Lucille was holding a sheet of paper in her small hand.
　It seemed to be a letter with a message written on it from Lucille and my mentor, Lucy.

　I looked at it intently.

'To my precious disciple Solon.

　The writing on the parchment was flowing and masterful.

　Seeing Lucy's writing made me nostalgic.
　Whenever Lucy would give me an assignment, she would write these beautiful letters and give them to me.

　Lucy was a magical genius, a beautiful woman, and highly talented in everything else she did.
　Only her personality was a little less honest, but I didn't dislike that about my master either.

　Lucy is now a prisoner.
　She's being held under house arrest in a military facility as a traitor by Ensign Claire.

　I want to help her escape.

　And Lucy's message to me told me how to get her out.

"Don't force yourself to try to save me!

　Those were the first words of the letter.
　'It is of the utmost importance that Solon is safe,' said Lucy, 'that he is safe.

'But I'm sure that's what I'm going to say, because I'm sure Solon will try to help me out.

　That's what the letter continued to say.
　It was the kind of letter I could see Lucy talking to me about.

　First of all, Lucy's letter was based on the premise that since Lucy had been arrested as a traitor, she could no longer stay in the Empire.
　Naturally, though, it was a heavy story for me.

　Lucy couldn't be a professor at the magic school anymore, nor could she live in my mansion.
　So Lucy was going to defect to the neighboring Republic of Alemania Farren.

　He has a friend in Alemania Farren, and he's going to hide Lucy there.
　But in order to do so, I need a way to escape to the enemy country of Alemania Farren.

　And that's where I'll be of use to them.
　The merchant Perse and I have been working with a large amount of trade goods to and from other countries, and we need to get Lucy among those shipments.

　With the countries of the neutral zone between them, they could exchange goods with Alemania Farren.

　Now we just needed to get Lucy out of the military facility, but it didn't say how to do that.
　That was obvious, because there was no way we would know in advance who was going to threaten us and when.

　So we'll have to do something about that.
　I looked straight at Lucille.

　The petite red-haired girl, who looked exactly like Lucy, stared back at me blankly.

''I wonder if Lucille will help us rescue Lucy-sensei?

Of course. Who are you?

'Dr. Lucy is my dearest teacher. I'll go help Lucy, no matter how dangerous it is.

Yes.

I wonder if Lucille already knows everything that's going on.

'I know that Lucy was captured by the military. Also, I know that Lucy lives in your compound and that Lucy is flirting with you.

　Lucille pronounced the word "flirting" very flatly.
　No, I'm not flirting........

'Oh yeah. Lucy said she was a student at the school, and she said she was 'stroking Solon's hair, hugging him, and giving him a lap pillow'.

　Filia happily interrupted from the side.
　When I looked at Filia, hoping that she wouldn't say something that might be misunderstood, Filia's eyes twinkled mischievously.

　Lucille, on the other hand, was looking at me with red eyes.

'I wanted to meet you once.

"Lucille for me?　Oh, maybe it's because we're brothers and sisters.

　I wanted to meet Lucille, who would be my own sister disciple, once.
　But Lucy didn't let me and Lucille meet for any reason.

　What was the reason for that?

'I wanted to know what kind of person that Lucy would allow in her heart.

I'm just an average wizard.

'But Lucy chose you to be her apprentice. That's what makes me wonder. Even when we meet like this, I don't feel anything special about you.

　That's probably true.
　Because I myself feel that there's nothing special about me, and I don't really know why I was chosen to be Lucy's genius apprentice.

　Lucy told me that I was gifted, but at least I didn't have a talent for magic.
　Filia looked at Lucille, but eventually smiled at her.

'Solon is a special person, you know. To me and Lucy. I'm sure Lucille would understand.

...I'm not so sure.

Hey, Solon. Can't we invite Lucille to come to our house?

Okay, but why?

'Lucille is going to help me help Lucy, and she knows the red grimoire better than anyone else. I'm sure he would be able to help Solon and me if he was with us.

'If you want to discuss this with Lucille, I'm sure we can do it right here...'

"Shouldn't we always be close?　I'm going to have Lucille live in the mansion too.

　I was surprised.
　Filia says she's going to let Lucille, whom I've only just met, live in my mansion.

　It's true that there are many girls staying in my mansion.
　But it was either someone like Sophia or Clarice who had a trusting relationship with me, or a girl like Arte or Lairen Remilia who had nowhere else to go.

　Lucille was neither of those.

'There's another reason why I'm asking Lucille to come to the mansion.

'Is it because Lady Filia wants to get along with Lucille?

How did you know?

I know what you're thinking, Lady Filia.

　To Filia, Lucille is the first person of her age who might become her friend.
　With that in mind, I wasn't going to oppose letting Lucille live in the mansion either.

　Since Lucy was arrested as a traitor, there was also the possibility that Lucille would be in some danger.
　It's not a bad idea to invite him to my mansion with its full security, in the sense that I'm trying to ensure Lucille's personal safety.
　The room where Lucy had just disappeared is empty.

　However, it's also up to Lucille's intentions.
　When we looked at Lucille, she surprisingly shook her head without hesitation.

''I understand. I'll go to your mansion.''

Are you sure?

''Because I need to determine what kind of person you and your highness are.

　Saying that, Lucille brushed her red hair up.
　No expression could be read from those crimson eyes.