In For A Penny, In For A Pound!

It quickly became apparent that trying to trick the misfit girls would be the better choice of the two. From their knowledge or Ricard, uh, Rosie, it would suit his- her personality to try to drag people down with her. She was far from dull, and probably knew that she had a chance to make trouble for the group that had ruined her plans. Doing nothing would just be hoping that she didn’t want to cause trouble, and no one was willing to take a risk on that. It was simply safer to be proactive here. Besides, if Rosalind and Earnest couldn't fool the misfit girls, it would be hard to imagine them fooling knights and church members too.

The misfit girls didn’t know much about Earnest, so he would have it easy. He would just have to act manly and knightly enough to meet their expectations. Rosalind on the other hand would have a more difficult task. The misfit girls knew Rosalind for some time, and would probably have a better idea of what she was like. Rosalind remembered that she picked up her diary while clearing out the misfit girls’ base, and brought it to the group. This was probably their best bet to learn about the time Rosalind spent in Knottori. Next best would be to ask the villagers, but it’s not like Rosalind could ask the villagers for information on herself. That would probably raise more questions and suspicions, and the group needed to keep those to a minimum before the knights and church arrived.

The group finished their discussion, so it was time to put their plan into action. Coltia dispelled the attention and eavesdropping prevention spells, and the group paid for their meals. Coltia didn’t really have much to do, so she returned to her room to keep the black mind slime company, and continued examining Morgan’s journal. Rosalind and Earnest left the inn together, finding a private enough area to begin Earnest’s manhood training. The misfit girls’ base was probably the best spot, despite it being an enemy base until recently.

As the pair walked together, Rosalind considered what to teach Earnest first. Speech patterns, past history, stature, knowledge of the knights, there was so much to cover. As she considered this, she noticed Earnest in front of her. Her eyes were immediately drawn to his ass, since he was using way more hip movement than most men while walking. Might as well start there.

Rosalind corrected Earnest, who took a few tries to alter his walking style. After some suggestions from Rosalind, he ended up with a clunky, stiff gait that was certainly unnatural, but felt more… normal than what Rosalind just saw. Earnest would have to practice this a bit to get the balance and movement to look natural.

The pair reached the clearing that housed the misfit girls’ base, and found it just as messy as Rosalind had left it, which was probably a good sign. The two entered the building and pulled up some makeshift seats, and Rosalind began the lessons.

“Okay, so I’ve never had to teach a woman how to be a man before, in fact I could probably use some coaching on how to act like a lady as well. Either way, I don’t know exactly what’s right to teach you, but I can spot things that are wrong at least. Anyways, to get started, why don’t you ask me any questions you might have about being… me.”

Earnest looked away from Rosalind as it looked like he had several questions he wanted to ask, but couldn’t decide on which one to go first. As Rosalind watched him, she noticed another thing. Earnest sat on the makeshift seat with his knees together and his hands in his lap.

“Oh, Ale- uh, Earnest… your legs. Don’t put them together like that. It looks… lady-like… I guess. Most of the men I know, myself included, sit with their legs spread a little.”

Earnest listened and parted his knees, but kept his hands over his crotch, which looked almost comical. Rosalind told him to remove his hands and just keep them on his knees or something. He seemed ****, but then moved his hands to reveal a bulge in his pants that he was hiding. Rosalind didn’t know what to say, leading to an awkward silence between the two. Surprisingly Earnest was the one to break the silence.

“Um… I guess… uh, the first question… uh, that I have… is… uh… how- how do I deal with… this?”

Rosalind blinked a few times and brought a hand up to scratch the back of her head. How was she supposed to answer that? Well, uh, she guessed… honestly?

“Oh, uh, Alesia… I mean Earnest, uh, sorry about that. Um… yeah so that happens… sometimes. And, uh, it can be kind of random at times, so don’t worry too much about it. You can wait for it to settle down on its own, but there’s also this trick that I learned from the other knights. If you flex your thigh muscles, it’ll help it calm down faster, so, uh, maybe try that?”

Earnest looked somewhat surprised by this answer, as he responded to Rosaind’s advice.

“Oh, wait, uh… it can stop on its own?”

Rosalind looked back quizzically, and responded as if she didn’t really understand what Earnest was saying.

“Uh, yeah, it stops on its own after some time.”

“So you don’t have to… y’know… do stuff to… you know…”

“No, no. Uh, no we don’t…”

Earnest looked incredibly embarrassed. It seemed like he had less knowledge of men than Rosalind thought, this might be tough. Rosalind changed the topic, and started to tell Earnest about her past. She told him about the small village where the two of them grew up, and the motivations that both of them had for joining the knights. Rosalind got caught up in her reminiscing, recalling stories of how the two of them enjoyed their youth together. She told Earnest the story of the dirty white quartz necklace that he wore, and how he would always keep it on his person. Earnest listened to Rosalind’s stories with a complex expression that Rosalind couldn't quite decipher. Perhaps it was pity? It was hard to tell.

Rosalind looked away as she continued to retell the story of past Rosalind. Earnest didn’t know Rosalind all too well, but he could tell that she was getting pretty emotional talking about the past. Earnest’s shyness told him to let her be, but his sense of doing right by her compelled him to extend a hand and place it on Rosalind’s shoulder. Rosalind looked up at Earnest, and he saw that her eyes were almost tearing up. After a moment, Rosalind seemed to get a hold of herself, and apologized to Earnest.

“Sorry… I got a little caught up there… I’m alright.”

Earnest looked at Rosalind kindly, and reassured her in a voice that had more confidence than he really felt.

“It’s okay. It’ll all be okay. I know that this has been hard on you, but I’m sure this will all work out. I want to help, and Coltia does too. We’re both here for you, and you can rely on us.”

Rosalind smiled at Earnest’s encouraging words, feeling the support of the companions that she had met not all that long ago. Rosalind regained her resolve, and thanked Earnest for the kind words. Earnest could see the determination reignite in Rosalind’s eyes, and felt satisfaction and relief that he managed to comfort her.

Rosalind decided to stop with the stories, and to go in a different direction. Both of them got off of their chairs and went outside for more physical lessons. Rosalind instructed Earnest on how to stand up straight, how to keep his stomach tight and his chest out in front of him. Earnest responded well, as he was also motivated by the words that he offered Rosalind. The two continued to work together, getting used to each other in their respective bodies, and getting more comfortable with each other.

The two of them only stopped once they started to feel hungry. The two of them left the base and visited the Knottori bakery for lunch. They arrived at the strange bakery-home hybrid, and were greeted by the cheerful baker-wife. Rosalind ordered a pastry, the same as the first time she ate there. Earnest browsed his options, and chose the sweetest option available. The baker took their order and began to chat merrily about the recent going-ons in her life. It was nice to make small talk with one of the villagers, and from what Rosalind and Earnest could tell, the baker was oblivious to the fact that they were not truly who they appeared to be.

The pair sat across from each other at a table, enjoying their respective pastries. Rosalind made a casual comment about how unusual it was to see a man enjoying sweets, usually the knights she knew would order something more meaty. Earnest picked up on the hint, and nodded with his mouth full. They couldn’t converse freely in public, so they had to exchange information in a more stealthy way.

It wasn’t a large meal, so the two of them finished rather quickly. It was now time to move on to the next part of the day. They would follow the plan that they discussed earlier, during breakfast. The first part of the day would be used by Rosalind to coach Earnest. The next part of the day would be a little more free. Rosalind would look over her own diary, learning about what she had done in the first months of her assignment to the village. Earnest would return to the inn, and avoid the public’s eye for the time being. If needed, he could switch back into Alesia’s body to keep it healthy, and even go out to interact with the villagers if she so desired. Earnest had little desire to do this though, as he prefered to spend as much time being Earnest as possible.

Rosalind and Earnest walked together back to the inn, giving passing greetings to the villagers that they passed by. Just like the baker, they had no clue about the two people they were looking at. They just assumed everything was normal, and that the male and female knight they were passing by were the real Rosalind and Earnest. Who would suspect anything different?

However, the villagers were indeed speculating about Earnest and Rosalind. Earnest had first arrived in a hurry, and asked all around town about Rosalind. Clearly there was something going on, and the villagers filled their idle time with speculating and rumoring what this relationship could be. Was it just a visit from a colleague? A friend? A lover? What about the recent changes in Rosalind’s behavior? Was she lonely and suffering a love sickness from being seperated? Perhaps the two had shared a passionate night before she was deployed to Knottori, and Rosalind was with Earnest’s child! Wild rumors passed from mouth to ear in the village, as this quickly became the hot topic of the week. Little did they know that their current reality might be even stranger than the most unhinged rumors.

Some of the villagers that Earnest and Rosalind greeted threw back some probing questions, attempting to validate any of the rumors.

“Hey there! Hope you’re both doing well! Did you sleep well last night?”

“Ayy lad, how’s yer back doin’?”

“Oh young man, how long do you plan on staying? Perhaps you’re settling down here?”

The questions were mostly pointed towards Earnest, and he managed to keep his cool and give dismissive answers that didn’t really mean anything. Even though every interaction was a bit nerve wracking for Earnest, making it through each of them boosted his confidence a little.

The two reached the inn and split up once they reached their rooms. Rosalind closed the door behind her and retrieved the diary that she planned on examining. During his time in the capital, he had seen a few ladies carrying diaries or journals with them. These notebooks were extravagantly decorated and cute, no doubt full of wistful musings, penned in the fanciest over-stylized handwriting. Rosalind’s diary was far from this, in fact it was much closer to the journals that men kept. It was a plain, leather bound book that was quite durable.

Rosalind lifted its cover and opened to the first page. It was Rosalind’s writing, and a clear message on how to return this diary to its owner if it was lost. Rosalind chuckled to herself. She remembered telling the original Rosalind to write that there when she first got the diary. The real Rosalind… the one what wrote every word that was in this book. A book that would hopefully give more details on what had happened, and shed light on what became of the real Rosalind. She flipped to the next page and began to read.