The Morning After

The sun rose and another day began. All prepared and dressed up, Carlos went straight to the staircase. Along the way, he was greeted by the purple maids. As soon as he walked down the stairs, the last to greet him was the Pugilist Manor Leader. "Good morning, princey-boy!" she joyfully exclaimed. "Hey, hey hey! Look who's here to meet you! The almost-got-killed-high-ranking-Asperity of Envy, Miss Ruby!" she then revealed the demon lady who she once fought with, standing powerless beside her.

"Your Majesty." Ruby bowed down once she saw the prince.

Carlos gasped at the sight. "Ruby!" He said, hurrying to pull her into his arms. Upon reaching the floor he immediately hugs Ruby tightly. "Oh, Ruby, it's been so long."

Ruby hugs back warmly. When she lets go, she didn't waste time to ask. "Your Majesty, are you alright? Did they hurt you?" 

"No, never." Carlos answers. "H-How about you? How did you get here?"

Without an answer to say, Ruby could only look at Dragonfly who might speak on behalf of her. However, Dragonfly was clueless. "Don't look at me, I didn't order anyone to beat you up. Besides, didn't big sis let you go that time?" Yet instead of saving Ruby's face in front of the prince who she serves, she didn't hold back her tongue. Ruby was obviously provoked. "Oh, I get. You didn't learn your lesson and you got beat up by her disciples instead. Poor girl."

"Shut your mouth." Ruby said while grinding her teeth.

"Uh-uh, can't tell me to do that!" Dragonfly continued to mock her. "What are you gonna do? Cut me up? HAHA! You can't even wield your powers, your abilities got sealed too!"

"Alright, Miss Dragonfly, please, that's enough." Carlos, who was also quite provoked, requested the leader. 

"Fine, fine, I was just teasing her." Dragonfly couldn't disobey. "You can just ask princey-boy if you wanna unseal it, you know, if you want a round two. Eh?"

"I... I can?" Carlos was audibly dumbfounded. 

"Yeah, you got your insignia! You can do all sorts of things with that."

"I can lift curses too? With this?"

"As long as it's a curse casted by the Superior Manor, you can do that too."

Knowing this now, he no longer has to ask for the Superior Leader's help to get rid of Priscilla's curse. Though he does not know how, he decided to figure it out on his known. After all, it would be questionable if he asked help directly from the enemy. Right? 

Wiping off the silence off everyone's faces, Dragonfly suddenly spoke out loud. "Aaanyway, let's have breakfast and talk about how we'll get to the Red Courtyard! Now come on!" She then pulls Ruby's arm and dragged her to the nearby dining table. "You sit there, princey-boy sits here, I sit here, and Priscilla sits beside you. " Declared the leader, pointing the chairs where they sat. Once everyone was on their seats, she took hers and grabbed the utensils in front of her. "Alright, let's dig in!" Right after, the servants placed the freshly cooked dishes on the table one by one.

However, one was missing. Noticing the empty chair besides Ruby, he looked behind and called out to the fiend. "Priscilla? Are you not going to eat with us?"

Her face showed nothing but distaste. She responded: "Ew. No. I don't eat human food." 

"Still, sit with us." Carlos insisted for her to come over.

"Yeah!" Dragonfly somehow agreed. "You can munch on some fruits on the bowl."

"Tch. Fine." Priscilla had no choice. If she continued being stubborn, she probably would've been pulled over by the pugilist leader. And so, she walked to the dining table and sat beside her fellow asperity.

While Dragonfly feasted on the extravagant cuisines, the other three seemed to be quietly eating. Carlos' plate was half full, Ruby's barely had anything, and Priscilla only has a slice of apple being cut to smaller pieces. Dragonfly swallowed what she chewed on and snapped her fingers to get the ladies' attention. "You guys, you have to try this dish, it's invented by Miss Flora, the Magus Manor leader." she says as she stabs her fork on the carrot and points it at Ruby's mouth. "Try it. It's not poisoned. It literally came from my own bowl."

Quite irritated by this random act, Ruby and Priscilla glanced at each other first, then to Dragonfly. At first, she looked disgusted, but then, her mood seemed to have lifted and her appetite appeared. "What do you think?" Dragonfly asked.

To which Ruby delightfully replied: "It's... quite delicious." 

"Right? I knew you'd like it too, everybody does!" Dragonfly claimed. While eating, she then proceeded to explain the background of the dish, as expected. "It's a universal thing that moms make the best dishes. These are a lot of vegetables and herbs, but Miss Flora somehow made it look and taste super good. When I first tried this with Cosmo, we were absolutely amazed. I used to hate vegetables, then Miss Flora came in and told me it ain't delicious if it ain't my cookin'. I loved her dishes, can't end a day without eating one." 

Carlos listened happily, but couldn't say anything with his mouth full, so he glanced one in a while to smile at her. On the other side, Ruby and Priscilla completely ignored her. Seeing this, Dragonfly eventually went back to the matter at hand. She clears her throat. "Anyway, Prissy, where exactly do we go overmorrow?"

"We're already in Iyesgarth." As bratty as ever, Priscilla replied. "Where else do we go? We're already here."

"Specifics, Prissy, I need the exact coordinates." Dragonfly mirrors her attitude.

Unimaginably irritated, Priscilla scoffs at her. "Hey, you better stop calling me Prissy, you bitch!"

The leader's brows crossed and scolded the fiend. "Hey, hey! Language! We're eating!"

"Urghh, you...!" Priscilla was about to pick up her butterknife, fortunately, Ruby pulled her arm back. "Priscilla. Stop it."

"Look, I don't exactly know where it is, okay?" Priscilla says. "I have to go check. It changes it's location for I don't know how many times and I have to figure it out or else we'll get lost. I need to get out of here so I can go find it in advance."

"Well, you could've just said so." Dragonfly raises her shoulder with her hands beside it.

Carlos turns to Dragonfly, stopping her from calling the safehouse servants. "I'll go with Priscilla, the three of us will find it together."

"You sure?" Dragonfly was skeptical. Even though they serve the prince as they are the Asperities who follow the queen, she knew that the possibility of them betraying the prince is high. But since the Superior Leader had left them a command to always listen to the prince, she couldn't dare deny him.

"Yes, they won't do anything while they're powerless." Carlos assured her.

"Okay, but do you want me to come with you? For safety?"

"No, it's alright. We'll be fine on our own."

"Sure, sure. Well, good luck finding it."

Clearly hearing everything in the dining table, the maid who was wiping the windows, walked outside quietly unnoticed. On her way to the garden, she tapped her earrings. "Greetings Leader, it is Salvia reporting." She spoke. "The prince and the two wretched rats will look for the gate to the Red Courtyard here in Iyesgarth. From what I've observed yesterday, those two pests are plotting something."

"I hear you, Salvia." the Superior Leader receives her message. "Thank you for alerting me."

Now that the leader hears her, Salvia expresses her uneasiness with the devils that clung unto Carlos. "Should I do something to stop them? I fear that if I let those two be, the prince will be in danger."

"I know that well and I understand your concern." With a hint of care in her strict voice, the leader answers. "But do not be worried. I know he will handle it."

"But leader, he still do not know his abilities nor can he control it. He is at risk!" Salvia contended.

"Exactly. He does not know himself yet. As of now, what he is only aware of are his aspirations, however, he will soon be met by the disappointments that he will encounter in this unforgiving world. We must let him know the true reality of his journey, otherwise, he'd fall deeper into his own confusion. Let him be. He will learn."

The leader's response calmed Salvia. Though she still has her reservations, the leader's intentions were still well grounded. She felt relieved. Her leader's knowledge, after all, are beyond her comprehension. "I understand leader. Thank you for enlightening me." she said, ending the call completely.