Seraphina takes a seat beside her, hands folded primly in her lap. Compared to how animated she was moments earlier, she’s more subdued now, gaze fixed on her hands.

“My lady,” she begins hesitantly. “I- Please forgive me for my behaviour earlier. It was… unsightly of me.”

Aster shakes her head good-naturedly. “I didn’t think you were unsightly at all, Fina.”

“But…“

Aster mulls over her next words, wondering if she has the right to voice them aloud.

“You don’t seem to like him much,” she says finally, testing the waters. “Gerard.”

“Well… not exactly.” Seraphina sighs. “It’s… difficult to explain, my lady.”

Aster would be lying if she said that she wasn’t curious. But does she even have the right to ask further, much less pry? Even if she and Seraphina have managed to get closer throughout Aster’s stay in the palace thus far, is it to the point where they’re now able to trade personal stories? Is Seraphina comfortable enough to speak about her own matters, rather than those of the palace and its people to Aster? And for Seraphina to be honest, wouldn’t that require Aster to divulge more of herself as well?

Aster’s head is beginning to hurt, and not just because of her concussion. How on earth did one go about deepening friendships? Building rapport? The only person she’s done any of that with had been Damien, and it took them years to get to where they are now.

Maybe expecting familiarity from Seraphina so soon was asking for too much.

Aster decides to backtrack. “I’m sorry if I’ve overstepped,” she says. “You don’t have to tell me, if it makes you uncomfortable.”

“No, my lady, of course not. You haven’t overstepped, I just…” Seraphina falters for a moment. “It’s just, I would hate it- if you knowing why would affect the way you perceived me.”

It’s the last thing Aster expects.

She’s worried about that? About what Aster thinks of her?

Unsure, but still deciding to chance it, Aster rests a hand carefully over Seraphina’s folded ones. “For what it’s worth,” says Aster. “I don’t think I could ever think ill of you, Fina. Not after all you’ve done to help me. And if I’m being honest,” she says, a small smile spreading over her face. “I liked seeing you out of sorts for once. It felt like I saw a different side to you. Like I knew you slightly better than I did before.”

Seraphina looks surprised, but not put off. It makes Aster feel brave enough to rest her remaining hand over the other, hoping that menial extra weight will be able to relay all that she cannot. “I’d like to know you better, Fina,” she continues. “Not as the lady that you’re serving, but as a friend. If that’s okay with you, of course,” she tacks on hurriedly.

Seraphina’s gaze drifts from their piled up hands to Aster’s face. “I… of course, my lady,” she says, almost dazedly. “It would be an honour.”

Aster beams, joy surging within her like a bubbling tide. “Thank you.” She leans back, hands clasping together in her lap as her giddiness continues to course its way through her body. “So… it seems like I owe you an explanation about something. About what exactly, I’m not too sure, since Damien wasn’t able to explain the situation as a whole to me. But- yes, what can I tell you?”

“Oh, well, you see my lady…” Seraphina begins to launch into an explanation of the events that unfolded before Aster had woken up. About how she’d been looking all over for Aster after hearing word from a page, detailing that she’d never shown up for tea with the queen. How she’d found Aster unconscious in Damien’s arms, Gerard and him looking highly suspicious as they snuck around in the gardens like a pair of bandits. How Damien had used his magic on her when she tried to call for the guards, before immediately rushing them all to the magic tower. How she eventually calmed down enough to listen to Damien’s explanation on how things ended up this way, and how they truly didn’t mean any harm to Aster. How he’d then cooked up a reason for Aster’s absence at tea with the queen, before sending Seraphina off to deliver the message to Her Majesty herself.

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“What excuse did he come up with?” Aster asks curiously.

“He said to tell Her Majesty that he found you unconscious in the gardens, and to remind her of your weak constitution.”

Ah, yes. Why hadn’t she thought of that first?

Aster’s weak constitution. The little white lie she made her father spread around when she was younger, just so she could get out of attending social gatherings. The very same excuse that made it that much easier for him to keep her confined within the estate after her mother had passed, chalking up her absence in public to grief and illness.

“You’re not actually sickly, are you, my lady?”

Aster shakes her head ruefully. “Never have been. Matter of fact, Damien says that I’m too healthy sometimes.” A huff of a laugh escapes her.

“I think I might have to agree with him.”

“But being too healthy isn’t a bad thing, no?” Aster raises her eyebrows at Seraphina, who humours her with a small smile.

“That’s another thing I’d like to ask you, my lady,” says Seraphina. “What exactly is your relationship with Sir Damien?”

“Well…” Aster leans back on her hands. “To put it simply, we’re childhood friends. The story of how that came to be is rather long-winded, but the gist of it is: One day, when both of us were much younger, Damien showed up at the Vastein Estate, injured and with no place to go. My family decided to take him in, and the rest is history.”

“Did you know that he was a witch all along?”

Aster nods. “Some of the people in the estate knew too, but we kept it under wraps for the most part. Y’know, for obvious reasons.”

“Certainly.” Seraphina looks deep in thought. “No wonder so much of his background remained a mystery,” she mutters. “I thought he was just playing it for sake of mystique, but it makes sense for him to keep it a secret for your sake as well as House Vastein’s…” Her gaze flits back towards Aster’s. “So he wasn’t lying to me after all, my lady? When he said that the two of you are friends?”

Aster smiles. “He’s not just my friend. He’s my best friend.”

Seraphina seems to take a moment to digest this information. “I see.” Aster thinks she sees her shoulders lower just the tiniest bit. “I see,” says Seraphina again. “No wonder he seemed so… agitated.”

“Damien? When?”

“When I first found him and Gerard. He was the one who was carrying you while you had fainted, my lady. Even then, he seemed different from usual.”

“Different? How so?”

“Well, he just seemed much more… overbearing? Rude? It felt like he was a different person compared to all the stories I’ve heard about him thus far.” Seraphina frowns. “I certainly didn’t expect him to use his magic on me like that,” she mutters darkly.

Ah. He must’ve been pretty desperate then. Damien never uses his magic on people, if he can help it.

“You said he seemed different?” Asks Aster. “What do you think he’s usually like then, Fina?”

Seraphina crosses her arms, gaze skittering away. “Well, he often comes off as rather…”

“Rather?”

“… frivolous.”

Aster stifles a snort, urging Seraphina to continue.

“I don’t have anything against him, but it’s just-” When Seraphina sighs, it sounds long-suffering. “When all the maids ever do is gush over him, it does get boresome after a while.”

“So you’re not a fan?” Aster’s more amused than anything else.

“I simply do not understand the fervour over the man, is all.”

Aster’s laughter bubbles out of her properly this time. “He’s not too bad,” she assures with a grin. “There’s a reason why he’s so… schmoozy sometimes with people, but please don’t fault Damien for it. He’s just doing his best to get along with others.”

As much as Aster likes to poke fun at him whenever she catches him in the act of ‘charming’ someone, she understands why he does it. It isn’t easy, being a witch. To have someone shape their entire judgement of you, only from a single facet of your being.

Aster gets it. She really does.

So in all honesty, she’s a little envious of the ease in which Damien floats through social graces now, effortlessly pulling out smiles and honeyed pleasantries that have people falling like dominos. It’s corny, but it works, and she wishes she could fake it as easily as he can.

“You speak of him rather fondly.”

“Do I?” Aster feels self-conscious all of a sudden. “Well… it’s just, we’ve been together through so much, y’know? Honestly, I don’t know what I’d do without him.”

Even if it’s true, it’s a little cheesy even to Aster’s ears, and she has to resist the urge to cringe at herself.

Thankfully, Seraphina doesn’t seem to be put off by Aster’s mushy sentimentality. But she does seem to be contemplating something.

“Well, I suppose I have no choice but to believe Sir Damien when he said that he’d never do anything to hurt you,” says Seraphina begrudgingly. “But that still doesn’t explain how Gerard ended up knocking you unconscious. An accident, he says? His tongue is more forked than a serpent’s.”