Slowly a month passed with Emma falling into a routine. First she would rise with the sun and do conditioning drills under the guidance of the lead trainer, then breakfast, then she'd spend most of the day reading to soak in as much about the world as possible, then dinner and a bath, followed by trying to coax the real Emma out of hiding once Amelia left her alone for the night.
This was her fixed pattern from sunrise until well past when the moon would rise everyday. Other than the few servants she dealt with and the guard who was helping her improve her conditioning the young girl didn't bother leaving the house, nor did she meet with anyone. And while her understanding and physical condition were both improving immensely everyday, the lack of a break was making her heart ache for her simpler routines in the heavens, not to mention some good wine.
Sadly there was an obstacle to getting her hands on some good wine: Amelia. No one could fault the woman for her prudence in not letting the young miss potentially turn into a useless drunk just after she set her feet on a better path, but the relationship between them began to get a little strained as the younger woman refused to actually say anything to her for over a week in protest. It was enough to turn a servant's hair white with stress.
On the third week the schedule shifted slightly as her medicine had been prepared and tested. The effects actually startled the old doctor as he felt the bottleneck his own Blood Force had been finally crumble under the effects allowing him to finally reach the fourth stage of refinement despite his advanced age. With her own gates healing Emma’s training began taking up the first half of the day with her studies being restricted to after lunch. With this new regime to stabilize her healing body and slowly trigger her Blood Force she began learning the basics of using a halberd in combat as well as pushing her body closer to opening her first Blood Gate.
“Damn it little girl! It's been over a month already! You don’t have to come out, but talking would be nice!” Her irritation turned her normal nightly talk to herself into something more of an angered growl to herself.
“What little girl?” The voice was soft, but familiar.
Her eyes shot over to the corner of the moonlit room, catching sight of a familiar white clad figure standing just inside the window across the room. As she recognized the young man a ball of ice began to form in her stomach.
“What kind of rogue sneaks into a lady's room at the middle of the night?” Her expression reflected annoyance rather than the concern she was feeling in him hearing her.
Charles didn’t meet her accusatory stare, his eyes looking away from where she sat on the bed as his face reddened a little, “The kind who just found out that your gates have recovered and rushed over to help you open your first mage gate?”
Her expression softened a little as his innocent excitement caught her off guard. He knew about her having both gates and didn’t ask anything of her because of it but instead was offering to secretly help her? It was hard to not feel touched by his actions.
“Alright, I won’t hold it against you this time. Though I won’t agree with a man sneaking into my room in the future.”
“What if I don’t sneak in?” His expression seemed to improve a little as he asked the question, though his eyes still didn’t meet hers.
She mulled his question over. It didn’t seem unreasonable, but there was a strange feeling that seemed to be separate from her that said it wasn’t completely innocent. She squashed the feeling down unconsciously. What could a little brat like him do anyways?
“If it's not sneaking it's fine.”
His wide eyes met hers as his mouth hung open for a moment before it bloomed into a smile so brilliant it caused her senses to go dull.
She frowned as she spoke, a clear note of disapproval in her voice, “You keep grinning like that and I’ll revoke your visitation privileges completely.”
Charles took a moment to try and regain his composure, as his face fought a losing battle against that smile. “Sorry, sorry. I just thought you’d chase me off with a broom or something.”
Her eyes rolled at his barely contained excitement as she made a mental note to keep a better eye on the little brat in the future lest he try to take advantage of her again. “Quit being so disgusting and explain what you had in mind when you said you could help me open a gate.”
He fiddled with his hands as he spoke, “Since I have some Space Element I thought I could share it with you to help jump start opening your first gate.” He paused and looked to make sure she wasn't glaring at him again. Seeing that she wasn’t he continued with a little more excitement, “I mean normally it wouldn't be enough to just open the gate directly but since your affiliate is so high I thought it might. Plus I thought I could teach you a little once it's open?”
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Emma sat quietly for a moment as she considered the offer. “And what do you want in exchange for this?”
His face went pale before regaining that slight tint of a blush as something crossed his mind. He visibly struggled with the options available before finally speaking, “Could I know why you were trying to talk to some little girl?”
Her eyes seemed pained as they began to threaten to tear up. “Maybe in the future,” her voice said softly. “Somethings are just too big to say casually.”
His chest ached to see her so torn by his request, but he forced the feeling down as he walked over to sit next to her and gently rub her head to calm her down. “It’s alright, just tell me when you’re ready. How about we work on opening that first gate instead?”
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Amelia was not normally one to bother her mistress at night after visiting the girl’s father with her reports, but this night she found herself standing outside the door in shock. She’d only returned to relay some information from the girl’s father only to hear a conversation between Emma and a male voice that sounded like familiar.
“It’s a little lower,” the girl grumbled.
“Here?” His voice wasn’t loud, but standing next to the door Amelia could still hear him clear enough.
“Ouch! Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”
“Well it’s my first time doing this, but I’m well studied on the technique.”
“Next time say that first!”
“If I did would you allow me to do it?”
A small pause passed between the voices.
“I thought so. Now are you sure you want to leave your clothes on?”
“What woman would allow a man like you see them naked?”
The male voice got a little softer, “I hear there are a lot of them actually…”
“Pig. Just hurry up and get it over with. This is embarrassing for you to be staring at me like that.”
“Don’t worry, it’ll start feeling better here in a moment.”
Amelia’s face grew paler as she continued to listen before she managed to shake herself loose from her shock. With a slam the door slammed open to reveal a pair of people sitting on Emma’s bed, one behind the other with the other having a hand on the girl’s back.
“Oh thank the gods you’re still pure Mistress.”
Emma’s face turned a shade of red that neither of the other two had seen before, “Get your mind out of the chamberpot! Who in their right mind would give their chastity to this cad? He’s only helping me open my first gate early.”
It was the truth, mostly. Only it was her mage gate and not a blood gate as would be assumed by most. Color quickly returned to the maid’s face as she realized that she was thankfully mistaken about what was actually going on behind that door. A large sigh escaped her lips before she began to realize there was a still a problem in front of her.
“But mistress, there is still the matter of a boy sneaking into your room in the middle-”
Emma didn’t give her a chance to finish as she shot the protesting woman a cold look through narrowed eyes, “What boy? I don’t see one here.”
“The one behind-”
Emma’s voice was firmer now, “What boy? Like I’ve said, I don’t see one here.”
Charles had to lower his head as his shoulders began to tremble in silence at the way the girl used a small detail to somehow remain truthful. Of course she couldn’t see him when he was sitting behind her!
“Now, why did you come barging in here like a third-class thief in the night Amelia?”
“That is, well the matter is-” the poor woman stammered, trying to choke out her original message.
“Calm down and breathe. We’ve got all night.”
With a heavy sigh Amelia finally got her thoughts back in order, “I just met with your father and he informed me that he’s approved a duel between you and Sixth Mistress to take place in a month.”
Emma’s eyebrows shot up, “Really now? What in the world is that old fart thinking now?”
Charles started shaking again as he realized that not even the girl’s own family was safe from her venom. Truly she was the most interesting person he’d met.
“I understand. You’re dismissed.”
“But Mistress, a girl and a boy shouldn’t be alone in a room unless they’re married.”
“I fail to see a problem since I don’t see any boys here.”
Amelia slumped in defeat at the girl’s stubborn desire to shelter the boy for some reason. Seeing herself out she left for her own bed in the servant’s quarters.
With the problem of interference out of the way Emma finally turned to look at the boy behind her with a grin on her face, “Since we’ve got a lot less time now how many gates do you think you can help me open in a month?”
Charles grinned back, “Depends on how rough you’ll let me be I think.”
Remembering the feeling of him probing the gate for a weak point to leverage it open with his own space element the cockiness on the girl faded a little, “Do you think you can be rough with it...gently?”
Not able to make a sound Charles started trembling in amusement once more.