When we arrived, I saw a man in a set of our knight's armor heading out of the manor.
I recognized who it was and rushes to him the moment we got off the carriage.
"Sir Rowan!" I called out to the man.
"Oh.Greetings miss Kannavis." Sir Rowan bowed to greet my presence, but his facial expression's seemed to be a bit troubling.
"I heard about what happened, please forgive me for my incompetency, my lady. I am but a failure of a knight…and as commander, I should have been there at the frontline..to protect our people.." He fell onto his knees as he talked, feeling hopeless and doubting himself.
I rushed to hold onto his hands, reassuring him of his skills.
"It was not your fault, Sir Rowan. Please..Don't be so hard on yourself. In my opinion, no- in actuality, you're the strongest and certainly the most capable knight I have known in these lands."
He lifts his head up to give a smile.
"Ah.. I am most grateful for your belief in me, my lady, but I alone can't be the strongest..Therefore, I must head back to the forest. The knights of Teulia need more supervisions and training. We will bring back our honor, and to stand proud, as the spears of The House of Corvus."
Rowan proudly stands back up as he stared forward in to the sun, then he turned back and bid me farewell.
Ahh.. sir Rowan truly is a great knight, Despite pledging his loyalty to a half-arsed master like me and the house, his faith in us has never wavered at all.
Mmm.. the vomit from earlier.. my head is still aching from just the thought of that nightmare.. my visioned become dizzy..and my steps are all wobbly..
"My lady, are you alright? You looked worn out.." Irene rushed over to my side, and hold my arm making sure I didn't fall.
"Ye-yeah, I'm good.. maybe because I stayed in the sun for too long…" I thought of an excused.
"Okay.. let's head inside, my lady I'll prepare you some tea and biscuits." Irene said then we head inside.
The sun was starting to set, blazing the terrain in to a warm noon. I sat on the sofa across the bed in my room, leaning back to relax and tried my best to forget about what happened today.
As I glanced towards my right, I saw Irene standing against the wooden, square shaped, pedestal table, brewing some herbal tea. She looked elegant just brewing some tea…every movements exhibit high etiquette, delicate manners.. like a gracious noble.. her pale slender hand, hand-picking cookies out of the glass jar, placing them on a white tiny antique plate.
The room was filled with the scent of the chamomile tea that she had brewed, she arranged the tea set and the cookies on the table, then went to stand on the side of my sofa, awaiting patiently for my command.
Whenever I come home early enough for dinner, I would sit around the table and have meals together with my parents. After arriving in this world, I have only eaten alone, my father was never home, and my brother is said to be busy, and can never attend any meal sessions… no one's gonna be there at the dining table anyway, so I'll just enjoy my meal here.
I stared at the empty seats surrounding the table and sighed.. who enjoy delicious cookies like this alone anyway… wait a minute…right now I'm not alone.
I turned my head to face Irene, her face was all alert like she's been waiting for my call.
"Come here." I said, I scoot over a bit to the side, motioned my hand to let her sit.
She obediently sat down at the end of the sofa, making sure she was in a comfortable distant. At that moment, I grabbed a cookie with my thumb and middle-fingers, another hand supporting from below, making sure that the cookie's crumbles don't fall everywhere. Then, I moved the cookie towards Irene.
"Say Ahhh~" I said, with my mouth opened.
She looked flustered, but followed along- "Ahh.."
I placed the cookie in her mouth, and she takes a bite.
"How is it?" I asked.
"Mmm.. it's delicious."
"Right? It's boring to have delicious stuff alone, if you're gonna be here anyway, let's enjoy the sweets and tea together." I grabbed the cup in front and sip the tea.
"…Are you saying I'm your tea partner, my lady?" She asked, facing away from me.
I didn't think much of what she said- "Huh? Yeah I guess so..next time when I have tea and cookies, come and have some with me."
Irene lets out giggled..what. "I'm most certainly honored to be your tea partner, my lady." She smiled widely..huh? Who installed the sun in my room? It's too bright! I can't see my ray of sunshine anymore!
We laughed it off for a bit, but when I turned to look at her, there were some crumbles of cookie on her lips.
"Oh wait, Irene, let me get that for you." She looked confused as to what I meant.
I leaned in close, raising my hand to let my finger touches her soft lips. I gently brushed off the cookie to the side and my other hand, holding her soft cheek in my palm.
"There." I said. As I looked back up, I saw a dangerous sight, Irene face was flushed red. Oh no.. we locked eyes and I couldn't move.. the tension was too high.. I-I set myself up in a trap. I couldn't looked nor pulled away.
"Mmm my lady.." Irene said while averting her gazed away from mine. She didn't push me away either, this just fed my ambitious desire to move closer, my lips was yearning for her warmth. I knew my face was getting heat up, and before it could touches each other..
*Knock, knock*
..I snapped back to my senses. I pulled back and bit down on my lip hard. Sh*ts What was I thinking! I almost did something gnarly!
"Miss Kannavis? Is Irene in there?" Holly asked from the other side of the room.
Irene rushes over to swing the door open creating a breeze at Holly's face.
"Oh my~" Holly startled.
"You were looking for me ma'am?" Irene asked in a hurry.
"Ah yes. A letter came in for you, I searched around and couldn't find you, so I thought you might be with miss Kannavis… Irene, are you alright? Your face is all red. Are you catching a fever?.. wait." Holly glanced over to me.
"My lady! Your mouth is bleeding!" Holly looked confused as to what is happening.
"I'm fine Holly… it's just.. the heatwave.. it's really hot today." I smiled while blood was dripping out.
You don't look fine! -Holly thought.
"Ah that must be it.. both your faces looked really red, it must be sunburn. Wait here, I'll get you both some cream." Holly said.
"Ma'am the letter." Irene hold on to Holly shirt as if to not leave her here.
"Ah yes! I almost forgot, come along then."
*Click!*
The door closed,They're both gone…huuu…
I immediately flew over to my bed, rolling over the sheets, messing up the bed.
"Fffff…ack!..Ahhhghh!" I screamed in to my pillow, violently punching it.
*Pow, Pow!*
…Hghhh..I can't get that image out of my head..l was so close in to doing something insane!.. I sighed in disbelief.
"…Stupid.." I said as I was choking the pillow.
Meanwhile Irene*
…What was that?! We almost..kissed.. No! Snapped out of this! I can't be having this kind of thought with my master! And we're both girls.. I began to slap her cheeks.
"..? Irene, are you okay?" Holly asked with a worried look.
"Ah-..I'm alright ma'am, there were… mosquitoes." Irene replied, with marks of fingerprints on her cheeks.
Holly sighed, Kid these days sure are lively…
They walked through the hallway and down to the maid's area.
"By the way, here's your letter, a man came and left it, saying it was for you. Wait here. I'll go bring some cream for you."
This letter.. it has a letter A.A on the bottom right, and a rose stamped over it. Irene opened the letter.
"Dear Irene, I am going back to the capital, I'll see you when you return to the academy. I wished you good luck and hope that you will bring good news…do not delay this any longer, child. We're almost done. Yours truly- Abel Abstein."
Irene went silent for a moment.. then she crushed the paper in her hand. She clenches her jaws and covers her face in frustration, contemplating on what to do next.
Irene sighed- let's just get this over with...
.
.
.
*Back to Kannavis.*
Before I knew, it was night again, fear's kicking in as I was about to go to sleep, knowing what might happened if… I… dream…
.
.
.
..Damn it! I'm in a dream again. Every time, it always started with a pitch-black nothing, then came the verbal abuse. But this time, it was different. The light, it shines on a hooded man. He stands with his back facing me. Suddenly.. the crow came out from the abyss, and land on the man's shoulder.
"…You again." I said nervously.
"Mmm indeed it is me." That graspy voice crow said.
"..What are you? And what are you doing in my dream?" I asked the crow.
".. It doesn't matter who I am, you'll soon find out anyway. Right now, learn to use your powers." The crow replied.
"What-" Nothing it said had made sense. But Suddenly, a wyvern appeared out of the abyss and swallowed the man and the crow whole, dragging them back in to the darkness. I jumped out of my bed petrified, the sheets was soaked with my sweats. My heart was beating out of my chest.
The moonlight shines through the window and in to my room, illuminating my fear, and I realized the crow totem, it's still here.
As I looked around, I noticed my door was slightly opened.
"Huh.. when did I fell asleep? Did someone come in?.."
My breathing was still rapid, then I heard something dropped on the other side of the room.
*boom!*
!
"Who's there?! Show Yourself!" I yelled out.
Then a figure emerges from behind my sofa, they raised their hand up in the air, with a book in their hand. The moon illuminated their pale face.
"…I-Irene? Wh-what are you doing in here.." I was confused. Her expression showed a heavy amount of guilt, but she didn't muttered a single word.
Then, everything clicked. H-How did I forget?.. I recognized that book, that is what she was after… All along, she came here for this.