Hazy Mind

-----Yui's POV

Almost as if it was all planned out, Kaede, mom and Fabian all returned to the mansion right when Natalie and the other maids were just finishing the final touches on the outfits. Melanthos, Neda and Erytheia are in another room with the maids, probably fitting them over and over again.

Kaede: "Did I miss anything?"

Yui: "Not really, haha."

I'm not about to say what Natalie and I had to go through though.

Yui: "How was the queen's visit? I'm guessing your mom is staying over there now?"

Kaede: "It went... Well, I suppose."

Yui: "Hmm?"

Now that I'm looking at mom and Fabian, I do feel as though something happened, especially with how lost Fabian seems to be.

Yui: "Mom?"

Iris: "I'll talk about it later. Shall we have lunch first?"

Natalie: "We're done~ Oh! Lady Iris, you're back?"

Iris: "Yes, has lunch already been prepared?"

Natalie: "Hmm? Oh, not yet. But what we do have prepared is~"

With the assistance of the other maids, Melanthos, Neda and Erytheia all came out in their new clothes.

Maid1: "I hope you three like it."

Melanthos: "I still find it a bit awkward to move around."

Suddenly, Mai smashes her hand behind Melanthos' head, causing him to stumbled forward from the impact.

Mai: "You're meant to give thanks, you brute."

Melanthos: "B-brute?"

Mai: "Yes. No one wants to see that, so be thankful for it."

Melanthos: "...Thank you."

Maid1: "N-not a problem!"

Apart from Melanthos, Neda and Erytheia remained silent as they both seemed to be testing out their new clothes.

Neda: "Ahh~ This is divine! Thank you."

Maid2: "Hehe. You're welcome, miss Neda."

Although Neda seems to be enjoying this a little too much. Unlike Melanthos who is wearing long pants and a shirt, Neda is wearing a white, off-shoulder dress with gold embroidery adorned on it. The way the dress flows around her knees as she spins around really does make her look divine, just like she said. All she would need is some high heels and she'd honestly look perfect. Erytheia seems to be the opposite, wearing mostly black, with a red undershirt. So apart from Neda, the other two seems to be wearing somewhat warm clothing. I guess Neda is just too keen on the bedsheet attire... Even her dress now isn't that far off from the bed sheet she was wearing before with how she's wearing it over just one of her shoulders.

Erytheia: "Mm. I like this."

Maid3: "I'm glad to hear, miss Ery."

Erytheia: "Mmmm."

Iris: "I think you all did a splendid job. Thank you for the help girls."

Maids: "Thank you very much, my lady."

Kaede: "Well I suppose I'll take them off your hands, hehe."

Yui: "Eh? You leaving already?"

Kaede: "Well it's not like they can eat. Plus I want to check up on the others."

Yui: "Hmmm. Okay. Then I'll stop on by after lunch?"

Kaede: "Yup! Sounds good."

It's times like these that I honestly wish we were back home. Sometimes I feel like Kaede and I are just in completely different worlds. She can't even stay back here and enjoy lunch with the rest of us... I still need to bring up that topic with her, but I guess that can wait until after lunch.

Suddenly, a loud scream could be heard from upstairs. In a panic, we all rush upstairs, towards where the scream came. But upon arriving outside the door, I notice Alice has drawn her blade, pointing it towards something in the room. Peering into the room, my heart sinks at the sight before me.

Alice: "Let go of her!"

Leon: "Stay back! Or I'll slice her throat!"

My heart drops at the sight before me, for multiple reasons. Leon has miraculously woken up, but not just that, but he now has a letter opener up against one of the maid's neck as Leon holds her close. Even at this distance, I can still see the tears streaming down the maid's eyes as she remains frozen in fear.

Yui: "Leon, wait!"

Leon: "Huh? I didn't know this could be this detailed."

What? What the hell is he on about? I look to my side, towards Kaede who looks to be ready to pounce. Even her nails have already grown out into long, sharp points.

Leon: "I said get back!"

Fabian: "Prince Leon-"

And in a blink of and eye, Kaede, seeming to have teleported inside has somehow gotten in-between both Leon and the maid before pinning Leon's body to the ground. I don't know if it's just me, or has Kaede gotten even faster than before? Almost instantly after being freed, the maid ran out of the room, sobbing with tears as mom pulled her in to a soft embrace.

Iris: "It's okay. You're okay."

Leon: "G-get off of me!"

Kaede: "Shut up! Or I'll be the one cutting your throat."

Leon: "!"

True to her word, Kaede has one of her nails up against Leon's throat. I can't help but think back on the time when Kaede was so pure. I'd never hear something like that come out of her mouth, yet this is the Kaede now...

Alice: "Thank you, Kaede."

As the rest of us remain stuck in place with the maid still sobbing in mom's arms, Alice ties Leon's arms behind his back with some rope with some help from Kaede. With Leon now detained, we slowly funneled our way into the room. Fabian takes a spot close to Leon who still seems to be pissed off as he glares at everyone in the room.

Mell: "I told you we should've killed him."

Kaede: "Hey, we don't know what's wrong yet."

Yeah, I'm actually lost as to why Leon would attack someone like that; a maid at that who was only trying to help him.

Leon: "Why am I still alive... Just kill me already!"

Fabian: "What?"

Mai: "Ah~ I see now."

At her words, we all turn towards Mai. Knowing Mai, she probably already knows what's happening, and it seems like everyone else has also come to the same conclusion.

Kaede: "What?"

Mai: "He's under a spell of some kind. It seems to be affecting his senses. He probably sees us as some kind of monsters or demons. But undoubtedly, there's mana emanating from him that isn't his."

We all look back at Leon who's still glaring at all of us, as if we're the bad guys here. But when could he have possibly been subjected to this kind of magic?

Yui: "Kaede? Do you know?"

Kaede: "I'm not sure. My guess is that Ilfa accidentally left behind that spell on Fabian, but I'm not sure."

Iris: "You think you can cleanse him, Mai?"

Mai: "I can try, but magic like this can be a bit tricky. It affects one's mind, so I don't want to damage anything."

Iris: "Thank you."

Fabian: "Y-yes! Thank you."

It was then that Mai approached Leon as he quickly locks eyes with Mai alone.

Leon: "G-get away!"

Mai: "Yes yes, I know."

Ignoring his pleas, Mai closes the distance as Leon tries his best to break free from the ropes tying him down. And just as Mai raised her hand, she brought her hand down onto Leon's head, knocking him out unconscious, stunning all of us in the room, leaving us speechless.

Mai: "...Well, it'll be easier when he's unconscious."

Couldn't she have said that first instead of giving all of us a heart-attack? Hahh~ Here I thought we'd be finally in the clear, but now we have yet another problem, although this seems to be already being solved as Mai now seems to be concentrating quite deeply.

Iris: "Let's all move back downstairs."

Natalie: "Y-yeah..."