Evelyn

  ***

  Dressed in my casual clothes, I walked in town with my usual destination in mind. Although I may have looked to be by myself, I wasn’t alone.

  “Two soldiers up ahead.” Angelica said. “Both disguised. The upcoming ally on your left is safe.”

  “Any Shadows?” I asked.

  Flying high above me was Angelica, keeping a watch out for any suspicious people. Ever since I told the twins about my visits to the cafe, they’ve been watching my every movement. They even have people watching my house! Luckily I can still escape as Melody, but it’s still creepy! Because of them, I’ve been sleeping in the watch tower for my own safety. The Shadows haven’t told the Regents, and I’m not sure if I should be thankful or not. Well, I’ve been sleeping well, and it's fun talking to all of them, so it’s alright!

  “Only 19, and she’s with the twins at the cafe.” Angelica said.

  “Good to know Raven!” I thanked her.

  “Roger, Astel.” She replied.

  Raven? Astel? What’s this about? Well it’s simple. When we are acting in secret, we’ll use codenames. Given how many mind readers I’ve dealt with in the past, you can never be too careful. Also, code names are cool! For Angelica I decided on Raven, because ravens are like the coolest! And! There was like an anime back on Earth where like, there was this swords-woman named Raven, and she was like the coolest in the show! But she was like a side character, and I like barely saw her! But she was like so unbelievably cool! And she like reminds me of her! Not like just because she’s a raven and single, but also because she like knows a lot of things and is like super smart! Not like all the time, but like, you get my point.

  Hmn? My code name? Well, as Raven said, it’s Astel. Supposedly from an old dead king back on Earth. “Astelgwledig” I think? I don’t know who that was, what it means, if it means anything at all, and I certainly don’t know how to pronounce it. So we shortened it to Astel and called it a day. Maybe I can ask her for a history lesson and I might take up the full name. It would be another name for me to have.

  …

  Man, I really am collecting names. I’m Cra Melody Evelyn Astelgwledig, the first! Actually the second since I’m named after my Mom back on Earth, and my Grandma here. Wait, would that make me the second or third? … Whatever, for now let’s just avoid these stalkers. Turning into the ally, I quickly headed away from the main street. Today wasn’t a busy day, so they may have seen me duck into here, so let's hurry up. As for where I’m heading to, since the cafe looks to be occupied by the twins, well, it’s a bit of a secret hideout. Well, not exactly secret, since it has a big sign outside of it, but it’s what some people like to call a hidden gem. To put it simply, it’s a bookstore.

  Making several twists and turns, ensuring that I wasn’t being followed, Angelica flew down to perch on my shoulder as we came to our destination. In front of us was a somewhat run down building compared to most of the most of the pces on the main street. In the shadows of the alley the greenish gray storefront wasn’t what I would call inviting. Despite that, I went ahead and opened the door.

  Creaking open, what little sunlight that managed to enter with me illuminated all the dust in the air. Closing the door, only particurly rge particles could be seen in the flickering mp light. Near the back of the store, a forty something year old woman lifted her head and spotted me.

  “Oh god, it’s you again…” She muttered none to happily.

  “Hi hi!” I waved to her with both hands.

  This woman, funnily enough, was named Evelyn just like me! And although she didn’t sound enthusiastic to see me, she isn’t actually upset! She just sounds like that.

  “How are you doing?” I asked.

  “I would be a lot better if you stopped coming here unannounced.” She said. “Seriously, what would people think if you got hurt here?”

  “Oh, nothing will happen.” I brushed aside her worries.

  “Seriously, why are you by yourself again?” She asked. “Aren’t nobles supposed to have guards?”

  “I can take care of myself.” I said.

  Working my way through the shop, I approached the counter in the back. It was a mess, so there were many tripping hazards. Regardless I managed to make it to a chair in front of her counter.

  “Youngsters really do think of themselves to be invincible…” She sighed.

  “I’m not that young.” I said.

  “If you’re saying that, you really are young.” Saying that, she patted my head.

  I’ve grown used to this treatment, so I’m not bothered by it. I also crave affection, so let’s not waste this opportunity. Um, what? Nothing. Don’t worry about it.

  “So, anything interesting tely?” I asked.

  “Aside from some little noble girl running off with nothing but her pet bird? No.” She said.

  “Aww…” I said. “No new books?”

  “Haven’t gotten my delivery yet.” She said. “I’m sure that it’ll be here any day now.”

  “Well, you got any fun stories?” I asked.

  “What more do you want to hear of an old woman like me?” She asked.

  “You aren’t old.” I said.

  “I feel like it.” She sighed. “My back is killing me.”

  “That’s because you have a bad posture.” I said. “You’re curled up like a shrimp!”

  “Oh, don’t you start lecturing me on posture.” She said. “Unlike you, some of us don’t have teachers for every little subject.”

  “I guess…” I said.

  Looking around the shop, Angelica hopped off my shoulder and onto the table. Turning her attention to her, Evelyn stoked her beak. I wonder if that feels good? Oh well. Leaving those two to mess around, I hopped off the chair and wondered about the store, or at least the parts I was allowed to. Obviously I don’t run behind the counter or up the stairs to her home. Oh, Evelyn, much like Nissia’s parents and many others in the Empire, live in their shops. People like me are the rare exception who own houses outside their pce of work. Farmers live on their farms, Bakers live in their bakeries, and the Regents live in the imperial pace. I on the other hand am kind of just a freeloader living off of my parents fortune. One day I’ll take care of the territory, but that’s a long ways away. But for now, let’s forget about that and have some fun! I saw some fairy tales here the other day. Where were they…?

  Robbie

  ***

  Putting down the letter, I sighed. Seriously, what a pain that girl is. Not only did she cause a family embarrassment, but she’s not even here to clean up her mess. I can’t even rely on Father for this since he’s busy managing the territory. As for Mother, well, she’s not exactly nearby either. Shortly before this whole mess started, she went on a tour of some nearby territories to try and settle some trade disputes. And so, this mess is left to me. But firstly, there’s something else that I need to do.

  With my carriage coming to a stop, I looked out the window. In front of me was Eytell Capital Residence. Despite my time being here in the Capital, I have never once stepped foot in it. The reason for that is because of Evelyn. She has cimed the entire residence for herself, the audacity. Not only that, but I’m barred from entering! That feral child, how dare she!

  Not only that, but others have the audacity to defend her! Surely they don’t mean it, right? They cim to know her, but that can’t be true, right? I know her. All of her, even the parts she keeps hidden. I’ve seen her sneaking around at night. I’ve seen her stabbing at the air with whatever knife she managed to steal. Her violent outburst. Hours she spends punching pillows and couches in the dead of night. I know her. Better than anyone else. She’s not that innocent girl that everyone else sees. Why can’t they see that? I want them to know. I need to show them. I wish I could show them what she’s truly like. I wish they knew Evelyn, like I know her…

  Lloyd

  ***

  “I don’t think she’s coming…” Lna said.

  “You don’t think she knows, do you?” I asked.

  “She might…” Lna guessed.

  Gncing at Lna, I sighed. As much as I hate to admit it, I think she’s avoiding us. Who knew the “should be viliness” is so easily set off.

  “Maybe doing the same thing for a week straight isn’t a good idea.” Lna said.

  “Probably.” I nodded.

  Just like she said, we’ve been coming here everyday for just over a week. Not only that, but because Evelyn likes to wander off on her own, we’ve pced guards along the route from her house to here just to be safe.

  “Where did we go wrong?” I asked.

  “Probably on day two.” Lna said.

  Ah yes, the second day of our pn to apologize to her. Also day one now that I think about it. Because we didn’t want to make a scene of this at school, we decided to “conveniently” run into her at this cafe to apologize to her. Not sure when exactly she would come, we got here early the day after she visited our house. This pce was more crowded than we thought but due to our status, we managed to secure seats. Having some nice window seats, we had some small talk as we awaited her.

  Just by chance we happened to look outside as she was approaching. With a joyful smile that I don’t think either of us had seen on her before, we made eye contact. That smile of hers immediately vanished and she turned around and left. Mood, very clearly ruined. Having seen that, we both realized that we realized that we really did need to apologize.

  The next day at school, we tried to approach her, but she was obviously avoiding us. Not wanting her to jump out another window and cause a scene we weren’t too aggressive in our attempts. After school that day, we did the same thing, but she didn’t show up at the cafe. We ter heard from the guards we pced that she did start heading this way but turned into some back streets about out of their sight. Every day since then, we would get word of her leaving her house, but would very quickly slip away from their observations.

  It had become painfully obvious that she not only knew that we were waiting for her, but had pced spotters on her path to us. How she learned of this I’m not sure, but she is, or atleast supposed to be, the viliness. Obviously she would notice something like this.

  “Okay, what now?” I asked.

  “Why don’t we just go to her house?” Lna suggested. “It’s not like they can turn us away, and she has to go home eventually.”

  “That’s a terrible idea.” I said. “Obviously that would make her hate us even more.”

  “You got a better one?” She asked.

  “…” I took a moment to think.

  Arriving in front of Evelyn’s house we saw one of the school’s carriages already there. That’s odd, people don’t come here. I’m not saying that to be mean, but usually whenever she and her friends hang out they go to Charlotte’s house. Ah, it sounds creepy that I know that, but that’s because 19 told us. The Shadow guarding Charlotte is apparently a talkative one and she told 19 all sorts of things, including Charlotte’s friends visits. I’m not a creep, I promise. Anyways, it looks like some sort of argument is going on.

  On one side of the gates was an older looking maid. Given the fact that she was inside the gate, she was one of Evelyn’s. Opposite her, on the outside of the gate was… Okay, I’ll admit I didn’t recognize him right away, but it was Evelyn’s brother, Robbie. I thought he lived in the dorms. What is he doing here? Maybe he’s checking in on her? Let’s go ahead and see what’s going on…

  Evelyn

  ***

  “Bye bye.” I waved to Evelyn.

  “Get home safe, you hear me.” She said worried.

  “I will.” I said.

  Giving her one st wave, I exited her shop with Angelica on my shoulder. Closing the door behind me, I let out a big yawn. I hadn’t managed to find many fairytales but I did find a book about ponds and frogs and got sucked into them, so I’m a bit tired. Still, I needed to get home right about now. Although no one would be particurly worried about me staying out te, I still wanted to check in with them.

  “The usual?” Angelica asked.

  “Yep.” I said.

  Like earlier today, Angelica took to the skies to keep an eye out. Also because we don’t want people to start getting suspicious about seeing us together. Keeping an eye out for any threats, I walked home with frogs on the mind.

  “Two carriages in front of your house.” Angelica said.

  “What now?” I asked, snapping out of my froggy thoughts. “Carriages?”

  “Were you expecting any visitors?” She asked, already knowing the answer.

  “No…” I said.

  Taking more care with my steps, I drifted towards the shadows, using dark magic as I did so to cloak my movements.

  “One from the school and one from the Pace.” Angelica said.

  “Well, it’s not my friends, that's for sure.” I said.

  Since my pce is too big with very little in the way of servants, we normally head to Charlotte’s pce, or to the cafe, which I’ve been trying to visit. Who would be visiting me, especially at this hour? It can’t be the Regents. They would have had a Shadow come get me. Maybe the twins? They have been trying to ambush me tely, so it probably was them. But why are they in my house? Also what about the other carriage? Well, only one way to find out.

  Standing in the shadows, I watched as Angelica flew into the estate. After a moment, she reported back.

  “Looks like it’s your brother, the twin Regents, and their guards along with 19.” She said.

  “Really?” I asked. “Can you hear anything?”

  “Nothing.” She said.

  “Right, well, I guess I have no choice but to go greet them.” I sighed.

  “I’ll be nearby.” She said. “Call me if you need me.”

  Nodding, not that she could see it, I emerged from the shadows and approached the front gate. Using my key, I unlocked it and entered. Aside from the obvious unwanted guests, nothing else was amiss. Reaching the front door, I hesitated. Do I really want to do this? It would be much easier to just go to the watchtower and stay there for the night. No, this is my house. I can’t run away every time something gets troublesome.

  Taking a deep breath, I entered my house. Immediately there were some of the twin’s guards. Standing at attention, they nodded to me. I’m not quite sure how to respond to them, so I gave a quick nod. I don’t think it would be appropriate to get changed first, so let’s go and meet them right away. Regretting my choice every step of the way, I made my way through the house. Eventually I reached the parlor and opened it up.

  In the room was Mrs.Griffin, 19, Robbie, and the Twin Regents. The twins and Robbie were sat opposite of each other with a table and tea between them.

  “It seems your back from skulking in the gutters.” Robbie said. “There are guests over, did you not have time to prepare yourself?”

  “I wasn’t expecting any visitors, nor you.” I said, giving a proper bow to the Regents.

  “This is the family house, I don’t think I needed to be expected.” He said.

  Yep, same ol’ Robbie. I don’t think he’s going to be very reasonable today, even with the Regents here. Speaking of which, why are they here? Well, I know why they’re here, but why are they here?

  “Young Regents.” I bowed once more to the startled Twins. “To what do I owe the pleasure for this visit?”

  I already know, but I wonder what they’ll say with Robbie here.

  “Um, well we were just in the area…” Lna said.

  “We were hoping to speak with you about what happened the other day…” Lloyd said, eyes drifting between me and Robbie.

  “There’s no need to concern yourself with that.” I said.

  No matter what they say, I’m not forgetting that whole memory wiping attempt.

  “Now.” I continued before anyone could speak up. “Although I would hate to see you leave so soon after I arrived, it is getting te. Perhaps we should meet up at a different time.”

  “There’s no need to have them leave so soon.” Robbie said. “We were in the middle of a conversation.”

  “You should return as well. I’m not sure about the exact time, but the dorms do have a curfew, correct?” I pointed out.

  “I was thinking about spending the night here.” He said.

  “Considering the school’s rules, that isn’t possible.” I, once more, pointed out.

  Yeah, the rules are a bit weird. They go for an all or nothing approach for residency at the dorms. Unless it’s a family emergency, or something else dramatic like that, they tend not to allow these sorts of things. Well, it’s by school year, so at the start of next year he’ll get the option to stay in or outside the dorms again, so there is that. And truth be told, I’m not going to allow him to stay here. I’m still a bit bitter that they got rid of Mom and Dad’s stuff so quickly. I don’t want to give them the chance to do it here as well.

  “I got special permission, so it’s of no concern.” He said.

  “Permission from who and to do what?” I asked.

  I was a bit curious as to who gave him permission.

  “From the Dorm mother herself.” He said.

  “Permission to do what?” I repeated.

  “To stay here of course.” He said.

  “She gave you permission to stay at someone else's house?” I asked.

  “To stay at my own house.” He said.

  “And what of me?” I asked. “Did you get my permission?”

  “Your permission?” He asked, confused. “Why would I need your permission?”

  “Well.” I said. “You said that you want to stay at your house, and by that, I suspect you mean my house.”

  “I’m in this family too. This is my house.” He said.

  “No it’s not.” I smiled. “This house is mine.”

  Robbie and the twins seemed to recoil at this information. Unsurprisingly the will that my parents left behind left everything to me. Their only child.

  “That chair is mine. This table is mine. Even that tea is mine.” I said. “The house especially is mine. Anyone outside myself giving you permission to stay here is ughable.”

  For obvious reasons I can’t say this to Aunty given the fact that I have no clue where she is, so I’ll have him give her the message. And I might as well tell Uncle about it ter. You know, just to make sure that those two don’t get rid of any more of my parents' stuff. Oh shoot, the twins are here. Um, okay let’s not make myself seem like a bully and bring up some of that old dirt on them.

  “With all of the tutors that you deprived from me, I thought you would know this.” I then chuckled before adding. “Although your recent behavior tells everyone how little you were paying attention to them.”

  “Like I need to be lectured by some wild child!” He stood up from his seat. “This is mine as much as it is yours! Maybe even more!”

  Did he really just say that in front of the next rulers of The Empire?

  “You really are stupid…” I sighed.

  “Excuse me!?” He said.

  Oops, I didn’t mean to say that one out loud.

  “Just go back to the dorms.” I said. “You’re not staying here.”

  “Says who!?” He asked.

  “Says me.” I said. “Now go back before I throw you out.”

  “If you do that I’ll tell Mom!” He said.

  “Then tell her.” I said. “What is she going to do, forbid me from going outside? Not celebrate my birthday? Not call me for dinner? Badmouth me behind my back?”

  “That’s-” He seemed to hesitate.

  Got it! That’s the winning line! Let’s leave before things can turn against me.

  “Just go.” I sighed.

  With my eyes cast downwards, I turned and left the room. As much as I wanted to take a bath, I’ve been neglecting my duties. Heading to my room, I locked the door. Given how often I was out as a Magical Girl, this was a sign to the servants that I was out and didn’t need any care for the day. Since there was a crowd outside, I went through the extra steps of closing my curtains and using dark magic to cover my transformation. Once that was done, I secretly opened up one of the windows.

  “Alright, that's all taken care of.” I said to Angelica.

  “Good to know.” She said, flying to my window.

  Landing by my side, I gently picked her up and she turned to me with a somewhat worried look.

  “Hey, are you alright?” She asked. “You seem off.”

  “Yeah, well Robbie said that I looked like I was pying in the gutters.” I said. “I wasn’t that dirty, was I?”

  “You didn’t even have any dust on you.” She said. “He’s probably just frustrated about something.”

  “Probably.” I nodded. “Anyways, we got a long night ahead of us. Let’s go!”

  “Yep. Where to?” She asked.

  “Probably outside The Empire.” I said. “I’ve already cleaned up most of the dangerous demons here.”

  “I wouldn’t be surprised if you got them all.” She said.

  “There will always be evil around, no matter how hard I try.” I said.

  With Angelica in my hands, I took flight into the night sky.

  Grayburne