Following the first words coming from her mouth as an answer, the duchess grinned while picking up her fork and poking a piece of the chicken at the side of her plate. Both of them knew, that this was something she had wanted from the time Aefia had stepped foot at the palace. The real thing was, she was supposed to be out of connection in all aspects from her collegues.
Ms. Avry's face popped up in her mind, as she slowly recalled how surprised or shocked she might be if that was told all of a sudden after a week of absense. There were going to be many questions asked, multiple faces that would stare at her with disbelieve, and odd numbers of mentors who would see her as a villain.
The most obvious of all questions will be "what about going back to Earth?". There was no telling whether she would be able to bypass these sort of questions and come out of that place alive. She would be either strangled by her classmates or shot by the mentors, but there was still a huge necessity for her to make the first move.
How she was going to save the others from these white lies they were being told, she couldn't tell or figure it out just yet. She had just brought in one person and she couldn't just go around and hire all of them to work for her and still not be suspected by the duchess, but somehow, there was already a major task done that will allow to save them.
Honestly, there was no intention from her that wanted to have them climb over the cold waters and survive. There was no need to have them suffer, so the best was to keep them until a permanent solution was brought out. Within that time, she was going to figure out the real lore behind this lying competition.
After a short while of silence was shared across the table, George opened his mouth to speak words. "So Aefia, how is your health?" Based on the tone and expression, she had already understood the fact that he was just trying to make her feel not left out. But that just makes things more worse for me, I hate the attention of the awkward woman.
"I am alright, just suffering some high dosage medications. The doctor did say that there was a potential that only half the time from initially predicted, would take me to fully recover. And the reason seems to be the cause of elemental magic, by chance, does it work as a healing component in some cases?" She replied back as a obligation. Within the next second, Henry beside her, seemed to let out a breathe of relief. Why was he worried?
"For elemental magic, it's animalistic regeneration. The elements itself must be a clue that tells you it is related, and if you notice more closely, some reptiles can actually reform a missing limb or so, and with that idea in mind, is what the healing factor comes in. Are you certain about how some other elemental skills can be shared with another one of its kind?" He replied while leaning back on his chair and observing his mother.
"I am aware, in fact, my one consist majority of the skills from the Cat element, such as mind control and clever persuader. Although, using them kind of drains my energy levels in huge quantities, so I haven't investigated those matters." The conversation flowed steadily, but it was awkward because only two people were trying to lift it.
When the silence hung a little too long, Aefia clicked open her pocket watch and stayed glancing at the ticking hands. With that amount of silence and small conversation, it seemed that time flew-by incredibly fast. Thirty minutes had already passed, and recalling the bundles of paper works on the table, she quickly ate and left the dining hall around fifteen minutes later. Barely anyone was visible, especially those she knew who knew her in return, at the palace.
Early morning and the work load was already obvious, and that made her think why these sort of things were not given at night when most people could focus into it. As a night owl, of course, she didn't know what it was like being the early bird. Most mornings, even when on Earth, she would be complaining about the next morning in her sleep.
Her close maids would laugh and wake her up just few minutes before her alarm clock when they would be busy with the cleaning. Both her parents would be dealing with their problems and her brother would sometimes come along with her to witness the servants' hardwork while the TV would be buzzing with soft noises.
Mid-way, a familiar face stopped to ask her a few questions while she was looking down on the ground where she was walking. Turning only halfway around, it was Cedric, who was carrying around a few scrolls that seemed to have arrived from overseas and through the back door of the palace. "You seem pretty healthy, are you well yet?" He asked while slightly adjusting the weight across his arms.
"You seem to be doing good for a living yourself too, how is it so far?" Her expressionless face, and the plain tone showed no interest in a long conversation. It was made sure to avoid any more words that exceeded the lengths and to be able to cut to the chase without a delay.
"Yes, it's alright. I wanted to inform you about the prisoners the next day, but then I heard you were unconscious and badly injured. It's a pretty long detail, and time will be taken in huge amounts so I can't explain it in short. I do have a break for thirty minutes around eleven, maybe then may I come over to your room?"
"Eleven..." Aefia trailed off while clicking open the ticking surface of her watch. "No, I won't be here by then. I will be back around five the latest, do you have the time block fixed after that?" The lid was snapped shut and the chain wrapped around her fingers as she counted her seconds. The more time lost, the later work would finish.
"Yes, but it will be at the edge of midnight. I will be free after ten, most probably twelve at most. Even if I can't afford the time, I will try to write a letter if that's fine by you?" Cedric replied as he craddled the tray with the scrolls. She nodded in response and spoke three more words before continuing on her walk. "Twelve it is."
"Hope you get better soon." He bowed his head which went unnoticed by her as the door to her room creaked open and a faint lavender scent was filling the air. They had just left my room, is it? But at least they did something, that should be enough. And with all that, I had completely forgotten the stack of gruesome work left. What is wrong with my mind nowadays? Forgetful and disregarding, what next? Blind-minded?
She rubbed her eyes with her palm as she slammed the other on her desk. "And for some reasons, the situation I fear the most is...the office." A small voice came out from her mouth that was just quiet enough for only her to listen. Her mind blanked out for a short time and in the next second, she was frustrated. What is wrong with my head?! I can't even think, why are my headaches so frequent and sudden?!
Her fingers grinned the roots as the painful needle piercing headache slowly subsided and she slammed her forehead down on the table, hard. Her teeth rattled with the intensity, but compared to what she had just suffered, this was exactly almost nothing. It was so excrutiating that it was possible to stick a knife through it. A word echoed into her mind with the reminder. "You are dead...physically and mentally."
"That must have meant this situation back when she said it. It is truely still terrifying to believe that she recalled the fact of my fall as 'murder-suicide'. But honestly, I think it was really what she had said. I was actually mentally dead and I still am. Which psycho speaks to themselves like this?"
A smile slowly appeared as she turned her head to face the mirror in one side of her room, disheveled hair settled across her face as a figure spoke back towards her. The pile of papers in front, brought her back to life and she rapidly went through each one of them. It was by then, that her mind started to clear. Why she was just now acting like that? Unexplainable, but a very known reason.
Her glass pen was dipped multiple times and her wrist ran into fluid motion. In a short amount of time, it was almost as if she had become a robot. "There are two disadvantages...one is, a significant part of your memory will be lost. Two is, you will act differently and still not know why." Isn't that what the mirror image had said inside the void?
***
"So..." Ms. Avry spoke as she stared at the young girl opposite her in the empty corner they were standing. "You are planning on quiting, just like that?" She placed one of her hand across her own face and the other was holding a small exam folder. "Don't discuss this with me, it's Mr. Elephant's work." With that, Aefia heaved a sigh of relieve. At least, she didn't think of it much.
She left alone towards the office, at around eleven. It was a tough decision whether to walk or to take the carriage, and settled for walking instead. Her royal uniforms were going to catch her unnecessary attentions, so her casuals were chosen and on top was the cloak. Bag was a side option, so she stored everything in her inventory instead.
At the time she had gotten into the office, only their mentor was outside and the others were probably at their class. Thanks to that, it was possible to not attend the lessons, and just continue with their works. "Just to be confirmed, do I have to return the items I had received from the office?" Before leaving, she asked a short question.
"Not if you pay for it, are you willing to?" Ms. Avry replied. With a nod, "How much is it for all?" She was caressing a bundle of angcles, which could chase just anyone to fall in greed for it. "From the first day of course, including all the weapons, registration and tuition fee? If this isn't enough, I have a few more. And just to confirm, I do have to submit it at the reception, am I right?"
"Yes, and its absurd how you had thought of it in a short amount of time." Her mentor spoke with a shocked face while glaring at the amount of money clasped at her hand. "I think that's enough for what it is." She diverted her eyes to look at the leaving student from her class. A shimmer of upsetness came up in both of them, but neither could tell why.
"Alright, thanks for your help." Aefia spoke with a smile while making the bundle dissappear and walked towards Mr. Elephant's office. "Don't you want to at least say goodbye to your team members? Nada had been worried about you for some time now." Her mentor spoke while holding back her shoulder and gripping it hard.
"She is always worried unnecessarily...and about the others, they don't have a good bond with me, I don't think there is any time to waste from them with my last greeting. And they have a much bigger matter to worry about...their exams are coming up." She replied with an expressionless face. In truth, she still had a formal approach in front of Helio as the leader of the inter-dimensional team. About the other two, they didn't even have a proper conversation.
"Then care to explain what happened to your left hand?" Ms. Avry spoke with an angry voice. "After getting inside that palace, you have changed yourself and now you are secretly getting injured? Not to mention, you went missing for a week. What? Does all of this have to do with the duchess?"
"I happened to have gotten into a fight with a bunch of gang members which the duchess herself couldn't do. I was busy with that mission, so that's why I wasn't allowed to get my feet to enter the office even for a second." Aefia responded annoyed and clicked open her pocket watch. "I am sorry, I have to go and finish my job here and immediately leave back for the palace. But I appreciate your concern as a mothering figure, thank you for that."
She lightly removed her mentor's hand from her shoulder and walked towards the line of office rooms along the hallway which led to the mentor's quaters. Knocking was heard at the door of the first door along the corridor and an answer came back. "Come in, just three seconds later." Mr. Elephant replied back.
Within three fingers held up, she twisted the knob and peeked through. "Is it alright to speak about the competition in specific right now?" She asked to make sure he was in a good mood before the talk begun. A shocked expression illuminated on his face and then, he closed his eyes while showing the chair opposite to him. "Yes, sure."
Taking small and fragile steps, her foot had official set into the boundaries of the office room and sat on the chair shown just a few seconds ago. "I wanted to speak about quiting my connections with the competition. I know it is a sudden step after my week worth of dissappearance, but the duchess wants me to stop coming here on a daily basis." She explained while keeping a calm face.
"Aefia...I am afraid that whether you want to really cut yourself off from the competition, is going to be an easy task to take into accord." He took off his glasses and set them on the table where she could see her own face on. "Have you forgotten the terms of the contract you had signed before leaving Earth? They had specific rules that you would be crossing the limits of if you suddenly chose to abandon your role in this competition."