Warnings Left Unheeded

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Amber laughed boisterously as we walked into the main castle foyer, back from our short birthday adventure in the city below. My feet were killing me, but it had been some of the most fun I ever had. Except...

"All I did was look at that orc, I didn't think he was gonna chase us both through town!" I complained, closing the large door behind us. "Did I do something to offend him?"

I was still deeply unfamiliar with the customs in this world. Amber tried to catch her breath, but the laughter kept coming. Eventually, she settled down and smiled.

"No, no. You didn't do anything wrong. Orcs are notoriously bad at holding their liquor, and he probably thought you wanted to fight him." She guessed. "He lost interest pretty quickly when he saw your snot, and tear-stained face though."

"Yeah it's good that— Wait, are you making fun of me!? That was a tender moment, you know!" I put my hands on my hips to another fit of giggles by Amber. "I’ve gotta go wash my face..."

"Here, I'll do it." Amber said.

"You really don't have to—" Suddenly she clasped my cheeks with both her hands, and went to work wiping my tear stains away with her red nail-polished thumbs.

I was hit with a wave of embarrassment. It reminded me of something my mother would have tried to do, but not a girl my own age. And a member of the royal family at that. She told me that Poppy was bad with personal boundaries, but this girl was certainly no better.

"Spare me!" Despite my meager attempts at pulling away, she continued to wipe my face with extreme focus. “Sanctuary!”

"Stop squirming so much! What are you, a kid? There! You're already looking a lot... better." Amber's voice squeaked, and her sentence was cut short by how close our faces had become.

"...Amber, what’s wrong?" I asked as our eyes met in the dimly lit foyer. We were surrounded by silence, save for our beating hearts. Her thumbs gently stroked my cheeks as I lost all ability to think clearly.

I'm starting to feel dizzy. This reminds me of our voyage...

Back on the ship when Amber hesitated to break eye contact right after the first attack. Much like that time, her gaze remained laser-focused on mine. Not a word was shared between us as her quivering lips drew closer.

Is this what I think it is? A k-kiss?

What if I go for one, and she body slams me again? Would I even survive it?

Wouldn't a kiss complicate our mutual goals? What if she stops using my name, and calls me glasses again!?

While my mind was overloaded with questions only a total virgin would ask himself, we had grown so close that her bangs swept to the side in response to my shallow breathing. My own eyes fluttered to a close as I suddenly didn't care so much about being body slammed, or not.

Just a little bit closer, and…

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMBER!" I nearly jumped out of my skin as the lights in the foyer abruptly turned on, greeting Amber and me with a large crowd of shameless onlookers. Among them were Queen Veranda, and Princess Mavis. Poppy, Jewel, and dozens of other maids and butlers who joined them.

Perhaps most notably, standing near the back of the group was Cedrick. He must have just gotten back from his short leave of absence.

"Oh! Were we interrupting something... important?" Poppy smirked to a chorus of giggles from the other maids. The only one that didn't seem too pleased was Jewel, unsurprisingly.

As my face took on the color of a ripe tomato, I expected Amber to take it in stride. Or better than I was at the very least. However, I was surprised to find her staring holes into the floor with one hand on her chest. Her cheeks were just as flushed as my own.

Guess it wasn't just me, after all...

"I hope you two are hungry, because we've got a birthday feast waiting. Not to mention, a cake waiting to be eaten." Queen Veranda announced, clapping her hands together ceremoniously.

"Happy Birthday, Sissy! Did you have a good time in town?" Princess Mavis offered a sweet smile to her older sister. "I helped Poppy put up some of the decorations, sorry it was kind of last minute."

"You did, did you?" Amber pulled her sister into a tight embrace. "You don't have to apologize, it looks wonderful. I had a great time, thanks to Sakuta. They should still have the balloon tours going tomorrow. What would you say to a sister-only date?"

Princess Mavis seemed thrilled at that prospect. Seeing the two of them together always made me feel a little nostalgic, and I started missing Yuki. I wondered if time passed regularly on Earth while I was over here, and what she must be feeling right now.

I glanced around at the foyer which had been decorated with streamers, and balloons of all colors. There was a large banner that had the Aurelian word for twenty on it, signifying Amber's new age.

I was sort of proud that I could read even simple things like that now, thanks to my tutoring sessions with Jewel.

Speaking of which, I've got a tutoring session in just a few minutes. I totally forgot.

Cedrick made eye contact with me but quickly averted his gaze. When last I saw him, he looked completely defeated in the ballroom. Though he did find the energy to galvanize the guard force. He still had plenty to answer for from that night, but it wasn't my place to press him.

He had been a trusted advisor for years in the castle and ran most of the daily operations. Long before I even came to this world. Despite what Phantom claimed, Cedrick wouldn’t so readily betray the trust of the people here… would he?

While I mulled over that thought, the maids and Princess Mavis giggled and gossiped with Amber. Queen Veranda approached me in the hullabaloo.

"Splendid job keeping her busy today while we set this up, dear. I haven't seen Amber look this happy in quite some time." Queen Veranda whispered in my ear. "Will you be joining us for dinner?"

"I wish I could, but I promised Jewel I would take my studies more seriously. Something about me being useless in the kitchen if I can't read labels." I laughed sheepishly. I was also full to the brim with sweets already, but I left that part out.

"Sorry to interrupt, my lady. I've prepared a special blend of tea for you to try. Princess Mavis already told me it was to die for." Cedrick came walking up with a platter carrying a tea set.

"Of course, Cedrick! Did you offer some to Amber?" Queen Veranda asked. "She loves a good cup of tea, you know."

"I did offer her some, but... she didn't appear to be thirsty," Cedrick noted with a sharp exhale. "Oh, how rude of me. It's nice to see you again, Sakuta. A late congratulations on your engagement to the Princess. I trust you've both been keeping well?"

"Um, yeah... we have. Thanks. I heard you went home to see your family. Where did you say you were from again?" I asked Cedrick, shifting around a bit awkwardly.

"I didn't, but it's all settled now. I was dealing with a bit of a personal quarry there, but it was a refreshing retreat all the same." Cedrick smiled lightly. "By the way, your bravery during the ball did not go unnoticed. I offer my humble thanks for saving her majesty, Queen Veranda. I only wish I had helped more."

"You're much too hard on yourself, Cedrick." Queen Veranda reassured him.

"Yeah. Believe me, it was a full team effort. I'm just glad it turned out alright for the most part." I replied. "Now if you'll both excuse me, I'm meeting Jewel in the library for a spell. I don't want remedial lessons..."

I left the foyer as the birthday party was just beginning. I still had some time before I agreed to meet in the library, so I walked in the direction of my room in the servants' wing. A man in a white tailcoat stood in front of my door, preparing to knock.

"Count, to what do I owe the honor of such a late visit?" My eye twitched as I addressed Count Charles Cleishay. "Shouldn't you be home at your mansion?"

"Yamada Sakuta... Shall we drop the formalities and get down to business? I'm not here on a social call. It is a matter of the utmost importance." The Count said. "It will just take a few minutes. In fact, we can speak freely right here. I've come to give you a warning."

"A warning?" I scoffed.

"I want you to leave the castle as quickly as you can, and never return." He declared.

Leave... the castle?

.....................

"...Can you run that one by me again? It's almost as if I just heard you tell me to leave the castle, and Amber behind!" I nearly shouted at the absurdity of his demand. He put his hand up to speak.

"I know it may come as a shock for you to learn this, but I've been well aware that your engagement is a farce from the very beginning." The Count said. "I tailed you two after our first meeting, and overheard everything."

“You… knew…” I laughed to myself. “Why not make a fuss during the ball then? Weren’t you after Amber’s hand as well?”

"I had no reason to expose your secret, and I still will not. If anything, I find your arrangement rather interesting." He smirked briefly but then put a serious look back on his face. "But that being said, things have taken a turn for the worse behind the scenes of this monarchy. Your involvement has caused an uproar in many circles around the castle.”

“An uproar?” I asked.

“Indeed. Unfortunately, due to Cedrick’s carelessness, it is now a well-known fact that you are not of this world.” The Count explained. “Your relationship with the princess, fake or not, will never be accepted by the populace as it currently stands.”

It was just like Poppy described with the previous Engagement Ball, and the aftermath with Amber’s parents. I never set out to make waves, but it seems like Amber and I had done just that.

“You have no connection here beyond your agreement. Your only goal is to get home, yes?" Count Cleishay threw a large sack of money in my direction. Unlike the one given to me by Queen Veranda, this one was filled entirely with gold coins.

"What… is this?" I stood in pure shock.

"A small fortune, where most commoners are concerned," he replied. "Use that money to book travel to the demon capital on your own. Find a teacher that can help you hone your skills."

Cleishay seemed desperate to get me out of the way for some reason, but why?

"I'm sure you know it, but there's a rat in the castle. Your presence here has made you a target of theirs. Leave before it's too late. Your very life could be at risk."

"So you want me to leave, and tell Amber what, exactly? How do I know you're not just saying all this so you can become king, huh?" I started getting a bit upset. "If you know there's a rat, it's because you share the same den? Isn't that right?"

The Count's conflicted expression told me that I was right on the money.

"This isn't so that I can become king, although I haven't given up on moving up in some capacity just yet..." He sighed. "Please, just be reasonable about this! I'm giving you a chance to get out of here and preserve your life. What reason do you have to stay!?"

I can tell his words are genuine, but he's wrong about me not having a reason to stay. I could never just leave Amber behind without a word.

"You're wrong, and I'm not the only one who's been living a farce, Cleishay. I know you're really not a bad guy. You wouldn't be here if you were." I smiled. "But Amber and I made a pact together, and I'm not about to throw it all away in fear. She could be in danger too."

"So you would forfeit your life for a girl you've known for a month? What about your family!?" He shouted, but then composed himself once again. "Do they mean nothing to you?"

"Even if I made it home… I could never face my family, knowing that I let everyone I ever knew here down. Clei—" I paused for a moment. "Charles. If there's something you can do, please do it. But I'm not leaving at the first sign of trouble."

I tossed him back the money, turning my back to him.

"You may come to regret those words," he warned one final time. His voice faltered. "You absolute fool..."

"Maybe, but at least I can trust the people behind me. I don't want to be your enemy either, so tell me... Are you our enemy?" I asked.

When I was met with silence, I simply nodded my head. I continued walking towards the library, my study session with Jewel was about to begin.

11.2

The conversation with Charles was still fresh on my mind as I went through the motions during my study session with Jewel.

"’Don't believe in handouts’, my ass! You don't just hand someone that much money, and tell them to get lost. Not if you intend on getting it back." I muttered in a whisper. “What was he thinking?”

"Sakuta?"

I wish he'd be more consistent personality-wise. I can hardly get a read on him most of the time. He's either the scummiest of the scum or a stand-up gentleman.

There was hardly any middle ground to be had as far as Count Cleishay was concerned.

"Hey, Sakuta?"

It was as if his feelings, and actions were in direct conflict with one another. As much as I wanted to trust him, it felt like someone else was really in control. I wonder what it would take to—

"SAKUTA! Are you even listening to me!?" Jewel finally got my attention. " You should pay more attention instead of talking to yourself. I really don't want to add lunatic to a list that already includes masochist and pervert."

"Eh?" I looked up to see her scowl.

"Don't 'eh' me. I left the party early for this, you know! Pon-Pon was trying to fit a whole cake in his chubby cheeks. It was so ador—ahem—in any case..." She sure does love that little guy. "You've been doing passable work on your reading exams lately, but you're back to being your useless self today. Has something got you distracted all of a sudden?"

That's a pretty loaded question, and I'm not sure if I should openly discuss the answer with anyone just yet.

It wasn't that I didn't trust Jewel, but if what Charles told me was true I was better off sharing that information with someone in a position of power in the castle. Like Queen Veranda, or Amber. Sharing it with anyone else might just put them in harm's way. Even so...

The weight of keeping something so huge to myself is doing a number on me. Could I afford to ignore it if forces were moving behind the scenes against Amber and me?

"The dumb look on your face gives you away. You think you can't tell me, because I'm just some maid. Isn't that right?" Jewel read me like the books sitting in front of us. She had a quick filter for nonsense that I respected. "If you don't want to say anything, that's fine. But keeping things to yourself is the quickest way to becoming truly useless. You can't help Amber that way, or yourself."

Damn it, she's right. Sitting on potentially game-changing information is the dumbest thing I could possibly do. I would just have to trust in anyone I decide to tell.

"Nothing ever gets by you, or Amber for that matter... If I tell you something, can you promise not to tell anyone that isn't Poppy or the royal family?" I asked, staring her down.

"I wouldn't tell them even if I did care about what you had to say. Go on." Jewel waved her hand for me to continue. Her disregard was strangely refreshing.

"Alright, here it goes..." I sighed. "Count Cleishay met with me tonight to warn me about something big going on behind the scenes. Charles told me to leave as soon as possible, and to let things work out on their own. But..."

I looked back up at Jewel, whose blank expression told me that I should continue without waiting for a response.

“I have reason to suspect that the certain people who are moving behind the scenes to get me out of the picture… might also harm Amber and the people living here in the process,” I explained. “I’d like to avoid having that happen if possible, but I don’t know if anyone will just trust my word without solid evidence.”

"So what? Amber trusts you, right?" Jewel said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah... But what does that—?" I began.

"You're a real idiot sometimes. You talk about having no pull, and yet you've saved the royal family on multiple occasions. You're beloved by most of the staff here, and you're in line to be the damn king." Jewel looked exasperated.

"Well, none of that is wrong, but—"

"I'm not finished! Making a grand claim might be dumb without evidence, sure. But that doesn’t mean you can’t just find some. It's a tough ask for someone like you, but you just have to be smarter than they are." Jewel stood up, pointing at me. "Poppy trusts you, and Amber trusts you too. I... Anyway, you're not alone in this. So stop feeling sorry for yourself, and do something."

She sat back down, while I sat speechless in my chair. A smile that I just couldn't help crept across my face. Even though I knew she'd probably call me a pervert, her words had inspired me enough to smile so earnestly. But... not so much that I didn't feel like teasing her a bit.

"So I've been wondering... Do you and Poppy have tails underneath your maid uniforms like the other beast people I've seen, or are you just faking it?" I laid out the bait.

"What kind of random question is that!? Of course we do, you pervert!" Jewel crossed her arms in disgust. “Hmph!”

Hook line and sinker. There's the Jewel I know.

"Haha, thanks, Jewel. I mean it." I nodded with a grin.

"It's fine, jeez... Oh yeah! I forgot to mention. Queen Veranda gave me something to give to you. It's some old book that she says you might enjoy, but it needs a key to unlock..." Jewel handed me a journal with a skull-shaped padlock on the front.

That wasn't the only strange thing about it though, because the book I held in my hands...

I can totally understand this! It's in Japanese!

"Where did she find this!?" I exclaimed. "This is my native language!"

"Is it? She found it after doing a sweep of the library's back catalog. You'll have to teach me the basics sometime. I've run out of books on learning Pon-Pon, and I could use a new challenge I suppose..." Jewel put her cheek in her palm, her cat ears drooping in boredom.

"Let’s see here…" I read the front cover of the book out loud. "The Magic Journal of The Materializer, ——da Ta——."

I scratched my head in confusion.

Data? Wait, most of the name has faded... I bet there are more clues as to who the guy was inside.

Judging by the Japanese, there was a high likelihood that this mage was also from Earth. This was a huge development in my own self-discovery!

"Do you know if there's a key to unlock this thing lying around anywhere?" I asked Jewel, analyzing the book in my hand. "If I can read his thoughts, maybe I can learn more about how to use my own powers. He was apparently a pretty good mage, based on what Phantom told me."

"You're seriously taking pointers from that madman, Phantom? Suit yourself, but we don't have the key." She shrugged. "Maybe there's a clue in one of the AURELIAN books you were given."

Her not-so-subtle attempt at getting me to focus back on the lesson wasn't lost on me, and so I decided to take her advice and pick up one of the texts. One of them read: The Mage Of The Crossing, An Oral History. It seemed like as good a place as any to start. I cleared my throat and began to read painfully slow at the grade school reading level I had only recently attained.

"The appearance of the Materializers has gone back many centuries, with the first recorded sightings said to have been in the late first era. All of them originated from Earth in some form through reincarnation, or magic summoning." I mumbled through the first passage.

Classic isekai stuff, I see. Nothing about The Crossing.

"I wonder what it is about our world that draws them here." Jewel raised an eyebrow, surprising me that she was still listening in. "I heard in a fairytale once that our two worlds were highly compatible amongst the stars, and it created a direct thread across space connecting them to each other."

"A direct thread?" That was quite the theory if I had to say so myself. It made about as much sense as anything else though. “Do you believe that?”

“Wouldn’t change a thing if I did.” She replied curtly.

Crossing, crossing, wait! Here's something else...

"The power of the Materializer is the power of creation through emotion. From the largest weapon to the smallest key, anything can be materialized if the wielder imagines it." A key... That's oddly specific! "The greatest Materializer created The Crossing as a passage between worlds, and then he crossed back through to Earth… Never to be seen again."

So my predecessor just... stepped through, and left the world behind?

"You mean you had the power to create anything you wanted this whole time, and you only used it twice to create weapons? You're such a boy!" Jewel huffed.

"That changes now, because I know exactly what I want to create. With this, I'll be able to unlock the journal, and harvest all its secrets."

Full of pride, I stuck out my hand in a dramatic pose. Jewel simply rolled her eyes.

"Skeleton key, Materialize!" Per my usual method of activating the ability, I shouted.

Rather than a key appearing, a large chunk of unrefined metal warped in front of my palm, landing on the table with a cringe-inducing thud. I could swear it left a sizable dent as well.

".................PFFT–Nyahahahaha!" Jewel burst into laughter, causing my face to go completely red. "You call that a key? That's a rock! Why don't you try throwing it at the book, I'm sure that'll work out juuust fine."

"Hey, shut up! I'm doing my best here, it's never worked before now without a dramatic lead-up!" I slumped over, exasperated. "Although... I guess I could use some more refinement before I try something so specific. Maybe I'll try out another—"

I was interrupted by a loud knock on the library door. Seeing that Jewel hadn't immediately jumped up, I walked over to see who it was. Dog ears wiggled to greet me as I opened the door to see Poppy. She looked unusually frantic.

"Poppy, good evening to you. What's the matter?" I asked. Before I could receive an answer, she suddenly grabbed my wrist and started dragging me down the hall. "H-hey, wait up! Where are we going?"

"There's no time to explain, Queen Veranda has requested your presence in the throne room immediately." Poppy said with a worried look. Jewel came jogging up behind me.

"What's going on, Miss Poppy?" She took on the same worried tone as her senior. "Did something happen to Her Majesty?"

“No, that’s not it.” Poppy said. “It appears Sakuta here has been summoned personally by the parliament at the behest of the Duke of Aurelia, Marlon Cleishay.”

The Duke… of Aurelia? Charles’ father!?

Jewel and I exchanged looks. Poppy said the very thing that we had been afraid of and confirmed that things were starting to move quickly behind the scenes. Just like The Count had predicted, I appeared to be right in the middle of it all.

“It seems things are about to get pretty complicated here in the Kingdom of Aurelia...”