Meanwhile…
A few days prior to the current time…
Atropa sweated as she threaded on a barren space. Dead trees were scarcely scattered around the eerie place.
"This place looked and feel awfully familiar." She said as she made her way towards nowhere.
"Isn't this the dream world where I met that demon when Hazel opened my caster's circuit?" she asked no one in particular. Atropa could sense a sinister presence lurking in the shadows.
Just then an ominous wind blew and a foggy figure formed a few meters ahead. Atropa stopped short when the foggy figure began morph and resemble the princess of Marjoram. Lily appeared before her.
But unlike Princess Lily, this apparition looked a bit more mature and a bit wicked. Her visage did not at all looked like a king's daughter, instead she looked more like a woman possessed by a demon.
"You seemed to have acquired such power, my dear." Lily said.
Atropa instinctively held unto Lumina. She did not reply and she tried to move back from the apparition.
"You know, you should not deny yourself. You need my help in taking your revenge. Why don't you allow me to take over." Lily made her way towards Atropa.
But Atropa dodged her advances and kept her distance.
"You still refuse me after all these years!" Lily's form gradually changed. Her hair whipped around like snakes and her eyes were smoldering in anger.
"Mark my words my dear, you will need my powers someday. Whether you like it or not, my darkness will consume you! I will have you!" the demon lunged at Atropa.
However, before the demon could come near her, Lumina's bracelet radiated bright light. The light hit the demon which burned it and then the apparition disappeared.
"Whoaa!" Atropa gasped as she woke up from her nightmare. "it had been years since I last dreamt of that." The maid wiped the cold sweat which trickled down her face.
After receiving Lumina, and returning from the ruins, she felt a strange presence from within. It was like a snake squirming inside her and was trying to get out.
"This is not my mana." She muttered as she tried to calm the unrest within her.
It had already been a few days and yet she still felt the aftereffects of their little adventure. Despite feeling drained, her mana reserves seemed to have stabilized.
"My mana was supposed to be depleted. So, whose mana is this?" she wondered.
Then a flash of memory came to her mind. She could hazily remember that Briar had supplied her some mana.
Atropa's face heated up at the memory of the two of them kissing.
"Gosh! That was just mana transfer!" she took her pillow and planted her face on it to muffle her scream. But images of the time she had spent with the prince still invaded her mind.
"Kyaaaahhhh!" she screamed on her pillow while rolling listlessly on her sheets until she was entangled like a burrito.
And as if, he got summoned by Atropa's muffled screams, Briar came and checked her condition.
"Your highness!" Atropa's heart jumped when the prince entered her room unannounced. She tried to get up but Briar pushed her back to bed.
"You have been exhausted with our little adventure, so you still need to rest." Briar half-advised, half-ordered her when he noticed that she was still feeling under the weather after their escapade.
"But I need to take care of Princess Rozen…" she tried to reason out. Unfortunately, Briar wouldn't budge and simply told her to rest for a few days.
"You need to take a break. I will have someone look after Rozen for a bit." He said while gently pinning her down on the bed.
"Your highness, what are you doing?" she asked while narrowing her eyes.
"I am just trying to tuck you in bed." He replied while bringing her blanket to her neck.
But Atropa's brows furrowed, she had a hunch that the prince is planning something more than just tucking her to sleep.
"It is time for your medication." The flaxen haired smirked while he inched towards her.
Atropa tried to escape but he had her pinned securely on the bed.
"I… no.. longer ne…need ma..mana transfer, your highness." She stuttered.
But the prince did not give her any opportunity to run.
Briar held her down. "accept". He whispered before his lips crashed on her soft ones. Atropa refused to grant him access at first, so the prince nibbled on her lips, as if asking permission.
Finally caving in, Atropa opened her mouth and allowed him to explore. Atropa felt the steady flow of mana from the prince when he delved inside and teased her.
They were both breathless when he finally released her. Atropa felt as if she would go deaf with how loud her heart beat was.
"Better rest. I will take care of Rozen." The prince bid farewell after he shared his mana.
Atropa was left staring the door after Briar exited from her room. Her face heated up and she could almost feel that smoke would come out of her ears.
"That was… oh my goodness!" she cried giddily.
After she calmed down, she had somehow observed. "This is odd. The mana that Briar had given me has a different quality."
"For some reasons the mana he had shared is pleasant unlike the strange entity that was struggling to get out." Atropa murmured while trying to assess her situation.
It had been a few days and the routine pretty much did not change. Briar would visit her, argue a little and share his mana with her then made the girl rest.
Although Atropa wanted to work, she could not risk getting caught by Briar. He did warn her that he would punish her if she would disobey him.
But after the prince began to get preoccupied with his own work, Atropa sneaked out to visit the princess.
After getting ready, the maid went to the princess for their early morning routine. When she knocked at Rozen's door, Atropa was greeted by the princess with glee.
"you are finally back!" the girl squealed.
Atropa could not help but smile. Rozen was too cute for her own good.
"Looks like you are getting along with Reim." Atropa commented as she eyed the young fox that the princess had been carrying.
"yes, I like him a lot!" Rozen replied. "So, can we practice spells today?" Rozen's eyes sparkled in excitement.
"I only sneaked away from my room. His highness, did not allow me to meet up with you because I depleted my mana." Atropa tried to explain her situation.
"If that is the case, then can we practice in the secret room tonight?" the girl negotiated. "I know Briar will be busy. Someone from the other kingdom came to visit him. I heard he will go to the enclave."
Atropa's brows furrowed at the information. "Your highness, did you eavesdrop on your brother again?"
The girl averted her eyes. "I just heard the other maids and servants talking."
Atropa knew that the princess was lying, so she gave her a reminder. "eavesdropping is very much unbecoming, your highness."
Rozen pouted and her eyes were downcast. But Atropa was firm so in the end the princess agreed not to eavesdrop again.
The two then went to the practice room which happened to be Hazel's secret chamber from a few year ago.