Sareid Estate

2nd of Priverra (The First Month)

The snow outside had begun thinning out. A lot more people roamed the streets of the capital due to the relatively warmer weather, but they still wore heavy clothing.

Despite there being no more performances or such happening, at least from what I could see, the stalls that the people opened were still going strong to this day. I doubted it would be a permanent thing, though. Perhaps they were taking advantage of the lingering festivities and the more populated streets.

I kinda wanted to go down and enjoy it for myself. After all, I had to attend the feast instead at the time. While the food of the feast was magnificent, enjoying the simplicity of the streets could be fun as well.

Soon, it would be my free time. I could go down and enjoy things as Feyt, since I didn’t need Mother’s permission to leave the grounds as Feyt.

Ever since I became a potential bodyguard for myself, I had been given a small allowance every so often for me to spend on my own. It wasn’t much, barely enough to afford a meal at that restaurant Leila and I went to, but it was still something.

I opened my wardrobe’s lower shelf, coming face-to-face with my small but hefty coin pouch. I brought it out, its chaotic clinking from coin to coin was music to my ears. Opening it, I noticed a few silver coins lingering in between all the bronze.

That should be enough to buy whatever I wanted at the food stalls… Hopefully.

Beside where my coin pouch was lying was something that I had been thinking about, but never really touched upon.

Mom’s birthday gift, the flute.

Ever since I touched it for the first time when Mom gave it to me, I have always had this nagging feeling that I can play it. It was a weird guttural feeling that, in all honesty, I found hard to dismiss. Knowing the mystery of my Talent, it may have ties to that.

I wondered if I could actually play it, and if so…

Maybe I can busk for extra money?

As I was reaching out to it, a sudden approaching footsteps came upon my door, followed by gentle knocks.

“Sir Feyt? It is me, Eliza,” a gentle, familiar voice called out from beyond the door. “Her Grace has called for you.”

Mother? Why? It’s almost my free time too…

As I was lamenting the chance that I might not be able to enjoy the food stalls, another set of knocks came upon my other door.

“Lady Carine?” Leila said beyond the door. “Your Mother has called for you.”

…Both of me are called??

I have a bad feeling about this.

—

I had some small talk with Eliza as she led the way. But my mind was still trying to come up with any theories why both of us were called at once. Did something happen? Did we piss her off somehow? Could it be the necklaces?

Before long, both of us reached the destination at around the same time. Mothers’ art room, where she spends most of her free time painting to her heart’s content.

I tried to avoid eye contact with myselves as much as possible as the maids opened the door for us. Leila stepped in following us, while I heard Eliza closing the door with a click before walking away from the premises.

Mother was sitting by her easel, focused on her drawing. Not a single person in this room dared to make a sound. Thank god I wasn’t sleepy at the time.

Mother was painting the snowy rooftops of the capital’s lower residences, at least, that was what I thought I saw. It was still very early in the works, with barely any foundation done. Guess she just started it.

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After a few seconds, Mother set her brush down on the easel and turned her chair to face us.

“Carine,” she said straight.

“Y-Yes, Mother?”

She stared at me dead in the eye for a few seconds, her face still cold and sharp as ever. But instead of the always cold atmosphere she held when she gave me that look, it felt almost breathable here.

“Are you interested in visiting those food stalls?”

My entire bodies froze.

Where did this come from? How did she know?

“Pardon?” I asked to confirm.

“Don’t act stupid,” Mother said. “Answer my question. Are you, or are you not?”

My head blanked, unsure of how to answer. My face remained completely still, at least, Carine’s face at least, as I thought about how to respond. Then, I decided that the best response was just being honest about it.

It seemed like she had already seen through me, somehow. What other choice do I have?

“Yes,” I answered shortly.

The answer earned an audible exhale from Mother, as if she expected it but not into it.

“But Mother, how did you know?”

“Leila noticed that you’ve been spending some time looking down the window at the stalls below whenever you walk past the hall. She reported that to me and informed me you might be interested.”

I slowly turned my head to Leila, who stood by my side. Her expression was still as stone, eyes straight forward, almost as if ignoring my gaze.

“The reason I called you here is not just to confirm that, however.”

Hearing Mother’s words, my ears lit up.

Could it be, she was giving me permission to go down and have fun?!

I held my breath in anticipation as Mother stood up. Then, she slowly shifted her gaze to the other me, Feyt.

“Feyt, you are to accompany Carine during her excursion. Consider this your training.”

—

And that was how my free time somehow became another training session.

Standing at the central square were both of me as well as Leila. She was ordered by Mother to keep a close eye on both of us as we looked around the remnants of yesterday’s festivities.

The central square itself was as busy as I remembered, both visually and audibly. There were people walking here and there, most of them seemingly middle or upper class citizens. There weren’t any food stalls here, however, as they were more prominent in the lower residences.

Before heading out, we were given enough time to prepare ourselves. Both of us wore heavy clothes that didn’t stand out too much, and I made sure to wear something that didn’t scream “Noble Lady” as Carine.

Despite this being a training to protect Carine in an open area, I was given no weapons. Makes sense, though, since I was not a knight, just a kid. But I believe the metrics of this test relied not on weapons or combat.

Leila purposefully stood a few paces behind both of me, her gaze boring into me, probably with that deadpan face as usual. I didn’t doubt that Mother ordered Leila to evaluate how I—Feyt—interact with Carine as well.

Walking around under surveillance like this…

There goes any chance of fun.

I cleared my throat and faced myself, trying to hide the embarrassment.

“Shall we go, Lady Carine?”

I nodded to myself. “Let’s.”

As we made our way, I heard Leila keeping a steady pace behind us. Not too far, not too close. It was around the same distance I gave whenever I had to follow Mother.

This outing was meant to be for fun, dammit.

I’m gonna have to keep a distance from myselves, both physically and socially, if I want good marks.

…

This is so delicious!!!!!!!

What I held in my hands were meat skewers roasted with peppers. It was good food, but not comparable to the food the cooks at the mansion can make.

However, I discovered just now that if I ate them with both mouths at the same time…

I took a simultaneous bite of each respective skewer.

The way both of my tongues processed the flavor was similar, but different, and the moment they combined together…

It’s so divine!!!

I heard a chuckle from behind me. Mid-chew, I turned my head to find Leila standing there with a perfectly still face. I quickly realized just how close I was standing to myselves, immersed in the skewer and this new savory technique of eating.

I hurriedly distanced myself, clearing my throat and wiping my lips with our provided napkins.

Did that chuckle come from her?

…No way, right?

—

Reyna let out a heavy sigh. Once again, she was having trouble with today’s paintings. However, it was a different reason than the last time. This time, her mind was clouded, thinking about why Carine would want to visit such a place.

The estate’s cooks, handpicked by Leila, would no doubt make any dish she could ever want. Why settle for street food? The food would be mediocre at best, unsanitary at worst. She thanked herself for reminding Leila to inspect any and all kinds of foods and beverages they were about to consume alongside her monitoring duties.

But no matter how many times she turned the question over in her mind, one answer refused to be silenced.

Carine wanted to see the stalls because she wanted to go with Feyt.

Reyna’s brush faltered, leaving an unsightly, unfixable streak of black paint across the canvas. She despised that answer. She despised it even more at how plausible it was.

But then… after everything Carine had endured—no, after everything Reyna herself had put her through—perhaps the girl did deserve a respite.

Perhaps Reyna truly was overthinking matters.

Still, she could only hope they returned home without incident… and that Leila’s report would not include anything… “concerning.”

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