161 Peaceful life of lady Champom

Calla woke up in her large and empty bed feeling lonely.

Emp had left a few weeks ago already and she missed him. She did not fear for his safety in the least because her husband was just the best but without him close to her she felt... weak.

When he was just by her side, she always felt like she could do anything, that nothing could possibly harm her. With him gone for a while, she lacked the confidence she only had in minimal amount to begin with.

She felt out of place in that big bed too if he wasn't sleeping next to her. She hurried herself out of it and started dressing up.

Aside from Svae and Harriett, she was always the first to get up in the house. After her, it was usually lady Verepe or lady Grovgar that got up the earliest. They liked to practice their sword in the yard early in the morning to take advantage of the cool air. Lady Starbeetle on the other hand refused to get out of bed even with Galana mocking her from the side.

"It's too cold to get up! How do you even find the courage to get out of the covers?" She would complain.

She was very sensitive to cold. The others all found it funny but whenever the heat rose to such a degree that everyone else found it painful to move, she'd be up and about acting as normal. Then, it was her turn to tease Galana.

Calla finished tying up her dress properly, put on her magic cuff and left her room to make her way to Harriet's instead. Since the sisters and Svae had left with Emp, Calla left their room to Harriett. Everyone else shared a room with someone but there wasn't anyone else to share with her.

Since she was alone and woke up early like her, she didn't fear to disturb her by going there right away in the morning. Her loose hair floated in the morning breeze as she passed the windows on the second floor. Before she got married, she would tie up her own hair herself but she always needed her mother to fix them because she couldn't see the back of her head. Now, she had Harriett to do it for her.

The servant girl was very proud to do it. She was a very hard worker and needed every little task to be done perfectly. She was really helpful and did more than her fair share of work in the house. She took great pride in her housework and acted very respectfully with everyone.

Calla felt a bit put off by her overly respectful tone and language but everyone else seemed to think this was normal. She understood that she was the wife of the future lord Muracier but she just couldn't get used to how servants addressed her. She just wanted to be their friends whereas people Harriett insisted on treating her with the highest care and deference.

Lady Pierécorce on the other hand adored the behavior of Harriett. She said she was the most professional servant she had ever met and enjoyed her expert work and the way she addressed everyone. She must have missed being taken care of by a swarm of servants.

She reached her door and knocked softly. Harriett opened for her quickly and let her in with a bow.

"Mistress, please come in, I prepared your seat."

Harriett proposed many times that she should be the one going to her room to help her with her hair and not the other way around but Calla disagreed. She knew that if she let Harriett in for her hair, she would insist on helping her dress too and that was too embarrassing for her to bear with.

Calla walked in and sat on the chair prepared for her to let Harriett comb and dress her hair. Should she feel bad about slowly getting used to this?

Calla mostly believed that she didn't need help in her everyday life, having others do things for her was a bit strange. However, she also couldn't help but feel it was pleasant to just relax while Harriett took care of her hair. She also had to admit that caring for the whole household would be impossible for her alone. There were just too many ladies living here.

All of them did their part but they weren't good at it. Most of them weren't used to everyday work and had relied on servants in the past. They only put in some efforts here because Calla herself worked hard and they couldn't let their lady do the work. In fact, if they had it their way, Calla wouldn't ever work and they'd do everything for her.

It would be catastrophic for the house if she let that happen. None of them had even known how to wash clothes before Calla showed them herself, they always did the bare minimum when cleaning and left dust in every corner and the list of mistakes just kept going on like that. It was for the best if they all did a small part and Calla or Harriett passed again behind them to complete the work.

While her hair was taken care off, she thought about what she should prepare for breakfast. She decided to go take a look in her small garden and see if something was ready to be harvested. She'd do something with that and a bit of the meat they had stored.

By the time she made her trip outside and prepared her working space for the breakfast, most of the others had woken up and started their day properly. Only Lea and the Whisperstring twins didn't come out of their rooms. Lea was probably awake but wouldn't leave her room unless absolutely necessary while the twins simply didn't wake up in the morning. They were so energetic all the time and spent so much energy everyday trying to make each little thing special that they fell in a coma whenever they went to bed and didn't wake up before late in the morning.

Most of the others did some workout in the yard before breakfast or made their way downstairs to speak with her while she worked on the breakfast. One of them was also tasked with helping her cook and today, the scheduled lady was Maria Starbeetle.

She walked downstairs while rubbing her arms to warm herself up. She was making a displeased face at the fact she had to get up so early.

"Lady Muracier, how can you be so casual about that cold? You're wearing such a light dress."

"It's not cold at all Maria." Lusine Pierécorce contested. "You're the strange one here, our lady is acting perfectly normal."

She was right, it wasn't cold at all, it was just Maria that was too sensitive. She pointed at the knife and vegetables to her side. A bit of work would surely warm her up.

The noble girl would readily complain about the temperature but never once complained about the work.

Maria picked up the knife and started cutting as instructed while the others quickly gathered at the table to speak. Calla really liked the atmosphere here, the mood was always good and everyone got along well. They all had different personalities but they all worked well together somehow. It took a while for everyone to fit well in the house and there were still some conflicts from time to time but Calla didn't have a hard time working everything out.

Honestly, being the wife of Emp helped greatly. Everyone had too much respect for his family name to cause her any trouble and she only had to put out minimal efforts to resolve any problem. Plus, she liked them enough that spending time with them was pleasant. Recently, she spent much more time with them than her old friends from the village.

It wasn't that she didn't want to spend time with them, on the contrary, she wanted them to come visit more often but everyone was busy with life and everyone was intimidated by the amount of ladies piled up in this place.

Her old friends had their own life now too, work to do and some had husbands now. Their marriage hadn't happened yet but she had heard that Izzy gave her offering to Wilbert, Galina gave hers to Cuthberht and Sylvia gave her offering of Holia to Jurgen, all on the same day. Willow now had a third baby to take care of as well so she rarely saw her at all.

Only Eda and Winter came regularly to visit and Winter felt very sad about Erin and Leo leaving. She had a great time playing with Leonni who was closer in age to her. Her days of playing around were coming to an end however, Calla heard that Winter's parents were about to put her to work, they couldn't let her follow Eda around all year round after all.

Eda was the oldest of her friends and was already twenty years old. Girls and women around the village worried about her not having a husband yet but Calla knew she was just waiting for Gilbert to get himself together. Eda loved him a lot but she had been afraid that if she gave him an offering, he'd stop doing any efforts at all. She wanted him to succeed and have a stable income before she proposed.

Gilbert had always been unmotivated and unrealistic about his own future and she needed him to be more reliable. She could definitely see herself with him but he needed to put in some efforts and that was why she was the oldest unmarried woman in the village, well, aside from the ladies here gathered.

Those weren't in any hurry to marry. They were fine as they were and either young or a bit older they felt that they had plenty of time still to find their true place. Plus, their current role offered them a huge advantage over other noble ladies.

As Calla's attendants, they believed they would be able to stay involved with many high nobles and important figures for the Muracier's. As ladies-in-waiting, they were also labelled as potential other wives for Emp and Calla knew that some of them would like to be her wed sisters. Kaisla for example had quickly grown to love Emp even if she would not admit it readily.

In short, they liked their current lives and knew that thanks to it, they'd find the man to match them, either Emp himself or someone they'd meet thanks to him and Calla.

In the meantime, they took their task very seriously and that task was of course to prepare Calla to face nobles and act as the lady she had become. They worked on this for years already even if Calla felt it was only yesterday that they all came into her life.

The problem was, Calla was a bit of a bad student. She knew that she would eventually have to understand what all the ladies tried to teach her but it felt so removed from reality to her. It was almost as if nobles lived on a different world than her own. She had a hard time to keep everything in mind and often got disappointed sighs from Lusine from having forgotten something yet again.

Worse, just trying to picture herself in front of other nobles made her legs weak. She didn't want to meet any more nobles than she already had, it was too much for her. Her heart started beating super fast just from thinking about it.

Today again, the girls discussed with her the things she had to learn for the future while she worked on the breakfast. She made it a point to listen properly every time even though she was more interested in the food. Despite being bad at it, she understood that knowing how to act and being able to recognize who was who and what their roles were was very important. She didn't really fear that she might embarrass herself because that was a certainty either way, she only feared that she might cause trouble for Emp instead.

Because of that, she did her best pay attention and sometimes tried to act like a proper lady around the house, just to practice. She really didn't think she was the best at it but she would keep trying until she got it right. She wondered if her kids would get it more naturally. Once she had a few, they'd grow up into big nobles too like their father, hopefully, they'd be more confident like him.

"Lady Muracier? Did you let your mind wander again?" Sarissa Greathorn asked with an amused smile.

"Sorry..."

Her day moved along as usual after this. They shared a good breakfast then all came together to complete the chores as quickly as possible before she threw herself into preparing dinner.

Then, this afternoon, she planned on visiting Lea in her room for a while before trying to learn the proper way to address different kinds of nobles again.

Lea Duchêne didn't like to leave her room but at least, she did come out to get her food and eat with the other. She stayed silent the whole time however. Calla could understand, she'd like to stay silent the whole time too.

Once the meal was over, Lea fled the scene like usual but Calla would soon follow her. She just wanted to fetch a dress of hers that needed to be fixed. She had torn open a sleeve on accident the other day while she was reaching up to snuff out a lantern.

Her plans were disturbed by a few strong knock on the door however. She frowned in worry. If it was some of her friends or someone from her family, they'd knock more delicately and then enter right away. She wondered who it could be but at the same time, she didn't want to go check herself. She turned her eyes to Harriett who had already started to wash the dishes.

"Understood mistress, I'll go see what it is." She answered her silent demand with a nod.

"Such a reliable woman to be able to understand her mistress wants with just a gaze." Lusine said in satisfaction while Calla gave a thankful smile to the slave.

Harriett made her way to the door and answered politely. On the other side was a guard from the village. She recognized him as the one who watched the east gate with her brother before. He spoke quickly to Harriett who nodded and turned around to announce what he wanted to the girls gathered in the room.

"This guard came to inform our lady about the presence of a noble lord at the gate wishing to see her. He's followed by a large amounts of knights."

Calla felt the blood drain from her face. A lord wanted to see her? Who could that be and why? What should she do? She quickly turned her eyes towards Lusine. She was not the most friendly but she mostly knew what to do around other nobles.

"My opinion is that you should change into a better dress and go meet them with all of us lined behind you in support." She proposed to Calla.

Looking down at herself, she wore a plain yellow dress with an apron tied over it because she was just cooking. Changing into something more noble looking was probably for the best. She turned her eyes towards Kaisla next for her opinion. She grew up with the Muraciers themselves, she knew best how they would act.

"I agree with her, you should have the guard relay that you'll be there shortly, we'll all dress up properly in dresses or armors and follow you with strength. You can rely on us for whatever they want. We'll help you take more careful actions once we know who it is and what they want."

This sounded awfully stressful, she didn't know if she would really be able to stand in front of a noble like that. Usually, she had Emp to hide behind but this time, she would be the one in front. She took a deep breath that sounded awfully close to a gasp and nodded towards Harriett at the door.

"Our lady will be there shortly. Please tell the visiting lord to be patient while she prepares to meet him." She heard Harriett tell the man before he ran off.

Right after, everyone got up to prepare. Harriett and the girls already wearing decent clothes pulled calla into her room to get her changed while the others prepared themselves or went to fetch Lea again.

Now, the thing she really didn't want to happen was happening and the girls were helping her dress up. It couldn't be helped, nobles clothes were delicate and often had many layers and small details to adjust. They were in a hurry and didn't have the time to let Calla fiddle with them herself for an hour or two. Despite her embarrassment, her many attendants stripped her naked and dressed her up again in record time. They had her put on the dress that had been made for her in Bêtéclair along with a gorgeous necklace she feared to even touch with how expensive it looked and the earrings to match it.

They tied the dress and the corset underneath it so tightly it was hard to breathe properly. She felt uncomfortable but the look it gave her might just be worth it. She had no mirror but just looking down at herself, she could tell that she looked like a completely different person.

Then the girls lined up many powders and cosmetic tools on her bed and did all sorts of things to her face. Most of them she didn't see because she kept her eyes closed while four pairs of hands played around her head. She didn't see the result but they all assured her she looked perfect.

If Emp had been there, she could have known right away what she looked like just from his eyes. She could have seen if he thought it was unlike her or too much or as they said, perfect. Right now, she could only rely on her new friends.

They had her put on the small shoes with the higher heel that went with the dress as well once they left her face alone.

Back in Bêtéclair, she couldn't walk in them properly and had to heavily lean on Emp. She had gotten some practice in with them since then but she doubted that the village path outside would let her walk decently.

She frowned at the thought of it and brought her cuff to her mouth to speak.

"Could someone help me stand once we get outside?"

"Of course my lady, I'll walk with you if you want." Kaisla proposed helpfully. "Even I never got used to that kind of footwear."

"Why not, riding boots are just the same." Sarissa told her.

"Not at all, shoes like those are much more narrow at the heel and higher too. I could never get the balance right."

"It's because you try to keep your battle stance even while you wear those, of course it will be hard."

"Ladies please, we are in a hurry." Lusine reminded them.

Calla liked to listen to those random conversation but Lusine was right, they couldn't make a noble wait for too long.

She got up and left the room with the girls following behind her. Harriett would remain here in the house for now because she wasn't Calla's servant, she was Emp's, same for Galana.

While she was being prepared, the others managed to convince Lea to come out as well. She really didn't like to meet people or just see people in general but Calla might just be the best friend she had ever made and she wanted to support her. She would never be able to say a thing because of her nervousness but at least she would be there. That would be enough to provide some more strength to Calla.

The nine ladies followed Calla to the door and those dressed in armor put on their boots there. They quickly decided how to move as they did. They would walk in two groups of four on either side of Calla, a few steps removed behind her with Kaisla directly on her side to stabilize her.

Lusine and Sarissa would be on her right with Bailey and Lanavera in armor while Maria and Lea would occupy the left with the twins who brought their bows. This would make two ladies and two warriors on either side.

With that decided, Calla took a deep breath, or one as big as the clothes would let her take, and stepped outside.

She heard Galana wish them all good luck from upstairs and the sunlight assaulted her eyes. She took a second to adjust herself to the bright outdoors and took the arm that Kaisla extended towards her. It was embarrassing to take Kaisla's arm instead of Emp's but she might just die of shame if she fell on the way. She had always been clumsy after all and the shoes were seemingly made to make her trip.

Walking towards the east gate, she felt very out of place. She was out of place in the village dressed like a rich noble and followed by actual nobles, anyone who saw her would wonder what she was doing or if it was really her in the first place. She was also out of place with the other noble girls themselves, she just couldn't bring herself to believe that she really belonged here with them.

She just wanted to go back to her kitchen and make so comforting food. All those fancy clothes and overly precious jewels were far too much for her. She was just an ordinary girl.

"And so our charming lady hesitantly made her way to the gate of her stronghold! She feared to discover who might be so rude as to demand her to come out and interrupted her peaceful afternoon." Victory said while raising an arm up in the air.

"The sun made her beauty shine brightly despite the coming storm. Would it be a rival of her husband or a bitter suitor who came back to steal her swiftly while the lord was away?" Destiny added while mirroring the arm gesture of her sister.

Calla didn't have any suitors and certainly didn't know any nobles at all... Maybe it was Mable!

She hadn't thought of that before because she was too nervous. If they came from the east gate they must have come from Bêtéclair which meant that she might actually know them! Hopefully it was someone she had met before that just came to say hi while they were passing through.

The thought made her feel much less nervous than before. Her steps grew a bit quicker and more confident as a result. It would make for a very fun evening to meet with a friend she had not seen in a few years. Since Emp had left, she had not been able to exchange letters with them anymore. She was curious to see how they were doing.

"You two better not embarrass the lady in front of the visitors." Lanavera warned the twins who were still making poses behind Calla and narrating the event-less walk.

Bailey took their defense readily.

"Don't worry, they're like my cute dogs, they know when to not act up."

"I hope so. Our lady has had very few contacts with nobles, every encounter she has will influence her general reputation." Lusine explained.

"I'm not worried at all. She did a fantastic job last time when our lord brought his friends for supper. She was charming and elegant and her food left a spectacular impression on them I'm sure. They'll only have good things to say about her." Sarissa said, either to reassure the others or Calla herself.

Those words made Maria giggle.

"One of them even asked if our lady had a sister just as pretty. You know the stocky one with short hairs. The one who almost looks shaven."

"I believe his name was Odilon, sir Longhorn gave him a slap on the back of the head for that question I believe." Lusine laughed along.

Calla remembered that, she also remembered that Emp said it wasn't the first time he asked and that was why he had made it a point to not let the rest of her family eat with them that night. He had not wanted his friends to embarrass him in front of his parents-in-law.

Calla would have been afraid of the opposite, her family where far under nobles, if they offended Emp's friends somehow it could have been bad for them.

While chatting about that, the group reached the gate. Calla started to see who the group wanting the see her was but she didn't recognize them at all.

"Ah!" Kaisla said excitedly. "It's grandfather! I mean, it's Lord Aminui Muracier, the grandfather of our lord!"

Calla saw her brighten up to an almost blinding degree at the sight of the visitor. She loved the old noble a lot. When she called him grandfather, she truly meant it, to her, he was family. Calla could have seen it even without being able to sense affection like she could.

Looking at the old man still a good distance away, she found him intimidating. He was like Marcy but in a man's form, absolutely enormous. She'd never get anywhere close to him if she didn't have to and even now, she kept walking only because Kaisla was supporting her. Right now, she wanted to flee from his sharp brown eyes, he gave off the impression that he'd kill anyone that looked toward him the wrong way.

Was this man really the grandfather of Emp?

What if he didn't like her? What should she do? What should she say to him?

"Doesn't he look just like Emp?" Kaisla asked her.

Calla really thought he did not. Emp's side was the safest place in the world, like a kind fluffy dragon of sorts. This man's sides seemed to be the most dangerous place in the world instead, just getting near him might kill her from fright.

"Don't worry, just forget about all the noble speech and just talk to him normally. He's like your husband and thinks that the usual etiquette is too roundabout and an utter waste of time. Also, call him grandfather instead of lord, he'll like it I promise, family is really important to him." Kaisla advised her as they got close.

At least she didn't have to be afraid to say something wrong.

Her feet almost refused to make the few last steps to stand in front of him but she somehow managed. She had to look upward to him like she had to for Emp but this man was the taller of the two.

"Hi my lord! I'm happy to see you." Kaisla told him right away.

His face didn't change at all but Calla sensed warmth flow through him at the welcoming words.

"Hi, I'm glad to see you safe and well." He told her before turning his attention towards everyone else.

Behind him, his many knights all stood at attention. They were much more professional than the soldiers that followed Emp away. Those were valiant and strong, stoic may be the word to describe them, they didn't look interested in what was happening at all.

"I am lord Aminui Muracier, ancient of the Muracier house, ex-great general and grandfather to Emp Muracier." He introduced himself to the others even though Calla was certain that he knew them all.

He was doing that more for her benefit than anything else. It was her turn now to introduce herself somehow. She brought the cuff Emp had given her up to her mouth and spoke.

"Hi grandfather..."

She got stuck! She couldn't say anymore! She was too embarrassed to muster anything more and that knowledge made it even even more embarrassing.

But... All the other girls stood behind her to encourage her, she couldn't let them down now! She called for all her meager courage and forced a few more words out of her with great difficulty.

"I'm Calla Champom-Muracier... Emp's wife... Are you hungry?"

The rest of the girls seemed to think it was a pretty poor introduction. Even Kaisla turned her head to the side to hide her amused smile.

Calla's face turned deep red, she just thought that if he traveled all the way here form Bêtéclair, he might not have had dinner yet. She just wanted to be hospitable! Yet she had to go and say it in such an embarrassingly childish way.

Couldn't she have said something like; did you have dinner yet? May I offer you something?

She even forgot to say she was pleased to meet him! Even though this encounter scared her to no end, she really was curious about Emp's family and wanted to meet them.

She feared how he might react and tensed up in worry but his reaction went against her expectations. From a giant of thorns, he turned into a big soft cloud, just like that. Had her senses gone wrong? She had gotten pretty good at identifying the affection of everyone since she had discovered that ability of hers but she had never seen the feelings of anyone change so quickly.

She couldn't understand what was happening, it was like his attitude had made a complete reversal. Even his stone face changed a bit, the corner of his mouth rose slightly. He turned from death-cold to fire-warm in a second.

"Mhn, I am hungry." He said, emphasizing the 'am'.

She almost said "Eh?" At the unexpected answer but her cooking skills took the lead instead.

"You look like someone who'd like bear meat. Would you like to come home and let me prepare you a meal?"

"I'd like to, yes."

Now it was Calla's turn to smile, she successfully made contact with her grandfather in law!

The others behind her were all stunned. It was probably the weirdest introduction they ever witnessed. The old man turned around to bark orders at his men while Calla cheered in her head for her small victory.

"Now everyone pays their respect to my granddaughter!"

"Lady Calla Muracier, we are all honored to meet you!" They all shouted as they synchronously fell on one knee with a hand on their heart.

The scene was enough to leave her mouth dry from how impressive and grand it was. Luckily, she didn't have anything else to say.

The old man walked up to her and placed one of his giant hands onto her shoulder. He wasn't at all as scary as he looked, in the end, Kaisla was right, the feeling was close to Emp's. Ordinarily, if a man other than Emp placed a hand on her shoulder she would have been frozen in place but this hand didn't have that effect. She was just glad that he didn't dislike her.

"I wonder if you're as good a cook as Emp says you are."

"Trust me grandfather, she is." Kaisla promised, praising Calla.

At the very least, she knew that her cooking would be no disappointment for him.

"Wait, isn't that the same Calla Emp brought to school! Doesn't that mean Emp is a Muracier! Why did no one tell me!?"

A younger knight panicked in the back rows of the procession but no one seemed to pay him any mind so Calla chose to not to look into it for now.