A different Era

Chapter 5: The next morning

"I-

Shoot! What am I supposed to say? I can't tell them the truth. Then what should I say?! Okay, let's calm down first. I can make up some excuses of a place but they would probably find out I lied. So....wait, I have a major head injury. What better than that can I have as an excuse to not answer! I can just say I don't remember bits and parts of my memory!

Looks like I have to put my non-existent acting skills to use. "I-I actually do not remember where exactly I am from. I am really sorry. I have some sort of blurred image in my head but I-I just cannot clearly-"

"Please calm down Miss. It's quite alright if you cannot recall it. It would not do you any good to put any stress on it. I guess that injury was more severe than we thought." Albert said quite seriously.

     I could only sweat profusely at this. Did they really believe my bluff? Seriously? These extraordinarily brainy people? Even my dumb as hell best friend back home wouldn't have believed me. But they just believed me just like that?

     I tried to observe the faces of everyone in the room. Albert was smiling. William was smiling. Louis was glaring. Moran looked bored. Fred had his poker face on. I can't figure out anything. Albert and William are smiling 24/7. Louis would glare at anyone who troubles his brother. Moran is probably bored because he can't gamble. Fred just has the Fred expression on. Do they really believe me or are they plotting my murder? I can't tell that.

     Nobody asked me any questions after that, surprisingly. But that just made me more nervous all together. After a very silent and awkward lunch, I quietly went to my room, surprisingly remembering the path I took, and quietly changed my clothes to something more comfortable to sleep in. That was the most exhausting lunch of my life. I never imagined that a day would come when I did not want to eat lunch.

Elsewhere....

"Nii-san, Do you think she is telling the truth?"

"What do you think, Louis?"

"I don't think so. Her mannerisms are strange. I don't think someone could be any more obvious about the fact that they are not telling the truth." Louis curtly replied.

"That may be true but I do not think that girl could be of any threat to our plans." added Albert before taking a sip from his glass of wine.

"Well, she certainly does not look like the brightest. If she ever proves to be a threat, we can just have her removed." Moran commented offhandedly.

William was quiet for a while before he elegantly took the teacup in front of him and gently took a sip from it. He looked down, his scarlet darkening for a second before he looked up and smiled a carefree smile,  "I think we should wait a little more before arriving at any conclusions."

*****

     I woke up the next morning feeling rather....irritated. I guess the incident from the previous day left me in quite a sour mood. Not only am I in a big trouble with an extra emphasis on the big, I am at my guts end on what to do. I know I should be thankful that I didn't get sent to any of the action anime I ever watched but it's not like this place is any better. It would have been wonderful if I had some help, but....

     I felt myself about to cry so I quickly composed myself. It will be embarrassing if someone barged in here and saw me cry. I looked outside the window, the sun was up....the sun was up not down? What? Did I skip dinner? For real?! I skipped dinner?! Oh....what has the world come to.....not that it is my world anyway.

     Just then I felt something wet on my head. I reached out my hand to touch whatever it was and found a reddish hue on my fingertips as I retracted my hand. My wound had freaking opened.

"Oh fudge...."

*knock**knock* "Are you awake Miss Leona? If yes, then I would request you to come down for tea and breakfast." Fred's muffled voice came from over the door.

"Y-yeah, I am awake. But before I come down, can I request something?"

"....what is it?"

"Can I get some cotton and gauze?"

     There was a pause before Fred's slightly panicked voice was heard again, "Excuse me, I apologize for the rudeness but I am coming in." And just like that Fred burst into the room with a worried expression on his face. As soon as he saw the blood on my forehead, he sprang out of the room and came back in with the medical kit.

   Oh right, Fred is someone who cannot bear someone who is innocent being hurt. At least that's what I thought after watching the series and reading the manga. I could be wrong though. But do they really consider me an 'innocent' person? Or is it a situation like 'innocent until proven guilty'?

    These were the thoughts wrecking clamour in my small brain as Fred wrapped a fresh bandage around my head. I must have been unknowingly scrunching my eyebrows because Fred reprimanded me to relax my expression with a slight, very slight upset pout. "Cute", I thought to myself.

"What is cute?" Fred suddenly asked me, with his eyes wide and head tilted slightly in a clueless manner.

"Huh?"

"You just said 'cute'. What is cute?"

....Shit! Did I say that out loud?!!

"Ah-uh-W-well, I-I-I was talking about the... wallpaper! Yeah! The wallpaper!! It has a really cute print on it!" I stumbled on nervously.

"Cute? I think elegant would be a better choice of word for it but I guess it is just your own personal opinion."

Phew! Evaded it successfully!

"It is done. Now, would you like to join us for tea and breakfast?"

"Sure."

     Saying that Fred left the room for me to change and then accompanied me to the place where I was supposed to be meeting the others. Honestly, after what happened during lunch yesterday, I really wanted to avoid them for the time being from the very bottom of my heart. But I knew I couldn't skip Fred's offer for breakfast. I was hungry! I didn't have any breakfast the previous night and the mice in my stomach were playing football from excitement. I don't care if they are dangerous or not. One cannot think on an empty stomach anyway!...

....I take that back. I don't want to eat. Just let me go already!

There on the table in front of me was my bag. Now what? I thought silently while giving them a forced smile. What did they find wrong in my bag now? There should be nothing except for the tab and the phone that is odd for them. Right?.....Did they look through my Bl books?...Please, please no. 19th century England isn't exactly homosexual. Scratch that! They are full of homophobic idiots! I-

"Miss Leona, are you okay?"

"Hu-huh? Oh, yeah, I am fine."

"I am glad to hear that. We were quite shocked to hear that your wound reopened." Albert added with a hint of relief in his tone.

"Haha." I chuckled nervously at that before sipping the tea in my hand. Why isn't anyone bringing up the bag? Get this over with quickly!

"Miss Leona, excuse me, but can I get some clarity about some facts about the gadgets?" William asked politely.

Finally!

"You said that you can only call or send messages to someone using your 'phone' in the presence of a medium, right?"

"Yes?" Why is he bringing that up?

"Then is it possible to receive messages or for someone to call you in the absence of the indicators?"

"No..."

"I see, You might want to see this then." He handed my phone over to me and what I saw on the screen left me shocked. How is this possible?!