Grace didn't want to answer Karita at first. She was a little confused at Karita's demand. It somehow sounded profound. It was if the woman had made a decision one way or another on something, and Grace feared what would come next. She wasn't a fool when it came to politics. She knew the political equation of the situation to some extent. It was just that she had been getting more impulsive as of late. It was as if there was something itching inside of her. It made her impatient at times. Which is what led to her actions that day. She still has no idea what the cause of it was. Regardless, she knew that she was in a bad situation and that taking her side was disadvantageous. If she had been sabotaged, that meant that more such offenses were coming since they got away with it in the first place. The situation was even more hopeless. She feared giving the name because she might betray her. Though she had to wonder. ~Why had mother allowed for this to happen in the first place. She should have known this. So why?~
"Got your head together and give me a name already princess. If we're going to work together I need to know who not to deal with and, more importantly WHO. TO. BURN!" the fiery spirited former guild mage punctuated these last three words loudly. It broke Grace from her inner thoughts. The conviction of the woman dispelled her fears. She could feel something new. It burned within her and begged to be let free. She knew not what it was, but it gave her focus and bolstered her will.
"It was Melissa Diana Agatha of the House of Golgat," Grace finally answered firmly. She realized what this feeling was. She hadn't felt it in a long time. She hadn't felt it since she lost her arm and so much more. It was the feeling of having someone who wasn't family on your side. It was far weaker than back then, but she could feel it so much more now after its long absence in her life. Karita froze at the name for a moment at the name. Grace felt the fear start to come back.
"You mean the current head of Research division seven?" Karita asked quietly. Grace looked down as the feeling started to die. She nodded in confirmation. Of course, the woman hadn't been in the R&D at the time, but that was besides the fact. Then she heard a strangled growl," THAT BITCH! First she has the gall to back stab me and take full credit for our project back at the academy and now I'm in this situation because-" She cut off as she screamed her fury. Once she was done, she found the princess looking at her in shock.
"So, you knew her personally?"
"Of course I know that conniving bitch! She the second daughter of one of the wealthiest Houses in Aelunia. Second only to your own! We attended the academy together and we ended up working together on a project for our personal placement evaluation. She tricked me by saying we'd apply for a team evaluation and then managed to run off with our work and hide behind her money! Two of my closest friends back then failed the evaluation... I am the only one to make it through the evaluation from the rest of the team."
"Why would she do that?"
"Princess, think about it. Everyone who goes into the academy wants to become a member of one of the R&D divisions. There's only so much space. A good team can become the groundwork for a new division, but we'd have to work hard and show results on a limited budget. While I'll admit that most people wouldn't have done what she did, it would only be because they want the job best suited for them. They want to be where they can practice and research what they care about. Melissa, as far as I could tell, only wanted the glory." Karita seemed to be looking off to another place as she described the events of the past. If Grace had to guess, she was watching the events unfold. Karita was likely remembering it all.
"That's horrible!" Grace empathized. She was starting to see a little of why the woman acted the way she does, but that didn't mean she forgave her for her actions regarding the goblins.
"Look, it's history. All I want is to get on with my life and make my dreams come true. Though it looks like I'm gonna get back at her and finally make her pay for it all along the way!" Karita wore a vicious smirk at this statement. It was clear she had a lot of grievances to unload and Grace couldn't fault her. It was major failing of the Guild to allow this to happen. It was quite frankly unacceptable.
It was at this time that another knock came at the door. Grace called out this time to allow Karita to contemplate. She let the maid know it was fine to enter. As it would turn out, it was Oaguz.
"What brings you here?" She asked the blue haired goblin. It was a little sad to note how much of a mess her uniform was. She had gone through quite a bit of trouble designing them and then making a quick order based on the designs. She wasn't quite satisfied with them. She liked the detached sleeve look, but the rest of it was still too plain in her opinion. She would be drawing up a new design short enough. Even better, she see to personally making the uniforms herself. She just couldn't wait to make them. The only real issue was their cleanliness. The goblins would take any of her cute designs and dirty them far too easily. Especially because they lacked the proper training for the task. After the previous day's exploits, she had told them to divide the work and only handle the elements that had some knowledge in. Though she will admit, the way they dusted and wiped the wooden floors was cute to watch. It'd look even better with cuter uniforms.
"Princess, will you please stop daydreaming and listen!" Karita yelled at her. She shook her head and looked around. That was when she realized what had happened. She had unthinkingly risen from her seat and begun an inspection of the poor goblin and her uniform. Grace jumped back at the realization of her own rudeness.
"Oh, I am so sorry Oaguz! Please forgive me!" She begged of the goblin who was looking a bit flustered and confused.
"Uh, yeah, sure thing Princess!" She forgave though it was questionable in its sincerity. The goblin gave a weak smile despite the invasion of her personal space," Anyways, as I was trying to say, Weye sent me."
"Ah yes, THAT," Karita noted with disdain. She breathed in before turning to face the goblin and kneel so they could look each other in the eye. Grace had to wonder at why she was going through all of the trouble. It seemed like more trouble than the woman would normally put herself through on the account of something she considered less than human. She even spoke in a sour tone" I am sorry for my actions the day prior."
"Really? You don't sound it," Oaguz noted as she held eye contact. She was frowning at something.
"Look, I'm a woman of my word, and as such, I am giving a proper apology. You do realize all the trouble I am putting myself through for this," Karita ground out in annoyance.
"Then why bother, all ya got to do is say 'I'm sorry' a couple times and be done with it. Usually with a bow of some sort to show you mean it," Oaguz sniped at the kneeling woman.
"I don't care about what you b..." Karita started before stopping and let out a sigh," Look, different places have different customs. Where I come from, it is customary to look someone in the eyes when giving an apology. Now would you please accept. This is quite humiliating to have to kneel," The woman explained. Grace took interest at this, because that wasn't a custom in the capital. If she remembered, that was a custom from the upper rivers region.
"Fine then," the little, green maid accepted with a snap. She reach for her head and began to massage it. Karita just smirked.
"No need to be rude Ms Blue Green," She chided with quite a bit of cheek. The maid huffed at this and shook her head.
"Is something the matter?" Grace questioned in worry. The goblin seemed to be getting irritable.
"Nah, just been having a headache," She replied as she finally sighed in relief," There we go. It's gone."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Would you like to take a break?"
"No I'm good now! Can't be taking it easy when the boss and others are a workin', ya know?"
"It's probably because of the fumes from yesterday. Playing with unknown chemicals can be dangerous. For all we know, any of my tool cleaners could be poisonous to your kind," Karita lectured.
"Argh! If it's poison, why use it as a cleaner!?"
"Because it does a good job," Grace's magic aid spoke ominously. Grace looked a bit worried at this. Karita noticed and decided to be nice for a change," Look, I know we don't exactly like each other, but if you work with me, we can make sure nothing else like yesterday happens. My things can be potentially dangerous if misused."
"Ok, I guess we did take it a bit far. It's just there are things we don't know," Oaguz admitted.
"I'm sure if we all work together we can get through all of this," the princess added with a smile. It seemed feelings were starting to cool a little. She hoped it was a sign for things to improve.
"Eh, we'll see. So, uh, why did you get all on me when I cam in?" Oaguz wondered.