Cecil felt very uncomfortable. To be specific, he felt very much like the middle of a burger, sandwiched between the two girls. October, on the other hand, felt like the side of fries, soggy and rejected.
"Hi Madeleine," Cecil mumbled, waving his hand. "Fancy seeing you here."
Seeing the opportunity to escape, October jumped up on the balcony railing, saluted the others and jumped off backwards. "See you later, suckers!"
"Sooo, how have things been?" Cecil smiled nervously.
"I've missed you, honey." Madeleine cooed, sidling up to his side.
"I don't know about you," Cleo said, latching onto Cecil's right arm. "But I think you could learn a thing or two from the crown prince."
"What do you mean?"
"At least he knows how to read a room."
Madeleine glared at Cleo. "How dare you, the daughter of a measly baron, claim that I-"
"Yeah, you tell her!" October shouted, now standing on the ground below them. "Anyways, have fun bickering amongst yourselves! I'm going back in there. The buffet is waiting for me to demolish it!"
Madeleine spun around, continuing her rant as if nothing had happened, but Cleo and Cecil were gone. She looked around her, but it was as if they had disappeared into thin air. She noticed a piece of Cecil's suit that had not left with him. She picked it up, bringing the soft, light blue cloth to her nose and taking a deep sniff. Oh, yes. That was the scent of her man. She sniffed the cloth again, before tucking it into her bra.
***
Cleo opened her eyes, even though she had no recollection of closing them. She sat up, dusting herself off. Somehow, she had successfully pulled off spatial magic, the hardest domain of magic to use according to the storybook scholars. She wondered what happened to Cecil.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!"
Cleo quickly realized where she was sitting. She awkwardly slid off of Cecil.
"I know you're light, but don't sit on top of me!" Cecil chastised her, pushing himself up to a sitting position. "Ow."
"I'm sorry...are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Cecil responded, standing up and dusting himself off.
"Okay," Cleo did not move. "I'm too tired. I can't stand up."
Sighing, Cecil leaned down and pulled her up. "There you go."
"I'm sorry about your shirt," Cleo apologized, finding her balance.
Cecil had not even noticed that part of his collar had not been transported with him. He shrugged it off. It was Cleo's first time using spatial magic after all.
"It's fine," he said. "I don't mind it."
Cleo dusted herself off. She was drained. She did not have a drop of mana left in her body. Her legs shook beneath her. Her head felt dizzy. She could not see anymore. Then everything was gone. The world went dark. The last thing she heard was Cecil calling out to her.
Cecil hurried to catch Cleo as she toppled over. Her body was limp in his arms. Cecil sighed. She was much too frail for her own good. With no other choice, Cecil picked her up in his arms and went about looking for October.
When Cecil finally managed to pin his brother down, October was sprawled on the palace lawns, gazing at the night sky. He set Cleo down on the ground before sitting down next to the crown prince. They both looked at the evening sky for a moment.
"What brings you here?" October asked, rolling over onto one side to face Cecil.
"What am I supposed to do?" Cecil frantically replied, gesturing towards Cleo.
"I don't understand why you're confused," the crown prince shrugged nonchalantly. "You just get someone to take her home or something. It's really just that simple."
Cecil gaped at his brother.
"Or," October said, suspiciously scanning the surroundings. "Ask Theo to cast this spell. Once it's been cast, throw it up in the sky as high as possible."
He handed Cecil a sheet of paper with a complicated doodle on it.
"Why can't I cast it myself?"
"Because she'll only respond to it if it's Theo."
"Who?"
"I don't know."
Cecil bit his lip. He had no other option, and his brother would never try to hurt him, now would he?
"Fine," he said, taking the slip of paper. "I'll go ask Theo."
***
Theo was nibbling on a small sugar cookie when Cecil grabbed him, dragging him outside.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What are you doing?"
"I need you to cast this spell," Cecil said, pulling out the slip of paper with the strange doodle on it. "And then throw it up into the sky as high as possible."
Theo side eyed his friend incredulously. "Okay...?"
He placed the slip of paper on the ground. Slowly, the young noble drew the markings as accurately as possible in the air with glowing strands of magic. Once he was finished, he pulled his arm back and chucked the magic circle up into the atmosphere as far as it would go.
It did not go very far.
But even though the spell was thrown no higher than the average building, someone still noticed it. Fiona quickly made her way to the palace, after calling a carriage. Who knew what had happened? It was best to be prepared. When she arrived, she was met with a dumbfounded noble boy, a prince blinking in surprise, and a very much unconscious Cleo.
"Oh my god!" Fiona cried, rushing to take her master off of Cecil's hands. "My lady!"
"Are you the person the magic circle was supposed to call?" Theo inquired, examining the piece of paper and the young maid in turn.
"Yup," Fiona smiled warmly. She walked up to Theo, reaching out a hand to straighten his collar that was never anything near straight, as if she had already done the same thing many times before. "Now if you don't mind, Prince Cecil and Young Master Theo, I would like to take my lady home."
"Oh, oh, yeah," Cecil stammered, snapping himself out of his shock. "Yeah, do that."
"And Master Theo? You should combing your hair with your hand. It really doesn't look good."
The two friends watched as the maid loaded Cleo onto the carriage. They watched as the maid got on, as well as when the carriage sped off. Theo touched his newly straightened collar with his hand.
"Something's strange about that girl," he said, stroking his fingers through his hair before catching himself. "It's as if she knows everything about me. Inside and out."
"I know," Cecil added, glancing up at Theo's head. "I agree. Your hair looks terrible now."
The two friends had a laugh. But all jokes aside, they both knew something was off about this young woman. It was just something neither of them could quite place. Perhaps something out of this world.