It's been two days since Adeide promised herself to dedicate some of her free time towards studying and her progress, at least in her eyes, had been quite slow. Her mind grasped none of the things she wanted it to and she instead had to make do with humble beginnings by going through the basics of the otherwise complex topics first.

  She had toiled around books for two days and Adeide knew most of the starting points for alchemy now, with the cking pieces strictly centered around her muscle memory when brewing. Thus she still didn't have a knack for knowing what to do with ingredients after only glimpsing them once- yet.

  For the other subject, constructing mechanical contraptions, Adeide found no book inside her family's library pertaining to the subject. It was frustrating but expected as no one in Enamora has ever bothered to study mechanical contraptions in the past. In the mean time, she concluded that Constance's acquisition of knowledge of this particur topic didn't come from studying but something else.

  A card dropped by a monster possibly, though that sounds unlikely given there has been no recorded instance of a monster dropping an intelligence boosting card. It must've come from another source entirely but Adeide preferred to find proof before reasonably concluding the origins of Constance's new knack for assembling things as well as her adeptness at alchemy. She had many theories but whichever one is correct eluded her.

  She can personally ask Constance of course, and no one in this kingdom would be able to stop her right as long as it is worded as a "friendly conversation" but she didn't want to risk it no matter how curious she may get. She can use her card but a member of the royal family is currently being cured by the girl and they no doubt see her in a positive light because of it. It is better for her to slowly inspect things from a distance.

  As long as Adeide is aware of any new and potentially disastrous developments around Constance, she felt confident that she would be able to work her way around the problems the low born produces. With Constance's status, sending spies to her territory had been easy.

  If the spies do get caught, they won't be able to break her family's aide unless they had someone who possesses the same card welded into Adeide's soul and if her assumption of the type of Soul Card Constance has is correct then the threat of the low born breaking Adeide's control lessens considerably.

  A card which helps with intelligence is good for curing the prince, but it is no match against the effects of Adeide's own card.

  Adeide left the library and moved back to her study. She sat on her desk, contempting. The decree she proposed to her father had been accepted and the tax collectors they sent yesterday have left to fulfill the increased quota. Despite proposing the decree, Adeide's father did not tell her about this instantly nor did he expin why he accepted changing the ws that way.

  Adeide's own reasons for writing it centered around preparing for the upcoming strife within the court but if there are other avenues to the decree then she still hasn't figured them out. She will in time, when her father takes action but for now, she would have to sit in the dark.

  While stewing in her thoughts, Adeide also wrote down a letter directed to Rosalind. According to rumors, the Foxworth daughter had been spotted less and less around social gatherings and have stuck to her family's library reading books. It isn't a cause for concern just yet as she is not eligible for marriage but it will be in the future. But the Foxworths seem to allow Rosalind to spend her time however she liked without reprimand strangely enough.

  Adeide thought this is the perfect time to get in touch with Rosalind and figure out why she changed so suddenly. With their established retionship and past rapports, Rosalind would have no choice but to accept Adeide's request to visit their estate otherwise it would be seen as offensive by both their families as well as the rest of the court so if she does say no to it without punishment then Adeide confirms that the Foxworths have severed their ties to the Sharpes.

  Adeide stamped the envelope close and ordered a servant to carry it to the postman. She tailed the silent maid and used her card to command the plump man on the carriage to never open the letter and to protect it with his life, an assurance on her part.

  Her letter now sent, Adeide told the servant to prepare a carriage for her before going back to her room to change.

  The Foxworths had been the Sharpe's allies even before the rebellion but this does not mean that they will always be steadfast with one another, thus it is only right for Adeide to prepare for the worst case scenario during her visit after their second eldest daughter had suddenly changed her personality. And drastically at that. She doesn't know whether or not she will be attacked, but it is best to be prepared.

  It is not wrong to have magical preparations when Rosalind has started learning magic recently. No doubt Adeide's peer is weak due to her ck of practice in the art but who's to say she didn't get a card which made her a magical prodigy suddenly?

  Adeide walked inside the carriage the servants prepared and grabbed the cup of milk which had been pced on a shelf on the door. "Take me to Flick's."

  Paranoia is a powerful thing, Adeide thought as she gazed out the window. The changing scenery reminded her that she is about to leave the safest pce she knew of, even with the card inside her soul, Adeide didn't let her guard down and kept a close eye on the passing terrain. When nothing suspicious caught her eye, Adeide closed the curtain and went back to the solitary comfort of her thoughts.

  When the doors opened, Adeide found herself in front of a building with a signage that says: Flick's Card House.

  The building was modest, relishing in only minor luxuries such as wooden walls founded by stone beams and a wooden sign above a set of tinted gss doors which sported a blue glow. The building is windowless and brutal in its architecture, with smooth, featureless walls and teral roofing. It is a giant box, shaped to be this way on purpose for the owner's goal was to imitate the shape of a card pack. Inside is a store which sells the cards used by mages for their magic.

  There are three ways which cards are obtained in this world, and each method of acquisition represents the name of that brand of card. Soul Cards are unobtainable unless gifted to people by the gods themselves, it is a permanent scar on one's soul, a reminder that they have been chosen to do something by those who see beyond fate. Adeide possesses one but very few get their hands on them.

  The other two, Monster and Artificial Cards, are easily obtainable but weak compared to Soul Cards. They can be obtained by killing monsters or artificially made through human hands respectively. Monster Cards are the better of the two, as not only are they retively strong, they also have multiple uses and can also recharge over time, a Monster Card can be used infinitely providing the wielder does not empty them during battle.

  Artificial Cards on the other hand, while versatile in their spell types, can only be used once. There is no known solution to this problem and the schors have argued that soul-less items cannot contain that much power, hence why artificially made cards are so weak.

  When Adeide entered the dimly lit shop, the first thing she saw were the hundreds of common artificial cards on this side of the building. They hung from purple painted wooden racks and packed inside magically locked small boxes in sets of 10, each one contained the spell [Bolt]. In other terms, a slightly accurate flintlock or a short ranged arrow.

  Beyond the racks of these common cards hung the still common, still artificial, but slightly better packs of [Shield], [Boost], and [Arrow]. Each spell comes in sets of 5 and are slightly more expensive than the bolt cards.

  After them came higher tiered, stronger artificial cards also sold in packs of 5. These had a reputation for being borderline useless, with most people deeming the price they were being sold as too expensive even though they have the same utility as that of more common, yet also less expensive artificial cards.

  Adeide stepped into the part of the shop which held all of the Monster Cards avaible and the design of the furnishings, wall, and floor changed from that of an antique shop to that of a proper magical store. Lacquered mahogany lined the tapered walls, strange symbols and banners with the general theme of mysticism hung from the bone-esque beams on the ceiling. A shag carpet with an ursine undertone sat primly atop the floor, carrying shelves which sunk underneath its furry surface.

  Monster Cards are considered to be the peak of what a normal caster can possess, having no downsides save for the price, the rarity in which they are dropped by dead monsters justifies this however. When wielding cards like these, a more foolish caster would expend the entire card in one bout while a more experienced one would only do so when situations go dire.

  There is also a well known solution to depleting the card and forever losing them; soul welding is a process in which someone willingly consumes a card and marks it into their soul. Most people go crazy or die from attempting it, few succeed. Only a small group has ever had a 100% success rate and Adeide, with her fate dictated superiority over the common plebian, belonged to that particur capita.

  She has never binded a card to her soul before, deeming the process unnecessary given how she's in possession of one of the strongest cards this nd has ever seen but expanding her repertoire by a spell or three wasn't a bad idea when putting in mind the recent events.

  Her eyes found cards which piqued her interest but ultimately, she still chose to go along with her original pn. She came here with one thing in mind; get a versatile spell perfect for every scenario she might encounter.

  The cards which caught her eye, while powerful, did not fit that criteria and thus got discarded by her mentally. Possessing a potent attack spell was good, but what use would that have when she faces another noble? She'd only be branded as a criminal after she casts the spell.

  And this is but an inevitable outcome since it would leave her no choice but to attack in a way that damages or kills someone.

  But attacks by definition don't have to do damage, or at the very least, kill. They can also entrap, slow, or lock someone in pce. If she obtains a card which can do all three depending on the scenario then even better. Very few spells fit that description however and the cost for a card with that kind of situational effectiveness is incredibly high.

  Most nobles would not consider it a worthy investment and only mercenaries or court mages would even think about wielding such a potent card but Adeide does not consider herself in the same category as "most" nobles and both her pride and paranoia would never let something as miniscule as frugality risk herself becoming a branded criminal and sully her name.

  When she asked, Flick knew of the spell she is looking for, the middle aged man greeted her with a bow and a tipped hat when she passed through the st aisle of his store. Flick stood behind a counter connected to both sides of the room, a gate sat somewhere in the middle of the wooden construct, the sign of its existence only being the thin bck line running up a part of the otherwise smooth acacia.

  On his person was a set of eccentric clothes pleasingly complimenting each other and creating a sense of controlled chaos. Their colors, while vibrant and eye catching in such a lightless pce, didn't feel out of pce and even blended with the light of the mps above. A fluffy scarf ran along his neck and his wide brimmed hat had a single feather drooping at its center.

  "Greetings Adeide," no miss, no anything, he even used her first name to refer to her. And yet the heiress let it be due to her familiarity with the merchant.

  "Flick." Adeide greeted back with a casual yet unaggressive tone, "I have come for a card, do you have something which fits this description?" She pushed a piece of paper with a neatly written list of requirements across the counter, "maybe two? I'd like it if I have a catalogue I can choose from."

  "Of course," smiled Flick, the merchant bent down to grab something from below and brought back a brown colored suitcase. He opened it and arrayed the cards before Adeide, who began reading them one by one.

  "I'll take this one," she said, picking a card whose face had a series of dark, thorny vines illuminated by the blood moon. In the background, a forest of dead trees grew in abundance, if one looked closely, they'd see skeletons hanging from the thin branches with the vines on the foreground wrapped around their throats and keeping them aloft.

  "Good choice," Flick complimented, his oily smile became genuine when he saw the pouch Adeide dropped onto the counter. "A pleasure doing business, do you want to purchase monster cards with the remaining change?"

  "Yes," Adeide decided to give her father a gift when she comes back, he's always been fond of this pce and its wares after all.