The next day's Sun rose as usual.
Even though a certain festive gathering in the Wizarding World had been turned upside down yesterday, a certain devilish troupe leader had two pieces of iron stuck in his rear by someone unknown, a Beast had been lost, and many Galleons were missing...
Everything else was normal.
Most of the aforementioned events spread rapidly among the wizards, becoming dinner conversation for the My Lords and increasingly distorted urban legends.
Overall, some people (Mori Tsukisa) were quite satisfied.
Morning light filtered into the room through the old red-lacquered window.
Transparent rays were woven through by tiny specks of dust. A rich aroma of milk and tea filled this ordinary morning. Listening closely, a few pigeons fluttered past behind the frosted glass.
Creak... This was an ordinary morning, but it was a new life for Nagini.
The entire black velvet quilt with gold-thread trim was pushed aside. The woman revealed a glimpse of her thigh, her ink-like hair scattered across the sheets—merging with the expensive bedding.
It was as if a wonderful girl had grown out of a black sea, dazzlingly pale.
Mori Tsukisa pushed the door open, whispering "Excuse me," and bringing with her a sweet fragrance.
A plate of small biscuits, a cup of steaming black tea with milk, a few sugar cubes, a stack of square bread slices, three-finger-wide red sausages, a few slices of pink bacon, a spoon, and a napkin.
Nagini, her head tilted and hand supporting her chin while still dazed, saw this scene.
—Where are you?
—Oh, and where am I?
As the other woman rubbed her eyes groggily, Mori Tsukisa set the tray down, sat on the edge of the bed, and flicked Nagini's exposed arm with her finger.
"I made a bit of everything, since I didn't know what you'd like."
The girl's gentle voice finally made Nagini's muddled brain remember the events of last night.
She had escaped.
She succeeded. She was free.
"Sorry!" The woman sat up abruptly. "How could I let you prepare breakfast for me!"
Whether it was because she was a half-snake or just a personal quirk, she had slept 'naked' last night.
So a second later, she flopped back down... clutching the quilt tightly and pulling it up, leaving only a pair of helpless eyes visible.
Keep in mind, she was older than Mori Tsukisa.
The elder shyly hid under the quilt, sinking until only the top of her head showed; the younger looked calm, dropping two sugar cubes into a teacup with a 'plop', elegantly slicing the red sausage, then arranging different foods neatly on plates.
She seemed exceptionally relaxed.
Thus, the scene was very... Sen-style daily life.
Nagini didn't wait forever in the sea of quilts; she emerged almost the moment she heard the knife accidentally touch the plate—wrapping the quilt into a simple tube top, she tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear with her pinky.
Looking at Mori Tsukisa.
"Thank... you."
"It would be better if you could call me by my name comfortably." Putting down her fork, the girl turned; morning Nagini seemed to have lost yesterday's gloom. "Come eat. Speaking of which, it's been a long while since I cooked for myself."
"Sorry..." Nagini misinterpreted Mori Tsukisa's meaning. "When I was little... I often helped my mother cook. If you don't mind, I can start trying again from today..."
Mori Tsukisa shot the woman a glance with her beautiful eyes. "I don't need an unskilled, unprofessional maid."
She paused. "Eat. I need to buy you some clothes today—oh, by the way, are snakes familiar with the desert?"
"We're going deep into the wasteland."
Holding the quilt with one hand and a fork with the other, Nagini opened her mouth hesitantly. "I, I... I'm a jungle python..."
"I thought you were the desert kind." The girl just said it casually, standing up to look at Nagini. "We won't leave for a couple of days. You can adjust and come along for the fun, or leave on your own if you want."
Mori Tsukisa curled her lips in a faint smile, winked at her, and turned to leave the bedroom.
"Your Majesty, you're being strange."
Arrietty had listened to everything last night; she didn't understand Mori Tsukisa's approach.
Clearly she saved her, which means her Queen is interested in this little snake girl?
But she didn't explain the matter of the Attendant in detail, just went about her day as usual—
This left the Little Sprite very confused.
"Because she's different from you, Arrietty."
Pushing open the door and greeting the sunlight, the girl took a long stretch. The main road was a bit crowded during the day, with camels and carriage wheels kicking up layers of yellow dust, and every hurried passerby covering their nose and mouth.
Mori Tsukisa joined the crowd carrying an exquisite small handbag.
"We'll talk about it later." The girl looked straight ahead, her pace steady. "She hasn't even figured out her own thoughts yet."
"Saying all that would just make her boring."
A local selling candy with a long clay pipe in his mouth waved at the girl, and she returned a standard smile, yet she didn't slow down, moving along elegantly and leaving unhurriedly.
"Once things become uninteresting or boring, I can't bring myself to like them anymore."
"It's better for her to stay like this."
Obviously, Arrietty didn't understand Mori Tsukisa's statement, or rather, she never had—and she didn't need to. During her ten-plus years of waiting, and when she drew her sewing needle to charge for Mori Tsukisa, she no longer needed to understand such things.
"Then what if one day Arrietty becomes very boring too?" The tiny person lay in the black hair, unhappily biting Mori Tsukisa's hair, then petulantly braided her own fire-colored long hair with Mori Tsukisa's black hair. "Will Your Majesty stop liking Arrietty too?"
"Of course not!" Mori Tsukisa replied happily. "I like boring Arrietty; I like interesting Arrietty; I like Arrietty when she's fighting; and I like Arrietty when she's sleeping while hugging my earlobe."
"Because you are Arrietty."
Click.
Recording ended.
"Whoo!!!!" Arrietty shouted happily, holding the miniature tape recorder, her intent to show off very obvious. "I'm going to let Kina hear this! I'm going to tell them that the person Your Majesty likes most is me!!"
Mori Tsukisa:...So, only her own Attendants can handle Mori Tsukisa.
"Arrietty!"
"How could you do that!" Mori Tsukisa couldn't maintain her expression, huffing twice in annoyance. "You pest! No candy for you today!"
"Abuse of power for a personal grudge! Your Majesty!"
"We don't have a personal grudge, dear. You set me up first."
"I did not! Last time when I said I was jealous of Kina's chest, didn't you record that too? This is tit for tat!" Arrietty argued with her neck stiffened in dissatisfaction. "Besides, I am jealous, so what, so what! I've said it again now! Twice! Three times! Jealous, jealous, jealous! Humph!"
Click.
Recording ended.
Mori Tsukisa smiled and put the slightly larger recording pen back into her handbag.
Today is still a beautiful day.
(≥▽≤)/
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