Once the pair made it to Siffia’s room, they encountered an entirely new problem; The closet had been much dustier and more full of cobwebs than either of the pair had expected. It was so bad, in fact, that Siffia blanched in embarrassment upon showing it. Thankfully, with the help of Eris’s domineering gaze behind her, Siffia was able to get a nearby maid to quickly come and clean the afflicted closet, and after a few minutes they were able to finally begin putting the new dresses away.
As Eris delicately hung up the first dress and marveled at the odd picture it made in the otherwise empty yet spacious closet, she couldn’t help but remark upon it.
“…I’m surprised such a vacant closet was so difficult for the servants to clean. Where have you been keeping your clothing, Lady Siffia?”
From how dense the dust in the closet had been, it clearly hadn’t been used in at least the past five years, if not more.
“Ah… I’ve… I've been keeping them in the trunk at the end of my bed for a while now. I-It makes it much easier to keep the room clean, as well as to organize the clothes!”
Though Siffia had forced a smile as she wandered over and opened the aforementioned trunk to show off its contents, Eris could easily see the troubled furrow of Siffia’s brow. Her gaze traveled from the trunk to the bed to the floors, eventually sweeping around the entirety of the modestly sized room filled with minimal contents, and soon came to a displeasing realization.
It wasn’t just the closet that the servants hadn’t been cleaning.
Siffia was being made to do all of the room’s cleaning on her own.
Of course, seeing how Siffia’s father and brother treated her, it was no wonder to Eris that Siffia had been neglected by the servants in this way; No matter where it was, people rarely went out of their way to do a job that wasn’t required of them. It baffled Eris that Siffia could be surrounded by such uncaring, unhelpful people, and yet still have come out as selfless as she was.
And what's more, seeing the uncomfortable, forced smile that Siffia was making was causing Eris to feel a way that she’d never experienced before.
It was quite a bad feeling. Unlike most of the other feelings that Siffia had inflicted her with, Eris didn’t much like this one.
“Mmm… I understand. It was… a wise choice.”
“Ah… Th-Thank you for saying so...”
“Hmm. Yes. Of course.”
Though her words were said in an attempt to put an end to the unexpectedly uncomfortable conversation, the gloom of it still lingered over them. Unsure of how to break free from it, the pair sat in silence for quite a while. Eris couldn’t help but berate herself for ever even asking the offending question and causing things to wind up like this. Never before had she been forced to sit in such awkwardness and care.
Feeling like this was her fault as well as her burden to fix, Eris quickly made her way back to the dress box, carefully taking the next dress out of the box and continuing with the task at hand. Though the awkwardness still weighed over her, she didn’t dare to try to strike up another conversation after what had just happened. Silently, she placed all but the last dress into the closet before she was finally willing to venture a covert glance towards Siffia to see how she was doing.
However, she hadn't expected to see the way that Siffia was sending her repeated bashful glances back.
Siffia’s constant quick looks from beneath her thick fluttering eyelashes almost froze Eris in place. Those eyelashes catching onto the slightly flushed cheeks only seemed to enhance the entrancing image she cast. She couldn’t help but find Siffia’s actions fascinatingly cute. Perhaps they were even irresistibly so.
Despite Eris’s suddenly stunned state, Siffia soon clasped her hands together against her chest and came closer, approaching from where she’d been quietly admiring her and once more striking up a conversation.
“Um… Lady Eris. Thank you once again for coming when you did. You’ve been rescuing me so often lately… You’re like a valiant knight from a fairy tale.”
The way that Siffia was looking up at her through her eyelashes made Eris’s heart move in unpredictable ways. She found the view so pretty that she almost wished she could have had a picture of it. For a moment, Eris even wondered if there was any way she could somehow convince Siffia to make the same face in front of a cameraman, before her mind finally returned to her. Displeased by where her thoughts had just been weirdly wandering, Eris had to cross her arms and turn slightly away from Siffia before she was finally able to respond.
“...My, and here I thought that that’s what ‘friends’ were meant to do. I’m sure you would have saved me as well if I were to find myself in a similar situation.”
“O-of course I would!”
Siffia all but burst forward in excitement. Her face brightening, and her eyes twinkling almost like the stars themselves.
“I would help you through anything!”
Eris softly chuckled. She could feel an urge to pet Siffia’s head, just like how she used to with her brothers when she, and they, were much younger. However, she held it back, subtly squeezing her hands against her arms and distracting herself with further conversation instead.
“To be fair, it’s not as if you haven’t already rescued me as well, Lady Siffia.”
“...Hmm?”
Siffia’s face contorted with light confusion. Even through the thick dark curtain of her hair that so often attempted to obstruct her face, it was easy to read how she was searching through her memory, trying to figure out what it might be that Eris was referring to. And when she finally seemed to realize what it was, Siffia’s expression quickly turned incredulous, with her hand gently batting at Eris with bashful exasperation.
“Why do you keep bringing up what happened at the banquet?! You and I both know that you could have taken care of such a foolish man with ease!”
“Yes, perhaps that is the case,”
Eris replied with a refreshing smile and a distant look.
“But I hazard to say that my method of handling things wouldn’t have been nearly as ‘light’ as yours was in that situation.”
“Haha!”
Siffia immediately burst out with laughter, clapping her hands in front of her face that was radiating with brightness.
“It’s true! Ha, with how perfectly deadly you are with a blade Lady Eris, I dare say that that troublesome man would have been lucky to see another sunrise afterwards!”
“...Hmph.”
Though she’d previously been smiling, an almost imperceptible pout suddenly seemed to creep its way onto Eris’s face at Siffia’s words.
“...Don’t make it sound as if I’m some kind of unrestrainable brute. I’m sure you’re aware that I’m thoroughly skilled enough to leave that gentleman with only a light maiming… Although, with such a person, I can’t say that I would feel the need to hold back all that much. Which is why it’s a blessing that you came along when you did.”
“Hee~!”
Siffia was forced to cover her mouth at the peals of giggles that suddenly came rocketing out, unable to contain them. She even had to start wiping at her eyes occasionally to remove the tears that had begun forming there. It wasn’t until a minute or so later when the giggles had finally begun to die down that she was even able to venture a reply.
“I-it’s… Ehe, it’s true! Ah, hoo, it’s so… It’s so very true, Lady Eris! Woo… Ah, you’re… Either way, you’re still quite the amazing swordswoman, My Lady. I’m, ha, I'm sure no one would ever be able to doubt that!”
Eris subtly winced and looked away, having easily had her small ego tantrum go noticed by Siffia. She knew full well how common it was for alphas such as herself to get a swollen pride over something, and had always done her best to not let such things affect her too much. The fact that she’d failed at it over such a light and unintended provocation made Eris feel like she’d just been a bit childish.
“Ahem… Well, you’re no slouch as a mage either, Lady Siffia.”