Ella soaked in the bathhouse a while, then changed into the clothes the maid had brought.
"Phew..."
Fed and washed, Ella was going drowsy, but she still remembered she had things to do.
"There's still the letter."
Head down, she left the bathhouse.
Her long hair was soaked, given only a cursory rub with a towel.
In a pink-and-white dress, Ella felt out of sorts. It was too pink.
"Haah..."
Sighing again, Ella looked down at the swell of her own chest and blanked out.
She hadn't investigated this body yet.
"Nn—?!"
She pressed at it experimentally with one hand, then put the hand firmly back down.
Ears a little red, she walked all the way back to Elos's room.
"Achoo!"
She sneezed and rubbed her nose.
"Ugh, have I caught a cold? This hair is too long. What a nuisance."
Ella rather wanted to cut it short.
"I'm back."
She pushed the door open and walked in without ceremony.
Elos was eating. She had clearly been in the bath a good while, Ella thought.
Curious about what she was having, Ella leaned in for a closer look.
Elos's breakfast was a fruit and vegetable salad, a bowl of stew, and a glass of milk.
All right, it did look considerably better than what the canteen served.
"Ahem... Um, Elos."
Eyeing the meat and carrots in the stew, Ella coughed twice.
"What, you want some?"
Elos glanced at her and lifted a piece of beef on her spoon.
"..."
Ella didn't answer. Her eyes only brightened.
Elos rather liked that brief flare of light. She dropped the beef on the floor anyway.
"If you want it, go and pick it up. You like mixing with commoners anyway, don't you? Hm?"
She smiled nastily.
"You—! Who wants your food? And what's wrong with commoners? Have they been eating your family's rice?"
"Hmph."
She didn't argue. Instinct told Elos that if this went on much longer she would be driven half to death with rage.
Dealing with Ella meant going after the body.
Thinking it over, Elos glanced at the girl's amply filled chest and felt, suddenly, distinctly put out.
Big chest, no brains. No wonder she was an idiot.
"I came to ask about the letter."
"Oh. Paper and pen are over there. Go and write it."
Elos pointed at the desk nearby, where she had been doing her assignment.
"Tell me, can you actually write? Idiot."
"You... Never mind. I won't hold it against you."
Ella went to the desk and picked up the quill.
The writing of this world was nothing like her past life's, but she had lived here fifteen years after all. She might never have studied magic, but the language and the script she had down solidly.
***
She finished the letter quickly and set the quill down. In it she had laid out all of Elos's many wrongs, certain that once her discount dad read it he would come and take her away from here.
A few more days of endurance, then.
"The letter's done."
"Mm."
"Leave it there. A maid will send it out for you shortly."
Elos finished her breakfast and unhurriedly dabbed the corners of her mouth with a napkin.
"I'm going to sleep."
Ella stood and headed for the door. Passing the table, her gaze lingered a moment on the dust-covered piece of meat on the floor.
All right, she admitted it, she was a bit greedy.
"You're not going."
Elos had caught that look, and only found the person in front of her more of a fool than ever. A rather endearing fool.
Did someone like this really come from a noble house? If she inherited a title, she'd be eaten down to the crumbs inside a minute.
"...What do you want now?"
Ella pouted, resentment in her voice.
Elos took in every small movement she made. Had this one really been a man before? So many of her gestures were exactly a little girl's.
"We're going out. You'll lead this lady's horse."
"Come on. Whatever else, I'm supposed to be your wife, aren't I? I'm not a maid... Could you stop ordering me around like this?"
Ella hadn't wanted to admit to the title, but if it would spare her some trouble, she didn't mind making use of it for now.
"Wife? Isn't that just a bigger maid you're allowed to get close to?"
Elos said it offhandedly.
In other people's houses it might not be so, but as Elos saw it, a wife in House Beaumont was exactly that.
Which was why being born into this family was terrible.
"Haah... Rotten little kid."
Ella sighed and muttered it quietly, keeping the last few words from reaching Elos.
She had only just gotten back, and now she had to go out again with her.
Walking behind Elos, Ella hung her head.
They were up a mountain, and the morning wind was cold. Crossing the courtyard path, Ella shivered.
"Achoo!"
She thought she really might have caught a cold.
Elos walked slowly, glancing back now and then at the girl with the lowered head.
She could tell what state Ella was in. So what? If Ella hadn't been in a bad way, she wouldn't have bothered going out at all.
"Anyway, why do you always carry that busted rock around?"
Elos had noticed the jade pendant, transferred onto the new dress.
"Nothing. It's just a charm."
***
They left the inner bailey for the stables. Elos rode, Ella led by the rein, and the two of them drifted about the paddock outside the castle.
"Haaawn. I'm so tired. I want to go back and rest."
It really was nothing but a walk, and Ella was half asleep on her feet.
Elos noticed how listless she was and gave the horse's neck an idle pat, and the horse under her broke into a run.
"!!?"
Yanked violently forward, Ella woke right up. She let go in time, but her right arm still felt as though it had been pulled out of the socket.
"Sss... That hurt like hell. That bastard."
Ella watched Elos ride off into the distance.
Not wanting to wait on her any longer, she turned and headed for the castle gate.
From a distance Elos saw the retreating figure cradling its arm, and her eyes sharpened.
She rounded the turn, drove the horse straight at Ella, and struck her hard from behind.
"Ngh... cough, cough... pff, pff, pff..."
With the horse's momentum behind it, the blow carried real force, and Ella went down on the ground.
The dirt hadn't seen rain in days and was dry and hard, and searing pain came from Ella's palms.
"..."
Her nose stung. Struggling back to her feet, she looked up at Elos, who had reined in beside her.
Ella said nothing. It was thoroughly unfair, yes, but she would be leaving in a few days, so she would put up with it.
"You know what? The way you just fell over was hilarious. Flat out on the ground, exactly like those commoners."
"..."
"Hey."
Not getting the reaction she wanted, Elos was displeased.
"Why don't you cry?"
"You're insane."
Ella still couldn't help firing back, though the delivery had lost some of its snap.
Unexpectedly, Elos didn't argue. Ella thought she had finally acquired some self-awareness, right up until the two of them got back to the stables.
"So boring. Ella, help this lady down."
"Oh..."
With no strength left in her, Ella came over to the horse anyway.
Just as she reached out to help her, the horse suddenly reared.
Ella backed up two steps. She hadn't expected the horse to spook, and she landed hard on her backside.
The palms she had just scraped raw pressed into the ground again.
"Ha ha ha, you're such a coward. However did you dare to hit me back then?"
Elos held a riding crop in her hand, and she laughed at her without restraint.
"..."
Ella clenched her fist, paid Elos no further attention, got up, and walked into the inner bailey alone.
Confirmed. She was no match at all for this damned villainess.