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"Is that my Markus? Woah! He looks so handsome now! Was he always this handsome? No, it's the confidence! And strength!" Marie exclaimed animatedly as she drilled her gaze into the visual from the recording artefact.

After acquainting herself with Marie, Jean decided that it would be a good idea to bring her along as they travelled to Marie's village. As the daughter of the head of a prolific clan, Jean had learned quite early in her life the benefit of forming bonds and building relations.

However, knowing the importance was one thing, actually putting things to practice was a whole other ball game. Thanks to Jean's default impersonable and cold expression, she often found it hard to build a good rapport with other people. Whenever she tried showing genuine interest in others, it was taken as her being patronising and condescending. Forget about making friends, because Jean didn't have anything in common with all the other young mistresses. They would go on and on about boys, outfits, jewellery, or cosmetics... But Jean wasn't enamoured by any of that, and without the capacity to express a different emotion, it was impossible to build even a surface relationship.

But Marie was... different. There wasn't any subterfuge or deception here, the girl basically wore her emotions on her sleeves. To top it all off, Jean didn't have to actively try and appease the other party by expressing a different emotion, or an emotion that contradicted her thoughts, every other moment.

'Is it because of her upbringing?' Jean thought to herself. Marie was extremely personable. Jean didn't even have to do anything on her part. In fact, the moment she professed that she was somewhat knowledgeable about Markus' existence, Marie seamlessly infiltrated into Jean's company. It was some hardcore parkour that stumped even Josie, who had a few additional years in her belt.

Marie first bridged the physical gap between them by reducing their proximity. Next, she bridged the social gap between them by asking, "You seem to be younger than me... Around the same age as Markus? Wonderful! Why don't we talk casually, hmm? Adding honorifics in every sentence is so exhausting, right Little Sis?"

That wasn't a request, apparently... Josie kept grumbling about Marie's shamelessness. Jean was confused because she didn't see anything shameless about it - Jean didn't mind it at all. She too preferred to talk casually as it saved her a lot of time. This was another aspect that Jean was averse to when interacting with the young mistresses within her social circle. Conversations were never straightforward. Every sentence had layers of subtext. Even the most seemingly innocent of statements could harbour vicious jabs directed towards the recipient's deepest insecurities. Sticks and stones may break bones, but those can be healed with a single spell. Words... They could leave scars that last for a lifetime...

Jean shook her demoralising line of thought and reverted her attention to her self-declared Big Sis. It was difficult to continue a decent conversation amidst the moans of the grovelling men in the alley, so Jean invited Marie to her room at the inn, much to Josie's discomfort.

Along the way, Marie bombarded her with various questions aimed at intuiting her connection to Markus.

"How do you know Markus? Where did you guys meet? Are you guys studying together? Ahh, are you his girlfriend? No! Don't tell me that he wronged you in any way?! If that little brat did anything untoward, this Big Sis will get revenge for you!" Marie declared while thumping her chest righteously. Evidently, she had already devised an entire narrative through a self-directed call-and-response.

With a wry expression, Jean interjected Marie's monologue and said, "Big Sis... Actually, I haven't personally met Markus."

Marie's eyes widened in surprise. "What? Then how do you know of him?"

Jean sheepishly scratched the back of her head and uttered in a low voice, "I saw him in a recording..."

"A recording?" Marie retorted.

And so, Jean greeted Marie into her room and fetched the recording artefact documenting Markus' fight against Gaige.

Then right as Markus first appeared within the frame and cast his first spell, Marie exclaimed in awe, "Is that my Markus? Woah! He looks so handsome now! Was he always this handsome? No, it's the confidence! And strength!"

As the fight progressed, Marie accented each scene with an appropriate, "Ooo!" or "Aaa!"

Whenever something magnificent occurred, like the mini-explosion spell cast by Markus, she would tack an "Awesome!" followed by a series of enthusiastic claps.

When Gaige was pelted with the acidic mist, Marie flinched and sucked in a cold breath through her teeth, "Ssssss! That was brutal."

Jean exhaled mirthfully through her nose as she observed Marie's apropos reactions. For some reason, her current viewing of this recording seemed to feel a bit more enjoyable.

However, the warm atmosphere came to a sudden halt right as Gaige unleashed a violent bellow and painted the stage black with his spell. Marie frowned with trepidation. Although she wasn't a mage, for some reason, the blanket of darkness evoked a sense of immense discomfort from within her.

The moment the dark blanket enveloped Markus and caused him to collapse, Marie moved towards the edge of her seat and grasped onto it tightly, with visible anxiety in her gaze.

Marie exhaled in relief as she saw the darkness retreat, allowing Markus to stand up on his feet. However, it was short-lived as immediately after, Markus collapsed like a ragdoll.

"Markus!" Marie exclaimed as she darted up. "I'm sorry, Jean. I don't think I can act as your guide. I need to go in the opposite direction."

She then muttered to herself as she anxiously paced around the room searching for something, "Maybe there will be a caravan going towards Radiant City..."

"Umm, Big Sis?" Jean said, only to receive no response from the discombobulated Marie. "Big Sis!" Again, no response.

"MARIE!" Jean bellowed uncharacteristically, finally pulling Marie out of her fugue state.

"Huh? Jean? I'm sorry we can't continue our conversation. But I need to go to Radiant City. Markus is hurt..." Marie was about to reenter her earlier spiral, but Jean quickly caught her this time.

"You don't have to go to Radiant City. We are actually going to Twilight Village to meet Markus and his Teacher," Jean said quickly to assuage Marie.

"To Twilight Village? What is he doing there?" Marie asked as she narrowed her eyes.

Right as Jean was about to answer, a series of knocks interrupted her.

"It's the Lord and Teacher Jeeves, Young Miss," Josie added.

Jean nodded in affirmation, allowing Josie to answer the knocks.

"Jean!" Her father said as he walked into her room. "We will be leaving early tomorrow. The way is clear, but one can't be too careful," he added casually. However, his eyes locked on the unfamiliar person accompanying his daughter.

"Who is this?" Her father asked cautiously.

"This is Marie Reva. I met her outside at the market," Jean answered.

"Marie Reva... Marie Reva..." Her father muttered repeatedly as if trying to recollect something.

"Reva! Are you related to Markus by any chance?" Another voice asked from behind her father. Uncle Jeeves hopped in and scanned Marie with eager eyes.

Noticing the almost predatory gaze from this unknown man, Marie immediately raised her guard. Noticing this event, Jean intervened and answered in Marie's stead.

"That's right, Uncle. Marie is Markus' elder sister."

"Ah! So you're that Marie! Markus has told me so much about you," Uncle Jeeves responded with a smile.

Marie tilted her head and asked, "My apologies, but may I know who you might be?"

Uncle Jeeves smacked his head to feign apology and answered with a chuckle, "Right! I'm Teacher Al Jeeves. I was one of Markus' teachers. Well, sort of. I kind of ended up in that position by coincidence."

Marie's eyes widened and she bowed immediately with reverence, "A thousand apologies, Teacher Jeeves! This lowly peasant offers her gratitude to Teacher Jeeves, for teaching this one's untalented younger brother."

Uncle Jeeves immediately waved his hands with embarrassment and replied, "Please don't say that! In truth, I wouldn't have taught Markus if not for his true teacher's, no, his Master's involvement. If anything, you should be thanking him!"

Marie nodded wholeheartedly and added, "This one just saw her younger brother's bout against another student. Seeing as he is injured, this one will take her leave. There should be a caravan leaving for Radiant City soon..."

Marie's voice trailed off near the end.

Uncle Jeeves furrowed his brows and said, "If you're leaving to see Markus, why don't you come with us?"

At that moment, Marie remembered hearing that Markus was at Twilight Village and blurted, "Right! Jean, you said that Markus was at Twilight Village. Why was that? Isn't he supposed to be at Radiant Academy?"

"Oh, Markus dropped out," Uncle Jeeves answered matter-of-factly.

The room welcomed an awkward silence after that statement. Marie stared at Uncle Jeeves blankly as though her mind was rebooting after hearing some utter nonsense.

"Markus did what?" Marie asked flatly.

Before Uncle Jeeves could answer, Marie, screamed in outrage, "HE DROPPED OUT?!"

"So... you didn't know..." Uncle Jeeves murmured while biting his tongue.