Curse 15: A Tea Party

After taking a shower, Mirari came over to visit the castle.

Our original plan was to meet up by the king-sized tea party table, but I explained that it was a tad too big for a conversation.

So, we both decided to sit and chat at the normal-sized tea party table.

Mirari placed her very heavy green bag right next to her.

"I see. So you learned about my older sister, huh?" Mirari was texting on her mirror, keeping a straight face.

I nodded and rested my arms on the table that had four seats in total.

Mirari and I were sitting close to one another.

"Yeah. I'm sorry for being in your personal business. It's just that..." I lowered my sight on the table.

"You felt bad about our family problem, right?" Mirari spoke up.

I looked up and saw her putting her mirror on top of the table. Mirari put her hands together, resting her head gently on top of them. "My older sister is a kind and generous person. She's willing to go the length for someone in need. Kind of reminds me of you during our first meeting this morning."

"Think so?" I blinked.

"Most definitely. The old man was scummy and was really going to do much worse before my sis stepped in and offered herself." Mirari spun her mirror. She made it stand and frowned. "And then, I was cast out of the family tree."

"What do you mean?" I tilted my head.

Clang.

A steaming hot cup of tea was placed in front of me.

"Hmm?" I raised my brows.

I looked in the direction it came from and saw Amissus with a small smile. "Tea is ready, Mistress Tristis."

"Oh. It's Amissus." I whispered.

And from the looks of it, she had a silver tray with another cup as well.

Amissus walked across and rested the steaming cup of tea in front of Mirari.

"Here you are, Mistress Mirari."

"I told you, you can drop the whole 'Mistress'  thing when we're alone." Mirari scolded while picking up her cup of tea. She narrowed her eyes. "What's this? Milk?"

"Right," Amissus nodded and took off Mirari's hat, then placed it next to her mirror. "Also, you should learn to put your hat on the table whenever you're eating or drinking."

Mirari waved her hand at Amissus with an unamused look.

"Right, right. Now can you move for a moment? I'm talking to my friend here."

"No. Your big sister needs you to drink your milk tea so that you can grow big and strong." Amissus furrowed her eyes at Mirari.

"Ahaha! It's not like my height would grow!" Mirari joked while raising her cup to Amissus.

"It doesn't matter, Mistress Mirari! As the oldest, you will do what I say!" Amissus took the cup and grabbed hold of Mirari's mouth. "Now drink."

"H-hold on a minute! I'm not a baby anymore, big sis!" Mirari whined, pushing the cup away.

"You're still seventeen; hence, you're still my little sister. Drink." Amissus squeezed Mirari's mouth and slowly brought the cup closer.

I feel like I shouldn't be here...

I laughed nervously, watching siblings getting along.

Mirari's mouth got away, and she snatched the milk tea from Amissus's palm.

"For crying out loud, big sis! You're interrupting my business!" Mirari pouted and whined.

"I see. Want me to take a bath with you, little sister?" Amissus asked with a straight face.

Wham!

"OUUUTTT!!!!" Mirari yelled.

"Ah," Amissus said in the most understated tone ever. She had that straight face, triangle mouth.

Mirari kicked Amissus's butt and caused her to fly to the other side of the garden.

Amissus did a couple of flips before landing lightly on her own two feet. She adjusted her string around her neck and coughed.

"Now then, if you will excuse me." Amissus bowed to us, then left as if nothing happened.

"... Wow. She's full of surprises today." I commented, feeling a bit of relief since she does have a side of her that isn't just blindly following people's orders.

Mirari wiped her chin and sniffed.

"Good grief! What an overprotective sister I got! Can't she see that I'm an adult who loves to sell information to my valued customers?" Mirari sipped on the milk tea. Her face glowed as she covered her mouth with her free hand. "Hey! She finally managed to perfect mom's milk tea!"

"Thank you so much, Mistress Mirari!" Amissus appeared from below the table.

"W-whoa!" I panicked and nearly spilled over my tea.

"Big sis...!" Mirari narrowed her eyes in anger at Amissus.

"Please. Don't stop the praise on my account!" Amissus closed her eyes, placing her hands on each side of her face.

Wham!

"Don't you have work to do?!" Mirari shouted, kicking her sister once more.

"Ah," Amissus said in the most understated tone ever. She still had that straight face, triangle mouth.

Mirari kicked Amissus's side and caused her to fly towards the other side of the garden once more.

Amissus rolled across the ground before leaping into the air and landing lightly. She dusted her dress, adjusted her string around her neck, and coughed on her fist.

"Now then, if you will excuse me," And like before, she bowed and headed inside the castle.

She really must love her sister to act this way!

I giggled this time since I realized that it was just her way of showing Mirari that she still loves her despite everything.

Mirari held her head.

"Honestly, she and I are too much alike when it comes to the things we like a lot," Mirari mumbled.

She then shook her head and gave me that grin from this morning.

"Anyway! Now that we're alone, how about that scoop with this Peri guy!" Mirari formed both of her fists.

"Huh? Well, we both entered the selection..." I began saying.

"Mm-hmm!" Mirari nodded like crazy.

"... And then I got a proposal..." I continued, raising two fingers.

"OOOHHH!!!!" Mirari's eyes sparkled.

"... By a mohawk guy that was really interested in my body for some strange reason..." I completed the second half of my sentence.

"Huh?" Mirari looked dumbfounded.

"And then Peri fought him, I went to the bathroom, I fought a decent noble warrior and then here we are!" I raised both of my hands in the air.

Slam!

Mirari slammed her face on the table.

"M-Mirari!?" I panicked.

***

I wrapped Mirari's forehead, which had burst open due to her slamming it hard on the table. Amissus was holding on to the first aid while I was doing so.

"Bad little sister. You nearly caused my heart to stop." Amissus said; her expression showed a hint of anger yet worry.

"Who cares about my head! I can't believe this woman still hasn't got the foggiest idea how great she got it!" Mirari pointed at me in frustration.

"Huh?!... Why is that?" I sweated.

"..." Mirari narrowed her eyes at me. She wanted to say something but decided to shake her head and fold her arms. "... Forget it. I knew you and Peri wouldn't be moving anywhere anytime soon."

"On the contrary, little sister. Those two are tied like a knot. This afternoon, Mistress Tristis was hogging Peri all by herself during the carriage ride." Amissus explained.

"Really?! Why did you leave that part out?!" Mirari raised her brows at me.

"Because your older sister thinks Peri and I were a thing." I shrugged.

"And they wanted to be steamy too if I didn't interrupt them, little sister." Amissus blew some steam out of her nose.

"... Okay, I know that part is a lie." Mirari sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "However, that was a decent report from you, Tristis. I shall accept that as a token for the horses' debt."

Mirari flicked open her mirror. "I'll let the head of Wizz Inc. know that I'll be paying both of our bills for the horses and not to track you down."

"I wasn't going to run away, though..." I commented softly.

"Excuse me. I need to get back to work." Amissus bowed to us and quietly walked off to the castle.

Once it was clear that Amissus had truly gone inside, Mirari smiled at me.

"Anyways, my sister and I had a rough past, but that's not something for you to worry about!" Mirari rested her head on her palms. "But I would like to thank you for worrying about us! I knew you were a good person the minute I laid my eyes on you!"

"Sounds like a confession!" I joked.

"Oof! I wasn't trying to make it seem that way!" Mirari closed her eyes with a puffy face.

I giggled once more.

But still, I wonder if I could ask her something else in the meantime?

"Hey, Mirari?"

"What's up?" Mirari blinked twice.

"Have you ever heard of the story of the cursed child?" I raised my left brow.

"Hmm?" Mirari sat up straight, hand under her chin. "Well, yes. Yes, I have."

"Anything else that comes with that story? Like, I don't know, where they come from? Or there's a trick to their curse?"

"Hmm... not that I know of?" Mirari frowned. She opened up her mirror and was swiping like crazy. "All of those roamers ended up dying ten years ago. Whenever someone tried to bring it up, the king banished them from the land. The info I got from that child is basically dead news these days."

"I see," I muttered.

Mirari closed her mirror and stared at me curiously. "Why did you ask?"

"Well..." I grumbled and looked to the side.

Should I tell her?

I mean, Mirari seemed like a nice person and all, but I wasn't really sure how she would react to the curse itself. I really didn't want to ruin our friendship, despite it being for a short while...

"Hmm?" Mirari tilted her head at me.

Maybe... maybe another time...

"Uh, I'll tell you when we meet up once more!" I waved my hands in front of her.

"Hmm..." Mirari narrowed her eyes at me suspiciously.

I laughed in an awkward way and looked away.

"... Fine." I heard Mirari sigh in defeat.

I looked, sighing in relief. Mirari stood up and put on her green hat. "However, I'm charging you DOUBLE and want what you're hiding from me."

"D-double?! U-um, I'm not in the best spot so—"

I felt Mirari's finger pressing my lips. She grinned at me. "I don't want your money! I simply want to talk to you more often! You're pretty cool to hang around!"

Mirari took her finger out of my lips and looked at the sky. "Take care of my big sister, my other big sis!"

She watched me and gave me a thumbs up. "Do that, and the information about that cursed child will be a bonus during our next chat!"

"Huh?" I stared at Mirari in surprise.

Mirari held on to the tip of her green hat. "Hehe! Don't you worry! I shall dig deep and uncover the secret origins of the cursed child from the days of old!"

Mirari lifted up her heavy bag and put it on her back.

"Tristis!" Mirari called out to me.

"What is it?" I looked confused by her suddenly calling out my name.

"..." Mirari closed her eyes and chuckled. "... You should smile more! Guys love girls with a charming smile like yours!"

With those final words, Mirari started to walk out of the garden.

Soon, Mirari went out and I was all alone once more. I looked at the tea that wasn't done. I picked up her milk tea and took a sip.

"... Oh! Tingly!"

Wow. Amissus could make a mean tea!

But what Mirari mentioned before about finding the history of the cursed child got me curious.

Was that the reason for no one speaking about me ever since we got here?

And if that was the case, then that would explain the king's sudden invitation.

So either he knew that I'm the cursed child, or he was planning something else. But thinking about it won't do me any good. I'd better finish my and Mirari's tea before bringing them inside and getting ready to rest until dinner.

Not wanting it to be cold, I took another sip of the milk tea.