"So, how are things going with your job?" I ask Emily the next morning while she's doing my hair. Thankfully, a good night's sleep got rid of my headache. I still need to deal with all of the other problems left over from yesterday, but I feel a lot better now than yesterday. With the way I felt last night, I could hardly even like, do anything, I felt so bad and awful and overwhelmed and... and everything...

"Things are going well. I talked to Matthew and now I'm doing Arcadays to Firodays too."

I push away thoughts of how terrible yesterday was. "Ahh, that's good." I really hope she's enjoying her job. We continue to chat about little things like her favorite food Matthew makes for a little while as Emily finishes up with my hair. Then she wishes me luck and heads out.

I lie in bed as her energetic footsteps disappear down the hall. It reminds me that I'm still holding onto the water mana. I would convert it back since it can be really troublesome like it was last night, but I don't have any way to make more, so I'll just deal with it for now... Ah, we never had a chance to talk about what we discovered about water mana, did we? Not that I've managed to figure much out with everything else that's happening...

Well, with our schedules like they are, we probably won't have much chance to talk privately except on Nuvodays, and maybe Shanadays. After all, Eve wound up listening in on us last night, so we probably shouldn't talk about anything too private in our room, in case something like that happens again. Since today is Firoday, I'll have to talk to her tomorrow.

There's not much to do for it, so I just lie still and rest. The other girls get up at the second bell and make their way downstairs for breakfast. I guess John isn't coming really early today. But that means that all the other kids will be up when he arrives, which could be really awkward... Chisa isn't up yet, so I don't know when he'll be here. I guess I'll head downstairs for now...

I sleepily drag myself from bed and go downstairs. By the time I make it to the first floor, I've woken up enough to be surprised by how good I feel. I don't have that shadow of fatigue hanging over me like it has been lately. I think I'm almost fully healed. It's Bora twenty sixth, so if I give it another couple days for when I see the doctor next, that's four whole weeks to recover. I guess fatal injuries will do that, I think to myself darkly.

But it's my mana well that I'm more worried about. In the time it's taken my body to heal, only a small part of my mana well has refilled. I'd guess somewhere between... ten and twenty percent maybe? It's still really hard to tell. At this rate, I won't even be halfway back to full by the next battle.

Well, I guess I shouldn't worry about that, I can't do much of use with my mana in battle anyway. The only thing I was able to do was keep the Catherine sword working. I'll probably give most of it to Effy at the next battle. I wonder if it will be enough for her to help me again? At least, as long as she's allowed to... If she winds up assigned to a completely different position than me, there won't be much I can do, will there?

While I'm sitting against the wall with my thoughts just getting worse and worse, a knock finally sounds at the front door a short distance away. I get up quickly and open the door. As expected, it's John.

He looks a bit surprised, but it only lasts for a moment before he says, "Good morning, Aria."

"Good morning, John," I respond in kind.

"Ready to go?"

"Yeah... no." I change my answer when I realize I didn't bring my things downstairs with me. "Sorry, can you hold on?" He gives a small nod, and I run back upstairs to grab my bag. Then I go back down again. As I pass through the second floor, I stop at the stairs down when I see Mister Fredricson's door. John always tells him when he's taking me to work... Even though I'd rather not, I go over and knock on his door. When he calls me in, I go inside and tell him I'm going to work. He just nods and sends me out again.

With a relieved sigh, I head back to the first floor to meet with John again. I definitely have more energy today. I can hear most of the kids still eating in the dining room until I close the door behind me.

As soon as we're in the street, John picks me up and begins to walk south as usual. I feel kind of bad since these clothes are all dirty from being on my floor. John must be washing his clothes almost every day since I always get him dirty when he carries me... For now, I just try not to dwell on that too much, it'll just make me feel bad again.

Since it's after second bell, there are a lot more people on the street than usual. Unfortunately, that means there are a lot more people to watch us suspiciously. We really do stick out around here... Despite my concerns about the crowds of onlookers, we walk for a little while in our usual, comfortable silence.

Then John speaks up. "Plans are different today. Eryk said he has a lot of other work to do, so I'm supposed to take you to get clothes, then go to his house for more etiquette lessons."

"O-oh?" I blink rapidly. "We're not going to the refinery?"

He shakes his head. "No."

"Then how am I supposed to apologize?"

"Apologize?" As I look up at him, he quirks an eyebrow.

"I messed up and broke a bunch of stuff yesterday." Is Eryk so mad that he doesn't even want me coming today? My heart clenches painfully at the thought.

"That? Wasn't that an accident?"

"It was my fault. It never would have happened if I didn't do something stupid," I explain.

"Huh... I can't really say then. You'll have to talk to him about it tomorrow."

"Tomorrow..." I mutter. But I'm supposed to be off work tomorrow... "Ah," I cringe when I realize I messed up again. "About tomorrow... I have classes Arcaday to Firoday, so I thought I had Nuvoday off, but I forgot that doesn't start until next week."

"Oh, I get it," he responds with a troubled look.

"I was going to study on my own tomorrow, but... now that I think about it, I still need to get more stuff before I can do that, don't I?" I hold my head in regret. I didn't think things through well enough again. "I guess I'll go to the refinery tomorrow after all," I sigh. "I don't have much time to do my own studies..." I worry. I really wanted to talk to Emily and tell her all about everything I've learned and discuss what effects we think water mana has too. But I also owe Eryk for destroying his stuff...

"Don't worry, it'll be fine," John assures me, but I don't think it really makes me feel any better. "In any case, first thing is to get you clothes. Eryk has provided an allowance so you can replace the set of clothes you lost."

"Allowance?" If it's for buying something, is it money or something?

"An allowance is an amount of money given to an employee to pay for a work-related expense." Huh, so it is money. Just to buy a specific thing, in this case, clothes. Wait, that means Eryk is paying for my new clothes?

"But, wait, what? Why?" I don't understand.

"Huh?"

When John doesn't offer any sort of reply, I ask, "Why is Eryk paying for my clothes? I was the one who destroyed them."

"Weren't they destroyed on the job? Of course he has to replace the personal property of an employee if it's destroyed by their work..." he sighs as if that's something really obvious.

"I-is that so...?" I mumble. I still don't get it, but it seems like that's what people think is normal, so I just have to accept it.

"I'm not familiar with peasant clothing. Do you have an estimate of how much another set of clothing will cost?"

I think back to when we bought clothes before. If I just need a shirt and skirt, they cost two hundred thirty barr at the clothing store last time. "Two coppers and three nuvrites," I respond after converting it.

"Coppers?" he asks for some reason. Well, vulgant clothes are probably a lot more expensive, so maybe it's surprising? I give a small nod. "Alright, where are we going to get them?"

I turn and point as I answer. "On the other side of the northwest district, there's a street by the wall with a clothing store."

"Mm, got it." He picks up his pace just a bit as he continues to walk south. If I'd known we were going there, we could have gone around the northern side of the district, it's a much shorter walk since the store is so far north. Even so, at John's pace, it doesn't take us too long to swing around the south end and head up the street lined with stores. I glance at Minarike's stables as we pass, but I wonder, why are all of the stores concentrated in a few places. I decide to ask John about it, but he pretty much just shrugs in response.

"Couldn't say. I guess people just like having all the stores in one place? It makes going shopping easier. Besides, there are still lots of other stores spread throughout town too."

"Huh..." I consider the idea, but I've never actually gone to more than one place on any given street, so it's hard to understand. And I... think I might have seen stores in other areas? Well, Gremory's blacksmith shop is like that I guess.

We keep walking for a while, further and further north. I can see John glancing at the slowly declining quality of the stores we pass, but he just keeps going.

----------------------------------------

When we finally arrive, I can clearly see the difference in quality between the clothing store and the refinery. Of course most of the refinery is made of stone, it's on a completely different level right from the start, but even then, the front of the clothing store is pretty much falling apart. Especially the sign, which I'm surprised to see hasn't fallen off of the pole it's tied to since the last time I was here, looking at the massively frayed bit of rope barely holding it up. I didn't know enough to tell how run-down it looked before...

I point out the store and John looks at the sign. "So this is the place," he mutters. He sets me down and pulls out a rather large pouch that jingles with coins. He pulls one iron coin out of the top of the bag and hands it to me. "Use this to buy another set of clothes," he instructs and I nod. He probably doesn't want to even go inside of such a low class store, I guess.

"Thanks, John." I head into the store by myself. I was here with Emily last time and she picked out most of the outfits to try, so it might take a while on my own... At least I only need one set, so I probably won't need to try that many. I take a quick glance around once I'm inside, and it's just like I remember it. Clothes piled on every surface with a heavy, musty smell hanging in every corner of the shop. This time, it's really quiet, so I can hear the four other customers breathing and talking quietly as they look at clothes, and the last one in the changing rooms in the back. The sounds of sliding fabric must mean they're changing. Looking around at them, it looks like two children, each here with a woman. Their mothers, probably.

I walk over to the shopkeeper and ask about the clothes in my size, and she points me over to the same area of the store I remember going to last time. To free up my hands, I put my coins along with the one John gave me into my bag and set it on the floor, squeezed between my feet, so I won't forget it or anything.

I begin looking at the shirts on the table. I think back on everything Emily taught me when we were here before, and try to use it again to pick out a few shirts for myself. It's kind of odd, in a funny way. It was the set of clothing I picked out last time that got burned up, so it's kind of fitting that I'm the one picking what to replace it with. Still, it's not like there's much variety. I check the seams, the patches, holes, and everything just like I remember, and it's not too long before I have five shirts to try on. If that's not enough, I'll just look for more, but I feel like I'll be able to pick at least one of them. So I pick up my bag again, reminding myself that I definitely can't forget it here, and head to the changing room. There are a few of the tiny rooms with curtains, so I take the one next to the room already occupied by someone else.

Since there isn't anywhere to put the clothes once I get into the changing room, I have to put them on the dirty floor. I pull off my shirt and throw it on the floor too. It's already dirty anyway. Then I go through the shirts and try them on. I rule out three that don't feel as good, look back and forth between the two that remain, and eventually pick the one that probably only needs three or four patches instead of five or six. It's a bit more yellow in color and has a whole lot of mismatched green and blue patches on the sleeves. Like my other clothes, it's a bit big so I won't grow out of it too quickly. I go back to the front of the store and put back the clothes I decided against, though I can't really fold them up quite the same way that I found them. Then I go over to where I remember the larger skirts being, and take some time to pick a few of those out. Then it's another trip back to the changing room, where I eventually pick out a somewhat faded green skirt.

I put my own clothes back on, grab my bag, and head back out. I don't hear the other person in the changing room now, so I guess they finished up. Going back to the front, I put everything back as neatly as I can, then head over to the storekeeper. "Did you find everything you were looking for?" she asks politely. But something about her tone makes her sound less friendly than I remember her being last time. This is the same person, right? It's kind of hard to remember, but I think it is.

Ignoring it, I answer, "Yes. One shirt and one skirt." I place them on the counter one at a time.

"One shirt, small. One copper, five nuvrites. And one skirt, eight nuvrites..." She repeats the prices as I remember them, and goes to the abacus behind the counter to figure out the price. I already know it's two coppers and three nuvrites, but I only have the iron coin to pay with anyway. After she finishes calculating the price, I place the iron coin on the counter.

For some reason, she looks at the coin suspiciously. Then she looks back at me again. "Girl, what's in your bag?"

"Hmm? Metal." I don't understand the random question.

I also don't understand why her eyes continue to narrow with suspicion at my answer. Well, I guess it is weird for me to be carrying around a bag of metal ingots, I doubt many people do that... "Show me." I feel a little put off when she says it like a command rather than a request, but I set the bag on the counter and open it up for her to see anyway. Maybe she'll explain afterward?

"Huh..." she mutters vaguely as she peers at the metal ingots inside. Her eyebrows furrow, then she glances at me, though it looks like she's looking at my bandages? It feels like she's considering something, but I have no idea what it could be. Finally, she stands up straight again.

"No, I won't take your money," she says with a shake of her head.

"What?" I don't understand what she means at all. How can I buy the clothes without giving her money?

"I'm telling you, we don't accept stolen money here," she glares down at me with clear irritation.

"Stolen?" I stare down at the coin, but it's just like every other iron coin I've seen. Small, circular, with a little picture engraved in the surface of some unfamiliar object, with tiny little letters around it. Maybe the letters are wrong? I wouldn't know since I can't read... "I'm really sorry!" I bow to apologize. I can feel everyone else in the shop staring at me. As I dig out the other iron coin from my bag and place that on the counter, I start to wonder, why would a coin look any different if it's stolen? Despite my uncertainty, I ask, "Is this one better?"

The woman stares at me, looking dumbfounded for a moment, before shaking herself and answering, "No, of course not," like her answer is obvious for some reason.

"Why?"

"Are you stupid? Carrying all that around, you obviously must have stolen it! Now get out before I call for the guards!" Oh, that's how it is, I finally realize.

"But, but I..." I have no idea how to respond and I can already feel tears welling up in my eyes. First I'm too poor and dirty to go into the upper class shops, and now I have too much money to go in the lower class ones? Despite my mumbled protests, the woman grabs me by the wrist and drags me out of the shop. She tosses me into the street and throws my bag after me.

After rolling through the dirt, I sit on the ground crying. Why does it always end up like this?

"A-Aria?!" I hear John run over and call out to me. "What happened?!"

"She... she said... said I..." I try to speak through my sobs, but I can't manage it.

"Shh, shh," he starts to pat my head as he quiets me. "Don't worry, it'll be fine." I wipe my eyes repeatedly, trying to get myself under control again, but it's way harder than normal. It takes a while taking deep breaths as John rubs my head before my sobs turn to small sniffles.

"Here," John hands me a small piece of cloth. "Blow your nose," he instructs. But won't I get this thing all dirty like that? Still, his gaze tells me to just do it, so I obey and blow my nose into the cloth. Once I'm finished, he takes it back, folds it up, and tucks it away somewhere inside his clothes. Then he scoops me up from the ground and turns back to the shop in one movement.

He walks in the front door, still holding me in his arms, and goes straight to the counter. The woman standing behind it just stares, dumbfounded. Glancing at the other customers, all the other adults do too. John asks, "Where is the clothing you want?" in a rather loud voice. I voicelessly point them out, it looks like the shop keeper just slid them off to the side of the counter. John nods.

Then he sets me down, sitting on the edge of the counter. Even though I'm still all dirty from getting thrown into the street... I stare as he gives his clothes a few big swipes to knock off all the dirt he just got on himself from holding me. It makes me feel bad, but why is he moving so dramatically? He grabs the clothes and hands them to me, then goes directly to the counter to stand before the woman, who still appears to be speechless.

He stares her right in the eye, then he offers his hand. The woman's jaw drops open even further. His hands are still all dirty. The woman flushes bright red, scowling at him, but with clear reluctance, she takes his hand. I glance around a little, but it looks like none of the other customers know what's going on.

As they share a light handshake, John begins to speak. "I am John, personal bodyguard of the owner of the Ebock Company Refinery," he gives a full introduction of himself for some reason. No, I know this!

Irene's lesson suddenly plays back in my head. Greetings between men and women usually have the woman curtsy to the man while he gives a 'salute' gesture by holding his right hand to his chest. That's what Eryk did just the other day. But then there were those other ways it could be done, with the woman offering her hand to a man she prefers. But this isn't that, she didn't offer her hand.

The only time a man is supposed to reach for a woman's hand is when he's much higher status than her. My eyes widen as I finally understand what's happening. By coming in here, covered in dirt, and taking her hand, then introducing himself like that, isn't he seriously insulting her? Wouldn't something like that be like saying that she is completely beneath him? I'm not sure, but with what I know, that's what it looks like. Etiquette is difficult, but it can say so much!

By the way she bows her head as she responds, it seems like even she thinks she's beneath him too. "My name is Ophelia," she introduces herself as well.

John pulls back his hand and the woman raises her head again. But he's already starting to speak. "My employer sent me to buy clothing for this girl. Sell it to me," he commands as he taps a coin down loudly on the counter between them.

"Yes, certainly, sir," the woman responds immediately, keeping her eyes lowered the whole time to avoid his gaze. I had no idea John could be so intimidating... Ophelia hurriedly takes the coin and counts out his change. He takes the coins and deposits them into his large coin purse, then picks me up off the counter once more. "Good day," he says, and immediately turns to leave.

He carries me right back out of the building while everyone stares. Once we're in the street again, he sighs slightly. "Sorry about that, Aria."

"Sorry? For what?" I ask, still half in shock. He got me the clothes I wasn't able to buy on my own!

"I should have figured a store like that would be suspicious of a kid like you walking around with so much money."

"So much money... B-but I only had two iron coins."

"How long do you think it takes a four- uhh, five year old peasant child to earn that much?" he sighs. I pout a little when he calls me five, but I guess he has a point. That's how any stranger I meet would see me. Besides that, his question is obviously leading, but I answer it anyway.

"The older kids made about five or ten coppers per week, but little kids might only make about two or three. So that's about two months." That really is a long time...

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John scratches his head with one hand. "I meant that rhetorically, but... well I didn't realize it was that bad. Of course anyone who sees a kid like you carrying two full months worth of wages would think you stole it or something."

"Huh..." So I can't carry too much money when I'm with peasants or I'll stick out. I'll definitely keep that in mind.

"Still, did you just figure that out? That's impressive."

"Figure what out?" I ask. I'm not following.

"That two irons is two months of wages, how did you come up with that?"

"Oh," so that's all. I'm glad I know that doing normal math like this isn't weird now. I explain, "At two to three coppers per week, it would take between six point six and ten weeks, or forty six point six to seventy days. Taking the average between them is about fifty eight days, which I rounded to two months."

"Wow, that's some impressive math," he whistles.

"It is?" I stiffen up a little at the unexpected, and worrying, praise. "Neither my instructor or Eryk thought so..."

"Is that so? Guess I'm just not that good at math then," he says with a shrug. Could that be why the kids had the reaction they did? They thought my math was impossible because they never learned? But Eryk and Claire must have learned a lot of math too, so maybe that's why it isn't strange to them. That's a big relief...

"Still, it looks like straddling the line between the classes is really rough," he says. "Being seen with me all the time might cause you some problems too, sorry in advance."

"No, it's fine." I get nervous when he suddenly starts apologizing. "I'm sorry for always getting you dirty all the time."

"Haha, this?" he laughs for some reason. "I'd take running errands, carrying a little girl around, and standing outside a shop any day, over my old job."

"Your old job?" I'm vaguely aware that Eryk hired him recently, because he knows about me having mana. I think it all happened when I was still bedridden all the time, so it's a little fuzzy.

"I was a bodyguard," he grins a little and says, "technically still am, but it's not like Eryk has anyone attacking him, so I haven't been in a single fight since I started working for him."

"Mmm..." I mutter vaguely. "So... you don't like fighting?"

"Of course not, who wants to risk their life every day?" he chuckles. So I guess even the people who have jobs like the guards, where they might have to fight and be in danger, still don't like to fight.

"But you did it anyway?" I tilt my head a little. He did something he didn't want to do every day?

"Well, yeah. You've got to make a living somehow. And my father always encouraged me to be a bodyguard since the pay is better than just getting a city guard job."

"For the money," I mumble. "But why those two jobs? I thought there were lots of other jobs out there?"

"Heh. My father was a guard. He trained me with a sword since I was a kid. Always said I was too good at it, that I should get a job as a bodyguard instead."

"You're... skilled?" It's not like I've ever seen him fight, so it's hard to tell.

"Of course I am, how else do you think I've survived working as a bodyguard for all these years?" he just keeps chuckling as he says things like they should be obvious.

"Huh..." I don't really know how to respond.

"I'm really good at my job," he boasts. "And Eryk told me to protect you, so you've got nothing to worry about as long as I'm here. I'll protect you." He rubs my head as he says it.

"Wha- no, that..." I stammer at his unexpected words. "You don't have to do that for me!" I shake my head frantically. Me, protected by a person?! That's completely backward! What if he got hurt?!

"Don't worry so much," he just keeps rubbing my head. But he just said something really dangerous, how can I not worry about it? I sigh sadly. I don't think anything I say will help, so I just leave it there.

----------------------------------------

We keep heading south, past the stables, then all the way down Main Street, through the central plaza, and turn south toward Eryk's house again. It's a pretty long walk and it's already halfway to the fourth bell by the time we make it all the way there. Since I didn't get breakfast earlier, my stomach is audibly grumbling as he knocks on the front door. For such a large house, it's a surprise when the door opens moments later, with Irene on the other side. Was she just waiting by the door or something?

"Hello John, Aria," she greets us with a curtsy. I can't really return it while John's carrying me. I wonder what is expected in cases like this? Still, her clothing catches my eye. It looks like the trim is green today. I wonder why they have all different colors?

"Hello Irene." John responds simply. Then he sets me down on the floor and I can feel Irene looking us both up and down with judgmental eyes.

"We had some trouble buying Aria new clothes," John explains.

"Fine, we'll get her washed up. You should go home and change."

"Sure, I'll be back." He just gives a small wave and heads back out.

"So, I heard you destroyed your old clothes?" she asks me immediately. "Are those your new ones?" She's obviously referring to the clothing I'm carrying in my arms with my bag, so I nod. "Let's see..." she extends a hand, so I give her the clothing. Her eyes scan up and down the shirt for just a few moments before she says, "These are supposed to be new? They're full of holes."

"Well, they're already used, the store buys and resells clothing," I explain.

"Is that how it is?" Then she lightly shrugs and hands the clothing back to me. "First we'll get you washed off so you don't track dirt all through the house. Then we'll eat an early lunch, followed by your lessons. Is that understood?"

"Yes, ma'am," I respond nervously. Irene can be pretty intense...

"Kristene!" Irene calls out in a rather loud voice. The large woman appears from a door at the back of the room a short time later. "Draw a bucket of water," Irene says.

"You got it." Kristene disappears into the back once more. I wonder where they draw water from? I saw wells in the central and southern districts too, so maybe there's another door out that she uses to get to the nearest well? Irene leads me into the bath room again. It looks like the tub from last time has been pushed up against the far wall. It isn't long until Kristene shows up with a bucket of water.

"Thanks, now go clean the foyer," Irene instructs, and Kristene leaves again. Irene sets the bucket of water down in the middle of the floor, then goes back into the other room, returning a few moments later with a cloth and a bar of soap. "Do you know how to wash yourself and maintain your hygiene properly?" she asks. I have to clarify what 'hygiene' means. Once I understand the question, I nod, even though I don't really know if anything I know how to do will be up to her standards.

"Alright, get to it," she says and hands me the cloth and soap. I guess I'm just supposed to wash myself now? I set down my things and pull off my clothes and bandages, piling them over by the side of the room so they won't get wet. I guess it's fine to get water on the floor here, I got it everywhere last time after all...

I've never washed myself with soap before, but I remember Marrianne and Nana using it to wash me. It seemed like just rubbing it all over made it easier to get the dirt off, so I start rubbing myself with it. I'm not all that dirty, so it probably isn't really necessary, but she gave it to me, so I should probably at least try to use it.

"What are you doing...?" Irene asks.

I already know that means I messed up somehow, but I tell her anyway. "I'm... using the soap."

"You need to get it wet first or it won't work," she tells me.

"You do?" Why?

"You do," she responds flatly.

"O-ok..." I dunk the bar of soap into the bucket of water, and try again. Oh, I can feel the difference now. It kind of slides on my skin and it feels like it's doing something now. It's kind of like, it feels like it's leaving some of the soap on my skin, I think. I wonder why water does that to soap?

I dip it back in the water a few more times as I work to spread the soap over the rest of my skin. Actually seeing my whole body without any bandages for the first time in a while, I can see that a lot of my skin is healed, with only small bits of cuts left over. Since I still have two days before my next doctor visit, I should be fully healed before I go back.

"If you're going to be interacting with the upper classes, you need to at least make an attempt at keeping yourself clean," Irene instructs me while I'm working with the soap. "I understand proper bathing is probably more than you can manage, but you should at least wipe yourself down every day or two."

"That often?" I've been lucky to wipe myself down once a week until now.

"Yes. Soap and hot water work better, but just wiping down with a cloth and some water will do in a pinch." She purses her lips as she stares at me. "Actually, do you even have access to soap or hot water?"

"I don't know, I don't know where to get soap." As for hot water...

"I know there are some places that sell soap, though I don't recall if there are any in places you could shop." Then she thinks for a bit. "As for hot water... That requires wood to burn and somewhere to heat it, do you have access to that?"

"Yeah, I, uhh, I can get hot water at home." I fumble a little.

"That's good." She lightly nods. Then she perks up a bit. "I know, if you can't buy soap, you can make it instead."

"Make it? How?"

"It's not particularly difficult, I can write it..." She trails off for a moment, then, "That's right, you can't read, can you? How troublesome..." She sighs. "In that case, the best I can do is tell you how and hope you remember enough to do it yourself."

"Ok..." I look away, embarrassed. I really need to learn how to read...

"Try your best to remember this," she begins, and I stop washing to focus on her instructions as well as I can. "In order to make soap, you mix ashes with boiling water. Let it rest for a day, then add lime and more boiling water and stir it together. Let it rest for another day." So it takes at least three days to make? "Then, mix a pinch of salt, a pinch of flour, and a little cold water together. Add that, along with oil, into your mixture. Keep stirring and heating it until it gets very thick, then pour it into a mold to cool."

I'm actually sweating a little from trying to focus and remember all the details. That's a really difficult process to remember everything. I see why she would rather write it down.

"I'll... try to remember that." I'll probably need to ask about it again. There's a much bigger problem though. "But I have a few questions, I don't know what most of the materials are that are supposed to go in it..."

"The materials?" she tilts her head a little.

"Umm, let's see..." I try to remember each one of them, then list the ones I don't know. "That would be... Ashes, boiling water, lime, oil, and flour." I remember hearing oil mentioned a few times before, but one was for blacksmithing, and the other time was related to cooking. What is oil exactly? "Well, I've heard of oil and water, but I don't know exactly what oil is, or what 'boiling' is..."

Irene groans. "Are all peasants so poorly educated? No, that can't be..." She rubs her chin in thought for a moment while I look away in shame yet again. "Didn't you just ask about ashes and flour?"

"Yes?" I shrink down even more.

"Ashes are left over after burning wood," she says flatly.

"O-oh, I didn't know those were called ashes." I nod quickly to show her I do know what she's talking about.

"Flour is made by crushing wheat. It's the single most common product in our entire kingdom." Even though she says that like it's the most obvious thing, I still don't understand.

"Wheat? I've never seen it, so I'm not sure what it is." I shake my head.

Irene holds her head in her hand. "It's a tall, stalky, golden colored plant. Have you never been anywhere south of the city?"

"Golden?" And to the south? That immediately makes me think of the endless fields of golden crops Chisa saw. So that's wheat! "Oh, that one. Yeah, I've seen that," I assure her, trying not to panic.

"Good." Then she moves right on. "Oil is pressed out of various plants. I'm sure you can find plenty of it easily. Most of what they sell is pressed from the netta fruits they grow in the fields." I'm not familiar with the plant, but I nod anyway. "As for boiling water... it's just water that you heat up. It starts to bubble and releases steam."

"Steam?" Yet another word I don't know. Why would hot water make steam?

She tilts her head. "Steam is water that has evaporated." Since it's clear I don't know that word either, she goes on. "That's when water gets hot enough to turn from a liquid into a gas. Kind of like air."

"Water becomes like air..." I mutter to myself. Isn't this just like what I was wondering about a while back? So water isn't air, but it can turn into a 'gas' to be like air. "But.. What is a gas exactly? Just something invisible, all around us?"

"Not exactly invisible, You can see steam when it comes off of boiling water, at least until it disperses into the air." I nod slowly, trying to understand. I'll have to heat up some water so I can see for myself, that should definitely help me understand.

"Now let's see, where were we..." I can see her go over each of them on her fingers, then she says, "Last is lime, which I can actually understand you not knowing. It's a product used in all manner of different things. Making soap is just one of them. It looks like a white powder. I can't say exactly what it is made of or how it's produced, but it is pretty common and you should probably be able to find it without much trouble."

Irene stops momentarily, her eyes boring into me. "You must make sure to be careful with it. It gets really hot and can cause burns if it gets wet, so you should keep it away from your skin and your face and thoroughly wash it away if you do get it on you. It will cause pain and irritation if it gets in your eyes or if you breathe it in," she warns me seriously. Woah, something dangerous like that is used to make soap? And it has a bunch of other uses too? Like what?

"You should store it in a safe, clean, dry place." I nod repeatedly at her pointed instructions. "That is everything you need to know to make soap. If you aren't able to buy it, give it a try when you have time." I have no idea when I'm going to have three days to work on making soap, but I nod anyway. I still have serious doubts about being able to remember all the instructions for making it too.

While she has gone through everything about hot water and soap and how I need to clean myself more, I've at least made it most of the way through wiping myself down. I quickly finish up and stand again. Irene peers at me closely, holding up a finger and spinning it in small circles. I follow the motion, slowly turning around in a circle.

Once I'm facing her again, she says it's not good enough. She has me go over a bunch of places again, scrubbing all over my body. Between my fingers and toes, under my nails, between my legs, the back of my neck, behind my ears, along my elbows... I try to remember all of her instructions as she goes over every place I have to be careful washing. With one last spin, she says, "That's acceptable. Now we'll get you bandaged again." She picks up the bandages I was wearing before, rubbing the surface briefly as she inspects them, then nods.

Oh no. I don't need to know Irene that well to know this is going to be bad. I also know that there won't be any denying or convincing her of anything, so I just try to prepare myself and keep my nerves. I close my eyes and sit, letting her grab my foot. Then I feel her start to wrap the bandages. It's fast and tight and it hurts, just like I expected. I grit my teeth, trembling and telling myself to breathe. Just hold out. It will be over soon. The only saving grace is how fast she works.

My head is starting to go blank from fighting to endure the memories when she finishes. I squint my eyes open slightly, then feel my over-tensed muscles begin to relax. I wipe away the tears from my cheeks and take a few deep breaths to calm myself again. Alright, I made it through that without trouble, I think, relieved.

I slowly stand up once I'm mostly calm again. Irene steps back and turns away briefly. She looks over at my clothes on the floor and grimaces. "Put on your new clothing. At least they aren't completely covered in dirt." I do as she says, sliding into the kind of vaguely green and yellow clothes. Like my other set, the skirt is so large I need to roll it at the top to get it to knee height. Then I begin tying it in place.

"Didn't you just buy those? Why is your skirt too large?"

"I buy large skirts because I can't move around in the ones that should fit right."

"Move around?"

"I mean that I can't stretch my legs enough because they're too tight at the bottom," I explain.

Her eyebrows draw in slightly. "Why would you need to stretch your legs?"

"Mm, basically for anything where I need to move really fast or make more energetic or dramatic movements." She still doesn't seem to understand. It is pretty hard to explain in words... "Oh, like what I had to do yesterday," I realize aloud.

"I heard your clothing was destroyed yesterday, is it related to that?"

"Yeah, something, uhh, bad, happened at work and I had to protect Eryk."

"You? Protect Master Eryk?" she asks immediately. She looks like she doesn't believe me, but I nod anyway.

"It was my fault that things went wrong. Eryk could have been really hurt, or even died, so I had to jump in between him and the, uhh, dangerous thing." I really don't want to be too specific since the details are secret.

"Oh my, he didn't mention anything so dangerous happening... But if that is the case, as a young girl, it's certainly not your place to protect a grown man..." she sighs into her hand.

"It's not like I could help it," I try to make her understand. "He could have been really hurt, but I wasn't in any danger." Well, that part wasn't true after the crucible spilled, but at least at the beginning it was.

"That doesn't make sense," she says flatly.

"I know it doesn't, but it's true." She frowns at me, so I reluctantly add on, "Remember, my clothes were destroyed, but I'm perfectly fine," to prove my point.

But she just argues, "I wouldn't call scratches head to toe 'fine.'" That one makes me annoyed. That's not fair, she knows that's not related. "Let's get back to the topic," she shakes her head with a pitying look. "How does all of this relate to the size of your skirt?"

I'm still annoyed by how she's so stubborn and won't believe me, so I answer, "To get in front of Eryk, I had to move very quickly and there was stuff in the way, so this is what I did." I slide back a little so I have space, then repeat the maneuver I did yesterday. I leap into the air, turn over to land on one hand, then curl up, twisting and spinning off my hand to come down facing the other way, legs stretched in a low crouch. Then I stand again and turn back to Irene. "I can't do that in a skirt that restricts my movement."

For her part, she just stares at me for a few long moments. Then she shakes herself a little. "I have never seen such unseemly movements from a lady before. I would advise against doing such things in the future." She speaks seriously, like she's scolding me.

"Bu-" I stammer angrily, my cheeks heating up. Then I glare at the floor. "It's not like I wanted to..." I pout.

"Come on, let's go. We have a lot of work to do on you." Irene turns to leave, so I quickly grab my things off of the floor and follow behind her. Just forget it, I tell myself. Of course she wouldn't understand. A person can't understand.

We go back to the entrance again, then cross the room into a door near the stairway to the second floor, leading toward the back of the house. It's obviously a dining room, with a big wooden table in the middle of the room, a few candles in metal stands spread over the surface. None of them are lit, and it's somewhat dim compared to the entrance since most of the light comes through a rather small glass window in the far left wall of the long room.

There are a number of chairs around the table, every one of them visibly high quality. Brightly colored wood that looks shiny and smooth, with lots of nice rounded edges and smooth curves. Nothing like the plain, blocky ones we have at home. She indicates toward one of the chairs, so I go over to sit in it. It's pretty close to the door we just came through, near the right side of the room.

As soon as I hop up to sit on the chair, I realize that either the chairs are shorter, or the table is taller than the one at home. I can barely see over the top of the table from where I'm sitting. While I'm wondering what to do, Irene leaves through a door in the right hand wall of the room and returns shortly afterward with two bowls of food. She sets one down in front of me, then takes a seat opposite of me at the table with the other bowl. After a brief pause, she begins to eat. I glance between my bowl and Irene. This... isn't going to work.

"Umm, I can't really reach my bowl..." I tell her.

She frowns. "I... see..." she responds slowly. She's obviously thinking, does that mean they don't already have anything to help someone my size? Then she stands and leaves the room. I can hear her making her way through a few rooms, then she comes back. "I believe this will do," she says while lifting me with one arm and sliding something under me with the other. It squishes down some, but works to lift me up higher. I turn to look down and see that she has four fancy looking pillows stacked up beneath me. It feels kind of unbalanced, but I guess it works. "Thank you." I bow slightly.

"Don't bow like that, it makes you look like a foreigner," she says right away.

"Ugh," I grumble, hanging my head sadly. I don't think there's any way I'm going to break the habit at this point though... I sigh and sit back up after a bit. I try to straighten up in my chair and eat my food like she taught me. The meal passes quietly as we both just eat slowly. She hasn't scolded me the last few times I've eaten, so I guess I've gotten this right at least.

We finish the meal and she takes my bowl away. I can hear her set them down in the next room before coming back. "Now we will begin your lesson, come with me to the sunroom." Sunroom? A room that has something to do with the sun? But she is standing up, so I leave my question for now. I carefully try to hop down off the piled up pillows, landing lightly on the floor. I glance at them, but Irene doesn't seem to be concerned about leaving them there, so I just follow her back out into the big main room.

From there, she goes back through the same doorway, on the right hand side of the room, that took us toward the bathroom. I try to pay more attention as we go, since this house feels really big.

To go to the bath room, we passed through this next room, then made a right turn and went through a few more rooms. But now, we turn left instead of right, walking through a doorway into a room that should be somewhere near the back of the house, I think.

As soon as we enter, I realize that it's really bright in here. Still following behind Irene, I look all around. This room, it's actually curved. The outer wall is a smooth curve that I follow all the way around until it disappears behind the corner to my right. But the thing that really stands out is the ceiling. It's sloped, with big windows facing upward toward the sky. They're so big that it lets in a ton of light from the sky. Sunroom, I get it now...

"It's impolite to stare, but I guess there's no helping it," Irene sighs. "Try to get used to seeing places like these."

"Y-yes ma'am..." I stutter. Just like she said, I can't help but gawk as I look all around. The walls are all painted light blue, which really makes the room look bright with all the sunlight. Oddly, the walls aren't all decorated like a lot of the other rooms, just a handful of candles mounted around the room.

There are a number of long fabric-covered seats around the middle of the room, with multiple low tables placed between them. There are also chairs scattered about, most with another tiny table next to them. A somewhat less cushy carpet covers the floor than some of the others I've seen, colored pale green.

As I follow Irene, we pass the corner on the right, and I see that the room actually wraps all the way around the corner. The wall at the end is flat, and meets the adjoining wall and a nice square angle.

So... I guess that makes this room like a quarter of a circle? Well, except for the part cut out by the corner of the last room it wraps around. It's a strange shape that I haven't really seen on other buildings, most of them are very straight and rectangular. I guess having something so amazing and unique shows just how rich Eryk is...

Then Irene motions for me to sit, so I do. It looks like I'm sitting on one of the long cloth covered seats. The cloth feels high quality and it's a kind of dark blue. It actually squishes softly under me slightly before I feel the wood beneath the cloth. I guess they put something under the cloth. It doesn't quite feel crunchy like straw, so I don't know what it might be. It feels like the pillows and blankets I used before.

But the strangest part is probably the height. The seat is very short, I don't need to jump up that much to get on top of it. When I hang my legs over the edge, they actually make it almost halfway to the floor. Even the table in front of me is really short. If I could lean far enough out to reach it, I would actually be able to touch the top. It's barely above the level of the seat I'm on. I guess that's why it's so far away, there's no way you could get your legs under it like a normal table.

While I'm wondering about all of this, Irene sits opposite me on another long, fabric covered seat.

She takes a deep breath. "Alright, let's begin."