Chapter 70: A cup of poison for Earhart. (3)

"Are you planning on following me the entire way? I’m sure your brothers miss you."

Gabriel cast an askance glance at Teresa, who was still following him despite the fact that they had already passed her room. This would be the longest she had ever been away from her three brothers so they would inevitably miss each other.

"You’re going to enter your room and unpack your luggage with your hands like that? It’ll just be a few more minutes at most, it won’t make much of a difference."

Teresa gestured briefly towards Gabriel’s bandaged hands. The cast covering them would make it annoying enough just to open the door to his room, his luggage would only be worse. Gabriel naturally knew his own state better than anyone else, but he also knew that Teresa understood his capabilities better than most others. Hence, her response was met with a slight rise of his eyebrows.

"Alright, I’ll have to accept your help then."

She flashed him a small smile in response, clearly aware that he had already sniffed her intentions out. Well, then again, she hadn’t really been trying to hide them to begin with. They swiftly reached his room, Teresa pushing open the door before closing it behind them again.

The shadow cast by Gabriel extended for a brief moment, an eye floating to the surface and bobbing about for a few seconds before blinking and sinking back down. Gabriel knew what this meant so he plopped down on the bed, Nergal bubbling up onto his shoulder so that the two could lean against each other.

"Alright, what do you want to say?"

He didn’t beat around the bush, neither of them were the types to do so. While he looked at Teresa, his shadow grew a little and Nergal started to pluck out items from within it. The luggage that Teresa had offered to ‘help’ with.

"So… What happens now?"

Teresa sat down on one of the chairs in the room, chewing on her words for a moment before she questioned. There was no telling where the estate might have ears if they just talked about it in the halls. But Gabriel’s room was safe, there was no way he’d rest in a place where he could be spied upon.

"Now? Be more specific."

Of course he asked for specifications, the question she threw at him was just far too broad. A lot of things could, and would, start happening now, trying to list them all while answering them individually would just be tedious.

"Right. What will you be doing from now on?"

She looked straight at him as she rephrased her question, observing his eyes as if she wanted to catch a glimpse of even the smallest traces. But she was only met with a tilt of his head.

"From now? Well, looking at the time it should be about time for Alice to head to the Academy so I’ll probably follow as her servant. But if you’re asking for more concrete answers then I’m planning six assassinations, two in the west and four a bit further down south. Can’t let the Yverial empire and the Kasarias Kingdom get too cocky."

The Academy. For the commoners that managed to get in it was a place of learning and growth, for the nobles that entered it was more about building connections with others for the future. Alice would be viewed higher than ever before now so it was inevitable that she would get enrolled in the Academy. If the imperial family or her own family didn’t do it then Gabriel would be the one to do so.

"…Yeah, I guess all change starts slowly…"

Teresa muttered somewhat after hearing Gabriel’s answer. She thought that things would have progressed further after she saw some change in him after their encounter with the claw, but it seemed as if it wasn’t as far along as she originally expected. Oh well, this just meant that she would have to temporarily borrow Alice’s role for once.

"Gabriel, you just revealed a strong spirit and two affinities belonging to the Divine Star. Lady Alice was granted a noble title just because she revealed two strong spirits. You will receive a noble title now, probably very soon at that. Once that happens, you will no longer be servant Gabriel, you’ll be Gabriel the noble, with a last name and everything. At that time, do you really think you can follow Lady Alice around as you have so far?"

Gabriel would become a noble of the Earhart Empire now, and it wouldn’t just be a Baron, probably not just a Viscount either. And sure, noble ladies oftentimes had ladies-in-waiting or aides that were nobles. But no nobles had another noble stick with them as closely as Alice and Gabriel stuck together.

"…"

Gabriel didn’t have a response. True, he hadn’t considered that until now. Once he received his title and chose a last name for himself he would be a noble, he may even receive a plot of land he would have to manage. He wouldn’t be able to follow Alice as he did anymore, he wouldn’t be able to act as her knight and butler. Doing so would go against all the conventions of the empire and give the other nobles far too much fuel to use against Alice. If the title he received was too big then they might even start to spread rumours that she was collecting nobles to form her own faction before a coup.

"…"

His brows furrowed. This… was problematic. To leave Alice’s side at this stage? Hmm… He didn’t feel comfortable with that thought, it filled him with a grating sensation. He sank into his thoughts, not even seeing Teresa’s lips curl upwards as she stood up and made her way to the door.

"Think about it, what you’re going to do from now. Whether or not you’ll reject the noble title to let things remain as they are or if you need to get a new identity to remain by Lady Alice’s side."

Her words were punctuated by the soft click of the door closing, leaving Gabriel behind to stew in his own thoughts while Nergal kept pulling items out of his shadow.

————

"Have a seat, Alice, we saved one for you."

Marion waved a hand to gesture towards the empty seat that was two chairs away from her. Her curled blue hair was tied up neatly behind her, two golden eyes looking straight at Alice. The three people already sitting at the table had their plates filled with a delicate fish dish, a bit of steam still rising from it. There was naturally also food placed by the seat that Marion gestured towards, every dish belonging to the course they were currently eating was placed there.

A soup that was probably cold by now, a dish with what looked like patê, a dish with tartar, a dish with duck, a dish with beef, and finally the fish dish that the others were eating. They had probably brought out all the dishes in order and just not bothered to clean them away while cleaning the food of everyone else. Alice would come sooner or later, she would surely eat it even if it was cold, it was luxurious food after all.

Alice could feel their gazes on her. Francis, Marion, they were looking straight at her. As for the duke… He was calmly eating, his gaze not even rising from the plate to greet her. She flashed them a smile, gentle and sweet, as she stepped forward.

"Thank you for the consideration…"

She grabbed hold of one of the chairs as she spoke, a loud scraping sound cutting through the air as she dragged it across the floor. She placed it at the empty end of the table, or the head if you looked at it from a different angle, and sat down.

"But I think I prefer this seat here. I feel more comfortable with the usual distance between us, I hope you’ll understand and forgive me. Ah, Barret, could I trouble you to bring the food down here for me?"

Be polite, be kind, and never stop smiling. She had learned well from Gabriel. Barret, who had entered the dining hall after her, cast a look towards the duke. But seeing as he wasn’t reacting he decided to carry out the request and had a maid move the dishes, all but the fish cold by now, down to Alice. As the food was brought over, she could see Francis furrow his brows.

"We’re in the dining hall, sharing a nice meal as a family. Do you not own anything cleaner you could change into for the occasion?"

He couldn’t comment on the seat she took because their father hadn’t said anything, but the calm confidence she showed didn’t sit quite right with him. It didn’t feel like the Alice he was used to, the one who would quietly cower and accept the situation as it was presented. Thus, he had to comment on something just to beat her down. But Alice’s smile didn’t falter in the slightest.

"I would have loved to change into something cleaner, I feel uncomfortably sticky after having been on the road for so long. But Barret came to pick me up and guide me with such haste that I feared you needed me for something extraordinarily important, thus I chose to forego the lengthy cleaning and changing process. But if you think that Barret was too hasty then I can leave and come back later, freshly bathed and changed."

She tasted the soup as she responded. Cold pumpkin, now so thick it was almost glue. She ate it all, forced it down her throat until the plate was clean and pushed aside.

"Francis De Vritara, don’t bring up pointless things."

Marion spoke up again as Alice finished the soup, chastising Francis with a stern expression. He swept back his short dark blue hair and corrected his glasses, swallowing down any words of annoyance before they could even think about slipping out.

"Naturally. Please proceed as you wish, Marion."

Alice ignored the two as they spoke with each other, finishing off the patê that had been served on some toast. The bread was dry and the patê had started to form a bit of skin, the compote it was served with had become like syrup now that it had cooled down. Still, she finished it all as Marion spoke up again.

"Alice De Vritara, I trust that you know why we have called you here?"

Marion twined her fingers and rested her chin on them, her elbows placed on the table as she looked straight at Alice. As for Alice, she maintained a smile as she acted confused, starting on the tartar dish.

"Is it not just to share a nice meal? I thought that was why you were so kind as to save all the dishes for me."

The tartar was cold, but at least this was a dish that was supposed to be served cold. The caviar was starting to harden and the dressing was starting to slide off of the meat because of how long it had been sitting here. But still, Alice forced down bite after bite.

"Your servant, did you know about his abilities?"

Marion decided not to play around with Alice and go straight for the main subject, the servant they had heard so much about recently. As for the answer she got…

"Gabriel."

Alice didn’t even look up from her plate as she spoke, almost speaking up while Marion was still talking.

"Pardon?"

Naturally, such a swift and short answer left Marion somewhat perplexed, her head tilting slightly. Alice raised her gaze so that the two could lock eyes, smiling calmly.

"His name is Gabriel, not servant."

Marion’s brow twitched slightly but she didn’t allow her gaze to waver and simply nodded to keep going.

"Very well. Did you know about his abilities in advance?"

Two affinities on the Divine Star… This alone was enough to rock the entire empire. And such a being had been living under their roof for several years already, they needed to know if it was something recently discovered or not. But would Alice give them the answer they wanted?

"Do you know what time it was when Earhart the 1st decided to found this empire?"

Marion’s head tilted unconsciously when she heard Alice’s question, an answer spilling from her lips with just as little thought.

"No?"

The Earhart empire was exceedingly old, by this day even the founding date they celebrated wasn’t necessarily the correct one due to the deterioration of records. To know the exact time at which the founding emperor decide to form the empire? Impossible.

"I see. What a shame."

Alice simply nodded and smiled, lowering her gaze to the plate again as she kept eating. Evidently, this was starting to annoy Francis a little.

"Alice, just answer the question. Did you or did you not know about your servant’s abilities?"

She could hear it in his voice, his temper was slipping. In the past, back before she picked up Gabriel, if his voice was like this then it wouldn’t be long before she was struck if she kept talking. But talk she did.

"Gabriel."

She corrected him again, her gaze once again rising as she showed a calm, placid smile. Francis stopped for a moment when he saw that smile. Something about it made him feel strange… off. Was this still the same sister he was used to?

"… Just answer the question, it’s not hard."

He swallowed down his thoughts and kept pushing. Right, it was just a misconception. It wasn’t long since he had been in the north and brought back all the servants she brought along. She had only been able to keep her head low and accept it back then, just like she always had to. Right, he was just feeling a bit antsy because his father was right next to him.

"Do you know what day the first Steel-Wool Tiger was born?"

His brow twitched when Alice hit him with another nonsensical question, one that no living person would be able to answer. She didn’t even wait for an answer, she simply smiled and nodded.

"No? What a shame."

She lowered her head again to eat, the sound of Marion sighing reaching her.

"Alice. I understand that we are not on the best of terms due to our past history. But this is for the sake of the family, for the sake of the Vritara duchy. Your serv…"

Her speech was quickly cut off by Alice.

"Gabriel."

Her gaze rose again for but a moment. A calm smile, as placid as a windless ocean. Marion stopped for a moment before she kept talking, correcting herself.

"…Gabriel. Did you know about his abilities, and affinities, from the start? Is that why you chose him back then?"

She looked straight at Alice, observing and studying her. Alice finished the tartar and put down her fork for a moment, locking her fingers before resting her chin on her hands, as if mimicking Marion.

"Do you know how many minutes the moon will be out tonight? I think I would like to gaze upon it before going to bed so it would be nice to know."

Marion’s brows twitched, but Alice simply kept smiling politely before she shook her head.

"No? Really, such a shame."

She pulled her hands apart after a short moment to pick up her fork again, but someone else spoke up at that moment.

"Little Child."

The voice was low and heavy, it felt like a boulder on her shoulders. Her gaze moved to the speaker. Broad shoulders covered by a black cape, striking green eyes and black hair that hung down freely just past his ears. There were a few wrinkles on his face, a scar Edward De Vritara, the current Duke of Vritara, had spoken up.

"I think that is enough games for one day, you’ve annoyed them enough to have at least a smidgen of revenge."

He spoke calmly, slowly, quietly. He had finally raised his gaze from his plate, which was now empty. But he wasn’t looking at her. His gaze simply didn’t rest on her, not even for a moment.

"Child. The abilities of your servant, and your own as well. When did you learn of them, and how long, as well as why, did you keep them hidden?"

He kept talking. Forcefully, grandly, imposingly, every word smashing down on the boulder that already rested on her shoulders. Her name, he didn’t even refer to her by name. Well, it wasn’t as if she cared if he did or not. But there was one thing she cared about.

"Gabriel. His. Name. Is. Gabriel."

She spoke slowly, calmly. He was just the Duke of Vritara, just a measly duke. He’d never cared about her, so why should she now care about him? She locked her fingers again, resting her chin on them as she looked straight at the duke.

"If you’d like, Duke Vritara, I can recommend you a good physician, it would be… sad, if we did not manage to discover and treat an unfortunate case of early dementia."

Marion and Francis both flinched at Alice’s casual demeanour, but even more so at the words which she uttered. But since the Duke didn’t say anything, they could only stay quiet.

"I see. Is that why you decided to keep it all hidden?"

The Duke, Edward De Vritara, did not scold Alice for her veiled insult and simply nodded his head. Answers could be found even in the most nonsensical of responses.

"Duke Vritara. Do you know at what time Vritra died?"

Once again, she responded to a question with one that couldn’t be answered. But this time the question she asked poked at a sore spot. Vritra, the Great Dragon of Water from who the Vritara family traced their bloodline. That blood was their greatest pride. But the source of that blood had already vanished long ago, presumably killed by someone or something else. That vanishing was a sore spot to the Vritara, especially with their family motto. If their progenitor could die then so could they.

Naturally, Edward De Vritara had no answer to that question. Alice maintained her smile as she looked at them, sighing so heavily that one might really think that she found it sad.

"No? Really, it is such a shame that everyone here is so familiar with the sensation of not knowing something. It would be most unfortunate if you had to keep getting more and more acquainted with it."