Chapter One hundred eighty-nine – The More the Merri-hare

The third day of the Fall Festival was the Day of Gratitude, where everyone expressed their thanks for their friends, family, country, and even their goddess.

In Gacha Love, this event was spent with Kaden, though Clara could write notes or buy gifts and give them to the other boys off screen. This was when Clara found out that ‘Aiden’ was Prince Kaden, but only at the end of the day, when he took her to meet his mother. Clara needed high Graceful Presence and Eloquence skills in order to impress Queen Louisa, and it was much harder to win Kaden over if she didn’t impress the queen.

Fortunately, Pandy didn’t have to worry about that, because she got to spend the day with Thaniel, and he loved her even if she wasn’t graceful or eloquent. Apparently the Reedsleys gave each of the children enough money to buy small gifts for each other, so Thaniel had candy for Geraldine, a little musical instrument that looked a bit like an ocarina for Eleanor, and some kind of fruit for Abbington. It was a bit bruised, but Abbington looked like he might cry as he hugged it to his chest.

“Ahdin’tknow y’erlistenin’,” he told Thaniel, shyly offering an apple in return.

“‘Course I was,” Thaniel said stoutly, puffing out his chest, but Pandy saw Eleanor hiding a smile behind her hand and guessed that whatever conversation Pandy had missed had actually slipped by Thaniel as well, but the princess filled him in later. In fact, everyone had fresh fruit for Abbington, and he gave fruit in return, so Pandy guessed that was the tradition in the Valley.

Isidor got books of all kinds, while almost everyone gave Thaniel some kind of sweet, except for Abbington and Eleanor. The little princess gave him copies of the second, third, and fourth books in the Pirate Pete series. “I’ll get you the rest,” she whispered to him as she passed them over, “but I used up my allowance for the month.” Thaniel clutched the books to his chest and nodded, completely unable to speak.

To her shock, there were gifts for Pandy as well, though they were all vegetative in nature. She got carrots, bell peppers that came in some very unlikely shades of purple and pink, as well as three different melons, none of which looked like anything she’d ever seen before.

This left her with a bit of a conundrum, since she hadn’t thought to get anything for the children, but Thaniel hugged her and whispered into her long ears, letting her know they were just thankful she was their friend, and she didn’t have to give them anything. No one had ever said anything like this to Pandy before, and her higher processes shut down for at least fifteen minutes while she just basked in it.

Miss Cupcakes, Lord Winston, Brook, and even Tempest got their own little gifts as well, though Pandy was the only one who got something from all of the children. Beyond that, cheerful conversation and laughter were the soundtrack of the day. Pandy and Clara were in close proximity a few times, and Pandy felt the girl’s gaze on her, but she was safe in Thaniel’s arms, so Clara didn’t have a chance to Sanctify her again.

Then night was falling, and it was time for Clara to go on her adventure with Edgar and Kaden. Lady Reedsley bustled around her daughter, trying to convince her to wear a coat, gloves, and hat that were covered in ruffles and ribbons. Clara smiled serenely and pulled on her own simple white kid gloves, a warm wool cloak with slits for her hands, and a pretty little fur hat. Then they waited in the dining hall until a servant arrived to announce that the young men had arrived to pick Clara up.

Kaden was the first to enter, striding in with the confidence of a king in waiting. His golden hair was perfectly styled, as always, but the warmth in his smile still reached his eyes, at least a little bit. By the time Gacha Love was supposed to start, he would be cold and unapproachable beyond his charismatic façade, making him the most difficult of the love interests to woo.

His gaze quickly passed over the group, pausing on Eleanor before settling on Clara, who was the only person there of his own age, even if her cloak and hat didn’t give away the fact that she was ready to go out. He gave a practiced smile, not quite kissing the back of her gloved hand, and Pandy expected to see Clara’s pale face darken with a blush. After all, who could possibly resist the impossibly handsome prince? But Clara remained as unbothered as ever, simply offering him a polite greeting. All in all, it was very anticlimactic and Pandy felt a bit cheated.

Edgar came in less than a minute later, shaking his head. When everyone turned to look at him, he frowned a bit and said, “One of our horses seems to be developing a limp. Hopefully resting for a little while will allow him to recover, but it would probably be best to do this another evening.”

Kaden looked dismayed. “You said it had to be tonight.”

Edgar shrugged. “I believe I said it was probably tonight. The Fall Festival is based on the Old Altheric festival of Eorcharis. Rather than falling on any particular calendar date, it was based on the rhythm of the elements, which was in turn based on-”

“But is it tonight or not, Edgar?” Kaden demanded.

Edgar pushed his glasses up his nose and swiped a lock of his chestnut hair back from his forehead. “If you’d listen, you’d know that it’s not that simple. If I could see the stars clearly, I could give you a better answer, because Light will be at its strongest when Aris lies at the heart of the Asteri constellation, and that could be tomorrow, or even the day after.”

“It’s today,” Isidor said, then immediately flushed a deep shade of brick when everyone turned to look at him. He raised his chin, however, and said, “I like astronomy.”

Edgar had reached the group by now, and he crossed to ruffle Isidor’s already messy hair, offering a slightly condescending smile. “Then I’m sure you’re right. See, Aiden?”

“Then let’s go,” Kaden said, his polite smile almost slipping. “The horse will be fine.”

“I’m having the stablemaster swap the gelding for another horse,” Augustus said, entering the room. He smiled around at everyone, nodding to Lord Reedsley, who didn’t look entirely comfortable with the idea that his daughter was going off alone with two young men – even if they were two of the highest-ranking boys in the entire kingdom. Of course, he had to know the trio would be shadowed by Knights of the Royal Eagle all night, so he wasn’t about to object, but Pandy could tell he still wanted to.

“It wouldn’t do to have your evening ruined because one of your horses came up lame,” the chancellor said, offering his crooked smile. “And I’m sure the horse would rather rest in our warm barn with a poultice on his hock rather than pulling a carriage up the steepest hill in Knightmere.”

Edgar nodded, clearly relieved. On his character profile it said that horses were one of his favorite things, but it never really came up in Gacha Love. Edgar wasn’t a person who showed his emotions, even to Clara, so it was kind of funny to see this young version of Pandy’s favorite boy so concerned about a horse that probably wasn’t even his.

Kaden clapped his hands together. “Good. Then we’ll go as soon as the carriage is ready. Edgar, this is Clara, who is going to accompany us on our little adventure this evening. Clara, this is Edgar, who you will soon discover is extremely boring.”

Edgar bowed over Clara’s hand, murmuring, “And you will soon discover that Aiden is a rude, self-centered lout, but I hope you won’t hold it against him.” He turned to Lady Reedsley, then Lord Reedsley, introducing himself to them, as well, something which Kaden hadn’t bothered to do, probably because he knew they knew who he was. Still, the prince’s chiseled cheekbones turned red, and he, too, kissed Lady Reedsley’s hand before offering Lord Reedsley a shallow bow.

Clara remained entirely unruffled throughout this process, only bestowing another calm smile on Edgar when he spoke directly to her. Otherwise, she treated both boys exactly as she did everyone else – which is to say, she ignored them. The boys, for their part, seemed confused by this calm and composed reception from a strange girl of their own age. Edgar looked relieved, if anything, but Kaden’s gaze lingered on Clara quizzically.

After a few minutes of stiff conversation, a familiar young woman appeared at the door to the dining hall and motioned to Augustus. He nodded before turning to address the group. “The change has been made, and the carriage is ready.” He smiled at the trio of teenagers. “I hope you have a lovely evening. I look forward to hearing about it tomorrow at breakfast.”

Kaden led the way out, not even offering Clara his arm, even though they were supposedly leaving together. Clara didn’t seem to notice the omission, simply following after him at her own comfortable pace, with Edgar bringing up the rear. Everyone else trailed along, with the children waving enthusiastically until the carriage disappeared down the lane leading back to Falconet’s gate.

“I wish I could go,” Geraldine sighed, lingering at the door.

Her mother wrapped an arm around her shoulder and gave her a little squeeze. “Perhaps we can go together sometime. I haven’t ever been all the way up Celestine Point either, and I lived here for years while I went to school. I hear you can see for miles.”

Lord Reedsley wrapped them both in an affectionate hug. “I tried to go once with some friends, but we didn’t have a carriage. We got about halfway up before we turned around,” he said with a chuckle.

For a moment, Lady Reedsley looked worried, but Augustus smiled at her. “They have a full four horses, and Master Lawson checked the other three over when he swapped out the lame gelding. They’ll be fine.”

She drew in a long breath, then nodded briskly. “Of course they will. And it’s quite late for old ladies like me, so I believe I’ll go off to bed.”

There was no way Lady Reedsley was even forty yet, and her daughter immediately assured her she wasn’t old at all. Still, Lady Alice gave all of the children motherly hugs and kisses – including Isidor, who tried not to look happy about it – and soon she and her husband were gone. That left the children, who were determined not to go to bed a moment before they had to, and returned to the dining hall to play games.

Thaniel had put Pandy down during the hugging and kissing, and she lingered in the entryway when the chattering group left. To her surprise, Augustus wasn’t the only one who stayed with her. Isidor, too, stepped aside and waited until he was alone with Pandy and the chancellor. Then he said, “The rabbit told us there’s something important about tonight. I want to go, too.”

The rabbit was, of course, Pandy, and she winced at being thrown under Truck-kun like that. It was true she’d told Thaniel and Isidor that she would have to leave when Clara did, however, and from the look on Augustus’s face, he wasn’t even surprised to find that she had spilled the bunny-beans. Not that she’d given the boys any details, so she wasn’t sure why Isidor even cared. Eleanor was staying here, after all.

Augustus apparently agreed with her, because he sighed, speaking softly as he said, “There’s a whole squad watching them, Isidor. Your place is here.”

Isidor’s lips flattened. “There’s a whole-” He broke off, glancing at Pandy, then said, “I won’t be needed tonight. And this is a good opportunity for me. You know it is.”

The chancellor raked a hand through his neatly combed hair, closing his eyes briefly before saying with great reluctance, “Fine. But you’re an observer only, and you’ll have to go in your other form.”

A grin flashed over Isidor’s face, and he snapped a salute. “Yes, sir.”