The Baroness Misbehaves
Chapter 213: First Test

Chapter 213: First Test

In a rush, Madeline was led into a spacious room by Monica who walked in front. When she opened the vast door, the spacious room was occupied with nothing but a single table in the middle.

Madeline stood at the entrance, confusion contouring her face. She was sure this room looked big enough to host a ball event, but all she sees is a table stranded in the middle of the room.

To her left, Napoleon stood there, resting his back against the wall while watching Monica and the strange lady step in. He saw her blink in puzzlement, whilst his presence remained unnoticed to the two of them till Monica spotted him first.

"Napoleon? You’re here too!" She blinked at Napoleon who moved away from the wall, stepping towards the two of them, and only after his name was mentioned did Madeline sense there was another presence in the room. She had felt something chilly, but assumed it came from the open windows.

"I thought you said you wouldn’t have time to--"

"I changed my mind." Napoleon bluntly uttered before shifting his hazel eyes to Madeline who bowed her head in greetings. She looked at him with a smile.

"Greetings."

"Come with me." Napoleon led her towards the table, ignoring her greetings which Madeline chose to turn a blind eye to, and she obediently followed him with Monica by her side.

Nearing the table, Madeline’s gaze was starting to take notice of a glass tube that was resting on it. Inside the glass, a dead rose was sealed inside. Stopping in front of it, Madeline bent her head downward to have a proper look at the dead rose that was safely kept in a tube.

Its stem had dried, and the rose petals had bent downward, shriveled into ashes color. It looked no different from the sight of Ethan’s rose when her blood touched it, and then the strangest thing happened after that.

"When the barrier broke, so did the nature of Whitebridge city’s capital." Napoleon explained, "being the only surviving fae in your family and Whitebridge in general, you share more connection with nature than anyone else, which means bringing withered flowers to life."

As he explained, Madeline’s hands curiously reached up to feel both her ears. She stretched it slightly with intense curiosity, inspecting the shape.

"Faes are magical beings with the ability to wield great power in magic and other gifted elementals. For example, the ability to connect with nature and what are you doing?"

Napoleon, who was taking his precious time to explain the importance of her existence, was forced to stop when he caught her examining her ears, and like a moon caught ghost, Madeline immediately dropped her hands to her side.

A slight cough of embarrassment escaped her lips, and Monica, who could guess her thoughts, chuckled inwardly before looking at the strict Napoleon.

"Faes tend to have long ears, she must have grown curious. Don’t be too hard on her." Monica spoke Madeline’s mind, and Napoleon’s eyes narrowed Instinctively.

"If she has long.....?" Napoleon’s face regained its earlier composure after grabbing Monica’s statement, and he looked at Madeline. "If that’s the case then no, you do not possess such physical qualities, you’re more unique than you think."

"Oh, then I thank God for that." Madeline was instantly relieved by the thought of not having such long pointy ears. Not because she might not find it exciting, but she was worried Cassian might not like the sight of it.

"You never wanted one?" Inquired Monica as she took in how calm the young lady became, and Madeline, who felt her rejection would hurt their pride as non-human, made her shake her head vigorously. "I didn’t mean anything negative, I’m just not ready to possess other qualities that might alter..... I’m not sure if you understand me."

"Doesn’t matter, everyone has their preferences." Napoleon ended the conversation there and proceeded to the main reason why they’re here.

Opening the tube, he brought out the rose that was kept inside. He stretched his hand forward, handing it to Madeline.

"Take it."

Madeline hesitated for a few seconds, wondering what she had to do with a rose. She looked at Monica who took the rose gently from Napoleon. There was a lingering look in her eyes as she stared at it, and then she focused her attention on Madeline.

"Faes are capable of giving life to nature, you haven’t mastered your powers yet, so take this as your first lesson on how to bring life to the dead." Uttered Monica.

"If you don’t awaken your powers starting from today, it will be difficult to do it later on, and later on, it’ll be too late, and when it’s too late, many lives would be gone, including yours. So make a choice" Napoleon asserted cryptically.

Giving pep talks weren’t his things, but explaining the danger of not doing something that was necessary was his main priority, and it never fails.

Hearing Napoleon’s statement, Madeline took the flower from Monica.

"Good." His lips curved unnoticeably after seeing the rose wrapped in her dainty fingers, and he said. "I want you to close your eyes and picture the healthiest blooming rose you can think of. Radiant red, snow white, thick fresh petals, good stem, just picture it."

"Why does it have to happen with my eyes closed?"

"So you can picture properly, close it!!" His commanding tone made Madeline snap her eyes shut without delay, and Monica facepalmed, wondering how she was going to explain the art of not being too demanding to Napoleon. If he gives her a heart attack, the innocent lady won’t be able to concentrate properly.

Cassian and Osvaldo were heading towards the path Madeline and Monica had taken, but Cassian stopped Osvaldo mid-way. Osvaldo’s inquiring gaze met that of Cassian’s, and the young lad couldn’t help but ask.

"You’re a seer, if that thing wants Maddie, shouldn’t you be able to see the body of whom it’ll possess?"

"Handsome sir, I’m a white seer, I see only the good of things, and not the bad. I see many good things happening in the future, but that is the finish line, we’re yet to face the trials on the way.

"Fine, if you only see the good then, do you see my wife making it out of this situation, will she Happy?"

Osvaldo stayed quiet for a few seconds, as if trying to contemplate Cas’s words, and he smiled softly. Cassian only ever sees him smile and wonders if it’s a psychological issue that deals with seeing too many people’s happiness at once.

"She’ll be fine." Osvaldo answered, relieving Cassian a bit. "You seem to love your wife a lot, but I get a feeling she doesn’t know that yet. How sad, I’m not a love advisor, but I think I like you both since I tend to see a lot more about you and wife, but you should tell her the truth before time runs out for you. Futures are quite unpredictable."

"I don’t think you’re in any position to say that."

"Me too." Osvaldo agreed before taking Cassian away to the room where his wife would be in.

By the time they got there, they could see Madeline’s eyes were sealed shut in a concentrated manner. She was holding a dead flower in her grasp, and Napoleon was uttering words he could use to boost the pictures in her head more clearly.

"Oh, Brother’s here." Osvaldo sounded as surprised as Monica when she also saw Napoleon in the empty room.

In Madeline’s grasp, the petals of the dead flower began to drop. Every piece of it fell silently to the ground. Monica inched closer, and her eyes widened when the dried-up stem began to replenish. There was a faint glow of light coming out from Madeline’s chest as she tried to remain focused.

She could feel her energy leaving her body and flowing out from her arm. She held onto the stick where her energies seeped into, and the fallen petals were replaced by freshly bloomed reddish petals. The stems grew tiny branches with green leaves flourishing at the tip.

When Madeline couldn’t keep up, she opened her eyes. Her gaze fell on Monica whose eyes had dilated in full delight. When she dared to look at her hands, the once dead rose had bloomed mysteriously.

Out of impulse, Madeline released her hold on it, but Monica took hold of the flower before it could drop to the ground. Madeline backed away from her own creation, and then her eyes shifted to palms, a voice inside her head kept asking.

’Did I really do that??’

"Good, but not good enough." Napoleon commented, his gaze fixed on the flower. "Your energy is unstable, you need to feel comfortable and get settled, we’ll try again in the evening when you return."

"Return where?" Madeline asked, looking lost.

"Won’t you like a home for yourself and your husband?" Monica grinned, "it’s a welcome gift. We also arranged something special as a wedding gift since we couldn’t attend."