Fort Geranium

Sixth Chapter: Change

[Carol’s Point of View]

My name is ‘Carol’, no last name. I would consider myself a very loyal servant of the Ulysses dukedom- I have been since I was almost child- though that may not be a very popular position with the general masses. It isn’t as though the members of the Ulysses family are made up of tyrants, quite the opposite really, but circumstances have driven them to being labeled as a ‘traitor’ to their own race. Depending on how you look at it, it is true that they have turned their back against humanity on multiple occasions but I would never say without good reason.

In any case, I’ll leave the exact details of their circumstances for another time. As of late, there has been something else that has been bothering me. There has been a slight… no, a big change in the young mistress. In terms of behavior and mannerisms, it is almost as though she has transformed into a completely different person. It wasn’t just I who had noticed this shift in the young mistress’ personality, but the entirety of the staff in the main Ulysses manor has also been talking about it.

Many of my peers have come to me with their opinions but we have yet to come to a solid conclusion or solution. In fact, I’m rather hesitant to actually call this a ‘problem’, because it’s not as though the young mistress has suddenly turned savage or cruel, rather the opposite. She has turned into an extremely docile, polite and soft-spoken figure. Even her mannerisms, of which we tried time after time to correct, have become extremely ladylike and noble. She exudes an aura of maturity of which even many nobles don’t exhibit.

This was all an incredibly stark contrast to her original personality. Historically, young mistress Mariana has been the rowdy sort. She liked to play outside, run around, get into all manner of unsanitary areas in her vain attempts at ‘exploration’, was boisterous and free spirited. Most of the time she could hardly even be reasoned with when it came to things she hated, particularly in the areas of study and diet. Yet now, it was as if all of that had taken a complete one-eighty.

Right now she was in the study room reading up on various texts and documents. This suddenly studious side of her has gotten a lot of the staff perplexed and at a loss on how to handle her, thus they’ve opted to steer clear of her way. As the person that was closest to her, I have a duty to figure out what was happening to her.

I cut up some apples as a snack and headed up to her room. As I walked past, some of the staff gave me a quick and uneasy nod; they weren’t bad people and certainly weren’t intentionally ostracizing the young miss, just confused. I returned a nod and stopped just short of knocking on her door when I heard her voice coming from the other side.

“Hmm, I see. So then the Ulysses dukedom is part of a larger entity known as the Scarletheim Empire… which would mean that we’re a vassal state.” It seems she’s reading up on the history of our country. I couldn’t help but think back only to a few days ago where she would fall asleep instantly on the mere mention of the word ‘history’.

This kind of shift was almost scary to me, but at the same time also left me a little excited. While it was hard to accept this kind of sudden change, a lot of what really made her the young mistress remained intact. The previous incarnation of her personality was very boisterous and selfish, but it wasn’t as if she was cruel or anything. She was simply a child acting as such. Most of the time she treated all the servants as though they were her friends and it was that kind heart that made her well liked.

That kindness has not left her. She still treats us with respect and kindness, but the form in which she shows such expressions have changed. She no longer jumps around and happily plays around with the servants; instead she shows respects and thanks them for a job well done. Even though it’s not that same big, dumb smile on her face and now a more mature, soft smile, it still feels the same to me.

This was why I didn’t want to directly confront her about this change and simply wanted to watch how things played out from now on. With that thought I lightly knocked on her door, “yes, please come in,” she replies with a soft and respectful tone.

“Forgive me for interrupting your studies,” I started off and lowered my head a little, “I’ve brought some snacks to help you keep up your stamina.” I walked closer and gently placed down the plate of freshly cut apples beside her books.

“Ah, thank you Carol.” She smiles and takes a bite out of one. Curious, I took a quick glance at the books and documents she was using as study aid and was surprised. They weren’t the typical study material that we used when I was teaching her, instead they were some of Lord Ulysses’s personal materials. A lot of those texts were high advanced to the point that I would be lost by the third page. “Hmm? Is something the matter?” noticing my frozen state she asked me.

“Eh? Ah, no… it is nothing.” I quickly apologized. “I’m sorry for interrupting your studies.” I reiterated myself after I realized that I really may have disturbed her concentration by barging in.

“You don’t have to apologize, I was actually thinking of taking a small break.” She got out of her chair, but the moment she did she lost all sense of footing and started to fall to the floor when I quickly grabbed her. “Ah, thanks.”

“Are you alright young mistress?!” I checked her legs for potentially harmful ailments.

“Yeah, it’s nothing you have to be too worried about. My legs were starting to feel cramped after sitting in one place for so long.” She did a few light stretches to illustrate that it really wasn’t something to concern myself over. However I had to disagree, studying was good and all but if she was doing to the point where it could become harmful, then perhaps I really needed to do something about it.

“I too think that it may be a wise idea to take a small break. Since the young mistress has been cooped up in this room for so long, perhaps some fresh air would do nicely.”

“Mmm~ yeah, you’re probably right. Then are you going to go shopping for today?” Suddenly the topic changed.

“Yes, how did you know?”

“I noticed that the food supplies were getting a little low so assumed as much,” she replied with a smile. “Then if that’s the case, take me along with you.”

“I cannot!” At the sudden raising of my voice, the young mistress’ eyes grew wide and surprised. Noticing myself, I felt a cold sweat run down my spine at my sudden unbecoming conduct. I quickly lowered my head once more and apologized immediately. “Ah, that is… I did not mean to yell at you. I’m so sorry, young mistress!”

“H- huh? No, it’s nothing you really have to apologize to that extent for. I was just a little surprised is all,” she reassured me.

That was truly an unbecoming reaction on my end, but there was a reason why I said that. The young miss has never stepped outside of the Ulysses manor’s compound, the reason for that is primarily due to a matter of her security. As I’ve stated before, the Ulysses family does not have a very good reputation and there were many who wouldn’t think twice before bringing down harm upon an innocent girl just because she was related by blood.

“Um… that is, young mistress, I cannot bring you out with me for shopping.” I shook my head.

“Why? Because something might happen to me while we’re outside?” she instantly saw through me. “You don’t have to worry about that, I found this old cloak in father’s room.” She then presented me with a rather dusty cloak dyed in the color of city rats. “If I wear something like this, no one would suspect that I’m a member of the Ulysses family.”

Certainly, there was no way any high standing noble would be caught dead wearing something so dirty. If the young miss wanted to go in public, this was the best idea. However, I still felt that there were too many unnecessary risks that were being taken just so she could explore the realms outside the manor. I had to decline, “even if that were the case, the outside is still too dangerous.”

It’s not that I wanted her to stay here for my own benefit. The young miss was only seven years old and there were so many things that could go wrong.

“Aha~ well, I thought you’d say that, which is why I’ve already gotten my father’s approval in the matter.” She replied happily.

“What? When did you…?”

“A few moments ago when I went to get these documents in the first place,” before I had even realized it she was already dressed up for the occasion. “Then, shall we?” she pointed to the door. Wearing her lavishing noblewoman’s clothing only to be covered up by a large and obscure cloak, I somehow felt bad for the clothes.

I still had some mixed feelings about this but if the Lord has given his permission, then I was in no position to argue back. With a sigh, “I suppose there is no other choice in the matter. Then please give me a moment to ready up.”

“Alright!”

***

It was a little far from our estate, but through the use of a horse driven carriage it had only taken has half an hour to arrive at the market district within our domain. Though I say ‘market district’, in essence it was nothing more than an unorganized flea market with personal vendors everywhere. A lot of the produce sold in this place is questionable, but that is the job of us servants to discern which of them are suitable to eat.

“No, Lady Mariana, you’ll have to stick close to me no matter what,” I turned to the small cloaked figure behind me and instructed. From a distance no one would be able to tell that she was a member of the nobility.

She gave me a hearty nod and replied, “I understand, don’t worry about me Carol~ let’s go shopping.” That cheerful tone of voice drew a rather stark contrast to her recently mature persona that she’s built. It could be that being stuck within the confines of the estate was what was starting to wear her down. I suppose it isn’t a bad idea to leave the compound once in a while to get some fresh air and perspective.

The rest of the shopping didn’t go that badly. After purchasing all the necessities for the month, we decided to go around and enjoy the occasion and atmosphere. We went around all the stalls exploring new venues and products that were on display. The young miss’ eyes widened up as though it were her birthday, she had a large smile plastered on her face as she gawked at various products on display. She would sometimes pull at the hem of my skirt to ask me what some of them were and how they work.

It almost was as though she had temporarily reverted back to her childish persona in these few short moments. I didn’t hate this kind of outing either, in fact I wanted to do more things like this with her. Just the two of us in this bustling market corner, taking our time to explore and experiment with new things while enjoying the occasion. It was at times like these that I almost understood what it was like to be a parent. The joy one must feel as they see the happy smiles on the children’s faces.

We toured around the busy district filled with the varied scent of a million different products, the chattering of thousands of people that fused to become a singular distant noise in the background. It was odd, even surrounded by so many people; right now it was just I and the young miss. This warm feeling within my chest… if possible, I wanted it to go on forever.

Although I was against it at first, I must admit that through today’s experience the young miss and I have gotten a little closer. She’s recently been rather recluse as of late but seeing the smile on her face as we walked down the stalls and vendors reassured me that she was doing fine. Though if I had to say something, it was that the young miss has quite an esoteric taste for products; from various mechanical gizmos to queer liquids of unknown purpose- I wonder what she wants to do with those?

Alas, all things come to an end. As the skies began to dim into a shade of orange, it was time for us to return to the manor. “Lady Mariana, I think it’s time for…” when I turned to tell her it was time she was not there. My heart beat faster and I started sweating.

I desperately looked around me. She wasn’t there. It was as though a giant hole had been punctured into my heart. When I pictured her scared face being taken away by some stranger, I almost wanted to throw up. I held it in; I couldn’t get that horrid image of her tearful face out of my mind. This wasn’t the time to be doing that. I had to quickly find her!