Cherreads

Chapter 82 - Vol 3. Chapter 14. The Mailwoman.

「 Morgan's Pov. 」

Flipping through the last few pages of the grimoire, I gently closed it before depositing it into my shadow storage.

While its contents were sub-par, it was a decent read and had a few interesting ideas written in it, albeit ones with terrible execution.

Glancing at the glass water tank with the suspended Einzbern girl, I noticed that the critical phase of the operation was already over, meaning that I no longer needed to look over her in fear of something going wrong.

It was about time.

The doll had been riddled with small and mostly inane deficiencies that would mostly result in a shortened lifespan and general early joint pain, simple, normal issues that most sub-par homunculi experience. Her only real issue was the slight tampering Jubstacheit had inflicted onto her, despite his assurances to keep her untouched for her father.

Though, it made one think… Perhaps the Golem had predicted Kiritsugu's failure, or he had simply planned ahead as a form of contingency plan.

Alas, the extra Magic Circuits and slight modification of her body was more tedious than it was difficult to heal, and now that I was almost done, I was more than happy to let her stew in the healing solution for a day or two while I rendezvous with Alistair.

Dismissing the healing capsule, I clapped my hands. "Golem," I intoned crisply, causing the Workshop's door to slowly creak open.

Slowly, a wheelchair-bound Jubstacheit rolled into the room. His face no longer reflected a regal, stoic visage; instead his face was marred with gashes and his jaw hung agape, with his eyes nearly glazed over.

Extending my hand toward him, I gave him a condescending look. "Your correspondence," I ordered, causing him to shakily pull out a few letters from his vest before tremblingly handing them over to me.

Plucking them from his hand, I checked the names on the letters before opening them and skimming the contents.

There was the customary inquiry from the Clock Tower, or rather the Vice-Director, urgently asking the Einzbern to bring a representative for the upcoming gathering of the Clock Tower Lords. The content made it clear that the letter was merely a professional courtesy, so there was little to fear on that end.

The other two were rather interesting though…

A letter from one of the Archibalds, and one from the Lord of the Department of Spiritual Evocation. The two were practically opposites, as the Archibalds were asking for something similar to a 'joint-front' to protect one another's interests, while Lord Eulyphis was blatantly black-mailing the Einzbern for benefits.

He seemed to think that the Pendragons were likely very angry with them, and would likely do something drastic, like forcibly placing a Sealing Designation on the family, before hunting them down. To stop this, he'd use some of his influence to pull together enough Lords to stop it, but at a price of course.

Honestly, his deduction was spot on, but that changed little.

Throwing the letters into his lap, I gave the golem a pointed look. "Pen them all a rejection, and ensure that your reasoning is in line with your former stance and programming," I said coolly. "I do not wish for anyone to sniff out that you are acting out of character, so prioritize believability."

The golem gave a shaky nod, causing me to wave my hand. "Good, dismissed," I ordered, causing the malfunctioning golem to roll out of the room.

Picking up and storing a couple extra grimoires, I tidied up the place before conjuring a large teleportation circle. Teleportation across vast distances is a hassle, as the variables grow exponentially, forcing me to rely on a more intricate formalcraft circle to enact and anchor the spell.

Stepping into it caused the entire circle to glow, before reality shifted around me, causing the surroundings to change and warp, before settling into a familiar front yard. The snow blanketing the courtyard now had a conspicuous circle missing any snow, which was a by-product of me switching the two areas of space, meaning that there was now going to be a small puddle of water when I returned to the Einzbern Workshop.

Flicking my hand, a small path cleared itself of snow, leading up to the manor doors, allowing me to not drench my shoes in snow.

Entering my new home, I let a relaxed look grace my face. It was surprising how nice it felt to have returned here, almost 'homey' in a sense.

Humming slightly, I slowly walked further into the house.

I should probably check in on Sakura, as this has been the longest we have been separated, even if it was only three days, but even when taking that into account, I found it really hard to justify not checking in on Alistair first.

With that in mind, I quickly started heading for the second floor, or specifically Alistair's office. It was late enough in the day so that he would have already returned if he was present at either Parliament or the Clock Tower, so his office was the safest bet.

Reaching the second floor, I was unfortunately greeted by a pair of irritatingly smug red eyes. "Oh? Look what the cat dragged back in?" she bit out while raking her eyes over me, before meeting my eyes once more, but with an unmistakable hint of amusement present on her face. "And for once, I am most happy to see your copy-paste face."

… I don't know what is more annoying, the fact she is insulting me with some vague reference that I don't know, or the fact that she was not lying about being happy to see me.

"Altrouge," I greeted neutrally. "As… intriguing as it is to see you so eager to see me, I'd like to get this over with as quickly as possible," I explained slowly.

However, instead of looking slightly disgruntled, Altrouge only nodded agreeably. "Same here, as I have far better things to do," she explained while casually flicking her hair aside. "Like Alistair."

Her comment made me give her a dry, pitying look.

Even with my vast, fantastical imagination, I found such a thing difficult to imagine happening.

"I'm sure a lottery ticket would have better odds, and would leave you with a lesser feeling of disappointment," I consoled, causing Altrouge's mouth to twitch, before waving my hand dismissively at her. "But never mind that, how is Alistair doing?"

Crossing her arms, she gave me a smug look of superiority. "He's been recovering nicely under my supervision," she answered proudly.

Frowning slightly, I gave her a scrutinizing look. "How much better would you say?" I challenged, earning a scoff from the gremlin.

"Please," she waved dismissively. "With how things are going, he'll be in good health by the funeral."

Raising a brow, I felt a smidge uneasy trusting her words, as while she wasn't lying, that didn't mean she was right, as True Ancestors evaluate and understand emotions differently, so she might just be completely off-kilter without knowing it.

"And you're positive about this?" I asked just for courtesy's sake.

Rolling her eyes, the girl flipped me the middle finger. "I'm sorry {Lies}, 'Slops', but Alistair and I have a far deeper connection, so it is only natural that I am the better choice when it comes to cheering him up."

Once again, I was finding difficulties in which part of her statement to be more annoyed by… calling me 'Slops' is revolting, but the girl has the gall to say that she has a deeper connection with him, and actually believe it. Sure, maybe something like the relationship between predator and prey, be it metaphorical or literal, both somewhat apply to her.

Glancing dismissively at the girl, I easily walked past her.

"Oh? No witty retort?" the girl jeered from behind me, though I could hear her start to follow me.

Not breaking my stride, I gave a slight snort. "Oh please, I'd rather not waste more breath on a delusional girl who thinks more with her metaphorical 'dick' rather than her lackluster brain," I retorted.

That earned a slight squawk of indignation from the vampire. "You fucking bitch, delusional? Me? I'll have you fucking know—" her ramblings were quickly cut short when I opened Alistair's office door, shutting the vampire up.

Sitting behind his desk, Alistair sat with a concentrated look, as he scribbled a few things on a document while idly punching in numbers on a calculator.

"I'm rather preoccupied for the moment, Altrouge," Alistair said, not even bothering to look up from his work. "Give me a moment, as I'm nearly done with the budget reallocation," he explained.

Altrouge hadn't been completely wrong, as the bags that had slowly been forming under his eyes had vanished, but he still had a slightly haunted quality about him. Certainly not as bad as when I left, but it was still there.

Walking up to his desk, I sauntered up next to him, while draping an arm over his shoulder. "I'm willing to give you a moment," I whispered into his ear, causing him to shudder, before whirling on me. "Morgan?" he said with a hint of surprise.

"In the flesh," I said coquettishly, while slightly batting my eyes at him.

His face remained mostly unchanged, but the slight rise in the beating of his heart told me all I needed to know. "Break it up!" shouted Altrouge, almost blinking next to us, before shoving me away. And like some mentally challenged koala, she jumped him and practically wrapped herself around him. Clearly, she had heard the change in his pulse as well… Heh…

Floating in the air next to them, I let my slightly flirty expression mellow. "It's good to see you, how are you doing? Feeling any better?" I prodded gently.

My question prompted him to give a small smile. "While the term 'better' is rather broad, I'd at the very least like to think so." Which caused Altrouge to visibly tighten her grip on Alistair while staring at me. "Something which I claim full credit for."

Why the useless mosquito was acting so clingy and possessive was a bit beyond me, as if this was meant to somehow ward me off, or meant to have any positive effect on Alistair, then I'm afraid that it wasn't having any effect on either outcome.

Humming slightly, I slowly lowered myself and gently touched down on the floor. "That's good," I said while completely ignoring the territorial gremlin. "I too come bearing good news, as my trip to Germany has borne fruit."

"Oh?" he said with a raised brow. "How so?"

Smiling, I sauntered over to his side, making sure to choose the side lacking a child-shaped koala. "While most of the things there were garbage, there were luckily some salvageable items that can be used to mass produce passable homunculi, not whatever garbage they currently spew out."

The news drew a surprised look from Alistair. "That sounds useful…" he said before trailing off slightly, before looking a bit contemplative. "I'm sure there are some uses for that, besides selling them or using them for labour, but I'm drawing blanks right now."

Patting his shoulder, I gave him a sly look. "I was thinking more on just making our own puppet politicians, or something similar, and slowly clear house in Parliament, which should give you more free time, and give us more sway over the people," I explained, earning a wide-eyed look from Alistair.

"That…" he said absently, before grimacing slightly. "Won't work," he said with annoyance, causing me to frown. "Why not?"

Huffing slightly, he waved his hand. "Small-time politicians wouldn't be an issue, but the big ones are too well known, meaning everyone knows their past, so they can't just have appeared out of nowhere," he explained, and I frowned. "Couldn't I just create a small town's worth of homunculi to fix that issue? I'd simply have them vouch for one another, and give them fake jobs and backgrounds," I countered, causing him to raise his brows in surprise.

"You could do that?" he asked, to which I nodded. "I did say that I could mass produce them, no?"

He gave an appreciative low hum at that. "Yes you did, but I thought the scale wouldn't be to that extent."

Frowning in thought, he tapped his finger on his chair's arm. "Coordinate with Amelia, she'll be your biggest detractor in this," he said casually, causing me to raise a brow. "Is that due to the suggestion coming from me, or is it for some other reason?"

Sighing, he rolled a shoulder, as if preparing for something annoying. "Apparently we got lazy some sixty years ago and used homunculi as a stand-in for us in Parliament during the war, which we kept due to its convenience. Long story short, the person who sold it to us still held its leash, and they were against the monarchy. They gave false instructions to Parliament, which has led to a lot of the current issues we are facing with the colonies."

Shrugging slightly, he continued. "Surprisingly, the homunculus was only caught soon after my… Mom took office, as she wanted to 'take inventory', which led to the discovery," he said, before leaning backwards into the chair. "Honestly, the damage was extensive, and I don't think I'll be able to reclaim what was lost, nor hold on to the territories that are soon to be lost."

… From what little the Grail told me about English history, I do not think they liked staying under our rule regardless…

"I can help," Altrouge chimed in, causing the two to look at her. "I've toppled like, a couple dozen governments, or rather kingdoms, so I should totally be able to do so again," she said smugly.

Pressing a hand on her chest, she gave Alistair a sly look. "Imagine this, I throw Cath at whatever dumpster country you want back, and when they are at their lowest, the UK comes in with aid packages, and the like, causing your popularity to increase. If we do this a few times, they'll be begging for their English overlords to take over!"

I feel like my opinion on not taking any advice from Altrouge just got vindicated, as that was truly stupid.

"I can see a dozen issues with that plan, not to mention that the Mage's Association would get all over it, when Cath is spotted rampaging through most of Africa and Asia," I countered, causing the little girl to glare at me.

"Do you really think that any Magus worth their salt would dare go anywhere close to where Primate Murder was going on a rampage?" she countered sharply.

"Point," I acquiesced. "But I don't think you'll be doing Alistair any favors when people start to realize that Primate Murder only shows up in former British colonies, before moving on to the next one when Britain reclaims them," I countered, causing her to roll her eyes.

"Fucking killjoy," she muttered.

"Genocidal dwarf," I countered.

"Used goods," she spat.

"Spoiled goods," I spat back.

"Incest loving whor—" "Alright, let's end it there," Alistair cut in, practically ripping Altrouge away from his side, holding her up from the collar like some misbehaving kitten.

"I still have work to do, and I'd rather not listen to the two of you bicker like children while I'm still on the clock," he expressed tiredly, before letting go of the brat, causing her to fall flat on her face.

"If that is all, then I'll have to ask for the two of you to leave, and I'll see you all hopefully a bit before dinner," he said before picking up a few documents and fixing me with an impatient look.

Hesitating slightly, I gave him a concerned look, causing him to frown slightly. "What is it?" he asked with a twinge of concern.

Pursing my lips, I opened a small shadow inside my pocket before shaving my hand into it, allowing me to pull out a thick envelope with a small note wrapped around it. Hesitating slightly, I slowly extended it to him.

"I think it's time I handed this over to you," I stated calmly, causing him to frown at my cryptic words, before he took it.

Studying him carefully, I watched as his expression suddenly stiffened at the sight of the handwriting on the note surrounding the letter.

"Please don't think any less of me for not giving it sooner," I said, causing his eyes to snap in my direction. "She asked me to wait to give you yours, until you were ready," I explained gently, causing some of the accusation in his eyes to vanish.

Seeing his reluctance, I gave him an understanding look. "I'll give you some privacy," I said gently, before moving to the exit. Reaching the door, I flicked a finger forwards. "Come along Altrouge," I said, and with a mental tug, the aforementioned vampire was flung past me, causing her to slam into the hallway's wall.

Slowly closing the door, I sent Alistair a smile. "I'll see you around dinner time then," I said before closing the door.

My eyes easily landed on the floored vampire, as she glared up at me. "That letter better not be what I think it was," she all but hissed, causing me to sigh.

"I was asked to give it to him when he could take it, and I think that it would be best to give him it a few days before the funeral to give him closure," I explained calmly.

An incredibly annoyed look grew on Altrouge's face, before she slammed her head on the floor while groaning. "Fuuuuck! Now he's going to be depressed," she grouched, causing me to roll my eyes.

"It was bound to happen, just give him a bit more time, and he'll be right as rain," I said dismissively, causing her to glare at me.

"You did this on purpose!" she accused, causing me to knit my brows together. "I beg your pardon?" I reflexively asked. "Your tone and look seem to imply that there was some greater 'purpose' to this, than to give him closure."

"Yeah," she spat petulantly. "It was to ruin our date!"

Widening my eyes, I gave her a surprised look. "You're not lying? You two are actually going on a date?"

My surprise must have mollified her, as her expression quickly turned smug. "Mhm, we sure are," she said, before gaining a sour look. "But of course you had to ruin his mood, cheap bitch that you are."

Blinking, I gave her a confused look. "He actually said yes without you forcing him?" I asked to double-check, causing her to scowl. "I didn't force him," she spat, before clicking her tongue.

Pushing herself up from the floor, she flattened any creases on her dress while muttering under her breath. "Stupid bitch, now I'll have to deal with a depressed Alistair on our date…" she mumbled, before gaining a contemplative look.

"Hmmm… Wait, no… maybe this might work," she whispered before nodding her head slightly. "Perhaps… Though I'll still consult Freud's teachings to be sure…" she muttered before walking straight past me, almost as if oblivious to my existence.

Blinking slightly, I gave the vampire a weary look.

I can't be somehow losing this race, can I?

~~Fate/False Order~~

「 Morgan's Pov. 」

Lowering my cutlery, I placed them neatly on the now empty plate, before giving Sakura a small nod. "You can go now, dinner is finished," I said, causing her to nod.

"Thank you for the food," she said, before jumping off of her seat and waddling over to Amelia. Tugging at her shirt, she looked up at her. "Can we go draw?" she asked, causing the older woman to nod. "Sure, but could you just bring your drawing pencils to the living room for me? I need to ask Morgan for something, so I might need a minute," she explained, earning a nod from the girl, before she left the room.

As the door closed behind Sakura, Amelia fixed me with a look. "What happened with Alistair?" she asked curtly, causing me to sigh.

Picking up my wine glass, I swirled its contents, before taking a small sip. "I handed him Rosalind's letter," I said flatly, causing the woman to give a slight grimace at the news.

"That'll do it," she muttered, while idly massaging one of her temples. Taking another sip of my drink, I gave her a reassuring look. "I'll handle it," I stated, causing her to look at me skeptically.

Raising a brow, I gave her a dry look. "It's either me or the vampire, who do you distrust more?"

Groaning slightly, she stopped massaging her temple, choosing to massage her forehead instead. "Point," she begrudgingly grunted out.

Sighing slightly, I placed the glass on the table before standing up. "Then I shall excuse myself," I said politely, before continuing. "Tell Sakura I'll be with her later, as I'll spend some time with her before her bedtime."

Following my cue, Amelia followed suit and stood up as well. "I'll do just that then," she said, before giving me another glance. "I shall see you when I see you then," she said before leaving the room.

Glancing at the uneaten food by Alistair's seat, I curled my finger at the dish, causing it to gently float over to me. Seeing as the food was no longer warm, I cast a weak spell to slowly raise the food's temperature, before conjuring a cloche through Gradation Air to cover the meal.

It was a bit beneath me to act as someone's maid, but Alistair needed to eat, so I'd do him this little favor. Floating the meal beside me, I started to move towards his office.

I really wanted to talk to him about the so-called date Altrouge has somehow managed to squeeze out of him.

There had to be some foul play involved, as I found it really difficult to believe he'd agree otherwise.

And from his glances, I know very well that he is interested in mature women, and not in young girls, so something here has to be wrong.

Unfortunately, this is not the time to ask him how Altrouge managed to pull off something like that, so I'll need to shelve that for now, and ask him at a better time…

Reaching his office, I knocked on the door. "Alistair?" I said, only to receive no answer in return. Frowning slightly, I knocked once more, and got the same answer in return.

It was clear that he was either ignoring me, not in there, or not noticing, so it was for the best to just open the door and find out which one it was.

Opening the door, I noticed how dark the room was, with the only source of light being his desk light. Alistair was seated behind his desk, but his back faced me, as he was facing the office window.

"Alistair?" I said hesitantly, while slowly entering the room.

My voice almost seemed to spook him, as he seemed to flinch in his seat. "Hm?" he said uncertainly, while turning his head aside to look at me. "Morgan?"

He looked a mix of tense, surprised, and tired, causing me to squint my eyes at him. "You never came to dinner, so I came to check on you," I stated.

The comment made him give a look of surprise, before glancing at the clock, causing him to grimace. "Sorry about that, time seems to have got away from me."

Walking up next to him, I floated the dish onto his desk. "I brought dinner," I said, causing him to give a small smile. "You didn't have to," he said, but his tone betrayed his appreciation.

Seating myself at the edge of his desk, I gave him a worried look. "Are you alright? You seem out of it."

Swirling his chair around to face me, he gave a tired sigh. "No I'm not," he said while raising the letter I had handed him earlier, though to my surprise, it was still closed.

Seeing the look on my face, he gave a sardonic smile. "Yeah, I'm surprised too," he said, and he began fiddling with the letter. "But every time I even think of opening it, I… I just can't… and it's fucking pathetic," he said with clear defeat in his tone.

Slowly, I leaned forwards and grabbed the hand holding the letter. "It's not pathetic," I asserted. "Had our roles been swapped, then I too would have been hesitating, especially so soon after her passing," I further explained.

Pursing his lips, Alistair gave me an unsure look. "I– I just don't know if I should open it," he explained.

His hesitance was to be expected, but I can only assume that he is having issues with 'facing' his mother after being the 'reason' she died. It wasn't healthy, nor was it fair to him, and that poisonous thought would only do him more harm than good.

Gently, I pulled the letter out of his hands, and unsurprisingly Alistair let me do it. "It isn't a question of whether you should, or shouldn't open it," I remarked gently. "It's more of a question if you do or don't want to talk to your mom again."

The question caused his fists to clench in reaction. Slowly, I placed the letter right in front of his face, causing him to look straight at it. "Would you prevent your mother from saying her last words to her child?"

The silence that followed only lasted a few seconds, before Alistair firmly took the letter.

Seeing that he had taken the next step, I pushed myself off the desk, ready to give him the privacy he needed.

Before I could take a step away, I felt Alistair grab my wrist with his other hand.

"Can you stay, please?" he asked in a low tone.

Just looking at him, I could see that he was struggling internally.

Smiling, I slowly sat myself back down on the desk. "For you, of course I will."

---

A/N

Welcome back, my reader Overlords, please add this to your library and give me some comments, stones and reviews, as it would be much appreciated.

Hi guys, delay due to not having either my phone or computer on hand… And since I have two-step authentication on almost everything, I needed to write this chapter based on my memories… I kind of forgot to bring my backpack with me when I took a plane to California… so now my phone and computer are waiting for me in New York, so pardon the lateness, and the radio silence on Discord, but I simply can't log on without my phone. Luckily I was really lazy with my Webnovel account, so I could still post, but be prepared for a delayed chapter next week as well…

So sorry for the delay, but I haven't had the best of chances to write, so things have been slow going.

Something to note is that most of the letter addressed to Alistair will be kept 'secret', AKA not in the fic, as most of it is between Rosalind and Alistair, so best to keep it that way. The only things that will be touched upon will be the stuff Alistair retells or comments on, so no long depressing chapter where I write another letter.

Ah, and before I forget, Altrouge is standing right behind the office door and is internally screaming that her opportunity to give Alistair a pep-talk got snatched right in front of her by the foul witch. So yeah, she's having one of those "It should have been me!" moments.

Regardless of that, hope you all enjoyed, and I'll see you next week!

Hop onto my Discord Server, I'd love to have a chat: https://discord.gg/HAPhryp5M2

Now, hand over those Power Stones, can't you see they're lonely when not used? Give them to me, and allow them to socialize, it's for their best... I swear...

More Chapters