Who are you kidding here

"Yeah, no charge." You put the note into a pocket and the guard smiles broadly.

"Thank you My Lord!" She bows at you and you wave for her to stop.

"D-don't bow I can help so I will. Just let her know I'll be there in a bit." You had gotten mostly used to people in the city bowing and calling you My Lord, you would never get used to hearing gratitude. As you left the palace you consider if your mother had thought about how instructing everyone to treat you as average would make anyone showing you gratitude would make you uncomfortable. She did didn't she.

You weren't accosted by anyone as you left the palace and walked down the hill. Even most of the people who had been around the base of the hill had disbursed. The streets had returned some of their usual liveliness and you heard snippets of conversations concerning last night. The word 'Incantor' was thrown around a lot so Aurora's plan might be working. Provided Lucia could make a convincing enough image when her recreation of your fight came time be performed. With your help she'll probably be fine, just a matter of if that help is only in practice or if in the performance itself.

Climbing up the hill to the academy you remind yourself, you are here for a trunk and that is it, as soon as you have it you go back to the palace and visit Beth's sister. No getting distracted or side tracked.

The moment you walk through the gate you are attack by Lucia. "WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO?!"

Well at least no one knocked on a door this time. "Could you narrow that down slightly?" You ask, continuing to walk towards the destroyed estate with her beside you.

"Oh yeah what could I possibly. WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK I MEAN!?" She grabs a bit of paper and holds it out for you. Sadly she is on your right hand side.

You stop walking look at the note then hold up your stump. "Gee thanks."

"WHAT THE FUCK!?" She almost jumps back and stares at your stump. "Are you ok, what happened, will it grow back?" She asks, she actually drops the note on the ground from her surprised as she grabs your stump to look at it. "Does it hurt?"

"I'm fine, I cut it off in a aura infused hallucination in order to not stab, either the metaphorical or literal Delilah, I'm a little unsure on that count but it had been have been literal or else I cut off a limb for nothing. Yes it will grow back I just need a few days for the one who is going to help me do that recover their magic, and consciousness. Lastly no, little phantom limb discomfort but no pain."

Lucia blinks at you a few times then starts laughing. You join in as well, she's basically the only person you have been totally honest with for most of the time you've known her and she doesn't believe a word you say. "Thanks." She says with a now calmed down breath. She picks the note off the ground with a bit of reverence. "I just got a note telling me to come to the Palace with my Sponsor this weekend. I thought Queen Aurora herself had given it to me at first." She laughed nervously. "So what did you do?"

"Were you awake for last night's, explosions?"

"Ummmm ..."

"It Auria loud when she cums?"

"Everyone in the room around me keep tell me to gag her." Lucia says with smirk. "Yeah I was awake, didn't see anything until this morning."

"If anyone else asks you were kinda at fault."

"... What?" She asks deadpan.

"Her Highness will explain on the weekend."

"What, you can't leave me like that?" She complains.

"If I explain now you won't get to stare at Queen Aurora's tits while she explains it for you." There is an obvious solution by her getting it explained by both but you know the suggestion of tits has over taken Lucia's capacity to think.

"Oh, wait if I stare at her will I get in trouble?" Lucia asked suddenly very nervous.

"I'll cover for you, and who knows maybe you'll if you do a good a job she'll even let you join her in the Royal Baths." That one finally broke Lucia's brain and she stopped walking with you to imagine that. You kept moving hoping that would be the end of your distractions.

You were close to the estate, it was even in sight. "Christopher." So close

"Hey Asune." You turned and saw her approaching you.

"Lady Stephanie has exempted you from class this afternoon." Asune said approaching. When she was close enough she grabbed your stump and examined it. "Did it hurt?"

"Not really. Why am I exempt?" You asked as she ran a finger over your stumps skin, seemingly trying to feel the bone under it.

"What does it feel like?" She asked running a finger nail across the healed over skin.

"Kinda like this." You ran a nail along her arm.

"I didn't feel it, press harder." She offered her arm letting go of your stump. You pressed the nail a little hard and she grabbed your wrist. "Harder." She pushed your nail into and dragged it down until there was a scratch left behind. No drawn blood but a distinct line.

You pulled your hand out of her grasp feeling your stomach squirming at the sight of her injured arm. "I'll talk later, I need to grab a trunk and go back to the Palace." You started walking, your right hand tingled like it had been scratched.

Asune walked beside you looking at your stump. "Have you sent a letter to Ana explaining what happened?"

You looked up at the destroyed building she'd been using as a home. "No." You feel like someone else can do that, you were, at least in part, the reason there is still this much standing, you feel entitled to not have tell Ana why only this much is still there.

"Can I?" Asune sounded a little too eager.

"Ah sure." You said, scratching at your stump while your right hand kept itching. "Wait why?"

"I'll let her know you weren't seriously injured." Asune said suddenly walking off.

"Wait why do you want to tell her?" It was either Asune testing out if she'd enjoy telling someone bad news, or she had an ulterior motive. Asune didn't answer or stop walking. Just here for the trunk Christopher, just here for the trunk. You walked inside the estate and headed for what would have been Gabrielle's room.

The building is not as deserted as you'd expect. People are going back and forth with boxes, furniture, carpets, most of a room. "What's happening?" You ask one of them.

"We're getting the estate ready for repairs. Nothing can get dirty while it happens." Is the answer.

You hurry to Gabrielle's room hoping the trunk hadn't already been taken away. Opening the door greets your with a missing room. "Shit." The exterior wall is missing, half the floor is burned the rest incinerated, the furniture is either missing or burned worse than the floor. But the one thing you can't see is her trunk. You tried to remember where you'd put the trunk, hoping it hadn't been in the missing part of the room. You were pretty sure it was on the non-destroyed side of the building but it wasn't here.

You hear a commotion from the hallway and back out seeing two women trying to carry a wardrobe through a door. "Excuse me, sorry to interrupt." You hurry over and point at the room you'd just left. "Has anyone taken a trunk out of that room?"

"No Sir." The woman blushes deeply when she looks at you. You check to make sure you are still wearing clothes. You sighed. You still hadn't put a shirt on. Damn it. "Everything has been taken to storage."

"Where's storage?" You asked getting closer. Don't offer help, don't offer help, don't offer help.

"Around the back of the estate where the staff house is."

"Thank you, need a hand." Goddess fucking damn it.

"No Sir." The woman looked at your bare chest. "B-but there might be a shirt inside." The two women put the wardrobe down and opened it up to show a mass of clothing.

"Oh, thanks." You walked over and pulled out a very colourful top. You didn't really want to shop around while they are trying to work.

"There might be some pants for that." The woman said staring at your lower half, her co-worker coughed and she blushed. "I mean we might be able to find you some pants Sir." The other woman sighed.

"I'm fine." You said, "Thanks for all the help." You nodded at them and pulled on the shirt. "Behind the estate?" The woman nodded and you left them with a smile.

As you go you hear a defensive, "What if he didn't want us to look he wouldn't always be naked?" from the woman. You blush and hurry away, you might end up naked in public a lot and have gotten used it as a result but having that brought to your attention is still embarrassing.

Leaving the estate and going around the back you see lots more women taking the items from the estate inside a much smaller house behind it. Hurrying over to a women sitting at at small table noting down what had been taken and from which room you ask her about the trunk. She flicks through her notes and points you inside.

You hurry in and eventually find the trunk, totally undamaged, not even slightly blackened. You reach down to pick it and encounter an issue. You are missing a rather important part of the whole carrying a large trunk equation. Pressing your stump against the side you life it off the ground and put your left hand under it, with a bit of magic it doesn't weight anything so balancing isn't that difficult. Carrying it out of the estate you tell the women taking notes that you are taking this to it's owner at the palace. She writes the note and thanks you for informing her.

You are very glad the staff know you, or else you wondering in and taking a trunk away might have been more difficult. You manage to leave the academy without anyone accosting you, an achievement at least on par with not dying last night.

When you get to the Palace you are able to bring the trunk to the still **** Gabrielle and leave it nest to her bed. With that done you follow Beth's directions to her sister