I could feel my face heating up. I mean, who wouldn't? The last time someone else washed me was when I was small, and my mother washed me. But when I looked at the nonchalant face that Grace had on, I began to wonder if I was just overthinking things. But I can say that this was my first time waking up in a bath, and it felt kinda nice.
After washing up and drying off, I was subjected to Grace's forceful dressing. I kinda feel like I have gone through this before. Ah! That's right, in my dream, Grace also dressed me. I guess I should probably get used to this kind of thing from now on since It does not seem like she will relent anytime soon.
After getting dressed, I walked to my room with Grace slowly following behind me. Once I entered my room, Grace also followed behind. She prepared a glass of water and shut the curtains. Once she was done, she turned to me and bowed respectfully as she said: "Have a good night, Master. Oh right! Before I forget. The Dean at the academy has asked you to go see him tomorrow after you speak with the King. It seems everyone has passed the test and will be attending the academy from now on, starting the day after tomorrow. But tomorrow, he just wants a detailed account of our dungeon experiences."
"Mmm… I will be sure to go. Have a good night, Grace, and thank you…." While I had just slept for who knows how long, I was still quite tired. Not as tired as I was before but close to it. I reflected back on everything that happened and knew I would need to go to the academy tomorrow top get some answers.
"It was my pleasure to be of assistance to Master." Grace replied back before turning on her heel and leaving the room.
It felt strange in a way. The dreams that I have been having are starting to come true. The lives of those around me were slowly starting to fall into place. I have never had such dreams before. And they all started when I went to the fortune teller with Sophie. I wonder if that was some kind of trigger for an inborn power that I did not know I had. Whatever the case, from this moment on, I will need to be more careful. If Sophie truly dies or gets seriously hurt because of my ignorance, then I will have to be sure to make sure that that never happens.
But I wonder…. Does this kingdom fall? Is that why I built a kingdom of my own? And were the two wars the same? If I recall correctly, they seemed to be slightly different… Whatever the case, maybe I will need to try to make the best of it all and avoid any bad endings.
When I woke up next, I was greeted by Grace doing the same things she did in my dream. "Grace, you know you do not need to do all of this…."
"Master speaks strange things. As your servant, I must see to my Master's daily life. Now Master, please get up so I can wash your face and dress you. We need to get going to see the King." Grace set a bowl of water next to the bed and then sat on the edge next to me with a cloth in her hand. Seeing her determined face, I wondered if I should really just get used to this already. I sighed and just let her do her thing.
After I was ready, I went downstairs to eat breakfast to see Sophie digging into the food on the table and a sulking Adel, who was pouting for some reason. "Good morning. I hope everyone slept well."
"Goof mofuing." Sophie tried to talk through her stuffed cheeks, causing me to chuckle. Adel, on the other hand, seemed to still be sulking. I walked over to her and poked her cheek.
"What is wrong?" I asked.
"Ask her!" Adel said with a pout as she pointed to Grace. I turned and looked at Grace with a questioning gaze.
"Master, she is just mad because I refused to let her take advantage of you while you slept in the bath." Grace answered honestly, making me turn my head towards Adel with a raised eyebrow.
Adel quickly averted her eyes as she replied: "I had no such intentions. I just wanted to watch your sleeping face."
"I see…. Well… Anyway!" I will just pretend nothing happened. "Let's eat. We need to head to the castle and then to the academy afterward."
"Fine…." Adel pursed her lips and began eating.
I chuckled and looked at Sophie, whose cheeks were still puffed out. "Sophie, slow down…."
"Cough! Gulp! Ahh! Faith, I do not know why but I am really hungry this morning." Sophie replied with a wry smile.
"Hmmm? Sophie, I am going to use appraisal on you, okay?" I was not going to just use it without saying anything so let her know first. But I had to use it now because I felt something was off.
"It's fine." Sophie replied with a nod. "Appraisal."
"Let's see…. Hmmm? What is this?" I was confused because Sophie seemed to have a curse placed on her that was not there before. "Curse of the Seven Sins. Gluttony…."
"Yeah, I have no idea how it came to be. I woke up like this." Sophie replied. Her smile turning into a frown. "Since I woke up, I can't help but want to eat everything I see.."
"Follow us today. We will ask the King and the Dean to see if we can figure something out." I have never heard of curses being used before. So I was unsure of what exactly they were or how to get rid of them. I looked at Adel, who seemed to know a lot, but she only shrugged, which means we can only look and ask those with more knowledge. "Wait, where is Sei? I don't see her."
