[R1999] Short Stories' Collection

Sotheby & Forget Me Not: Mister! Tell me more about how this world operates! (1)

Gorgons and tea

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Life in the woods was great, so was life in the city.

Sotheby didn't find any difficulty in changing her surrounding environment, except for one tiny problem: she tended to explain everything in human's world from an arcanist's perspective.

"In this book, they said a gorgon owned the lower body of a snake, while their upper body was like a human."

The little girl tilted her head, looking at the young man in servant clothes with a pair of naive and curious eyes.

"Mister Lawrence, your bright silver eyes really resemble those of a snake, as well as the scales on your neck!" Those lime green eyes sparkled, "Does that mean you also come from a gorgon's lineage?"

It was ill-mannered of a young lady to compare someone with a monster from mythology, or in arcanist's words, an arcane creature. Yet Sotheby just spoke out what she had in her mind, straightforwardly, without any ill-intention inside.

Facing her question, the young man calmly paused what he was doing. He put down the tray that contained a tea set and freshly-baked cookies on the nearby table, then bent down so that his "bright silver eyes" behind the round glasses could be on the same height as hers.

"Miss Sotheby, it may be rude to tell a person that they look like a monster or an animal."

He talked to her in a gentle tone and soft expression, not much different with other maids and male servants in Sotheby's Mansion.

"And to your question,..." The young man gave her a friendly smile and slightly shook his head, "Sadly, to my knowledge, my ancestors don't have any relation with the gorgons."

"I see." The little girl seriously nodded and scribbled something in the small notebook which had "MY DIARY" title on the cover.

"Besides,..." The man picked up the colorful picture book on the ground, pointing at a line next to the scary anatomy drawings of the mythology creature, "Gorgons couldn't bear male offsprings due to their unique reproductive behavior. Therefore, their descendants could only be female."

Despite seeing those puppy eyes that told him to say more, the man returned to the table that had the tea set, skillfully poured the warm black tea to the precious ceramic cup from an Eastern country and served it with delicious-looking cookies.

"Here's your afternoon tea, my lady."

He replied with another smile, an uncompromising one.

Knowing that following his words was the only choice, Sotheby quickly sat on the comfortable chair that had already been pulled out for her. Then, she raised the cup close to her nose to smell the fragrant aroma inside.

"Let me guess what you added today..."

The young lady murmured excitedly, trying to identify the mysterious herbs that the man may include when brewing the tea.

Miss Sotheby was a talented potion maker and lover. Through smells, colors and effects of a potion, she could recreate it without reading the formula in no time.

That was why she always showed great interest in the "secret game" that would begin whenever Mister Lawrence served his tea.

Why did she call it a "secret game"?

Because except herself and Mister Lawrence, no one knew about it!

That was what a 10-year-old Sotheby thought.

"There're flower fragrances here, though their scent is very light."

She took a sip from the cup, sensed the moderate heat that was just right for the tongue and tasted the lingering flavor when it went down her throat.

"It's chrysanthemum and rosebuds!"

Sotheby confidently gave her answer.

The young man clapped his hands and nodded.

"You're right again, my lady."

"Hurray! Now can you tell me more about the gorgons?"

She put down the empty cup, hands put on her thighs, just like a studious student who was eager to learn new lessons.

Her lime green eyes were truly a beautiful pair. When being seen by them, everyone would see the purity and innocence of their owner, as well as the tainted reflected image of themselves.

Looking at those eyes, the young man, or we could call him Mister Lawrence, smiled gently and opened the picture book again.

"Despite having the upper body of a female human, a gorgon from the Age of Gods laid eggs instead of giving birth like mammals."

"So the lower body was the part that decided their fertility?"

Sotheby wrote down the new knowledge in her notebook and asked.

"Well, there wasn't enough evidence to confirm that theory yet." The young man shrugged his shoulders, "As the mythological gorgons are already extinct after the fall of the Age of Gods, we could only find some pieces of their skull and badly damaged scrolls of the ancient people."

The picture book about mythology creatures on his hands only had two pages to describe about gorgons, so the information about them was just enough to please the short-lived curiosity of a child.

However, Miss Sotheby here wasn't a normal child at all. This brief introduction was nowhere to satisfy her.

"One of the famous rumors around gorgons was about their extraordinary blood."

His slender finger touched the right side of the human part of the gorgon's drawing.

"The blood pouring from the right part was used to make medicine that could cure various diseases."

Then his finger moved to the left part, sliding down a little.

"Meanwhile, blood taken from the left part was a deadly poison that would kill people with just a mere drop."

In Sotheby's eyes, Mister Lawrence seemed to be more interested in teaching than usual.

"And that was why they were hunted down to their extinction, despite their ability in petrifying anything looking into their eyes and their huge size."

Knock knock

There was someone at the door.

"Miss Sotheby, can I come in?"

It was a familiar woman's voice that Sotheby wouldn't mistake with anyone.

"Yes, please come in, Ms. Moissan!"

As soon as hearing the knocks, the young man knew that his time with Sotheby was up. Therefore, he closed the picture book and gave it back to his young miss.

"I hope you will enjoy today's afternoon tea as well."

He bent down to give her a standard servant's farewell.

"Thank you for new knowledge today too, Mister!"

The little girl happily nodded and expressed her gratitude to him.

When he passed the door, his eyes and Ms. Moissan met.

It was just a quick glance and both of them nodded at each other as a greeting. Yet, they all knew that neither of them would ever consider the other as ordinary and lower their guards.

The man and the woman, they both sensed the smell of blood that could never be washed away from each other.

"Ms. Moissan! Which story will you tell me today?"

"As long as you finish your lesson first, Lady Sotheby."

The woman smiled warmly at the little girl in front of her.