Chapter 6: Re

Chapter 6:
Re

 

AFTER LEAVING SATILS’ hidden room, the group made their way to Leitch’s manor to let Milkit get some rest. She was asleep within minutes of lying down in one of his many guest rooms. Flum, freshly dressed in some borrowed clothes, lay next to Milkit and gently stroked her hair as she slept.

A short time later, Leitch burst into the room. “Did you really kill Satils?!”

He must have heard about it from Welcy. Flum nodded, going on to explain everything that happened, from Milkit’s past to the day’s events.

“I’d heard stories about her…eclectic hobbies, but I never imagined she was Milkit’s master,” Leitch marveled. “Don’t you think the church might suspect your involvement, especially considering their connections with her?”

“Her body is in a place where no one will find it, so I think we’ll be fine for now.”

“Well, we’ve got plenty of evidence of her crimes now, at least. If we’re careful about how we leak it, I shouldn’t suffer any blowback.”

Suspicion would quickly fall on Flum and Welcy if they went public with that information so soon after Satils went missing. If they doled it out discreetly over time, though, people would probably come to believe Satils had met an entirely fitting end. The same applied to her relationship with the church. Getting the truth out there was all a matter of timing.

“We’ll just have to trust Welcy’s judgment,” Flum said.

Leitch nodded. It seemed he and Flum were of a similar opinion on the matter. He stepped out to discuss the situation with his sister.

Alone once again, Flum gazed at Milkit’s angelic face and gently stroked her cheek through the gaps in the bandages until she, too, grew tired. Despite the fact that it was still before noon, she’d already experienced more than most did in an entire day. She was exhausted.

Without any real reason to fight it, she decided she may as well get some sleep and rested her head on the bed.

Three hours later, the two woke up to learn that Leitch had called over a nun he trusted to come heal Milkit’s injuries.

 

***

 

Flum tentatively stepped into the house, trying not to make too much noise, as she could imagine the mood Eterna was in. She only made it a few steps inside when she was confronted by her, leaning up against the wall. Sure enough, she looked cranky.

Their eyes met for a tense moment before Eterna let out a breath, relieved to see Flum and Milkit were back and in one piece.

She closed the distance with Flum and poked her forehead.

“Ow!”

Eterna stuck out her lower lip. “I was worried, you know. You were both gone by the time I woke up.” She leaned close and sniffed at Flum’s neck. “I smell blood. One of Leitch’s messengers stopped by and gave me an overview, but I want the full story.”

Flum had had her clothes washed, but apparently, the smell still clung to her skin. “Milkit was abducted by her previous owner, and I went to get her back.”

“You say that so casually. That’s huge!”

“I don’t disagree. But as you can see, I got her back safe and sound.”

Milkit bowed her head apologetically. Eterna harrumphed and crossed her arms. “Was the church involved?”

“I don’t think they had anything to do with Milkit’s abduction. At least, not directly.”

“Well, that’s good. It looks like you guys made it out none the worse for wear, so I guess there’s nothing left for me to say. But next time something like this happens, I hope you at least let me help.”

Flum had been too fixated on chasing down the culprits to think about anything else at the time. If she hadn’t given chase right then and there, she might never have been able to save Milkit. Besides, Eterna was still asleep at the time, and they couldn’t have left Ink alone, since she might easily be a target for kidnapping, too.

Still, Eterna was right. Had Flum only called out for help, they might have handled the ordeal much faster.

“I’ll do better next time.”

“Well, I certainly hope so. Anyway, why don’t we all get something to eat? I made lunch already.”

An enticing aroma wafted out from the living room, eliciting a round of groans from Flum and Milkit’s empty stomachs.

 

***

 

They decided to stay indoors the rest of the day, choosing instead to make dinner with whatever they had on hand. Though Eterna’s lunch was delicious in its own right, she seemed saddened to be outdone once again by Milkit at dinnertime—a fact Milkit appeared quite proud of. It wasn’t every day you could beat a hero, after all.

After dinner, Flum insisted that she join Milkit for her bath. Milkit appeared embarrassed by the thought, but Flum persisted. Milkit eventually caved, though her embarrassment only skyrocketed upon entering the room.

Flum stared longingly at Milkit’s back.

“Whoa, look at your skin, Milkit! It’s absolutely flawless! I’m jealous.” She reached up to stroke the other girl’s hair. “I just love the color of your hair. Sometimes I have to wonder to myself if maybe you’re really some kind of angel or fairy, ya know…”

Milkit’s cheeks flushed red.

The two young women pressed close together as they slid into the narrow tub, their body temperatures rising far above that of the water.

After they finished with their bath, it was finally time for bed.

Flum and Milkit sat on the bed in pajamas matching in all but color. They undid Milkit’s bandages, bantered back and forth for some time, and then finally headed to their respective beds. The lights went out, and the room was bathed in darkness.

Flum shut her eyes the moment her head hit the pillow. Milkit was left staring blankly ahead until her eyes adjusted to the darkness, and the ceiling began to take shape in front of her.

I’m…scared to sleep.

It was true. After her encounter with Satils, she was certain the nightmares waiting for her would be more graphic than before. She started to consider if it would be better to just wait the night out, rather than sleep.

“Hey, Milkit…why don’t you come over here and sleep with me?” Flum lifted up her covers and waved Milkit over.

The sight of her master’s smiling face in the dim moonlight sent Milkit’s heart racing.

“I…I couldn’t. It’s a single bed, after all. There’s no room for the two of us.”

“It’ll be fine if you squeeze in close.”

As with earlier in the bath, there was little room in Flum’s tone for debate.

“But…why now? It’s so sudden…”

“I saw that sad look on your face right before we went to bed. You looked terrified to sleep alone.”

“…You could tell?”

“Not so much tell as…more that I felt the same way.”

“You did?”

“I kept thinking about what I’d do if you just disappeared again while I was asleep. But if you’re here in my arms, I don’t need to worry about that, right?”

A moment was all it took for someone to be snatched from you—Flum had experienced this twice already. The fear that coursed through her was hard to define but very real.

“Are…are you sure it’s okay?”

“I want you to come over.”

“Then—then I suppose I’ll take you up on the offer.” Milkit grabbed her pillow and climbed under the covers with Flum.

Her body warmed up quickly as she lay there in Flum’s arms. She could feel herself calming down immediately, which made her simultaneously overjoyed and mortified. Though she felt far more at ease, her heart pounded, which in turn made it difficult to sleep.

“Why don’t you scoot in?”

Milkit was trying to respect Flum’s space by staying on the far end of the bed, but Flum pulled her in close.

“Hah…” Flum snickered. “Whoa, your heart is pounding, Milkit. I’m just hugging you, ya know!”

“I…I know, but…you’re just so amazing, Master.”

“Maybe, maybe not. But that’s got nothin’ to do with sleeping together while holding each other, right?”

Milkit laughed lightly. “It’s all the same to me, Master.”

Gazing upon Milkit’s smiling face up so close, Flum corrected herself: she outshone an angel. She was a straight-up goddess. She forced back her instinctive desire to worship such a beautiful being, though her ears rung with her own pulse at the thought. Still, the hammering in her chest was hardly a bad feeling. She quite enjoyed it, actually.

Only the warm embrace of her master could set Milkit free of her nightmares. The warmth of her body, the beat of her heart, the smell of her skin… These were all the gentle assurances that Milkit needed to know that Flum was still nearby, even when her eyes were closed.

“M-master?”

“Yes?”

In Satils’ dungeon, Flum had answered Milkit’s prayers. But in that moment, she began to worry she had destroyed the relationship between a slave and her master. To be fair, Flum had never treated Milkit like a slave. Milkit just defaulted to thinking in terms of slave-master relationships because it was the only kind she’d ever known.

Now that their relationship had taken a turn into something else entirely, Milkit wasn’t sure how to handle it. She’d tried being reserved, practicing self-control, and limiting herself to what she knew best. As long as she followed her scripts, she’d be okay. But she couldn’t keep the walls up any longer. She was ready to step outside the world she knew all too well.

“Well, I…umm…if it’s all right with you…” She was so nervous that she fumbled to find the right words. “I… I would like to begin sleeping in your bed from now on, if it’s okay with you.”

She was ready to make her own, selfish desires known.

Flum leaned in close to Milkit until their foreheads were touching and smirked. “I was just about to say the same thing.”

Flum’s words resonated deep within Milkit’s heart. She knew Flum would never lie to her, and it filled her with rapture to know the person dearest to her returned her feelings.

“Hey, why don’t we go buy you some new clothes tomorrow? Your other ones are all cut up.”

“Let’s. And maybe we can get you some new clothes too, Master.”

“Only if you pick them out for me.”

“I’m not so confident about that, but I’ll give it my best.”

Flum chuckled. “I’m looking forward to it. Is there anywhere else you want to go?”

“Hmm…well, I’d like to try some delicious new dishes, if we could.”

“Delicious, huh? Well, why don’t we just go all out and go to a fancy restaurant?”

“A fancy restaurant?”

“Hey, no need to be so modest. You don’t need to worry about money, okay?”

“It’s not about money. I worry my cooking won’t compare to the food at a really fancy place.”

“Ahh, is that so?”

“I want you to think that my cooking is the best there is and prefer it to going out.”

“I mean, I already do, sooo…”

The two continued to talk well into the night about their plans for the following day as they lay in the small bed. This, in turn, kept them up far later than they anticipated, and it took at least another hour before they finally fell asleep.

 

***

 

The next day, Eterna eyed the unusually cheerful girls with suspicion. She took a bite of sausage and swallowed before finally speaking up. “You guys going on a date today?”

A spoonful of soup went down Flum’s windpipe in surprise, sending her immediately into a coughing fit. Milkit ran to her side and started to rub Flum’s back as she handed her a cup of water.

Flum drained the glass and took a deep breath before shooting a glare back at Eterna.

“It’s not like that!!”

“Sure seems that way.”

“What’re you talkin’ about?! We’re just going out to replace Milkit’s clothes from yesterday and do some window shopping along the way!”

“Most people would call that a da…”

“Shopping!! I mean, isn’t it a little weird that you’d be saying Milkit and I just heading out someplace together is a date?? You agree, don’t you, Milkit?”

“That’s right. Master and I are just going shopping.”

Eterna remained unconvinced. “I mean, that’s what a date is…”

But that wasn’t how Flum and Milkit intended it, despite the ambiguous nature of their relationship. They weren’t friends, exactly. More like partners. No—if anything, they were family at this point, though they were intent on not labeling it in any more detail.

Eterna shrugged in defeat. “I don’t get it.”

 

***

 

A short time later, Flum and Milkit went out into town. Walking hand in hand, Milkit kept glancing over at the side of Flum’s head.

“Is there something on my head?”

“I just noticed that you were using the hairpin I made for you.”

“Oh, this? Of course I am. It was a present from you, after all.”

Milkit had made the hairpin and given it to Flum just a few days back. Seeing it woven neatly in Flum’s hair, she couldn’t help but start to worry it might get in Flum’s way in a fight, or that it was a little too flashy for Flum’s usual style.

“It’s really pretty. I love it.” Regardless, Flum seemed taken with it. Milkit tried to push her negative thoughts away and be happy her master was so pleased with her gift.

Finally, the two reached their destination: the same shop where they’d purchased Milkit’s maid uniforms before. The employees all knew them at this point, probably in no small part because of the sums Flum spent there, and no longer seemed to pay their slave markings any mind. Flum and Milkit bounced around the shop looking over the selection before taking a few that really stood out to try on.

“Hmm, this might be good for special occasions.”

“Are you sure? I think it’s a little bland.”

“I wouldn’t call it bland, just…normal, maybe? But everything looks great on you, Milkit. I’m always so jealous.”

“That’s not true at all. But if you keep saying that, I might accidentally start to believe it.”

Milkit was wearing a markedly simple maid outfit consisting of a beige dress with a thick, white apron. This was all topped off with a small cap sitting atop her head that kept her hair out of her eyes. The dress was built for pure functionality, lacking glamour. Still, it seemed too handy not to have around for housecleaning.

“Do you really think it suits me?” Milkit shifted about uncomfortably under Flum’s intense gaze.

“I dunno, I’m always worried that you’re so beautiful someone might just try to steal you from right under my nose, but with this, I kinda feel…at ease? It’s good for home, I think.”

Milkit turned back to face the mirror. She tugged at the skirt and adjusted the hat a few times.

“If you think so, then this is my first choice.”

“Sounds good!”

With that decided, Milkit began changing into the next dress.

“You know,” Flum said. “I just noticed that you wear a lot of frilly clothes. Do you like that style?”

“I’ve always thought dresses like that were really cute.”

“Huh, so does that mean you don’t really like the other one we just looked at?”

“No, not at all. I always choose the same types of clothes. I think it’s refreshing to wear something new.” Milkit finally finished changing and opened the curtain but only enough to stick her head out. Her face and neck were a bright pink. “Y-you chose this one, didn’t you, Master?”

“Right, like I mentioned earlier, I like all the frilly dresses you wear. Is there a problem?”

“N-not exactly, just…look.” She finally opened the curtain up, showing off the dress.

“Whoa.” Flum was at a loss for words.

The top was covered in frills and just as adorable as she’d expected. The bottom, however, was another story. The skirt was short. Extremely so. It left Milkit’s thighs entirely exposed and was only long enough to—barely—hide her underwear.

Milkit’s face burnt red as she tugged repeatedly at the hem. The way she moved was enough to send Flum’s heart racing. “Whoa, I’m so sorry…I had no idea the skirt was so short.”

“I-If this is what you’re looking for, Master…I…I’ll wear it around the house…”

Flum shook her head, resisting the temptation. A voice in the back of her mind cried foul; she tamped it down.

“N-no, it’s okay. Let’s try the next one. Next!”

“Okay…”

Milkit shut the curtain, let out a deep breath, and put her hand to her chest. Her heart was pounding in embarrassment. She thought back to Flum’s bright red face.

“But maybe it couldn’t hurt to have something like that around to wear from time to time…”

Several minutes later, she opened the curtain again wearing a new dress. In stark contrast to her usual maid uniforms, this one was a sheer white dress.

“You chose this one as well, right, Master?”

“Oh…yes.” Flum was completely entranced. Milkit always seemed like such a pure, beautiful creature to her that she figured a white dress would suit her perfectly. But she’d had no idea just how stunning it would look on her. “You look like a noble’s daughter.”

“You exaggerate, Master. No noble’s daughter would walk around with bandages like this.”

The bandages only added to Milkit’s charm, as far as Flum was concerned. Besides, if she were to walk around town in a dress like this with her face exposed, Flum was convinced everyone would fall in love with her at first sight.

“You’re stunning.” The words came out of her mouth before her brain had a chance to catch up. She only wished she could capture the image in ink on paper or paint and canvas, so she could keep it forever.

“Well, I guess I’ll…I’ll change.”

Beginning to feel embarrassed under Flum’s intense stare, Milkit disappeared back behind the curtain. When she emerged, she was back in the maid uniform she was wearing when they left the house that morning.

“So what do you think? Did you decide?”

“I think I’d like to go with the first maid uniform. It was also quite reasonably priced.”

“Compared to the others, yeah.” The second one she tried on, the one with the miniskirt, had been the most expensive. “Well, that’s settled then, I think you could still pick out another two or so, though.”

“You’re not buying anything, Master?”

“I don’t think anything in this store really suits me.”

“I, for one, would like to see you try out a different style once in a while.”

“Oh? All right then, I’ll let you pick out something you think would look good on me.”

“Are you sure?” Milkit took off with a slight skip in her step to go pick out some clothes. It was rare to see her so excited.

Flum watched, faintly worried at how quickly Milkit had jumped at the chance. “Did she really wanna to dress me up that bad?”

Milkit handed her an outfit and, before Flum even had a chance to look it over, pushed her into the changing room. She beamed as she watched the curtain, waiting patiently for her master to step out.

Flum hesitated for a moment when she saw the clothes but pressed on and changed into them. After several moments, she opened the curtain, revealing a frill-covered maid uniform that closely resembled something Milkit would usually have picked for herself.

“Woooow!”

Milkit put her hands to her cheeks and gazed at her master. Flum blushed heavily and tugged at the dress.

Though Milkit had worn maid uniforms all this time, Flum had never considered just how embarrassing it was to wear one.

“This really…isn’t…me.”

Milkit replied excitedly. “Hardly! I think you look absolutely stunning, Master!”

This only caused Flum to blush even more furiously. She wanted nothing more than to shut the curtain but resisted the urge for Milkit’s sake. “This hardly feels like wearing clothes.”

“I think you wear it well.”

“I really don’t see how someone could clean in this.”

“That dissonance makes it all the better!”

“You sure are excited right now.”

Milkit hesitated at this. “I…I’m sorry. I guess I got a little too worked up.”

It wasn’t every day she had the chance to get her master to wear something just for her…though that wasn’t exactly true. She knew all she had to do was ask, and Flum would wear anything she wanted, though Milkit couldn’t bring herself to find the words. If Flum didn’t offer, she knew she wouldn’t have another opportunity for quite some time.

“We’ll…we’ll try some other clothes out some other time. I’m glad you’re so happy, but I think this is about my limit.”

“No, please don’t worry about me. Please go ahead and change!”

Flum slammed the curtain shut and changed back into her usual shirt and shorts in record time. This was much easier to move around in. After cinching her belt closed, she looked herself over in the mirror.

“I really want to see Milkit smile like that, but I just don’t think I can relax in those kinda clothes. What a tough spot to be in.”

After stepping out of the changing room, the pair picked out another two maid outfits for Milkit before leaving the shop in search of a high-end restaurant.

 

***

 

The thoroughfare running through the Central District was just as busy as ever. Flum kept a tight, protective grip on Milkit’s hand as she led her companion through the mass of people.

“I can’t believe how many people are out today. It feels like the crowds get bigger every time we’re out here.”

“It certainly seems like tourist and merchant traffic is on the rise, and there are more carriages, too. Look, the crowd is parting up ahead just to make way for the carriage over there, and everyone’s kind of bunching up together.”

There had apparently been talks about making a road exclusively for carriage travel, but the kingdom had its energies focused elsewhere, and the plan fell by the wayside. It wasn’t just roads, either. The capital continued to grow in size and population while infrastructure, repairs, and public safety remained neglected. These shortcomings didn’t go unnoticed. The public was increasingly unhappy with the lack of any resolution.

“You okay with crowds?”

“I’m fine.”

“Good. I’m going to force my way through, so don’t let go of my hand no matter what.”

Flum pushed on, parting the crowds ahead of her as needed, as she bore down on the renowned restaurant they had decided on.

Though it was on the high end, the restaurant didn’t have any sort of dress code that would prevent them from entering. Moreover, the waitstaff didn’t even bat an eyelash at the slave mark on Flum’s cheek, alleviating her fears that they would be turned away at the door. She could count on progressive attitudes to prevail in the capital to a certain extent, though they still suffered some blatant sidelong stares from other diners and even a few that tried to trip them as they walked past. Not like a normal person could trip Flum, of course. In the end, the bad actors were the ones more likely to get hurt.

After enjoying a few minutes of quiet at their table, a waitress stopped by with a menu. Milkit’s eyes went wide as saucers when she peeked inside the menu. She looked back and forth between Flum and the numbers written inside.

“Order whatever you want.”

“B-but I…”

Even with the offer on the table, Milkit still couldn’t fathom going so far as to order something so expensive for herself. On the other hand, it also seemed rude to Flum to have her master take her to such a place and order something cheap. She ended up choosing something she had really wanted to eat.

Flum followed up by ordering something even more expensive for herself.

The dishes that came out looked like works of art. Flum smiled as she watched the look of bliss cross Milkit’s face whenever she took a bite, her eyes closing and forehead wrinkling while sighing with joy. In a matter of no time, both of their plates were cleared.

Though the bill was ghastly, the satisfaction they derived from it was more than worth it.

“Man, that was amazing.”

“It really was delicious. I’m not sure I could even make that at home.”

“I’d be the luckiest girl alive if I could have an amazing meal like that and then enjoy it again and again thanks to you.”

“Please don’t get your hopes up quite yet. I still can’t really cook as well as the professionals, you know.”

“What’re you talkin’ about, Milky? I’ve told you countless times—no one cooks better than you.”

“Milk…y?”

Flum had been caught up in the moment, and the name had just come out naturally. She laughed it off and moved on. “So where do you wanna go next? Maybe go see some flowers?”

Her mind raced as she tried to come up with more ideas for their lovely date. They could go to an accessory shop so she could buy a gift for Milkit to return her kindness or perhaps visit a different shop to try on more clothes. Or they could look through the market and search for more cursed equipment, check out some new cooking utensils for the kitchen, and then pick out something for dinner.

Ultimately, she just wanted to have as much fun as possible to get Milkit’s mind off the whole Satils ordeal.

“Anywhere is fine, as long as I’m with you, Master. I always have a great time with you!”

Milkit rarely expressed herself as openly as Flum did, so this was quite a showing for her. For once, she’d decided to take Flum up on her kindness and just let herself enjoy life to the fullest without worrying about the small things. Or at least that was the plan for the time being.

“Hm?” Milkit turned to the side and stopped suddenly. This, in turn, tugged Flum to a stop as well.

“What is it? Why’d you stop all of a sudden?” Flum turned to glance in the direction Milkit was looking.

There was a tightly packed crowd moving together like a massive, undulating wave. Through the gaps between people, Flum spied a figure that stood out from the rest.

The woman was wearing a gaudy dress decorated with corsages, and a fur-lined red coat was draped over her shoulders. Above her brightly painted nails she wore rings outfitted with massive gemstones. Her hair practically shone like an opal.

The face…the face caked in makeup was one that Flum would never forget.

“B-but how?”

“You, you killed her, Master!”

As much as they wanted to deny it, that changed nothing about the sight that confronted them.

That was no ghost standing up ahead. It was her in the flesh, laughing, walking, and talking as if nothing were wrong.

“Satils Francois…!”

As soon as the name came out of Flum’s mouth, the woman glanced their way and locked eyes with Flum before bursting out into a broad, toothy grin.

Flum felt a chill run up her spine.