When I opened my eyes, there was no silence in the room. There were sobs. I slowly turned my head.
Lysa was sitting on the edge of the bed with her head bowed like a guilty child. Sera and Mirel were standing in front of the door.
Sera's eyes were swollen, her cheeks wet. She wasn't looking at me; she was looking at that little girl in my bed, Lysa.
There was such deep pain of betrayal in her gaze that the air in the room felt heavy. "Last night..." Sera said, her voice trembling.
"You rejected me, Master. You said 'Calm down.' You said 'It's not the time.' But the moment you turned your back... did you take her into your bed?"
Mirel was just as upset as Sera, but hers was less sadness and more competitive ambition. She had clenched her fists.
"Lysa acted before me," she muttered to herself. "She tricked you with those innocent looks, didn't she? While I was trying to look more womanly, she, with that child act..."
Leon's patience snapped. I got out of bed furiously. I threw the duvet aside and walked toward the two of them.
Sera flinched, thinking I was going to hit her or yell at her, but she didn't pull back. I raised my hand.
And I bent my index finger, knocking my knuckle hard against both of their foreheads.
TOK! TOK!
"Ah!" Sera brought her hand to her forehead. Mirel groaned in pain too. "You two fools whose minds don't work for anything else!" I roared.
I put my hands on my hips and looked down at them. "What is inside your heads instead of a brain? Just lust? Just intrigue?"
I pointed at Lysa trembling on the edge of the bed. "I didn't touch that girl. She was crying. She was afraid. She came to me because she wanted to feel safe. And I didn't turn her away. We just slept. Did you hear? We just slept!"
I fixed my eyes on Sera's. "I am not an animal, Sera. I don't chase my libido at every opportunity that comes my way. Stop judging me with your own perverted fantasies."
Sera looked at me while rubbing her forehead. That expression of pain in her eyes was gone, replaced by a strange glimmer of admiration.
"You... hit me," she whispered.
"I scolded you," I corrected harshly.
"To correct us..." she said, her cheeks blushing. "You are right, Master. We are fools. We couldn't understand your greatness."
Leon sighed a deep "Patience" internally. This girl is incorrigible, he thought. She even sees violence as a grace, as attention. She got happy because I hit her head.
Just then, Mirel intervened with a sly attitude. "So, Master... If it's just about sleeping... Then I can come tonight too, right? I'm very scared too. I have nightmares."
I covered my face with my hand. "God... Are we going to wake up with a crisis every morning? No, Mirel. No one is coming. Everyone will sleep in their own bed."
Sera immediately jumped in. "But Master, for your safety... What if I sleep in front of the door? Or at the foot of your bed?"
"Sera," I said with a warning tone. "If you say one more word, I will lock you in the cellar."
Sera smiled. "As you command, Master." With the happiness of that blow she took to her head, she had taken even this threat as a compliment.
The tension had decreased at breakfast, but it still hung in the air. After quickly eating something, I slapped the table. "Alright," I said.
"Drop the sentimentality and drama. We need to earn money." I spread the rabbit pelts I had dried last night on the table.
Thanks to the light magic, the skins hadn't hardened; on the contrary, they remained flexible and smooth. Their fur was soft.
"Mirel, get the sewing kit. Sera, you get that rusty dagger of yours." I started examining the pelts.
In my old world, my father had a small leather workshop. My childhood had passed in that shop, amidst the smells of leather and balls of thread.
Those drudgeries I hated back then would save our lives now. "What are you going to do, Master?" asked Lysa curiously.
"I'm going to separate the fur and the skin," I said. "But without wasting it."
I gathered my magic power at my fingertips. I took the dagger in my hand. Normally, skinning and separating the fur would require mastery and time.
But with the magic power in my hand, I could control the sharpness of the blade at a microscopic level. The dagger glided over the skin. It cut the fur not from the roots, but right above them.
"Mirel," I said, giving her the pile of soft fur I had cut. "You need to spin these. We're going to make thread."
"Thread from rabbit fur?" Mirel was surprised. "But this is too short, it won't hold."
"It will hold," I said confidently. "You will mix it with cotton thread and twist it. It will be like Angora wool. Soft and warm."
Mirel set to work even though she didn't fully understand what I meant. I dealt with that thin, smooth leather left in my hand.
I visualized a modern design in my mind. Not like the rough, bulky bags in this world; but an elegant clutch, with hidden seams, worthy of a noblewoman's ball gown. The sewing needle struggled to pierce the leather. Editor... Heat.
I slightly heated the tip of the needle. It passed through the leather like butter. Sera and Lysa watched the movements of my hands as if enchanted.
For a "Master," a man, to sew was unheard of in this world. But as the resulting product began to take shape, their astonishment turned into admiration.
An hour later, they were looking at the object standing on the table. An elegant clutch made of cream-colored, smooth leather, trimmed with rabbit fur.
There were no jewels on it, but the craftsmanship was so clean that it shone like a jewel.
"This..." Sera reached out her hand but couldn't bring herself to touch it. "This is very beautiful. Did you really make this from rabbit skin?"
"Yes," I said, stretching my back. "And now it's your turn." I handed the bag to Sera. "You and Lysa. You will take this bag and go down to the city."
Sera opened her mouth to object immediately, but I silenced her with my hand.
"Listen. Do not take this to ordinary shops or pawnbrokers. They cannot value this. They will only give money for the leather."
I narrowed my eyes. "Go to the street where the nobles shop. But don't try to sell it. Just let Lysa put this on her arm and walk. Let it attract attention. If someone asks, say 'Our Master had it brought specially from abroad, but we are considering selling it.' If they ask the price..." I paused.
"Say five gold pieces."
"Five gold?!" Mirel screamed. "Master, even a cow is worth two gold!"
"This isn't a cow, Mirel," I said smiling. "This is a status symbol. And nobles pay more for status than for cows."
Sera took the bag, holding it like a sacred relic. "Understood, Master. We will not disappoint you." "Good. Now go."
After Sera and Lysa left, I turned to Mirel. "You are coming with me." Mirel excitedly straightened her apron. "Where to, Master?"
"To the forest," I said. "We have to find food for those rabbits we locked in that room before they start gnawing on the house. Also..." I pointed to the empty shelves in the kitchen.
"We need to eat too. I will teach you which roots and herbs from the forest are edible."
Just as we were leaving the door, Sera turned back. There was a worried expression on her face. "Master... Are we going to leave you alone? In the forest? Unarmed?"
"Mirel is with me," I said.
"Mirel couldn't even scare a fly!" Sera said. "Please, let me come too. Lysa can handle it alone."
"No," I said firmly. "This is your mission. Besides..." I approached her, lowered my voice.
"Consider this a punishment, Sera. That restlessness of not being able to protect me... That is your punishment. Now go and do your duty."
Sera's pupils trembled. Her body shivered slightly. That word "punishment" had worked its magic again. She bowed her head obediently.
"As you command, Master. I will... serve my punishment properly."
After Sera left, Mirel gave me a strange look. "Sister Sera is really weird," she said.
"I know," I said, taking the basket in my hand. "Come on, let's go, Mirel. Nature's grocery store awaits us."