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“Angelica,” Lady Rozemyne said gravely. “Ferdinand and I will return by seventh bell. Until that time, tell anyone who asks that we are researching new plant varieties. Do you understand?”
I blinked at her. “You are making new plants. I understand.” I straightened, placing my hand on Stenluke. No matter what, I would see this duty through. Lady Rozemyne sighed and nodded.
“Very well. Close enough.” She vanished into her hidden room in the library with Lord Ferdinand on her heels, just as Cornelius rounded the corner, closely followed by Eckhart.
“Angelica!! Where are they? Don’t tell me you let them both into Rozemyne’s hidden room!?” Cornelius ran up to me, looking distressed, but Eckhart stopped him from grabbing the room’s communication stone.
“Cornelius, what Lord Ferdinand deems necessary for our sister is none of our concern. I’m sure they will be out shortly.” Eckhart looked at me expectantly and I snapped to attention.
“They will return by seventh bell. Lady Rozemyne is making new plants,” I said promptly. Cornelius stared at me with an incredulous expression, before making another lunge for the communication stone. I had no idea why he seemed so distressed. Perhaps he wished to save Lady Rozemyne from being forced to study by Lord Ferdinand. Yes, that would certainly make sense, I thought to myself. Alas, it seemed that Lady Rozemyne did not wish to be saved, so I reluctantly drew Stenluke and helped Eckhart subdue Cornelius.
After Cornelius was thoroughly tied up and glaring at us, Eckhart and I resumed our positions at the door. Just as I was enjoying thinking of absolutely nothing, Eckhart began to speak. The second time he said something, I realized he was trying to talk with me.
“Ahem. Angelica. Now that our Starbinding is complete, I wondered if you wished to discuss moving into our new villa. I believe the last shipment of furniture should be arriving next week.”
I stared back at him, wondering why he was asking me. Finally I ventured an answer. “I am perfectly happy to move in whenever you wish. Although I am worried about moving too far from the knight training grounds.” Right now I was living in the female knights barrack, and Eckhart in the male knights barrack. This was an excellent arrangement, since we could meet on the training grounds every morning before breakfast to practice.
“Ah, yes of course. I believe our grounds include a large private training ground, so you needn’t worry our morning practice will be disturbed,” Eckhart said, nodding.
A private training ground?!? I turned to Eckhart, seizing his shoulders. “Let’s move in immediately! I can take my bedroll if needed!”
Eckhart gave me a lukewarm look, gently prying my hands from his shoulders. “Err, my apologies, Angelica. We really do need a few more weeks to settle everything in. I was, ah, more concerned with how you would like our rooms to be arranged.” He gave me an expectant look, as if this was a secret message I was supposed to understand.
As the silence stretched on to an uncomfortable degree, Cornelius began making odd gestures like he was banging his head against the wall. I’d always thought that he was a bit strange. Finally, I gave Eckhart a blank smile. “Whatever you wish is fine?” I said, tilting my head to make it a question.
He sighed again, covering his face with one hand. When he turned back to me, his smile was back in full force. “Understood. I’m sorry I asked.”
I nodded, resuming my guard position in front of the door. Cornelius was muttering something under his breath about not wanting to hear us discuss our bedroom arrangements. How strange. It had been a very short conversation, hardly long enough to distract from our guarding duty.
The rest of the evening passed unremarkably. Unfortunately, when Lieseleta arrived near seventh bell, Cornelius had a furious whispered conversation with her. When they separated, she gave me an exasperated look. I had no idea why she was angry with me, but I did know that look meant she would be giving me quite a lecture tonight after Lady Rozemyne fell asleep.
The Lady in question emerged from her hidden room after Lieseleta activated the communication stone for the third time. She and Lord Ferdinand were quite flushed and rumpled and I wondered if they had been training in the hidden room. How lucky to have such mana reserves to create an entire training hall! I resolved to compress harder to achieve this feat as well.
Lieseleta stumbled through a quite incomprehensible conversation that night about wifely duties and communicating clearly with Eckhart. I did not understand why she was so concerned with that. Eckhart and I trained beautifully together every day. The dance of our blades was far more revealing than mere conversation.
It seemed Lady Rozemyne and Lord Ferdinand had the same idea, because a few days later they brought Eckhart and me on what my Lady dubbed a “Secret Beach Vacation.”
“Eckhart, with me. Rozemyne, you take care of Angelica.” Lord Ferdinand beckoned my fellow knight a few steps away, reaching for something at his belt.
“Angelica…” Rozemyne tilted her head to look at me, finger pressed against her lips. “How would you like the job of personally testing my combat shumils?”
“Lady Rozemyne!” I stepped forward, gripping Stenluke in excitement. “Is there a new model you wish to test? I would like nothing more! Please give me the job, milady!”
Her eyes glimmered in the morning sunlight. “Ferdinand’s latest creations are fearsome indeed. But of course they are absolutely Top Secret, you know. As is everything Ferdinand and I do together.”
“Of course, Lady Rozemyne. I won't tell a single person, no matter what!” I had seen what the strange dolls Lady Rozemyne had created could do in the battle in Ehrenfest. Now that she had joined forces with the Lord of Evil, I was ecstatic to experience the results.
“Excellent! As a reminder, Angelica, absolutely everything today must be kept entirely secret, even from Lieseleta and my other retainers. Ehehe.” Lady Rozemyne turned a slightly concerning shade of red, but Lord Ferdinand made his way over to do a health check, and in no time at all, we set off.
Half a bell's flight from the city along the coast brought us to a small cove tucked into a bluff. Rozemyne unloaded her highbeast with a large variety of materials while Eckhart and I swept the area and assumed our guard. They hadn't brought a single attendant for some reason, so Lord Ferdinand was personally constructing some kind of large cloth tent that Lady Rozemyne called a “beach canopy.”
When they finished setting up, Lord Ferdinand directed myself and Eckhart to guard further out, near the edges of the cove, while the shumil guards stayed close. They must be doing some very secret testing on them.
The rest of the afternoon passed peacefully. There were some little shrieks from Lady Rozemyne's direction, but after they both shooed me away again, I learned to ignore them. Lady Rozemyne seemed to be having a great deal of fun training with Lord Ferdinand and the shumils. I gave Eckhart a longing look and a soft sigh. Hopefully Lady Rozemyne will let me train with them soon. Eckhart spent the rest of the trip on the far end of the cove and barely gave me another glance for some reason.
That night, after a rather pink-skinned Lady Rozemyne had been tucked into bed, Cornelius cornered me by the door when he came to take over the shift.
“Where exactly did Rozemyne and Lord Ferdinand disappear off to today, Angelica!? It's barely been a season since she tied up her hair and already they're-” He groaned, rubbing his forehead. “Just tell me so I can try to head off future incidents.”
“Oh… I'm afraid I can't do that, Cornelius.” I laid a hand on my cheek. “For the sake of the shumils, you see.” Too late, I remembered that mentions of the new shumils were absolutely “Top Secret.” Nooooo Lady Rozemyne I promise I can still–
“What's this about shumils, Angelica?” Lieseleta stepped out of Lady Rozemyne's room, gently shutting the door behind her. “Have you come around to admiring their exquisite adorableness? Are you perhaps interested in visiting mine? Lady Rozemyne gifted me the most beautiful fabric for these little bows, you see…”
Lieseleta took me by the hand and began dragging me back towards her rooms. I cast a glance back at Cornelius, still glaring at me suspiciously.
“I… would love to visit your shumils, dear sister…” I said miserably. There was nothing I could do but play along.
See, Lady Rozemyne? Your secrets are still safe with me… I sighed. Hopefully she was enjoying the training with Lord Ferdinand.
I couldn't wait to test myself against the new battle shumils. Though maybe I would do it out of Lieseleta’s sight.