"You have time to nap but not to eat?" is what Flos understands from Scale, and he affirms it!
"I usually take naps before meetings, so I won't accidentally fall asleep in the meeting," Scale laughs at what he reminisces, of several people nodding their heads in what seemed to be an agreement but actually, they were just dozing off, "As for eating..." Scale doesn't finish the sentence because he has no excuse for that
Flos unpacks the lunch bag she brings and takes out a lunchbox to Scale, then takes out another lunchbox for herself. Scale accepts the lunchbox Flos hands over and asks with surprise, "You are eating here too?" as he takes a seat in front of her after making a trip to his desk for what, Flos doesn't look
"Rather than making a 2nd trip to collect your lunchbox, I would rather eat here and wait for it. Since you don't eat much, it won't take long for you to hand back the lunchbox anyway," Flos also takes out a glass bottle containing medicated drink
"Thank you," Scale accepts the drink, poured into the cups he found in the room
Flos accepts the gratitude and the cup of water Scale hands over to her, "Where will you have your dinner?"
"Don't need dinner," Scale shakes his head, having considered it thoroughly, "Breakfast and lunch are already enough; more than what I usually eat each day,"
Flos looks at Scale with a frown, "You don't each much,"
Scale smiles slightly and nods, "That's the case,"
It may be sudden, but Flos still asks, "What's your power?"
Scale has already opened the lid of the lunchbox to look at the content. Hearing Flos's question, Scale raises his eyes to meet hers as he says slowly, "[Water]," as he continues by himself without prompting from Flos, "Speciality in preservation," with a smile
Flos understands then, "You are always using your power to sustain yourself; even though you only consume a little food or water, you can keep going on for days from the energy of the meals you consumed and preserved," in other words, "You can endure hunger and thirst for a duration until you need to replenish them to recharge your energy,"
Scale nods in agreement. He doesn't wonder how an illiterate person can understand such complicated matters regarding his power from just a few words he said. He also sighs as he tells Flos, "It might sound great and all, but aside from the fact that I don't eat much, nor do I need to eat much, I am still a normal person who needs bathroom breaks and proper sleep too,"
Flos just keeps staring at the man. Is it necessary for him to add the last sentence? It ruins the enigmatic atmosphere Flos set up. Nevermind.
Scale laughs at Flos's stare then happily looks at his lunch, "Oh, the portion has been cut in half!" compared to the meal from breakfast
"It is still more than what you ate," Flos notes as she stops staring at the man to mind her own business
"I can finish this," Scale assures her, though still tells Flos, "You can prepare my breakfast and lunch in this portion next time,"
Flos nods and laments, whilst taking off the lid of her lunchbox, "Since you don't need to eat, why even bother to hire me?"
"I do need to eat, just not much," Scale corrects Flos's assumption with a smile, "I hire you because you are a herbalist,"
"Do you like the taste of medicine?" Flos has to commend the man for not calling her a doctor anymore
If that counts as an answer, "I don't like things that are bitter," says Scale, "And I need a herbalist because recently, I have gotten a stomach ache,"
Yes, Scale said that before didn't he? Flos's response is still the same, "You need a doctor,"
"Don't I have you now?" Scale laughs at what he says
"I am not a doctor," Flos can't stop herself from shaking her head. Although he calls her a herbalist, he still somewhat treats her as a doctor.
"If I fainted for some reason, then I'll trouble you to take me to a doctor," after snickering to himself, Scale smiles at Flos then digs in
Flos doesn't bother to give him a response as she eats her lunch. If Scale faints, Flos is telling Her Majesty the Queen. The Queen will probably blame His Majesty the King for giving his aide too much work to make him faint from overwork.
~~~
When Flos is walking back to the guest house, relieved of dinner duty by Scale, someone blocks her path. It is an old man, not so old that he has to hunch his back but people still can see his age from his appearance. Flos doesn't like the look in his eyes.
The old man doesn't talk, and neither does Flos. From his attire, it can be seen that he thinks highly of himself. A nobleman, most likely. How did Flos get involved with a troublesome person such as an aristocrat?
"Hm," clearing his throat, the old man ends up opening his mouth as he eyes Flos critically, "Are you the guest of the Queen?"
This old man sounds like he is disrespecting the Queen, to Flos's ears. Instead of answering, Flos looks around: coast clear. As the old man frowns harder at her seemingly ignorance, Flos sends May to spray a sleeping potion mixed with alcohol on the old man, causing him to lose consciousness. Afterwards, Day transforms into Picky Eater, to move and drop the fainted old man in the bushes.
May has already filled the disposable glass bottle Flos used to store medicated drinks with the strongest alcohol content wine by then. Lashes reaches out to spread the old man's arm so Day can put down the smelly glass bottle around the old man, after spilling some of the wine in the mouth and the body of the person. With this, the image of this old man knocking himself out from drunkenness is completed.
May-Day and Lashes return to their posts as a hair tie and a bracelet. As if nothing has happened, Flos walks away from that hallway to the guest house, already forgetting the existence of the old man.
~~~
The Castle is in an uproar.
A dignified Nobleman was found sprawled drunkenly inside the Castle, with his entrance to the Castle unrecorded.
Flos thinks the mention of that dignified Nobleman being an unrecorded guest is the cause of the uproar. Rhythm thinks otherwise, "Why would someone who can comfortably get drunk in his home, away from public eyes, commit a social death like that?"
"People can be crazy when drunk," is Flos's serious response, "He wasn't thinking straight, after all,"
Rhythm snorts, but agrees with Flos's opinion on this matter, "It's not our business anyway,"
Leaving Rhythm behind lazing in the living room after dinner, Flos returns to her room for an important matter. That is, restocking her item box.
Flos rarely uses the medicines straight from the source, which is May-Day, on people because the doses can be too intense for people to handle. However, since Flos wants that old man to forget even himself, so no way he can remember her, Flos puts aside a slight concern she has for the old man having a massive hangover headache at that age, which might endanger his life if not handled properly.
Anyway, now is Flos's time to dilute those medicines produced by May-Day for people's usage. 1st, Flos prepares the medicine bowl and sets aside the wrappings. 2nd, May-Day are given different tasks to produce different plants that Flos needs. After plucking the herbs in the amount she wants, Flos then sorts them out before grinding them using the medicine bowl.
Repacking, resorting, storing. Finished.
Flos turns her head to look at the night sky outside, where the moonlight is shining brightly. Walking to the windows, Flos then pulls the curtain to cover the sight. Turning her back on the curtain, Flos releases Picky Eater and throws Lashes up, where it latches itself around the chandelier.
May-Day have already been floating around the place, so there is no need for Flos to take care of them.
After a pause, Flos decides to visit the bathroom before going to bed.
When Flos walks to the door, May-Day float to her. When Flos opens the door to go out, May-Day attach themselves to her hair, tying her hair into 2 low buns.
~~~
The next morning, when Flos sends Scale's breakfast to his office, King Ray is there.
King Ray keeps quiet, sitting at his desk with a pen and no motion of writing, staring at her with his eyes narrowed. When Flos and Scale sit on the couch to eat breakfast, after King Ray rejects their invitation, the King finally opens his mouth.
"Was it your doing?" King Ray does not know his aide's thoughts nor does he need to know. Asking Flos, King Ray looks at her suspiciously, "You were the 1 who met that stuck-up relative of mine, weren't you? After all, that place is where 1 would pass from the main Castle to the guest house,"
Whoa, the old man she met yesterday was King Ray's relative? Of Royal blood too? Flos has no desire to respond in that case.
Her silence is for nought.
King Ray snorts, a smirk forming on his face as he looks at Flos, "Are you interested in bounty hunting?"
What's that all of a sudden? Flos looks at the King in bafflement.
"For every relative of mine you bring down, I will give you a sum of money," King Ray smiles as he looks at Flos, "Of course, the relative you took down yesterday also counts. Expect the payment later,"
"Your Majesty," Scale raises a hand to speak for Flos, "Yesterday's incident was a fluke. I don't think we should involve Miss Flos on this matter,"
"But she is the ideal person for this task," King Ray rests his arms on the desk, pen dropped, as he leans forward whilst still keeping his gaze on Flos, "They all come flocking to her, after all,"
"Why do they come for me?" Flos finally can't help but ask
"Because stupid people thought I plan to take on concubine after my beloved 'falls ill'," King Ray says with absolute disgust
Flos is dumbfounded. Just dumbfounded. No other reactions can be produced from the sheer dumbness of that thought these stupid people King Ray mentions produced. Flos? King Ray's concubine?? Where do they get the idea???
"Dirty smelly old geezers," King Ray snorts, still reeling in disgust, "As if I don't know their stupidities from day 1," towards Flos who is still dumbfounded, King Ray pointedly tells her, "They will come for you in the past few days, probably when you are alone. Take them down and I will get them behind the bars,"
Flos blinks at King Ray, "You jail them??"
"We are working on airing their dirty laundry," Scale explains slightly, "His Majesty and Her Majesty are going to shut down most of their relatives that are getting out of hand... Plus also those who had offended them,"
"Scale, you said too much," although King Ray didn't stop him, the King still chides his aide
"If we want Miss Flos's cooperation, she must know what she is involved in," Scale smiles at the King, silently voicing his disagreement
"Didn't you disagree on involving her?" King Ray raises an eyebrow in question as he starts to reassess whose side this aide of his belongs to
"That's before Your Majesty tells Miss Flos why Your Majesty's relative look for her," at this point, Scale has to shake his head and sighs, "I didn't expect Your Majesty to tell Miss Flos the reason just like that,"
"I don't want her to get any ideas about me," is King Ray's defence
"I want to tell Her Majesty," saying so, Flos stands up, leaving her breakfast on the table and runs out of the room
King Ray widens his eyes in shock before standing up, slamming the chair back to the wall as he runs after Flos, in the hope to stop her from reaching his beloved 1st; after he registers what Flos's plan is.
Scale follows not far behind them, excited to have a show to watch.