Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 1526: Rainy Morning
Crack!
Thunder streaked across the sky over Tobesk. The first spring rain that began on Tuesday evening continued into Wednesday morning without letting up. But this was a good thing; every spring rain was extremely important in these times when most people still struggled for basic sustenance.
On Wednesday morning at half-past eight, raindrops beat rhythmically against the window. Although it was somewhat chilly outside, inside the grand house of Galina Manor remained as warm and dry as ever.
Even during the day, the gas lights stayed on, keeping the dim morning scene outside. When the Witch, after washing up, entered the dining room with the maids, she immediately saw Lecia sitting by the dining table, poking at the sugar-frosted pancakes on her plate with a fork.
Galina Cavendish’s steps instinctively paused for a moment, then a smile appeared on her lips as she continued into the dining room and sat across from Lecia.
Her Highness the Princess, who had arrived early, also looked up at her, assessing the Witch’s outfit — a glance at the stunning red dress, the diamond earrings in her ears, and her rosy skin. Then she lazily remarked:
"Although I hate to admit it, you look several years younger."
"Little Lecia, the way you say it makes it sound like I was terribly old before."
The Duchess laughed and spoke to her grandniece as the maids pushed a trolley to bring her breakfast.
Shard had left a little after seven, and when the Witch had Tifa help with her makeup and hair earlier in the bedroom, she, of course, noticed she seemed younger and more beautiful. Therefore, her makeup session in front of the mirror lasted longer than usual this morning. Even if Witches were unparalleled in beauty, no one disliked becoming more youthful and lovely.
It wasn’t just her appearance she felt smug about; she was also pleased with her decisions and actions from the day before. However, she didn’t quite know how to "normally" express it. When Miss Galina saw Tifa put the steaming cup of milk on the table, she finally thought of a question:
"Lecia, why are you here at this time? Is there something important?"
Lecia glanced at her with a scrutinizing gaze:
"Indeed, someone stole something from me. To be precise, this morning I received a letter from Miss Luviya Annette, telling me to come here and take a look. At that moment, I figured something happened here."
Although she didn’t know what Shard went through yesterday, she at least learned from the manor’s maids where Shard had slept:
"So, how does it feel?"
Her Highness the Princess asked teasingly. The Witch thought for a moment:
"Don’t speak like that, Lecia. Where is the demeanor of Princess Cavendish? But honestly..."
She lightly tapped her cheek with her finger:
"Pretty good."
Raindrops tapped against the glass windows of the dining room. After Galina finished speaking, she nodded and her smile became brighter as she looked at Lecia:
"Or rather, quite good."
"Tsk~"
Lecia made a noise that was anything but ladylike. In fact, as Miss Galina told Shard yesterday, her grandaunt had already reached out to her through Dorothy, and the two had reached an agreement, exchanging some concessions of the Witch for her consent. After all, Shard had promised Lecia that she would be informed of this in advance.
"Of course it is quite good, my judgment has never been wrong."
Lecia said as she looked at the newspaper on the table:
"So, we’re family from now on."
On the front page of the newspaper, the Kingdom’s Minister of Politics, Marquis Wolst, announced this year’s fiscal reform and stimulus plan. The side facing outward wrote about the upcoming negotiations with the United Kingdom of Carsonrick, and news of the 1854 Circle Torbesk Horsemanship Competition.
"Family..."
Galina nodded but soon reacted:
"Lecia Cavendish, weren’t we family before?"
"You know what I mean."
Lecia said, and since what happened had happened, she wouldn’t say more. After all, who suffered a loss in this was still uncertain. However, she was curious about another matter, so she lowered her voice and peeked out from behind the newspaper:
"I heard from the maids here that you two entered the room at four in the afternoon yesterday and didn’t even have dinner."
This topic made her blush a bit:
"So... you... until midnight?"
A blush rose to the Witch’s face as the fierce, passionate, rough, and tender wild memories from last night flooded her mind:
"Certainly not, Shard was just recovering from an illness due to the Randall Valley incident, how could I ignore his health? Also, our knight, well, he’s just... a bit too... vigorous. Even though my level is twice his, but... it seems he’s learned quite a bit from your side... It was just until midnight, then he embraced me to rest together. That warmth truly brought comfort and peace."
"It’s impressive that you managed without an Ever-Youth Leaf."
Lecia hid her face behind the newspaper, not wanting others to see her expression:
"Shard, it’s remarkable what Arcane Technique he might have learned, as his physical prowess is indeed astonishing."
This statement made the maids present recall the astonishing scene yesterday afternoon of a "heart offering."
"No wonder you enjoy spending time with Miss Writer..."
The Duchess muttered.
Lecia then looked at Tifa behind Galina:
"I thought you’d find someone to help. Knights serving the Royal Family sometimes need the gentleness of princesses. Don’t just think of yourself."
The black-haired maid wore a blank expression, fulfilling her duties as a personal maid.
Galina glanced behind her, then shook her head slightly:
"That doesn’t sound like something you’d say. I remember you didn’t like to share since you were young. But, last night I told Shard, with my apprentice and personal maid, I don’t mind a little flirtation as long as it doesn’t go all the way. Lecia, you’re still young. With men, you can’t just give them everything they want."
But in reality, all these reasons were lies. Doing this was actually "revenge" for what her maid and lover did in her bedroom while she was on a "business trip" in the Pantanal Swamp at the end of last year.
"Think it through yourself. I hope you don’t regret this decision."
Lecia shook her head, knowing how formidable that black-haired maid was:
"Also, I’m curious what you had Shard do before four yesterday? I heard from Luviya that he had a whole day free to help you, so why did he end up in your bed?"
"I had the knight present treasures to the Duchess he pledged loyalty to. Infinite Wine Spring, Holy Grail, Philosopher’s Stone, the King’s Crown, and his heart."
Thinking of this, the witch’s face lit up with an uncontrollable smile:
"Late at night, I lay in his arms listening to his heartbeat, as he told me the origins of those treasures. You see, it really was Fate giving me guidance. No, it was Fate following my thoughts."
"You’re so boring."
Lecia said, then remembered how last year, she too left clues step by step for Shard and Dorothy to follow, meeting in the sea of flowers at home:
"But did you really get all those good things from Shard?"
She asked again, and the witch shook her head casually:
"Of course not, I just had him find them for me to see, didn’t ask him to give them to me. You think I’d sell myself? Oh, Little Lecia, that’s not the mindset of a modern woman."
Lecia smirked and continued reading the newspaper, ignoring her.
Miss Galina cut her fried egg with a dinner knife and continued:
"However, I did keep three of the treasures. The Philosopher’s Stone and the Crown I let him take, who knows if they’ll be useful to him; I kept the Relic [Bacchus’ Bottle] as a memento of this affair; he said he could make another golden Holy Grail, so I kept it as well. It bears an ’Ever-Youth’ ancient rune, and both the Council’s archives and Shard’s Immortality Magic contain references about it. It might allow me to concoct an Elixir of Immortality of sorts, which is of significant research value; finally, and most importantly, last night I kept..."
She met Lecia’s inquisitive gaze and winked: 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦
"His heart."
Her Highness the Princess’s mouth twitched:
"Is Shard off to Randall Valley again? Hurry and finish your breakfast, you’re coming into town with me."
"He said he’d first visit his priest friend at Dawn Chapel, then handle one last matter in Randall Valley. You want to invite me to town? Why, wanting to bond? Going shopping together? Or perhaps the Opera House?"
The witch was in a truly good mood today, glancing at the scenery outside the window:
"Since it’s raining outside, maybe we can plan more indoor activities."
"Of course, it’s not about bonding. Luviya wants to meet us. Yes, the three of us, Dorothy Louisa can’t make it. That purple-eyed diviner is not easy to deal with at all. Have you figured out how to handle it after stealing from her?"
"You’re not one to talk."
Galina Cavendish said, but she did feel a bit uneasy inside.
Even though Luviya Annette’s Circle Sorcerer level was much lower than hers, and her background couldn’t be compared to the girls of the House of Cavendish. Still, in front of this diviner, she always felt that the other party was not as simple as she seemed.
Not to mention, although Shard hadn’t said it, it seemed his pursuit of The Chosen One’s epic initially had a connection with that mysterious diviner.
"I know you’re a witch of the Witch Council. Even if you believe Fate allows you to make crucial decisions, what about with Shard... Will your witch identity be a problem?"
Lecia asked again suddenly, and the witch nodded:
"At the very least, I don’t feel any problems. Other than being in a particularly good mood now, there’s no difference from usual."
Before Shard left this morning, she and Shard even tried entering the Council again. Of course, there wouldn’t be anyone in the Council so early, but the experiment already proved that getting closer to Shard didn’t affect her witch powers.
She even discussed with Shard in the Council, forbidding him from revealing his relationship with her to anyone other than Lecia, Dorothy, and Luviya, and when meeting other witches, they were to keep a certain distance.
The ostensible reason was to prevent them from getting too close and alerting the Speaker or other witches unknown to Shard of their relationship. But the real reason was that if Hevy Aurora, Vanessa Benanis, or Emma Sylvia knew it didn’t matter at all, she couldn’t imagine what might happen.
"You’d best hide that smile on your face. Who knows what might happen when we see Luviya."
Lecia said, and so the table fell quiet for a while, the Cavendishes eating their breakfast calmly, with only the occasional footsteps of the maids and the rain outside continuing.
But in the end, Her Highness the Princess couldn’t resist her curiosity, looking up to ask:
"Yesterday, did you try..."
She made a rather complex gesture with her hands, and the witch took a moment before understanding, asking in surprise:
"You actually tried that?"
Lecia showed a disdainful expression, lowering her head to continue her breakfast. The Duchess looked at her, smiling suddenly, and felt that the days to come would be increasingly interesting.
