During the weekend. . .
'Excuse me Miss Baker!' Lewin Bell catched up to me as I was taking my babies up to the carriage. 'Ah. . . Ah. . . May I accompany to the city? I just finished writing about the festival. . .' Lewin took a deep breat. 'And I want to bring it to a friend of mine. . . So he can publish it in the city. . .' He soon started to breath lighter. 'Would that be okay?'
'Oh! Sure! Come on in!' I moved so he could climb up.
'Oh no! No no no!' Lewin Bell shook his head as he stood on the opposite side to me and extended his hand and pointed to the carriage. 'Ladies first.' He said.
I chuckled and took his hand. 'Thank you then.' I walked up to the carriage and entered, once I accomodated myself in my seat I brought my babies into my lap as Lewin Bell entered and sat down on the opposite seat from me. 'We can go now!'
The coach nodded and he made his horses move and walk.
I had to go to the city in order to buy more ingredients and food since, if I know how the coupons and the tales from mouth to mouth will go, the business will sky rocket, so I have to be quick.
'Have you send the news throughout Berrywood, Mr. Bell?' I asked him.
'Why yes.' Lewin Bell nodded. 'As soon as the pie eating contest was done, I sent it to the imprinter and the local newspaper's who were thrilled that I wrote about so quickly.' He took out a newspaper and showed it to me. 'I also wrote about what were in the baskets, what were discount cards and both the human and non-human winners.' He lifted his chin proudly.
I quickly read through the section written about the pie eating contest, the legal betting stand, the prizes, who it went through and how long it took, the main three winners of the pie eating contest, and the winners of the bets. 'Wow. . . So simple and yet so detailed!' I flattered him giving back the newspaper.
'Haha! I know.' Lewin Vell gave a bright smile. 'Anyway, now that we are here, and mostly alone, can I make an interview as to how the pie eating contest came to be and how did you come up with e everything?' Lewin Bell asked.
I gulped nervously. 'Ehehe, well, I've never been interviewed before.' I shrugged blushing a little.
'Oh do not worry, I am not about to ask personal questions, I am only going to ask questions about the festival, the contest and the betting stand.' Lewin Bell promised.
I thought about it for a second and sighed. Well, the trail will be long from here to city so, might as well. I nodded. 'Very well.' I smiled despite still feeling nervous about it.
'Great!' Lewin Bell had his notebook and pen ready. 'In that case, let's talk about how dif you find out about the festival, shall we?' He proposed starting to write. . .
The interviewed helped the time go faster. And since the food and market zone of the city was near we than the zone where Lewin Bell had to go, I left the carriage first and bid him farewell.
Coming back to the restock of food, the good news is, because of the extra apples, the mini pumpkins (we still had), flour and butter, there would be no issue with needing more from them. The bad news is, I had to get more milk, sugar and other exotic things (like coffee, chocolate, and honey) just in case.
Fortunately, I sent word (discreetly) to the mage's tower, so I should be getting things from them in a cheaper price by tomorrow. And I also went to some markets and businesses to purchase more meat, ingredients and other stuff.
Once my business in the market was done, I went to my twin's Academy to check on them and fill them in, in what has been happening.
'PIE EATING CONTEST?!' Both of them exclaimed in amazement as they ate their lunch with me in the lunch room. 'Who won?!' Charlie asked.
'A dragonborn named Rhazaroth.' I answered Charlie's question.
'WOAHH!!' Charlie was amazed.
'How much money did you made?' Lottie wondered.
'You do not need to worry about that.' I brought out my pouch and gave them both two silvers each. 'Just worry about what you can and should buy for winter with this.' I told them.
'Wooooooo! Hahaha!' The twins tooks the silver and then out the coins in their own pouches.
'I also have a favour to ask you.' I let them know bringing out a handfull of discount cards. 'Can I ask you to distribute this through your classes and probably outside the school?' I asked them.
'Sure! But, what exactly are these?' Charlie asked taking a look at one for the discount cards. 'They look like flyers but in tiny.' He remarked.
'Well, I call them "discount cards."' I told them. 'These discount cards were used as "consolation prizes" for both the contestants at the pie eating contest, and the betting stand. Depending on what type of card you have or get, it is a deal you get when you go and buy from either the bakery, the restaurant or both.' I explained how things worked with the discount card to them.
'Oooooohhh.' Both twins were impressed.
'So, just to check if I understood correctly, you wants to give out these precious mini discounts and deals through the school and through the city to attract clients.' Charlie summarized.
'Yes, that's pretty much it.' I confirmed.
'Okay.' Charlie shrugged and divided the hanful between him and his sister equally. 'But um. . . Just so you know, rich people are not really into discounts or deals, so we might have to give it to people who are lower class like the janitors and servants, and. . . Other people in general.'
'Oh that is totally fine.' I reassured. 'I am asking you to attract clients in general, not just rich clients.' I clarified.
Charli and Lottie nodded and then put the cards away in either their pocket or the backpack.
'Anyway, I have to return now, but I'll see you later, okay?' I promised them.
'Okay mom!' Both twins hugged me and then we parted way in the cafetería, for they still had extra curriculars and I plus Liam and the baby girls had to go and get back home before sundown.
After all, if the city is caotic during the day, it becomes caotically dangerous at night.
. . . .
Back at home. . .
We hopped off the carriage and strecthed our legs.
'Miss Baker!' Valerian called out and waved at me from the distance. 'I've finished everything!' He let me know.
'Good, and thank you!' I smiled as I walked up to Frederick. 'Any news while I was out?'
'Not much, I worked as you instructed by ringing the bell at the times required and as far as Karga and I were able to see, nothing out of the ordinary.' Frederick answered as he gave me the bell back.
'Thank you very much you too.' I thanked them taking the bell back. 'Keep up the good work.' I entered with my babies inside my home and closed the door.
I quickly walked upstairs and set them down for their post-travel nap, and I quickly set myself into working and try to finishing everything while the babies were still asleep.
After a few hours, the sun was setting and I made the bell ring once more to let the workers know it was time to get off work (and for Rhazaroth to start working again).
I then gave my babies their dinner (with Bailey feeding Indigo), and then went on to write some flyers to get more temporarily staff and have the flyers ready just in case that the current staff cannot handle the inminente clientale incoming on Monday.
As soon as I finished that, I went to go on and write the story I've been putting off for a while, but I had to cut time with writing short because I had to put my babies and I to sleep.
. . .
The next day. . .
Morning came and right after making the bell ring, I decided to just bring the kids to the child's play area and keep myself busy with writing and checking what was on the newspaper.
The pie eating contest and the discount cards actually made it to the front cover. 'Haha!' I laughed at that. 'We are sooooo going to be saturated with clients this next few days. . .' I deeply sighed.
'Isn't that good?' Liam asked turning his head to me.
'Yes and no.' I answered. 'It is good because it means more money and more non-human exchanges; it is not good because it means I might have to do much more restock and get more staff.' I explained. 'Especially if the orcs and the goblins decided to make much more visits.' I rubbed my face remembering just how much each of those non-humans can actually eat.
'Right. . .' Liam frowned as he tried to understand. 'What's the plan?' He asked.
'Well, the plan is to try and survive Monday. The whole week first if possible.' I responded. 'But if we cannot find ourselves to do so, I might have to send the Rosewood children to send out some flyers for people who are wanting to work.' I explained.
'Okay.' Liam gave me thumbs up and went back to playing.
I smiled going back into the newspaper.
The news about the economy being still good and that the country will probably have an economic boom was good news for me. Some other news were about rumours and some about the latest scandals of the nobility. Haha, Thank goodness now I live all the way closer to the capital and yet so far away from the drama. I smiled at those noble jokes.
As I kept writing, the day came and went. . .
But at night. . .
*Knock Knock Knock!!* Someone knocked on my door.
'Who's that?' Liam woke up startled while hugging me.
'I. . . Do not know sweety.' I admitted and stood up. 'I-I'll go check, you stay and protect your sisters.' I told him.
'Yes!' Liam used his powers to levitate himself. 'A-Almost. . . A-Almost~~~. . .' He made his travel all the way to his sister's crib. 'Made it!' He exclaimed in low voice standing up and checking me leave.
I smiled seeing how good he was doing while using magic. . . Although I still forbade him from trying to use it on his sisters.
*Knock Knock Knock!!* Someone knocked on the door again.
'I-I'm comming!' I trotted to the door and looked through the peep hold. There was Rhazaroth in his armour, standing between the door and what it looked like two people covered in cloaks. 'Rhazaroth?' I opened the door. 'What's going on?' I asked him.
'My apologies for waking you up, my lady.' Rhazaroth made a small head bow as he talked. 'But these two vampires seemed to want to talk with you urgently.' Turned his head to look at the human undead.
I walked up to the vampires. . . And I recognized them. . . These were the vampires who first came with the first waved on non-human clients! 'Oh! Hello you two. . .' I smiled although I'm pretty sure I looked nervous. 'What's wrong?'
'Good night to you too, my lady.' The vampire on the right replied showing a small child cloacked and putting him infront of Rhaz and me. 'We were hoping you could take this from us.'
My mind went blank for a second. 'Excuse me?' I asked.
'You see my lady, this little being is a "dhampir," or a half-blood of vampire and human.' The vampire on the left responded. 'Our clan does not have a need nor want for the child, so we were hoping you could take it from our and our clan's hands.' He requested.
I frowned at that. They were talking about the child as if he was an object. Rhaz grunted at my side and I could smell the sulfur coming out of his nostrils. I put a hand on Rhaz's arm to calm him down and then gathered my thoughts in order to act accordingly. 'Can I ask, why do you want to get rid of him?' I asked.
'As my companion said before, our clan does not have a need nor a want for the child, so we want you to take him in.' The vampire on the left responded.
'Yes yes, I got that, but. . . What about his parents?' I asked them. 'Di-Did something happened to them? Did they decided they did not want them?' I made more questions.
'Yes and no, my lady.' The vampire in the left shook his head. 'The human parent did not want the child for being "too vampiric" or something like that.' He explained. 'On the other side, the vampire parent decided that the dhampir child just had too many needs.'
My everybrow suffered a tick and looked at Rhazaroth who was looking at me back. 'Well. . . The vampires should have known better.' I determined.
'. . . What do you mean, my lady?' The vampire on the right sounded uncomfortably cold.
'I mean that, all vampires must know, or at least be already aware of just how needy human children are.' I pointed out. 'Unless it was rape, or a violation towards the mother, I'm pretty sure both sides knew what could happened and now, the child has to live with the consequences of the negligence of both humans and vampires.' I told them to their face.
The vampire on the right took half a step back, while looking at his partner who, I could tell was uncomfortable with this truth, despite covering his face with the cloack.
I could hear Rhazaroth grunting in satisfaction.
'B-But my lady, another reason as to why we want to leave the child with you is. . . Because he eats the human food better than the blood, and that is something the clan cannot provide for.' The vampire on the left "explained."
'So you want me to take the child in, because you cannot provide for him?' I summarized them.
They both nodded.
Yeah right and I am the empress. I took a deep breath and sighed. 'Look. . . I can and will take the child. But not before taking action beforehand to make sure you both and your clan remember this: once I take a child and their parents, I become their legal guardian.' I reminded them. 'Once every paper is signed, and I become that, this means that any time you, the clan or the vampire parent wants to take the child back in, you all will have to go through the human process of legal boundaries, and, last but not least, the non-human hunters.' I let them know.
Both vampires and the dhampir hissed at the mention of the non-human hunters. They clearly were not expecting that part.
I then, realized that I may have gone too far, and then made myself look like I was thinking better. 'On the other hand. . . The paper might take too long and from now on, the restaurant will be BUSY. . . And I might not be able to take the child legally until further notice. . .Hmmm. . .'
They were all staring at me expectanly.
'Tell you what, I'll take the child plus the box, right here and now, with one condition.' I offered.
'And that condition is?' The vampire on the left wondered.
'The condition is, that if you give me the child, you, the vampire parent and the clan itself will not be allowed to take him back in until he comes of age.' I declared. 'And by coming of age, I mean. . .' I made them think as if I was thinking hard, and then sighed. 'I-I'll be honest guys, I do not know when you vampires or the dhampirs become of age. . . So, I'll just trust you to be fair in that sense.' I pretended.
Both vampires smiled to that and nodded. 'Deal!' They agreed.
'Alright! In that case, come on in so we can make a contract within ourselves. . .' I kneeled to the level of the child. 'And give you some food, okay?'
The child, with his heavy cloack still covering him, nodded and took my hand and went in with me.
Both vampires and Rhazaroth came in and followed me into the office.
About half an hour later. . .
The contract was drafted, and checked by both sides. The contract summarized that the legal guardianship of "Lucien Ambrose."
'So your name is Lucien Ambrose?' I asked the child who was eating a ham sandwich, and he nodded. 'That's very elegant.' I flattered.
'Of course it is. The vampires always make sure to find elegant names for their children regardless of their status in the clan.' The vampire on the right said as he lifted his chin with pride while the vampire on the left nodded gracefully.
I had to stifle a smirk. 'Of course. . .' I then noted something. 'Em. . . Is "Ambrose" the last name, or is it something else?' I asked.
'I am afraid that the dhampirs do not get the right to call themselves the name of their families until they prove their worth.' The vampire on the left said with a sigh. 'Which is why we will let you give him any last name you want for the time being.' He waved his hand at me.
Sure, elegant and all, yet you can't even feed a child. I remarked on the inside and then looked at both contracts. Wait. . . That's it! I suppressed a smile, briefly looked at both vampires, and then decided to write my last name for the child on the contract that I will keep. . . and leave the the last name thing on the vampire's contract in blank. 'There we go!' I exclaimed and showed them BOTH contracts and prayed for the best. 'Want to check one last time?' I offered.
Both vampires took a brief look at BOTH contracts and nodded. 'Everything seems fine.' They determined.
I smiled brightly taking my contract with me and giving them their contract. 'Anything else besides the child and the box that you want to leave?'
They both shook their heads. 'Not really.' They said standing up. 'Have a good rest of the night.' They left on their own and transformed into bats, leaving into the increasingly cold night.
I smiled so happily as I realized I just CHEATED on the contracts. I took a deep breath. 'Well, glad that is over.' I turned to see Rhazaroth staring at me. 'Thanks for having my back Rhaz.' I thanked the dragonborn.
Rhazaroth nodded and then looked at the child. 'So. . . How long do you think it will get them to realize or remember that their perspective of time is slower than of a half-mortal, or let alone a human?' He asked.
'No idea.' I admitted. 'But I'll bet more than two decades by minimum.' I determined. 'And by then, hopefully, the Lucien will be already an adult so things do not go to court. For that would be a bigger pain in the neck.' I sighed in relief.
Rhazaroth nodded and then looked at me. 'Do you even know how long it takes a vampire or a dhampir to come of age?' He asked.
'Not really.' I admitted. 'I mean, they most definetely take on more than sixteen to eighteen years which is the norm for humans. . . but the exact amount, that I do not know.' I shook my head.
Rhazaroth grunted. 'Well, in a vampire's case, it takes them eighteen plus a hundred years to "become of age."' He told me.
I almost choked on my saliva. 'Really?!' I raised my eyebrows at him. 'Well, best case scenario, they won't bother until AFTER I am dead!' I chuckled.
Rhaz chuckled as well. 'As for dhampirs. . . That tends to be more flexible.' He frowned. 'Some take longer, some a shorter amount of time, but the common range is between twenty and sixty years old.' He let me know. '. . . Depending on who they live with most of their life.'
I raised an eyebrow and then realized what he meant. If the dhampir lives among vampires, their aging is slower, but they live with humans. . . I smiled, knowing that, by the time the vampires come knocking, they won't have the right to even point out the facts in court. 'Pfff hahaha!!' I started laugh.
Rhazaroth chuckled with me. 'Another thing to add, is that, vampires tend to forget "minor inconvenientes" for decades, so chances that they'll forget about the child for a LONG human time is guaranteed.' He nodded to me and to the child.
The child finished eating and then patted my dress. 'Miss?' He asked for me. 'When will my clan return for me?' He asked.
Both Rhazaroth and I went silent. We were both thankful that the child was too focused in his food to hear us talk about how long it actually take them to remember him, but now we are facing the difficult decision to either keep the child on the mist or tell him the actual situation as raw as possible.
After blinking two times, I took the albino-blonde-red-eye child in my arms and then sat him down in my lap. 'Look, Lucien. . . Your clan tends to live life, easily and outgoing. . . There are times when they take more time than what we might think when returning for someone.' I explained thing to Lucien as easy as possible. 'But, I promise you that. . . As long as I live you'll be provided with a roof, clothing and food.' I promised him.
Lucien looked at me in the eye for a moment, and then nodded hugging me.
Rhazaroth then got closer and took a look at what was inside the box. 'Well. . . Here's the "child's money," they mentioned.' He started to take out what was inside.
I took a look and decided to write in my journal what was inside the box, just in case.
"The inside of the bag had:
1. A pouch with old gold: It had historical value, but it is impractical to use nowadays, and much less for emergencies.
2. A personalized seal with some red wax in a jar: for formal correspondence I guess, but nothing mayor.
3. Black hair dye: did they send this a a joke?
4. Black silk gloves: Guess for formal clothing, but here in the countryside it is impractical and unuseful.
5. A simple yet clearly very expensive ruby brooch: probably the only thing that has worth in this box.
6. Book of vampire etiquette: did they really expect this to be useful in the COUNTRYSIDE?!
7. A pocket watch with a suspicious light coming out of it: I do not know what does the light mean, and I do NOT believe I want to know. . . For now.
8. A map with a bunch of vampiric territories: useful for me and my business, not so much for the child.
9. A small hand-mirror with an onix frame: probably magical—Rhazaroth just told it is magical, just need to figure out how to use it.
10. A black crystal oil lamp: useful to light up a room, but the "mysterious theme" is a bit too much.
11. An even smaller box with small crystals and gems: Rhazaroth immediately took them and promised to check them out later.
12. A tiny desk bell: . . . Do they believe that I am rich and full of servants or what?
13. A medium sized black and red urn: It is empty and magicless. . . Will keep it somewhere It can't be broken."
Rhaz and I both exchanged looks.
'Seriously?' I asked. 'A tiny desk bell and silk gloves?' I was incredulous. 'What useful will they be in thee countryside?!' I exclaimed. 'An etiquette book?! Again, it is the countryside! The child's biggest worry is what to eat and when too play!' I faced palmed.
Rhazaroth chuckled at my expresion. 'They might not be useful now, but they might be useful to him in the future.' He remarked. 'It is some sort of "inheritance" that the dhampir received.' He pointed out.
I took a deep breath and exhaled. 'Yeah, maybe you are right.' I then took a better look at my two biggest worries beside the gen and crystal box: the pocket watch and the mirror. 'Rhaz, can you help me finding out what do these two do besides the crystals and gems?' I asked him.
'Are you sure you trust me with that?' Rhaz asked me with a raised eyebrow.
'It is not about "trust" right now, Rhaz, these things are clearly enchanted, or just plain magical, but the question is what is their purspose and I do not feel safe nor comfortable with these things in my house until we know what do they actually do' I told him.
'Very well.' Rhazaroth nodded and then took the pocket watch and mirror with the free hand since the other was holding the box. 'I'll take a look at what they can do, and I'll let you know as soon as possible.'
I took a deep sigh of relief. 'Thank you Rhazaroth.' I nodded. 'By the way. . .' I took the small jar of black hair dye from the box and showed it to Rhaz. 'What do you think this is for?'
Rhaz stared at the bottle and shrugged. 'Maybe it has to do with. . . Some vampiric ritual or something like that. . . I'll admit I do not know what useful could be.'
'In that case, I'll be selling it right away.' I determined and then took the pouch with the old gold money. 'And I'll sell this as well.' I determined.
Rhazaroth frowned. 'You'll, sell the money the vampires see as valuable?' He asked.
'Why yes. The vampires might have them for their personal or emotional value, but for us it just takes too much space, and I'll use the money I get from these coins to make a proper "child support" down payment so Lucien can actually use it for the near future.' I determined.
Rhazaroth seemed to think about it and then nodded. 'Okay, that is fair.' But then he looked at the rest of the things. 'But what about the rest of things?' He asked.
'Hmmm. . . I'll just keep them for now.' I sighed resigned and the started to put everything else back in the box. 'I'll let Lucien decide on what to do with them once he grows up, and until then, they shall stay hidden in the attic.' I decided closing the box. 'Come on, Lucien, let's go to bed.' I motioned him to follow him.
'But, I do not feel sleepy.' Lucien said. 'I usually go to sleep at sunrise.'
I stopped in my tracks. 'Oh, that's right. . . Em. . .' I turned to see the kid's playground. 'See that place? Usually, when the place is open to the public, kid's play in there. While there are usually a lot of children that play there, you'll have the place all for yourself.'
Lucien gasped in disbelief. 'A play place just for me?' He asked with a smile.
'Yes!' Then I thought of bringing him back to reality. 'Or rather, until sunrise, that is.' I clarified.
'Oh, okay!' Lucien went running all the to the kid's play area.
I then took out the black crystal oil lamp and turned it on. 'Lucien.' I called for him and he turned to see me immediately. 'One the sunlight starts to shine, please come find me at my bedroom. It is not hard to miss.' I asked him.
'Okay!' Lucien nodded and went on to play on the wooden horse. 'Weeee!!'
I laughed. 'Good night Rhaz.' I nodded to him.
'Good night, lady Baker.' Rhaz nodded to me and then turn to see Lucien. 'Hey, better play quietly, not everyone plays at night and not everyone sleep at day.' He to,d him.
Lucien stopped in his tracks and shrunked in his place as he nodded.
Rhazaroth nodded and then left, closing the door on his way out.
'Good night Lucien.' I told Lucien as I walked upstairs.
'G-Goodbye la-lady Baker.' Lucien waved goodbye at me and went back into playing more quietly.
I brought the box back to my room for now and took Liam (who had fallen asleep), back to bed with me and basically passed out.