Editing Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume26 Chapter5 4 (section)

===<noinclude>The Blank Map's Valley. </noinclude>Part 4===

The second floor of the Rose Mansion was a lot more lively than when Noriko had left.

"I'm back."

The waves of people entering and exiting were pretty large. It wasn't just students that had found hints for the white card, some also stopped by to hear any news about whether or not the cards had been found.

But, judging by the state of the room, none of the cards had been found so far.

"Welcome back."

Noriko thought her return may have gone unnoticed in the hubbub of the room, but Shimako-san slipped through the crowd of guests and walked over to the door to greet her.

"Were you cold? Your nose is red."

As she said this, Shimako-san placed her hands on Noriko's cheeks. A momentary look of confusion passed across Shimako-san's face, probably because those cheeks weren't as cold as she was expecting.

"I took care of some other matters while I was out."

"I see."

That was all she had to say for Shimako-san to understand everything.

Yumi-sama was still in the same spot and chatting with the first-years that surrounded her, as though no time had passed at all. She probably still had the same amount of tea in her cup as before too. Noticing Noriko, she gave a small wave and smile.

Yoshino-sama was also looking in her direction, but she seemed to be preoccupied with the sounds of someone thumping up the stairs. Noriko too found herself instinctively looking towards the door.

It wasn't just Noriko &mdash; Shimako-san, the two boutons, Mami-sama, and all the other guests turned their attention to the door.

(Someone's finally found a card, huh?)

It was about the time when they would expect a card to be found. But it was more than just that ... those footsteps seemed far too bold, as though they didn't contain even a hint of doubt. The reaction in the room was completely different to when Noriko had entered barely a minute earlier.

"Yoshino!"

The door opened and the figure they saw was Rosa Foetida, Hasekura Rei-sama. 

The girls that had been waiting in anticipation slumped down, while the girls that had resigned themselves to being beaten to a card perked up. The Rosa Foetida fans were simply surprised and excited, and over by the kettle Yoshino-sama flinched, overwhelmed by the force of Rei-sama's initial shout.

"W-what is it, Rei-chan?"

Ignoring everyone's gaze on her, Rosa Foetida strode over to Yoshino-sama. No one else called out to her, although there were plenty of conversational openers they could have used, like "Gokigenyou," or, "Have you finished your exams?"

"Here, Yoshino."

When she'd arrived in front of Yoshino-sama, Rei-sama reached into her coat pocket and pulled something out. What she placed in Yoshino-sama's palm was a piece of cardboard, folded in half.

"Huh?"

It was yellow.

"Huuuuuuuuuh!?"

The silence in the Rose Mansion was shattered and the room was awash with shouting.