"Yes, master... Understood..." the maid said over that telegram.
She's the same maid, clad in a black and white dress, who screamed before our presence. The other maids serve the foods on the table for us as this maid reports in front of me,
"Our master is on his way here to address your concerns. In the meantime, he doesn't want hungry visitors before he arrives. Please." Her following gestures invite us to dig in. The sight of these foods served recoiled my pride. Plus, I haven't eaten anything in a while! "The maids are here if you need anything else," the maid said before leaving.
Their hospitality swayed after I used my enchantment a while ago. Thieves turn into expected visitors. This is the same house where I live, but the modernity of the vicinity makes me sensitive. Skepticizing regarding these strange people in my house, I fork a piece of meat and taste it. The food doesn't seem to be fake. Which could mean this house isn't beautifully fabricated by Haiban. I slam the fork on the table and push my chair, "Who made this!?" I exclaimed. All the maids were frightened.
"Auntie," Linly is pulling my dress down, "calm down! They might expel us!"
The maid earlier approaches immediately. "We made it, ma'am. It was made in a bequeathed recipe from this house's ancestral owner. Is there any problem?"
I was thrilled. "You made it? What's your name?"
"Ruth."
"I like your cooking," I praised as intended. She touched her chest in relief and thanked me. I returned to my seat and enjoyed the meal; a little chewing and more gulping. This meal has exceeded my preferences! Or maybe it's normal for a newly labored werewolf mother to indulge. I'm through when I noticed the couple staring at me. "What?"
"A-Auntie, you're full of twists. What if we can't trust them? What shall we do to go back where we should be?"
I laid the glass on the table after a sip. "I'm flattered you're more concerned than I am at the moment. I am not at peace as long as we're here, but that doesn't mean we don't need rest and strength. I need these to think about the paramount solution."
"She's right," Manjiro supports who's sitting beside his fiance, "so don't lift any burden heavier than you can manage for a reason that you're a goddess's vessel. Eat." He feeds Linly with a spoon gently, then she does the same with him. They share the food on each other's plates although it was served for both, wiping the speck on their lips. "Make sure to eat these all. We can't have it in our time again."
Linly says, "Do you like it? Maybe I can ask the maids to teach me how it's done so I can take it in our time for you."
"Really? I can't wait to have meal time with our family with this food!"
"Just kidding. We don't have time for that."
"I'm still looking forward to it."
And they began flirting beside me. Meanwhile, I feed myself with desserts. Why would Haiban include these two anyway? I discovered a while ago that my spellbook was emptied. Enchast and basic enchantments are the only available. I have no choice but to instinctually believe they have something useful that can bring us back to our time. I called for Ruth.
"Yes, ma'am?"
"What's the date today?"
"It's August 2, 2056."
Linly reacts, "2056!? It means we skipped a century!?"
"We came from July 17, 1886," I said. "And I am the owner of this house at that time."
I'm surprised in a nice way because she smiles. "Welcome to our time, ma'am!"
"You're not scared anymore?"
She presents to me the furnace in the living room a few steps from this dining presidential table. "The fire in the furnace has prophesied your coming. Our master has been expecting you. I apologize for my previous behavior, we weren't told how you shall appear in our time."
"Ruth, do you know other mages like me?"
She shook her head innocently.
"Do they still exist nowadays?"
"Unfortunately, no. But maybe our master can say otherwise."
"What's taking him so long?" I shrugged impatiently.
"He owns the family business, which means he's a person busy with schedules."
"Auntie, do we have to wait for him? Can't you create a spell that will bring us back to our time?" Linly asks from her seat.
"No, child. My father-in-law nullified my spellbook deliberately to trap us here." Then I look at the maid. "Ruth, is this Plandreas city?"
"Yes."
"Is there a school named Venduque?"
"Yes."
"Then there are mages. It's the school of witchcraft after all."
"No, ma'am. It's a college school."
"What's the difference?"
"They don't study witchcraft."
"Whaaat?" I groaned. "Who rules this city?"
She mentioned an unfamiliar name.
"Is he a werewolf?"
"He's a human. There are no werewolves in this city."
"Then where are they?"
"They don't exist~!" A man near my current age vaunts his intervention. The maids welcome him back by calling him master. He's holding a suitcase, wearing eyeglasses and a black suit. I cannot deny the brightness of his appeal. Chiefly, he resembles Hessuel—it shortly ruined the sanity of my heartbeat. "Welcome, trespassers of time."
"Excuse me?"
"To expound my answer, can you have an introduction first? I doubt we already trust each other at first sight," he added. Ruth stands beside him, in front of me.
"Dandeline."
"After the name of dandelion? And who are they?"
The way he inspects makes me a stranger in my house! "Linly is my niece. Manjiro is my friend. And please don't mind them," I plead but the couple greets this man by mentioning 'master'. I sighed—I'm always surrounded by humble people. "And you?"
"Andrew."
"Pleasure."
☪ ✧ ✧
We grab our seats in the living room beside the furnace; the couple is sitting beside me, in front is Andrew while beside him is Ruth, and a mini table between us. "Evidently, this is our time," Andrew initiates, "but what brings you here?"
"An enemy traps us here," I answered.
"And haven't you found a way back?"
"That's exactly the problem."
"... Or maybe you're a real thief?"
"The guards and your maids shall testify. My magic is all over this house. I am an ancestral owner. Watch this." I manifested my spellbook.
"Do you have advanced technologies in your time? That's a cool projecting book~ So what can it do?"
"This isn't technology, child. It's enchanting." I flipped the empty pages to show him. "My spellbook isn't working in your time. Ruth said there is no witchcraft here. The reason is probably related to this. Unfortunately, it's powerless."
"Yes, I heard from my grannies' tales about the witchycrafts and woof-woofs. But it was all fiction. Or should I say... believed to be fiction."
"Grannies? Woof... What?" Their modern dialect is cringy. "And how about you, Andrew? How can you prove to me you're a legal heir of this house, not a thief?"
"I bet I look like someone you know~ I am a descendant of yours. Although most part of me is hooman because of the past heredities and I can only feel my woof-woof senses whenever I'm with my waifu but just a little... when... we... you know."
"Yes, I know. But your justification isn't enough to gain one's trust. I'm open for chances," I humbly suggested for a limited time in my life.
"How about this... ‘Down beneath the pit of thorns’." His smug smile wavers me. And I heard those words from Hessuel. Returning the smug smirk, I dared,
"Then tell me what it means," because neither I know!
"It's an idiom from my grannies' tales. They said it originated with a woofman who jumped down the thorny pit to save his lover. If someone told you that, it means they will never give up on you no matter what!"
"..." I can't believe I figured out Hessuel's words here. He's too pure and romantic to me. I couldn't describe his feelings. Guilty. I'm so guilty of denseness!
"I got your trust now~ Your smile said it."
I pulled my smile downward and raised an eyebrow. "Alright. Your presence doesn't feel treacherous anyway. There's no one else we can trust now. Is there any technology that will tell us more about werewolves nowadays other than being fiction?"
"Oh... How about we search for it?" He lays the suitcase on the mini table—it's actually another type of technology—and presents the tiny screen to us. Linly holds my arm for cautiousness. On the other hand, Andrew is holding the same small technology that rang a while ago.
"What's this?" I pointed at the suitcase.
"It's a laptop to remotely show you the results. It won't bite you." It's magnificent as my enchantment. The laptop forms the words 'werewolf' in response to Andrew's tapping of fingers with his tiny technology. Silently, we watch the results of his research on the laptop and it's all about books... mostly with half-naked hunk men photos. Some are with censored naked women. Linly and I are speechless until Manjiro pulls his fiance's arm, then covers her eyes.
"Hey! How could you show this lewdness to us!" he exclaimed at Andrew.
"Ahaha! I'm sorry! I almost thought it was a porn site, too. But no, this isn't about lewdness. Those are steamy woof-woof books. Kinda lewd, anyhow..."
"What's a porn site?" I asked.
"It's something you simp—" Ruth shuts him up. "... Nevermind."
"These men, does this mean that werewolves are as hunk and sexy as them nowadays?"
"No, no. Those are just models for book covers. They're completely hooman portrayers but not wolfies."
"What a waste..." Linly and I sighed.
"Women..." Manjiro sighs too.
Andrew explains as he shrugs, "That's what I told you! Wolfies only exist in books today."
Fictional books... Unlike in my day, books are all about facts about werewolves. Only a few novel types. Most titles of the books here are stating someone without actually telling their names: The Rogue Alpha, The Despicable Luna, The Rejected Beta... My Silver Wolf!? But what happened? Why are they fiction if I exist?
"Auntie," Linly mumbles, "do we have to know about werewolves today? We should just go back since we can't find any clue."
"She's right," Ruth intervenes and she snatches the small technology from Andrew's hand. "Just tell us your exact objective, ma'am."
"We have to go back to our time. That's all," I answered.
"What's in your time?"
"Super moon in this city. T-There was great destruction, too. And there was a blizzard."
Ruth is tapping her finger on that technology too and the laptop moves again. After a confusing silence, she says, "There's no super moon in this city last 1886, ma'am. No records in history."
"It means," Linly's voice is quivering, "not just the real existence of werewolves were erased but every event in history about them!? It means that the Moon Goddess had wiped them all from Earth!?"
"And brainwashed the whole world... that they were just a myth," I murmured.
"Ruth, this information doesn't help them return to the past." And he retrieved the technology.
"What is that?"
"A cellphone."
"No. It's a smartphone," Andrew corrected Ruth. "Behold~! This technology connects us to faraway hooman to communicate with them. Every phone call is a more prioritized conversation than the hooman you're talking with personally! So even if I'm speaking to you, once my phone rings, I'll answer it," he explained.
"Same with that telegram?"
"No. It's a telephone," Ruth said.
"Another phone?" I fold my arms. "Can this phone help me talk to someone in the past?"
"..." They speechlessly glance at one another before Andrew says, "We can't do that. But maybe you can."