Alphonse's words from last night were still clinging to the corner of her mind. "You don't have to assume you must bear everything alone." Elena traced the edge of the ledger with her finger. After her magical power and willpower had both bottomed out last night, for some reason she had written down only that single line clearly. The handwriting trembled slightly. The bandage on her right hand's fingers had become two by this morning. "...How irritating," Elena muttered quietly, closing the ledger with a snap. Before dawn, the Moonlit Pavilion was illuminated only by faint magical lamps casting soft light. The stone-paved streets of the royal capital Blanche were still shrouded in morning mist. The smell of the Aedel River drifted in on the breeze, and somewhere distant, a cargo wagon's wheels creaked. Today was a special day. Five members of parliament, led by Count Dort—the conservative faction's leading figure in the Jade Round Table—would be coming to this shop under the pret