Prize

I could hear Petunia's heavy sigh as we went downstairs to prepare ourselves for dinner.

"Do you know where her room is?" I asked Fily secretly after stopping at the end of the staircase.

"Yep, just beside ours."

She stood beside me, catching her breath as I looked around to see if it's safe to talk around here about confidential topics that must only stay between us, such as the gemstone and Petunia.

"What is it?" She said after a moment of silence.

"I don't feel comfortable with her," I confessed with a sigh pertaining to Petunia, the silver cat.

"Why?" She faced me innocently.

"I just… she went there to steal my gemstone-"

"Not the gemstone but the special ingredients inside it." She cut me off and then raised her brows at me to continue.

"I know but why was she so hostile? She could've just asked me about it."

"That's true."

I looked at Fily after realizing some things.

"Even if you were able to piss her off, why would she scare me like that? I almost thought she was Yumeki, you know?"

"No. There's no way she's Yumeki. First and foremost, Yumeki is an assassin and not an alchemist nor a sage. She wouldn't be able to answer the questions that I asked her about potions and ingredients if she was Yumeki."

"Really?"

"I told you so, we were competing between which one of us was the more intelligent than the other."

"So who won?"

"Me of course! She may be able to invent new formulas but her knowledge was mostly dedicated to alchemy and exotic ingredients only, unlike me who is educated in every aspect of this world." She said proudly which made me smile for a little bit before spitting out my worries again.

"I don't think I can trust her yet."

"Not after how she scared you, give it some time. I'm sure she'll understand." Fily comforted me with a hug and I went to bury my face in between her peaks because of the embarrassment from earlier.

"The way she looked at my necklace," I held my necklace and looked down at it, "it felt like something else, something desperate and scary." I ranted even more as we started walking.

"Imagine being an alchemist with several pending formulas to complete and the ingredients were in front of you, only inside a necklace that belongs to another person, who wouldn't be able to resist that excitement?" She tried to reason with me with her soft voice.

"You're right, I just felt uncomfortable." I tried to understand her but my heart was telling me otherwise.

"That's true, Petunia really did you wrong back there. She should apologize."

I snorted at what Fily said because of its irony.

"You also did her wrong, you know? You ruined her Gummy."

"Riiight.." She said slowly while nodding her head as she released me from her hold.

"Can you tell me more about her?" I asked while hugging her chubby left arm.

"Well, Petunia was a rather famous person even before she disappeared. Do you know the story of Merlin? One of the seven deadly sins?"

I shook my head to answer her question.

"Well, that's too bad. Maybe you can research it later."

"Okay," I answered softly as we walked slowly through this hallway from the left wing of the castle to the right wing where our rooms were located.

"Petunia was called the 'Merlin of the west' because of her exceptional talent in alchemy ever since she was little. Everybody had high expectations of her, even calling her the Merlin of the west because of her talent. This made the other kingdom petition to make her family as a prize for the previous tournament five years ago."

"So you're saying that Petunia's family was the price of the previous tournament where Yumeki won!?" I couldn't help but exclaim in rage at what I just heard.

They treat people like things! How could the nine kingdoms request a family as the price for a tournament!?

"Yes, that was five years ago. But Petunia's family refused to be taken as the prize for the tournament. Most of them burned their houses and killed themselves but some, they disappeared in thin air."

"Like Petunia?"

"Like her. Petunia was never to be found again until recently. She became a cat. Even us, the Indos, have never heard of someone being able to transform into another species using formulas."

"But Yumeki was able to transform into a spider."

"Yes and we were not aware of that."

"Did you ask Petunia what formula she used to become a cat?"

"I was trying to ask her but she got angry. She didn't want to tell me."

"Oh."

"What else?" I asked as our pace slowed down after seeing the doors of our rooms.

"Hmm... During her time as a cat, she was able to collect exotic ingredients from the inside and outside of the border discreetly."

"So, she can cross the border?"

"Yes. She can go over it because she can fly." Fily said as if it was an obvious fact after stopping in the middle of the hallway where our rooms were located.

"Does that mean she's also a royal?" I let go of Fily's arm and held her hands instead.

"Because she can fly? No." We extended our hands because our rooms were far from each other's reach.

"So how was she able to fly then?"

"She's an alchemist, I'm sure she found her way to recreate the flight potion." I followed where Fily was looking and deducted that it might be the door to Petunia's room, the one beside Fily's room to the right, closer to my room.

"If she was able to recreate the flight potion, does that mean we also can also fly someday with her help?"

"Maybe. Especially with your help. You're the one who has the special ingredient here, not me." Fily released her hold from my hand as she walked towards her room.

"See you later?" She peeked from inside her room while waving her hands at me.

"See you." I also waved my hands at her before going inside my room to take a bath and prepare for dinner.

When I went outside my bathroom, I saw Venedette waiting for me with a bunch of clips and hair ties waiting for me on the vanity table.

"What happened earlier? I just saw your messages and rushed here immediately." She went to me to check for bruises or scars but there were none.

And even if I did have some, Mr. Gemini would have cured it already.

"It was nothing. Just a misunderstanding." I faked a smile at Venedette to settle her worry down.

"Sure?" She asked and looked at me restlessly after confirming that there were no scars or bruises there.

I nodded at her question which made her sigh with relief.

"Thank goodness." She said, hugging me afterward to ease her worry.

"Why? Did you think Petunia hurt me or something?" I asked behind her, observing her reaction afterward.

"No it's just... your message worried me and Petunia was lying when she said she was not with you. I checked your locations and found you two in the same place that time when you sent the message. I was just worried she'll-"

"Hurt me?" Now my doubts were starting to make sense.

Even Venedette had doubts about her. I wonder why she let Petunia join her guild if she'll only worry about our safety afterward.

"No, it's not like that. Petunia has a short temper and because she's a cat, she's starting to lose logic and her proper way of thinking..." Venedette's words were starting to make less sense because aside from she was busy fixing my hair, there were also hair clips between her mouth.

"What does that mean?" I tried to understand what she meant by that but she signaled me to wait.

After Venedette finished putting the clips in my hair, she started talking again.

"Petunia found out that the more time she spends as a cat, the faster her real body disappears."

"What does that meann?" I said impatiently.

I really hate the feeling of not being able to understand anything.

"It means, if she doesn't find a way to go back to her original shape, she'll become a real cat with a small brain and she'll lose her sense of self along the way."

"What!?? Really!??" I couldn't believe what I just heard.

Was this the reason why she was obsessed with the 'ingredients' inside my gemstone all along!?

I thought she was just as crazy for power as Yumeki but as it turns out, she's not!

I totally misunderstood her.

"How long does she have left?"

"A year or so." Venedette looked at me apologetically as my tears started welling in my eyes.

No.

I just got to know her but then she'll be taken away from us this early??

I can't afford to lose another friend this way!

Not again...