We arrived back home with no incidents this time.
After a light dinner, I retired to the office to take care of my various ducal responsibilities.
My steward entered, a silver platter on his right hand, which he presented to me once he reached my desk.
"My Lord, the Ducal Princess has completed your request. And she left a message that she insists you do not ignore this time." [Stephanus the Steward]
The item on the platter was a star-metal enforced night-silk envelope, about the size of a visiting card.
Inside was a white card made of a light but almost indestructible material that I had no knowledge of myself.
I held the card up and shook it - swirling patterns of color waved over the cards surface and my wife's married name "Duchess Katiana of Rubiavon" appeared.
"Hmph. Little sister does good work."
"Is this what I suspect it to be, my Lord? My Lady does indeed deserve it, what with all the good work she has been doing for the Dukedom - I am proud of being able to serve such a genius." [Stephanus the Steward]
"Yes, it is. For now, this will do, but yes, she deserves more - it will take time, but I will arrange it. What was the message?"
"I quote with no dis-respect intended: 'Dear muscle for brains brother - I want to meet your new wife - either she has a screw loose, or you pulled a fast one on her. I'll be home for the yuletide season, so make sure you treat her right otherwise I'll have Kumakyū and Kumayuru chew on you. Love, your cutie pie of a little sister.'... that is all she told me to repeat, my Lord." [Stephanus the Steward]
"Fine, make sure her rooms are in order, and organize some extra food for her two bears. You may retire for the night."
My steward bowed as he left the office.
Before retiring myself, I stopped in front of Katiana's quarters.
I raised my hand to knock, but the door opened before I could lower my fist.
One of my mother's combat maids looked up at me - it was the short and freckled one who always had that cheeky small grin on her face - I liked this one, her punches were as solid as iron - and thus I even bothered to remember her name.
"Bella, is my wife available?"
"Oh hello my Lord - give me a moment, I will inform my Lady of your visit." [Bella the cheeky combat maid]
Bella left the door ajar - I could hear Katiana murmur to herself.
"... the two should have been killed by fake bandits in the story, so why are they alive now - is there someone else that knows the story and has been changing it, too? That means they would have been doing that for at least six years already... I really need to find and meet with... Oh, what is it Bella?" [Katiana]
"My Lord has come for a visit, my Lady." [Bella the cheeky combat maid]
"Oh my! Let him in, please - I'm decent enough." [Katiana]
After a moment the door opened all the way, and Bella showed me in.
"Nitram! How nice! Do you want a midnight snack, or..." [Katiana]
My wife was wearing a différent scent then she had during the day - a sweet refreshing flowery fragrance with a hint of fennel.
"No, I am about to retire - I just wanted to bring you this."
I held out the night-silk envelope containing the card that my sister had created to Katiana.
"Eh? A white card? Looks like some sort of advanced plastic, weird... did not think that existed here?" [Katiana]
The last part she mumbled, but of course I heard it clearly.
"What is it?" [Katiana]
"Hold it up and wobble it a bit..."
She did and then her eyes grew larger and her mouth made an Oh shape.
"Oooo... Holograms! Did not expect that!" [Katiana]
Then she blushed, the redness flushing her cheeks.
"Eh? That's my married name! That's the first time I've seen it this way! But, what is this for? There is nothing else written..." [Katiana]
I grinned a bit.
"Whatever store or shop or merchant you deal with, you simply show this, and any purchases you make will be automatically charged to the Ducal treasury."
"So it's like a platinum credit card... neat!" [Katiana]
"That is sort of what my little sister calls it, yes... Anyway we are not quite done."
I removed a palm sized golden bear figure from my pocket - between its paws it held a clear gem about the size of my thumbnail.
"Here, hold this, and pour a bit of your magic into it, if you can."
"Magic? Oh, I'll try... Oh the diamond changed color to a sort of reddish-gold?" [Katiana]
I retrieved the small bear figure and held it in my palm.
"That is the color of your magic, after all, and this is a magic crystal fragment, not just a diamond. Now - take an empty scrap of paper and write anything on it."
"Oh Kay, sure. 'Hello world!'... there, now what?" [Katiana]
"That card - press it onto the scrap of paper, and again, put a bit of your magic into it, then try and write onto the paper again."
"Hmmm... oh, it leaves a mark on the paper in the same color as my magic, huh. Let's see - I'll write 'Hello there back!'... Nggg? It's not working?" [Katiana]
"Correct, once you've 'signed' a bill or other document, it will show our ducal crest in your color, and it no longer can be changed in any way. Here, now watch this."
I gently dropped the bear figure with the magic crystal onto the scrap of paper - a mist of the same color of the now deep dark reddish-gold crystal rose up.
"Oh, so this is to prove that I signed the paper - very neat!" [Katiana]
"When the steward receives the bills from the merchants, he can validate that you singed for the purchases, and will reimburse the merchants the agreed on amount."
"So... what is my limit?" [Katiana]
"There is no such thing."
"Reaaaallly? Can I just go and, uh, maybe purchase an empty store that I can then use to sell my own inventions?" [Katiana]
"You can - but I'd get an intermediary to be the store keep - similar as you use mother's 'Gina la Rose' to sell your perfume creations."
"Oh... right, I guess it looks weird if nobility do commerce in this world... Where would I find one, an intermediary?" [Katiana]
"The steward or even mother can recommend one - they are both business savvy, whereas I just mostly know how to fight and run the dukedom."
"I'll ask them then... Um, what if I lose that card - or if it gets stolen? Can someone misuse it?" [Katiana]
"No, because only you can make your own magic mark - it is quite foolproof. My little sister calls her invention the 443 of magic - when you do finally meet her, you'll quickly understand that she is very w... very well versed in rare magics."
I was about to say "weird", but decided not to color Katiana's perception of my sister before they met.
At the mention of 443, Katiana's eyes twitched - was this a mystic number from a particular class of magic that she recognized?
"I really really really want to meet your little sister as soon as possible!" [Katiana]
"She just notified me that will return home for the year end festivities - right now she is studying at the Magic Academy in Glondagal."
"That's a city about a week away by normal carriage, isn't it?" [Katiana]
"Or two days away by bear - well, by holy beast bear, at any rate."
"Holy... beast bear?" [Katiana]
I waved at the small bear figure still on the table.
"Yes, I think I mentioned it before - this identification artefact, and the bear shaped cooling box, they are both made by my sister - and for the last four years or so she has been obsessed with bears. She even tamed two holy beast bears, with which she rides and hunts - and even dungeon dives."
Katiana scratched her chin and uttered again to herself while staring at the bear figure.
"Yuna-chan? Nah, can't be - that was just a story, too..." [Katiana]
Ah, so that name was familiar to her - my instinct nudged me to let my sister sort this out, when she arrives later next month.
"Today will be busy - we should both go to sleep, as it is past midnight already."
I retrieved the bear figure off the table.
"Oh! Of course! Good night dear!" [Katiana]
As I left the room, I nodded to Bella.
"Have a good rest, my Lord..." [Bella the cheeky combat maid]
Bella closed the door behind me and I retired to my rooms for the night.
The next morning I gave the bear shaped ID validation artefact to my steward after I entered the breakfast room.
Other than some kitchen staff, it was empty.
"Where is my wife this morning?"
"I believe she was last seen at training ground 3, with two of the eilte commanders." [Stephanus the steward]
"Unexpected - she usually is not late for break fast - I will go check on her."
"Of course, we will keep the break fast warm until you return." [Stephanus the steward]
Luckily training ground 3 was only two minutes away so I reached it quickly.
The site was half-enclosed with a 10 foot tall semi-circular wooden fence - and even before I saw the grounds themselves, I could make out the voices of Katiana, Egramora , and Bartolo.
"That's it my Lady, hold real tight onto that sword, as if it was slippery basta... um... oily eel..." [Egramora the Barbarian Queen]
"Like this?" [Katiana]
"Ehr, not quite - you let it go again... oh well, try with the next one!" [Bartolo the Butcher of Maridia]
"Third time is the charm!" [Katiana]
I now was close enough to see Katiana standing in the middle of a small forest of swords stuck into the ground around her.
She grabbed one at random, and swung it a few times lightly in one hand.
"That's the thirtieth one, tho..." [Egramora the Barbarian Queen]
Both my elite commanders were fully decked out in their star-metal armor, with visors down - and in the next moment I realized why.
"Haroump! Have at you... whoops!" [Katiana]
My wife swung her sword at full strength in a helm-splitting top to bottom arc.
The moment the sword almost became parallel to the ground, it flew out of her grasp at quite the speed, disappearing into the clump of training dummies that she was facing - oily and very dangerous eel indeed!
"Thirty-one..." [Bartolo the Butcher of Maridia]
This was muttered in a low voice by Bartolo.
Because of the closed helmet, I could not see his face, but from the tone of his voice I could clearly imagine him rolling his eyes in quiet frustration.
The training dummies that were the victims of Katiana's lost swords wore various pieces of rusted and discarded armor, some with helmets even - on each of their "faces" someone had comically drawn smiles and frowns at random.
"Ahem. The steward says break fast is growing cold, and I bet Nozomi is also getting peckish. You two, join us."
The last part of course I directed to my two elite commanders, Egramora and Bartolo.
"Oh Nitram! Look, I'm getting better! Oh, food, yeah, we'll be right there!" [Katiana]
Again, lesson 101 - agree with your wife even if what she says goes against all laws of common sense.
I made the thumbs up sign, and quickly turned back towards the break fast room, before an accidental grin could give me away.
It was only later in the day that something dawned on me - Bartolo had stated there were thirty-one lost swords.
In my mind's eye, I remembered the layout of the training dummies, and several things became clear.
They were all archer target dummies.
They all had a heart drawn on them.
And... thirty-one of the dummies, all with frowns, had a sword sticking half way into their drawn hearts, as if hammered into the wood post with great strength.
Not one of the randomly placed smiling dummies was harmed, and no sword was seen lost on the ground.
