Chapter 66: 4-8 J3: An Unassuming Flag

Jacqueline, Twenty-Nine Years Old, Second Month of 948

Let’s see, she will need this replaced soon, now that she’s finally started growing. Putting aside my lady’s undergarments, I busily set about preparing her clothes for the next day. Since losing my arm, things had gotten a lot more difficult, but it was not anything I could not manage if I simply put in more effort. Though, recently that had also been getting harder. Ever since my lady gave me a skill… no, before that.

What had at first only been moments, mere flashes, of some stranger’s face replacing my mistress’ had recently become much more common. To the point that I feared I may be going insane. Dreams as well, normally I would not sleep; my skills and training allowed me to rest merely through a few hours of meditation. That was a good thing since I needed so much more time for every task now. But recently, I had been feeling tired.

More than once I had caught myself falling asleep for real. Only for a few minutes at a time, but in those brief moments I would see things; shapes and people walking around my head. Most of them vague and indistinct, but there was one that was always clear. The same face that would occasionally replace Lady Stahlia’s. That face had a name, one that I seemed to know, but I could never remember.

“Jacqi Onee-Sama, when is Stali Nee-chan coming back?”

I glanced over at the little girl my mistress had rescued from slavery. Well, perhaps not quite rescued, but she certainly was not being treated as a slave. As always, I felt a sharp pain in my chest at the sight of her. Knowing that Lady Stahlia’s own pain would be even greater than mine, I shook my head, “I’m sorry, Felicity. I do not know when Lady Stahlia will return.”

The young girl furrowed her brow, “But Felicity wants to give her the picture! She just finished drawing it!”

My lady had gone on a school trip outside the city earlier today, and would not be back until later; unfortunately, I did not know exactly when that would be. Recently, it seems I had lost my lady’s confidence. There had to be a reason for that, given that I had recently been told many, if not all, of her secrets. The sudden lack of trust had progressed, to the point that now I knew only the bare minimum of her day-to-day schedule. This was a major departure from the past, and if I could regain her confidence I would do anything…

*KNOCK-KNOCK*

A hurried pounding came from the door, Felicity’s eyes widened; a sign that she did not recognize the person on the other side of the door. Waving the child behind me, I prepped a knife under my skirt before-

*KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK*

“I shall be there shortly!”

I pushed the door open indignantly, “Really, what is the hurry…?”

While Felicity might not recognize the man on the other side of the door, I did. I had prepared a dossier on all of Lady Stahlia’s close associates, their associates, and those who served under them. This man was a knight commander serving under Duke Claurence, the father of one of Lady Stahlia’s friends. Lady Edith is ill at the moment, and hasn’t been able to attend the academy…

“Miss Jacqueline, is the slave Pet also here?” His voice was professional, but I could tell by his posture that he was prepared for a fight. Worse, I could sense three more presences concealing themselves. They’re all hiding their bloodlust, but the way they are behaving… They know.

It would be best for my lady if I played along for now; I could probably take the knight in front of me, but the fight would put Felicity in danger. Worse, it would risk souring her relationship with Edith’s family. But my lady would have told me something, if she was expecting this… “Pet, you can come out, but mind yourself.”

Felicity peeked her head out from behind my skirt and the knight nodded upon seeing her, “Thank you, I will need the two of you to come with me.”

Now that was not unexpected, but it was not something I could do without knowing why; if I left and Lady Stahlia was not expecting me to, then I would have failed as her maid. Still, I had a feeling that this was all part of a plan that I had been left out of… for whatever reason. I nodded briefly and began bagging a few things we would need, “May I ask what the problem is, sir knight?”

Seeing my prompt compliance, his stance relaxed a bit and he breathed a relieved sigh, “…There has been an incident; Lady Stahlia was abducted while on her outing. Lady Edith petitioned her father to aid her friend, and he ordered us to collect the two of you. For your own protection of course.”

I froze. Abducted? Her? No, not possible. No, maybe? She can’t use magic right now. Suspects… Count Francois, Lord Dominic. Maybe… A dark thought rose unbidden in my mind. Five? The Shadows… Did they get tired of simply watching? No. This is too sudden, too public. Besides, they would go after me first before her if that was the case. Dominic is a moron, but his father… Lord Francois is smart. I cannot get a read on him myself, but I doubt he would move like this.

So possibility A, Dominic did something remarkably stupid, even by his own standards. Possibility B, another house, unrelated… Febligi? No, they would challenge her openly. She does not have many allies, but conversely, she lacks enemies. The Claurence would not kidnap her. …Possibility C… She was not kidnapped, she disappeared on her own…

The third option was the most likely. But that left the question of why, why would she leave me behind? Felicity, she would leave if she thought things would be too dangerous. But I could handle myself, I could help her. She knew that. She wanted me to stay and protect Felicity? No. Not that, I would do it in a heartbeat if asked, but I had not heard even a word of this.

She did not tell me… she can not tell me, why? She does not trust me? No, it was recent. Something happened recently. Something that changed our standing. Between now and coming to the capital, she discovered or learned something, something that led to her not being able to confide in me… I am a liability.

That was the only conclusion I could come to; for some reason, I was now being considered a liability to the plans Lady Stahlia was making. I could not think of any reason why that might be the case, but it was the only conclusion that made sense. Dropping what I was doing, I looked down and saw that my hand was shaking. Clenching my fist open and shut a few times, I quickly finished packing.

When I was finished, I turned to Felicity, who was watching things with wide eyes. …That ‘Claire’ person must be explaining things to her, there’s no way a six-year-old would be so calm in a situation like this… not without some extensive training of course. “Pet, we are going with the knight, these men will protect you.”

Because I imagine I will not be allowed to see you, or anyone else, for some time. Following the knights, we left our inn and boarded an unmarked carriage that was waiting outside for us. While there were no windows, I could tell from the motions that we were heading to the Claurence estate. Once arrived, true to my predictions Felicity and I were separated. I was brought to a guest room, and after a quick look around I determined that I was going to be here for some time.

There was a bed available, as well as a small washroom and a chest stocked with food. Otherwise, I had just about everything I would need for a week, or two if I were to ration. I did not have anything else to do, so I lay down on the bed and began to meditate to rest and perhaps glean some further conclusions from what limited information I had.

Unfortunately, I was not able to figure anything out by the time I roused my consciousness. Rather, I simply felt empty. It was a disconcerting notion, but not unexpected. I knew psychologically that I was feeling distraught over the lack of trust, even if I understood that there had to be a reason for it. But that did not make it any easier to cope with.

Just as I was beginning to wonder how long I would be left here, the knight from earlier knocked at my door before letting himself in. Having a seat at the table, he motioned for me to do likewise. Once I had complied, he began to question me. I found this strange; the line of questioning he was taking was not what I had expected. All of the questions were… lukewarm.

“Where did Lady Stahlia plan on going?”

 “Did Lady Stahlia mention meeting with anyone?”

“What time did she leave in the morning?”

They were routine. As if the Claurence family were really trying to glean information about her disappearance. For a moment, I considered the possibility that she had really been kidnapped. Then a realization hit me. These questions, are simple on purpose. So, they are not meant for me? But for someone else. For when I make a report? No, I would not report the contents of these… So for someone… listening in real time… I was not sure how, but I had a feeling I had hit the nail on the head.

So someone, probably Five, is listening in on things through me? I was not aware of any such spell or enchantment. Sure, some of my gear might have eavesdropping enchantments, but that was doubtful; they were already enchanted with other effects, stacking on another would be extremely inefficient. So it’s something else, something more personal… I felt my heart skip a beat, as I considered the possibility.

If that’s the case, then I need to act naturally so as to not arouse Five’s suspicion. I need to act like I have no idea this is going on. All this of course, was contingent on the fact that whatever had compromised me was incapable of reading my mind. If that was the case, then the ruse was already over. But my lady is smarter than that. If they suspected my mind was being read, she would not have handled things in a way that would let me think of these things.

For now, I opted to think about it as little as possible and simply answer the questions I was asked. This went on for a few days, though the questions did vary. In order to keep up with my cover, I began pressuring for any updates of information though as I expected I was kept firmly in the dark. This went on for several days, and I was beginning to fear I may have to break out, or at least attempt to. I could allow myself to be caught, but if I simply sat and did nothing for much longer, it would risk tipping off whoever was using me as a listening device, Five, that I was onto them.

If they don’t know already. Still, I needed to operate under the assumption that they did not. To that end, I began to contemplate how I could break out and then get caught without endangering anyone. Granted, there would be danger regardless, but I wanted to minimize it. Ideally, I would be the only one at risk; if some of the guards got hurt it might make things harder for my lady.

It took me another day to come up with something workable, but just as I was preparing to enact my plan, my door opened. A man I did not recognize entered my room. Giving him a look, I went with the act I had been keeping up, “Who might you be? This whole situation is getting ridiculous, I have complied so far but I demand to know what is being done to find my lady!”

I worked just enough frustration into my tone to make it appear as if I was a devoted maid struggling to hold back her emotions. In all honesty, it was not exactly that hard to do, I was surprisingly genuinely frustrated about how things were going.

The man nodded briefly, “Yes, that is why I have come to see you, Lady Stahlia has been recovered and is on her way now… [#### #####]”

His words made my heart jump. She’s been recovered!? Then this whole time she was actually kidnapped!? Too late, I recognized the keyword. With my mental state disturbed, I was not able to resist the spell, even with my talents, and I felt my eyes grow heavy before I passed out.

When I woke up, I was in a strange building. Really, calling it a building was pretty generous. It was more of a shack. Looking around in confusion, I lifted my hands to rub the sleep from my eyes. Wait, my hands? Staring at the two limbs in front of me, I could not help but notice, that they were small. No, not small… young!? Patting myself all over, I realized to my horror that I was in the body of a small child.

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I began to panic as I scrambled out of the bed. Stumbling on my too-short legs, I tore a hole in my knee and red blood began to seep from the wound. The pain was worse than anything I could remember experiencing. Considering that I had been stabbed, beaten, sliced open, and many other things, that was a bit odd. I lacked the time to properly question it though, as tears of pain began to pour down my face.

I heard a voice, and looked up through my tear blurred eyes. There was a girl standing over me, and though her face was blurred by my running eyes, she looked familiar. It was the girl who’s visage occasionally slid over Stahlia’s, “Come on now, don’t cry. Here, let sis get you patched up.”

Her words had a calming effect, and I managed to stop sniffling. My sobs were replaced with hiccups though, much to my embarrassment. In response, the girl began patting my back rhythmically and those soon abated, “Come on, Tanya. It’s your dedication today, you can’t go and ruin your face.”

At her words, a whole lot came flooding back all at once. Her name, I remember her name.

“Thanks Ahlysa!” My older sister smiled and picked me up. She was always taking care of me and she was right, I couldn’t ruin today for our parents! After she had walked partway to the temple while dragging me along, I got restless and demanded to be let down, “Dohn!”

Alysha let out a soft laugh and let me off her back, but insisted I hold her hand while we walked. After all, the slums were a dangerous place for a three-year-old. Getting to the temple, I was a tad intimidated by all of the people there, both adults and children. Faltering in my steps, I felt a soft yet firm hand on my back. Looking up and behind I saw Alysha’s smiling face, “Go on, you don’t have anything to worry about.”

That’s not true! If I go up there, then I’ll never see you again! But contrary to my wishes, I found my feet carrying me towards the altar, even as my face adopted a firm expression to mask my fear. At the priest’s behest, I placed my hands on the appraisal stone. Peering into it, I could see the symbols that would seal my fate. The first time around, I couldn’t read the words. This time, I knew full well that they spelled out “Slitter”.

Just like the first time, the priest pronounced me to be without purpose. Just like the first time, I walked back to my sister practically in tears. Just like the first time she told me it was alright. Just like the first time, we went home together with my parents. Try as I might, I couldn’t remember their faces, and in this reliving, their faces were replaced by some generic man and woman I could find anywhere in the kingdom.

It made me want to cry, but I could not. Laying in bed with my sister, I did my best to stay awake. I did not want to sleep, because I knew what would happen if I did. But I was only three. Try as I might, I was too tired. Just like the first time, I fell asleep. When I woke up, I was in darkness.

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With a jolt, I snapped awake. I wasn’t able to move around, but I recognized the ceiling after a moment. Ha… Haaa… Back in the Claurence’s estate… Looking around, I was shocked to see a girl that shouldn’t be there. No, you’re dead! Why are you here now!? My sister was standing over me, an anxious look on her face. Locking eyes with her I reached out my one hand and tried to touch her face, “Ah… My sister, Alysha…”

The girl’s face crumbled and she expressed a look of great pain at my words. No, don’t cry… It’s me, your little Tanya… My vision was beginning to refocus, and I recognized the man standing with his hand on my sister’s shoulder. Prince Rupert? What is he doing with Alysha…? My sister and I were commoners through and through. We grew up in the slums.

Come to think of it, why is Alysha in the Claurence Estate in the first place…? It did not make sense. After a few moments, I realized that Prince Rupert wasn’t the only one in the room. Lord Gustav was here as well, and a few other nobles. Through my confusion, I rapidly attempted to sort things out. As my head cleared, the visage of my sister slowly started to fade.

In its place was my lady, Stahlia von Ris. Blinking rapidly, I felt tears beginning to fall from my eyes. Alysha… No… I could remember her death now. My own abduction was abnormal; because of how poor the family was, and how Alysha was always with me during the day. Instead of being grabbed and replaced with a Doppelganger Homunculus that would die of illness, my replacement had been murdered.

Murdered and left with my sister’s body. My recruitment had been made to look like a break-in gone wrong. Though I hadn’t seen them, I could only imagine that my parents had faired no better than my sister. I did not know why I had these memories all of a sudden, but it had to have been something that Stahlia did. I wanted to both thank her and curse her name. But at the moment, all I could do was weakly cry.

“Come, let her rest for now. You did everything you could do.” Rupert’s voice echoed in my ears with no response. But to my great relief, I was left alone with my thoughts. She must have… done something to remove the listening effect… In a way, it made me feel incredibly special, that so much effort would be expended for my sake. But as a side effect, it seemed that some very traumatic memories had resurfaced.

The prince was here as well… Through my haze of grief and other tumultuous emotions, I recalled the letter I had seen her write a week ago. Even if I did not want to know what she had written, I was able to figure it out just by having seen and heard the pen move. A resolution to the problem with Dominic… I recalled the king’s actions, the announcement he had made.

That was when I knew for sure that Stahlia was keeping secrets from me since I learned of that through other sources… It seemed that my damnable training was still effective since my uncertainty was rapidly fading as I pieced things together. Not something I was particularly pleased with, I had finally remembered my sister, and the thought of losing her again simply didn’t sit right.

That solution… She made a deal with Prince Rupert. She is engaged to him now, in lieu of Lord Dominic… I knew some things about the prince. For instance, I knew that he had a twisted personality; he only cared about people if they held value. It was a sure thing that Lady Stahlia had a lot of that, but he would never love her. But marrying him would give her a huge advantage… Rosial, you really are loved. The way I saw it, Stahlia was giving up her own future in a bid to be able to better help her sister.

Then it came to me. I am like Lady Rosial in a way… if Alysha had lived, and somehow learned about what happened… would she have done everything she could to help me? Based on my memories, I would have to say that she would. Even if she knew it was completely futile, she still would have tried. Is this why, so many years ago, I was able to be swayed? Because Lady Stahlia reminded me of Alysha?

It made sense. Especially when considering that the face of my sister only ever seemed to occupy my lady’s head. I never saw Alysha out of the corner of my eye. I never saw her on Miss Felicity, Lady Edith, or Lady Elienor. Only ever on Lady Stahlia. You never left me, even when I forgot you… Secretly, I had been worried about my lady.

When we eventually found Lady Rosial, it was certainly not going to be pretty. She was bound to be broken. Bound to have had her memories suppressed by the training regime. She would likely have blood on her hands. We might even have to fight her, possibly hurt her in order to restrain her. But if I could remember, after so many years, then for Rosial, there is a chance! Especially since it seemed that Lady Stahlia had developed a method of restoring the suppressed memories.

I have to tell her this! I have to tell her everything, and thank her! Newfound loyalty and adoration for my lady welled up within my heart, and I sat up in bed. Only to lurch forward. I felt weak. Shakily, I stretched my arm out towards the bedside table, and used it as leverage to try and stand up. My bones seemed to creak as I did so. How long was I reasoning things out!? Looking down at my hand, I saw that my nails were noticeably longer than they should be. Even my hair seemed to have grown a small amount. At least a week… Maybe more.

Severe feelings of guilt welled up inside me. Ngh… After everything she did for me, to leave Lady Stahlia so distraught for this long… No good. I need to find her and apologize! I hauled myself out of bed, and made my way along the wall to the door. As I walked, I slowly felt myself regaining strength, but I didn’t trust my legs. After all, I was intimately familiar with what would happen to the human body if left alone for too long. Even if I had been given the same potions I prepared for my lady while she was in her coma, it would be dangerous to put too much faith in my limbs.

Still, I could move a bit faster, so I accelerated gradually. Reaching the door, I made my way out into the hallway. Strange… there should be a guard or someone here… I glanced around uneasily. The mansion was quiet. Far too quiet. Retreating into my room, I rummaged around in my bag and removed a potion and a dagger from a hidden pocket. The potion I downed immediately; it was a stimulant that would let me move around normally without fear of my muscles giving out. Though the duration is limited.

Gripping the dagger, I went back out into the hall. Pausing for a moment, I focused my mind on my hearing and smell. I was no beastkin, but I could still sharpen my perception with focus. You trained me to be this way Five, after taking everything from me. I was always going to help my lady, but now it’s personal! So resolved, I whirled around at the sound of a clatter coming from the floor above.

Recalling the layout of the estate, I took off at a sprint and soon found my way to the stairs. Running up them, my fears came true and I heard my lady’s voice, or rather her scream, “NO! GET AWAY! I ORDER YOU!”

Reflexively, I bit my tongue hard. The taste of iron filled my mouth as for an instant, I felt the compulsion to turn around and leave. The voice of the king. So she is engaged to Prince Rupert. But if she would use it… I had to hurry. Rounding the corner, I came into contact with Felicity who was fleeing in the other direction. The young cat slammed into me and looked up in surprise.

“Jacqueline! You have to help her!” Claire is in control. She’s either responding to Stahlia’s royal order, or keeping the promise she made in Ris!

“I will. Go.” Clairicity nodded briefly before resuming her flight. Turning, I went down the hall in the direction she had come from. Absentmindedly, I noted that this was the route to Lady Edith’s private rooms. Rounding a corner, I came to a large double door. Throwing it open the first thing that I saw was Miss Sarala, lying face up on the couch, a small red puddle emanating from a wound in her chest.

Her breathing was labored, but she didn’t seem to be in any degree of pain that I could tell. Shock, I need to move quickly. Hurrying over, I inspected the wound. Lady Stahlia was undoubtedly in danger, but she would never forgive me if I let her friend die. Miss Sarala was, to my surprise, seemingly still conscious. Seeing me, her eyes lit up, “Pull.. Pull it out…”

I shook my head, “No, I cannot do that; you would bleed to death.”

“No. Enchanted… sealing, pull it out…” A quick inspection revealed that her claim was accurate; the dagger was enchanted, and a faint light was being drawn out of her body. A mana sealing dagger? That did change things. While not life-threatening, leaving it in would be unhealthy. Making a split-second decision, I grabbed the hilt and tugged the blade free. Balling up the tablecloth to stuff in the wound, I was greatly surprised when, after glowing briefly, Miss Sarala’s wound closed.

“Thank you… I don’t have enough mana to help, Lady Edith is ahead, with Stahlia… and Dominic.” She grimaced as she spoke his name. That rat is here? I nodded to Miss Sarala, with her explanation things were beginning to make sense. Standing, I hurried to the door and threw it open. The scene that greeted me was grim, but my lady seemed to be safe at least.

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There was blood everywhere, and a lifeless body was lying in the middle of the room, with the two girls sitting nearby it. Lady Edith was holding Lady Stahlia whilst apologizing over and over again like a broken record. My lady was holding a dagger loosely while staring off into the distance with vacant eyes. Grimly, I noted that her clothes were a bit askew.

Closing the distance in two large strides, I inspected the body. Rolling it over, I was greeted with the bloodied face of Lord Dominic. His face was carved up to the point where I could hardly tell it was him, and there were several stab wounds all over his chest and stomach. Satisfied that he was dead, I turned my attention to my lady. Knowing what I did about the charm, it was easy enough to figure out how this had happened.

“Stahlia, it’s me, Jacqueline… are you… are you alright?” I didn’t have much experience comforting people, but I would do my best.

Rousing from her stupor at the sound of my voice, her face seemed to regain some light, “I’m… I’m ok. Nothing, nothing happened, I was… I was able to protect myself.”

As she spoke, color and light were coming back to her eyes, “We need to get out of here… Jacqueline! Oh thank goodness! You’re back!” It seemed the fact that it was me had finally clicked, and she threw her arms around my neck while sobbing joyfully. Considering what I suspected had just been attempted and apparently thwarted, her attitude seemed a bit… off…

I decided it would be better to simply let her get everything out of her system while bringing her to safety. Clearly, the Claurence estate was compromised. Based on her apologies, Edith is probably freed of the charm now, so it should be safe to bring her with us. Picking up Stahlia, I carried her from the room. I’ll protect you now as Alysha protected me, and you in turn will protect Rosial.

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