Maria was tentatively convinced.
Tentatively.
It was nice to find that some things hadn't changed between her lives: interact with someone enough and eventually they'll talk. Have them talk, and eventually they'll tell the truth.
Katarina had found food, which Maria had expected. She'd put them in completely inappropriate dinnerware, which… she should have expected.
Well, at least breakfast was nice. Maria liked it, anyway.
Now it was time to decide what to do.
"Lady Berg," Maria said. "I apologize for the presumption. But can you direct me to where I might have a bath?"
There was no avoiding it. Maria was going to need a new suit when all this was done.
Lady Berg generously allowed Maria the use of her bath, rather than a guest bath. It had a water spigot, fine soaps, bath oils and all manner of expensive noble toiletry, as well as fine towels.
"You're really just going to take a bath?" Larna said incredulously. "Aren't you worried about him trying to escape or something?"
"We spent a productive conversation having you convince me you were indeed of the Ministry," Maria said. "Was the conversation for naught? Sure you can restrain a man with a knife through one hand. Or do I need to break his knee again?"
"Don't break his knee again!" Katarina said.
"Please don't break my knee again," Rufus agreed fervently.
Well, of course I can…" Larna said. "But isn't it a big risk?"
"I don't see how he could overwhelm two guards," Maria said, and handed her wooden sword to Katarina. "Lady Claes, I do not wish to impose upon you, but–"
"You stink," Katarina said, nodding as she took the sword. "So yeah, go take a bath. I'll make sure he doesn't try to get away. AND I won't have to break his knee to do it!" She gave Maria a challenging look.
"I look forward to seeing your accomplishment," Maria said. "Watch Larna too. If you will all excuse me…"
Maria took a bath. After all, she stunk.
She was a professional hunter, and therefore took a quick, efficient and thorough bath in which she did not waste any time on thoughts of Rafael at all. Really. Really.
When Maria stepped out from the bath (in which no time or soap was wasted on thoughts of Rafael at all), Larna was passed out on a couch being tended to by Lady Berg, a small wisp of Dark Magic emanating from her head. Rufus had a ball of ice– Maria found it had been bought from a local ice-house run by a noble family who supplied ice to the neighborhood with magic– in a towel on his head, which had a new bump. The hand with the knife in it was bleeding again. Katarina was sitting opposite him just outside grab range but well within sword range, the wooden sword a little shorter due to having broken near the end.
"– you're pretty cool, Rufus," Katarina was saying as Maria stepped into the room.
"...What's this all of a sudden? Well, I get that I don't look too shabby, but..."
"No, I'm not talking about how you look, but how you are on the inside. How you think."
"...The hell is that supposed to mean? I don't get it at all."
"The straightforward way you think... I think it's impressive. And cool."
For some reason, the words seemed to make Rufus freeze. Katarina turned and smiled at Maria. "Hey Maria! See, I didn't have to break his leg after all!"
"You swept me off my feet and stared hitting my head," Rufus said before he caught sight of Maria and stared.
"Eh, getting hit in the head isn't that bad. If you're lucky you might even unlock memories from your past life or something!"
Maria shook her head. What a silly thing to say. In Maria's experience, you got your memories of your past life in your sleep. Trying to get memories by hitting your head was more likely to make you a simpleton.
Lady Berg looked up from where she had been frowning intently down at Larna's face on her lap, saw Maria and flushed. "L-Lady Campbell! Your clothes–!"
Maria looked down at her clothes, or lack thereof. Her suit had been much too befouled to wear again. "I apologize for my indecorous state in your home, Lady Berg, but I am without a change."
"I might be able to find some of my clothes that… fit… you…?" Lady Berg said, trailing off as she stared at Maria's… vials of blood.
"No," Katarina said, shaking her head.
"No," Lady Berg agreed, sighing and looking forlornly down at herself.
"Hmm…" Katarina said, before turning to Rufus. "You're the butler. Do you know where we can find clothes her size in this house?"
Rufus blinked, shaking his head– and wincing as this aggravated his new head injury– and putting his ice back in place. "Uh, I think one of the maids was about her size…?"
"I shall have to apologize to her for appropriating her clothing then," Maria said as she got ready to use her Light Magic to rouse Larna. Rufus was clearly nowhere near as strong as Rafael. Her Light Magic should be able to overcome this curse of sleep this time.
Larna was roused, and Maria attired. Changed into the maid's garb, including the apron and headband that a squealing and oddly excited Katarina had begged her to wear and which Maria had done so to humor her, sword belt, leather boots, gloves and hat securely on, a covered basket with her clothes in hand, and a sword borrowed from Lady Berg's house armory– they were really impinging on the lady's generosity– they set off!
Next door.
Lady Berg's residence was not the seat of power of the Berg Duchy, merely their residence in the capital. She stayed there to represent their house in Court and to be near her fiancé. Many other nobles practiced something similar, and so there were whole neighborhoods of noble residences in the city, of which they were visiting the closest. With most of the staff of the house on leave because of Rufus, there was no one left to prepare the carriage for them, so Katarina had proposed they borrow one from a neighbor.
Rufus had burst out laughing at the proposal while Maria, Lady Berg and probably-a-lady Larna all stared at Katarina like snakes had just exploded from the stump of her decapitated neck.
Lacking options, they rolled with it.
Lady Lalatina Dustiness sighed as her carriage brought her back from the cathedral of the sun. Every day since her mother had died she had gone, praising the sun and praying to anyone who would listen for a friend she could go on adventures with. Or even just to a local café! She wasn't picky. Abyss consume, at this point she was so desperate she'd settle for someone to talk to! Not even the other knights in her covenant really talked to her, since they were big muscleheads who mostly cared about how big and hard and strong their armors were. Lalatina was a Rock of Havel, she liked to talk about that as much as the next knight, but every time she tried to move the conversation to something else they always just ran off saying they needed to find Crystal Lizards so they could make their armors even harder and stronger. Argh, she was so lonely…!
As they made the familiar approach to the Dustiness manor and the carriage slowed for the gate to open, Lalatina was startled when someone knocked on her carriage door.
"Hi!" a cheerful voice called to her from the window. "We're sorry for bothering you, but we're in a bit of an emergency. Can we borrow your carriage to go to the castle?"
Lalatina opened the door, not having any footmen to deal with this for her, and her driver was… well, a complete and utter weakling. She blinked as she saw a young noblewoman a little younger than her in what looked like rumpled clothes, a nervous-looking Lady Berg from next door, a butler with a knife through one hand, and two maids, one of whom was wearing a sword and looked vaguely… Lalatina blinked as she recognized Lady Maria the Wandering Knight, for some reason dressed as a common maid.
"Uh…" she said eloquently.
The young noblewoman put her hands together in a pleading sort of way. "It really is an emergency! Please?"
"L-lady Berg, can you explain what's going on?" she said, confused.
"Uh," the shy young woman Lalatina had once hoped to make friends with when she'd started living next door regularly fidgeted a little, "It's as La- er, Katarina says, Lady Dustiness. I'm afraid we must beg the use of your carriage, as mine is… uh, currently unusable." She blushed at the end of more words than she'd ever exchanged with Lalatina in all the years they'd lived next to each other.
"It is a matter most grave, your ladyship," the fellow knight in maid clothes (!) said with a formal bow. "Please, we beg you to assist us in speeding our way, lest a vile criminal escape justice."
"Um, in that case… all right…" Lady Dustiness said, making room. Fortunately, the carriage was fairly large, the better for her father an her to stretch their legs on long journeys to their estates in the plains. "As a Knight of the Rocks of Havel, if I may be of assistance, then my carriage is yours."
"Yay! Thanks!" the young noblewoman– Katarina, was it? Wait, did they mean Katarina Claes?!– said cheerfully, leaping aboard with surprising alacrity, and then reaching down to help Lady Berg up. It was a tight fit, and Lady Maria opted to perch outside on the footman's rest. The other maid sat next to the butler and held the knife impaled though his hand.
"Good driver, to the castle please, as quickly as you can," Lalatin heard Lady Maria order. "And please pass by the residence of Marquess David Mason on your way." Mason? David Mason? Lalatina's father loathed the man, considering him waste of skin and lard. Why would they need to pass by there?
As the carriage started moving, Katarina smiled at Lalatina. "Sorry about all this. I'm Katarina. Would you like to be friends?"
…
Oh. Was this what prayers getting answered was like? How completely unexpected.
Lalatina spent the beginning of the happiest day of her life talking to Katarina and eventually Selena as they made their way up to the castle.
No one, except perhaps the other maid, noticed when Maria leaped off the carriage.