Chapter Twenty-One: Invasion
With Flynn safely in Dahngrest for vacation and Oliver attending preschool for several hours on the weekdays, Estelle found herself frequently lonely. It didn't seem that long ago that she could keep herself occupied with just a book, but they couldn't replace having real people around. On their journey to stop Alexei and defeat the Adephagos she had gotten used to keeping busy, and she missed the constant white noise Rita and Oliver provided.
It had been then that she decided on the goal of secretly taking care of Flynn's job and finding an assassin. When he came back, he wouldn't have to immediately stress over the case because it would already be solved. Just like in her books where the main character would solve the case because the law couldn't. She was going to be like a real detective, with a little help.
"We know that he has a daughter about four years old, and his ex-wife lives in another section of the royal quarter." Sodia had been more than willing to help when told it would leave Flynn with less work.
"A single father? That makes him look like a nice person then, criminals are always very charming." Falkner was their strongest lead, but his record was clean. They couldn't pin anything on him, but nobody had the opportunity to look through his house yet.
"What do you suggest, Lady Estellise?"
"Hmm…." Estelle put a finger to her chin and leaned forward. "His daughter is about Oliver's age. I'm sure he'll agree to invite us in for a play date." This was almost too easy. They could go in, snoop around like detectives, and then come out with the evidence.
"I can send a knight to Falkner's mansion to arrange a time." Sodia was always so helpful. Estelle just wished she was a little more personable, and maybe they could be friends like her and Flynn.
"That's great!" Everything was wrapping up nicely. She would just need to tell Oliver about his involvement and it would be official. "Rita should be home soon with Oliver, he doesn't have school tomorrow."
"I'm glad it's working out so smoothly. Is there any other information you needed?"
"No we just have to wait for Rita now." Estelle stood up. "Would you like any more tea?"
"No, I couldn't-"
"Please, it'll just get cold and go bad otherwise." Estelle giggled and refilled her cup for her.
"Thank you for your hospitality." Sodia almost looked embarrassed accepting it, and she bowed her head respectfully.
"It's nothing, I asked you to come up for tea, after all." She thought of what she could do to prevent the room from becoming too awkward, with nothing else to discuss until Rita came back. "Oh! I still have to prepare Oliver's lunch. Would you mind waiting?" It felt rude, but this had to be done.
"Of course not, I'll stay right here."
"Actually, would you like to help?" That was an option, and it meant there wasn't going to be somebody sitting silently in another room as she worked.
Sodia froze. Perhaps it was too personal for her to be comfortable helping. "I don't think I'm entirely qualified for that, Lady Estellise."
"It's just a chicken sandwich, don't worry. I'd really appreciate some help, though."
Sodia stood and sighed lightly. "I'll do what I can." Estelle smiled and led her into the kitchen, directing her to a loaf of bread as she pulled ingredients out of the ice box.
"Can you cut that? And here's some butter, you can spread that on it." The chicken was left over from a previous night, so it would need "spiced up" as Flynn put it. Lettuce went on a normal chicken sandwich; she read that it was important to give him green vegetables. Strawberry jam and mashed potato did not.
"Lady Estellise, if I may ask…." Sodia gave the countertop a pointed stare and trailed off. Estelle couldn't blame her, she would have trouble finding the words to ask about it, too.
"Oliver has some rather odd tastes. We had to learn how to adjust to cook for him," she explained. She shredded a piece of the chicken while she waited for the bread.
"I hope this is alright." Sodia handed her two slices awkwardly. "Is there anything else?"
"No, thanks so much for your help." She was going to try and hold a real conversation for once when the door opened.
"Mom!" It was comforting hearing that whenever Oliver came home. Even though he was gone for several hours, he would always come back happy and excited to see her.
"I'm in here, honey," she called. "I'm making you a sandwich." Rita followed behind him as he ran into the kitchen to hug her.
"Oh, you're here?" Rita asked Sodia when she saw her.
"Lady Estellise invited me to discuss the assassination case."
"You're still on that thing? I thought Flynn told you to drop it." Rita was familiar enough with it. Estelle ranted about it all the time, talking about how exciting it was to be like a real character in a book.
"But he's working so hard, and we have a lead now!" She finished assembling Oliver's sandwich and sent him to the table with it. "I'm going there tomorrow to snoop around."
"I'm not entirely sure that's safe to do." Rita looked like she wanted to argue the point further, but their conversation was limited with Sodia standing in the same room. Oliver had torn off a piece of his sandwich and offered it to her, which she was attempting to politely refuse.
"It'll be fine, I can take care of myself. I'm just taking Oliver down to play, and we'll find a way to look through his things."
"And you don't think it's dangerous to take him there?"
Sodia cut in, having shooed Oliver. "I can station a platoon right outside in case anything gets out of hand. Lady Estellise will be kept safe."
"Okay, but how are you going to look around in the first place? If he wants to hide something, he won't want you looking through it." Rita crossed her arms as she questioned her.
"Well, I was hoping you would have an answer." She couldn't think of a way to get him out of the way long enough, but Rita was smart.
Rita pinched the bridge of her nose in thought. "I'm not convinced this is a good idea, but I'll come up with something."
"Is that all?" Sodia asked.
"Yes, thanks so much for your help." Estelle smiled at her. "Plan around tomorrow afternoon, if it works for him."
"Of course. Goodbye, Lady Estellise." The instant Sodia let herself out, Rita whirled around to Estelle.
"This is too dangerous and you can't go."
"I can go if I want, Rita. We have to figure out why he would want Katarina killed." Estelle pouted and crossed her arms.
"No, Flynn has to figure that out. You have to stay home and keep Oliver safe." She glared up at her. It was almost frustrating how she tried to keep her out of danger all the time.
"Flynn's helped me out a lot, now I can help him. All I have to do is get Falkner out of the room and find proof that he hired the assassin." It was a foolproof plan, and Sodia would be providing backup. Nothing could go wrong.
"So this man hired an assassin to kill a member of the royal family, so you and our son are going in there and putting yourselves at risk?"
"Well…." She hadn't thought of it like that. But they had to do this, even if Rita didn't approve. "I know it's dangerous, but please. I'm sure it can't go wrong if we have your help. I'll go even if you tell me I can't."
"I've seen lab mice with better survival instincts than you." Rita sighed, staring at the floor. "I can help you get him out of the room. And if anything at all goes wrong, you aren't going anywhere until you learn some self-preservation."
Estelle practically squealed in delight as she tackled Rita in a hug. "Nothing's going to happen. If you're involved everything is going to be perfect."
"Yeah, okay." Rita shifted around and pushed away from Estelle, turning away to hide her blushing. "I'll be back when I have a solution."
Flynn woke to the sound of shrill wailing. Without thinking, he reached out for his alarm clock to shut the noise off. He was a bit surprised when instead of his bedside table he smacked a dog's head, and then he remembered where he was.
He opened his eyes and saw Repede glaring at him, and then sheepishly pulled his hand back. "Sorry." Jo was still crying. Was Yuri not going to get her? He started getting up, but then Repede barked and leapt at him. "Whoa!" Flynn said, pulling back onto the couch. "Repede, it's morning now. You can let me get up."
Repede just growled, and then took the edge of the blanket in his mouth and pulled it back into place. Flynn sighed and fell back onto the pillow. "Alright, I guess I'm staying here." He pulled his hands up to cover his ears. Oh yeah, he thought. This is why I never want children of my own.
He heard a door open and then footsteps. Finally someone was getting up to deal with her. The crying shut off and Flynn lowered his hands, just in time to hear the mumbling of Yuri's voice. A minute later, Yuri emerged in the living room with Jo balanced in one arm.
His hair was a mess, he wore baggy pants and a ragged t-shirt, and yawned when he looked over at Flynn. "'Morning."
"Good morning," Flynn said, a bit taken aback at Yuri's half-asleep appearance.
Yuri headed for the kitchen without paying Flynn any more attention. With Jo clinging to his neck, he poured some cereal into a small bowl and then threw some blueberries on top. He walked back to the couch and set her down on the ground with the bowl in front of her.
"Aren't you going to add milk?" Flynn asked, propping himself up on one arm.
"She likes it dry," Yuri said. "Want some waffles?"
"Alright. Here, I'll help you." He started getting up, but Repede barked at him again, just daring him to try leaving the couch. Flynn sighed in frustration. Once upon a time, Repede would have listened to him as much as Yuri. "Yuri, call Repede off. It's morning now."
"Not until I'm done cooking." Yuri banged around in the kitchen, pulling out ingredients. "I don't want you anywhere near my kitchen."
"I just want to help."
"You aren't allowed. You'll contaminate my kitchen."
"That's ridiculous, Yuri. You're letting me stay at your house; the least I can do is help you cook."
"No, absolutely not," Yuri said. "My house, my rules. Number one rule: Flynn is not allowed to cook. Besides, you're the guest. You're supposed to be being taken care of."
"I'm not very good at being taken care of," Flynn said, sitting up properly. He glanced at Repede, making sure Repede knew he was just sitting up, not attempting to leave the couch. Leaning against the couch beneath him was Jo, happily munching on her cereal. "Are you sure you can leave her alone to eat?"
"She's fine," Yuri said, pouring things into a bowl. "She's more mature than she looks."
Flynn watched Jo quietly eating blueberries and nodded. Just looking at her, it was hard to believe she was over a year old, but she had the maturity and fine motor skills of a fifteen-month-old.
"Hey, would you mind watching her tomorrow night?" Yuri asked, stirring the bowl of batter. "Judy, Karol, Raven and I wanted to go out."
"Am I not invited?" Flynn asked, pretending to sound hurt.
"Sorry, Flynn, we're going to be out late at noisy bars, which your doctor would probably frown upon. All four of us rarely get to go out anymore, since someone always has to stay behind and babysit."
"Yes, that's fine."
Yuri poured the batter onto the waffle iron. "If you visited more often, we could go out."
"I'm sorry, Yuri," Flynn said. "I never seem to be able to take time off. Whenever I think work is about to calm down for a little while something new flares up."
"Right," Yuri said, "which is why you should stop worrying about all the things flaring up because you know they are always going to happen."
"Hm, I suppose." Flynn reached over the side of the couch and snatched a blueberry out of Jo's bowl. "Don't you guys have a highchair?"
"Uh… we kind of never bothered," Yuri admitted, turning his attention to the waffle iron.
Flynn frowned. "Yuri."
"She doesn't care where she sits and highchairs are expensive. She can sit on my lap just fine."
"I could pay-"
"No," Yuri said, taking the first waffle off the iron and starting the second one. "I'm not taking your money, Flynn."
"It really isn't a problem." He knew Yuri didn't like accepting charity, but Flynn felt it was different coming from him. He was family, and Flynn's salary as commandant was more than what he could ever spend, considering all his clothing and food was provided by the castle and he rarely went out anywhere. "If you can't afford something for Jo, just swallow your pride and ask. I'd do anything for her." It was one thing for Yuri to be stubborn about taking care of himself, but if he let it affect Jo, that was not tolerable.
"We're fine, Flynn," Yuri said, leaning forward on the counter. "We may not be rolling in cash like you and Estelle are, but we're doing alright. Stop worrying, will you?"
Flynn frowned, not entirely convinced, but nodded. A few minutes later, Yuri finished preparing the waffles and carried two plates over to the couch. "Here you go," he said, plopping down next to him.
"Wouldn't it be easier to eat at the table?"
"Couch is more comfortable." He sat cross-legged, with his plate in one hand and fork in the other. "So, how do you like it?"
Flynn took one bite, and smiled. "Mm. I always forget how good your cooking is, Yuri."
"Yeah, while I put a lot of effort into forgetting yours."
Flynn rolled his eyes. "It's not that bad."
"Two words: surprising rice."
"Well… that was a bit of a mistake," Flynn admitted.
"You never even told me what you put in that."
"That would have ruined the spirit of surprising rice." To be perfectly honest, Flynn couldn't even remember what he'd put it in, since that had been over fifteen years ago.
"I'm not even sure it was rice."
"But it was surprising."
"Yeah, I'll give you that."
There wasn't much time for talking after that, because Flynn was too busy eating. It had been a while since he'd had a nice breakfast like this. Usually he ate toast at his desk, or had a muffin if he was feeling fancy. He savoured each sweet bite, while Yuri rushed through like he was afraid someone would steal it if he wasn't fast enough.
When Yuri was done, he sat the plate down on the coffee table and got down on the floor. "Are you already done with your cereal?" He picked the bowl up with one hand and rustled her hair with the other. After setting the bowl down on the coffee table, he licked his thumb and then used it to wipe blueberry juice off her mouth. "Look at you, making a mess. Hey, want to show Flynn what you can do?" He wrapped his hands around her torso and pulled her to her feet. She wobbled around, and Yuri held her under her arms, but she was standing on her own feet.
"She's getting there," Flynn said. "I'm sure she'll be walking in no time."
"She'd better be," Yuri said. "I better not find out you could walk this whole time and you're just making me carry you because you're lazy." He slowly loosened his grip to see if she could balance on her own, and she managed to stay upright for about two seconds before falling forward into Yuri's arms with a giggle. "Oh, so close. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get it next time." He picked her up and held her on her feet again.
Flynn smiled as he watched him. It had been over a year now, but it was still weird to think of his dumb friend as being a dad. When Flynn thought about Yuri, he was always off fighting monsters and leading an exciting life beyond the capital. He did not often picture him sitting around in his pyjamas, eating waffles and playing with a baby. A lot had happened in the past ten years, and somewhere during that time Yuri had turned into a grown-up. Watching him now, Flynn felt stupid to worry about Yuri's parenting abilities. Sure, maybe Yuri was a bit unorthodox, but nobody could say he didn't clearly love his child and wasn't trying his best.
"Other than going out tomorrow night, do you have any other plans for this week?"
"No," Yuri said. "We don't have any guild jobs lined up. We're just planning to hang around the house."
"I hope you're not cancelling plans on my behalf," Flynn said. "I don't mind being left here alone if you want to go out."
Yuri shook his head, though his eyes were still focused on Jo and trying to help her balance. "No, don't worry about it. We didn't have any plans before we knew you were coming either."
"Alright." Flynn finally finished his waffle and put the plate down, but didn't immediately get up. He stretched his legs out on the couch and leaned back, with Jo's giggling and babbling the only sound in the room. Flynn couldn't remember the last time he'd had such a slow and peaceful morning, and it was actually nice.
"Do you ever miss the Adephagos?"
Yuri's question broke the silence and Flynn sat up a bit to look at him in confusion. "Not particularly. Why, do you?"
"Hm… a little bit," Yuri said. "Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled the world isn't in danger, but there was always something to do. There was a blastia to find or a commandant to skewer or a giant space octopus to fight. I just miss the activity, that's all. I love Jo, and I love Judy, and I love working with Brave Vesperia, but sometimes… it's a little boring."
"I see," Flynn said, nodding. "There's always a place for you in the knights, you know. I'm always busy."
Yuri tore his eyes away from Jo just to glare at him, and he didn't have to say anything to get his answer across.
Flynn shrugged. "Just an offer."
"I guess I'm just worried that the rest of my life is going to be… domestic. I don't feel like I'm ready to settle down forever yet."
"Once Jo gets older, you won't have to spend so much time constantly looking after her. You'll have time to pursue your own interests then."
"I suppose so." He pulled his hands away and Jo wobbled around for a few seconds. "Hey, look! She's doing it, she's doing it!" Just after he said that, her arms flailed around and she fell onto his lap. "Well… that was still pretty good." He beamed at her. Clearly he wasn't too worked up about turning into a stay-at-home dad.
"And you're absolutely sure you can do this safely?" Rita tried once again to convince Estelle to stay home and let the knights handle everything.
"Yes, I'll be fine." She loved that she cared so much, but it was getting tiring. Every step of the way Estelle was getting questioned about whether she really did want to do this. Oliver was dressed, Sodia was set up near Count Falkner's mansion, and she only had about 15 minutes until she was supposed to be there.
"I'm just making sure, it's not too late to call it off if you're not ready." Estelle shot her a quick warning look; it was definitely too late to call it off even if she wanted to. Rita sighed and handed her a small glass vial. "Alright, fine. Just find an excuse to pour this in his drink, it's really strong so it should kick in after about a half hour, but you'll only have about 10 minutes to look around. Find your evidence and tell him you have to go as soon as possible."
"What is it?" She looked at the clear liquid inside of it, hoping she didn't just tell her to poison him.
"It's just a laxative. Completely undetectable."
"It's a…oh. Are you sure that's the best way to do it?" That sounded unnecessary if all she needed to do was look around his house.
"Yeah, he'll be too distracted to hear you going through his things." She shrugged nonchalantly. Oliver tugged on her leg for attention.
"Am I going to school? Not my school clothes." He pulled on his shirt, confused.
"No, you're going to play with some noble brat." Rita pulled him onto her lap to straighten his sleeves again.
"You shouldn't talk about her like that, she's only a child," Estelle argued. It wasn't right to demean her just because of her father.
"You're right, I'm sure the uneducated toddler of a noble criminal will be very open minded." Rita rolled her eyes.
"At least give her a chance. It's just going to be a fun day of visiting, right Oliver?"
"What are we playing?"
"It's a secret, you'll find out when we get there." She considered telling him they were going to play detective, but she didn't want him giving it away. Children who picked up suspicious words and phrases were always good evidence. "Are you ready to go?"
"Yeah." He pushed off Rita's lap to walk with Estelle to the door.
"What do you think?" Estelle asked her, turning around. "Do I look suspicious?"
"I think you look like an idiot going into danger. Just come back safely."
"We won't be long." She tugged on Oliver's hand to catch his attention as he waved goodbye to Rita. "Come on, we're leaving now."
He followed her obediently, chatting mindlessly as they walked. "We had raisins at school. I like raisins. And I like milk. And I get a cookie on Friday. Jeremy likes cookies too. We played with wagons at playtime."
Estelle listened to him vacantly, reading the directions to his house off a small piece of paper. She knew she had to be the right track, as there was a higher-than-average concentration of the royal guard standing by. "Are you learning anything in school?"
Oliver thought for a moment before pointing at one of the knights. "Blue."
"Very good, the royal guard wears blue now." She smiled down at him as he looked around.
He reach up to hold his ear. "Ear. And nose." He pointed.
"Good job!" She wished they could have this conversation at home where she could pay more attention to him. "Can you tell me more at home? His house is right here."
"Yeah." They turned onto the mansion's grounds and were greeted at the door by one of his servants. Count Falkner and his young daughter met them in the sitting room.
"Lady Estellise, it's so wonderful to have you here." He stood and offered her a seat. "Little Madeline is over there if the prince would like to play. Can I get you anything?"
"No, thank you," she said casually. "Actually, tea would be wonderful." She didn't want to sound too eager.
"I'll call for some immediately." She sent Oliver to the other side of the room where Madeline sat at a short table, her own tiny teacups and plates laid out for dolls. He reluctantly walked over, taking a seat at her table.
"This really is a nice place, Count Falkner." Estelle tried to start some small talk. Act non-threatening and convince him that she was only here to make new friends.
"I'm sure it's nothing compared to the castle," he said. "But we do what we can, with her mother out of the picture."
Estelle was about to respond when Oliver tapped on her arm. "What is it? You were just over there."
"Don't like her. She's mean." He crossed his arms and pouted.
"You can't say that about people, I'm sure she's great." Oliver was going to blow their cover! She hand to send him back before it got worse. "I'm sure it wasn't that bad, you just aren't used to playing tea parties like that."
"I do apologize." Falkner bowed to Oliver. "She doesn't often play with other children, I put more of her lessons in succeeding than making friends."
"I understand completely." That was a suspicious thing to say, but she couldn't consider it proof unless it was something she could show other people. It didn't mean he was teaching his daughter to kill people.
"But if I may ask, was there any particular reason you chose to visit? That knight wasn't entirely clear." He leaned forward in his chair a little.
"Oh, well, I heard your wife wasn't around, and I felt I could relate. Oliver's father is no longer here, and it's difficult for him to make friends." That was almost true. His father was in Dahngrest, but he seemed to make friends easily enough. She felt a small bit of satisfaction that her parenting method was more effective than a possible murderer's.
"We certainly are honored that you chose here. Ah, the tea is here." He looked up as a servant walked to their table, silently leaving a tea tray on the table between them. Count Falkner poured her a glass and passed it to her.
"Thank you very much." She took a sip casually, watching him carefully. It would be impossible to pour it in while he was looking, but if she waited too long then he might not even drink any. "Would your daughter like any?"
"Perhaps. Madeline, would you and Oliver like some tea?" He spoke to her and held up the pot.
"Yes." She stood and grabbed Oliver by the wrist, pulling him up unexpectedly. He stumbled to kick himself up and run with her before she yanked his arm off.
Estelle knew this was the best opportunity she would get. She leaned back a little to pull the vial out of her sleeve and pour it into his tea while his focus was away. It went off perfectly! Oliver and Madeline took their teacups back to their smaller table, spilling a little on the way. A servant immediately came in behind them to scrub out the stain.
Falkner paid no attention to her, but did drink from his tea cup. Estelle panicked; she hadn't thought about having servants around watching her, and her time to figure it out was limited. She had become so accustomed to having her privacy that neither her nor Rita thought about how to clear the room of anybody but Falkner. There were only two servants, and her mind reeled planning how to get them out of the room.
"About Oliver's father," Count Falkner suddenly spoke. "I do believe I met the man before. In Yumanju on several occasions, although I never got the chance to speak to you about it."
"Oh, how wonderful to hear." She had long since become tired of hearing stories about him, but it wouldn't last long. "We never had the chance to speak about past vacations, he mostly spoke about his research." Estelle had much experience in being with a partner who would sooner talk science than anything else.
"If you'd like, I could tell you about it." He didn't wait for her confirmation before continuing. "Our first time we were much younger, I couldn't tell you the year, but my wife and I were on our honeymoon." She let him speak, occasionally asking a vague question to keep him going. It gave her time to think of a new plan to keep the servants out of the room. A risky plan, but it was all she had to work with.
Nearly 25 minutes had passed, and Falkner was starting to shift uncomfortably every several seconds. She had to act on her plan now. "I really am enjoying our discussion, and I would hate to have to end it now. Would you consider allowing us to stay the night in a spare bedroom?"
"Yes, yes, of course, Lady Estellise."
"Perhaps you could share stories about Oliver's father with him." Falkner really seemed to enjoy that topic.
"If you would pardon me, I have to leave for a moment." He stood and nearly ran towards the back of the mansion, leaving her alone to make her move. Oliver and Madeline minded their own business on the other side of the room, far enough out of the way to not disrupt her search.
"Excuse me." She called the servants' attention. "Could I have a room prepared? And perhaps a bath drawn. And could one of you walk to the castle and let them know I'm staying out?"
Both of them bowed, offering a brief acknowledgment before leaving her. Next she would have to come up with a way to get back to the castle after setting this up, but that could wait. She sifted through papers on a nearby end table for anything that pointed anywhere. Anything that linked him to the attempted assassination.
Nothing on the first table. Or the next. The clock ticked too quickly. Another disordered pile of papers. Those servants were so attentive towards everything, so it was odd that he left these laying around specifically. Clearly hiding something.
"Mom, what are you doing?" Oliver appeared at her feet, looking up at her and peeking into a drawer. "Are you looking for something?"
"Go back and play, sweetie, I think I lost something in here." She pulled out another drawer and flipped through the loose pages.
"I don't like her. She doesn't play sharing." He glared at her and clung to Estelle's leg.
"It won't be for much longer. Once I find what I'm looking for, we can go home." She went through the next desk along the wall as Oliver sulked and went back to take his seat at the small table. Even though she kept checking the clock, it felt like much longer than 12 minutes had passed when she found a stack of short letters.
Leave the payment behind the bench by the southern gate to the public quarter. 300K gald, any less and I don't go through with this.
Understood, I'll be at the wedding two weeks from now. I'll tell you how to pay me in a future note.
Interesting offer. I'll meet you at-
"What are you doing?" Estelle jumped several inches and whipped her head around when she heard Falkner speaking behind her. She stood red-handed with a series of letters written from an assassin in her hand, desk drawers wide open. "Where are- damn I shouldn't have agreed to this." He looked around, panicked, while Estelle slammed the papers back onto the table.
"Count Falkner I am obligated to bring you into the knights for questioning." Estelle pointed accusingly, ready to march right out and send him to Sodia.
"You're not telling anybody anything." He bent down and pulled a small knife out of his boot, holding it out and threatening her. "You're going to...you'll...damn. You've ruined everything."
"Come quietly and we'll get this sorted out."
"Mom?"
Estelle's heart skipped, she wanted to get through this without putting either of the children in danger. "Oliver stay over there, Mommy is working." Madeline next to him began crying noisily.
"You're going to stay here for now." Falkner took a step forward towards her. "You're staying here until I figure this out."
Estelle walked towards him, circling to put herself between Falkner and the children. "Just put the knife down, it's dangerous for the kids and there are still maids in the house as witnesses."
"I don't give a damn about the maids, they'll keep quiet too." He looked over his shoulder, keeping a watch for anybody. Estelle took the opportunity to run at him while he was facing away.
She grabbed his wrist and pushed it away, but he had looked back before she could reach him, and he shoved back. Keeping his knife from getting between them was easy, but he was taller and had better footing on the floor in his flat-bottomed shoes, making him nearly impossible to push down. Oliver and Madeline threw small fits behind her, confused about why they were suddenly fighting.
After several moments of pushing against each other, Falkner kicked forward and jammed his knee into Estelle's stomach. She stepped back to avoid it and threw her shoulder into his chest, knocking the both of them to the ground. Falkner pulled himself up first, picking up the knife that had fallen several inches away.
Estelle charged as much mana as she could in a few brief seconds, as she rolled to pick herself up. "Barrier!"
"Mom!"
There was a flash of light, one from the barrier around her and the children, and one surrounding Falkner that she didn't cause. A small Photon, enough to cause Falkner to drop his knife to cover his eyes and shout. Estelle took the opportunity to pick it up, holding it closely so he wouldn't get it. "Ray!" The small explosion it caused aimed at the roof should have been enough to catch the attention of the knights stationed outside. Falkner groaned and rolled over onto his back, hands pressed into his eyes.
"Oliver are you alright? And what about you, Madeline?" Estelle turned to the scared kids hiding behind the tea table. "Just stay over there, Sodia is coming soon."
The knights came through the door before Falkner could push himself to his feet again. Sodia looked between him leaning on a chair for support and Estelle holding a knife, commanding them, "Take that man into custody. Protect the prince and princess, get his daughter to the castle."
"Thanks," Estelle told her as the platoon scattered. She handed the knife to her and said, "He had this in his boot before attacking me. There are letters from an assassin on the dresser right there, and there is at least one maid hiding elsewhere in the house."
"Thank you for your help, Lady Estellise." Sodia took the knife and sent a solider behind her to retrieve the letters she found. "That may be enough evidence to convict him."
"What about his daughter?" As terrible a person he was, she didn't want an innocent child to be punished for what he did.
"She'll most likely be put in another home with a more stable family. I'm not in charge of that."
"I see..." She hoped that whatever happened, she would grow up a better person than her father. "Anything else?"
"We can't hold you here, I suggest you take Oliver home and calm him down. We'll send word to your room if we need anything."
"Alright, thanks again, Sodia." She nodded, returning to her business. "Oliver, do you want to go home?" He ran towards her, crying and hugging her legs. "It's okay, let's go see Rita."
Oliver sniffled and nodded, letting her pick him up to carry him out. "Was that magic you?" He shrugged, burying his face into her shoulder. "I didn't cast Photon. Can you use magic?"
"What is magic?" He calmed down enough to speak as soon as they left the mansion.
"That light around the bad guy. Did you make that happen?"
"Yeah. Scared. Did he hurt?"
"A little. But it's okay, he was going to hurt Mommy if you didn't." She squeezed him a little tighter. "You can use it if you don't want somebody to hurt you."
"I don't want to hurt people." He kicked a little bit and struggled. "I wanna walk."
"You don't have to use it if you don't want to." She was practically swelling inside from how proud she was that he picked up on magic so quickly and so effectively, like a tiny genius. "You can tell Mom when we're home, I'm sure she'll be happy too.
"It's too bad Flynn can't come with us," Karol said the next night.
"Don't worry about me," Flynn said. "You guys have fun."
"We'll be out late," Judith said. "Don't wait up for us."
"That's right," Yuri said. "If you're still awake when we get home, I'm going to be angry."
"I know, Yuri," Flynn said. He sat on the couch with Jo in his lap. She was a bit groggy, having been woken up from her nap early, but Yuri wanted to make sure he said goodbye to her before they left. According to Judith, if she woke up and her parents were gone without warning, she was likely to cry all night. Flynn was willing to put up with a slightly sleepy baby to avoid that.
"Help yourself to anything in the kitchen," Yuri said. "For Jo, there's leftover chicken in the icebox. Take the pieces out and put them in a pan, and then put them in the oven until they're warm. No more than five minutes. Do not add any spices or seasonings. We're introducing that stuff slowly and I don't want you to get… creative."
Flynn frowned. "I know, Yuri. I can cook for a baby."
"No, you can't," Judith said. "I've seen what you give Oliver. That child is abnormal."
"Cut up some cantaloupe to go with it, and give her some orange juice in a sippy cup," Yuri said. "Don't add anything to the fruit. Just cut it into tiny pieces and put it on her plate. She can feed herself if its finger food. Don't mix the juice with anything, don't try to make some kind of creative desert, just… just don't feed my child anything that I haven't explicitly okayed."
Flynn was pretty sure Yuri was more concerned and overprotective about cooking than he had been when going over Jo's sleeping schedule. The prospect of entrusting his daughter's dinner to Flynn was obviously quite terrifying to him, and Flynn was a bit offended by that. Only a bit, because by this point in his life had had embraced the fact that he was a bad cook. "Alright, Yuri."
"Do you want me to write that down?"
"I think I can handle that much."
"Come on, Yuri," Karol said. "We're already running late."
"Alright. See ya, Flynn. Bye, Jo."
Judith waved. "Bye-bye, Jo. We'll be home later."
They were about to walk out, but then Karol froze in the doorway. "Oh, crap!"
"What is it, boss?" Yuri asked.
"I needed to take that thing over to Altosk today, but I totally forgot."
"Oh, that's right," Judith said. "Can we stop on the way there?"
Karol frowned. "I guess… it's kind of out of the way, though."
"I can take it," Flynn said. The others looked over to him and he said, "I'll take Jo for a walk and drop it off. Unless a casual stroll through the city is too strenuous?"
"No, it should be fine," Yuri said.
"If it's not too much trouble, that would be really helpful," Karol said. "We got a request for a mission today, but it's a bit bigger than our resources so I said I'd forward it to Altosk. I completely forgot to take it over, though."
Flynn nodded. "I can drop that off for you. You guys go have fun."
"I'll be right back and grab it," Karol said, running off. He returned a minute later with a sealed envelope, which he handed to Flynn. "Here. Just drop by the Altosk headquarters and ask to see Harry Whitehorse. Tell them you're coming for me and it shouldn't be an issue. Just tell Harry I'm forwarding this contract to them because we don't have the resources to take care of it, and that's all you have to do."
"I can handle that," Flynn said. After being the commandant, a simple delivery job didn't sound too difficult.
"Thanks so much, Flynn!" Karol said.
"It's no problem. Have a good evening."
"You'd better be asleep when we get back," Yuri said on his way out the door.
Flynn didn't bother responding. Once they were gone, he looked down at Jo and said, "Do you want to go for a walk?"
She didn't respond, but she didn't protest, either. Flynn took this as a positive sign. It was already evening and he didn't know exactly how long it would take to walk to the Altosk building and back, so they might as well head out now. Jo was still in her pyjamas, so he took her to her room to put her in proper clothes.
A while ago, Flynn had expressed his surprise that Jo's wardrobe consisted mostly of dresses. He hadn't ever imagined Yuri would be the type to put his daughter in a dress, and it seemed bizarrely out of character for him. Then Yuri had explained that dresses were significantly easier to put on and made diaper changing a breeze, and everything suddenly made sense again.
He slipped a simple green dress on her, and since it was a bit windy added floppy bucket hat on her head. Her hair, which was as dark as Yuri's but shone blue in bright light, was messy and got everywhere when it wasn't loose in the wind. He added socks and then spent five minutes looking for shoes before remembered that she couldn't walk yet and didn't wear any shoes.
"You are actually pretty darn cute," he said, looking down at her with satisfaction. "I should congratulate Yuri on having such a cute kid. Although…" he reached out and bopped her nose. "He's not going to be happy when you're a teenager and all the boys are in love with you." Jo was still half-asleep, and just stared at him in groggy confusion.
In the main room, he found a stroller in the corner. He was about to give Yuri credit for at least buying a stroller, until he realized it was Oliver's old stroller. Oh well, it least it was something. He settled her in, wrapped a blanket around her in case she got cold, grabbed the envelope off the coffee table, and set off.
It took about fifteen minutes to reach the Altosk building, but Flynn didn't mind the walk. He'd had either Estelle or Yuri fretting over him and keeping him inside for almost a week now, so it was nice to get some fresh air. Jo started waking up while they walked, which Flynn noticed when she suddenly started patting around the strolled seat and said, "Ball?"
It took a second to realize what she wanted, and then Flynn said, "Oh, I'm sorry, Jo. I didn't grab Ba'ul. You'll get him when we go home, alright?"
"Baaaall."
"I'd give him to you if I could, but he's at home right now."
Jo seemed to understand that Ba'ul was not here, and she wasn't happy. She crossed her arms and sulked the rest of the way to Altosk.
Flynn took her out of the stroller and left it out front to carry her up the steps into the building. He entered the ornate main hall and looked around for someone to talk to. He didn't have to wait long for a man to walk up to him with a smile.
"Hello! Welcome to the Union Headquarters. How can we help you today?"
"I'd like to speak with Harry Whitehorse. I have a message for him from Karol Capel."
"Alright…" the man stared at him, glancing up and down, like he was trying to put his finger on something. After a long moment of thought, something dinged in the man's brain. "Hey, aren't you Flynn Scifo?"
"That's right," Flynn said. It had probably taken the man a little while to recognize him since he was wearing some of Yuri's borrowed clothes. Flynn was out of uniform so rarely that even he had trouble recognizing himself in the mirror in casual clothing.
The man frowned. "I wasn't aware the commandant was coming to Dahngrest."
"I'm not here on the knight duty," Flynn said. "I'm on vacation, and now I'm just dropping this off for Karol."
"Rather convenient, don't you think?" the man said, crossing his arms. "Harry Whitehorse gets implicated in an assassination attempt, and now the commandant just happens to stop by on unrelated business?"
"I admit the timing is unfortunate, but really, I just want to drop off this envelope." Jo was getting heavy balancing in his one arm, so he really just wanted to hand over this envelope and put her down again.
"And get a surprise meeting with Mr. Whitehorse, no doubt," the man said. "We have an agreement with the empire – you knights can't just come stomping in to our headquarters and act like you're entitled to search the place and interrogate our leaders."
"I don't want to interrogate anybody," Flynn said, trying not to get frustrated. "I just want to drop off this contract. If you want to take it and hand it to him yourself, that's fine, just tell him-"
"I'll have no part in any of your knight schemes," the man said. "And hey, isn't that Yuri Lowell's kid?"
"Yes," Flynn said. "I have her because I'm staying with Yuri because I am currently on vacation and not on duty."
"Hm…" The man stroked his chin suspiciously, and then said, "Come with me."
Flynn gave an annoyed look to Jo, but followed the man nonetheless. Hopefully he was finally getting taken to Harry Whitehorse. The men led him through a side door to a short hallway, and then opened a door. "Wait in here. I'll go see if Mr. Whitehorse is willing to see you."
Flynn sighed. This was going to take longer than he expected. "Alright. Thank you." He was left in a small conference room with a table in the middle and bookshelves on the walls. There was nothing else to do, so he set Jo down on the ground and took a seat.
He'd sat for almost a minute with his chin on his palm when Jo once again tried, "Ball?"
He looked over at her. "No, Jo, I still don't have your Ba'ul."
"Mmmm," she whined. "Ball."
"Whining about it won't magically make him appear."
Jo didn't understand exactly what he'd said, but she understood enough to know that she wasn't getting her Ba'ul. Her face scrunched up and her eyes glistened, and Flynn realized in horror that she was about to start crying. He couldn't entirely blame her, because he wasn't pleased about being stuck in a strange room for an unspecified period of time with nothing to do either. However, he had a feeling that the doctor would frown upon locking himself in a small room with a creaming toddler if he was trying to avoid stress.
He got up and his eyes darted around the room, looking for anything that might distract her. In desperation, he grabbed some books off the shelves and sat cross-legged in front of her. "Hey, here, let's play with these." He stacked some of the books on top of each other, pretending they were blocks. "This is fun."
Jo glared at him. If there had ever been any doubt as to who her father was, this look would have been the definitive answer. The crease on her brow, the way her dark grey eyes narrowed, and her mouth slanted somewhere between a frown and a scowl was the spitting image of Yuri when he was giving Flynn his "I am so displeased with you and everything that is happening" look. "No," she said. "Ball."
"I do not have your ball – I mean, Ba'ul," Flynn said firmly. "I'm sorry. Play with this instead, alright?" He stacked a few books vertically and then balanced one on top. "See? This can be fun, too."
Jo glared at him for an intense minute, and then reluctantly reached out and took one of the books for herself. Flynn sighed in relief as she started playing with the books, stacking them up and knocking them down again She even cracked a smile or two. Flynn grabbed one of the books and started flicking through it. It contained a history of the guild, and wasn't particularly interesting to Flynn, but he was bored and had nothing else to do. He stayed on the ground in case his leaving set Jo off again, but for now she seemed satisfied with the books.
After what he estimated to be a bit under half an hour, Flynn put the book down in frustration. He was bored, and this was getting ridiculous. Jo saw him put the book down and looked up expectantly. She whined a bit and rubbed her tummy.
"I'm sorry, are you hungry? Do you want food?"
She nodded and pouted.
"We were supposed to be home by now," he said. "Wait here for a second." She got up and walking to the door. Making him wait this long was ridiculous, and he wasn't going to put up with it anymore. When he turned the handle, though, it wouldn't move. "Oh, they cannot be serious." He wiggled the handle a few more times, but it was definitely locked. Great. Just great.
He wouldn't have been that mad if he was here by himself. After all, he could see how an unannounced visit from the commandant might look suspicious and he'd be annoyed himself if Harry Whitehorse randomly showed up at his office without warning. However, he wasn't here by himself. He had a hungry baby with him, and he needed to get her home and give her dinner.
He pounded on the door. "Hello? Is anyone out there?"
Behind him, Jo's whining steadily grew. She was going to start crying any second now, because she was bored, and hungry, and missed her favourite toy.
He glanced over his shoulder. "Jo, please be quiet, I'm trying to-"
She threw her head back and cried. Tears rolled down her cheeks and she balled her tiny fists up. Flynn sighed and rested his forehead against the door, and then brought his hands to his ears. He couldn't remember Oliver ever being this loud, and already it was making his head hurt. His doctor was probably going to have some things to say about this situation.
He walked away from the door and picked Jo up. He settled her into his lap as he sat in a chair, trying to calm her down. "Shh…" he said, bouncing her on his knee. "Oh, please stop crying." He couldn't cover his ears when his hands were occupied with Jo, and every minute that passed made his headache worse and worse. Every now and then he could pick up a word in her wails, usually 'Mom', 'Dad', or 'Ball'.
After five minutes of this, the door burst open. Well, that was one thing he should thank her for. Her screaming had certainly gotten someone's attention. To Flynn's displeasure, it was the man from before.
"What are you doing to Yuri's kid?" the man demanded.
"I haven't done anything," Flynn said, raising his voice to be heard over Jo. She's hungry and she's bored."
"Hungry?" He started walking forward. "Here, I'll take her to the kitchen and find her some food."
Flynn pulled her closer against his chest. "I don't think so. I'm not handing her over to a stranger."
"You want the kid to starve?"
"I'd like to give this envelope to Harry Whitehorse so I can take her home and give her dinner. What exactly is taking so long?"
"We're attempting to track down Karol Capel to confirm he's the one who gave you the envelope."
"Oh, for goodness' sake," Flynn said, standing up. Jo had stopped screaming, but she was still sniffling and whiny. She clung to his shoulder as he crossed the room. "All I am trying to do is deliver a guild contract. This should not be that difficult. I'm not on duty and I didn't come here representing the empire, but if you hold me here any longer I will be forced to take it as a direct insult to the knights an react accordingly."
The man took a tiny step back, looking a bit fearful. "Hold you here? N-no, we're not, like, imprisoning you or anything! It's just, we can't let you wander around the headquarters freely. If you want to leave right now, I can escort you to the main entrance."
"What I want to do is deliver this envelope." He'd promised Karol he would drop it off, so it would be discourteous of him to leave without doing that. "And whatever reasoning you might have, I would have thought that anyone could see the potential political nightmare of locking the commandant in a small room against his will."
His patience, already worn thin by the long wait, had been taken to the breaking point by Jo's crying. He had a headache, he was hungry and ready for dinner too, Jo was heavy and he was frustrated that he couldn't help her, and the knowledge that he wasn't supposed to get stressed only heightened his stress. If he punched this man, he would lose any moral high ground when arguing with Yuri. This knowledge was about the only thing saving the man from a broken nose.
"You have no right to get mad when you're the one who came waltzing into the headquarters without warning!" the man said, pointing his finger accusingly. "
"To drop off a letter," Flynn said. He took a deep breath. Don't get mad, don't lose your temper. "This wasn't supposed to be a political thing, but if you hold me up any longer, His Majesty will hear about this."
"Are you threatening me?" The man crossed his arms.
"I'm informing you that if you lock me in this room and deprive this child of her supper any longer, it is going to turn into an international incident."
"Ha! See, I knew you were here to start something! That was your plan, huh? Get yourself into a mess so the empire has reason to blame the guilds?"
"I don't want to start anything!" He tentative grasp of patience snapped. "I just want to drop off a damned letter!" He shoved the man aside and stormed out into the hallway.
"Where do you think you're going?!"
The man followed him down the hall and back to the main entry. Flynn ignored him and made his way to Harry Whitehorse's chamber.
"You can't just barge in there!" the man said, grabbing Flynn's arm. "You're trying to spy on him, aren't you?!"
Flynn shook him off and was about to reach for his sword before he remembered he was unarmed. He also had a baby in one arm. "If you try and stop me, I swear I will bring the entire wrath of the knighthood upon you. Not the Union – you personally."
"I knew it! You're trying to find an excuse to declare war on the Union!"
Jo whined and buried her head against Flynn's neck, not happy with all the shouting, or with her continued lack of food and Ba'ul. Flynn lost all track of composure and shouted, "I'm not trying to incite a war! I'm here to take a relaxing vacation!"
Before the man could respond, the door flew open and Harry stared at them in anger. "What the hell is going on here?!"
Flynn froze. He couldn't believe he'd just let the leader of the Union find him in a shouting match. He started to apologize, but the other man spoke first.
"Mr. Whitehorse, sir! The commandant was attempting to spy on you and incite a war between the Union and the empire!"
Harry looked to Flynn with a frown. "Is this true?"
"Not at all!" Flynn said. He held out the envelope. "I'm trying to deliver this guild contract from Brave Vesperia."
"I wasn't aware you were visiting Dahngrest, Commandant," Harry said suspiciously.
Flynn's headache throbbed. Not this again. "I'm on vacation."
"In Dahngrest? Why would the commandant vacation in the den of guilds?"
"Because I'm-"
The main entry doors flew open, and Flynn looked over to see Yuri, Judith, Karol, and Raven striding in. He sighed with relief, wondering when the last time he was this glad to see Yuri was. A young man from Altosk tagged along behind them.
"Ah, Yuri," Harry said. "Good to see you."
Judith walked up to Flynn and without a word took Jo. "Mom!" she said, her face lighting up. "Ball?"
"It's still at home, kid," Yuri said, glancing over. "Flynn, what's going on?"
"Yeah," Karol said. "We were just about to start dinner when this guy found us and said the commandant had Yuri's kid and was trying to infiltrate Altosk."
"Imperial scum," the man Flynn had been dealing with grumbled. "Can't trust 'em."
"Karol," Flynn said, "would you please explain that you asked me to come here?"
Harry looked to Karol, who nodded. "I forgot to drop some papers off this afternoon, so Flynn offered to hand them over for me. It's just a job request we got that we don't have the resources to do."
"Here, take it," Flynn said, holding out the envelope. "Please, just… take it and we'll go."
"This had turned into quite the ordeal," Judith said.
"Alright," Harry said. "It looks to me like this has been a huge misunderstanding."
"Let's just put it behind us," Raven said. "No need ta make a big fuss out of it."
"You're probably right," Harry said. "Commandant, my apologies for all your trouble. However, I must ask that in the future you refrain from surprise visits to our headquarters. Even on vacation, you're still the commandant."
"I understand," Flynn said. "I apologise for not giving you notice. I didn't think it would be a problem."
"So, we're good?" Yuri said.
"Yes," Harry said. "Thank you for forwarding that contract, Karol. I'll get right on it."
"Yeah, thanks a lot!" Karol said.
To Flynn's great relief, they were finally able to leave the building. He'd spent over forty-five minutes here, and his head throbbed. He stumbled on the steps on their way out, and Yuri caught his arm.
"Hey, are you alright?"
"I have a headache," Flynn said.
"Oh, no," Karol said. "Is it your concussion?"
"The doctor's instructions did say he was supposed to avoid stress," Judith said, putting Jo down in her stroller.
"I know," Flynn said, massaging his temples. "I really wasn't expecting to have this much trouble."
Flynn didn't talk much as they walked away from Altosk. No one talked much, mostly because Jo was crying again. As happy as she was to have her parents back, she still had a whole list of reasons for being unhappy. Lacking the vocabulary to explain her grievances, she resorted to crying. The group got some unhappy looks from passersby.
They stopped at an intersection. "I don't know about you guys," Raven said, "but I'm goin' back ta the bar."
"You guys go on," Flynn said. "I'll take Jo back home. I didn't mean to ruin your night out."
"Are you sure?" Judith said. "If your headache is getting bad, you shouldn't have to take care of a baby."
"I said I would babysit tonight, so I will," Flynn said.
"Well, if you're sure it's ok," Karol said.
"Actually, guys," Yuri said. "I'm not feeling so great either. I think I'm going to call it a night."
"What, you're sick, too?" Karol said.
Judith raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh, really?"
"Yeah," Yuri said. He put his fist to his mouth and coughed a bit. "It just hit me. You guys have fun without me, alright?"
"That's too bad, Yuri," Karol said. "We'll try to have fun without you."
"Feel better," Judith said, leaning over and kissing his cheek before pushing the stroller to him.
"See ya," Raven said, waving. The three of them took off in one direction, while Flynn followed Yuri and Jo back home.
As they walked, Flynn said, "You're not sick."
"Sure I am."
"Yuri." Flynn gave him a look.
Yuri snorted. "Wow, what do you know, I suddenly feel better. That was a fast bug."
Flynn rolled his eyes. "You don't have to take care of me."
"Who says I'm taking care of you?"
"I don't want you to give up your night out with your friends on my account." The Brave Vesperia building was in sight now.
"Are you kidding? I don't like you nearly enough to give up a fun night like that," he said with a slight smile.
"Oh? So what is this all about?" Flynn opened the front door and held it for Yuri to push Jo through.
"You've got a headache. Who knows how clearly you're thinking. You'd probably get home and try to feed Jo surprising chicken."
Flynn frowned. "What is surprising chicken?"
Yuri put the stroller away behind the desk and carried Jo to the stairs. "I have no idea, but I'm sure you'd find a way to make chicken horrifyingly surprising."
Upstairs and in the apartment, Yuri set Jo down on the floor. "Come on, you're going to bed."
Flynn headed for the couch, but then Yuri grabbed his bag off the ground in one hand and Flynn's arm in the other, and dragged him down the hall to his own room. "You're sleeping in here, tonight."
"What? But where will you and Judith sleep?"
"Judy can sleep on the couch. I don't want her to wake you up and disturb you when she gets home later tonight." Yuri said. "I'll just sleep next to you, unless you have a problem with that?"
Flynn shook his head. They'd only owned one mattress when they were kids living together, so sharing a bed with Yuri was hardly an issue. "No, of course not."
Yuri shoved the bag in Flynns' chest. "Put your pyjamas on and I'll be right back."
When Yuri returned five minutes later, Flynn sat on the edge of the bed in sweatpants and a t-shirt. "Lie down," Yuri said.
Flynn did as he was told, and then Yuri put a wet cloth over his forehead. "Yuri, you really don't have to do this."
"I got instructions from the doctor in Ioder's letter," Yuri said. "It says that if you get a headache you should lie down in a dark and quiet room and put a wet cloth on your forehead. I'm just doing what it says!" He scowled, and Flynn smiled a bit. Yuri was always so self-conscious about letting his softer side show.
"Besides," Yuri said huffily, "it said that if your conditions worsen you might, you know… die. Letting you die in my care wouldn't be fulfilling the contract and then we wouldn't get paid."
"Heh. Thanks for your concern, Yuri."
"Yeah, whatever. Are you hungry? I'm going to go take care of Jo, but I can heat up something for you, too."
"That would be great, thanks."
"Alright, I'll be back in a bit. Don't you dare get up."
"I know."
Yuri left, turning off the light and closing the door. Flynn lay in the darkness and listened to Yuri from the main room. "Hey there, Jo. Did Uncle Flynn forget to give you your Ba'ul before going out? Yeah, he's terrible, isn't here? I don't know why I put up with him…."