A Katarina Vacation Arc
After several days of traveling in the rain with only occasional sunshine, she, Katarina Claes, had finally arrived!
Thankfully, it had stopped raining two days ago, and so the approach to her mother's childhood home was bright and sunny, and also really, REALLY humid. And hot. Ah, Mary, where were you and your ice-making Water Magic when Katarina desperately needed you?
Katarina would normally be bouncing in her chair and asking 'are we there yet' incessantly, and indeed she was doing the former, but the latter was restrained by the fact that her mother was practically a nervous mess. She was sitting up straight, her eyes looking determinedly ahead and looking extremely villainous, her hands gripping her skirts tightly. Normally Katarina would have tried to hug and comfort her mother, but the one time that morning she'd tried to get close, she'd directed a memetastic KATARINA (MOM) GLARE so intense at her that Katarina had to remind herself she was the evil villainess destined for bad ends and not her mom. Argh, was this what Maria in the game had felt like? So sorry, game!Maria! So sorry for forcing you to do the black-hearted sadist prince and angsty playboy routes and expose you to this!
So instead Katarina just bounced in her chair and looked at the lovely fields and woods and prosperous towns and villages around them. there wasn't much to see, since it was still early in the planting season, but all the fields looks well-organized and the rains had seen to making them well-irrigated.
She didn't see any hobos, but Katarina supposed that was probably a good thing? Since there was no rampant poverty forcing men to be traveling itinerant workers? She still wanted to see a real hobo though, since it turned out her previous hobo sighting had just been Maria…
You couldn't see ahead of you very well on a carriage, unless you stuck your head out the window, so it was a surprise to Katarina when they turned and passed through tall, wrought iron gates. Judging by how her mother became even MORE nervous, this was probably it.
Katarina made to stick her head out the window to see ahead of them, but was stopped by Charlotte, her mother's maid. She looked like an older Anne, and Katarina wondered if that as because she was a reused asset or if there was some deeper lore reason, like a cut time-traveling subplot. Fortune Lover really had a lot of lore, as Acchan kept telling her. She just hadn't had the patient to read every single item description, though. Thank goodness for the internet, the sea of knowledge!
Ooh, they were stopping in front! Oh, there was so many people waiting for them! Ooh, were those her cousins? Ahh, they looked so nice, except for the one who looked constipated and tsundere, but she was probably nice too once Katarina got her affection bond points up!
Katarina was practically jumping up and down in her seat, but then she suddenly became aware of her mother sitting across from her. Even though her mother wasn't looking directly at her, that intense KATARINA (MOM) GLARE, with her eyes at maximum villainy, were enough to stifle Katarina's enthusiasm and she settled back in her seat nervously, trying to recall every etiquette lecture– and there were hours and hours and hours of them– as she attempted to copy her mother's dignified air. She wasn't going to ruin this! She was going to do like her mother and be dignified and duchess-y and not make her mother want to lecture her when they got to their room. She could do that, right.
Finally, the carriage stopped. Katarina sat back and waited for her mother to take the lead.
…
And waited.
And waited.
And waited some more.
Katarina exchanged looks with Charlotte, who was looking confused in a perfectly meido way, which was not looking confused at all. Charlotte 'probably recycled Anne assets' gave them most minute shrug.
Katarina glanced sideways at the people waiting outside fully visible through the carriage's glass windows, and then subtely tried to reach other and nudge her mother…
Who she realized was muttering under her breath.
"This was a mistake," her mother was muttering through clenched teeth. "We should go. We should turn this carriage around and got back home. I'm probably not welcome here. What was I thinking, a few letters probably don't make up for not writing to them and ignoring them for years… Argh, they're probably so disappointed in me, I'm a failure as a–"
"Mother?" Katarina said.
Her mother jumped up in her seat so hard both Katarina and Charlotte jerked back in surprise. "W-what?" her mother demanded.
Katarina pointed out the window. "Um, we're here."
Her mother turned to look in the indicated direction. A tall woman with her mother's brown hair and Mary-like huge… Pride and Dignity waved cheerfully at them. Absently, Katarina smiled and waved back. Ah, she seemed nice.
Her mother took a deep breath. "Time to jump into the Old Chaos," she muttered, straightened, and indicated that the door be opened. Smoothly, Charlotte opened the door and stepped down ahead of them to assist her mother.
Her mother stepped down with perfect poise, bearing and dignity, not a crease out of place, not a hair astray, looking absolutely perfect.
Katarina all be sat on her hands, not wanting to risk ruining her mother's moment.
Someone else did it for her.
"MILI!" someone gushed loudly, and the tall woman was suddenly leaping forward to grab Katarina's mother in an undignified, full body hug, he kind that had them pressing against each other at as many points as possible, pelvis to pelvis, cheek to cheek. "MILI, YOU'RE BACK! AND ALIVE! AND NOT ACCIDENTALLY DIVORCED BECAUSE OF SOME WEIRD MISUNDERSTANDING! OH, IT'S SO GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN, YOU LITTLE MUSHROOM!"
"H-hello Leona," Katarina's mother said awkwardly as they blocked the door of the carriage. Katarina, figuring they wouldn't be moving any time soon, opened the door on the opposite side and slipped down.
"Oh, Charlotte! Still with her, I see. Nice to see you again!"
"Greetings, Lady Leona," her mother's maid said as Katarina, mindful her mother was there, took a moment to compose herself, doing her best 'mother being all noble' impression: back straight, nose raised 30 degrees from level, not smiling, and hands folded in front of her protecting her crotch from sudden dog attacks. "It has been a long time."
"Been taking care of Mili?" Katarina heard as she walked with dignity– that is, slowly– around the carriage.
"Of course, Lady Leona. I stand always at my lady's side."
"That's nice. At least you can say hi, not like my little awkward sister here, who still hasn't greeted her big sister even though they haven't seen each other in so long, hint hint…"
"H-hello, Leona," Katarina heard hear mother say as she rounded the back of the carriage. "It's… been a while… I hope you are well… How is your health?"
"Yup, definitely Mili, still sounding like an etiquette book," came the cheerful reply as Katarina finally came into view. The tall woman, who must have been her aunt Leonarudo, was still holding her Katarina's mother in a one-armed hug while another women, presumably her aunt Sherringford, reach forward to take her mother's hands tearfully, holding them up in that vaguely yuri, girly way.
"Mili," probably-aunt Sherringford said tearfully, yet with a wide, happy smile. "I'm so glad to see you again! Welcome home, big sister!"
Ah, this scene was so sweet, with her aunts smiling and her mother doing what seemed to be the happy tsundere crying thing– how had she never pegged her mother as a tsundere? It seemed so obvious in hindsight!– framed by the carriage as a backdrop… she wanted the CG of this as her wallpaper!
"Oh? And who's this?" probably-aunt Leonarudo said, and Katarina realized they were talking to her.
Okay, this is it! This will be Katarina's introduction to this DLC! She didn't know which of them would have been the love interest for Maria– because of course Maria was the MC of Fortune Lover, so she was of course going to become part of events and have one of these people as a conquest target eventually– but for now, Katarina had to get them to like her so she could avoid any bad ends they might be involved in!
Unfortunately, while she was thinking this, it meant she wasn't concentrating on acting dignified and proper like mother. So she smiled brightly and raised her hand to wave as she said, "Hi! I'm Katarina Claes! Pleased to meet you! I hope we can all get along. I will be in your care."
She was in the middle of giving her best 'please like me and don't send me to a bad end' smile when she realized she was probably not acting in a way her mother and Lady Maria would consider proper noble behavior. Darn it! And her without her emergency 'run away from bad ends' kit!
Well, her aunts were still smiling and her mother was still looking tsundere– so obvious! She should have seen it sooner! So OBVIOUS!– instead of mad, so she could probably salvage this mistake…
