A Katarina Vacation Arc Epilogue

The day there were to leave, the sky was bright and sunny, full of pilgrim butterflies catching the wind high up near the clouds. There was a lot of crying going on. Olga was crying about how she'd miss Mili, Leona was crying about what a wonderful niece Olga was, Leona was crying in general, Matthew's friends (who had come early that morning to see her off) were crying about her going away and asking her to write, some poor servant was crying because they'd dropped one of Matthew's shields on his foot…

Katarina was crying too of course, since she had to say good bye to all her new cousins and aunts and uncles and the huge drum-sized ice-cream maker Aunt Leona had made and her new fields. She'd made chips and fries using the crops she'd managed to grow there, and the leftovers had been made into hash browns this morning. She'd watched her mother when she'd eaten it, and had been happy to see mother had liked it. she didn't think mother had tasted the ones she'd made in the School Festival.

Finally, after some last minute crying, reminders from Aunt Leona of how she should take care of the smaller ice-cream maker she was taking home so it didn't cause mercury poisoning, Matthew's tsundere friend alternately threatening her and giving a last-minute love confession that went completely over the other knight's head, everyone was finally bundled into the carriage and they were off, with people waving handkerchiefs goodbye,

The yuri DLC was finally over. It was time to go home.

The journey back was completely uneventful, save for the fact it wasn't constantly raining anymore. Aunt Leona had gifted them with what Katarina dubbed an 'air conditioner magic tool', meaning they managed to travel in comfort despite the sun, humidity and rising heat outside.

Absolutely nothing interesting of any kind happened, unless you counted that time they saw a wheel with a skeleton riding inside it rolling along.

Finally, after months away and weeks of travel, they were back home.

Father was waiting for them in front of the door as they rolled up the driveway, the train of wagons with the servants and luggage behind them. Katarina was vibrating in her seat, and only partially because her butt had gone numb. As the wagon slowed to a stop, Katarina reached to fling the carriage door open–

Only to find mother beating her to it. Katarina blinked in confusion, finding herself reaching for empty air as mother rushed out of the carriage as if launched from a crossbow.

"Mili," Father said with a tired smile, opening his arms. "It's so good to–"

Mother flew past him, grabbing his arm as she passed and dragging him behind her. "Bedroom," mother snapped. "Now. All of you, open the doors and out of the way!"

Servants scrambled to do as ordered, barely getting the doors open lest mother crash through them.

Was she going to be a big sister next year? Ooh, and Keith will be a big brother! She'd be able to teach him everything she knew about how to older-sibling!

"Well, welcome to Claes Manor," Katarina said. As the only Claes around, she supposed she had to welcome their guest. "Come on, I'll show you around!"

After a brief, whirlwind tour of the manor, which consisted of her field– ah, Keith had been taking really good care of them! Looks like she'd have a harvest that wasn't just potatoes after all!– the trees that were good to climb, the stream and the pond she'd once been forbidden from fishing in since she'd fished them nearly to extinction, Katarina finally managed to lead Matthew to the room she'd be staying in from then on.

Thankfully, the letters they'd sent had managed to arrive ahead of them, so Matthew's room was ready and waiting for her, and they'd even picked a room that had an attached room for her armor and tons and tons of shields. Katarina had welcomed her cousin by gifting Matthew with her spare set of eggplant pajamas so she'd have something comfy to sleep in.

Katarina really wanted to introduce Matthew to all her friends, but since they couldn't exactly call ahead to say what day exactly they'd be home, no one was waiting for them.

Huh, not even Keith was there. Katarina was surprised when she realized that.

"Hey, where's Ketih?" she asked their butler Sebastian. Well, his name wasn't really Sebastian, since for some reason every butler in Fortune Lover was named after a foreign brand of chocolate (Fortunate Lover had really weird jokes like that), but he was Sebastian in her heart!

"Master Keith is visiting with Lady Campbell, young mistress," Sebastian said with a bow. "We were not expecting you to arrive today."

"Eh?" Katarina said. "Then why was father waiting by the door."

Sebastian coughed in that embarrassed servant way she recognized from anime. "The Duke has been waiting there for the past week, young mistress," he said. "To be honest, we were beginning to worry for his health."

"Ah," Katarina said, crossing her arms and nodding. "Well, we'll get a treat ready for them. Can you tell the kitchen to get the following things ready: cream, sugar, a jar of strawberry jam…"

Katarina let Cousin Matthew have privacy and space to unpack into her new room. Unlike Katarina, who'd had to go Anne-less (though she did pretty well, if she did say so herself! And hey, Anne probably got lots of Maria-mom nookie, so Katarina's karma was even for all the years she'd made life difficult for her poor maid!), Matthew had her personal maid with her. The redhead with the side ponytail was the mischievous maid-type, unlike the reliable and stoic Anne model, but she was clearly fond of Matthew, and so wasn't the mischievous maid-type who was secretly plotting the death of the entire family from her chemistry lab and giant robot factory in the basement. Nope, she was clearly the fun kind. You could even tell from her name. You could trust a maid with a name like Mary Fudge. Hmm, fudge…

Seriously, what was with all the Marys? That was two now. Was Fortune Lover secretly Christian or something?

After a brief detour to the kitchen to find they didn't have any fudge on hand, but would have some vanilla fudge ready for dinner (YAY! It was good to be back home!), Katarina decided to go say hi to her friends. Since Keith was visiting Maria, she'd start there! Ah, maybe Sophia would be there too! And then she'd be able to see the kids and make sure the Ashina women weren't having any problems they hadn't been able to tell anyone about…

Plus, she'd be able to get Anne back! The Anne-less period of her life would soon end! She was REALLY looking forward to that!

When the carriage stopped and Katarina looked out the window, she wondered if they'd made a wrong turn somewhere.

The hedge-covered walls were still there, but behind them rose solid stone walls that seemed all of one piece, likely raised with Earth Magic. More buildings had popped up, for some reason reminding her of the college campus her older brothers had attended in her previous life. There was cracks of fireworks going off, even though there weren't any sparklers in the sky.

Strangest of all, while the fields she and the children had planted and lovingly tended where still there, there was also a small field of… Katarina gasped, rubbing her eyes in case she was dreaming of some gunk on her corneas was causing an optical illusion. But no, it was still there! There was a small area converted to rice paddies, which some farm workers were tending to under the direction of some Ashinajin women.

"Wow, a lot happened during the timeskip!" Katarina said. And that was just what she could see through the gate!

Huh, why weren't they letting her in?

She looked out the window. In addition to the usual armsmen who tended the gate, there were three knights in the black armor of the Royal Guard, who were having a discussion of some sort. Oh, did her entry sticker expire or something?

As she watched, a bell began to toll.

Ah, well, she could wait. Katarina settled back in her chair, looking forward to seeing her friends again.

It had been too long.

Katarina Vacation Arc DLC Finished

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