CHAPTER 13

NEW BLOSSOM

Reighley was chatting with Destiny while glancing over at the restrooms every so often awaiting the return of both Ulysses and Lily. He noticed a woman leave the restroom that Lily was in. She looked vaguely familiar to him. “That’s odd… Did I miss Lily leaving the restroom?” He thought, “And that woman, I feel like I have seen her somewhere before.” Reighley tried to use Insight on the woman but it was no use. She was wearing a pair of black sunglasses that stopped him from using it. Suddenly a loud sound was heard from the men’s restroom behind the lady, she looked backward at it in concern.

“Ulysses! What’s wrong?” Lily thought, “I have to help him, but I need to leave. I can’t compromise my identity.” Her caretaker instincts that were ingrained into her very soul caused her to halt in hesitation, this caused Lily to recall a time when Elise had just dropped her off at home after work…

Before Lily was Freya’s handmaiden, she lived with her Grandmother in Clothstone Town in a small little cottage out in the countryside. She moved in with her Grandmother after her parents were caught up in an accident. It wasn't soon after that before she was taken in by the Young family to work as a maid. Even though she was young in age, she still worked full-time for the Young family. They would pick her up every morning and she would spend her days learning all the mannerisms and duties that being a handmaiden entailed, to the point of exhaustion. Only after a long day's work would she return home to spend time with her grandmother.

Lily had just been dropped off home by Elise who waved her off and took off shortly after. Lily made it to the front door and opened it to see her grandmother using a duster on the cracks and corners of the front room.

“Welcome home, Lily. How was your day at work dear?” Her grandmother Daffodil said.

“It was hard, Grandma. My legs and arms hurt, and I can’t even have fun there,” Lily replied.

“I know dear. It must be very very hard on you. It was never supposed to be this way, but I want you to know that I’m proud of how committed you are to this. It’s not an easy task for an adult let alone a seven year old my dear,” Daffodil praised her while patting Lily on the head. “I am very, very, proud of you.”

“But Grandma, I am eight years old now! We just had my birthday party last week, remember?” Lily corrected.

“Oh, yes, silly me, how could I forget?” She stated. “How about you go and change out of your uniform and go play for a bit while the sun is still out? Go and have that fun you’ve been missing out on. How does that sound?” Daffodil asked.

“Okay! I’m going to go see if Miko (Me-Co) wants to play.” Lily replied and quickly got her into clothes she could wear outside.

“Very well. Be careful.” Daffodil replied.

When Lily rushed past her to go outside. She ran over towards her neighbor who was a young girl named Miko. Miko was slightly older than Lily, being the age of twelve. She lived with her mother whose home was built next to a nearby shrine house.

Miko’s mother, who was utterly devoted to the shrine, gave her daughter a name that literally meant Shrine Maiden. Miko had her profession chosen for her at birth by her mother. Shrine Maiden’s started their intense training from the early years of adolescence and it would persist anywhere between three to seven years. Concluding only when one became qualified to become a shaman priestess. Their attire would consist of bright red long divided pleated trousers, a white fold-over dress with long droopy sleeves that was tucked into the pants called a Kosode, which was the predecessor to the Kimono, and a red or white ribbon. They would be trained to maintain immense concentration entering a trance-like state to communicate with kami (gods) or spirits of the deceased, as well as practicing fortune telling.

To get to Miko’s house Lily had to travel a dirt path and then climb several hundred stone steps with bamboo stalks on both sides. Out of breath, Lily was about to knock on the wooden door to their house when she heard a scream come from inside. She recognized the screamer as Miko. Lily was fairly familiar with her voice due to Miko often screaming from being afraid of many critters like bugs. Instinctively Lily opened the door and rushed inside. She rushed into the hall to see Miko standing on top of a small table in the room beyond having a meltdown.

“Miko, what’s wrong!?” Lily asked.

“There… there… there’s a snake!” Miko replied, “It’s over there!” She pointed towards the corner of the room. Lily rushed inside and looked at the corner of the room. She recognized the snake as a Yamakagashi (Rhabdophis Tigrinus/Japanese Garter Snake), which, unlike common American garter snakes, was venomous. She learned this because part of her training as a maid consisted of gardening. She was required to know of potentially dangerous animals that she might come across while she was at work. She always felt as though the information was useless, until now.

“Get rid of it!” Miko begged.

“Hold on, Miko. It’s venomous, so I need to be careful.” Lily stretched her arm out and the snake hissed at her, and in a single motion, she swiftly picked the small snake up behind its head by wrapping her fingers around the nape of its neck. Lily let out a shuddering breath. Things like these bothered her. Lily was terrified of snakes to the point that it would have paralyzed her in fear, but since it was for someone else’s well-being, she felt as if she could do anything.

“Get it out of here, and please don’t let my mom find out it’s poisonous!” Miko yelled.

“It’s venomous, not poisonous, which means as long as it doesn’t bite you, you’ll be okay.”

“As long as what doesn’t bite you? What’s all this commotion!” A voice behind Lily came from the door.

“I’m sorry Mother, there was a snake inside the house!” Miko explained. The woman looked to see that Lily was holding the snake, then at the disarrayed room. After seeing how messy the area had become, a look of distaste was evident on her face. She was disgusted by the behavior that she had seen.

“Remove that thing from this house if you'd please,” she told Lily, “and Miko, calm yourself, girl, there is no reason for you to lose your composer over a simple creature. It appears you have not learned well enough to keep yourself stable from our training. It looks like you'll require more supplementary lessons, starting tomorrow.”

Lily went outside and placed the snake on some leaves a little ways from the house, hearing a subdued “Yes Mother,” reply from inside the building. Lily patiently waited and watched the snake until it slithered away.

“Psst! Is it gone?” Lily, looking up from the snake, saw Miko peeking her head out the front door.

“Yeah… It is.” Lily said. Suddenly, Lily began quietly sobbing, trying hard not to attract attention from Miko’s mother.

“Lily?” Miko asked.

“It was so scary!” She cried. “I thought it was going to bite me!” Seeing that she needed comforting she went over to Lily and patted her head.

“Thank you, Lily. You really saved me back there!” Miko praised. After a couple of minutes, Lily wiped the tears from her eyes and sniffled. Soon the two made their way back down the stone staircase toward Lily’s house.

“So how did you know about the snake and stuff?” Miko questioned.

“It’s part of my maid training. I have to do garden work so they taught me about all sorts of creatures to watch out for.” Lily answered.

“Wow... Being a maid must be hard.” Miko stated.

“Yeah. It’s a lot of boring stuff too though, but it's nice to be needed,” Lily said. “I bet being a shrine maiden isn’t fun either. Your mom is strict.”

“She can be, but it’s not like I have any choice in the matter. She named me Miko, because she decided for me that I was going to be a shrine maiden before I was even born,” she explained. Miko stopped on the staircase and fell behind a few steps causing Lily to pause and turn back towards her. “Hey, Lily?”

“Yes, Miko?” She replied.

“Promise me that once your parents are out of the hospital, you’ll do what you want to do,” Miko said.

“What do you mean?” Lily asked, confused.

“Well… I’m going to be stuck here like this, on the path ‘she’ chose for me. I mean, you have the chance to do anything you want, to go and live a normal life.”

“You can live a normal life too,” Lily said.

“It’s not that simple… I’ll lose everything if I do that. That’s why it has to be you.” Miko sorrowfully explained.

“I’m not sure I understand, but if you say so.” she conceded.

Soon the two girls descended the moss-covered stone staircase making their way through the bamboo stalks on their way towards a dirt trail that led to Lily’s house. Once at the bottom of the stairs, through the cover of the bamboo, the girls could feel the shedding warmth of the evening sun. The girls looked out over the expanse of the countryside seeing little to no clouds overhead. All the while, feeling the light cool breeze sweeping through their hair as they hurried toward the house. When the girls arrived Grandma Daffodil was in a chair out on the front porch of the home in the shade.

“Hi Grandma, we’re home!” Lily said with excitement.

“Oh! Hello sweetie. Welcome back,” she said towards Lily and then looked over towards Miko. “Ah, Miko, look how grown up you’ve become.”

“Hello Mrs. Monet (Moe-Nay),” Miko said with a bow.

“No need to be so polite dear. You come here all the time, so just have fun while you’re here,” she said. Immediately, Miko’s posture relaxed as she slouched a bit.

“Okay! Mrs. Monet,” Miko perked up with excitement and explained what happened at her house. “Oh, Yeah! You should have seen Lily back at my house. She was so cool. She came to my rescue and saved me from a snake.” She left out the part about the snake being venomous as she didn’t want Lily to get in trouble.

“Is that so? Lily, come here.” She waved towards her, signaling her to come stand by her side and Lily walked over to Daffodil, as she was told. Lily was unsure of what her grandmother’s response was going to be like but didn’t worry about it too much. “It’s not too surprising. Lily here has always had a servant's heart, putting others before herself and doing things without ever being asked or told,” she said fondly while looking back toward her granddaughter. “I’m sure she will grow up to become a fine young lady.”

In a single moment in time, memories flooded into Lily’s head as a wave of nostalgia swept over her. She paused as she heard the groans and coughing coming from Ulysses in the men’s restroom. “How could I have forgotten this feeling? The urge to help someone.” She thought. ”I had been locked away, slaving away for Freya for so long I forgot what it felt like. That calling… The call to help someone in need.” She had a tough choice to make. She couldn’t just abandon Ulysses. It wasn’t because he was her future husband, but because he sounded like he needed help.

For a brief moment, for just a second, Reighley got a glimpse of Lily’s eyes from the side of her face. Even though she was wearing sunglasses, a hat, and a scarf, this was all he needed to understand whom he was looking at. He saw the beige aura from before. However, it looked like it was ripping itself in two. There were two different versions of Lily projected above her and both were fighting for control. One was tugging the other away from the back of its shirt, attempting to leave, while the other tried to charge towards the men’s restroom in the opposite direction.

“I’m not sure what her deal is, or why she is wearing a disguise but…” He thought, as he stood up from his chair and walked towards Lily. “Ulysses would be devastated if she left and I don’t need a full picture to understand what’s going on.” During this, Destiny looked at him with confusion but idly sat back deciding that it might be more fun to just watch as the scene unfolds.

Lily noticed Reighley approaching. She let her urges to help die inside her as she turned away ready to leave it all behind. “I suppose it’s better off this way,” she frowned.

“You want to stay right!? Then stay!” Reighley shouted. Those are the words he wished he had told Freya when she had come over. He was growing tired of watching people shy away from their true feelings.

Lily froze in her tracks with her back still turned, “How did you know it was me?” She asked while removing her disguise.

“I knew because you seemed concerned for Ulysses.” He answered. Over by the table Destiny reacted to this revelation as if she had her mind blown. She couldn’t believe it was Lily in disguise.

“I can’t stay. In fact, I shouldn’t even be here.” Lily explained before turning to face Reighley.

“Why not?” Reighley asked.

“We live in separate worlds. Mine is different from the normal one you all live in,” she said. Reighley was confused by her statement but wondered if it had to do with the two different versions of herself that he saw within her aura.

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“It doesn’t matter what world you live in if you live in it with regret.” Reighley paused briefly and thought of Freya, “You see… I have this friend of mine. A friend that you kind of remind me of... She was put in a similar position as you. My friend had to leave, but she wanted to stay. I wish I had told her to, but I didn’t. I knew exactly what she wanted, and I didn’t stop her from leaving. I regret that, and I don’t want to make the same mistake twice, so if you want to stay, then stay.” Reighley pleaded.

His words struck a chord in Lily’s heart. She could only think of the sad eyes she had seen on Miko’s face seven years ago. When Lily said to her, “You can live a normal life too,” remembering this caused Lily to stop and think about it. “I wondered if those words ever reached her. To this day Miko still lives as a shrine maiden, unable to do what she wants to do. I wonder if she is full of regret?”

Suddenly a loud painful sound of someone throwing up in the restroom was heard, and Reighley watched Lily as the aura above her that was holding her back, finally let go. Lily rushed past Reighley towards the restroom and thought to herself, “Freya, I think I get it now. I get how you could have fallen for such a guy. How he could make even someone like you change.” When Lily arrived at the door with Reighley following behind her only seconds later, the two knocked on it.

“Ulysses!? Are you okay?” Lily asked with concern. Belching noises could be heard from the other side.

“Uh, just constipated,” he fibbed trying to hide the fact he was nauseous.

“You okay in there, man? You don’t sound very good.” Reighley asked.

“I heard the sound of you throwing up. Look, I know you don’t know me very well, but I can help you. You don’t have to worry about scaring me away!” She said to reassure him.

“You guys can just go on without me, I’ll catch back up with you later!” He couldn’t let them see him like this.

“We aren’t leaving without you,” Reighley stated.

“You just don’t get it,” Ulysses said.

“Get what?” Lily asked.

“I can’t leave,” Ulysses answered.

“Why not?” The two said in unison.

“I don’t want to ruin everything for everyone.” Ulysses explained.

“Dude, what are you talking about? There aren’t even any issues between us.” Reighley consoled.

“This is the first time things have been this good. I'm tired of being the reason that everything falls apart.” Ulysses was sitting in front of the door, with his back towards it, blocking all entry. He had just thrown up from the nausea. He felt terrible. He felt like a fool for coming all this way without his cigarettes. He was so busy working at his shop that he forgot to smoke after work the day before. He assumed that was why his body was acting this way and why he was having withdrawals. His mood was beginning to shift and he couldn’t help but be irritable.

“You won’t do that man. You are such a reliable guy-,” Reighley tried to say before suddenly interrupted.

“I’m not! I’m a coward. I am afraid of heights, and the dark, and I can’t even talk to girls, but you know what terrifies me the most? That I’m going to mess it up. That’s what I’ve always done. These stupid hands of mine destroy everything I touch! People avoid me because they are scared of me, but in reality, I’m the one who's terrified.” He explained. Lily lowered herself a bit hoping her voice would reach Ulysses on the other side of the door.

“That’s not true. Back on the train, when I was falling, you caught me and I didn’t break. You kept me safe. The way you cook your food is so careful and soft. Those hands you speak of are the most gentle and kind hands I’ve ever seen. So please, Ulysses. Come out.” Lily begged.

“Uly? Are you okay buddy?” Destiny asked. She had seen the commotion and couldn’t stay on the sidelines any longer. She wondered how deep the wounds from which those feelings stemmed. A long silence occurred. The three waited in anticipation for what Ulysses’s decision would be until finally, the door opened with his head facing the ground.

“I smoke. It’s why I’m feeling ill,” he said disappointed in himself. Ulysses braced himself for looks of disgust. He couldn’t bear to look at his friends and see their reaction. The group looked at each other and then faced Ulysses again. Reighley reached up and placed his hand on Ulysses's shoulder, patting him a few times.

“I already knew that dude,” He said comfortingly. Ulysses looked at his friend with astonishment.

“When did you find out?” He asked.

“When we first met. I saw you sneaking a cigarette in the classroom,” Reighley explained.

“You knew since then? Why didn’t you say anything?” Ulysses asked.

“Because it didn’t matter.” He answered. Ulysses looked at his friend with surprise and then gratefulness. “Besides, it’s not like you were good at hiding it either,” Reighley said with a chuckle.

“I always assumed it was your parents that smoked and it happened to stick on you,” Destiny said.

“It doesn’t bother me,” Lily answered. “Something so trivial as that wouldn’t cause my feelings to waiver.” Lily thought.

“But… I could get you guys in serious trouble. It’s not legal.” Ulysses said with a worried appearance.

“Do you want to quit?” Reighley asked.

“I’m not sure if I can,” The more he thought about it, the more he realized he most likely began smoking because of anxiety, and the fact he was lonely. He remembered his mother Kokeisha telling him when he was younger that it took the edge off of her.

“That’s not what I asked,” Reighley said.

“Yeah. I think I don’t need it anymore.” Ulysses answered.

“That’s all I needed to hear. I’ll help you out. That’s what best friends do right?” Reighley said. Ulysses's eyes began to water and he hugged Reighley, smothering him in his arms while sobbing.

“Thanks, Bestie!” He said.

“Hey, you should probably stop calling me ‘Bestie,’ that’s what girls do. Call me bro.” Reighley explained.

“Aniki! (兄 あに 貴 き • slang for a big brother or gang leader.)”

“Well, I guess that's better than Bestie,” Reighley said jokingly.

Suddenly a ringtone could be heard coming from Destiny’s pocket. She pulled out her phone and stared at it. It was Freya calling once again.

“Who keeps calling you?” Reighley asked.

“Oh look, it's Freya.” Destiny said and then immediately proceeded to end the call with a single swipe of her finger. The rest of the group looked at Destiny with a terrified look. They began to wonder if she had some sort of dirt on Freya that allowed her to treat her friend like that.

“Hey don’t let her find out we are getting her presents for her birthday, okay?” Reighley asked.

“Roger that Loverboy!” A few seconds later Destiny received a text from Freya. She read it out loud to the group. “‘Stop ignoring my calls, and pick up the phone. Why are you with my boyfriend anyway?’ Yikes, someone isn’t a happy camper. By the way, Lily, aren’t you supposed to be with Freya today, don’t you have maid stuff to do?”

Lily’s worst fears came to fruition as her identity was revealed. It happened the exact way she thought it would too, but somehow, things were different. She wasn’t scared like before, so she decided to own up to it.

“Today is one of my rare days off.” Lily replied. The two guys paused for a second until what she said registered in their heads.

“You work for Freya!?” the two asked in conjunction.

“That’s correct. I act as her handmaiden.” Lily replied. She spent the next minute explaining her situation to the group. She told them about how long she had been working for Freya, and how she owes a great debt to the Young family, both metaphorically and monetarily. She didn't, however, go into too much detail about it. Once she had explained everything she let the two boys take it all in and waited for a response.

“So… does this mean I won’t get to see you for a while?” Ulysses asked.

“I’m afraid so. I only get two days off a month as a maid for the Young family household. So it will be some time before I can visit you again.”

“I can wait,” Ulysses said. It was three simple words but Lily didn’t expect them to mean so much to her. She assumed that because her life would be so busy people who got to know her would simply forget about her, or either fail or be unable to make time for her.

“I’ll hang out with you at Freya’s house! I can never have too many friends.” Destiny said.

“Yeah, whenever you have some time, you are more than welcome to hang out with us. I’ll talk to Freya about it, and make sure she's fine with it.”

“Th-Thank you.” Lily couldn’t help but let out a grateful smile. The thought she had previously in the restroom, being surrounded by friends of her own was potentially becoming a reality. She was usually pessimistic these days because of her heavy workload, but her future was looking brighter for once.

“Hey! Just what is going on here!?” An angry voice yelled from a distance. The group glanced over towards the loud familiar female voice. The people in the food court began to look towards the group from the yelling.

“Freya!? What are you doing here?” Reighley asked. Almost instinctively the group stood in front of Lily in fear that Freya would potentially lash out or blame her.

“Hello.” Ulysses said.

“Freya. Hey girlfriend.” Destiny said nervously.

“Guys, it's alright. You’ve done enough.” Lily said, stepping between the three.

“I see you’ve made some friends Lily,” Freya said. Lily looked down in shame, as she failed her job as a maid. She wasn’t supposed to let anyone know she worked for Freya.

“I-I…” Lily couldn’t get a word out before Freya interrupted her.

“Good for you,” Freya said with a pure-hearted smile. “I’m glad to see you have a life outside of work.”

“So you’re not mad?” Lily asked. It was surprising to her. If she had been asked a month ago whether or not Freya would have freaked out on her, the answer would have been a definitive yes. However, Lily knew that something had changed inside Freya’s heart for the better and she figured out where the source of that goodness came from.

“Of course not. That would be entirely uncool.” Freya looked towards Reighley and winked. Reighley could only imagine what was going on inside of Freya, as he looked at her aura arrows and they all pointed towards herself. He put two and two together and bet she was trying to be a good person, but he was surprised they weren’t pointed at him. He would have thought Freya would try to impress him by doing the right thing, but her aura said otherwise. He guessed she wanted to work on herself more than anything.

“You know you really shouldn’t be here. We are all birthday present shopping for you. You would ruin the surprise,” Reighley explained, “and how did you even get here so fast?”

“Helicopter. I have my own landing pad. ” Freya explained.

“Why am I not surprised?” Reighley sighed but then thought it was exactly something she would do. “Look, we already got our gifts for your party. If you see them I’ll be upset. How about you join us for food and we all disperse for the day.”

“Are you sure?” Freya asked. She felt bad about intruding after they went out of their way to get her something.

“Yeah. It’s fine. I have to do something when I get home as well, so I can’t stay for much longer.” Reighley explained. During this time many people around the food court began to recognize Freya and began whispering about her off in the distance, some even taking photos of her.

“Which one is ‘R’?” Someone whispered.

Soon the group sat back down and ate their now lukewarm food. Freya scolded Destiny for ignoring her calls and trolling, and then the group ended up making their way to the exit. After eating and enjoying time together, Freya invited Ulysses to her party as well after a reminder from Destiny.

When it was finally time to say their goodbyes Lily’s expression was bittersweet. She couldn’t help but worry that her first friend group would be too busy for her on her days off. She didn’t have school like the rest of them, nor did she have homework on the weekends. Only time could answer her questions so she decided to be patient. Freya offered her a ride and Lily accepted it, and Destiny decided to tag along too. Herald was already warned about their departure during their meal, so he was ready to pick the girls up. Once the girls said their goodbyes, Lily hugged Ulysses.

“Fix some ramen for me next time, won't you?” Lily looked up towards Ulysses with gentle eyes.

“Yes.” Ulysses reverted to speaking poorly as the hug from a girl sapped all of his bravado away. Soon the three girls took off as Herald chauffeured them home and Ulysses and Reighley were left to their own devices. As the two headed towards the station Reighley came up with a plan to help Ulysses quit smoking. Ulysses agreed to the plan and told his friend he would give it his best shot. Finally the two parted ways at the station and went home.

During the girl’s car ride home Lily sat in the back of the limousine for the first time in her career as a maid.

“You know… I approve.” Lily said.

“Approve of what?” Freya asked.

“Of your relationship. I think he is good for you.” Lily said. Freya wasn’t sure how to take the answer and unexpectedly was embarrassed. Up front, driving was Herald who nodded in accordance with Lily.

“Would both of you stop teasing me? And Destiny, don't say another word!” It was as if Freya could see the future as she preemptively silenced Destiny before she could get a word out.

“But I didn’t say anything!” Destiny complained.

“I have had enough trolling from you today,” Freya explained. Destiny decided to pick a new target to tease.

“Well, what about you Lily? That was quite the hug you gave Ulysses back there.” Destiny interrogated.

“Hey, I-I, that has nothing to do with anything.” Lily couldn’t think of a response and could only blush in embarrassment. Herald recognized the name of the boy and gave Lily the nod of approval.

“I’ve become quite the matchmaker in your absence, my dearest.” Herald thought.

The group let out a chuckle in unison and continued their way home.

Reighley and Ulysses had to part ways, so the two said their goodbyes, and Reighley left towards the station that boarded those wishing to go to Koko Rich Coast. Reighley’s family lived on the cusp of the district on the southeastern side of town towards San Fran Kyoto Peak. When he boarded the train he comfortably sat on a chair and waited for the train to take off. Once it did, Reighley looked out of the window at the city passing him by once again taking care to not look himself in the eyes.

“I’m pretty lame, huh.” He thought to himself. “I talk a big game, trying to get people to express their true feelings, but I can’t even look at my reflection in the mirror without having a potential mental breakdown. In the end, I’m just a hypocrite.”

When Reighley arrived at the station after a relatively short trip he quickly left. On his way home he found himself at a crossroad in a street he didn’t recognize. Wanting to familiarize himself with the city he took a small detour down the block to check out the area. The street was filled with a multitude of strip malls. Most were privately owned restaurants while others were clothing outlets. A particular building caught Reighley’s eye. It demanded the attention of all who passed by it. It had a neon sign of a computer motherboard chip with pink and blue alternating lights. The store's name was Motherboards. It appeared to be quite popular as there was nowhere left to park. Reighley approached the building to see what the commotion was about. He read a sign that said (Gamers and Mothers are Welcome. Preferable if you're both. Daycare Available!) Reighley ended up getting a peek inside through the window until he realized the implications of spying on moms playing video games. From what he saw, it was an internet café that mothers could bring their children to so they could play video games.

“What an incredibly niche idea,” Reighley thought. “Well, I better get going before I get spotted and called a creep for the rest of my life. Wait, is that-?” Reighley recognized a game he used to play in his old hometown. “Fusion Fighter X!? I haven’t played that in forever.” He thought. It was a fighting game that let the player pick any two characters and combine the moves and abilities that the two had into a single character. Reighley then took notice of the familiar face playing the game. “It’s her! I’m sure it’s the lady who gave Freya a ride home when she and I ran away from Herald downtown.”

Later that evening when the girls returned to the Young family estate, Lily was summoned to Jim Young's office. She had many concerns as she was never summoned for anything. Every problem Jim had, fell upon Elise to take care of in the manor. Jim had just returned home from a strenuous day of work, so Lily assumed it must be fairly important. Nervous, she hesitantly knocked on the office door.

“Come in,” Jim said. Lily opened the door and entered inside.

“You summoned me, Master Young?” Lily asked with a bow. Jim was sitting in his chair eating a bowl of Ramen that looked and smelled like it came directly from the Back Alley Ramen shop. Lily recognized the scent and could only assume he must have had someone get him something from there. She thought it was odd that Jim had gotten food from there of all places, but she wasn’t paid to ask questions.

“Yes. You see, I have an important task that only you can accomplish that involves my daughter.” Jim explained.

“Only me, Sir?” Lily asked in confusion.