Chapter 133 - Dhampir Knight

This last shift felt way too strange. Theora was relieved that Breorion was likely exhausted, meaning the chances of him showing up again before the end of her shift were extremely low, because she wasn't sure how much longer she would have been able to put on an act. She was sad, disappointed, and hurt, but most of all, she hated how he'd seemed genuinely sorry. Even worse, the long hours of standing guard in silence with Kleis left her time with her thoughts, enough to realize that she was a hypocrite. She didn't have much ground to stand on, and if she was objective about it, she hadn't been all that truthful either. She called him 'Your Highness' out of some bitter sentiment, but truth be told, they were actually supposed to be almost on the same rank. Her half-brother held the same rank as Breorion as their father's firstborn, and they were even friends. She could hide behind the fact that she had mistaken him for a stable hand, but the truth was, Breorion the Duke didn't have as much of a social gap with her as she'd let him believe.

"Oh my god," she suddenly muttered. "Is he engaged?"

"You've been very silent until now, Theora," Kleis sighed. "Care to let me know where your mind has been, if you want me to answer?"

"The Duke," she blushed. "D-De Boreal. Is he engaged?"

"Not that I know of," Kleis frowned. "Shouldn't be long, though, now. He's a duke. Although he has half-siblings, he'll probably want to secure some heirs of his own blood as soon as possible."

Theora grimaced and returned to glaring at the opposite wall. Thankfully, Kleis was the least nosey of her friends, and other than raising an eyebrow in confusion, she didn't press the matter any further. While she remained vaguely upset about Breorion, Theora couldn't help but feel genuinely sad about this being her last time at the De Boreal residence. As much as it annoyed her to admit it, she had fallen in love with this gorgeous place. She would miss watching the sun rise above the luscious green gardens, spotting a dog every now and then, following the sounds of the maids quietly cleaning, and the delicious smells they sometimes whiffed near the kitchens. Moreover, there was little young Lady Venilla. She was just far too adorable of a child for Theora to leave this mission without any sad feelings. That girl managed to be so kind and adorable despite her obvious loneliness, and it definitely pulled some of Theora's heartstrings. She had never been one to want a child, but she couldn't help but think that if she ever had a girl, she'd like one as adorable as this, and she couldn't understand how her parents saw their child so little. Even if Kleis had told her it was common for noble children to be raised more by nannies and staff than their parents, Theora couldn't understand. She liked to hold on to the thought that, even if she'd been raised in her biological father's manor, her parents would have raised her like her mom had, not left her to be handled by nannies... She wished she could have conveyed those feelings to the young lady. It would have been inappropriate for a trainee knight to address a young lady directly, but Theora hoped Venilla knew how liked she was by everyone. That young girl deserved to know she was cherished by many.

The end of their shift came with bittersweet feelings; it was obvious Venilla had no idea she wouldn't see them again because she didn't even blink when the guard changed and went on with her day. Even if Theora knew she wasn't supposed to speak out of turn, she had to bite her tongue all the way back to the kitchen so as not to tell her a proper goodbye. Unlike their young mistress, the kitchen staff did give them a proper send-off, wishing them a good journey back to the Academy and saying time and again they'd be happy to welcome the young knights again if they ever came back to the House De Boreal. Yerena even suggested many of them should apply once they were done with the Academy, and that she would highly recommend everyone that had been on the morning shifts. Knowing this was their last time there, Theora's little group lingered until Red gently reminded them the De Boreal knights had places to be and work to do.

"This was my favorite mission so far," Theora admitted with a heavy heart.

"How's your heart, Themid," Kleis teased their friend.

"She's already married," Themid pouted. "I asked before we left, she laughed, said she appreciated the sentiment, but she's already married to another of the De Boreal knights. So I'm going to go back and nurse my broken heart until we get back to the Academy, thank you very much."

"I'll buy you a drink," Keffen chuckled, putting an arm around Themid's drooped shoulders.

"I wouldn't say no to a nice beer," Kleis chuckled. "Theora?"

"I would have loved to, but I can't. I promised to meet with my cousins since it's our last day in the Capital. I'll see you guys later!"

Kleis probably didn't have orders to follow her around in the Capital, because she simply nodded and followed the boys to the nearest pub. Meanwhile, Theora made her way back to the Military Hall with Red, who couldn't delay his report even on the last day. She followed his example, although she definitely made it short and didn't bother to proofread, and as soon as she was done, she headed to the empty bathrooms to take a nice shower, change into regular clothes, and make herself somewhat more lady-like for her dinner with her family. She only stopped by their bedroom once more to pack ahead, feeling she might come back late, before she handed her report to Red and let him know where she was going. For some reason, he didn't oppose to her going out, shrugging and telling her to enjoy her last evening in town. Theora nodded, wishing him the same, and finally headed out. A note had been waiting for her in her room from Cylea, offering to meet at a plaza nearby, and Theora was a bit pleased to realize that she was now familiar enough with the Capital to know precisely where to go.

As she arrived, Theora was happy to spot her cousins waiting for her on a bench, Cylea with a small book in her hands and Mymesia eagerly glancing around. Naturally, the youngest was the first to spot her, making a little hop before she ran into Theora's arms.

"Theo!" she squealed. "Finally! I've seen you so little, I couldn't wait!! How have you been? I missed you so much! How was your mission? I'm so sorry I was out last time! I got Cylea to tell me a whole lot, though! Did you enjoy your mission? You're done with work for this time, right? Did you have fun? Are your nice female friends around?"

"I'm great, and the mission went well, too; thanks, Myms," Theora chuckled, pinching her cousin's cheek. "Now, who's fault is it that I didn't see you much? Where's that fiance of yours so I can kick his ass?"

"You would," Mymesia grinned. "He's not a very strong man, to be fair. But I promise you'd like him!"

"You wouldn't," Cylea chimed in, squeezing between her sister and Theora for a side hug. "He's a bureaucrat."

"Ew," Theora grimaced. "Seriously, Mymesia?"

"I promise he's nice!" her younger cousin chuckled, grabbing Theora's arm as usual. "When you hear how he proposed you'll be rooting for him!"

Theora let her cousin tell her all about her fiance's proposal, while Cylea walked on her other side with many eye rolls and side glances exchanged with her. They probably could see what Mymesia was blind to, that her fiance's proposal had been pretty much ordinary, and Mymesia was simply touched by a man being entirely devoted to her. At the very least, Theora couldn't help but approve of a guy who seemed genuinely in love with her cousin. From her understanding, he had been holding onto a solid crush on her ever since he'd gotten a glimpse of her when Mymesia had attended one of his sister's tea parties and waited until he got a bit more solid in his career to propose. He had a good position and a decent background, and his values lined up with Mymesia's. It seemed they had barely interacted at all before the proposal itself, but he had sent Mymesia many letters and gifts since then to prove his feelings. Theora couldn't help but feel a bit more supportive as, when they reached the Central Plaza, Mymesia was still going on about all the gifts he'd sent her or dropped at her door himself.

"Jams?" Theora frowned. "He sent you jams?"

"Yes!" Mymesia exclaimed like it was the brightest idea in the world. "He noticed how much I liked jam when attending his sister's tea parties so he had a whole set of nine different ones sent to me! There are some I have never tried before! Isn't he the sweetest?"

"He's gone deep, hasn't he?" Theora whispered to her other cousin.

"Mother confiscated them," Cylea whisper-replied. "She doesn't want Mym overeating sugar before the wedding."

"When's the wedding?"

"In four months."

Theora grimaced. It was good that Mymesia was on a love high right now and didn't seem to care much about her mother's restrictions... Letting Mymesia chatter while they walked the streets of the Capital, the cousins remained close, as the crowd noticeably thickened as they got closer to the Central Plaza. As Cylea explained to Theora, it was one of the last days of the fair, so many guilds were going all-out to attract new prospects or sell out whatever they had left in stock. Some had already closed their stalls after selling out earlier in the week. However, there was still a large amount of carts, stalls, and displays taking up all the space on the plaza, leaving the curious visitors to squeeze in alleys or avoid the area entirely. Cylea, Mymesia and Theora slowly wandered through the tight alleys, chatting about the new products, admiring the displays, and trying to stick together as they made their way around the plaza. Theora was tall, and Cylea was also a good height for a woman, but Mymesia was petite and easily distracted, so they had to flank her and hold on tight to her for fear of losing her to an attractive stall. Twice, they ran into friends of theirs, eagerly introducing Theora as their "cousin who was in the Knight Academy." Once, they crossed paths with Selvie, Keffen and Charle, who had also tried to tour the fair, but were fed up with the crowd and on their way out to visit the twins' family shop instead. Truthfully, Theora also was getting a bit fed up, but her cousins were so excited for her to see everything that she didn't have the heart to tell them, and moreover, they had kept the visit to the Engineer's Guild last to end on a high note. As they approached, though, it was clear the Guild was attracting quite the crowd, as a man was loudly boasting about their latest creations, showing off some steaming device for people to warm their water quickly in an elegant teapot.

"What are they trying to do? Sell that stuff? Recruit engineers?" Theora asked her cousin.

"They want potential buyers for their new inventions. Sometimes, the things they show at fairs get bought by shops but turn out to be a disappointment in people's households, so they have to convince people to buy their new inventions once they hit the stores. They also want to find sponsors. They don't tell the prices of the items, but many of the most expensive ones will be reserved for private sales to wealthier customers. If some noble walks by and likes what they see, they might invite the Guild to do some showcase at their house. It's becoming a trend nowadays."

Theora nodded, but she couldn't help but note they had no intention of attracting future young engineers. Did they have too many applicants already? She admired the items they were presenting one after another, but she couldn't help but think none of that was out of the ordinary. Theora felt like she could have recreated any of those items after a few seconds of listening to how it worked. They listened for a while, and what she liked most was the new puzzle box, which was reminiscent of Professor Salatur's class about the trap boxes, and made her itch to get her hands on one of the newest ones that promised a lot of fun to "amateur engineers".

"It looks so complicated," Mymesia pouted, squinting at the item.

"From what I can see, it would be hard for most people," Theora nodded. "It's not a good puzzle if you can't do it without special tools, and from what I can see from here, there are definitely a couple of special screws."

"It's about pride, then," Cylea scoffed. "It's bad business for them if it's too easy and everyone thinks they can be an engineer. I bet they make those unsolvable on purpose."

It irked Theora, though. With the right tools, she could have undone one of those in seconds, but it was just a shiny, intricately designed lock for most people. Anyone would give up after trying to force something they didn't have the tools for; Cylea's theory sounded accurate. Theora kept squinting at the box, wondering if she should try creating her own just to spite them, until the man put it away to grab something else out of a box. Her blood went cold as her eyes immediately recognized it.

"And now!" the speaker exclaimed. "One of our newest, and no doubt, most popular items of the season! This might not seem like much, as this little wonder can fit in my hands, but it is only a miniature of the real beast, which is ten times this size and surely would not fit here! The Mowing Spider!"

"...What the hell," Theora hissed, clenching her fists.

"Theo?" Cylea questioned her.

"Now, ladies and gentlemen, this absolute wonder of technology is one of our Guild's newest and most innovative projects! I am sure farmers from all across the Kingdom will soon be gaining weight thanks to these automated companions doing all the hard labor for them! Look at it go! Leave it to run wild in a field, and watch it mow all the land for you! No tools needed any longer! No more sore shoulders, stiff backs, no more sweat wasted to mow your lands!"

Theora watched, horrified, as the man let the miniature spider mow a square of soil in a pattern so familiar her heart ached.

"...It's my design," she muttered, in shock. "It's the design I submitted to the Guild last year. The one they rejected along with my application!"