Page 38 of I Ran Away to Evil
My wallet was a bit lighter, but honestly, I had been an active adventurer conquering dungeons for the past ten years, and I had the money to spend. My enchanted Valaria-issued Sales and Accounts card from the continental treasury of the Valaria Moniers Guild let me know that I could spend some more time with Planta and not worry too much.
While checking my purchases, I noticed something on my account that I had not accounted to find.
[February 5-15, Pre-Authorized Deposit of 20 Gold from the Kingdom of Nilheim.]
[February 15-30, Pre-Authorized Deposit of 30 Gold from the Kingdom of Nilheim.]
Keith was paying me? A wage? And how had he gotten an authorized signature? It must have been the laboratory aid contract! He’d been paying me for the test subject work, and attwo gold a day.
Huh. So much for my [Bureaucracy] skill. It was embarrassing to realize I had overlooked it until now. I’d just assumed that my work over the last month had been without pay.
Sithli and Chikli were right: I needed to respect myself better.
“I’ll have your clothes sent on to the castle, Princess.” Planta smiled and tossed her long purple hair over her shoulder with flair, looking every bit the confident woman I’d come to admire. “But this is a special gift fromme.”
Planta opened one of the boxes and brought out a tight-fitting cotton swimsuit with a slight ruffle at the hip and matching white slippers. The second was a long purple silk bathrobe to wear over it all.
“Oh my goodness, Planta! You didn’t?!” I reached out and caressed the silk robe.
Usually, silk was a terrible choice to wear while you were damp. The fabric was clingy and didn’t absorb a lot of water. It quickly got wet, cold, and generally unpleasant. But this wasn’t regular silk; this was high-grade arachnid silk from last season’s weave. It was strong, waterproof, and easily regulated body heat. “It’s beautiful … Thank you.”
I suddenly wanted to cry. No one had ever given me such a wonderful, thoughtful, perfect gift before. I was moved.
“No, thankyou,” Planta said, blushing slightly. “For not killing Marik after he was so rude this morning. He’s not usually that bad, but he does take being the strongest very personally …”
I see. I reached up slightly and lightly patted the girl on the shoulder. “No worries. I have no intention of killing anyone.”
Planta put her hand on mine and smiled. “Then why don’t I drop you off at the martial plateau? Don’t worry about this.” She waved at the trunks. “We’ll handle everything.”
“I’m ready!”
CHAPTER 24
Who Told the Future Like This?!
Keith
“I don’t havetimefor this, Rufus.” Keith pushed up his glasses and tried to wave away his demon general and closest friend. “Ria is going to be back tomorrow!”
“Youorderedyour own sessions,” Rufus said, not budging from his relaxed stance in front of Keith’s desk. “With a special enchanted scroll signed in blood. You aren’t allowed to skip them unless I say so.”
“But I’mfine,” Keith insisted. “The paperwork is more important right now.”
“Are you fine?” Rufus leaned over Keith’s desk and stared him in the eye. “Or do you need relationship advice becauseyou’ve never experienced a relationship before?And don’t try to convince me you aren’t interested in the princess. You gave her theQUEEN’S ROOMS.”
“She’s a visitingroyal princess! They were the only fancy rooms we had,” Keith protested. It was the truth.
“And now that she lives here?”
Keith said nothing. He couldn’t say that he liked the idea of her being there. Or that he didn’t want to disturb her and make her move out. He also didn’t want to say that the head maid had reported to him how much Ria loved her rooms or how happy he was that she was happy.
Also, it was nice that Ria wasn’t stuck wearing adventuring travel wear all day. Though it would be nice to buy her something new …
Keith came back to the conversation and argued, “Still, I don’t need relationship ad—”
“You wouldn’t cast a spell without research,” Rufus cut him off. “Or file these reports without understanding the math—and don’t say you could do it. We both know Chloe is the only child genius. You would make amessof Nilheim’s reports without those algebra lessons.”
Feliwyn’s strict teaching hadn’t just been relegated to Keith. She had kidnapped many lost souls while she was in charge of the castle and taught them reading and writing and arithmetic. It had irritated her that there were beings in the kingdom who couldn’t read and appreciate her popular line of published romance novels.
