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Every month, a dinner party was held at the Freezis estate for all of Keel Freezis's associates. Every time he held a party, he made sure to provide some entertainment for his guests, like magicians or other acts.
This month, Keel had told Michaela to preform her singing to his associates with a pretty dress and makeup on, and had even given her singing lessons for this date. Michaela had been promised a pay raise to do it, and Clarith helped with persuading her to agree.
The day before the party was to take place, the forest spirit noticed that Clarith seemed more anxious than usual. It wasn't a surprise to Michaela that her favourite human was gloomy most of the time, but seeing her more worried and fidgety than normal was concerning. She needed to do something about this.
Later that evening, Michaela waited in from of the fountain in the garden like always. She was sure that Clarith would come as she normally did, even if she might be a little late from having to put Keel's young daughter, Yukina Freezis, to bed. She began humming to herself as a warmup while she waited.
A few minutes later, she saw the white-haired woman come running up to their meeting place, slowing down to a stop. "Sorry, Miss Yukina had a nightmare and I had to calm her down..." the Netsuma apologized.
"It's alright, I understand. Come sit down, Clarith," Michaela invited, patting a empty space beside her on the rock she sat on. Clarith was more than happy to obey, sitting down beside her friend with a small smile.
Every day as a servant in the Freezis estate was relatively hectic, with people coming and going and lots of chores to do. Michaela and Clarith were busy all the time and rarely got to talk except for at night before they went to bed.
Finally, Michaela decided to bring up her concern. "You seem more stressed than usual, you know. Is it because of the party tomorrow?" she asked. "I know that there will be lots of work for us servants. I have to do it too after my performance, there will probably be a lot of people there."
"Yes, it's because of the party...but I'm not worried about the work we'll have to do," the Netsuma sighed. "We're in a country full of Elphes, and you saw how I was treated in Yatski Village."
Michaela lost her smile as she recalled the odd discrimination among humans. "You mean, you're scared you'll be treated harshly because you're a Netsuma?" She paused, realizing that she may have accidentally put salt in the wound while being completely correct. "Lord Keel has a lot of influence and connections, I don't think that you'd be hurt at his party."
"N-No, but what if I see someone from the village? What if I'm still hurt just because my hair is white? You won't be there to protect me-" Clarith continued spitting out her worries as she gasped for breath and tears began to fall down her cheeks.
"Clarith? Clarith, please calm down!" Michaela tried to interrupt, but to no avail. Finally, she resorted to dipping her hand in the cold fountain's water and touching the back of her friend's neck with it. "Snap out of it!"
"Eep! What in the world?!" she yelped, breaking out of her anxiety attack from the shock, and Michaela sighed in relief as she removed her hand from her neck.
"Come on, breathe. Do you think that Lord Keel will let anything happen to you? Miss Yukina and Mrs. Freezis both adore you, and discriminating against you of all people will make the family angry." Michaela wrapped her arms around Clarith in a hug. "We're not in the village anymore, you're safe here. We both are. I'm here with you too."
Michaela wasn't surprised when Clarith began quietly crying into her shoulder, she was used to her friend crying a lot. After being treated harshly for all of her life, Michaela wasn't surprised at all. She was more surprised when Clarith hadn't cried during her treatment or at her mother's funeral, but cried when she was shown pure kindness from the forest spirit.
"It's okay, it's okay..." she repeated, words she knew were comforting to the Netsuma. She was in no rush, she couldn't sense Keel lurking outside to see if she was going to practice her singing for the next day, so she could stay outside with Clarith for as long as she wanted.
Even with strange minds and customs, Michaela still wanted to know more about these wonderful creatures called 'humans.'