The other ring (1)

She opened her eyes almost immediately after confirming that the three men had left the room. There were around two days left until the brainwashing event, yet Adelaide had no plans to wait until the last minute.

After teleporting to Baron James' office, Adelaide did not go to the big wooden wardrobe straight away. She stood quietly in front of the table instead. To be precise, she was staring at the table's drawers.

'How should I open this?'

Adelaide had looked around the room yesterday. Even though she did not remember every single detail, her room of subconsciousness slash study hall did. She spent some time reviewing the records carefully, but what she needed was nowhere to be found.

The original Adelaide had her necklace on when she was captured. Instead of a normal pendant, a ring was tagged in. That ring had the duchy's family crest on it.

Like any other noble family Adelaide had read in movies in her past life, every Winford had their own ring that represent their position in the duchy.

Adelaide Winford was a direct descendant of the main lineage, so hers was white gold. Red diamonds were studded on the ring, forming a mini emblem. If she had the ring on her, she could prove her identity at Western Imperial Academy.

Of course, her brother would recognize her once he sees her, but the problem was to get the security guys to trust her. The Imperial Academy was filled with prodigies – noble prodigies at that. It was no exaggeration to say the Empire's future and prosperity were all holed up in that one place.

Security would be thick. She needed something to prove her identity, or at least raise their suspicions a bit. Her blue eyes and black hair are one thing, but they were not enough.

Teleporting straight to the school's grounds was a no-no from the get-go.

'I feel like if the Baron had any brain cells, he would lock these drawers and insert some kind of alarm or defense mechanism. I mean, look at the size of this damn drawer. It's big, and looks suspicious.'

Adelaide squatted down so that her eyes could be on the same level as the exceptionally big drawer. The final wooden drawer was twice the size of the other normal ones above it.

'Should I teleport only my hand and an eye inside this drawer? That way, I could see AND find stuff.'

It was not a bad idea, since she could assemble and reassemble herself pretty easily these days. Just when Adelaide was about to attempt it, she heard a familiar voice.

"I can help you with that."

A four-year-old kid could be seen jumping down from the wardrobe under the faint moonlight. Adelaide looked at Edel quietly when he approached and sat down beside her.

"There's a safe inside this drawer. I saw the Baron opening it quite a lot of times."

"He did not know you were here?"

"No." Edel shook his small head lightly. "It's hard to discover me if I don't want to reveal myself, m'lady."

Adelaide thought she could hear a small tint of proudness in his tone.

'He was a kid, after all.'

'Then does that mean he knew I was coming his way yesterday, but he could not run because he was cornered? Or because my actions were so sudden for him to react properly?'

But the boy's five senses were extraordinary. That meant he must have heard the Baron's footsteps clearly from the start.

"Why are you helping me, Edel?"

Maybe she should not be so direct since he was at least helping her, but she was a kid at that moment, and Adelaide thought this is how kids are supposed to communicate.

She could just flee if anything went wrong.

'Teleportation really is the best.'

"…" Edel shifted his attention away from the already opened drawer door. As he said, Adelaide could see a metal safe with various aie stones embedded around a single circle-looking device with numbers around it. It seemed like the boy was halfway done, as the light of multiple originally shining stones was dimmed.

"I…I don't know."

"You know I am wearing what the test subjects wore, right? I am a subject as well, Edel. And 00 at that. They could not categorize me, so they made me 00. All of us subjects may be dangerous. In fact, I could be the most dangerous of all. A threat."

'It's all bullshit. They must have made me 00 since I'm from the Winford Duchy. A single noble daughter between all those normies ought to be special even if she's useless. It's the social hierarchy that matters.'

"You met me yesterday, Edel. I know you could have escaped before I got in the wardrobe. You are smart. Kids your age don't behave like this."

'I don't know how kids your age are supposed to behave either, but let's say that's true based on my standards.'

"You don't have to, but can you tell me the reason why you are doing this? Because you know yourself you succeeded when I agreed to meet you one last time before I go."

'I really hope the Baron doesn't have that many brain cells.'

Adelaide did not doubt the four-year-old that much, to be precise. She did not have severe trust issues, and her worldview was not twisted. The reason why Edel was so attentive could be because he was fond of her, or simply because he wanted to help someone in need.

Whatever the reason, she just wanted to hear it.

"…I have an ulterior motive." Adelaide could see the boy's face full of guilt.

'Wow, he knows the world 'ulterior'. Damn, again, kids these days. Maybe it's me who was stupid back in the days.'

"…but I don't want to harm you or anything, my lady. I just thought…"

"Yes?"

"I want to follow you."

"…sorry?"