Summary:
Rita finds a bunch of gifts in her room, then rifles through Yuri's closet. Also, magic.
6
The next morning, more flowers were delivered. All red roses this time; not an entire room full, but still too many. There was also a note and a gift. A gold chain bracelet with a very large ruby dangling from it. "Oh, my," Judith said, snatching it from her hand as she opened the note, with Estelle reading over her shoulder. "Oh, that's so romantic!" Estelle gushed.
Miss Mordio,
Thank you for attending the party with me last night. You were certainly the most beautiful woman in the room and I am lucky to have spent so much time with you. Please accept this gift as a token of my affection.
- Schwann Oltorain
P.S. I'm sorry about the flowers.
Rita glared at the little heart beneath his name again. "Sorry, my ass," she grumbled. "Do I have to send him a thank you note or something?" she asked the girls. "Oh no," Estelle reassured her. "Not this time. Just wearing his gift in public will let him know that you accepted it." Rita sighed in relief and held out her wrist to Judith, who fastened it for her. "Wait, what are all those?" she asked, noticing an entire stack of cards. "Oh, those are notes from your other admirers," Judith said with a wink. "Admirers?" Rita asked. Estelle blushed. "They're from other men who are interested in you," she said. "Why would… How many did you get?" she asked Judith. "Oh, quite a few, but not as many as you did." Rita's mouth fell open. "It would seem that attending the party with the first captain generated much interest and… competition," Estelle said. Rita wrinkled her nose. "I can just throw these in the trash, right?" Estelle giggled. "Yes, if you're not interested, you aren't required to respond at all." Rita dumped them into the bin and lit them on fire while Judith smirked and Estelle called to a servant for a fire extinguisher.
Rita arrived at breakfast as Schwann was leaving. He caught her at the doorway to the dining hall. "Good morning, darling, I trust you slept well?" he asked with a smile. His eyes moved down to her wrist, and his fingers followed, tugging gently on the bracelet when he saw it. His eyes settled back on hers as he waited for a response. "Eventually," she said, and he laughed like a melody again. "Umm, thank you," she said, looking back at her wrist that he was still holding onto. He was rubbing slow circles into it with his thumb. "You're welcome," he said. "I'm glad that you liked it." He reluctantly released her hand. "I'll see you later?" he asked. Another invitation. She nodded, and he walked out of the hall. She walked in, noting the many angry glares the noble women were giving her. "My, that looked delicious," Judith teased as she took her seat. "Judith!" Estelle scolded. Rita wanted to be angry, but her wrist was still tingling, and a plate of eggs and bacon had just been placed in front of her. She could let it go for now.
During the mid morning Rita was walking the grounds with Estelle when they heard a commotion coming from the lower quarter. They raced down to see what was happening. Estelle ran faster than she did, despite the fact that she was wearing heels and Rita wasn't. She could see Schwann and LeBlanc, and a bunch of lower quarter citizens. The barrier had been breached and people were running towards Rita screaming. "Stay here!" Schwann shouted. "But, sir -" LeBlanc protested. "Stay! You need to protect the princess and our people! I've got this!" he exclaimed, jumping into the fray of monsters just outside the edge of the city. Rita finally arrived at Estelle's side. "He has nothing but a knife. That idiot's going to get himself killed!" she yelled. Then it came to her. "Does Yuri still keep the weapons in his room?" Estelle nodded. "He does." Rita nodded back at her. "I'll be right back!" she shouted, running towards the inn and up the stairs to Yuri's room. Thankfully he always left the window open. She yanked open the closet and frantically searched through Yuri's mess until she found the bow. Her own weapon wasn't a problem; she always kept her sash on her for the most part. Just not when she was wearing fancy dresses and dancing with handsome idiot captains. She rushed back down and yelled to Estelle as she passed. "Stay here, the people will need your help!" "Miss -" LeBlanc started. "No you don't! You stay right here with the princess! I'll keep him safe," she said as she flew by him.
As she flung herself through the busted gate she called out to him loudly. "RAVEN!" she screamed. He turned and she tossed him the bow. He caught it effortlessly and continued to fight as she made her way to him. When she reached his side, she began casting fire. "Give me a hit of that, darling," he said, reaching a hand towards her. She grasped his fingers, shooting a stream of her magic into his hand. He turned it into one of his strongest wind spells. Rita smiled as she continued to cast, and he downed more enemies with his bow. "Cool me down now, sweetheart," he said, and she switched to water. "O caprice of innocent waters... Champagne!" she shouted, and the water froze as it flowed from her hand to his. "Crazy... slippery... crackly BOOM! Inverno!"
When all the monsters were gone, they collapsed to the ground. Raven (Schwann?) shot a healing spell at them both with his bow. "Who loves ya, baby?" Then they both flopped down on the grass, laying side by side on their backs. "Are you alright, dear?" he asked her when he caught his breath. "Fine. You?" He laughed. "Absolutely, but us old folks need a bit longer to recover." Rita glared at him. "You haven't aged a day since the spirit conversion." He turned to her and smiled. "You and I know that, but the rest of them don't." Yuri called out to them from the gate. When had he gotten here? "You two doing alright?" he asked. Schwann gave a thumbs up, still making no attempt to get off the ground. Rita sighed and stood, brushing the dirt and grass from her skirt. "Great, now my clothes are all dirty." He was still laying on the ground grinning at her, so she reached her hand down. He took it, letting her pull him up. That was when she looked back towards the town and realized everyone was staring in disbelief. "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have called you -" He cut her off with another smile. "No harm done, darling."
They walked back in, and he tossed the bow to Yuri. "Thanks for the loaner." Yuri smirked. "No problem. You sure you don't want to hang onto it?" Schwann shook his head. "Leave it here. You never know when I may need to borrow it again." Yuri nodded and Schwann walked past him, calling out to his lieutenant. "Come, LeBlanc." And with that, they headed back to the castle. A handful of his brigade were already heading down with materials to fix the gate. "Oh, Rita, I was so worried, are you hurt?" Estelle asked. Rita shook her head. "I'm fine." She was quiet as Yuri walked the two of them back to the castle. Rita went to her room to change. She shut her door and flopped onto the bed. She felt drunk on magic. And also drunk on Schwann. What on earth was she going to do about him?