I lay down in the darkness, under the bed, hoping that Rheya wouldn't find me. The sound of footsteps passed by the room but nobody entered. That was a good sign, but it could also be just calm a calm before the storm.

"Abdo mihi" For a moment I forgot that I was unable to wield magic but during the chant, I felt my magical energy all around. The spell which hid my presence succeeded.

Happiness overflowed and made me forget about my situation and the pain. I could escape without a problem now. Maybe big stress like that in the dungeon actually made me unable to cast spells, but now I was out of the situation I was back to normal.

"Curatio!" I healed the wounds on my hands.

The healing spell made me tired but this wasn't a proper place to sleep. I'll try to find the fire spirit and take a rest before I press on with my journey. My next destinations should be...nothing came to my mind. Rheya's ruling bothered me but the townsfolk seemed pleased with Rheya and if they wish for her to be their queen I won't meddle. Maybe I'll check the situation once more before I go.

As I started to crawl from under the bed the door suddenly flung open and I hid under again. The flowery smell and the sound of high heels must be hers. I didn't dare to look in her direction and continued to stare at the dark bottom of the bed.

"Calytrix!" Rheya yelled. "Calytrix! Where are you?"

I didn't dare to make a single move. Magic was protecting me but she was also a witch so I shouldn't act overpowered. I'll leave once I make sure she also left the room and wasn't in the nearby area.

"Calytrix! If you come out now I won't punish you!" she continued yelling.

That was obviously a big lie.

"Calytrix!" Rheya yelled and started sobbing.

I felt bad to hear her cry but I know we couldn't reach an agreement.

"Stupid Caytrix! We could have been friends!" Rheya cried out.

Friends? I would love to be friends with a witch my age, but one which wasn't crazy. Rheya and my life viewpoints were completely different. We could never reach an agreement.

She sat on the bed and sobbed terribly. It pained me to hear crying but I couldn't offer any consolidation. We'd only get into a fight.

"Teacher! I finally got magic just like you did. It took me a while but it was the fastest I could." Rheya started a monologue.

Her teacher was a witch? Why would a witch tutor a normal human princess?

"I wanted to walk down the same path as you but you left me," Rheya said some words but I couldn't make them out due to her uncontrollable sobbing.

The only magical energy I could feel was Rheya's black magic and my normal magic. I couldn't feel the magic of somebody else. There were no leftover traces either. The witch Rheya mentioned must have left a long time ago.

Rheya removed her legs from the side of the bed and jumped on the bed completely. I could hear her grab the blankets while crying and calling out to her teacher. Curiously, she never mentioned a name.

It didn't seem like Rheya would calm herself quickly and that meant I was stuck in the dark for a while. There was nothing to. I just waited for her to leave.

"I'll become a great witch like you were teacher!" Rheya suddenly jumped out of bed.

Like you were? Past tense? Is her witch teacher dead?

"Teacher, please continue watching over me," Rheya said without sobs as she left the room.

I wanted to immediately leave the room too, but I decided it would be better to wait some more.

After half an hour I decided it was safe and I entered the hallway. On the right was the dreaded wooden door that lead to the dungeon. I wanted to go back to free the chubby girl but she was brainwashed like other Rheya's slaves and probably wouldn't leave so I passed by looking straight ahead of me.

The hallways were dark because it was a starless night outside. I searched for the moon through the big windows but it couldn't be seen either. No candlelight lit the way. It felt like an abandoned place in the hallway. Perhaps only Rheya visited it during daylight.

Walking outside on a dark night without any light seemed more welcoming than Rheya's palace. Maybe it was just because I knew what kind of person Rheya was but it was creepy.

I halted my movements while I contemplated whether I should call forth fire to light my way or not. Even though my presence was concealed a flame ball mid-air would stand out too much and Rheya would immediately guess it was me, but there seemed to be nobody around.

Suddenly, something warm touched my cheeks and closely snuggled.

"Fire spirit!" I exclaimed in joy.

It danced around me.

"You were gone for so long. I was worried. Did you solve the dispute with the water spirit?" I asked.

It strangely danced to my question. It flew up and down, left and right. Judging from its movements I could only conclude one thing. They didn't solve anything but at least the fire spirit came back to me.

"Rheya held me captive," I said.

The fire spirit increased its flames in anger.

"Calm down!" I showed some calming hand gestures. "I won't let that happen again. I'll be fine. You're here to help me too, right?"

The fire spirit nodded and calmly listened to my improvement while it lit the way for us with its small flame.

I discussed everything with the fire spirit but we didn't find a door leading outside. I wasn't properly looking because I was distracted by conveying everything that happened and my thought to the fire spirit so there is a chance I missed an exit.

We walked all around the castle and even entered some rooms filled with servants. Nobody noticed us because my spell worked without a problem, but I still left those rooms fast.

It seemed to me like we passed the current hallway twice. The decor of the castle was the same everywhere. Red and black were the dominating colors everywhere but golden pieces like vases or sculptures were a sight that wasn't rare either.

A simple golden ball from her castle would keep me fed for months I resisted the urge of even touching the gold besides if we continue to linger for too long we might encounter Rheya again.

"You didn't see an exit, right?" I asked it.

"The fire spirit led me to a window." It gestured that we should jump.

"Jumping is a solution, but I'd rather walk out through a door," I told it.

I could use magic to jump safely but I'd feel like a thief or some kind of criminal if I went outside like that. The fire spirit didn't seem to be pleased with my reaction because its small flames burned brighter for a moment but it still decided to follow me.

After walking some more we came to a big hallway crossing. All ends of the hallway looked the same again. There were doors on both sides, luxury decorative items, but the end of the hallways was too far away to see from my position.

"Should we go left or right?" I asked.

The fire spirit floated to the left hallway, but I didn't feel like going left nor right. I pondered for a moment and a sweet flowery scent invited me to come closer.

"How about going to that room straight? We haven't been there yet." I said.

The fire spirit remained floating firmly on the left path of the hallway and didn't move at all.

"You really want to go that way?" I asked.

It nodded.

"Well, fine we could go your way but can I check that room first. There is a really nice smell coming from it," I explained.

The fire spirit reluctantly nodded and I happily opened the door.

I happily closed my eyes as I entered the room to increase my sense of smell. It felt as though I walked into a flower garden. The flowers giving off that scent must be pretty. If the smell could dictate the visual beauty it would have been the most beautiful flowers.

Once I opened my eyes I fell as though darkness befall me. Rheya was sitting on a massive golden throne engraved with flowery sculptures made of precious gemstones. She was perfuming herself.

"Rheya!" I blurted out without thinking and immediately closed my mouth with my hands to stop myself from letting another sound.

The princess stooped her actions to look around. Her crimson eyes looked in my direction but she couldn't spot me. My spell was of a too high level for a novice witch to notice.

"Did you hear someone calling out my name?" she asked a servant.

"I heard it but it was probably the wind," the servant answered."Some uncaring maid must have left all the hallways windows opened again which caused a strong wind to blow into the palace. It opened the throne room door and made sounds similar to your name."

Instant relief came over me but I didn't make a single move. I didn't want to raise any more suspicion. They were silent for now so I'll wait for them to make some noise for me to walk away. I didn't want them to hear my footsteps as I leave the room.

I looked around the throne room. It was decorated with gold on its walls, the floor, and all the items there were made of pure gold. The money amount of all of that was some crazy price I couldn't even imagine without my head spinning. Selling those would keep me wealthy during my entire existence and my next three generations.

"Your long hair is so pretty mistress," the servant in a cute black and red maid clothes and proceeded to comb Rheya's long hair. She was a pretty ashen blonde girl with mesmerizing blue eyes which reminded me of Akios.

Her voice reminded me of a voice I heard in the past. As I was trying to recollect all of my memories regarding Rheya I suddenly remembered. The voice of the servant was the same voice as one of the girls that Rheya imprisoned in her imprisoned forest dungeon. She was still following Rheya. I couldn't understand it.

"Did you prepare everything for beheading?" Rheya asked.

"Yes, mistress. As soon as the barrel prince steps into your kingdom he'll be lead to the executioner," she answered with a smile.

I lowered my hands and almost gasped in shock.

"You understand why it must be done?" Rheya asked.

"Of course, mistress. He must be punished for touching mistresses' lips," the servant answered.

It made no sense to me. Rheya would kill him for touching her lips? Did he try to kiss her? It would be terrible if he tried to forcibly kiss her but it wouldn't be a reason for murder. A thing like that would certainly deserve punishment but murder was too much.

There was some silence while the servant brushed Rheya's hair but she spoke again.

"Do you really have to kiss him, mistress?"

"I do! A marriage ritual requires a kiss at its end. I need to follow all of the procedures to become the ruling queen of both mine and his kingdom," Rheya answered. "But once I get married I'll immediately get the title. After that, I can do with him and his kingdom what I please."

"It is for the greater good," the servant agreed. "The barrel prince is one small obstacle in your path. Once you deal with him the Reyaeth kingdom will expand."

"That's right! And I am one of the rare witches which will give ma a great advantage," Rheya explained."First I'll join our two kingdoms raise a big army and start conquering the neighboring countries."

"You can surely do it mistress!" the servant said with excitement."You can rule the whole world."

"First we kill the ugly barrel. That would make some of his people angry but once they see that I'm willing to share my wealth they'll forget all about him and worship me," Rheya said.

She and her servant laughed like crazy after that and I slowly walked back outside. The nice flowery scent felt like the stench of something decaying. I felt sick after hearing their conversation.

"I need to reestablish the witches guild," Rheya said while I exited."I need to become the ruling witch!"

I stretched out my hands in preparation for flames but I stopped because it would be unwise. This was the heart of her territory and the water spirit may come to stop me again, but I won't let her kill the barrel prince. I mean Prince Frederic. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Rheya is a mean, wicked but also a very smart and capable girl. Maybe I won't be able to stop her completely, but at least I could stop her from raising power.

"Sorry for the wait," I apologized to the fire spirit the moment I saw it.

It seemed a little bit annoyed.

"I had enough of this place. Let's just jump outside a window and be gone," I suggested.

The fire spirit joyously welcomed my proposal and danced its little dance. I denied the spirit's suggestion before but now I had enough of Rheya, her castle, and her kingdom. Running away like a thief was better than being stuck in this place for any longer.

"You are too cute sometimes," I said.

The fire spirit made my day. It was nice to have someone around. Its flames were kind and warm. They reminded me of home. I lost mine and I was trying to figure out where to live but for now, this was good enough.

I opened the nearest window and started chanting, "Spiritus ventus dona mihi securus saltuls."

The wind spirit to whom I chanted granted me the power to control the wind and have a secure fall from a high window.

Once I was safe on the ground I noticed that until a moment ago I was at the castles top floor. Rheya's castle looked massive. From my standpoint, I wasn't able to see all of its size. I'd have to distance myself to see it full. For a place that size I'd probably need a few days just to take a stroll in it.

I heard footsteps near me and jumped in the nearest bushes to hide. Although it was nightfall I still feared that they could recognize me. Lucky for me the bushes weren't thorny but I still managed to scratch myself on the branches.

"Calytrix!" the guards were calling me.

"Show yourself witch!" the red armored guards threatened."The empress is calling you!"

"The bushes just moved!" I alerted one of them.

There was a pointy branch hitting my skin and I moved at a bad time. The guard immediately started looking through the bushes but he couldn't see me although I was in his line of vision. My hiding spell still didn't wear off and I was safe.

"I guess it was only the wind," the guard went away.

For the spirit, concealing its presence was a piece of cake. It calmly watched as the events unfolded.

Once the guards were nowhere in sight I got up and brushed the bush leaves of me. The spirit helped me with burning some of them and I thanked it.

"My magical power can't keep my presence hidden forever and I am getting tired from using high-level spells," I explained to the fire spirit. "Let's create a safe distance from the castle and take a rest."

"Sure," the spirit said in Leo's voice.

I rubbed my eyes when the spirit spoke because it was so sudden and I didn't expect it could talk back.

"You can talk again?" I asked it.

The fire spirit couldn't talk anymore and just floated around gesturing it couldn't speak anymore.

"That's all right. I am glad you spoke. I was happy to hear you," I conveyed my feelings."It'll take a while for you to regain your former strength but you can take it slowly."

The fire spirit made happy moves in the air as we walked away from the palace. We slowly made it out of the castle are not raising anybody's suspicion. On our way, I noticed a familiar floral smell and shivered because I thought it was Rheya, but this time it was real flowers. They were the same shape as the gem made ones in the throne room. That meant they were this kingdoms national sign. They grew between a batch of stone bricks which meant that they probably were wild, sturdy flowers.

Darkness slowly faded and sunlight made its way. Soon, my spell will get lifted because I couldn't keep it for too long. But for now, while there was still dark and I was less visible, I wanted to take this chance to make the biggest possible distance from the castle until the tiredness gets to me.

I glanced back at the castle. Its giant shape was finally clearly visible. It had a lot of spiky red towers and its form was curved. From my viewpoint, it looked as though it was built without a proper plan. The castles I saw in books all had a geometrical shape of rectangular but this one didn't have it.

"Let's hurry and get away," I fastened my pace.

The fire spirit followed me.

"We need to stop Rheya and for that, we'll have to save the barr, I mean prince Frederic," I said.

I felt like I was going to do a good deed to the world and this time I could save it with my own two hands only. Suspicious mage pacts won't be needed. My step felt a bit lighter as I started running to the outskirts of Rheya's kingdom.