Strongest Noble's Daughter Uses Water Magic

Meeting Her Friend *Ellis*

Today was the day of the yearly festival. This festival was made in celebration for two things: one was the founding of Flammel Kingdom, the other was for winning the war against the demon race many years ago.

Years ago, before the kingdom was founded, the demon race declared war on humanity and all other races. The demons were much superior to the other races in every way, so when they made that declaration, all already seemed lost to the other races. That is... Until they came.

As if to answer their silent prayers for a miracle, god had bestowed upon them the potential to use magic. Amongst the many non-demon race, a few from each race had greater magic power and fighting potential to counter against the demons, and end the war. These people teamed up and fought together, and as many hoped, they had bested the demons, and even killed the demon king. 

The story was favored by people of all race and ages, excluding the demons that is. As such, every year, in places like Flammel Kingdom, a play would be held in memory of the aftermath of the war, to serve as a reminder that no evil force would ever hold them down, that races like humanity was not one to be underestimated.

Ellis Anberibca stood in her dressing room, reviewing her lines for the play, in which she was playing the role of the wind mage from the hero's party. A knock was heard on her door, prompting her to put down her script and turn to it.

"Come in!" she called.

The door opened, and standing there with a packaged dress in hand was none other than Celina.

"Hello, Ellis. How have you been?" the woman asked.

Ellis smiled back at her and replied, "Why, I am doing well, Celina. Thank you for asking."

Celina simply nodded as she walked over to the actress. "So, got you your costume. It might look different from the usual wear, but I think you'll look great in it."

Ellis smiled at those words, as Celina set down the package on a table and unwrapped it. Within it was a robe, though not one she was familiar with. As she held it up, she also saw that it was quite small. "Um..."

Ellis did not need to say anything, for Celina herself noticed something was wrong with the order. "Oh! Whoops. Silly me; I took the wrong package by mistake," she apologized.

"You were working on a new piece?" the duchess of the Anberibca family asked.

"As a matter of fact, I am. And I am quite proud of this one, if I do say so myself." From the prideful expression Celina had, Ellis could tell her friend really enjoyed herself in making this new work. "Actually, this was kind of inspired by a couple of kids."

This intrigued the actress. "A couple of kids? Really?"

"Well, to be exact, one of them gave me a sort of prototype design for a part of this work. Then when her friend tried on the prototype with her dress, it inspired me to make this next work. It's kid's size for now. But once it revolutionizes, I will make adult sizes as well."

"Whoever these children are must be quite special if they helped inspire you to make something completely new. Are you thinking of taking them in as apprentices?"

Celina had a troubled expression on her face at the question, much to Ellis's confusion. "If I could, I would. But I don't know what family those kids are from. Even if I do get the parents' consent, there is the problem with society itself towards them."

This puzzled the actress even more. "Society? How do you mean?"

"Well, one of them is neither human nor crossbreed. Instead, she is actually a harpy."

Now that... That made Ellis freeze. "A harpy?" As far as she knew, there was only one harpy living peacefully in this kingdom, and only one select area was aware of this harpy's existence. In fact, thinking about it now... Wasn't Celina's shop somewhere in that very area? 

"That's right. One of the monsters that is half man, half bird. Well... Can't really call her a monster when she acts more like a human," Celina confirmed. "Even more so when this one really is just a child."

The added description was confirming Ellis's thoughts more and more, as she then asked, "And what of the child with the harpy? Are they a part of a wealthy family or have that harpy with them?"

"Not as far as I know. Though now that you mentioned it, she always had a cloak on, so I rarely get to see what she looks like in the first place. I hope she removes it just for today. I made a set of these clothes for her, too."

Those words practically confirmed Ellis's suspicions on the other child. It was not that she was upset her friend knew her daughter or vice versa, as it was more that she was happy, for she had a chance to do one little something for her child that she could not have done before these past few years.

"I would like to meet them. It just so happens that I have a pair of tickets on me," she said, taking out a pair of the said tickets. "I was hoping to give these to you as tip so you can come watch the play with a friend, or maybe a boyfriend, but maybe you can deliver these to them instead?"

Celina raised a brow at the action, finding it to be very odd. "Okay... What are you not telling me?"

"Hm? How do you mean?" Ellis asked back.

"Don't play dumb with me. How long have we known each other, Ellis? You're hiding something from me. There is definitely something about those girls that mean something to you. So, spill it."

Ellis looked down at those words, feeling a bit conflicted. She wanted to talk to someone about her daughter, about what she did. Edward had been a good company towards her, but he had been so busy with knight duties as of late, and so could not go peek a visit to Levi even if he wanted to. Having a second person watch over her daughter would be a good idea, especially if that person is someone close to her.

"Actually..."

******

"Levi is your what?!" Celina asked, her voice raised in shock.

Ellis shushed her in surprise and slight panic, for she did not want the secret to go outside the room.

The designer quickly realized her mistake and covered her mouth. "S-Sorry..." she apologized in a softened tone. "But, are you serious? That little girl is your daughter?"

The actress looked down in shame at the question, before replying, "... Yes. She is."

Celina leaned back in the chair she was sitting on, rubbing a hand through her hair as she processed what was revealed to her. "Damn... And your husband decided to kick her out because of her magic affinity?"

Ellis nodded in confirmation at those words, feeling less proud of herself as she recalled the last time she saw her daughter. "I should've tried to change his mind, try telling him- at least- to not send our daughter away. She just turned five-years-old, and yet we just sent her away... As the days passed, I could not help but worry about her, wondering how she was, if she had been eating well, maybe made some friends while she was over there..."

Celina only lightly nodded in slight understanding at her friend's words. "Yeah... Especially where you sent her. You're lucky the locals are nice. Not only that, but as far as I know, she had been doing well for a little girl living in that big house on her own, pretty far from town, especially for a kid her age. Honestly, every time I see her in town, she seemed so composed, especially when we often see her do all the grocery shopping."

Ellis looked up at Celina when she heard that. "She had been doing the grocery shopping? All on her own?" she asked, in which the designer nodded in confirmation. 

"Yes, believe it or not. All the locals assumed she was taking care of a sick parent or two and volunteered to do all the shopping for them, and were quite impressed with the child. They even left her gifts every once in a while, especially on her birthday."

Hearing this brought Ellis some more relief. She had heard from Edward that Levi had been well, but only assumed him to just saying that to make her feel better, most of the time. To hear from another person close to her that her daughter had truly been well this whole time, and was practically looked after by many... the actress was truly overjoyed.

"And I am guessing you want me to deliver these tickets to your little girl and her friend to see for yourself if Levi had been well?" Celina guessed.

Ellis nodded in confirmation at the assumption. "It had been two years since I last saw her. I want to see for myself how she had been."

The designer smiled softly at the mother. If she was in her shoes, she would do the same for her child. "All right, I'll deliver the tickets to them. And I'm going to guess you don't want me to tell them it's from you, right?"

"Yes, that's correct. No one knows about her origins, and for her sake, I much rather it be kept that way."

Celina nodded in understanding and looked at the tickets, raising a brow at the seat number on them. "These seats look a little far from stage. Are you sure you don't want them to be seated closer?"

"Even if I want to, unfortunately the front rows were already reserved. And since they are of commoner background, it would be too strange for them to be anywhere but the back."

Celina could not argue with that even if she wanted to, but she thought it to be a little saddening for the mother and daughter to have their little reunion from such a large distance, especially with one of the pair having a cloak to conceal her appearance at all times. It was then an idea came to her mind, one that she needed to put to action soon.

"Okay. Leave it to me. In any case, I have overstayed my welcome and need to get back to my shop. You're not the only one who ordered a new outfit."

Ellis held back a giggle at those words. "These are my stage clothes."

"Same thing." With that, the designer left.

Once she was gone, Ellis picked up her script and turned to the very last page, where it had the seat numbers written on them; H31 and H32, the very seats of the tickets she gave to Celina. 

What she did not tell her was that there was also an event coming up after the play, where each major actors and actresses would invite a randomly selected member of the audience to their changing room for some friendly chat. She wanted to tell Celina about the event, her plan to slightly rig her choice to choose one of the two seats her daughter chose, and relay the message to the girls, but was afraid that in doing so, if her daughter saw her on stage, Levi may instantly choose to rush out as soon as the play ends. Plus, once the numbers get called, there will be guards going to pick up the person holding the ticket, so Levi could not think about escaping even if she wanted to once her number gets called. It was practically foolproof.

'I can't wait to see her again after all this time,' she thought, keeping the seat numbers in mind.

******

"You are H32?"

"Y-Yes... That's me..."

When Ellis said the seat number to meet a person in the audience, she did not expect it to be the harpy sitting across from her in her room. She could have sworn she saw Levi sitting in the seat she announced, not her harpy friend. Regardless, a proimse is a promise. 

If anything, it was probably better that she was meeting her friend and not her daughter. Ellis may have wanted to see Levi for a long time, but she did not exactly feel ready to see her, much less speak to her. Her friend, on the other hand...

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Ellis Anberibca," she greeted. "And you are...?"

"I'm Mindy," the harpy greeted. "It's... nice to meet you, too..."

From the tone she used, though, Ellis could tell the child was on her guard. "You seem tense. Is there a problem?"

Mindy did not say anything, as she instead only turned away from the woman, avoiding eye contact with her. It did not take the actress long to realize the meaning of her silence.

"... I assume you knew, then... Of Levi's circumstance, I mean," she guessed.

Her assumption was very accurate, as Mindy lifted her head with an angry expression on her face.

"How could you abandon her?!" she questioned. "Lady Levi is your daughter! She may not have the affinity none of you had hoped for, but that did not mean it was okay for you to decide to kick her out of the family!"

Ellis panicked at the raised voice and hastily covered the child's mouth with a hush. "Shhhh! I know! I know how horribly wrong that was! I have been regretting going along with that decision ever since it has been made!"

Mindy smacked her hand away from her mouth. "And you think that is enough to make up for what you did?! You have no idea how much milady suffered because of you people! How much she cried on some nights, dreaming about the family who abandoned her! She acted like everything was okay, and I may not know what it's like to get kicked out by your own family, but I do know what it's like to miss them! To want to be with them! I don't have the choice to return to my flock, and I accept that. But milady? She has the choice of going back to her family right in front of her, and yet she can't take it, because unlike me, she is not welcomed back to her family, and I know for sure that hurts a lot more than my situation!"

The actress panicked even more each time the child raised her voice and covered her mouth once more. "Shhhhh! You're being way too loud! I understand I made a horrible choice to not go to my daughter, but you should not just yell out these sort of things! The guards are-... Just right outside...?" Ellis stopped herself when she realized something.

There are guards just right out her door, and this room- though does not have thin walls- was not soundproof. With how loud the harpy was being, surely it was enough to cause a commotion of some kind. And yet... Not even a knock was made out the door.

"I know this is not something to say out in public," Mindy said, removing the woman's hands from her mouth once more. "I'm not stupid."

Ellis widened her eyes slightly at those words, realizing that the child must have done something to keep the guards from even hearing what goes on in this room. "What did you do?"

"I've been redirecting the sound with my wind magic, keeping all sound within the center of this very room. Sound can be carried over by wind, by our breaths. As a harpy, manipulating sound to this extent is easy."

Ellis became amazed by this harpy, for she did not think wind magic could be used in that way. "Could you... teach me?" 

"It's not something to teach to humans. Especially not ones who abandon their own."

The actress knew that was a hard 'no'. With her reason, though, she also could tell how much the harpy cared about her daughter. "You're really close to Levi..." she said.

Mindy looked down with a slight blush. "She's my savior, and she's like a sister to me..."

Ellis had a soft smile form, happy to hear the child's relationship with Levi. "Do you think you can tell me more? You're not going to leave any sooner just being silent."

It took the harpy a few more seconds of silence, knowing quite well that the woman spoke the truth, especially with the guard out her door. For all she knew, if she were to leave now, it may not be good on her, nor on Levi.

And so, they spoke. Well, Mindy did most of the talking, telling Ellis much about how Levi had been, the meals she made, her progress on her magic affinity, everything. While the woman was quite baffled with most of what she was hearing about her little girl, from the smile the harpy had on her face, she could tell Mindy was really enjoying herself as she spoke of the girl. Watching her talk so happily, Ellis could not help but feel a little jealous, as she then imagined herself bragging about her daughter to some friends, had things been different.

After a half an hour worth of chatting, there was a knock on the door.

"It's time, madam," came the guard's voice. "Is everything okay in there? It's been awfully quiet in there."

"Everything's just fine," Ellis reassured. To Mindy, she then said, "Well, it seems our little chat is over. I really enjoyed this."

The harpy blushed slightly when she said that, for she actually also enjoyed talking about Levi, even though she was the one doing most of the talking. "Yeah... Me, too..."

"If possible, do you think you can send me updates about her? It doesn't have to be on a timely basis but... I would like to hear more about her every once in a while."

Mindy could tell the woman really meant it when she made the request, but was quite conflicted. This woman was one of the people who rejected her savior just because of her affinity. How could she just send messages about Levi to this person? Well, then again...

"Even if I want to, I'm afraid that is not possible," she said. "There is a range limit to that part of my magic. If you're too far, which you are, especially considering where you live, I can't relay any message to you."

Ellis looked down at those words, a saddened expression on her face. "I see... Well, this conversation is good enough for me. Thank you for your time. I will show you to the door."

Mindy only nodded and got up from her seat. 

As they walked to the doors, Ellis made one last request. "Oh, and tell no one about what we talked about. Especially Levi," she spoke in a whisper.

Mindy did not need to ask why. She could imagine the woman actually still wants nothing to do with Levi, despite what she claimed. Besides, she was a harpy. What human was going to believe her in the first place, outside Levi and the locals in their area.

"Of course," she simply replied. Without another word, they opened the door, and the harpy left with the guard.

The moment they were gone, Ellis sat back down, thinking back to their conversation. As much as she wanted to question about Levi's cooking skills, she was still happy to hear her daughter had been well. Not only that, but as she had promised, she had been working on her magic, and had been making such great progress with it. She only hoped that Levi would make much better progress to be recognized by her husband and her brothers. Especially... when it comes time for her to take the extrance exams for one certain school in their kingdom.