“My Lady… you have received correspondence from the Quoro House. The Young Miss is once again requesting to visit the Young Master.” Georg, the butler hired personally from the source family of the Grand Duke. Though he had no status since his nephew married into the Forrester House… he was actually Syron’s great uncle. At Georg’s request, that fact had not been shared with Syron upon learning of his memory issues. He did not wish for it to affect his standing in the household the same way that it had before.

“Hmph. The Marquiss can go walk into the ocean. He dares to try to delay the engagement further? As if his daughter could possibly do better.” The Lady spat with far more vehemence than her usual graceful demeanor would typically allow.

Alas, when it comes to the Young Master, the Lady becomes far… more.

“Perhaps. Here is the letter in question. Though, from what I could tell from what the delivery man described, the Young Miss genuinely misses the Young Master and simply wants to touch base once again.” The butler continued, describing an abridged version of the conversation that actually occurred with the delivery man.

No sense in telling her the other things that fool said. If the Lady heard, with a snap of her fingers he would quite suddenly find himself with far fewer organs.

Georg shuddered as he considered the spherical void in the Young Master’s room that once held the maid he had spent weeks getting to know. To this day the space felt a sense of… emptiness.

Ahem. Assassin. Not maid. It does not do to dwell on the dead, especially when they deserved what came to them for threatening the House. Thankfully the repairs to the room were quick and painless.

“I do not know what she is getting at, but she might as well learn sooner rather than later that my boy has changed in many ways since his amnesia started. Perhaps she will do us all a favor and call off the engagement herself. It always was her infatuation with Syron that drove the engagement forward.” The Lady said to herself, though loudly enough that Georg had no problem hearing it.

“My Lady, I shall respond to their request favorably.” Georg intoned as he bowed his body crisply at his waist into a perfect ninety degrees before turning and leaving the office.

* * * *

Syron sat on his windowsill, staring out into the hedge maze. He had been following the progress of a girl he had never seen before as she was hopelessly lost for the better part of thirty minutes before she finally made it to the large gazebo in the center. She sat down roughly at the table set aside for tea parties that have certainly not occurred since Syron woke up.

Who is she and why is she wandering through the hedge maze? Is she a prospective new maid or something? She looks to be in her early teens.

The girl, after a few minutes of resting, slowly banged her head against the table in what appeared to be frustration. Syron frowned and calculated the distance to her. He didn’t have to start pushing his Magic Soul into a cycle as he had gotten into the habit of always having it churning. It sometimes created… unusual effects when he accidentally applied intent to create images or sounds, but for the most part he had nearly mastered keeping the cycle going.

What did I say again? Was that about… fifty meters? Never tried throwing my voice that far before…

“Excuse me, Miss?” Syron said quietly to the girl fifty meters away and through a window. She fell off chair in fright, tumbling to the ground in a mess of frills. She aggressively stood, now somehow brandishing a dagger as she turned on the spot and looked for whomever had spoken to her. She said something, since her mouth moved, but Syron couldn’t hear it. He just chuckled to himself.

“Now now, put the knife away. I’m just here to ask if you need a guide out of the maze?” He laughed again as she started talking a mile a minute, based on her mouth.

“I can’t hear you, so you’ll have to nod or shake your head, Miss. Do you require an escort to the keep?” She vigorously nodded her head, though the knife wasn’t put away. In front of her, a series of glowing arrows appeared, pointing her to reenter the maze. Syron was pretty sure he was leading her on the shortest path back to the Keep, but he didn’t really spend that much time staring at the maze. He calmly guided her through the maze, but when she had a few turns to go he left his window and went down the stairs to meet her in person. It wouldn’t do to let strange rumors develop, so he felt it was important to come clean about his use of illusions to lead her to the Keep. Sure… his family’s power could likely sweep such situations completely under the rug, but people did seem strangely fixated on illusions being bad. Syron sighed to himself as he stepped down onto the first floor of the Keep, then turning to make his way through the hallways leading to the Maze entrance.

If I were a cryomancer, no one would think twice about me chilling someone’s beer. Heck, they might just throw me a party. But you toss a few helpful illusions down and everyone gets all butt hurt about having their agency stolen. It’s ridiculous.

Syron steps out of the door and onto the lawn leading to the Maze. Standing ten feet in front of the entrance was the girl he had seen. She was staring intently at a floating, glowing sign that said “Wait here for the next available attendant.” Strangely, she was still holding the dagger, but it was just limp in her hands like she had forgotten it was there.

“Ah, hello Miss. I believe I will be able to hear your words now. I hope my magic wasn’t too disconcerting.” Syron said cheerfully as he made the illusions he had crafted disappear simultaneously. Since she was still holding the dagger, he kept his distance, but he was still smiling authentically.

Who knows? Maybe it’s normal for girls to walk around strapped? Though she’s clearly an amateur at holding it, it’s nice to see a young woman actively trying to protect herself.

The young woman in question stared up at Syron like she had seen a ghost and immediately bowed.

“Master Forrester, it is my pleasure to make your acquaintance once again!”

“Oh… we have met before huh? Are you possibly… Miss Quoro?” Syron asked. He had been told his betrothed was coming to the keep today, but the meeting wasn’t planned until later in the afternoon. Furthermore, young woman in front of him looked quite a bit more mature than the ten-year old girl he was expecting.

“Eh? Young Master…? I apologize for my rudeness, but we have met many times before. I am Beyeth Quoro.”

Beyeth… that wasn’t the name of the girl… I don’t think?

“Oh, well, I don’t remember. Please stand upright though. No need to hurt your back. Though you seem to know me already, it feels weird not introducing myself to someone that I don’t know so here I go. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Beyeth Quoro, I am Syron Forrester.” At that, he swept his body into the most theatrical bow he could manage without making it seem like he was mocking her. She just looked at him blankly, and perhaps a little upset.

“I have come over many times to visit in the past with my younger sister Cynthia. Perhaps you don’t remember?”

Ah! Cynthia! That was the name of the girl I was apparently almost engaged to! So she’s the older sister huh?

“Oh, yeah, sorry. It’s a bit of a story, but I don’t remember much of anything before a few months ago. Eh… but if you are part of the Quoro contingent, what are you doing lost in the hedge maze?”

At that question, Beyeth looked a little uncomfortable.

“My sister… requested I stay away for… reasons I do not wish to divulge.” She finally said, apparently hating every moment of it.

“Well, that doesn’t really explain why you were in the maze, but okay? Hang out here for a minute while I get someone to verify your identity. We’ve had a few stabby situations lately and you’re still holding a knife.” Syron told her cheerfully.

Deep within Rowan Keep, in the staffroom where multiple maids were taking a break, the Young Master’s voice suddenly rang out “Hey… I found a young woman wandering around the hedge maze. Can you send someone to verify if she is the Young Miss from the Quoro House? I have no idea what she is supposed to look like.” The maids in the room looked at each other and shrugged. They had gotten used to the Young Master’s antics, as well as his illusions. Besides… it was extremely convenient that he was able to tell them exactly what he wanted of them instead of just ringing a bell like in other households.

“I’ve just sent for someone to come identify you, if you don’t mind waiting with me for a minute. Anyway, again, why were you in the maze?” Syron, whom hadn’t actually said any of his message to the staff room out loud, looked intently at the young woman.

“Oh… well, I’ve always had to stay with my sister so I’ve never had the chance to tackle the maze myself. It seemed like a lot of fun… I hope it was okay?” Beyeth looked a little fearfully at Syron.

“Ah, I know what you mean. When I was finally able to walk again, I spent like two days just wandering about it. I get most of my exercise from wandering the maze. It’s pretty fun.” Syron said brightly with a smile. Beyeth’s cheeks reddened slightly with his smile, but quickly trained her face to a forced impassivity that all noble ladies seemed to practice ardently. She actually appeared to be a little angry with herself, in Syron’s eyes, but he didn’t comment on it. It’s not like he cared if a child had a harmless crush on him. He was a middle-aged man at heart, after all.

A maid rushed out of the door, followed by another maid that Syron had never seen before. They found him standing regally with his hands folded behind his back and his chin up appraising the young woman. The unfamiliar maid nodded her assent and gave Bayeth a pitying glance before stepping back towards the door and tilting her face to the ground. Syron, noting his own maid approving Beyeth, clapped noisily.

“Wonderful. Agatha, could you please take the tea to the library. I’m going to work a bit more until my mother calls for me. Miss Bayeth… are you interested in board games?”

Unsure of what she should say in that situation, she panicked, then lied and agreed that she did in fact love board games and thought about them daily. Though it appeared forced and awkward to everyone else present, Syron just laughed.

Ah! A kindred spirit! She’s going to love this!

“Wonderful! Come to the library too! I’ve been working on a new game that I hope to get everyone involved in. The staff here is already intimately familiar with my idea, so I was hoping for some fresh eyes, do you mind?” Syron asked a stunned Beyeth. She just nodded mechanically, like she had shut down and was moving on autopilot.

“Cool! I think you’re going to love this!”

For twenty minutes Syron excitedly explained the various rules required to get started with a most basic of adventures, and had even gotten two maids and a knight to join his impromptu game.

“To make this easier for everyone, I’ve started with a new rule at my gaming table. There are no ranks here, so if you are playing, you are to call me Syron. None of this Young Master nonsense when we are playing a game. Does the Young lady mind if I call her Beyeth as well?” Syron once again smiled like sunshine, making at least two of the women present go a little breathless. After all, Syron loves his games with all his heart, and intends to make them as loved by everyone else. It's a little hard to remain unmoved in front of such intent.