Chapter V – Growing Remorse

Eiri surreptitiously let herself into the first floor of the southwest castle tower, commonly known as the lab—or officially stamped Soul Energy Department Lab in the tax papers. She ensured no prying eyes were around as she closed the door behind her and walked up to Kibe. “Hey, Kibe! Have you heard about Harry?—hmmm!” Her eyes spotted a bloody carcass belonging to something quite familiar. I can’t believe it! Her steps grew quicker towards him, seeing the bloody insides of the black-and-white feathered thing lying on the table in front of him. She waved her hand towards it as her voice grew taut. “Is that Fanbiro?”

Kibe silently nodded, continuing to slice through the bone, making an ear-rapping noise as the knife scraped and split the bone apart. The noise was just as ear-rapping as someone rubbing a rock up and down in the chords of an acoustic guitar and calling it postmodern music.

Her furrowed brow intently stared at the old gray-haired male in front of her as she clamped her jaw, trying to avoid that bone scratching making harmonical dissonances from getting to her. Her eyes narrowed at the knife he was using, “—Hmmm. Is that from my kitchen?”

Kibe continued tearing the flesh apart, trying to roughly split the meat into equal-sized chunks but missing the mark by a whole lot—the roughness and unevenness of the pieces looked nearly comical as if a seven-year-old child was assigned the job. A slight but visible nod appeared on his flat older face.

“How did you get it from Nina? She’s clearly gonna be crying her heart out—” Eiri’s voice quickly grew worried as she looked back at the closed door behind her, then at the stairs on the other end, spying around the room looking for signs of a nosy child dressed in pink. “Why didn’t you lock it? What if she sees it? Can’t you imagine—”

With an expansive shrug, Kibe shoved his carving fork deep into and sloppily sliced a chunk of purple meat, tossing it on a container on the floor by the table, which made a sloppy wet sound as it landed, splattering blood all around. A mumble slipped out of his mouth. “It’s not my problem. Itagiba gave me Fanbiro, so blame him instead.”

What in the Sanbi? Are they not even gonna bring up a vote anymore? Eiri’s gloved hands petted the long black feather of the desecrated corpse. “You can’t let Nina see this! She’s gonna have nightmares for years!”

“You know, you’re bitching to the wrong department!” Kibe rubbed his tired-looking eyes on his forearm, letting out a large sigh as he continued to slice up the purple flesh. “I’m just doing my job! Neferteri was the one who approved what Luny recommended. If you have a problem, then go bother them instead.”

Now he’s getting cranky, just like Gabiro would too. Trying to let Kibe’s words slip by, Eiri walked to the other side to see where Kibe was portioning off the meat, or rather, chucking the chunks of meat at. She chewed the inside of her lips as the sight of a messy gore fest tickled her brain unpleasantly. Seeing blood splattered around two containers, one holding purple flesh while the other contained bones and feathers, Eiri soured her lips, now looking at a heavy-looking wooden bucket about three-quarters full of blood. “Really? You and Gabiro—can you at least try draining all the blood next time?” Eiri squeezed Kibe’s tight shoulder, halfway giving a massage, halfway trying to squeeze the truth out of him. “I will bill the deep cleaning to your department either way—so like—what, or who is the fanchaki with Nina now? Arukia just complained to me just this morning that it pooped on Nina’s bed—she was so pissed when she complained to me that she even asked me to bring up a rule to forbid pets.”

Kibe’s shoulder seemed to try to push back against Eiri’s hand, but with each squeeze, it seemed like it was caving into the powers of her massaging prowess. His head fell forward as he stopped cutting up another chunk of meat. “Beats me—” The words flatly came out of him. “I didn’t even see Itagiba killing it.”

So Itagiba must have gotten another fanchaki for Nina, and she didn’t even notice? Eiri let out a relieved sigh. I guess I didn’t notice it, either. She squeezed Kibe’s shoulder again, aiming for the super tight muscles that felt like there were rocks inside his skin. “Just don’t let Nina see this, okay?”

With his head still slumped forward, Kibe gave a silent half-hearted nod.

“So that odd-looking meat you brought to the last department meeting was Fanbiro too? Hmmmm—” Eiri eyed the messy containers and bucket. “So, how did you create that thing anyways? I’ve never seen something as bizarre as that clump of—thing!”

“Me neither.” Kibe gave another half-hearted nod, letting more slip out monotonously. “It was in one of Gabiro’s books on Buhraies interface. Something about trying to bring back someone from as little as hair or dust from dead skin.”

A vivid picture of an old person with rubbery leather skin, with a blue stripe painted in the middle of his balding head, came to Eiri’s mind. “So you used his hair alongside Fanbiro?”

“Yea.” Kibe looked at the carcass before him and brought his hands to continue cutting it. “Also, the hair by itself but got nothing more than another clump of flesh with weird hairs mixed with bug carapaces sticking out of it. Everyone is just wasting time on this stupid Buhraies interface!”

*Or is he salty because he can’t repro any of it? Hmmm—*Eiri looked back at the carcass. “What are you even doing then? I never saw Gabiro do that—unless—don’t tell me!” Eiri’s eyes widened as she remembered what Itagiba first stated when he saw the big-ass fanchaki. “Is Itagiba really planning on getting us to cook it?”

“He didn’t tell me to do that!” Kibe held a bloodied chunk of innards and tried to pack it into a blob about the same mass as the rest of the meat in the container. “Luny had a crazy idea of just checking every piece of flesh and bones for a discolor or something weird, and if there is none, then boil it in nari to see if we detect Gabiro’s soul—or at least multiple souls.” Kibe chucked the blob in the container and continued to slice up the flesh. “Never heard of it while I was at Forway.”

Or you were not paying attention to the teachers. Eiri grabbed a knife and started cutting up alongside Kibe. “Discolor? Why are you checking for that?”

“That’s what I said to her too.” Kibe again rubbed his tired eyes on his forearm. “She said Gabiro’s soul could be like a benign tumor on Fanbiro. Not sure what she meant.”

“Hmmmm—makes sense—I think. So what’s the deal with boiling it in nari, then? I mean, if you boil everything, then for sure you can’t bring him back, right?” Eiri kept cutting up perfect slices of flesh at more than twice the speed of Kibe.

“It’s Luny’s idea, not mine. She said to keep attention to the fire’s size and shape as I boil everything—Neferteri agreed to it, so that’s what I will do.” Kibe kept focusing on the task ahead, not appearing to even try to keep up with Eiri’s pace. “She told me to bring the boiled nari with Gabiro Soul to her.”

Eiri looked at Kibe’s baggy eyes, feeling anguish bubbling in her chest. “You’re not an employee of the monarchy department!” She jammed her knife in the tendons of the fanchaki’s thighs and snapped one of the legs off. The gruesome yet clean cut felt more aggressive, but it still looked masterfully done—like a dentist using a plier to remove wisdom teeth.

Kibe held his lips at his first, but seeing Eiri cutting stuff for him apparently helped in making it loose, letting a mumble of words flatly slip out, “Gabiro told me a long time ago to follow Neferteri’s orders if I couldn’t talk to him.”

“But you’re the courtroom scientist now! You’re the head of the department!” Eiri’s inspiring speech seemed to lighten the gloomy mood developing in the room. “You’re not a kid following Gabiro around anymore! You can do what you want!”

“And do you think I wanted it? Everything was just fine before.” Kibe chopped up the flesh with more strength but with even more sloppiness than before. He said sadly, his baggy eyes looking even more tired than before, trying to continue slicing the flesh apart without much apparent regard, “That’s what I want back! Nothing else!”

“Hmmmm—fine! If that’s what you want, then who am I to judge!” With her bloodied yellow gloves, Eiri crouched by the containers to better pack the butchered pieces. “I actually came here to ask if you heard anything from the guards about Harry. It’s the twenty-fourth already, and I still haven’t gotten a single mail.”

Kibe shook his head, handing Eiri a roughly shaped blob of innards.

“Not even a guard passing by him?” Eiri narrowed her eyebrows, delaying taking the blob from Kibe’s hand.

“Ask the general guards yourself. They don’t care for me as their leader anyways.” With a curt reply, Kibe plopped the blob into the container, letting blood splatter everywhere. “Can you take it over for me?”

“Hah?” Evading the blood splash like a ninja, Eiri quickly stood up. She seemed breathtaken at first, but then exasperated words came from her pouting lips, “THAT’S YOUR JOB! Again! You’re the courtroom scientist!”

Kibe’s flat face towards Eiri stated matter-of-factly, “It’s Gabiro’s job. Not mine.”

He’s always like this, but even that’s too much. With a short sigh, Eiri stood straight silently for a few seconds. “Ya know, if you hate it so much, why not resign?”

Quieter than usual words slipped out of his mouth, sounding nearly like a whisper of a forbidden curse being professed. “Neferteri said I can’t.” He returned to cutting up the flesh.

The words from Kibe’s mouth seemed to echo deep inside Eiri’s head. She laid the dirty knife by the carcass, then carefully took off her bloodied gloves and laid them on the table, all while memories of her mother bitching about Neferteri bubbled to the surface, alongside her recent memories as well.

“Hey, can you finish cutting up that side?” Kibe pointed to the other leg of the carcass.

“I need to go.” Eiri marched silently towards the door. Her eyes grew slightly moist as her cheery mood kept on vanishing away, leaving her chest filling up with an unwelcome void. Does Neferteri have that much control over everything? Why am I even king-maid, then?

Eiri sat in her office alone, trying to focus on the paperwork in front of her while putting aside the thoughts brewing over previous days. The caffeinated drink by her was half-empty already, giving her an energy boost after lunch—the soul tree seeds added a pleasant vanilla and nutmeg taste as they infused into the hot water mixed with a bit of caramel. Complementing it was a serving of hard mud, a common oldie snack. It had a brittle texture with a lardy flavor. Mild hints of something akin to pistachio and cinnamon complementing the pastry base flavor of eggs and wheat elevated this snack to the next level. The door to the balcony was wide open, letting in a ray of lovely warm sunshine and fresh humid air from the outside. The room’s serenity contrasted with the waves of thoughts and memories chewing at the back of Eiri’s head, taking away her focus.

Amidst that, the Queen of Sanbi walked in without even a knock on the door, leaving it wide open as she approached Eiri and handed out a white envelope with a broken Sanbi seal. “I hope this brings you some relief concerning Sanbi-eye’s whereabouts.” Neferteri’s tone seemed straight to the point as a slight but noticeable smirk arose in the corner of her mouth. “Ensure he addresses the monarchy department next time.”

The broken seal on the Sanbi mail captured Eiri’s attention. She flipped the envelope and saw Eiri Sanbi Royal written on the TO section in the back. A not-so-bubbly feeling arose in her chest as her pointed voice sought an answer. “Ahhh—hmmm—this was addressed to me! Why did you open it?” With a glassy stare, Eiri raised her eyebrows, ready to initiate another verbal combat. She felt her blood pressure rise, readying herself to break the streak this time.

Still standing, Neferteri pointed her hand towards the steel door on the wall by the mannequins while staring back at Eiri with such intensity that one could almost see sparks flying in the air. “Do you recall Paulin fourteen meeting minutes?”

Nothing immediately came to Eiri’s mind, but then it hit her like a train. “Is this part of the full control over Harry as well? But—but—this is now infringing on my privacy!” She tapped on her name on the back of the envelope. “What in the Sanbi are you talking about?”

“The contractor will have full control over the contractee’s state and will remain doing so until the aforementioned debt is repaid.” Neferteri’s mouth seemed to be holding back a larger smirk from forming while something about her eyes had a condescending feeling as she looked down at Eiri. “That’s what the contract stated—that’s what you convinced Harry to sign.” Her tone carried the usual seriousness, but one could taste a tinge of something akin to early celebrating a victory—or if being described by the vocabulary of a commoner, she was being a total cocky bitch.

Silence ensued in the room. The worded sentence lingered around Eiri’s head for a few long seconds. “But, his state means himself and his things, right? When he sent the mail, it was no longer his property! It’s mine now!” Eiri held her name on the envelope towards Neferteri, keeping it away from reach.

Neferteri’s tone grew serious. “The Sanbi monarchy precedent is that the words written in the letter are a product of him, and therefore mine to handle. With that stated, I am entitled to break the seal.”

This just keeps getting worse! Eiri fiddled around with the white envelope in her hand, making a loud gasp as something came to mind. “That means I can send a message to him without you seeing it! The words are mine!”

Neferteri closed her eyes and slowly shook her head, debaucherously enjoying the verbal combat. “The words are yours, yes. However, I own his state, and thus the envelope addressed to him.” She calmly but firmly stated.

“Hmm—fine! Then I could just use winga mail! It’s under Forway’s rule anyways!” With a tight tone, Eiri pulled hard on a drawer below her desk and took out a blue envelope. “He will take a while to see it, but that’s fine.”

“King-maid, must I inform you where the related manuscripts on the foundational matters to our jobs are stored? Their precedent was derived from ours. Both the embassy and Sanbi mail couriers already know that all communication addressed to him flows through me. Our forefathers already went through this wordplay, so it is in your best interest not to attempt tampering with the contract.” Neferteri looked at the portrait closest to the window with a visual intensity that seemed to ooze hatred. The oil painting of a young lady looked shockingly close to Eiri but with a sensual aura that would make most men cave under lust. The painting seemed about to come alive to stare back at Neferteri with a smirk of its own. “Coema learned her lesson after failing in many endeavors that went against the monarchy department’s best interest, or has she not taught you about it?”

So is that why Mom decided to go to Newland? Eiri crumpled the blue envelope in her hand and hid it away from a silently staring Neferteri. She then picked up the white envelope again and took out a sloppily handwritten note.

Hi Eiri

I’m already visiting my third village, and I even saw a common complaint between them regarding a recent uptick in wild animals. Perhaps a beast has overgrown and is disturbing the woods, or bandits are setting up something nasty. Now it’s time to explore more villages! Being Sanbi-eye is exciting! All the best!

Harry.

Eiri glanced at the sloppily written words, noticing halfway through that it looked like Harry had fallen asleep, at least based on the writing deviating upwards, then going off the paper in a single streak. She couldn’t quite put a finger on it, but something felt off. All the best? Is Harry as old as Gabiro, or what? Hmmmm*—still—only that? But it’s the twenty-sixth already!*

Glancing at a relatively silent Eiri, Neferteri extended her hand towards the note.

“But—but this is mine now!” Eiri brought the letter closer to her chest. “You handed it over to me!”

“It’s property of the monarchy department.” Neferteri’s response had an ultimatum tone to it. “Consider you being able to read this letter as evidence that I am accommodating of the friendship between you and Sanbi-eye.”

Eiri, feeling the weight of these words resonating, or rather, weighing on her mind, placed the letter inside the envelope and handed it to Neferteri, gripping hard on its edge to not let go. “Fine! Then simply tell me! Why do you need to control him so much?”

Neferteri did not reach out to the envelope. “You must know why, king-maid. Or shall I spell it out again?” Seeing the crumpling envelope getting even more crumpled, she spoke just as calmly but firmly after a moment of silence, “As you desire! I presume you are trying to fulfill his contract earlier than I designed. I will not let you tamper with his or my objective in making this kingdom a better place.”

Eiri’s eyes appeared to be in flames. She crumpled the corner of the Sanbi mail envelope so hard it looked like it was about to fuse with her hand.

“Furthermore, I am open to renegotiating his contract if it benefits the kingdom. The king of Sanbi desires more Sanbi-eyes, and I began compiling a case study regarding such a request. If you would like more favorable terms for the first Sanbi-eye, then under no circumstance you shall let these loathly inherited Coema traits of yours be a nuisance to our great kingdom.”

I don’t have a choice, eh? Hmmm, rather—I didn’t have any choice to begin with. With moistening eyes, Eiri quickly nodded, relaxing her grip on the envelope.

Neferteri grabbed the envelope gently from her hand. With a slight bow, she walked out, closing the door on her way out.

An overwhelming feeling filled Eiri’s chest, making a tear fall down her reddened cheek as she could barely hold this energy swelling within her, waiting for the door to shut. More tears then fell as she grasped a hard mud and suckled on it like a pacifier—the sweet taste and brittle texture brought back memories of her childhood, with one memory, in particular, floating up top before others. It was her mother, Coema, leaving for work and giving her five pearls to figure out lunch and dinner, but not even a timehunk later, Eiri spent it all on candy for her and her friends. Lunchtime came, and her growling stomach rumbled on, telling her she was pretty boned as none of her friends invited her over for lunch. Mom did say I care about others too much—but it’s not my fault! I gotta help them! Otherwise, who will?

Coema’s painting looked like it was staring at Eiri, provoking her with thoughts—or it was all within Eiri’s mind.

“We already had this conversation! I even tried to probe Kibe to get him on my side exactly like you did with Gabiro, but it’s not working!” Eiri let out a long-winded hum, hoping the painting would start saying something helpful back at her. Her teeth crunched on the hard mud, and she swallowed it down with the rest of the caffeinated drink.

The room remained silent except for the sniffs amidst warm tears coming out of Eiri.

Whipping her face, Eiri continued blurting out, “I really wish you were here, you know? What if I tell Neferteri to eat Sanbi shit, and go work with you in Newland, too? What do you think? Putting Sora as the new king-maid? She would have found a better way to care for Harry.”

A specific memory came to her mind. It was when Neferteri threatened her with early retirement after handing her a bucket with paraphernalia to force Harry to sign the contract. Nah—I’m sure Neferteri would have stepped over her even worse. Eiri adjusted her yellow gloves, scratching an itch developing near the wrist as she sighed heavily. Sora would have for sure had a massive panic attack and dropped dead on the spot!

Looking at Coema’s portrait again, Eiri noticed her sensuality was fully displayed through her oil painting, accurately depicting her confident smirk—almost as if she were laughing at Eiri. “I’m sure you would be pretty pissy if I showed up!—hmmm, I bet you would make me regret giving up, too!” Eiri’s pumped-up energy peaked as a cheerful smile came out of her. “I have no choice! I have to find a way to balance things out!” But the smile didn’t last long. But how? Her gloved hands reached out and picked another hard mud to suckle on. Maybe I should start by finding out more about a possible renegotiation.

The afternoon glow of a dying sun was in its infancy, but there was still enough natural light around that no maid had yet come through to bring the fost lamps alive. Glancing at a handful of Sanbi commercial income tax forms in her hand, Eiri was cross-checking that she had adequately stamped a blue wax seal on all of them and signed it correctly with her blood—the signature was about half a spoon of blood droplets atop each emblem on the top right of the paper, each contrasting a stranger’s blood and name in the bottom.

Her sad lips silently churned about as her previous conversation with Harry minced in the back of her mind. Maybe with time, Harry will remember more about the person who abused him? Feels insensitive writing that down, and Neferteri will purposely delay my messages to him anyways, so what if I send one of my maids instead? Well—I would have to figure out where he is in the first place, and Neferteri would surely figure out what I am trying to do. What if I reach out to the Cruro guild to seek Harry out? I did help them out plenty of times, plus this shouldn’t be too much to ask. She could feel a particular cute gaze staring at her from the edge of her vision. “Sora, can you grab Sanbi Region North A-L?” she asked, knowing who the adorable gaze belonged to.

“Yes, king-maid!” An upbeat, quick cute voice came out of Sora, approaching a sizeable bluish box on the right shelf; she raised her hand above her head and pulled it out with all her might—perhaps a bit too much. Her legs trembled at the weight of the box. With a cutesy grunt, as she exerted herself, it was one of the rare moments when the rosacea in her face, without a doubt, wasn’t caused by embarrassment. She shuffled around and gained her footing as her legs wobbled, then by bracing the weight against her chest, she finally seemed to grow steady.

If only he could remember just enough to help me post a quest to figure out where he is from! It would make life so much easier if I could find more people who knew him! Eiri’s downturned expression turned into a hopeful semblance, making her eyes glean as she opened the blue box Sora was holding. She carefully dropped the tax forms inside, respecting the alphabetization of the letters. Itagiba did seem pretty set on hiring a few more Sanbi-eyes; so Neferteri was telling the truth! Sanbi shit! Why didn’t he tell me, at least? Remembering the multiple times Itagiba voted against her at the meetings was the answer to that unnecessary question. I need to tell Harry about him becoming a mentor later on too! I bet the additional pay will help a lot with reducing his contract length.

Sora’s hands and arms meanwhile were starting to shake, but her resolve to help out Eiri didn’t seem to change one bit.

Placing the last tax form inside, Eiri grabbed the box from Sora’s hand with ease and slid it back into the shelf. “That should be it for today. Can you ask Aurora to see me on your way out?” Eiri made her way back to her seat. Yeah, I will get in touch with them after work. Although, I will have to talk with Neferteri and somehow get a glimpse into his schedule without letting her be suspicious of it—hmmmm, that might be impossible, though. Oh, I know! I will get in touch with all the Sanbi people I know and ask them to send me a Sanbi mail when they cross paths with him! Yes! That way, I can picture roughly his direction and then ask Cruros to search the area!

Wiping the sweat off her face, Sora said in the same upbeat voice, “Yes, king-maid!” She quickly walked to Eiri’s desk, grabbed a jug, cup, and plate, then approached the door on the other side of the room as if running out of a building on fire. She suddenly stopped a step short of the closed door; her hand froze in the air as she reached out for it. Her face seemed to be as exerted as when she was holding the heavy box—she appeared to be fighting some internal battle, shaking her head somewhere between a nod and denial as she pressed her lips tightly, making her petite canines protrude even more.

I should still write something to him, just in case. At least to attempt to get him to talk more—seems awfully short for someone who has no memories and just went out into the world for the first time. Eiri pulled a Sanbi mail envelope and a clean sheet of paper from a drawer and laid it on the table, not even realizing Sora was still in the room. Maybe he was too excited to even write to me? She grabbed a winga feather resting on an glass ink flask, but as she touched the feather on the paper, something began stirring up in her mind—something dwelling for a while but now coming to the forefront. Could it be that deep down, he knows I forced him to sign it, and now he is unhappy with his new life because it wasn’t his decision? The ink kept oozing into the paper as her mind went blank on what to write.

Without turning to face Eiri, Sora’s trembling voice worriedly blurted out in the room, “I—not sure what happened—but—” She faced Eiri quickly, bowing so profoundly, it was impressive she didn’t fall forward, nor did she drop any of the stuff in her hands. “Please let me help you, king-maid!” She enunciated those words at her usual rap-god speed, probably fueled by sheer anxiety.

“On what?” Eiri looked at the trembling Sora; her question had a frank tone while her wet eyes gleamed for truth.

“I’m sorry, king-maid—” Sora started retreating towards the door as her face got redder than a pasty white boy spending the day in the sun.

Eiri shook her finger towards Sora, then started calling her with it. “You started it! Now you come here, you little girl!” A youthful shine rose on Eiri, like the one that shines on people when they are about to pet a puppy.

Sora gulped but followed suit. She laid the jug, cup, and plate back on the table, then walked around to stand by Eiri. Her tense posture and beet-red face seemed like she was about to do something extremely vulgar, like she was being told to sit on a black couch for a peculiar type of interview that would expose all of her intimate secrets.

Eiri pulled Sora into her lap, tightly hugging her from behind. The comforting warmth coming from this live body pillow showered Eiri’s murky feelings away.

Sora let out a cute faint grunt as she was running out of breath. Her eyes were about to roll back as the air in her lungs was forced out by the tight squeeze—she looked like a fighter being strangled in the ring, desperately tapping out as she was passing out.

Eiri’s lungs filled with a gentle scent of body soap mixed with Sora’s natural Wozefaries smell. It had a somewhat girly accent on the mildly sweet spectrum. Finally realizing she was nearly strangling Sora, she released the tightness just enough to keep her alive. “Sorry! Sorry! I needed it today.”

Looking down at her unresting hands playing with each other, Sora spoke softly but quickly, “King-maid—ever since Gabiro rescued Harry from the slums, things have been different! Arukia talked to me and kept asking what I thought of him! Even saying bad things about him too—like—”

“I told you before, she gossips far better than she cooks, but as long as she treats guests awesomely, follows my requests, and doesn’t make much of a fuss in our department, it’s all dandy.” Eiri patted Sora on the head. “You can complain about her to me as much as you want, though!”

“I’m sorry for complaining about Arukia, king-maid—” A sad string of quick words slipped from Sora’s mouth. “What I wanted to say is that—something happened when Sanbi-eye appeared. Why—” Sora seemed to mince words, then something quickly slipped out of her lips when she tightly closed her eyes. “The maids noticed how less happy you’ve been since Harry showed up, and I want to do something!”

“Hmmmm—okay! You know how I told you I was going to try to help him with his contract? Well—it looks like Neferteri is gonna restrict me from even talking to him, let alone seeing him! I thought she only cared about making a profit and public goodwill, but I now know for sure she hates my guts! I knew she and Mom didn’t see eye to eye, but still! I thought it would be different with me—I mean, I just want to talk with Harry without Neferteri being present, but she refuses to let me! The only thing I can think of is to make contact through the Cruro guild.” Eiri continued to use Sora as a body pillow, letting a heavy sigh, followed by breathing in as much of her body pillow smell as she could. “There’s a chance Harry is pissed at me too.”

Sora took a few seconds to respond. She held Eiri’s hands. “Do you need to?” Her cutesy frank speech seemed straight to the point for the first time in a long while—it wasn’t even spoken in the usual fast manner.

“Hmmmm—well, yeah? His Sanbi mail seemed odd. He did say he was having fun, but something about it is rubbing me the wrong way—who in this day and age finishes a letter by saying all the best? That’s old-folk talk—not even Mom would write something like that. Hmmm—I thought I knew Harry well from our conversations, but then again—I only talked with him for like a timehunk or two at best—” Her voice trailed off. “I don’t know what to think of it!”

“I’m sorry, king-maid, but I still don’t understand why Sanbi-eye is so special. The monarchy department gave him a fair chance, and he took it!” Sora’s voice began picking up speed again, turning itself into the usual rapping fashion while her body was still at the mercy of Eiri’s squishing.

Eiri rested her head on the back of the Wozefaries-shaped pillow. Taking another deep breath, she then let out most of it in a single word vomit as her voicy grew brittle, “Because I basically pressured him to sign it. Neferteri made me do it, or she would force me to retire. I’m sorry for hiding the truth, but that’s why I care about Harry! Because I screwed him over!”

Sora freed one of her hands from Eiri’s trap and patted her head. “King-maid, don’t be so hard on yourself. I can guarantee you that Harry is living a better life now compared to when he was in the slums.” The words coming out of Sora’s mouth were trembling despite being at the usual fast rap pace. “You were protecting us too!” She couldn’t hold back her tears.

I could tell her I have some doubts about that, but better not—I don’t have proof anyways. Eiri’s eyes followed suit, rubbing her face on Sora’s back to hide it away. It is true that I do overthink things at times—maybe he is having too much fun to bother writing me a letter. Eiri hugged Sora tightly again, squeezing the life out of her. “Yeah. You’re always right—you know what?” Eiri filled her lungs, trying to clear away the feelings from pouring all out amidst a sniff. With her cheery tone back in full swing, she spoke loudly in her office, “Let’s call it a day and go out for dinner at Miirin!” A half-assed smirk appeared for the first time on Eiri’s face in a while as the thoughts about Harry and Neferteri still swirled in her mind, but now not as prickly. “If we talk about kingdom business for more than a quarter timehunk, I can stick it as a business expense!”

“Yes, please, king-maid! I’d love to!” Sora smiled wide with her canines brightly shining as much as her crying eyes. Her stomach growled in what must have been pure sheer excitement, breaking the moody feel of the room as both laughed it off in the embrace of each other’s sweet company.