"Again."
The blazing sun cast shadows of many sweaty bodies hunched over on the ground. Heavy panting and groans of pain could be heard throughout the training area.
A sweat soaked Nitta was sprawled out like a starfish on the ground. "No… more… can't… go on…"
Most of the servants sounded their agreements with her.
"That wasn't a question."
"Please Sir Nicolie, have mercy on our poor souls!" She cried out dramatically even coughing a few times to sell her case.
"Denied."
She wept bitterly.
Franklin sighed, "just suck it up, we've done this many times."
"No no no– I won't! I won't!" She said, flailing around on the ground as if she were an insect.
"Shut it you damn poltergeist!" Franklin hissed.
Nitta continued her insistent wailing while I-da had to hold back an irritated Franklin from bashing her skull open.
Nicolie sighed while pinching the bridge of his nose. It was the same every training, yet it never gets old.
"Enough." He commanded.
His tone was stern which caught everyone's attention. Even the failing Nitta got up off the ground and ceased her complaining.
With a long sigh, Nicolie began to recite a speech that he had said in this same settings- he finally lost count of how many times. "You all know why it's necessary to do this, the marquess is a man with many enemies but also has many responsibilities." He paced around as he spoke, "the guards won't always be at your expense in times of danger– therefore, it will be your responsibility to protect this place as well as yourselves."
The marquess was a very particular man who valued his space and privacy tremendously. If he could run this manor by himself he sure would, but even this stubborn brute knows that he can't do everything by himself. The king would also nag him more than he already does.
"Can't he just hire more guards?" Nitta asked, confused.
Of Course that would be the best course of action, but the purpose of limiting the amount of servants, knights and guards was to be able to filter out any possible moles or lurking enemies. It was also the reason why Marcellus was the one to personally pick out each and everyone present in his manor. He was also a man that prefers quality over quantity.
"Would you like to offer half of your salary to accommodate them?"
Nitta bristled at that, "As I was saying– let's get to training everyone!"
While the servants were motivated by the threat of their pay being deducted to continue training, a certain blonde servant was busy grinding medical herbs into a stone mortar with a matching pestle. She was exempt from the current training session due to her being a little overly enthusiastic about it. Ever since she was punished for acting out when Yasmin was forced to leave with the duke, she had taken her punishment seriously to Nicolie's surprise and continued to push herself to the limit during every session. Nicolie got slightly concerned and relayed the issue back to Marcellus, in the end they both decided to exempt her from the following sessions for a while until she got her emotions in check.
It was during that break that Isabelle got acquainted with the military medic, Dr Morris Jefferson. She had chanced upon him when he was coming back from picking some common herbs found in the forest area behind the manor. His basket of herbs had accidentally fallen from his grasp and Isabelle had helped him to gather them back up, their hands had brushed against each other during the exchange and Dr Jefferson immediately noticed something about her.
In the kingdom of Wisteria, magic wasn't a very common phenomenon and was only available to specific kinds of people. For instance, only direct descendants of the royal family and members of the church (usually the saints or saintesses) can use magic which were blessings from the goddess. Then you had the exceptions; mages, knights and healers– these three were able to use magic, though not directly from the goddess. They would cultivate their bodies for years and draw magic from their surroundings or the elements, afterall the whole kingdom was blessed by the goddess magic. And although it was possible to use magic by drawing it from the elements and nature, not everyone had an affinity to magic.
When Dr Jefferson had touched Isabelle's hand he was able to recognize her affinity to magic immediately. As a physician, he was technically qualified as a healer and therefore was able to draw magic from the earth to aid in his practice. Healers were hard to come by so he took Isabelle under his wing– of course with the permission from the marquess– and had her aiding him with his work as an assistant. It only made matters easier when Isabelle actually told him that she has experienced working as a 'Healer' in the past.
Isabelle needed the distraction, ever since Yasmin left she's been stuck thinking negative thoughts. Was she suffering? Being abused? Assaulted? Was she even still alive? Her mind kept coming up with the worst case scenario. Even now when she was busy crushing herbs and placing them each into jars with labels, she was still thinking about Yasmin. The poofy haired girl had left a good impression on her– in the short time they had known each other, she had gotten used to her presence and often found herself looking over at the empty bed by her side at night before going to bed with a stuffy feeling in her chest.
"She'd made a good friend…" Isabelle sighed, her shoulders slumping down.
"Ah Isabelle," Isabelle turned her head to see Dr Jefferson walking through the door behind her. The man had salt and pepper hair that was pulled back into a low ponytail, his spectacles slipped slightly down his nose and his thin lips formed a small smile that enunciated his smile lines and high cheekbones. "What are you still doing here? It's your lunch time now isn't it?"
Isabelle paused her actions to look at the little packet watch on the table, "you're right…," and then she went right back to what she was doing.
Dr Jefferson shook his head; exasperated, "don't just go back to work Isabelle– go have your lunch."
"But I'm almost–"
"Go. Shoo, shoo," he waved her away.
"Alright…" Isabelle untied the apron she was wearing before washing her hands in a little station situated in a corner. She bid the doctor a soft goodbye before scurrying off to the servants dining area. When she arrived, all the tables were mostly filled but she paid it no mind as she walked further into the room with a set destination in mind.
"Ah! There she is– Belle! Over here!" Isabelle saw Nitta waving her over enthusiastically, wide eyed and hair unkempt. She couldn't help but hasten her steps to avoid the unwanted attention from the other tables.
She arrived in time to hear Franklin abolishing Nitta, "why are you yelling? Doesn't she know this is where we all eat, tsk."
"What if she forgot huh? She's still new here."
"Is she blind? I'm sure she'd see us."
Isabelle took a seat next to I-da, ignoring the two bickering servants.
"You're late again," I-da stated. Her tone wasn't that of annoyance but one of concern.
"...sorry, I lost track of time."
"You've been losing track of time quite often of late these days," Franklin voiced from across the table. He was no longer bickering with the messy haired servant and instead stared down Isabelle with a complicated gaze before looking away with a quiet huff.
Isabelle could guess what he was thinking about, but said nothing.
"Anyways–" I-da said, gaining back her attention. "We were waiting for you so, I'll go get our lunches."
"You didn't have too…"
I-da only smiled before getting up from her chair, "we wanted to." And then she left the table.
Isabelle stared down at the table with a slight frown, she felt guilty for making everyone wait for her even if they did it on their own accords.
"So Belle," she looked up to face Nitta, "how's being an assistant for the old doc?"
Isabelle thought for a moment before replying, "it's… nice, I like it…"
Nitta hummed exaggerating, like an old lady hearing juicy gossip. "That's good, very good."
"And how have you been feeling?" She asked, leaning forward in her chair and clasping her hands in front of her. She resembled a therapist asking their client about their well-being.
"..." Isabelle didn't know how to respond to that. She felt like a child being interrogated by her guardian.
It was Franklin who spoke up for her, "stop beating around the bush and be straightforward– Belle," Isabelle was surprised by the seriousness of his voice. "Be honest with us... we're your friends– at least I like to think that we are– and we're worried about you…"
"I–"
"She was our friend too…" Isabelle froze at that, her hands sliding from the table to clench the fabric of her uniform.
Ofcourse she knew that, the poofy haired and bespectacled servant was a social butterfly who had managed to engraved herself into many hearts during her short stay. She was like a breath of fresh air, a lovely sunset that brought others mind at ease.
Isabelle stayed silent and I-da returned that moment with a tray of food. If she noticed the tense atmosphere, she didn't comment on it. Choosing to pass everyone their lunch from off the tray but, even after everyone had a plate infront of them there was still one remaining dish on the tray.
Everyone at the table stared at it intently. The meal was devoid of any meat and mostly consist of vegetables and grains. It was blatantly obvious who that plate was meant for.
"Oh…" I-da said, her tone uncharacteristically soft. "I– forced of habit I guess."
They've been all eating lunch together since that day and this was the first time she had done that. Everyone around the table exchanged glances, they were clearly thinking the same thing but remained silent.
Isabelle looked at the plate on the tray one more time before looking away, her face expressionless but under the table her hands were still clenched tightly around her uniform.