Not really. But I have the awful impression that unless you get these answers somehow, you’ll start looking for them elsewhere, and I am everything but sure that’s a good thing."

"Hahaha, you... you know me well. So about that day, can you tell me what happened?"

Arte couldn't help but sigh at how quickly she asked that question.

"Truth be told, I don’t think there is much I can enlighten you with on her perspective of that night, as back then I had not yet met her, but I can tell you about how that day transpired for me."

With those words, Arte explained how he, accompanied by Rubi, had unknowingly made his way to the Rose Blanche on the day of his return to the Holy City.

He'd met Lady Orchid and the Matronne there, from whom he'd later that day receive his master's token of inheritance and an unambiguous but grim instruction: the one to dispose of the Rose Blanche's sooted gardeners.

The reason for that radical decision was an accident, in the middle of which were a noble and the girl, Arisa. That’s the extent of what Arte knew of the incident; he was not provided any supplementary details by either the Matronne or the Lady Orchid.

That day, expecting no further questions from him, they gave Arte an address and a clear instruction, ones that Arte could not bring himself to follow.

Later that day, Arte, unsettled with the instruction he received earlier in the day, decided to visit the address he was given by the Matronne: the place where the eight sooted gardeners lived. There he would see Mael standing in the midst of a macabre sight.

"But you didn’t see him killing them, did you?" Ana asked, after ruminating on the new data she was provided.

"No, I didn't, but I know what I saw." Seeing how Ana, despite his words, was hesitant to believe them, Arte further added, "I know you want to believe otherwise; I too did, but that night, facing the fact that he had his magic out and seeing the shape the corpses were in, I was left with no other choice but to face the truth: He killed all eight of them."

Despite being left with no choice but to face that truth, Ana yet again theorized, "Assuming that is true, that Mael did indeed kill those people, wouldn't that mean that the order still comes from the Matronne, who originally assigned you that task?"

"Although she never personally confirmed it,It most likely is."

"Then—"

"The order might have come from the Matronne and Lady Orchid. It doesn’t change the fact that he killed those people, Ana."

"I know, but shouldn’t they at least be held reprehensible for being the mastermind behind it?"

"Perhaps. No, the facts are that I’m sure that they should be, but it’s too late for that; Arte is already free of his manslaughter charges, and their deaths have already been forgotten. It is only you who will not let go of this affair."

"I know it’s rich coming from me, Arte, but don’t you think that there is some sort of injustice that has been committed here?"

"I did, and I still do. But what do you want me to do? Whatever I do here will bring problems to the Rose Blanche, which I swore to protect on Master's behalf."

From these very words, Ana finally understood where his strange behavior, which she deemed so different from the young Arte she remembered, came from.

The Arte she remembered, with how awkward and upright he was, would never have agreed to work with people who would plot the death of another human being.

It is for your master... that you’re putting up with all of this, aren’t you?"

Arte shook his head.

"Regardless of how amoral and obscene I initially judged this place, the Rose Blanche and its people grew on me. I’m not putting up with anything, nor am I doing anything because I feel forced to because of my master’s wish. I do everything I do because I care."

"I see... Sorry for over-assuming." At that moment, Ana suddenly remembered something briefly mentioned and immediately brushed aside by Rubi that she had grown fond of, and thus asked, "Say Mael, the person from whom I got my information about that girl told me that the Rose Blanche was in a difficult situation? What was she referring to exactly?"

Arte's face tensed up.

"That person you’re referring to, it’s Rubi, right?" Arte made a guess. One that was spot on.

"Don’t count on me to either deny or confirm. So what is it?" She hurriedly asked, to divert the subject.

"That’s…"

Just like Rubi, Arte was highly reticent to reveal what it was, but unlike with the former, Ana could finally insist on getting her answer.

"So? I’m waiting."

"That is something confidential."

"Yet here I am asking you to reveal what it was, because I know that you know that I won’t stop until I know what it is."

"Sigh... seriously, what will I do with you?" Well, if you insist on knowing, then fine. There have been a total of nine cases of people disappearing in the last two months, well, I say disappearing, but as of now it is a confirmed case of abduction."