Sunday, May 27, 2012

Hakushaku to Yousei; Torikaerareta Purinsesu

Volume 06: The Replaced Princess

This volume started with the a young female, tailing Edgar. The young woman, Lota who just arrived in London for the first time was following Edgar to know about the whereabouts of her friend Betty. Watching him closely from behind, Lota saw Edgar got out from a carriage with a woman, kissing and then entered a mansion. While witnessing Edgar's usual womanizer act, Lota realized that there was another woman with a cat who just came out from a bookstore watching the same scenario as she is. The woman soon left after expressing how unbelievable Edgar's behaviour is.


One morning, Edgar woke up and when Raven came into his room bringing with him his change of clothes and also informing Lydia's arrival. Edgar asked Raven how is Lydia's mood that morning and when Raven told him that Lydia had asked whether Edgar had come home late last night, Edgar instinctively knew that it was not a good question. While changing his clothes, Ermine warned him about playing with the other girls while asking Lydia to marry him. Edgar denied Ermine's accusation saying he was playing around and said he didn't do anything wrong. After that, he went to Lydia's office. Lydia was reading a letter about a changeling trouble in one of Edgar's land when she suddenly recalled the scene where Edgar was kissing with a girl another day. She was irritated with herself for feeling disturbed with what Edgar does. Nico said it was nothing to be surprised about because didn't she already know from the beginning what a player Edgar is, and it was a wonder how they didn't encounter such a definite scene before. The talk was discontinued by Edgar's visit in the office. When Edgar said his usual morning greeting, Lydia commented about how his hair is still wet and said he doesn't have to be concerned with her and rest if he's tired. Lydia's word implied that she knew he was home late last night so Edgar immediately made an excuse saying he was at Slade's club, a club where only men can enter. He also added that she doesn't have to worry that he'll spend too much time outside after they were married which was  rebuffed by Lydia in no time. Lydia then tried to change the subject by telling him about a huge trouble in his land but Edgar cut her off and said he has much more important matter at hand that needed her help at once. He caught Lydia when her guard was down, slipped the moonstone on her finger and succeeded in taking her to accompany him as his fiancee to his friend's engagement party at Windsor.

After arriving at the party, Lydia was introduced to Edgar's friend and his fiancee, Jane. After the introduction, Jane invited Lydia to walk ahead with her. Lydia followed Jane, but unfortunately to her, Jane left her with two rough guys and told the guys to do whatever they want with Lydia. In the nick of time, before the two hoodlums could do anything to Lydia, and old man came and saved Lydia who was thrusted away and hit a tree on her forehead after she slapped one of the guy. The old man offered her his help and Lydia asked him to call Edgar for her. Edgar already rushing to her before the old man could call him after he saw Jane returning alone from the walk. Angry, Lydia blamed Edgar for her current predicament, accusing him of seducing the girl. Edgar denied ever done such a thing. The old man than interrupted them explaining about how Jane has always been dreaming to marry a noble, only to be engaged with a second son who will soon be sent to a far away land. Jane was jealous of Lydia for even though they were both from middle class, Lydia was engaged to Edgar, an earl. As if they still don't have enough to deal with right now, the old man then asked Edgar what happened to his granddaughter, Charlotte. According to the old man, who introduced himself as the Grand Duke of Cremona, his granddaughter sent him a letter some time ago saying she'll get married to Earl Ashenbert. But when he came to London, he found out that Edgar is engaged to another girl. Edgar denied having known of his granddaughter and said he knew nothing about the letter from two years ago. The Grand Duke than said the letter couldn't be fake because it came with a mark stamped using the house's crest ring. Along with the letter, he also received a wooden doll. Hearing that, Lydia said that his granddaughter probably has become a changeling. She explained that a fairy will leave a doll behind if they've taken someone to the fairy world to be a changeling. Edgar then stopped Lydia from saying any further and do not poke her nose to where it doesn't belong to. Leaving the old Grand Duke behind, Lydia then asked Edgar if he really knew nothing about the granddaughter. Edgar and Lydia ended up having a fight, with Lydia accusing him playing around while proposing to her, and in the end, Lydia returned to London alone with Armine.

After the incident at Windsor, Lydia came to work like usual. That morning, Tompkins was in her office explaining about the problem land to Lydia. According to Tompkins a special fluorite of purplish red color can be mined in that village but it has been more than 10 years since they've got any shipping. During her discussion with Tompkins, Edgar barged in into the office chasing after Nico with the Sword of Merrow. He said, he wanted to test the sword power on a fairy to prepare to fight their enemies. Lydia then told Edgar not to brandish a sword in her office. After saying good morning to Lydia, he said he already knew about the identities of the guys who hurt Lydia the other day and will get revenge on them so he hoped Lydia will forgive him then. Lydia told him to stop and that she doesn't care about it anymore. When Edgar asked her if she will forgive him, only to earn silence from Lydia. He understood that it was still early for him to be forgiven so he decided to continue his experiment with Nico. When he found out that Nico was nowhere to be seen, he turned his attention to Tompkins who claimed to have some merrow blood in him. Tompkins drew back when Edgar approached him, explaining he was just a normal human right now. It was at that time that Kelpie came in from the window, and Edgar's attention immediately turned to Kelpie, as if he found his prey. Lydia yelled to Kelpie to run away but Edgar was already nearby and slashed the sword at Kelpie without any hesitation. The sword went through Kelpie, and Kelpie laughed, saying that Edgar can't use the sword's real power. Lydia then immediately run to Kelpie and touched his body to confirm that he was unharmed. Watching Lydia touching another man in front of him irritated Edgar so he pulled her to his side and told her to stop doing that. The way he put it sounded like Lydia was doing indecent thing, so Lydia decided to settle the matter between them once for all. Before Lydia can start talking, she asked Kelpie to leave the room, and Edgar told Tompkins to do the same. After they were left alone, Edgar immediately begged her to understand saying he doesn't want to lose her. Lydia said she can't believe his words for he keeps doing things which makes her unable to trust him. He asked her to start thinking positively about marrying him and said if she does, he'll be able to make his resolve and protect her. When he pestered her to admit her feelings to him, Lydia ran away from the room, afraid she'll fall for Edgar's words.

After the fight with Lydia, Edgar, while reading a letter about changeling problem in one of his lands started to think about what he really wants from Lydia when Tompkins, his butler came in and informed he has unnamed visitors waiting for him. Raven then came to his side and told him it was Lota, a pirate and one of his old acquaintances in America. Lota came to London in search of her friend, Edgar's ex, Betty. Betty went missing two years ago after Edgar told her about a crest carved on a ring Betty showed him. The ring actually belongs to the house of the Grand Duke or Cremona, and two years ago, someone who claimed to be the Earl of Blue Knight came and took her away. Edgar said, two years ago, Lota herself should know that he's still living at the downtown in America. But because Edgar is a strategist, Lota believes it was still possible for him to kidnap Betty, not to mention, he did become an earl. Lota threatened him to expose him if he doesn't cooperate with her to find Betty and attacked Edgar but of course, with Raven in the room, there's no chance Lota and her friend, Pino, who tagged along with her will succeed. While holding Lota down, Ermine entered the room and told Edgar that it was not time to play around because Lydia had boarded a ship alone and was on her way to a village in Yorkshire to investigate about the changeling problem. Edgar was really surprised to hear that because Lydia didn't say a word to him about going on a business trip. He immediately called Tompkins to know about the village and Tompkins said, the village left a bad impression on him because when Edgar inherited the title and sent an official notice about it to all his lands, only the village didn't send him back a reply. According to Tompkins, a rare colour of fluorite can be mined at the village and he was told that the vein is already exhausted. When Lota heard about the fluorite, she muttered something about the crest of The Grand Duke was made from the fluorite. Hearing that, Edgar ordered Tompkins to contact the ship company Lydia is boarding and asked Lota where her ship is.

Some time later, Lydia and Nico who were together on the ship were surprised to see a pirate ship suddenly approaching the passenger ship they're on. Soon after, Lydia, while watching the pirates boarded the passenger ship noticed that there is a young woman among them. Suddenly, the young woman set her eyes on her and when she approached Lydia, she asked whether she's Lydia Carlton. When she confirmed that, Pino suddenly came and carry Lydia on her shoulder and brought  her onto the pirate ship. He put Lydia down on a chair in a room and went out of the room. Suddenly, Edgar appeared and said that it was impossible for her to run away from him. Lydia told him she was   running away but just doing her work as fairy doctor. Edgar then said if she's going to do her work, don't she think that she should leave him a word or something first considering that he is her employer. Furthermore, Edgar told her that he does have enemies so it's dangerous for her to go anywhere alone for she is working for him. After that, Lota came into the room bringing Lydia's cat, Nico with her. Edgar then explained about who Lota is, about Betty, the fluorite, the fake Earl of Blue Knight who had kidnapped Betty to Lydia. Hearing all that, Lydia realised that this time, using the pirate ship to go after Lydia was not his usual pranks. After explaining all that, Edgar told her that they will be stopping at a town soon and he and Lydia will be staying at the town for the night and will continue their journey to the village by train tomorrow. After they finished talking, Lydia went to the deck alone when Edgar suddenly joined her. Edgar said, please do not misunderstand anything about Betty and him because it was all an old story. Lydia, like usual, pretended that has nothing to do with her and changed the topic saying it might be difficult the get Betty back if Betty was made a sacrifice for the changeling magic because quite some time had passed so she might already used to the fairy world. Edgar then said, if she likes it there, there's no need to force her to come back to the human world. Lydia then realised that Edgar does like women but he doesn't have deep attachment to them. Lydia then said that humans can't part with the human world so easily like that. Edgar then once again asked her to seriously think about marrying him so that she will never have to go to the fairy world with Kelpie. But, Lydia told him that she might be a changeling herself, that's why she had strong attachment to the fairy world. After that, before ending their talk , Edgar put the Moon Stone ring on Lydia again, saying the ring magic should be able to protect her.

The next day, Edgar, pretending to be a writer who is collecting data about fairies while traveling with his fiancee, hitched a ride to the Wallcave Village from a villager he met. He named himself as Viscount Middleworth and being a noble, their party was guided to the lord's manor house that is being used as a lodging facilities for the village visitors. Soon after, when Lydia retreated to her room, Nico came in, and tagging along with him was a fairy, Dhobie who cried pleading for Lydia's help to save her child. Dhobie's child was used as a changeling for a human baby and because the magic casted on the fairy child was so poorly done, the mother of the human baby suspected that her child is a fairy and so she put the child in a pot and was about to be boiled soon. Lydia asked Dhobie why changeling is happening again because as far as she knows, the old Earl of Blue Knight should have forbidden any changeling from being done. Dhobie told Lydia that two years ago, a man claimed to be the new Earl of Blue Knight came to the village and had awakened a dragon who was put to sleep long ago by the Earl and the dragon now is demanding human sacrifices or else all the Dhobies will be killed. Furthermore, the dragon can only be killed by the Earl but because the earl has clearly abandoned them by awakening the dragon, there's no way for the fairy to go against the dragon. Lydia told Dhobie that the earl was a fake and the real earl didn't abandon any fairies who is living in his land. Dhobie then asked Lydia to bring the real earl here so that he can beat the dragon again but because Lydia knows that Edgar is only the Earl of Blue Knight in name only, she couldn't bear to tell Dhobie that the real earl was here. After that, Dhobie guided Lydia to the kitchen where her baby is. But, because Dhobie hid her baby among potatoes, they couldn't find the baby immediately. While searching for the baby, an old woman came in and started boiling a pot. When Lydia, who was hiding behind a pillar saw the old woman started boiling the pot with a lot of potatoes in it, she rushed in and saved the baby who was in the pot. Lydia scolded the old woman saying it's cruel to do such a thing to a fairy child just to confirm whether the child is a changeling or not. The old lady said, she was only asked by her daughter in law to boil the potatoes and she didn't know that there was a baby in the pot. Lydia then explained to the old woman than she's a fairy doctor who came to investigate about the changeling problem but unfortunately for her, while she was talking to the woman two men were at the door at the time and heard all what she said before.

While Lydia was being taken away, at the same time, Edgar and Raven were investigating the Lord's gentleman room at the manor to find the truth about the village. Edgar found a half burned document which recorded the fact that a lot of fluorite was actually being mined these past years. While reading the documents, the village's head barged in bringing a few village men and also Lydia with him. He accused Edgar to be a thief and asked him to leave the village immediately. Edgar then snapped because even after he told them that he's the real Earl of Ibrazel, they still stubbornly accused him to be an impostor so he declared war on them. The villagers left the lord manor after throwing a warning to Edgar. After they left, the four of them, Edgar, Lydia, Ermine and Raven stayed together in a room. While thinking about their next move, Martha, the woman who sent the letter to the Earl of Ashenbert house asking for help about the changeling came in bringing with her some teas and snacks. According to her, all the other helpers have quit and only she left to help around. She told Lydia that she believes that Edgar is the real earl because if he was not, he won't be coming to this rural place. At first, Edgar was really cautious about her but when Lydia ate the biscuits Martha brought to show that she trusted her, Edgar relented. Lota and Pino joined them soon after by climbing up the room's balcony. Edgar then explained the situation to Lota and and told her to bring down her pirate crews and prepare for a mock-war.

After that, Lota brought down her crews, and held a party through out the night in the hall. At the same time, Lydia was standing near a window in a room, and from a far, she could hear the laughing and Lota's ocarina playing. While listening to the sound and watching the moon, she heard two people, Edgar and Ermine talking from below the window. Edgar was reminiscing their old past and said he regretted it that he let Ermine died before. Ermine said it was her own fault and they were only choosing the best way they could think of at that time. Lydia was listening quietly to the conversation thinking she doesn't know that kind of Edgar, who seems so miserable. She felt a sharp pain in her heart watching the scene in front of her. Edgar and Ermine soon went their  separate ways, leaving Lydia thinking about it alone in the dark room. Raven soon came after that, offering to light up the room. Making a small talk with Raven, she asked him about Betty's appearances. Lota then suddenly joined them saying it's useless to ask Raven about that because he won't be able to differentiate all Edgar's women. Raven made his excuse saying it's not that he couldn't remember, it's just Edgar has too many women that he doesn't have time to remember each and everyone of them. Lota then told Raven that Edgar was calling for him and after Raven leave, Lota chatted a bit with Lydia. She said at first she thought that Lydia knew nothing about Edgar but it appeared that she was wrong. Not to mention, they were also engaged. Lydia explained that there is a special circumstances regarding their engagement and that she's not his real fiancee. Lota said, she guessed that much, because the air between Edgar and Lydia is not of that between lovers. She further said that she thinks Edgar won't lay a hand on someone he really likes. Lydia instinctively knew about who Lota was talking about. It's Ermine. But, before Lota can continue saying things about Edgar much more, Edgar came and told Lota to go and give instructions  because they'll be going out soon. After Lota left, Edgar asked Lydia how long she has been standing there. Lydia lied saying she hasn't been there that long and asked if he's really going to attack the village. Edgar then said she doesn't have to worry about the villagers because he'll hold back. Aware of how close she's standing to Edgar, she suddenly said, she wants to remain only as friend with Edgar. Edgar asked her to think again and give him time until they return to London before she make her final decision. Before he leave, he told Lydia to go and rest for the night and said everything should be over by the morning. Lydia then retreated to her room.

She was sleeping when Nico came to her room and said he knew where Betty was being kept. They will have to wait for another month if they miss their chance to go to where Betty is that night. Lydia was in the middle of changing her clothes when Kelpie came into her room. She was having trouble to button her dress so she asked Kelpie to help her with the dress and that's where Lota suddenly came in. At first, she misunderstood Lydia and Kelpie having a relationship but when Lydia explained about the situation, Lota asked her to bring her too. Leaving the task of informing Edgar about where they're going to Pino, Lydia, Lota, Nico and Kelpie went to the dragon's cave, where Betty is being help captive. When they arrived at the cave,  unfortunately for them, because of the dragon's attack, they were separated.

On the other hand, Edgar successfully managed to subdue the villager, and found a huge amount of fluorite hidden in the village. However, he didn't find any Freiya, the purplish red fluorite which was said can only be mined here. According to the villagers, they mined some a while ago. The village's  head, who was in cahoot with the fake Earl of Ibrazel apparently managed to escape. Pino came soon after, informing him about Lydia and the others whereabouts. While talking to Pino, Edgar can't help but to think about his real feeling to Lydia. Ermine's voice informing him about a hidden door saved him from cornering himself thinking about it.

After the dragon attack, Lydia, being protected by Kelpie, safely avoided the dragon. She then decided she'll break the dragon's thorn to return everything to their rightful place. Breaking the thorn will probably make her loose her memory, because she wasn't that attached to the human world so she asked Kelpie to tell her what she was like if she does loose her memory. Lydia was talking to Kelpie when Betty suddenly showed up and told them to stop flirting in the middle of the road.

In the meantime, Edgar found a room underground when he entered the hidden room chasing after the village headman. In the room, he found out that Ulysses was an illegitimate descendant of the original house of the Earl of Ibrazel. He also found the village  headman, but he managed to escape again through a door in that room. Edgar and the others followed the man, entering the door and found out that they were in a cave. They heard a roar and saw the tail of the wyrm, the dragon. While running from the wyrm, Edgar found Nico. Nico explained about what happened to Edgar. Betty being the wyrm's bride, Lydia knowing about the dragon but didn't tell about it to Edgar. He asked Nico why Lydia didn't tell him about the dragon and Nico heartlessly said that it was because he can do nothing about it. When Edgar asked Nico to guide her to Lydia, he commented that even if he goes, he's useless. Even so, Edgar said he is the Earl of Ibrazel and of a knight's descendant. It's a knight job to save the princess after all.

After she met Betty, Lydia told her that Lota had came to save her but Betty said because of the dragon's magic, she couldn't leave the cave. Furthermore, she said it was hard to believe that Lota had came for her because she betrayed Lota by stealing the Grand Duke's ring, which was originally belonged to Lota two years ago. Lota suddenly appeared and told her that she gave her that ring so Betty didn't steal it. While making a plan to save Betty and find the human baby who was made a sacrifice before, the dragon found them. Lota, in order to safe Betty, faced the dragon and told the dragon that the real granddaughter of the Grand Duke of Cremona was actually her. With her confession, Betty was released from the dragon's magic but it was still difficult for her to leave the cave which is part of the dragon realm, the fairy world. She will need some kind of connection from the human world to safely escape the cave when Kelpie appeared witn Pino. Pino said he had his underling following Lota so he knew where to go. After the explanation, Pino proposed to Betty. The truth is, two years ago, in order to force Pino to tell her his real feeling, Betty dated Edgar but because Pino was so stubborn, she was so frustrated and that's why when a man claimed to be a messenger from the Grand Duke came in search for the royal granddaughter came, she went off with them, thus ended up in this cave as the dragon's bride. With Pino's love confession, Betty's connection to the human world became stronger. Lydia, after warning Pino to never let go of  Betty's hand no matter what they see when they leave the cave, told them to immediately escape from the cave.

After Betty and Pino left, Lydia went to save Lota. She found Lota, but she couldn't escape because she was chained by the dragon. Before the dragon found her, Lydia cheered Lota up, telling her to be patient for a bit longer and think about her most important person. The dragon found Lydia and Kelpie stalled some time for her to hide. In the nick of time, Edgar appeared and pulled her into an opening of a rock. He told her he would have gone with her if she had told him about the dragon. Kelpie interrupted saying she's not alone. Lydia then explained to Edgar that she already found Betty but this time it's Lota who was captured next. She told him to go back because there's only one way to save everyone here and only she ccould do it. Edgar refused to go and said he won't let her go alone. The dragon found them and while running from it, Ermine fell down a cliff from saving Lydia. While Edgar and Raven were watching down the dark hole where Ermine fell, Lydia quietly stepped aback, trying to go alone to find the thorn, only to be caught up by Edgar. Edgar was a little bit mad at her for trying to go by herself and once again tell her that he'll go with her. He threatened Lydia to kiss her if she didn't tell him the truth about why she doesn't want him to go with her so Lydia gave up and explained that she would probably loose her memory. He asked her to let him he be her pillar for her to return to the human world. In the end Lydia couldn't say anything anymore.

Ermine, on the other hand was saved by Kelpie when she fell into the crack in the cave. After she woke up, Ermine went to find the guys who escaped from Edgar before, and kill them. She also took the fluorite with her. Kelpie was with her watching when she killed the guys and hid the fluorite into her pocket.

Lydia found a forest of stone where she believes the wyrm's thorn was hidden. She also found Martha's child but before she could  do anything, the dragon found them. Edgar then came out facing the dragon, protecting Lydia while trying to stall some time for her to found and break the thorn. The dragon was cautious of Edgar because of the sword of Merrow he was holding. The wyrm then asked Edgar about who he is and from their little conversation, Edgar found out that it was the fake earl who revived the wyrm. Lydia got an idea about the wyrm's weakness, recalling that the imposter needed Freiya to revive the wyrm. Edgar decided to believe Lydia's deduction that the wyrm's weakness is it's tongue and went out for the face off after telling her that he seriously wanted to marry her. After Edgar went out from their hiding place, Lydia found the thorn and break it. The wyrm died. They were both in hurry to get out of the cave because the magic which will return everything to their rightful place will begin soon. Lydia asked Edgar if she still looked like a human. Edgar once again assure her that she's not a changeling and he would never let her go. On their way out, the magic played a trick on both of them, showing them an illusion where Ermine needed to be saved. Lydia told Edgar to go and save Ermine while she waited for him. Edgar was quite reluctant to let go of Lydia's hand but when Lydia assured him that she will be find, he let go of the hand. Nico suddenly shouted to Edgar to not let go of the hand and Edgar immediately took her hand back but it was too late. Lydia's soul is gone. Nico told Edgar to leave the body there and get out of the cave. Edgar refused to let it go and talked to the empty body saying how hurt he was by Lydia's lie. The moonstone helped, and Lydia managed to return to her own body after being called back by Edgar.

After the adventure, all of them safely returned to the village. Lydia was in a room with Betty and Lota, talking about what happened. During the conversation, Lota told Lydia that Edgar didn't stay at the woman's house the other day. Lota also said that Edgar has changed a bit by trying to be responsible for Lydia. The girls heard a carriage being pulled by the horse coming and found out that The Grand Duke of Cremona had come to the village. Edgar had contacted the Grand Duke to tell him that he had find his granddaughter, Lota. Leaving Lota with her grandfather, Lydia and Edgar moved to another room for a tea. Sitting down with Lydia, Edgar asked her if it's okay for him to not give up on her anymore. Before she could answer, Raven came in informing that Ermine has return. Ermine told him she was late to return because she was lost. She also told him she found the body of the village headman but the other two guy who were with him managed to escape together with Freiya. After that, he told Ermine to go and rest, and asked Lydia if she was tired too. When Lydia said she is, Edgar quickly stopped pursuing her any further and told her to rest. After Edgar left, Lydia stayed in her room alone thinking about what everybody was doing. She wondered if Edgar is with Ermine at the moment. Kelpie came and stayed with her after that.

The next morning, Edgar found out that Lydia had left the village and returned to Scotland leaving a letter for him. Lota, who was entrusted to give the letter to Edgar by Lydia said she was the one who suggested to Lydia to take a break and get away from Edgar for a while. Lota said she was feeling quite responsible for saying how Edgar seemed quite decent lately to Lydia, only to find out that Lydia was left alone only with the fairies last night. She came back to the human world trusting Edgar, but in the end she was left alone. Imagine how hurtful it must be for her. Being told all that, Edgar couldn't bring himself to go after Lydia, loosing his confidence to seduce her with how he is at the moment.

The end of Volume 06.