After a certain turn of events, Noelle seems very unlike herself this morning. How ever will the knights fix this?
AN: No beta we die like hilichurls
"Uh, Noelle, are you alright?" Hertha asked as she took a small bite of her toast, gazing at Noelle with concern.
"It's not like you, but I suppose there's a first time for everything," Huffman took a sip of his coffee. "If you need anything, just let me know, okay?"
"T-Thank you for your concern but I am… fine."
"If you say so. But I think everyone on this table would be fine if you took a day off to rest right now." Bruce came back to their table with a tray of food in hand.
"I assure you, I am fine."
Hertha stared at her blankly. "Those bags under your eyes say you aren't."
"I-"
"Not to mention you almost ran into a pole earlier this morning when we met each other in the hallway just before we went here to get breakfast," she said. "It's a good thing I caught you, who knows what would've happened?"
Noelle made a sound and covered her face with her hands as she laid her head down on the shared cafeteria table.
'That blasted book!'
This never would've happened had Lisa never encouraged her to grab a few books for herself! Wait, no, she shouldn't be blaming Lisa. It was Noelle that had lacked the discipline to keep at her schedule, after all.
She had no one else to blame but herself.
"Although… care to tell us what kept our Noelle up so late?" Hertha waggled her eyebrow as she leaned in on Noelle who still had her face down on the table. "Ironing clothes? Internal demons?" she gasped. "Boys?"
Noelle's ears went red. "N-No!"
"It better not be." Huffman's eyes narrowed.
Joyce put a hand on his back. "Now, now, Noelle is a big girl. She doesn't need big brother Huffman to beat the boys off with a stick."
"She's still too young."
"I agree, and I would do the same, but-"
"There is no boy! There has never been a boy!" Noelle exclaimed without moving from her position, causing her voice to come out muffled.
◤Cookie seems to remember there being the traveler-◢
"There is nothing!"
Belinda giggled. "Well, what is it then? You can tell us. We'll keep it a secret if you want?"
Noelle found no reason not to tell them. The only thing stopping her was her embarrassment. Yet, they had shown her care and understanding when she all but flopped down on her seat right after she finished her breakfast.
"...Books."
The knights that were listening attentively raised an eyebrow.
"What?" Hertha leaned in.
"...stayed up reading books."
Ah, so that's why she was so drowsy.
The knights all nodded. It wasn't such a thing for Noelle to do, but perhaps this was growth. Everyone went through that phase at least once in their lifetime, right?
Upon the lack of unkind responses, Noelle moved her head up from the table. She fixed her hair and looked across the table to see understanding smiles.
Shouldn't they be disappointed? She lacked discipline and suffered for it.
"Noelle, I know exactly what you mean!"
Though, no one there was as kind and understanding as Hertha. The woman had gained a glint in her eyes as she clasped Noelle's hands within her own and leaned in so much that their faces were inches away from each other.
"M-Miss Hertha?!"
"Oh god, there she goes." Off to the side, she saw Bruce put a palm to his face as he shook his head.
Hertha either didn't notice or didn't care. Either way, she was giving Noelle her full attention.
"I know! It's so easy to get lost in the world of books! The story! The setting! The characters! You read and you read and you read and it never seems to end and it's fantastic! Every ending gets you pumped up for more and more!"
"Alright, Hertha I think you're making her uncomfortable-"
"Y-Yes! Exactly, Miss Hertha! It is exactly as you said!" Bruce had never sat back down so fast when Noelle suddenly spoke up. "I told myself to finish just one more page and then I'm going to bed but I can't!"
"Right?! Right?! It pulls you in the further you read. Once you get started, you can't simply stop!" Hertha and Noelle jumped in place excitedly.
"Before I knew it, the sun was out already. I was so absorbed in my reading that Cookie's morning greeting had startled me."
◤Ah, so that's why Maestra hadn't been dressed yet.◢
Hertha nodded feverously. "That happened to me too! And just recently, even!"
"Oh dear, how do you even manage the strength to get on with the next day? I can hardly function and the sun hasn't even fully risen yet."
Hertha chuckled. To Noelle, it was simply a normal chuckle.
But to everyone that had been working with her for so long, it was a chuckle that didn't bring good things.
If Noelle hadn't been focused, she could've seen the alarming looks that adorned the faces of the Knights behind Hertha.
"Well, Noelle, if you want to wake up and get the energy to keep going throughout the day, I have just the thing for you."
"Oh my gosh, I feel great! I can go on and on and on and on and do whatever I feel like doing in record time! Oh, can I clean this area? I'll do it all. Also, this next one is mine. Then this one, ooh but I wanna clean this one too! Wait, I can just clean all of them! Call for me if you need anything I'll be right back."
Like the wind, Noelle was here one moment, the next she was gone. Unlike a wild breeze, Noelle had cleaned up after herself in record time.
As Noelle was gone from the common room, the remaining knights held their heads in their hands.
"What have I done…" Hertha whimpered. "What have I unleashed upon the world."
"You did what you had to do." Huffman assured her. There was no need to beat her down any more than she already was.
Bruce nodded. "I'm sure you did it in good faith. Though I thought this was a bad idea, I never knew it would turn out to be like… this."
"At least, not like this. Nothing like this." Joyce seemed to have never moved from his spot on the floor from when Noelle had accidentally bumped into him.
"Yeah, who would've known," Belinda sighed. "Who would've known that this was Noelle's first time drinking coffee?"
The source of their troubles, and their blessing at the same time. Hertha had suggested it to the maid as a form of guidance. Hertha drank coffee to wake her up when she stayed up late or did all-nighters. Thus, she suggested the same to Noelle.
But, Coffee was a very peculiar substance. Caffeine was well-absorbed into the body. It stimulated the sense to a degree that it gave increased physical energy and mental alertness within five to thirty minutes of consumption.
However, combined with Noelle's tendencies, as well as never consuming coffee until earlier, the substance had reacted with her system accordingly.
Not to say that it did anything wrong. If anything, it went well. Frighteningly well.
Noelle was a woman of determination, skill, and sheer will. If she wanted something done, she would get it done. They pitied whoever tried to stop her who wasn't their Acting Grandmaster. And it seemed that the Coffee had helped her immensely with that.
Noelle's first sip had been fine. It was normal. She immediately drank water to rinse out the bitterness. They laughed. Superwoman she may be, everyone had their own reaction to their first sip of the beverage. You either liked it or hated it.
Once Noelle knew she could add creamer and sugar to taste, she lightened up some more and did as she pleased with her coffee.
That's where things started to slightly go off-kilter.
"Coffee wasn't supposed to do that." Hertha murmured off to the side.
Bruce sighed. "Hertha, it's fine. You couldn't have predicted this."
"We couldn't, but we can still get this under some semblance of control." Huffman stood up and looked at all of them.
Joyce cracked his neck. "You got something mind?"
"I do," he replied as the rest of the knights stood up with him, listening intently. "I'm sure even in her hyperactive state, Noelle will take great care to never hurt anyone or anything, but unfortunately she doesn't account for herself. So it's our job to make sure nothing bad happens to her."
They all nodded in agreement.
"What's got Hertha looking so down anyway," Belinda quipped. "I know she's the one that gave Noelle coffee, but is that what's got her like that?"
Bruce shook his head. "Hertha got the first look at Noelle's coffee-induced capabilities. Honestly, I don't know if she's terrified, or impressed."
Hertha crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.
"I just saw a girl half my age clear out an entire cafeteria's worth of meal trays, plates, and trash accordingly not ten minutes after one cup of coffee in seconds. You tell me."
Coffee was amazing!
Noelle never knew she could have this much energy without a pleasant night's sleep!
Cleaning her way through the halls of the Knights of Favonius headquarters, there was not a single step to Noelle where she did not clean. And the best part about it?
It only took her half her usual time to do so! Her mind was going a mile a minute. Her hands were sometimes too fast for her brain to keep up. But she didn't need her brain to keep up. After all, this was routine. The same exact route she'd been cleaning for years.
Though… what if she cleaned another place?
"Oh, no worries! I can do this for you. It'll only take a minute." Noelle asked one of the two maids in front of her who were visibly confused.
Before they could answer, they blinked and Noelle was already halfway done with dusting off the shelves and countertops.
"Thank you! Please have a nice day." Another blink and Noelle was gone. With her parting words all that they had heard of her. Even their brooms were cleaned.
Noelle moved like the wind. She never stayed in one place for too long. She could feel that she had so much energy and she didn't know where to use it, so she might as well use it any way she could. She felt great!
"Good morning, Master Jean!" she gleefully entered the office after knocking.
"Good morning, Noelle, are you-" The Acting Grandmaster paused, she tilted her head. "Did something happen?"
"Whatever do you mean?" Noelle asked as she stood still in the middle of the office.
Jean pursed her lips. There was something about Noelle today, but she couldn't pin it down.
"...Okay," she cleared her throat. "So, onto your tasks-"
"Yes! My tasks," Noelle quickly caught herself. "My apologies. I seem to be excited today." she giggled.
Jean sweatdropped. "I see. No worries," she told her. So, she was just excited? She accepted that. But something told her that wasn't the case. Either way, she had tasks to give the maid. "You have two tasks today. Fortunately, both are in one place. Head to the church, and a sister there shall explain further."
"Yes, Master Jean."
"Great, now…" Jean pursed her lips, before ultimately settling on a course of action. "Noelle, is everything alright?"
Noelle simply smiled. "Of course. Everything is more than alright."
"I… I see."
"Is something wrong?"
"No. No, not at all. I just thought something was going on with you-"
"Maybe you're troubled with how untidy the room is? No worries. I can do that."
"No, not that, Noelle. I can do it myself."
"Done."
"When I get free time I'll- what?"
Jean blinked and the room was suddenly clean. No books were askew around the room, she could see her reflection on the floor all the way from her desk, and her ink had been refilled from its half-filled state.
Yet when she looked back at Noelle, she was still smiling as if she hadn't moved at all.
"What the…"
"So, head to the Church, and ask a sister what I should be doing? Affirmative, Master Jean." the maid gave her a bow as she made her way through the door.
"H-Hey, Noelle-"
Noelle turned back, but it wasn't to ask what Jean was calling her for.
"Oh, by the way, Master Jean, you should try having some coffee. Miss Hertha gave me a cup earlier to help keep me up and I have to say it is doing wonderful!"
The door shut, and Noelle was on her way to the church. Yet, Jean couldn't help but think she was hearing the sounds of a broom from her office.
She slowly sat down and cradled her head with her arms.
"Why did you give Noelle coffee…?"
A group of knights knocked on the door to the church. It seemed that Master Jean had the same idea when it come to a Noelle juiced on Coffee. She told them to keep an eye on her if they had free time. And they had plenty.
"Hang on!" a female voice chimed from the other side of the cathedral. The door opened and a female sister greeted them, accordingly clad in a sister's garments. "Oh, Huffman! I'm afraid Sister Barbara is not here."
Huffman cleared his throat. He ignored the waggling eyebrows and smirks behind him. "Not to worry. We're not here for that Sister Gotelinde."
"Oh, then did you come for prayer? We're still undergoing renovations."
"Huh, you are?"
"Yes, see this sign here?" the sister tapped a small sign on the door without going out of the cathedral- wait hang on.
That sign was not there a few seconds ago. A glance behind him had said the same thing about everyone with him. He blinked a few times and it was still there.
Weird.
"Oh, I see. But that's not what we're here for either," Huffman shook his head. "We're here to check up on Noelle."
"Oh, in that case, please come in," the sister opened the door for them. "Is there something wrong with Noelle? And please shut the door as you go."
"Thank you," Hertha spoke up this time. "There's nothing wrong with Noelle per se, it's just… she stayed up late last night with her nose buried and books."
The sister seemed to stop in her tracks. "Noelle? Strong enough to lift a boulder, as gentle as a breeze, that Noelle?"
"The one and only."
"I see. What seems to be the problem again?"
Before Hertha could say anything, Huffman spoke up. "We gave her coffee."
"Oh," the sister said. "Oh." this one had a bit more emphasis to it. Almost as if she had realized something.
Bruce raised an eyebrow. "What's with that 'oh'?"
Sister Gotelinde turned around and put a finger up, before she retracted said finger. She shook her head. "Look around you."
They did as they were told.
Their eyes widened.
Sister Gotelinde chuckled, then sighed. "You can imagine our surprise when she volunteered to take over the work for the main cathedral. If we didn't insist, I think she would've taken over the whole renovation process. But I can't deny she's done good work all on her own."
"That's… an understatement." Huffman could barely manage to get the words out of his mouth.
Everyone there saw a faint image of what looked like Noelle moving to and fro the entire cathedral. So much so that you could feel the wind from her movement from the roof all the way to the ground. With her strength, hauling the ladder was akin to holding paper and she moved to different points within the area with expert ease.
Not to mention…
"Is that… Noelle?" Belinda pointed to the maid on the ceiling.
Joyce nodded. "Yep."
"And is that… also Noelle?" she pointed to another figure of a maid on the other side of a room.
"Yep."
"And… all of, well, those?" she spun around.
Noelle's were everywhere doing quite literally everything possible in the room. If they didn't see it with their own eyes they would've thought they were drunk.
"What the hell-"
"She's moving so fast that she's leaving afterimages of herself around the room," Huffman didn't know how to react, but he was quite certain that his wide eyes sufficed. "How on earth…"
The sister in front of them cleared her throat to gain their attention. She had a simple smile on her face.
Huffman gulped. 'She's already had much time to process it and she's already accepted Noelle's capabilities and moved on.'
"Now that we're all well and settled, and Noelle is absolutely doing a splendid job, it would be rude of me to send you off so quickly," she put her hands together and tilted her head as she smiled. "Care for some tea and snacks?"
They didn't need to think about an answer.
"Yes, please."
"Thank you for the tea, sister."
"Oh please, Huffman. Call me Gotelinde. You act like we're strangers."
"Well, given our positions I thought it right to-"
"Shush, drink your tea and eat your snacks. I want not a word out of you until you finish your first bite."
The knights watched as the sister shoved a pastry into Huffman's mouth. He moved her hand away from him but did little more than glare as he silently chewed while the sister smiled.
They were around a small table around the back of the cathedral, near the sisters' quarters. The knights sat around the rectangular table, while Huffman took to sit on the head seat. Surprisingly, Gotelinde took a chair from a nearby table and forcibly sat next to Huffman.
The other knights looked at each other. A silent agreement formed between them.
There was something between them. No one would bring it up, lest they suffer the wrath of Huffman. He was always secretive about what he did in his personal life, and they would respect that.
As Huffman chewed, Sister Gotelinde turned back to the other knights, who hastily turned away from them and simultaneously drank tea.
If the sister noticed, she didn't show it. She still had that same smile on her face. "So, if I have it correctly, Noelle stayed up reading books from the library when Miss Lisa had suggested the action to her?"
Hertha nodded. "Yeah. That's about it. Then I have her coffee to help. And, well…"
"She's now a hyper-active superpowered cleaning machine with the strength to clean up more than five times her size," the nun nodded. "To be honest, I don't see what's so bad about that."
The knights looked at her. "What do you mean?" Bruce asked. Though Hertha looked to be deep in thought.
Even Huffman had a conflicted gaze.
"These pastries are made by Noelle, aren't they? Judging by how they're still hot and soft, they just came out of the oven."
Sister Gotelinde nodded. "Right. They taste good don't they?"
"Get to the point, Gotelinde."
"Alright, alright. Jeez, you're always like this, Huffman," The sister sighed. "She's expanding her horizons. She's been learning new things, making new friends, and talking to more people. That's a good thing for her. Albeit staying up late is a thing I never thought she'd do, I'm still happy she did it."
"So, you're saying what you want is to encourage this behavior as good?"
"What I want is for her to act her age," her smile contained a hint of steel. "Don't make the bad guy here, Huffman. I have her best interests at heart just like the rest of you. But you can't mean that I'm the only one who sees that at the end of her path only lay suffering."
Gotelinde could feel the temperature of the room drop as everyone's attention was on hers.
"What are you saying, Sister?" Belinda slowly asked.
"If that's your way of subtly threatening me, you're far too early to even try. That's cute," she chuckled. Unaffected by the glares sent her way. The only one who wasn't glaring was Huffman, who had a stern look. "Think about it. She cares little for herself, almost going so far as to forgo her own personal needs for someone else's, and thrives off of being helpful. She's… become so dependent on being useful that she doesn't know how to live for herself." she sighed.
Bruce scratched his head. "That… doesn't explain why her path leads to suffering. She's not… She won't-"
"Won't she? Bruce? Look me in the eye and tell me that Noelle wouldn't hesitate to jump in front of a blade for any of you, or even me?"
Gotelinde felt a morbid sense of satisfaction when not one of them could look her in the eye. Some chose to take a sip of tea to calm themselves, the others just tapped their fingers on their knees.
"But, that future seems to be going further and further away now," she smiled, a gentle one this time. "I've noticed she has friends now. She talks to more people. That little robot of hers too. And now, she learning how to be selfish. For Noelle, that's a very big thing for her."
"Staying up late?" Huffman chimed.
"It's less the action, and more of the principle. She's discovering new hobbies that aren't related to her duties," she shrugged. "I take it you all have things to do after your jobs, right? Whether it's to relax with a good book, or drink at the tavern, you have something else to do at the end of the day." she received small nods in reply.
"What does our personal life have to do with this?" Hertha asked.
"Noelle doesn't have one. Whereas you know how to separate work and personal life, Noelle doesn't. Or rather, she can't."
Joyce raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean she can't-"
"Because her work is her life," Huffman concluded. "She wakes up to work, and she sleeps to wake up energized for work the next day."
Gotelinde nodded. "Precisely. Yet now, she's stayed up, reading a book of all things and it caused her to be ill-prepared for the coming day from how absorbed she was in that book, in her hobbies," she told them. "And I think that's how people her age should act. Sure, it's a bit irresponsible, but that's kids for you. Noelle may sometimes forget, but I have to make sure I never will, and perhaps you all too."
She put a macaron between her fingers. "Kids are fragile, irresponsible, spoiled. As they grow up, we, adults, nurture them to be something bigger than themselves. That's what we call childhood and maturity. And Noelle…" her eyes had gained a somber glint to them, but only for a second before she perked up.
"Anyway, I think that's enough for today. I hope you enjoyed the tea and snacks," she put her hands together and smiled. "It's almost time for prayer. Should you wish to join me, please feel free."
One by one, the knights stood up. "We should get going. Thank you, sister." they said as they made for the door.
They were a tad bit disturbed by the nun. Yet, Sister Gotelinde didn't look bothered by it at all. "Alright. Please close the door on the way out."
Huffman stayed behind to clean up the plates his fellow knights had used. He shook his head and sighed.
"I'll talk to them. They just need a bit of time to process your words."
"Oh please, you don't need to coddle me anymore, Huffman. Whatever they think of me is what they think of me. I couldn't care any less."
They settled into a comfortable silence as Gotelinde helped Huffman clean the tables.
"What you said about Noelle… you have a point."
"Ufu, I always do. You just never listen."
Huffman stood up straight, look at Gotelinde, and bowed. "Thank you for your hospitality, Linde."
Gotelinde smiled, yet for some reason, it seemed strained. She matched his bow and gestured to the door. "You are always welcome. Please, close the door on your way out."
Huffman nodded. He made his way out. Only the breeze and the creak of a slowly closing door could be heard across the room.
Sister Gotelinde looked out the window, and she sighed.
"To protect the innocence of a child whose entire childhood was stolen from them. A child who matured so quickly they lost what it felt like to be a child. Someone that should be given love, affection, and attention, instead had taken to work to protect what little sense of self-purpose she could have."
Her eyes went to a stray cup on the table that had a slight chip on its handle.
"Sister Gotelinde, I broke your cup. I'm so sorry. I'll be useful, I promise! I'll never do it again!"
She sighed once more as she drank some tea from her cup. It was cold, but it suited her mood.
"I suppose it's up to us adults to make sure nothing bad happens to her. And maybe, just maybe, we could get her some semblance of her childhood back…"
"I owe her at least that much, after all."
"So… that's some heavy information." Joyce scratched his cheek.
Bruce breathed out. "Yeah, no kidding."
"Way to drop a bomb on us. That lady is intense." Belinda shook her head.
"Being honest, I sort of knew already. But to be told about it to your face is just…" Hertha bit her lip.
The mood of the group was… somber, to say the least. It wasn't false to say that they were pondering Sister Gotelinde's words.
Huffman snapped his fingers to catch their attention. "I suggest you put it on the back burner for now. We have more immediate things to take care of."
There were mixed responses to that. But Hertha beat all of them to the punch.
"How could you say that after-"
"A castle is not built in a day. It's built with the collaboration of hundreds of people aiming for a certain goal. Slowly, gradually, and eventually they finish," Huffman gave her a stern look. "I'm not saying it's not wrong to care for her, but the fact is, we're not changing anything in Noelle's mind in a day, much less with a haphazard decision. Understood?"
It looked like the other knights were mixed in coming up with a response, but eventually they nodded. Some were more reluctant than the others, but they understood why.
"Good. Now, let's reconvene at-"
"Mister Huffman! Oh great! You're still here." A blonde nun clad in a darker version of a sister's garments rushed toward him.
"Sister Grace?" Huffman raised an eyebrow. "Is something the matter?"
"It's- It's Noelle! She's… ah it's hard to explain. Please follow me!"
The knights followed the nun into the basement of the cathedral. The knights were sworn to never disclose or reveal any information regarding anything that was in the basement, including the Holy Lyre der Himmel.
It took a few moments for them to stop being enchanted by the lyre beauty. They had to focus on the task at hand.
"There, there she is. Please help get her out of here."
As Grace pointed, they followed her finger to where she was pointing. Sure enough, the maid was there.
Although, the person the maid was with couldn't be any more stranger. It was another nun, though this one was very pale. And if Sister Grace's garments were dark, the woman was even darker, clad in a form-fitting nun's habit and showing oh so much skin, it was hard to believe that she was a nun at all.
"Noelle!"
The maid turned to them. They were expecting a smile, and a cheer from the maid.
"Oh, it's you all. What are you doing here? You can't clean this area. It's mine. I called dibs."
Never did they expect that kind of reception from the always kind maid they knew.
Hertha sweatdropped. "Uh, Noelle? What are you doing?"
The maid gave her a raised eyebrow and a frown. "I'm cleaning. What else would I be doing? Now I would appreciate it if you refrained from walking on the places I have already cleaned."
"Uh, Noelle, honey, you shouldn't be here."
"Hah?! Says who? I'm not doing anything wrong, am I? I'm just cleaning. This area is so much of a pigsty I can't even believe they're keeping the holy lyre in this place. That thing might as well be fake with how they're treating it."
Hertha slowly chuckled. "What… the hell?"
"This is strange. Noelle has never been like this before, much less with us." Huffman put a finger to his chin.
"She's been like that ever since she somehow found her way through here," Grace sighed. "Noelle is usually very kind, yet when she's like this I couldn't get through to her at all."
"I'll explain some other time. It's a long story."
"Oh, I got it!" Joyce clicked his fingers. "You know how sometimes after you drink coffee and all that excess energy goes away, it makes you feel sluggish?"
Bruce slowly nodded. "So what you're saying is… Noelle is suffering from a caffeine crash and due to her lack of sleep, it's causing her to act the complete opposite of her usual self?"
"Precisely! That's not Noelle anymore, that's Noelle Alter!"
Huffman let out a dry chuckle. "I see," she turned to look at the woman who was showing much skin with a stern gaze. He wondered why she was next to Noelle.
The woman noticed his gaze. She immediately put a hand affectionately over the Maid and glared at all of them across the hall.
"Let go of me. I can't flippin' give this flippin' place the cleaning it flippin' needs."
"I've only known this Noelle for a few minutes, but If anything were to happen to Noelle, I would kill everyone in this room, and then myself."
Sister Grace put a palm to her face. "Sister Rosaria!"
"Don't test me Grace, I'll do it."
Noelle forcibly put Rosaria's arm away from her. "So much talking. We're wasting daylight here. So early in the morning, so much time to move."
"Noelle, it's already late afternoon." Belinda spoke up.
The maid had never looked so alarmed in her life. With wide eyes, she looked at the knight. "L-Late afternoon?"
"Yeah." she nodded.
"Fudge!"
In a blink, the maid was suddenly out of the room. Yet, they noticed that most of the room was squeaky clean. The only thing that told them that Noelle had left the room was the door to the exit that was swung open.
Rosaria narrowed her eyes at the knight.
"It's not late afternoon. It's hardly even the afternoon at all."
Belinda could only say one thing to that.
"Teehee!"
"So, she finally crashed," Huffman looked at the maid, who currently had her head on Hertha's lap as they sat on the lounge couch. with Huffman standing above both of them.
Joyce sighed in relief. "About time, I'd say. She was expending that much energy and she was already on borrowed batteries."
◤Will Maestra Noelle be alright?◢
Hertha smiled down at the concerned Roomba. "She'll be fine, Cookie. Some rest will do her well."
Judging by the spinning yellow dots on Cookie, she was contemplating something. ◤I see. I will entrust Maestra Noelle to your care, Maestra Hertha.◢
Oh, maybe she misunderstood then. "Sure thing. Leave it to me."
◤Then Cookie will be going ahead.] the Roomba rolled out of the room and into the halls.◢
"I think I'll go and write my report now. You all should do whatever you wish as well. You've done more than enough for today."
Bruce smiled. "Seriously? Wow, I get off shift early."
"Don't get used to it," if she could, Hertha would've given him a smack upside the head. "Tomorrow is another day. No slacking off."
"Of course, of course. You didn't do this when Belinda went on ahead." Bruce didn't stay for a reply. He made his way out as he waved his hand without looking back.
"Are you sure you're alright staying like that, Hertha?" Huffman gestured to the girl laying on her lap.
"This isn't a problem. Trust me, I'll be fine. Now go and do your report."
Huffman slowly nodded. "I will. Thank you." Huffman made his way out as well with a bit of haste.
Hertha sighed. She was the only one left in the lounge. Well, Noelle and her.
"No, thank you, Huffman."
Since when had it been since she'd seen Noelle as a colleague than someone younger than her? She had become just like Noelle when it came to her own issues.
Noelle may have resolved to keeping them buried, letting them stay in the past, but that didn't mean that her future had to suffer for it.
They would always be looking out for Noelle. No matter how much the girl disliked being cared for. No matter how little she thought of herself, they would always be there to tell her otherwise.
She was the little sister of the knights of Favonius, after all. No matter how she acted, they would give her all she could need and want, should she ask for it.
"Miss… Hertha?"
"Noelle… is that you? What are you doing this late at night?"
"I… um…"
"You had a bad dream again?"
"...Mhm."
"Was it about… them?"
"Y-Yes."
"Alright. Come here. Lay down on my lap. Would you like me to sing you a lullaby?"
"P-Please. Yes, please. B-But you have to promise never to tell this to anyone."
"Haha. Of course, of course."
"Promise?"
"I promise. Remember what we say? As wine bottles are corked-"
"-so too are my lips sealed."
AN: And here I planned for this to just be a silly chapter. Ended up adding more headcanon for further chapters. But hey, we unlocked the cathedral now. Wonder what Noelle could get to on there, especially now since a certain nun has Noelle in her sights.
Also, caffeine crashes are a pain to deal with. Drink with moderation, people. And I don't mean just coffee.
As always, if you think you have a good idea for a chapter, let me know. I'm always open to more chapter ideas in case I run out- ahem. Nothing, nothing.
PS. This was supposed to come out a day before, but I got caught up on Sumeru exploration and forgot. Tee-hee~
