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"Are you like Lady Karen? Is the one responsible for the node present on this continent? Can you hand us the key? I know we have not known each other for long but I would like to ask you to trust me" Did Maria sound desperate? She thought she did but it was difficult to be able to tell.

Suna's threatening growls behind Maria did not help clear her image as well. But Maria could not knock Suna out as well because they may cause more damage.

​ "Like Karen? Well, more or less but I'm much more involved than her in my land's wellbeing. I have no intention to sit back and watch it get engulfed in another war" Lady Elma looked to be a kinder soul and her words just reconfirmed Maria's suspicion about her character.

She was also easier to get along with than Lady Karen and this was a welcoming break. Maria was not sure how she would be able to handle a person she would have to spend mental power going against. She was not emotionally prepared for the blows since she was still reeling from the thought of Nao.

And it did hurt to think about her companion who was no longer there but the hurt was not as all-present as Maria had thought it would be. It more or less came and went in waves. If Maria thought about Nao, then it hurt but if she was distracted, she did not even remember.

It made her feel guilty but also relieved. It meant that she could carry on the mission Nao had entrusted her with. She would not need to back down from the task she had been entrusted to. And maybe she could also gather some information from her system and check up on some things.

'System, are you still there?' Maria asked, a little worried. Her system had taken a break when she had entered the node so she was not even sure if it was working properly or not.

[System in the middle of a reboot. ETA: 1 day remaining]

So at least her system was still with her despite its lack of usage. It was a grounding presence in Maria's life and served as a reminder that everything was not as bad as it could have been. Everyone could have ended up dead if things had gone just a little more south.

"So, what are your plans from here? I assume you would want to go after the node and seal it up?" Lady Elma asked and it was a golden opportunity for Maria to jump up on the offer. Did it not make things easier for her?

But then why did she get the feeling that it was not going to go as smoothly as Maria was hoping for? Suna seemed like she had enough of the world and decided to fall asleep with her head in Maria's lap. Her weight was a comfort against the conflicting emotions Maria felt.

"I would like to seal the node before it becomes a problem. You do understand that we cannot allow a successor to be born without checking the candidate whom we can trust" Maria explained, expecting the other party to agree with her.

But the silence was little more encouraging than a flat-out refusal of her proposal. Whatever was bothering the other, it had something to do with the node and the key.

Generally, Maria would have considered it as not her problem and left it behind but she had learned in the past few days to not let things be. It was necessary to resolve them before you lost a chance to.

"Is something wrong? You can't trust us? You can always send someone you trust to keep an eye on us" Maria suggested as Suna curled even smaller on her lap. Her head tapped Maria's hand to ask for petting and Maria complied.

She thought she felt frustration leak through the other's ironclad hold on her emotions before it all shut down and Maria looked at a blank mask of a face in front of her.

"I don't have the key any longer. I entrusted it to someone a long time ago and we might need to go to retrieve it. I can't do it myself since it would cause a political scandal" Lady Elma did what now? How could she just hand the key over to someone? Was it not a sacred thing?

But then again, even Lady Karen had handed it to her without thinking much over the issue. Maybe it was not as big of a deal as Maria was making it out to be?

After all, having the key was not equal to having the node's power in your hand. And maybe it would not be so bad if they explained it all to the one who held the key right now. Maybe a talk would be all they needed.

"So, where is the one to whom you gave your key? Where can I find them?" Maria asked with an eager tone. Maybe things would work out better this time around?

But Maria should have known than to be optimistic about this topic. She should have learned her lesson a long time ago but it seemed as if she could not keep it inside her head. So Lady Elma's words just highlighted how much Maria's life sucked.

"The original person I gave the key to is dead but his daughter still lives. I'm sure she has the key you desire. You can get her to hand it over to you" Lady Elma informed. Her tone sounded calm and detached as if she had nothing to do with it.

Lady? You could have retrieved the key since it was your job but you did not? And why? Was the key not something important that needed to be kept away from dangerous hands?

"And where would we find this 'daughter' you speak of? Why did you not get the key back yourself?" Maria could no longer hold back.

She did not have much of a filter for questions, to begin with so this was bound to happen sooner or later. Hopefully, she would not offend Lady Elma with her questions outright.

"The daughter could be found at the imperial jail and would be executed in two days. You both are lucky you got here in time. Once she dies, who knows where the key would go" Lady Elma shrugged.

For someone who cared a lot about her continent and what was happening there, Lady Elma looked weirdly relaxed about looking at one of the biggest sources of power there was. But really, did she have to deliver the news like this? All it did was give Maria anxiety.