Vol. 5 Ch. 4: A Cup Out of Place

Walking briskly down the hallway, Monica pressed a hand tightly against her pounding heart through her uniform.

(C-could she have noticed? Noticed? That I'm the Silent Witch...)

Since becoming one of the Seven Sages, she had kept her face almost completely hidden, so the only people who knew what Monica looked like were the other Seven Sages.

Or perhaps she was someone Monica had known when she attended Minerva? But shy as she was, Monica had spent nearly all her time shut away in the laboratory, and if she had ever seen a striking beauty like Claudia somewhere, she would surely have remembered.

(S-surely it was just a coincidence... right...)

She had only happened to bring it up. Surely that was all.

Repeating that to herself, Monica opened the preparation-room door. There were fewer people in the room than before the tea party. Most of the maids were probably out serving the guests.

Relieved, if only slightly, that the room was less crowded, Monica headed for the shelf where she had left her tins.

"...Huh?"

Monica froze as she looked up at the shelf. Her tea tins were gone...