OSWALD leaned against the door and looked up at the red moon. “I’m no good, huh?” he muttered in a threadbare voice.
He was fully aware that he was a dangerous man. He broke laws, deceived people, and was a bona fide wanted man.
That girl was genuine, simple, and shockingly pure. In all likelihood, her path in life ran straight through where the sun always shone. On the opposite end of the spectrum stood Oswald whose path twisted and turned through every shadow and dark corner of the planet. Dragging her down to his level was unforgivable, no doubt. He didn’t want to be her downfall nor did he wish unhappiness upon her.
They were traveling together because of the way things were right now, but someday their paths would split.
The girl had once asked him, “Do you think someone like that exists for me? Someone, somewhere in this world, who can come to think of someone like me as their number one?”
It appears I’m not good enough to be that someone.
Hurt shimmering from the depths of his blue eyes, the eccentric master sneered at himself.
“A wise choice, Nichika.”
The feelings brewing on both ends of the single pane door failed to reach the person on the other side.
✦ ✦ ✦
THE next morning Oswald coolly went about his work in direct contrast to Nichika’s awkward behavior. He brought her breakfast, poured her tea, and prepped her things for class while she ate.
“Are you getting used to your classes, my lady?” he broached a natural conversation while inspecting her writing materials.
“Huh? Oh, yeah. I’ve got my letters down well enough to read and write, and the things you’ve taught me during our travels have really come in handy.”
Nichika had braced herself for what nasty things he might say and was relieved they could hold a normal conversation still.
Ha, I almost forgot. My relationship with him is nothing more than master and apprentice (well, mistress and butler right now). What more do I want from him?
Wiping the sandwich crumbs from her hands, Nichika wondered about their missing companion. “Oh yeah, when is Wolfie coming back?”
Something fluffy stumbled inside the room and weakly collapsed in front of the hearth as if waiting for her to ask that question.
The utterly exhausted wolf groaned with his head planted firmly on the carpet. “Awooo…” he whimpered. “I met a fate worse than death.”
“Wolfie!”
Nichika ran over to see what happened and balked. The fur coat he was so proud of had been dyed different bright colors and braided with butterfly clips. His new look was topped off by a top hat, bows clipped into his mane, a cape tied at his neck, and a matching set of doggie slacks with an ugly sweater.
Nichika lifted a pink braid tied off with a flower clip and asked, “What happened to you?”
“Welcome back, dear Jon. Did you have a fun playdate?” Oswald greeted with a complimentary smile.
Wolfie peered pathetically up at his master with tears shimmering in his big eyes and wailed. “You’re a big fat meanie, Master! You said the old man loves dogs!”
Trembling with the fur standing up in tufts on his back, he began relaying what had happened the night before.
“All night he cooed, ‘You’re so cute, I could eat you right up!’ And then he kissed me all over, put me in all sorts of weird clothes, forced me back with magic when I ran away, and did other things I don’t wanna remember! I finally got away because he had to go to class, but if not for that, I would’ve become that pervert’s plaything for life!”
“See? The man loves dogs.”
It’s not what you say, but how you say it that makes all the difference in how people interpret things.
Oswald’s nonchalant dismissal drew a long howl from the wolf. “Nu-uh! That ain’t love!”
Nichika strained a smile thinking this must be how all the dogs on Earth must feel when their owners dress them up. But her thoughts snagged on something else he had mentioned.
“He had to go to class? Is he a professor here?”
“Umm, umm. What’d he say again?” Wolfie scratched at the top hat with his back paw, trying to remove the annoying decoration. “I know, I know! He called himself a Five Eldra Steorra. Whatever that is.”
“Then he’s one of the professors trying to control the school from the shadows!”
The Five Eldra Steorra. Nichika’s mind had been dulled by the effects of Magico Beer, but she clearly remembered talking about them. Remembering Melissa’s dismayed expression left Nichika astonished to hear Wolfie was with one of those very members.
Butler Oswald raised an impressed eyebrow at her reaction. “Oh? You have heard of them, my lady?”
“Yep. From the girl who became my friend yesterday. Wait! Why did you send Wolfie to one of those dangerous people?” she asked, sliding a pointed glare at him.
Her ‘butler’ confessed his reason without a modicum of guilt. “I believe you are aware that a ‘certain witch’ is currently being hunted by the Witch’s Council, yes?”
Said witch is standing right in front of me, she snarked internally.
At long last, Oswald was revealing the true reason why they were in attendance at Elminage. “Rumor has it the Witch’s Council is in cahoots with the Five Eldra Steorra, so the objective is to infiltrate their ranks and discover the truth of these claims. Said witch sent his familiar on ahead to do some of the preliminary legwork.”
“Seriously…?”
When Oswald said he wanted to investigate the Witch’s Council’s pull within Elminage, she didn’t think he would take such a direct method. She was starting to worry about his approach.
Oswald put his hand to his chin and contemplatively mentioned, “Their whole reason for trying to capture said witch makes no sense. This isn’t his first time selling items that cause chaos throughout the world. So why take umbrage with it now of all times?”
“So you’re aware your items cause chaos…” she couldn’t resist pointing out.
The church bells signaling class would begin in five minutes rang across the grounds. Panicked she was going to be late, Nichika shoveled the rest of her breakfast into her mouth.
Oswald handed over her books and opened the door. “I shall handle the investigation. Please enjoy your schooling to its fullest in the meantime, my lady.”
“Mmph!” she gulped down her last bite. “Phew! Be careful!” She accepted her things and took off in a run for her next class.
Wolfie’s tail limply fell from its curled-up position as he watched her go. “Hey, Master?”
“My name is Will.”
“Did something happen with Nichika?” he asked, concerned. Oswald’s impeccable smile twitched at the corners. Pretending not to notice, his familiar continued, “She seemed tormented.”
“Surely because she has been thrust into an unknown enviro—”
“You too, Mister Will,” Wolfie whimpered. Oswald didn’t meet his gaze. “I can smell your hurt,” he quietly murmured.
This time the man he served failed to school his features. A cynical smile unbefitting of a butler curled his lips, and he uttered what the wolf could smell was a big fat lie.
“You are imagining things.”