The welco banquet was quite elaborate, and Juliette later revealed to Yuriko that it was because she was visiting that it happened. An eighteen-year-old True Magus was rare, practically unique, after all. Yuriko briefly thought to ask the girl and her family to avoid spreading that fact out, but then again, what did it really matter? She could hardly avoid attention and even if she kept her Mien at Tranquility, there were more than a few instances where she slipped her ntal control and defaulted to Charm. There were already a bunch of admirers back in Niria auditing her class or stalking her ho. The ho watchers were quickly taken care of, but the class auditors all had a right and privilege to be there, especially since at least half of them were other professors.
Maybe she should give firm denials when they proposition her. But other than saying no, any other recourse she had would violate campus rules. She could use her Mien to command them to leave her alone, but that would only give more fuel to their obsessions. Even direct commands from her only lasted a few hours, and the simple act of touching them with her Mien ant that they would soon progress down the Mishala hierarchy of thralls.
Anyway, the line of maids and butlers bowed to Juliette, then to her. They only took a glance at Fluffington, and so of the maids, especially the wolfkin ones, wagged their tails and looked excited. They were led into the mansion, which was about fifty paces away from the gate. The walls were hedges and the front lawn was filled with fruiting and flowering trees rather than decorative plants. There was a fountain in a roundabout just before the main doors. The mansion was at least three storeys and the facade was red brick. The roof, from what Yuriko could see from the ground, was made of grey slate. Several chimneys stuck out, but since it was already the Season of Fire, there was no smoke rising from them.
Yuriko, Ryoko, and Sofia were ushered to the guest wing, while Juliette headed towards the main family wing.
“You’ll et everyone at dinner!” The dark-haired girl said brightly.
Yuriko shared the room with Ryoko, who insisted on staying in the adjacent attendant’s room instead of the main guest room. Sofia took the room next to hers. The guest suite had three rooms and was richly appointed, with the bedroom having a lush carpet, an elaborate four-poster bed, pretty paintings of landscapes and the odd abstract one with fractal patterns. The window was tall, had a seat just below it, and opened up into a garden. It was dark already, but the garden was illuminated by lanterns powered by enchantnt, from what Yuriko could determine. There was a large tree that was the centerpiece of the garden, and a cobblestone path going around it. There were ornate benches set next to the paths, and flower bushes in the spaces between. It looked like a nice place to sit, but if Yuriko still trained physically, it would be a poor choice. There were a few rock formations in the middle of the shrubbery that would be nice to sit on while ditating. The sitting room had a card table, several side tables, a sofa, and a bookshelf that was filled with stories. The painted cover of the first book Yuriko saw was one with a bare-chested human man with flowing golden locks and cute blue eyes. His physique was nice, but Heron’s was better, in her opinion.
Ah, was that Fluffington? The wolf pup padded into the garden, sniffed around the bushes and ran towards the large tree. After the run to the estate, he’d worked out his jitters from being confined for a couple of days. Before Yuriko and the other two were led to their rooms, a butler had offered to take Fluffington to feed and play. A youngish butler, not the sa one who led Fluffington away earlier, half ran into the garden, carrying a bowl of sausages. The wolf pup sniffed, drooled, then practically pounced for the food. He was munching away while the butler backed away.
He was well within her Anima reach, so she connected a tendril to the puppy and told him, “Behave. We are guests.”
Fluffington looked up to the second-floor window, saw her staring down at him, wagged his tail, then nodded. She half expected him to bark, but he wasn’t a dog…
“Woof!”
Yuriko sighed. The puppy needed to learn dignity.
There was an attached bathroom with suitable plumbing features next to the room. Ryoko filled the tub using piped-in hot water, and Yuriko enjoyed the scalding heat. There were fragrant oils and soaps set on a ledge, and her handmaiden pampered her for an hour until soone knocked on the door to the sitting room. Ryoko opened it while Yuriko got into a dressing gown and walked out of the bathroom. The uniford maid bowed to her and left.
“Dinner, young mistress. I’ll lay out a dress for you.” Ryoko said.
“Thank you.” Yuriko allowed her Radiant Anima to dry her hair and body. Her hair fell almost to her knees when she didn’t have it contained in a ponytail, though if she straightened it out, it would reach her ankles. If she set it into a ponytail, it would fall just above her bottom, but if she braided it into an intricate weave, it would probably fall down to her waist. Alternatively, she could also put her hair into an updo. She wasn’t well versed in those sorts of things, but she was sure Ryoko would know, and if not, a hairdresser. With the upcoming Gala Presentacion, Yuriko felt the need for so change.
As she got dressed for dinner, Yuriko cast True Connection, hoping to be able to talk to Gwendith and Heron, but alas, the spell failed to connect. They must still be in a place with interference. She reassured herself of their well-being by briefly visiting the dreamscape and examining their threads. Nothing seed to be the matter, and Yuriko sighed in relief. She looked at her surroundings with so interest as she wasn’t in a mist-filled space now. Like before, she was in a reflection of the material world, and while there were the familiar mists, they were thin and only clouded her vision once they were far beyond her Anima reach.
The sitting room and the rest of the suite were mirrored in the dream, but the furniture and items within flickered and shifted, as though they weren’t quite as firm in the reflection as the room itself. The shadows elongated at the corners, and sothing crept out. It was a swirl of multiple elental energies centred around a gem-like core. It had eyes and a facsimile of a mouth. It stared at her for a very long mont, screeched in surprise and palpable fear, then dove right back into the shadows.
There was movent all over the room, under the sofa, the wardrobe, the desks, chairs, and bed. Small elental beings diving into tiny whorls of elental energy, miniature gateways probably, and leaving this area of the dreamscape. Fear and other negative emotions squirted out of the beings, hanging as visible and material clouds of emotion. Yuriko’s Anima perception took in the clouds and slowly disintegrated them, the Radiant energy ignited and consud the cloudy stuff. She felt dribbles of Radiant flow back into her core and body, but she was pretty much saturated with Radiant energy, so they simply flowed into her hair, which stored the excess. Of course, it made her golden locks glow softly, but that effect faded away once the excess Radiance was leached into the environnt.
Returning her attention to the material, Yuriko pondered as she and Sofia were escorted to the dining hall. A huge chandelier dominated the dining room, and its bright lights illuminated every corner of the hall. A long dining table was directly underneath it, and could seat twelve people. There were secondary long tables set on either side but were bereft of place settings.
Juliette was already there, talking to an elderly man with a mane of silver hair. Their voices weren’t loud, but Yuriko’s perception aura caught their words anyway.
“...signed up for the Season’s Gala Presentacion. Are you sure about that? Not that I doubt the good professor’s age, but…”
“Yeah, I know gramps. Even if it weren’t true, who’s going to question it?” Juliette muttered. That was rude! Yuriko didn’t lie!
“Well, I’ve included her na in the list. It’s going to be on the 8th. Councillor elections are on the 4th and 5th. You should be the one to cast our household’s vote.”
“Huh? Why ? Dad’s the heir,” Juliette protested in a louder voice.
“You know how Alonzo is. He prefers going on ‘adventures’.” The old man snorted, “I’ve decided to na you heir apparent, so you’re representing us. Just vote according to the block. It’s a good introduction to politics for you.”
“Why not Roma?” Juliette asked. “He’s…”
“Your cousin is younger than you by a few days. Besides, he said he isn’t returning from Briardale for the Seasonal break.”
“Ugh, fine.” Juliette relented. She looked towards Yuriko and Sofia, “Oh, here’s my friends.”
The old man spun around and stared at Yuriko for a long mont, then his eyes darted to Sofia. He cleared his throat and approached. “Professor Davar?” he asked Yuriko.
“Yes.”
“Welco to the Abad household. I’m the current patriarch, Juan Carlos Abad. A pleasure to et you!” He held out a hand, and when Yuriko reached out to shake it, he instead bowed and bent down to kiss it. Thankfully, he didn’t press his lips on the back of her hand but on the knuckle of his thumb. A strange étiquette, perhaps? She’d need to review the republic’s common sense.
“The pleasure is mine,” Yuriko answered softly.
“Please, have a seat. Dinner will be served shortly.”
He seated her on the left-hand side of the table’s head. A woman with light brown hair contained in a bun and soft brown eyes sat across from her. She was introduced as Ester Abad, Juliette’s mother. Juliette was seated next to Ester, and Sofia sat down next to Yuriko. A gaggle of three younger children, spanning from early teens to a child of six, sat down on the lower seats and they were accompanied by a maid each.
Dinner was a seven-course al starting with soup. Juan Carlos spoke almost exclusively to Yuriko, mostly asking about life in Niria. But the bulk of his conversation ended up being about the Republic’s unification a couple of centuries ago, and he happened to have been a young man at that point.
“Virtalla, Bresia, Nirlith, and Briardale had been allies, rivals, enemies, and more over the centuries. We’ve ford alliances, we’ve fought each other, we’ve even ford a kingdom nearly a millennium ago. The four cities are old, harkening to the ti before the Shattering.” The old man said, “and I lived through a ti of unification, fueled by the aggression of our neighbours. The family had not been native to Virtalla at all, but we were awarded land after that war, for honours.” He grinned. “After so long, I’ve grown to love my orchards and gardens, but it’s nearly ti for to move on. My granddaughter here…” He nodded to Juliette, “Is the best of the lot.”
Yuriko smirked at Juliette, who had turned red as a tomato. “She is quite competent.”
“Father, you should not speak of passing the torch,” Ester protested. “We can buy Life Elixirs!”
“I’ve already taken so, more than a century ago.” Juan Carlos said. “But my potential has already been spent, I will not live much longer.” He still looked hale and hearty though. “I’ve never progressed my Elental Heart beyond Magi, and the limits of lifespan, even one supported by Life Elixir, approaches. I am not discontent, I am ready.” He sighed. “But I apologize, this should not be the topic of dinner conversation. Now, you’ve decided to co at an exciting point in Virtalla! After the elections and the start of the gala season, there’s the Festival of Joy to look forward to a week later…”
Yuriko smiled and listened to the old man’s stories. Juliette had a shadow behind her eyes and she ate quietly. Sofia was frowning as she ate, though her expression wavered between that and amazent at the food.
Dinner passed quietly by, and Yuriko returned to her room. Tomorrow, she will accompany her disciples to the city.
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