Chapter 29: Chapter Twenty-Eight – Adelita

Knocking on the door to Adelita’s bedroom I couldn’t help but feel a bit hesitant. Other than clinging to me in the caverns due to her claustrophobia, Adelita and I really hadn’t come into contact much. She was still an unknown to me, and that bothered me.

Kyra had once told me that her and Adelita remain conscious and aware of what the other is doing. Which meant, even if their shared body was in Kyra’s possession at the time, Adelita had to have seen herself kissing me. The more I thought about it, the weirder I felt because of it.

What if Adelita grows to hate me, and every time Kyra is in charge she has to see herself kissing someone she dislikes?

I didn’t want that, and today I’d take the first step in making sure that it never happened. Today Adelita and I were going to go on a date, assuming I could talk her out of her bedroom first.

Opening the door Adelita stood before me, gazing at the empty floor between us. “Y-yes, M-master Berni—?” Adelita stuttered before biting her tongue trying to say my name.

“I was hoping to spend some time with you today. Is that ok?”

Adelita nodded before moving out of the way, a silent request for me to enter her room.

Stepping past Adelita I smiled at how different the room looked, despite it being shared with Kyra. The board games and tinkering tools had all been put away on various shelves, and in their place were a variety of stuffed animals. Surprisingly the desk the girl’s shared was currently occupied by spare fabric, some needles, and twine.

“You make the stuffed animals yourself?” I asked turning to gaze at Adelita. Surprised that despite their individuality she and Kyra still shared a creative trait.

Adelita nodded in reply before closing her door and walking past me to sit down on her bed. I watched her fidget for a bit, debating how best to engage with her. Until the fabric on her desk caught my eye. It was the same color as the fur of my ears, bits of it were even died to get the proper fade.

“Adelita, you wouldn’t happen to be making a stuffed animal version of me, would you?” I smiled as Adelita mumbled her reply, far too softly for even my massive ears to pick up. “A little louder please, I didn’t hear you.”

“M-master, is cute.”

Smiling I stepped forward to pet Adelita’s head. “You’re cute too ya know. Have you made a stuffed version of yourself?”

Gazing up at me with a befuddled expression, Adelita simply stared at me for a moment. Then she gazed at her stuffed animals. “I don’t… have ears.”

I couldn’t help but tilt my head in confusion at her statement. Without even thinking about it I reached out to grab the tip of Adelita’s ear. “Of course you have ears!”

With a startled yelp Adelita knocked my hand away before scooting down her bed, away from me. Her cheeks flushed with a hint of pink as she looked away from me. Refusing to even gaze at the floor in my direction. “Cute ears,” She grumbled, “I don’t have cute ears.”

Now I’ve done it, she’s starting to sound upset. Still, that’s probably the most she’s ever said to me in a single sentence. Progress right?

“I could give you cute ears if you wanted.” I never mastered sewing enough to create the elaborate cosplays of my dreams, but I could make a cat-ear headband without issue. Though perhaps little round and fuzzy bear ears would be better, given the sheer number of bears in Adelita’s lineup.

“How?” Adelita turned to stare at me, her curiosity getting the better of her.

“Simple,” I pointed towards the pile of unused fabric. “Lend me some fabric and thread. It shouldn’t take me too long.”

“No!” Adelita cried covering her head with her hands. “You’re not sewing anything onto me!”

“I’m not Dr. Frankenstein!” I retorted. “They’ll be hair clips.” 

“Fran…ken…stein?”

“It’s a story from my world about a mad doctor who makes a monster by sewing various parts together. Sorry, I should’ve known you wouldn’t get the reference.”

“Okay… If they’re just hairclips.”

“Alright, give me a second.” I ran up to my bedroom and pulled a couple of hair clips from a jewelry box Otrea had left behind. I figured if they were left behind, they probably meant nothing to her.

Making my way back to Adelita’s room I set out to sew a pair of identical bear ears, with a hairclip as their base. Given how simple the design was it didn’t take me long until Adelita’s cute ears were finished.

“Okay, now just stay still and I’ll clip these in your hair.” I smiled carefully positioning each ear in Adelita’s hair for ultimate effect. “There, now you can look at yourself in the mirror.”

Standing from the bed, Adelita made her way to a mirror set upon her desk, her eyes widening as she stared into it. “You made me… a teddy bear?”

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“Yup! You’re very cute, honestly, this is my best work ever.”

“Thank you, Master Bernice.”

“You could call me Bernie if you want. I don’t care about titles.”

“Okay. Master Bernie.” Adelita smiled.

“Well… that’s not really what I meant.” I chuckled. “Do you think you’d be willing to spend a little extra time with me today Adelita? I haven’t really explored the manor’s gardens, and I noticed a gazebo out there from the windows. I thought maybe you and I could take a date there, maybe get to know each other a little better. Of all the girls in the manor I’ve spent the least amount of time with you.” 

“Wouldn’t you rather… Kyra?”

“Eh? I’ll take Kyra there some other time. Today is about you.” I reached my hand out for Adelita to hold. “Is that ok?”

“Okay,” Adelita took my hand, the gentle coolness of her palm against mine oddly soothing.

I led Adelita out of her room and down to the staircase which led to the first floor. “Does your claustrophobia not affect you in the manor’s halls?”

“Hallways are wide enough here.”

“Ah, they don’t seem that different to me.” I mused. “Still I’m glad you’re not scared to leave your room.”

The two of us headed out a rear entrance and into rows of flowers. If overgrown they’d have become a floral interpretation of a hedge maze. Luckily for us the manor’s magic kept them at the proper height, allowing us to see the path ahead of us. Plucking a little white flower with five long bunny-ear shaped petals I slipped it behind Adelita’s ear, before we stepped into the gazebo.

“Even here, Lady Otrea never fails to impress me.” I gazed around the gazebo, awestruck. While from the outside it looked big enough for four people to sit around comfortably. Once we stepped inside the illusion gave way and instead we found ourselves in a massive garden pagoda. Complete with decorative plates, fountains of clean water, and racks of unopened wine bottles.

“I’ve never been here.” Adelita mumbled, brushing her fingers along an iconography of vines on a table, made through burning the wood. “It’s so pretty.”

“I wonder if this is more Lady Otrea just doing things to do them, or if perhaps there was someone she wanted to show off to?”

“She used to bring Princess Ellione to the garden a lot.” Adelita supplied. “She stopped seeing random women after meeting the Princess too.”

“The Princess she was supposed to have killed?”

“Yeah.”

“Wow,” I gazed around the room for a moment before settling on the wine racks. “Can you drink wine?”

“I cannot consume any food or drink.”

“No loopholes at all?”

“Not… none worth using, Master Bernie. I have no need for food or drink.”

“Well then, let's sit down and have a chat.” I motioned to a table right near the pagoda’s edge, with the best view of the garden.

“What do you want to talk about?”

“You. Harriette told me you’re the original personality. You have to have quiet the story to tell, having survived death and all.”

“I got lucky,” Adelita replied looking wistfully at her own hands.

“Do you mind if I use [Analyze] on you?”

“If you want.”

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