Lish understood that Mr Sakiyama hadn’t been given due notice for their arrival. She also understood that this entire wedding was a tragedy and no one could’ve foreseen the sudden turn of events orchestrated by the Sumbrian royal family - even if they were known for doing just that.

  Lish hated them almost as much as she loathed the knight commander.

  Knowing the reason did not mean she forgave Bastian of Peldeep for this disrespect. Far from it!

  Bastian had gone all the way across Valaria to enter marriage talks with her lady. He’d known, in advance, that he might be bringing home a wife - and had had ample time to prepare for just such an occasion.

  He should have told Mr Sakiyama to prepare. He should have made ready. He should have used that brain in his head for five seconds - something he appeared incapable of while all of his wits were tied up lusting after her charge!

  The lout.

  It was obvious that no such care had been taken, and that the poor housekeeper was in the middle of cleaning up the drakin’s bachelor estate when they’d arrived. The fae could be mostly forgiven, she’d thought, until she’d opened the door to Peregrine’s room.

  Lish had underestimated just how far gone the knight commander’s home was, and the shock had made her slow to get out of the way as twenty odd bundles of fabric, a basket of yarn balls, and a box of wooden dowels came crashing down on top of her.

  [You have taken 2 points of physical damage to the arm.]

  [You have taken 1 point of blunt force damage to the shin.]

  [Perk [Mess Endurance] activated, granting +5 to Constitution while facing a mess. Perk lasts for Level 41 x Skill (Tidy) 4 = 00:02:44.]

  Level 41 was no joke, and she had decent strength enough to push the articles of fabric off of her. Mr Sakiyama was also there, fretting about like the butterfly he was, picking at the mess a few times before settling on one task - collecting the dowels.

  “Lish, are you alright?” Peregrine’s hand reached in and grabbed her, leveraging the maid out of the pile.

  “I most certainly am not.” Lish declared, getting to her feet and dusting herself off. There were stray threads clinging to her black dress, and something poking her head. She reached up and dislodged a yarn stick that had been stuck in her hairbun.

  Looking at the stick in her hand, something snapped in her heart.

  “You!” Lish turned on Bastian with the stick, rage rising from her chest into her throat, almost choking her. “You expect my lady to live here?! In this filth? Sleeping on the floor like some peasant?! Never! She is a Countess! A Fern! You are not worthy to even look at her–”

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  “Lishinia Linden! ” ” Peregrine’s voice cut through her words, and Lish dragged her eyes to her mistress. Peregrine’s cheeks were burning all the way to the tips of her ears, from anger or embarrassment, Lish couldn’t place. Probably both.

  Lish was too far gone to be silenced. “I only speak the truth. This is an insult.”

  Bastian spoke for the first time then, telling Peregrine, “She is right.”

  “No!” Peregrine squeezed Bastian’s arm, comforting her fiance like she had been trained to. “We both know why I’m staying here instead of the palace - and how important it is. And I don’t mind sleeping on the floor–”

  Lish had seen it time and again on the journey - her lady placating her fool fiance even as she let him touch her! “Well I do! And so will your family. Just wait until your father hears about this insult!”

  “Lish, I said that is enough.” Peregrine’s voice hitched louder, “The only one who should be insulted right now is our host! We aren’t in Sumbria anymore and things are different here. That doesn’t make them lesser, and if you can’t adapt then you can get right back on that boat and go home!”

  In all her years of service, Lish had never been spoken to like this. The countess rarely put down her foot or used her authority to suppress others, and it was another mark against this cursed place that Peregrine was doing so now. “My Lady, you can’t mean that–”

  “I do!” Peregrine drew a deep breath and looked down at Lish with all the force of her station. “Now, I order you to apologize to our host - or leave.”

  It took everything Lish had, years of loyalty and a love for her mistress that remained unshakeable, to school her features and face the knight commander and Mr Sakiyama. The fae had an arm full of dowels, but had frozen when the shouting started.

  “My apologies,” Lish managed, though she knew that anyone looking at her would tell how little she meant those words. “To you and your household. Put my lady wherever you see fit, here or in a closet. It isn’t my place to say. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

  Lish turned on her heel and walked past Mr Sakiyama and out the door. She didn’t reply when Peregrine called her name, knowing that she would only lose her temper again and it was better to put some distance between them until her lady was calm enough to see reason.

  Calm enough to see that this was worse than anyone back home could’ve imagined - living in a lowly estate house full of mess and mayhem... Something Mr Sakiyama said earlier pushed Lish to march passed her room, back through the hall, down the stairs and into the kitchen. Sure, that was clean, but it was only ten steps until she ripped open the door into the dining hall.

  It looked like an alchemical lab that had exploded all over canvas. Paint stained the wooden dining room table, which was at least the proper height for a table. Swathes of tiny squares painted in hundreds of hues were pinned to a wall, each with a number on top. Bottles were stacked everywhere, each also numbered, and there were smeared bottles full of paint brushes piled on two of the dining chairs. The smell of chemicals and dyes delicately burned her senses.

  It was unsanitary. It was chaos.

  It was the last straw.

  Lish left, wrenching open the front door and stepping out into the fresh air. She would send a letter to the Fern’s as fast as she could. Today. The wedding must be stopped at all cost.

  When Lish walked through the barrier and out onto the street, she ran face first into someone who’d been waiting outside.

  “You’re that conniving countessess servant, aren’t you?” Sir Rebecca asked, looking down at Lish. “Where are you sneaking off–”

  Lish couldn't take it any longer and punched the lizardkin knight square in the chestplate.