Over the following week, Maria was busy as she prepared her manor and businesses to operate in her absence. Raw materials were ordered so that the factories would be able to keep working as needed. Everyone was checked for their authorization badges, and were told that if the badges were lost, no new ones would be issued until she got back.

She had also needed to assign the armsmen to escort the children to and from the town after an incident where a spy trying to infiltrate her manor had the idea to attack a child and take their authorization badge. Fortunately, young Irina wasn't too badly hurt, and the attempted intruder was immediately detained since he was an adult man trying to get into the estate ground using a schoolroom badge. After fining the man, breaking several of his bones, healing them, breaking them again, and leaving him in a locked room with young Irina's father and a padded stick, Maria had surrendered the spy in question to the tender mercies of the crown by way of the Third Prince. A few days later, she had heard that the household of some Marchioness was heavily audited.

Such was life in Sorcier.

There had been some distress when she had announced that she would be gone for a month. The children mobbed her, begging her not to go again, and she had to promise to tell them stories very night before she left. That meant she wouldn't be able to sate Rafael's lusts, but fortunately he was very understanding. The two of them spent the week sleeping on the floor of the children's dormitory surrounded by the children and some of the older women who had listened to the story being told.

She had also spoken to Rafael about her attendance, both in the assembly and the preliminary lectures.

"Oh, I have to attend those too," he informed her as the children were settling down, which involved elaborate pillow arrangements, arranging who got to sleep with their head on Shio's tail, and running off to clean their teeth. "I'm representing the Magic Tool Laboratory." He paused. "Well, that's the official reason. I'm actually supposed to keep an eye out for… you know. Sora's been pulled out too, he's been drafted and disguised as one of the castle staff to do the same." Rafael snorted. "The one time people in the Magic Tool Laboratory are actually being asked to spy, and Larna is off taking a month-long vacation. You'd think the woman would actually want to be in on this, but no, off she goes to visit her family."

"She has family?" Maria said. "Whom she actually wants to visit over this?"

"I know!" Rafael huffed, then huffed again as one of the children sat on his lap asking to be held. He absently wrapped an arm around the boy's stomach and began ruffling his hair. "If it wasn't Larna, I'd have just turned down her request and have her work, but I really don't want her being left alone in the department with the newbies. It's just a disaster waiting to happen. Officially, we're closed for inventory for the duration of the Assembly, and we're not the only one. A lot of departments will be short-staffed for the duration. The Medicinal Magic department's been gutted of Light Magic wielders too."

"Given how many incidents there have been this year alone, the precaution is understandable," Maria said.

"By the way, are you taking Sadako with you?" Rafael asked. Some distance away, the woman in question looked up upon hearing her name.

"Why wouldn't I?" Maria asked.

"Aren't you worried about… incidents?" Rafael said. "It's a whole new environment, and while she's getting better at speaking the language, she might have trouble with some of the accents of people working there, not to mention our house is a completely different place from the castle. And that's not even getting into how some nobles treat the staff."

Maria very carefully kept her hands from tightening into fists at what Rafael was implying could happen. Unfortunately, this made her lock up her elbows instead, causing her arms to start shaking. With an effort, she released them. "I suppose it would be safer to leave her at home," Maria allowed. "I can survive without a maid for a month."

A distressed sound rose from somewhere, and Maria's head snapped around looking for which of her children was in need, but they all seemed to be happily preparing to go to bed. There was no one obviously crying. "Sadako, do you know who made that sound?"

Her maid shook her head stiffly.

"Actually, I was going to suggest you take Lasciel with you," Rafael said. "Sadako can stay in your rooms and take care of things there, and Lasciel can handle any contact with the castle staff, like bringing you your dinner or sending out your laundry. I'm going to be gone too, so she won't have anything to do. Why not bring her with you?"

Maria paused in her search. "Hmm…" she mused, then nodded. "An excellent suggestion, Rafael. But won't you need her?"

Rafael shook his head. "First off, a man with a maid gives a completely different message than a woman with a maid," he said, and around them some of the women nodded, a few shuddering darkly as they did so. "Secondly, while I'm a Vice-Director, I'm not a noble, so where I'm being housed probably doesn't have room for a maid. Besides, you'll need her help more than I will. Remember, you'll have Shana with you to teach Katarina what's in the lectures, and someone needs to help take care of the child."

Maria nodded slowly in agreement. "Yes, I suppose Shana will need help keeping Katarina in line. Lasciel's assistance would be helpful."

Rafael nodded. "Then I'll tell her tomorrow so she can prepare and Anne can tell her what she needs to know about being a maid in the castle."

"Thank you," Maria said.

"Mama, Papa, we're ready!" One of the children called. "Story!"

The cry was quickly taken up. "Story! Story! Story!"

"You're on," Rafael said, sitting back. The boy on his lap had been joined by a girl, the two of them leaning against him as the girl held a pillow like it was a doll.

Maria took the old story book and opened it, the children growing quiet as they listened eagerly. "Once upon a time…" she began, "before disparity, before dragons, before the First Flame… there was the imaginary kingdom of Boletaria…"

She told the old story, not letting it get to the part where the Betrayed Goddess received her title. That wasn't something the children should hear quite yet, after all.


Of course, not everyone took the news of what was to come so gracefully.

"EH?!" her squire cried. "A lecture? We're going to the castle to attend a lecture?"

Maria sighed. "My squire (!-!-!), listen more closely. We are not going to the castle merely to attend a lecture."

Katarina frowned as she if she was thinking hard and trying to recall something. Maria fought the urge to tell her to not strain herself. "But you just said there'd be a lecture…"

"Yes," Maria repeated patiently. One had to be patient when explaining things to Katarina Claes. "Because we will be attending a two-week series of lectures and practical lessons."

Katarina staggered. She literally staggered, her legs wavering as if they wouldn't support her weight, before falling to her knees as if she'd been parried, left open to a brutal riposte. "T-two weeks!" she cried, horrified.

"Yes," Maria said. "It's all in preparation for attending the international assembly."

"Eh? Wait, hasn't mother found a fake Katarina Claes to send yet?-!"

"No, unfortunately not," Maria said. Huh. She had wondered why that had been part of the reply from her grace. It seems her squire had still been set on the idea. "Don't worry squire. You have been practicing extensively for your attendance to the International Assembly. As long as you remember what you learned, you'll be fine."

"But I'm horrible at remembering what I learned!"

That… was unfortunately true… "You've been doing better," Maria assured her. "Shana has been praising your progress." The young girl always looked tired when she did, but the smaller Light Magic wielder spoke with obvious pride when she did so. "You'll be fine. I have faith in you. Shana has faith in you. And most importantly…"

Katarina looked up hopefully.

"If you don't do well, Shana doesn't get any dessert," Maria said bluntly.

Katarina twitched. Then she forced herself to stand up. "You know, it's not very knight-like to punish a little girl for my mistakes!" Katarina protested. She actually looked a little angry.

Maria just smiled. "Only if I have to punish her," she said. "Will I have to punish her, my squire?"

"No," Katarina said firmly, still glaring at Maria a little. "You won't."

(!-!-!-!-!)


A Katarina Interlude

The less you're looking forward to something, the shorter the wait seems to be. The day she dreaded had finally arrived. It was time to go to the castle for the lecture series.

At least she wasn't going alone! Anne was going with them, and while she felt a bit guilty making Anne have to leave her girlfriend, Katarina was really glad to have her maid by her side. Maria was also going of course, but Katarina was surprised to see that Shana would also be attending!

"Shana-sensei?" Katarina exclaimed in Japanese. "What are you doing here?"

The little girl looked proud. "Mama asked me to come along," she said. "She said Uncle Prince found a way to let me listen to the lectures! And Lady Mary will be there too!"

"Eh? You're going to attend the lectures too?-!" Katarina immediately fell to her knees. "Please help me understand them!" she begged.

"Don't worry!" Shana said, patting Katarina on the head. "I'll make sure my cute little student understands the lectures!"

Ah, sensei was the best…!

"Lady Katarina, get up, you're going to leave stains on your skirt, and you need to be presentable," Anne scolded her.

"And you fell to your knees in entirely the wrong way, Katarina-chan," Shana said in her teacher voice. "I keep telling you, when you're wearing something with a skirt, you need to spread them so that any stains are on the underside where they're not visible!"

"Even though you shouldn't be falling to your knees at all, squire," Maria said as she passed, not looking at Katarina. "Remember, Shana is a commoner. You shouldn't kneel to her. It's not done."

"I'm sorry about this Mama, Step-Grandma," Shana said. "I'll make sure she understands the proper way to fall to her knees, and that she shouldn't do so to commoners!"

Was she… going to be bullied here?

The ride to the castle wasn't as bad as Katarina feared. It was a bit tight, since in addition to Anne and Sadako-chan, there was also a cute maid that looked like she could be Rafael's sister in the carriage. Their luggage had been piled up on top, then covered with a tarp just in case it rained and to keep them from falling off. Maria had even said that Katarina could read a romance novel while they were riding, which Katarina had happily complied with. Ah, Night Fall novels, you have been greatly missed! Katarina picked up from where she'd left off, reading the novel as if for the first time. It was one of the few happy things about having absolutely garbage memory for things she'd read, you get to read all your books all over again as if you've never read them before!

She was just getting to the part where THE PENDANT came back into the story after being gone for five books when Maria said, "Put your book away my squire, we're here."

Eh? Katarina looked up and found to her surprise that they were already in front of the castle. She frowned. It felt… different than usual. She could see more people out the window, and there were more knights in evidence. Not just the black armor of the Royal Guard, but also knights in all sorts of strange armor. Katarina saw markings on their shoulders, and realized they must be Knights from Covenants, helping with security.

"Security seems really strict," she noted.

"It's because of the Assembly," Maria said, gazing out the window. "Emissaries, royals, representatives, staff and various notables from other countries will be in attendance at the Assembly proper. The Third Prince said part of the reason for this lecture series is a practice run to get the castle's staff prepared for the sudden influx of guests. This includes tightening security."

Katarina nodded. Yes, that sounded like the sort of thing the black-hearted genius prince would think up. Ah, she still needed to apologize to him! It had slipped her mind, but now it slipped back in again! She had to find an opportunity to speak to him in private so she could apologize and tell him she was going to help him find love.

Hmm, that might be hard. After all, he liked to spend time with Keith a lot since they were such close friends, and their other friends as well. It would be hard to get him alone. She might have to apologize in public…

Well, she'd worry about it when it happened! Katarina turned when the door to the carriage opened and a black-clad knight looked inside, their face completely obscured by their armor. "Hi Jenny!" she greeted. There wasn't any room for a proper wave in the confined of the carriage, but Katarina wave as best as she could.

"Ah, hello Lady Claes. Or I suppose it's Squire Claes now, I hear?" the knight said.

"Yup!" Katarina said. Maria had a hand on her face for some reason. "I'm going to be a knight too someday!"

For some reason, Jenny glanced at Maria, who nodded. "She does the work," Maria said, "which will take her farther than titles or dreams of glory."

"Huh." Jenny turned to Katarina and gestured with a clenched fist raised to her side. "Good luck then, newbie. You'll need it."

"Thanks!" Katarina said cheerfully. "Say hi to everyone for me!"

They had to raise their skirts up so Jenny could look under the seats, and she knocked on the floor of the carriage with a gauntleted hand for some reason, before they were allowed through up to the castle. Katarina wanted to stick her head out the window and wave to everyone, but she could already tell from the way Maria, Anne and Shana were all staring at her that she shouldn't.

As the carriage rolled up to the castle, Katarina wondered if this was event a DLC, a side-story, or a spin-off game. Maybe this was some kind of mobage spinoff? Ah, did that mean there was some kind of gacha mechanic or something? Or maybe it was just one of those match-3 games where you need to pay for energy to play? Oh, maybe it was something else entirely, like a manga! She remembered Acchan saying one of the games that came before Fortune Lover got an American manga…

Well, not her problem. Maria was the main character, so all the plot stuff should happen to her. And spinoffs like that always used all-original villains, so she didn't even have to worry about bad ends!

The carriage was unpacked, castle staff coming in with a trolley since there was a chest of Katarina's knight stuff. They all kept glancing at Maria's carriage for some reason as they worked, and all jumped when the door closed and it started moving away when everything was unpacked. Katarina wondered what they were staring at.

Oh, right, it had no driver! Katarina always forgot that was weird.

Oh well.

Katarina fell into step behind Maria as they were led into the castle.