Chapter 3: Gems beyond measure
1263 Words
Many weeks have passed since my interview and I’m literally getting a hang of the basics of alchemy. The calendar method of this world uses the four major elements as months, which also refers to the four seasons that exist. Each month has three sub months that make up a total of twelve. The order of the months are fire, followed by water, earth, and wind. Today is the twenty-fourth of the third month of the Water element. My birthday is just within the first month of the Earth element.
So far, I managed to get the gist of making alchemy circles and even manipulating Mana without a medium. I’ve been praised by my mentors plenty of times including Momma who keeps feeding me candied flowers whenever I do something good…
Tomorrow is the day that I’ll give Momma my notes regarding the usage of poison to awaken my magic without any severe complications. Throughout the duration of our alchemy lessons, I’ve been eating leaves of poison Ivy while administering small doses of antidotes to increase my tolerance.
Nanny doesn’t know it since I’m taking the poison in secret before I go to bed. The good news is that I can now eat poison Ivy leaves without any fear of dying. The suppression of the antidote and my magic helped a lot in achieving the results of my training.
Right now, I’m in the library finishing my notes for the research. I also just got my diary a few days ago when we visited the swamp to pick up Momma’s order of Liquid Magic stones. My diary is well kept in a secret compartment under the carpet and it is sealed by a magic tool that can only be broken by a tier III mage (Mages have five levels with five as the highest). Momma’s been trying to pry it open to see what I wrote but even she has some trouble even moving one lock after the other…
“Hay nako!” I said to myself while stretching my arms from my seat. I’ve been using some of the Filipino words that I know as a form of expression. Nanny and the rest of the family are quite surprised of me making this s**t up…
More importantly, daddy arrived from his trip yesterday. Ever since he left, he’s been sending letters to us from time to time since his return keeps on getting delayed due to political disputes within the borders, and magical beasts that have been crossing the lands towards the other territories.
The Bathory household including my relatives threw a small party for the success of his endeavors. There were a total of fifteen members of the family that joined the expedition. Most of them are actually skilled swordsmen (actually they are really assassins).
A loud thumping sound could be heard in the hallway… Welp, I already know who it is from the shouting that’s going on.
“Milaaaaady!” It’s Nanny Katalina and she is holding a dress.
“Yes Nanny?”
“Wait a minute…” She’s catching her breath. Just how far did she even walk to even get tired from that?
Upon catching her breath, she went close to me and showed the dress in front of my face, like reaaally close.
“Umm… Yes??”
“Your father wants you to prepare for a banquet.”
“When?
“Tonight at 8.”
Wait wtf tonight?! All my plans will be ruined!
“Can I just stay at home or probably roam around the market?”
“Hell no Milady! The venue will be in the city of Altair. The duke appears to have invited your father due to the treaty. Even your mother insisted that you should be prepared.”
So this is a political flex between the two parties and as a part of the household I’m caught in between.
“It’s just 5:30 PM, what time will the carriage arrive to pick us up? Besides isn’t Altair really far?!”
“You don’t need to worry since we you will be using a floating carriage. Even if milady leaves at seven you will still arrive within an hour.”
“I guess I have no choice…” Consider this as a form of surrender…
Nanny’s eyes began to glow as if she has some evil schemes. It’s literally terrifying especially now that I’m staring at her on point-blank range.
“Fret not Milady!” Nanny said as she clapped her hands.
Out of nowhere, a group of maids entered the library and held me from both my arms, and carried me towards my room. These maids look like they’re headed towards war. Their faces are serious and their rhythm of walking is synchronous… Just what did these people eat?!
Arriving inside my room, I was carefully placed on an elevated chair with cushions. Additional mirrors were placed in front of my dressing table with stacks of perfume are being brought up in an organized fashion.
I suddenly felt a chill as I slowly looked left towards the direction of the door… From there, Momma is staring at me while she is carrying a suitcase of some sorts… For some reason, Momma entered the room gliding behind me.
Momma placed her suitcase on the dressing table and opened it. Different hues of makeup, lipsticks and various cosmetic tools can be seen inside. All of them looked at me, trying to figure out which shade would work on my face.
“Did she take a bath?” Momma asked.
“Not yet Madame. I’m sure team B is already preparing the bath soap and scented oils.” Team B… let’s pretend I didn’t hear s**t…
“We will try to revitalize her hair for the bath, please wait here for the makeup.” Nanny and Momma are both scary…
The maids untied my hair and began to apply oil on my hair while brushing it to take care of loose ends. They are very, very thorough with it since I can see that each maid is handling a portion of my hair…
This lasted for ten minutes until the so called messenger of “team B” came and told them that the bath is ready. I was carried in the same fashion and was brought to Momma’s room where a grand wooden bathtub is placed. I first asked myself a question upon witnessing this thing in front of me. Is it water full of roses or roses full of water? I feel like the moment I get inside this s**t imma feel icky…
“We don’t have much time Milady!” Nanny Katalina picked me up and dumped me inside the rose bath, or whatever this is…
I was right on the noggin, this thing feels disgusting!
“T-this is gross… Can’t you just give me- b@$^%&@?!” One of the maids dumped a bucket full of warm scented water on my head. I almost f*****g drowned!
Catching my breath, my body was thoroughly scrubbed using a soft sponge. The petals that were stuck on my skin acted like soap. My neck, armpits, legs, and arms were gently dealt with while they apply some sort of balm on my face.
They let me relax in the bath for a few minutes… Sadly, their faces are still in military form and I feel threatened just by moving an inch…
Immediately, my body and face were rinsed. They wrapped me around a bathrobe and dragged me straight to my room with excitement.
(To Be Continued)
- Writer
