Brenna had visited her adopted sister Mariann again this afternoon to see how the beautiful woman fared, and I wanted to know the details.
Aria asked in surprise, "Is Mariann unwell?"
Brenna nodded. "Yes, but I'm not sure what it is yet."
"Then do you want me to examine her?" Leona offered.
Aria said, "And I can use my magic to identify what's wrong with her body system."
Brenna nodded. "Are you two fine going to Butterflies Paradise?"
That caught my attention. Did Brenna mean to imply that Aria and Leona weren't fine with venturing into Butterflies Paradise? Then again, I knew now that not only was Aria a mage—because Caleb had told me so last night—but that she was a distant relative of Lord Geoffrey and Aaron, which explained her blond hair and emerald-green eyes, which were the typical traits of the Lancasters. Apparently, she had three-quarters cat people and one-fourth Lancaster blood, which explained her cat ears and powerful qi respectively. That meant she was nobility, and as I suspected, a noble lady with powerful bloodlines venturing into a place like Butterflies Paradise would be frowned upon by society in general.
Whereas Leona was a daughter of a high-ranking general by the name Tom Morton, who was currently serving the Acaedien Kingdom under Felix. And of course, the red-light district was also no place for a famous female military surgeon, let alone one who was a daughter of a general for that matter.
Aria said, "Yes. It's fine."
"No problem for me," Leona said.
Which, of course, surprised me. Ah, helping a friend's sister was more important than being frowned upon by society, eh? Aria and Leona, I thought in awe, you two are so cool.
Brenna smiled gratefully. "Thanks. Then we can visit her tomorrow after lunch."
So Aria could use her magic to identify what was wrong with a sick person, eh? Almost like doing a blood test, X-ray, or CT scan sort of thing. It sounded interesting, and I wanted to know more and bear witness as to how it was done. Hence, I said, "Then I'll come, too, if that's all right. I can cook Mariann some food. That should cheer her up."
With that sorted, I sat up and said, "About cooking for the lords on Sunday... I don't know what they like. I mean, I don't want to cook anything they don't like, let alone anything that they're allergic to."
Leona cocked her head to one side. "Allergic?"
I said, "It's when your body is not right with a certain food item. There is a small percentage of people in my homeland who are allergic to nuts and such like."
Leona nodded in understanding. "Ah... Then again, our lords are demons, so they're not allergic to anything."
I sighed in relief. That was one worry out of my mind.
Brenna came around to sit beside me and said, "Lord Victor and Ethan are back, and I assume they'll be joining us for the Sunday lunch you're going to be preparing, Alfie. It'll be fun."
Aria nodded in agreement.
Lord Victor and Ethan, eh?
My mind flicked back to last night, remembering the bizarre episode.
Lord Victor, the gorgeous one with silver hair and eyes, had tossed the drunken Lord Ethan into the carriage and then came over to me to introduce himself. He even sat right next to me in our carriage, and started asking me countless questions that would make anyone's head spin. Of course, I had been rather too preoccupied at the time, thinking about Caleb and his kisses, to listen carefully to what he was on about.
I sighed. Not again! Why couldn't I stop thinking about Caleb and his kisses? Just as I couldn't stop thinking about Felix's.
Lord Geoffrey's and Noah's kisses, on the other hand, were different stories all together. Of course, Lord Geoffrey's wasn't even a kiss, since it had merely been the sealing of a spell. Lord Noah, on the other hand, had thought it had been a dream on his part.
Doing my best to keep my mind away from those lords, I asked the girls, "Then can you help me list what the lords' likes and dislikes are where food is concerned?"
Brenna said, "Of course."
Hence, I sat there in the sitting room for the next two hours, listening to Aria, Leona, and Brenna listing each lord's favorite food items, as well the ones they disliked.
When my brain got very fried from the overload of information, I finally got up from my seat like a zombie and said, "Thanks for helping me out, everyone. I'm going to take a bath now and then go to sleep. I'm quite tired."
Naturally speaking, I had been feeling exhausted since the day I had been magically transported to this world. It was just the adrenaline that had kept me going. Now that I was running out of that, the morning felt like a drag. Then again, once I was up and about, I'd be fine again, full of energy. That was until it came to evenings like this. Then I'd revert to feeling like a zombie again.
I was at the door when Aria called out, "Alfie?"
I turned. "Hm?"
She said, "About that thing you asked of me for help this morning. I've checked the magical system calendar and tonight is a good night. The stars align."
I became awake instantly and asked, eyes wide in pleasant surprise, "Really?"
She smiled as she nodded her head. "Yes."
"Then let's do it now."
Aria shook her head. "Midnight. The timing needs to be right."
I nodded in understanding. "All right, then."
With the happy thought that I could finally contact and send my parents messages through dreams, I headed toward my small bedchamber upstairs. There, I went about retrieving my toiletry basket and pajamas, which were basically loose trousers and a blouse that I had received from the textile department, along with all my other modest boy garments that I had been wearing. Of course, I had been lucky enough to grab a piece of long, white material as well, which I used to bind my chest. I couldn't ask for a few bras, after all, since I was supposed to be a boy. As for panties, well, for now, I was still wearing the boy's version, which were way too loose and airy for my liking.
Ugh! I needed to sneak into the textile department one day and do the most unthinkable thing—steal a few female panties—if I ever wanted to walk around feeling secure and comfortable down there.
A few moments later, I headed down the stairs again, rushed along the corridor, and then walked into the main bathing chamber, which the girls rarely used. Apparently, they only used the hot spring once a week to keep their skin glowing. Of course, I didn't understand what they meant by that at first, but now it clicked.
The hot spring pool in this realm not only rejuvenated one's vitality, but also cultivated and purified the qi as well as nourishing the skin, which explained why the girls were so smooth, soft, and glowing with health. I had only started noticing this on myself yesterday night when I had taken my routine bath. It had only been some two weeks, and my skin was already twice as soft, smooth, and glowing with health when compared to when I was on Earth, despite feeling exhausted on the inside. Perhaps I was experiencing a sort of exhaustion after a series of traumatic events. I mean, if being transported between two realms, followed by being chased and then nearly killed in an all-out war rescue mission weren't traumatic events, then I didn't know what was.
After stripping myself naked and cleaning myself thoroughly under the shower, a routine not unlike that back home, I eagerly got into the hot pool and sighed in pleasure.
"Ahh... this feels good," I said softly, closing my eyes. Then I proceed to relax and just flop myself against a boulder, allowing time for my body to absorb all that wonderful goodness from the hot spring.