With Aaron vanishing, there was nothing left for me to do save awkwardly leaving the room.

What the hell? He even said he had nothing going on today! Damn gods, the fact that I’m going to have to be dealing with him in the future as well… Ugh.

A quick inspection of the room revealed nothing amiss; everything was exactly where it should be with the sole exception of Aaron. With a sigh, I turned and headed for the door then went down the stairs. Back in the lobby, the receptionist was still standing in the same place, “Excuse me, did Aaron come through here a moment ago?”

She started at my voice since it was coming from behind her, “Ah! No, he did not… Is he not in the meeting room still?”

No, that’s why I’m asking if you saw him…

“I see, you must have missed him, my apologies, and take care.” The fact that she had not seen him was not surprising in the least, and I had only really asked so as to cover all of my bases. Without giving her a chance to reply, I made my way out of the building and back towards the carriage.

The conversation had felt rather short but in reality, a little over an hour had passed. I caught a brief look of relief on Sasha’s face when one of the knights opened the door for me, though she quickly hid it.

When she greeted me, her tone was calm and collected to the point where I began to doubt I had seen anything at all, “Welcome back, my lady.”

Briefly tilting my head in acknowledgment that her greeting had been heard, I addressed one of the knights, “Have the driver make haste back to the palace. Sasha.”

“Yes?”

“Please contact Ferdinand again, and inform him that upon my return I wish to speak to both him and Rupert. The sooner the better, as I cannot proceed without approval.”

“And what of Lucy?”

Her question caught me off guard, as I had thought that issue was handled, “What of her?”

“Does this new meeting take precedence over Ferdinand’s investigation?”

Ahh… I had already given him that task, and we weren’t going to discuss the details of this meeting until the report later. Do I really need to bring it up now…? No, just a quick summary will probably suffice. If I start calling meetings over every little thing, I’ll quickly make a nuisance of myself.

“…No, it does not. Thank you for reminding me.”

Sasha bowed her head as I began to consider my next moves. First and foremost, Sven was leaving tomorrow and I had summoned him to see me this afternoon regarding his role in the new spy network. That was to occur shortly after we returned to the palace, so we had to make haste. Even if he would wait for me, by choice or otherwise, I was loath to make him do so.

Fortunately, that would not be the case as we were able to arrive back at the palace on time and with no issues. In fact, the timing of our arrival was more or less perfect; it gave me exactly half an hour to change and for Sasha to prep things.

“Please, do not delay; we have little time unless you wish to keep that man waiting.”

Or not. I suppose getting me dressed and then prepping for a guest, even if he is a commoner, is a bit much.

“...No, you deal with preparing the room. I will have Frieda and Elienor dress me.”

“My lady, I must insist-”

“I will have Frieda and Elienor dress me; Elienor already knows and it was my intention to tell Frieda at some point. Or, do you mean to question me?”

“...May I speak freely?”

“You may not.” I fixed Sasha with as stern a look as I could manage, though speaking to her like this was actually surprisingly hard. She was several years, decades even, my senior and had been nothing but helpful even if a bit annoying.

On this subject though, I would tolerate no dissent. Sure, telling Lucy hadn’t exactly worked out the way I’d wanted it to, but that did not change my plans regarding informing Frieda and properly explaining things to Elienor. The whole point of having the three of them come onboard had been to get Sasha some relief in her own duties.

The secondary point. The main reason was to protect them from any further suffering from my actions.

When told so bluntly, all Sasha could do was curtsy and depart to prepare the meeting room. She didn’t look angry or upset and I knew she wouldn’t do anything rash over this, but it was yet another reminder of how things had changed.

She’s been trying to guide me to be more assertive and decisive in my actions. So, for better or worse, that’s what I’m doing.

I gave Sasha’s retreating back one last unnoticed pained look before taking a moment to put it out of my mind. Once composed, I picked up a small bell and rang it. Yet another new thing for me; my previous suite, at the Francois’ estate, had been small enough and the staff skilled enough to render such a tool unnecessary. Now, that was not the case.

A moment later, Frieda arrived with Elienor trailing behind her. I could not be certain, but the latter seemed rather nervous about something.

Frieda spoke first, her voice level and emotionless in a manner that I immediately knew was forced, “My lady, may I ask where Lucy is? She did not return with you and Miss Sasha.”

Is that what’s got Elienor so nervous? No, she didn’t react at all when Frieda mentioned Lucy, and she won’t make eye contact with me.

“You may. There is… was, an issue; Lucy turned out to have lingering ties… Lucy’s precise loyalties came into question. I have placed her under house arrest; you may go to visit later if you would like.” It would be difficult to arrange that; Ferdinand would certainly protest the obvious security risk. But as long as they were supervised, allowing contact was the best way to ensure they trusted she was safe.

That answer got a flinch out of Elienor, twice in fact. Once when she heard Lucy was under house arrest, and once again when I said that she could go visit if she wanted to. Frieda remained rather impassive throughout it all, her stoicism was actually rather impressive at this point.

It would have been nice to reassure Elienor, but there was not any time at the moment. With a sigh, I cut right to the chase, “Frieda, Elienor has already seen this… in fact, she can see it right now. Likewise, this is what revealed Lucy’s inadvertent duplicity.” With that said, I cut the mana flow to my ring.

Best to just get over the surprise as quickly as possible, then answer their questions after the meeting with Sven. If we can’t get over it quickly, he’ll just have to wait a bit.

However, at Frieda’s words, it was I who was the most surprised, “The fact that you are around sixteen? Perhaps fifteen at the youngest.”

After my initial shock at Frieda’s words wore off, I looked at Elienor. She was now attempting to count the number of flowers embroidered on my couch if the intensity of her stare was anything to go by. My own must have been rather intense, as Frieda moved to block Elienor from my line of sight.

I closed my eyes and exhaled again, “...I have a rather important meeting to attend shortly, and since the individual is a commoner, my attire need not be perfect. You may ask questions as you work.”

It was a gamble, but one that paid off; for all her lack of emotional response, Frieda was not unintelligent, “Elienor, this will be a good opportunity for you to get a bit of practice.”

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Coaxed by the older woman, Elienor shuffled over and began working at the many ribbons holding my ensemble together. For the first few minutes, she did not say much and didn’t make any progress either. I held still and, eventually, she managed to get one of the hidden fastenings undone. From there, she began to make slow but steady progress.

Not fast enough though, at this rate, I’ll be late… I don’t want to rush her though, sorry Sven.

Saying that, Frieda stepped in and began helping Elienor so the pace picked up substantially. When it became apparent that neither of them was going to actually ask any questions, I posed one of my own, “Frieda, how long did you know? Or are you simply that good at masking your feelings?”

“Since the first day.”

…How!?

Her answer caused me to start briefly, which caused Elienor’s hand to jerk backwards as she exclaimed an earnest apology, “Sorry!”

“You are fine Elienor, Frieda merely startled me is all.”

Perhaps sensing the bitterness in my voice that I wasn’t quite able to mask, Frieda decided to briefly explain herself a bit further, “My lady, since you have chosen to trust me, it is only fair that I do the same, though I doubt you will believe me; I can see mana.”

Then, as though that explained everything perfectly, she fell silent again. Fortunately for her, I was probably one of the only people in the world for whom that did actually explain… anything, “So you could see the illusion’s mana wraping around me. At that point, you knew I was hiding something. Then, Elienor said something that made you realize I had gotten a lot older. That would have caused this particular illusion to lose its effectiveness on you.”

For the first time, she paused ever so briefly. It wasn’t much, but it was a reaction. Her facade had briefly faltered. I smiled at her, “In Ang, I met an old crone who claimed she could see lights in everyone. I later developed a similar ability through Blood Magic…”

I wanted to ask if all of Five’s staff were unique or special in some way. It certainly seemed that way between Lucy, the outcast albino elf, and Frieda’s fairly unique ability. With Elienor in the room, there was no way I would ask. Not now, not so soon.

Actually, this helps explain what occurred with Lucy in the forest, if I assume that he was something of a collector of rare… people. Hell, his son was reincarnated, as was I. Even if I know there was another motive behind our engagement, it fits the profile.

There was still the current issue to address though. I stepped out of the dress that had finally been fully unfastened, “Elienor, I am not mad nor am I particularly upset; you did me a favor actually.”

She perked up just a little bit at that so I continued, “I had been trying to decide the best time to tell Lucy and Frieda… though it did not work out with Lucy. Since Frieda already knows, it saved me the trouble of having to fully explain. Though… Please don’t tell anyone else, alright? I can’t afford to have this become so widely known.”

Once she noticed that I really, truly, was not angry sunk in, she smiled faintly and nodded, “...alright…”

Where did the bundle of tomboyish energy go… God damnit!

The two of them began the process of securing the new dress while I debated on what to say.

I want to bring her back if I can if that’s even possible… Maybe having her call me by my old name would work? Not Stahlia, but Stali. Well, it’s worth a shot, and I’ve already decided to do what I want, may as well keep the streak going.

“Elienor…”

At the sound of my voice directly calling out her name she flinched but I ignored that and persevered, “Elienor, how was Felicity..?”

It wasn’t what I had originally been intending to say, but something that popped into my head the moment I opened my mouth. There was a short delay before she answered, but when she did so she had a brief faint smile, “It was nice. She wouldn’t let me brush her tails though… I’d have liked to do that.”

When she finished speaking, the smile fell off her face. It was enough though, enough to give me reassurance that the original Elienor was still in there somewhere. Dragging it out would probably be a massive pain, but worth it.

Alright, then for now let’s go with my original plan.

The two of them were just about finished with my dress when there came a knock at the door. Frieda stepped away to check, and when she came back she informed me that Sasha was holding Sven until I was ready.

“Thank you, Frieda. We are almost done here so please let her know that I will be in the meeting room shortly.”

Once she had left, I turned to Elienor.

Now or never. Well, I could do it later, but there's no sense in putting it off.

“Elienor… can you do something to help me?”

It would be best if I frame it as being for my sake, even if that is a bit manipulative.

True to my intention, she did perk up a bit at the phrase “help me.”

“...Yes, I can…” Then in a hurry, like she was afraid of being scolded, she added on, “...m’lady”

…Ignoring that.

“That’s the thing, Elienor… everyone has started being so polite… I hate it. Even Edith is being careful around me now…” That last part was only half true; Edith was being far less careful than she had originally been right when I woke up, but I’d be lying if I thought she wasn’t being more guarded than before my most recent coma.

“Could you… When it’s just the two of us, call me what you want to call me instead of what status says you should?”

Elienor looked startled, and truth be told so was I; my voice had been tinged with a bit of genuine pleading at the end. Partly to cover for that, I quickly added on, “I don’t think it would be a good idea to talk like you used to… it would be too easy to mess up; we can’t let Sasha find out.”

As expected, the idea that this was going behind Sasha back seemed to tickle Elienor’s old rebellious nature just enough for it to peek its head out, “...What I want to call you?”

A sense of relief washed over me, that even this small amount of progress had been made, “Yes, what you want.”

A knock sounded again at the door as Frieda returned, “Elienor was able to finish on her own; that is good. My lady, could you please let me check once?”

At Frieda’s prompting, I did a small spin so she could review Elienor’s handiwork, “Everything seems to be in order.”

I’m glad that Frieda at least doesn’t seem to have any potential loyalty issues as Lucy did.

“Very well, thank you both for your assistance.” Though it wasn’t particularly proper, I was presently in the business of winning trust so I gave the two of them a half curtsy, “When this meeting is over, I will see if Lucy is ready to receive visitors, at the worst I believe you will have to wait until tomorrow.”

Frieda bowed her head slightly to acknowledge what I had said, then raised an eyebrow at Elienor who had set her jaw in a look of determination.

Well, this is-

“You said I could call you what I wanted to, so I will! Good luck, big sis!”

Frieda showed her third reaction by visibly widening her eyes. Apparently, a bit of the rebelliousness had come back; I was fairly certain that the stipulation had been “when it’s just the two of us.”

…Though I doubt Frieda would say anything… Just to be sure though,

Looking over at the older maid, I shook my head, “Not a word.” She said nothing and nodded a quick affirmative, her face becoming unreadable once more.

As I left the room Elienor collapsed back into herself, reverting to melancholy. Although now there was a very faint smile, and her general demeanor was a bit more energetic.

…Pretty sure I just gained a third little sister. Oh well, I was hoping for “Stali” but this is good… in its own way.

After conquering that hurdle and with my newfound sense of decisiveness, the meeting with Sven was trivial. So trivial, and utterly boring. He agreed to join me in the proposed business venture on the condition that Ris village be left out of it; as I had already been intending that, it was easy to agree to. Surprisingly, Sasha did not say anything or even react when he placed a condition on the deal. She simply watched me, and when I promptly made the decision to acquiesce, she smiled.

Following the meeting I returned to my dressing room with Sasha in tow. At the sound of the door Elienor looked up from whatever it was she had been doing but, seeing Sasha behind me, didn’t say anything. She did smile faintly though, which was a good sign.

The meeting with Sven had been dull enough that it gave me time to mull over everything that had just happened with the two of them, Elienr and Frieda. The number one question was what I had done to warrant receiving the sister label this time.

Felicity was one thing, we bonded over a rather lengthy period of time. Rosin and Rosial are both my actual siblings, so them calling me that is understandable. With Elienor though… Well, I basically destroyed her family.

The only thing I had been able to think of, was that Elienor had regarded me as a Sister-in-Law the whole time much the same way as Lady Francois had taken to making me call her “mother.” If that was the case, then even if I was responsible for destroying her family, I was also the only family she had left… It had been a sobering realization, but one that I would try my best to accept.

“Elienor, once we finish with Lucy, we should properly introduce you to Rosial and Felicity… I don’t think telling my parents they’ve adopted another little girl is a good idea at the moment though, so that will have to wait.”

Elienor spun around in her seat to stare in shock, while Frieda paused and looked over with a self-satisfied smirk. I could also feel Sasha’s eyes boring a hole in the back of my head, but the atmosphere didn’t feel angry, just… surprised. Evidently, she was not entirely against the idea.

Splendidly ignoring all of their reactions, I pushed through with my own agenda, “How does that sound?”

Elienor smiled fully.