Chapter 3: Camillus Arrives

        Harriette was finally permitted to take the mask off. I held up a mirror so she could see her own face. “It’s a nice scar.” I tried to lighten the blow of her face being permanently altered. “It compliments your face.” Harriette moved her face around to see the scar at all angles.

      She leaned in and whispered, I blocked our mouths with the mirror so Aldous and the brownnosers couldn’t make out her words. “I kind of like it.”

      “It does add to your whole badass vibe.” I whispered back.

       “Hey!” Aldous boomed. “Stop whispering! If you have something to say, you can share it with the rest of us!” If I threw the mirror, I could hit him squared in the nose, ah but what good would it do.

       “Oh, before I forget.” Harriette spoke normally. She then tilted her head back and headbutted me with all her might. “That’s for losing my kids!”

        “Ow! Ow! Ow!” I keeled over holding my head. “That did like, fifty damage!” I whimpered. As I sat back up, the south doors open. I turned around to see a small familiar face. I slapped my cheeks. “Aww, little baby emo!”

       “Who is that?” Harriette murmured.

        I made sure to keep my voice hushed when I answered her. “That is Camillus the wizard. He is the equivalent to Narcissus and Ignatius in the game he was in, although he appears to be a lot younger.”

        “Why don’t I know about him?” Harriette followed up.

         “Do you know every historical figure?” I smiled.

         “I should.” She responded grimly.

       Camillus approached the throne without hesitation. He bowed before Aldous, who then spoke to him. “I see that you arrived safely, had you met my sisters on the way, they were heading back to the coast.”

      “Yes, my liege. Both Princess Viviana and Princess Victoria were well and in high spirits when we crossed paths.” Camillus’ young voice was calm and smooth, as if his words were carefully crafted by someone much older.

        “I’m sure you tired from your journey.” Aldous commented.

     “I’m ready to begin my work immediately.” Camillus replied without emotion.

       “You should rest first; I won’t allow you to begin your research until tomorrow afternoon.” Aldous, the fierce king of all demons sounded so caring. I thought about it for a moment, he seems to have a soft spot for children. He even let Harriette speak to the twins earlier today.

      Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Biff and Esmee, who should have been in their room having a nap, standing behind Narcissus and Ignatius. They were each holding something in their hands. Whatever they were doing, I knew that it was bad. Esmee tugged on Narcissus’ cloak. He turned his head so his droopy black eyes could see what was bothering him. Narcissus then screamed, leaping at least two meters in the air before landing in Ignatius’ arms. Then I saw what was in the children’s hands. Each one had three rats impaled on a stick. Ignatius maneuvered Narcissus around in his arms so he could see. “They are already dead, why did you freak out?” He snarled. He then addressed the children. “Why do you have dead rats on sticks? Where did you even get dead rats?”

      “We killed the rats.” Biff started the reply.

     “Then we put them on the sticks.” Esmee finished the reply.

       Aldous couldn’t hold back his laughter any longer. He grabbed his stomach as he cackled. Camillus didn’t seem that amused, although, he never did. He reached into a pocket in his robe and pulled out a stat stone. He held it to his eye. His mouth parted open slightly. “Am I seeing this right? Two thousand MP?”

       I then dashed up beside him in a flash. “I’m sorry could you repeat that?” I asked point blank, similar to how he usually talked.

     “You're fast.” He commented as he checked my stats.

     “You got to be in my line of work. Last time Harriette checked, they only had a thousand HP.” I locked my eyes with his one uncovered one, the other was hidden behind his fluffy, dark brown hair.

      “Hm, how odd? When were they last checked?” Camillus questioned me.

     “A couple months ago, on their third birthday.” I answered.

        “That’s not enough time for their HP to be boosted that much, even if it was abnormally large for their age.” As he finished his thought, Esmee and Biff approached him. He took a few steps back, not trying to hide the look of disgust on his face.

     “Your hair is pretty.” Esmee complimented him.

      Biff scratched his little head. “Are you a boy or a girl?”

     “I’m a boy.” Camillus then turned his attention back to me. “Whose kids are these?” I only pointed to Harriette who was chained up across the room. “Well, that explains why their natural HP was so high.” He then asked the twins a question. “Did you eat some red jelly that was in clear squishy case?”

      “Yeah,” Esmee answered, “Some of those would appear when we would kill king rats. I forget what they are called, but I know mama said they were edible.”

      Camillus touched his chin. “If memory serves, king rats only drop one hundred HP boosters, and they don’t always drop them. Who many did you kill exactly?”

     Esmee thought for a moment. “I, I didn’t count. There were too many to carry.”

       “Can you show me where the bodies are, I can help you carry them here.” I offered to my niece. With glee, the twins took me to where they had left the bodies, soon enough we had returned to the throne room. “I, uh, I, counted twenty-four.” I stammered as I held the revolting mass of rats intertwined together with a tiny bronze crown in the center. Many more that were identical surrounded me on the floor. “I am ashamed there were so many in the castle. I will work harder to keep this place clean as to not attract anymore.”

     Aldous tilted his head, even he couldn’t hide how grossed out he was. “Camillus, if we burn them, will it release any toxins or diseases into the air?”

       I began to wonder why he cared if they did, he and all his forces have a natural resistance to plagues and illnesses, that’s why they have survived so long, unlike the elves who were wiped out centuries ago. The only explanation is if he is worried about the safety of humans, I followed his gaze, or perhaps it was a particular human, no I’m just in a mood for shipping. If that was all, then he would just have Camillus cast a spell on Harriette to cure her, I’m sure there would be some sort of dark magic that could do that. What is his goal here?

      My thoughts were interrupted by Camillus response. “I boosted the power of my stat stone temporarily, for rats, they are extremely clean, for rats…” His voice trailed off. “If we burn them, it’s just going to smell bad.”

      “Alright.” Aldous nodded. “Maid, take the rat corpses outside to the courtyard, Ignatius you know what to do when they are all out there.”

      I did as I was told. Part of me wishes he remembered by name, but I know it’s for the best. It means that he believes it’s pointless to learn my name, I’m insignificant, that is what I’m trying to portray. Eventually I got all the corpses to the courtyard, by the time I was done, Ignatius was leaning against a wall, waiting for me. “Ugh, is that it?” He whined. I gave a nod as I tossed the last one into the pile. “Took you long enough.” He then waved his hand elegantly and the pile of dead rats burst into the flames. Ignatius teleported right behind me. “So, your name is Amice, correct?”

     “Yes…” I began to answer, but I forgot how to address a duke, “uh, your grace?” Yeah, that’s it.

      He leaned around to at my face. “You have as much social graces as what is being burned. You are so stupid when it comes to etiquette, from what little I have heard come out of your mouth,” he grabbed my shoulders as he spoke, “it has been most improper. Maybe I should save you from any more embarrassment and push you into the flames?” He slightly shook me, was he serious or was he just trying to get a reaction out of me. I stayed silent, but my breathing did become heavier. “Oh, this isn’t the first time you have been threatened, no, that explains why you are oh so brave. How did you even end up here?”

      “I-I don’t know.” I murmured.

     “Oh, poor thing. Are you scared? Is your big guard dog all locked up, unable to protect you? You are all alone.” He grabbed my chin and forced me to look at him. I want to kill this guy so bad, but I can hear witnesses across the courtyard, the only advantage I have right now is that I’m already covered in blood. “If you tell me Lady Hariette’s secrets, I can make your miserable life so much better, you won’t be so alone.” It was odd hearing him call Hariette a lady. Through she technically was one, she is the head of the Ofenjen clan, also the eldest of their noble house. They may be the smallest of all the noble houses, but they are as old as the Bugalas royal family. I wonder why the other noble houses hold them in such low regard. For countless generations they have served the house of Bugalas as guards and warriors, most of the royal guards are of the Ofenjen clan.

     “Ignatius.” Camillus’ voice broke my train of thought. “Um, is that one broken?”

      “Yeah, I think it’s my fault.” Ignatius let go of me and then poked my cheek. “I must have scared her too much, she has just been staring at me for like, two minutes.” He gave his full attention to Camillus. “Did you need something?”

       “I need someone bring some books to the east tower early tomorrow morning.” Camillus told him.

       “And what does that have to do with me?” Ignatius relaxed his posture as he raised an eyebrow.

       “Our liege wants me to go to bed now and not get up until eight in the morning.” He handed Ignatius a piece of paper. “Can you get a servant to bring books on these subjects; they can’t read so you will have to give them the right ones. I need them there before I wake up so I can begin my work immediately.”

      “And why can’t Narcissus do this? He likes staying up all night?” Ignatius then began to mock Narcissus’ voice. “Oh, it’s so gloomy tonight, the creeping shadows remind me of my home dimension, I wish I was there, but oh blah blah blah.”

      Camillus shook his head. “He has his own work to do. Administrative things, apparently there are also a lead on his niece, but the one who has the lead can’t meet with him until two in the morning. Then there is the thing at three thirty with some witches, after that there is-“

     Ignatius shook his hands. “Okay, okay, I get it. Did you really have nothing better to do than memorizing Narcissus’ schedule?”

      “Well, he did tell me. I like information. I will be heading to room now.” Camillus then walked back inside.

       Ignatius slapped the note against my chest; I took it in both hands for him to let go. “Find someone who can read this.” He commanded before heading inside as well.

      Following this order wouldn’t be difficult in the slightest, I find sifting through books quite comforting. It reminds me of my work in the game store. Only without annoying planograms, I can organize the lovely tomes in this castle however I like, mainly because I’m one of the few that can read, and the one of the two who actually cares, everyone else is dead. First, I’ll go clean up, then fetch the books the child requested.

      My room in this life was the size of my bathroom in the last, well, maybe ever so slightly bigger. I untied the bottom of my hair, letting the items I had hidden within my thick brown hair fall onto the floor. I took off my blood-soaked apron, then I unfasted the secret clip on my detachable skirt, revealing the weapons fastened onto my trousers. I put all my weapons in secret compartments around my room. I put my skirt and apron back on, grabbed a spare uniform, then proceeded to the servants’ bathroom, bringing along my hair tie. I was alone in the bathroom, but still, I kept my cleaning quick.

       The dark of the night had overtaken Bugalas castle. As I gathered the materials that Camillus wanted for his research, I was gaining information on the possibilities of Aldous’ next move. The list was very short, the records of the royal family, particularly the family tree. Probably making sure that there wasn’t some rouge branch that needed pruning. The child is going to find it disappointing on how small the royal family was kept. Next were books pertaining to artifacts that commonly appeared in the games I would religiously play. Especially ones on the scared swords of Prince Ronald and Princess Freya, the only weapons powerful enough to kill Aldous. All these books made sense, except for the final thing on the list. Records of Yarthvin, the village Camillus is from, he was looking for censuses. This research must be personal. I should probably deliver these books up to his tower and get myself to bed. I have work tomorrow. As a loaded up a fraction of the massive books into my arms, I could hear the door to the library open. I could feel a malicious presence. I spun around, I could barely see over the books in my arms, but I recognized those beady red eyes and that well kept, almost white, light blond hair. It was Ignatius.

      A dark smile was on his face as the leaned on the doorframe. “So, you can read. That explains why you have a job, despite your, incapabilities.” His words were smooth and sharp. He was most definitely on to me.

      “A little, for tasks like this, it’s so much simpler for me to read a note then to bother a busy noble,” as I spewed my excuse Ignatius got in my face, “like you, your grace.”

      Ignatius pulled some of my loose hair behind my ear, “You sure are a strange one, Amice.” He then teleported away.

      I finished my deliveries quickly. I went to bed without any more suspension being laid on me. The next day, I was mostly transporting books to and from Camillus’ tower, Ignatius had told him I could read, so he asked for me in particular. If the kid that was asleep knew I can read, I’m sure Aldous knows as well. If Harriette and I ever get time alone together, I know I’m going to get an earful from her.