Chewing on a pancake, whose fluffiness rivalled that of a pillow filled with down, Dia leafed through a novel, which she hadn’t had the time or ability to read so far. They had to travel in the day, and the night was too dark to actually do any reading, so the book had lain untouched the whole time.

It felt nice to have paper in her fingers.

Farah was also holding some paper in her hands. Unfortunately, the papers she was holding had everything to do with the nitty-gritty bits of administration and absolutely nothing to do with relaxation whatsoever. One could say that she was a hardworking person…or that she was a workaholic.

“Don’t you want to take a bath and lie down somewhere?” Dia asked, curious.

“I could, yes.” Farah leafed out a piece of paper from the pile and started looking through it. “But these are things that only I can approve. In the time I use to take a bath, someone’s life could have been ruined or improved. For me to not handle these urgent matters would be no different from letting them down.”

“Such is the burden of a responsible noble,” said Aunt Lumine. “I approve.”

“Your approval fills me with delight,” Farah replied. “Why don’t the two of you wash up or something first? It’s…right, both of you stayed quite fresh throughout the journey, right?”

“You’re still sour about that?” Dia asked, a small smile on her face.

“Hard not to be, when I’m the only one feeling dirty the whole time. Comparisons are nasty…”

Dia, who had been using something called a Refresher the entire journey, coughed twice, unsure of what to say. It was not her fault that Farah didn’t prepare adequately for a comfortable journey, and to make matters worse, there was a small stash of artefacts that Claud didn’t mind lending to anyone. Sure, they were defective artefacts that could only be used once a day, but it was far better than the alternative…

Of course, she was probably peeved at the fact that Dia hadn’t thought to share the artefact. Whoops.

“Alright,” said Dia, “I’ll go wash up first. Aunt Lumine…?”

“You go on ahead first,” her aunt replied. “I’m currently invested in admiring a particular flower.”

“Flower?” Dia looked around the dining room, only to see Aunt Lumine fixated on the small vase of flowers in the very centre of the dining room. She didn’t know what was so interesting about it, but against, the Lamenter of Sorrowful Partings was a tetra-folder. It was possible that she had seen some grand theory of life in that flower or something.

The butler opened the door for her as she neared it.

“Dear guest,” said Farah’s butler, “do follow me. Your belongings have been all placed into one of our best guestrooms.”

“Thank you,” said Dia.

The door closed behind them, and she trailed behind the old man. The silence persisted for around ten seconds, before he said, “Miss, how is Milady doing? Was she happy outside?”

“Happy?” Dia tilted her head. “I’d…say yes, I guess. She has delicious food every day, shares a fun-filled conversation with me and the others, and loves doing her job. I think she’s happy.”

“If I may enquire…what job is she doing?”

“Paperwork,” Dia replied. “Things like administration and whatnot.”

“I see,” said the old man. “And yet, she has grown up suitably. It is a blessing that she has matured, but it is also a mark of our failures too. Nonetheless, what matters is that she is happy.”

The old man stopped, and then took a knee. “Miss, if I may be so presumptuous—”

“What are you doing?” Dia, shocked, tried to get him up, but she didn’t dare to exert force on a frail set of bones. “Mister, please get up!”

“It might be presumptuous of me,” said the butler, heedless of Dia’s words, “but please, do help Milady. She has grown up in situations that no child should ever have to face.”

“I will, so please get up!” Dia let out a sigh as the old man got up to his feet slowly. “Me and Farah are friends, so there’s really no need to worry about anything. We’re taking care of her and everything too, including her lifespan.”

The old man froze, and then inclined his head. “So you know.”

“Don’t worry about her. Many people are giving her the lifestones she so desperately needs,” said Dia.

“Thank you.”

“Like I said, friends.” Dia smiled. “That’s what friends do, right? Right. Incidentally…don’t tell Farah about what we are doing. She won’t accept it if she knew.”

“I will keep this secret with my life.”

“There’s no need to go that far,” Dia muttered, “but okay. Farah is lucky to have a family member like you, though. To think that you would kneel for her sake. Can’t say that I’m not jealous.”

Dia extinguished the small thought about her brother and her father with a shake of her head, and then followed the old man to her room.

“This is your guest room, miss,” said the old man. “And here are the keys to it. There’s only one such copy, so try not to lose it, okay?”

“I understand,” said Dia.

The old man smiled once, an expression that carried various emotions, and then ambled away. There was something striking and poignant about his departing figure, one that radiated a profound sense of relief, like a parent gratified at their child’s current state.

She watched as the old man left, and then opened the door to her room. The insides of the guest room were lined with beautiful ceramic tiles, each of them reflecting the light slinking in from the violet window frames. The desk beside her bed, which had been folded and arranged neatly, was made out of a rich, dark wood, as was the chair.

Clearly, much thought had been given to the interior decoration of the guest rooms, and Dia smiled. Taking out a few clothes, she walked towards the attached bathroom and started to take a good long bath.

After around thirty minutes or so, she left the bathroom, a set of fresh clothes on her. Dia didn’t really need new clothes, given that the Refresher was a very useful piece of equipment, but it was more of a mental thing than anything else. In the same vein, she really didn’t need to wash up either, but…

“Ah, feels great to be clean.” Yawning once, Dia glanced at the luxuriously soft bed, but decided not to lie down on it just yet. The possibility of her falling asleep immediately after lying down was too large to risk it, and there was still her aunt and Farah waiting outside.

Locking the door behind her, Dia returned to the dining room, just in time to see Farah putting down the last of her papers. A small stack of plates sat next to her completed papers, proof of the sacrifices that had been offered up to Farah over and over.

“Oh, you’re back,” said Farah, stifling a yawn. “The Lamenter of Sorrowful Partings just left for her own room too. She’s probably not going to come out until tomorrow morning or something.”

“Sleepy?’

“Very sleepy, yes,” said Farah, her nose twitching. “I see you used a specialty product of our county.”

“The soap, right? Yeah, it has a very soothing scent,” Dia replied.

Farah nodded. “It’s something new. You know Princess Dia quite well, right? Would she like this? What about the other nobles?”

“I think they might like it,” said Dia.

“Commercially viable, then.” Farah nodded, before pulling out a piece of paper. “Alright, I’ll just commission a trial batch and see if the market out there likes it.”

“You should really put down your work for now,” said Dia. “Most of it is done, right? Take a break. You need to wash up and refresh your mind.”

“Did my butler say something?” Farah asked.

Dia shook her head. “Just asked about how you were like out there. I imagine he asked Aunt Lumine the same question too or something, but…”

“Well, he probably didn’t ask her anything,” Farah replied. “I do write letters home, you know, and I did describe you and the others a bit.”

“I see…wait. Don’t think of using this chance to read through more papers!” Dia folded her arms. “You should take a break! Get yourself comfortable, and then look through them!”

“What’s with you and bre—”

Farah’s voice trailed off as she quailed under Dia’s glare. “A-alright. A small break it is, then. A small break.”

“Yeah, go wash up or something.”

Dia yawned. “I also want to sleep, but first…”

“You just want to devour every last pancake here, don’t you?” Farah rolled her eyes. “Well, whatever. I’m going to take a bath first. Don’t mess up my papers, okay?”

“Alright…”

Dia turned her eyes to the hapless pancakes as Farah left. There was a small mound before she left to wash up; most of that had been demolished by Farah and her aunt. It was somewhat impressive that her aunt actually had the presence of mind to leave behind some pancakes, and Dia decided to finish off the rest before her aunt came back for seconds.

“Time to dig in, then!”

“Without me, dear child?”

Dia froze, turning her head slowly to her aunt, who was now standing in the doorway, and then made a mad scramble for the remaining pancakes.