Follow the Plot

Chapter 22

"You still look good in the butler uniform." Estorea complimented Haigu, who blushed slightly and nodded, muttering a soft 'thank you.'

She put down her teacup, "Let's get straight to business." 

"I think you know what I want." She said.

Haigu dug into his coat and pulled out a stack of papers. "Here, My Lady. This is all the information I managed to gather." 

Estorea took the papers in his hands and started flipping through it. After 30 minutes, she placed it down on the table. 

Smiling in satisfaction, she rests her elbow on the arm still, "This is very informative. Thank you. Judging from this, I can already get an outline..." She trailed off, when suddenly, she remembered something.

She sat up, "Haigu!" He flinched from her sudden loud tone. He furrowed his eyebrows, did he do something wrong?

"U-Uh, what's wrong... My Lady, did I perhaps make a mistake?" He asked, fiddling with his fingers.

Estorea shook her head, "No, no. I wanted to ask. Did you see any uh, 17 year old male anywhere? He has raven black hair, chocolate brown eyes, fair skin and he's an archmage... He should also be standing out.. "

Haigu tilted his head slightly, and closed his eyes. He bit his bottom lip as he tried to think of someone that matched Estorea's description. 

"Ah!" He cried out, and opened his eyes. 

"Yes, I do remember seeing one. People at the camp told me he was an archmage. He doesn't go out of his camp very often. But from what I got, he apparently casts an extremely powerful illusion spell to hide them. His description was exactly the way you described him. His name... is Xeno." 

Estorea's eyes lit up, "That's the person! Thank you so much!" She clasped his hands, having a wide smile on her face. 

Haigu flushed, and embarrassingly looked away. "N-no problem... It wasn't that hard after all..." He muttered.

Estorea let go of his hands and chuckled, "Thanks really." 

A question then pops up in his mind, "Uh, My Lady... Why do you wanna know about this... Xeno guy...?"

"..."

Estorea lowered her head, focusing on the papers. "I'm afraid that's confidential." 

Haigu froze, "Ah... I see. If that's so, I shall not intrude upon the matter."

The atmosphere became depressing in just a few sentences.

"I... shall excuse myself." Haigu stood up and bowed, before exiting the room.

The door closed.

Estorea looked out the window, "I'm sorry, Haigu. But, to the best of my abilities, I don't want any of you involved in this... How hypocritical honestly..." She sighed as she looked at the stack of papers again.

...

'Haigu did a really good job... I can already tell how their army is like and probably predict their tactics easily.' 

Estorea took out a pen and a paper and started writing.

A few hours later, the paper was filled to the brim.

There were ideas, sketches and plans written down in all possible scenarios. 

Tapping the tip of the pen against her lips, Estorea sighed. She tore the paper into pieces and crumpled it up. 

'I will dump this in the fire tomorrow.' 

She leaned back in her chair, 'I still have 4 more years to go. It's not a lot of time, but it's just enough. I still need more information in order to execute the desired plan I have. I should wait for Haigu to finish his military training, then I can start.' 

With that in mind, Estorea got up and lit up a candle and exited her room.

Walking downstairs in the darkness, she reached Haigu's room and knocked on his door softly.

"Haigu?" She whispered loudly.

She heard footsteps from the other side in response. Moving back, the door swung open and Haigu's face came into view, "My Lady? What are you doing here?"

Estorea smiled, "Mind letting me in first?"

Haigu noticed and widened his eyes, he nodded frantically and pulled open his door wider. 

Estorea stepped inside, taking a look at his room. She heard the door close and she turned around to see Haigu in a nervous state.

She walked over to the wooden chair and took a seat, "M-My Lady! You shouldn't sit there! Sit on the bed instead!" Haigu looked worried at her nightgown getting dirtied by the wooden chair.

Estorea waved his concerns away, "It's alright. I'm not gonna be here for a long period of time anyways. It's 12:37AM, and I ought to go to sleep soon. Anyway, I just wanted to have a small chat. First off, your break lasts for 1 week, right?"

Haigu nodded.

"Okay, good. You have been working hard for my sake. So I would like to reward you, feel free to request anything as long as it's not within the unreasonable range."

Haigu stared off into space, thinking. "Uhm..."

"Can we... perhaps go out on a trip...?" He asked hesitantly. 

Estorea tilted her head, "You mean, like a date?"

And there went Haigu...

Frozen in place, his face bright pink from just the word 'date's.

"D-d-date!? No! No! I-I do not think of My Lady that way at all!" Haigu shook his head from side to side vigorously, strongly declining it.

Estorea chuckled, "I get it, I get it. Alright then, a trip it is! I assume you want only the two of us to go? I'm sure you and Aelia... don't get along very well."

Haigu bit his bottom lip and clenched his fist, shutting his eyes. "N-no... Let's bring her along too. I would feel bad if I left her alone." 

Seeing how Haigu was acting tsundere, Estorea beamed. They were getting even cuter day by day!

"Okay then! Let's wake up at 9AM tomorrow and set off. I'm gonna go inform Aelia of the trip now. Sleep well!"

Estorea opened the door, giving Haigu a small wave, "Good night, Haigu. And thanks for your hard work. It's really useful." 

She closed the door, and Haigu disappeared from her view.

As she walked over to Aelia's room, she stopped in front of a large rectangle window. The moon was clearly seen, shining.

Staring at it for a few moments, Estorea turned away and continued her walk.