A sweet feeling of pleasure and a little remorse welled up in her heart as Max slipped her arms around his waist. Castle Croix and Castle Calypse were continually compared by Riftan, anxious that she would not be pleased. Riftan would have relaxed if she had told the truth. Nevertheless, in order to save her pride, she kept Mum.
Max muttered, firmly pressing her face against his chest, feeling guilty.
“Castle Calypse, w-well, it’s a w-wonderful place.”
A troubled smile appeared on Riftan’s face, but the woman continued to praise him even though she did not believe him.
“Well, the wa-walls look mag-magnificent and powerful, so I’m re-relieved… The castle is on the hillside, with a nice view of Anatol looking out the window. There are a lot of mountains, so… the whole scenery is beautiful. The servants are fri-endly and po-lite. Tr-reated kindly…”
She hurriedly continued, realizing that the last words seemed like the servants of Castle Croix were not kindly treated.
“Above everything, the chefs at Castle Calypse are excellent. I-so it’s de-delicious, whatever they make, that…. “
Max, who was going to say that after she got here she had gained weight, kept her mouth shut. She was afraid that when he learned that, he would think she’d become fat.
“It’s so delicious…that?” For a moment, Max paused before answering, “The mealtime; it’s fun! The-there are so many different dishes… the desserts are great as well.”
“I’m glad the food suits your taste.” He grinned and stroked around her neck, reassuringly.
Max, feeling a lot lighter, buried her face in his shoulder again and rubbed her head with it.
Riftan groaned, and her ear between his fingers. Suddenly, the atmosphere became romantic, their backs arching as the sound of a knock on the door cut through the intimate air that drifted between them.
In a low voice, Riftan mumbled his displeasure, then asked in a blunt tone, “Who is it?”
“It’s Gabel Raxion. We are all in the conference room now.”
Riftan let out a deep sigh. “I will be there soon.”
“Then, I will be on my way”
Troubled, until the sound of voices had died away, Riftan sat still. Max sat on the cushion and gazed at him. Even the soundly sleeping cats crept out of the basket to check if they felt a bit bustling.
“I’ll see you later in the evening. We’ll have dinner in the hall, so I’m looking forward to it.” Riftan looked at her face, which was glowing red under the light, and placed a kiss on her cheek.
“Goo-goodbye… go forward”
He got up from the floor, put his robe on, and walked away. Max stood up, took out some of the goat milk, and fed the cats purring by her feet. Until the cats were quiet, she rolled the yarn, then she opened a book she had been reading throughout the day.
Time went by as she sat flipping the pages of the book in front of her desk. She stared at the ever-darkening scenery from the window, then pulled out the magic stone that she had put in the pocket of her robes. She always carried it around with her and touched it like this, but she could not feel any special changes.
Max closed her eyes gently, holding the magic stone in both of her hands. She had no idea what was different between these stones and ordinary ones. She was wondering if a plausible spell had to be memorized.
A knock echoed just then; she heard Rudis’s voice outside the entrance.
“Madam, before dinner, I’d like to dress you up. Are you ready? ”
“It’s o-okay. Yes, come in.”
“Excuse me, then.”
After her permission, Linda, the wife of a seamster, Seric, hired by Rudis and Riftan, and two young maids who came in a few weeks ago entered the room in a single file.
Max saw a pile of dresses in their hands, her eyes grew wideRudis set on the table a small box of ornaments and put the cats rolling around the floor in a basket so that they did not get in the way, then changed the angle of the mirror.
In the meantime, Linda and the maids spread their colorful dresses out on the bed.
“I brought your new dress with me. It’s been a long time since we had a feast, so you should dress up!” The wife of the seamster spoke cheerfully and unfolded a beautiful navy blue dress.
Standing on her feet with a shocked expression, Max unknowingly exclaimed.
A dark navy dress, almost black, appeared to light up, a blue glow coming from it. It looked pretty magical as Linda kept the shimmering skirt wide open. Then a delicate, ivory dress accompanied by a green one embroidered with golden threads unfolded.
“How do you like it? We made these dresses with great care,” said a beaming Linda, seemingly proud of the creation of her husband.
Max murmured with fascination, “I-it’s s-so bea-beautiful.”
Ishinda, a chirpy maid, gave her a slight nudge and said with a lot of excitement,
“Try it on, Madam, I’m sure everyone will be amazed at dinner. Which one would you like to try on first? Try this green dress first! I’m sure your hair color would go along with it.”
The maid came up with a dress before Max could respond. She soon changed her clothes and thus the words of the maid were proved correct-the green dress seemed to fit very well with her hair colour. The skirt’s long, ruffled hem seemed elegant, and it was indescribably wonderful with the vine-patterned embroidery.
