Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Friday night at the Duke's Manor didn't see any new events. Perhaps it was due to Lecia's kiss with a taste of tears that Shard had a strange dream, and upon waking up, he felt that he preferred his own bed to the ridiculously large bed in the guest room of the manor.

On Saturday morning, after bidding farewell to Miss Galina, Shard and Lecia took a carriage back to the city. In the afternoon, Shard went to Dr. Schneider's clinic on time to attend the study meeting of their group.

The commotion in Midshire Fort City was widespread. Naturally, the news of the arrival of two deities in the Sicarl Mountain Region had also reached Tobesk. Although it seemed that this matter wasn't related to the Correspondence Circle Mage group in Tobesk, the four still spent most of this week's meeting discussing the issues in Milestone.

While Shard was confident that Old Cleric wouldn't be involved if something went wrong, the main concern remained Priest Augustus's safety. Another noteworthy point was Dr. Schneider's relief that Tobesk didn't seem to be the most unfortunate city this year:

"Oh, friends, I'm not gloating, I'm equally saddened by what's happening in Mountain City in the eastern Old Continent. But at least it shows that terrible things can happen anytime and anywhere, and our city was just the first unlucky one, not the one always unlucky."

Dr. Schneider was very optimistic about this. Then he turned the topic, suggesting that Shard should find a way to go to Midshire Fort in the near future to check on Priest Augustus's current situation. After all, only he could travel conveniently between the two cities.

The study meeting ended around four in the afternoon, and Luviya hurried off to the Prophet's Society. Shard arranged with Dr. Schneider to meet him at ten o'clock the next morning, then he accompanied Dorothy to Rontgen Avenue, preparing to take the carriage at the street corner.

Today's weather in Tobesk was nice; people had added more layers of clothing in the deep autumn. The blonde girl had a red scarf around her neck, looking like pure wool.

"Lecia was very strange today."

Walking side by side on the bustling streets of the eastern part of the city, surrounded by towering buildings adorned with metal pipes shining in the autumn afternoon light.

Dorothy whispered to Shard:

"This morning she suddenly switched with me, but it lasted only for a few minutes. She left a very strange message in my diary..."

Walking past a plump woman holding a bag of bread, the blond writer whispered:

"It said—'Dear Dorothy, you are me, and I am you.'"

She added in frustration:

"It's very strange, just this one sentence, and it was written after repeated scribbling, with wet marks beside it, possibly tears. I'm a bit worried. Shard, don't you have a way to contact Yordle Palace?"

"Speaking of it, I also have something I haven't told you."

Shard, who had Mia on his shoulder, immediately said, slowing his pace to take out a folded envelope from his pocket and handed it over:

"This morning, Lecia's Maid sent this letter to me, asking me to give it to you after today's study meeting."

The Mia on his shoulder called out into the nearby alley, startling the stray cats searching for food, causing them to flee deeper into the alley quickly.

"A letter? Why would Lecia need to write a letter, isn't it more convenient to write in the diary after switching? And why through you to pass it?"

Dorothy was more suspicious, opening the letter while walking, her pace in short boots not halting.

She first found a few flower petals inside the envelope:

"What does this mean? But indeed, it's Lecia's handwriting, and the paper is Lecia's usual kind. Shard, do you know how expensive this kind of paper is..."

She saw the contents of the paper, suddenly froze. Shard noticed Dorothy stopping, and he, along with Mia, leaned in to look at the paper. It read:

"You and I are like the front and back of a mirror. Although we can never meet, just relying on you, I feel complete."

"Look, it's like a love letter."

Shard joked, stopping with the blonde writer to wait for the workers carrying heavy goods in patched clothing ahead to pass. They nodded to Shard in thanks.

Dorothy's face turned slightly pale:

"She's definitely involved in something; normally Lecia wouldn't say such things."

One hand holding onto Shard, pressing all her weight against him, she closed her eyes. When she opened them again, the cat didn't alert anyone, and it was still Dorothy:

"Lecia refused my switch!"

Dorothy's face looked very bad, speaking faster:

"She's never refused me before. I've lost count of how many times we've switched identities. She experiences the mundane day of a common girl, I experience the tiresome life of a princess, later recording our experiences in our diaries, complaining and enjoying each other's lives. And now, she's refused me..."

Her right hand gripping Shard's arm tightly:

"Did Lecia encounter something?"

Shard furrowed his brows, walking forward with Dorothy, revealing a worried expression:

"It might be something else... Quickly, let's go to Mary Jane's Flower Shop on Silver Cross Avenue, there we can contact Yordle Palace."

Dorothy was genuinely worried, and Shard quickened his pace as well. They took a carriage from Tobesk East City to the city center.

Pushing open the wooden door of "Mary Jane's Flower Shop," Dorothy was taken aback. The shop was filled everywhere with bundles of red, pink, white, yellow, and blue flowers. These flowers took up almost every corner of the store, even hanging baskets in the air had flowers.

"Is someone having a wedding in the flower shop?"

Shard asked in surprise but didn't forget to quickly approach the counter. Dorothy followed, looking around the flowers, while Shard conversed with Princess Angelina's maid in the shop.

Not long after, Shard returned with worry:

"The shop's maid can't relay a message. Last night, Princess Angelina told the maids in the shop that if I came today, I would only be asked one question: what's Sister's favorite flower?"

Dorothy immediately replied:

"She likes white lilies the most. I remember after we got familiar, she insisted I replace the plants in the flower pots on my apartment's windowsill with lilies. We argued for days, and she agreed to help me write drafts before I agreed..."

Saying this, Dorothy showed a nostalgic expression:

"She really... let's look for white lilies here."

The shop's staff had received instructions ahead of time, and couldn't assist in their search. Thus Shard and Dorothy had to find themselves in the "Flourishing Flower Field." Despite the abundance of flowers, there was only one bouquet of white lilies, which contained a note:

"Blonde girl, do you remember our first meeting?"

"What does this mean?"

Shard was very puzzled and left the flower shop with Dorothy.

"This is... our first exchange."

Dorothy stood by the roadside, looking across the bustling Silver Cross Avenue, dressed in autumn clothes, towards Yordle Palace:

"That time I was very panicked, thinking I had lost control and fallen into an illusion, or accidentally got affected by some relic's trait. That night, I ran out of Yordle Palace using Lecia's body, stood by the street lamp with my scalp tingling, and looked at Silver Cross Avenue in the darkness... Even though a long time has passed, Lecia still makes fun of my ridiculous look when she mentions it. Later, to apologize, she wrote a letter behind the advertisement on that street lamp pole and told me to use my own body to get it."

Dorothy's expression softened:

"That was one of the very few contacts we had in reality."

"What did the letter say?"

Shard asked with great interest, and Dorothy shook her head:

"Shard, that's a secret between girls."

"Alright then, which street lamp pole is it?"

Dorothy clearly remembered that street lamp pole, right opposite Yordle Palace.

But there were quite a lot of things stuck to the pole, and while Shard was searching among the auction house ads, steam company ads, and city hall wanted posters, Dorothy stood aside, pursing her lips, and waiting.

Suddenly, a group of kids in their teens came laughing and running. Some of them wore patched clothes, while others wore very new clothes. They held hands, sang nursery rhymes, and played as they passed Dorothy. The blonde girl watched them go with a lot of emotions flooding in.

"Ha, found it!"

Shard pointed to a small ad in front of the street lamp pole: "Retired Royal Army Old Military Doctor, specializing in various difficult diseases":

"Dorothy, what are you looking at? Look, it must be this one. The city hall cleans up the advertisements on street lamp poles every day; they wouldn't allow such ads to appear on Silver Cross Avenue."

As he spoke, he tore it down. Sure enough, there was new writing in familiar cursive on the back. Shard and Dorothy read together, and it said:

"In this late autumn, looking at the fallen leaves, I want to gently kiss your cheek."

"Lecia wants to kiss you?"

Shard was stunned, then looked at the blonde girl in surprise:

"You, I, you, I thought, I mean, isn't it..."

He was somewhat at a loss for words, prompting Dorothy to give him a scolding glance:

"Relax, Lecia and I both only like men. We might be sworn sisters, but we're not the crazy women of the Witch Council. You've kissed us so many times, and you still doubt this?"

"Then what does this sentence mean?"

Shard pointed to the back of the "Retired Royal Army Old Military Doctor" flyer. Dorothy fell into memories, then lightly bit her lip:

"I roughly understand. This was three weeks ago. You were frequently traveling to Midshire Fort then. In my diary, I asked Lecia what you were recently doing, and we ended up talking about kissing you..."

Her face turned slightly red, and she lowered her head as she walked westward along Silver Cross Avenue with Shard:

"Lecia jokingly said in the diary that although we both like kissing you, we probably would never be able to kiss you at the same time. When I returned to my own body and saw the leaf she left in the diary, with a red lipstick mark on it, she said..."

Shard looked at her curiously. He really didn't know this part. Suddenly, the blonde girl turned her head and walked towards the street corner:

"Detective, don't pry into the girls' privacy. I know you've been thinking about reading our diary."

Of course, Shard had been thinking about it. Their diaries were definitely more interesting than most popular novels of the time.

"Let's go to my apartment. That leaf, I made it into a specimen and hung it on the wall. If I'm not mistaken, Lecia left a message behind the specimen this morning when she was in my body... What has she encountered that she needs to deliver the message so cautiously?"

Miss Writer was worried, but Mia wasn't in a hurry at all. It was clear to the cat that Shard wasn't feeling anxious or worried. The cat only wanted to know when dinner would start tonight.

The two of them, along with the cat, got on a carriage on Silver Cross Avenue and headed for Feather Quill Street in the University District. Dorothy rented apartment 211B on Feather Quill Street by herself and occupied the third floor alone.

The blonde girl took out the key and opened the door downstairs, and immediately ran into the landlady coming down from upstairs, wearing a hairnet. The landlady frowned at Shard's arrival once again, then said to Dorothy:

"Luisa, everything you ordered has arrived. Are you flush with cash recently? Oh, young girls should save some money for themselves, or they will end up relying on men to live, and that's a sad sight I've seen too many times."

Shard thought she was probably warning him.

"Things I ordered?"

Dorothy frowned slightly and went up to the third floor with Shard. When they opened the door, they immediately saw a brass-colored metal floor coat rack placed in the center of the living room with a red dress on it.

Not only the dress itself but also the corset, stockings, high heels, hair accessories, hat, and makeup were all there—more than enough for the most formal occasion:

"What is Lecia planning to do?"

If she was worried at first, now she was a bit angry.

The blonde girl entered the bedroom, stood on tiptoe to take down the leaf specimen hanging on the wall beside the desk. She didn't see any letters or notes at the back, but when she opened the back cover of the frame, a slim slip of paper slid out. As expected, it was in Lecia's cursive handwriting.

Dorothy turned to show Shard, only to see him peeking at the photo frame on the desk with Mia:

"How rude."

Dorothy reached out and slammed the frame down on the desk, but it didn't stop Shard from recognizing it as Lecia's black-and-white photo cut from a newspaper.

The new slip of paper also had some inexplicable words:

"It will always be a regret that we couldn't dance together at the Heges Banquet in midsummer."