LTSV - Lost & Found 18 (Patreon)

‘Lost Daughter’ often used the dramatic fade-to-black cut when Cecily was alone with a family member so you didn’t really get to see their conversations. After a certain point, one just assumed violence was happening. 

It’s not like she didn’t already know that the devs could, would, and regularly did mindfuck their players because they didn’t have a big game company exec to appease. This was a little extreme though and it was frustrating to realize that now she couldn’t even rely on what the game presented as facts to be true.

“Are you worried, senior?” Cecily asked out of the blue. “You were all by yourself when the first seizure happened. Did he really send you out to get married all by yourself?”

“I don’t really know. That bit is still fuzzy, but I had Nanny and Anna so it’s hard to say,” Mira admitted. “You don’t have to call me ‘senior’, you know. You can use my name—or ‘Mira’ when we’re in private. Vesper would like it if you stopped calling her ‘miss’ too.”

“Mira,” Cecily echoed, rolling it around on her tongue. “Then please call me Cece? It was Mama’s pet name for me. It’d be nice to hear that name from my family again. What is ‘Mira’ from?”

“My middle name is Altmira,” Mira replied. She’d gotten lucky there, although she almost always did so perhaps it wasn’t luck at all.

“I’m glad that you turned out to be my sister,” Cecily said quietly. She looked down at her lap. “Do–do you remember that day on the stairs?”

Mira made an honest effort, but Violet’s memories had little to offer; just a general sense of chaos and confusion. “I’m afraid not, just that there was a lot of noise.”

However, Cecily just nodded like that was the answer she expected. “How good are you at telling what direction sound is coming from?”

Mira shrugged, “I’m not reliable, let’s say that.” Violet might have been better since she was the one who’d had all the practice so Mira was reluctant to give her a firm answer.

Cecily nodded to herself again, harder this time. “I thought that might be the case.”

“Is something the matter?” Mira asked. There was something about the heroine’s expression…

“Maybe, maybe not.” Cecily turned to give her a wan smile. “Does Andrei know about your eye and ear?”

“I assumed he did,” Mira admitted with an honest shrug. “I don’t recall for certain, but we were engaged. It would be strange if he didn’t know, although I had assumed that if he did then he would have told you. Even if you didn’t believe that I was harassing you, he truly seems to have.”

“He doesn’t like to discuss you much,” Cecily said. She crossed her arms and frowned thoughtfully. “Actually, I always had the sense that he didn’t know you well at all, which is strange because he’s usually very observant when it comes to other people.”

Andrei was nineteen and a stubborn ass, which came across loud and clear in the game. He very much did not want an arranged marriage and he wouldn’t be the first young man to build up a villain in his mind and assign someone’s face to it; Violet’s, in this case. The other option would have been to hate the person who was actually responsible for his unhappiness and Andrei loved his father too much to do that.

“Perhaps,” Mira said. “What’s on your mind?”

However, Cecily declined to give her a direct answer. “I should talk to someone before I say anything.” She shook herself and clapped her hands together, “Do you think Viola will come with the Lord Warden? I haven’t gotten a letter from her since the school year ended. My allowance was stopped so I couldn’t send her a message after I left home or before M–before Vesper picked me up from the hostel. I had my mail stopped at the post office, but I haven’t seen a letter from her. I’m worried that she might have sent a special messenger directly to Rousseau House.” Cecily bit her lip and fidgeted. “The Baron can be very rude when he’s upset. What if he offended her and she doesn’t want to be my friend anymore?”

“I’m sure that’s not the case,” Mira lied. 

Unfortunately, she knew the root cause of this sudden silence from the game and it wasn’t anything Cecily or Mira could fix. She knew that plotline, at least, wasn’t a red herring. There was no stopping that part of the story, nor did Mira think she should even try. Viola would explain herself in no uncertain terms once the time came. However, Mira had no way to explain how she knew so there was no other option than to let Cecily wait until the story played itself out. 

“A true friend will understand your circumstances,” Mira said instead. “Focus on yourself for now. Have you finished picking out your furniture for your room? Nanny says you’re still under budget. You could go to a gallery and pick out a few paintings, if you like?”

“Isn’t it better to come under budget?” Cecily asked with the naivete of a teenager who’d never had the opportunity to manage her own expenses. “It’s already enough that you and Vesper are taking care of me this much. I won’t be greedy.”

“It’s fine here. Nanny will give you the balance of whatever you don’t spend in cash since I allotted that money for you and don’t plan on taking it back,” Mira said, trying not to smile. “With other people it’s best to spend everything you’re given. Otherwise, the next time you might receive less when you would have needed all of it, plus some. Don’t think of it as greed, think of it as taking care of your future resources.”

Cecily didn’t look convinced, but this was another thing they’d have time to work on; a healthy level of self interest.

“You should talk to Nanny about money sometime,” Mira decided out loud. “She managed all my property for me when I was growing up and I think that I might have been less anxious before my ‘wedding’ if I’d known more about my finances earlier. Colvin is helping me now so she might have some free time to sit with you and set up a plan once the townhouse is settled,” she added that last, cheerfully throwing Nanny under the bus. Cecily would need to learn how to look after her money sooner rather than later. This wasn’t part of Mira’s game knowledge, it was something she believed to be true for every young woman, who didn’t already know. She just didn’t want to take on the task of teaching Cecily. There was enough on Mira’s plate at present.

As though summoned by his name, there was a soft knock at the door and Colvin let himself in. “Miss Cecily, Matron Byrde would like a word, if you have a moment,” he told Cecily. Mira could tell from his voice that someone had explained her situation to him while she and Cecily were chatting. He kept glancing at the spot where her hair had fallen back into her face to hide her other eye.

“Of course,” Cecily said as she stood. She turned back to Mira. “I’ll be back afterwards. Vesper didn’t tell me what her plans were for after she meets the Lord Warden at the gate platform, but I think she’ll call us with an update when she has one.”

“Alright,” Mira waved her fondly off. “Now’s as good a time as any to ask Nanny for advice.”

“Bossy!” Cecily said with her cheeks puffed, but gave no indication that she wasn’t enjoying being bossed. She turned on her heel, nodded politely to Colvin, and let herself out.

“Matron Byrde told me an upsetting story while we were outside,” Colvin quietly informed her.

“How upsetting?” Mira asked cautiously. 

“Very,” he replied. “She also told me about your amnesia. If you don’t remember the incident, then I agree that there’s no benefit to recalling it.” He started to reach out towards her face, but pulled his hand back at the last second. “Forgive me, that was impertinent.”

“I don’t mind,” Mira said and tilted her head so that her hair slid away from her face. “It’s not too ugly, just a little strange.”

Colvin knelt down in front of her and stared at her closed eyelid and sculpted ear. She had earrings in today that dangled, but also made the reconstructed ear look twice as fake as usual. Usually, Anna arranged Mira’s hair so that only the bottom part of her earlobe was visible.

“Do you have any sensation in the area?” Colvin asked, sounding hoarse when he finally did find his voice. 

“Are you asking if it hurts?” Mira shook her head. “It aches a bit sometimes if I let the skin there dry out, like any other large scar. How much did Nanny tell you about my amnesia?”

“She said that it was slowly clearing,” Colvin told her. He looked at her for a bit longer before his jaw firmed and his eyes became resolute. “You’ve been treated cruelly, miss. It won’t happen again on my watch. I understand now why your sister asked for my help.”

“Oh?” Mira didn’t mean for it to come out quite as teasing as it did, but Colvin’s voice and demeanor continued to stir up old feelings and even older memories. She always missed Adra, but talking to Colvin made her miss him even more than usual. Having him around as he found his empathy for and loyalty to ‘Violet’ made Adra feel both closer to her and, at the same time, further away than ever. “You’re very confident.”

“I’m very capable,” he replied evenly, but there was an answering spark of humor in his deep red eyes. “Although, I hope you never have cause to find out just how capable I can be in a crisis.”

000

Word eventually came back to the hotel room via Nanny, that Vesper had met with their father and he was not permitted to visit her face-to-face, on the recommendation of Mira’s doctors.

“You —we had so little warning the last time,” Nanny explained. “He asked if you two could meet under medical supervision, but Lady Vesper decided against it.”

Mira was a little surprised that he’d even asked, but she had to remind herself that she already knew the game was very selective in the way it portrayed the characters. Yes, Mira woke up alone in this body—but in retrospect, Violet’s family had sent her away with a powerful protector in the form of Nanny Byrde, a servant with a clean background who was loyal only to her, and enough money to be a force to reckoned with even in a new family. That wasn’t nothing and Vesper showed up in town suspiciously soon after Violet was meant to be married. Even considering the fact that she’d been summoned by the temple clerics to collect Cecily, she’d have had to be in town already when they’d called her.

“Why is Vesper making decisions for me?” Mira asked. She didn’t mind, Vesper was who she would have chosen if Nanny couldn’t do it, but this seemed like a thing she should understand better.

Nanny blinked at her and then seemed to remember that Mira likely wouldn’t recall something so minor, “Lady Vesper has been your medical next of kin since the time she took over the household accounts. Your Lord Father travels too often to always be available in the event of an emergency and so, because of that, the acknowledged Warden’s Heir has always received primary custody of their younger siblings as part of their rite of adulthood. Even if you are a Priestly now, she is still your next of kin since there are no other Priestlys. Repudiating blood ties is a different legal procedure. Leaving the Coventry name only means you have renounced your position in the line of inheritance and your right to any income from the main family that was not settled on you as part of your departure. He is still your father. Lady Vesper is still your older sister, you are just no longer her heir.”