Sarah nervously clutched the edges of her skirt as the maid, Isabella, pushed open the door to the dining room. Sarah took one more breath to steel herself and entered the room, only to freeze up upon receiving the most icy of glares from the man sitting at the end of the table on the other side of the room. She shot a glance at her mother, who was sitting at the man’s left, before taking another hesitant step forward.
“Sarah Goodfellows.” The man said coldly, somehow looking even angrier. “I’ll pretend I didn’t see that. Exit the room and enter again.”
“Dear, can’t we just – ” Sarah’s mother attempted to intercede, only to close her mouth as the man shot her a look.
“No. Our daughter is the crown princess. No matter how much stress she is under, she can’t just enter a public room like a dining hall without commanding her presence to fill the room. Who would believe she is our competent daughter if she does not even bother to do that?” The man, who Sarah was quickly assuming to be her father, continued.
Sarah swallowed nervously and did a quick curtsy before turning around to re-enter the room. ‘What does that man mean?’ She asked herself as she went. ‘Do I need to stick my nose further in the air and walk a bit more confidently? Do I need to glare around the room and make the servants nervous or something?’ Sarah’s high heels echoed on the floor as she finished leaving the room and turned the corner before she stopped and took another deep breath. ‘Fine, that’s what I’ll do, then.’
As Sarah strode into the room this time, however, her father still looked just as upset at before. Sarah nervously glanced at her mother and found that she looked confused and was darting looks at both Sarah and her husband.
Sarah’s father closed his eyes and let out a long, disappointed-sounding sigh before opening them again and staring at Sarah more closely. His eyebrows narrowed slightly more and then he spoke. “Why do I bother? Are you even listening to me?”
“Dear,” Sarah’s mother interceded. “Do we have to do this now? Our baby is under a lot of stress.”
“Fine, fine. Why do I even bother.” Sarah’s father grumbled in reply, waving one hand dismissively. “Sit, eat. We will discuss your impropriety later.” Sarah’s father said as he cast a glance at Sarah, and then he stood up from his seat and dabbed his mouth with a handkerchief. “My compliments on the food, but I am quite busy and have eaten enough. Please send Sarah to my office later this evening, but for now I bid adieu.”
Sarah took her seat as her father walked out a door on the other side of the dining hall. Sarah’s mother resumed eating calmly as a servant placed a few dishes in front of Sarah. Sarah began eating in silence, punctuated only by servants refilling her drink and the appetizers plate being replaced from time to time. Every once in a while, her mother would shoot her a worried glance but said nothing.
As Sarah felt full, she placed her utensils down on her plate, stood, and mumbled a quick “Thanks for the food.” before turning and walking towards the door. A few servants shot her some strange looks as she went, but she ignored this and tried to walk away faster.
“Baby?” A hesitant call came from behind her, causing Sarah to pause at the door, unsure if she was supposed to wait for a servant to open the door for her or open it herself.
Uncertainly, Sarah cleared her throat with unease and turned her face towards her mother. “I would like to do some light reading to calm my nerves.”
“Oh.” Her mother said, her eyes widening a bit. “Oh! Of course, baby. You there,” Her mother then pointed at one of the maids. “Escort the young lady to the private library. Isabella, please inform the guards to secure the area as they go.” Her mother then walked around the table and approached Sarah and gave her a quick hug. “Mommy has some business to attend to. Stay safe, sweetie.” With that, her mother kissed her forehead, and then left.
Sarah watched her mother walk away for a bit, then turned as the maid Anna stepped closer. “This way, my lady,” Anna said, beckoning forward as she held a door open. Sarah gave her a brief nod, and then walked onward, being led from room to room by Anna. They proceeded to many parts of the castle that Sarah had not yet seen, and the directions were difficult for Sarah to keep in her head as they went. So many of the hallways looked the same, all cleanly decorated in a similar fashion. She would have to pay better attention to the windows’ views and the paintings to even get a sense of where she was, or so Sarah figured. Or perhaps one just got used to it after living here long enough.
Finally, they arrived in a hallway that looked very much like every other hallway they had walked through, but Anna stopped next to a particular candle that was held and bolted to the wall. She then reached up, and tugged it forwards, causing the wall to slide open, revealing a wooden door with a square, iron plate where Sarah would have expected a door knob or handle to be instead.
‘Huh, I guess it’s a push door? Is the security for our private library so loose?’ Sarah thought to herself.
“We have arrived, milady.” Anna said, gesturing to the door. “I shall wait here for if you need me.”
“Yes… Yes, of course.” Sarah replied back, unsure why Anna was not pushing the door open for her. Deciding not to overthink things, however, Sarah walked forward and placed her hand on the iron plate in order to push the door open. As her hand came in contact with the metal plate, however, Sarah suddenly felt something leave her body through her hand, and she instantly fell to her knees, her vision turning black on the edges. Her whole body suddenly felt weak and she could barely force herself to take a breath. ‘What?’ Sarah thought to herself, before her eyes finished shutting and she collapsed the rest of the way to the ground.
Stolen novel; please report.
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“I’m afraid…” an unfamiliar voice of a man spoke in a hushed tone.
“What?!” Replied a woman with a high shrill to her voice. Sarah was barely half awake, and she couldn’t quite place the voice.
“Please, madam. Calm down.” The man quickly said.
“How is this even possible? Why didn’t Dr. Eugene catch this when he treated her cuts last night?”
“Madam, with all due respect, Dr. Eugene hasn’t mastered as many medical classes as I have. It’s perfectly normal for him to miss such a strange case as this.” The man replied, a bit of haughtiness creeping into his tone. “As for how this is possible, that I cannot say. I have never seen a case quite like this one. My [Medical Pre-Op] skill has not revealed as much information as I’d like, but there are trace amounts of...”
Sarah struggled to hear more as the man spoke quieter, but found her body fully unresponsive.
“That’s a rather serious accusation.” The woman said, her voice bitingly cold. Sarah now recognized the voice to be her mother.
“Yes, well, if that was the only evidence I wouldn't even mention it.” The man admitted. “However...” Again, the man spoke too quiet for Sarah to hear. Sarah did, however, hear her mother gasp loudly in response. “Don’t worry too much, madam. Your daughter will awake within the hour.”
“Thank you, doctor. You may take your pay from the treasury on your way out. Hand this note to Isabella and she’ll let you in.”
“Thank you, madam.” The man replied, and then his footsteps were head getting further and further away.
“Charles cannot learn of this.” Sarah’s mother mumbled. “Oh, my poor baby.”
Time passed excruciatingly slowly for Sarah. The room was rather quiet with the doctor’s absence. Sarah couldn’t be certain it was truly after only an hour, but she did eventually regain control of her body after what felt like an eternity and let out a low groan from her mouth.
“Baby!” Her mother’s voice rang out, and she felt a hand grip hers.
“Mother?” Sarah murmured, trying to open her eyelids but finding them too heavy to lift.
“Yes baby. I’m here.” Sarah’s mother soothed, her other hand petting Sarah’s scalp and running down the length of her hair slowly. “Momma’s here.”
“What… Happened?”
“You entered mana exhaustion, sweetie. You were extremely lucky the royal doctor was visiting here with the delegates from the palace. If he had been any slower, you might have… You might have...” Sarah’s mother started sobbing.
“Mom?”
“The doctor said that if he had been any later, you’d be dead.” Sarah’s mother barely managed to finish speaking this time, and then resumed her sobbing.
Sarah finally managed to open her eyes, and she felt her body responding to her better. With great effort, Sarah gritted her teeth and forced herself to a sitting position and then started to stroke her mother’s back.
Her mother started to calm down, and then pulled back from their embrace. “Sweetie, listen to mother. You must come with mother to her room. We have some things to discuss. First, however, mother will get you some food to eat. It’s time for supper, and we need to keep your body’s strength up.”
Sarah weakly nodded, and watched as her mother went to the door of the room to talk to the servants outside. ‘Mana exhaustion? Mana is a thing here? I guess I can’t be too surprised, given the existence of a status.’
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Status:
Name: Sarah Goodfellows
Class: Unselected
EXP: N/A
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‘Not that this screen tells me much of anything.’ Sarah thought to herself grouchily. ‘How did touching the door to the library cause me to go into mana exhaustion, though? Was that a trap for intruders, and I failed to open it correctly? Then why isn’t mother saying anything about that?’ Sarah’s thoughts then fell to the egg under her bed. ‘Are those pulsing blue lines in that egg made from mana?’ Sarah shot a quick glance towards her mother, who was impatiently tapping her foot as she waited at the door, staring down the hallway while waiting for the food to arrive. Sarah quietly sat at the edge of her bed and slipped a hand down, pulling the egg out from under the bed and slipping it into the pocket of her skirt. She thumbed the egg open and felt around the egg, but felt no such sensation she got when she touched the library’s metal plate. ‘Hard to say without more things to compare it to, I suppose.’ Sarah thought to herself.
Sarah’s mother’s foot finally stopped tapping, and she returned to sit next to Sarah as a maid brought in a trolley with a platter of food upon it. Sarah and her mother ate, with her mother occasionally forcing a spoon loaded with food into Sarah’s mouth, as if concerned she was not eating enough on her own. This continued even after Sarah placed her spoon down, feeling full, and only after all the food on the trolley was completely gone did her mother stop feeding her more food.
‘I’m so full I am afraid I might explode.’ Sarah complained in her head.
“That’ll be all.” Sarah’s mother said, clapping her hands together twice. The maids then took the trolley away and left, leaving Sarah alone with her mother again. “Come now, dear. We must go to my room to discuss some things.” Sarah’s mother stood and then reached one hand around Sarah to steady her as she stood to follow, her strength mostly returned after sitting and eating for so long.
Sarah’s mother led Sarah out of the room and down several hallways. Out of the corner of her eye, Sarah caught her mother chewing on her thumbnail, looking worried and stressed.
‘What exactly is she planning on telling me that has her this worried?’ Sarah wondered.
They finally arrived at an ornately decorated set of gold colored wooden doors. Sarah’s mother quickly threw one open and led them inside before hastily shutting the door. She then quickly strode over to the window at the back and threw it open and gestured for Sarah to approach. Sarah walked over, eyeing the lavish bed with red curtains adorning it, the purple carpet on the floor and the purple curtains against the windows of the room. The furniture in the room was made of a similar golden wood that the door had been.
As Sarah finally ended up standing next to her mother and turned to ask her what she wanted to talk about, her mother spoke first.
“You must climb out this window and jump, my baby.” She said.