Episode Five

“One of the guards had been murdered by what appears to be a demon. He seemed to be out of position and seemed to have distracted by something else. Then, well, he was struck in the back by what we could only assume to be a demon.”

The two stood in silence. Owain continued as he looked for a particular piece of paperwork.

“Claw marks, I should say, so it is assumed that we’re dealing with a possibly low-level demon. As for what they’re searching for within Fayglen, we can’t be too sure of. But unfortunately, we’re not allowed to leave the quarters for our safety.”

Even through his usual smile, Helies could see that Owain didn’t like the order. It wasn’t that unusual for Owain to show his disdain for certain things but he only showed this between the three of them. Helies marveled briefly that within five years of being in Fayglen with them, they were already this close. But Owain continued. He eventually found the paperwork he had searched for and held it in his hands. From whatever it was on the actual paper, Owain’s smile completely dropped.

He placed a dark smile on his face. He didn’t seem to realize how surprising it was for both of them, even when they both took a step back.

“For now, we must be patient and if we have any particular requests from the outside, we will have to send out a grunt to do so. Do you have any requests? Because I have to make a small list of things before we start packing for our journey.”

The statement was much more ominous than he seemed to have intended but the two were still silent but now they were curious about what was on the paper that Owain slammed down. He wanted to know what made Owain’s mood sour so quickly - and it would’ve been a lot. He finally opened his eyes to show off his large purple eyes and he seemed to immediately calm down.

“N-no, sir…” Roesia responded finally once they finally got a glance at his eyes. It was clear he wasn’t mad at them but more for them - maybe for himself too. Whatever that paper said, it really riled him up and Helies could feel himself get riled up a little bit. He looked to Roesia, who was significantly shorter than him. Anytime she showed her fear around them, he could really see how small she was compared to whatever it was in front of her.

“Helies, do you have anything that you need or want? I don’t know how long we’re stuck in here. I suppose we would have to wait for a dove or bird for any word on that.”

Helies shook his head. He was usually content to stay in the quarters when he was able to leave, but now that he was restricted, he didn’t like the idea of staying inside and doing what he usually did. However, he really didn’t need anything bad - that wasn’t already stolen from his room that he wouldn’t exactly miss. Based on his tone alone, it probably would’ve been more unwise to ask anything.

“No, sir,” Helies decided to go with a polite tone. Owain tends to be unpredictable whenever he’s angry like this. Whatever was on the paper, it seemed to have completely darkened his mood.

“Our meals will be delivered to us in our rooms. You two are dismissed.”

Owain remained seated and had his attention brought back to the piece of paper that angered him earlier and had him start scribbling down. He seemed to ignore the other two’s existence from then on. Both Roesia and Helies immediately turned around and started to leave the room.

Crestfallen, he didn’t meet Roesia’s gaze at all - she seemed to avoid giving him eye contact. She seemed less scared and more worried about Owain while Helies was more surprised. The two didn’t say anything else in the office - it might’ve made the mood within the office worse than it already was. Once they left, they seemed to be going a similar way until she looked up at him and he had trouble discerning an emotion from her features.

“Meet me out here after breakfast.” Roesia finally said before she walked away from him.

.x.

Her brother did not say a word when he saw her. She was supposed to have been there the night before, sure, but she wasn’t. Apparently, the servants came to Jacques after they had finished their errands for the night, and mentioned that Lady Sabrina would be dining with the Shields - which was a correct assumption. Sabrina was already irritated they did that - she gave them enough gold coins to stay at any hotel or inn of their choosing but they chose to stay at his place.

And then, her missing hat. Jacques never questioned it and kept every word to himself - which made Sabrina feel even more guilty. She used the excuse that she was drunk to him, but he still didn’t say anything. He continued to act like that - as nothing happened and it was another day or so where Sabrina and the servants visited for something or other. She had washed up and each moment of silence only sink further into her guilt. She really had nothing to feel guilty about; but, especially since she’s a woman of status, maybe staying the night at the officers’ quarters wasn’t such a good idea. If she had been the witch without status, maybe it wouldn’t have been so scandalous.

She knew Jacques wouldn’t send a bird behind her back. As they grew up together, he was used to Sabrina’s constant rebellious streak and was often the audience of her punishment. He wouldn’t do or say anything against their authority but what Sabrina once mistook as silenced sympathy was actually silenced judgment from him. He and her other younger brother Pierre did their best not to associate themselves with her outside of their name.

Honestly, it was a reason why she didn’t want to come here. As Lady Bellerose, as Evia’s sister, as her personal assistant, she had no right to deviate from her role. And she still did. Anger quickly bubbled over her guilt but there was a battle within her heart because of her younger brother’s quiet judgment.

When Sabrina had finished getting dressed after her bath, she went down to the dining room to find the maid from the day before. Sabrina couldn’t help but be bitter towards her. Maybe she truly didn’t understand the situation between the family, truly, because she had an innocent glint about her. Or maybe not, it’s hard to discern in her servants if they knew and understood or not. It is possible that she just didn’t know. However, it didn’t stop her feelings from bubbling more towards anger. If she had just stayed at the hotel as she told her to…

“Lady Sabrina,” the maid said as she stood up to make room for her even though there was plenty of room for her to sit. “I-I didn’t tell Master Jacques about you going with the Shields last night…” It seemed the maid had read her mind but Sabrina couldn’t help but shrug it off. It didn’t matter - even if it wasn’t the maid who told him, he probably would’ve figured it out anyway due to the fact she came to his house after the maid and, she assumed, the driver.

Sabrina waved it off and the maid seemed to be apologetic and rushed out to the kitchen. Without Sabrina having to wait too long, the maid came out with a small breakfast that’s unlike her brother’s - while his usual meal would include mostly meats, this maid’s meal was more vegetables and fruits and eggs. Even though she didn’t have a hangover, she did appreciate the kind gesture.

This helped settle Sabrina’s emotions a tiny bit but it would never completely clear out for as long as she’s in the house.

She gave the maid a small smile, “Thank you. Ah, sorry, I never quite got your name.”

The maid seemed surprised that a woman of status like Sabrina acknowledged her that she stuttered her name and through it, Sabrina picked up her name as “Mireabelle” which isn’t as unusual as hers and her other family’s names. However, it’s apparent to her that Mireabelle was a Hollow, that is, those without magic like her brothers.

“You may sit down here. Don’t tell Jacques this either but in this house, in this town, we are equals.”

Mireabelle continued to stutter and sat down across from Sabrina and still avoided her gaze. Sabrina gave up and ate, which wasn’t too surprising her breakfast was delicious. The two sat in silence when Sabrina started to wonder where her brother was. Most likely, he had left early for his work, and that Pierre might’ve been traveling, so at least she could leave the house if she wanted to.

But it was best not to. For now, she was trapped and she was relieved that Pierre wasn’t around either. If he had stayed around and had seen her that morning, he would’ve definitely sent a bird to Mother about a supposed tryst the night before. That’s the only solace that she received.

After they had finished the meal, Sabrina retired to her room while Mireabelle told her that she was around the house, cleaning up. She made a joke about two bachelors living together without a woman’s touch and Sabrina just politely laughed.

Then she decided to send a sparrow. She knew she had just seen them merely hours before but she still felt bad about him getting into trouble with Lady Roesia. And then, there was the matter of the dead guard. A demon in Fayglen was something that Sabrina couldn’t just think about.

.x.

The breakfast was as tasteless as any meal out on the field. He had to force it down because he had gotten so used to the tasty meals around Fayglen. It reminded him of what happened the last time he was out and he didn’t want anyone to worry about him.

However, he knew that if he didn’t finish it, it would probably bring unwanted attention to him. The death of the guard the night before didn’t help either. He tried to piece together from any unusual shadows he saw with Sabrina but came up empty. The only thing unusual was how the guard died after they had left. Did the demon follow them? Did they unintentionally leave the door open or something to allow that?

But then, the demon would’ve come through Summer’s Wall somehow and with the majority of the grunts, and possibly more than enough skilled wizards there, how could it have gotten through? These thoughts plagued him, especially when he tried to wolf down the bland food. There had to have been a reason why the guard died after they were there rather than before. Then again, it would’ve been really hard to explain why he, an officer of the Shields, had brought the sister of the future country’s savior there as well.

He could feel himself shaking from fear - why would he be so fearful? They had done nothing wrong, technically, but being at the wrong place and the wrong time made him feel even worse.

Eventually, he realized that it was almost time to meet Roesia so he decided to try to meet her earlier. Even though it was quite a challenge, he had just enough left over that most people would be satisfied to take back instead of questioning him.

He hated it when he was nervous like this. Helies could barely eat but there were a lot of questions that distracted him from everything but maybe Roesia could help her.

Once he made it to the hallway, and soon to the meeting spot, he saw that Roesia had already beat him to the punch. She always had a straight posture but she also seemed a bit scared herself. Even though she had proven not just to the higher-ups, but to Helies and Owain as well, that she could handle her own, there was something different about her fear that he couldn’t shake.

“Roesia,” Helies breathed out when he reached closer to her. She turned around and it seemed that she was a lot calmer than he thought her to be. He then felt a bit silly for feeling what he did.

“Finally. I’m surprised it took you this long to eat. Usually, you inhale your food.” She tried to put a light spin on it but her face was just as serious as it usually was. Helies couldn’t respond to it so Roesia changed the subject. “You need to tell me all that you know about last night. What happened last night with Lady Sabrina?”

Helies sighed. He explained to her that they wanted to go to the transport house in order to find the truth about the missing items - that was it. It was true that they saw the guard but he was absolutely alive when they left in a hurry. As a matter of fact, Helies even showed Roesia the exact magic that he uses and tried his best to explain that Sabrina used a flash spell to distract him - which, again, left him alive.

“Lady Sabrina knows a flash spell? I’m… surprised her mother allowed that.”

Helies shook his head. “I don’t believe they know. I wouldn’t dare repeat this.”

“I’m insulted that you would think I would.”

Helies sighed and leaned against the doorframe. “Is that all you wanted to talk to me about? Because we could’ve met somewhere else, somewhere more comfortable, to talk about this.”

“Look, I’m worried about Ser Owain… I want to know what’s going on with the investigation.”

Helies let out a surprised chuckle. “Lady Roesia? Wanting to break protocol? Are you a demon? Because the Roesia I know wouldn’t even dare to even consider breaking any rules!”

Roesia crossed her arms as well. “There has to be a reason why we were ordered to stay in the quarters. Maybe if we talk to Ser Owain now, he would tell us why.”

“He won’t, you know that.”

“We haven’t tried.”

“What makes you think it’ll work this time? He wouldn’t tell us about the fact that Sabrin--”

“That’s Lady Sabrina.” Helies waved it off and continued.

“He didn’t even tell us that Sabrina was even arriving yesterday. It’s a really bad habit of his. Maybe you’re right, maybe we should just sneak in. Fuck the rules, right?”

Roesia’s face became flushed at the comments he made in his short statement but visibly tried to calm herself down and responded.

“N-NO. That’s not what I’m saying! I’m saying we need to talk to Ser Owain about this! This is something he would definitely talk to us! Plus you need to tell him about what happened last night! Clear up your name! If that paper had said they knew that you were there, you could at least give him your side of the story so he can protect you! Helies, you don’t think, do you?”

She tried not to get too excited as the two saw some shadows of the grunts come and go - most likely, doing their rounds. Helies did think about telling Owain about it, and Roesia could be right about it, but he really didn’t want to bring Sabrina into it. Or at least, bring her in further in this investigation.

“If you’re worried about bringing in Lady Sabrina further into it, you don’t have to worry about it because I’m sure Ser Owain would understand but you need to communicate to him! Helies, I don’t like this any more than you do and we may have to fight a demon here in Fayglen, even if they are a low leveled one, we have to trust one another!

“Ser Owain will protect you, I promise you that. If you want to protect Lady Sabrina too, you must tell him. It’s really obvious how you feel about her to us so you really need to help her by helping yourself. I know we had that conversation this morning about our roles but... “

“Okay, okay, I will talk to him.”

“And let me join in the conversation. We’re all in this together.”

“What conversation? Of course, we’re in this together; we’re the chosen ones to protect Lady Evia when she arrives back at her estate, after all.”

The additional voice surprised both of them and they turned around to see Owain with his usual smile, but unusually calmer than he was earlier.

To Be Continued...