Elise can’t believe it, why is a member of the council here in the servant’s quarters looking for her? And without Tori here to talk her way out of the situation, no less. Elise looks at Sister Elizabeth, smiling warmly and carrying the Book of Winters with her as always. Is she really just here to check in on an unwell servant, or does she suspect something is going on? Maybe Elise can play dumb and-

 

“She’s the one you’re looking for, sister.” Sara says, pointing at Elise. “She only just woke up.” There goes that plan…

 

“Thank you, my child.” Sister Elizabeth smiles at the other maid before turning to Elise. “I do hope you’re okay, dear.”

 

“I’m doing a lot better now, sister. All I needed was some rest.” She replies, hoping to keep this encounter short.

 

“I’m glad to hear that, please allow me to give you a blessing to ensure your continued good health.”

 

“Of course.” Elise isn’t a religious woman, but she has no reason to object, especially if it means she’ll be able to leave sooner.

 

The nun holds her book out in Elise’s direction, and traces a shape in the air.

 

“May the light of Saint Winters guide you to the future you deserve, my child.” She says before lowering the book. It’s a traditional prayer, one that Elise had heard many times before regardless of her belief. She doesn’t need a religious text to determine her fate though, she and Tori are going to take matters into their own hands, after all.

 

“The princess asked me to look after her.” Sara says, speaking much more formally now that it’s not just her and Elise. “It seems to me that she’s okay now, so I had planned for the both of us to get back to work once we’d finished eating.”

 

“You needn’t rush yourself on my account, my child.” Elizabeth reassures her. “But yes, I had heard our poor friend here had fallen unwell in the princess’s presence, and had to be taken here to recover.”

 

“Y-You had?” Elise asks.

 

“Of course I did, it was the talk of the town this morning. The newly returned princess, carrying an unwell servant in her arms. It’s certainly not something you hear about every day now, is it?”

 

Right, of course she had heard about it. Elise would be more surprised if an event like that had somehow managed to go unnoticed by the sister. Her duties as a member of the council are somewhat nebulous compared to the other three, but they generally revolve around her position as a key pillar of the community thanks to also being an important figure in the church. She’s often seen all over the place, both around town as well as the castle itself, checking in on people in all walks of life and discussing what aid the church or the council can afford to offer. 

 

The fact that she’s the only member of the council to actively fraternise with the common folk outside of business matters, Baron Houndsvale’s drunken endeavours notwithstanding, make her the most respected among them, with only Sir Percival coming close thanks to his status as a war hero. This of course means she’s privy to all manner of gossip pertaining to the goings on in the capital, so it was inevitable that any topic of conversation related to what the princess has been up to would fall upon her ears before long, in no small part thanks to the chatterboxes among the staff, but that doesn’t mean that Elise has to be happy about it.

 

Regardless of how inevitable it was, a member of the council has been made aware of something strange going on involving her and the princess. That’s the last thing Elise needed to hear right now, not when there’s still so long to go before the coronation. Even something relatively minor like this could be enough to raise suspicion, and make it even harder for Tori to carry out her plans, or even worse, lead to their relationship being brought to light.

 

Elise doesn’t want that to happen, she needs to find a way to turn things around, put a spin on the story to avoid any unwanted suspicion, but how would she even do that? She doesn’t have the charm and charisma Tori has developed over the last two years to take control of a situation, nor the sheer power required to intimidate someone if the former approach doesn’t work. She’s just a regular servant, even something as simple as telling the sister a convincing lie might be beyond her abilities. What can someone like her do to talk her way out of this? What can someone like her do to make sure the princess isn’t put at a disadvantage? What can…

 

What can…

 

What can someone like her ever hope to do to help someone like Tori…?

 

Ba-bump.

 

“Did you hear me, my child? Did something happen?” Elizabeth asks, breaking Elise out of her trance.

 

“O-Oh, my apologies, Sister Elizabeth.” Elise says, silently admonishing herself for spacing out in what could potentially be a very dangerous situation. “I fear I may not have entirely woken up just yet, what did you ask?”

 

“I was simply wondering if the princess had done anything for you to end up in such a state. It’s quite rare for a servant to collapse in the way you did.” 

 

Oh dear, she’s already looking to spin it to the council’s advantage and pin the blame on Tori. Well if nothing else, Elise can try her best to put a stop to that.

 

“Ah, nothing of the sort happened. If blame for the incident had to fall to someone, I suppose it would have to be myself. I was too eager to prove myself as the princess’s assistant once more now that she’s returned, and took on more work than I reasonably should have. In the end, I worked so late into the night that I hardly managed to get any sleep at all.” Elise pauses briefly to collect her thoughts before continuing, Sister Elizabeth looking her straight in the eyes all the while.

 

“It was simple exhaustion that did me in, the duties that I was meant to carry out this morning pushed me to the state I was in when the princess brought me here.” Hopefully that will be enough to keep attention away from the princess for now.

 

The sister continues to watch Elise’s eyes for a moment before finally responding with a nod and a smile. “I understand your hardships, my child. I will see to it that we find another servant to act as her assistant so as to reduce the stress you’re putting on yourself.”

 

Elise does her best to disguise how shocked she is at the declaration. That’s not what she wanted at all!

 

“N-No, that’s quite alright. It was a simple lapse of judgement on my part, I will make sure to pace myself better in the future.” She tries to argue.

 

“Please understand, I’m only doing this because I believe it best for you.” Sister Elizabeth says with a sympathetic expression. “It pains me ever so much to hear that you ended up in such a position, I simply wish to make sure it does not happen again. I don’t think it wise to allow you to continue under these conditions, unless of course there’s a reason you believe yourself to be best suited to the role of the princess’s assistant?”

 

“Well… That would be…” This is no good, Elise is stuck right where the sister wants her. Even if she’s not suspicious of anything going on between the two of them, bringing in a different assistant would still send a message that Tori isn’t in control here. How can she work her way out of her predicament though? She can’t absolve the princess of any potential guilt in the matter without giving the council a reason to swap Elise out with someone else, but raising a case for why she should remain in the role would only raise questions about why she cares so much about it in the first place, placing more suspicion on the two of them.

 

Elise isn’t sure what to say. She couldn’t stand to be separated from Tori, not when she only just came back! Not to mention that whoever they get to fill the role will likely be in the pocket of the council, making it much harder for Tori to operate in secret. Her mind is racing trying to think of something she could say or do to solve the problem, but nothing comes to mind, and she can’t just sit there in silence forever. Oh, what she would give to have Tori’s quick thinking at a time like this…

 

“For what it’s worth, sister,” Sara says, jumping into the conversation, “I don’t think you’d be able to find anyone who would volunteer to take on the role in her place. I’m not sure if you’ve seen the princess since her return, but she’s much more… intense now, to put it mildly, and most of the staff is afraid to go anywhere near her at the moment. If Elise is willing to remain as her assistant I don’t see any reason to stop her.”

 

“Hmm…” Sister Elizabeth thinks on the point for a few seconds, which to Elise feels like an eternity. “I suppose I can’t argue with that, I’ve heard similar things from several other servants already.” She turns back to Elise. “Very well then, my child. I see no reason to deprive you of your role as assistant, so long as you don’t end up in a similar situation again.”

 

“Thank you, sister.” Elise hides a sigh of relief, she knows that Sara is essentially just forsaking her to protect the rest of the staff, but in this case it works out in her favour.

 

“Now then, if there’s nothing else either of you wish to discuss, I shall be on my way.” Elizabeth gives a small bow before heading for the door.

 

The maids thank her for her time as she leaves, and now that it’s just the two of them in the kitchen once more, Elise finally feels like she can start to breathe again. That being said, she can't fully relax, that encounter left her with a lot to think about. If a simple conversation with a council member gave her that much trouble, how could she manage to help Tori with other problems in the future?

 

“Oh, by the way,” Sara says as she stands up, having finished her meal, “The princess said she’d be in the archives for most of the afternoon, so if you’re going to look for her that’ll be the place to start.”

 

“Oh, thank you for letting me know, Sara.”

 

“No, thank you for staying on as her assistant, I know that I wouldn’t have wanted to be stuck with that job. I’m off to get back to work now, see you later.” She says casually before leaving Elise to wash the dishes on her own. Elise sighs, but she can’t complain too much. Compared to what she just went through, washing a few dishes will actually be quite relaxing, and give her a chance to calm down before heading out herself.

 

Time passes quickly as Elise washes up, and she then sets off towards the archive, wishing there was more she could do to help her beloved. She ends up taking a longer path to the archives, passing through a wing of the castle that doesn’t get as much foot traffic at this time of day so that she can focus on her thoughts and avoid any prying questions from other members of staff, when she hears a pair of voices around a corner.

 

“I trust that everything is in order for tomorrow?” An older woman asks.

 

“Yes, but I’m still not happy with this.” An older man replies. “Why can’t this be an opportunity for the knights to prove themselves? Just because the princess is strong doesn’t mean the rest of her group are, for all we know we still have a decent chance of winning this thing.”

 

Elise stops before passing the corner and stays quiet. It’s the queen and Sir Percival!

 

“I’m not interested in chances, Percival. We need to do more than just win, we need to show everyone that the princess is unfit to lead, and we need to do it before things get out of hand.”

 

“I know, but couldn’t we do that someplace else? Must we ruin the sanctity of the competition?”

 

“It has to be there, at the competition she set up in order to prove herself. This is no time for your pride as a knight to get in the way of what must be done, we have a problem that needs to be dealt with immediately, Princess Victoria cannot be given any quarter. I will see to it that any further attempts she makes to undermine my authority will be met with failure, and you know what’s at stake if you refuse to cooperate, Percival.”

 

“...Y-Yes, of course. I’ll make sure that the plan is successful, your majesty.”

 

“See to it that you do.”

 

The two of them walk off, and thankfully not in the direction that Elise was hiding in. She can hardly believe what she heard, the council has plans to sabotage tomorrow’s competition between the knights and Tori’s mercenaries! Elise is very glad she ended up coming this way, now she has at least one thing to offer Tori that no one else can.

 

She can warn her before it’s too late.