Memoirs of Your Local Small-time Villainess-Chapter 410 - Shocks

Livvi stared out the window at the dark outlines of trees as the carriage rolled away from Scarlett’s mansion, her thoughts still fixed on the discussions she’d had there.

It had been an exhausting day for her, both professionally and personally.

As a representative of the Shields Guild and an aide to the Guildmaster, she had felt entirely out of her depth discussing matters of such scale with Scarlett, who had remained composed and unshakably calm throughout. Perhaps it wasn’t her place to say, but Livvi truly believed that issues like these should fall under the Imperial Diet—or even His Imperial Majesty himself—not a handful of people meeting in private at her childhood friend’s estate.

It made her feel as though she were part of some secret cabal, deciding matters that might shape the empire’s future while only a small circle within the Guild’s upper echelons knew of it. Still, she understood why the Guildmaster and Arnaud Astrey had chosen this approach. Scarlett was the one who set the current terms of engagement, and if the Tribute of Dominion truly was as crucial as they believed, then accommodating her demands was likely the wisest course for the time being.

Livvi could accept that logic. And although she had concerns about Scarlett’s actions, she didn’t actually believe the woman would ever willingly endanger the empire or its people.

But as someone who might once have known Scarlett best…

She regretted some of the questions she’d asked today. They hadn’t all been driven by professional necessity. She wasn’t sure she’d had the right to ask them as she did.

Maybe she simply feared the distance between who Scarlett had been and who she was now. Maybe she wasn’t as comfortable with that change as she wanted to believe.

It was difficult, knowing what to make of it all. But above all else, she genuinely hoped her visit hadn’t caused Scarlett any unnecessary strain.

At least seeing Evelyne again had been pleasant, as had meeting Lady Withersworth. She had heard both were injured during one of the attacks on Autumnwell, so it was reassuring to see that they seemed to have recovered well. Her last interaction with them had been during the Tyndall Ball, and that had hardly been the most relaxing of events.

Exploring the estate’s back garden had also been an interesting experience. The strange warmth in the air and the ever-blooming greenery felt like an eternal summer — a tiny pocket of serenity more befitting the Dawnlight Palace than a baronial city manor. If this had been the Scarlett of old, in less chaotic times, such a marvel would have been the talk of Freybrook’s high society.

But that wasn’t what Livvi’s visit had been about.

She’d done her best to remain professional when she and Scarlett resumed talks after dinner, though Livvi felt there had been an undercurrent between them then. She wondered if she was the only one who felt it. It was always difficult to tell with Scarlett.

Even so, the discussion had gone smoothly enough. They had reached preliminary understandings regarding future cooperation, and Scarlett had been surprisingly receptive to most of Livvi’s suggestions.

There had been one moment that confused her, however. Scarlett had begun asking about rumours circulating in Elystead — specifically, those concerning herself. Livvi was nearly as far removed from those circles as Scarlett these days, so she couldn’t provide much of substance, but that hadn’t stopped the woman from pressing. She had even asked about Sir Leon, and whether he had been involved in anything of note recently.

Livvi suspected the questioning hadn’t been as casual as it appeared, but she couldn’t say why. She knew Sir Leon had been among the expedition intended to explore Beld Thylelion, but the effort had failed, and Scarlett was aware of that. So what, exactly, had she been trying to learn?

Livvi was still turning those thoughts over when the carriage began to slow. The horses snorted and shuffled outside. She turned, brow furrowing.

“Pardon me, but why are we stopping?” she called, raising her voice so it would reach the coachman and the guards the Guild had sent with her.

They were still in Freybrook’s northern district. There was no traffic or other reason to halt here.

Muffled voices reached her from outside. A faint chill crept up her spine.

Before she could move, the carriage door swung open. Livvi flinched back as a cloaked figure stepped inside. Her pulse spiked. The newcomer’s face was hidden beneath the hood, but she glimpsed the faint outline of a sabre beneath the folds of their robe as they sat opposite her.

Livvi forced herself to keep still, breath caught in her throat. She tried to recall the basic self-defence spells her father had once made her practise, running through them in her mind.

They couldn’t be far from Scarlett’s estate. Could she somehow signal for help? If Astrey’s stories were true, Scarlett was more than capable of offering it.

The figure reached for their hood. Livvi gathered her focus, trying to draw on her mana—

—and froze as the hood fell back.

Her eyes went wide.

“Y–Your Majesty?!?”

Scarlett’s brow furrowed as she channelled her mana, focusing on the intricate web of runes flickering in the air at the heart of her office. Shifting her thumb along the surface of the Array Forge on her desk, she pressed against a glowing sigil. A section of the lattice responded at once, the runes flaring blue, then gold, before settling into a rotating matrix.

“So,” Rosa’s voice came from the corner, “what is it that you’re actually expecting this thing to do, besides give us a nice little light show every time you poke it?”

Scarlett exhaled slowly through her nose. “Nothing, provided you continue to distract me.”

“I’d like to point out that you’re the one who told me to come here after your friend left.”

“Yes, though I believe I specified you were to wait half an hour.”

“Hmm? Did you? Well, I must’ve missed the memo.” Rosa leaned back, legs draped over the arm of her chair, book half-open in one hand.

“That is not how—” Scarlett cut herself off, swallowing a groan. She made a mental note to stop teaching the woman phrases from her old world. “Simply be quiet.”

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“Got it.” Rosa raised a thumbs-up without looking up from the page.

Scarlett ignored her, directing her full attention back to the Forge. Minutes passed as her interfacing with the artifact adjusted the matrix, the quiet hum of shifting mana filling the office. The runes cycled through interlocking patterns, growing faster, brighter, and more complex. While her mana reserves drained steadily, she maintained the flow, feeling the array strain towards something resembling completion.

Then, with a faint toll, it clicked into place.

The matrix of runes went still, then its web expanded suddenly, unspooling across the room like a living diagram. Threads of light crawled across the walls and floor, embedding themselves into the surfaces. The air vibrated with a sharp, static pulse that made the hair along her skin prickle.

“Huh,” Rosa said, lowering her book to look around. Then she reached a finger towards the wall behind her chair.

“Ouch—!” She jerked back with a hiss as a spark snapped against her fingertip. Her head turned to Scarlett. “You knew that’d happen, didn’t you?”

Scarlett allowed herself a small, amused smile.

“Yeah, yeah,” Rosa grumbled, shaking her hand. “Laugh it up. The funny-word lady gets zapped by your fancy magic contraption.”

“That is not what I find amusing,” Scarlett said. She lifted a finger, pointing at Rosa’s head.

Rosa blinked, then followed her gaze. Her eyes widened.

Her curls were standing on end, fanned out like a lion’s mane.

“What the Blazes—”

Scarlett gave a soft scoff. “I think the look rather suits you.”

Rosa shot her a scandalised look. “Oh, don’t you dare. You can do whatever you want to the rest of me, but my hair is off-limits.”

“This is entirely your own fault,” Scarlett replied. “Most people with functional self-preservation instincts refrain from touching unstable arcane constructs they do not understand.”

Rosa’s hand darted up to tame the chaos, but her hair refused to cooperate. Scarlett’s lips curved a little further.

“Don’t think I’ll forget this,” Rosa said darkly. “Mark my words. The day I inevitably betray you for a chest of gold and a potion of youth, this’ll be why.”

“An unfortunate but acceptable cost.”

The woman glared, then sighed in defeat, still fussing with her hair. “What even is this thing anyway? Did you actually figure out how it works?”

“Far from completely.” Scarlett turned back to the shimmering runes lining the walls. “But I succeeded in partially activating one of its functions. Among other things, the Array Forge can simulate powerful materials, spell arrays, and enchantments. This, I believe, was one of the preliminary configurations for that process.”

She placed her palm on the Forge again, channelling another pulse of mana. The runes along the walls shifted. At the centre of the room, a circular runic outline began to form — then sputtered violently. The pattern collapsed in on itself, folding back into the central matrix before that, too, winked out.

Scarlett frowned. “Though it seems there is still much to perfect.”

Rosa gave a low whistle, tugging at her unruly curls. “Well, cheers to progress, I suppose. Though I’m not sure my hair agrees.”

Scarlett glanced between Rosa and the Array Forge. After a brief moment’s thought, she had the Loci transport the device to a locked safe in her quarters.

This was probably enough experimentation for now.

She rested her hands on the desk and turned to Rosa. “You now have my undivided attention. Satisfied?”

“Not really,” Rosa said, giving her head a futile shake that only made the hair situation worse. Eventually she looked back at Scarlett. “Think you could help me out here?”

Scarlett arched a brow. “In what manner?”

Rosa gestured vaguely. “Oh, I don’t know… A quick rinse and dry, maybe?”

Scarlett considered her, then flicked her hand. A splash of water burst into being, drenching Rosa from head to shoulders.

“Ah—that’s cold!” the bard yelped.

Scarlett snapped her fingers. The water evaporated instantly.

And Rosa’s hair puffed into an even frizzier disaster.

The woman’s mouth fell open.

Scarlett paused. Right. Maybe she had to try it slowly. She usually let her own hair dry at a more natural rate to avoid this sort of thing.

“Hey, you—” Rosa began.

Scarlett flicked her hand again. Another cascade of water splashed over Rosa’s head.

The bard yelped louder, nearly toppling from her chair. “A warning, woman! You could at least—” She stopped, blinking. “Oh. That’s…actually kind of nice. Warm. Cosy. Think you could do this more often?”

“No.”

Scarlett dried Rosa’s clothes and removed the worst of the moisture, leaving her under the equivalent of a gentle, warm breeze that would gradually finish the job. With any luck, it would also keep her hair from reacting quite so violently.

Rosa pouted in a way that was hardly appropriate for her age, then cleared her throat. “By the by, have you ever noticed that you seem to get more and more sadistic the more comfortable you get around me?”

“I am sure I do not know what you mean.”

“I’m not judging.” Rosa smirked. “Just curious if that’s how Amy always treated her friends or if this is more of a Scarlett thing. Or—” she fluttered her lashes in exaggerated innocence “—could it be a Rosalina exclusive?”

Scarlett scowled. “Please do not ever do that again.”

Rosa chuckled. “Yeah, even I regretted that one halfway through.” She ran her fingers through her damp curls. “Besides, I could already tell that sadistic streak is Amy.”

Scarlett narrowed her eyes. “And what makes you so certain?”

Rosa tapped her nose. “Intuition.”

Scarlett studied her for a moment. “You are wrong. I have never made a habit of tormenting my friends, either as Amy or as Scarlett.”

“Wait, so it is a Rosalina exclusive?”

“That is nothing to be proud of.”

“You should know by now I take what I can get.”

Scarlett sighed quietly. “I am all too aware.” 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

“A bit bold of you to claim Scarlett never tormented her friends, though,” Rosa said. “Hard to tell, given you can’t actually remember any of her friends, yeah?”

Scarlett leaned back, folding her arms. “It is not a particularly bold claim. Scarlett did not have friends. It is that simple.”

“Other than the lady who visited earlier today.”

“…Other than her, yes.”

Rosa watched her. “How’d that go, by the way?”

Scarlett was silent for a time. “Was inquiring about this your intention from the start?”

“What, you’re implying I orchestrated the whole hair fiasco and faux-sadism debate just to segue into a heart-to-heart about your reunion with the only person the original Scarlett might’ve considered a real companion?” Rosa asked.

“Possibly, yes.”

“You’re a loony lady, Amy. Paranoid down to your britches. You should get that looked at.” Rosa shook her head. “I just waited for the first natural opening — like any perfectly sane conversational partner would.”

“I am sure,” Scarlett said.

“Somehow I doubt that, but fine. We’ll pretend.” Rosa smiled again, though the expression softened. “…But really. How was it?”

Scarlett drummed a finger against her arm, meeting Rosa’s eyes. “There is little to say. This is not the first time I have met Livvi.”

“No, but it’s the first since you’ve been… less Scarlett and more—” Rosa gestured at her “—what we’re working on here.”

Scarlett was quiet for a moment, then released a slow breath. “I think she suspects I am not the original.”

“Really?” Rosa’s brows rose. “Not even Evelyne’s gotten that far.”

“No. Evelyne is…aware, to a degree. But Livvi has only observed the changes from afar. She seems more perturbed by them.”

“…Do you think that will become a problem?”

“I do not know. It did not appear so during our meeting. Although…”

“Although?”

“She mentioned something that surprised me. Something the original supposedly said after her mother’s death.”

“And that was?”

“It was…” Scarlett hesitated. “It simply did not sound to me like something the Scarlett I am familiar with would ever have said.”

Rosa’s gaze stayed on her. “…You thinking she might have been lying?”

“Unlikely.”

“Then maybe Scarlett had a few more layers to her than you realised. If you’re anything to go by, I’d wager she was the complicated sort.”

“In some ways, yes. But in others, she was remarkably straightforward.”

“Suppose so. But if you really want to know…” Rosa’s eyes gleamed. “Isn’t there a way for you to check?”

“What do you mean?” Scarlett asked.

Rosa tilted her head. “Well, there’s a copy of her walking around, isn’t there?”

Scarlett’s mouth opened, then closed. She lowered her gaze. “That is true.”

She’d told the others about the Anomalous One—Scarlett’s double—so they were aware of her, even if Evelyne was the only one who had met the woman.

“Where is she now?”

Scarlett looked back up. “I cannot say for certain. But we may be meeting her soon.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I intend to speak with her regarding The Other. She may possess insight that could prove useful if I am forced to contend with him.”

“You think that’s a bright idea?”

“It is part of the reason I allowed her continued existence in the first place.”

Rosa hummed. “Fair enough.” She knocked once on the armrest. “But you’ll bring the rest of us this time, won’t you?”

Scarlett eyed her. “I will, yes.”

Rosa’s lips rose in a grin. “Great stuff.”

A few quiet moments passed before she stretched and glanced around the office. “So, half-serious talks aside, what did you actually want me here for? As usual, just say the word and I’ll have my soul sold in a jiffy to get it done.”

“Those are unfortunate words, given the circumstances,” Scarlett said.

Rosa’s gaze sharpened. “Yeah? And why’s that?”

Scarlett met her eyes evenly. “Because I intend to have you summon us a demon.”