Chapter One hundred eighty-six – A Bit Corny

As soon as M. Piers Avington disappeared into the crowd, Augustus hurried to Pandy’s side.

“What was that?” he demanded. “You know that man just tricked you out of-”

Pandy held up a hand, her gaze flicking around to make sure no one was within earshot. Given the fact that magic and elementals were real things in this world, and she knew for a fact that M. Piers Avington had an elemental, she felt that her caution was entirely warranted. Without really thinking about it, she reached up and grabbed the front of his shirt, standing on tiptoe so she could whisper, “I’ll explain in the carriage.”

Augustus stiffened, making Pandy realize what she was doing. Quickly, she released him, stepping back only to have him grasp her hand and pull her back. This time, rather than placing her hand on his arm, he held her fingers in his, loosely, as if uncertain how she would respond. Pandy swallowed hard, then closed her own fingers, feeling an answering pressure in his. As if in silent agreement that talking about it would only damage the tenuous moment, they turned to look up at the statue behind them.

Augustus cleared his throat. “General Avington was one of the first nobles to defect from King Lawrence. He remained loyal to Nora for the entire war, even when Lawrence declared that any noble who fought against him had forfeited their title and lands to the crown. After the war, they had to pick a location for a new city, and they came here.”

He glanced at Pandy. “Did you know people believe Ismara herself spoke to Nora and told her to build Knightmere in this location? It’s an excellent spot for a city, but a bit too close to the forests to the north, where a number of dangerous animals and plants live. But Nora insisted this was the only possible spot, and, as always, General Avington supported her. So when the first buildings were being laid out, the general was allowed to choose any location for his estate. It’s within walking distance of the palace, because he said that way his family could always be there to support the new royal family.”

Pandy looked up at the stern face of the statue. Somewhat to her surprise, General Avington wasn’t wearing armor. Instead, he wore something that looked something like a uniform and something like a formal suit, with a flowing cravat, a high neck, and a short coat. His arm was raised, sword pointing to the sky in an eternal challenge. It was the only silver thing in the Golden Park.

“I didn’t know all that,” Pandy admitted. Since this was just an optional side quest, and one that required the player to use at least a few gacha spins to make up for lost Stamina and Affection Points, there really wasn’t much lore surrounding the characters involved. She knew a fair amount about M. Piers Avington, but not his many-times-great grandfather. Turning back to the statue, she said wistfully, “I guess it didn’t work out for him, did it?”

Augustus frowned. “What do you mean?”

Pandy sighed. “His family protecting the royal family. I mean, there’s only one Avington left, and he’s a…” She trailed off, remembering that she didn’t want to talk about this out loud. Not here, anyway.

The chancellor leaned in until his breath just tickled Pandy’s ear, and whispered, “You know that man isn’t-”

Without thinking, she slapped her free hand over his mouth. “Shhhh,” she hissed, and felt his lips curve beneath her palm. He nodded, the solemnity of the gesture belied by the twinkle in his eyes, and she dropped her hand.

“Well, what shall we look at?” Augustus asked, gently squeezing Pandy’s fingers, still tucked into his own. “I can show you the Grange displays, or we can simply explore the gardens. They’ll be busy right now, but they’re beautiful. There’s a garden dedicated to each of the elements,” he saw her look and smiled, “including Dark.”

That was very interesting, but Pandy was down to less than an hour of human time now, so it was time to get back to school. She wanted to be able to talk to Thaniel about his day, and she couldn’t do that as a rabbit. Bunny was an excellent listener – she was practically made for it, with her enormous ears – but not much of a conversationalist. Someday Pandy would have to figure out if she really did have some kind of telepathic connection with certain people, but experimenting with that had become a much lower priority after she learned Shifting Faces.

Shaking her head, Pandy said, “We really should get back. Though maybe you could point out anything particularly interesting as we go by? I was kind of in a hurry on the way here.” Augustus grinned, tightened his grasp on her hand, and led the way back down the path, away from General Avington and his eternal charge.

By the time they found another carriage, Pandy had learned quite a bit about the historical figures represented by the statues scattered throughout the park. The figures were just part of the backdrop in Gacha Love, and Clara couldn’t even interact with them. Even the wiki just treated them as unimportant decorations.

It turned out that almost every noble family had a statue there, usually of someone who fought beside Nora in the battle against King Lawrence and his Demonic army, but there were also a few inventors, craftsmen and women, and even a farmer. Augustus knew every one by name, and could tell Pandy their stories without even glancing at the golden plaques bolted to the plinths on which they stood.

As they settled onto the benches inside the carriage – these were much more comfortable and covered in more luxurious fabric than the ones in the carriage that brought them here – Pandy said, “You really love history, don’t you?” Pandy herself had never been all that excited by the monotonous flood of names and numbers presented by her teachers in school, but she thought that if she’d had a teacher like Augustus, she might have come to love the subject as well.

Augustus flushed slightly, reaching up to adjust nonexistent glasses. “History contains all the stories of those who came before us. Their joys, their sorrows, and the lessons they learned. It has always fascinated me. It’s truly amazing how things happen over and over again as history is forgotten, and the lessons of the past must be learned anew.”

Pandy nodded. “I’ve heard that before, but it never really clicked.” She laughed. “I’m just now realizing that I actually know as much about your history as my own, thanks to reading about it online. I mean, it was just stories, but they were stories I was actually interested in.”

“On line?” Augustus asked, tilting his head. “Were these stories written in a linear style?”

She shook her head, trying to figure out how to explain the internet. “Imagine if you told a story to a, um, Breezelet. Then it told that story to every other Breezelet in the whole world, so if anyone asked about that story, the Breezelet they were talking to could tell them exactly what you told that very first Breezelet. Except the Breezelets all know every story told to them by anyone anywhere, and they never forgot them, so you just have to know what to ask in order to hear that story again. That’s online.”

Augustus’s eyes widened. “How astonishing. I imagine that must be very noisy. Breezelets are not known for their reticence.”

Pandy laughed. “You’re right. It is incredibly noisy.” She leaned back against the carriage wall. “I like it better here. I can hear myself think.” She sat up again, hastening to add, “Not that what I think is all that interesting, but it’s nice to have a break from other people doing my thinking for me.”

“I think what you think is very interesting,” Augustus said, and when she met his eyes, there was an intensity there that made her very uncomfortable. She felt a sudden, almost irresistible urge to return to her rabbit form, but instead she started speaking so quickly that her words tumbled over each other.

“In Gacha Love, M. Piers Avington does trick Clara into giving him five hundred gold in exchange for the Avington estate,” she told him, and his eyes crinkled in amusement as he leaned back, listening. “He lures her inside, where she’s attacked by all kinds of ghosts and ghoulies. Of course, he doesn’t know she has Light magic, and she can invite one of the boys to join her as well, as long as their Affection is high enough, so she wins the battles and keeps the house. I don’t have anywhere to live, you see, when all of this is over, and Thaniel is safe, and Clara doesn’t need it, because she can live with her parents or whoever she marries. I mean, yes, it’s nice to have it if she picks Bastian, but if she does, I can always give it to her then, and she won’t have to do all of the fighting bits. If she marries Kaden or Edgar, she won’t need it, and who would pick Dorian when literally anyone else is an option?”

She clamped her lips shut over this, but Augustus didn’t ask about it. Instead, he said, “So which of them do you think she should choose?”

Pandy hesitated. This was actually a dangerous question, because the honest answer, ‘Killian’, would lead to questions she didn’t want to answer, thanks to the fact that Thaniel’s brother wasn’t an option she had mentioned before. The second answer, ‘Edgar’, was also risky, because if Augustus asked why – and she was almost certain he would – then everything she said would apply equally well to Augustus himself, which would naturally lead to the question of whether Pandy liked Augustus, and that was not a question she wanted to answer, because she might tell him the truth, and she’d already held his hand today, and really, if the Shadow Exchange wanted to attack Thaniel right now so he would summon Pandy, that would be fine, because-

“Bastian,” Pandy blurted, then grimaced, because that meant her entire scheme to get the Avington estate was both selfish and pointless, since Clara would need it because Bastian didn’t have an estate of his own. Maybe Clara would let Pandy live there, too? It was huge, after all. Clara and Bastian could live in one wing, and Pandy and…

Her brain stuttered to a halt. After all, if the estate was too large for Bastian and Clara and any children they might have, then it was definitely too large for Pandy. When had she started to assume that she would always have other people in her life from now on? Why did it feel so right to have enough space for Thaniel and Eleanor and Geraldine and even Isidor, and maybe even… Maybe even…

“Bastian is the one I haven’t met yet, correct?” Augustus said, drawing Pandy’s attention back to him. “The Nature elementalist?”

Pandy nodded. “He’s really kind and gentle. He’s the little-brother type, so he’s not my favorite, but he always seemed like a really good match for Clara, since she’s so nice, too.” She hesitated, then – with a silent apology to Edgar – added, “The other three are always so pushy. I mean, they love her, but they already know what their lives will be like, so she has to fit into that role. But Bastian just wants Clara to be happy. If she marries him, she can help with the bakery, or get her own job, or stay home.”

Augustus looked thoughtful at this, and opened his mouth to say something else just as the carriage shuddered, slowed, and came to a halt. A thump sounded from outside as the driver jumped down, and then the door swung open. The driver lowered a little step for them to use as they climbed out of the carriage, and Augustus disembarked, then stood by the step, holding out his hand for Pandy to take. She accepted it, but hopped right over the little step, landing lightly in the dust beside him. Agility was the best stat.

They had told the driver to let them off just outside the school gates, since they didn’t want anyone to see them together just yet. As the carriage began to move away, Pandy slipped behind a bush and thought, <Cancel Shifting Faces.> Her vision expanded even as it dropped, and a moment later she slipped through the gate, leaving Augustus behind as he strolled toward the school, hands tucked in his pockets, whistling tunelessly.