This was- Charlotte stared blankly at the brown-haired woman who had appeared out of thin air before her, unable to react for a moment.
She was absolutely certain she had been alone in the corridor a moment ago. No one could have walked straight out through the locked doors, and even the shadows in the corners had merely shifted with the light, rather than rising from flat surfaces to take human form. Only an invisibility ability like Henriette's could make someone "appear out of nowhere," but even when Henri appeared before Charlotte, she could clearly tell that Henri had changed from transparent to visible. This woman had appeared naturally in an empty space, as though she had always been there and Charlotte simply hadn't noticed.
It was as though something had gone wrong with her memory-Memory?
Charlotte's heart tightened. She instantly thought of Roselle, who had an excellent memory yet had inexplicably forgotten the appearance of the person who had given him directions.
Could this woman be that person, the Beyonder who had also influenced Derrick and the other young nobles, goading them into provoking Roselle and bringing about the duel?
Once Charlotte understood this, she grew even more nervous.
She had already thrown the only bottle of holy water she carried, and the woman had caught it. Unless her opponent was a Cultist who worshipped an evil entity and had suffered corruption and erosion, or was using Shadow Lurking and vulnerable to its effects, most Potion pathways would not actually be affected by holy water produced through the Sun pathway.
And because Charlotte had come to attend a ball, she hadn't brought the Dagger of Judgment, whose outline would easily show beneath her fitted dress. She had even temporarily returned the newly made revolver, which didn't have any bullets