Chapter Text
The phantom loss of sensation still comes and goes, so Julius flexes his fingers, then tightens his hand into a fist.
It helps. It grounds him and chases away the doubt he’s somewhat still trapped in ice and dreaming. Yet it isn’t enough to wipe away the frigid, bitter cold that washed upon him that day and caused Lady Anastasia to fall into deep slumber— not when she lies in front of him, features so peaceful, and unlike what they were moments before she fainted.
Julius cannot forget the frightened, wide-eyed look she casted at him before her legs gave way under her. The Beast of the End monstrous magic froze him so fast that he couldn’t catch her before she fell, couldn’t even make certain her heart still beat, couldn’t spare the bruises on her arm where she hit the floor.
If not for Reinhard, none of them would have survived. Had he not been in the capital that day and slayed the Great Spirit—
Julius inhales and rubs a hand over his face.
Three months, and Lady Anastasia yet has to awaken.
“Sir Ricardo is distraught as he was the first day, and the triplets still ask after your health—”
Hope that she ever will wanes with each passing day. Already the citizens of Lugunica appear to have forgotten about her, and cast all of their hopes on the last candidate who made it out of the catastrophe alive. Lady Priscilla stopped sparing a single thought for any of her rivals once the funerals of Lady Emilia and Lady Crusch’s have been held.
The absence of the fifth candidate doesn’t either. Even though the Royal Selection couldn’t begin without her, Lady Priscilla still proceeds as to win the title of King.
Julius doubts she even remembers Lady Anastasia’s face, now, with her position so assured.
“And I as well— I. I truly wish you would wake up,” His hand reaches out, unbidden, and brushes along the curve of her cheek, where a lock of hair fell out of place. “Even if you never joined the Royal Selection again— if anything in the Kingdom could help, I would—”
He pushes the hair behind her ear as his mouth clicks closed. His wish has no power behind it. For certain it doesn’t hold any magic or any power to realize itself. The Divine Dragon alone could perhaps wake her— but he doesn’t pay attention to such matters.
The realization pierces as thorns would, bitter and painful, and he cannot dig it out from beneath his thoughts. Even a Royal Candidate foretold by the prophecy must be nothing but a simple maiden in the Divine Dragon’s eyes. Ah. Such thought toes the line of betrayal. He understands, now, how Lady Crusch must have felt.
“I apologize, that was inappropriate. I shall take my leave, for the moment.”
Julius stands.
His feet won’t move back to the door.
Perhaps— he could stay a few more minutes to compose himself. Just until his eyes stop stinging.
Julius exhales a long and shaky sigh. Silence envelops the room again— until the rustle of fabric prompts him to look up.
Lady Anastasia blinks up at him, drowsy, with a hand in front of her mouth to muffle a yawn.
“—Who are you? Why are you crying?”
He introduced himself and the members of the Iron Fang the instant her teal eyes opened and thin lips parted, asking who he was. She is alive, which is better than what he can say about most of the people who were at the Capital rather than at the outskirts —as their carriage was— the day the Beast of the End attacked, but amnesia is an ailment they hadn’t considered, and Julius, for once, doesn’t know what to do.
Along with the question came a different accent, in which her n were much softer than before, and her sh were equally unfamiliar. A new tea variety— because when offered green tea she turned it down and mentioned it tasted like ‘touching grass’, whatever that means. And strange slang Julius can’t link to any city he has memory of.
Healers come and go, minutes turn into hours, and his Lady still looks at him as if he were a stranger.
The words from the medics they summoned to the manor back when she first fainted still echo loud on his brain. The one thing they all agreed on was that the probabilities of her waking up were low— basically non-existent. No person diagnosed with the Sleeping Beauty’s syndrome had ever woken up, and Lady Anastasia had no reason to become the exception. In every way and form, it's wonderful she went against the medics’ expectations for her, even if it means that her laugh now rings in a different tone and when she smiles her lips no longer tilt the same way as they used to.
Julius' gaze remains locked to the blue aura produced by Felix Argyle’s magic and reflected into Lady Anastasia’s eyes. Kua is powerful enough to heal wounds, but he is aware of their limitations, and brain damage is certainly out of their capabilities. His Lady, once again, can only be helped by a Royal Knight that isn’t him.
“There are no anomalies in her brain…” Felix muses, voice low.
He clenches his fists into his uniform. The deep bags under his friend’s eyes make the ache inside Julius’ chest grow. How selfish he is, grieving the loss of Lady Anastasia’s manners and speech pattern when Felix had to deal with the aftermath of his Lady’s death and still accepted the favor of coming to check why her former political rival’s memories disappeared.
Julius knows requesting his presence was cruel, but he doesn’t regret it. He can’t, not when his Lady’s health is in jeopardy.
Mimi’s ears twitch as she straightens her back. “Is that bad?” She asks, from her spot on the couch next to Lady Anastasia and Sir Felix. “Having a normal brain should be good.”
“It’s usually fine, but in her case it’s weird,” Felix’s lips prim. “Normal people haven’t just woken up from a coma.”
Hearing the rest of the Pearlbatton siblings sigh, Anastasia gives an awkward laugh. “Sorry…”
“Don’t say sorry,” Ricardo reassures Lady Anastasia, patting her head and disheveling her hair in the process. “Ya have done nothin’ wrong. It’s not yar fault.”
“—’key,” Lady Anastasia blurts out, blushing red. “I get it, you can stop now.”
Ricardo blinks at her, faking innocence. “Stop wh—?”
Felix watches the exchange in silence and then raises his arm to touch her forehead, forcing Ricardo to pull his hand back with a hiss. When Felix speaks again, Julius winces at the bitterness lacing his tone. “Does this hurt?”
Julius barely stops himself from pushing Felix away from his Lady. He knows he must be asking to find out what is producing her amnesia, but she has already suffered too much— and he brought Felix to help her, not hurt her, not even for a single second.
“Er…” This innocent version of Anastasia, completely unaware of what a dangerous combination water magic and a jealous Felix Argyle are, tilts her head, “It doesn’t? It just feels warm and comfy.”
"And what about this?” Felix asks, shifting his arm towards the left side of her head.
“Still warm.”
“Definya warm.”
“Like standing in front of a heater — I mean, a… fireplace? Not on top of it though, more like… uhhh… next to it.”
Ferris considers her words carefully before nodding. “That’s nyot good,” he finally says, and every single person inside the room freezes. “Both normal and magical induced coma always leaves scars in the brain, but hers has none, which is why the previous healers Lady Anyastasia saw thought she suffered from the Sleeping Beauty’s syndrome. Though her brain seems perfectly healthy, the reactions to the spells are odd—”
“Odd?” Ricardo cuts in, alarmed. “What do you mean by—?”
“—which further proves she was affected by magic ice and nyot normal ice,” Ferris hisses. “As Mister Ricardo would know if he hadn’t interrupted Ferris.”
“Heh,” Ricardo rubs his back, sheepishly. “…s’rry.”
“Will Boss Lady get better after the magic fades then?” Hetaro perks up. “Magic doesn’t last forever.”
Felix glares at him. “Normal magic doesn’t, but this spell was cast by a hundreds years old beast that has roamed the land since the time Witches were alive.”
“—What, there are witches here?” Lady Anastasia inquires, lips forming a perfect 'o’. “Like— actual women with pointy hats, black cats and… flying brooms?”
“Flying brooms?” Hetaro repeats, eyebrows reaching his hairline. “More like pointy ears, silver hair and flying whales.”
“Pfff…” Mimi giggles. “Miraculous recovery but she's so dumb now— hey !” She whispers in wonder at first, but then cuts her own comment off when Tivey hits her shoulder with his backpack. The notably fake smile Lady Anastasia so likely put on so as to not worry them slips off her face. “Why would Witches even have cats?”
“Why would an amnesic person know they don’t?” Tivey bites back.
Mimi huffs, still rubbing the shoulder. “But she—”
“If ya two are goin’ to fight, better get out of the room,” Ricardo crosses his arms. “Sir Felix did not c’me here to witness yar banter.”
Julius barely pays attention to the Iron Fang’s members’ chatter. His mind is too busy playing Felix’s words time and time again like a broken record. “There has to be something we can do other than wait around until Lady Anastasia’s memories return on their own.” He needed to at least try—be it to talk with her about her past, introduce her to old familiar faces, plan a trip to Kararagi, maybe to the poorer neighborhoods where she used to live, anything. “She— there has to be—”
Felix’s ears twitch, Tivey lowers his gaze, and his Lady turns over to look at him as if he were a stranger.
“ There has to? ” Felix’s gaze burns on his face with clear distaste. “Your Lady is still alive.”
Shame floods onto his chest. “I— I didn’t mea—”
“Hey, stop bullying my Knight,” Anastasia cuts in, still staring at him. "It’s normal to want a competent Boss Lady, and— well, Mimi is right. I don’t even know how to write anymore. So not only am I sickly, I’m clueless beyond compare!”
“I spoke out of turn nonetheless,” Julius adds grimply. “I didn’t mean any disrespect, Lady Anastasia is Lady Anastasia even without her memories and I didn’t mean to imply otherwise.”
“—Lady Anastasia, your current lack of skills is nyot something to gloat about,” Ferris comments, furrowing his brow, opting to ignore Julius’ comment. “As malnutrition takes a serious toll on people’s Od, you were already more sensitive to magic attacks than most. Added to this, healing magic won’t do much for you ever again because of that monster’s ice. It’s a bad combinyation.”
Anastasia runs a hand through her hair— as she diligently has been doing at least once per minute ever since she woke up. And like every time, she hesitates, startled— if by the length or hairstyle, Julius cannot say. “I have absolutely zero idea what that means,” she admits. “But I don’t think it’s gonna be a problem, with strong and reliable people looking over my shoulder.”
Julius disagrees. He doesn’t think himself deserving of such high praise— not really. If he were, Felix wouldn’t have been summoned to check on her.
“For sure! Boss Lady can count on us!” Mimi nods with enthusiasm. “No need for healing if nothing harms her!”
“Reading can always be retaught, and we can all help with that meanwhile too,” Tivey says as Hetaro makes a sound of agreement.
Anastasia smiles tenderly at their words, but Julius' gaze remains locked to the floor. The memory of the triplets sobbing their hearts out while holding a sleeping Anastasia overrides any comfort their heartfelt speeches can summon in him.
“Anyway,” Lady Anastasia inclines her head. “Sir Julius told me you are the new Karsten Duke.”
Felix stops moving and looks at anywhere but Anastasia’s eyes. "Yeah... it's the reason why Ferris— Felix couldn't check on Lady Anastasia while she was in a coma. Lots of things to do and that…It’s also why Felix has to return to the Karsten manor soon."
She nods. “Everyone got a lot happier the moment you confirmed you would come,” she falters before uttering the word people. “So, thank you.”
He shrugs.
“And,” Anastasia smiles. “Congratulations for your new position.”
—In the span of a moment, the triplets leap at Anastasia and push her out of the cushion— and out of Felix’s reach. Julius’ own hold over his sword’s pommel tightens as he rushes between the demi-humans and Ricardo grabs Felix by the neck of his coat.
“— how dare you mock her! ” Felix spits, eyes like blazing fire. “Lady Crusch was worth a hundred— nyo, a meowllion of you! An usurer—”
“You said it first, Sir!” Hetaro yells, holding the shell shocked Anastasia far away from him. “She has magical brain damage, our Lady didn’t mean it!”
“Don’t be mad, Sir!” Mimi says. “She is very dumb-dumb now!”
“—like you deserved to die, nyot her!”
“Felix,” Julius hisses. “I’m terribly sorry for what Lady Anastasia just said, I should have warned her about the nature of your relationship with the late duchess before you arrived, but she is a patient who doesn’t remember anything other than her name—
Felix gasps at the word late . “Lady Crusch wouldn’t have—”
“—while you are a Knight that has been taught not to wish death upon a Royal Candidate. We are grateful for your service— but it's better if you leave the manor now.”
They are both ushered out of the room through different doors, but Julius’ hand over his sword’s pommel doesn’t stop shaking until he walks Felix out of the building.
Lady Anastasia twirls the— ballpoint pen between her fingers, eyes half-lidded. The sunrays from the window lighten her eyes to the hue of a still lake on a windless day, and the sight should be familiar to Julius, but it isn’t. She never used to fidget this way, not before the incident. Much less be distracted with such ease by the blue-jay on the windowsill, no matter how bright the plumage or how melodious the song.
Her focus has always been impeccable.
Julius coughs.
She blinks, and tilts her head with a smile, sheepish. “Sorry.”
Ricardo chuckles by his spot on the armchair in front of the desk. "Let her take it easy. It’s not every day ya got to relearn how to write.”
“As much as I loathe to say this, work won’t wait. A few of these forms have a deadline.” Julius pinches the bridge of his nose. In truth, Ricardo isn’t wrong. It would be best if the whole of the paperwork responsibility fell on Joshua for a while longer yet— but Lady Anastasia insisted, even though her amnesia extends to such things as her literacy.
She’s so eager to learn again.
“Julius is right— and I want to! It’s all good, really—”
“—I am glad you agree—” He isn’t, not truly. But nonetheless, Julius examines the document. Formality requires that a number of titles should be added to the heading, and even before the incident, Lady Anastasia wasn’t as well versed in aristocratic etiquette.
“—And what kind of a royal candidate I’d be, if I didn’t try my best?”
Ricardo flicks an ear and scratches his neck. “Yeah, ‘bout that—”
“—You should capitalize this— ah, my apologies.”
She looks up again, the end of the pen between her teeth.
“—Given all that’s happened… don’tcha think ya could sit this one out?” Ricardo crosses his arms.
“Sjtthshh?” Lady Anastasia talks around the pen, then scrunches her nose. It’s unladylike, and utterly endearing.
Ricardo frowns. “Kid, I didn’t raise ya to talk while chewin’ on things like a puppy at yer age.”
She widens her eyes and releases it just to fold her lips in a pout. "Sorry Uncle—”
He nods in approval. Julius could see why, yet— “Yeah, much better. But what I mean is, ya should look around a little more before committing again to this Selection business. It’s weird how three out of five of you didn’t make it out of the first day, ya know?”
The implication is preposterous. The meeting was a well-guarded secret. Still— “You believe it was planned.”
“I believe nothin’. But I’m of the opinion better safe than sorry.”
“Indeed.”
“—Perhaps I entered the wrong office. It doesn’t appear like any of you are doing work.”
Julius smiles, fond. Joshua would try to lighten the mood, if in his own awkward manner.
In response to his words, Lady Anastasia widens her eyes until they rival Mimi’s in her most innocent moments. “But we were talking business.”
Joshua coughs in his fist and averts his gaze. “I’m not certain that much of that paperwork requires further discussion. Certainly not with my brother’s, or with Sir Ricardo.”
“Ya work too hard, kid.”
Julius nods. Joshua is a responsible worker.
“—You just brought more. Didn’t you.”
“I’m afraid so.”
Lady Anastasia crosses her arms onto the desk and drops her head in their circle, such an exaggerated gesture cannot be anything but a joke; his brother bites back a smile at that, as well. Even before her amnesia, they got along quite well.
“If I sign just one more form, I think I’m gonna die—”
“Alas, all of these,” Joshua raises them a few inches— a stack of fifty or so paper sheets, by Julius’ estimate. “Should be processed within a day. Your business properties in the capital need to be rebuilt as soon as possible.”
She blinks. “I have a business property in the capital?”
Sir Ricardo snorts. “Kid, ya have a whole heap of ‘em.”
Julius nods. “You ventures in the capital include multiple coffee shops with their own exclusive items, a couple of inns along the main street, and—”
“I own coffee stores in the capital? Man, that’s such a cliché. But it usually happens after —” Her voice trails off.
“My brother is incorrect, however. You don’t just own multiple coffee stores.” Joshua clears his voice and pushes the monocle into place. “Thanks to your dealings with the council, rather than exclusivity on the product alone, you were also granted a Royal Seal.”
Lady Anastasia stares into the empty air in front of her. “Huh. Wow.”
Sir Ricardo guffaws.
“Wait— doesn’t that mean I crushed all the other merchants out of business?”
“Yes?”
Lady Anastasia— crumples onto herself. Julius doesn’t have any other descriptor for the reaction, and that adds more to his confusion. He thought she would be happy— her business dealings always brought her joy.
“I really am a villainess then. This suc—”
The desk muffles the rest of the words.
Sir Ricardo barks out a final chuckle and shakes his head. “I haven’t seen ya being like this in a while.”
“Are you implying Lady Anastasia was this…” His eloquence fails him, this time. Julius doesn’t quite know what to ask, truth to be told.
“—This uncouth?”
“Joshua—!”
“Yeh, she used to act much freer, back when roamin’ the streets. Can’t believe it’s been so long already.” This new smile fades into one far more wistful.
But Lady Anastasia pays no attention to any of them. Her eyes peek from above her arm, and what unknown thought had distressed seem now forgotten and done with. “Hey. What did the Prince used to look like? Maybe if you tell me— maybe I will remember something. About the past?”
Julius frowns. He doubts Lady Anastasia ever met any of the Lugunica Princes. “The Royal Family all inherited blood red eyes and golden hair.”
Her thin fingers clutch at a lock of her own hair and she scowls. “Oh come on, that doesn’t narrow it down at all—!
Julius doesn’t understand. Those traits are very distinctive.
But Lady Anastasia doesn’t take notice of his confusion, just straightens with a flutter of paper and a scowl, and twirls the pen between her fingers again. She lifts her chin with determined eyes. “I need more ideas. Maybe if keep notes—”
On all accounts, that ought to be a fine idea given her ailment, yet Julius cannot smother the feeling of unease that overtakes him as the pen runs along the page. It is nothing nefarious that he can see. Solely doodles and symbols, and the strangest thing about them is how Lady Anastasia uses scraps of paper instead of the intact and good quality paper strewn across the desk.
Julius cannot recognize any of it.
She falls still without a warning. “—I’m still rich, yeah?”
The apprehension grows by several magnitudes.
Joshua scoffs, and the warning in Julius’ eyes goes unnoticed. “I should hope so.”
Lady Anastasia brings the end of the pen to her mouth, catches herself right in time to avoid a glare from Sir Ricardo, leans against the chair instead. “—Maybe… that’s what I need to avoid death flags. If I do the same thing—”
“—Pardon?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
Surely that isn’t a reasonable request. Death — flags? “What are—”
Lady Anastasia leverages against the desk with her feet and the consequent creaks drowns out his question. “I want to make a hot air balloon.”
Julius blinks.
Joshua freezes right as the paperwork he brought lands on the desk. “A— an air balloon?”
She nods. “A hot air balloon.”
“—And what would be the goal of such a… contraption?”
“—Kid, where did even you get such an idea—”
Lady Anastasia pumps her fist in the air. “It’s gonna make us famous. Well, even more famous I guess. But—! Point is, nobody ever made such a thing in Lugunica. I’m sure of it—”
“Perhaps there’s a reason nobody ever tried?”
“—And think about it. Lots of people would pay to fly in the sky.”
Julius feels ill. “Are you certain that it isn't dangerous?”
Lady Anastasia beams a sheepish smile at him. “—It’s totally safe. Probably.”
Joshua tilts his head. “—That does sound fascinating, actually. I am in favor of this new venture.”
If her eyes are meant to soften the blow of such news, it isn’t working. Julius is certain Lady Anastasia never attempted to use vulnerability as a manipulation tool, and wishes she could go back to discard that particular method. It is far too effective. “I’m sure it’s okay since we can fire magic to light it up.”
Genuine delight warms Joshua’s voice when he speaks next, and Julius falls mute with the surprise. “I presume that it is the heat of the fire that would make flight viable, and that the balloon would act as a medium? ”
“—Please reconsider. You are still convalescent, and—”
Lady Anastasia grins. “Stop being a killjoy—! This is the beginning of my adventure as a Time-Limited Villainess–”
“—Can you translate this?”
Reinhard blinks at the scraps of paper and places his cup of tea down, but even through his confusion doesn’t dismiss Julius’ request; his eyes trail across the eleven fragments taken from Lady Anastasia’s diary, eyebrows furrowed. “—Are those by Lady Anastasia’s hand?”
“That is correct.”
Even as days passed those small, strange symbols lingered in his mind, their unknown meaning like an itch at the back of his thoughts, until he couldn't bear it anymore and determined it was best to seek help.
“It’s— peculiar.”
“—So they hold any meaning to you?”
Reinhard possesses a myriad of different Blessings; it’s relieving that one could help.
“They’re all lists,” Reinhard presses a hand in front of his mouth, his focus still fixed to the glyphs. “But the words themselves— they don’t make sense.”
Julius looks down. They might make little sense to his friend, but to him, even that little meaning is out of reach.
Reinhard extends his arm and taps on the paper note on the upper left. “ Reasons— this must be an O.I , it says.”
He tilts his head, baffled.
“ I have a knight; I’m sick; my hair is lilac; I have lots of money; yesterday, I had to join a tea party, ” Reinhard lifts another one between his thumb and forefinger, with exceptional attentiveness considered his strength. “But the oddest thing— this doesn’t appear to be code. If it were, it wouldn’t be my Divine Blessing of Language activating.”
“—What does that mean?”
“This is a whole different language, or perhaps a very obscure dialect.”
That— truly doesn’t make any sense. Certainly, the Lady Anastasia in his memories is more than capable of creating a code to hide her private business; not so much this new, even frailer, more naive Lady, who cannot write or read well anymore. However— Julius falters. He cannot grasp an explanation to this at all. Unless— they key hides in her past, but that too won’t be of any help at the moment.
Not even Sir Ricardo knows Lady Anastasia’s whole past. This bizarre behavior might very well be from before he met any of them. She might have omitted a number of things; she might have lied, even though that possibility is far too distasteful to consider. There is no way anyone in the camp could determine what reasons could Lady Anastasia have to do such a thing..
“—Since we could meet, I’d also like to share information. I wanted to tell you in person before the Council made an announcement of it. At the very least, if I can persuade her to introduce herself to them.”
Her ? Julius pauses. It isn’t often that Reinhard’s voice shakes with emotion.
“Julius. I— I found her. I found the fifth candidate— the Royal Selection isn’t all lost.”
It takes him a grand total of three days, seven hours and eleven minutes to realize that if he wants to decipher the real meaning behind Anastasia's notes, he will need to request the help of the smartest person he knows.
Once he does, Joshua pitches the bridge of his nose and sighs. "Let me get this straight: You read Lady Anastasia's diary and instead of feeling ashamed and troubled about your actions, you decided to tell me because— somehow, you fear you haven't invaded her privacy enough. Am I right?"
"It wasn't her diary," he blurts out, heat rising to his cheeks. "These are normal notes."
Joshua just stares at him, not even pretending to buy his lies for a second. "The private notes she has been keeping close to her side ever since waking up and doesn't want anyone to even glance at. Those notes?"
"I— it isn't like that—"
"Spare me the excuses." Joshua raises his hand in a stop motion. "Tell me what prompted you to invade her privacy like this, please."
And tell him he does. About the list Anastasia wrote, her new strange language, his suspicions about her past and her recent obsession with death endings.
Joshua listens attentively before speaking. "Ricardo keeps insisting the Royal Selection is a death sentence, it would traumatize anyone. And she is still in an unknown environment, so it is understandable she is trying to make sense of the current situation on her own first."
Julius' lips prim. "We work for her precisely so she doesn’t have to take care of it on her own."
"Okay. I will ask you a question, and I want you to be honest," Joshua interrupts. In silence, Julius watches his brother stand up from the seat behind his desk and close the door of his office with a lock. Then he turns over again and stares him dead in the eye. "Older brother, I didn't join Lady Anastasia's camp because I cared about the Royal Selection or her character. I only agreed to support her because I trusted your judgment, and you trusted her." He takes a sharp breath. "Has this changed?"
Julius already knew the way his brother felt about the Royal Selection, he isn't blind, but it still makes the bitter taste in his mouth worsen. "Of course not! I still believe she is the only one that could lead us to Lugunica's greatest possible future."
Joshua nods slowly, almost relieved. "Then why don't you trust her?"
"I trust her— I just fear we haven't protected her as well as we thought," he admits, defeated. And that's the core of all their problems: they couldn't save her from the Beast of the End, from her amnesia— when it actually matters, they always fail her. "I just fear the presence of unknown enemies from her past. I can’t protect her from what I don’t know."
Joshua rubs his chin. "Kararagi is not a place to keep records of their civilians. If there is something dangerous in Lady Anastasia's past -and that's a big if- it could be impossible to find it. Especially considering she might have used her actual network to get rid of any clue we might have been able to find."
"But?" Julius perks up. As unlikely as his brother said it was, he never used the word impossible.
"I know a few people that have access to sources of information we could never have— if anyone knows anything, it's them," Joshua stares at the empty envelope on his desk, deep in thought. "I will need to send some letters, and it might take a while, but it's the only plan I can come up with on the go."
When he asks Joshua who these people are and his brother ignores him, Julius knows he is better off not knowing.
Julius can only pray to the Divine Dragon that whoever his brother set out to find more about Anastasia's life before she was adopted by Ricardo is better than the people he tasked to decode the translated content of Anastasia's diary.
"We did what you asked, but I have a question," Tivey raises his arm up into the air, "Why is it so important that we discover what an O.I. is?"
Julius squirms on his seat. He had expected the Pearlbatton siblings to question the nature of the meeting, but he hoped they would wait until the whole situation was resolved first.
Joshua fixes his monocle back into place. "Lady Anastasia seems to care a lot about whether her current situation counts as an OI. It's our duty as her employees to aid her in each of her quests, including this one."
Mimi tilts her head. "Mimi thought her duty was to fight for Boss Lady and look super cute in the process?"
"—stab as many of Lady's political enemies as possible?" Hetaro adds, eyes wide.
"—absorb all minor companies?" Mimi says.
"—get as many royalties as—"
"Cut it out," Tivey shoots his siblings a glare. "I'm just displeased we are working behind Mister Ricardo and Lady Anastasia's back." After sighing, he takes a list out of his pocket and hands it to Joshua. "I researched the secluded Karagi villages you asked, but I wasn't able to find much. Sources say OI is a type of yellow apple that grows near Oshika, it's also how the locals from Riana refer to greasy gears..."
"Mimi found out it's a type of crêpe at the border with Vollachia too!"
"... I actually heard it was a type of game that the Sage used to play..." Hetaro rubs his chin. "No idea what it was about, though."
Julius shares a look with his brother. They will need better than this. Before he can open his mouth to mention it, the sound of the door cracking as it opens reaches their ears.
"—did anyone say game?" Anastasia chips in from behind the door. " Man , I wish we had Mario Kart here. Bet you’d all love it...." she stops, expression shifting to one of deep thought, "I wonder if I can recreate the game somehow? I mean, we have money and it would even make children smile...it's totally not evil…"
Joshua leans forward on his seat. "Lady Anastasia, what exactly is a Mario Kart ?"
She breaks out of her rambling. "Uhhh. Uhm. It's a game."
"What kind of game?" Joshua presses on.
"—don't pester Boss Lady!" Mimi jumps off her seat and runs towards Anastasia. Joshua rolls his eyes at the immature act. "Mimi may not give her Miss any Mario Karto to play with, but she can give her a crêpe—" she pushes a small pancake in front of Anastasia's mouth,” —bought specially for her!”
Anastasia blinks blankly to the cat demi-human, then after some seconds of consideration, straightens her neck and takes a bite from the offered crêpe.
An instant later— she gasps. “Woah—! Mimi, that’s great! What kind of crepe is it?"
Mimi beams. "It's a Vollachian made oi !"
Her entire face switches from mild happiness to utter delight upon hearing the word oi . She grabs Mimi up in the air and gives a short victory dance while carrying the cat-girl in her arms. “I knew it— This is the sign I’ve been searching for Mimi. The sign!” she squeals.
His lips turn onwards at the scene. One thing he is sure of: memories or not, Lady Anastasia’s smile remained equally contagious.
—The warmth filling his chest doesn’t last long. The meeting room soon descends into chaos when Lady Anastasia missteps and trips with Joshua’s feet, and causes the three of them to land on the floor— along with the list titled Meaning of the word O.I. in different secluded Kararagi cities that his brother had hidden inside his pocket.
“Joshua!” he hisses, jumping in to grab the paper—
—but a hairy hand catches it before he can. Ricardo's.
He should have followed Lady Anastasia’s footsteps and written the list in code.
The next day, Julius awaits with dread for a letter or messenger to inform him that Lady Anastasia will no longer require his presence during her writing lessons— or worse, the Juukulius Family's backing for the Royal Selection.
To his surprise, though Ricardo makes his anger known by inviting him to spar - and sending him to the medical wing- neither letter ever arrives.
When he is finally allowed to see his Lady again, guilt and distress flood to her eyes instead of anger.