About an hour later, Fran, Clara, Marianne, and Rina were standing outside the gate of the mansion, waiting for the carriage that Eric had ordered a servant to prepare.

Eric had offered them some guards to take with them, but Fran had refused. So it was just Fran, Marianne, and Rina. Clara was only there to see them off. That was why she was still in her dress, why the other three had changed into clothes that made moving around a lot easier.

Fran wore a colour-neutral, greyish top and a somewhat matching long skirt. Rina found the elf's outfit a little surprising, as she had thought that Fran, a former High Priestess, would wear something more mage-like. It certainly didn't help her image that Rina had only ever seen Fran in priestess-like clothing, even during her magic lessons.

But on second thought, those dresses looked hard to move around, so it wasn't too surprising that Fran chose a lighter outfit. And on third thought, Fran had lost all her magical abilities after the failed hero-summoning-ritual, so there was no way she was going to fight like a mage in their demon-slaying quest. Though, Rina did find it a bit funny and clichéd when she saw the bow on the elf's back.

Marianne, on the other hand, was not a fighter, so her clothes were not so much designed for movement, as she wore an outfit that was commonly found on village women of her age. But while Fran had some leather patches on her outfit for protection, Marianne hadn't, as she had no intention of standing in front of a demon.

Standing between them, Rina couldn't help but feel slightly out of place. After all, while both were still wearing colour-neutral, commoner-like outfits, Rina was wearing the Royal Knight Academy's uniform for personal assistants. It consisted of a blue and black cardigan with a white, long-sleeved shirt underneath. Rina's legs were protected by a likewise blue and black skirt that barely reached her knees. As a result, the holster with her dagger wrapped around her leg was visible for everyone to see. But it was not that of a problem, as her rapier-like sword was fastened to her waist.

Even though this uniform was only intended for aides who accompanied nobles to the Royal Knight Academy and was therefore reduced in cost, it was still decorated with a few accessories. Rina found the uniform inappropriate for hunting demons, but it was the only clothing that allowed her to move freely, at least to some extent. After all, she had no other clothes than Clara's handed-down ones, and they were not suitable for travelling, let alone fighting. Unfortunately, her maid uniform, which she by the way also had on even during training sessions, was out of the question for this outing, so she had no choice but to settle for the Academy's uniform.

Fortunately, the curriculum at the Royal Knight Academy included mock battles, so the uniforms provided at least some protection in the form of leather patches underneath the cardigans.

Before Rina could finish her thoughts about her outfit, Clara, who heard the sound of the carriage wheels, interrupted her “Rina, promise me that you'll be careful, okay?”

Rina looked up at her blonde mistress. Seeing her worried expression, she could feel how her heart warmed up. So she smiled brightly to reassure her crush. “I promise! We will quickly defeat the demons and return to you before you even notice that we were gone!”

Clara blushed a little at Rina's firm reply. After all, there were not many times, when her usually meek maid radiated so much confidence. So when Clara saw the gap in Rina's behaviour, she couldn't help but be a little mesmerised. Unfortunately, she was interrupted by her other, highly annoying maid.

“Ahem... Lady Clara... keep your dirty thoughts at bay! It's not the time for that.”

Marianne's rude words caused Clara to turn her attention from her red-haired maid to the brunette and glare at her. “...”

“...”

But when she realised that her angry glare was being brushed off nonchalantly by Marianne, she exhaled. “Marianne, please remember what we discussed and I don't mind if you get a bit... well... whatever... the carriage is there. You better get going if you want to arrive on time.”

Although Rina found the way her mistress phrased that sentence a little odd, she decided against commenting on that and only nodded. Waving to Clara one last time, she entered the carriage with a yellow dragon, Dragonherz's family crest, painted on the door. She was then swiftly followed by Fran and Marianne. As the door was closed, Rina heard the coachman command the horses to pull the carriage.

She got up and looked back through the window to see her mistress waving. A few tens of seconds later, when the Dragonherz mansion was no longer visible, she sat back down and sighed.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Fran, who had been watching, Rina's actions spoke up. “Are you worried?”

“Worried about what?” Rina tilted her head, not understanding the meaning of the elf's question.

“This is the first time you are separated from your beloved mistress for more than a day. Won't you get homesick?”

At first, Rina kept her head tilted. But when she registered the hidden meaning of the question and saw that Fran was smiling teasingly at her, she got red. “O-o-of course not! Why would I miss her!?”

“Oya? I never said anything about you missing her... I asked if you might get homesick.”

At these words, Rina's blush intensified. One might even say, that steam came out of her head. For some reason, almost everyone she came into contact with knew about her feelings for Clara. Including Fran. Even before the elf had disappeared a year ago, Rina had been on Fran's daily teasing list. And now that she was back, it seemed to continue.

Even though Rina understood, that her instructor was just trying to lighten the mood, she couldn't help but feel uncomfortable that her inappropriate feelings were being pointed out like this, even though they seemed to be reciprocated by Clara. Still, Rina couldn't shake the thought out of her head that these teasing words were meant to suggest to Rina that she needed to know her place. That someone like her had no place next to Clara.

Again, Rina knew that this wasn't Fran's intention, but she still couldn't help but harbour these thoughts.

Therefore, to escape the uncomfortable situation, she looked around the carriage for an idea to change the subject. When her eyes fell on Marianne sitting opposite her, staring at her, she found something.

“By the way... what did you talk to Clara about? I can't help but be a little curious.”

“Hmm.” Marianne raised her right hand to her chin and pondered the question. Her eyes went from the red-haired girl to the elf, then back to Rina. “Nothing important. She just wanted me to make sure no bugs were clinging to places they didn't belong.”

“...” Fran noticed how Marianne subtly (not!) glared at her for a split second, but still decided to keep quiet anyway. She couldn't help but feel a little sad that both Clara and Marianne seemed to be wary of her for some reason, especially when it came to Rina. And that, even though she had been away for almost a year.

Rina, on the other hand, didn't notice Marianne's not-so-subtle movement and therefore had difficulties interpreting this answer, as always if one might add. However, even to her, it was clear that Marianne was being evasive and secretive. But understanding that and having the right thoughts about why Marianne was being evasive, were two different things. In fact, Rina had absolutely no idea what Clara might have discussed with the brunette in the hour before they set off. So, she decided to joke about it with a grin. “Did you spend some sweet, quality time together before you won't see each other for at least a week?”

Unfortunately, that joke fell flat, as Marianne frowned quite visibly. “Mistress... you ought to be more careful what you say... I have already confessed to you. And yes, I know that you don't believe me, and that's hard enough for me... but my target of affection joking about me loving another girl is going a bit too far... don't you think so?”

Only then did Rina realise that she was being insensitive, even though she didn't believe that Marianne truly loved her. Therefore, she looked into the brunette's dark eyes and then bowed her head. “I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you.”

However, Marianne only looked away. “Do you think a mere half-heartedly phrased apology is enough?”

“... Then what can I do for you to forgive me?”

Hearing the red-haired girl's plea, Marianne glanced at her for a moment, then averted her eyes again. A few seconds later, she murmured quietly, “Grant me one wish, whatever it may be, on this journey and I will forgive you.”

“Really?” Rina's face brightened up like a sun. “Of course, tell me what you want and I'll see it fulfilled... but only if it's something within my power.”

“Then it's a promise!” Marianne turned back to Rina again. “I'll tell you later, don't worry, it's nothing you can't do on your own... And no going back on your word!”

When Rina saw, how the older girl's mood suddenly shifted, she couldn't help but smile wryly. After all, it wasn't the first time that Marianne had pulled a stunt like this, so Rina decided not to worry about it and let it pass.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait!” However, there was a third person who had been watching the interaction between the girls and decided to interrupt. It was Fran, of course.

At first, Fran had just wanted to silently watch Marianne and Rina talking to each other, to see how far their relationship had developed over the past year. It was clear to hear, that the brunette had unsavoury thoughts about the red-haired girl, but it seemed that nothing had happened in her absence. But now, seeing how Marianne had played her pupil like a toddler, she decided to speak up.

She had already known that Rina was extremely slow when it came to reading people's intentions. That was also why her plans had gone so well so far. But when she saw, that someone other than herself was also manipulating Rina, she couldn't help but worry. For some reason, she didn't like it at all.

Besides, Rina had shown some improvement in understanding intentions before she left a year ago. But after seeing this interaction, she wondered if her wishful thinking was playing a trick on her.

“Rina, are you serious!?”

“What do you mean.?” Rina tilted her head in confusion at the elf's interruption.

“Don't 'What do you mean?' me! Your promise to Marianne! Are you really that dumb?” True, Fran didn't like the fact that others were manipulating Rina. But because she also had her own plans, which she really wanted to see to a successful end, she didn't reveal Marianne's intentions right away, but instead just dropped hints.

However, neither she nor Marianne would have ever expected Rina's next words.

“You mean that she manipulated me into granting her a wish just now?”