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  There were carriage tracks in front of the manor again, but, this time around the one to arrive at the doorstep was someone far younger, and also quite similar in appearance to his father. It is Alladen who had returned from his duties in the Raressank territory's capital — Kolanaren. The young man was dressed in a tidy, official suit that didn't have much flare; only sheer quality of the material, a few accessories on the collar and gold pins at the ends of the suit's long sleeves.

  The weather was far livelier compared to how it was at his father's arrival: the sun was still partly obstructed by the gloomy clouds, though the occasional spotlights that went through those fluffy obstacles illuminated the distant views, and, at times, shine over the manor itself.

  The obnoxiously polished leather shoes of the horned young master clicked as the hard soles connected with the stone tiles, slowly tracing the echo closer and closer to the main entrance. Yet, Alladen didn't enter right as he got close enough to turn the door handle, rather stopping to look at the trees by each side of the path. The sound of the faint wind was the singular thing keeping his ears preoccupied. When he had just left the manor for Kolanaren, there were still birds singing up in the branches of those wooden behemoths. Perhaps, he felt a slight tinge of disappointment as his favourite ambient was gone for the next couple of months.

  Pulling at the handle, he opened the door and stepped in the freshly washed low floor of the entrance. He was carefully planting his feet, not having the will not desire to ruin the pristine cleanliness of the floor, but alas, it was inevitable as he still had to venture inside, Alladen tip-toed his way on the low floor, and soon felt something enter his field of vision, and soon he lifted his eyes from the floor. "Talia!" Alladen rejoiced, quickly noticing one of the familial cats looking up at him from the upstep of the corridor. Talia's paws were tucked under her body, the short, rough grey fur was neatly groomed, the blue eyes posted symmetrically on either side of her small head.

  Alladen approached the creature with a smile across his face, though a part of his attention still was left to guard the floor’s washed state. "Did you go down from the second floor just to meet me?" He finally stopped and planted his heels on the floor and bent his knees slightly, reaching down to scratch the cat between the ears, which did not amuse the feline as her tail began to wag, unsticking from the side of her slim body. The young master furrowed his brows and gently tugged the cat's ears with his hands, "Of course you didn't, I bet you wanted to run away again~" Alladen reached for her scruff and picked Talia up, leaving her feet dangling, the feline expression set as stone-stoic nonchalance. Alladen looked the cat in the eyes, her stature quite small in his hand.

  Planting the discontent Talia on his left shoulder and holding her up by the rear, Alladen then met with the eyes of the head maid as well, who looked ever so tired. He was so preoccupied with the cat that he didn't see Moira coming up. "Young Master, I hope the road from Kolanaren was pleasant." Moira said with a dragging tone, and Alleden sighed, the tips of the fingers of his right hand buried in Talia's fur, riding up and down her back.

  Actually, Moira and Sobrana were the two of the six maids in the manor — being the only servant staff besides the few other butlers — so the workload kept her face looking quite indignant most of the time. Alladen didn't spare himself the compulsion to scoff slightly, "It was quite the opposite; the roads could do a makeover." He chuckled, lifting his right foot so that the maid could change the shoes for an indoor pair. Squatting down, Moira reached for the shoe's lace and started to undo the knot, "Then, should I relay that to the Duke?" The young master shook his head at the proposition, now smoothing out the landshaft of Talia’s back, "That is not an urgent matter, is it? Coming up to him with such a complaint would only worsen his mood."

  After exchanging the right shoe for a cleaner, but less polished leather shoe, the left shoe had been changed as well, and so Alladen stepped up into the corridor, scratching Talia at the back of her head. The young master looked down at Moira, who was now correcting and straightening out the slight imperfections on the surface of his suit's fabric. As she did so, Alladen remembered a topic that he seldom brought up at the Kolanaren administration when work was less. "I heard... Well — I read in the letters from the manor that father was having significant concerns regarding the island." Content with the way the young master looked, the maid stepped away, pushing up her glasses, admiring her efforts and not giving the horned master a look in the eye, "I don't know it myself, as I don't spend that much time beside the Duke." Her eyes trailed around the corridor, aiming to leave for the staff lounge — the door by the side of the entrance. But before she left, Moira looked at Alladen and added: "However, his expression has been sour ever since he returned from the assembly." Alladen nodded and turned to face along the corridor. "Then, I suppose that he is indeed very much concerned about something. I'll see for myself when I talk to him."

  The young master began to trod through the corridor, his right hand tracing down the spine of Talia on his shoulder, the sound of his steps echoing from the walls and ceiling. His upper lip rose and Alladen shook his head from side to side. "You could purr at least once when I'm petting you, Talia." Of course, the cat did not react, the whole demeanour of this creature obviously trying to endure rather than ignore. But the young man continued, putting his left cheek to the cat's soft body "You are so mean to me~ I tried everything by this point, why don't you like me?" Alladen kept baby-talking the cat with pursed lips, clicking his tongue after Talia continued to give the young master silent treatment. Rolling his eyes, he pulled Talia back by the scruff, the stretched skin making her face appear quite silly as the young master bore the cat in the perfectly uncaring eyes. "Why are you so eager to run outside? There aren't even any birds this time of the year. Do you realise how much trouble it is to find you each time? What an infuriating cat you are." He let go and Talia's face returned to its normal, regal and poised state. But Alladen just kept talking on and on, turning left to go up the winding stairs, making the cat's head bounce as he skipped a step while going up — a more suited manner for him, as his height made going up one small step at a time fairly uncomfortable.

  Walking out of the stairwell and into the second floor corridor, Alladen turned to go left, again, straight to his father's office. The more he walked, the more he noticed how quiet it was within the manor: No bickering between the staff, no sounds of a violin playing somewhere within the building, and no giggling of his youngest sister who loved spending most of her time on the second floor with the cats or, when time allowed for it — with her father. The stillness of the air itself didn't worry the young master. By extension, it could've been doing the exact opposite, as his ears were quite tired from the infinite nagging of the workers at Kolanaren's administration. Finally approaching the dark oak door, Alladen saw that it was slightly ajar. While holding his right hand in a fist to knock, he heard a voice speaking in the office.

  "...osition?" It was the voice of his mother, the tone was calm but loaded with contempt. The young master froze in place, his knuckles stopping not far from the oak of the door, "Yes, Marpha made this proposition herself, looks like I'll be much needed." His father said after. As much as Alladen despised eavesdropping, his curiosity instantly piqued when he heard the name of Marpha: the woman he knew personally from the time he had to spend studying at the Dispanseria in Mellanegi — someone he had a pleasant recollection of.

  As the short moment of remembrance for Alladen concluded, he returned to the current place and time, "Still, it is uncharacteristic of her to propose something like that, Marpha wouldn't leave the territories of the Church without a significant reason." Orpha continued, the sound of shifting legs was heard from the room. "That I know myself. But trying to guess the reason for her decision is senseless." Ollade tapped on the table, moving some papers around. Alladen heard an exasperated sigh and the voice of his mother, "Then, will you comply and go through with her plan of action?" Slowly, the prospects of the conversation were getting more or less apparent to the young master; his hand had long been lowered, his right ear slightly turned towards the small gap between the door and the doorframe. "I'm one of the most influential people on the island, it would make sense why she would want to take me along with her." Orpha audibly sighed. "At least it's not just you who is supposed to go, that is somewhat reassuring." Alladen returned to petting Talia, gradually sinking into his thoughts.

  "What are they talking about? Mother sounds significantly irritated, that's not unusual for times when father decides to do something absurd.”

  As the rumbling behind the door continued, the young master looked at the fibres of the wood that made up the door, tilting his head to the side.

  “They are talking about father being supposed to go somewhere with her Excellency Marpha. Is it related to his unsavoury mood that I've heard about? Then, it could also be a part of a bigger problem, judging by the fact that it is enough to make a man like him lose a part of his composure."

  Alladen had his hand over his mouth, the black brows furrowed. He kept biting the inside of his lower lip while thinking, taking a deep breath; the fact that both of his parents were on sharp needles made him nervous as well.

  "I don't think that it's best for you to go, either way." His mother kept talking after a bit of the discussion that Alladen had missed, spending that time in his head. "Then, what are the alternatives?” — "Meow." Talia had betrayed the inattentive young master, and so the inside of the office went silent.

  "Who is there? I believe I had ordered everyone to not enter the second floor until I do not permit to do so." Sounded from Ollade, whose tone got far stricter, hearing the meow of one of his cats far above the floor behind the door of his office. The young master didn't mingle much longer on the other side of the dark wood and opened the door at once. With a slightly shifty smile, Alladen stepped inside and closed the door behind him, "Father, mother, I have returned from my duties in Kolanaren." He said, standing put like a nail, the expression on his face straight like a brick. Ollade sighed, relaxing in his seat, while rubbing the right fist on the desk. "...It's just you, Alladen. How much did you hear?" — "I only heard about you planning to depart somewhere with her Excellency Marpha, father." The Duke looked at his wife, their eyes meeting in the middle, though Orpha's gaze was much more stern than promoting.

  "I suppose that you'd find out about it sooner or later. Since you haven't done that yourself yet, I think we should discuss this all together." Orpha looked at Ollade, her head swiftly spun around to give him a demeaning stare, her face reading a clear message of confusion. The Duke looked back at her, sliding his left hand over his mouth and beard once, "The boy's a future Duke, it's better for him to know than not, that similarly goes for our daughters as well; even if they're young, it is still better to let them know than to keep them ignorant.” Ollade then turned to face Alladen again, “Let's get down and have some tea to talk this over something sweet." He stood up, his wife sighing but nodding in resignation.

  As the Duke walked around the table to leave the room, Orpha went closer to Alladen, the height difference much more apparent now that she's close to her son. "You're right.” She addressed that to Ollade, then reached her hands up to her son, ”Alladen, give Talia to me and let's go have a word at the table." The young man gently handed over the cat, and Talia was quite eager to leave the embrace of the young master, as loud purrs began to emit from the furry creature as soon as it landed on the dragon's shoulder. When Orpha also began to move out of the office, she regarded Alladen once more, "Your sisters included, bring them from the parlour on the first floor." He patted some fur off of the suit, "I will, mother."

  Alladen had his father's eyes for sure. But, instead of seasoned, deep crimson resolve that Ollade usually had on his face, Alladen still brandished a bright maroon stilted by presuming worry.

  Such, everyone departed in their respective directions, only meeting at a long, large table in the dining room of the manor. Ollade was sitting at the headmost chair at the end of the table, right of him sat Orpha; Alladen was on his left, one seat over, and the clueless Elkuta and Enfa sat opposite of each other on the seats after Alladen. The tea had been brought already, and all of them had indulged in a bit of dark, in most cases sweet and hot liquid. The past tension of their encounter had faded, changing places with a feeling that could be compared to a family dinner after a long day of exhausting work. "So." After some minutes, the head of the family had spoke up, delighted by the sweet taste of the rolled pastry in his mouth. "I believe it is our time to begin the discussion." He continued, taking a sip of black tea to wash down the sticky sugary wonder down his throat.

  Alladen looked right at his father, stirring the silver spoon in the drink even after the sweetener within it had dissolved long ago. "It won't be good news, I reckon?" He raised his eyebrow. With all the things considered, perhaps it wasn’t too bad to start off so directly. Ollade smiled just a slight amount, shaking his head without a determined purpose, "It's as obvious as it gets, Alladen. As much as I want to pull your horns off for eavesdropping, I'll refrain from it as this conversation should've been held sooner." Sliding his gaze to the right, at the wall by which Moira stood, Ollade rubbed his cheek, "I'll also have to get rid of that stupid rule that prohibits staff from speaking up to their masters. I wonder how many more impediments of past nobility I'll have to get rid off until it finally begins to make sense." Orpha then scoffed with her cup to her lips, "I told you that using old handbooks for staff was an idea full of rubbish." The Duke turned his face aside, "It wasn't the right time to concern ourselves with something so trivial then, this is an issue we would have to go over eventually."

  As the grown-ups could help but bicker, the eldest child waited in calm silence. But the sisters felt more of a reaction in that regard. "Why are we here, dad~?" Enfa, the youngest child, with the features mirrored from her older sister, sat in her ash and red dress, carelessly devouring small cubes of marmalade. Licking the sugar powder from the tips of her fingers, her annoyance spilling out without restraint, "I was reading with Poncha and you got me at the best part~ I wanna go read!" She kept squeaking in her parents’ general direction, her mouth muffled by the soft dessert. Waving at Enfa from that distance of a massive table, the Duke settled on collecting himself back together. "Enfa, dear, it won't take long. This concerns Alladen more than you both, but it is still important for you two to hear about our current situation." Ollade’s tone was far more benevolent when he spoke towards his daughters. Elkuta, who was in a sulky mood for a long time already, stared down at the large plate filled atop by a myriad of baked delights, reaching for another eclaire while speaking. "Is this about why you're so busy now?" She asked, and her father didn't hold his word for long. "Exactly that, it is about the reasons why I am so restless from start to finish." Elkuta turned her head to look right, slightly relieved from the soft cream of the eclaire and the topic of this gathering. "Now that you've got your questions out, let me start talking about the actual topic."

  Unsure of where to start, the Duke cleared his throat a couple of times, glanced at Moira by the wall, his son, daughters and discontent wife. "This should only concern the members of the Raressank family, but I'll permit the head maid to listen." He said, taking a bit of time to arrange the next statement, rolling his finger on the wood of the table audibly. "As all of you have noticed, Me and your mother have been in considerable distress since some time ago, the reason for that being..." Ollade bit the inside of his cheek, breathing deeply. He scratched the back of his left hand before moving his hands apart and speaking: "...Is that the entirety of Ranesairan has been transported to a different world altogether, such an event taking place about two weeks ago." The statement was received without a reply, all of the people present took turns drinking their tea.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  But then Alladen shook his head, tilting it to the side and squinting his eyes, "What?" The Duke slightly threw up his hands, resting the elbows on the table. Ollade spoke while waving his hands around in narrow circles, "As absurd as it sounds, there are simply too many factors that confirm such a theory." Enfa didn't seem to react altogether, while Elkuta had a similar expression to her brother, a confused, scrunched face with strongly furrowed brows, squinted eyes and suppressed screams of outrage. "H-huh?" She sounded, Alladen made a few gulps out of the cup, almost emptying it completely, "Are you being genuinely serious? This kind of thing doesn't just happen!" The young master stood up, firmly planting his hands on the surface of the table and staring out at his father in disbelief. "Sit down and let me explain, panic won't fix anything." The son obliged.

  He said that but it’s not like he was any less perplexed any time he spoke on this topic. Ollade rubbed his hands together, this gesture one of the few things that allows him to compose himself, and then tried to start speaking again, stopping multiple times before finally managing a sentence. "The first sign was the disappearance of our communications with and including the entire trade fleet, that goes for all the other nations of the island. We worked hard to hide this fact for as long as we did — otherwise the consequences of the public learning of an event like this would be disastrous for all involved parties, to say the least.” The Duke interlocked his fingers, lowering his forearms back to the table, “The south and north transportation stages also vanished without a trace and the east..." He halted for a second, collecting his breath before continuing, "...The east stage leads to a whole new continent with a collection of different countries and species that aren't listed in any of the known indexes of the world we knew."

  “Plain nonsense, basically.”

  He thought to himself, but truthfully he could not just admit his honest opinions just like that. Ollade glanced at Orpha before speaking of the point. "What also played a major role in creating the current hypothesis is the fact that the impodium of magic has shifted." Enfa was the only child without a flabbergasted expression on her face, the other two siblings stared at Ollade with agape maws . "WHAT?! The impodium itself? The impodium changed?" Elkuta asked, reciting the many years of magic theory she had to learn in her short life, "That's the most tell-tale sign that something truly astounding has happened, in the absolute size of that word.”Elkuta gripped her head, almost reaching to pull at her horns instead as her gaze shifted to look straight ahead. “If the direction and apogee of magic are easy to manipulate, the impodium is the closest thing we had to a constant metric defining our world.” The Duke tried to keep his eyes mostly away from the two siblings that were briefly losing their minds. “As you know, even the Waterfall in the Blade Vale doesn't change the impodium of magic." The reasoning was enough to prove that this extreme theory had plausibility to the two.

  Gathering his thoughts from the brain scatter that had just assaulted his mind, the young master stood up, almost jumped from his seat again. "What is the proposition that her Excellency Marpha has made, then?" He asked as he remembered what he had overheard. The Duke quickly looked him in the eyes, but it was not much of a reassuring gesture, "That was about the departure of multiple nobles of Ranesairan to the new lands beyond the island." Ollade replied without hesitation. That left the young master speechless, but the momentum that he had managed to amass was carrying his reason past the stress: "Who is supposed to go?" — "Me, Her Excellency Divine Duchess Marpha Yeterikon, Countess Faleya Usurbruk and their servants." Seeing how Ollade used the official titles for both of the women, it created a bitter aftertaste as the Duke preferred to keep it casual among his close people.

  “So little people? Are that really all of the people that were proposed to go?”

  Alladen thought, skeptical of that entire operation, as his father was central to the entire territory of the Raressank dukedom: even a brief departure from the island would mean a significant reduction in the function of the entire coalition against the Unification Legion and the Grand North, Ollade simply played the role of a complete deterrent for those two nations. Absence of long-range communication devices also instilled severe unease in relation to the plan, so if Ollade was really to be gone, he wouldn't be able to know what is happening on the island. "You can't leave the island, father, it is simply not sensible! You absolutely cannot let such a massive hole in the collective defense appear, what's gotten into you?!" Alladen shouted, throwing his right arm over the table as his parents and younger, but not youngest sister watched. "Same goes for my absence in this expedition, I cannot afford not to be aware of the circumstances in those new lands. My participation is crucial for the influence that the expedition could bear." But the reply that the young master received was calm.

  Faced with that stance, Alladen lowered the intensity of his tone. "Doesn’t that mean that someone of your trust would be sufficient, then?" Ollade lifted his eyebrow, taking a deep breath and quickly clicked his tongue multiple times, "You can't be suggesting what I think you've meant." Orpha batted an eye at her son, aware of that pesky, ambitious personality.

  "That's just right, father." The young master retorted, sitting down and stuffing a biscuit in his mouth. "I am not as infantile as to think that a proposition like that is without risk.” He added to the previous statement, “However, I am also deeply convicted to act in the general interest of the island, as the father said... I am the future Duke, that is my reason for believing that it would be best to let the current Duke Raressank to stay on Ranesairan and ensure the peaceful climate of the island." His parents stared right into his eyes — Elkuta tried not to pay attention, as it got a bit too heated for her comfort; combined with the revelations that took place mere minutes ago...

  "Then," Orpha spoke up and Alladen was ready to defend his position, "I will write Marpha a personal letter, asking to include you as a part of the expedition as opposed to your father." Alladen bit his tongue as he swallowed on the spot, Ollade was just as flabbergasted as the young man. "What?" The Duke said as he spun his entire body around to face his spouse, without much intonation. "Are you serious, Orpha?" He kept going, trying to comprehend how she was able to let go of her child that easily, let alone allow him to leave the ISLAND itself. That was absolutely and utterly unbefitting of the Dragon he usually knew, so, naturally, Ollade had a thought of his wife being somewhat psychologically unwell. To their disbelief, Orpha only crossed her arms and gritted her teeth: "What do you mean 'What'? Clearly the boy wants to prove himself as a worthy heir, isn't it right, Alladen?" She pushed through the teeth, panning between her spouse and son. "So, go on, I am sure you will do just as well as you did on your duty in Kolanaren." The praise felt abrasive, since Orpha was vehemently opposed to Alladen going to Kolanaren when the idea was being discussed. "Mhm, you're free to go. Why are you so quiet?" Ahh... Yes, her face slowly churned as she looked at her child, obviously trying to hold in tears.

  "Mom...?" Now this was the real challenge for the young master of the Raressank Dukedom: try and not make his mother cry. With this predicament in place, Alladen attempted to put on a smile, although it appeared as a forced showmanship to even the most emotionally daft people. "It's nothing, really, I won't be gone for long...”

  “I mean I hope I won’t...”

  “Besides, I'll be personally with her Excellency Marpha, her order, and likely even other nobles' knights. Can you imagine a more secure place than next to the very Head Priest of the Saruph Ascension Church? You are one of the only people who know her true might!" The attempt at de-escalation failed, as her eyes kept resisting the gradually rising front of salty water on the lower eyelids. Ollade himself felt cornered... So he decided to step in and defuse the situation by hand, "Honey, you don't have to worry that much, Alladen has been trained to fight me of all people, and he is right, Marpha is the most capable magician I know besides the witches, you don't have to weep over his departure as if it is his funeral..." The Duke fell silent afterwards, swallowing.

  “Whoever is in charge... Please spare this idiot, I wasn’t thinking enough before speaking, it’s an honest mistake...”

  "Funeral...?" He shouldn't have used a word so cruel in this situation. In chess, this move would've been considered a major blunder. "N-No! it's not what I meant!" T'was too late, the gates fell, and the mighty dragon was defeated by mere words, bleeding from her heart, but, well, actually from the eyes. The shed beads of sorrow soon were falling onto the precious fabric of the Duke's shirt, while both men tried to hold up the dam with their bare hands, in a lyrical sense. "You caaan't!" Orpha cried, and Ollade hugged and patted her on the back, the face that he hid over her shoulder was less sad or defeated, and more angered as he lamented on his poor skills in calming down the overgrown lizard that he spent the past twenty years with.

  "C'mon, let's go calm down." The Duke said, lifting up the crying woman. Ollade turned to face his son as he slowly made his way out of the dining room, his left shoulder quickly getting wetter with each passing second. "Alladen, we'll talk this over privately at a latter time, ok?" All the pizzazz had vanished from both: his expression and his voice, though the young master did not look any better, the awkward smile still stuck on his face, "Y-Yes!"

  ...

  "Will you be eating the desserts?" Moira asked, having stood still through the entire ordeal, witnessing each and every development. "Yes." With a brief recuperation, Alladen sat back down, Elkuta kept silently eating the pastries, and Enfa was still careless.

  The sun surrendered just as swiftly as it arose, and the hours of work that have been meant for today have been done through and through. The short-haired maid in round glasses tended to the bottle of most pristine, which was far less full by that point, but still enough to entertain her for this evening. Moira's eyes did not change, still as wary and dejected as ever, betraying her hard-working temperament and making her seem... Like a miserable prisoner of forced labour, but alas, this did not matter as that nosy but much beloved little sister of hers had come into her room once more, although with a more tired expression. As it had seemed, Sobrana was indeed putting quite the effort into learning this new craft that caught her eye.

  "Sobrana, what's it this time?" Moira said, slouching into the same chair by the window, swerving the wine in the same wineglass as before, but with a content little smirk on her face this time. "Ah... I-It's nothing." Sobrana mumbled in response; how did such an awkward girl find the treacherous profession of a diplomat so endearing, enough to make her study till' the very eyes of hers had to carry dark bags? "You look awfully alike to me for it to be absolutely nothing." Her sister raised herself in the seat, reaching the edge of the glass to her lips, tasting the aroma first before indulging into some grape blood, her eyes lifting from the surface of the liquid to watch her sister, "Is your endeavour going well?" Moira asked, that gaze of hers dripping with a bit of solidarity for her usually inept sister, even if that plan that she had concocted is as bewildering as a walking fish.

  "It's alright." Sobrana laughed it off with a chuckle, rubbing her hands together. Even with this character she has, the effort seemed to be paying off quite a bit already: her posture has become far more confident, and those absurd stutters decreased in amount and intensity. Moira spun her left hand around the wrist quite dramatically, shutting her right eye for a bit of emphasis. "Wonderful, then." But, that soon halted as her sister's goal reminded Moira of the noon conversation the Duke had with the rest of his family. She had the misfortune to be a part of a discussion abouts very, very confidential information regarding the island, even if she was just a bystander. That pulled her out of exhaustion and sunset nonchalant demeanour, since that topic explicitly coincided with Sobrana's plans.

  The head maid put aside the wineglass on the round table, leaning closer to Orpha's personal maid's face. "Oi, I heard some seriously scary words from the Duke today." Sobrana perked up, distraught by the sudden change in her sister's mood, instinctually leaning in as well. "What do you mean?" She stared at Moira in those vibrantly yellow peepers, the ones that were inclined to veer off topic and continue. "The entire Ducal family came together to talk about it, so..." It was difficult to determine how much she could say without putting her young bones into danger — she carried on nonetheless, "The topic was so heated that both the young master and the Duchess went as far as to raise their voices." The intrigue in Sobrana's eyes was apparent, she was quite literally seething with curiosity whenever the talk about possible politics was raised around her. "Ah-huh..." She instigated her sister to go on, excitedly squeezing her hands together, "But I must warn you, if you spill any of what I tell you to others, our heads are as good as accessories to a bucket."

  That rather quickly extinguished that spark of excitement in her gaze, a bit of a brutal disclaimer it was. "What?" Sobrana gathered her thoughts after the threatening words of her sister, and Moira resisted moving her hands closer to the glass, "It is exactly as I meant it, I suppose it is sensitive enough to warrant an execution for unauthorised disclosure, maybe even treason charges, since that information is deeply intertwined with the internal and external interest of the Dukedom." The suspense was palpable; Sobrana caved in instantly. "I won't tell anyone." The maid’s voice came down to a whisper, and Moira followed suit, "That was quick, are you sure?" Moira exhaled deeply, unsure of talking about this topic the closer they actually got to it, unlike her little sister. With an inhale, Moira gathered herself and gave both of them a last warning, "Well, this is the point of no return for both of us..."

  To cut the chase and time, Moira began to explain the details of today's family gathering in a considerably thorough manner. Shortly, not even halfway, Sobrana was very much petrified.

  "...all that concludes our current reality, what do you think of this?" The head maid’s wine glass was empty, too. Moira didn't actually process all this nightmare on the spot in the dining room — her go-to motto was "The less you know, the less you worry.", such she made sure to remember and digest as little of all the secret and dangerous information the Duke exposed around her as possible. "Um..." Sobrana, on the other hand, was on the same hand as her sister: panicked and reasonably mortified. While tugging at her collar, Moira continued "Think of this in another way..." Some justification for whatever has commenced would help both of the women find their bearings, "All that means is that you have a better position were you to actually become a diplomat." This did little to calm Sobrana, but even in the state that she was in, the idea rubbed that adventurous spirit the right way. "When that information becomes public, you'll be able to assert your interests with the Duke and Duchess, if you get lucky and impressed and if they approve, imagine the sudden rank up!” Her sister nodded slightly, pulling up a strained smile. "I guess you're right...?" With an awkward laugh she said, keeping up that midtempo nodding. "All I wish for you at this point is... uh..."

  "Nevermind, I'm just as clueless and pissed-pants terrified as you are about this... entire situation, but we can't do anything except try and brace for it, don't you think?" Indeed, Moira said things that Sobrana agreed with in spite of all the paranoid thoughts and ruminating plots of absolute demise of herself and the entire island, lifting her mind by the bootstraps. "Absolutely, as much as it could be a possible grave... I can't say that it isn't as much of a golden opportunity for a lot of people? Me included?" Both of them thought that either positive assuming idea was borderline stretching the good aspects of their circumstance, either of the two also thought that it is better to collect and assert rather than panic and assume the worst.

  "Do you want tea?" Moira suddenly stood up, "All this talking gave me a dry throat, the Duke was right about talking this over something sweet..."

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