Disclaimer: I do not own the characters.
INTERLUDE I
On the desk of Prince Eugene, aka Gene, practicing mage and only other person not completely terrified of Naru
Dear Sir,
Thank you for taking time in consideration of our Court's request. It is rather abrupt, but the chief diviner of Canberra Court has, in his latest divination, suggests that our meeting date should be no later than the autumn equinox. I would be arriving in Albion before the end of summer, and would be staying at the Hunter's Inn in Grimmwood. Please direct all mail there.
Your servant,
John Brown (Sir)
Knight of the Order of Canberra
South Kings Confederate
*** ***
12th April, 1756
My dear Gene,
As you may have heard, your brother has come down with a most unfortunate disease. Thankfully, Madoka was at court and managed to suppress the contagion before it spread. It is a most unfortunate time for us – your brother, and Houshou, who broke his leg going down the garden steps. I know you two boys have your own way of communicating, but in case you have not heard from Noll, he and his tutor are now currently residing in the summer house of the Countess of Carmine, who is also supervising their recovery. You would no doubt recall her? She once healed your leg two summers ago when you fell into that lake after that rouge sorceress pushed you in.
Do try and make time to go visit your brother and the Countess once Madoka says that there is no more danger of catching it. It really is an odd disease. Froggitis or Froggattis I believe. Have you come across it? It might be magical in origin.
With loving regard
Mother
P.S. And yes, I will continue to stress that you take the utmost precautions to ensure your own safety even after these two years. While Noll and that school of yours do their best, they can't do anything if you keep accepting each and every divination request without checking first.
*** ***
13th April, 1756
Dear brother,
I fear that this may come too late, but then, I wasn't expecting anything but a nice party in celebration of our eighteenth birthday. I had a most unpleasant dream while taking a nap yesterday. In my dream, or maybe nightmare would have been a better word, I dreamt that I had shrunk to a little size, or perhaps that everything around me had grown instead. Everything also seemed to be an odd shade of bright and dark greens and I woke with a burning desire to eat flies. This is strange, even as prophetic dreams go, and I am not sure what it means. But, in the mean time, I suggest that you try to avoid eating any weird vegetables Cook finds…
In haste,
Gene
*******
"Yes! I'm back," Mai crowed triumphantly as she burst into the mansion grounds via the vegetable garden. As she walked round the kitchens towards the dining hall, she heard a loud commotion coming from the rose garden. "Catch that cat already!" she heard somebody yell.
Naru didn't even bat an eyelid at the scene before him. The mansion servants were all running about the garden chasing the furious tomcat, which was evading them with practiced ease. The one time the chef managed to graze the cat's back, he drew back with a cry. "Argh! That beast scratched me!" Then, just as the cat launched itself right at the windowsill where the smug little frog was sitting, a windowpane swung out abruptly, slamming shut right in its face and it slumped down onto the ground woozily.
The person who had closed the window walked over. "Got you, Beast," he said and picked the stunned cat up easily. "Now, you need to learn to relax. Just because a talking frog got into your roses doesn't mean it's the end of the world. Now, promise to be a good cat." Mai walked over. "Yasuhara-san! What are you doing here?" The university student paused from twirling the now even dizzier cat to grin at the younger girl. "What does it look like? I was helping to look for a missing person, when Beast interrupted our search with his antics."
"Eh? Who?" Mai looked about. Thanks to Leo, or "Beast" as he was generally known by, it appeared that the entire mansion staff had assembled on the lawn. "No one seems to be missing…"
The head cook rolled his eyes. "My lady, you had us all very worried. I had a message sent down to Yasuhara-kun here to help look for you."
Mai blanched. "Did anyone tell Lin-san?" Yasuhara's face turned serious. "I did. I believe he is now on his way back, and very, very angry. He replied via Madoka's emergency pigeons that he would ground you in the stables with the horses."
When the girl's face turned even paler, Yasuhara continued with an air of nearing doomsday, "That is, of course, if you agree that I can join you and your new friend here for breakfast." He broke into a grin. Mai's horrified expression turned to one of relief and she grinned too. That Yasuhara. It was just as well that she was beginning to tell when he was joking, and when he wasn't. "If you wanted something eat, all you had to do was ask," she replied as they walked into the dining room. "And speaking of breakfast, you said something about a guest? I don't have any…" her words trailed off when she spotted the frog on the table, her pink floral gilt edged teacup propped firmly between two webbed feet.
"Mai."
It was unmistakable, that voice. It'd been the only thing she'll heard all of the previous night.
"Ngh."
"Pour more tea," the frog continued, once again as if Mai had not said anything at all. "And while you're at it, I suggest you do something about that tortoiseshell cat of yours."
"How did you get here?" she demanded. The frog unmistakably smirked. "A shortcut." Then, as a bemused housemaid was pouring the frog's tea, a furious scrabbling could be heard from the lawn, where Beast had woken up to find himself confined in a small cage. Naru looked out at it with a smug look.
"And, after breakfast, you will take me up to your room."
Mai scowled. The nerve of that frog! The way it was behaving, anyone would assume that he owned this house! "Now, Mai-chan. Shibuya-san here has told me that you promised him you would allow him to eat from your plate and sleep on your bed if he arrived here before you did."
"But," Mai protested.
Yasuhara merely shrugged. "A lady must always keep her word."
The brown-haired girl twitched guiltily. Her parents, being of the merchant class, had always held promises to be of the utmost importance. She grudgingly held out a plate of biscuits to the frog. "Here, Naru," she muttered. Naru's copper coloured eyes narrowed. "What did you call me?"
Mai immediately blushed. "Eh heh. It's just that it seems to fit you so well. You know, Naru, short for narcissistic." Yasuhara chuckled. When the frog remained quiet, Mai took that as a signal to shift subjects. "Ne, Yasuhara, why don't you have class at the university today?" Naru pricked up at this. The young man shrugged again. "Seems one of the part-time lecturers from the Astronomy department caught some highly contagious disease. The faculties all decided to close the university for a week as a precaution. I only got the news yesterday evening." Mai's eyes were serious. "This does sound bad. Do promise to come up often."
So, the hand of Madoka strikes again Naru thought drily. There's no time to waste. I've to write to Gene soon. And speaking of idiot brothers, was he never getting away from that plague of a nickname? Out loud, he said, (or rather, commanded), "Mai. Fetch me some ink and paper." The girl sighed in a long-suffering way. "Hai, hai, your high and mightiness," she groused before picking up a clean plate. "Hop onto this. I'll carry you up to my room. My writing table's there."
Naru stepped onto the plate with as much dignity as he could muster, though deep down, he was feeling slightly hurt. Hurt? He quickly brushed away that thought. What was there to be hurt about?
Author's notes: FallenRaindrops: Nope! Though you rightly guessed that Yasuhara was going to make his presence felt! Heh heh. I've already planted clues in the previous chapters, if anyone wants to go back and look for them...
Regarding Updating: I'll be posting updates on my profile from now on in an effort to remain organized.
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