Jacqueline, Eighth Month of 949

Easier said than done.

My Lady had finally given me an order that required my specific set of skills, and what an order it was. Two days. I had two days before her forces would engineer a distraction for me. Two days to scout a foreign city, infiltrate the lord's estate, and come up with a plan of attack.

And the time crunch was not even the hard part. Demons. Our primary enemy was also present in the city, having infiltrated it much like they once had done to Drakas. And the particular fiend in this case, Eris of Envy, presented the most trouble of all; I could not perceive her. That meant she could be anywhere, and ruin everything, and there was nothing I could do about it.

My line of work was not one to take such risks lightly, but I had my orders and so would find a way.

Though methinks she has an exceptional opinion of me, perhaps unwarranted.

The girl I had watched grow up and Wound up going further than anyone might have thought possible. Yet, in many ways she was still the same girl. That undo attachment to family, her overly trusting nature, and her reluctance to rely on others over herself.

I shook my head and focused forward. Even with her flaws, she was doing better than most anyone in her position could hope. It was not my place to be critical; rather I should focus only on my mission, for that was my purpose and my oath.

Emmanuel would serve as my entry vector into Zesten. Though not as able with the technique as the curious Miss Felicity, my own shadow-walking was nothing to laugh at. Without the curse-cum-blessing of being half-demon, I was about as skilled as I had any right to hope to be.

I wonder, if I asked her, would my lady see fit to refine my- no. I shouldn't burden her, I am already capable enough, to seek more would be the height of folly.

If my lady had the leeway, then surely she would have already offered. But if she made a mistake and fell into another coma at such a critical juncture as this, it would prove catastrophic.

Emmanuel was finally moving. Like a ghost, I stole forward. Weaving through the soldiers and knights with a practiced gait that minimized my impact on their senses, my various stealth and sneak-related talents further reduced my presence. A couple of the more highly skilled knights did notice me, but even they quickly lost track. Not that it mattered; they knew me as one of my lady's maids. My presence would not be suspicious to them.

It did not take long to reach the edge of the encampment, and from there it was only a few dozen minutes to reach the outer wall. Instead of making for the main gate, Lord Emmanuel headed in the opposite direction, away from the city. It made sense and was rather predictable, but he had likely used a secret escape tunnel of some type. Given my utter lack of operational and geographical knowledge, I made careful mental notes of our progress.

Sure enough, it was a tunnel cut into the plain, the door built to blend in seamlessly with the grass and dirt around it. A rather remarkable forethought to have built such a thing when the city’s stance on invasion had been that it was impossible. Emmanuel opened the door wider than was necessary and held it awkwardly.

He’s waiting for me…? Well, talk about the sheep inviting the wolf.

Still, this could prove rather interesting, and my lady would likely enjoy reading his reaction from my report. I suppressed my various talents and skills, metaphorically stepping out of thin air in front of him.

“I thank you, Lord Emmanuel.” My statement was punctuated with a simple curtsy.

As I had predicted, he jumped in surprise, “Miss, no, Lady Jacqueline. This… Please, forgive my rudeness.”

“I have no titles; miss will suffice. Now, I suggest you make haste to wherever you need to be.”

Considering his station and appearance, he was rather awkward. Though to be fair that was at least partially my own fault for having scared him as I did. Regardless, his part in my mission was finished; I vanished once more and moved past the man into the passage proper. Behind me, I saw him make some sort of gesture with his hand drawing a circle around his heart while muttering under his breath.

“Your message is understood clearly. Just who have I signed a bargain with…?”

It would seem that he misinterpreted my mild prank as a calculated message on behalf of our lady. One that meant she could reach him at any time. Not my intention necessarily, but not an unwelcome result. My lady would be sure to find some way to extract more value from the man with this.

The escape tunnel become entrance stretched out ahead of me, with a rather sharp curve to it. That posed little risk to my infiltration, but it would make it rather difficult for an invading force to use the route; they would be liable to run straight into an ambush set by defenders. Geographically speaking, the curvature was also necessary for the tunnel to come out under the city chair’s manor.

For that was surely where it was headed toward. Not ideal, but I could work with it. Despite that building being my eventual destination, I also needed to scout the city itself. This was not a mission I wished to undertake without knowing fully any possible escape routes. Though I would die for Lady Stahlia if needs must, such an event would greatly weigh on her and so was best avoided. I also needed a secure place to sleep.

After several tens of minutes I made it out. The tunnel opened up into a library through a rather cliche fireplace entrance. The room, while elegant, had nothing on the Drakan palace. Though considering the difference in scale between a single city-state and a kingdom spanning a third of the continent, perhaps this room was the more impressive. That is to say, it was far grander than I had expected it to be.

Admiring the scenery wasn’t the purpose of my visit, though, and I should merely count myself lucky that there was nobody cleaning or guarding this room. I gave the room a quick once over, and spotted nothing relevant to my mission other than a few candlesticks that would make for halfway decent blunt weapons. That said, I had my daggers, shortsword, knives, and a healthy quantity of Grave Oil. There was no need for me to murder a man in the library with a candlestick.

I stole out, and into the manor proper. Despite the different cultures, it was very similar to a Drakan high noble’s estate. The only major differences were the clothing of the various staff I passed and the direction of the decor being far more varied. While Drakans prided themselves on certain attributes and displayed wealth and power through their lens, Zesten was first and foremost a trade city. Instead of one uniform style, the decor of the chair’s home was an eclectic representation of this fact, with pieces in a dozen different styles from all across this continent. Likely, beyond it as well.

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Fortunately, nobody seemed to be quite at the level of the knights in my lady’s company, and I was able to escape the manor entirely undetected. Unless Eris herself had seen me, but there was no point in worrying over what I had absolutely no way of controlling. If she had seen me, I would be at her mercy; there wasn’t really a way to combat her abilities with what powers I had available to me.

Perhaps, if nothing else, I should have asked my lady if she has a way to grant me the power to remember someone with Eris’ ability set. That much might have been worth the extra pressure.

Not that I had any intention of falling back for this; I did not have the leeway. Already, I could feel myself starting to slip up.

I need to find a safe place, now.

Ever since my parasite had been removed, things had been quite different. Aside from long-suppressed memories suddenly returning, I was physically weaker. With the worm, I had only needed to sleep four hours in every forty-eight. Now, I needed about as much rest as a normal person of my age, sex, and physical fitness. Perhaps slightly less. And it was taking its toll.

Pushing myself could only get me so far, but to properly perform my duties, I needed to stay awake as long as possible. It was beyond me how the others serving our lady could do all of their work while sleeping six to eight hours every day. They were far more efficient than I to be sure. This was why I had requested to be relieved of my maid duties even though that was a failure on my part; there was no way I would be able to keep up with my work as her majesty’s shadow while also serving as her head maid. It was too much, and I had to admit defeat lest I fail completely.

After getting out of the estate, I loitered until just before sunset when the staff change occurred. I picked one of the maids, singled out earlier, and followed her. I had picked this one because she gave off an aura of distance; she did not talk to the other staff apart from when directly addressed. Maids gossiped a lot. It was a tool that I had used many times in my life and that was why I could tell that this one could be exploited. She was a loner.

While waiting, I had soiled my own clothes with dirt and grime, while intentionally ripping and cutting at it. My appearance was already haggard from built up exhaustion, but I further rubbed dirt into my face and around my eyes. The end goal was to look as pitiable as possible. Then, it was only a manner of getting ahead of the woman on her route home, and sticking my arm out of an alley while lying in a puddle.

As she passed, I called out feebly, “Miss, please…”

My target stopped, and peered into the deepening shadows of the alley. When she caught site of my hand, her eyes widened, and she took half a step toward me before faltering.

I was right, you are compassionate despite being so distant. That’s why you don’t like the gossip and cliquish inter-staff politics; the narcissistic nihilism doesn’t sit right. Well, I’m not going to hurt you, so you don’t have anything to worry about.

“Please, I can’t move… I don’t know, I don’t know when he’ll come back…”

The woman snapped out of her haze and stepped into the alley boldly; having been presented with the chance to help someone clearly in need, her reaction was a forgone conclusion.

“Quickly then, here, my shoulder.” She helped me stand, and I leaned half my weight onto her offered limb. Only half an act, “Come on, you can spend the night with my mother and brothers.”

“...Thank you…” It was unwise to say too much just yet, as the wrong word could disrupt the image I was attempting to project.

Still, there was one piece of information that was both important, and would also help further my goals, “What, what’s your name…?”

“Dollany. Shush now; save your strength.”

Dollany escorted me through several side streets and back alleys before we arrived at a larger building. A tenant house, with several families all living together. Of course, we attracted attention, but nobody made any attempts to stop us or said anything. This was because I was being accompanied by a local, and was one of the two major reasons I had gone with this approach. The other was because I would be able to interrogate Dollany to learn about the estate through innocuous questions.

“Dolly! By the gods, what is this!?” An elderly woman exclaimed loudly from the doorway after Dollany had presented us. From behind her, a young boy of about twelve peered out. He was extremely pale and frail looking for his age, and I mentally congratulated myself over how fortunate I had been with my selection.

I can play into that; invent a deceased sibling of my own, and ellicit more sympathy. Actually, I can appropriate parts of my lady’s life story.

Particularly the parts about Lady Rosial being stolen away. It was best to base lies on truth, after all. Even if the party lied to had no way of investigating, it was easier for the liar to remain consistent.

“Mom, let us in; I found her on my way back from the manor. I think she was assaulted.”

Her mom gave a sharp nod, “Well, get inside. I’ll add more broth to the soup. Emmet, go make a nest in the storeroom.” The boy nodded and darted off. Despite his appearance, he still had a decent amount of energy, “Now, while the boy’s gone, let’s get you out of those clothes and into something warm.”

“Mom” moved to untie the back of my dress, but I twisted slightly and blocked her; under my newly minted rags, I still had all of my weapons and my Shadow Suit. That was why I had planted the idea that I had been assaulted; it would make it more easily accepted when I refused to be disrobed. “Mom” shared a look with Dollany, and both of them turned grim. That said, the attempts to undress me ceased.

“I’ll get a sponge bath ready; you should at least clean your face before eating.” “Mom” said, and busied herself.

Dollany put her hand on my back and rubbed it in what was intended to be a reassuring manner, but was mostly just a bit awkward; lack of personal interaction would do that. Still, I made a point of leaning into it slightly, the idea being to make her think it was comforting to me.

Just like that, my infiltration was successful, though exhausting. The “nest” Emmet had prepared for me seemed to be constructed out of sacks filled with straw, though a sneaky glance into the home’s single shared bedroom revealed that this was identical to the bedding used by the family. My minor complaints aside, it was comfortable enough for my exhausted body to fall asleep. That night, I had the same dream as I always did.

“Jacqueline, wake up!” A woman older than me called out, and a hand shook my shoulder, “Stali has been up for a while, and is helping mother with breakfast. What kind of older sister are you?”

My eyes drifted open lazily in the warm morning light, “Well, I’m sure she has it well in hand.”

The face of our older sister peered down at me, framed by the light, “So? You’re her older sister, you shouldn’t be sleeping longer than her; it’s you’re job to be the one she leans on you know.”

I moved to the kitchen, where Stahlia was making flat cake with our mother. Seeing them, I froze; our mother had a terrifying appearance. Her whole outline was distorted and hazy, as though made of mist. Her face was formless and blank, with only two black orbs floating where her eyes should be and a thin slit-like mouth spread in a grin.

In a panic, I reached out to grab Stahlia, to get her away from the monster, but I couldn’t reach her. My hand passed through empty space, grasping vainly at the receding visage. I whirled around, intent on calling to our older sister for help.

“-!” Only to realize that I couldn’t recall her name. I knew she was our sister, but I couldn’t remember what to call her…

Then, everything was gone, and I was stuck in a black void of nothing, alone with my own senses, and nothing but a mind of swirling confused thoughts to keep me company.

My eyes snapped open to see a dark unfamiliar ceiling. I sat up, and felt my back creak from the unfamiliar bedding. A few scraps of straw clinging to the sweat that lay thick on my back and neck, quickly drying in the cool morning air.

Every time.

That was the worst part about having to sleep so often now; that dream. Or more accurately, that nightmare. It always came without fail. Though in this particular instance, it would help my cover story. That didn’t make it any more welcome.