Chapter 14: The Cavendish mansion.
Akko was reclined on the ship's wooden railing, staring at the green fields that were a long way beneath them. They had left the lake and entered the leyline early that morning, as soon as the storm had allowed it, and now they had just exited the magic portal at the characteristic fields of Weddinburgh, where hundreds of sheep walked around eating grass peacefully, guarded by enthusiastic shepherd dogs.
They were still a few minutes away from the Cavendish mansion, but… Akko already had an upset feeling in her stomach. She really hoped they'd find a clue about her mother's disappearance, but she wasn't holding her breath; after all, her mom's friend was dead and her sister didn't seem to be as friendly, judging by the letter she'd found in her mother's room. And Diana… well, she didn't really know her, but she was Hannah and Barbara's friend, which surely couldn't be a good sign.
"Hey, Akko!" Akko was startled out of her contemplations when an arm was suddenly dropped around her shoulders and Amanda pretty much yelled in her ear. "Why so sulky?"
"I'm not sulky!" She protested, backing away to get out of her friend's sudden hug.
"Right, right." Amanda chuckled. "Look, I get that what you told us yesterday seem to be serious stuff and whatever, but… we're here to find your mom, right? Cheer up! Maybe she's drinking tea with that bunch of aristocrats."
"I wish it was that simple." Akko sighed.
"Oh? You're being a pessimist? I can't believe it! What's next? Sucy being nice?" She laughed.
"Amanda." Akko warned. "Not in the mood."
"Right, right." She rolled her eyes. "Well, I think I might know something that will get you in the mood."
Before Akko had the chance to even open her mouth to ask what Amanda had in mind, she heard some pretty familiar voices coming from under barracks. High pitched and incredibly obnoxious.
"You can't treat us like this!" Hannah's indignant voice, undoubtedly. She'd recognize it anywhere. "Stop pricking me with that gun!"
"I-it's not an actual gun… Right?" And… That was Barbara's voice. Huh. It sounded scared too.
"Of course not!" Just then, the two girls surged from the stairs, hands placed of their heads and being escorted by Constanze, who was pointing a gun at them, and Sucy, who seemed to be mostly amused.
"W-what… is going on?" Akko asked hesitantly, walking slowly towards her friends. Amanda followed suit too, as well as all the other girls, who had now noticed the commotion. Soon, the little crew was forming a circle around the intruders.
"Amanda O'Neill! Free us this instant!" Hannah yelled at the redhead's face as soon as she got close to her.
"Ehem." Amanda cleared her throat as she put the eye patch over her left eye, obviously preparing her best pirate speech. "These stowaways were hiding in the weapon cabinet." She informed them. "Thankfully we discovered them in time! We don't want them stealing our treasure, aye captain?"
"What treasure?" Hannah looked equal parts confused and irritated.
"We just want to go to the Cavendish mansion." Barbara tried to explain. "Surely Diana will want to know what's happening in Luna Nova."
"Shush." Amanda silenced them. "I'm sorry, but stowaways aren't allowed on this ship, right Constanze?" In response, the captain smirked maliciously and nodded. "I'm afraid you'll have to walk the plank."
"Cut the act!" Hannah snarled. "Or else I will be forced to wipe that smile off your stupid face!"
"Oh? Seems like someone is eager to go first." Amanda's Cheshire-like grin widened even more, if possible, just before she pulled out her wand, whispering a quick spell that made it turn into a pirate sabre, which she then used to threaten Hannah, pressing the tip against her throat. "You feel it, don't ya' babe? It's the real deal. You're gonna walk that plank or I will cut you open like a gutted fish."
Hannah gulped audibly and Barbara took a step back, eyes widened in fear.
"You can't be serious!"
"Y-you're not serious, right Amanda?" Akko chuckled awkwardly, looking at her friend with concern. Sure, a part of her was thoroughly enjoying her bullies' scared expressions, and… a little bit of revenge would be nice, but she didn't want them killed!
"Just watch." She winked in response. To Akko's surprise, none of her other friends seemed to want to stop them; not even Lotte who was just looking at the scene with curiosity, or Jasminka who had taken out a bag of popcorn and was eating happily. Huh. Maybe they knew something she didn't?
"Come on, get moving." Amanda said to the girls, pointing to the ship's side with her head. For emphasis, Constanze hit Barbara's back with her gun, and the two girls started walking reluctantly while still protesting loudly at the "barbaric treatment".
"Why is no one doing anything?" Barbara shrieked as they neared the edge, where the plank was awaiting them. "Are you just going to let them throw us off board?!"
That was a good question, and Akko would be lying if she said she wasn't a bit worried that things would get out of hand, but… at the same time, she knew that as hotheaded as her friend was, she wasn't exactly murderous, so she trusted her to not let the situation escalate to such a point.
"Lotte, Jasminka! Help!" Hannah called in desperation. "Akko, aren't you going to do something?!"
"How dare you talk to Akko?" Amanda snarled, pressing her sword against Hannah's chest and forcing her to back away, stepping onto the plank. "After everything you've done to her, you deserve nothing less than being thrown off board!"
"We're sorry!" Barbara exclaimed as she was also forced to step on the plank by Constanze's firmly-held gun. "Amanda, Akko, we're sorry! We promise we won't do it again!"
"Too late." Amanda smirked as she laid down her foot on the plank with such force that it shook violently and the two English girls fell to their doom…
Akko gasped and rushed to the railing, expecting to see them there in a safety net or something, but… they weren't there. Granted, they didn't seem to be falling either, so where…?
"Aaaaahh!" Akko heard a scream behind her and she turned around, just in time to see Hannah and Barbara appear on the other side of the deck, hugging each other in terror but still very much alive and well.
Instantly, Amanda burst out in boisterous laughter, and Akko couldn't help joining in. Hannah and Barbara were usually the ones bullying her, after all, so having some fun at their expense did feel quite good. It was justice, really!
And, although most of her friends hadn't been bullied by the two aristocrats, they probably didn't like them either because of how they treated Akko, so she wasn't surprised when she heard Constanze let out a quiet chuckle, or when she saw Jasminka holding in her laughter. Lotte did let a smile appear on her face, but tried to cover it quickly, while Sucy just cackled maliciously, showing off her sharp teeth.
As soon as Hannah recovered from the initial shock and realized she wasn't falling to her doom, she got up and went towards Amanda with a threatening expression.
"Do you think it's funny?! We could have died!" She yelled.
"Don't be so dramatic." Amanda scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Constanze put a spell on the ship to make it literally impossible for us to fall. That's why I've been dying to make someone walk the plank, and you pair of stowaways were just perfect for this prank."
"You almost gave us a heart attack for a stupid prank?!" Well, Hannah was positively fuming now, with her face red and steam pretty much coming out of her ears. Akko found the sight to be quite comedic.
"Yes." Amanda shrugged casually and let a shit-eating grin appear on her face. "What are you gonna do about it, princess?"
For a few tense moments, it looked like Hannah was seriously considering getting into a fist fight with Amanda (which would be majorly stupid, in Akko's opinion), but just as she was clenching her fists in anticipation, Barbara grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
"We're sorry." She said, alternating her gaze between Akko and Amanda. "About everything. And I… we understand if you thought making us walk the plank was a fitting punishment." She then looked towards her friend as if expecting her to apologize too, but Hannah just pursed her lips and looked to the side, unwilling to say a word.
"Hannah is stubborn… and also scared of heights, but she's sorry too."
"I'm not scared of heights!" She immediately protested, blushing brightly.
"Sure thing." Akko snickered.
"So… anyways." Amanda cleared her throat to grab their attention before Hannah tried to murder Akko. "What are you two doing in our ship?"
"Well… we've been wanting to see Diana for a long time." Barbara started explaining.
"And we figured she would want to know about the attack on Luna Nova." Hannah continued.
"Plus, we wanted to visit our families and tell them that we're okay."
"Wait… You're from Weddinburg too?" Akko asked. It made sense, of course, but she'd never thought that to be the case.
"Yes." Hannah answered in a deadpan tone. "So, we wanted to come and we heard you shout that you were coming to the Cavendish mansion and decided to follow you."
"You followed us through the sewers?" Akko found the idea of those two poised girls swimming through the sewers to be quite amusing.
"Unfortunately." Barbara deflated. "And then we hid on your ship and here we are."
"You could have just asked to come, you know?" Akko raised an eyebrow at them. "You didn't have to spy on us and sneak into the ship."
"Would you have really just let them tag along?" Amanda asked the question on everyone's head.
"Of course!" Akko answered with certainty. "Something tells me that Diana will be more amicable to us if we bring her two best friends with us."
"Huh. Can't argue with that." She admitted.
"Why are you going to the Cavendish mansion anyways?" Hannah asked, looking at Akko through narrowed eyes.
"It's none of your business." Amanda answered, as rude as ever.
"It's… classified." Akko said, a bit less aggressively than her friend. "Although Diana will probably tell you anyways."
"Y-yeah. Probably." Hannah agreed, trying to appear confident that she would, but obviously having some doubts.
Huh. Weird. Akko knew Hannah and Barbara were Diana's friends! She remembered that they were always together, and rarely one was seen without the other two. So… Diana probably told everything to her friends, right? Like Akko with Lotte and Sucy, and even the green team.
But… then again, Diana did appear to be a more reserved person…
"Constanze?" Jasminka spoke before Akko could keep wondering about the kind of person Diana was. Only then did Akko realize that the soft-spoken girl was now behind the ship's helm. "I believe that's our destination."
Constanze then quickly ran towards the front of the ship and got out a spyglass which she used to look ahead. Akko quickly followed her, but… even if she didn't have a spyglass, it was pretty apparent that the Cavendish mansion was just a few kilometers away now.
It was an imposing structure; a tall castle made of cream colored stones next to a very blue lake. It was impossible to see the details from where they were, but… it was definitely the biggest building they'd seen since arriving to Weddinburgh.
"We'll descend into the lake." Stanbot spoke, and Constanze looked at Akko as if asking if that was okay.
"Sure, but… uh… maybe I should go ahead and explain the situation to Diana first." Akko said sheepishly. "I don't think the Cavendish will appreciate a ship parking on their lake without notice.
"I can take you to the mansion." Amanda said, startling Akko because she didn't know she'd followed her. "I'm the fastest on a broom here, so even with two people I should be able to arrive a few minutes before the ship."
"Sounds good." Akko agreed. "Let me just grab my bag and then we'll go."
True to her word, Amanda flew fast. So fast in fact that Akko felt like she was going to fall off the broom at any moment and she had to hold onto her friend's waist for dear life. Good news is that, almost as soon as it started, it ended, and they found themselves at the tall gates of the Cavendish mansion.
"So… do we just knock, or…?" Akko asked as she stood in front of that pair of imposing wooden doors, so ancient and ornate that she felt like she needed a password to enter. Or that maybe the serpent's head at the doorknob would come to life and ask her to solve a riddle (she hoped not; she was terrible at that).
"I… guess?" Amanda was the one who bravely took a step forward and knocked loudly at the wooden door. "Yo! Anyone home?!" She yelled. "We come in peace!"
"We're from Luna Nova!" Akko added, hoping that would improve their chances. However, silence reigned for a few more seconds afterwards, and it almost seemed like they weren't going to open.
"Maybe they went out…?" Amanda asked hesitantly.
"Maybe." Akko scrunched her eyebrows. Her gut told her that wasn't the case, but… such a large mansion surely had a butler whose only job was to open the door, right? At least she would think so. But at the same time, they probably weren't expecting anyone to visit and wouldn't bother opening thinking they were trying to sell them cookies or make them join a cult or something.
Just when Akko was trying to think of the best way of getting into the mansion undetected, the door finally opened and a woman that was probably around fifty years old with a strict face, her brown hair tied in a tight bun and a black old-fashioned dress appeared. She raised an eyebrow when her eyes landed on them but greeted them politely nonetheless.
"Good evening." She said. "How can I help you, young ladies?"
"Uhh… hi." Akko said awkwardly. "Uhm… I'm looking for Diana. Or, uh, Bernadette's sister? I'm Urs- Chariot's daughter."
"Chariot." The woman's eyes widened. "It's been a long time since I heard that name."
"So… will you let us in?" Amanda asked impatiently, but before the woman had a chance to respond, a voice came from behind her.
"Anna? What's going on? I heard yelling." Just then, the speaker came to the entrance and they were able to see her: Diana herself. Just like Akko remembered her.
Diana was the type of girl that forces you to make a double take to make sure you didn't imagine her; oh yes, she was that beautiful. Flawless white skin, eyes as blue as a cloudless sky, hair falling perfectly like a waterfall with a unique platinum blonde color with tea-green strands. Her features were also incredibly beautiful, like she was one of those old marble sculptures made by some renowned artist, and she was also tall. Not as tall as Akko's mom, sure, but still taller than most girls on their generation.
Yet, as Akko remembered, all that perfection was ultimately a waste. Why? Because Diana Cavendish was a bully. Sure, she didn't call her names or anything, but she was always quick to point out everyone's flaws in the most brutally honest way possible. More so, she didn't like Shiny Chariot and openly criticized her, which automatically put her in Akko's naughty list.
"A-Amanda?!" She startled upon noticing the two girls.
"'sup, princess?" Amanda greeted her, making a peace sign with her fingers and grinning almost mockingly at her.
"And… Uh…" She cleared her throat, apparently embarrassed that she didn't remember the brunette's name. Not that Akko blamed her; they'd only talked once many months ago. Argued would be a better word, actually.
"I'm Akko. Well, Atsuko. But everyone calls me Akko." She introduced herself, giving Diana her brightest smile. She wanted to be on her good side, after all.
"Ursula's mortal daughter." Diana tried to cover her obvious sneer, but didn't succeed. "What do we owe the pleasure?"
"Oh, right!" Akko quickly got a letter out of her pocket; the same one that said Daryl would carry on with the promise Bernadette had made to her mom… whatever that was. "I found this in my mother's room after she went missing." She explained as she handed the letter to the Cavendish girl. "I was wondering if I could talk to Daryl about it."
Diana took a few moments to read the letter, after which her eyes hardened and her whole body seemed to tense. Still, she didn't lose composure as she turned to address the maid.
"Anna." She spoke firmly. "Please go find my aunt. I'm afraid we have something to discuss."
"Of course, Miss Cavendish." She answered with a court nod before briskly walking away. Once she was out of sight, Diana spoke to Akko once more.
"You said your mother is missing, correct?"
"O-oh? Yeah!" Akko nodded. "She disappeared about a month ago, and this is the most solid clue we have."
"Well, she's not here if that's what you're thinking." She answered coldly.
"I know! But… I want to know what Bernadette promised her, and why she wanted me to spend summer break here." She said a little too quickly. Ugh, her heart was beating loudly inside her chest! Diana's glacier-cold eyes seemed to be looking into her very soul and finding even her most subtle flaws! This girl was scary.
"She what?" Diana all but yelled. "I can't believe my mom would promise anything to Shiny Chariot." She practically spat the last two words. "She was a respectable witch."
"My mom is respectable too!" Akko yelled, furious. If there was one thing she couldn't tolerate was people talking badly about the person she loved and respected the most in the entire world. "You don't need to be a no-fun stick in the mood to be respectable, you know?"
Diana's face immediately turned the darkest shade of red and her eyes became murderous with barely contained fury, but Amanda intervened before she could unleash the wrath of a thousand curses over Akko.
"Whoa! Akko, hold on." She said. "I love making fun of aristocrats as much as anyone else, but we're trying to get them to let us stay here, remember?"
"W-what? Stay?! What are you talking about O'Neill?"
As if on cue, Constanze's ship arrived in that very moment, hovering over their heads for a second before going towards the lake and starting to slowly make its descent to the blue waters, circling around like an oversized vulture trying to find a good place to perch.
"What is that?!" Poor Diana couldn't keep her composure any longer and proceeded to stare at the ship with wide eyes and mouth open, like she couldn't believe such an outrageous interruption to her daily routine was actually happening.
"Oh, one of Constanze's inventions, no big deal." Amanda said casually, but her little grin made it fairly obvious that she was having fun at the expense of the usually cool-under-pressure Diana.
"Yeah… we kinda brought our teams with us." Akko said sheepishly, which earned her an unamused look from the Cavendish heir. "We had to! Luna Nova was under attack, okay? We barely escaped with our lives!" Okay, so that part was a bit of an exaggeration, but she didn't need to know that.
"Under… attack?" Diana frowned, showing concern.
"Yeah, some blood witches, or whatever. Not that I believe in that sort of thing." Amanda shrugged.
"Blood witches are real!" Akko said, exasperated at her friend's attitude. Seriously! Even after telling her about the hunters, the War of Witches and the Prophecy, Amanda wasn't convinced. What a stubborn girl!
"They are indeed." Diana answered gravely. "My family too had an… unfortunate encounter with them recently."
Unfortunate? Huh. Diana's eyes seemed to get sadder for a second before she tried to cover it up again, but Akko did notice. Did it have something to do with Bernadette's death?
"I'm sorry." Was all Akko could say. She knew the pain of losing a mother herself, although she was also aware of the very important difference of her still having hope of seeing her mom once more. Unlike Diana.
"Well, in any case, we brought your cronies with us, so… hopefully that'll convince you to let us stay as long as Akko needs." Amanda said, trying to dissimulate how awkward she truly felt at the suddenly somber atmosphere.
"I'm afraid that's not my call to make." She answered with a deep sigh. "My own initiation is still a few weeks away, so my aunt is the head of this house at the moment."
"Initiation?" Akko tilted her head in confusion.
"Oh right. I forgot you're from one of those families." Amanda rolled her eyes.
"Huh?" Was this some witchy thing Akko was unaware of?
"Indeed. I-"
"What's the meaning of this?" A voice very similar to Diana's spoke, interrupting whatever the heiress had been trying to say. Then, the woman came into view, and well… Let's just say it wasn't just the voice that was similar. If not for the height difference, Akko would have assumed they were twins! But… upon closer inspection she did notice the woman's hair, tied in a ponytail, had a slightly darker hue, and she appeared to be a few years older than them. Plus, she was dressed with an elegant pastel yellow suit, proper of a business woman.
"Aunt Daryl." Diana addressed her with a polite nod. "These are Atsuko Callistis and Amanda O'Neill. They came from Luna Nova bearing troubling news." Diana then proceeded to quickly rely the events Akko and Amanda had described, upon which the older woman frowned in concern.
"An attack on Luna Nova is certainly something serious." She conceded. "I will contact the faculty immediately."
"Thank you, Aunt Daryl." Diana then paused and pursed her lips before proceeding to speak once more. "But there's one more thing…" She hesitated and her aunt raised an eyebrow.
"You knew my mom, didn't you?" Akko interfered when it was obvious Diana was having trouble convincing herself to drag the words out of her mouth.
"Ah… I'm sorry?" Daryl looked at her with a confused expression. "I'm afraid I don't know any Asian witches."
"No, I meant my adoptive mom!" She quickly clarified. "Chariot du Nord."
"Ohhh." She pursed her lips. "Of course I remember that girl. She was more trouble than she was worth, that's for sure." She scoffed. "Unfortunately my late sister insisted on keeping her around and helping her with anything she asked. She believed her to be some sort of 'Chosen One'." Daryl rolled her eyes, making it very clear that she didn't share Bernadette's opinions.
"My mom… knew Chariot?" Diana's eyes widened. "Personally?"
"Indeed." Daryl made a grimace. "What I don't understand is what her daughter is doing here."
"Well…" Akko started, but was quickly interrupted by Diana.
"You know what this is about?" She said as she gave the letter to her aunt. She only had to glance at it for a moment before her expression turned even sourer than before somehow.
"As it's clearly stated in this letter, right now is not a good time for the Cavendish." She fixed Akko with a cold glare. "I have a lot of duties to attend before we can proceed with the succession. I don't have time to train an inexperienced witch for her initiation."
"What?" Akko asked dumbly. Had she missed something? No… Amanda and Diana were also looking at Daryl like she had sprouted a second head.
"I'm sorry Aunt Daryl, but did you just implied you have to train this girl for the Cavendish initiation?" Diana spoke as she stared at her aunt in disbelief. She was very obviously hoping she was wrong.
"It's something without precedent, I know." She sighed. "But that's the promise your late mother made to Chariot du Nord."
"Please tell me she didn't make it official." The girl almost pleaded.
"She did." She made a face that looked like she had just swallowed something particularly bitter. "I've checked myself; the promise is engraved on our crypt and it won't go away until it is fulfilled."
"Our hands are tied then." Although Diana hadn't asked, her aunt still nodded. "I see. What exactly does it say?"
"I, Bernadette Cavendish, swear upon the honor of my ancestors that I will personally train Chariot du Nord's daughter in our secret arts until she's ready to go through the initiation and prove her worth to Beatrix." Daryl recited, like she'd read it multiple times already. "Of course, now that she has passed away, the name has changed to the next one in line." She then added, looking pointedly at Diana.
"Wait…" Akko finally decided to interfere. "Just when did she make that promise?"
"About sixteen years ago." Daryl answered with a confused expression, like she didn't understand what the big deal was. "Probably when Chariot last set foot in our household."
Akko's eyes widened then, and her head started spinning. She couldn't understand what this all meant! Her mom… had made Bernadette swear she would train her, probably shortly after she adopted her, long before Croix gave her magic. Something wasn't adding up here. Had her mom thought she was a witch when she adopted her? And if so… why? She had so many questions!
"But if Akko isn't a witch, the promise can't be kept." Diana intervened.
"Oh, I am a witch!" Akko announced proudly. "I gained powers shortly after my mother's disappearance."
"I… see." Diana frowned. She didn't seemed very pleased about this.
"Diana?" Daryl spoke. "I'm afraid we have no other option but to train this girl, and seeing that I don't have time to waste with this sort of thing, the responsibility will fall in your hands."
"What?!" She shrieked.
"It's your name that is engraved on the crypt, not mine."
"B-but… Aunt Daryl-"
"I will accept no further protests." She said with finality. "As the proxy head of our bloodline, I order you to train this girl until she's ready to make her initiation… along with you." She smirked.
"W-what?" She stuttered. "But if we both make the initiation at the same time, only one will be able to succeed."
"And the other one will have to wait until the next solstice." She nodded.
"I can't wait that long!" Akko and Diana protested at the same time, then turned to stare at each other; Diana with resentment and Akko with confusion.
"Make your decision, Diana: will you train her for five weeks and wait six months for your own initiation? Or become head of the Cavendish now and live another six months with your new pupil?" She chuckled, like this situation was the funniest idea she'd had yet. "But then again… that's not your decision to make, is it? It's Beatrix's."
Diana opened and closed her mouth like a gaping fish. A very indignant gaping fish. She just kept staring at her aunt in disbelief of what was happening.
"Well, I guess I will be returning to my own duties then!" She said, flashing Akko a smile that seemed more malicious than anything. "Please know that you're welcomed to stay here as long as you want, daughter of Chariot." And with that, she was gone.
Diana was positively fuming at that point, staring for a few seconds at her aunt's retreating form before she turned to look at Akko with murderous eyes.
"Look at what you did!" She snarled.
"I didn't do anything!" Akko raised her hands in surrender. "Your mom was the one who promised to train me."
"And your aunt was the one who threw you under the bus, by the looks of it." Amanda pointed out.
"Still. I wouldn't have had to deal with this right now if you hadn't come!"
"And we wouldn't have come now if it wasn't for the attack on Luna Nova!" Akko yelled back. "My mom actually wanted me to spend the summer here, you know? I believe this was the reason." She continued with a slightly more calmed tone. "She had no way of knowing your mother would die and she would disappear! Really, this is all because of the blood witches."
It looked like Diana wanted to give Akko another piece of her mind, but in the moment, two equal enthusiastic screams were heard.
"Dianaaaa!" And, just a moment later, the heiress had been tackled by her excited friends, only barely being able to remain in a standing position as they hugged her tightly.
"Diana! We missed you so much!" Barbara said.
"We were so worried after you didn't answer our letters! Are you okay?" Hannah asked, looking at her friend in concern.
"I-I…" She paused, looking at Akko and Amanda for a second before clearing her throat and taking a step back. Her friends apparently took the hint and let her go immediately, but they both had to wipe off the happy tears that had fallen from their eyes. "I'm doing well, but thank you for your concern." She said in an almost formal tone. "Would you mind joining me for some tea and biscuits? We can have a proper conversation then."
"Of course, Diana!" The two immediately answered.
"Very well." She nodded before addressing Akko. "As for you… I suppose you already heard my aunt; you're welcomed to stay as long as you wish." The words seem to leave a bitter taste in her mouth, but she still continued speaking, this time glancing at Amanda. "Your friends too, I suppose. I'll tell Anna to escort you to our guest rooms." Then she made a pause, as if remembering something. "And Akko? You're staying with me."
"What?!" She shrieked.
"Training will start early in the morning, and I don't have time to be waiting for you to wake up." She explained. "I expect you to be in your best behavior." And with that, she was gone, followed swiftly by Hannah and Barbara.
As Akko stared at her retreating form, she couldn't help thinking that these next few weeks would be extremely difficult for her. But… she was curious to know why her mom wanted her to go through the Cavendish initiation. It's not like she could become head of the Cavendish, after all! No. There was something else going on there, and she couldn't wait to find out.
A/N: Sorry about the delay everyone! I simply wanted to post it on Diakko day, aka 1st of February, since this is Diana's first appearence on this story, so... yeah. Hope you liked it and do let me know what you think. I'd really appreciate it if you left a review/favorite/follow in order to support me. Thank you and see you in two weeks!
Thanks to my beta reader moonwatcher13.