Chapter 27 ∞ Return

It took some time convincing Maun to come. I didn't think he was comfortable going out there just yet. His weak and feeble form, however, was radiating with vigor I had not seen before. With a little bit of goading and some encouragement, diverting his attention to the positive sides of the city, his discomfort was wholly erased and he became even more enthusiastic than I was with leaving. I think I made a convincing argument, not to mention I played on his inability to resist his curiosity—like the snake towards Eve, convincing her to eat the forbidden fruit. I knew he was tempted. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to make him crack.

Nevertheless, I ended up throwing him into some of Mistress Kora's day-out man clothes and covering him with a hood similar to mine. It wasn't unusual wearing these outside as the weather was naturally cool around these parts.

"Don't worry, we're used to sneaking around the city. We won't come to any harm easily," I said.

I was confident because, technically, it was true. I was in no particular danger in this city because I had the captain of the First Dragoons, Leiran Konor, at my disposal. The captain was my mother's suitor of six years—maybe even more. He was also a long-time patron of the House and hadn't missed a night of service the last few years. That's what I heard at least. He even gave me a necklace to alert him in case I happened upon any danger. I made sure I wore it at all times. It was a pretty thing too, so it wasn't really troublesome.

Thankfully, I never came into any threat that ever had me needing his help. Also, Erenol might not command too much importance in her family considering she had a hundred other siblings, but she was still of royal birth.

She never told me outright, but being her friend of six years, there were several things I easily caught on to about her identity. I reckoned my mother knew the moment she saw her as well. Even during the first time we met, the captain of the First Dragoons himself came to fetch her. What kind of identity did she have to have such a person be her escort? Even the nobilities had to watch their footing around the guy!

"You can't go outside without a citizen's token, so Mistress Kora said to take this for now," I said, handing him a blue card with a gilded engraving of the kingdom's crest on top. I didn't know what it was for either, but if my mistresses gave it—it should have some importance. "I have mine with me." I held up my citizen's token to show him before tucking it into my purse. "Don't lose that, okay?"

He nodded hesitantly and tucked it into the breast pocket of the clothes he wore. They were of fine fabric—thick robes weaved into complex patterns. He had layers of cotton and silk on top of one another, providing colors and a structured silhouette that made him look like a respectable young master of a rich family.

If it were not for his slouchy, unconfident demeanor, then he would surely look the part. I mean—his silvery lavender hair carried such an oomph that was screaming "I'm not like you peasants!" Not to mention that thick, silver amulet he wore around his neck. It really completed the look.

Imagining him joining the lineup of my mistresses alongside the only man, Kora, made me shake my head. I had no problem with Kora crossdressing as a woman because I wasn't exactly a stranger to the idea, but in this side of the world (or reality), it wasn't exactly that common. Was Maun even the type to get in this thing? No, probably not.

I had to tame my imagination a little more.

"There's something missing," I said, looking at him from head to toe.

He looked at himself in the mirror, flagging around the baggy sleeves of his robes.

"I'll be back," I told him, running straight for my room. It didn't really take me long to get what I needed. There had been several things in my drawer but a silver brooch caught my eye—one which seemed to go along with his amulet pretty well. I picked it up and decided, but I sort of hesitated a little because I felt like it carried a sentimental value.

I tried recalling where exactly I had gotten this from. "Where did I get this one, exactly?" I wondered to myself, words rolling off my tongue hoping it would aid my memory. "Ah. I remember now. I think it was from my first spring festival with Erenol around six years back," I said, snapping my fingers and catching his attention.

Nevertheless, I didn't dwell on my doubts. Upon returning, I caught Maun pointing and assuming the stance of an arrogant lord.

It was a little comical seeing the look he had on his face. It was almost as though he was saying, 'You there! Bow before me, you peasant!' However, he quickly reassumed the slouched back and head scratching the moment I returned.

"It's okay," I said with a laugh. "I do that too, sometimes. I'll never be as graceful as my mistresses though."

I pinned the brooch on the left side of his chest.

Ah, my mistresses. My beautiful mistresses. They were different forms of perfect—each different incarnations of faultlessness.

He stared at the brooch, wide-eyed and seemed hesitant in taking it. It wasn't like he could argue though.

"Anyway, why don't we go? I think you're all set. I'm sure Erenol is already waiting. She'll probably say she's been waiting a hundred years. That girl can be dramatic sometimes—or all the time, actually."

I then pulled him with me to the back gates where I had found him lying around, bloodied.

Of course, that spot had been cleaned out. However, seeing it as we made our way out, I caught his eyes linger a while. His nerves took over—so much that his walking reduced to inching. I had to herd him a couple of times just to make sure he was moving at a good pace.

"We're leaving the cloaking in a bit," I reminded him and he snapped up to attention.

We smoothly rounded the corner and bled into the crowd in the streets. I was very particular about the routes I took, because some paths were more peopled compared to the others. I didn't like taking the main streets because they had the heaviest foot traffic, so I made sure to take the unpopular routes even though they got a little long.

"I still wonder how you found your way in there," I said. "It isn't something you can find easily, you know. Unless you know what you're looking for."

He was as nervous as a newborn chick. His eyes were dashing left and right as though wary blades would fall out of the sky and make us look something like an act from magic show gone wrong.

"Come on, don't dilly-dally." I made sure I had him close to me as we were rounding the streets. I knew the paths by heart and took several shortcuts to get to where we had to be. Scents and Papers was the shop dedicated to books and essential oils I used for my perfumes. I knew the store owner personally, Kilda, and I was a regular customer of his.

I opened the glass door to his shop. The bells tinkled as we entered. He looked up from the counter and I threw back my hood to reveal myself.

"If it isn't Evyionne! My favorite person," he said, smiling at me.

"Eh, bad day for you. I'm not here to buy," I told him.

"I know. Your friend is hiding in the back." He pointed to the backroom behind the counter. Erenol came bursting through the door, jumping over and tackling me straight onto the floor.

"EVY! I WAITED A HUNDRED YEARS!" she shrieked.

She was just as dramatic as ever—even a bigger baby than before. I was a little concerned with her mental growth because she didn't seem to have shed any of that immaturity she had since six years ago.

"Get off me, you little twat!" I smacked her head and pushed her off of me, nearly kicking her over in disgust. "You come calling me here to bruise me?"

She hit my forehead. "Whatever, you little twatter!"

"Twattest!" I muttered, not backing down.

"Twattester!"

"Twattestest!"

I caught Kilda, the shop-owner, shaking his head and saying, "Just don't break anything, girls."

Meanwhile, Maun, who was beyond clueless, came between us with his hands held up. I assume this was his way of breaking off the fight. But we weren't really fighting. We were doing our usual meetup ritual—we argued the hell out.

"Who's this person?" Erenol asked, frowning at Maun and crossing her arms.

"That's Maun," I told her. "Maun, this is Erenol." I looked over to my best friend and caught her swollen eyes along with the bags under them. She looked beyond worn-out—the cheerfulness she usually had was dim…almost nonexistent, actually.

Something must've happened. Still, I tried to play it cool and suppressed my curiosity, pointing at my silver-haired companion. "He's staying with us at the moment. I thought he was bored over hell back in Oblivion, so I had him come along. Don't worry. If we go shopping, he can carry the bags."

Maun's eyes bulged wide and Erenol was appeased by my reason, but wasn't wholly so. She still gazed at Maun with suspicion, her eyes narrowing whenever she cast a glance at him.

To be quite honest, I didn't expect Maun to be in the condition to carry heavy things yet. And I sincerely doubted we would run into another shopping spree. I did have some money with me here now which would allow me to indulge in a few luxuries around the city freely, but I wasn't the type to be splurging—all the time, at least. I still had a degree of self-control. Having gone to that trip in Venerya recently, I had no energy to be spending my money just yet.

"Can we go to Madame Dana's Sweets Shop? I want to eat her layered strawberries," she told me.

Layered strawberries? She only ate those when she was sad—debilitatingly sad. Those layered strawberries were so incredibly sweet it felt akin to chugging down a whole pack of sugar. I could sense something coming forth, but I could feel her holding back. It was probably because of Maun.

"Okay," I said.

And out we went, in a group of three, enjoying a stroll out in the open while blending into the crowd. We avoided the patrolling guards, making sure to stay out of their way and sight. Erenol was already a popular face in their ranks. I don't recall just how many times she gave them the slip, but it was definitely enough for them to recognize her at first glance.

My communicator rang. Reaching up to my ear, I answered, "Evyionne."

I heard a sigh on the other side. "Please tell me Erenol is with you."

I glanced at Erenol, mouthing 'it's the captain!' She shook her head and pointedly glared at me.

"Why are you calling me, Sir Leiran?" I asked. "Isn't she at her place or something?"

"We both know I know that you know where Erenol is," he told me. "Tell me. Is she with you?"

"Why, what's up?" I inquired.

"She's supposed to take her phasing test today," he said. "She's expected to be in the War College by now!"

"Maybe she's already on the way," I replied.

"She's not supposed to go alone."

"You know how she is."

"I know how she is. Which is why I'm calling you!"

"Tell you what, captain. If Erenol calls me, I'll call you and tell you where she is. Better yet, I'll actually escort her there myself!" I then cut the line and looked at my best friend. "You're supposed to take the phasing test today!" I said.

"How did you think I managed to get away? This was my only opportunity!" She fisted her hands and clenched them on her side like a classic Barbie bitchout scene.

"That's not my problem," I told her. "You told me you had a year left before you take up the test. Why are you taking it so early?"

She looked at me and turned away. With a sigh, I pulled her into an alley close by, moving out of the way of everyone rushing past us. That wasn't the place to stop, after all—people would just be annoyed. Maun tailed us closely, face twisting into a confused and saddened frown.

"Tell me," I said, grip firm on her arm.

"I can't wait for you, Evy," she said to me and her eyes blurred with tears. "Something unexpected happened." I caught her face sour just before she walked up to me, the denial pouring down on her in waves. Then she buried her face into my shoulder as if finally accepting what was happening. I was beyond confused.

"My mom," she began, voice cracking.

My eyes widened. "What happened to her?" I asked, hand lifting to hold her close.

"They didn't even let me see her," she said to me. "They didn't even tell me. If I didn't hear my brothers talking about it, I wouldn't have known. Evy, I can't bear with it anymore. I don't want to go back to that place—the only reason why I always went back there is because of her."

Erenol's mother, from what I remembered her telling me, had been very ill for the last few years. Her health had only gotten worse until she was completely tied to the bed. From what I gathered, she probably already passed away.

"Are you running away for real this time? Then what will you do? I can have the Oblivion take you in. Why don't you come home with me for the time being?"

"Evy," she began. "Can we have some of the layered strawberries first, please? I'm not in the mood to think about this problem right now."

And so we found ourselves in Madame Dana's sweetshop with a whole box of layered strawberries before us. The layered strawberries was a dessert found only here in Venerya. They were dried strawberries soaked, instead, in white chocolate and then preserved in a technique known only to its creators. They are then cut thinly with a really sharp knife. The strawberries tended to be brittle with the white chocolate, but delicious as they were nonetheless. They were then layered with cream, nuts, and whatever it was in there.

The tartness of the strawberry was still present, so the sweetness was still combated somewhat. However, they still tended to edge a bit too much on the sweet side. I occasionally indulged on them because I was a foodie and they were, admittedly, delicious.

They were also quite expensive.

I took just one of the layered strawberries to nibble on. They were seated on those cupcake liners and were so presentably pink and girly. Maun took one for himself as well and hesitantly popped the whole thing into his mouth.

I looked at him in amusement, watching the cream froth free from his lips as he tried to chew. His eyes were wide with wonder and he looked at me with rare delight. Meanwhile, Erenol had already stuffed her mouth with three at a time and had tears streaming down her face as her cheeks stretched to their maximum capacity.

I gazed between my companions and shook my head. Maun tried to take one more from the box but Erenol was already slapping his hand away and shielding the box with her arms.

I knew the situation was serious and losing a family member was no laughing matter—but I just couldn't feel sad for Erenol with her looking like this! Maun was like an abused hamster and Erenol was the territorial lion roaring at him to stay back.

Seeing what was happening, I pulled on the sleeves of a passing waiter and said, "Get us two more boxes of layered strawberries please."

That should be more than enough for these two to quit fighting. There were a dozen in each box. Surely they would be feeling fuller by the time they got through the ones they we're already raking through—well, Erenol should be.

These two were making my head ache.

"So, what do you plan on doing?" I asked, turning to Erenol with a serious frown.

She smiled at me. "You're too serious, Evy…" she told me. "To be honest, I'm not that sad." Erenol picked on a thin slice of strawberry covered in cream and popped it into her mouth. "I'm actually kind of relieved. Mom's been suffering for a long time. She held on longer for me so I feel better that she's there, but it's been really hard on her. The Emperor's harem is not the place to be for a woman. That's why if ever I'll have a husband, I'll make sure he only has me for a wife!" She clenched her fist and brought it down on the table hard, nearly causing it to collapse.

"You pay for the table!" I exclaimed.

"Oops. Sorry." She withdrew her hand and smiled at me sheepishly.

"Well, you know what they say," I began. "Happy wife, happy life. If you have, like, a hundred wives who're all angry—you're well on your way to hell even if you're still alive."

Maun was staring at us cluelessly. Hearing our conversation, he began scratching his head.

"Do you plan on getting more than one wife?!" Erenol glared at him. "You can't sit with us."

Maun began to furiously shake his head.

"Good. Because I will not be anyone's concubine!" she said.

"It's not like he's asking you, is he?" I shot at her with an eyeroll. "And don't be too loud. It's okay if it's just us, but if somebody hears you, it'll be trouble. You don't want to be discovered and be found out too soon, right?" I pointed out.

With that warning, she finally quieted and resolved to eating her layered strawberries in silence. The waiter brought us two more boxes and I casually picked up one from the lineup.

"Misses," said the waiter, bending over to whisper. When he caught Maun looking over, he did a double take and hastily corrected himself. "And mister. I'm afraid there are men outside who has been eyeing you suspiciously. Please leave out through the back. It'll be safer this way."

I exchanged glances with him from under my hood. He stared at me, dazed.

"Thank you," I told him. "Please give us the bill for everything and we'll leave in a bit. We'll just finish up."

The waiter nodded.

I casually looked outside the glass walls but saw no one from my line of sight immediately. As I continued observing, I caught a suspicious man looking over as he passed by. He was dressed in civilian clothes and had a lopsided beret that hid one of his ear. His body language told me he was wary and nervous.

I didn't know who he was but he was definitely not a member of the military. Otherwise, he would have already confidently strode in by now.

Maun took a hurried peek out the window and looked back at me, gulping.

"Do you know them?" I asked, just in case these were the people responsible for making him the way he had been when he stumbled into our door.

He shook his head.

"Do you know them?" I asked Erenol.

She took a peek and shook her head too.

Then who?

"Play it casual," I said to my companions, wiping my lip with the table napkin. "I have the best line of sight. Are you guys done eating?" I asked.

Erenol stuffed a couple more strawberries into her mouth and nodded.

"Make sure you don't choke if we run. We'll get out the back," I told them.