Using the excuse of Michelle being frightened and weak, Archduke Grace took Michelle, and they left the banquet, but before that, Michelle invited Ivona to come over on the next day. Meanwhile, Mare infiltrated the Imperial Palace as a maid using a disguising magic item.
Even back in the Archduke's mansion, Michelle still felt the two gazes on her, but she decided not to show that she knew until she was alone as she didn't want to get Archduke Grace involved.
Archduke Grace took Michelle to his office and they both sat down. "Did it go as expected, father?" Michelle asked with a slight lazy smile.
To that, Archduke Grace only nodded a bit. "His Majesty wishes to see you the day after tomorrow early in the morning to discuss the engagement. He's hoping you won't break it off."
"I see..." Michelle's lazy smile turned into a small cold sneer. "What a pity that I don't plan to keep the engagement. His Majesty will be disappointed with me."
Archduke Grace looked at Michelle and sighed a bit. "Michelle... Be careful," he said with a hint of worry in his voice.
Michelle looked at Archduke Grace and stood up slowly and turned to leave. "Don't worry, father!" she said as she opened the door. She perfectly understood what he was worrying about.
Having already offended the Crown Prince and his lover, and planning to drive the Emperor into a corner, the Archduke was worried that a cornered rabbit would bite, but Michelle wasn't worried about it as that was exactly what she wanted. She needed the Emperor to make a move.
When she got back into her room, Michelle used the contract between herself and Snow to contact her. "Snow, any changes in the mountains?"
"..." At first, no response came, but after a while, Snow's voice appeared in Michelle's mind. "Around a dozen men dressed in black entered the forest and hid by the road." Her voice was calm, as that was within expectations, and they were expecting even more to come.
"Master..." Snow, suddenly sounded like she remembered something. "Do you remember when a huge pack of wolves attacked us?" she asked and from her voice, Michelle could imagine the frown on her face.
"I remember. What about it?" Michelle felt curious, because throughout the month she was with Snow, she never once sounded uncertain or worried.
Snow took a deep breath before speaking. "Master, I don't know if you noticed, but when we were fighting the wolves, they all were targetting you. Even when me and Mare were standing in their way they were trying to bypass us and attack you."
Michelle's eyes dimmed a bit as she remembered the encounter with wolves. It was all quite suspicious. "I noticed..."
"Well..." Snow sounded a bit uncertain. "While you were at the banquet, I discussed it with Mare, and I think we figured out why that happened."
"Oh?" Michelle lifted a brow. "Do tell me."
"Master, when the wolves came to us, you had a small wound on your cheek. It was a scratch from a tree branch. Do you remember?"
Michelle felt more and more confused by every minute. "Yes... I didn't notice a branch in my way and it scratched my cheek. How is such a small wound important?"
"The wound itself isn't important. The important part is that after the branch scratched you, we noticed a sweet scent, but when we told you about it, you said you don't smell anything. That was probably the scent of your blood." Snow's voice was quite dire and it was clear that she took the matter seriously.
"Master, with Mare, we came to the conclusion that your blood has some kind of sweet scent that is enticing for beasts, and that is why they attacked us and were only targetting you. And that made us wonder if your blood also affects monster and magical beasts in the same way, because if yes, than it can be dangerus for you, Master."
When Snow finished speaking, Michelle went silet for a moment. She knew that it was only a hypotesis of Snow and Mare, but they were both born in the world she was in, unlike herself who was merely a foreign soul, so they probably kew more and there was something which led them to think so.
After a while, Michelle sighed. "I'll come meet you in the forest at noon and we will test it out."
"But, Master, that's dangerous. What if it really ends up attracting a monster?" Snow was worried.
"The we will fight it. And if what you are saying is true, there might be a way to use it in a non dangerous way." Michelle didn't seem the least bit worried, and even sounded a bit excited.
"Fine..." Snow sounded quite unconvinced, but she complied. "I'll wait for you by the road leading into the forest."
After that, Michelle cut off the contact ad contacted Mare using the contract to tell her about her plans, but Michelle told Mare to stay in the Palace to spy on the Imperial Family.
After talking with Mare for a while, Michelle went to spar with the knight's commander for quite a while before telling the Archduke that she's going out for a while and if she doesn't return untill diner, he shouldn't wait for her as she might return late at night.
Then, Michelle put on the disguising mask to look like an ordinary peasant girl and left towards the forest.
It was high noon when Michelle reached the forest and met Snow. Both of them having cold attributes made it quite uncomfortable to be out in the sun, but luckily, it was only the early spring so the temperature was bearable for them.
Having cold attributes, they felt comfortable in cold places, so while other's were wearing at least an additional layer, the two felt quite hot in thin clothes which others would wear in the middle of the summer.