Player 0.4 [You have died.] [Reset in progress.]

The Frey manor was enormous, with more rooms than necessary, given how little hosting our family did.

Denise had led Kathy and me into the Rose Tea Room, which, while it had an excellent view of the rose garden that Jarvis had raised, was very peculiar. However, that wasn't to say that the roses were ordinary themselves.

"I presume your brother grew those as well?" Kathy gazed out the large window, admiring the view.

"He did," I replied.

"They're beautiful," Kathy gushed.

I blinked my eyes.

She and Jarvis certainly shared more in common than I thought, including a very unusual sense of taste towards their idea of beauty.

The roses outside were tangles of huge thorns. I shivered at the thought of falling and impaling myself on one of the thorns the length of my palm. They looked especially menacing, with everything from their stems to their leaves dyed ink-black. The roses themselves weren't black but were bright poisonous-looking pink, and each bulb was the size of my head.

I sat at the table overlooking the twisted rose garden and gazed about the room.

I hadn't been here in a while, and while the decor had changed quite a bit from my original life, the paintings were of the same subjects, albeit in a different art style. The walls were lined with about a dozen paintings of ancestors from Mother's side, including my still living grandmother.

I gazed at her portrait, which depicted her beauty in her younger years.

That's a reminder for me to go visit her. Unfortunately, she's going to pass away soon.

"Your breakfast, young master Luca and Lady Kathy." Denise set down scones, sandwiches, and other delicacies from the tray she brought over.

I felt my jaw clench when I saw her place a pot of tea before us, along with two cups.

"Please enjoy." She bowed and left the room, closing the door behind her.

Kathy sat down across from me and smiled at the array of food.

"Well, I was going to stop by the Ashford Bakery, but this is delightful." She picked up the teapot and poured herself a cup.

I watched her pick up the tea and take in the fragrance of the tea before taking a sip.

"Oho! This is from the southern Kobar Empire, is it not?" She smiled.

I frowned. I was expecting her to grimace at the awful taste and smell, given Denise could not brew a proper cup of tea.

Or is it really just my nose?

I poured myself a cup and breathed in the deep, rich fragrance reminiscent of chocolate.

I blinked in surprise.

It smelled nice.

I wasn't exactly a tea connoisseur, but I took a sip, and it tasted smooth and well-rounded. It was even the perfect temperature.

Strange. Perhaps Denise is incapable of brewing tea in the morning? Maybe she is too tired to make it properly?

I picked up a scone and bit into the buttery thing. It melted in my mouth. My hand was quick to reach for another.

Leona hopped off my head and began to chip away at one of the apple tarts herself.

"Your bird eats apple tarts? What a funny little thing." Kathy smiled at Leona and picked up a tart for herself. "It certainly has good taste in food."

I didn't reply. I was already on my third scone.

My hunger had finally caught up with me. I had lost my appetite last night after hearing the news about the missing Daylan prince. My stomach and mouth seemed intent on making up for the missing meal.

I should go see Natalia Ashford after Kathy leaves to ask about any gossip regarding where the Daylan prince went. His disappearance is obviously connected to something I changed; I just don't know what.

"About your attendant," Kathy began after having had her fill. "Having seen him, I have some regrettable news for you."

I felt the egg sandwich in my mouth suddenly taste bland.

In my hunger, I had forgotten why we were meeting privately in this room in the first place. Jasper's life was in the balance.

"What is it? Did you figure out why he's ill?" I asked after swallowing the mush in my mouth.

Leona lay on the table as a perfectly round, passed-out yellow sphere of fluff. By our world's reality, she should have been far rounder, given she stuffed herself with about as much food as me. However, the laws of reality clearly didn't apply to her stomach.

Kathy nodded and adjusted her large pink framed glasses.

"However, I will have to select my words very carefully." She rolled up one of her sleeves, just enough to show the etchings of a promise rune tattoo. "If you get my drift?"

Tsk.

My eyes wandered over the tattoo and then across several more.

How many promise tattoos did this pink-haired woman get?

I had thought the merchant selling Leona was a lunatic for getting a single promise tattoo. Kathy took the insanity to a whole other level.

"My line of work requires a certain level of discretion. These allow me to stay alive because quite a number of my clients are very cautious individuals," she explained, likely seeing my horrified expression.

She pulled her sleeve down. "That said, I will do my best, but I am limited in what I can say."

I clasped my hands and rested my chin atop.

She had given me my first clue. Whatever Jasper was ill with had to do with something nefarious one of her clients was involved in, hence the runic gag order.

"Is there a cure?" I asked.

"There's always a cure to everything," Kathy spoke slowly. "The trouble is finding someone that can make one."

"And you cannot?" I asked.

Kathy shook her head and tapped her arm.

Damn it. The best antidote maker in the capital was right before me, and she couldn't make the cure I needed.

"Sometimes there are several ways to tackle a problem," Kathy said. She gazed out the window towards the garden. "Going out of town and getting fresh air could do wonders."

I frowned.

Was she suggesting Jasper's environment was making him ill? The capital certainly had issues with the pollutants in the soil that made growing most plants difficult. Hence why my younger brother was a genius, being able to produce anything that he set his mind on. However, the pollution issue wasn't limited to just the capital. Adovoria, as a whole, had problems, as did most of the continent.

"I was planning on visiting my grandmother shortly. She lives outside the capital. I suppose I can bring Jasper along," I thought out loud.

"Another solution is to find someone else to help. Perhaps your younger brother?" Kathy tapped the window, pointing towards the bright pink roses. "He certainly is a skilled herbalist and gardener."

I lifted my chin off of my clenched hands.

Jarvis?

He was undoubtedly a genius in his own way, but he was merely twelve years old. So asking for his help seemed a little odd.

I frowned, remembering my original life.

No, wait. In my original life, Jarvis had tried to help when he found out Jasper was ill. He even created some sort of medicine to help him.

I rubbed my temples. My head hurt as I tried to remember.

But his medicine didn't work. Jasper died in the end. But perhaps it was because Jarvis tried to help too late? He only tried to help about a month after Jasper had fallen ill. And it was only after I had fallen sick myself. Perhaps by then, Jasper was too far gone? But I wasn't and thus was able to recover?

I couldn't remember what had happened.

"I know it wasn't much, so I won't charge you for it, but I hope it helps," Kathy said. She picked up the pot of tea and poured herself another cup.

"It does," I replied.

I was still left grasping at straws, but I at least had two, albeit vague, paths on how to save Jasper.

"Now, on to your other request. You had something you wished to procure from me?" Kathy sipped her tea.

I released my temples and leaned back in my chair.

"Yes. I need weapons from you," I said. "The type that a frail individual like myself can handle against much larger and better-trained opponents."

Kathy smiled and set down her cup. "I presume you are looking for something similar to what my dear Kleave used against The Ogre yesterday?"

I nodded.

I had a decent Dexterity skill level and thus was confident in my ability to land a weapon. The trouble was my Strength. I needed something that even a weakling like me could utilize until I could improve my physique.

"I have a specific set of types of poisons I'd like the needles embedded with," I said.

"Oho! A client that knows exactly what he wants?" Kathy grinned. "Do tell."

I reached into my pocket and pulled out a parchment paper with the various types of poisons and the type of infliction I wanted each to have.

Kathy pulled the parchment up to her face and her large gray-blue eyes scoured through my writing. Every now and then, she'd smirk and glance up at me.

She pocketed the parchment paper and gazed up at me from across the table. "Luca Frey, you are certainly full of surprises, aren't you? I've made some of the needles you requested, but some of these others are truly incredible. You have one wild imagination. I like it."

In reality, my imagination wasn't all that impressive. I simply remembered what needles Kleave used in the future. I wrote down from memory the ones I felt would be most beneficial for my needs, and it wasn't surprising that some of them were needles that Kathy had not invented yet.

"How soon are you able to make them?" I asked. Until I had them, I was left to navigate the dangerous city with only my guards to protect me. I hated this feeling of complete helplessness.

"I can have five of the designs ready in two days. Those are easy. Two designs I have made before, but they require particular ingredients, which will take ten or so days to source. The other four will take a bit of research. So no promises on when I'll have them made."

"Good. I can work with that," I said. "How much will it cost?"

Kathy pulled out my parchment paper again and glanced over it.

"I see you're not interested in learning how to make them yourself and prefer to continue to source from me?" She asked.

I knew that in the original timeline, she had taught Kleave how to make each of her designs so that he could be self-sufficient in case anything happened to her. She ended up dying, so in retrospect, it was rather wise of her to have taught him.

However, I was not interested in setting up a needle-making lab and handling poisons daily. Besides, I wasn't about to let Kathy die in this round. Aside from being Kleave's girlfriend, I suspected I'd want to pick her brain quite often down the line. I knew without the System telling me that I wasn't particularly intelligent. Still, I was smart enough to know that having talented people beside me was advantageous in the long run.

"No, I prefer to leave the creation to an expert like yourself and purchase on a need basis," I said. "I plan to have many more requests down the line."

"Wonderful," Kathy tucked the parchment paper back into her pink and white striped suit. "In that case, the first batch of needles will cost you five gold. And the four that I'll need to research, I'll hold off on pricing until I create them."

"I'll pay whatever is needed," I replied. "Here's five gold as pre-payment for the first batch."

I pulled out a small velvet pouch and pushed it over towards Kathy.

"I know you will." Kathy pocketed the gold and stood up from the table. "You're certainly not short on funds. I look forward to working with you."

She left the Rose Tea Room, leaving me with the still passed-out fat Leona on the table.

I poked her feathered body. "Wake up. We're heading out."

"Peep."

Ugh. I overate.

Leona rolled over onto her stubby little legs. She fluttered her wings but dropped down after her one futile attempt.

Lift me, human. Put me back atop your head.

I laughed and carefully lifted her up and placed her in my hair.

No one would believe me if I told them that this silly little thing was an actual phoenix.

"Young master Luca?" Henry entered the room.

"Yes?" I quickly composed myself and turned to look over at him.

He paused, looking up at my head before meeting my eyes.

"Young master Micah and your father are requesting your audience. Sarka Jarbez is here. They're in your father's office."

My mouth elongated into a wide smile.

The most wondrous inventor in the continent's history was here.

I was initially worried Father might not take me seriously. I was glad he had enough confidence in me to invest in the dubious-looking business proposal Sarka Jarbez had sent in.

She made some genuinely atrocious and blood-curdling inventions when she worked for the Spiders. I couldn't wait to see what she'd turn out in the grasp of the Frey Merchant Guild instead.

 

AlekAundra

Well, at least Jasper isn't facing certain death.

There's a vague way to save him.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯