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B2 Chapter 40 - Sugar
🕑 Added 2025-08-19 08:04:57 +0000 UTCThe next time Vivi woke up, the bed underneath her had grown in ether value a hundredfold.
The bed didn’t just have a frame underneath; Vivi had a whole canopy above her head with see-through silk curtains around her. The sheets and blanket were like clouds. She was clad in a nightgown, which was probably twice as expensive as the dress she’d bought. Anything Vivi touched or saw probably cost more than Grandpa’s full smithy.
Surprisingly, she didn’t feel awful. Her limbs could move, though weakly, and she didn’t need to be connected to the weird tubes anymore. The headache of abusing ether to insane amounts persisted, but that was a given. Really, she was just glad to be alive. And the comfy bed helped her ignore the pains.
As for the darkness lingering in her head… It was manageable. Vivi didn’t feel great, but not awful either. The letters she’d received, and the support Anthony gave…
Vivi didn’t really know what was happening. Never in her life had anything like this happened. If something awful happened, at most, Grandpa would have given her a hug. Now, however… Everyone supported her. They didn’t just want to see her back in the smithy. They wanted to see her recover and be happy again.
It was all a bit overwhelming. So she buried her face in the pillow, and just lay there, doing nothing.
Anthony had promised they would repair Vivi’s smithy. They were working on the Lost Raindrop right now, repairing all that was destroyed, rebuilding it.
It wouldn’t be the same. The Lost Raindrop was characteristic more than it was sophisticated or rich. If a bunch of rich nobles were to rebuild it… Vivi doubted she could get attached to it like she had with her own shop. But she appreciated the gesture regardless.
Lucius walked around her and on top of her with proud steps, a wide grin on his face. “Your first time in a noble estate?”
It’s my first time just touching something this soft, Vivi thought with her face in the pillow.
“You’ll have a lot of new first times today, then,” Lucius said, appearing excited. “Pull that string above the bed frame. My old wielder called it the ‘I’ve woken up’ lever. Every guest room in a noble household has one. You’ll get house service.”
What’s that? Vivi asked.
Lucius blinked, pausing his steps. “What? You’re this clueless?”
The house already offers us a roof, Vivi thought. How else is it supposed to serve us?
Lucius merely stared at her, then sighed. “That’s not what it means. It means that servants will come take care of you, Vivi. They’ll feed you and follow requests.”
Oh…
Somehow, the thought of meeting servants, who would probably be strangers, didn’t excite Vivi. But her other option was to get out of bed on her own to wander aimlessly in the hallways of the huge castle-like estate that awaited outside her door. Compared to that, house service was probably better. Vivi pulled the lever.
She waited. Thirty seconds later, the door opened. A woman stepped with enthusiastic hops. She carried a tray full of platters. “Hello, and surprise!” she said.
Vivi’s eyes opened wide. She recognized the woman. It was the same kind noblewoman who had saved Vivi from thirst before entering Shivenar. Senith, now grinning at her.
Vivi must have stared for a bit too long, as Senith’s grin slowly turned to embarrassment. “Uhm, you still remember me, right?” she asked. “It’s Senith.”
“Of course!” Vivi said. “What are you doing here?”
Senith placed the platter on a table at the edge of the room. She wore a different dress today. A light blue dress that she could easily move in. “This is my home, you know. The Nemonn estate. Did Lucas really not tell you anything at all? He’s my brother.”
Vivi was at a loss for words.
The reaction prompted another grin from Senith. “I asked the maids how this house service thing is supposed to go. They told me I’m supposed to walk calmly and elegantly before asking you if you’d like tea or coffee. I think I failed. Elegance is one of my weaknesses as a noblewoman. But I’ll still ask, not so elegantly, tea or coffee?”
Vivi blinked. “You have tea?”
“Of course,” Senith said. “Would you like some?”
Tea. Vivi hadn’t had tea in ages. She definitely wanted tea.
Before Vivi could even answer, Senith hopped eagerly to the door and called into the hallway, “Anne, brew us your tea!”
Senith closed the door again and moved to the tray excitedly. “I also brought grape juice, and a lot of foods that always cheer me up. Come have a taste. You can eat in your nightgown, that’s fine.”
Vivi’s body suddenly had a little bit of energy. Just enough to rise from bed and move to the table. Senith took a seat on the opposite end. She poured herself a cup of grape juice and faced the tray of platters.
Vivi sat there awkwardly, wondering what exactly Senith was about to put her through. Was this breakfast? Why did they have so many platters?
If today was a normal morning, Vivi would have been runesmithing by now. She would have already eaten whatever grains she had in the cabins, preparing for a day of hard work. Senith, however… she definitely wasn’t preparing for hard work. It almost looked like she was preparing for breakfast, excited just to eat.
“I didn’t know what you’d like, so I brought a bit of everything,” Senith said. She started opening up the platter covers. “Here’s some cheese bread with cooked chicken and tomato sauce inside. It’s what the men ate today. Apparently it makes them strong. And here’s a more regular steak with potatoes, and I think this last one is some sort of lamb soup. They’re all boring foods, but it’s good to eat something boring before the fun foods.”
Vivi blinked at the buffet in front of her. She wondered if she could ask if they just had some simple beans or porridge instead, but declining all of this food would have probably been disrespectful.
The cheese bread is just bread with fillings, right? Vivi thought. She lifted it to her plate and studied it. Lucius, too, looked curious. So complex, just for food.
The door opened again, and a new person stepped in. It was a woman with long hair and a black and white gown. Vivi blinked, thinking that another princess had arrived, until the woman started pouring tea.
“Vivi, that’s a maid,” Lucius said. “Gods, you really don’t know how to visit a noble estate, do you?”
I’ve told you I don’t like rich places! Vivi thought.
“Just remember that we are the most important guests here. You could throw a tantrum right now and start yelling at poor service, and the nobles would be the ones to apologize.”
Right… We’re definitely not doing that.
The maid in the gown bowed before silently leaving Vivi with her cup of tea. The tea wasn’t dark like tea usually was, but orange. Vivi hesitantly lifted the cup and took a sip. It wasn’t bitter at all. It actually tasted kind of nice. Was this really tea?
“That’s Anne’s special mountain oolong,” Senith said with a grin. “I don’t think it quite beats grape juice, but it’s the best tea I’ve ever tasted.”
“It’s… Good?” Vivi said. The taste was complicated. Back home, she made her morning tea so bitter she could barely gulp it down. Tea like that helped her focus for the day of runesmithing.
Now that she thought about it… She treated all of her foods like that. As long as her food was nutritious, she didn’t care about the taste. If anything, difficult foods made her more awake, more aware for her runesmithing sessions.
Vivi realized she was staring at her food like a total weirdo. She picked up the bread and got to work munching on it.
Senith chuckled, as if she was watching a child attempt to walk for the first time. “Do you like it?”
A flurry of tastes and textures filled her mouth. Strong sensations. Some pleasant, some off. “I think I like it?” Vivi said, uncertain.
“Just wait until we get to the fun foods,” Senith said with an amused look on her face.
Fun foods? There’s more food? Vivi thought in horror.
After finishing her cheese bread, Senith took away the first platters, returning a few minutes later. This time with a full cart full of platters and foods. She grinned wide. “Do humans like pastries?”
“Pastries?” Vivi asked. “Like cake?”
“Yes, like cake!” Senith said. “Have you tried any?”
“Once…” Vivi said. She remembered the one time Grandpa had cooked sugar and baked some flour to create what he called a toffee cake. “It was… sweet.”
“Pastries tend to be sweet, yes,” Senith said. “Our bakers are amazing! You’ll love anything you pick.”
Senith began opening up platters and introducing all sorts of pastries and oddities of the kitchen Vivi had never even heard of before. There were half a dozen different types of cakes, some balls with toppings and odd textures, and more pastries Vivi couldn’t have guessed to describe.
Lucius? Vivi asked. What’s happening! What am I supposed to pick?
“Just pick something,” Lucius said. He seemed to be just as amused as Senith. “Nothing will kill you. You might actually like what you try.”
Vivi’s eyes were spinning. This was exactly why she didn’t want house service. She felt like she was obliged to pick something.
In the end, Vivi chose what seemed like the most normal food: a weird bread wrapped in some sort of baking cup. Touching it, the bread felt sticky and sugary. Lucius laughed at her when she asked what kind of bread it was. Apparently, it was not bread at all, but something called a blueberry muffin.
The muffin didn’t taste bad. Suspiciously sweet, but Vivi could eat it. Senith ate one too, her face melting with happiness from just one bite.
I don’t understand this place at all, Vivi thought.
Senith was on her third pasty by the time Vivi finished her muffin. Senith urged Vivi to feel free to try as many as she would like, smiling at her enthusiastically. Vivi looked at the selection again, wondering if she wanted to try something more.
“You should try this!” Senith said, offering her something. “Chocolate cake. It’s one of my favourites. It’s impossible to feel sad after eating chocolate cake.”
She offered the cake with a small spoon. Vivi eyed it carefully before picking up a small spoonful. She placed it in her mouth.
Her head rose a little. She blinked.
Senith grinned. “I told you it’s good.”
“It’s not bad,” Vivi said. In fact, the chocolate cake was actually quite good.
By the time Vivi was finishing the cake, the door opened. Lucas entered this time. He saw the pastries and he crossed his arms, giving Senith a look. Then he glanced at Vivi and asked, “How many pastries has my sister eaten?”
“Just one,” Senith said with an awkward smile.
Lucas didn’t look convinced. “You can’t be eating pastries for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, Senith.”
“What makes you think I’ll do it for all three!” Senith asked. “I’m a perfectly responsible and sensible woman, you know.”
“Definitely,” Lucas said. He lifted his hand, holding up a hanger containing Vivi’s raincoat. “This cloth is important to you, correct?”
Vivi’s heart sent a thump, seeing it. She stared at it in awe, all repaired and cleaned, now shiny. “It’s my raincoat. It… is important.”
Lucas nodded. “We washed and repaired it as best we could. I asked our seamstress, Lortel, if it can be fully restored. She said sewing the holes will be difficult with this type of fabric. She has, however, patched the holes.”
“Thank you,” Vivi said. She accepted the raincoat back.
It was clean now, fixed as well as it could be. Vivi couldn’t have done a better job on her own. With it in her hands, ready to be worn again, Vivi felt some sanity return to her head.
“Your smithy is being repaired right now. We’re looking for replacements for anything that was broken. The smithy will be repaired. And the culprit will be found.”
Mentioning her smithy brought back the image of its destroyed state. Vivi pushed it aside. It was being repaired right now. Even if the shop would never be the same, Lucas was still trying to help. “Thank you,” she said.
Lucas nodded. “I understand if you need more rest. We’re not in a hurry. But if you’re ready, come meet us in the parlor. We’d like to see your sword again. If it’s as good as Anthony remembers, we’ll make an offer of ten million ether.”
