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Inside of a certain fairy queen’s castle, which was located inside of Vur’s soul, Stella was sitting on a beansprout with her legs crossed. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest, and she was facing a series of cells. There were three people locked inside: Breeze, Sir Edward, and Ralph. The cells were positioned in such a way that the three men couldn’t see each other. Stella cleared her throat. “It has come to my attention,” she said and paused, gauging the reactions of her prisoners. Only Sir Edward showed an ounce of change, his moustache twitching. “There has been a failed plot involving a bunny.”

None of the prisoners said anything. Stella snapped her fingers, and a slapping sound broke the silence as a vine smacked the floor, extending from the beansprout. A long line of cracks was left where the tiles had broken from the impact. The fairy queen’s eyes narrowed. “Well, well, well,” she said and stroked her chin. “Tight-lipped, are we? Let’s see how long that can last.”

Breeze scratched his nose and leaned back. Whatever happened to him, it didn’t matter. Knowing who the rabbit was going up against, he had already expected it to fail, but he wasn’t going to make it easy for the fairy queen to find out the details. It was impossible to interrogate that rabbit; after all, it couldn’t speak normally. As for Sir Edward, he was even less inclined to rat out the rabbit. Imagine if Stella found out what the rabbit was plotting; she’d skin it alive and more. He couldn’t let something that cute suffer a fate that tragic. However, the two were confused. Why wasn’t the blood soldier saying anything? The rabbit had practically eaten him alive.

Stella kept her arms crossed, still staring at the three men, trying to intimidate them with pressure despite not looking scary at all. After waiting for a while with no response, she turned her head to the side. “Didn’t you say this would work? How come they aren’t reacting?”

Zilphy materialized out of the air, condensing into a green rock that dropped to the ground. “I don’t know,” she said and tilted her head, which was her whole body. “Maybe you aren’t threatening enough? I remember Deedee going around doing things like this. Whenever people didn’t pay back a loan they took, he’d appear in their homes and stare at them very menacingly. Then, they’d give him the money without saying a word!”

A brown lump rose out of the ground, forming a brown boulder with diamondlike eyes. “Wait. I only used to do things like that several decades ago, and I don’t recall you being there to witness any of that,” he said. “I know you said you fell in love with me a long time ago since you first laid eyes on me, but … have you stalked me whilst being invisible the whole time?”

A tinge of pink appeared on Zilphy’s green body. “No! I mean, um, if you like the idea of me stalking you, then yes, but if you don’t, then no.” Zilphy bobbed up and down before looking around. She patted Stella’s shoulder with her sticklike hand. “Well, good luck. I have, um, things to do. Bye!” With a swirl of wind, Zilphy vanished, leaving Stella and Diamant behind.

Stella blinked at Diamant. “She’s probably still in the area watching you right now.”

Diamant sighed and shook his head. “I really don’t understand why I’m so popular,” he said. “Well, if you don’t need me, I’ll be going to do things in private—but not really because invisible people like to watch me for some reason.”

“Have fun.” Stella waved as Diamant disappeared. Then, she turned her gaze back onto her prisoners. “Alright, maybe the three of you think I’m not intimidating. Just because I’m tiny and adorable, you think I can’t hurt you? Hmph.”

Ralph sighed. “I don’t really understand what’s going on,” he said. “Before I became a soldier, I was just a simple farmer. What’s this about a plot and a bunny?”

A wine snapped down, cracking the floor tiles in front of the blood soldier’s cage. Stella snorted before saying, “A spirit rabbit was found with black whiskers, a golden mustache, and blood-red patterns on its body. It’s been trying to control Vur’s actions and the elementals’ feelings for the past few months. Don’t tell me you three aren’t involved! Tell me, what’s the rabbit’s goal?”

Ralph scratched his head. “I remember being eaten by a rabbit a while back. It came here and made a deal with two other prisoners inside this dungeon,” he said and nodded. “Afterwards, I tried to lure it over to make a snack out of it, but it ate me instead. I never expected a rabbit to grow into a bear. Did you know they could do that?”

Stella blinked. “What kind of deal did the rabbit make?”

Ralph shrugged. “All I heard was someone saying to not forget the deal, and the fairy queen will stuff him into a coffin if she finds out. And then someone else said he wanted to make the same deal as the bundle of resentment.”

“Alright,” Stella said and clapped her hands together once. Ralph’s cell door opened. “I’m a benevolent queen who prefers rewards over punishments.”

“You’re letting me go?” Ralph asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Just out of your cell,” Stella said. “You’re still not allowed to leave the dungeon.”

“Wait,” Breeze said. “That soldier’s lying. He’s the one that made a deal with the rabbit. He’s trying to frame us.”

“That’s right,” Sir Edward said, pounding his fist against the ground. “He threatened to kill us if we ratted him out, but I don’t believe you’ll watch us die like this. We’re your precious prisoners.”

Stella scratched her head. “I really thought it’d be easier to discover the rabbit’s plot from the people who could talk. I don’t want to deal with this mystery-novel-he-said-she-said nonsense,” she said and sighed. “I’ll just torture the rabbit instead. Bye.”

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