Ana woke up coughing from her fainting slumber, feeling a pain in the back of her head and an unpleasant tightness around her neck.
"Finally awake, aren’t we, my lady?"
Despite her blurry vision and buzzing ears, Ana immediately recognized the sarcastic, if not downright rude, voice.
"Ina?"
"Yep, it is indeed Ina. And Ina is just like you in a very shitty situation."
As her eyes adjusted to her surroundings, Ana realized she was in a small, prison-like room with a grilled ceiling and concrete walls. She also noticed that she was restrained by chains around her wrists and ankles.
"What is this? Where are—"
"We’ve been abducted, Princess. In case you’ve forgotten."
Reminded by Ina’s words, which didn’t come from the room she was in, but rather one that seemed to be beside hers, she remembered what happened: that she, Ina, Edya, and Uta were followed, attacked, and apparently successfully abducted by these people.
"Say, Princess. Can you use magic? To free yourself from the chain restraining you? You're chained just like us, aren’t you?"
To Ina’s suggestion, Ana immediately obliged; she tried to use magic to free herself, but in her attempt, she was immediately met with something very painful.
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"Guhh!"
The moment she tried summoning magic, she was met with a discharge coming from something attached to her neck, which not only incapacitated Ana but also dismantled any semblance of magic she was capable of.
"Oi, Lizzie, you’re okay? Oi? You’re alive out there?"
It took Ana some time to answer, but she eventually did say, "Yes, I think I’m alive, but I can’t use ma—."
"It’s fine. Forget about that. I should’ve known they wouldn’t just restrain a noble with just chains like they did with us."
It was when Ana was still recovering from the shock yet carefully listening to Ina that she heard a second familiar voice lamenting, "We’re doomed."
"Edya? Is that you?"
"We’re doomed. We’re all going to die. They already took Uta; soon they will come for us."
"Uta?" "Where is Uta?" Ana asked, finally remembering the fourth person who was with them when they were abducted.
"We’re going to di—"
"Shut the hell up, Edya. Indeed, perhaps we are going to die, as far as I’m aware, we were just extras abducted along with Uta, but if these are my last hours, I wouldn’t like to spend them hearing some idiot cry, lamenting about her fate. So shut up, please."
At Ina’s words, Edya remained silent, or at least she tried; for now and then, one could hear her sobbing continuing despite her attempt to stop them.
"Say, Ina, you seem to know a lot more about all of this? You knew the moment they made their appearance that they were after Uta, or at least after us. How come? Can you please explain to me what's going on? With how quickly you reacted to everything back then, just who are you? Because no way you're just a random girl who came to the Rose Blanche with the intent of becoming a flower."
"What’s going on, huh? I was wondering the same thing. If you don't mind me asking, what was a noble doing pretending to be a flower in the Rose Blanche? I have come to certain answers on my own, but still, I would like to hear the truth from your mouth: who exactly are you?"