Two weeks had passed since the incident at the ball. Two weeks had passed since Cedar became duke, and the Genkh and Volgrad dukedoms regained their independence and trading rights. Two weeks had passed since I first kissed my Lady.

Despite the fact that we had started dating, properly and beyond stolen moments with cups of tea on her balcony, I hadn’t stopped calling her my Lady. There was something about the finality of it, the weight of the word ‘my’. And using her title, as fake as it might have been, also brought me some satisfaction.

“Naomi, are you done packing?” Lady June called out from the hallway.

Although I had spent a few nights in her room, I’d never fully moved out of the maid’s quarters – which I to this day suspected be just a random room that Ludwick had assigned to me.

“I didn’t have much to pack to begin with,” I replied, as I finished folding up the freshly-washed bedding into its dedicated section of the wardrobe.

“Right, you didn’t have any clothes that could have gotten water damaged, that’s true.” June jokingly spoke.

“I don’t think anyone will be mourning those overly prude coats,” I replied, matching her tone.

“Prude?” She pretended to be offended. “I’ll have you know they are practical! What if a spider falls onto my arm and bites me?”

“Then I’ll make sure the kill the spider and suck out all the venom myself,” I replied with a coy smile.

“What is this I hear about sucking?” Ludwick appeared out of nowhere.

Despite the fact that I’ve only ever seen him wear three different suits, he was carrying four large suitcases, and two over-the-shoulder messenger bags. I assumed at least some of those were filled with various mana-powered devices, that I had since learned he liked to collect, and was quite well-trained in using.

“I was just saying that my lady shouldn’t worry about venomous animals, as either of us could take care of a bite, if it were to happen.”

“Oh, I very much doubt you are as well equipped as I to deal with such things, but you do have a point. If your lady were to get bitten-”

Lude was interrupted by June kicking him in the shin.

“Stop it!” She said, her face red.

“Stop what? Lady June?” He repeated the phrase with a smirk.

“That’s it, I’ve had it with the two of you.” June stormed off, coincidentally in the direction of the hallway that led to her bedroom where she’d left her suitcases.

She had exactly two, one filled with magazines and other documents, and the other with clothes she liked enough to keep. The rest of her belonging would be sold with the mansion, and the baroness title that came with it.

Of course, she’d only get to see a percentage of that sale, as Jeneviere Avignon no longer legally existed – she’d had a tragic accident on the tracks just this morning, but it was still more than enough for the trio to live comfortably for a few months.

“Let me take this.” Lude reached out for my bag.

“No? Let me take this.” I used the opportunity to snatch one of the smaller suitcases from him.

I didn’t know how he’d managed to walk this far with that much luggage. But, when I tried to pull on it, I realised that I’d severely underestimated how heavy it was. Lude chuckled at my attempts to move it.

“Let me take that.” June finally rejoined us. “He stole all the cornerstones of the mansion so that the next owners would have to fully renovate it, and hence hire that architect friend of his.”

She pulled the suitcase with no difficulty. We followed her down the hallway, as Lude protested:

“First of all he’s not my friend and you know it, and second that one has all my surveillance equipment. Be gentle with it.”

“Yeah, yeah,”

The bickering continued, as we finally reached the front doors.

June pushed them open, letting in a fresh autumn breeze. A train sped by, briefly replacing the smell of rain and fallen leaves with that of oil and wet metal.

“Where to, my Lady?” I asked.

“Wherever the railway takes us.” She replied with a grin, wrapping her arm around my shoulder.