Toren wasn’t available when Porter sent a messenger to the shelter he worked at. Rather than wait for him, I reluctantly agreed to talk to Geraldine while waiting for a response. Especially since, I was going to be confined to my room otherwise.

  Which is how I found myself with Geraldine, just the two of us in a cozy room on the second floor of the estate. It was a rather pleasant room, to be fair. A single table with two wooden folding chairs sat near a large window that looked outside. The view wasn’t great, just being another estate with an extravagant garden of gaudy flowers, but it was a good atmosphere for the tea that had been set out.

  Geraldine poured me a cup, then herself. “Sugar? Milk?”

  I shrugged, taking the cup and blowing on the liquid to try and cool it. “No idea.”

  That got a soft smile from the other woman. “I suppose that’s a fair answer. I guess we’ll have to try things until we find what fits.”

  I tested the temperature by bringing the cup to my mouth and taking a careful sip. It was still hot, but just on the wrong side of acceptable. So I went back to blowing on it.

  “How have you been feeling this morning?” Geraldine asked after her own sip. She’d added milk, sugar, honey, and squeezed some kind of red fruit into it. The combination probably brought it down to a drinkable temperature. Maybe I should try it with some milk?

  “Anxious.” I answered, honestly, committed to not adding anything until I’ve at least taken a proper drink. “No one will tell me how the girl is doing, but you’re also the first person to talk to me since Porter got a response from the shelter.”

  “Right.” She set her teacup down on the saucer without making a sound and observed me for a moment. “Probably an oversight. You caused quite the scare in the household.”

  “Deflection isn’t helping.” I said pointedly, right before trying another sip. It was just right, and concentrated on the flavor. Sharp, with a cool feeling. Considering how fragrant the tea was, I wasn’t expecting it, but took another, deeper sip from the cup. It was good.

  Geraldine continued examining me, “No, I suppose it isn’t.” With a sigh, she pulled out a notepad from a satchel bag leaning against the table leg. Flipping through a few pages, she read over it. “She’ll recover, and the healing potion stopped any hemorrhaging. The broken jaw and cheek bones will need a professional to fix properly. And she isn’t waking up.”

  I felt my mouth press into a tight line. “We’re paying to heal her… right?”

  A flash of anger crossed the other woman’s face, “That’s right. Part of the contract all of the servants sign requires we provide healing services when injured while performing their duties. Why?”

  I fought with the urge to sigh in relief and just barely won out. I did relax significantly, though, even leaning back in my chair. “That’s good. I was worried.”

  Her face had looked like a storm cloud before I’d said anything, but like lightning it changed. She seemed surprised, and relieved.

  Assessment has ranked up

  Assessment: Tier 1, Rank 4

  “Oh fuck right off.” I blurted out loud before I could stop myself. As soon as I realized what I’d done, I felt my cheeks try to ignite and looked anywhere but Geraldine, who stared at me in surprise.

  And then she started laughing and I slumped in the chair. I covered my face with my hand, elbow resting on the table. It took her a minute to calm down.

  “Sorry, I shouldn’t be laughing.” Any tension in the room had been effectively taken outside and buried in a shallow grave. “What was that about?”

  I lost my battle against sighing and let out a deep, reluctant one. “Skill update.”

  “Oh?” She said, leaning forward with curiosity. “Just out of no where?”

  “That’s not common?” I asked, sitting up, tea forgotten.

  “Oh, gods no. I can’t even imagine how distracting that would be.” She seemed to do another assessment of me, “Are there any other unusual things you’ve been dealing with?”

  I paused, and from the narrowing in her eyes, she noticed. “...yes, but I won’t discuss them.”

  “If I’m going to help you, more information would make my job easier.” Geraldine had me pinned with her gaze. It wasn’t hostile though, more like that of an insect being examined before dissection.

  “Which is why I wanted to talk with Grandpa Toren.” I said bluntly.

  Geraldine pursed her lips. “Why is that?”

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

  I frowned, “He… verified my identity with a crystal. Did Calmar and Porter not mention that?”

  “Yes, and they told me there wasn’t anything of note. Unless…” I could almost see as pieces clicked into place. “They weren’t told everything.”

  I gulped and found the tea very interesting all of a sudden.

  “Which means there were things to hide. You aren’t blushing over it, so it’s not some kind of sexual skill or other embarrassing trait, which means it’s dangerous instead.” I did not like the pause that followed. “How close am I?”

  I forced myself to sit up straighter and meet her gaze. This was absolutely NOT what I wanted to be talking about. “Closer than I’d like, and past where I will talk about it.”

  Her finger began to tap on the saucer of her teacup. After an uncomfortable amount of silence, she spoke again, “I have been authorized by Lord Calmar to demand another examination. If I do, it will be through the Gilded. They’re less discreet.”

  “Can you force me to?” I asked.

  “Yes, if I feel it’s warranted.” She had a contemplative look on her face.

  “Even if it’d make me leave?” I asked.

  She paused, and looked directly at me. “You can’t.”

  “Says who?” I asked. “The only connection I have here is a name on my sheet, something I suspect I could change if I want, and a class that says I’m a Noble.”

  “You would hurt Lord Calmar like that? And your father, Lord Rosecrest?” Geraldine asked.

  “One I barely know and another I’ve yet to meet.” I responded.

  “You have duties. Responsibilities.” She said, a slight panic rising from her voice, barely covered.

  “Yes. I do.” I said, my mind turning to the message and quests I’ve gotten. “And anything that gets in the way is a distraction.”

  She froze, clearly at a loss for how to continue.

  I took another long drink from the tea, “Are we done with threats?”

  Geraldine hesitated, “I… think it may be prudent to wait until Priest Toren is available.”

  I nodded, relieved that I didn’t have to try and follow through with my bluff. I only had a vague idea of what I’d do if I’d needed to follow through with it.

  After a bit of awkward silence, broken only by the sounds of the city outside, she finally spoke again. “What will you tell me? About what happened this morning?”

  I sighed, not even trying to fight it this time. “I had a nightmare.”

  She leaned forward, “What about?”

  I took a sip from my tea as I tried to think of how much to tell. The truth shouldn’t be problematic, especially since it didn’t make sense. “I’ve no idea.”

  “You don’t remember anything about it?” Geraldine probed.

  “No, I do. It’s just…” It moved my hands as I tried to bring forth the words to describe it, “Weird. People and places that looked strange and familiar at the same time.”

  “That’s… not uncommon with traumatic incidents and memory loss.” She furrowed her brow and took her own sip. I got the impression tea was meant more as something to do to give someone time to think of a response.

  Assessment has-

  I glared at the prompt. It hid in the corner of my vision. Geraldine caught the expression but didn’t say anything about it. Instead, she asked, “What kinds of places? What did they look like?”

  I shrugged, “Lots of metal. Metal floors and walls, painted in different colors. Metal furniture that was bolted to the floor most of the time. Glowing screens like what shows up for the system, but with these… things in front of them that you’d press to do things on the screens.”

  Geraldine pursed her lips, her eyes drifting up as she got lost in thought, “That certainly sounds strange, but I can’t think of anything like it. And the people?”

  “Blurry, mostly. A few that were sharp, but none that I recognize.” I felt an echo of the despair I’d felt with the woman, “I’m… pretty sure at least one of them died.”

  She flipped the notepad to a blank page and pulled out a pen to start writing. “I feel like such an amateur not starting here.”

  I shook my head, “I’ll agree to forget the last ten minutes or so if you do.”

  Geraldine shook her head, “No, that won’t do. As unprofessional as I was, they are issues that need to be brought to light.” She raised her head, pen tapping against the notepad. “For the sake of honesty, I will admit that I already had an idea of how I thought the conversation would go before you came to meet me.”

  “Oh?” I asked, curious. “What was your opinion?”

  “I was still working off what I’d known of you before the… incident.” I noticed how that word made her uncomfortable. Maybe she’s seen the images too? “While people can be different after traumatic experiences, there is still usually a core of the person still there in most cases.”

  “And it’s missing with me.” I stated.

  She nodded slowly. “For lack of a better explanation, yes.”

  “May I have an example?” I prompted.

  “An easy one is the question you asked earlier. If we were paying for Lucielle’s healing.” Her mouth twisted into something rather unpleasant as she thought about it. “Before the incident, you’d have called it a waste.”

  I felt my own face twist into disgust. “Why? It only makes sense to fix the harm I caused.”

  Geraldine shook her head, “It would be, and I am quoting here, a waste to spend resources on the help when I need it to look my best.”

  I could feel her watching me as I stared into my tea. “So, I was vain and had terrible taste in clothes? On top of that, I was a cunt. Great, next I’m going to have a bunch of backstabbing ‘friends’.” I put up air quotes around the word friends and snorted in derision.

  “Well… you did have regular tea parties and get togethers with some people. I’m not sure what went on there, since I’ve never gone to one.” She wrote some more on the notepad.

  I put my arms on the table and groaned, burying my face in them. “If they’re anything like D… I was, then I am going to need to do some maintenance on my social life.”

  More sounds of notes being taken. “Perhaps. You wanting to do that instead of throwing everything out is a good sign, though.”

  I waved a hand above my head as if dismissing the idea, “Maybe I’ll get lucky and they won’t be that bad.”

  I heard a snort of laughter and lifted my head enough to look at Geraldine. She flushed slightly, “Sorry, it’s just… I’ve been doing this for nobility for a while. Like tends to attract like in these circles.”

  I groaned into my arm.