Therapy Fan Fic

Session 1 : Maxi is not in love with Ruth

A fan fiction about Under The Oak Tree.
The scene takes place in Anatol, before the departure for Ethylene.
Credits to Kuro and Puffycloud for proofreading this story

A timid knock on his office door interrupted Riftan while he was dealing with a huge pile of paperwork. He had promised himself not to answer if any of the knights were to disturb him this morning. However, he recognized the only person who would knock so gently on his door. She was still asleep when he left the room earlier this morning, and he was surprised that she needed him. It must be an urgent matter, otherwise she would not come to his office.

"Come in, Maxi", he said with a soft voice.

The door opened and to his surprise, his wife was standing there not alone but with a gray-haired stranger whom he vaguely remembered having seen the day before at the party. The man stood slightly back from her, waiting for Maxi to introduce him. Riftan frowned at his sight, wondering who he was. More importantly, what business could he have with Maxi ?

He looked at his wife. She seemed hesitant, eyes flitting around the room before she began biting her nail, a habit that he never noticed before. It seemed to be something she did unconsciously when she was nervous, because she stiffened when their gaze met. Flustered, she immediately stopped what she was doing, taking a deep breath before striding into the office. The man followed at a distance behind her, immediately followed by Ruth, that Riftan hadn't noticed before. He frowned. Why was the mage with his wife again ? They were already spending so much time in that damned library, and now he followed her everywhere ? He should really give more work to the wizard, so that he doesn't have time to follow his wife around the castle. Curiously, instead of his usual sleepy face, Ruth had an amused smile on his face. "What is he up to this time ?", wondered Riftan.

"Riftan, I would like to int...introduce you Dr. Jung, he's a the..therapist. He came to see us both."

The man bowed down. "Pleased to meet you, Lord Calypse".

"A therapist ?", growled Riftan. "What is it supposed to be ?"

Maxi wanted to answer but her mouth went dry and she felt she wouldn't be able to keep her tongue under control. He seemed pissed off already. Maybe this was a mistake. She should have known he would never consent to anything like that.

"We talked about it yesterday, Sir, at the party", said Ruth, stepping forward. "We told you a therapist was a kind of doctor working on fixing non-physical issues, don't you remember ?"

Riftan gritted his teeth and crossed his arms. "And what does it have to do with me ?"

"Well it has something to do with you as therapy sessions are the birthday gift offered to you by all the Remdragon Knights yesterday. And Doctor Jung has traveled from the South to Anatol in a hurry, since we wanted him to be there on your birthday, so you don't have time to forget about it."

"I don't remember accepting it"

Ruth came closer to Riftan and bent his head towards his Lord : "Well you did Sir, since it was a request from all of the RDKs including me and also the servants of Anatol. Even the cats seemed to agree, if I remember it correctly. We all begged and you said you would give it a try."

Riftan stayed silent for a few moments. He indeed vaguely accepted to take part in that therapy thing, but it was only to make the knights shut up about this. He never thought they would bring the man right in front of his eyes. Now, he had to respect his word.

However, it was out of the question to let Ruth decide on a schedule like that. They would have to wait.

"Well, I may have said I accepted, but that doesn't mean I have to do it now. I'm busy right now. What are you thinking, barging into my office like that, hidden behind my wife's back ? You should leave, and so do you, Doctor. I will see you when I have any time for it."