Chapter 29: Chapter 28

 Leopold

 

The saleswoman, an old lady with a large wart on her round nose, looked at him suspiciously. She followed his every move as if he was about to steal something.

Leopold tried to ignore her.

The shop was small. At least in terms of size. Wool in all sorts of colors was piled up on the high shelves. Some wool was thicker than others. And some wool was made of different colors. Leopold had never seen so much wool in a room before. On a comparatively small shelf were various knitting needles. But these were easy to overlook in this jungle of wool.

Leopold put several balls of wool in his shopping basket, which Sophie had given him, and ignored the saleswoman's sour looks.

Since Sophie hadn't told him what kind of wool she wanted, he reached for different colors and hoped they would be the right ones. He was definitely not a wool expert, so he randomly reached for thinner and thicker wool. It would be the right one, right?

He could have asked Sophie what kind of wool she wanted... He could even have asked Finn! But that only dawned on him now. Way too late.

"Do you have money to pay for all this?" the lady asked as he came to the counter. She looked disapprovingly at his pointed ears.

He flapped his wings angrily. "Of course. Why shouldn't I have money!"

"I know your uniform. Those like you don't have money of their own."

"Well I have money and I would like to buy this wool!" Leopold regretted entering the store. But Sophie had sent him here... She didn't know of any other wool shop in town.

Basically, he had done this to himself... He ruined the wool. Together with Marko.

"Where did you steal the money? Should I call the soldiers? I don't sell to thieving servants! And now leave my shop before I get you arrested for theft!"

"I'll buy the wool for my mistress!" he protested. That wasn't entirely true, but he didn't care. "Can I pay now, please? The money is not stolen! Spare us the farce with the soldiers!" He would have loved to follow the invitation and leave the shop if the wool had not been needed. So he gritted his teeth.

The saleswoman snorted. "All right. That's something else... Why didn’t you say that right away, elf? You could be a little more polite!"

Leopold would have liked to tell her that she was rude... He would have loved to tell her his opinion... But he didn't want her to call the guards.

The old lady made him angry.

 

Julia

 

Ingried had gotten a few strands of gray hair, but apart from that, she hadn't changed. Her smile was still the same. She wore a black tunic with lace on the sleeves and wide, black trousers. Her dark hair was pinned up and round glasses sat enthroned on her fine nose. She wore her simple wedding ring on a simple gold chain around her neck.

"Julia!" Ingried hugged her directly. She was a whole head taller than Julia. "How nice to see you."

"It's nice to see you."

"Isn't it?" Ingried winked at her. "Come in. I made us tea. Adam is still working, his bookshop is very crowded, especially on Saturdays... do you like cherry pie? I bought some at the bakery! Did you find it well? Oh, why do I even ask, I saw the carriage!"

Julia entered the small house and followed her sister into the equally small living room. On the table was a flowered teapot, matching cups and plates, simple cutlery, and a very sumptuous cherry pie, which seemed to occupy a large part of the narrow table.

Julia sat down next to her sister, who was already placing a piece of cherry pie on Juliet's plate without waiting for her answer.

"I like cherry pie, thank you!" replied Julia, amused, while Ingried took a piece of cherry pie for herself and ate it out of her hand instead of the plate.

"And? What is it like at the Academy? Do you have many friends? You barely wrote about it!"

"Hardly?" Julia also picked up her piece of cake. "I've told you a lot! For example, I didn't want to go there. But yes. I made friends. The lessons are fine, but I'd rather be mortal, without magic. Then I wouldn't have to go there. Peter would swap places with me immediately."

"Peter wrote to me." Ingried frowned. "It's just like seven years ago. Paul was also meant to marry a witch who mother had chosen. Adelheid von Schmalberg. The daughter of our mother's cousin and again the cousin of my fiancé at the time. I mourned him for a long time... Adelheid was very nice, but Paul didn't want to get married. Peter didn't write nice things about his fiancée."

"He doesn't like her. Babette is terrible! But mom likes her."

"I hope that goes well. Does he intend to leave the castle? He didn't write anything about it... I haven't seen you both for so long... You've changed a lot."

"I'm not nine years old anymore. Peter doesn't know what he wants to do yet... Except that he doesn't want to marry Babette."

"It's difficult... And you have servants now?"

"Yes." Julia sighed. "Three. Marko and Finn are werewolves and Leopold is an elf. They are all very nice... But I never wanted to have servants! These binding spells are wrong!"

"Don't let Mother hear that... She doesn't like it when people criticize her laws... That's also a reason why I went my own way... It wasn't just because of Paul. Our laws are terrible. That's why I became a lawyer... I wanted to help those who are helplessly exposed to the law. I wanted to change something..."

Julia smiled. "And? Can you help?"

"Sometimes, yes. But I can't help those who need it most... Servants bound with a spell. Thralls... I can't get close to them, nor can I help them."

"I try to protect my servants..."

Ingried hugged her. "That's good. I'm proud of you!"

Tears gathered in Julia's eyes. It was all so terrible! It made her angry and sad... And she had missed Ingried! Raindrops knocked softly on Ingried's window. The air became oppressive.

Julia thought it was all just unfair!

Somewhere it thundered...

"Where does the bad weather come from?" Ingried looked out the window in confusion. "It was sunny a moment ago..."

"I don't know." Julia wiped the tears from her eyes, and the rain subsided. "I missed you Ingried!"

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"Me too. But you can visit me as often as you want."

"Did you visit Paul?", she wanted to know.

Ingried smiled. "Yes. A few weeks ago. His wife is pregnant."

"We're going to be aunts? He didn't write anything about it!"

Ingried laughed. "I can imagine... He is out of his mind. In a good way. He hadn't written anything to me either... And then his wife greeted me with a round belly! Valentina is very nice. You would like her. Are you planning to visit Paul?"

"He lives very far away... Mom won't allow it, otherwise, I would have visited him long ago."

"Hm." Ingried took a second piece of cake. "How are Lea, Cleo, and Fritz doing?"

"Good, as always. Fritz works endlessly, Lea has her head in bills and Cleo is Cleo. Always on the road to enforce mom's laws."

"Lea and Cleo gave you your servants?"

"Yes. They thought it was a brilliant idea... I didn't want servants. I didn't want anyone to be tied to me against their will. And they didn't ask me before... But... We never talked much about servants..."

"As I know them, they would have given you servants even if they had known you didn't want any. Maybe it was also our mother's idea. I wouldn't be surprised... You were always her favorite and she was convinced that you would become a powerful witch."

"I'm a seer, but not powerful," Julia shook her head. It stopped raining outside and the sun returned. "She must have been wrong."

"She wasn't wrong about Paul, Peter, and me. We are all mortal. So she tried to marry Paul to a witch... So that she gets little witches and wizards as grandchildren... She always wanted to have a powerful family...  Paul, Peter and I were a big disappointment. We are mortal... I think that's why she insisted on a witch for Paul. And now she tries to do the same with Peter... She never pressured me because she can't expect immortal grandchildren from me. But she was happy with my choice at the time." Ingried put the rest of her piece of cake on her plate and poured Julia and herself tea, which they had both forgotten. "As far as I know, she doesn't put pressure on Fritz, Cleo, and Lea. The three have all the time in the world to find someone. She tried to pair Fritz with a witch from time to time, but she never pressured him. Terrible, isn't it?"

Julia nodded and took a sip of tea. "I wish she wouldn't do that. She expects good grades from me in all subjects... Lea hopes that I will work with her after the academy... But the hospital bills and finances don't interest me. Maybe I'll leave everything behind after academy and become a baker in Paul's bakery."

"You like baking?"

"I've never baked myself... To be honest... But a baker sounds much nicer than a financial advisor or something like that. I don't know if I can bake. But I don't think Mom will let me go. Now that I am a seer..."

"Who knows," Ingried tried to cheer her up, "you have a long life ahead of you. Maybe you'll become a baker one day."

"Yes, maybe. And how are you? And Adam?"

"We're doing wonderfully, thank you. But we both work a lot and have less time for each other than I would like...”

After her visit to Ingried, Julia went to buy presents. She bought beautiful fabric, buttons, and good scissors for Finn, a good skipping rope and also a small ball for the restless Marko, and two new card games for Leopold. Finally, she went to a nice flower shop to buy a bouquet of flowers for Sophie. The saleswoman was very friendly and tied her a beautiful, colorful bouquet.

Julia also bought a small potted plant for herself, which she wanted to put on her windowsill.

She had forgotten to ask Ingried which bookstore her husband worked in, otherwise, she would have visited him there. Julia decided to ask about it in her next letter.

 

 

Marie

 

"I'll never move again!" Philip lay flat on the gym floor. There they had met to practice fencing.

The sports hall with the sports equipment was always available to the students on weekends. Staff handed out the necessary material such as wooden swords at the equipment room, and made sure that rules were adhered to and that no one was injured.

"Me neither!" Helga lay next to him and moaned. "Fencing is exhausting! Let's stop for today! I still have homework to do!"

"I've already done my homework." Pia collected the blunt swords. "But I have enough for today. And the protective clothing is terribly warm!"

They wore well-padded sportswear, which was part of the school equipment of all students and was used for fencing lessons and sword fighting.

Marie leaned against the gym wall and held out her sword to Pia so she could leave it in the equipment room. "What do we have to do again?"

"Too much!" Philip put his arm over his eyes. "Endless pages to read and a questionnaire to fill out in politics. Oh yes... And then a math problem... But it was quick. I did that yesterday."

"I don't like math!" Helga sighed. "The task didn't happen quickly. I sat on it for a whole hour yesterday! It probably only went fast with you because you didn't understand it!"

"That is a possibility," Philip admitted.

"I haven't done anything yet." Marie and Theo had eaten a mountain of cookies that her parents had sent her the day before. Mia had painted Theo a picture, which had also been in the package for Marie. They had read the letters that were in the package and had a pillow fight after that. Late in the evening, Marie had written a letter to her parents and Theo had written a letter to his. Marie had put Theo's letter in her envelope so that they could send it unnoticed. Theo was happy about this solution, even if the new law still annoyed him. "And tomorrow we'll practice sword fighting?" she asked.

Pia nodded. "And also some fencing, so that the princess can practice it too. Yes? Besides, more practice doesn't hurt."

"That sounds exhausting." Philip straightened up. "I'm hungry. Let's go to the dining room and get something to eat.

"Oh yes," Marie agreed. "I'm hungry too! I could eat a bear!"

"Maybe there's bear!" joked Philip.

"That's silly!", Helga immediately reprimanded him. "There are certainly no bears to eat here!"

"Yes! Bluebearries. Strawbearries. All the bears!" Marie laughed. "I'm sure you've eaten bears here Helga!"

Helga rolled onto her stomach and rested her head on her crossed arms. "Oh... These bears, yes. I've probably already eaten them," she reluctantly agreed to the joke. "I definitely have no objection to this kind of bear. Especially strawbearries taste good to me!"

"So, let's go and eat?", Philip wanted to know. "I'm also very hungry! No matter which bears... Do you think there are fruit cakes?"

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