-Tristain Castle-
After Henrietta knocked and entered Anthony and Faye's room, Anthony gestured her towards one of the beds in the room. She sat down in it while he and Faye sat on the other available bed.
Anthony gives her a pleasant smile as he wants to make a good impression on her. It's not everyday a queen visits you in your private room and wants to talk to you. Plus, if he could get her to realize how bad Louise's behavior towards Saito is, then it would make saving Saito much easier. Perhaps he could even get her locked up for her crimes! Though, considering Henrietta is a childhood friend of Louise, and a close one at that, he figures that this goal will be quite difficult to achieve.
Despite hoping to further his goals by conversing with her. He'd be lying if he said he didn't want to become genuine friends with her as well.
Faye meanwhile lightly crosses her arms and simply stares neutrally at Henrietta. Queen or not, she could care less how high her status in society is. Everybody is of equal status in her mind. Two exceptions exist. One is her master, Anthony, with whom she has the highest respect and admiration for. She will quite literally do anything for him. The other is anyone who dares to insult, attack, or falsely accuse her master. These are the people she considers the worse and, in her opinion, do not deserve even a second's worth of her time or attention.
Due to how many people tried or were successful in attacking Anthony in their previous world, she is naturally wary of any new people she meets. However, since he has mentioned that Henrietta is a good person, she is willing to give her a chance to prove that statement.
"I'll let you ask the questions first your Highness." Anthony says in a respectful tone while getting up and bowing before her.
Remembering what Anthony said earlier to her, Faye gets up and follows her master's behavior in bowing to the queen.
Henrietta chuckles a little at their overly formal display before her. "Hehe. There's no need to bow in a private setting such as this. It'll get bothersome."
"O-Okay" Anthony blushes slightly while smiling and awkwardly looking away from her.
She softly laughs again at the embarrassment the boy in front of her is feeling. Even Faye can't help but smile at him.
"Alright, I suppose the first and one of the most important questions I should ask is how are you two taking everything so far? From how Agnes and the others described the events while they were gone, you have only been in this world for a day at this point, correct?"
They nod. Anthony replies slightly nervously, "Y-yes, Louise summoned me last night in the middle of a fight between her and that woman. The only reason we got out of that fight alive as you heard was because Faye and Saito fought them off." It would've been really bad if Faye didn't know how to fight. She's saved my life again. I need to think of a reward…oh! I know! I'll tell her later.
He continues, "It's been a bit hectic since we met everyone, we have been trying to avoid finishing the familiar summoning with Louise, and the very next morning we headed off to the castle to meet up with you. But overall, I'm doing fine. I'm enjoying the sights and landscapes around here and it has been fun to meet the people around here. I hope to go back to my previous world at some point, but I'm in no huge hurry or anything."
Henrietta frowns and looks perplexingly at him when he mentioned they are trying to avoid finishing the summoning. She wants to ask them why they are avoiding that, but she can always ask it later. For now, she turns her head ever so slightly towards Faye and says, "I see. And what about you? Your name is Faye, correct?"
She nods, "Yes, that is my name. And I am currently doing fine. As long as I'm by master's side, then I don't care where we are."
This answer recalls a certain relationship in the queen's mind. One between an otherworldly boy and a short-tempered but ultimately kind pink-haired mage. This girl is as loyal to him as he is to her. Huh, how interesting.
Henrietta smiles at them, "I see. I'm glad to hear you two are adapting rather quickly. I sincerely thought that both of you would be having a harder time accepting this reality."
Anthony laughs a little, "Nah, I just kinda have a little experience with this sort of thing, that's all."
She raises an eyebrow in confusion, but ultimately stays silent. A short moment later, she says, "Now you may ask me a question."
"Oh, so it's this sort of thing where you pass questions off to one another one at a time?"
She nods, "Yes, I believe that's the fairest way to go about it."
I really want to ask her why she accepts the treatment Saito gets from Louise. Why she hasn't thrown her in jail for what she has done. But I can't risk the possibility of making her angry now and losing the opportunity to befriend her. I think I'll ask a more roundabout question relating to this later, but for now…
"I heard earlier today that there is a magic academy here in Tristain that mages like Louise study at. Would there by any way for me, and possibly Faye too if she's interested, to enroll there?"
"I'm interested in enrolling there if master is. I wish to stay by his side." Beyond assisting master, I am slightly interested in what this school teaches. My maid school back in my old world also taught lots of varying types of magic. Unlike back in my old world, it appears that mages can perform multiple classes of magic instead of only one. It would be wonderful if I could perform more than only healing magic. I'd be able to exceed my current capabilities of protecting master.
"Why would you want to attend there?"
"If I could learn some magic, then I believe I'd be able to protect myself and my friend here." He pats Faye's head affectionately, which she instantly adores and closes her eyes for a brief moment to fully feel the sensation. "It could also be a good opportunity to meet some other people in this world." Like Tabitha, Kirsche, Guiche, and a few others.
Again, this is exactly something Saito would say. They really have a lot in common. The queen notes to herself, finding the amount of similarities between the two boys quite peculiar.
"If you were a noble or possessed magical capabilities, then I believe you could be enrolled. However, since you were summoned here by Louise, I don't believe you fit either of this criteria." She admits with a hint of sadness. She didn't want to make their lives in this brand new world any harder than it already is. "Though let me ask you this. If it's strength you desire, then completing the ritual with Louise will increase your strength tenfold. By having the ru-"
Anthony puts a hand up in front of her, which, had he been talking with her out in public, would quite possibly get him arrested and maybe even executed on the spot due to the utter disrespect he just displayed towards her. "I'm sorry but no, completing the ritual with Louise is not an option."
Henrietta is shocked at having her question, which she didn't even get to ask, rejected like that. No one except for Louise and Saito have ever interrupted her in the middle of speaking like that. Despite this, she couldn't help but put on a small smile. Maybe it's a bit presumptuous of me, but it seems he sees me as just an ordinary girl. No one except for Louise and Saito have acted like this towards me. Why do I feel a little happy about that?
She asks, "Why is that? I know that her temper can be tough to deal with at times, but at her core she's just a fragile and selfless girl who wishes to help out others."
"I…I just don't trust her. She called me and Faye dogs and seemed determined to force us to become her familiars whether we liked it or not. She also seems to treat Saito in a similar way from what I saw." In his thoughts, he is surprised at the direction this conversation is going. Wow, I can't believe the conversation transitioned so seamlessly towards Louise's behavior. I need to be careful that I don't do anything I'll regret later.
"I'm very concerned about Saito and his relationship with her. From what I've seen, it is quite toxic and I believe she abuses him."
Henrietta tilts her head down for a moment as if she's really thinking about what he just said. What is he talking about? Sure, I've seen her blow up Saito once or twice, but they seem to get along otherwise. Louise isn't the kind of girl to abuse others like that. But still, he sounds really concerned about Saito. I think he just needs to get to know her more and everything will work out fine.
"I see. I understand your concerns, but I believe if you just get to know her a little better your opinion of her will improve drastically. I won't force you to go ahead with the ritual, but I do think it is your best option in regards to getting stronger."
Faye scowls a little at hearing her defend Louise. Yet another behavior that, presuming they were speaking in public, would get her arrested for inappropriate behavior.
Anthony sighs, She doesn't believe me. Figures. Maybe a display of her attacking Saito would get it through her head, but I don't want Saito to suffer anymore than he already has. What to do…
He says, "Thank you for your words, but I would like you to continue considering what I said."
She initially does not respond, but then she slowly nods her head, "I will. Now then, back to the topic regarding the academy. I don't mean to be rude, but it is highly unlikely you or Faye can perform any magic without the assistance of runes. You two are also not nobles, thus I cannot register you to attend the academy. I'm sorry."
Anthony smirks at this response, which causes Henrietta to gaze at him with newfound interest, wondering why he is having this reaction. Faye also looks at him with an interested expression. Suddenly she realizes, Wait, could we attend with my…?
"What if I said one of us can indeed perform magic?" Anthony says proudly, feeling like he actually has a shot of attending.
This causes the queen to widen her eyes in shock. "Huh?! One of you can use magic?"
Anthony leans over to Faye and whispers, "Would you mind demonstrating your magic to her?"
She whispers back solemnly, "Of course. Your wish is my command."
Standing up, she makes her way over to the queen. "Henrietta, do you have any sort of injury?"
Anthony freaks out at her casually calling the queen by her name. "F-Faye! You're supposed to say 'Your Highness' when addressing her! She can lop off your head for this!"
Henrietta chuckles at this, "I've never had someone so boldly say my name like that so soon after meeting me, but I must say I find this amusing. Do be careful though. While I don't mind overlooking it, other nobles may not be so merciful."
Faye turns to Anthony and apologizes for the error. "My apologies master. I will call her by her proper title from now on." Turning back to the queen, she repeats the question, "Your Highness, do you have any sort of injury?"
She shakes her head, "Not really, unless you count this bruise I have on my leg here." She lifts her pure white dress up just enough to reveal a small bruise right above her right ankle.
Kneeling down to face her bruise, she puts her right palm a few inches in front of it. Suddenly a small white light emanates from Faye's hand and travels to the bruise. Seconds later, the bruise completely disappears.
To say that Henrietta is shocked at this display of magical power is an understatement.
"W-what…you…you can actually use magic?! And it's nature magic at that! Are you secretly an elf?" She takes a good look at her ears, but they look no different than regular human ears.
Faye shakes her head, "I'm not an elf. I'm as human as you are. Elves do not exist back in my old world. Magic is a rarity but a handful of people are capable of using it, such as myself."
Henrietta tilts her head far back and stares at the ceiling, still not quite fully over the reveal of Faye's healing magic. She sighs. "Wow. Well color me surprised. I must admit I had my doubts that what you were claiming was true." She looks at Anthony, "Can you use magic too?"
He shakes his head. "Nope, just her. Not only can she use magic, it is pretty potent too."
"H-how potent?"
Faye answers, "It is powerful enough to heal major wounds, repair broken bones, and remove toxic substances within the body."
"My gosh." The queen flabbergasts. "With powers like that, you'd be a valuable member in the Royal Musketeer Squad."
Her expression does not change at this compliment. "I work for master alone. Remember that."
She gives a slightly strained smile as a response. Guess there's no convincing her. That's a shame.
"Anyway um…" Anthony sheepishly tries to re-enter the conversation, "Is there a chance we could enroll now?"
"I can send a word in to the headmaster of the school. However, as Faye is the only one that can use magic, she'll be the only one that can enroll as a student."
"Then what about me?" Anthony asks.
"There are two options for you. One, you simply do not go. Two, you can attend as Faye's familiar."
Faye instantly shoots up and shouts angrily, "I refuse to be master's master! That is impossible and completely absurd!
"F-Faye…please calm down." Anthony begs ever so slightly.
She calms down a bit and sits back down, "I apologize master. But I will not back down on this. It would be extremely insulting and disrespectful as your maid to become your master. I refuse to do this. Ever."
"That's just how it would be on paper." Henrietta explains, "Your actual relationship doesn't have to change to accommodate for this."
"It doesn't matter whether it's on paper or not!" She shouts.
Anthony sighs a little, "I understand how you feel." He then leans in and whispers to her, "But think of it this way, this is a great opportunity to enter the academy and meet the rest of the students, like Kirsche and Tabitha. Like the queen said, we don't have to change our relationship to do this."
Upon hearing this, Faye is still somewhat hesitant to go forward with this plan. However, if this is what will make her master pleased, then she will do whatever it takes to make Anthony happy.
She says to Henrietta in a formal tone, "I've changed my mind. I'll move forward with plan to enroll myself in the academy."
"And I'll attend as her familiar." Anthony adds.
"If that is what the two of you wish for, then I'll send a letter to the academy immediately regarding Faye's enrollment."
"Thank you very much for your generosity." Anthony says while bowing to her. Faye also gives her thanks.
With that out of the way, the three talk for a little while longer about fairly mundane topics. Feeling that she has learned about the two new otherworlders a bit more than before, Henrietta leaves their room with a smile on her face and she wishes them luck at the academy.
They seem to be good people. I'm astonished that Faye can use magic, and nature magic at that. I feel like, just like with Saito, these two will make a major impact in this world in some way. I hope I can count on them in the future. Henrietta thinks as she makes her way back to her room.
-Next Morning-
Agnes is sent out by Henrietta to deliver a letter to the magic academy regarding Anthony and Faye's enrollment. The letter lays out everything the headmaster, Osmond, needs to know. Particularly the fact that Anthony is to be publicly Faye's familiar, since in reality they are not. Other details on how to get that accomplished are included as well.
Nothing noteworthy happens throughout the day. Although Anthony and Faye do gradually become a bit more familiar with the four members they traveled with. Anthony and Saito become slightly more friendlier with each other as they relate experiences from their previous worlds. Faye unfortunately, due to her generally unfriendly aura and the fact that she both attacked and restrained Louise the previous two days, does not get any friendlier with Saito. Saito on his part doesn't want much to do with her and is quite wary of her. He even still holds a bit of resentment towards her for attacking Louise.
As expected, neither of the otherworlders get any closer to Louise. She still appears to be quite upset over the fact that she has still not obtained either of them as her familiars. In general she completely avoids any sort of contact with them. However, unknown to either of them, she sometimes stalks them from behind a wall.
As for Siesta, she is friendly with Anthony and he to her, but they haven't talked much. Anthony in particular isn't quite sure what to make of her. Since she was initially very kind and sweet to Saito. Unfortunately, with time as she fell in love with Saito she began to become clingy and jealous. Which in turn have cause some unfortunate misunderstanding between them and Louise, with Saito taking the punishment the vast majority of the time.
Instead, Siesta has taken some interest in Faye. Being a maid just like her, Siesta asks her some questions regarding her employment to Anthony and if there are any tips she has to share. Faye answers that the most important things for a maid to do is to be loyal to their master and to be diligent in all that they do, especially in protecting their master. Siesta thanks her for the advice and promises to apply them.
Tiffania becomes slightly more comfortable with the both of them, but there isn't much beyond that. Instead, Tiffania has become a lot more closer with Saito as they continue to talk some more, much to Louise's dismay. Henrietta initially wanted to keep her at the castle as she is her long lost family. Saito wanted to take her with him to the academy. Tiffania herself wasn't sure that she is mentally prepared to go to a place like that where there is a large crowd of strangers. After a long talk between the three of them, Tiffania ultimately decides to go with Saito and the others to the academy. Saito promises to protect her should anything happen while they are there and he believes that she will make many friends there, which helps alleviate her fear.
Somehow, Saito manages to get through the day without a single attack by Louise. Sadly, the same can't be said the next day.
-Next Day-
The day has arrived where Saito is to be appointed chevalier of Tristain.
Saito, Louise, Siesta, Henrietta, Tiffania, Anthony, Faye, and Agnes, who has returned by this point, are all in the throne room of the castle. Henrietta stands a few feet in front of the throne while Saito stands a few feet in front of Henrietta.
Anthony is a bit excited as he is about to see a very important ceremony play before his very eyes. He knows what to expect, but that doesn't dampen his excitement that much. Plus, even though it never seemed to matter that much in the end. This is when Siesta officially becomes Saito's personal maid.
"Lower your head." Henrietta orders Saito. He does as he's told.
Lowering a gray metal like wand until it taps Saito's right shoulder, she states with the formality and etiquette expected of a queen, "I, the queen of Tristain, Henrietta, bestow the title of knight upon you. Do you pledge loyalty?"
"I do."
"In the name of the Primogenitor, Brimir, I name you chevalier."
After a pause, she states with a smile, "You are now my knight. Saito Chevalier de Hiraga-dono, please support me."
With a bright smile, he proudly says, "Yes!"
Looking over at Siesta, Henrietta simply says to her, "Do it."
Draping a cloak over him, Siesta says, "Master, please excuse me."
Hearing these words, Saito's eyes widen drastically and he even stumbles back a bit from the shock. "M-Master?!"
This quickly gets the attention of Louise, who does not seem to be all to happy about this sudden relationship change between the two of them.
She immediately asks, "W-wait! Why is Saito your master now?"
Smiling widely, Siesta suddenly pulls up an official decree from the queen out of seemingly nowhere. "This is an order from Her Majesty the Queen."
"N-No way…you gotta be kidding me…" Louise says with a mixture of anger and defeat. Her face begins to sweat for some reason. Suddenly, she turns to Henrietta, "Your Majesty!"
Henrietta says, "Oh, I thought that Siesta would be appropriate for the position since they get along well."
"I-I see. T-that's fine…but. No, t-thank you for being so considerate." Louise admits, but it appears to everyone else to be quite forced. Her entire body shakes the entire time she says it.
Both Anthony and Faye smirk at her. Thankfully she doesn't notice either of them.
"I'm very grateful as well!" Siesta happily admits, knowing full well that she is pouring some mental salt into Louise's mental wound.
"With this, the formal ceremony is over. I shall prepare dragons for your ride to the academy in the morning." Henrietta announces to everyone. She then turns to Tiffania, "Tiffania, are absolutely positive that you wish to travel to the academy? I won't ask again if you say yes, but I just want to make sure you'll be alright out there."
She hesitates to respond. Saito takes this as an opportunity to reassure her one last time. "Don't worry Tiffania, I'll protect you with everything I got!"
This causes Louise to become quite upset with Saito. She makes no hesitation to show it by slamming her foot right onto his foot.
He yelps in pain as he begins to hop on his good foot and uses his hands to try to soothe the pain as much as possible.
While he does that, Louise says in an irritated tone, "Saito, you sure seem to care about her a lot."
"Hey! Why the heck did you just hit him like that?!" Anthony shouts in an even more irritated tone than Louise.
She gives an annoyed look to Anthony, "Obviously because he failed to put Her Highness' feelings into consideration! I heard that she wanted to keep Tiffania around for a while at the castle and Tiffania seemed to agree. So I was surprised to hear that she changed her mind last night and wanted to go to the academy instead. I should've known this dog played a role in changing her mind."
"And?! So freaking what? That doesn't give you any right to hit him!"
As Anthony angrily expresses his opinion on the matter. Faye is glancing over towards Siesta. As she is now Saito's personal maid, she was expecting her to jump to his defense. To her disappointment, she is making no indications of doing such a thing. Hmph. And you seemed to be quite elated at becoming his maid. Was that all fake?
"H-He also glanced at her breasts! I saw him! As his master, the only person he's allowed to look at is me!"
Anthony casts a look at Henrietta that essentially says, "See what I mean by Louise being abusive?"
She observes his look and appears to understand. "Alright, that's enough everyone. There is no need to make drama out of this. Tiffania, what is your final answer?"
Seriously? That's it? Anthony thinks, fairly disappointed at Henrietta.
"I'm…I'm going. I don't want people to fight because of me. I'm sure I'll be fine!" She tries to reassure everyone. Her voice does appear to falter just a little, showing that she is actually rather nervous.
Saito looks over at Anthony and is a surprised to see him standing up for him like this. Sure, he's already mentioned before about disliking the attacks Louise dishes out upon him for no good reason. However, he never really expected him to actually stand up for him like this.
He smiles just a little. Thank you Anthony.
-That Night-
Anthony and Faye have been fast asleep in their room. Dragons have been prepared for their and the others' journey in the morning. They went to bed a little earlier than they have in the past few days so they can wake up all refreshed. This is particularly important for Anthony, as he tends to have trouble waking up in the morning.
In the middle of the night, Faye suddenly wakes up with a strong urge to relieve herself. She quietly exits the room so that she doesn't wake Anthony up. Upon finishing her business, she makes her way back to her room. Along the way is the door leading to Saito and Louise's room.
"Saito, you dog! H-How dare you!" A voice shouts from within the room. Faye instantly recognizes it. She narrows her eyes. That brat. Just what is she up to now? Master has asked me to keep an eye on Saito, so I should peek in and see what's going on.
Slowly and quietly approaching the door, she slowly turns the nob and opens it up just enough to be able to peek in. To her relief, no one seems to be focused on the door at the moment.
"W-What did I do Louise?!" Saito begs to know.
"You should know, idiot!" She shouts in reply. Faye notices a small rod-shaped object in her hand hovering a few inches above him. They appear to both be in a bed together. She sees a third body in the room as well but can't quite tell who the person is due to how dark it is. Only a single candle illuminates the room.
That's her wand if I recall correctly. Faye muses.
She hears Louise continue, "To touch…to touch her breasts nonchalantly like that! Do you have even a single ounce of shame for touching someone besides your master?!"
"I swear it was an accident! I was sleeping the whole time until you woke me up!"
She hears the third person within the room speak for the first time. "I don't mind Saito. Really! In fact, you can touch me in…in other places as well. Miss Louise is just jealous because she knows you prefer large boobs. And while Miss Louise is quite cute in her own right, she is definitely lacking in that department."
She recognizes the voice belonging to Siesta. Why is she trying to get that brat riled up like that? If that brat is like how master described her, then she'll be attacking Saito any moment now!
Her prediction is quickly proven correct when Louise shouts, "Saito! You pervert! You stupid, idiot pervert!" She begins to smack him with her wand over, and over, and over again.
To Faye's utter disbelief, Siesta is doing absolutely nothing about this. She looks distressed at seeing the violence before her, but that's it. No attempt to quell the situation. No attempt to save Saito from her. Nothing. She is just sitting there on the bed and watching them both. She even appears to be inching herself away from them both!
What a despicable maid. She just became his personal maid, and this is how she behaves? Back at my maid school, she would've been subjected to severe punishment for this sort of behavior. This is totally unacceptable.
Bursting open the door, she glares at all three people within the room. Louise stops her attack to turn around and see just who in the world slammed open their door like this in the middle of the night.
"F-Faye?!" Both Saito and Siesta exclaim in shock upon seeing her.
"What are you doing here?!" Louise says in a mixture of surprise, confusion, and irritation.
"Brat." She scowls at Lousie. "Hands off him. Now." She orders with no room for argument.
In the midst of her confusion, she does as she's asked. Once Faye notices the order is completed, she issues an additional one. "Both you and the boy. Out. Now. I wish to speak to the maid alone."
This time, the mage strikes back, "You think you can order us around like this?! Don't even think about it. I'm much stronger than you."
She raises an eyebrow, "Oh? Want to put that to the test?" She displays no emotion while saying that. Despite that, there is clearly a high level of confidence displayed within that tone.
Saito gets the hint almost immediately, "I-It wouldn't hurt to leave for just a moment. Let's give them a moment to talk. I'm sure she has something urgent to say to her."
Louise gives the stink eye to both Faye and Saito before relenting. Apparently she wasn't in the mood to test the maid either in this moment. "Fine, but I'm resuming the punishment later." She drags him by the hand and out of the room, shutting the door behind her.
Siesta gulps as Faye draws herself closer to her. She appears to be really upset with her, but why? W-What have I possibly done to earn her wrath?! She thinks, desperately trying to recall any sort of memory that might've made her upset. Unfortunately, nothing springs to mind.
"Maid." Faye calls out to her. Siesta instantly frowns at this as she is now being addressed by her occupation rather than her name, which she had been doing up to this point. "Do you have the slightest idea why I want to speak with you?"
She timidly shakes her head. "N-No miss Faye. Please enlighten me."
She sighs, "It is rather disappointing, but I suppose I must."
After a long pause, she says a sentence that as soon as Siesta hears it, she wishes she could erase it from her memory. At least, for a moment.
"You do not deserve to be Saito's maid."
Another long period of silence follows.
"...what?" A couple of tears begin to form in her eyes.
-Author's Corner-
A/N: It was a pretty long conversation between Anthony, Faye, and Henrietta, but at least some goals have been set. And now, Faye seems to be rather upset with Siesta.
Also thanks to everyone who has followed, favorited, and reviewed the story so far! I greatly appreciate it!
The Disquieting One: Oh really? Cool! Maybe Anthony will find something there, presuming he goes there.
James Birdsong: Thank you!
Frequent Reader: It is true that Kirsche got demoted to extra. She only makes a few appearances per season outside of Season 1. I plan to include her to some capacity at least. I'm not completely sure how exactly I'll implement her as I'm writing this on the fly pretty much. But I'll definitely include her somehow.