Anne: "Will you be at your office today?"
Silvers: "I could be, what's up?"
Anne: [Picture of Silver's office]
Silvers: "I assume that you are in my office right now?"
Anne: "We arebrowsing in a bakery and some other stores until Guild Mistress Lina spotted. She invited us to come, and well..."
Anne: "Milady accepted, and was a little eager to see your place. Guild Mistress Lina lead us straight to your office."
Silvers: "Of course she will. I'll be there shortly. I'll just wait until Hoots finishes her meal" [Picture of a large owl with head turned upwards, swallowing what appears to be a large piece of an animal leg]
Anne: "I'm very sorry for this, sir Silvers."
Silvers: "It's fine, truly. So long as I get to see you, then it's worth it."
Anne: "Thank you."
Silvers: "You're very much welcome. Tell your mistress that I sent a message to her. "
Anne: "I think she already read it. She suddenly went to one of your cabinets with glee."
Silvers: "I can imagine. Just let her be, it's fine."
Anne: "Okay."
Silvers: I'll be off now. Be there in 30 minutes. See yah! 3"
Anne: "...Okay."
Silvers: "I'll take what I can get... :\"
Silvers was just idling in his home when he received the messages from Anne. Earlier this morning, he received a barrage of messages from Katarina, badgering her about the flight he agreed to bring her with him tomorrow, which he promptly ignored. Not totally though, he would reply to her sometime later once he stopped sending a 'Hey!' every few minutes.
Despite being severely ill just yesterday, the lady appears to be back to her animated self like nothing has ever happened. While it is he who ultimately healed her, it is making him wonder if he should have left just a little bit of fever. Seriously, that girl is too energetic for her own good.
While he doesn't doubt Anne's words about them just casually browsing the market, he suspects that Katarina is actually planning to visit him and is just being subtle about it. There were a lot of other bakeries and stores in the capital and few were even just around the Academy and the dormitory. Anne would only be on that side of town because of the post office. Any other shopping or grocery runs can easily be done in the closest stores, yet there they were, wandering around the specific ones near the guild, they wouldn't cross paths with Lina if that wasn't the case.
As for that guild mistress, he already knows what she is scheming. She'll use Anne to lure him in and then dump a lot of her paperwork on him. He won't be able to say 'No' to her without making himself look bad in front of Anne, to which she would surely capitalize. That ploy of hers would indeed work against him, at least for now.
He will get back to her sometime later though. Perhaps some strong laxative on her tea? A Prank like that never gets old.
Anyhow, Hoots seems done with his breakfast so it's time to saddle up. The skies were cloudy like it was about to rain, though it's not like that would be a problem since they can simply fly above the clouds. Perhaps they could do the flight today so that Katarina would stop pestering him? He'll leave the final decision to Anne.
After about 15 minutes of flight, they land on the rooftop of the guild like usual. They have a large aviary here mostly to accommodate Hoots but there are other birds such as falcons, crows, regular-sized owls, and whatever their resident hunter brought in. There are a lot of pigeons too.
After getting off Hoots, the great owl took off the saddle of her own and hung it on the rack. Silvers pet his mount's head a couple of times before leaving the rooftop and entering the guild.
Descending through the stairs towards the main hall, his ears were slowly getting filled with the guild's usual clamor. Not as bad as you won't be able to hear yourself, but there are surely plenty of people talking simultaneously. Parties were discussing their next missions, some were claiming rewards and splitting their earnings and there were also a few taunting here and there. He rarely stays in the actual halls since he has his own office on the third floor, still, he has been working in this place for so long that he is ultimately familiar with the voice of everyone whom are frequent in the place, may they be staff, adventurers, or clients.
The people he finds at the hall today however are strangers in this place. One of them has been here once before but the other six are first-timers.
With a snap of a finger, stacks of wide and warm flat boxes appear in the air and he carries it out all in one hand like a huge serving tray. Looks like they'll be having more company but with Katarina involved, it is no longer surprising.
"M-my apo-lo-logies your Highness, b-but the guild mistress explicitly orders to not be disturbed. If you wish, I can schedule you an appointment." Miss Cleo, one of the guild's actual receptionists, happens to be the unfortunate one to face and answer a familiar blonde prince.
"Please, we're not looking for an appointment." Gerald pleads with a smile that doesn't look delighted at all. "My fiance suddenly went missing and she was last seen talking with the guild mistress. We just to have a quick word with her."
"I'm real-ly sorry-"
"Good morning everyone!" He interrupts and steals everyone's attention "Miss Cleo?"
"Master Silvers!" The receptionist greets him with delight.
"I'll be handling our guest. Why don't you have an early break for now?" He gives her one of the boxes he is carrying. "Here, you can have this one."
"Are this...?" She accepts the box.
"Yes."
"Thank you!" She leaps lightly in joy.
"Go enjoy that in the staff room. Just be wary of bells and try not to put grease everywhere, especially on the couch."
"Of course." She bows to him and he pets her head shortly before letting the girl skips away from the reception desk with her treat.
Silvers put the rest of the box at the side of the table and took Cleos's place. "Ain't it a little bit early to be terrorizing our staff, your Highness?"
"Sir Silvers, fancy meeting you here." Gerald greets him.
"I work here." He retorted "Looking for Lady Claes, I presume?"
"Yes." The rest of the group agreed.
"They are upstairs, in my office."
"Why are they in there?"
"Beats me, " He shrugs "I've been informed that they were already there. I just got here as well." He then looks away from them and turns towards the group of four people passing by "StormCall, catch!" He then tosses one of the boxes into them.
The group quickly drops files, weapons, and other objects they are holding and collectively catches the box as if their life depended on it. "Master Silvers, are these..." One of the group delightedly asks as he opens and peeks inside the box. This causes the appetizing aroma of whatever is inside to leak, enticing everyone in the hall and locking their attention to them. Another member of the group, the one who appears to be their leader smacks the perpetrator's head and closes the box forcibly.
"Yes, congratulations on your promotion to the gold rank. Wish you all the best!"
"Thank you so much!" They all thanked him and he waved back at them. The box was then given to the shortest of the group who vigilantly held and guarded the box above her head while the others collected the stuff they dropped on the floor and left the hall in a hurry with some people going after them.
"My office is on the third floor, third door from the right, the one with a steel door." Ignoring the commotion of the other adventurers protesting about not having a box on their own, Silvers turns back towards the nobilities on his counter " You can go ahead first, I'll swing by the pantry first to get some refreshments." He points them to the stairs before going in a different direction. "Oh! And kindly take the remaining boxes with you. Thanks!"
Earlier that day.
Due to a dilemma about his fiance having dark magic, the third slept way too late last night (or perhaps it was already morning when he managed to catch a wink) and he can't help but think about their options and their repercussions. The answer is obvious. It is no-brainer to determine which is the best course of action but it's not like they have been given much of a selection to begin with. To help Katarina, they either have to turn her to the ministry or to Silvers. Both options would have to take Katarina away from them, but the former appeals to be more like a life sentence, making the latter the best course of action as much as he wants to deny it.
He spent the whole night rummaging for any other options. A way to keep Katarina with him in the Academy putting her at risk. Unfortunately, the night ended up unproductive. At the very least, they manage to convince Anne to not tell the news to her mistress yet. They would like to be the ones to tell her, or at least be present when it does.
He was not alone in this. Everyone appears to be on the same boat as him, despite the lateness of the night, everyone except Katarina was actively responding on the [Mimeo Card]. Thanks to the artifact not being able to keep the message, they were able to discuss without worrying about Katarina reading them all later.
The night ended with a compromise. Since Silvers were able to suppress Katarina's dark magic, they can at least be sure that it will not be active again until something like Raphael's curse happens again. They were only halfway through the school year with about 4 months left before the month-long break for winter. The plan is to keep everything a secret to Katarina until the winter break which she would use to train and control her dark magic. For now, they would either make the most of the limited time they have or find another option.
Perhaps if they were fortunate enough, Katarina would somehow be able to master her dark magic in a month. That would be a miracle but his fiance is known for not conforming with the norms and doing the unexpected, and with Silvers around they have a little hope.
Since it is the weekend, Gerald has the leniency to wake up later than usual. He left a note on his door that he was not to be woken up at the regular time but still have breakfast ready. It was during his meal that he received a critical report from his servant.
First and foremost, he is glad to see in the report that Katarina is no longer ill however, he almost choked on his tea upon reading that his fiance just went missing.
According to the lookouts, Katarina went out to the market way early in the morning and was browsing at a bakery when she and her maid were then approached by the adventurers guild's guild mistress. They had a short conversation to which Katarina appeared to be ecstatic and they followed the guild mistress out. Unfortunately, upon leaving the bakery, his servant lost track of them, stating that 'They simply vanishes'.
Ignoring the rest of his breakfast, he readies himself quickly and rushes towards his fiance's last known location.
Oh, and he has brought his twin with him. He has to be dragged out of bed but he brought Alan with him nonetheless.
The market in question was surprisingly the farthest one from the academy but still in the capital nonetheless. This obviously means that Katarina went out there on purpose as she could have gone to the stores nearby if that wasn't the case. Her favorite bakery (if she was not eating bread and pastries that were made by Maria) is in the market in the complete opposite direction of this one. Then it came to him, there were few notable establishments on that side of the capital. The post office and the adventurers guild. It is very unlikely for Katarina to go to the post office as Gerald can't think of a reason why she would. In the adventurer's guild, on the other hand, there's Silvers (probably). But why would she want to visit him? She could use her smartphone to communicate with him and such.
Unless she already knows everything and she went straight to Silvers for the solution. That would explain why Katarina went there first thing in the morning.
He doubts it though, it was too logical, and again, her fiance is not someone who does things logically. As she knows of her, this could all be just a compilation of whims and coincidence. There is only one way to find out.
Upon arriving at their destination, the first thing the twins find upon exiting the carriage is three very familiar carriages. He already knows where is this going and somehow he is no longer surprised although it annoys him that they were probably the last ones to arrive.
And they are indeed the last.
Upon arriving at the bakery, Mary, Keith, and the Ascart siblings are already there asking the staff. Maria is even there too!
In Maria's case, she doesn't even know that Lady Katarina is missing until she learns it from the others. She happens to be in the area as she has a legitimate business in the post office nearby and she just saw Mary and Sophia on her way back to the academy.
The royal twins were greeted by a banter from Marchioness to which they retorted, resulting in a short back and forth between the three.
Anyhow, the staff confirmed that Katarina and Anne indeed came into their store and that they made contact with the guild mistress of the adventurers guild. Unfortunately, all they have learned from the staff is the confirmation of the report Gerald received from his servants. None of the staff happened to see where they went after they left the store or even eavesdropped on what they had discussed. At the very least, one of the staff points out that the guild mistress and Anne called each other by their name so they could at least say that they were familiar with each other.
Since its mistress was involved, their next destination has been the Adventurer's Guild. Along the way, they ask Keith why he did not know his sister's whereabouts or if Katarina at least told him where they would be going. The Claes heir answers them that his sister left early in the morning and only left a letter for him, so they force him to show through peer pressure.
"Good Morning Keith,
I am going to the market and I'm bringing Anne with me.
I thought of bringing you as well but you were so asleep that you didn't even budge when I pinch your nose and cheek. Anne said you slept way too late last night.
Anyhow, I made you some egg and mayo sandwiches for breakfast and I didn't put cucumbers since you don't like them but I added some extra tomatoes instead.
We should be back by lunch or before evening.
XoXo
Kat "
Those are the contents of the letter, or at least they were until it was 'accidentally' ripped by Mary and incinerated by Gerald.
Upon entering their destination, they were greeted by the sight of people clustered together in groups, wearing attires that were made of either leather or steel. Some carry weapons of various sizes such as swords and daggers and others have bows or arbalest hanging on their back. Compared to what everyone there looks, the gang was looking at a sore thumb and a fish completely out of the water. Even so, the folks barely pay attention to them.
There is one that actually did, but only to yell at them at them for blocking the way.
They have two royals with them and multiple high-class nobles, yet a kid, barely reaching the height of Sophia just yelled at them for blocking the door. A complete 180 of how they would be treated in other establishments.
Before any other mishap could have occurred, a staff recognizes Nicol and greets him which the eldest Ascart acknowledges. After apologizing for the incident, the staff leads them to one of the receptionists' desks for assistance. Gerald takes the initiative to talk to the receptionist as Nicol gets hung back talking on the previous staff.
Unlike the kid from a while ago, the receptionist properly acknowledges their station, yet they are still not getting what they come there for. The lady behind the desk was surely terrified of them. The shaking of her hands and stuttering speeches were evidence of it. Still, she did not fail to enforce the guild mistress's orders to not be disturbed regardless of how much the group asked.
Gerald's smile is starting to crack at some point. Perhaps his head is not at the game today but his patience is starting to get thin. Fortunately, Silvers arrives before the situation worsens and now they are on their way toward his office with Alan ending up carrying some flat boxes.
Before they reach the stairs, they hear the familiar voice of the receptionist earlier along with others and it appears coming from behind the door they were passing by. There appears to be a commotion.
"Step back! They are all mine!" They hear the voice of their previous receptionist yelling.
"C'mon Cleo, surely you can't eat that whole box on your own!" Answers the voice of another lady.
"It has cross-cut slices, surely Master Silvers meant to have that shared with everyone!" added a young man's voice.
"They are given to me as a reward for answering and holding off that scary prince while you too bailed out on me. I would eat every piece of this by myself." Cleo retorts. Gerald twitches upon hearing the comment about him and the rest laughs.
"You'll get fat." Replied by the other lady again.
"I don't give a fuck!" Cleo shouted in return.
"I wonder what's inside these boxes." The fourth prince inquires once they are away "They sure smell good."
"Pizzas" Sophia answered "And they better taste as good as they smell. I only had a small breakfast."
They all look at her puzzled, especially Nicol. They are used to Katarina saying things that are incomprehensible to them from time to time and when Sophia does it, they simply think of it as Katarina rubbing off onto her. As of late, however, the young lady Ascart's words are starting to get suspicious as those words of hers end up being meaningful with some of it would be a complete mystery to them if not for Silvers explaining it.
"You tried them before, Sophia?" Nicol asked his sister.
"Never, though I recall having them from my dreams." His sister explained, "If I am right, the box contains a circular flatbread baked with a variety of toppings."
"Were they any good in your dreams?" Alan asked.
"Yup."
"Then let's hope your dreams are correct. I only had nagging for breakfast."
Gerald scoffs.
They reach the third floor and immediately find the room Silvers had mentioned. It is the only one on the whole floor with a steel door, every other room has a regular door made of polished hardwood.
It is also the only one with an eye. A huge one on top of that.
Initially, it simply looks like some golden engravings on the door, perhaps even an emblem of sorts. There was one small problem though...
There was no handle.
Gerald steps in to inspect the door closer and as he gets close, he is met with a big iris looking straight at him. The door seemingly wakes up and its iris quickly moves to look at each of them one by one.
Maria was terrified of it and that door would surely haunt her in her nightmares from now on. She wants to scream but her very voice froze and clumps in her throat and all she is able to let out is a low gurgling sound. Mary appears to be in the same boat too, immediately retreating behind Alan who instinctively covers his fiance with his hands, dropping the pizza boxes in the process. Nicol does the same to his sister, Gerald is quick to grab the handle of his sword and Keith is about to punch the door.
Sophia is surprised as well but appears to be handling the situation better than the rest, though she is staring at the door like she is looking for something else to come.
The eye then looks behind them shortly before proceeding to close itself. They turn to check what the eye was looking at and find Silvers approaching, pushing a cart with a tea set and the boxes that are supposed to be on the floor while silently laughing at them. "Payback for scaring our staff." He said to them.
Breaking out of their wariness, they can only pout or glare at him as they acknowledge that they were pranked.
"It was only Prince Gerald that scared the receptionist!" Protested Maria.
"True, but you could have stopped him from doing so, or have someone else to do the talking. Instead, you relied on that he would successfully pressure Cleo to submission." He answered "Also, you all came together. How am I supposed to isolate him without being suspicious? Besides, it ain't that much. Look, Lady Ascart seems to be doing well."
"I was also terrified at first, then I expected that there would be tentacles that would attack us but nothing came so it put me at ease," Sophia replied.
"eh?" Her friends and his siblings mutter, looking at her once again with either a weirded-out or wondering expression.
"Huh?" Sophia mutters back.
"Yeah... I only put an eye on the door, no tentacles... sorry." Silvers replied. "An~yway, I have a lot of stuff inside that may prove to be unfamiliar to you. Just don't touch anything unless you're in for whatever and just a heads up for a little culture shock." He walks towards the door and they step aside to let him through.
The door opens on its own as soon as Silvers is standing in front of it. Instead of turning, the door panel slides sideways into the wall, an oddity that went completely unnoticed by the gang as their attention they were instantly captivated by something else.
As soon as the door makes the smallest gap, the music from inside the room spills out, blessing the gang once more with Katarina's singing voice along with intricate music, greeting them. But unlike how it was yesterday, the current music is way louder. Also, the song they are hearing now is in Sorcein dialect.
Katarina wakes up parched and slightly dizzy. She grudgingly gets up and looks around, finding herself inside her dorm room and she cannot remember how she got back in here in the first place. She will worry about it later though as she would prefer to prioritize the dryness of her throat and she can't even feel her own saliva in her mouth. Thankfully, there was a pitcher of water and a glass on the nightstand beside her bed. She skips pouring herself a glass and decides to drink straight from the pitcher. There was no one else in the room and she was extremely thirsty to mind her decorum.
She drank the whole pitcher straight and it surely hit the spot, solving not only her thirst but her dizziness as well. Now she feels lively and refreshed, or at least as fresh as it can be. With her ailments out of the way, only then that she realize that she is drenched in sweat. At least that answers why she was so thirsty but now she wants to take a shower.
Right, they don't have showers in this world so she would have a bath instead.
Checking on her phone, the clock says it's not even 3 AM yet. Usually, she would just go back to sleep but for once she doesn't feel like doing so. She feels lively today, and the idea of going back to bed with all this sweat sticking to her didn't sound comfortable at all.
She goes to her closet and takes a clean set of delicates and a new pair of pajamas. It's too early to wear a dress and she can always just change later. She then makes her way to the bathroom to draw herself a bath and surely, she can do it on her own. It may not be as easy as it was back in her previous life but it's still manageable nonetheless. No need to call Anne, her onee-sama should still be asleep at this time.
She bathed fast but uneventful. The water was cold but not to the point beyond what she could tolerate though she still bathed in a hurry. Regardless, the bath brought her the great sensation of freshness.
After donning her clothes, she steps out of the bathroom with the towel wrapped around her head. Instead of going back to her room, she settles on one of the couches in the living room and lays on it. Checking on her phone again, only about 30 minutes have passed since she woke up and there is still plenty of time before the sun rises for her to visit her field. Without anything to do at the moment, she mindlessly fiddles with her phone while resuming the thought she had postponed a little while ago.
'How did I get back here?'
The last thing she remembers was leaving the examination room and heading for the student council room to wait for her friends. She finished the exam way faster than she had anticipated. She is confident that Studious did great and every second of sleep she sacrificed for last-minute studying has paid well. Now, if she could just know the results. It should have been released already, a few hours after the exam...
She can't remember anything after reaching the student council room. Anything after that were dreams of where she was playing Final Fantasy 7 which later on escalated to the point where she is one of the main characters. There were some blurred recollections where she was 'Tifa' having a romantic moment with Cloud and also a part where she tried to punch Sephiroth in the face.
Gerald probably carried her home. She recalls something vivid of her laying atop of him.
Probably...She really can't remember.
Her pondering is then interrupted by the arrival of her Onee-sama who looks at her like she has seen a ghost.
"Lady Katarina!" And she calls her worriedly.
"Am I in trouble?" Katarina quickly asked.
"You're awake!" Anne immediately approaches her. "Are you alright, Milady? Why is there a towel on your head?"
"I just took a bath, I'm drying my hair." She answered, "Am I in trouble?"
"Why didn't you call me!"
"It's 3 AM in the morning, I thought you were still asleep... Am I in trouble?"
"Well, I'm very much awake!" Anne then embraces her. She seems extremely worried. "Are you alright milady? Are you feeling well?"
"I'm alright Nee-sama." She hugs her back "Why are you worried? Did I do something?"
"YOU. HAVE. A. FEVER. A very high FEVER! You passed out in the council room."
"EEEEHHHH! Wait, that explains why I can't remember anything after reaching the student council room. "
"Everyone was worried, Milady. Lord Nicol carried you back here!" Anne breaks out of their embrace and goes behind her. She then unwraps the towel from her head and dries her hair with a different towel.
"Oh!" She freezes out of embarrassment. She was expecting Keith or perhaps even Gerald but Nicol? Thank God she was already unconscious by then or she would passed out in his arms otherwise. She can hardly keep herself when being close to him, much less being carried. "Was my fever really that bad? I'm actually feeling great right now."
"It was really bad, you were delirious and you punched Sir Silvers when he was healing you."
"I did what?!"
"Don't mind it, milady." Onee-sama dismisses it. "He was not harmed. He easily caught your punch with his hand"
"That's..good." She let out a sigh of relief. It could have turned ugly if it was Maria who was healing her and if she did that, she could have unknowingly triggered a doom flag.
One thing she caught on to is that it was Shiro-san that healed her and not Maria.
"Nee-sama..."
"Yes, Milady?"
"You said that it was Shiro-san that has treated me."
"Yes, milady."
"Why?" She inquired. "I'm sure Maria could have done it instead. She is good with light magic, or I could have been brought to the clinic instead." Katarina finds it odd that the case has even reached Silvers. Not that she isn't grateful but she is definitely embarrassed.
Also, they had a deal that she could only go on that flight if she were in good health. Had she been healed by another person or means, she could have hidden the fact that she got ill. That will not work now since Silvers knows already that she got sick.
"We-well... Your fever was too complicated for Miss Campbell to fully tre-treat so she and Lord Nicol were only able to administer first aid. Sir Silvers happened to be with me when I've been informed you that you were ill and he presented himself to heal you." Katarina notices the odd stuttering in Anne's voice and slight avertion of gaze. Perhaps she has really made her Onee-sama worried.
Maria is very gifted with light magic so if something happens to be beyond her skill then it's definitely something worrisome.
"I made everyone worried again..." She said in remorse. "I made you worried again. "
"Yes, yes you did. Please don't make a habit of it, Milady." Anne lightly scolded her mistress.
"I didn't mean to-"
"We know, Milady." She cuts her off and embraces her again from behind while patting her head. "Just please be more careful from now on."
"Of course, thank you, nee-sama." She just stayed still there and thanked her while stopping herself from sniffling. It doesn't seem to be the right time to cry right now for she is not sad, but grateful. "Nee-sama..."
"Yes, Milady?"
"I won't be going on that ride with Hoots tomorrow."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes." She nods "I already reached the quota of making everyone worried, enough for a lifetime." She smiled, albeit bitterly but she did her best to smile nonetheless.
"Are you absolutely sure about this, Lady Katarina?"
"Uhumm!" She nods again in confirmation "Besides, I probably failed the exams anyway. I recall the test being easier than I expected but perhaps it's because I was feverish when I took it and I'm just being delirious. I doubt that I even passed the exam. "
"But you did pass."
"Huh?!" She is surprised, not only because of the news that she passed but also...
She made it into the top 10! There was a small hexagonal holographic screen in front of them showing a photo of the board containing the results of the examination. This means that Studious really did rock those tests!
Another thing that also surprises her is that...
"You can make holograms?!" Her voice was slightly raised upon asking.
"Yes, but Sir Silvers warned me about showing this to ot-..."
"Shiro-san teach you that spell?!"
"I'm not actually the one that is making it. It is being projected from my glasses!" Anne points out her eyeglasses and the light projecting the hologram is indeed coming from it.
"Oh!" She was corrected but still amazed nonetheless. Since those glasses are from Shiro-san, then it's no wonder that it has a lot of wonderful functions in it. "What else can it do?"
"It does the same thing as the phone, only that its display is shown at my eyes directly so I can easily see them, and I can control it with my thoughts so there's no need for me to touch the..." Anne didn't get to finish her explanation as she saw her mistress change her expression from a wide smile of amazement to an envious pout. "Uhmm... Milady?"
"So that's why I have never seen your new phone even though Shiro-san said he gave you a new one. It was on your face all this time."
"... You're correct?"
"I'm not envious..." Katarina obviously lied. It's not like she doesn't like her phone anymore. It was already a miracle that she even had one despite it not fitting on this world's fantasy theme and she was grateful for both Anne and Shiro-san about that. She also understands that it was just as expected that her Shiro-san would give her Onee-sama a better device since he is courting her.
Still, she can't help but feel a little envious.
"Why didn't you tell me your glasses can do that?"
"You never asked, Milady so I thought you already knew just like how you already knew that phone. I've been wearing them since I got them. "
Katarina could only break her pout into a sigh. She has a smartphone and she has to be content with that. (One of the Katarina in the council brought the idea of secretly snapping some spicy photos of Anne offering it to Shiro-san for the same set of smartglasses but she was immediately whacked by the 'Judge' Katarina with her gavel. That Katarina was then tied to her chair with her mouth sealed with a tape.)
"Anyway, Milady, since you won't be coming to the flight tomorrow, I would like to take some time off."
"Sure..." Katarina immediately agrees "If I may ask, do you have something scheduled tomorrow?" She asked genuinely. Throughout the whole time, she knew of her Onee-sama, this was the very first time that she asked her for some time off.
"I'll be going to that flight with Hoots." Katarina was startled. She turns into her Onee-sama looking betrayed beyond any doubt. "Since you won't be coming, It'll just be the four of us." She replied in an apologetic tone. " Too bad Sir Silvers said that he already prepared a wider saddle for Hoots."
"WAIT, FOUR? Who are the other two?"
"Lord Nicol and Lady Sophia, but he has a different great owl for them to ride."
"aaagguuugggg..." Katarina could only gurgle in regret. After her emotional declaration, she will not be able to take back her words, and now, Anne is teasing her about it. But she thought her Onee-sama was against going on that trip!
And Sophia and Nicol were coming too! When did they ask Shiro-san to come as well?
First, the smart glasses, now the flight with Hoots. Her Onee-sama is surely doing it on purpose...
"So... may I take a short leave for tomorrow afternoon milady?" Anne withholds her chuckle as she continues to watch her mistress despair. It may be a little petty on her side but this is all the payback she would get from Katarina for how much she made her worry. To be clear, she was just jumping on the chance for she did not plan any of it. In fact, the escapade for tomorrow was already set especially since Katarina not only passed the exam but even made it into the top 10 (a feat they never expected her to achieve) and surely, she would need a reward for that.
Also, the flight was not as frightening as she expected. Sure it could be dangerous but from her firsthand experiences of flying yesterday, (Both riding Hoots and being carried by Silvers as they descended to the ground) It didn't seem that...bad. Back then, her mind was filled with worry and she was focused on returning to her mistress's side at all costs, hence she easily agreed to ride Hoots and even joined him when he jumped off the avian from hundreds of feet in the air. Now that the tension has passed and she has calmed down, she can now asses that what she has done was terribly crazy.
But it wasn't so bad. Also, she didn't feel any danger at all, even when they jumped off Hoots and descended rapidly to the ground, she didn't even feel any fear, at least not for herself.
However, she is ruling this as caused by her mind being focused on her mistress's wellbeing.
Yes, there's no other reason why she felt completely safe all those times. She simply did not perceive the peril of the situation as she was focused on something else.
That's it, and the only reason she agreed to go to the flight tomorrow is because her Lady wanted to, not because she wanted to experience it again.
Yes, that would be all of it. She would not ask it on her own and she is not interested on doing it again.
Going back to her mistress who is now whimpering like a dog that has its tail stepped on...
"It's fine, Milady, you can still come with us." Anne gives in. Of course, she cannot be petty against her mistress for long.
"...Really?"
"Of course, everything is set and ready for tomorrow, except..."
""
"Well... Remember Sir Silvers's condition? You have to be in perfect health."
"Great!" Her mistress quickly bounces back to her merry self, standing on the couch with one of her arms on her waist and the other pointing at the ceiling. "Then we'll sure be going tomorrow." She then jumps to her "THANK YOU, NEE-SAMA!"
"MILADY!" She yells in surprise but is still able to catch her in an embrace, spinning due to the momentum "You should stop doing this, Lady Katarina, you're no longer that small, and I can hardly catch you now."
"I know but I can't help it." Katarina replied cheerfully "I just reaaaaaaally feel that I love you right now, Onee-sama."
She exhales deeply and smiles. There's no way she can refute against that. "I love you too, Milady." She replied.
Every one of Katarina's friends would kill to have Katarina say those words to them yet here she is, receiving it wholeheartedly from her mistress. They can all drown in jealousy and she would not feel bad about it, not even a bit.
"Now please, you just been through a fever. You should still be resting by now."
"About that, I actually have something in mind..."
Her mistress then states that she wants to give something to her friends. Something to get back to them for always looking after her, especially after all the trouble yesterday and in the last week. However, given the nature of her friends, lady Katarina believes that it would be difficult to find appropriate gifts for them (She won't believe that her friends would appreciate literally anything as long as it's a genuine gift from her). Therefore, she wants to look around the market later this morning to find either something or at least an idea of what to give to them.
It's not that she was against the idea but she still tried to dissuade her mistress, at least on the part of having to go right away later. Emphasizing to her that she really needs to rest instead as she has just been through a serious illness.
Keyword, tried.
Her mistress refutes and points out that Silvers and everyone did a great job of taking care of her and that she was in perfect health right now. Her lady then jumps off the couch with a backflip to prove her point.
Startled, Anne felt like almost having a heart attack and she almost yelled at her mistress in shock.
Thankfully, Lady Katrina lands perfectly on her feet with both arms raised in the air, ''Tadaa! See? My body even felt lighter, I feel great!''
Anne let out a defeated sigh. Lady Katarina just said that she was done making her worry and she just pulled that stunt. Well, at least as the silver lining, it is reassuring to see her mistress back to being energetic and joyful.
They end up in a compromise. Her lady will return to her bed and rest (and by that, she meant a complete bed rest, no lollygagging around). She would then get her at 7 AM for breakfast and they will depart at 8 AM.
She also makes Katarina promise not to make any stunt like backflipping again but she's not counting on it.
After tucking her mistress back on her bed, Anne can finally get on the bed of her own. She had very little rest since the afternoon and had short naps on the same couch where she found her mistress just a while ago. Coincidentally, she just happens to go to the restroom when Katarina wakes up and does her business so they end up missing each other.
Taking one last look at the time (Which is about a quarter before 4 am), she takes her glasses off and puts them on her nightstand before dropping herself on her bed. She did not bother changing into her sleeping clothes and just went to sleep right away. Hopefully, she would still get about 3 hours of sleep if she were lucky.
Later that morning, Anne goes back to her mistress's room and finds Lady Katarina fully dressed already. After a quick breakfast and a short visit to Keith who was still deeply asleep, (they simply made him some breakfast and left him a letter). They take their carriage and make their way towards the furthest market in the Capital. To be specific, this is the part of the city where she goes every once a week to mail her reports.
The one where the post office is, and coincidentally (or not) the Adventurers guild as well.
She was here just yesterday.
"... I'm already familiar with the stalls from the markets nearby. I am hoping to find something new.." Lady Katarina reasoned why they had to go the furthest.
They browse into different stores, from fabrics, different varieties of trinkets and jewelry, to even weapon stores and hardware. Her mistress hides her phone inside the folded handkerchief and she is using it to sneakly take photos of the things that caught her interest. Nevertheless, they are yet to buy anything.
They happen to pass by a particular bakery which she happens to be a frequent a customer (courtesy of Silvers). The displays surely catch her mistress's attention and since they have been walking around for a little over an hour now, Lady Katarina decides to take a break and have some bites as well.
The staff gives her a look of familiarity. She gives them an awkward smile in return and thankfully, they seemed to understand and did not say anything. It also helps that her mistress was fully focused on the pastries on display to even notice the subtle interactions.
"Ms. Sherry!" She then heard someone yell her name with quite enthusiasm.
Not that she wasn't expecting anyone, ever since that fateful day that she accepted Silver's courtship, she had never been in this part of the city alone as Silvers would always turn up from some corner and accompany her. It was unnerving at first, but being with him was grea- not bad, and she was already used to it.
However, it is not Silvers who has just called her just now.
"Miss Lina, good morning!" She greets her. Her mistress also turns her attention to the guild mistress.
"Hey!" Lina greets her back. She then turns to her charge and greets her as well "Oh! You must be Lady Claes..."
"Please just call me Katarina, Lady Claes sounds like my mother." Lady Katarina extends her hand to her.
"Of course, " Lina accepts and introduces herself as well."I am Lina, I work at nearby Adventurer's Guild."
"It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Oh no, it's actually my honor to finally meet you. Miss Sherry was so adamant about keeping her job as your maid so I'm really curious about how well of mistress you are. "
"No, it's actually Anne who is always taking care of me. She has always been as far as I remember. I say that she's the best maid ever!" Lady Katarina praises her. It was a little embarrassing but she was surely glad about it.
"I agree, Ms. Sherry is surely remarkable. I asked her to work for us in the guild but she rejected my offer."
Anne then felt a hand grasp her arm. Lady Katarina is holding her firmly.
Lina laughs at Katarina's possessiveness.
"Please, I'm not going to steal your maid. She already rejected my offer yesterday." Her mistress's grip loosens slightly but she is still holding her. "By the way," Miss Lina then turns back at her "have you seen Sir Silvers?"
"You know Shiro-san?" Lady Katarina asked.
"Shiro-Who?"
"Our apologies, my mistress means Sir Silvers."
"I've never heard such an epithet or title before" Lina exclaims, looking confused.
"It's more of a nickname than a title, actually."
"Is that so?" Lina has a confused look "About how I know Sir Silvers, well, we both work in the same place."
"Oh! Right! The adventurers guild. " Her lady scratches the back of her head and laughs.
"If I may ask, you must be close to him for you to call him in such a monicker, yes?"
"I wouldn't say that we're that close. It's just, that I did not know his name when we first met so I started calling him that. The name was stuck here afterward " Lady Katarina points her head "Whenever I think of his name and that's that."
Miss Lina and Lady Katarina both laugh at the story.
"So, have you seen him?"
"I'm afraid not, Miss Lina." She answered.
"Oh my! I was hoping that he was with you. He rushes to accompany you whenever you're in town."
"Really?!" Her lady enthusiastically asked, "You never told me that you were going on dates."
"They are not dates, milady-"
"Potato-PotAto nee-sama" Her lady deadpans. "It's alright, you don't have to explain, but you should have at least told me."
"Milady!"
"Speaking of which, , will you be visiting his office later today?" Ms. Lina asked. The guild mistress was smiling, grinning even, but Anne knew that there was some sort of scheme behind those smiles. At the very least, it doesn't feel malicious, or at least not directed at her but Ms. Lina is definitely planning something.
"I'm afraid not, I'm here to accompany milady." She turns to her mistress.
"Is it alright for us to visit?" Her lady then asked.
"Of course!" Ms. Lina gladly agreed "In fact, we can go now and wait for him in his office. I bet that he will come as soon as possible if Ms. Sherry is waiting there."
"Ms. Lina!"
"Right! "Lady Katarina pumps her fist. " Please lead the way."
"Milady!"
"Let's go!"
Thus the Guild mistress leaves the bakery with a very excited Lady Katarina in tow. Of course, as per her duty dictates, Anne follows them, leaving the bakery with the staff confused and mildly annoyed for they had not bought anything.
"That door isn't like that yesterday," Anne commented. She is very sure that the door in front of her right now was just a regular wooden door yesterday. Now it was a steel door with elaborate engravings.
"Perfect!, Just perfect!" Ms. Lina exclaims. "May you please open the door, ?" The guild mistress then requested. Before they went to Silvers's room, they beelined first to the guild mistress' own office to grab two piles of papers. Lady Katarina volunteered to carry the other pile but, insisted on carrying both.
Anne cannot find a reason not to follow Lina's request, but her intuition is saying that there's something very odd on that door. First and foremost, where is the knob? Why is there no handle on the door?
The answer is that it doesn't need one.
The engravings on the door suddenly move. It turns out to be an eye and it is now looking straight at her. She steps back in surprise. Her mistress was in the same predicament. On instinct, she quickly stands in front of her mistress to shield her with the said mistress peeking from her side.
The eye turns its gaze to her mistress, then to Miss Lina, and finally back at her before closing and returning to its initial state. Afterward, the door then slides to the side, inside of the wall, and cool wind coming from inside the room greets them.
"It's airconditioned!" Lady Katarina exclaims. She runs first inside the room towards the box that was blowing the cold air and taps it with her fingers.
"Let's go!" Ms. Lina follows and quickly heads to Silvers's desk to drop the papers.
"Anne, come in! You're letting the cool air out!" Her lady called.
"Yes, my apologies."
A few steps as she got inside, she sensed the door move behind her. It slides back from inside the wall and closes. She panics and quickly turns around to check the door again. She has to make sure that they are not trapped inside.
They weren't. The door automatically slides open again as soon as she gets near it. She sighs in relief before turning back to her mistress who is now sitting on Silvers's chair and...spinning.
"Milady!" She immediately goes to her side and stops her. Lady Katarina looks at her and deadpans. She then kicks the floor and slides away towards the different display cabinets in the room.
"Are you sure you're mistress has not been here before?" Ms. Lina whispers an inquiry "She seems... familiar with the objects and trinkets in this room." They both watch as she tinkers with one of the displays.
"Well..." Anne doesn't know how to answer that as she herself knows what Ms. Lina meant from their experience about the smartphone that Silvers gifted to them. "I'm sure she's never been here before, but she knew Sir Silvers way before me so perhaps he may have taught her something?" She not lying as Lady Katarina has indeed met Silvers before her but it still doesn't explain why her mistress seems familiar with his artifacts.
"By the way, may you please contact Sir. Silvers for me?" Thankfully, Ms. Lina does not push her inquiry further but she brings up a request instead. "He did give you something so you can talk to him instantaneously, right?"
Again, Anne doesn't know how to answer. Silvers warned her to avoid revealing his glasses to others as much as possible.
"Your silence just confirmed that he did. Don't worry, I'm not gonna ask what is it, but please tell him that we're here. My means of communication to him involved some psychic hawks from the roof and while they work, they are not... immediate and we may end up waiting here a while."
She nods in agreement, there's no point in lying right now since Ms. Lina was already aware that she had something. Besides, she should have informed him that they were technically barging into his office.
Seeing Hoots eat was both mesmerizing and terrifying, given that the size of that meat was barely the same size as hers. Does this mean that Hoots can eat a person if she wants to? Anne could only ponder on those thoughts.
Anyway, Silvers said that he was on his way here. Also, it appears that Lady Katarina was contacting him as well. Speaking of her mistress, she suddenly goes to a specific cabinet and takes an artifact that looks like a smartphone but way wider and proceeds to use it.
Then some craziness happens.
First, one of the walls shifts. Some part of the wall slid to the side just like the door and in its place now is a huge square black mirror. Upon closer look, it was a solid screen, once again like the ones on the smartphone but this one is way much bigger.
Lady Katarina just looks at it briefly then turns her attention back to the large smartphone and continues tapping the screen. That large smartphone probably is the controller for whatever Lady Katarina is doing.
is just standing at the side, watching.
The light in the room dims, in contrast, the screen on the wall shines, displaying what appears to be text similar to that neither Anne nor Lina could read. At the very least, the text seems familiar to the maid, she was very sure that it was the same characters her mistress used to write long ago and the ones used in her super secret diary. The display switches to other scripts a couple of times before it finally changes into Sorcein that they can all read.
The text simply says:
"Select Language: Sorcein"
The script blinks a couple of times before vanishing completely. Afterward, the screen then displays different beautiful views and venues starting from natural landscapes to man-made structures. Along with it are list of short texts paired with different numbers.
"The Karaoke machine is set, now I just have to find the mic..." Lady Katarina goes back to the cabinet searching for something. After a short while, she returns with a couple of short metal rods with one end covered with spherical foam.
"Mic test, 1,2,3 lalalala" Her mistress spoke to the rod yet her voice resounded loudly inside the room. She then continues to tinker with the control panel (She would now refer to the large smartphone as such until she figured out its actual name) and the screen displays a rectangular bar that is shrinking, and then she speaks with the rod again. The sound is now less loud than the first one but it still resounded around the room with some echo. Lady Katarina repeats it a couple more times until she appears to be satisfied with the sound.
Some numbers were then written on the top of the display, and then the whole list vanished. In exchange, they then start to hear music playing.
"I wonder if... IT HAS THEM!" Lady Katarina happily exclaims " Both original and English covers too? Cool!"
[AN: for this story, let's assume that English and Sorcien are the same language. It's just being called Sorcein here instead of English.]
remains on the side, silently watching, observing Lady Katarina and the changes in the room's setting with obvious interest, and even taking notes in a small notebook.
They don't seem to be in any trouble. At the very least, she can safely say that they have permission from Silvers for everything that Lady Katarina has done to the room.
"Lady Katarina, what are these things?" Anne figures that it would be the best time to ask her mistress about what is happening before she zones out tinkering on that control panel. So far, nothing bad has happened, but it doesn't sit well with her that she has no idea what's happening at all.
'Alan would love this, and Mary too!' is the first thought Katarina has upon setting up the Karaoke machine. Those two love music.
The tablet she is holding has general control of the room including the lights, sound system, and even the air conditioning. If it wasn't for the professional design of the room the desk on the corner, she would have thought that this is not an office but an entertainment studio like those she used to rent with A-chan in her previous life.
Well, she is not with A-chan right now, and since her Nee-sama is inquiring, she has to explain the whole Karaoke culture to them (Ms. Lina is in the room too).
"But you can play songs with your phone as well..." Onee-sama commented.
Actually, she should have expected that Nee-sama would not get it so easily. The musical culture of this world and her previous one is way different. Pop is pretty much nonexistent and the only existing ones are either orchestral, opera, or folk songs.
There's only one thing to do now.
She has to demonstrate.
There is one problem right now, and that is most of the songs she knows are in Japanese.
While she was thoroughly awestruck by whatever magic Silvers made this thing off that it has songs from the earth, she still couldn't sing the songs she would usually sing on these occasions. First and foremost, her current audience will not understand a word of it. Silvers would, but he is not here. Also, it would surely cause a lot of questioning later.
Fortunately, Sorcein and English are the same languages with the only difference being that Sorcein uses different scripts and characters in writing. With that said, she can sing English songs.
There's a minor hiccup for that.
She doesn't know many English songs. Those few that were familiar to her were those little ones she could hear from her Nii-san's (she means her brother in previous life) room.
There is also the option of singing an English cover of the songs she knows. With this one, at least she was familiar with the tune and just had to watch over the lyrics on the screen.
Aight, she has decided.
She stops the current song, enters a new one, and grabs the mic.
It's been more than 8 years since she last did this, and she is even in a different body now, but there's only one way to figure out if she still has it in her.
Anne didn't even notice that her jaw had dropped in amazement.
The music starts like usual but it suddenly switches to a fast and upbeat tune and she watches her mistress sway left and right following its rhythm. Her attention is focused on the screen as she readied the 'microphone' close to her lips.
After a few moments of waiting, text appears on the screen along with the countdown. As the number reaches zero, lady Katarina starts singing.
[Play: Otome no Route wa Hitotsu English Cover by Megami33 or Jenny]
Lady Katarina did not simply sing, it was a performance. The little swaying that she was doing turns into an actual dance, matching the flow and feeling of the music and representing the lyrics of the song. A song that she has never heard before yet her mistress sings is it masterfully.
She cannot take her attention away and she can only gasp in awe.
She knows that her mistress is wonderful yet this just dials her adoration up to eleven and perhaps even more. It was a short song, yet a remarkable show. It ends with Lady Katarina doing one final spin and putting one of her hands to her hips and the other raising the mic into the air as the final beat drops.
And then a short silence.
"You turned my office into a Karaoke booth, really?" She then hears Silvers's comments as he enters the room and pushes a cart with him. "I was expecting that you would go for the game consoles instead."
Along with Silvers are Lord Keith and the rest of Lady Katarina's friends who share her sentiments. They all could only stare at Lady Katarina in awe. As for Anne, has Silvers hadn't said anything, she would not even noticed that the door opened and they had arrived.
"Shiro-san, Everyone! You were watching all this time!" Lady Katarina exclaimed. "You should have said something."
"Of course, we won't, you're mid-song, plus the music is loud. Good presentation though, you scored 89, although...your ancestral accent is showing." He points to the screen which indeed shows the number he said.
"It's a cover song so I'm using the correct accent! Wait, are those pizzas?"
"Yep. Go check on your friends while we prepare the table. They appear to be in shock." He then points to the gang with his thumb.
"Kay!" She skips past Silvers and onto her friends.
Seeing Silvers arrange the contents of the tray on the coffee table, Anne snaps out of her daze and rushes to help.
"I'd take that you enjoyed your wait?"
"I did." She answers. "I never knew that milady sing like that."
"You never saw her sing before?"
"She never did. She just hums from time to time but never sings a song."
"Really now? That was too good for someone without any practice."
"I would have recorded it had I known."
"It's fine, I'm sure she'll be singing again a couple more times soon."
Once finished preparing the table, Silvers goes to his desk and inspects the papers that Lina has brought.
"Why are these scratch papers on my desk?"
"They are not scratch papers, they are reports..."
"Then why they were blank?" He took a random one from the bunch and showed it to Lina "Look."
"They are?" Lina rushes in to check, flipping some of the papers as well. "I grabbed the wrong pile!" The guild mistress then dashes out of the room, passing through the baffled group of teenagers.
"Everyone Hurry! Get inside before she comes back!" Silvers ordered. The gang nodded and obeyed.