Stepping forward the young woman who looks to be in her early twenties, wearing a blue and white lace-up dress. She stands just at the front of the doorway and begins to speak in a soft voice. "Welcome Sir Orpheus, Lady Susanna, you both are quite early, I'm afraid my Lord is currently in a meeting, please come in for some refreshments." With her hands coupled in front of her lap, she speaks courteously and waits for them to approach patiently.
Orpheus turns his gaze to Shaun and nods politely to him before speaking. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Shaun." With his gaze locked to the man to his right, he flashes a slight smile and kind eyes as if saying farewell to a long-time friend.
Shaun witnesses this and is taken aback for a moment before nodding in response and speaking up. "It was a pleasure to meet both of you as well, I'll just wait with the carriage until you both return." As they both say a minor farewell to their new acquaintance, Orpheus and Susanna make their way to the doorway and enter the manor. As the double door shuts behind them they are greeted to a large foyer, to the right and left is some closed doors leading to separate rooms, in front of them is a large staircase leading to the second story.
The woman stands in front of both of them and gestures her hand towards the left side doorway. "Please come with me." She states with another courteous look and genuine smile; Orpheus feels somewhat refreshed by her considerate tone and mildly smirks. They both turn to the left side door and Orpheus spots Susanna wielding her cold and calculated expression. Orpheus narrows his eyes and then proceeds through the left side door and into another room.
The room is a large guest area with three small lounges surrounding a wooden table in the centre along with several paintings adorning the walls. The maid leads them to the lounges, gestures with her left hand towards the seats, Orpheus and Susanna both follow her direction and sit down next to each other. The woman then turns to them with a warm smile and speaks up. "Please wait here for a little while, Lord Dandridge will be finished with his meeting shortly, in the meantime, ill bring some refreshments." The woman nods slightly in a respectful manner as Orpheus and Susanna return in kind before the maid exists the room and shuts the door behind her.
Susanna now seated comfortably leans back on the lounge and turns her gaze to Orpheus beside her. She watches him carefully as Orpheus's eyes dart from left to right as if surveying the room. Experiencing a tremendous degree of curiosity at his peculiar manner akin to an owl flicking their gaze into every direction, she speaks up and asks a question. "Why did we arrive so early?" She puckers her lips slightly after speaking as they sway side to side with her eyes squinting curiously towards Orpheus.
Prompted by Susanna's sudden question his distracted gaze quickly turns to her in a flash, his face leans sideways with his right side resting firmly in his right palm. He ponders his thoughts for a moment before answering her question. "Isn't it obvious... I'm curious as to what magical countermeasures have been established in the home of a prestigious noble." After speaking in a mildly sarcastic tone, Susanna nods in understanding as Orpheus lifts his gaze and returns to his inspection of the room.
Whilst Orpheus is surveying the room, Susanna sighs with a curt smile before speaking up in a short reply. "Ah as I expected." She speaks with a cold and somewhat robotic tone as if she had just verified a particular piece of information.
Hearing her reply, Orpheus snorts sarcastically and utters a comment under his breath. "As expected, huh... you little mind reader." He speaks in a soft voice almost like a whisper whilst continuing to survey the room, Susanna notices his comment and smirks before casting her gaze to a painting on the wall. Orpheus finishes inspecting the room and begins chanting a spell under his breath. Deprendo Incantatio. Closing his eyes, he concentrates on the ambient energy surrounding him, pitch darkness appears in his mind signifying the complete lack of enchantments in his vicinity. He opens his eyes to survey the area once more and with an unsatisfied expression he groins in confusion.
Orpheus then adjusts his gaze to the wall in front of him and ponders the current situation internally. "No magical security that I can see... hmm rather odd, I suppose there is a precedence to this, though magic is effective it is not without its vulnerabilities." Furrowing his eyebrows, he concentrates on the desk in front of him whilst continuing his thought. "Still it's rather odd regardless, there must be something I'm missing." Still deep within thought Orpheus hears a slight creak in the floor to his right, the sound emanates from behind the lounge situated there. Susanna still admiring the painting depicting a tall castle upon a field of grass, does not notice this event. Orpheus turns his gaze in minor curiosity at the lounge, glaring at the spot for a few moments before something peeks from behind the lounge. Bright yellow the colour of the sun is the first attribute he sees, that very colour adorns the wavy blonde hair of a small child peeking out from the right side of the lounge.
The child peeks out from the side in an adorable manner as she crawls on the floor with her head turned sideways. Her deep green eyes, cute smile both peek out from the side and gaze at Orpheus with pure childlike curiosity. With his eyes squinting slightly at the odd sight, he leans slightly towards the right side of the lounge for a better look. The little girl shuffles quietly on the floor, she is wearing a white dress with her messy hair flowing in every direction. Orpheus leans forward towards her and chuckles softly, the little girl immediately notices she has been spotted and quickly retreats behind the lounge.
Whilst Orpheus continues to chuckle softly, Susanna notices this and turns her gaze towards him, her attention retracted from the painting, now curious as to what is amusing. She looks deeply towards Orpheus sitting next to her and tilts her head, she pauses for a moment before asking a question. "What's so funny?" With a shallow smile on her face, she speaks with a jagged tone as her smile hinders her speech slightly.
Turning his gaze to the left, Orpheus begins eyeing Susanna before answering her question with a similar grin. "It seems we have a little spy in our midst." He speaks in a semi-serious tone as if to sound enigmatic but the soft grin hinders that immediately. Afterwards, he turns his gaze back to the lounge, Susanna does the same, curious as to what he is referring to. Orpheus gazes with childlike fascination, whilst Susanna remains as sceptical as ever.
They both wait for a few seconds before a bright blond mass of hair protrudes from behind the lounge, rising from the centre most area, both Susanna and Orpheus look on in anticipation. Rising further are two bright emerald eyes and a meek tiny nose, seating themselves on the lounge as the two eyes look on with wonder. The little girls' eyes dart from side to side as if inspecting both of them, before a meek and soft voice is suddenly spoken. "Are you the magic man?" She asks softly and adorably as her tiny fingers grasp the lounge tightly, almost as if hoisting herself up.
Listening to the meek voice, they both gaze at each other with soft smiles before returning to the small child. Orpheus chuckles once again before replying to the little girl's fascination. "Yes, I'm the magic man, my name's Orpheus, what is your's little one?" He replies in a soft and considerate tone.
The little girl rises further behind the lounge revealing her face, she has bright emerald eyes, a tiny adorable nose, fare skin and bedraggled blonde wavy hair. She tilts her head in fascination as a wide smile comes across her face, she then reorients her head and speaks softly. "My name is Scarlett Elizabeth Dandridge." The little Scarlett pronounces each of her names as she nods her head as if the words had been rehearsed so she could remember. After introducing herself Scarlett moves around the lounge, steps towards Orpheus and Susanna, she then grabs her dress sides and delivers a slight curtsy.
Orpheus smiles at this and places his right hand on his chest before bowing deeply as he speaks. "It is a pleasure Lady Scarlett." He raises his gaze and flashes a kind smile to the little Scarlett before him.
After her curtsy she casts her gaze to Susanna seated comfortably to Orpheus's left, Susanna's smile had faded after a moment before leaving a cold expression. Scarlett turns her gaze back to Orpheus as she starts to slightly shiver a bit before asking him a question. "Who is that?" Speaking again in an adorable tone of voice, mixed with a slight degree of nervousness as her words jostle a bit whilst speaking.
Orpheus acknowledges her words, turns his gaze back to Susanna and then back to Scarlett, he then leans forward slightly and speaks. "Oh, that's my friend Susanna." Delivering a faint smile with those words he begins inspecting Scarlett's peculiar reaction.
Scarlett steps back a bit before her shivering becomes more noticeable and speaks up with her gaze cast directly to Orpheus. "She... she's scary." Flustered and nervous she stands still as if gripped by a childlike fear of the unknown. She then lowers her gaze like a child that had just been scolded by a parent.
Turning back to Susanna who shrugs her shoulders in confusion, Orpheus then returns his gaze to Scarlett, he softens his facial features and speaks in a kind tone. "Oh, she's not scary..." Orpheus leans close to Scarlett's face, squints his eyes, adorns a pleasant smile and continues. "You just have to get to know her." Stretching forward his right hand, he places his index finger on her nose, mouths a "Boop." sound and quickly retracts.
Chuckling adorably, she grasps her nose with both her hands and flashes a wide grin to Orpheus. He then leans back on the lounge as Susanna looks across him towards Scarlett, Susanna suddenly sports a slight smile and chuckles softly. The sight of such an incident warms her heart as she gazes at the smiling Scarlett looking back at her with a cute expression.
Scarlett moves to the lounge and seats herself next to Orpheus, her short legs dangle off the side as she gazes at him. Looking with curiosity and wonder in her eyes she asks Orpheus a question. "Can you show me magic?" With her adorable emerald eyes gazing up at Orpheus, he is captured immediately as if this was his child and felt an unceasing desire to fulfil her wishes.
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Turning his gaze back to Susanna and then back to Scarlett, Orpheus pauses for a moment before attempting to speak. Before he can even get out a word a women's shrill voice can be heard from behind them. "My lady what are you doing here, you should be studying." The shrill voice came from behind, spurring everyone to look back to see the woman from before. She was standing just behind them, with a small trey in her arms. Upon the trey were several sweats, scones, jams and two beverages, the woman moves forward around the lounge, places the tray on the table and glares at Scarlett with a judgemental expression.
Crossing her arms, she continues to glare fiercely like a disappointed parent, a pressurizing gaze causes Susanna and Orpheus to be taken aback whilst Scarlett begins to pout with her gaze to her lap. She eventually summons up the courage to face her and speaks in a low voice akin to a whisper. "But Miss Victoria I wanted to see the magic man." Scarlett states with pouting lips and a saddened expression as her wide and bright eyes look up towards Victoria.
Undeterred by her adorable expression as if she had seen it a thousand times, she merely presented a stern expression and hard piercing eyes. "My lady you have your studies." Exuding an overwhelming pressure about herself, Susanna and Orpheus merely look on dumbstruck by the situation as Scarlett lifts out of her seat and moves towards Victoria. They both clasp hands and begin walking to the side as Victoria speak directly to the two seated. "Please Sir Orpheus and Lady Susanna, help yourselves." With Scarlett clasped in her left hand, she gestures with her right towards the food on the table.
Scarlett looks down to the seats laid out and begins salivating at the scrumptious sight and immediately speaks up. "Can I have some sweats, Miss Victoria?" Continuing with her pouting expression and adorable glistening eyes she looks up to Victoria.
Looking down at this mesmerising sight she is still undeterred for a moment, suddenly a genuine smile runs across Victoria's face as if she had just begun glowing. "No, My Lady you will ruin your lunch, now come with me." Clasping her hand softly she leads Scarlett towards the foyer as Scarlett waves back to the two seated.
Orpheus then leans forward and grabs a small biscuit from the trey, turns his gaze to the distancing Scarlett, he grasps the biscuit in between three fingers and displays it before Scarlett's eyes. Moving through the doorway into the foyer, Victoria continues looking forward with Scarlett looking back at the biscuit in his hand. Orpheus smiles at Scarlett before nodding his head towards her and whispering some words. Subcinctus Objectum. Immediately after uttering those arcane words the biscuit vanishes without a trace, Scarlett's jaw opens wide as she witnesses this event with astonishment. Orpheus then nods his head once more as his gaze locks onto her left free palm, Scarlett opens her hand to see the biscuit suddenly appearing clutched within.
Her astonished gaze at this shocking event lingers at the sudden emergence of the sweet in her hand, Victoria continues guiding her out of the room without noticing as Scarlett looks back with a jovial smile. Scarlett and Victoria eventually leave the room and disappear as Orpheus leans back onto the lounge and begins inspecting the trey. His right-hand stretch out as it hovers over the delicious treats before him before he can grasp one, he sees an odd sight in the corner of his eye. Turning his gaze to the left he witnesses Susanna sporting a mocking yet sincere smile on her face as she glares back at him sarcastically. Orpheus then furrows his eyebrows in confusion as to what is amusing and quickly asks a single word question. "What?" Immediately after speaking he turns his gaze back to the trey and begins hovering his hand once more.
Dropping her gaze with a lite chuckle she glares back at him whilst still sporting her jovial grin and speaks up. "Well, aren't you adorable?" Susanna states as her shoulders vibrate up and down as if she cannot contain her animated body, smirking once more she continues as Orpheus inspects the food. "Doing a little bit of magic for the girl, truly living up to your name as a magic man." As she emphasis the end of her sentence she swiftly leans forward and grabs a biscuit from the trey and immediately brings it to her mouth.
Orpheus is immediately stunned by this action; his gaze then moves to his hovering hand over an empty spot where a delicious treat once resided. He then slowly turns his gaze back to Susanna as she begins chewing the half-eaten biscuit, his eyebrows furrow once more as a slight frown appears on his face.
Smirking towards this expression on his face, Susanna gazes back with a curious look before asking a question. "Hmm... Is Orpheus using a guilt-inducing tactic to convince me?" She asks as she angles her right eyebrow and tilts her head towards him.
Still sporting a frowning expression, he looks towards her with puppy dog eyes and then speaks in a soft tone. "Maybe..." He leans forward slightly towards her as his adorable blue eyes lock onto hers and speak once more. "Is it working?" He asks with an adorable expression akin to a child manipulating an adult with cute behaviour.
Susanna lowers her gaze to the half-eaten biscuit with chocolate and cream in the centre, lingering there for a moment she glares back at him. Her fingers grasping the biscuit slowly moving towards Orpheus as he gazes at the delicious treat in her hand, lingering for a few seconds she quickly pulls her hand back whilst speaking. "No, unfortunately not." Pulling the biscuit back she puts the entire biscuit in her mouth and mockingly begins to chew slowly.
After realising his efforts are in vain, he immediately returns to his normal expression and leans back on the lounge, his expression now sports a smirk as he speaks up. "Well... It was certainly worth a try." He states to himself whilst gesturing with his right palm outwards, he then leans forward, quickly selects another biscuit and begins chewing it. Leaning back with a quarter chewed biscuit raised in his right-hand he stares off into the distance.
Swallowing half the remaining biscuit, Susanna reaches forward and grasps the small glass cup and takes a quick refreshing swig. She then turns her gaze to the satisfied Orpheus and asks him a question. "So... are you going to tell me why we're here?" Taking another short sip, she waits patiently for a response as she rests the cup back onto the tray table.
With the soft crunching sound of the biscuits reverberating from his mouth, Orpheus cleanly swallows, turns to Susanna and begins his reply. "Well a piece of information has just surfaced on our little merchant, so I think a meeting should be in order." Finishing the biscuit, he reveals a cold and serious expression as he gazes back at her before continuing his words. "And the reason I brought you along is that I want you to observe the meeting, I want you to take the measure of Lord Dandridge, I want you to observe him." Responding to his stern and serious expression, Susanna merely nodded in an agreement.
Both then reach for their drinks placed on the trey table, grasping them firmly they raise them to their lips, Orpheus then turned his gaze to his left and stretched forth his drink. Susanna noticed this action and copied his action, Orpheus smiles as the two drinks meet each other and speak aloud. "To the future." Orpheus states pridefully as Susanna repeats soon after before clanking their cups together and both taking swigs of the liquid.
Emptying their cups, they both place them back onto the tray table, lingering for a moment as they wait, the sound of a man's voice can be heard from behind them. Quickly turning their gazes to the heated voices, they both witness a man and a woman entering the foyer. A man stands to the left with a heated expression opposite a woman with a stern gaze but calm composure. The man is roughly five and a half feet tall with dark blonde slicked back hair, tanned skin, blue eyes and rather delicate facial features in strange contrast to the aggression upon his face. He is wearing an elegant and regal reddish-black doublet along with dark pants and leather shoes.
The woman had bright red hair, dark hazel eyes, several freckles on her face, oval glasses concealing the majority of her face as she wears a white mage's cloak. Orpheus eyes begin to sparkle with recognition of the two individuals as he readily identifies them as High Merchant Lord William Dandridge and Vice Court Wizard Leila Amberstein. They both make no sound as they continue to eavesdrop on the conversation abruptly occurring.
William with his arms crossed and an aggressive look on his face as if all rationality had drained from his complexion. "You tell that bearded oaf that calls himself a Wizard, that I will no longer adhere to his demands, I have stuck out my neck for him for too long, his majesties trade routes will no longer ferry the Societies goods for the whims of that man's experiments." Furiously speaking as veins begin to pop from his forehead along with his red flushed complexion, William lifts a small parchment in his right hand and glares at the contents. "What even are these anyway... Lapis Lazuli stones and why does he require so many of them." Still speaking with ever-growing fury, his gaze casts upon Leila who remains calm and composed in great contrast to the situation.
Lowering his gaze once more to the parchment he sighs loudly along with a small shrug before calming his expression and quelling his anger. "I apologise, Leila, I know you're just conveying that man's intentions... It's just the man infuriates me as it's one unreasonable request after the other." Lowering his gaze to the floor before rising once more and locking eyes with Leila as she delivers a sincere smile.
Breathing in a short sigh, Leila releases her breath before speaking up. "Apology accepted Lord Dandridge, I know he can be difficult, but are you sure denying his request outright is the best course of action?" With her sincere smile and accepting demeanour of his apology, she places the room at ease before asking a pertinent question, causing him to sink into deep contemplation.
Whilst thinking of this situation intently he reaffirms his stance on this issue and speaks up with confidence. "I believe it is... the routes are suffering heavily from goblin and bandit raids, to ferry such expensive goods through his majesties means is a waste of resources, not to mention dangerous, I will not give my men such an unnecessary task that may endanger their lives further." Stamping his foot and confidently representing his position to the young woman before him, whilst speaking in a stern tone of voice.
Abruptly sighing at the words of the noble in front of her, Leila lowers her gaze and ponders for a few seconds before regaining his gaze. "If that's your position on the issue, I will convey it to Court Wizard Ekron and perhaps I may suggest other avenues for transportation to him." Glancing back to William her plain expression slowly morphs into a sincere smile that seems to brighten up the room.
Glaring back, William witnesses the sincere and compassionate gaze of Leila, sighing as a result of the heartfelt smile before him. His right-hand reaches to the back of his neck and rubs the stress aching tension emanating from his bones, placing his hand to the side once more he speaks up. "Thank you, Leila I appreciate it." He states with a smile filled with honest gratitude appearing suddenly upon his face, immediately after both party's present give a polite nod to each other, Leila then turns to leave the estate.
After the door shuts behind her William releases a heavy breath and sighs loudly before dropping his shoulders down in exhaustion. Before raising his stature to a more dignified position he hears a soft voice from behind him speaking directly to him. "Lord Dandridge your guests have arrived early." Annoyance sparked by the abrupt spoken words spurs the Lord to turn his gaze behind him and glares at Victoria standing in a ramrod-straight posture.
He lingers his gaze for a few moments before delivering his stern question. "Guests... what do you mean? my guest has just left." Sporting a confused expression as his eyes squint to slits and his eyebrows furrow, he continues to glare at Victoria as she slowly raises her left hand and points to the lounge room to her right. Still confused William glances to the left, his gaze meets the two people sitting on the lounge with their bodies turned around and gazing back in his direction. With that sight his jaw drops to the floor as he quickly moves his palms to his head and drags back his ruffled hair, his hair moving back to a slick state, afterwards he begins fiddling with his clothes before turning to his guests.