By the time we managed to get back to Liz, everyone except her had gone. Karen and I were both crying in relief, hugging her, as she limply patted our heads and reassured us. She hadn't gotten too beaten up, but she'd exhausted her magic fending them off, and they ran when they heard us coming back with guards.

We were expecting the worst, but...

"Miz Letty... We're going home. We'll drop Miss Elizabeth and Miss Karen off along the way."

Ah. I could hear the ice in that voice, and, turning around, I saw a beetled brow and a stern expression from Jennifer.

I hadn't, considering everything that had gone on, considered that we might, in fact, be in trouble with our families. I could hear Karen mustering up excuses, but help came from an unexpected source.

"It's... Not their fault. It's not our fault, and it's not theirs." Liz sounded tired, but she also sounded certain. Well, it sort of made sense, but... Surely we had some blame in this, right? Karen vanished, then I did, and... I shook my head, even as Jennifer harumphed, and the guards ushered us into the waiting carriage. I didn't know what Liz meant, but I did know one thing.

Regardless of blame, we'd get a talking to. I don't know what I was dreading more, father's or mother's. Both had their own ways of scolding, and both stung, whether it was father's frank, blunt statements or mother's softer, but no less deadly wonderings as to where she could have gone wrong. And if we got both at once... I shuddered. It was so effective because they were good parents, and the few times I'd been on the receiving end of "A little chat" or "Come to my office", I came out of it rightfully feeling like an idiot.

Forlornly, I looked at the spare cake Jennifer was holding. Outside didn't look so bright, and that cake looked nowhere near as appetising. For the first time, it truly hit me, personally, that like anywhere else, like my own world, it could be dangerous.

It was like Liz had said earlier. We were lucky. We were privileged. And even the more experienced Liz was trembling, ever so slightly, and looking pensive.

The rest of the journey passed in silence.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

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Word had clearly gotten back to the mansion, as both mother and father rushed to the carriage and bundled us out, fussing over us, as Jennifer unobtrusively made her way inside. And we cried in their arms, letting out all the fear we'd been holding inside, all the vulnerability. Liz, meanwhile, kept as brave a face as she could, and, once we were inside...

"Duke, Duchess... I'd like to talk to you in private. I want to explain something before anything else is said."

Her gaze was firm, and, after a brief, worried look at us, they both nodded, and left us in the lounge, shutting the door firmly behind them.

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I don't know what she said, but when they returned, there was only minimal scolding. We should have stayed closer to Liz and Jennifer. We should have taken some guards with us, no matter how safe it was. They should have known to send guards with us, their sweet little babies. They'd been so worried when a guard had come to tell them Jennifer had lost us both. Elizabeth had given them the whole story, but we were still at fault.

We took it all. We deserved it all. But what father said next made me goggle.

"It's time, Letty, to pick a knight."

A knight? I'd seen guards practicing, I'd seen... Did we even have knights?

Apparently, we did. Wow, I really was sheltered, wasn't I? As Karen and I stared on, nonplussed, mother and father started setting conditions.

"Hrm, they have to be one of our stronger ones." A nod from mother.

"But they have to be a girl, darling, I don't trust any men around Letty!" A nod.

"Not much older, I think. After all, they'll be spending the rest of their lives together." I'm sorry... Rest of our lives? Am I getting a knight, or getting married off?

"And not one of your troublemakers, darling, I know even some of the girls are rowdy!" Wow. I was getting a real education here. Was I actually going to be doing any picking? Or was... No, silly question, I love them both, but I don't think I'll have any say in this.

And, as it turned out, I didn't. I finally got to meet our knights, and I wanted even more to be taught how to swing a sword, watching their muscles ripple and the sweat fly, but I talked to none of them, until a blushing blonde, was ushered up. She was only two years older than I am, is she seriously a knight? But father was looking at her with respect, which meant a lot. I'd once seen him lift a carriage with both hands so one of the servants could fix the wheel. So if he respected her, then...

"Letty, I'd like you to meet Lynn Armwright, our most promising knight." A little confused, I nodded, and Lynn just barely moved her head, not meeting my eyes. Stepping up, I offered my hand. "Lynn, I'm Leticia, but friends call me Letty. I hope we get along."

"IhopewegetalongtooexcusemeIneedtopracticesomemoreI'llseeyoulater!"

I looked up at father, wondering if he was either confused or not thinking straight. But all he was doing was chuckling. Turning to me, he clasped one shoulder and grinned. "She likes you, it seems. Don't judge by how she acted around you, she'll loosen up soon enough. Just sit on my lap and watch her practice."

And that's exactly what I did for the rest of the afternoon, watching her swing, and swing, and swing, every strike exactly the same.

I don't know when I dozed off, but I vaguely felt myself being carried, before blackness took me.