Breathing a sigh of relief, Marianne was glad to have the demonic armor remove itself from her. Taking a moment to herself, Marianne dropped back to sit on her rear and catch her breath. As it was, it wasn't the most brilliant idea of hers to yet again expend unnecessary amounts of mana needlessly. She truly needed more training in that aspect. Getting to her feet and dusting herself off, she sighed. But, looked up at the wrong time to see Nero grab her beloved Captain's face and push her so rudely back, basically assaulting her in Marianne's eyes. The hostile action was enough to immediately cause her rage to flare once again but when it dawned on her that Nero was practically in her birthday suit, Marianne's face reddened from the mixture of both anger and frustration. Flustered and taken off guard from the sight, Marianne turned her eyes away as she contained herself.
It was for the best, after all. Captain Fanily appeared to take no offense and presumably wanted nothing more to come of it. However, Marianne made a mental note to be sure to witness the twin sisters' duel. Possibly, even challenge Nero herself when the opportunity presented itself. Gathering stray pieces of equipment here and there that belonged to her, Marianne took her spot next to the Captain. Though, it was clear she was more than displeased with the situation, a glare in her eyes and a scowl on her face. She held her tongue and stayed quiet. At this point, all she wanted more was a bath and to curl up in bed after removing her gear. The evening had drained her enough to where she was near her patience's end.
Marianne's Seven Deadly Lovely Maids
They couldn't believe their eyes.
Huddled around the senior maid as she held a parchment scroll in her trembling hands, Marianne's seven maids were uncharacteristically quiet. Eyes wide as looks of utter horror blanched and drained the color from their faces, they stood stock still as if they were frozen statues near the main entrance. Moments before, a messenger had called for Lady Marianne, to which in her absence her maids answered. It was missive direct from the Delacroix Duchy themselves. Signed and sealed in the all-too-familiar and distinct styling of the Delacroix family. The first to snap back to reality, the senior maid looked up towards the main entrance and blinked.
"He's coming."She said cryptically.
Her eyes searched the ground for answers as the gears and cogs of her mind resumed their normal working rhythm.
With a sudden crumpling of the scroll, she looked towards her fellow maids.
The other six having jumped, startled by the unexpected action.
"We have to be ready."The senior maid said.
One of the other maids posed a question.
"What of Lady Marianne?"Another demanded immediate action.
"We have to inform Lady Marianne as soon as possible!"Yet another spoke up, though she left her sentence incomplete. Unfinished.
"Yes, especially if...if he..."The senior maid shook her head.
"No. There is no time. We must prepare for his arrival first and foremost. Lady Marianne will find out when she returns from her mission."With a loud clapping of her hands, she drove the other maids to make haste.
"We must prepare! Let's go girls!"And with that, they all began to excitedly and loudly chatter.
"We need to go to the kitchen! Surely he'll be famished after traveling all this way!"They each speaking in a tone tinged with some odd swirl of fear and trepidation.
"Will they have enough?"One of the maids asked, more intimidated by their unannounced and unexpected guest-to-be.
"Someone needs to schedule a time for him at the bathhouse as well! It has to be clear of all other patrons!""Do we have space in the stock room for his belongings!?""You fool, we must rearrange and organize Lady Marianne's room!""Of course, of course!""Do we have a herald available for his arrival?""How much time do we have?""Not much, he is known to appear shortly after the post has been sent!""Oh, dear...Oh, dear...!"Aggravated by their tendency to run their mouths first before actually getting any work done, the Senior Maid raised her voice and clapped again. Louder this time.
"Work first! Talk second, girls! C'est l'heure! Allons-y!"Smacking a few of the slower ones on the bottom, the seven maids then scattered and ran every which way to accomplish their self-assigned tasks. Pairs of them heading to near every area of Candeln. In the chaos and flurry, the senior maid had accidentally dropped the crumpled parchment sent and addressed to Lady Marianne. To any curious and wandering eye inquisitive enough to see what was written on it, they would only find a
massive paw print of some beast taking up its entirety. What it meant, only the seven maids knew.
And Lady Marianne.
Snowdrops