"Next!"
I was shaken out of my thoughts when I realized we were already next in line for the inspection. Vera was leaning her head on my shoulder, quietly taking a nap beside me. I gently shook her awake so we could get off the carriage and present ourselves to the guards.
Her sleeping habits as bad as ever, I wiped a streak of drool from her lips as she stirred awake.
"Uhhh? Where, are we there yet?"
"Yes, we're here now Vera. We just need to go through the inspection and we'll be inside the city."
I went through her bag to get her sunglasses and placed it on her face to hide her crimson eyes. She had to bear with wearing sunglasses until she could use her mana and learn a spell Lady Artanis told her about. It was a simple spell to change the color of her eyes.
Always wearing sunglasses even when indoors will definitely attract attention, so it was best to learn it as soon as possible.
We both got down, just as Helgi opened up the curtains in the back of the carriage to check in on us.
"Oh! Good! You're both awake! Thought I needed to disturb a wake, good thing I didn't have to." His cheery voice, coupled with his guffaw, really made you think that he didn't wait in line for nearly half a day — okay, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration. But still! I was annoyed by the wait, even though I was just sitting beside Vera. How was he not irritated, even for just a little bit? He had the temperament of a saint.
We greeted him back as, together, we went up to the soldiers on duty and presented our identification. Helgi just had to inject a device with his mana for his identification, while Vera and I had to rely on what Lady Artanis gave us.
He spent a moment looking through the documents and stared at one part in particular; more than I was comfortable with. It took long enough for worry to creep up my heart. "Hey there boss, is everything all good?"
That seemed to break him out of his stupor as he blinked and smiled. "Ah, everything's fine. It's just rare to see someone from Forostar here aside from Helgi and Mahtawen. Especially youngsters like you who haven't activated their mana yet."
I really wanted to ask him what he meant about it, but I was apprehensive of him asking questions about Forostar that we wouldn't be able to answer. I defaulted to just telling the truth.
"Ah, we're just here to take the train to Vier."
"That far? I assume for the academy?"
I nodded. The snow elf chuckled as he waved us inside. "Well, good luck! Though you probably might not need it since you're from Forostar and all."
I was confused, but I couldn't continue the conversation since he already went up to the next person in line. When I looked back, Helgi was already inside the city gates with the carriage and Vera inside it.
What? When did Vera go back inside?
I hurriedly caught up to them and entered the carriage. Vera was, unsurprisingly, fast asleep. I couldn't help but sigh with a slight smile.
This girl...
I followed her lead and leaned back to her as I closed my eyes.
"Rise and shine! Or is it fall and dim since it's nearly evening?!"
Helgi's boisterous laughter at his own joke woke us up. His sense of humor was really... something else. We've had to deal with it the whole time we were with him and, ashamed as I was to admit it, I have kind of taken a liking to it.
"Oh, Helgi! Shut up!" Vera, on the surface, was not having it. Though I'm sure she was actually appreciative of him since she didn't try to hide her smile at all.
"Oh come on! You'll be leaving this old man all on his lonesome tomorrow! Don't you have a heart?!" His faux hurt act was completely not believable, what with his happy tone and squinted eyes.
Lead by Helgi, we entered the inn. It was — now that I was getting used to it — just as I expected from Forostar. The entire "inn" was enclosed in a gate. There was a garden, people in uniforms, private stables for the horses, all the furniture looked luxurious, everything. It was much more like a mansion of an aristocrat than an inn.
Helgi guffawed at our slacked jaws. "Surprised? This is Madam's house here in Lumisade! I welcome you in her behalf!"
"Oh? And did Lady Artanis give you her permission to act in her stead?" A sharp voice cut through his laughter like butter. It was the first time I saw Helgi's face fall.
The voice came from a snow elf woman with platinum blonde hair wrapped in a tight bun dressed in a maid outfit. She was spectacularly neat with no sign of creases or wrinkles in either her face or uniform. Her blue eyes as serene as a calm lake.
"Mairen! It's good to see you!"
"With all my displeasure. Hand me Lady Artanis' letter."
Her tone was harsh, but her face was completely void of emotions. There was a big disconnect between her words and her actions. She was standing on top of the grand staircase with both hands over each other in front of her.
"Oh, right! These are Madam's guests Mairen! You should treat me like how you treat guests!" Helgi merrily strode up to her and handed her an envelope.
She elegantly opened it up, took a glance on the letter, and immediately returned it inside the envelope. Then through either sleight-of-hand or magic, it suddenly disappeared from her hands. She took a bow.
"Welcome to Lady Artanis' humble abode, dear Vera... and Dina. As Lady Artanis has instructed me to say."
There was a slight pause between Vera's name and mine.
"I am Mairen, the head maid of this estate. If you have any enquiries at all, I would be happy to help and assist. As Lady Artanis has instructed me to say."
She smoothly about-faced and walked up the stairs.
"I will lead you to your room. As Lady Artanis has instructed me to do." I jogged up to catch up to her with Vera trailing behind me as Helgi bid us goodbye.
"Room?"
"...yes."
"As in singular?"
"...yes."
"Did Lady Artanis arrange it?"
"Yes."
We walked for a bit more until she stopped in front of a door. "This will be your room. You may ring the bell inside to call for someone. Your luggage will be brought up to your room shortly. Dinner will be prepared in an hour. Someone will come by to take you to the dining room."
Her crisp voice brooked no refusal. She took another bow as she left. We gingerly entered the room. It was luxurious beyond measure. It was honestly frightening. Everything looked high-quality and expensive.
Wait. So. Lady Artanis lived like this? Yet she chose to stay in Forostar?
Vera immediately went past me and fell to the massive bed, looking completely comfortable with the situation.
"Aren't you surprised Vera?"
"Nope."
"Did Lady Artanis tell you?"
She giggled as she turned to face the canopy of the bed. "You should've seen your face. Yeah, she did."
"It's soooo comfortable. Dina, come here already."
I walked closer and as soon as I did, she pulled my arm towards the bed, making me fall down right beside her.
"You're right. It is comfortable. It's even better than the bed at home."
She rolled over again, muffling her mouth with the bed sheets. "Whatifwestayhereinsteadandjustattendthemanainstituteheresowecanliveinthisplace?"
I rolled closer to her. "What?"
"I said. Whatifwestayhereinsteadandjustattendthemanainstituteheresowecanliveinthisplace?"
"Vera."
She turned to look at me.
"...what if we stay here instead and just attend the mana institute here so we can live in this place?"
"Thank you for talking properly Vera. I'll think about it."
She snuggled into me. Since we didn't really have anything to do and we were still a bit tired from riding the carriage, we just laid there cuddled into each others arms closing our eyes as we drifted back to sleep.
A prim knock on our door roused us out of light rest. "Miss Vera and Mister Dina, please follow me to the dining room."
We rubbed our bleary eyes awake as we left our room and greeted the human maid that came by. We entered a small dining room, completely contrary to our expectations of ostentatiousness. There were no glamorous furniture, no expensive-looking cutlery, nothing. That's not to say that the things inside were lacking compared to what we were introduced to. Everything was still very high quality, it just wasn't the gaudy and in-your-face kind of expensive quality. No one else was in the room, except for the three of us.
The table was already set and a delicious aroma wafted through the air. Everything looked delicious and mouth-watering.
Apparently guessing what I was about to ask, the maid spoke out. "Lady Artanis instructed us to treat the two of you as we would treat her, thus we're currently in Lady Artanis' private dining room."