Chapter 63: 4-6 The Calm

Stahlia, Twelve Years Old, Second Month of 948

When I came to, the first thing that greeted me was the fuzzy outline of a maid I couldn’t recognize. Right… I killed the parasite, then the divinity made me pass out… They wouldn’t leave Jacqueline near me until after things calmed down, that would basically be the same as going straight to Five’s face and telling him what we were up to. If we were lucky, he might believe that Rowell and by extension the parasite, had been killed during the kidnapping. That would buy us some time, but it would be foolhardy to count on it.

Gingerly, I sat up in the bed and rubbed my eyes. My limbs were sore, but not as bad as the last time this had happened. Still… to think I would go into a coma from just using a lot of Divinity… Mortis did say not to overuse it, and using the divine eyes for too long does tend to give me a headache, but still. It would be good to know my exact limits, but testing that would be pretty much impossible. After I killed Jacqueline’s parasite, I would just have to be careful not to overuse it.

The maid saw me sitting up and came over to support me, “Lady Stahlia, I shall send word to Lords Gustav and Claurence that you have awoken.”

So this is the Claurence house. Good, Gustav and Ferdinand were able to figure out what I was saying…. Squinting at her; trying to figure out if she was one of the maids I knew or not, I thanked her for the help, “Thank you, miss…?”

The maid nodded and gave me a smile, “Irina. When Edith heard that you were staying over she insisted I care for you myself… my lady is very distraught over recent events.”

My vision gradually cleared, and I was soon able to recognize the face of Edith’s maid. I felt a pang of sympathy for my friend and frowned to myself, “Thank you, Irina. Please tell Edith I will try and visit before his Highness Prince Rupert sends me back to the Academy… How long was I asleep for?”

“Three days, it is presently the first day of the second week of school.” She then busied herself turning back the covers on the bed and otherwise proceeding to get ready to get me ready. Three days. So not as bad as when I gave a skill and grew a year… A quick check of my status confirmed that I had not gained a year. I might have lost some time, but the status screen only tracked by the year. I’ll just have to assume that I didn’t, after all I didn’t get a notification about lifespan being consumed…

Also from my status screen, I could see that I was at a hundred percent mana capacity. While I was watching, it ticked over to a hundred and one. So I guess the mana crystal wasn’t filling while I was out. Or my mana was just regenerating really slowly… Either way, it would be a few days until I was ready to handle Jacqueline’s parasite. There’s Edith and Sarala too… Should I just go ahead and give them immunity? I need them on my side… No, I would be out for nearly a month if I did two people, and a couple weeks if I did just one. That was assuming that things went exactly the same as with Jacqueline, and the chances of Edith and Sarala having the same amount of available Life Points was slim at best.

Lastly, I experimentally pushed mana into my limbs but immediately called it back as I felt the sensation of being flayed. Wincing from the pain, I saw Irina give me a concerned look, but I waved her off. So my body didn’t heal during the coma then. I had been a bit hopeful that my magic pathways had been restored; when I grew a year, I had apparently also had some growth stunting corrected. But it looked like I hadn’t recovered this time. I imagine if I go into the full coma and lose another few years, I’ll recover fully… Not a reason to go for it though.

The fact of the matter was, we were in too great of a precarious position for me to be out of commission for so long. As much as I wanted to help my friends, and I did want to help them, I couldn’t. If I really pushed for it I was sure Rupert would agree, but I was smart enough to recognize the drawbacks. Right, let’s go and see where everything stands.

Irina helped me out of bed and dressed me. While she was doing so, I asked after the state of my acquaintances. According to what I was told, Felicity and Stil would presently be having breakfast and I could see them shortly. Gustav would come by the Claurence estate this evening and fill me in on Rupert. Ferdinand was in the process of interrogating Rowell, who had managed to fully recover. So the surgery was a success then. In a few days I can remove Jacqueline’s parasite as well.

Lastly, Edith and Sarala were still under house arrest in their room. Jacqueline was in a side building of the manor and was being kept separate and otherwise uninformed about proceedings. Thankfully, Gustav had the sense to countermand my delirious order to tell Jacqueline that “it’s just like Ris.” Telling her that would have let five know I was moving and had used Divine Element.

Instead, he had gone for the much more intelligent approach of telling her that I had been kidnapped, and my retainers all needed to come into custody. Jacqueline herself was smart enough that she would likely suspect that it was something I had arranged. Or she would panic and think that Five had decided to tighten my leash. Either way, it was better than basically telling our enemy our plan. I’m lucky Gustav is a free thinker. I need to do better though; if I was already Queen he might have followed my orders to the letter. I can’t mess up, I need to be perfect.

“Irina, you know a lot about what’s going on, don’t you?” I gave her a curious look, but I was inwardly mildly concerned. She might be Edith’s personal maid, but she’s still just a maid, right? I can’t imagine she would know this much if that was the whole story…

Giving me a reassuring smile, she answered, “Yes, do not worry about that though; while I am officially Lady Edith’s maid, I have entered into a slave contract with Duke Claurence as a precaution given the complicated circumstances.” Catching my incredulous look she elaborated, “It is purely for security reasons, and was entirely consensual on my part.”

If I didn’t know any better, the look she was giving me was a bit defensive, but I chose not to pursue the topic; I would confirm she was telling the truth about the contract with the duke later, and until then I would simply avoid speaking about anything sensitive in her presence.

“Well, shall we go to breakfast then? I imagine that miss Felicity and the Stawri will be happy to see that their mistress has finally awoken.” Putting thoughts of plots and treachery out of my head, I nodded and made my way out into the hall where Irina then led me towards the meal hall.

Upon entering, I was greeted with an excited squeal and Felicity came tearing towards me, only to suddenly skid to a halt and nearly trip. Pff! Claire must have warned her not to jump on me, that’s so cute… I steadied the wayward cat, “Well, I see someone is happy. Have you been causing any trouble?”

Felicity shook her head no while her tail was twitching excitedly, “No, Felicity has been good! Every time she’s almost bad she remembers not to!”

So Claire is parenting her then, I worry for her future… I gave Felicity a sad, compassionate look. I was rewarded with an indignant flick of the ears; Claire’s silent protest. Giggling to myself, I reached out and pet her head affectionately, “Right, you should go sit down again. Once I’ve said hello to Stil I’ll join you ok?”

“Ok!” Felicity moved back to where she had been sitting before I came in. Stil trotted up to me from where he had been silently and patiently waiting his turn. Pushing his beak up against my hand, he flared out his neck feathers as if to say “Took you long enough.”

“Aye, I’m back. Glad to see you took good care of Felicity for me, she didn’t give you any trouble, did she?” I gently stroked and smoothed down the feathers around the base of his beak.

I was rewarded with a low keening and a vibration passing up from inside his throat; the Hawri version of a purr. I glanced at Irina, and she promptly handed me a small chunk of Jerky that she had grabbed off the table. I fed it to Stil, then went to sit down next to Felicity so we could eat. I’m glad Edith sent her own maid. I would definitely need to make sure I went to see her while I was in the manor.

The food we were provided was incredibly tasty; probably the best food I had eaten in this life, actually. The meal consisted of three courses. The appetizer was a soup whose broth had been strained until it was practically clear, with large chunks of finely cut vegetables and something like a turnip. It was faintly sweet, and all of the ingredients seemed to melt in my mouth.

The main dish was a cut of meat lightly seared and served medium-rare. Whatever it came from, it had a consistency of butter when I was cutting it, but upon meeting my tongue it seemed to firm up and provide the perfect degree of chewiness. It tasted a bit like venison, but smokier. Very likely, it was some type of monster, but I felt strangely embarrassed to ask; like I should know what it was already or something.

Finally, the dessert was a sort of creamy pudding that reminded me of tapioca. Felicity didn’t care for it much, but before I could chide her for complaining, Irina promptly brought her a glass of warmed milk sweetened with honey instead. Ok, but I don’t exactly want her to grow up spoiled. Still, what’s done was done and I saw little point in making her give the milk back now that she had it; that would simply be rude to the Claurence for hosting us.

For my part, I greatly enjoyed the pudding and had no issues eating it. When both Felicity and I had finished eating, I turned my attention to Irina, “My compliments to the chef, and my thanks to Duke Claurence for hosting me and my retinue”

She curtsied and gave the affirmation that she would convey my words, “Thank you on behalf of my lord, I will be sure to convey your thoughts. Would you like to see if Lady Edith and Miss Sarala are able to see you now?”

I did want to see them, but I felt like that would be a bit crass of me towards Felicity. After all, I had probably given her a bit of a fright by getting kidnapped and then going into a coma. If I had to guess, the only reason she hadn’t latched onto me full of tears the moment she saw me was because Claire had spent the past few days keeping her calm and gently explaining things to her. Looking over at her now, I saw that she was watching me a bit anxiously but was otherwise holding her tongue.

Irina caught the direction of my gaze and nodded, “I shall inform my lady that you would like to see her tomorrow.”

Looking up, I gave her a slight bow of my head to show gratitude, “Thank you, Irina, that would be perfect.”

Turning back to Felicity, I caught a brief flash of a relieved smile before she quickly wiped it off her face. It was one of the rare moments where she showed an astonishing degree of maturity for her age, considering she was only six and a half. Probably the holdovers of what she went through becoming a slave and living in that market, combined with Claire’s influence. I quickly banished the errant thought; it wouldn’t do to be stuck in the dark past.

“Well, what have you been up to the past few days?”

As if she had been waiting for me to ask, the young catgirl bounded over to me and produced a large sketch from somewhere I actually couldn’t tell. Where was she hiding that…? Unrolling it in front of me, I saw that she had drawn a rough depiction of me and her holding hands. I could only tell it was me because of the hair color and eyes; not many people in this kingdom had dark hair, and my icy-blue eyes were pretty darn unique.

To my right, was a boy that I could only guess was supposed to be Rosin. Two people were standing behind the three of us, a man and a woman. Based on context, they were probably my mother and father. A short distance away from the five of us was Jacqueline, going by the colors chosen for the clothes, and a mass of… something… that came up about to her middle thigh.

“Oh, you drew our family! It looks amazing, but who’s this here?”

Felicity gave me a very childish judgmental look, “Obviously that’s Stil! With Jacqi Onee-sama, Stali Nee-chan, Rosin Tou-kun, Otousan, and Okaasan!”

Oh, that’s Stil… I mean if I squint I can kind of see it… I should have guessed that from the context though I suppose. Also, poor Rosin, downgraded to “kun”. Show some respect for your younger brother  Felicity. “Oh! I see, Stil I should have known, you did very well.”

Reaching out my hand, I rubbed her head affectionately, while watching her tail swish too and fro happily. It’s a remarkably bad drawing, but I can’t tell you that. I had noticed her coloring a few times but had never thought to actually look and see what she had drawn before. It was honestly kind of surprising that she wasn’t any better at it than this.

I guess it just goes to show the difference between something she was able to copy with [Envious] versus something that she’s trying to do all on her own… I froze mid-thought; Felicity was pushing the paper into my hands, “Here! With this, you won’t forget to come back next time you disappear!”

I was… speechless. Speechless and a bit hurt, that she would simply accept and expect that me having to “disappear” again was inevitable. She had a point though, as loathe as I was to admit it. I disappeared pretty frequently from her point of view. Going to school every day, going to Ang for a week and a half. Living at a camp away from the village while dealing with the goblins. Now being kidnapped and falling into a coma again… No wonder she was so vehement about coming back to the capital with me…

The worst part of my realization was that I couldn’t tell her that I wasn’t going to disappear anymore; I knew for sure that I would. Probably several more times in fact. Suddenly, the shitty drawing looked a lot more beautiful. I clutched the paper, being careful not to crinkle the edges, and carefully folded it, “Thank you… Felicity, I’ll make sure to keep it with me…”

“Good!” I got an energetic and triumphant retort. Well, I should at least make the time to spend with her while I am able to, between my ‘disappearances’. Starting today. I asked Irina, “Irina, would you please bring some paper or parchment, and something we could draw with?”

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The drawing was fresh on my mind, and Felicity seemed to enjoy it, so we may as well do it together. The girl in question seemed ecstatic at the idea if the acceleration of her tail was anything to judge by, and we soon found ourselves trading idle conversation as we worked on a pair of pictures. A few hours later, I had finished mine; it was a near duplicate of Felicity’s earlier gift to me, except I had drawn us side hugging instead of holding hands, and added Rosial hugging my other side between me and Rosin.

I presented it to Felicity, “Here, now you have one too.” She took it with an excited expression, but that quickly turned into mild confusion.

“Stali nee-san, who’s this?” She asked in a rather confused tone, that sent a pang through my heart even though I knew she was just being curious.

“Ah… That would be Rosial… she was my first sister, but she’s gone now.” Despite my best effort, I couldn’t stop my voice from trembling a bit, as it did every time talk of my sister came up.

Felicity’s face turned gravelly serious, and she cutely stretched her arm to try and pat my head; something she had never done before, “Like Felicity’s Okaasan before Okaasan.”

What the hell? No, your mom is… oh. Forcing a small smile, I shook my head, “No, not quite… it’s, well it’s complicated. That’s why I have to disappear so much; to try… to try and help her because she’s in trouble.”

A quick glance in Irina confirmed that she was giving us space to talk and didn’t appear to be listening in. I need to make sure to confirm with Count Claurence that she really can’t divulge any information. Felicity seemed a bit confused by what I was saying about Rosial, but that was understandable. It was a complicated subject without knowing all the information. And there is no way I could tell a six-year-old everything.

I settled for telling her a story about Rosial before she was taken instead; one about where we had invented the “running game” that Felicity and Rosin had enjoyed playing so much. By the end of it, Felicity looked conflicted about something. Locking eyes with me, she tilted her head, “Stali Nee-chan, is Felicity not a good sister?”

What!? No! That’s not what I meant at all! In a mild panic, I waved my hands in vehement denial while reassuring Felicty as best I could, “No, Felicity is my precious sister just like Rosial! If you were in trouble… No, if I was in trouble, would you want to help me?”

After a moment, Felicity reluctantly nodded; she was clever enough to see where this was going and didn’t seem to like it that much. Continuing, I explained myself, “Well, I feel the same way about you, and about Rosial. Both of you are my precious little sisters, and I would do, no, I will do whatever I have to in order to keep the two of you safe. That’s why, please don’t ask me which one of you I like better. I love both of you so much it hurts.”

It seems I got through to her with my final desperate plea, because her face brightened up and she was smiling again. But her tail was noticeably slower, indicating that she was still conflicted about something. I darted my eyes up to her ears, and after a moment they flicked lazily; it was my silent plea to Claire to try and explain things to her. I felt a bit dirty throwing the problem to my former teacher, but I couldn’t think of anything else for me to say… and I would likely be far too busy in the coming days, weeks, and months to follow up adequately.

Irina came up gently to my side and cleared her throat. Without looking up, I tilted my head slightly as an indication for her to state her business. Her voice was a bit sad; even if she didn’t know the specifics, she could tell that an issue was occurring between the two of us, “Lady Stahlia… Lord Gustav is here, and wishes to speak with you… should I ask him to wait?”

I gave a lingering look to Felicity, who was tracing Rosial’s figure with her finger, “No, I should see him as soon as possible I think. I imagine we have much to discuss.” There isn’t a whole lot more I can accomplish now… this will take time. Hopefully, Claire can manage something for now.

“Then, this way, Lady Stahlia.” Getting up, I followed Irina from the room.

★★★★★★

I was shown into a drawing room, in which both Duke Claurence and Gustav were standing. I froze for a moment, then realized that they were standing because both of them knew about my engagement; I was above both of them. The thought that a duke was among the people I now stood above made me feel dizzy.

Before I swooned, I gave a very quick half curtsy and an abbreviated greeting. The two of them seemed to pick up on this as me still feeling slightly unwell, based on their demeanor shift and apologetic tones when giving their own greetings.

Once we were all seated, Irina prepared tea and then excused herself. Taking advantage of the opportunity, I quickly asked Duke Claurence for assurances about Irina, “Lord Cecil, regarding Edith’s maid, how much does she know and can she be trusted?”

Duke Claurence nodded and, after a short pause stated, “Yes, she is bound with a slave contract, though the only terms therein prevent her from divulging information regarding the affairs of this house. As Edith’s friend, and as my liege’s fiancé, your affairs are covered by that.”

So it’s a bit of a modified slave contract then, since the only terms are about the secrets, and there isn’t anything about compelled obedience… Actually, thinking about it, it’s a bit surprising that nobles don’t use methods like that more frequently… There must be a reason for that because it seems very convenient. That wasn’t something to be addressed now, however, we had more pressing concerns.

“Thank you, Cecil. Knowing that puts my mind at ease.” Turning to Gustav, I commenced the meeting proper, “Gustav, how did things go on your end?”

Gustav took a sip of his tea before answering me. Taking a deep breath, he began to explain everything that had been going on with Rupert’s side of things while I was out, “First, noble society is in a bit of an uproar over your kidnapping. His highness, with Lord Cecil’s help, has instigated a few notable neutral nobles to question if it is not the Francois that are behind this incident.”

Wow, I was expecting Rupert to use my kidnapping politically, but that’s pretty good. It sets things up nicely, especially given my recent falling out with them. All of the students at the academy know about it, and at least the males should be able to see how Dominic is getting more and more unstable. I straightened my back a bit to show I was listening attentively, and Gustav continued.

“Regarding the subject himself, Rowell has made a full medical recovery… but there seems to be an issue with his mind. He seems to have snapped and gone mildly insane following the recovery of his body. We have a notable Black Mage looking into it with Mental Magic, but so far have not been able to learn if it was caused by removing the parasite or if the mental state was a result of the training; with the parasite serving to hold his psyche together.”

I sat back and exhaled while closing my eyes. That was bad news for me, since it meant I wouldn’t be able to remove Jacqueline’s parasite with clear consciousness. Gustav nodded, “I am glad to see you understand the gravity of the situation; we cannot leave Jacqueline out of the loop indefinitely. So far, we have been lucky in that Five has made no overt moves. But we cannot keep her in the dark forever; she is a liability.”

Narrowing my eyes, I glared at him, “Maybe so, but what are you implying?”

Gustav answered my hostile stare with a grim look, “When it comes time for us to return you to the academy, Jacqueline will need to go with you; sometime in the next week you need to remove the parasite.”

I blinked my eyes in surprise, “You aren’t going to demand I wash my hands of her?”

“No, though that would be quick and efficient, you would greatly despise that course of action, and she is a notable individual in her own right. Both Rupert and I agree that freeing her from Five’s eyes and ears would be more beneficial than having her disappear.”

Well, that’s something then… I hate it, but if Jacqueline knew… If she knew about the parasite, I’m sure she would tell me to take it out of her, even if I knew there was a risk… She would, wouldn’t she? I was still conflicted, but this was likely the best course of action I could take. Even if it was a bit too cold for my liking, “…Alright. In one week. Please keep me appraised about the progress of that Black Mage… I would like to know if I am… If I am about to cause such harm to my friend.”

The implicit instruction was to tell me the truth, even if it meant telling me that removing the parasite would cause Jacqueline’s mind to shatter beyond repair. Gustav gave his assent to my request, then went on to elaborate on the timeline, “Regarding your return to the Academy. Our current plan is to have you ‘rescued’ towards the end of the week. This will be handled by a few trusted knights in the employ of Lord Cecil.”

“Evidence will be found that Count Francois is indeed responsible for your kidnapping, though it won’t be explicit. Just enough to tie him to the crime in the minds of the people. We want the other nobles to draw the conclusion themselves; that will be more effective than accusing him ourselves.”

That makes sense, but aren’t you forgetting something? Duke Claurence picked up the conversation next, “Once my men have ‘rescued’ you, you will officially move into my estate; I will use the suspicions against Count Francois, as well as your friendship with Edith to justify this. His Highness Prince Rupert will wait a few days longer, and then publicly decry Count Francois and evict him from his faction while at the same time reneging his support of your engagement.”

I nodded my head, everything so far sounded like it would work and accomplish all of our goals. There are just a couple of things they haven’t addressed though. I chose to wait until the end though, before asking the questions. After all, I would just feel like an ass if they happened to answer my questions without me having to ask them. Gustav picked up the thread next, jumping in to explain what would happen with Rupert after that.

“His Highness, will, after absolving your engagement to Dominic personally come to apologize to you. Publicly, the crown prince apologizing to a young baron girl will cause an uproar. Following the apology, he will publicly call after you several times, in order to start spreading rumors. The king’s proclamation about him planning to choose his queen from among the current student body will help with that. After one or two months, depending on the state of noble society, your engagement to his Highness Prince Rupert will be officially announced.”

He stopped talking and took another sip of his tea to indicate he had finished the explanation of our upcoming plans. That all sounds good to me, just two things though. “That sounds like a well-thought-out plan, I have two points to raise, if I may?”

Upon receiving his affirmation, I asked my first question, “What about retaliation from Five? Either against me following the removal of Jacqueline’s parasite or against Rupert after dissolving my engagement?”

Gustav nodded, “A fair question. Regarding yourself, Jacqueline will ideally be able to protect you as a shadow. We will also arrange for as many precautions as we can; both in the form of skilled bodies and magical defenses. You yourself are also highly skilled, and should still be valuable to him in some way. It is our hope that you will continue to be such. Though it is admittedly a risk, we all agreed to walk this path.”

Rupert is the Crown Prince now, assassinating him is no small feat, even  for the Order. Beyond the various artifacts he has been given along with his new title, he also has the Voice of the King and the other Ruler Magics at his disposal, he should be as safe as possible given his circumstances and our plans. That being said, he is willing to take these risks.”

I nodded and gave my consent though it was likely meaningless to do so, I simply wanted to make sure that everyone present knew I was fully on board with the plan, “Very well. I am likewise willing to shoulder the risks needed for this to succeed… My second question then, what became of Team Red Iron?”

Gustav glanced at Duke Claurence, “My lady, I know of no such adventuring team… Though if you mean to implicate them in your kidnapping, are you aware of the consequences for kidnapping a member of the royal family?”

I bit my lip and nodded while engraving the faces of the three men into my memory. My natural memory. So they were made to disappear. I sort of expected that would happen. I’ll do my part and remember them, while not insulting their sacrifice by faltering here. The path I had chosen to walk was already beginning to dye red, and I did not expect it would stop anytime soon.

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