It was a big, nice house, located in an equally nice neighborhood, where the houses were all nicely spaced from each other, in such a way that whatever happened with one of them would never be able to affect the rest of the residents. The street was neatly clean, almost to an exaggerate degree, with trimmed bushed lining the pristine white sidewalks that flanked the quite worn down stone path that lead to the majestic castle sitting at the other end of the entrance where Kary had, for the first time since coming to this world, entered a de facto city. Despite the relative size of the houses on that particular neighborhood being much higher when compared to the rest of the capital, it was still dwarfed by the sheer massiveness of the royal castle, its towers reaching high into the sky in an attempt to pierce the very veil of reality, the white marble with which it was made shimmered gracefully under the warm morning sun, its golden gates, bearing the shield of the royal family, protected by burly knights enclosed within their heavy steel suits, daring anyone who saw them to approach, to get closer to the heart of this kingdom, its very epicenter.

Though it was quite smaller than some if its neighbors, the very fact that it resided on the most prestigious and coveted street in the capital meant that Asteria’s manor was much grander than needed, especially considering that there weren’t even five people living full time at the place, with the staff only being composed of an experienced cook that had agreed somewhat reluctantly to the job offer, a maid, who only periodically cleaned more than what was absolutely necessary to keep the mansion at a presentable state, and a an old gardener, who took pride in his meticulous care for tensing the massive garden that surrounded the building proper. As Asteria seldom spent too long inside the aforementioned building, despite having received it as a present from the kingdom due to her efforts in protecting the lands from night abominations, the three servants’ lives were quite relaxed, especially when comparing to the routine forced upon the workers of others, more hectic houses. Sure, they did their job with the diligence expected of them, but there was no pressure to make everything clean and proper on the smallest time windows possible, as there was no master to deliver harsh punishments should some minister or random noble arrive while there were still specks of dust gathered in an aisle no one would ever visit.

Even when the knight was there, the atmosphere between employer and employee was much closer to that of old friends who had known each other for years, sharing secrets, tales of fantastical adventures, and heartfelt moments. Don’t mistake though, as there was still a clear employment relationship between them, a certain barrier the servants knew not to cross, lest they get thrown out to the streets. Still, the three, sometimes four, companions enjoyed the time they had spent at the mansion, their lives largely unchanged ever since Asteria had managed to get them to work for her, lives that they didn’t expect to change in any significant way anytime soon, which made it all the more surprising when the gallant knight approached the estate piggybacking a girl so pale that the gardener, the first to spot them walking through the cobble street, thought that there was a spirit possessing the woman. As the two got closer, however, the man realized that the snoring girl, draped in various shades of brown, legs dangling to the side as her head bopped up and down to the movement of Asteria, couldn’t possibly be a spirit, mainly because the old gardener had no skills that related in any way, shape or form to the detection of the unnatural.

Dropping the large gardening scissors he had been wielding, the old man began patting his pockets on the hopes that he hadn’t forgotten the keys for the manor inside, as he knew that he would get an earful from Asteria once she was over with whatever it was that was happening to her… and the strange girl she had with her. Relief washed over him as he felt a slight bulge on his left pocket, his wizened face immediately breaking into a grin as he tried to hide his confusion and apprehension from his employer. As he brought the key to its hole at the gate that would do little to stop someone truly determined, he tried prodding a bit in an attempt to get a grasp at Asteria’s bizarre behavior. From all the years he had spent taking care of her garden, listening to her almost absurd stories about her own experience as a knight, she had never hinted at wanting to take in anyone, but lo and behold, she had brought a child home, hopefully not through kidnapping.

“Oh, hey boss. Fancy seeing you here. I thought you were gone for good this time around. How long has it been, since you last stopped by here? Five months or so?” The man stared fearlessly into the dark eyes of the woman who could kill him and all of his family before the dawn of the next day without breaking a sweat, years of interactions with this awkward being telling him that, despite her sharp eyes, she would never belittle him for showing some degree of familiarity. Although he knew that the woman before him could be as ruthless as the monsters that killed and pillaged with abandon, there was a soft side to that torn-y rose that not many had had the chance of seeing. Her appearance was scary, yes, especially when she was wearing her bulky full body armor, but she was a good human being, a stark contrast with the owners of the other manors in this street.

“Yes, I do believe it has been around half a year since I have last stepped into my own house. I do certainly hope nothing has happened to it during the time I spent away.” The woman narrowed her eyes, mouth parting into a savage grin as she looked down at the gardener who, despite knowing that no harm would befall him unless he explicitly asked for it, started shivering like a victim of hypothermia, his attempts at breaking eye contact futile. Just as his legs were about to give up, however, the immense pressure that had befallen upon him suddenly lifted, allowing his lungs to once more grasp for the air he hadn’t even realized wasn’t there, his heart beating with a fury he had seldom experienced before. Paralyzed, the man watched in a daze, half amazed and half terrorized, as the expression on Asteria’s face, befitting of a demon from the deepest pits of hell, seamlessly turned into a kind and gentle visage one might see in a saint, untainted by the blemishes of the world.

“Heh, I’m just pulling your leg. Sorry, sorry, it’s just… it has been such a long time since I had the chance to get you like this, all serious and worried, and I just couldn’t resist. You seemed to be so on edge… too on edge, considering how playful you usually look. No, don’t look at me with this face; you should already know that you are as easy to read as children’s books. How many times have I told you that you should at least try to practice your poker face?” The gardener looked down, swallowing the words he wanted to say, as he knew that, at the end of the day, the knight was right. Time and time again he had been scolded for being too open in regards to what he shared with strangers, be it due to his very expressive face or due to his tongue, so loose that Asteria had grown tired of threatening to just outright cut it. The man had never really put much thought into Asteria’s borderline paranoia, as he had never felt threatened by the people who came to and from the noble’s street. Perhaps this experience would be enough to remind his that his employer was someone important, and that important people often had their lives extinguished by the whims of the powerful. Still, Asteria tried not to be too overbearing, her tone shifting to a gentler one as she asked the old, sweating man:

“So, what have gotten you so flustered? Surely nothing too terrible could have happened in the time I was away, right?.” After hearing no response from the gardener, who was usually the most talkative of the people in the mansion, Asteria began to think that something was amiss. She decided to ask again, this time a little more forcefully: “Nothing of note has happened since I was asked by the His Majesty the king to go with the exploration group, right?”

“Well…I hoped you would have already been informed about it by now, but seeing your confusion, that doesn’t seem to be the case at all. Don’t worry, it’s nothing too bad, but there might be some… turbulence for the foreseeable future. Before I tell you, though, I will ask you to come inside at once, and tell me the story of this girl you’ve been carrying ever since you arrived. Come on, I want to know all the details.” The old man said, a glint of excitement visible deep into his sunken eyes as he beckoned the woman to enter the manor that, at least in paper, belonged solely to her. Abiding to his insistence, Asteria marched onwards with the gait befitting of the noble ladies who often gossiped in the luxury of their homes.

They went past the gates, walking through the extensive garden, cared to perfection by the gardener, and after a brief, pleasantly relaxed walk, reached the thick double doors of the mansion. With no hesitation whatsoever, Asteria barged them open, their creeks and shrieks far from enough to scare the lady of the house, though the sound was loud enough to make Kary, still carefully carried in the knight’s back, stir a little, her eyes threatening to open for the first time since she had passed out at the guild, right after giving Asteria the biggest hug she was capable of. Still, the girl remained as peaceful as ever, her even breath lifting strands of Asteria’s hair every time her chest heaved up and down. As she walked down the main how with the dirty-looking gardener in tow, taking shy glances at the mighty statues lining the walls in various poses, she suddenly stopped, her right hand reaching for the handle of her sword, eyes sharpening in preparation for whatever it was that the quick footsteps approaching them, barely even trying to be concealed, brought with it.

Eyes locked on one of the side doors, she waited for a few moments, ears attentive to any changes, her heart beginning to pound harder and harder as a she thought about the myriad of things that might happen. She forced herself to calm down, before letting Kary down from her back, laying her on the ground, trying to make as little sudden moves as she possibly could, in an attempt to allow the girl to continue her rest. Hand tightly grasping her sword, she slowly approached the door, as ready as she could be to strike anything that dared to barge through. Since she had failed to recognize the sound of those footsteps, which were getting louder and louder, their presence made known by the sparse amount of decorative items within the manor, she thought it appropriate to be ready to protect the two people behind her. Worst case scenario, she would have to fight an enemy within the precincts of her manor, and best case she would be simply greeted by her overenthusiastic maid.

As the door opened with thunderous noise, a shape too fast to be recognized flying through its opening, arms opened wide as it tackled Asteria to the ground. The knight smiled a little, repressing as best as she could the desire to bonk the creature in front of her as punishment for making her worried. After thinking again, though, it seemed that the young girl in charge of cleaning had been much more worried about her during her long absence than what she had initially expected. Sure, the girl had always been clingy, ever since Asteria had brought her in from the streets after noticing the unnatural tidiness and cleanliness of the little corner she called home. The girl did her duties with almost religious dedication, a sparkle within her eyes that at times seemed almost otherworldly, her diligence so thorough that, if not due to Asteria explicitly telling her that the unused rooms needed no cleaning and that she should just focus on what was actually put into use, she would have probably spent the entirety of her days with the impossible task of cleaning the much too big house by herself.

Though Asteria failed to recognize the shoes the girl, now practically a full-fledged adult, was wearing, she simply attributed it to the fact that six months were not, in fact, a short period of time to be away from the people she knew and enjoyed the company of. Because she left the mansion fully on the hands of her three trusted aides, including finances and the like, it was totally possible that the old gardener or that lazy chef of her could have taken little Marta to the common market to buy some things. With a smidge of a smile creeping onto her face, she caressed the maid’s back, soothing her until the girl found it within herself to let the woman who had allowed her to live a better life than she could have ever fantasized go. Marta had her own duties to tend to, after all, and the return of her mistress called for an extra-thorough clean. With new found conviction in her eyes, she gave a little squeeze to the sturdy knight in front of her, before picking the broom lying beside her and running back to the place she was supposed to be cleaning.

Asteria sighed, slightly exasperated by the utter shamelessness exhibited by the maid, but she failed to hide the grin that had spread through her face. She didn’t like the house for many reasons, ranging from its unnecessary size to its dangerous location, but she couldn’t deny that it was nice to be home at last. If there was ever a point where there were no more threats to be fought, no more enemies for the king to throw her at, then she wouldn’t mind spending the rest of whatever life she would have left here, where she had friends close enough to her heart that she felt no apprehension in calling family. They were nice, helpful, and so sweet every interaction she had with them threatened to give her diabetes. She had her own platoon to command, with people she had known from her days at the academia, sure, but it just wasn’t the same thing. The employer-employee relationship existed in both situations, and yet it felt that more constricting in her military career. She argued with them, played with them, shared memories with them that created an atmosphere she had only ever experienced before when she was little, in the presence of a family that no longer could embrace her.

With a sigh, Asteria once again picked up Kary, this time taking her to one of the many vacant rooms in a princess carry, leaving behind an astonished gardener, his mind still trying to figure out what was up with the overly-pale girl, who he would assume was dead, were it not for the subtle moves done by her body during her sleep. He wanted to follow the two of them, question the knight about the origins of the girl, but he felt like that would be a terrible idea, his gut feeling telling him that he should just stay put for now, allow the two of them to have some time alone and, hopefully, Asteria would tell them what had happened during the exploration journey once she was comfortable with sharing the juicy details. A gentle, almost paternal smile adorned the man’s face as he made his way to the garden he loved second to the woman he had seen blossom into a wonderful person over the passage of springs. He was the oldest of the three employees that worked on this manor, and he was also the one who had spent the most time with the knight, their shared story going all the way back to her parents, when they would occasionally request his services to tend to the — admittedly very small — garden they had in front of their nice, comfy residence. It had been quite the journey since then, and, despite the many losses he suffered throughout, he couldn’t say that he disliked how things had turned out.

Inside the house, Asteria was just finishing tucking the girl in bed of the guest’s room, the mattress so comfortable that the knight could see Kary physically sink into it, a pure smile of joy blossoming in her face, piercing Asteria’s heart in a way that not even Marta, her very diligent and sometimes very adorable maid, could. In a spur of the moment, she sat down on the edge of the bed, caressing the girl’s head in a scene that would leave each and every single one of the people who thought they were familiar with the woman in absolute shock. But there was no one there other than the two of them, no one that could judge them, no one who could feed the rumor mill with baseless accusations. It was a moment of simple bliss, a form of enjoyment that led to the knight being so lost in her own thought that she almost failed to notice Kary stirring and turning, her eyelids fluttering in an attempt to filter out the ungodly amounts of light her sleepy eyes were receiving. After a few moments, the girl was finally able to open her eyes, her half-asleep mind desperately fighting so as to not give in to its desire to go back into sleep, to sink into the mattress until nothing of her could be seen from the surface. But she resisted the temptation, despite how alluring the proposal was, her mind shifting focus onto trying to find out where she was.

The first thing that she saw after she got used to the light was Asteria’s face, bearing a smile that would make any man’s heart flutter. Though the knight seemed to realize Kary had woken up, she made no effort to get away from the girl, her callous hand, marred by countless hours of ruthless training, still stroking her head as if there was nothing wrong with it. She knew this to be inherently true, as there would be nothing bad coming out of Asteria petting her head, and yet Kary still felt apprehensive, almost afraid to be on the receiving end of so much affection. Was it okay for her to be there, enjoying a nice rest, possibly the best rest she had had in her entire life, while she had done nothing to earn it? Why was it so hard to simply enjoy the nice gifts of life, especially after everything she had gone through? Why, even after all this time, she still felt like she wasn’t supposed to be here at all, that she didn’t deserve the friends she had made, the nice people she had met during the journey, the few nights they had spent together, sharing stories, singing badly and enjoying each other’s company wrapped in the comfort of the chilly weather of the dusk? It was frustrating, annoying, almost off-putting, the way both her body and mind simply refused to understand that it was okay to be happy.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

And so, defying her stubborn mind conditioned through years and years of dealing with the woman that had given birth to her, for the first time in a long, long while, so long, in fact, that she failed to remember any other time she might have done the same, she allowed herself to simply be there, enjoying the attention, the care that was dedicated to her, not allowing any awful thoughts to intrude her mind, like parasites finally being squashed after wreaking havoc within her own psyche. For a few moments, she stayed like that, lying on the bad, eyes barely opened as she simply let herself be pampered for a couple of sweet seconds, until her brain finished working up, letting in the flood of negativity that Kary’s ‘barely awake’ state had been putting at bay. For the second time since they had arrived in the city, the girl cried, her sobs echoing through the empty hallways as everything that had happened to her during these past months came crashing down, her little moment of rest the perfect opportunity for her own weird little brain to overwhelm her way past her limit, way past what she even considered her mind capable of doing. Sure, she had thought about the present and what would be of her in the future, but now that she was in what she assumed to be in a safe place, protected from the outside world and everything that would cause her harm, everything that she had avoided thinking about, everything she had shelved into the depths of her own mind, everything that she hoped she would never had to think about again, feelings she hoped she would never have to properly face, each and every one of these things came at once in a brutal attack.

Yet despite her clear show of vulnerability, despite the ugliness she was showing for the entire world to see, there were no harsh words directed at her, no belittling comments came her way, no one was there, saying that she should just swallow her tears, or that if she continued crying, she would be given something to cry about. There were simply Kary and Asteria, who never, not even for a single second, stopped caressing her head, the knight’s eyes growing gentler by the second as she tried and ultimately failed to understand the emotional baggage weighting Kary down. She knew that she hadn’t been the most present person in the girl’s life during their journey back, but even now she had vastly underestimated the suffering the girl had experienced. Asteria, in all her wisdom as a knight, felt completely unable to grasp at the pain that the girl beside her had been silently experiencing this entire time, silently enduring so as to not cause any alarm, suffering alone so that no one would waste their time looking after her.

The two of them stayed like that until Asteria heard the sound of Marta’s loud shoes echoing through the corridor, getting closer and closer to them. Noticing that Kary seemed to have calmed down significantly, the knight reached down and gave the girl’s head two quick pets, before asking if she was hungry, to which Kary responded with a vigorous nod and a rumble of her stomach. Although the girl could survive solely by staying on the sun, that didn’t mean that she didn’t hunger for more normal food, or that recharging her batteries under the sun was of any pleasure. She liked to eat food, to feel the chewing, the sensation of food going down her throat and landing neatly on her stomach. It was something that she felt like she would never be able to ditch, to the point where she forced herself to put up with the awful-tasting, hard, and very chewy food that was the exploration group had available for her to eat.

Soon after, the door was opened with a loud bang, making the fancy chandeliers in the corridor tremble from the sound, almost making Kary jump high into the air. From behind the door came a woman, a bit older than the girl laying on the bed, with rosier skin than her, clearly indicating that she wasn’t of any weird race like Kary. A grin so wide it threatened to split her face in half was splattered across her face as she brought with her two trays of delicious smelling food. As she saw the pale girl lying on the bed, being held tight by her mistress, Marta was confused for a moment, wondering who that girl was, since she hadn’t seen her when tackling Asteria before. After an almost imperceptible moment of wondering, though, she came to the conclusion she didn’t so much as cared for who the girl was, just that her mistress seemed to be enjoying her time with the girl. In retrospect, it should have been obvious that her mistress was not alone, considering that the chef had asked her to bring with her double the amount of food someone would normally ingest, but Marta had simply attributed it to the knight’s ravenous appetite, failing to consider that she might have missed Asteria’s guest on her desperation to greet her.

As Marta got closer to the girl, she began to notice her less natural features apart from the skin, which was kind of hard to miss if one so much as looked at the girl. She had bright, red eyes, almost too big to appear natural, as if two polished pieces of ruby had been simply squeezed into the sockets without much through being put into it. They were weird, but at the same time the maid couldn’t help but find them oddly captivating, its uniqueness charming in its own way. The girl on the bed also had quite the long hair, extending far down, almost to the point of reaching her legs when lying down, its paleness less appalling than that of her skin, the tone closer to silver-y white than it was to the pure, untainted color of the clouds, though from appearance alone the texture seemed to approach the fluffiness of the clouds than the straight, sharp appearance of the silver weapons used by the rich in their decorations.

Her face seemed to be an artist’s representation of beauty, her features just sharp enough to carry a certain allure, while at the same time retaining just enough baby fat that her every expression had some degree of cuteness. From what Marta could see, Kary had been blessed with a perfectly proportional body, with both her arms and legs not being a centimeter longer or shorter than they should be, the exercises she had spent the past months doing making it so that every flex of her limbs showed some amount of muscles. It wasn’t to the point where people would be appalled by it, but they added some much-needed substance to her lean, almost too thin arms.

Marta approached the bed almost as if in a daze, for a few moments forgetting herself as she hyper-analyzed every single detail of what she could see of Kary’s body. Realizing she had been staring for too long, though, the maid let out an awkward cough, before laying down the two trays of food on the nightstand beside the bed. After respectfully bowing down to Asteria, the maid turned to the door, intending to return to her never-ending duties, when the knight stopped her much in the same way she had prevented Kary from jumping in fear, making Marta let out a surprised yelp as she was stopped dead on her tracks, her monochromatic maid outfit fluttering in complete disregard to its owner complete lack of movement.

“Umm… mistress… what is it that you desire of me? I see you have a guest, so if there’s anything I can do please do inform me.” As Marta turned around to address Asteria and her guest, who looked at the maid with shy curiosity within her eyes, Asteria retracted her hand, placing it once more on top of Kary’s hair, continuing to stroke it as she looked at the young maid, her face turning into a frown as she thought of the words delivered to her by her gardener when she arrived. Since they were in a more relaxed environment right now, she thought that it would be the best moment to hear what the man had to say, with the great food hopefully enough to qualm the headache that was sure to come.

“Why yes, there is something I wanted to ask from you. Though I do appreciate the consideration towards Kary here, I simply want you to go fetch Gunther for me. I know you already know that, but he should be at the back of the house right now, taking care of his dear flowerbeds. If it isn’t asking too much, I would like for you to bring him here, as there are some… matters that I wish to discuss with him.”

“Of course you aren’t asking too much. It’s my job, after all. I’ll go fetch him right away!” With a playful salute, Marta dashed out of the room, soon getting out of both Kary’s and Asteria’s earshot, leaving the two of them once again alone together. Since Kary was now fully awake, she began to feel a bit conscious of the hand continuously petting her head, leaving her awkwardly shifting on the bed, futilely trying to escape Asteria’s grasp, much to the knight’s enjoyment. After all, that meant that there was nothing wrong with Kary, and that her passing out on her was simply due to the cumulative tiredness from the journey to a town, along with the shock of being within human civilization after who knew how long. For all Asteria knew, it could have been years since the girl lying in front of her had any sort of interaction with humans. Considering how strong of a reaction she had when the knight had stated her offer, though, she was somewhat skeptical about her theory, the girl’s almost exaggerated movements and expressions in regards to such topics making the knight’s mind wonder about what sort of traumas Kary might have experienced throughout her life.

Despite being so young, she had suffered much, much more than she should. At least that was what the knight believed. She wanted to question the girl, of course, as endlessly speculating about her past would get them nowhere, but such thoughts were quickly dismissed, for she wanted to build some degree of trust between them before she even tried to make Kary comfortable about talking about her past. Asteria knew that if someone she had only known for a couple of months suddenly began showing an interest on the mess that her past was, the knight would only be able to see such person with suspicion, so she refused to put Kary through something similar. As she imagined what would her days be life from here on out, with the presence of this weird girl from nowhere, doubts still lingered on the back of her mind, questioning her decisions, expecting the worst of the worst to happen due to what she had done. It was annoying at best, and, at worst, it was almost enough to make her punch through a wall, for she knew that each and every single one of these doubts were not only baseless, but also complete nonsensical, scenarios that would never happen sapping away at her energy, living rent free in her head.

Her musings were interrupted rather abruptly by the arrival of Gunther, her loyal gardener, who unceremoniously barged into the room after giving the door a warning knock. Before Asteria could respond, the man was already inside, his face unusually serious as he approached the two women, arms and legs trembling slightly, either out of anticipation or fear, his left hand gripping a beautifully adorned letter, as if he was afraid of losing it. Noticing the man’s clear distress, the knight ordered him to take a seat, something he was quite glad to accept, as his strength was far from what it used to be, exhaustion easily taking the best of him these days as he tried to enjoy his job to his fullest. With the room set, Asteria wasted no time confronting him.

“So? What did you want to tell me? Go on, I’m waiting to see what news I have lost in these past months.”

“Umm… before I tell you, I must first inform you that these matters relate to the nobility and the royal family. Knowing this, I have to ask: is it okay for this girl to be here, listening to these… pretty interesting pieces of news I’ve managed to get my hands on?” Listening to the cautious tone of his voice, Asteria let out a small laugh, as if mocking the old gardener for his lack of trust in her companions. Still, she could understand what he was coming from, so she decided to make it as clear as possible for it to enter his thick skull

“This girl here is my protégé, although not officially yet… hah… that reminds me… I’ll have to tell the king about this eventually… and it will be an absolute pain… Well, anyway, what I wanted to say is that I will respond for anything this pretty girl right here speaks and does in the future, so there’s no problem in telling the nobles’ dirty little secrets to her. If not you, then I would probably the one to spill the beans eventually. Now come on, tell us. What happened while I was away that made you so anxious?”

“Well… I hoped you would already be aware of it, but it seems that I was mistaken. Oh well.” Getting closer through little hops of his chair, he lowered his voice, afraid that there might be someone uninvited listening in to their conversation. “The thing is, the second prince has just gotten back from his studies abroad, and I head from… reliable sources, that there are already nobles planning to make the boy king, grooming his from the moment they get to interact with him so as to control the direction the country will take. That’s just my opinion, though it is supported by the recent moves of the nobles who remain loyal to the royal family, abiding by their rules and supporting the first prince to their full capacity. Since I’m just a gardener who only leaves this mansion to secure perishable products every once in a while, my information might be a bit outdated, but big things are happening under the curtains, that I can say with utmost confidence.”

Hearing his assertive considerations of the political landscape of their kingdom, Asteria couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear, as this old man in front of her once more showed her that he was much more than a mere gardener, as he insisted on saying. For what it was worth, the man excelled at the more delicate and simultaneously brutal jobs, from stalking to information gathering. Although the knight would prefer that he stayed within the confines of her mansion due to his deteriorating health thanks to his old age, she had been forced to recognize his masterful abilities time and time again, as he was capable not only of gathering any piece of information that he desired, but also of accurately judge and predict what the fallout of certain events would lead to, acting with more precision than those clairvoyants who sold their service on the local market. Her satisfied grin, however, quickly faded from her face as Gunther continued his report.

“Another thing: before you arrived this morning, we received a letter from the castle. There are some things that I would like for you to personally take a look at, but what I can tell you outright is that the king had called the nobles and the most noteworthy members of the exploration team to attend to a party that will be held tomorrow afternoon, at the palace grounds. If memory serves right, you are allowed to bring with you a single attendant, so it is best to decide these matters as quickly as you can. After all, weren’t you that told me time and time again that I should take utmost care of appearances, especially in front of nobles?”

“Well… fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. Fuck nobility, fuck royalty, fuck everyone who thought throwing a party immediately after half its guests arrived from a six-month trip was a good idea. If the plan was to catch us tired and unprepared, then I guess it went flawlessly, but… hah… gods be damned. So much stuff to do, so many things to get done until tomorrow, and I haven’t even read the fucking letter! If it wasn’t for you guys, I don’t think I would be able to last this long without wiping out some very important people from the face of this wretched earth.”

“Please, mistress, we all know about you dislike for formality and backstabbing, but getting yourself thrown in a maximum security prison wouldn’t do you any good. Sure, you are an essential piece to the protection of our beautiful lands, but there is a point where even you would need to face the consequence of your own actions. I ask you… no, I beg you; please reconsider delivering summary execution to unruly nobles. At least wait until they’re charged with some crime.”

“Oh well. At these times you sound so convincing. It’s almost like you know what you’re doing…”

“I know that you know that I am perfectly able to do my job, thank you very much. Instead of playing around until night falls, it might be better for you to start working on the piled-up things you left behind after fleeing from work for six months straight.”

“Okay, okay. As much as I dislike it, paperwork and noble gatherings are still part of my job. Can’t be caught slacking off, or else I might be sent to the middle of nowhere again.” With a sigh, Asteria turned to Kary, the poor girl almost dozing off after being pampered by the knight and being forced to stay put in that most comfortable bed. With a last pat to her head, the lady of the house told the girl that, for now, she should simply get some rest, as the next day would be incredibly busy, and she ought to be in her most optimal form by then. With this, Asteria left the room, accompanied by Gunther, who gently closed the door behind him, allowing the girl to catch the sleep she had been desperately trying to fight against up until now. Kary feels her body getting heavier and heavier, sinking into the mattress in a feeling of bliss and relaxation she had seldom felt before. For a couple of minutes, her consciousness wavered like a lit candle under a strong wind, until the flame gave up and eventually went out quietly under the constant stimuli provided by the wind, or, in this case, the mattress.