"Evergreen?" He didn't know what she meant, but it must have been a word Rowena had used to describe what she saw.

This was something he had to show her, not only to make her feel a little more secure, but also to show his sincerity. After knowing about her secret, he didn't want to keep this from her either.

But she just stared at the high ranking Visitor who had appeared on her vines behind him. It's not that he couldn't understand, as he had been this was as well, the first time he had seen her.

But Rowena already had experience with this, so he didn't think she would react so stunned. The truth behind her reaction was the fact that it was a Visitor she had seen before.

'What are the odds?' she thought, 'No, seriously. What are the odds, Pan?' How many Numbered she had known before had now appeared in this world? The Pied Piper? Mercy? Evergreen?

'I can't say.'

'Can't or won't?'

'I do not know them.'

'This isn't coincidence. I refuse to believe it.'

He stayed silent for a moment, before speaking his mind: 'It may not be a coincidence.'

That was all he said, but it frightened her to know he didn't deny it. 'The Divine Principal.' It's the only thing that came to mind.

Of course, it was a bit of a stretch, since the Principal didn't directly have a hand in anything at all and could only indirectly work its ways within their world – or any world, as it had turned out. But who else was capable of leading them like this? And what for?

At the way her fists were clenched, Alan could tell that she wouldn't simply keep her head down and stay safe. He did like the way she was handling herself now, for the most part at least, but this was one thing he couldn't quite get used to. It had made him worry more than ever.

That was the reason he had finally made the contract he had run away from for years. With a sigh, he nodded in his Numbered's direction, who moved herself back to her own dimension and out of sight.

"It offered me a contract years ago," Alan explained, "but I didn't trust it, so I couldn't take the hand."

From the revelation of the numberless Numbered that had once shown up in Celia's world, nobody knowing what she could do or who she even was, to the fact that she had now a contract with her brother, Rowena was speechless.

"What is her name?" she asked after a few seconds.

All she knew was the name on an old file with a low resolution picture of her figure. What she could see a second ago was the number 2 that was etched into her waist, just above her right hip.

"Gaia, it says."

'She must have a title as well, right?'

'We call her Primal Mother. But that's what makes her arrogant.'

'You acted all servile when you talked about Number 1 back then, but Number 2 doesn't get that much respect, huh?'

'She is… exhausting.' He seemed genuinely drained when he said those words.

As she didn't say a word, he turned to her servants. "I trust this won't leave the room. At this point in time, only the Emperor himself and his Grace are supposed to know about it."

Which also meant he had told his sister, despite the order, which would have likely been issued by the Emperor.

"Of course, Young Lord," Norina said as she realized that fact as well, bowing deeply next to her little sister.

They all agreed, but it was obvious they would, not just because they would never bring harm onto their mistress, but also because they had their fair share of secrets as well. Rowena was still a bit out of it and didn't react outwardly, but she knew this had to happen at some point.

Why else, after finding out that the ones marked would not be able to partner up with any other Numbered, would it be that a person as talented as her brother had no partners at all? And it hadn't bothered him either, as if he had a hunch as to why that could be the case.

She knew that she had two days here, while they were gathering up, eating snacks together and having tea, the men went on their "light competition" – they would have a winner this evening. The next day, they would be frolicking around, while people could use the time to socialize and hunt, whereas there was no hunt for inexperienced hunters this year. It then ended with a ball in the evening and the day after, they would all go on their merry ways.

'At least it would be so, if there wasn't someone trying to crash the party first.' And she had to know if the servant named Illic was a part of that "someone" or not.

It was true, in the end, that she just felt a lot safer than she had before. But it couldn't mean she could become complacent, because someone who was a new contractor could not be compared to those people, who seemingly knew exactly what they were doing.

"What is she doing here?" someone whispered.

"You know she had to be here, you foolish girl," was the easy answer from another.

At the long table, many ladies sat, with the host being placed at the center, next to the imperial family members who attended.

This Emperor would not be there, but the Princess and the Princes were. Of course, both Princes would be a part of the hunting competition, which left their sister Isobel with the noble women and elderly men. She would also be the one to announce the winner of the first-day-competition.

Both had not yet appeared though, which left room for gossiping among the attendees. And surely, there was one who had to be there and not miss a word.

"Lady Neuhaus, I heard you were there when she had her most recent outburst. What was it like?"

"What it was like?" Sheila Neuhaus said, building up tension within those young women whose attention was all hers, "I was worried about the wellbeing of everyone at the table. The Princess was there as well, after all. It was terrible."

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"But what did she do?" someone else asked with curiosity, "I saw her at the Victory Banquet. She didn't seem dangerous to me."

Certainly, they were talking about Rowena Dynari van Varnhagen, who had been through yet another mental breakdown in her long career as the "Crazy Lady". The whispers had been quietly happening after years of her shutting herself in, but lately, especially after the rumors of her actually becoming the next Empress had been shut down for good, the topic was now like raw meat to a bunch of hungry hyenas.

They knew they had to be careful, because the Hostess of this festival tent happened to be the Grand Duchess of Varnhagen, Beatrice van Varnhagen. But that alone had made it more exciting to talk about all the details of what had happened with the young lady, while trying to be secretive about it.

They sat far away, at a separate table – one outside of the tent, in order to get some sun, when it was already late in the year and would soon stop being sunny altogether.

"My, my, I wonder if she is alright though." It was a girl with pinkish hair speaking, ending her words with a short but heavy sigh.

The men were about to leave for the hunt. Only three hours would be granted, in order to get the best result. Everyone just waited for the pop of the signaling gun to start, some even sat on their horses already with impatience.

When they looked over to where the pink-haired noble was looking, they could see beautiful wavy hair in a lavender hue, shining under the sun while dancing in the light breeze. She was talking to a handsome young man, who seemed grateful after receiving something from the lady.

The next moment, a loud banging sound resonated through the entire mountain range, signaling the beginning of the competition, making the handsome lad bow to the lady and turn to his horse, in order to set off.

"Who is that young man? I have never seen him before," Elina Hershley commented upon seeing the pair.

"An acolyte from the Temple in Avarinth, I heard," Alice Duncan replied, "I had the servants find it out for me. He's here from the Lodden Empire."

"He sure does look like a fine young man." The young woman twirled a pink strand with her fingers. "She must have gotten to know him on her trip."

"It wasn't a trip, Lady Lowell, we all know that tyrant was trying to get her to marry him." Elina sincerely sounded concerned. "Word has it that he is older than the Emperor of Arlen."

"And what if he is? It would be an honor for her to marry him, right?" Sheila might have said that, but she was happy it would have had to be her. The first time she had ever felt grateful for Rowena to be above her in hierarchy. But if the Emperor were to decide the crazy one wasn't good enough for him, the next in line would still be her, so it wasn't as if Sheila was completely at peace.

'Why must it be her?' Rowena was pretty, she couldn't deny it, so if she wasn't so unhinged, everybody would take her in the position of Lodden's Emperor. 'Her dirty personality is what troubles me.'

"So anyway, what did happen at the tea party? I barely heard anything about it." It was Lady Vanessa Lowell again, a Count's daughter from the east of Arlen who rarely had an opportunity to visit the capital.

"She accused the Saintess of harboring a criminal," Alice answered in a whisper and leaned forward, in order for all the girls at the table to be able to come closer together if they wished to, "and the Saintess looked very serious about that. Apparently, this servant was truly treasured by her."

"She's a real saint, after all. To have such a benevolent personality." Elina smiled and looked around, seeing the one she spoke about at the main table under the big tent. "I wonder why lady van Varnhagen seems to hold a grudge against her."

With a snort, Sheila gave a sharp smile with a vile look on her face. "Because the Saintess is everything and has everything that she does not. Isn't it obvious?" It was – to her at least. "If I was lacking to such extend, I would dread the girl that outclassed me that much as well."

"That's not true, Lady Sheila," Alice responded fast, "you would never be like her."

"Am I the only one who is interested in why Lady van Varnhagen would accuse someone of being a criminal? What kind of criminal, Lady Duncan?"

"Lady Lowell, you must know about the incident that happened in Lodden, right? The one with the terrorists that had the powers of the Holy Paladin."

"I heard of it, it sounded terrifying. The Lady was in Lodden back then?" Word hadn't carried on in that much detail, so Vanessa Lowell furrowed her brow in confusion.

"Indeed, she was said to have been right there when it happened, at the capital of Lodden. She saw it with her own eyes."

"That sounds frightening."

"It does, doesn't it?" was what Elina felt, "I feel bad for her, if I may say so."

"How could you feel bad about someone like her, Elina?" Sheila suddenly got up, raising her voice, but couldn't make another sound, as she realized who had just been passing by, standing right behind Elina.

"I hope you are enjoying your tea, Lady Neuhaus."

With elegance and grace, yet strict in her gait, Beatrice van Varnhagen said nothing more than those words, yet it felt as if she had dared the young noblewomen to utter even one more word. Her stepdaughter was walking right behind her as she moved on to the table, in order to sit down.

She suppressed a shudder, looking into those pearly eyes, remembering the last time she had seen her. Even though she couldn't really point out how, the doll-like façade of the Varnhagen daughter was crumbling before her very eyes.

Sheila knew there was something about that girl; that she was dangerous. Rather than spitting in people's faces, or upgrading her shtick to using holy water, she had seemed like someone capable of way worse deeds.

Remembering Rowena's face at that moment in the palace, and the atmosphere around her, made the Marquis's daughter take a gulp that she quickly hid by drinking a sip of her tea, but somehow she couldn't taste anything at all, as a shiver ran down her spine.

After that, they decided to quietly drink and leave the talking to the nobles at the main table, especially after the Princess had finally arrived. As she was never one to talk much in public spaces, their party was more on the quiet side, but most people attending seemed pleased with it.

Lost in thought, one piece of confectionary would silently vanish in front of one young lady, with only some people around to see what was happening.

"Are you worried about your grandfather?" someone asked in a quiet voice.

Surprised, Rowena had to stop shoving an éclair down her throat to look at the Duchess next to her.

She felt a sudden pang of guilt, because she hadn't even thought of that. Her Grandfather had left together with her brother, saying something about showing those young people what his generation could do.

In reality, it was the fact that the Grand Duke had decided not to compete, which also meant that no one would be with Alan, who was a likely target for assassination during an event such as this one. And surely, no one took his words seriously, coming from a man who had to exhaust one miracle in order to even be there.

Still, she knew he wouldn't be stupid about his health. He had an attendant close by him. What she really did was to keep a close eye on a certain man, while anticipating the evening, when "the big accident" would finally happen.

"I just wish for him to be careful. That is all." She didn't like lying about this topic.

It was perfect timing for Princess Isobel to get up, so she wouldn't have to talk about this any further. The servants had followed the contestants, marking all the game with colored flags and keeping track, which was counted again by servants following up on the flags.

They were comparing the counts, listing them in order of quantity, with special notes to quality, and handed it over to the Princess, so she only had to read the name.

'Well, my father is no longer part of the competition, but Lucan is now a part of it instead. I even saw that flirty southern Prince and the guy with the dead eyes from Edengard. It has changed a lot, so maybe one of them will win? Or maybe Alan, now that he was a contractor?' But she knew his character wouldn't allow him to win with a power that nobody was allowed to know about.

"And the winner is," Isobel said, showing shock and confusion for a moment so brief, Rowena might have missed it had she blinked, "my dear brother."

'Yeah, sure, why not.' She almost rolled her eyes. 'What else is knew?' And that with all these new contestant.

"Cassius Remen de Valga Arlen, please accept this pin as a sign of your accomplishments," she continued and Rowena was not the only one whose mouth was agape at those words, "who do you wish to dedicate your game to?"

With an arrogant smile, he let his sister put the pin on his costume jacket. "Let me think."

The bastard prince let his gaze wander playfully, while knowing exactly where he wanted it to land already. As his eyes found Rowena's, her head went into overdrive.

'How?' she thought frantically, 'How in the ever-so-blue lightning up your ass, have you managed to win this stupid competition?'