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She picked a single, dry, curled-up, brownish dead leaf that looked as if it was about to fall to the ground. Having picked it, she carefully... applied a little force to try and spread it open, taking care not to tear it.

Koai tried to push open one end of the leaf resting on her palm, as if to unfold it with her finger.
The leaf offered a faint resistance as it mostly flattened out... but before it could fully open, it tore with a crisp, dry sound. A north wind blew just then, swirling around Koai's back and onto her palm, carrying the fragments away.
Koai hurriedly covered it with her hand, shielding the remaining part of the leaf so it wouldn't fly away. Then, after waiting for the wind to die down for a moment, she tried to push open the other end...

This time, before the leaf could tear, a strong gust of north wind swept it up and carried it downwind.
Still, she had been able to make out the shape of the leaf to some extent just before it was blown away.

A leaf that was at least bifurcated, or perhaps split even more.
And... since it was gone before she could fully open it, she couldn't be certain, but... she thought its shape resembled that drawing.
There should have been a few more leaves left on the tree. Just in case, she would check the drawing one more time...

Koai took the Grand Duke's sample drawing from her pocket and refreshed her memory.
After doing so, she looked again at the branch where the leaves should have been... and they were gone!?

Were they blown off by that strong wind earlier...?
Confused, Koai instinctively took a step back.
As she stepped back, the piled-up dead leaves sank softly, causing her to lose her balance!

"Whoa..."
Koai let out a small voice as she braced herself, managing to avoid falling over.

Dead leaves, huh.
They were comfortable to lie on yesterday, but this time she'd nearly taken a tumble.