Riya sat down on her desk, time to get to work.
It was a weird desk if Riya had anything to say about it, it looked like it was made of some kind of hardwood with a deep, dark polish, but that wasn’t the word part. The weird part was that the top part was slanted, like an artist's easel. How exactly was she supposed to rest her hand on and write?
Was she even supposed to do that? Or was she expected to not rest her hand and write?
Riya took one of the pre-sharpened quills an attendant of her’s left for her to use (she should really be getting around to memorising all their names, it’s been three weeks at this point since the signing) and dipped it in the ink pot on her right, she waited for a few seconds for the quill to soak up the ink, five seconds was enough time for the ink to be soaked up, right? She tapped the side of the ink pot to get rid of the extra ink and then started to try to write.
It went as well as expected.
Hello, my name is Riya.
Great handwriting, truly, it deserved to be hung up in a museum.
She heard a knock on the door, “Come in!” She said.
Sebastian came in, “My lady.” Sebastian said, crossing his arms, “Lord Deb would like to speak to you, I also have obtained a letter from the ink guild, to be given to you, My Lady.” He said as he handed Riya a letter with a wax stamp that looked like a quill.
Deb? What did he want? “Thank you, Sebastian.” Riya said, “Where is Deb?” She never really talked to Deb before, maybe he just wanted to introduce himself?
“He is currently sitting in the waiting room, My Lady.”
“Very well then.” Riya said, she looked at the letter in her hand, the letter will have to wait for a bit, she carefully placed it in a drawer and stood up, “Take me to my second meeting room, please.”
“As you wish, My Lady.” Sebastian said as he crossed his arms once more.
At first, Riya herself didn’t believe her room was big enough to fit a second meeting room. As it turned out, her room wasn’t exactly a room per say, it was bigger than an apartment, way bigger than an apartment actually!
Turns out, being royalty ment living like a royal, meaning in absolute luxury.
To give an idea of how absolutely insanely big her room was (more like a duplex!) it had:
1 master bedroom
4 nurseries
30 bedrooms for her retainers
1 studyroom
3 meeting rooms
3 dining rooms
1 games room
1 opera room
2 inner courtyards
8 balconies
2 kitchens
40 bathrooms
35 washrooms
3 spa room
4 multi purpose inner rooms (training rooms really, or could be used to practise dance)
And four additional rooms for storage.
Riya wasn’t sure there were so many rooms whether it was because it was manga logic or because Nobles actually live like this.
As she walked into the second meeting room, she noticed Deb was there already, great, it’s now or never, “Hello there.” She said, that sounded like a good beginning! “My name is Riya.” She gave Sebastian a look “Go bring some tea.” Sebastian gave a brief nod and left to get the tea.
“I saw you in a dream last night.” Deb said, “Both of us were in Germany, you were giving your Masters and I was in my second year of B. Mus, both of us met during a party.”
Ok what the fuck? “You had a dream… About me?” Riya said slowly.
Deb nodded nervously, “Ya, it felt so real so I just had to come and ask if-”
Riya shook her head, “I genuinely have never seen you ever until we fell down those stairs.” She’s also had been having weird dreams… Should she tell him? Maybe not, she barely even knows him.
Maybe after she got to know him a bit better though…
“Ohh…” He said, “I see…”
The air got a bit awkward after that.
Riya say something anything, this is getting way too awkward you really need to say something-
“So which part of India are you from?” She asked, and then wanted to slap herself because he could have been Pakistani or Bangladeshi and and she should just assume things just because he looks-
“I’m from West Bengal.”
Ho… ly… Shit… “Wait really?!” She said, “Tui ki bangla janish? (Do you know bengali?)” She said.
He nodded, “Ha, ami Kolkata teke. (Yes, I’m from Kolkata.)”
Riya’s heart could burst, all she’s spoken in for the past few weeks was German and English and here was someone who not only was from the same city as her, but also spoke the same language! Riya could feel hot tears gather around her eyes… It’s been so long since she last heard someone speak in her mother tongue, her homesickness lessened just a bit, “I hope you didn’t mind me calling you tui.” ‘Tui’ was an informal way of saying ‘you’, something only friends of close ages call each other or aunties and uncles would call their nieces and nephews.
Riya didn’t want to offend Deb by assuming that they were close friends or that she was superior to him in any way, they just met-
“Tikache jodi tui amarke ‘tui’ bolish, ami toke jegasha korte jachelam jodi tui’ke ‘tui’ bolte pari ke na (it’s ok if you want to refer to me as ‘you’, I was actually going to ask if I could refer to you as ‘you’ as well.)” He said.
That actually made Riya sigh in relief, she didn’t offend him! She was doing it! She was making another friend!
“Since you haven't been having dreams… I guess I should go then…” Deb said, “See if anyone else had any or if there are any books on-”
“Wait!” Riya said, Deb looked at her, expecting her to say something, Riya hesitated, should she really say something? About the dreams she’s been having? Or will it turn out to be another Sally-Jayden situation. Deb looked at her expectedly, “I was saying.” Riya started, “...You should ask Max, He could know something important, he knows a lot about this place so… He might also know about the dreams.” In the end she decided not to tell him, she barely knew him… best she figured out if he had any harmful intentions before hand, “Also, make sure to visit ok? Eka eka kaj kore bored hochi. (I feel bored doing work all alone.)”
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Deb gave a smile, “Tikache! Tata tahole? (Ok! Goodbye for now, then?)”
Riya gave a smile, “Ha, tata.”
----------------------------------------
Riya went back to the letter she got from the ink guild, she slowly peeled off the wax stamp using a letter knife (it was so fancy~~ had this swirling design and everything~!) and unfolded the letter (cuz parchment was still expensive, who had the money to add an envelope?! The stamp was enough!).
Riya’s heart sank as she read the letter.
Daniel Burns
Head of the Ink Guild
23rd Merc street, Aurelia - 600003
41/3/10432
Lady Riya
Aurelia castle - 600001
Dear Lady Riya,
I hope this letter finds you in good health and high spirits. I write to you with gratitude for your recent correspondence and the ink recipe you provided. It is with regret, however, that I must inform you of a particular challenge we have encountered in our attempts to replicate the ink according to your instructions.
In your esteemed recipe, you mention the use of a substance known as 'gum arabia.' Regrettably, we find ourselves lacking both the knowledge of what this component entails and the means to acquire it within our current resources. Despite our best efforts and extensive research, we have been unable to ascertain its nature or locate a suitable alternative.
I humbly beseech your guidance on this matter. If you would be so gracious as to provide any further information regarding 'gum arabia' or suggest an alternative ingredient, it would greatly assist us in our endeavours. Your expertise in this field is held in the highest regard, and we remain eager to learn from your esteemed knowledge.
Once again, Lady Riya, allow me to express our deepest gratitude for your generosity in sharing this ink recipe. We hold it in the highest esteem and are determined to overcome this obstacle so as to bring your vision to fruition.
With the utmost respect and admiration,
Daniel Burns
Head of the Ink Guild
Gum arabia… didn’t exist in this world?
Riya felt panic well up in her chest.
It's fine~ All is well… All is fail… if she fails to properly set and spread this trend… People won't think she's this all-knowing entity sent by the Gods and if people don't believe that then they'll figure out she's a fake and if they figure out she's a fake then she and the others will die and it'll all be her fault-
"...My Lady?" Viola asked, "Are you alright?"
Riya blinked away the tears, "Ya… ya I'm fine… it's just… Well…" Wait… Could Viola help? Maybe gum arabic does exist in this universe… but under a different name… "I am having difficultly finding a certain ingredient… it seems that the ingredient I am searching for does not share its name with its godly counterpart."
Viola looked nervous, "What is this ingredient you are looking for, My Lady?"
Roya thought for a second, how the fuck was she supposed to explain what 'gum arabia' was exactly?! "The ingredient I am looking for is called 'gum arabic' as it is known as in the Godly plane of existence. It's sap from the 'acacia tree' and when hardens, is known as gum arabic."
Viola looked like she was thinking, did she know anything that was close to gum arabic? Maybe it was in some other Prefecture? Riya wouldn't be that surprised if it was, but if it was then it would be annoying as fuck because then they'd have to come up with trade agreements and that would take longer for ink to be created.
"I do believe I know of a tree that exists in our humble plane of existence that matches your description, My Lady. In fact, it can be found in Bellum and the south-western part of Harmonia."
Success!! Oow~! This was great! She was one step closer to fountain pen ink!
Riya was overjoyed and smiled like a mad man, "[Let's go check it out then!]" Riya said in English.
Viola looked slightly disturbed by her reaction, "My sincerest apologies, My Lady, but regrettably, I find myself unfamiliar with the celestial tongue. Might I implore you to converse in our earthly language?"
Oh… Right… German…. "Ah… yes… Shall we depart at this very instance to observe if the tree truly is the tree I am enquiring of?" Did that make sense? Riya thought there was some sort of grammatical mistake somewhere in that sentence.
If there was any grammatical mistake, Viola didn't say, instead, Viola gave a shaky bow and looked as if Riya was going to dock her pay in half for having the audacity to speak back to her, "My Lady, I humbly beg your pardon, but it shall require a certain duration to make all necessary preparations for our journey to the south-western font."
Ok…? That made sense… "[OK?] How long?"
Viola squeezed her eyes shut, Riya wasn't sure what was wrong with her, ".... Two weeks, My Lady…"
Oh… that was…. Longer than she expected…. But at the same time, it made sense, their technology was all over the place, and she was an Aub (the equivalent of cheif minister of the state) since there would probably be a lot of pomp involved when she'd be visiting (probably even be expected to bless married couples and kiss babies heads!) "Very well, I can wait."
Viola was still cowering, but looked up, "You… will wait? My Lady?" She added hastily at the end.
"Yes?" These things took time…. She could take this time to visit others… She wanted to see Maria, she hadn't seen Maria since she was sick. And she was sick a week ago.
"Many thanks, My Lady." Viola said with her eyes down-casted.
Riya wasn't sure why Viola was acting like this, she acted like Riya was some queen who was about to order her head be cut off because she brought back news that the enemy kingdom had slaughtered all the troops and-
…. Oh…
Suddenly, Riya felt sick… Sure she was stuck in another world where manners equivalent of the medival era and an equally out-dated cast system to go along with it… But that didn't mean that Viola thought she was going to be hanged or something because Riya (someone of 'superior bloodline') wasn't able to go where she wanted, whenever she wanted…
Right?
"Viola…" Riya said carefully (Riya felt this really uncomfortable feeling in her heart when she saw Viola coil back lightly…. Like she was expecting to be hit.), "Viola… You don't have to be scared… I'm not going to hurt you. I want you to know that just because you told me I couldn't do something, for my own well-being, doesn't mean I'm going to dock your wages or whatever else you think I'm going to do to you, I'm not that [petty], Understood?"
"My Lady, I'm a Laynoble." Viola said, her voice wobbling.
A Laynoble was at the very bottom of the social hierarchy of Nobles… They barely had enough Mana to qualify as a Noble.
Mana was everything to Nobles, so much so that Nobles had to have the same level of Mana as their partner, otherwise they wouldn't be able to procreate, which made the dating pool like, really small, especially at the top of the social/Mana hierarchy (because the higher you go, the less people there are with large amounts of mana in their blood).
Laynobles had such less Mana, they could have children with commoners (the ones with very, very small amounts of mana in their blood) being someone with so less Mana they could have commoner children in a society where Nobles hate Commoners… life must have been tough for Viola…
"I don't care." Riya stated, she might be stupid, but that didn't mean she needed to be mean. "I won't hurt you or anyone else in my service, regardless of status. Hurting people for the sake of hurting people… That's unholy behavior." She added at the end, these people were sorta religious, so her, a 'messenger of the Gods' condemning a certain behavior should be ok, right?"
Viola looked like she was about to cry but couldn't cry because that wasn't 'Noble behavior' or whatever. Kinda stupid, but then again, Riya was her boss… it wouldn't look good to cry in front of her boss…
But then again… who could she cry to? Her parents? Or would they just shut her up? Her friends? Did she even have friends? Her colleagues? But what if they were bullying her as well? Speaking of colleagues… she needed to have a meeting with her retainers and her friends… But that could wait… First she needed to help Viola. "There there.. come here.."
Riya patted to the side of the couch.
Viola hesitated, but slowly walked towards the couch and sat next to her. Her eyes were still watery. Riya noticed Viola's hands were clutching onto the inside of her sleeves.
Riya started to pour out some tea, "It's ok to let your emotions out." She handed the teacup to Viola, "Letting out your emotions is healthy."
"M-my Lady, I- if I let go-" She showed Riya the manastone in her hand.
Riya grimaced, "Ah… I had forgotten…" What the fuck did Nobles have to be so complicated?! "Mortals' mana tends to go [haywire] when they get emotional and would die unless they use manastones to absorb the extra mana… But manastones can only absorb up to upto certain extent before they shatter… correct?"
"Y-yes My Lad-dy." Viola nodded.
manastones cost money, and Viola being at the very bottom of the social hierarchy meant she had almost no money to buy manastones…
Riya felt even worse than before, a good crying session wouldn't be able to help, she'll need calm down for now before the wild and untamable mana consumes her, crying can wait for later, "It's ok… calm down… you'll be fine… there there…"
Was she doing this right? Hopefully she was.
Eventually, Viola calmed down, her breathing was normal. "Apologize, My Lady." Viola said, "I seemed to have lost myself for a few minutes."
"Are you feeling OK?" Riya asked.
"I feel fine, My Lady."
"I'm just glad your ok." Riya said. "And I meant it back then, [workplace abuse] … Uh… Harassment in the workplace will not be tolerated by me. I'll let the others know when I call everyone for a group meeting."