Feeling AbBEE gently shake me awake, she says, "Good morning, my lady! Today's your grand day."

"Oh? Is the sun down already?"

"Not yet but we're getting into the twilight hours."

"Then just let me sleep a bit more…"

"No can do my lady! You told me yourself, to wake you early so you can look over the stuff we packed one last time."

"Huuuuh but I don't wanna…Lemme sleep…Past Sammy wasn't tired so fuck her."

Still feels weird to call myself by that pronoun but hey, it's at least currently accurate.

AbBEE then slowly takes my blanket off of me leaving me defenseless to the cold.

"Aah, torture, unfair. First I get grilled then I get frozen, haha."

"Please my lady don't make fun of that sorta stuff. You know Hildegard does not like when you make light of it."

"Haaaaa…Fine!"

My body is still completely covered in bandages but at least my head has healed over. My hair has also already regrown to be just short of shoulder length. Right now I just look mostly like a mummy with a human head, haha.

"So, which dress would you like to wear for your first day in town my lady?"

She shows me three dresses that are apparently 'Human approved' , a blue dress with white decorations sewn into it, a green one with a leaf pattern and a yellow and black striped one with frills and something similar to a french hat in matching colors that I was told in secret by Hildi that AbBee sewed herself. I think choosing the black and yellow one will make AbBEE the happiest so…

"I'll take the black and yellow one, it looks very pretty."

It looks like AbBEE is fighting back tears as she happily replies,

"A fine choice my lady."

She then moves my body around, trying to get me dressed in bed since I can't move most of my body below my belly yet and even my arms are quite weak still. Seems my body is healing from the head down. When she's done dressing me up, AbBEE picks me up from my bed and moves me into my wheelchair. It's the second time I've been out of bed now since the incident. AbBEE pushes me to the beginning of the stairs, picks me up and carries me down the stairs to a chair. After that, she gets the wheelchair from upstairs and sits me down in it.

"You must be quite strong to carry me this easily AbBEE, do you work out?"

Letting out a chuckle, she answers, "Oh no, I just do my work as a maid and frankly my lady, you are quite light."

"Heh, that's the first time someone said that to me."

"Well, I'd imagine not many have the honor of carrying my lady around do they?"

"Heh…I guess not. You are one of the lucky few."

"I very much am!"

AbBEE then pushes me towards the front door where all the luggage is waiting. I just wanted to make sure the few things I actually own are all there and that Hildi didn't forget anything. It seems to be all in order though.

"Alright Sammy are you ready?" Hildi says in an annoyed tone with a stiff body language.

"Ehhh…Yeah, are you?"

"Sigh, I don't think I will ever be ready to live near humans. But that is exactly why we've got to go there. It is literally the last place I'd ever willingly go to, so they'd never find us there."

"I believe in you Hildi!"

"I know…Shall we go then?"

"We shall! To adventure, Huzz- AbBEE you gotta push me forward when I do my battle cry."

"Oh, I didn't know, I'm ready now."

"To adventure! Huzzah!"

Pushing me through the door a carriage awaits, drawn by two amphibian looking blue horses.

"Ehm, Hildi?"

"Yeah?"

"Who are those people?"

"Who?"

"The ones drawing our carriage."

"Oh! They're Kelpies, not people."

"So are they like…Animals?"

"Yep, native to the Feyrealm, very prideful and intelligent creatures. Also, I'd recommend not petting them. They feed by making animals touch their skin after sweating out a glue-like substance, so they get stuck and then drown them in water. As such, sometimes they can be quite sticky."

"So…If I touch them they might drown me?"

"Oh no, no worries they don't drown Fey."

As I get closer to them they look at me and I give them a slight head nod which they then give back. Those murder horses are totally sentient! I've got to make extra sure to never piss them off.

"One question though, wouldn't the Humans know we're Fey if we show up with Kelpies?"

"If we went just like this, yes, but they're going to use their glimmer to appear as normal horses."

"Huh, those are some very intelligent 'animals'."

"Sure are."

"Where did you get them?"

"My cousin lent them to me."

"Hmm…Ok. So what's your family like, Hildi?"

"Eeeh, I think I have about eight hundred siblings but we aren't very close."

"EIGHT HUNDRED!?"

"Yeah, a lot of insect type Faunites have a lot of kids. Usually they only have a few children the parents really like and care for and the rest are more or less abandoned and most of them don't make it, living only a few days, dying, reincarnating, living a few days, etc. until the lose their will to live entirely and reincarnate to different parents. I wasn't necessarily one of the special children but because I'm in the family business I get special privileges."

"Like what?"

She points around us, "Like this house, some extra money and I get to use the family name."

"Huh, so, who are the people in your family that you are close with?"

"Well, for starters I'm pretty close to my daughter…" She says with a smile and gives me a kiss on the cheek.

"Oh stop it..."

"But besides my daughter, I'm only close to my cousin Aranja and my auntie Pina."

"But aren't you gonna inherit the next head of household title?"

"Yes and no, it depends if I decide to commit to marrying one of my siblings and to be honest I'm not really interested."

"Huh. What is it with royals and incest?"

"Not a royal, just a pureblood."

"What's the difference there anyways? Why is ElBEEzabeth a queen pureblood and you are not?"

"That's because ElBEEzabeths race is highly important for life in general and they have strong family structures. ElBEEzabeth's kind, help a lot with Florans and keeping plants blooming and spreading. As for the royals of the 5 courts, they provide important living conditions for a bunch of races. They're in charge of creating eternal seasons where they live, so races that can live only in specific climates have a safe home and the night mother creates a place of eternal darkness for those that need it. Their status of royalty comes from taking care of many people for thousands of years and them being reliant on them."

"Hmm…So they're like actually useful and not just incest dictators?"

"Yep, also they're not necessarily dictators. We have representatives that we can vote for who relay requests to the royal family. So for example, if your village got destroyed by an accident you can either wait for the normal bureaucratic aid process or you could vote for a representative that wants to bring the issue directly to the crown so they can decide on it faster. So in a way, they mostly just do the things we really want them to do, so we're quite glad for having them. If anything, many people wish they'd do more."

"Do you also think so?"

"Eeeeh...I'm good with giving single people not too much power in case they go corrupt."

"Fair."

Hildi then picks me up out of my wheelchair and carries me into the carriage while AbBEE stores the luggage and wheelchair in the back. Unlike ElBEEzabeth's carriage, this one doesn't have any magic to it, it's just a normal but comfortable, carriage with room for maybe six to eight people. Once the carriage is loaded, AbBEE goes to the front of the carriage, takes the reins and starts driving. We're not going out the tree stump portal this time but instead follow a gravel road that leads behind the mansion for a bit before appearing on a forest path, the sun seemingly freshly gone down as it's still somewhat warm outside. It kind of brings back bad memories of me riding towards Inverness with Pubert and the bandits attacking…Him threatening me…The escape…

"Sammy are you doing ok? You're breathing pretty heavily."

What they did to the people there and when I became a murderer…When they caught me…

Before I can finish the thought I feel Hildis warm body embracing me for a hug.

"Were you having another episode?"

"Yeah…But luckily you snapped me out of it before the bad part."

"Don't worry, we might be going to a human city but I'll make sure that no matter what, no one will hurt you again."

"That makes me very happy…"

"Good, get used to it."

"Love ya Hildi."

"I love you too, Sammy."

"Do you think Pavel will come back soon?"

"Hmm, who knows we'll see, he'll be back when you recover and can supply him with enough mana to materialize him again."

"Hahahah"

Letting out a chuckle, she asks, "What are you suddenly giggling about?"

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"I just thought that there was one great thing about being in a coma."

"There was?"

"Yeah, I didn't get stabbed once. Hahaha"

"You know what else you didn't experience?"

"No what?"

She rips a giant smelly fart, making me retch and put my head outside the window.

"No fair, Hildi! Ugh! I can't even run from this one!!!"

Giving me a slightly annoyed look, she answers, "And I don't like when you make light of your injuries so we're even now."

Once the air clears in the carriage, I look back at Hildi who is staring at me with a look of fascination.

"What is it? Do I have something on my face, haha?"

"I just can't imagine it."

"Can't imagine what?"

"No matter how hard I try, I can't even imagine you as a boy."

"Eh!?"

"I'm not sure how to say it but you just exude femininity and youth. Were you like one of those men that worked with the women every day or something?"

Crossing my arms, I answer, "I'll have you know, I was considered a quite masculine person!"

"Oh? Never tried anything feminine before?"

Looking away from her, I answer, "I did a few times... but my dad beat it out of me."

"Uhuh…So you were expressing yourself femininely until your father abused you into not doing it anymore?"

"It wasn't like that…He just wanted to toughen me up so the kids wouldn't make fun of me anymore and I don't disappoint him. I have two sisters so my dad wanted to have someone to do activities he enjoyed."

"Well?"

"Well, what?"

"Did you enjoy them?"

"Eh not really but I mean there are some fun aspects, like anime and video games. Those are manly things."

"Uh huh and what are anime and video games?"

"Ehm, think of it as watching colorful plays at home and being able to control a fictional person to go on adventures with while you're safe at home."

"Were you in a relationship?"

"Nope."

"But you were fourteen right? Were you one of those playboys that could never settle down and just went from whore house to whore house?"

"Ew no. I…I was a virgin."

She seems surprised, "Really?"

"Yep, never even held hands with a girl."

"What was your occupation?"

"I was a freshman in High School."

"Oh? So you were well educated?"

"I mean, I wouldn't really call American schools as places where you get well educated but I guess I was one of the best in my school."

"Oooh, you must have been quite smart!"

"Eh, I mean I guess they called me a gifted kid but to be honest the other kids also just weren't that bright so I was probably just above average. I did do an IQ test though, which is like a test to see how smart you are, and they told me I'm basically at the level of an adult."

"Did you have any friends?"

"I had one, his name is Man'Hu. We were loners together. We often played video games together."

Thinking for a bit, she asks,"Ehm…Did you have any hobbies?"

"Yeah anime and video games."

Clapping her hands together to get my attention she looks at me with almost a teasing facial expression, "Ok, so to summarize, your father beat you until you stopped enjoying the feminine things you did like and instead did the things that were manly, you never had any romantic relationships and you mostly stayed indoors preferring solitude over social interactions?"

"I mean…I wouldn't phrase it like that..."

"Sammy, are you sure you were a guy? You seemingly just got abused into being one, you know I did hear of cases where parents dress up their daughters like men to gain an heir."

"Nope I very much was a boy with the whole twig and berry package."

She puts her hand on my shoulder and gives me a very irritating look.

"No need to pity me, ok! I was fine, life wasn't perfect but whose life is?"

"Uhuh… Let's just be glad you're with me now, I'm not going to beat you for doing things you enjoy. You can be as girly or manly as you want…"

"I mean, I guess it's a good thing to know you won't beat me, haha."

AbBEE's voice interrupts, "Your Ladyship, if you take a look out of your window you should see Inverness coming into view."

Looking outside, passing some fields and a big river with people seemingly making charcoal near it, light breaks through the darkness and a stone wall comes into view, the tips of buildings peeking out behind them. Coming closer, a huge iron gate comes into view, that would surely burn my hands off if I touched it. In front of it, is a small line of humans waiting for entry in front of a smaller door within the gate. As we drive in front of it a burly guard yells,

"Halt! Identification and reason for entry?"

Hildi then makes a face as if she's about to rip this guy's head off and leaves the carriage. I'm only able to see her from behind as she walks up to the guard. Hopefully she doesn't kill this guy or something similarly bad. She hands over something to the guard who looks at it, does a little salute and Hildi…Laughs? Why is she laughing? She touches the guy on the shoulder and he goes a bit red in the face.

"She couldn't possibly be flirting with him could she? Did I completely mischaracterize Hildi???"

The soldier gives back what she gave him, moves to the carriage and knocks on my door.

"Good evening miss, could you step outside for a bit so we can take a quick look inside the carriage?"

"I can't."

"Well, you'll have to or you're not coming in, so please just step outside."

AbBEE walks up from behind him, "Excuse me sir but there seems to be a misunderstanding. You see, the young lady is disabled, could you please step aside so I can put her in her wheelchair?"

"Huh? Oh! Of course, my apologies miss, I misunderstood."

"Then perhaps as an apology to the young lady you could just let us in without searching us."

His eyes seem to glace over for a second before he says,

"Ah, yes of course it would only be right. Men. they're clear, open up!"

Heavy chains can be heard and the heavy metal gate slowly gets opened.

"How did you do that AbBEE?" I whisper to her.

"He offered an apology so I thought it only proper he'd repay his debt ."

"Uhuh…"

AbBEE then goes back to her spot in front of the carriage and Hildi comes back and enters the carriage with me.

"I didn't think you would get so close to a human! You even touched his shoulder in a flirty way."

"Oh, that? I just placed one of my ticks on him for espionage purposes. I almost killed that scum though when he insisted on you stepping out when you already informed him you couldn't."

"Ah, well that explains it then. For a second I thought you were flirting with him."

"Oh I was," she answers bluntly.

"You were!?"

"Of course, it's the easiest way to make these animals do what you want. I'll teach you all about it when you're a bit older."

"I think I'm good…"

There is a loud clunk, as the gate comes to a hold and is fully opened. It is a bit scary though, it seems like it could fall down at any moment, crushing us beneath it like a guillotine. AbBEE then tells the Kelpies to move and we slowly pass under it, giving me a weary feeling. On the other side, a gravel road awaits us surrounded by wooden houses. But surprisingly, they are quite colorful. I was expecting it to be all gray and muddy like the movies. But there are colorful cloths and paints on the walls everywhere. Kinda looks like those old town pictures you see from Europe. There are also lanterns lighting the way and people walking around, despite it being dark already, having a good time at outdoor restaurants and bars and surprisingly even the ones that look more poor than the others have colored shirts or pants even if they are more dirty looking. It looks like here at the entrance, it's mostly about entertainment, food and maybe hotels? It also seems our carriage is causing a bit of a scene with people hooting and hollering at us.

"Why are they so excited about us Hildi?"

"Well, they just saw an expensive carriage, with two gorgeous women in it, drive by and as such their monkey brains started cheering at the chance of a new mate."

I absentmindedly agree, "I guess you and AbBEE are quite attractive."

"I was talking about you and me silly. They probably didn't even look at the driver."

"Huh? You mean…"

She grins at me, "Yep. Best get used to it."

"Huh…"

After about five minutes, we seem to come into the housing district. Here, you can even see some kids running around and people hanging out talking to one another. Many of the children point their fingers at us and excitedly run to the curb when they see us coming.

"Is our house near here?"

"It is further in, we should get there soon."

As we drive further, the houses seem to become more expensive, becoming bigger and having more space between each other. A bit further down the road, there is a gated off big house or small mansion with a garden, which we seem to be driving towards.

"Is it that house with the gate?"

"Sure is."

"How can you afford that?"

Patting my head, she answers, "Oh Sammy, you don't live for thousands of years without making some investments. To the humans I'm basically an aristocrat without a title."

"So how much money do you have?"

"Enough to buy all the toys and clothes you would like~"

"Even enough to get Pubert into knight school…?"

Instantly getting annoyed, she replies, "Sure…But it seems a bit like a waste of money. He's only going to live for another 40-50 years or so and you will probably get tired of playing with him even earlier than that."

"Am not!"

"Sigh I guess he did 'try' to save you, even if he failed miserably and nearly got you killed"

"Soooo…That's a yes?"

"Only on one condition. I get to meet him together with you, so I can show him how his pathetic attempt got you in danger."

"But isn't that gonna make him really depressed?"

"These are my terms and I'm not budging."

"Fine…I accept."

"Good, we'll go there tomorrow."

We then come up to the gate and AbBEE stops the carriage, puts on gloves and uses a key to open it. She drives us inside revealing a beautiful pond and a nice kept garden, as well as already lit lanterns guiding the way to the entrance. I wonder who takes care of all this. We halt right before the entrance and AbBEE lets the Kelpies loose who quickly run into the big pond and start playing in it before disappearing under its surface, while AbBEE gets my wheelchair and carries me out of the carriage into it. The front door is made out of dark wood and has multiple beautiful engravings in it, with a golden brass handle to enter. AbBEE pulls out a brass key and opens the huge wooden door, revealing a beautiful entrance hall with two grand staircases leading up to the second floor, a lit chandelier on top of it all, lighting the lavishly decorated room in warm candle light.

"Woah, it's kinda like home but with a completely different vibe to it."

"Well, just because we have to live near swine doesn't mean we have to live in a stable."

"Uhuh…So are there any servants here?"

"There is AbBEE."

"If there are no servants, then why is it so well kept and the candles are burning already?"

"Oh, that's what you meant. A bunch of Heinzelmen live here."

"Heinzelmen?"

"They're a type of gnomeling and they have an inherent urge to clean and make things pretty when no one is watching."

"Oh, where are they?"

"Dunno, they don't like being seen, if we leave food and little presents out for them that's all they need."

"Isn't it going to be dangerous having so many people here? What if they find out about…You know."

"They would never share that sort of info. Part of the agreement they make when moving into a house is always absolute discretion."

"So how many of them live here?"

"Probably about forty."

"So forty of those people are in here right now and I can't see a single one of them?"

"Yup."

"Are they invisible?"

"Dunno, I think I heard they just hide well."

"Creepy…"

"Oh also, from today on, you're learning our language. So, for starters…"

She takes my translator necklace off.

"Mai kēia manawa ʻaʻole unuhi hou." ("From now on no more translation.")

"I have no idea what you just said…It feels weird without the necklace, give it back!"

She then points at herself and says, "Māmā. Hiki iā ʻoe ke ʻōlelo iā Māmā Sammy?" (Mommy. Can you say mommy, Sammy?)

"I dunno what you want from me…"

"Wahi a mama." (I said, I am your mom)

"You want me to say 'māmā'?"

She gets very excited and says,

"Hana maikaʻi ʻo Sammy!" (Well done, Sammy!)

"Eh…I love you too?"

She then goes with me around the house, pointing at different things and calling them different words I never heard before. There seems to be a dining room, a kitchen and maybe servants quarters on the left side of the ground floor. As we head to the right, we pass by a little tea room and then go into a huge living room with multiple decorations and a big fireplace. Hildi continues pointing at different things and giving me way more info than I can process when she slowly pushes me towards the fireplace.

"Hildi I think we're close enough."

"A he kapuahi keia." (And this is a fireplace)

She gets me closer to it.

"Hildi, I don't want to get closer!"

"Hiki iā ʻoe ke ʻōlelo he kapuahi?" (Can you say, fireplace?)

She pushes me even closer. I can feel the heat of the flames on my skin.

"HILDI! STOP! STOP! STOP! STOP! AHHHHH"

Concerned and surprised, she stops pushing me and puts my necklace back on.

"What is it Sammy? Are you in pain?"

"Don't put me near the fire! I don't want to burn again! I'm gonna catch fire!"

"But Sammy… There is still enough space between you and the fireplace for 3 cows to stand before you'd be in danger of burning."

"What are you talking about!? I can feel the heat. I will catch fire soon!!!"

Quickly, she takes me away from the fireplace and gives me a hug.

"Sammy the fire is not going to burn you. It saddens me to say but it's just in your head."

"I'm not crazy Hildi!"

"I know you aren't, you're just affected by trauma. We'll work on it to make it better with time."

"I'm not crazy Hildi…"

"I know…Say, how about this…You like Humans right? Why don't we go out for a walk, the sun barely went down so most people are still out and about."

"Could we maybe also go and see if the knights are still training?"

"Sure, but you know the rules. No-"

"Don't go with strangers, don't tell them your name, don't talk about faith and listen to you at all times because you're older and wiser than me."

"I don't like how you phrased that but yes, that's right. AbBEE, get the carriage we're going to the town center."

"Yes ma'am!"

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