Chapter 2: Girl, Forestalls the Inevitable

 

 

 

Chapter 2: Girl, Forestalls the Inevitable

 

SWEET poison infiltrated Nichika’s ears and directly jolted her brain. She snapped right out of her intoxicated state as if someone had doused her tipsy mood with ice water.

Sobering up made her current situation suddenly very sketchy. She and Oswald were all alone on top of a bed in a room illuminated only by shafts of moonlight spilling in through the blinds. They were so close they were practically on top of each other, and she felt her pulse throb under his hand on her wrist.

Bad. This was an extremely bad situation. And she was pretty sure she had run her mouth saying something preposterous only seconds ago. Something about wanting kisses and fear of being hated. She put a little strength into her free hand to give his chest a gentle push.

“Um, Oswald?”

The man she called master briefly looked into her eyes and smirked as if that told him everything he needed to know.

“Good morning, my fair lady,” he greeted in a ridiculously polite voice.

“Yup, I’m up! I’m all here now! I’m sorry for running my mouth! I’ve regained my sanity, so you can stop—wah!”

He lifted her into the air and sat her on the edge of the bed. She was dead scared of his smile because she was fully aware of going overboard this time. Stupidly overdrinking caused her to become oddly giddy. Swearing to herself to never again touch another mug of Magico Beer wasn’t going to do much about her present predicament. What did he have in store for her? A lecture? Or a taste of his unforgiving sarcasm?

Nichika braced herself for the worst when he presented her with an unanticipated suggestion.

“Why don’t we go ahead and enjoy ourselves since we’re already part way there?” he whispered into her ear.

“Enjoy what?!” she shouted against her better judgment.

Oswald knelt in front of her. Was he continuing his butler farce? He took her right hand in his and reverently pressed it to his forehead.

“I live to serve your every desire.”

Nichika’s heart practically leapt from her chest with the way he touched her like an irreplaceable treasure. Flustered, she fumbled over her words. “U-Um…”

“To your fingertips I offer my admiration. The back of your hand, my respect and affection.”

“Ah!” Nichika gasped as he planted a kiss on each spot he mentioned. Electricity coursed under the skin his lips brushed along.

“Desire. Love…obsession.”

“Anhh…”

Wrist. Arm. Neck. His lips gradually moved higher as he slowly pushed her down on the bed.

“Where do you wish it next, my lady? Order me however your heart desires.”

Her whole world was monopolized by the beautiful blue of his eyes. A peculiar color, she thought. It was different from sky blue and ocean blue, and wholly unique to him.

“My…desire…is…” she breathed.

She was being swept up in his pace. The words froze on her tongue with his weight on her chest.

“My everything belongs to you, my lady,” the butler whispered against her nape.

Though her mind knew it was all an act, her heart was swayed by the passion dripping from his husky voice. She should have been sober, but a bewitching heat lit her up from the inside, dazing her mind once more.

I want him to touch me more, then take me—what? Oh my gosh. What in the world am I thinking?!

Nichika was horrified by her indecent thoughts. But the terror was washed away by the stimulation it caused. She was drowning in the feelings raging inside.

“Nichika…”

“Ahhhh!”

Something deep inside her squeezed tight when he called her real name out of the blue. Nichika lifted her gaze after releasing that longing, breathy sigh. She reached both hands up to take hold of the handsome face gazing down at her, when—

“Wha-?!”

“Kya!”

A light barrier suddenly formed between them, momentarily lighting up the dark room. Frowning, Oswald drew back a foot, and Nichika took that chance to push herself upright and scoot away.

“Wow! Wow! What a sh-shock! Ahaha! That was some static shock! You okay?” she asked in a purposefully loud voice and hastily escaped to the other side of the bed.

Silently clicking his tongue, Oswald pulled his loosened tie off.

“……”

“……”

The silence was painfully loud. Nichika endured his burrowing stare while her cheeks were still aflame. Hurtful words flew out of her open mouth of their own volition.

“S-Stop joking around with this stuff.”

“What?”

“I know you’re just teasing me, but I don’t have any experience in that area, so…well…” I might take you seriously. Not that she could say that out loud. A pause stretched out before she lamely finished with, “you can’t…do that.” She clutched the sheets and hung her head.

When he finally spoke, his voice was devoid of emotion. “I see. You mean to say you and I aren’t a good match.”

“I mean, isn’t that obvious?”

This man only kisses me because of our deal. He’s forced into it to keep me alive. That’s all, Nichika told herself.

“You’re only troubling me by doing what’s more than…necessary.”

She was ashamed of herself for hoping for more. Especially when her master had a multitude of admirers lining up at the door to win over his affections. There was no way he would get serious about a kid like her. So she drew a line in the sand, forestalling what came next. After all, emptiness was all that went with physical relationships without feelings involved.

Just how much time passed before anything else was said? The next she heard Oswald speak, he addressed her with the indifference of a servant.

“Your wishes have been noted, my lady. Please forgive my many indiscretions. I am not worthy.”

“Hey…” When she raised her face, Oswald had switched completely into butler mode.

“Goodnight, m’lady,” he quietly said with a facile smile, elegantly bowing before departing the room.

“……”

Left all alone, Nichika pulled her knees to her chest in the pale light of the blue moon.

 

***

OSWALD leaned against the door and looked up at the red moon. “I’m no good, huh?” he muttered in a threadbare voice.

He was fully aware that he was a dangerous man. He broke laws, deceived people, and was a bona fide wanted man.

That girl was genuine, simple, and shockingly pure. In all likelihood, her path in life ran straight through where the sun always shone. On the opposite end of the spectrum stood Oswald whose path twisted and turned through every shadow and dark corner of the planet. Dragging her down to his level was unforgivable, no doubt. He didn’t want to be her downfall nor did he wish unhappiness upon her.

They were traveling together because of the way things were right now, but someday their paths would split.

The girl had once asked him, “Do you think someone like that exists for me? Someone, somewhere in this world, who can come to think of someone like me as their number one?”

It appears I’m not good enough to be that someone.

Hurt shimmering from the depths of his blue eyes, the eccentric master sneered at himself.

“A wise choice, Nichika.”

The feelings brewing on both ends of the single pane door failed to reach the person on the other side.

***

THE next morning Oswald coolly went about his work in direct contrast to Nichika’s awkward behavior. He brought her breakfast, poured her tea, and prepped her things for class while she ate.

“Are you getting used to your classes, my lady?” he broached a natural conversation while inspecting her writing materials.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. I’ve got my letters down well enough to read and write, and the things you’ve taught me during our travels have really come in handy.”

Nichika had braced herself for what nasty things he might say and was relieved they could hold a normal conversation still.

Ha, I almost forgot. My relationship with him is nothing more than master and apprentice (well, mistress and butler right now). What more do I want from him?

Wiping the sandwich crumbs from her hands, Nichika wondered about their missing companion. “Oh yeah, when is Wolfie coming back?”

Something fluffy stumbled inside the room and weakly collapsed in front of the hearth as if waiting for her to ask that question.

The utterly exhausted wolf groaned with his head planted firmly on the carpet. “Awooo…” he whimpered. “I met a fate worse than death.”

“Wolfie!”

Nichika ran over to see what happened and balked. The fur coat he was so proud of had been dyed different bright colors and braided with butterfly clips. His new look was topped off by a top hat, bows clipped into his mane, a cape tied at his neck, and a matching set of doggie slacks with an ugly sweater.

Nichika lifted a pink braid tied off with a flower clip and asked, “What happened to you?”

“Welcome back, dear Jon. Did you have a fun playdate?” Oswald greeted with a complimentary smile.

Wolfie peered pathetically up at his master with tears shimmering in his big eyes and wailed. “You’re a big fat meanie, Master! You said the old man loves dogs!”

Trembling with the fur standing up in tufts on his back, he began relaying what had happened the night before.

“All night he cooed, ‘You’re so cute, I could eat you right up!’ And then he kissed me all over, put me in all sorts of weird clothes, forced me back with magic when I ran away, and did other things I don’t wanna remember! I finally got away because he had to go to class, but if not for that, I would’ve become that pervert’s plaything for life!”

“See? The man loves dogs.”

It’s not what you say, but how you say it that makes all the difference in how people interpret things.

Oswald’s nonchalant dismissal drew a long howl from the wolf. “Nu-uh! That ain’t love!”

Nichika strained a smile thinking this must be how all the dogs on Earth must feel when their owners dress them up. But her thoughts snagged on something else he had mentioned.

“He had to go to class? Is he a professor here?”

“Umm, umm. What’d he say again?” Wolfie scratched at the top hat with his back paw, trying to remove the annoying decoration. “I know, I know! He called himself a Five Eldra Steorra. Whatever that is.”

“Then he’s one of the professors trying to control the school from the shadows!”

The Five Eldra Steorra. Nichika’s mind had been dulled by the effects of Magico Beer, but she clearly remembered talking about them. Remembering Melissa’s dismayed expression left Nichika astonished to hear Wolfie was with one of those very members.

Butler Oswald raised an impressed eyebrow at her reaction. “Oh? You have heard of them, my lady?”

“Yep. From the girl who became my friend yesterday. Wait! Why did you send Wolfie to one of those dangerous people?” she asked, sliding a pointed glare at him.

Her ‘butler’ confessed his reason without a modicum of guilt. “I believe you are aware that a ‘certain witch’ is currently being hunted by the Witch’s Council, yes?”

Said witch is standing right in front of me, she snarked internally.

At long last, Oswald was revealing the true reason why they were in attendance at Elminage. “Rumor has it the Witch’s Council is in cahoots with the Five Eldra Steorra, so the objective is to infiltrate their ranks and discover the truth of these claims. Said witch sent his familiar on ahead to do some of the preliminary legwork.”

“Seriously…?”

When Oswald said he wanted to investigate the Witch’s Council’s pull within Elminage, she didn’t think he would take such a direct method. She was starting to worry about his approach.

Oswald put his hand to his chin and contemplatively mentioned, “Their whole reason for trying to capture said witch makes no sense. This isn’t his first time selling items that cause chaos throughout the world. So why take umbrage with it now of all times?”

“So you’re aware your items cause chaos…” she couldn’t resist pointing out.

The church bells signaling class would begin in five minutes rang across the grounds. Panicked she was going to be late, Nichika shoveled the rest of her breakfast into her mouth.

Oswald handed over her books and opened the door. “I shall handle the investigation. Please enjoy your schooling to its fullest in the meantime, my lady.”

“Mmph!” she gulped down her last bite. “Phew! Be careful!” She accepted her things and took off in a run for her next class.

Wolfie’s tail limply fell from its curled-up position as he watched her go. “Hey, Master?”

“My name is Will.”

“Did something happen with Nichika?” he asked, concerned. Oswald’s impeccable smile twitched at the corners. Pretending not to notice, his familiar continued, “She seemed tormented.”

“Surely because she has been thrust into an unknown enviro—”

“You too, Mister Will,” Wolfie whimpered. Oswald didn’t meet his gaze. “I can smell your hurt,” he quietly murmured.

This time the man he served failed to school his features. A cynical smile unbefitting of a butler curled his lips, and he uttered what the wolf could smell was a big fat lie.

“You are imagining things.”

***

I know he said he’ll handle it, but I hope he’s not taking any big risks. I’m worried.

Nichika rested her chin on her hands in class and mulled over her last conversation with Oswald. Sitting beside her, Melissa moved her lamb skin paper and writing materials to the side and leaned over.

“You have bags under your eyes. Couldn’t sleep?”

“Ack. Really?” Nichika rubbed under her eyes, but she couldn’t tell without a mirror. She swept her gaze over the classroom in hopes of finding one when Melissa’s voice brimming with curiosity hit her smack in the side of the face.

“Don’t tell me you spent such a passionate night with your butler that he wouldn’t let you sleep until morning?!”

Nichika slipped from her chair and hit her forehead against the desk in a loud thwack. Rubbing her temples, she glanced incredulously to where her friend stared at her with stars shining in her eyes.

“Melissa…you do know what a butler does, right?” she had to confirm first.

“They care for their master’s ever-y need, right? Kya!” Melissa covered her face with her hands in a bashful display.

She was undoubtedly letting her imagination run wild. Her expression told Nichika that things would escalate very quickly if she chose even one wrong word in her explanation. As she was trying to pick her words, Melissa scooted even closer. “I know all about it because of what I’ve read in novels and magazines. Is he skilled? Make you feel good?” she squeed.

Memories of last night came flooding back. His blue, passionate gaze shining in the pale moonlight, the lingering feel of his lips on her sensitive skin, the smell of him on her—

“Oh my familiar! I knew it! I knew it!” her school friend whooped when she saw Nichika’s flushing cheeks.

“W-We didn’t do anything!”

Good grief! Not even schoolgirls in the height of puberty are this forward! Nichika chased away the lingering sensations from last night and drew on her memory of what Oswald forced her to study about Butler Will.

“He’s the son of my father’s subordinate and was only recently hired once I was accepted to Elminage. It hasn’t even been a week since we met.”

“Aww, really? Too bad.” Melissa’s shoulders sagged with her disappointment. “He’s so cool though.” She clenched her round fists and animatedly exclaimed, “I’m looking forward to seeing where the relationship takes you, Angelica!”

“……”

Where do you want it to take me? Nichika was saved from a response by Melissa placing a finger to her chin and staring up at the open ceiling in recollection.

“On another note, I just know I’ve seen his face somewhere before. Somewhere on campus.”

“C’mon, stop thinking about boys and start focusing on class!”

Oswald used to attend Elminage. Chances were there were traces of his attendance left here and there, but it’d only spell trouble if she pieced it together while they were investigating the school. Nichika swiftly changed the topic by pointing to the lectern in the center of the hall. She was positive an honor student like Melissa would fall for it, but her friend shrugged.

“Doesn’t matter. This is the second time I’ve heard this lecture.”

“The same lecture?” Nichika followed her gaze to the person standing at the lectern.

“So, because of that, magic itself has no power, spells can only be activated with the help of spirits—”

Teaching the lecture in a dreadfully flat voice was a professor with a receding hairline and a beer belly.

Sighing, Melissa rested her chin in her hands and explained, “That there is a member of the Five Eldra Steorra. I don’t know if he’s gone senile lately or what, but he’s been repeating the same lecture every time. Oh, right.” She apologetically pressed her hands together and dipped her head. “Sorry, I forgot this would be your first time hearing him. Shouldn’t have interrupted you if you wanted to listen.”

“Yeah, it’s my first time. Thanks.”

Melissa scooted back to her own seat and behaved herself after that. Nichika didn’t mind chatting with her, but she was relieved to be free of her interrogation.

Letting her mind wander would inevitably lead her to think about last night, so she took up her quill and concentrated on the lesson at hand. The professor seemed to be using either a spell or a magic item to project his voice to the far ends of the large, cylinder hall.

“In other words, a person is composed of three parts: the soul, the body, and the heart vessel that connects them.”

Soul and body. And the heart vessel that connects the two.

The girl from another world learned the principles of this world while taking notes. The professor’s monotone voice increased in intonation.

“The heart vessel contains the soul. The shape varies from person to person. Say a soul tries to enter another person’s vessel, it will either overflow or, conversely, the soul will deform to conform to the shape of the vessel. They say this is why replacing or taking over the mind rarely succeeds.”

Did that mean someone went around experimenting by tearing out souls and jamming them in other people? Nichika became immersed in the lecture while thinking that was something Oswald would likely try.

“The vessel is also believed to be where we access magic. Put another way, the heart vessel is where the magic within interacts with the mana in the universe around us.”

Essentially, the heart vessel acted like a converter that transformed mana into magic. Not being a person of this world, Nichika had to wonder if she had that organ too. Then again, she probably couldn’t use magic if she didn’t, so she had to. Right?

“The heart vessel normally can’t be physically materialized, but it is said that the Goddess Yuna you are all familiar with took her vessel out while collecting spirits and used it to gather their power. Well, it was probably just some sort of magic orb that she used.”

The sudden mention of that item startled Nichika into running her fingers over the belt around her waist. She had left the magic orb in her room to avoid drawing attention to it, so it wasn’t there.

Goddess Yuna: the woman who journeyed to free the spirits from evildoers. Would it be farfetched to think Nichika was reenacting her same journey? After reading the picture book in Cherry Blossom Kingdom, she had asked Oswald about it since the story mentioned spirits, but he told her that the tales about Yuna were so old they were more like unproven myths.

Should they really be leaving something as important as saving the world to someone like me? I mean, they left it in my hands, so I’ll do what I can, but still. The loud man with large golden wings came to mind. Now that I think about it, I haven’t heard from Ini since then. What’s his deal? Forcing his request on me then throwing me to the wolves.

Then again, I’d rather not be on the receiving end of his sexual harassment. Better that he’s not around. I’m sure he’ll show up when he needs to.

The bell rang as she reached that conclusion. The professor shut the book floating in front of him and ended class.

“Oh dearie. Let’s stop here for now. Be sure to review what I taught today.”

“You said the same thing last time,” Melissa griped with a wry smile. She pushed out of her seat and cheerfully invited, “Want to go to lunch with me? I heard the cafeteria’s B Lunch Set is the tastiest option today.”

“Sure.”

Flashing letters appeared in front of Nichika’s face as she was about to leave the hall. Again? Irked, she lifted her hand to bat it away, but froze when she glimpsed the contents.

Melissa looked back when she didn’t follow her. “Angelica? Something wrong?”

“…Sorry, can you go on ahead? I just remembered I have something to ask the professor.”

Not the least bit suspicious, Melissa accepted her excuse as truth. “You’re so motivated with your studies. I’m impressed. All right, I’ll save you a seat, so come as soon as you can.”

The door heavily swung shut after the last student left the hall. Nervous energy filling her belly, Nichika turned around and rested her eyes on the professor still standing in the middle of the basin.

Clasped in her hand was the magic Chirp saying, “Stay after class, Miss Nichika.”

“Who is Nichika? My name is Angelica,” she stoutly announced to the room, barely managing to keep her voice from quivering.

“Now, now, don’t be so guarded. Let’s have a lil’ chat, why don’t we?” the professor chuckled in a lively voice that belied his earlier monotonous droning. He cracked his neck while complaining like a young man. “Ugh, this form really cramps my style. My shoulders are killin’ me.”

Raising his right hand, he snapped his fingers. His beer belly swelled within inches of exploding before instantly deflating. Nichika’s eyes flew wide open at the unbelievable spectacle unfolding before her.

“What the?!”

“Ah, man that was suffocatin’. Wonder if I can’t get the Prof to go on a diet. Wish he’d think ’bout how I feel havin’ to transform into him all the time. Sheesh a meesh.”

From the deflated fat appeared a tall and slender young man. His long, dark-green bangs covered his right eye, and a number of rugged metal piercings glinted on his ears. Yellow eyes that had more in common with reptiles than humans snaked over to her. A grin broke out on his roguish face.

“Hi! Good to meet ya in the flesh, Nichikaa.”

He spoke with an odd accent and had a frivolous way about him. Nichika broke out in a cold sweat at the sound of that familiar voice. Dashing every hope she had that her instincts were wrong, the man openly introduced himself.

“Thanks for the good times back in Lolo Village. It’s me. Your good pal, Lambert.”

The first person on the list of people who shouldn’t find her here took one step closer to Nichika.