I only vaguely remember climbing out of the carriage and into my mansion last night, my mind was just too groggy. Agnes insisted that I had woken up on the ride back to the house but I couldn't remember a thing.
I was so grateful when they woke me up this morning with breakfast in bed. Augustus's scrumptious eggs Benedict accompanied by his magical mini pancakes with heart fruit, syrup and fresh cream. I ate every single bit of it and even licked the plate when Agnes had turned around to organize my outfit for the day. Which made Mellie giggle happily.
The great breakfast went down well with a cup of mint tea.
"Milady, please tell me everything about the soirée!" Mellie suddenly burst out, in a way that told me she had been eager to ask me all morning.
"Well, a lot happened..." I said thinking back to Lavinia being taken from the main tent by the two guards.
"Mellie you mustn't bother our Lady right now, she is still weak and could possibly faint at any moment if you keep on pestering her." Reprimanded Agnes. Mellie pouted and lowered her head sadly.
Poor Mellie. I would have told her, it was just that I was still feeling pretty tired and a bit out of it, so I wasn't really in the mood to recount the last few days.
"I'll tell you everything that happened while our lady is still recovering!" Said Agnes in an unexpectedly cheery way. So she began to tell the story from the beginning, from the first night where I had sung and played the uldreyin, all the way to the last night where I had fainted after Lavinia had been forcibly taken away by the guards. By the end of it, Mellie was practically salivating from the excitement.
"Also the prince caught Lady Riley just as she fainted and held her and cared for her ever so gently while he waited for her carriage to arrive." My eyes widened at Agnes's words.
"P-prince Geoffrey caught me..." my voice came out all hoarse and I stuttered slightly. Did Prince Geoffrey actually lift me up and carry me...?
"Indeed!" She replied enthusiastically. "I hope I am not overstepping my bounds Milady, but may I add that you two looked quite fitting together..." Agnes said trying to hold back her smile as she gently sorted through my dresses. I didn't know what to say to that. I only blushed.
"Milady, are you planning on going anywhere today?" Asked Edna quietly from Agnes's side.
"Yes, I want to go to the cafe today." I confirmed, I was really keen to see how Sophie's cafe was doing. Right on cue my adorable cat Sophie pranced into the room and pounced onto my bed then assaulted me with nuzzles and purring.
"Yes, I missed you too!" I chided as I stroked her soft body gently.
"Milady, she has been whining ever since you left, thank goodness you are back." Said Mellie sweetly as she came forward to tickle Sophie under her chin. "Or else I'm afraid that she would have ventured into the forest to find you herself." Sophie seemed oblivious to the fact that we were talking about her and only basked in the attention I was giving her and rolled onto her back, signally for me to scratch her belly.
"Milady, you need to try on these new dresses that I ordered for you before you head out to the café." Said Agnes as she started piling some dresses onto the side of the armchair. "Ever since we came back from the Von Esterheim party, I realized that a Lady of your calibre should be dressing in fancier more detailed clothing. Also, I'm sorry to say this but corsets and big skirts are the latest trends, so you must adhere to them."
I groaned at Agnes's words, hating the idea of wearing corsets every day.
"Don't be upset Milady, we won't tighten the corsets very tight!" Chimed in Mellie cheerfully.
"Milady, during the colder seasons you might be happy to wear corsets as their thick layering will keep you warm." Said Edna, who was always so practical and level-headed. I nodded at her, I guess corsets wouldn't be so bad when we got to the Freezing season.
The first dress I tried on, was quite light and airy, it felt like I wasn't wearing anything over the corset.
The next one was also very plain but it had beautiful round pearls embroidered into the fabric so I quite liked it.
The next one Was a bit fancier and featured some lovely ivory threading and embroidery. However, this dress had quite a severe corset that went with it that sinched my waist brutally.
The next one I liked quite a lot, I especially like the detailing of the sleeve and the layers of material over the bust.
Then there was this extraordinary blue dress with short ruffles on the skirt that I liked quite a lot.
Then lastly There was this really extravagant satin gown with huge puffy sleeves. I actually kind of liked it but I had no idea where I would wear it.
"Milady looks especially beautiful in the fourth and fifth dresses." Commented Agnes after I had finished modelling all the dresses.
I agreed with her. She then helped me into the dress I would be wearing today. Something light and flowy - easy to walk around town in - but it still had enough elegance and bedazzle to let everyone know that I was a noble.
Agnes also told me that since I was a third rank noble, who had gained quite a bit of recognition and popularity in Gismead because of the healing potion I created and because I won the Mage tournament, I should always be accompanied by a maid or another Lady in waiting. I didn't protest when she told me, but I wasn't really happy with the idea of being escorted everywhere. It's not that I minded having Agnes, Mellie or Edna accompanying me everywhere, it was that I was used to being an independent college student and having the freedom to go anywhere I wanted by myself. But now that I was a noble I would have to be accompanied anytime that I left the house. I wondered if I would be able to cope with it. But then again, it would be nice going around with Edna, Agnes or Mellie because they were really close to me, almost like caring protective aunts, even though Edna was my age, and Mellie acted more like a younger cousin even though she was the same age as Edna. Anyway, I would go with it and see how it felt. If I didn't like it, I would just resort to sneaking out of the house like a naughty teenager.
As we left the mansion I grabbed my phone out of my drawer and put some money in my purse, just in case I wanted to buy something. Soon I was seated in the carriage with Edna sitting next to me, holding Sophie in her lap while Auberon drove the carriage from the front.
It felt good to hold my phone in my hands again after three days, it seemed that the millennial addiction hadn't left me even after being reincarnated into another world...
Suddenly an idea popped into my head. I unlocked my phone and tapped the Google Maps icon. I wondered if the google maps were still set to earth or if it was now set to Arteria. I typed in Sophie's cafe and was ecstatic when a map showing the route from where I was to the cafe loaded onto the screen.
The success with the google maps lead me to my next thought. I wondered if I could google the definition of certain words from this world. I decided I would give it a try, so I opened my messages and found the text messages from God's office and found the message where they listed all my magical skills.
I stopped scrolling when I found the message that read:
~skills~
Animal charmer
Appraiser
Creator
Musician
Language master
Mapping
I then opened up my dictionary app and then typed in 'animal charmer'. Soon a result popped up.
'Animal Charmer' is a magical skill that allows the user to be trusted by animals. the more the skill is used the stronger the skill gets. At the highest level of this skill, the user will be able to completely understand and talk to animals.
It worked! I couldn't believe it. The Gods had really done a good job of making my phone Arteria-friendly. I decided to type in all the skills I hadn't used before (all of the skills besides appraiser, mapping and musician) and then screenshotted the definitions, in case I forgot them later.
'Creator' is a magical skill that allows its user to be able to easily create and make magical artefacts. This skill is also particularly useful for blacksmiths and architects.
'Language Master' is the magical ability to understand and speak any language in Arteria.
I was definitely a very gifted individual, thanks to the generosity of the gods of Magic in Arteria, thus I would make sure so use my abilities in order to help people. Even though I had initially thought of going back home and resting after I had visited the cafe, I realised that I really couldn't afford to be lazy when the people of Girannon were suffering. So, I opened the google app on my phone and search for a property that was for sale in the area, I was determined to make a woman's shelter today. It would require quite a large property, big enough for at least twenty women and possible their children, and I would have to hire some staff to oversee it, as well as buy some furniture and then go about finding women who were in need of assistance who I could place in the home. Also, the property would have to be quite close to the café since I thought that the women in the shelter would be in need of some work, thus I could employ them at the cafe, so they could earn some money.
I was distracted from my thoughts when Edna softy said, "Milady, we have arrived."
I turned to the side to see my beautiful cafe. The two-storey building looked so well kept and beautiful especially with the warm midday light shining on it. The garden next to it was flourishing as well. Beautiful white, yellow and pink flowers blossomed in bushels. I also spotted a few little rabbits all huddled around some vegetables that were lying on the grass, nibbling hungrily on the lush green veg.
Auberon helped me out of the carriage and I practically skipped up the steps to the front door. When I opened the door I was so happy to see that there were at least ten customers inside, either seated at tables and eating desserts or standing by the counter ordering desserts. I could tell by the way that they were dressed that they were all wealthy commoners. The ladies wore brightly coloured and expensive dresses and the gentlemen wore fashionable tunics.
There I saw Briony handing one of the customers some change and I saw Matilda serving two young women who were seated at a table. I could tell that they were cheery and happy to be working, however, they looked tired, I guessed that it had been a pretty busy few days for them while I had been away. I could see that there were barely managing to take care of the customers in the shop, which means I would have to hire some more workers.
I doubted that any of the customers would recognise me, but just in case I went around the back and entered through the back door that leads into the kitchen. While Briony and Matilda were preoccupied with customers. When I looked through the cupboards and the icebox I was pretty surprised to find that the almost all of the stock was gone. There was literally no more fruit left and there was barely any milk or flour left. They wouldn't be able to make anymore deserts with what was left. I would have to send a letter to Mr Frobisher, the farmer who supplied the store with ingredients and ask for more to be sent immediately.
"I'm very sorry sir, but we have run out of Gocan cake." I heard Briony's voice from outside
"What a shame, my mother raves about the Gocan cake. Do you know when you will have some more cakes by?" Asked the gentleman from around the corner.
"It's hard to say, sir. The Grand Lady that owns the shop has been away at the Von Esterheim ball, but she should be back soon, and then we will be able to make more cakes..." Replied Briony in her accent, which I noticed she was trying to hide by pronouncing all the syllables as slowly and properly as she could. Although it was cute to hear her trying to hide her accent, I couldn't help but frown at her giving information about me away... Didn't I tell Briony the last time I was here not to let out any personal details about me?
"The Von Esterheim ball!?" The man practically gasped.
"She must be a very important lady to have been invited to that ball..." mused the gentleman.
"The Von Esterheim ball!?" gasped one of the ladies who were seated at one of the tables. "Only the most important and influential members of society get invited to that ball!"
"What did you say was the name of the Lady who owns this cafe?" asked the woman.
"I'm very sorry but our Lady prefers to remain a secret." Briony sounded like she was enjoying this. I guessed that it pleased her that she knew something that they didn't, but still why did she have to bring up that I was at the Von Esterheim soiree in the first place.
I realised that it would be quite a while until the shop closed, so I decided that I would come back later, right now I wanted to go to the shop that I had seen on google maps.
With the help of Auberon, I got back into the carriage and I directed him down a few streets until we reached a dress shop. On the front door, the name of the shop was written in cursive: The Gismead dress shop.
I entered through the front door and saw a candle catch a flame as I entered. Soon a pretty and young shop girl rushed to the front of the shop and curtseyed to me.
"What may I help you with Milady?" she asked.
"I was wondering if it would be possible to have this shop make and produce some uniforms for me."
"Certainly, Milady. What kind of uniforms?" She asked.
"They are uniforms for a cafe."
"Certainly Milady." She replied, "Could you come this way to see what we have, and then you can alter the designs to your taste."
"Wonderful. Thank you." I said as she lead me to one side of the shop where she had a variety of different shop uniforms. Most of them were dark colours, with severe designs that covered up every inch of skin. I wanted a more light and playful feel to the uniforms, something that would match the atmosphere of the shop. While scanning through the dresses I spotted something similar to what I wanted, but it wasn't under the uniform section, it was under the daywear section, nevertheless, it was what I wanted. I told her to sinch the waist a bit more and to add some more material to the skirt because I wanted the women who wore the uniform to feel beautiful when they wore it. After we had finished redesigning it, She helped me pick out a matching pair of shoes for the dress as well as an apron, so they wouldn't dirty the clothes. She only took a few minutes to reconstruct the dresses and sew them the way I wanted them. After she was done. I paid for the dresses and thanked her.
While I was in the shop I couldn't help but notice the dresses that were labelled for 'young women, ages: 10-13". They were the cutesy cupcake Lolita style dress that I had seen many of the young girls around Gismead wear, the wealthier girls anyways. Suddenly Ilsa came to mind. She was a young girl, only eleven years old and already working, she had told me that she had a very big family so she had to help her parents earn a living and keep everybody fed. She didn't have the luxury of wearing pretty dresses like the other girls, she had to work. She didn't even have the luxury of being able to go to school...
"Excuse me miss, may I take a look at those dresses over there," I asked the young shopkeeper. By the time I had finished I had bought Ilsa four new dresses, that would make her the envy of all the other young girls in town.
Ilsa and I had grown quite close ever since I had started teaching her how to read. We would always huddle together in one corner of the library and go through some books to teach her the alphabet, she was a bit slow when it came to memorizing the letters but she was eager to learn and I was patient with her, so we made a good team.
On the carriage ride back to the café, I googled 'property near me' and found that what was once a large boarding house for travelling guests was closing down and was looking to sell. It was located in the more remote part of the harbourside and relatively close to the café, so I was pretty keen on buying it to turn it into a woman's shelter. I would write the owner a letter expressing my interest when I got home.
Then another thought popped into my head, I had the examination coming up soon and I needed to get started on creating the artefact that Lord Gawain had suggested I create, an artefact that could amplify the magic of anybody who could use it and whichever type of magic. But in order to do that, I would need a specific type of metal to bind the dark magic to for a long period of time. I had read about it in the tenebris intellexerent, it was a very rare and precious metal that was capable of bonding with magic for as long as the metal remained unbroken. Since it was one of the strongest metals in all of Arteria, it would stay strong for a very long time.
"Auberon, Edna, how would one go about getting their hands on a rare and precious metal?" I asked, hoping they would know the answer.
"Well, Milady." Began Auberon. "You could always hire a guild to go in search of whatever you need."
"A guild?" I asked.
"An establishment that hires fighters and adventurers to go on missions and trips for a certain sum of money." Replied Edna.
That sounded good to me. "Do you know any good guilds?" I asked.
There was a bit of a pause before they answered me.
"Milady, the guilds has a reputation for being a bit rough..." Edna said softly with a slight grimace on her face.
"Indeed Milady, they have a reputation for being a bit impolite." Said Auberon. "Most of the guild members are ruffians or ex-warriors and are now hired to go and fight for various reasons. They are prone to violence and foul language Milady. Like Miss Edna Said, they are quite rough..." explained Auberon.
"Alright then, I'll send them a letter instead of going there in person." Just how rough could they be if they made these two cringe. "For now let's head back to the café."
When we got back to the café, I was glad to see that all the customers where gone and Briony and Matilda had begun cleaning up.
"Milady!" Cried out Briony as she saw me. She giddily jumped up and down and rushed to my side to curtsey to me.
"Milady! You'll never believe how much money we made! Ever so much! Isn't that right Mama?!" She gushed out.
"Our lady's café has been thriving. Every day since you have gone, we have seen about a hundred customers. So many customers that we ended up using all the ingredients you had delivered! Milady you should have seen the way they gasped when they tasted the iced cream!" Matilda began to laugh hoarsely as she seemed to recount their faces.
"They went like this!" She said as she opened her droopy eyes as wide as possible and shaped her mouth into an 'O' shape. I couldn't help but burst out laughing at the hilarious expression on her face.
Matilda looked like quite an old woman, she had plenty of wrinkles and she had a distinct hunch in her back, however, her lovely personality was still young and bright, which surprised me.
"Milady!" Shouted Briony excitedly, "Here read this!" She said as she shoved a giant book into my hand.
"What's this?" I asked as I turned over the cover.
"It's a compliment book! Some of the customers were shocked when we didn't have one, so Mr Percival Peregrine went to go and buy one for us. It's where the customers write down compliments they have for the establishment." She cooed, a large grin on her face, "go ahead milady, read a few."
I turned the first page to see a very neatly written review.
'The desserts are simply divine! I hope that Sophie's cafe will become well known throughout the entire kingdom.'
Another said:
'Iced cream is a creation like none other, many blessings upon the creator!'
'Sophie's cafe is like a heavenly escape for the tastebuds, continue to make us happy with you delicious servings.'
I immediately blushed. I knew that the café would be popular but this was better than expected.
"This is wonderful. I should really thank that Mr Percival for buying us the book." I wondered who he was...
"Yes, Mr Percival stops by almost every day. He is definitely our best customer, and our very first customer in fact. Do you remember him Milady? He was the first person to enter our café on our opening day."
The light bulb went on in my head. "Oh, that's him! I'll make sure to thank him properly, the next time I see him." I smiled, I was happy to have a loyal customer already.
"Milady we have a few leftover cakes. What should we do with them?" Asked Edna Who was looking into the display counter where there were still three leftover cakes.
I quickly took out my phone again and searched for something.
"I'll take them with me, Auberon will you help load them into the carriage?"
"Certainly Milady." He replied brightly. He immediately got to the task and took the cakes from the counter and loaded them into the carriage.
"Briony, Matilda, I have something for you," I said as an handed them the two shopping bags that contained their uniforms. I hoped that they would like them since their one clothes were quite old and shabby.
Briony and Matilda opened up their bags and took out their new pink dresses, white aprons and laced boots.
Briony was the first to lose composure, "Oh Milady!" Her eyes went wide as she held up the pale pink dress. "Oh, Milady!" Her eyes started to water and her cheeks went red. "It's so beautiful!" She cried out. She gripped the dress tightly to her body, her eyes gleaming with joy.
"Briony don't cry..." I said smiling, I was beginning to feel a bit moved by her reaction.
"It's so beautiful..." she wailed as she held it out in front of her. I felt a bit shocked. I hadn't thought that she would love it this much.
Matilda, not as moved as her daughter, still looked very grateful and thanked me profusely.
"Well, these are your new uniforms, if something happens and you need a new one, just tell me and I'll get another made for you," I assured them.
I wasn't quite sure if Briony heard me or not, because she was tracing the lace patterns on the boots with her fingers, she seemed to be completely lost in her own world.
"I'll also have to close the café for a few days while I organize with Mr Frobisher about getting more products delivered. So I'll make sure to send for you when the café reopens." Briony was still in a bit of a daze, but Matilda was alert and listening to me.
"Edna, please just grab the sales book and the cash register."
Edna nodded and picked up the large sales book as well as the cash box and made her way to the carriage.
"Alright, I'll see you two in a few days. Please await my letter." I nodded to both of them and then exited. Sophie picked up on the fact that we were leaving and stopped cuddling up with the bunnies in the garden and leapt up into the carriage.
———————————-
There was still quite a lot of the day left and most of the children in the children's home chose to spend it playing in the playroom. It wasn't much of a playroom, there were very few toys and the floorboards were old so too much movement made them creak in protest. St Clair and Luella sat on the floor and played a clapping game. The two girls had been dropped off at the children's home about around the same time, five years ago. They had been the same age and had become fast friends. Now they were both twelve years old, complete opposites, but both were determined in their different ways to make a success of their lives and prove to the parents that had abandoned them that they were with it.
"Guys look, a grand carriage is outside!" Shouted one of the boys who was seated by the window. All the children rushed to the window to peer out at the carriage. Clair and Luella were no different and being among the oldest of the group pushed their way to the front to see. Little Fendrel Buxton was the youngest of all the children, only three years old, and wasn't nearly tall enough to see out the windows. Clair noticed his distress and picked him up and let him sit on her back so that he could look out the window as the rest.
Mrs Edith Godfrey was a very kind old woman who had been quite startled to see such a grand carriage approach the Home's gates. She had immediately gotten up from her desk and had gone out to investigate.
The children watched from the window as Mrs Edith greeted a very handsome man at the gate. He was dressed in a fancy looking uniform that looked even more expensive than their ordinary clothes. His brilliant blonde hair shone in the light.
"Isn't he handsome Clair..." Luella sighed as she looked at the handsome stranger. The children's focus then snapped to the carriage again as an extraordinary dark-haired woman stepped out of the carriage. The children gasped and whispered at the sight of the beautiful black-haired woman. Her stunning hair, her jewelled dress, her perfect skin and petty face.
"She's pretty!" Declared Fendrel enthusiastically from behind Clair's shoulder.
"She must be noble." Said Clair softly as she examined the woman's clothes and jewels. Luella nodded her head in agreement.
The children watched curiously as the handsome man and the woman handed over three boxes.
"I wonder what could be in the boxes..." said Luella bright-eyed. The children watched as their foster mother, Mrs Edith curtseyed to the wealthy people gratefully as they left in their carriage and then waddled into the home balancing the three boxes in her arms.
The children immediately raced downstairs to see what the people had brought.
"What is it, Mrs Edith?!"
"What has the Lady brought us, Ms Edith?"
The children flooded her with questions. Mrs Edith decided it was best to just show them. She gently opened the boxes so that she wouldn't damage the goods inside.
The children gasped in shock at what they saw. The most beautiful food they had ever seen in their lives. Three extraordinary looking cakes. One was decorated with heart fruit, the beautiful red fruit topped the pure white icing of the cake, the children were in complete awe. They never imagined something so amazing. It was nothing like the pots of old stew they would usually receive from "generous" benefactors or the stale mouldy bread they had grown used to eating because that was all Mrs Edith could afford to feed them. This kind of treatment was a first for the children, and they relished in it and savoured the taste of the sweet treats.