A few days before Victor got the accounting bill for the outrageous amount, Praxis, Nari, and I were headed out shopping. Not just for clothes, but other necessities as well.
'Meh, even if I don't have enough gold on hand, I do have the Andraste house crest, so I can just use that to purchase the other stuff.'
"Are you two ready to go?" I called over to Praxis and Nari, watching them walk over awkwardly. Nari made sure to hide her wings, and Praxis did the same with his tail.
"Um, yes…but, who is going to drive the carriage?" Praxis asked, his eyebrow raised at the fact that I was about to board it with them, but no one was in the coachman's seat.
"..."
"..."
"..."
I froze from embarrassment at the fact that I hadn't thought of that; the other two stood there quietly in disbelief. I silently got off the stairs to the carriage and used my ability to raise a skeleton, put my cloak around it, and boarded the carriage.
It wasn't a big deal not having my cloak, since I still had my disguise on. If I had to be honest, my outfit looked better without it. Black dress pants, black gloves, dress shoes, a black suit vest, a long-sleeved white button-up, and a cape-like cardigan with gold embellishments.
"Uh, master Kallisto…Is it really okay to have that skeleton as the coachman?" Nari asked, pointing at it before she got on behind me.
"Oh, it will be fine. As long as the hood doesn't fly off, no one should realize it's a skeleton," I shrugged, looking over at Praxis, who looked at Nari and me with shock.
"Okay, so we aren't going to question the fact that he just raised a skeleton?" Praxis poked, in disbelief at the nonchalance of Nari and me, "How and why are you okay with this, Nari?"
"Hmm~? Oh, I knew from the moment I met him that Master Kallisto was a necromancer. It's practically written all over him! From the way he carries himself all the way to his mana roots," Nari explained like it was the most obvious thing on this planet.
'Huh? She's known the whole time?...then does she also know that I'm using a disguise? Not that it's a bad thing, I was planning on taking it off when we got home.'
"Haa, well, I suppose I am the only one lagging behind. My apologies for the outburst. I was merely in shock…there aren't many who can raise the undead in the demon realm…none at all, actually," Praxis explained, sitting next to Nari with an embarrassed expression on his pretty face.
"It's no worries, necromancers are quite rare in the mortal realm as well," I recalled, ordering the skeleton to take us to the city, "And ones with Dark-Elf blood are all the more rarer."
"Huh, you are a dark-elf?" Praxis asked, tilting his head in confusion. It was unheard of for a dark elf of any kind to become a necromancer, considering their already immense constitution for dead mana.
"Well, to be more precise, I am a half Dark-elf. The appearance you see before you is merely a disguise; my features are more resemblant in my real form," I explained once again, rubbing my ears.
"Hm? How so? The disguise broach you have on you only changes your hair color…" Nari trailed off, realizing she said more than she should have.
"I'm surprised you could tell, the friend of mine who enchanted it for me is quite the skilled sorceress," I nodded, not upset or put off that she could tell all of that. In fact, it was a bit of relief.
"Miss Nari, you are also quite skilled. Not even I could tell that, and my demon subrace is quite adept at using magic and tracing mana," Praxis praised, making Nari turn her head back towards us.
"W-Well, what can I say?! This fairy is just that great, hahaha!" Nari laughed in triumph, putting her fingers over her chest in a show of pride.
'Pfft, totally a tsundere! I wonder if most fairies are like that… or friendly in that way, when compared to Lorenzo at least.'
"With that being said, though, Master, since we now know, is there any reason for you to continue to hide your real appearance?" Praxis asked, perhaps getting the idea that there was a reason other than me wanting to keep my race a secret.
"I never intended to hide my real self from you two; it's only due to personal circumstances that I have to hide my identity. I hope that you two can understand," I disclosed, shaking my head.
"Oh, that's alright. We all have a past we don't want others to find out," Praxis smiled, and Nari nodded in agreement. Clearly, these two had things they didn't want to share as well.
"Heh, thank you for the sentiment…Oh, we are in town already. Anywhere you two want to go first?" I announced, brushing the last topic away for now.
"Um, could we get some clothes and then maybe go to a cafe? I saw some pretty nice ones on our way home last night, and the art of the food in the windows looked so good!" Nari requested, wearing puppy dog eyes.
"Hmmm, I'm okay with that if Praxis wishes to do the same," I accepted, looking over at Praxis.
"Please do not worry about me, I am fine with going along with whatever you two want to do," Praxis smiled back, showing that we shouldn't worry about him.
"Alright, if that is what you wish…prepare to be dragged around all day!" I jested, laughing a little. It had been a while since I felt this excited; the last time was probably the rush I felt when escaping Alkmene.
***
A long way away, the priestess Retha and the foolish fish King Llyr had disembarked from their ship. Retha was taking in the air of earth and sea crashing on the shore as Llyr looked off into the distance somewhere.
"..." Llyr simply stood there, lost in thought. He watched as his cold breath appeared in front of him as he took a deep breath in and out.
"Whhatttcha doing?" Retha chimed, peering around him and looking up at his face. Retha was quite curious; after all, she hadn't seen this look on Llyr's face at all until they arrived here.
"...He's been here," Llyr commented, blush appearing on his face as he looked even more dazed.
"Huh? Who has-...Oh, you mean the person you've been looking for?" Retha smiled, realizing why he looked like he did: lovesickness.
"Yes…My beloved," Llyr replied, merely one word he needed to say for Retha to understand just how much Llyr adored the person he was looking for.
'And he stood right here, right where I'm standing…ah, it feels so good to bask in his leftover energy!... But it's not enough, I want…more.'
Retha was too busy admiring the scenery to notice the new look in Llyr's eyes. It was no longer a look of lovesickness, nor a look of longing, but a look of desire…obsession, some would say.
'Haa, this only makes me miss him more…I need you, Lev. Please, just come back to me already!'
***
'Brr, what's with the sudden coldness?' I thought to myself, a cold silver enveloping me for a moment, before I looked back at Nari and Praxis staring at the back of the carriage.
They were both wearing a new outfit that I bought them, making me forget about the cold shiver and feeling of happiness. Nari was wearing a long green dress embroidered with flowers and a white blouse, a ribbon the same shade of green in her hair.
Praxis was wearing a black leather vest with buckles and pockets as its design, matching his black cargo pants. Bringing it together was a black and pink bomber jacket, which he had hanging off his elbows, making the matching boots pop and leaving his shoulders exposed.
He also picked out a few accessories on his own that I could refuse, a necklace and a choker. It was hard for me to keep my eyes from wandering to his half-exposed chest, but I tried my hardest to look him in the eyes.
"Um, guys…I think we bought a little too much stuff," Nari remarked, staring at the large pile of luggage in the carriage's luggage compartment.
"..." Praxis merely stared in disbelief, then turned towards me in bewilderment. He was clearly asking in his head, 'how could you dare spend this much on us?!' but I didn't care, I was rather fulfilled,
"Meh, I'm sure it's alright," I shrugged, as I did often when it came to worrying about minor things such as this, "If you are really concerned, I can tie it down with both the luggage clasps on the compartment and strings from my mana."
"...Master, no offense, but I'd rather not have to worry about dead mana poisoning from your mana touching the shopping boxes and bags…" Nari admitted reluctantly.
"...Oh…I see how it is," I chided, looking away with narrowed eyes, a playful way of pouting. Perhaps this was my way of getting closer to the two of them, but I decided that I would let things go today and not take anything to heart.
"I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean it like that!" Nari quickly apologized, getting flustered over her mistake.
"Haha, it's fine! I was just messing with you! Praxis, if you don't mind, could you create a barrier around the luggage?"
"Of course, just give me a moment. Go ahead and board the carriage. I'll be there soon."
Just a moment later, Praxis joined us. Now, all we had left to do was visit a bakery, the butcher, and a few stalls for fruits, veggies, and eggs. After all, we were short on food for the week.
***
Now, back to the present, I found myself surprised by the sight of Victor and Arwan suddenly appearing in front of me as I finished my daily exercise in the backyard.
"..."
"Hello there, My Lord. You appear to be doing quite well, as expected…especially after seeing the absurd amount the estate was billed!" Victor exclaimed, stomping over in the usual way he did when he was annoyed at me, "Was the amount I gave you before not enough, huh!?"
Seeing that I clearly wasn't getting what he was putting down, Victor shoved an accounting paper to me… the amount reading 3,600 gold coins…in bold text.
"...I do not know what this is from," I asserted, looking away from him with a look of avoidance, my cheeks puffed in guilt.
"Do not lie to me, Lev Andraste. I know that look anywhere! That's the exact same face you always have when you lie about something you know you did and was wrong!" Victor scolded, staring intently at my face.
"C-Come on, Victor, this is the first time we are seeing his Lordship in a very long time, go easy on him," Arwan reasoned, putting a reassuring hand on Victor's shoulder.
"Yeah! Go easy on me! I was just trying to have fun and enjoy myself!" I pouted, blowing my cheeks up and hiding myself behind Arwan and clutching his arm, not noticing him blushing and tensing up.
"If I had gone easy on him, he would be much worse than he is now!" Victor announced, saying the sad truth, that was the case for both me as Saito and the original Lev.
"Now, now, I wouldn't be that bad-...Oh, hello, Nari," I trailed off, a sudden bad feeling at seeing her here. "What brings you to the backyard?"
Victor and Arwan slowly turned their heads towards her, also getting the feeling that them being caught here was bad. After all, they did suddenly just show up.
Nari's finger was on her mouth; she had clearly been playing with her nail and upper lip, a habit I've observed her do when bored. Then, she slowly lowered her arm, looked between the three of us, and did a body language I have only seen her do that caused me trouble.
'...Uh, oh…'
"LORENZO, SEPHTIS! THERE ARE TWO WEIRD MEN BULLYING MASTER KALLISTO IN THE BACKYARD!" She shouted, fake tears streaming down her face, acting scared at the sudden scene.
'OH SHIT! This is not good!' I thought to myself, a look of anxiety dawning on my face as I gripped the sides of my head.
There was something I had learned about Nari over the past few days, a habit I've been trying to fix. And that habit was that if she felt bored, she'd try to do anything to entertain herself, even against the feelings of others.