The waiter nervously knocked on the door. It were etiquettes for him to only knock on the door if it was something extremely important. I guess this is important, he thought about the old man threatening him and telling him how important this was.
"I am extremely sorry to interrupt you but our staff is lacking today. I am ready to take current orders but it will put me in a difficult spot if I wait any longer," the waiter said.
"We are ready," Trace's deep voice sounded.
The waiter looked at Trace while taking the order. He was confused because the young man's mouth was moving out of sync with the dish names. Instead of putting a frown on his face, he decided to smile at both customers. The position he was standing in was really close to the table, so he was able to stick the object in his hands below the table.
Every dish had a number associated with it, the staff members generally spoke and used those numbers instead of dish names. The waited repeated the numbers in his head after walking out of the cabin.
"Order the chef to make the La Quintente Jbiore less spicy," the old man said just as waiter closed the door.
He was holding a round dial close to his years. He saw the waiter bow towards him and presented an offer to sit in an empty cabin. Since the space was close to Noelle and Trace's cabin, the old man agreed. After closing the door, he sat back and listened carefully to the voice from the dial.
"In which school did you study?" a deep voice asked.
"I never went to a school," Trace replied.
"Who taught you at home?" another deep voice asked.
"My master!"
"The fortune teller is pretty amazing, tell me if you ever need an assistant for your shop," Noelle's voice changed again.
In another cabin, a man was hearing to their conversation. His eyes turned warn when he heard two people talking and the changing voices. A complicated feeling arose in his heart because the last time he heard Noelle speak was about seven years ago.
The conversation went on, about different topic even after the food was brought. During the meal, Noelle's voice changed multiple times. But only one of the voices was repeated and then it fixated on the same.
When the man realized this, teardrops flowed down his eyes. The wrinkles around his eyes seemed to have aged in the short amount of time. He couldn't wait to share this happy news to his master.
…
The fun day ended and Noelle big goodbye to Trace. Meeting for tomorrow was also fixed. She also realized that the fortune teller was trying to solve her problem in a different way.
"Noelle," the coachman said brightly. "Did you enjoy today?"
Noelle stared at the coachman before nodding and stepping inside the carriage. Why does Kalvinye-chi look so happy? A nagging feeling sprouted in her heart. This made her knock at the carriage window and pass a letter to the coachman.
'Were you following me today?'
Kalvinye accepted the deed without stopping the carriage. Instead, it seemed like the horses were accelerating. He was going to tell the news about Noelle his friend and master, Heliio, anyway.
"Kalvinye-chi," Noelle's voice sounded in the coachman's ears. "Stop the carriage," the voice changed.
His hands around the reins started trembling and tears flowed down his eyes. He had been working in the Lynn family for seventy years now. The family was just a middle class family when he started.
Kalvinye's mother was a maid who worked for many families. But since the Lynn family was the kindest, she decided to have her only child work in the family from the age of four. Only two years later a child was born in the Lynn family.
Kalvinye had always treated Heliio as his younger brother. He also had accompanied him to foreign lands. Their positions were different but their hearts were in the same level. He considered Noelle as his own granddaughter. The pain he experienced was just as much as Heliio did when Noelle stopped speaking.
Hearing her after seven years, calling out his name, made tears pour like raindrops from his eyes. He parked the carriage at the side and waited for her next words. But he didn't turn to look at Noelle.
"Kalvinye-chi don't tell grandpa about it," Noelle slowly said. "Don't tell anyone about it."
"Your grandpa also wants to hear your voice, so does Rae and all the maids-"
"Don't say anymore…" Noelle said with teary eyes. "I will speak with them when I am ready."
Noelle's voice changed again. She knew how much her Grandpa wanted to hear her voice but the same person was working hard to make her voice sweet. And the little sister that always looked up to her. How could she bear to hear such an awful voice. The voice that was worse than it had been before Noelle became a Level 1 Sentinel.
…
The next day Noelle met with Trace but did not speak. Another set of random shops were visited. Over the following week, Noelle got more and more comfortable around Trace and spoke a lot. Sometimes she wouldn't stop speaking even in public places.
Trace also felt the fear of walking among crowd decrease. Before he saw a uniform sea of people but now he could steadily look up and discern individuals. Additionally, he learned a lot of things about Sorcerers and entertainment.
"Read this book," Noelle said after coming out of a store.
The small package was wrapped up in a pink and white sheet. Trace took it and thanked Noelle. Recently, she had been buying a lot of things for him. Holding, the book with one hand Trace followed Noelle.
"How long will it take for you to read it?" Noelle asked in her original voice but her mouth didn't move.
To passersby, if a sweet girl were to speak in a manly voice. Perhaps, they would feel a sense of disgust. But to Trace, the voice sounded warm and friendly.
"I can't say," Trace looked at the packed book.
"You can finish it in two days," Noelle smiled at him. "It is a comic book."
"Picture book?" Trace asked puzzled.
"Yes, but for adults," Noelle put her arms around Trace's shoulder and whispered. "It's a romantic story."
Trace looked at the petite face which was now very close to his. The pink eyes were like sparkling gems. He only nodded as response and looked back at the book.
"It's about a girl who can't find love, she is unsure about her feelings. One day she tells her senior about this. And the senior instantly falls in love with her.
And while going home the senior who is the ideal girl of their school… suddenly kisses her."
Noelle brought her lips extremely close to Trace. On seeing no expression change on Trace's face, she pulled her face back and started walking normally.
Seeing this made the heart of the coachman jump. He was stealthy following the duo despite Noelle's disagreement on the matter. Only after the young lady did not commit, did he calm down.
Noelle had other thoughts in her head. He smiled mischievously after seeing Trace was still looking at the book. You won't be oblivious about the things around you after reading it, she mused.