The color of the sky doesn't change if your situation isn't grim enough; Arnacia remembered a proverb when no one stopped Naomi. She wished a Knight was here and arrested this cursed green-haired maid for her lecherous actions.
"That one." Arnacia pointed to her tent and just as Naomi turned, she escaped the filthy clutches, got out, got close to her tent, and pointed out.
Naomi looked at the tent and smiled widely. Even the thought of it made her drool a bit. She wiped her lips with a handkerchief. The action was elegant, but the reason was not. She gave Isabelle a quick look and her mind approved of the distance between Isabelle and Arnacia.
"There's still some time before breakfast. Let's take a walk." Naomi suggested.
Arnacia didn't waste a second and immediately followed. After getting away a little further with Naomi, she stopped and spoke in a lower voice.
"I want to take Isabelle with us."
"No chance, never-"
"Help me please, only you can. Let's take her with us, otherwise she may suspect me," Arnacia spoke quickly. All she wanted to do was avoid kissing another girl and in the presence of Isabelle, surely, the thirsty green headed tanager (who waited all night) wouldn't be so bizarre and bold to violate her in broad daylight. "Naomi…" she pleaded.
Naomi definitely wasn't just going to approve of Isabelle's presence, but rejecting Arnacia was also something that was difficult. Hence, she began to think of a plan that would eliminate the third wheel over the course of the tournament. And after that(during the vacations) Arnacia would be all hers. And so it was, she agreed while simultaneously thinking of ways to accomplish her goal.
Arnacia looked at Naomi and smiled because of the little victory. Then she turned back to see Isabelle, Ester, Emma, Eleanore, and Cecelia. This life was crazy, dynamic and fun (if she learned to enjoy it), very different from the monotonous world she came from. Waking up was always a ticket to a wild ride with these maids. She sighed as a cool breeze from the river made her apron flutter along with the canvases(tents).
***
A pleasant day yet again, Silver Knight Rose looked outside her window of her new home. She didn't own the house, she wouldn't dare to. Just living in this place was a dream come true. Never in her life had she imagined living in a guest room of Queen Afeefa's estate.
Considering other places inside Lanceworth Castle, this part was fairly simple, with low-rise buildings, open fields, ponds and trees, but the luxury was immense. Rose wasn't used to this level of fluffiness in bed, softness in chairs, smoothness of furniture; getting a private bathhouse got butterflies going about in her stomach.
She was sitting at the only table in the room and, yet again, looked at the hourglass on it. There was much time before Queen Afeefa would summon her and a little left for breakfast to arrive. As neatly as possible, she was dressed in a simple white vest (that she found very comforting with the new undergarment) but that rest of the clothing differed from what she ever owned.
Baggy pants were allowed no more, instead she wore black trousers with optimal fitting. Underneath were compression shorts that still felt uncomfortable, but at least she discarded her usual undergarments (after that dreadful hot and sticky day) and tried to embrace the current style more.
On the chair beside her was a black scabbard with a new sword (that was a little longer than the one she previously owned). Her old half armor hung on a wall in the corner alongside a new full upper body armor. Near the door were a new pair of boots and shin guards with metal plates.
Rose quickly stood up as the door was knocked - three times, the number. In her nervousness, she knew it was the maid. She rushed to open the door and so it was Selene, who stood respectfully in her black and white attire.
"Good morning, Silver Knight Rose," Selene formally said, but impatiently changed the subject. "Madam summoned you at the earliest-"
"I will head out immediately!" Rose stepped out of the room and was ready to race, but Selene stopped the madness.
"Wear your boots and armor! You are to head out after meeting Madam." Selene said in a manner of annoyance (which wasn't apparent because of her sweet voice and short stature). "And don't forget your sword," she pointed out.
Incidentally, Rose took more time to get into her armor and boots than she usually would. Selene stood by the side and watched coldly, but her facial features which melted perfectly with her red hair gave a feeling of harmlessness.
Rose was only let out of her own room after dressing appropriately. She dashed through the wooden path in her new armor. The garden ran in the opposite direction as she made her way to the designated place. Soon she was standing in front of an open door covered with curtains.
"Rose, enter," a voice called out to her after a short while. A chill went down her spine, and she gulped in nervousness before taking a step inside the room through the curtains. The room was more or less similar to the hall in the Women's Court of Justice. It felt plain empty with dim lighting, but this time around, Queen Afeefa had books on her table.
"The two maids from the other day, Isabelle and Arnacia…" Queen Afeefa said and continued after Rose nodded. "I suspect they might be in trouble. Take this map and keep an eye out for any dangers." Rose received a map and a spherical object wrapped in white stripes. After a thought, Queen Afeefa handed over another object.
Rose stepped out of the dim room after discussing an important matter. She took a long breath as her eyes slowly adjusted to the brightness. Her shadow's shoulders seemed to have shrunk a little, but soon her posture turned steady and sharp. After the garden wall, away in the distance, she saw hills covered in forests and let out a long sigh.
***
Shadow of leaves fluttered along with the wind, which gently carried a few dry leaves to the ground. The tree shook again, as it seemed like the next gust of wind was stronger than before. But actually, a shadowy figure had landed on a high branch.
From the high top, one could see a river flowing away into distant trees. Faint outlines of man-made structures at four different spots between the green were also visible. If you consider those places to be edges of a rectangle, then at its center was a spot where the forest completely hid the river's path.
The shadowy figure looked at that exact place for a long time, as if trying to see past the trees. That place was marked as a circle on a map the figure held. After considering a safe route, the shadow jumped on the next tree and stealthily made its way in that direction.