Part 7
Cyeen tilted her head a little. Are these her childhood clothes? she thought before it hit her.
"May I ask if something has happened here? I just can't fathom the idea of having random piles of clothing around."
Súko's gentle smile dropped as she looked at the girl. Her eyes lost their shine as she sat on the bed.
"Sorry dear, that's a story I don't like."
It seeemed like prying into her past wasn't a good idea. If anything, doing that would make it harder to exploit the woman.
A piece of her pink hair fell down as the woman got back up to hand Cyeen a random set of clothing from the wardrobe. A set that looked horrible.
The noble examined it before putting on a fake smile.
"Thank you miss. I'll wear it now." said Cyeen.
These didn't really fit her style but that was all she had on her hands at the moment. After all, it was not like the rest of the wardrobe was any better looking.
Súko headed towards the door, stopping right before exiting the room.
"Also, I didn't catch your name." she said.
Cyeen stopped for a second. It probably wasn't a good idea to give her full.
"It's... Chen, Chen Flanner. Don't forget it." said the noble, without even turning towards Súko.
The woman titled her head and smiled,
"Nice to meet you, Chen."
But she didn't get a response. Súko finally left, shutting the door behind her. Cyeen felt off. This woman, she was hiding something and whatever it was, for some reason, Cyeen didn't want to learn it.
I shouldn't waste time. She thought before begging to dress up.
After the noble was done dressing up, she went downstairs and into the kitchen. Súko was nowhere to be seen, only a dusty note was on the counter.
"Garlic, eggs and stale bread. My grandma's special. Add it to the recipe I taught you." she read out loud.
It wasn't anything special but it confirmed one thing. There used to be people living with this woman. Cyeen put the note down as it felt like peeping into a diary. Just then, a voice was heard from outside. Multiple voices in fact. Cyeen went out to investigate.
A pink sword chopped a piece of log in two right in front of her eyes. It was Súko, cutting down firewood for cooking. What was more impressive was the control the woman had over her swords. She wasn't the one doing the cutting but instead, she was controlling the floating swords, cutting five logs at once.
Upon noticing the noble, Súko dismissed her swords.
"Chen? I thought you were still dressing up." said the woman with suprise.
Cyeen looked down at the woman.
"How long do you think dressing up takes?" she answered rudely.
"Right, right." Súko was quick to back down. It was clear she was used to dealing with people that had tempers.
"How do you do that?" asked Cyeen, with genuine curiosity.
"Cutting wood? Well, you're probably talking about how much damage my swords are dealing to the environment, right?" they stared at eachother for a while. Súko tried breaking the awkward air. "Right... It's just a little quirk my arsenal has. It's efficient against things that aren't made out of pure essence like weapons."
But the noble wasn't even talking about that. She just wanted to learn how to summon and control weapons mid air. All nobles her age had already achieved the first stage of essence manipulation, hand control.
Cyeen sighed, she had lost her interest.
"How do you control them? With your eyes I mean?"
Súko tilted her head.
"Oh, I thought you knew. It's the second stage of essence manipulation, eye control. It's instinctive to me at this point, I can't explain."
She knew it, a waste of time. What was even the point of asking something to a woman who had many secrets.
"Then tell me Súko, is there anything you can tell me about using a main weapon?" Cyeen asked in hopes of learning at least a single thing.
"Main weapon? You mean soul weapon?" she asked.
The noble nodded, making Súko talk again,
"Then sit down, let me tell you." The woman cleared her throat after sitting down. "Well I mean it's basically the main weapon a person has that doesn't consume essence. You probably know that right? That means you know you can summon a second one with essence while you have another active. It doesn't break unless your mentality breaks and such. Is that the information you wanted?"
Cyeen nodded in disbelief. She knew all of that already.
"Yes, thank you Súko."
"Since you're here Chen, could I ask a few favors of you?" said Súko, trying to change the topic.
"Fine, go ahead." Cyeen couldn't believe her mouth. It was as if someone else spoke in her behalf.
"Really? Well you see I have a problem with..."
On that day, the noble was introduced to the marvels of house chores.
***
Súko, she was a kind woman. And kindness, kindness without clear ulterior motives was induced fear inside Cyeen. No one would be this kind to a total stranger.
A drop of water hit her nose. The weather roared as the number of drops began multiplying. Cyeen normally liked rain for it muffled her thoughts but now, not so much. It was hard to like the rain when it leaked through the roof.
It seems like she had overstayed in the woman's house, the rain being an indicator. Days had went by with her winting to leave as soon as possible. Though, there were multiple things blocking her way. The first being her clothes currently being fixed by Súko and the other being her lack of money. She couldn't even get a ride let alone rent a carriage.
The noble wasn't roaming around empty handed in the meantime. Súko had countless requests of her which the noble completed out of boredom. Although she tried ignoring it, Súko was starting to feel closer by the day.
The pink haired woman approached Cyeen as soon as the rain ended.
"Hey, Chen... Flanner. Would you like to go outside for some tea?"
Cyeen looked at her dumbfoundedly. What now? She nodded, almost reflexively. This was a way her noble side showed itself. She had never turned down an event in her life. When her mouth didn't budge her head had simply taken its place. She didn't want to be near this house anymore. It unsettled her. But she had already agreed to the offer.
"Oh really? I thought you'd refuse. Well then, I'll be at the garden behind the house in about ten minutes. You can wait there right?"
"Yeah for sure." said Cyeen, not really focused on her words.
A thought of running away crossed her mind but her curiosity got the better of her. What was it that this woman wathed to speak with her?
***
Cyeen was sitting on a chair at the garden, waiting for Súko. The woman soon made her enterance with a teapot in her hands.
The teapot's spout was titled as green tea trickled down into the fancy tea cups present on the table. Cyeen took notice of the tea cups, not everyone could afford those. Súko sat across from her and began speakindow
"I don't think I can thank you enough, Chen. You have been too helpful for me around the house. I wish I had a gift worthy of your status. You see, this tea is all I got."
Cyeen bowed her head. She wasn't moved in the slightest. Questions were still attacking her mind.
"The gratitude should be mine. You endangered yourself by aiding me. Those thieves could have turned on you instead."
Súko smiled warmly.
"No no, everyone would do what I did. It was just what felt right at the moment. I can guess we both hate bandits though for different reasons. I have to tell you though, I didn't helped you purely out of kindness."
Cyeen lifted an eyebrow. She knew it, there was a motivation behind her actions.
"Then tell me. What precisely, compelled you to assist me?"
Súko looked in deep thought again.
"It's just... you reminded me too much of my sister. How should I say, your hair colors are just way too similar. I called out to you, hoping you were her. I thought maybe she came looking for me. It's been years since I last saw her."
Cyeen's expressions remained flat.
"Hm, did you try looking for her?"
"Yes, yes I have. I'm just hoping nothing bad happened to her. I don't know if it was a coincidence but her disappearing happened close to the... attack."
The noble leaned forward on her chair, she was intrigued now.
"Pray tell, what do you mean by... The Attack?"
Súko leaned back on her chair, her eyes looking past the noble girl.
"Although it's been about two years, I do not find it in myself to talk about it. Just know that I lost people precious to me then."
Her words worked only to increase the curiosity that welled up inside Cyeen.
"Does that event have anything to do with how empty and dusty your house is?"
"As I said, I don't want to talk about it." Súko noticed the look on Cyeen's face. It was clear the noble wouldn't let it go. "Enough of me, what about you? Why are you here, Chen?"
Cyeen took one last sip of her tea before putting it down gently.
"Well I-" she thought twice before talking about anything important. "don't have much of a reason. My mother and I got into a heated argument and I decided it was best if I took a stroll out. I of course was not expecting an aggressive duo of scoundrels."
Súko giggled. She liked the way Cyeen described the bandits. The arms of the noble were crossed in an instant. Cyeen was visibly annoyed. Súko quickly stopped giggling.
"Oh I wasn't laughing at you I swear, it was just your preference of words I found funny."
Cyeen scoffed.
"I've been told I have a unique sense of humor so it's understandable you have found it funny."
Súko had her own doubts about Cyeen's story. It was unlikely for a noble to venture out that far.
"But I gotta ask, why are you really here, Chen? You don't strike me as someone who leaves home over an argument."
The woman was more insightful than Cyeen gave her credit for.
"You caught me. I gotta admit, that was merely a part of the full story. There was a second reason for me to leave my house. Simply put, I felt suffocated among all the nobles and duties."
Súko looked at her with a hint of envy in her eyes.
"How hard is a noble's life? Aren't all you do host tea parties and such?"
Cyeen swiveled her finger around the cup.
"Not really. Although I have to say, that is partly true. We do have our duties managing or at least help manage the duchies. Too much responsibility puts a strain on you."
Súko's expression changed, she felt a little guilty for asking something like that.
"I see. Then I'm glad you opened up to me. If you are willing to tell me, I'd love to listening to the stories of a noble."
That sentence caused the air to soften, allowing them to converse for at least half an hour or precisely four cups of tea. Cyeen, of course didn't forget to make some snarky remarks in between topics. She just couldn't shake off her nature.
The woman in front of her was actually rubbing on her. This could maybe be the only time she was actually having fun talking to someone. But it had to come to an end as Suko got up and opened her mouth one last time,
"I want to thank you once again for going along with my requests. It's been long since I've had a one on one conversation."
The noble just smiled in response. What do you even expect me to reply to this with?
Cyeen waited until she left to collect her thoughts and put everything she learned into a line.
"A house not taken care of, weird painting, missing sister, the attack? What does this mean? Think Cyeen. Think." which she did, only for a brief moment.
In the end, she didn't come to any conclusion, forcing her to follow the woman back into the house.