She Reads A Book

Suffice to be said, the afternoon tea was highly successful. The large pile of crumpets were no match for the foodies in Robin's company. By the end, there wasn't even a crumb remaining.

"Ah! That hit the spot!" A satisfied Gerard sat back in his chair. He couldn't eat another bite.

"Good for you." Ponzu prodded jokingly. "Once we've properly fattened you up, maybe your speed will slow down enough for the rest of us to eat our fill."

"... I'm going to head out for a walk!" Gerard swiftly made his retreat. He needed to exercise a bit to make sure he didn't get bogged down by additional weight. Robin chuckled as she watched him flee the room.

It was late afternoon. There was nothing much that could be done at this time, aside from baking or going on a stroll as Gerard had done. However, Robin didn't really feel like doing either of those.

Robin, finally had some free time to relax, so she wanted to spend that time relaxing.

And, what was more relaxing than sitting down and reading a good book? There were many of them sitting in her magic bag. One of them would do nicely.

After some consideration, she decided to finally take a look at the novel which had been recommended her by both Eileen and Jasmine. With a nice cup of tea, she sat down at her desk to read.

It was enjoyable enough, in its own way. The story was told from the viewpoint of a humble maid working in the castle. Alongside the many duties a maid had to finish, there were strains and snippets of news: gossip tidbits that kept the story from becoming boring.

Finally, towards the middle of the book, it was suddenly announced that a hero had descended, and was coming to the castle! The castle was abuzz and awhirl with a frenzied tempo of tasks that needed fulfilling. The hastened tempo had also hastened the number and amount of rumors flying about the place.

The maids wondered and puzzled among themselves about what sort of person the hero was. The servants rushed to get the cleaning and festive decorations finished. The kitchen staff began preparing tons of food in preparation. Through the different corridors, the little maid was endlessly busy, it seemed.

Robin found herself quite enjoying the story. It gave her a lot of insights into the life of a maid in medieval times. It mentioned the little small details that were usually overlooked or never even mentioned in literature from those times. And then, the hero had arrived.

It was here, when the hero was described, that Robin started to feel that something was off, but couldn't quite put her finger on it. The hero was tall, dashing, and mysterious. A bird's mask covered his face, reminiscent of the great hawks that soared over the land. And his hair was dark, reflecting the light of the setting sun.

But, before the maid could watch further, she was hurried off. There were tasks that needed to be finished, and everyone was short on time now that the hero had arrived. She hadn't even heard his introduction before she had left.

In the whirl of tasks that needed to be done, she caught news of the prince being severely reprimanded for being rude to the hero. It would have been chalked up to a rumor, except she had a small encounter which proved otherwise. She had actually caught a glimpse of the distraught prince down a hallway, looking quite sorry.

For some reason, Robin couldn't help but think of Christian when she read that part, and chuckled a bit. But as the story progressed, she began to feel more and more that something was off.

The hero went out to right wrongs in the capitol... The hero chased a retired general down a hallway with a sword to prove his sword skills...The hero had tea with the royal family...

Well, perhaps these sorts of things were actually common when it comes to a hero? Robin continued reading until she came to the climactic scene in the book: the ball. Her breath caught in her throat and she looked like she had suddenly been turned into stone in her surprise.

"Hmm? What is it, Robin?" Skye asked, seeing her odd behavior.

...There had been a lot of similarities, it's true. In fact, if looked at objectively, the happenings certainly matched up according to timeline. However, it wasn't until that point that Robin understood who the hero in this book actually was.

This mysterious, tall, handsome man with dark hair and extremely cringe-worthy lines was actually supposed to be her, Robin. There was even an artist's sketch in there as an illustration. With such a description and such an interesting visual interpretation, it was no wonder that Robin hadn't thought of it sooner. The man certainly looked more like a court jester than a hero in her view. This was supposed to be her?...

"Robin?" Skye tapped her hand with a paw. "What's wrong?"

"...Heh...haha....Ahahaha!" Once the flood gates were opened, there was no way of stopping them. Robin couldn't help but burst out in an uncontrollable stream of laughter, which startled Skye.

A knock on the open door, called her attention towards the room entrance, and she paused to look. It was Christian. Robin then puffed out a laugh, and began laughing even harder, to the point where tears had begun to form. She had just remembered how Christian had been described in the novel.

"Is there something on my face?" Christian asked, raising an eyebrow. Robin shook her head and pointed at the book, unable to control her chortling. But that was a bad idea. She caught yet another glimpse of the supposedly dashing figure of herself and laughed even harder, banging on her desk in merriment.

Christian picked it up and looked at the sketch before scanning the page next to it. Once he realized what it was about, he also let out a small chuckle.

"You're right to laugh. This is either an insult to your appearance, or can only be taken as a joke. If it's too offensive to you, I can have it removed." He suggested calmly.

"No, no. It was well written. Let the common folk have their enjoyments. If this appearance spreads, it'll be more beneficial to me." Robin said, still chuckling.

"How so?"

"According to this, the hero was a head taller than the maid. Assuming she was of an average height of five feet and then some, The hero was six feet tall, broad shouldered, with a dashing appearance unrivalled by even the prince himself. No one looking for the Hero would expect it to be me, this youth of average height and slim build. Now I can walk about worry free."

Robin pointed out, finally getting her laughter under control. Her merriment still shone from her eyes, even though her laughing fit was contained. She leaned back in her chair, feeling much more relaxed than usual.

Christian blinked. Seeing Robin smiling genuinely from the bottom of the heart was the loveliest sight. Just for that smile, he resolved to find the author of that novel and reward them greatly.

"Ahem! So, what's the plan for now?" He asked.

"Hmm...Well, we still have to wait for the results of the magic puzzle cube... Perhaps we could go visit Dirk and Dewtre at the elves place? That is, if they're nearby." Robin replied.

At that point, Skye's ears perked up.

"Ah. I forgot." Skye muttered before pulling a scroll out of thin air.

As Robin's familiar, Skye had access to a small spatial pocket. Even Skye wasn't sure just how it came to be. All that Skye was aware of was that the spatial pocket was connected to Skye, and it could be used to store small things that didn't weigh much.

"Robin! This is for you! It's from the elves." Skye said, pushing it towards her on the desk with an adorable paw.

Robin picked it up and opened it, scanning the contents. Her smile widened.

"What is it? Are they expressing their gratitude at your aid in helping them apprehend those men?" Christian asked.

Robin tilted her head to look up at him from where she sat. She blinked. Had Christian always been this tall? When she stood next to him, he was a head taller than her. But now that she was sitting, he seemed much taller than usual. Robin closed one eye and grinned.

"Even better. We've been invited. And to a celebration, no less!"