Chương 376: Intermission. 4 Ladies, All With The Same Problem

Asha Clearfield's Point Of View" I still can't believe it... To think that they'd be held up because of the Bureau... It's ridiculous." Alle had begun to complain as we had finally sat down for our lunch appointment. Alle... Princess Alice, was dressed quite well, you'd think that she'd be modeling the form fitting orange dress that she was wearing for it's creators, it matched well with her long, flowing brown hair that no doubt had been looked after by her team of Personal Maids.

The orange of the dress also brought contrast to her dark-red eyes that seemed to look full of annoyance as she groaned about our current predicament. What originally was supposed to be a meeting between 7 people had changed to only a meeting of 4, not to mention that the main reason for the lunch, which was meeting and speaking with Sarah, Anna and John for the first time in a long while for all of us, was destroyed due to the Royal Investigations Bureau seemingly harassing John.

As for who was still able to show for the lunch, the table was occupied by Sharon, Alle, Cyn and myself. While I'd have liked for today to be a pleasant experience, all we planned on doing now, is complaining." Big Sis told me that the Bureau said that they needed to "double check" John's claims. As if they've ever done that before bringing their findings to Father before... Their treatment has been noticed by Father and Mother already.

Apparently, they plan on using this as an opportunity to wrestle more control away from Duke Garen, since he's the Director of the Bureau. There's also rumors apparently of him knowing something about Peter's behavior leading up to his attacking of John and Sarah after Sarah's recovery." Cynthia's frown was no better than Alle's own. She sat and looked at her pristine teacup that showed her own face, full of disappointment.

It didn't fully match her own outfit, an elegant pink dress full of frills and ribbons that appealed to her being the youngest person here. I've no doubt Aunt Aqua put her up to wearing something like this, her dress complimenting her eye color and causing her somewhat longer than shoulder length hair to be quite eye-catching as she swayed in her seat while taking a sip of her still hot tea." How long have these rumors been around, Cyn?"" Apparently they started after they left for Paradise."

Cyn and Alle went back and forth for a moment. This information was news to me, but I wasn't surprised by it. Living relatively close to Blackstone, I've come by many people, Noble and Commoner alike that have a negative opinion about John and his relationship with Sarah and Anna. I've even heard the laughable idea that he caused Sarah's poisoning in order to pretend to save her and force Uncle Warrick to give John Sarah's hand in marriage.

To say that I've found the events and tea parties I've had the unfortunate responsibility to attend to be "unpleasant", is an understatement. If not for the occasional appearance of Sharon or Cynthia, I'd probably have gone insane from correcting the people I run into. You'd think they'd be able to trust my words, considering I'm one of the few that have actually spent any amount of time with John in comparison to the useless rumor mills that they get these trashy ideas from." Asha, you're frowning."

Sharon spoke to me, she pointed out something strange, considering everyone was currently frowning, even her. Her appearance made her frown even more noticeable, a fully black Knight's attire, which was formfitting to a fault as it caused her lean, but toned body to be ignored in favor of her breasts and bottom, which caused her to become the most eye-catching woman at the table where 2 Princesses were currently sitting.

Combining that with her black hair and eyes, formed the idea of a melancholic woman who seemed to lack joy in her life. Granted, that was only for the moment, anyone who knew Sharon personally, knew just how much joy she'd bring to anyone's life. If only she could realize that she's missing out on one certain thing related to the person responsible for sucking not just her joy of the day, but all of our joy from the day." So are you, Sharon." Perhaps I'm no better?

Considering I'm sitting here, clothed in a white dress my Mother and I picked out to highlight the hair that I've inherited from her. Granted, my frame is not as womanly as Sharon's, but I'm no slouch either in that department. I also chose a necklace with a pale-yellow gems and matching earrings to bring attention to my eyes.

Only for us all to realize now, that dressing like this, is only for the sake of it, since we're missing the important piece of the puzzle, our Friends and the man we wanted to impress with our looks." Huh?" She felt her own face in reaction to my words. I wish she'd be a little less dense with her emotions. She's pretty much done everything but admitted that she's fallen for John like everyone else at this table. She was just as excited as I was when Sarah told us when they'd be visiting the Royal Palace.

And she was just as crushed when we received the bad news." I guess the fact that I miss them is showing on my face? It really would've been nice to see them again."" Why are you acting like you'll never see them again, Sharon? Can't you just ask your parents to allow you to visit Paradise? Or couldn't you see if they could visit the Ashblade Territory? The town is called Giant's Hill, right?"" Well... There really wouldn't be much to see, our Territory, Giant's Hill, is only a small town of about 500 people...

And half of that population are in the military and are currently serving." If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Alle tried to give Sharon an idea, I can't help but feel that it was an idea that she's been contemplating for some time now.

From what I understand, it's only been around 6 months since she had to return to Blackstone and then head back to Bestia, only to be met at the Gates of one of the 2 Capital Cities of Bestia, Canidae, by her Father and Mother, King Alan and Queen Aria, and forced to join the convoy to Blackstone. Apparently, her Eldest Brother, Prince Alex, stayed back and will run Bestia until the Summit ends.

I have my suspicions that she was aiming to make some excuse to travel back to Paradise when they arrived here yesterday, but the Bureau has put a stop to that plan. She may even be made to return to Bestia without her parents before Sarah, Anna and John make it to Blackstone. I know this, because it's the same thing that would happen to us as well. Cynthia's summer break is ending at the end of this week and Sharon is going to join her father for military training soon as well.

I myself, am going to be working with my Parents in running the Ashblade Territory when I return home. Granted, I've been doing that since returning back from repelling the Hero Party 2 years ago now. Thinking about the gap in time since then, I noticed how sad I was. I missed meeting my Friends every day when we were in the Academy. I also want to see Sarah, Anna and John again." As for visiting Paradise... Would there even be a place for me? I mean, I'm only a Baron's daughter after all?"

We all turned to look at her at the same time, I was the first to speak." Sharon, are you saying that if Sarah or I wanted to visit you in Giant's Hill, you'd only accept us because we're a "Princess", or "Marquess's Wife", or a "Duke's Daughter"? Come now, you'll always be able to visit us."" No, you'll always be able to visit me... It's just that I know they're busy is all..." She's still feeling down, I decided to follow up a bit more." Exactly. It's just about finding the right timing.

It's like every day I wake up, I find out he's attempting to do something crazy again."" Tell me about it..." Cynthia agreed with me, I'm sure she'd be in an even worse mood if not for her good luck in being able to visit Paradise at the beginning of the year." Not only that, but his day is constantly filled with an itinerary of his own making.

If not for the fact that I was there to make a Contract for Roseland Products and the fact that I was able to join them for their meals, I'd barely would've been able to see a glimpse of him or even speak to him!"" But didn't you join them on a carriage ride to and from Zana, Alle?"

"!" She was surprised by my bringing up of that time, I wonder why? If I recall correctly, it takes around a month by carriage to get to Zana. I wonder why she looked like that? Stare.... And it looks like I'm not the only one either. Both Sharon and Cynthia were both quite interested in her reaction. We waited for her to speak up. When she finally did, to say we were "disappointed" would be an understatement." I didn't really have a chance to speak to him during that time... Because I sort of...

Blamed him for things that Sarah and Anna wanted him to do... To them..."" But wait... I thought you said that you fell for him? Was it just too much for you?" I asked her about it because I was curious... I mean, if I were to somehow end up in the same situation... I'd make him take "responsibility"." No, it was before I did... I fell for him in Zana... When he saved me."" Saved you how?" This time, Sharon spoke up.

It seems that she's still not satisfied, neither were Cynthia and I, but Alle is a bit of a late bloomer when it comes to romance, so I don't want to push her too far." Well... I was taken hostage, then he saved me... He held me in his arms like in the stories about Princesses and Heroes... And well... I... I realized it wasn't enough... I wanted more from him. And I wanted to be more to him." She turned from us as she began to make a face we've all seen before, but only Sharon has seemed to deny it.

It was the face of someone In Love. As Cynthia and I stared at her with understanding and Sharon had a look similar to swallowing something bitter, Alle attempted to break the silence." It doesn't matter anyways! Even when we left back for Paradise, I couldn't hold a conversation with him! Since it took me courage and thought to speak to him then... It wasn't like before, where I could just say whatever I wanted... Things became different...

I thought I would have more time, but before long, the Dark Elves came, then Uncle Warrick and Aunt Aqua... I barely got to speak to him at all before I left. When I did leave, he looked as if it was a matter of course as he opened the Portal to bring me back here... And he was in such a rush as well... All because of those darned Summit meetings and what he had to do after!" Cynthia and I could only offer our sympathies to her.

It's the obvious thing to do for someone who wasted such golden opportunities like the ones she had." You need to think about what to say to John? That's so strange."" John? Right... I've been calling him Matthew out loud for so long now... I guess I should get more comfortable about calling him by his actual name, shouldn't I?" What Alle said surprised me, I didn't know that she knew about John's real name." Wait, Alle, you know about John's real name?"

She looked at me in surprise, then she seemed to put two and two together before answering me." Yes, when we first met, due to Uncle Warrick's assurance when he was explaining about his ice cream product, he told us about how he was Summoned here and how that was related to his making of his ice cream."" Did he tell you about Promethia's Hero? Did Sarah?"" Hm? No, what about the Hero? Are they related?" I thought for a few moments and looked at Cynthia and Sharon, they seemed to want to follow my lead on this.

Considering that the Hero Party is full of rivals for us... I'm sure Sarah would've gotten around to explaining it anyways... besides, John already told them so much... It should be fine, right?" Well to start with, I'll need to tell you about Laura, she's the Cleric of the Hero Party." And like that I began to recount all of the information that Sarah had given us.

When I first heard this story, I thought that Sarah looked sad because of what had happened to John, now I realize that it's also due to invading his privacy like this. But Alle is already so deeply involved in all of this, to hide it from her would mean leaving her ignorant about some of the choices that John might take in the future. This is something that's needed to help him.

That's no doubt what Sarah told herself the same thing as well when she told us about it, it must've been due to the guilt with doing this, but we need to. To say that Alle was angry at the end of it all, would be an understatement. Retelling the story also made not just myself, but Cynthia and Sharon as well, reaffirm the vows we made when we decided to join the Alliance. Though having said all of that, taking those vows meant that we would also enjoy some "benefits" as well, right?

Maybe visiting Sarah in Paradise isn't such a bad idea after all?