34 — Louise's Fun

It took a while to convince Karla to let go of the body of her deceased husband.

Over thirty minutes. That's how long she cried, screamed and wailed while she clutched his lifeless corpse.

She eventually agreed to go back to her own home. Joezand, Agnes, Iaomai and Florian went inside. Lorelai secured the cadaver, while Anneliese just wanted to stay outside of the house with Louise, the child. The kid didn't really seem to understand what was going on, or what happened to her father. She was just really apathetic, so Anneliese is enough to keep an eye on her.

Karla's soft sniffles are the only sound in the otherwise silent shed. The house was well-built, at least. Two bedrooms, a dining room and a lounging area. There was some sort of furnace made out of stone, with some burnt firewood below a large crockpot. The whole layout, floors, walls and ceiling were made of nailed wooden planks, but they were extremely sturdy. There were tons of wood beams high above for support, too. The hay from the outside wasn't really visible from the inside, since it's above the planks.

The recently widowed woman was sitting in a simple, but strong, chair. Florian and Iaomai looked slightly awkward, while Agnes looked pensive. She's been looking like this ever since she arrived in Kivul. What's going on? Iaomai leads Agnes to a chair and sits her down.

"Iaomai, could you please go and help with the bodies? And once you're done, continue the work with my crutch." Agnes orders. "Check on the carriage, too. See if the horses aren't too agitated. Florian, this city is under your command. The citizens need a speech to assuage their fears. Then help with the bodies as well. You're strong enough to carry a few."

"Understood, ma'am." Iaomai replies.

"Yes, sister!" Florian says. They both leave the room.

"I suppose I should be helping." Joezand says. "Can you handle this?" He gestures to Karla.

"No. I want you to stay." Agnes replies, still looking pensive.

Hm.

This is weird.

No insult, no snark, nothing? From Agnes?

She seems really focused... but on what?

It's certainly not empathy towards Karla, considering how she is. Maybe it's just her business side taking over.

"We'll make sure he has a proper burial." Joezand says to Karla. "He'll rest easy, I'm sure of it. Are you guys religious?"

"Y-Yes." The woman answers dejectedly. "W-We're, uhm, devotees of Sunnaria."

"I see. Don't worry, I'm sure he's in a better place now." Joezand says.

'I can confirm.' Sunnaria comments in his head.

'Good to know.' He replies. 'You have to explain to me what this world's version of heaven is like sometime.'

'Maybe later. Not the right moment now.'

'You're right.' He sighs.

"T-Thank you." Karla murmurs, still looking downward. He pulls a chair and sits next to Agnes, as they watch the grieving woman.

"Would be a good time to tell me." Agnes says. "What you're doing here, I mean."

"Alright, as long as you don't freak out about it." Joezand takes a deep breath, leaning in to whisper. "I'm here to kill a demon."

"O...kay?" Agnes raises her eyebrow. "How do you even know there's a demon here? And why do YOU feel the need to kill a demon?"

"After I ran away, I had... let's say a vision." Joezand explains. "There was a demon in Kivul and I just had to slay it, because nobody else can." Obviously, he can't tell her the actual truth but this is... close enough?

"A vision? A VISION?!" Agnes exclaims. Sigh. Of course she'd freak out. "You're insane. In-sane. You're absolutely, completely, utterly insane!" She takes a deep breath to calm down. "You're telling me you dragged me and Iaomai out to the middle of nowhere because of a vision you had?"

"I didn't drag you anywhere. Agatha suggested it and you chose to come. Stop playing the victim."

"You— I— Ugh! Unbelievable." Agnes facepalms. "Do you even know anything about demons? Do you even know what happens to the places close to demons? They..." She stops herself, the pensive look returning to her face. "Hm. I think that makes sense, actually."

"What makes sense? Did you figure something out?"

"I'll tell you later." Agnes says. "I want to be alone to think right now."

"Alright, whatever." Joezand says, giving one last apologetic smile towards Karla before leaving the house.

The sounds of chirping cicadas reach his ears as he steps outside. The beautiful stars glow brightly on the dark blue sky. He glances at where the battle took place. Most bodies were removed, but the blood is still coating the ground.

But he sees something else now.

Purplish energy again. Just like at Sunnaria's church and when he fought the snakow. A big pile of it, emanating from where the pool of bloody dirt below. He steps forward to collect it, but it quickly goes up in the air, far away from him. All of it.

'What... happened?' Joezand asks. 'Why did it run away from me?' He says. 'Actually, I've been meaning to ask. What is this purple aura thingy, anyway? Why does it recharge the ring?'

'It's souls.' Sunnaria replies curtly.

'S-Souls? What do you mean? Have I been trapping souls in the ring?'

'It's more complicated than that.' Sunnaria explains. 'What you'd call heaven for us is the astral plane. It's shared amongst dimensions, but if you try to bring a soul to an universe where it doesn't belong... The connection grows weaker. That's why you need astral energy to keep yourself afloat. So the ring was designed to absorb souls when it got near.'

'I... see. But what happens to them?'

'They're fine. The process just delays their ascent to the plane for a bit. It's not like we're using up their souls.' Sunnaria says. 'But... you've heard of demonic magic, right? How it actually uses up stuff? Well, a soul is one of the possible fuels. Which means our demon is probably in that general direction where they went.'

'That's good to know. I should go investigate.'

'Soon, but not now. You're alone, after all. You should at least get one person to go with in case things go badly.'

'Alright, I'll take Lorelai to scout with me tomorrow.'

He looks back, seeing Anneliese leaning against the wall of a nearby house. Louise, Karla's daughter, is in front of her, still unblinking. The child's not crying, wailing, she doesn't even look sad. Just apathetic.

Are they just staring at each other?

'That kid is so weird.' Joezand thinks.

'You did a pretty good job talking to her earlier. I couldn't help but think what a great father you'd make.' Sunnaria giggles.

'Father? I'm way too young for that.'

'Most people from this world already have a child by age fifteen, you know?'

'Thank god I'm not from this world, then.' He thinks.

'Can't you specify which god you're thanking?' She teases. 'Maybe the beautiful woman who brought you to this world?'

'Oh, come on. People don't say Thank Sunnaria here either. At most they just say Goddess.' He rolls his eyes. 'But fine, I can talk to the child again. Just to make sure she's okay.'

'Go get her, little lamb! Make sure to show off to Anneliese how good you'd be as a dad!'

'Come on, cut it out.' He thinks while walking towards Louise. 'I'll try my best to not upset the kid.'

"Prince Joezand!" Anneliese says, looking at him. She appears to have a relieved look on her face.

"Hey, hey. Were you two playing?" Joezand asks. He kneels on the ground to be at eye level with Louise. Her eyes keep staring at him dispassionately. "How are you, kid? Feeling okay?"

"I think so." Louise replies in a monotone voice. "I don't understand what happened. I don't get why Mom was crying."

"Oh, that's, uhm..." Anneliese says. "Your father, s-she's sad that he's gone. B-But don't worry! He's in a better place now."

"Okay." She says blankly. "If he's in a better place, there's no reason to be sad."

Man, this kid is seriously creepy.

"That's the spirit." Joezand says. "How about you have some fun while your mom's busy? Do you play anything with the other children from the village?"

"Play? Like what?"

"Like... tag or hide and seek?"

"No." Louise says. "The other kids don't like me. They think I'm weird."

"O-Oh... I see." Joezand scratches his neck.

"What about toys?" Anneliese asks. "Do you have any? When I was your age, I had a bunch of little puzzles and such."

"Really? I didn't peg you for... y'know. The brainy type." Joezand smirks.

"N-Now, what's that supposed to mean?!" Anneliese pouts.

"Hm." Louise murmurs. "You two seem to have fun talking to each other."

"U-Uhm..." Anneliese says. "Y-Yes, you can say that, hahaha."

"And I don't have any toys." The child says plainly.

"I see." Joezand replies. "Hmm, I have an idea. Anneliese?"

"Yes, Prince Joezand?"

"Agnes said you'd never be able to carve something." He says, handing her his parrying dagger. "How about I get some cut firewood and you make something nice for Louise, to prove my sister wrong?"

"I... S-Sure! I'll try to carve something similar to the puzzles I had!"

"Alright, see you in a bit."

— — —

"Annnnnddddd... Done!" Anneliese says, handing Louise some weird contraption. It's kind of like... two weirdly shaped squares interlocking with each other? There's a small gap on one of them, but the other doesn't seem to fit right to pass. "This one's really fun! You have to figure out how to separate the squares. I tested it, so I guarantee it's pretty doable!"

"Okay." She takes the puzzle, holding it in her hands. She looks up at Anneliese and her face grows slightly pink. "T-Thank you." Huh. She actually showed an emotion. With a very slight smile on her face, Louise sits down on the dirt, trying to solve it.

"Phew, that was tough." Anneliese says. "I never carved anything before!"

"And yet, you still did it. Passed the test with flying colors." Joezand replies, patting the grassy spot next to himself. "Come sit."

"Yeah. Take that, Agnes!" Anneliese chuckles as she sits next to Joezand. "I-I mean, Duchess Agnes. Sorry, I—"

"Hahaha, don't worry. It's just us, after all." Joezand says. "I'm not Agatha, Thaddius or Agnes. I don't care about that."

"Understood." Anneliese replies with a smile on her face. She looks upwards towards the sky. "The stars are beautiful today, huh?"

"Yeah, they are." He smiles, although there's one thing still bothering him. "By the way, about the battle. You were, uhm, surprisingly comfortable fighting."

"Oh, well... I just had to defend myself before. That's all." Anneliese says. "Both before and after I became a maid."

"And did you have to kill before?"

"T-That's..." Her gaze moves to the ground, as her expression saddens. "It's just tough. It was tough in the shed and in the palace. People tried to attack me in all sorts of ways, and... I had to learn to defend myself. I-I wish it didn't work this way, but sometimes people just don't know when to quit their behaviour." Tears prick the corners of her eyes, as she seems to be recollecting some painful memories.

"Hey, don't worry about it. I'm not judging. I don't have room to judge, anyway." Joezand says. His hand finds hers, and he squeezes lightly. "I'm here for you, okay? Don't worry about it. I can defend you and you can defend me, alright?" He gives her a warm smile. "I really like you, Anneliese."

Thump.

His heart starts beating a bit faster.

"P-Prince Joezand?!" Her face goes red immediately as she looks at their hands together. She doesn't try to move away, though. She stays silent for a minute or two, her hand slowly squeezing his as well. "I-I know it's not proper for a maid to say this, b-but... I l-love you, Prince Joezand. You're the most important person in the world for me."

Thump. Thump.

"Are you sure?" He asks. "I'm a different person now. I'm not the Joezand you knew before I came back. My personality changed completely. Think about the past month. Do you still love this version of me?"

"Y-Yes, I'm sure. I told you, didn't I?" She says, looking him in the eyes. "Even if you've changed... your kind heart is still the same. And that's the person I fell in love with." She looks away, blushing even harder. "G-Goddess... I can't b-believe I actually said it."

Thump. Thump. Thump.

The speed increases. His face feels flush.

"Hey. Look at me." His other hand's fingers delicately hold her chin up, making her look back at him. "I love you too, Anneliese."

"P-Prince Joezand..." She whispers. Her eyelids droop, as her face gets ever so closer to his.

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

He closes the distance.

And their lips touch.

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

The timid kiss grows bolder. They explore each other's mouths with their tongues. They keep holding hands with one pair, while Joezand's other palm finds Anneliese's lower back, pulling her closer.

They only stop kissing when they run out of air.

"Haah... Haaah..." Anneliese pants. "P-Prince Joezand, I—" Her gaze goes to behind the Prince's head, and the color in her face drains. "Hm— I— Uhm—"

He looks back, and Louise is standing there. She has the two pieces of the puzzle on each hand, holding them out towards the couple. They both get up and away from each other in a hurry, faces burning up.

"O-Oh." Joezand says. "You c-completed the puzzle, huh? G-Good job, Louise!"

"Y-Yeah!" Anneliese adds. "You're so s-smart! It'd take me a lot longer to figure it out!"

"I did it a while ago." Louise replies, deadpan. "I was just waiting. You seemed busy."

"D-Don't worry about that, haha." Anneliese says. "Did you have fun solving it?"

"Yes, I did." Louise replies. "C-Could you make another one for me?"

"Oh, sure! I-I'll see what I can do, haha."

"Thank you, Miss Anneliese." Louise smiles. "I-It's already my bedtime, I need to go."

"Have a good night, then!"

"Good night, Louise." Joezand replies. "We also need to find someplace to rest. And I do not want to camp again."

"I think Lorelai was telling me about there being a few empty houses in the village. Apparently some people migrated from Kivul to greener pastures." Anneliese recalls. "Probably has some acceptable beds for all of us."

"Perfect." Joezand gets up. "Let's sleep on those, then."

"S-Sleep... T-Together?" She says, blushing again.

"U-Uhm..." His face heats up again. "S-Sure, why not. Let's go."

They go towards one of the empty houses, hand in hand.