Chapter II - Brewing Suspicion

Paulin 51th, Freeday! It's another day of negotiations in the Monarchy department, and Arukia once again nabbed the prime position of being the maid serving the honorary guests. She stood dead center in the middle of Sanbi's monarchy office, pouring tea into cups. Purely by coincidence, one would believe, showing off a deeper peek into her cleavage for the guests seated on the couch to indulge in a visual appetizer.

I heard about you before. Ryo Flatland Long-Blue! The so-called wealthiest Wozefaries, but in reality, you're just spending other people's balls. Arukia looked at the first guest on the couch with sparks in her alluring eyes and received a suppressed glance, a closed-mouth, soft smile in return. Despite crossing his arms, his smooth and dropped shoulders, composure, and overall stature did not seem confrontational, as if he were hanging out with his family rather than meeting the Sanbi Royals. Why does Neferteri want him? She finished pouring his cup, impeccably keeping her charming exterior, while her own self fought back as Ryo appeared too child-like for her taste. His arms were thin, and his muscles barely had any definition. His cutesy, small, sharp, protruding bottom teeth did not make his young-looking face any more masculine. On the contrary, it looked like you were staring at a baby lion. He has connections, even with Red Winga—

Meanwhile, an idle chat ensued between Itagiba and the massive, humanoid-looking person in the room. Itagiba’s voice wasn’t as deep as the bigger guy's, but still sounded just as confident, if not more so.

Maicon Forway Black-Dove. I got you, you disgusting Bagarisa! Arukia slowly poured tea into the second cup, feeling the creepy, intense stare from a suspicious-looking short human growing stronger. The stare alone felt like it was undressing her, and forcing itself inside of her, even more so as he shuffled forward to smell her. She, of course, had to glance at him as well, but her eyes shortly after refused to comply and focused on the cup instead. My intel said you were a boy lover, but nothing is enough for you, huh? You creep!

"Hey, sweety!" Maicon spoke under his garlicky-infused breath right by Arukia, cleaning the snack plate with a handful, then sitting back and pounding them one after the other with the same intense stare.

Feeling a shiver of disgust propagating from deep in her soul, Arukia held her breath as she finished pouring his tea, still avoiding eye contact with him. He's here to skim something from the top and then contract it to a cheap third party. An unwanted image of a heavily suggestive room came to mind, one she was unfortunately familiar with. She could vividly imagine Maicon and three Wozefaries in a bed with tons of used nari gels around. I'm sure that whatever I don't hear about it now, Red Winga will extract it from him later.

Meanwhile, another idling response came back from Neferteri regarding the large humanoid and Eiri. Whatever it was, Arukia filtered it out of her brain as not relevant.

Tarou Mid-Gandew Strong-Leg! The self-proclaimed Forfaries in the flesh! Arukia kept pouring tea into the last cup, nearly three times the size of the rest. She glanced at him with a renewed charming spirit, but received no attention, not even a glance from the corner of the eye. If he showed up, then Neferteri is cooking up something daring and needs to tap into all his connections. She kept pouring tea into his large cup, feeling the jar's weight getting dangerously light. Her mind reminded her of the three unlabeled nari gels in the desk. She will try to use him to spread whatever these Nari gels are across all four kingdoms—who created them?

Arukia moved herself towards the last cup on the table, the one belonging to the one and only King-maid. Using her charming spell wouldn't do much here, so her charming, seductive smile was throttled down to a nice, family-friendly smile. Calm down! I didn't brew it! She gave a quick head shake to the silent, straight-faced Eiri.

Eiri’s shoulders and posture remained locked as if she didn’t get the message, or refused to believe it. She didn’t even move a finger as she oversaw Tarou, a big Darfaries humanoid in the room, being the first one to grab his tea and enjoy its aroma with the finesse of a nobleman. Eiri kept staring at him as if someone had a gun cocked to her head—If you looked close enough, you could see cold sweat forming on her skin.

"Here you go, King-maid!" Arukia handed the tea to Eiri with a soft, feminine tone, "Itanema made it fresh!" Arukia bit her tongue playfully, trying to squish down the bothersome feeling of having to say someone else made the tea.

The gun was unloaded. A sigh came out of Eiri as she dropped her shoulders, taking a sip of her tea as well.

Tarou took a small sip, too small for his size, but still exuding finesse far more than one would expect for his size, then looking dead straight at the Queen, then towards the King, his more profound, husky voice sounded like an ultimatum. "I'm here to do business with the Queen & King, not your maids." His face wasn't tense, nor did his hands look authoritative, holding the cup of tea with such finesse. Perhaps it was supposed to be a matter-of-fact statement, but because it came out of his intimidating body, it got elevated to a whole other level—at least that was until he took another careful sip of it, closing his eyes to enjoy the finesse and quality of tea.

Moving her head back and forth between the guests and the Queen and King, a loud Hmmm slipped out of Eiri's mouth.

With a corner smile of her own, Neferteri adjusted the jewelry in her forearm, letting the metallic sounds contrast with the awkwardness filling the room.

Suddenly, Itagiba threw out a chuckle, "Did Coema piss you off that much last time? Or is she not letting you focus?" He pointed at Arukia, now standing up near the table, exactly opposite Eiri.

With a twitch in the face while his hands were getting hard as a rock, Tarou spoke in the same tone as before, "Not at all. All I desire is not to get disturbed."

"Then let's make a deal. Eiri stays, and Arukia leaves. How about it?" With a curt reply, Itagiba continued, "That's why Coema retired! Y'all were too afraid of her that you avoided doing business with us."

Eiri's lips parted slightly, then pressed together in a firm line, trapping whatever thoughts she had behind a tight jaw.

"Agreed." Tarou took another sip of his tea, then mumbled what had to be an escaping thought, "Otherwise, Maicon will be more useless than the usual."

A garlicky infused curse slipped out in between chewing sounds, “Ow! get fucked!” Maicon continued chewing the snacks with intent—of exploring every single inch of Arukia’s body.

With widened eyes, Eiri glanced back at Arukia and nodded. "Thanks, Arukia. Please get the after-meeting ready."

No! No! No! You have to be more assertive! With a slight bow, Arukia made her way out of the room, letting her hips sway for one last attempt at casting her seductive spell. I need to know why these three sketchier-than-average figures are here for—and whatever these are as well! Arukia eyed the unlabeled nari gels by Neferteri and Itagiba, the Queen and King of Sanbi, as she closed the door softly. She peeked towards the atrium to see if anybody else was around, then placed her ear on the door. She could hear Neferteri's womanly voice saying something about Kibe, but it was impossible to determine what it was.

Crap! I have no choice! She laid the nearly empty jug on the floor, shoved her hand in between the fabrics of her skirt, quite close to her privates, and pulled out something akin to a hip metallic flask, and with a strong twist of the hand, she opened it.

Quickly raising it above her head, she juggled the flask downwards and stuck her wet tongue inside to make the thick nari gel slop out.

The coagulated bloodied jelly accented with small pieces of Sayna's ears slopped into Arukia's delicate mouth. The grainy texture of the grounded nari stone permeated through her mouth and scratched her throat on the way down. The taste of the gel was rich in blood, and the meaty pieces, even though she did not chew anything, still gave off a unique flavor profile. It was akin to mixing the mintiness of lamb with the earthiness of catfish—a delicacy that, indeed, only a handful of people in the four kingdoms would pay a handful of balls for—possibly not because of the uniquely odd taste profile, but rather because killing such a cute, defenseless animal sacred to Sundeath would bring them some kind of twisted joy.

Arukia's throat wanted to close, and her stomach involuntarily caved inwards, trying to refuse to eat this garbage of sustenance as the memory of one of those cute creatures being killed for this gel fought her own goal-oriented mind. With a single tear coming out of her eye, Arukia pushed the contents down her throat with a gulp and hid the flask away. As she cleaned the sides of her mouth with her thumb, a sinking feeling reached her ears, transforming into a low-pitched tinnitus that grew and grew in pitch.

Massaging her ears and wiping away the unexpected tear, Arukia peeked at the atrium again and saw Itanema walking out of the kitchen and then out of the castle.

The high-pitched noise gave way to sensitive hearing. Arukia could now hear mumbling from two maids all the way from the kitchen. She couldn't hear the exact words, but she pinpointed the voices to Sora's high-pitched squeaks and Aurora’s soft, grandmotherly voice. She could also hear the mumbles from behind the door, hearing a male yet juvenile voice asking something about Gabiro. Focusing on it as she came closer, the voice no longer mumbled.

"—that's the problem!" Ryo replied, "This smells suspicious! You literally just did Gabiro’s soul sendaway or whatever y’all call—” Seemingly stopping himself, he spoke more slowly, “Well, not that it's my concern—but you can understand the worry here, right?"

The sounds of metallic rings clashing on the table softly belonged to none other than Neferteri. "Mister Tarou, do you have any preemptive questions as well?"

"No, my Queen. I'm here to do business, not to hear squabbles between Sanbi Royals." A resounding, deeper voice belonging to Tarou vibrated Arukia's inner ears in such a manner that it felt oddly orgasmic. Her body tingled as if someone had rubbed a cotton swab in just the proper manner in her ear. She bit her lips while her eyes flew upwards. Ohhhh—that's a bad time to discover a new side effect. A small, constrained moan broke through, only to then be muffled by her own hand holding her mouth.

The same juvenile voice from Ryo replied, but sounding snappier, "Get off that mountain! I know you want the answers, but didn't have the balls to ask 'em!"

"Yeah! Exactly!" Maicon replied, a loud sip turned into chugging noises.

A slight pause came from the room. Damm! I can't stay here for long! Just get to it! Arukia checked the atrium one more time to see if anybody was around before returning to the door.

"—concerns." That voice was clearly coming from Neferteri. "King-maid, please explain the financial impact caused by the soul research department."

A softer voice filled the room, belonging to King-maid. "I've confirmed Kibe's claims on fourteen projects, and the amount they superpriced reached twenty-five sapphires."

"TWENTY F—" Maicon started coughing loudly, "TWENTY FIVE SAPPHIRES? Ghack." He coughed something stuck deep in his throat, making a wheezing sound like an asthmatic person after taking a thick drag out of a vape.

That much? Arukia made some quick mental calculations from the memories of cleaning, with a side of perusing, the East and South castle towers. She couldn’t quite put it into words, but that number just didn’t sit right.

A loud noise of someone sipping tea filled the room over the leftover coughing. That someone revealed himself as Tarou through his deeper-sounding voice, "I presume that's not the problem. People will complain about their taxes but throw a party, and soon they will forget." Another loud sipping noise gave a longer pause to his statement.

Arukia shivered in pleasure as the longer Tarou talked, the more complex the erogenous stimulus in her ears was to contain from propagating through her body. Her mind was flying in all kinds of directions, making it harder to focus on the task at hand despite her trying to keep it straight. She had to stop breathing to suppress another moan from coming out.

Tarou continued, "it's your own fault for having this semi-monarchial system that takes into account people’s will!"

With a verbal punch, Maicon replied, "Right? Ghack!” He coughed up something else stuck in his throat, now speaking hoarsely, “It's their problem!"

"He's not wrong!" Itagiba jokingly intervened.

A slight rustle of Neferteri's rings came through the door, then it was her complexly poetic voice, “I understand your concerns. Let me preface with this—the reason we are seeking business with you three gentlemen is to sell these nari gels recipes in exchange for a participation in the revenue.”

“A-ha! I knew it! You don’t want Gabiro’s name on that!” Ryo enthusiastically claimed, likely moving his hands and arms as the rustle of fabrics came through the door to Arukia’s ear.

Maicon, still chewing food, softly elbowed Ryo somewhere, at least based on Ryo’s grunts.

I see—that’s why she’s not working with the usual nari gel people! But for what reason? Gabiro’s explosion? Arukia nodded along, then went towards the atrium to spot any would-be passersby. Making her way back, the usual deep voice began to tickle her ear just at the right place, but at the worst of times.

“—NDA, what will be our actionable terms if the new apprentice Kibe brings in causes a ruckus over this?” A loud sipping tea sound followed Tarou’s deep voice.

“Now you’re sounding like Ryo!” with a short chuckle, Itagiba continued, scratching his hair, “We, by that I mean Nefi & Kibe, hashed that out already—all there is to it is this single journal.”

A sudden slap on the table echoed in the room. Arukia could only presume that the journal was being stomped back into place.

Itagiba’s voice became enthused. He continued, “We can talk more about the boring stuff later! Ready to discuss the nari gels?”

A deep-sounding agreement hum and a malicious giggle responded.

“—We're in business then! Maicon, catch it!” Itagiba replied.

A peculiar sound of glass hitting something corpulent, then rolling down on the floor, reached Arukia's ear alongside pained grunts and short breaths. A popping sound then echoed. Here we go! Arukia glanced quickly toward the atrium and saw nobody.

"—ergh—this tastes like eating dirt! What the fuck is this rubbery skin?" Maicon's tone grew more pained. "I'm all reddish!"

"Take another dose. That's the sweet spot!" Itagiba replied in a more snarky tone.

A moment of silence gave way to Maicon saying something, but whatever he felt must have been quite complex, "—Ewwwwww! Ohhhh! Owwwww!"

"Ryo, do the honors and rub your finger on him?" Itagiba's voice echoed a pleasant tone.

"Do I really? He's all slimy! Is this going to affe—?" Ryo was cut off!

"DO IT!" Tarou's blasting voice sounded like an explosion in the room.

That shockwave hit Arukia's inner ears through the door, still near full potency. She felt a rush down her spine, she lunged forwards, contracting her legs while biting her hand to stop the erotic feeling from moaning out of her mouth. I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! Grabbing the nearly empty jar, she tried composing herself as she went downstairs toward the bathroom.

"OHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" An orgasmic scream came out from within the room so loud it echoed into the atrium on its own.

Damm! Arukia paused for a second in the stairs as she looked up to where the door was. Whatever that Nari gel was, it will sell like crazy over at Forway!

"THAT'S AMAZING!" Maicon's ultimatum ecstasy must have been something only a few in the world have ever experienced, for his voice echoed through the castle.

Why would they need to do this through back channels? Arukia locked the bathroom door and went back on her skirt to grab another hidden flask, letting the nari gel inside slop in her mouth. This time, it was a clean, blueish-looking gel that tasted just as grainy, but the flavor was no longer fleshy. Instead, as she drank it, she could feel a particular gasification reaction in her mouth, going down her throat and continuing on her stomach, where it vanished away. The flavor was akin to an unsweetened and unflavored sports drink. Is it because anything to do with Gabiro is too hot right now?

Arukia massaged her ears, feeling a leftover tingle and something akin to waterlogged ears dissipating away. Think! I would have remembered seeing these nari gel or something about it at the South Castle Tower! She looked at herself in the mirror, seeing bits of nari gel around her mouth. Pulling on the handle, making cold water gurgle out of the big pipe exposed on the wall, she took a sip of it to wash away the meh taste, and leave her face spotlessly beautiful as it was supposed to be. They haven’t experimented on nari gels since last year! I’m sure of it! The fanchaki research and Gabiro’s usual bitching to Forway took most of his time.

Arukia closed the pipe, stopping the gurgling noises from rushing from the pipe. She looked at herself in the mirror. Except Eori, but she was only researching on already available nari gels—more like keeping herself occupied from dealing with Neferteri.

Adjusting her maidly-looking skirt upwardly, Arukia sat on the toilet to pee. Letting the belly muscles relax, memories of being on the soul sendaway came back to mind. Suddenly, something clicked! THAT’S IT! They lied on the soul sendaway! It’s all a front!

Arukia suddenly felt the fog of war wane away as she revealed a few more pieces of the Minari game Neferteri was playing. That’s why I never found anything hot here! They go out somewhere to do sketchy stuff!

Cleaning herself, then pulling on a similar-looking exposed pipe, a gush of water into the toilet sounded in the room.

Back at the mirror, about to wash her hands, she instead looked at her own image in the mirror. Then why did that explosion happen here? Was that part of a plan? A sabotage from Neferteri to seize control?

Arukia washed her hands and adjusted her maidly dress, waiting for an answer that didn’t seem to surface on its own.

She picked up the mostly empty jar of tea, and with a full breath, she put on a teasing smile and walked out of the bathroom.

Paulin 53rd, Sannday! In the South Sanbi castle tower, Arukia was on cleaning duty. The purple-decorated room she was in had an odd mix of contrasting tastes, with the sheets and furniture showing a girly purple-pink base color with white accents. At the same time, the walls and books were quite scientifically descriptive-looking, filled with all kinds of details that appeared as if you had stumbled into a museum. Each illustration hanging on the wall was purportedly right on the edge between decorative and informative, as if it ensured not to look gross to any would-be visitors.

*Another beautiful day—fuck me—meeting all kinds of people—fuck you—fuck this, fuck that—*Arukia rolled her eyes, skimming through the contents of a page with Paulin 10th centered and looking like it was machine-stamped on the page header, "Tsk—It's even worse than last time I checked! She's becoming Gabiro!"

Arukia turned the page of the pinkish fish-scaled textured journal. The next page on the right had Paulin 11th on the header. Same fuck this—fuck that—Why can't I make any progress on twenty-eight? Oh, I know! I need someone to actually fucking experiment with!

The words “experiment with” echoed in Arukia's mind, bringing back memories. “She has been complaining about this for a while now.” Arukia looked around the girly-looking room as her mind stewed on the thought, “Did she know what Gabiro and Kibe were doing all along? Damm it! Why didn’t I catch this before! I thought all of this obsession on her end was just escapism from Neferteri’s hounding.”

She glanced towards the other page, Paulin 12th: Finally, a full day off from the Sanbi queen shit! More fucks—lots of fucks—more dumb nari gel stuff— Arukia kept skimming the contents as an "argh" slipped under her breath. "If you're that sick of it, then just do like your sisters! Just let the younger one deal with it!" she spoke towards the journal, feeling like it would talk back to her in a condescending tone. "Itagiba is pumping another princess on Neferteri sooner or later!"

She turned the page, seeing the same machine-stamped header, but this time Paulin 13th was written. Below it, the beautifully hand-made, scribed lines formed sharp angles and a strike-through likeness of the written Vraki language, contrasting its foul mouth contents. Great fucking day—mother dragged me around—fuck this, fuck that— she continued glancing through as her tongue made a loud click, Met with Half-Cruro representatives—can't wait to become the Queen. Fuck me!

Another eye roll and another "argh" came from Arukia, now glancing to the right on the next page, seeing Paulin 14th on the header. "That's odd!" The writing suddenly changed from the beautifully carved writings of an upper guildman to the energetic scribbling of a lunatic hobo with Parkinson's; Yes*! fuck yes! He's mine! Can't wait to take a bite tonight!*

With a blank stare, she blinked at the lunatic carvings as her brain refused to connect that to the Fourth Princess Eori. "That has to be about Harry—but Harry was supposed to marry Maiara instead!" Shaking her head, Arukia continued thinking out loud, "These Sanbi Royals are all screwed in the head! Even Yacamim!—At least she stays out of it!"

Standing up, Arukia hid Eori's journal behind her as she approached the door. Her ears perked up, opening the door a tiny sliver! The only sound outside Eori's bedroom was the wind rustling through the open windows in the stairways. I should have at least another half-hunk to finish this up.

Softly closing the door, she walked back to the center of the room, turned a page, and saw Paulin 15th at the top. This time, Eori's writing went back to her methodical carvings. Arukia continued reading, speaking it monotonously in her mind as she tried to absorb the content quickly. I still don't quite get all the secrecy behind it, but who knows what's mother is thinking? What matters is that he is mine to experiment on! Finally! Fuck you two ugly bitches! I will get what's mine, too! I don't care where it is as long as I can do whatever the fuck I want!

A rising feeling rushed through her as more pieces of the Minari game were revealed, "I knew it!" A memory of seeing Kibe flat drunk in the castle bar came to mind. She had to drag him on the ground, pulling him by a single arm when she heard a mumble come out of him. “He talked about delivering a smelly Darfaries to Gabiro! That's what he meant! It wasn’t some gay thing Kibe was hiding, but literally taking things to a hideout somewhere!”

Arukia focused back on the journal, and fuck you, Nina! You will soon be dragged around as the future Queen! Fuck yes! I have so many experiments to prep! I can't wait!

Paulin 16th was next! Arukia spoke the few words written on the page, adding a questioning intonation to it, "Goodbye, old me?" She turned to Paulin 17th, but nothing was written; it was the same for the following pages. "Tsk!" Arukia shut the journal with a firm slap and fastened it with the hanging Sanbi jewel. "I have to tell Red Winga! This is evolving too quickly!" She placed it back where she had found it, aligning it further with her fingers to ensure it looked perfectly flush with the other journals. They publicly stated that Eori was going on a scientific expedition to assist the investigation into soul energy and to learn more about Sanbi’s countryside, so what’s the secrecy behind these nari gels? They don’t look to be illegal—

She grabbed the duster and jumped on the purple chair to dust the top of the shelf. Did Eori cause the explosion instead, and Gabiro was the fall guy? Is Harry actually from the slums? She tried to focus away from all the Sanbi royal crap and instead on the slightly dusty shelf, but her mind wandered somewhere else again, but this time, somewhere far away! Into the lands of Forway.

A familiar face came to mind. It was of a beautiful, tall woman with a smile and red irises who stood just as confident, if not more so, than Itagiba. Just imagining her curves made Arukia feel defenseless, wanting to cover up her body. You flower hoe! When you asked what I wanted, this was not what I had in mind! I'm not rotting away at Long-Bridge, but how am I supposed to become rich by being a maid? I'm tired of putting on a face and dealing with all these damned Sanbi people! It’s not worth the balls!