Chapter 8
41.
Days surely get tougher as fate tries to test the maids' resolve toward their dreams. Problems keep on appearing one after the other, a sudden conflict right after solving the prior ones. It feels like there's no end to these difficult times. But just like their problems, the maids also get tougher as they face those hindrances straight on. One must outlast the other to be triumphant.
As the story continues, the maids are still in a dreadful state. The lack of connections with the royalties puts them with limited options. The choices are only between Duke Nasmuir or Princess Grace, the other royalties are not considerable.
After deeply analyzing the pros and cons of both sides, the maids decided to put their trust in Princess Grace. Rin and Lisa decided to head out once more. To study the most convenient way to communicate with Grace, this time Yuna joined them. They cannot simply acquire the information from Duke Nasmuir because the existence of the Runecrystal might change the deal. The same situation can be said for Mae but the reason is different.
Yuna grabbed one of the Runecrystal while the other one remained in Kita's possession. In this way, both of them will have a way of locating the Evil Mimi.
Good thing Rin and Lisa know the neighborhood well. As of now, they are aware that Princess Grace is pretending to be a commoner. Meaning to say, she may occasionally live among the commoners whenever she doesn't have papers to attend to. Princess Grace is also a student in the Maidens' academy. Narrowing down the information on hand, and checking the dorms is the best course of action. It will only be a matter of time before they can find Princess Grace by themselves.
As Rin and Lisa lead the way, Yuna occasionally checks the Runecrystal. She forgot to bring Pily, that's why Yuna only peeks through her pocket to know if there's an Evil Mimi nearby. A couple more minutes later, they reached a dorm near the Maidens' academy. They knocked on the door and eventually, a caretaker opened it. She is a Squirrelgirl Kemi wearing a different style of maid uniform. The uniforms of the caretakers are slightly similar to the uniforms of the maids in the cafe. The only difference is that the caretaker's uniform does not have an apron style sewn on the front.
"Good morning, we were wondering if there's a vacant room in the dorm?" Yuna asked the caretaker.
The plan is to pretend that they are looking for a room so that they can casually check the place. While Yuna and Lisa keep the caretaker busy, Rin will sneak around and search for Princess Grace.
"Hai, we do have some rooms left. Are you interested in renting one?" The caretaker answered.
"That would be delightful, may we check the rooms?" Yuna replied. She is getting used to how the Kemis in Kemitopia communicate.
"Come in, I will give you a tour." The caretaker politely said.
The maids entered the dorm. Even though there will be a tour after they check the vacant rooms, Rin decides to head in a different direction from where the others are going. As Yuna and Lisa keep the caretaker occupied, intentionally being a nuisance, Rin is already searching each room swiftly.
"I do hope that she's here…" Rin whispered as she breezed through the hallway.
It did not take Rin long before she managed to clear the first floor. She turned to the next corner to climb up the stairs. In that instant, Rin saw Princess Grace going down the hallway.
"Rin?" Princess Grace said, surprised by the current situation.
"Pri... I mean Grace. We need to talk." Rin replied.
Princess Grace looked around and checked if there were other Kemis around. "Is this an urgent matter?" She asked after ensuring that the surroundings were clear.
"Hai." Rin seriously answered.
"Well then, let's head to my room quickly." Princess Grace said.
"But we must fetch the other maids as well. They are in the vacant room distracting the caretaker." Rin replied.
Princess Grace deeply sighed. "It must be a pretty serious situation for nyu to go to this extent… Fine, go back there and I'll casually walk in as I pretend to be your acquaintance." Princess Grace instructed.
"Thank nyu for understanding," Rin said as she bowed lightly. She went back to where the others were, immediately.
Yuna and Lisa, with the caretaker, left the vacant room. As they proceeded to the hallway, they saw Rin approaching them.
"I'm sorry, I got distracted and got lost hehe…" Rin said as she chuckled. Pretending to be clumsy suits her since she is indeed one.
"How was it?" Lisa whispered.
"We just have to wait," Rin whispered back.
"Anoo… Let's continue the tour, shall we? But please be mindful so that no one gets lost again." The caretaker said.
"Haiii~" They all responded.
As they headed towards the tour, shortly, Princess Grace showed up just like they planned.
"Rin? What are nyu doing here?" Princess Grace greeted the maids.
"We were just checking the dorm, planning to rent a room. How about nyu? Do nyu live here?" Rin replied.
"Hai, I am currently renting a room here. Would nyu like to have some tea?" Princess Grace offered.
"That would be lovely," Rin answered.
"Excuse me, are nyu touring them around?" Princess Grace asked the caretaker.
"Haii." The caretaker responded.
"I can take it from here if that's fine with nyu. They are my friends from the cafe." Princess Grace said.
"To be honest, I have other stuff to attend to. I truly appreciate it, thank you so much for helping me!" The caretaker gladly replied.
"No worries," Princess Grace told the caretaker. "Let's head to my room now." She then instructed the maids to follow her.
Everything went as smoothly as they planned. Princess Grace needs to make it look like a coincidental encounter so that the caretaker would not suspect anything. She's been successfully hiding her identity for a couple of months, and Princess Grace must remain a commoner until she finds what she is looking for.
Eventually, they entered Princess Grace's room. As soon as they settled down, Princess Grace said "This should be worth all of the commotions that nyu tried to create. Shall we start the discussion?"
42.
As a commoner, Grace is known for her long patience and natural elegance. Her classmates see her as a role model, an example of a perfect maiden. On the flip side, her Princess reputation is slightly different. The royalties still acknowledge her gracefulness but her temper is slightly shorter as a royalty. The main reason behind this is; that Princess Grace believes those who are positioned to lead are responsible for their citizens. Therefore, room for error is not acceptable.
Believing that it was an urgent matter, Princess Grace granted the risky action of the maids. Thus the discussion starts.
Without any form of hesitation, Yuna brought out the Runecrystal. Princess Grace's reaction showed that she may know something about the artifact. She was astonished at first glance.
The explanation has begun and it looks like Princess Grace is fully aware of the scenario. As Yuna explains, there's no sign of confusion, not even a small doubt in Princess Grace's reaction. The maids could not tell if the Princess was openly absorbing everything or if she was seeing this as a nonsense matter.
Right after they thoroughly explained everything, Princess Grace finally responded. "So… Nyu knew all of these. Thank nyu for letting me know. I'll inform the Royal Guards at this instant." She said.
"Wait, nyu believe us? Just like that?" Lisa questioned.
"Later at night, I'll visit the cafe. Let's continue the discussion there. Safety of the Kemis is our top priority." Princess Grace answered as she told everyone to leave immediately.
The maids are not entirely sure about what's going on. Though the clear thing is that Princess Grace is well and truly informed about everything. As they all left the dorm, the maids did exactly what the Princess told them to do. Just wait for her inside the cafe.
While everyone is patiently waiting, Princess Grace is already doing what she can. The maids are clueless about the current situation but as of now, the Royal Guards are already investigating the area. A royal verdict was posted on the streets, urgently ordering the residents to evacuate the area for a short period. A royal verdict is classified into different parts depending on the scenario given. A royalty can issue this type of ordinance as an urgent response in a critical situation. Meaning, it does not have to go through a long process before it gets approved. A single approval of the Queen will do, hence the operation will start immediately.
As the situation piles up, the royal verdict that was issued in the area contains safety and security scanning protocol. It is related to checking the sturdiness of the surroundings. Having this type of ordinance in Kemitopia is actually common. It occurs every once in a while to keep them prepared for calamities. And more importantly, it was also a good excuse to catch the Evil Mimi without creating any commotion.
A few hours passed and everything went back to normal. Due to curiosity, Kita sneaked out while holding the Runecrystal. When she manages to get back to the plaza, where they previously detected the Evil Mimi, the Runecrystal is no longer reacting. The place is peaceful, it looks like nothing even happened.
"I thought she was already doing something…" Kita muttered under her breath. "But she may have already done something, the Runecrystal is not detecting anything right now," she added.
Kita tried to roam around farther but the result stayed the same. With that, she decided to go back to the cafe. Kita carefully entered the backdoor connected to the stockroom where she sneaked out. As soon as she closed the backdoor, Hana spotted her.
Hana deeply sighed. "I knew nyu were up to something," she said.
"I can't sit down any longer. I want to know what's happening out there." Kita complained as she defended herself.
Earlier, right after Hana calmed Lulu down, she kept everyone busy while Kita was outside. Hana already expected that Kita would do something as soon as no one was looking. "Nyu should be thankful that I managed to cover for nyu. So, did nyu find anything?" Hana asked.
"That's the thing, I thought that there would be a scene to watch but everything was just casual. Like nothing happened," Kita answered.
"So they did not do anything?" Hana questioned.
"That's another thing! The Runecrystal did not detect anything. They must have done something but it was too well executed, it looks like nothing happened!" Kita said excitedly.
"Aaaand what are nyu two doing here?" Yuna asked as she suddenly entered the stockroom.
"I caught Kita sneaking out," Hana answered.
"Sneaking out?" Yuna responded.
"Well I already sneaked out and I just got back hehe," Kita confessed as she chuckled.
"At this point, I'm not even surprised. Any findings?" Yuna reacted the same way as Hana. The conversation repeats as Kita begins to tell everything again right from the start.
After a couple of minutes, a voice can be heard from a distance. "And what are nyu all doing here?" Lisa asked as she caught Kita, Hana, and Yuna having a conversation in the stockroom.
"There's no end to this, isn't it?" Kita reacted. She feels like they are on a loop. Right now, Kita is truly regretting her actions that led to this current situation.
"Serves nyu right," Yuna commented as she laughed.
"Nyu get what nyu deserve~" Hana added.
"I guess nyu have some explaining to do," Lisa said.
"Hai, hai, let's all gather at the office and finish this once and for all," Kita responded. "It's not even worth this headache for star's sake," she complained inaudibly.
Just like what she observed, Kita explained everything again, in front of everyone at the office for the last time. After Kita's statement, the maids are quite confused. All that they can do is speculate while waiting for the arrival of Princess Grace.
Hours have passed and as the star settles, a Kemi knocks at the door. Rin immediately opened it and saw a Kemi wearing a robe with a hood as a disguise.
"Shall we start?" Princess Grace said as she put down her hood.
43.
Princess Grace finally arrived at Trio Brews and Sweets, but not as a customer, as royalty this time. When Princess Grace enters the cafe, her aura is entirely different than before. She looks like a well-respected royalty, dissimilar from her low and soft presence as a commoner. Princess Grace is indeed used to switching images, depending on what's needed.
The Kemis gathered at the dining hall since the office is quite messy right now. Hence the discussion started immediately.
"First of all, I would like to commend nyu for doing the right thing. Things could have been worse if nyu showed that Runecrystal to a different royalty." Princess Grace said.
"Can nyu give us an example of what could have happened to us?" Hana curiously asked.
"At worst, nyu probably would have been exiled. This land is conservative and the royalties hold different views about the Runes. It was only recently when there's a small movement about using the Runes as a tool to help us instead of being afraid of it." Princess Grace replied.
"I guess we are lucky that Princess Grace is part of that movement," Kita commented.
"I am the leader of that movement." Princess Grace stated.
The maids were stunned. That explains why Princess Grace instantly believed in Yuna's claim earlier.
"In fact, I brought 2 Runes that I have." Princess Grace added as she got the Runes in her pocket.
"NYU HAVE RUNES AS WELL?" Kita, Yuna, Hana, and Lulu, all reacted at the same time.
"Hai, these are the Runes that my father gave me before he left our country." Princess Grace answered as she put the Runes on the table. A Runecrystal and a crystal looking shaped like a key, with encrypted writings inside.
"Wait, what is that?" Yuna questioned as she pointed at the new Runes that they had never seen.
"That is a Runekey. Nyu haven't seen one?" Princess Grace replied.
"This is the first time that we've seen one…" Kita answered.
"It looks pretty!" Lulu commented.
"What does it do?" Hana asked.
"If the Runecrystal unlocks Kemis' potential, the Runekeys were rumored to unlock ruins that will open a gate towards a different realm." Princess Grace said.
"Just like what the book says…" Lisa responded.
"There's so much that we still don't know…" Aoi confusedly commented.
"As far as we know, these 2 are the only Runes that existed. But there are still some possibilities that other types of Runes also exist, especially in the different realms." Princess Grace added.
"Hold on a second, if the Runes that we are talking about are that potent, then why does our land hate those?" Coco asked.
"Like what I've said, our land is conservative. Those reports in the book are not just conspiracies, they are true. My father was one of those Kemis who suddenly went missing after interacting with the Runes." Princess Grace answered.
"Then why are nyu leading the charge of using those if your father went missing because of it?" Lisa questioned.
"Because I believed that this is also the way to find those missing Kemis." Princess Grace firmly said. "Though I was not aware that we can use this to detect those creatures," she added.
"Nyu mean the Evil Mimis?" Rin responded.
"Hai, we already encountered an attack from those creatures in the southeast of the country. I guess the one that we found at the plaza successfully sneaked away from the Royal Guards." Princess Grace replied.
"How come we didn't hear anything about it?" Coco once again asked.
"We contained the news in order to prevent panic from the citizens. We cannot release any information since we're clueless as to what those creatures may be…" Princess Grace explained.
The conversation continues and it is indeed a very long one. To show hospitality, the maids prepared meals and drinks while the discussion was ongoing. Coco, Lulu, and Aoi are having a hard time following, that's why they decided to serve the others instead.
As they keep on exchanging information, the Kemis are gaining benefits on both sides. Earlier, Kita's group and Lisa were having an argument since their views about the Runes are different. It turns out, that neither belief in Kemitopia and Riverania was wrong. It's the experience that the Kemis have, that created the contradiction. Sharing the pieces that they know, has helped them to solve the puzzle. This moment proves that it's not only the maids who are lucky that they trust Princess Grace, both sides are fortunate in having met each other.
After a series of long conversations, the issue about the Runes is already cleared out. Princess Grace will communicate with them indirectly to continue their setup. Kita's group definitely would love to help the royalty since that's part of their mission in the first place. To know more about the Evil Mimis, and then update Maiko at Riverania. In return for their service, Princess Grace promised to help the cafe in paying off its debt. Rin and the other maids surely felt emotional after hearing those words.
Even though things are crystal clear, there's still a question lingering in Aoi's mind. "Anoo… I know this is not the right time for it but I just want to ask if should we continue the grand reopening. It's clear that we should pause it as of now, I'm just hoping that we can still do it someday…" she said.
"I understand that nyu truly want to continue our plan but I think we can't do it as of now. It will be dangerous to host a big event in this situation." Rin replied.
"No, we are still going to do it. In fact, as soon as possible." Princess Grace responded.
"Huh?" The maids reacted.
"But why? There's still a possibility of an Evil Mimi in the area." Rin argued.
"Exactly. The appearance of that single Evil Mimi earlier makes that possibility a close reality." Princess Grace replied.
"Then why would nyu still do it?" Lisa questioned.
"The plan is to create this event a really big one. We have to make sure that most of the citizens will attend this event. Once we do, the Royal Guards can scan the area thoroughly. Not only that, since we know that Evil Mimi targets the Kemis, we can lure them out if we gather every Kemi in one place." Princess Grace explained.
"But we cannot accommodate every citizen here in our cafe. This area is too narrow." Aoi said.
"We won't do it here, we will use the Royal Castle." Princess Grace answered.
"THE ROYAL CASTLE? THE PLACE WHERE A SPECIAL EVENT OCCURS LIKE CROWNING THE NEXT QUEEN!?" Coco questioned.
"Hai. We will also invite other struggling businesses here to promote their stores as well. The event will be disguised as promoting every business in Kemitopia. I'm quite sure that every citizen will attend even if we do not clause it as mandatory." Princess Grace said.
The maids could not believe what they were hearing. Princess Grace already planned everything out in a span of a day. From a sponsorship from a Duke to the full involvement of the royalties.
"Though, nyu still have to make Mae invite us to keep my status secret. Good luck with that~" Princess Grace added as she smiled.
End of Chapter 8