I went back to Nariel feeling giddy.
"Did something good happen while you were back, Char?" Arielle asked.
"Not yet. I hope to hear good news soon enough," I answered with a smile.
"Welcome back, Charlotte," Alina said. "You are just in time for our museum tour training day."
"Museum training?" I said in a confused tone.
"A few times a year, we are asked by the museum to hold a few tours from different schools and explain the short history of some of the displays. Since you two are new, this will just be an experience to take in the beauty of various treasures. In other words, it will be a training day for your Seniors and a field trip for you two," Alina explained.
"When was the last time we had a field trip, Arielle?" I asked.
"...Since we were children," Arielle answered.
Alina, Maura and our other Seniors began showing different schools around different displays, while Arielle and I went back to our sightseeing days.
"I cannot believe that we skipped out on touring the museums when we first came here," I said.
"I was more into touring the more popular tourist sights as well," Arielle said.
"Is that not because you wanted to follow the pamphlet Garett gave you?" I asked.
Arielle quickly became flustered.
"Charlotte!"
"...Did things get better between you two after you asked Garett to spoil you?" I asked teasingly.
"...No, n-nothing of the sort happened," Arielle stuttered. She soon pulled me along by my sleeve to another display case. "Look, Char! It is a pretty crown with pink jewels."
I was aware of that Arielle gave Garett similar looks of passion when no one else was noticing. Maybe it was unknown to her, but I knew well enough as her friend...Arielle most likely likes Garett as well.
"Are you two interested in looking at the Tiara of Princess Ariel?" Johor one of our Seniors from the Exurbia Library asked.
He was a close friend of Garett and not much of ours, but I could tell that he was also one of the many admirers of Arielle as well.
"It is such a lovely tiara," Arielle said.
"It was singlehandedly handcrafted by the famous Jeweler Florek..."
The sound of his voice drifted away when I decided to continue looking at the other displays. One of the displays had the same dark shadow I had seen around Kaya Ouchi's locket before.
I do not understand why I am seeing such things...Maybe my eyes are ill?
"Has something caught your eye?" Arielle asked as she came up beside me.
"...Something like that," I said.
"It is pretty, isn't it?" Arielle asked with a sweet smile.
"Pretty?"
I could not make out its shape from the dark shadows surrounding it.
"I think it is," I replied.
"Charlotte, can it be that you cannot see it?" Arielle asked. "That cannot be...right?"
I flinched slightly at Arielle's question.
At times like these, I fear that Arielle knows what goes on in my mind. That was a different kind of horror in itself.
"Are you two interested in that display? Oh! It looks like someone left the keys in. If you two want, you can both get a closer look at it if I open this case," Johor said as he tried to open the case.
"...Stop...stop it," I said quietly.
"Charlotte?"
"That will be enough," Alina said as she quickly closed the display case and took the key from Johor. "I will return the key to the Museum Director the next time I see him."
"It should be fine to see it up close once in awhile, right?" Johor asked.
"Why on earth do you want to see a cursed object up close?" Alina asked.
"Cursed objects exist? Is it really cursed?" Arielle asked.
"According to legend, this was once a cursed object that was given to Princess Ariel by a wicked witch," Alina explained.
"Why is it on display here?" Arielle asked.
Cursed objects must have some historical value to end up here in a museum to be admired by the public.
"Do not worry too much, you three. Even if it was a supposedly a cursed object, it was meant for Princess Ariel," Alina explained.
"Why was there a cursed object meant for the Princess?" I asked.
"In the stories, Princess Ariel supposedly came from an underwater kingdom where their bodies were half man and half fish for legs. After saving Prince Eric from drowning after his shipwreck, she fell in love with the Prince and the surface world and went to a witch to ask for legs. However, the witch gave the Princess a condition for her legs. The Princess had to give up her beautiful singing voice and find true love, lest she turns into sea foam and return to the sea for eternity. In the end, she was able to find true love and avoid a tragic fate. This item is what brought the two together. Hence, that is why it is on display here," Alina explained.
"...That is a beautiful story," Arielle said with a forced smile on her face.
Arielle must feel awkward hearing a romantic tale between two people with similar names to herself and her ex-fiancé...
"Then again, it is just a tale. The perfect romance does not exist," I said.
"...Senior Alina, can cursed objects change a person's behavior?" Arielle suddenly asked.
Why...
"If they can give a person born without legs the ability to walk on land, I can only imagine that there are curses that can influence a person's actions. Except, this is only a story. It is possible that there is no such thing as magic or curses," Alina answered.
"...There is still a possibility that they are real," Arielle said.
Why is she asking about curses?
"Maura may know more about them than me, but it is never a good thing to look too deep into it...Take it as advice from someone who has been down that road...Please excuse me. I need to return this key," Alina said as she shifted her gaze and twirled the key over her fingers.
When I looked at Arielle, she had a distressed expression on her face.
Has she not gotten over him already?
Those people made you suffer. They deserve everything that is coming towards them...
Even though I had those feelings deep inside my heart. I could not bring myself to say them out loud to Arielle's face. I decided to keep my thoughts buried instead.
For whatever reason, Arielle went to Maura and asked for resources on information about curses. For whatever reason, she believed that her once loving ex-fiancé was now under the influence of some wretched curse. Even though it was strange for that girl to be able to steal Arielle's fiancé under her nose, I will never be able to forgive those people...even if it was under the influence of a curse.
Surely, if Arielle knew that the Prince was under a curse, would she want to save him too?
I fell in love with Arielle's kindness, but sometimes it is just too much...She cannot even bring herself to love herself nearly half as much care she gives to others.
.