Louche wheels Millie in, with Cycelia following right behind them along with Straf, Nona, and Lily. They enter a large, well-lit foyer with a chandelier flooding the large room with warm light. A burning fireplace off to the side purges the cold that seeped into everyone but Straf. Two maids arrive from a side passage and hurry up to Millie.
「Lady Millie, the guest rooms are ready. What would you like us to do?」
One of the maids bows her frilled head, and the two wait in front of Millie with their white cufflinked hands held in front of her.
「If you could take their baggage to their rooms and prepare water for tea…」
Millie requests with a smile, and the two maids bow their heads.
「Understood… Please set them down here, we'll take them.」
The maid turns her calm, almost bored eyes to Straf's. He shrugs, and simply lowers Cycelia's and Nona's baggage to the polished wooden floor with a duplet thunk.
「I will take care of the water.」
The other maid announces, and disappears back into the side passage with a hasty step.
「I think that small dining room is good enough, right, Millie?」
Louche asks, turning her wheelchair slightly to the other side of the manor.
「Yes, I think it'll be fine.」
She nods with a smile, and glances at her guests.
At the same time, the maid who took on the task of taking the baggage casually grasps both in hand, but then strains with a grunt when one of them proves nigh-immovable. She lets go of Nona's baggage, and tries again, this time grasping its handle with both of her hands. She grunts and strains, trying her hardest to lift it off the floor, but the baggage barely moves. She lets go, panting heavily while propping herself up upon it.
「Hmpf… I will return for the rest in just a moment.」
She awkwardly announces as she lifts Nona's baggage with a light grunt, and carries it up the stairs. Millie tilts her golden head at her, blinking, before returning a quick nod.
Louche wheels Millie away into one of the side passages, and the guests follow, with the exception of Nona.
「Nona, don't lag behind. Mansions attract murder mysteries, and it wouldn't be fun if I know whodunit and whydunit from the start…」
With his hands in his pockets, Straf calls out to her while she's staring with her amber eyes at a display case full of fine jewelry. She turns them to Straf, innocently blinking his way.
「O-key…」
She turns away from the display and follows along with the rest…
…
A few moments later…
Millie rolls into a small, but decently-sized dining room with Louche pushing her wheelchair. Despite not being in use, the table is already set with a cloth and decorated with vases. It appears much like one of the dining rooms in the Redwing palace, albeit much, much smaller, being able to fit only a dozen or so people at a time. Louche pushes Millie up to the table, pulls the host's chair out, and helps her sit down in it.
「Come, have a seat.」
She calls out to the guests, and points her pale hand at the free seats. Cycelia and the rest oblige, with Straf shrugging his shoulders.
「…How are you doing, Millie? Health-wise, I mean. I was surprised when you just shot up to your feet.」
Cycelia asks as she sits down nearby, with Louche sitting right beside Millie.
「Ah, I'm much better now. Much better! Thank you for asking.」
Millie replies with a warm smile and a tilt to her flowing golden head.
「Yes, Millie wouldn't be able to live free without the teapot. The comb helps get her hair in order too.」
「Eheheh…」
Louche nods, and turns his smile towards his sister. She lets out a small giggle, partially covering her mouth with her loose fist.
「Teapot?…」「…Teapot?」
Lily and Nona ask, both tilting their heads.
「Ah, you two wouldn't know… Some time ago, Straf gave Millie an artifact he found, a teapot that cures afflictions… Well, it doesn't cure them, but Millie was very sick…」
Cycelia raises her brows, and begins explaining, briefly glancing at Straf's nonchalant, bored face while it's resting on his palm.
「…Millie was in hiding, as the treacherous robber barons stole her land after her family's death. Louche was participating in the arena to help earn money for her medicine, but…」
She continues, and gains an awkward smile when she looks at Louche, before glancing at Straf again.
「He beat me very easily. Really, there was no way I could have made it to the end. I owe a life's debt to Mr. Straf for helping my sister, and to her highness.」
Louche nods along, shrugging his shoulders with a light smile as looks at Straf, Cycelia, and his sister.
「Ah, no… It was my duty as the queen to restore the rightful rulers of the land back where they belong. The empire wouldn't last if I forgave such opportunism.」
Cycelia shakes her head, smiling back with her chestnut head slightly tilted. Two maids walk in, one with a large silver tray, and the other empty-handed.
「Still, there must have been a temptation to just leave things be. A wise ruler wouldn't do that. I know I'm not smart, or strong, but one call and I will answer it, your majesty.」
Louche bows his head with gratitude as the maids set down teacups, and the rather unremarkable silver teapot in the center of the table.
「No, no… Your place is by Millie's side, she needs you more than I do. I have plenty of very capable people helping, now that things have settled down…」
With her dainty palm raised, Cycelia shakes her head with a smile again.
「Your coat, sir?…」
The empty-handed maid says, standing just behind Straf. He raises his brow at her, then stands up.
「Yeah, sure… Knock yourself out.」
He shrugs with a roll of his eyes, slips his stylish coat off, and throws it into the waiting maid's hands before nonchalantly sitting back down. She walks up to Nona.
「Hm?」
「Would you like me to take yours as well?」
The maid asks, tilting her frilled head at Nona.
「…But I paid a lot for this, though.」
Nona replies, pulling at her warm white robes' collar with a pensive amber-eyed gaze.
「…Pardon?」
After a brief shake of her head in deep confusion, the maid asks with her brows furrowed.
「She means that she's going to take it to your room, Nona. She's not taking it for herself…」
Straf casually explains while looking her way.
「…Oh. Okay, then…」
Nona jumps up to her feet and undoes the toggle closures on her robes, then hands them over to the maid. She expertly folds them, and rests them on top of Straf's coat.
「…I was getting' kinda too warm anyway, tehe…」
With a large grin, Nona remarks as she sits down.
The maid with the tray sets it down on an empty part of the table, and begins pouring the tea from the teapot for everyone seated. When done, she places small plates right beside the teacups, unwraps a small wax paper package from the tray, and dumps a portion of the contents onto each of the plates.
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Clunkclunkclunk…
Biscuits fall to the ceramic plates with a faint clatter. When the package runs out, the maid gets another from the tray and continues until each guest has at least a handful of snacks to go with their tea. She places the unfolded wax paper back down onto the tray, bows towards Millie, then takes it out of the room while the other maid collects the guests' clothes. When finished, she stands a few steps away from the table, weighted heavily like a coat hanger, while another maid enters to attend Millie directly.
「I bought them just today, help yourselves out.」
Millie says with a smile, and points at Cycelia's plate of biscuits. Millie then takes one in her pale fingers with the teacup in her other hand, and takes a small nibble. Straf simply throws the entire biscuit into his mouth and chews with a crunch. The biscuit crumbles with ease, but without disintegrating into sand-like consistency, clearly being made with some milk or butter, perhaps even both. It's lightly sweetened, just enough to be perceptible. Straf takes a gulp of the tea, nodding slightly with an approving grimace.
「…Do you want my biscuits, Straf?」
Lily asks, lifting the small plate up in her clawed fingers with a disinterested expression on her face, and her brow lightly raised.
「You don't like them?」
Millie asks with a gently troubled expression, lowering her teacup.
「I am a vampire, I don't eat…」
She replies as Straf shrugs and takes it. The two maids in the room perk up in surprise and exchange awkward-faced glances.
「…The last time I tried out of habit, it made me horribly sick. I am above chewing things just to spit them out, it'd be rude. It's better if Straf enjoys them.」
Lily adds and casually crosses her arms. Turning her slit-pupiled scarlet gaze to Millie. Straf shrugs and rapidly burns through his and Lily's snacks.
「…Maybe you should try the tea at least? Maybe it'd help with your vampirism-」
「Pft. Silly girl… It's not a disease, or an affliction. You can't cure being a vampire any more than you can cure being a human.」
Millie suggests after twiddling with her thumbs for a prolonged moment of silence, but Lily lets out a loud scoff and looks at her with a ridiculing, mildly amused smirk.
「I see…」
With a somewhat gloomy expression on her face, Millie nods her head and takes another nibble of a biscuit.
「…How were things on your end, your highness? I heard a lot of things happened, but we are mostly isolated here in the east, especially in winter.」
Millie asks, forcing a warm smile back to her face as she looks at Cycelia, who is enjoying her tea and snacks.
「Mh. We're better and better. I was planning to head to the Academy of Magic for another term, but…」
Cycelia interrupts herself and quickly swallows the nibble of the biscuit she took just a second ago. She turns her emerald gaze to Straf as she explains, gaining an awkward smile.
「…Well, a lot of things had happened. Like I wrote, I have a lot of free time on my hands now, so we're heading to the Eastern Kingdoms… To have a look, I suppose.」
She adds with a shrug of her shoulders, and throws the rest of the biscuit into her mouth with a smile.
「The Eastern Kingdoms, huh?… I wish I could take a look around there, too…」
Millie sets her teacup down on the saucer with a faint clink, and lets out a wistful, longing sigh with a soft smile on her lowered face.
「Maybe one day, Millie… I mean, look, your illness is getting a lot better, isn't it? It won't be long before you won't need the wheelchair at all.」
Louche chimes in, and shrugs as he glances at Millie's empty wheelchair by the table.
「I'll try to bring you a souvenir, at least. I hope we'll get to go together one day.」
Cycelia says, and takes a small sip from her cup.
「…Might be sooner than later. Like it or not, Lia, LuftStrafe is gonna happen.」「Geh.」
Straf remarks with his arms crossed and his ankle on his knee, already finished with his tea and biscuits. Cycelia winces on a reflex.
「LuftStrafe?…」
Millie asks, tilting her golden, flowing head. Nona and Lily look at him with curious eyes too.
「I'm already planning to make an airline company. It's going to be big. I'll first have to flatten some places to make the first airfields, though.」
Straf replies with a shrug of his shoulders and a bored gaze.
「Airline company?… Airfields? What's that?」
She asks, only further confused, blinking her brilliantly blue eyes at him.
「It's for airships, Millie. An airfield is a place to land them, like birds. You maybe saw one in flight not too long ago? We had some issues, and had to send it everywhere…」
Cycelia explains, and gently tilts her head with a smile as she asks.
「Ah! That's an airship?」
Millie's head perks up as her brows rise.
「…Airship? No, Lia, an airship is a completely different thing-」
Straf chimes in with his mouth aslant and arms crossed, furrowing his brows at Cycelia.
「It is?… Will and Shien were calling it that-」
「Tsk… Will…」
Confused and surprised, she blinks her emerald eyes at him, but Straf cuts in with a loud click of his tongue.
「…A- Anyway, it's undoubtedly amazing… Magitech as Straf calls it… But I really don't like planes.」
Cycelia adds, returning her gaze back to Millie with an awkward smile.
「…Those flying things?… Why not?」
Millie asks, furrowing her brows.
「She doesn't like dogfights. She thought flying was pretty fun, actually…」
Straf chimes in, glancing at Cycelia. She looks back at him, still awkwardly smiling.
「…You're a sore loser, aren't you, Lia? Chin up, I can get you a plane with a rotary cannon or BVR missiles, and you can have a rematch then.」
He adds with an amused smirk, and shrugs as he turns his eyes to Millie.
「I'd rather not… He he…」
Cycelia lets out an awkward chuckle, and takes another nibble of the next biscuit.
「…I don't understand a word you said.」
Millie bluntly replies, blinking her confused eyes at Straf.
「Don't worry about it, Millie, it's a lot like that for me too.」
Cycelia replies as her face gains a warm smile, and she exchanges a quick glance with Straf.
「…How do you two understand each other, then? Is Straf from the Eastern Kingdoms?… He doesn't look like it.」
Millie asks, looking at the two for a moment each.
「Straf is…」
Cycelia becomes a little troubled as she thinks how to explain for a moment.
「…We just kind of understand each other. It's hard to explain.」
She replies with a shrug and a smile, answering with her feeling instead.
「Ah. Oh my…」
Millie's head perks up as her eyes widen somewhat, and she covers her gently blushing face with her fingers…