Chapter 10
Maxi woke from a deep sleep to the sound of the kittens mewing. Bright light streamed in through the windows, and she squinted against it painfully. Her head felt as though it might split open. Groaning, she closed her eyes against the light and gripped her temples.
Something scraped at the insides of her stomach, and her head throbbed in rhythm with her heartbeat.
She had never felt such overwhelming discomfort in her life, and her face crumpled as she groaned again.
A cup of water was thrust into her face, and she slowly turned her head to find Riftan brooding at the edge of the bed while the three kittens climbed up his trousers.
“Is my carousing lady finally awake?”
Memories of the night before flooded her mind, hazy through the fog of her headache.
Riftan placed the cup of water in her hand. “You were quite the sight. I didn’t know you loved to drink so much.”
His soft tone made Maxi uneasy, and she rushed to explain herself. “I-I don’t! Y-Yesterday was the first time I-I d-drank that much.” It was the truth, but her voice faltered.
Eyeing her doubtfully, Riftan sat on the bed and sighed heavily. He seemed to be suppressing his temper.
Maxi hung her head and gripped the cool cup in her hand. The hair that Ludis had arranged so elegantly was a mess of tangled vines around her shoulders, and her beautiful dress was gone. Wearing only her chemise, and with her hair in such disarray, she must look like a vagrant.
She slowly raised the blanket to hide her face, feeling ashamed and puffy after so much alcohol.
“Let this be my only warning,” Riftan said, his soft voice clear as a bellow. “If I ever find you drunk among a group of rowdy men again, I’ll make sure you can’t leave this bed for a while.”
Maxi snapped her head up in surprise. It was not his threat that surprised her, but the fact that she was not afraid of it. She trusted absolutely that Riftan would never hurt her and that his threat held no substance.
“Do you know what I’d do to you?” Riftan growled when his threat failed to scare her.
Realizing that his anger was genuine, Maxi quickly shook her head. “I-It will n-never happen again.”
“If I could have my way, I would…” Riftan paused, gazing resentfully at her disheveled appearance, then breathed a sigh of resignation. “I’ll have the maidservants bring you herbal tea to help with the hangover, so rest here awhile. We’ll speak again this evening.”
“W-Where are you g-going?”
“I have business to attend to on the training grounds,” Riftan said with unnerving calm as he stood up from the bed. He plucked the kittens free from his legs and set them down on the bed, then strode out of the room.
Maxi gathered the kittens onto her lap. Their indignant mewling aggravated her piercing headache, so she tried to placate them with gentle pats and scratches.
“How are you feeling, my lady?” Ludis asked when she entered with a tray of tea.
Maxi felt terrible, but after the spectacle she had made of herself last night, she did not want to be seen suffering from a hangover. Trying to look as dignified as possible, she sipped the herbal tea to soothe her stomach. Despite her efforts, Ludis was quick to notice Maxi’s condition.
“Allow me to prepare a bath for you, my lady. A warm bath and a bowl of the cook’s special egg porridge should help you feel better.”
Maxi nodded, comforted by the suggestion. “Yes, th-that would be n-nice.”
A tub of steaming water was brought to the room, and Maxi quickly undressed and lowered herself in. After washing her thick hair with an herbal tonic, she felt refreshed and soaked peacefully until the water grew lukewarm.
By the time Maxi dried and dressed, Ludis returned with a bowl of porridge mixed with barley, potatoes, onions, and eggs. After eating her fill, she found that her headache had faded and decided to read by the fire.
“Shall I take the kittens away, so they don’t disturb you?” Ludis asked as she gathered the breakfast dishes.
Maxi shook her head, reluctant to send the tiny creatures away from the warmth of her room. “Th-That won’t be n-necessary. Th-They’ve been behaving.”
Ludis smiled. “The black-haired one is so docile, but the other two are mischievous little things. The moment they recovered some strength, they started running about the room. They’ll make fine mouse hunters one day.”
Maxi was relieved to hear Ludis speaking of the kittens so fondly. She had worried that Ludis might resent the additional responsibility, but the maidservant seemed as smitten with them as Maxi was.
“I th-thought of names f-for them yesterday. The black one i-is Roy, the white one i-is Laura, a-and the gray t-tabby is R-Ron.”
Ludis knitted her brows and mouthed each name, then smiled. “I shall let the servants know. They’ve all taken a liking to these precious things, and the cook has high hopes for them. He even prepared treats to help them grow faster so that they can start catching mice in the kitchen.”
She pointed to a flat wooden bowl on the floor, where the kittens were happily feasting on milk and fish porridge. Maxi smiled at them, then turned her attention back to her book.
Though Maxi had made little progress on cultivating mana affinity, reading had given her a better understanding of the governing concepts and principles of magic. This was the last of the books that Ruth had assigned her, and she was eager to learn more.
Just as Maxi took out a fresh piece of parchment and turned to the final chapter of the book, Laura scampered over to her and began clawing at the hem of her dress.
Maxi leaned down and absently scratched the kitten’s back, but Laura soon began to yowl so loudly that Maxi could not focus on her reading.
Agitated, she glanced down at the kitten.
Ludis came over and scooped Laura up, dropping her in the basket, but the poor thing continued to mew pathetically.
“Shall I take them outside, my lady?”
“N-No. I was a-about to head to the l-library. C-Could you l-look after them f-for a little while?”
“Of course, my lady. They’ll quiet down once they’ve had a chance to play.”
Maxi gathered her book and notes, slipped a robe over her dress, and left the room. After passing quickly through the chilled corridors, she arrived at the library and was greeted by Ruth.
“Did you grow any taller in your sleep?” the mage asked, looking up at her with a smirk.
Maxi stared in confusion, then remembered her drunken behavior and blushed. “Embarrassing a lady b-by bringing up her blunders is a g-great discourtesy.”
“I know of no lady capable of drinking half a barrel of wine by herself.”
Maxi eyed him distrustfully. “Y-You’re lying. I couldn’t have had so much.”
“And that’s only counting the wine. If we were to include the ale…” He trailed off, his smirk turning to a teasing grin. “But seeing as you’re perfectly sound this morning, you must be a natural drinker. Sir Hebaron wouldn’t stop singing your praises.”
“I s-suffered a t-terrible headache when I woke up th-this morning.”
“But you seem perfectly fine.”
“Because I-I drank h-herbal tea!”
As a noblewoman, Maxi could think of few things more mortifying than being branded a drunkard. To her relief, Ruth seemed to have grown bored with teasing her. He shrugged and sat down at the desk.
“We’ll have plenty more opportunities to see just how well you can hold your liquor.”
“H-How dare you! I w-won’t be drinking l-like that from n-now on.”
“If you say so. You’re here to study, no?” He waved to the chair across from him. “Please have a seat. How far have you read?”
Maxi shot him a resentful look before sitting down despondently. “I-I only have th-this left, though I can’t s-say I’ve understood e-everything I read….”
“You’ve made fast progress. I shall try to explain anything you found difficult in as simple terms as possible.”
Maxi pulled out rolls of parchment from her leather pouch and handed them to Ruth, who skimmed over the pages and smiled.
“I see that you’ve been studying hard. I’m glad that you’re so determined.”
“I wrote down everything I could not u-understand,” Maxi mumbled, embarrassed by the rare compliment.
Ruth cleared his throat and adopted a serious look. “Then allow me to explain. Please focus.”
Maxi hastily took out a quill, an ink bottle, and a piece of fresh parchment from her pouch. Once she was ready, Ruth launched into his lecture, and Maxi took careful notes on every word. For a few hours, the only sound in the library was Ruth’s monotonous voice and the scratching of Maxi’s quill.
Well into the afternoon, Maxi requested a light meal from a maidservant, and they moved the desk closer to the brazier before continuing the lesson.
When the food arrived, they ate their bread and soup without breaking.
While she listened to Ruth, Maxi dipped pieces of bread into her soup with one hand and took notes with the other.
Every so often, Ruth would ramble excitedly about complex concepts, but he always explained them to her in simpler terms if she asked.
He was surprisingly patient—even when she failed to grasp something right away.
He never became exasperated with her, and this encouraged Maxi to ask questions freely.
“This reminds me of my time in the Mage Tower,” Ruth said suddenly, a nostalgic expression on his face.
Maxi looked up from her notes and gave Ruth a quizzical look. “D-Didn’t you l-leave the tower b-because you h-hated it there?”
“What I disliked was the tower’s rules, not the tower itself.” A faint longing crept into Ruth’s voice as he continued. “It is, after all, the only place in the world where hundreds of well-educated mages gather to cultivate their skills.”