Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
"Is this the main hall?!" Ravel exclaimed, almost scandalized, as she looked around us. I grimaced. I'd managed to escape the meeting with Lord Phenex while leaving Lucius to finish writing the contract in as much detail as possible.
Meanwhile, Ravel, as promised, had decided to come with us. Because it seemed we certainly didn't have any time to waste. So, to satisfy the curiosity of the Phenex, I opened a portal to the main hall of our mansion.
Narcissa barely arrived before she disappeared into her workshop. Meanwhile, the rest of us stayed behind to plan the place. Ravel's expression told me how disappointed she was with the place.
"The place is certainly beautiful, but there isn't enough room! Do you know how many people Father can invite?! We won't have room for everyone!" Ravel exclaimed. Well, she didn't hate him; she was just being objective.
"How much space do we need?" I asked, looking around. I'd never modified the interior of this room because I'd never had to use it before. I'd always thought it was big enough. It seems not.
"At least four times this size. That'd be enough space for everyone to fit in. Maybe six times so we'd be comfortable." Ravel hummed as she looked around. "I need to call Father's contractors; they should have everything ready by tomorrow. I'll have to check out the rest of the mansion to see if anything's changed," Ravel said.
"No need," I said simply as I took a step forward. I stretched my arms slightly. "Let's see…" I began flexing my fingers before raising both hands and beginning to cast a strong Extension Charm. It was strange to see it in action while we were inside the room. The walls creaked and bent at strange angles as they stretched and changed shape.
At one point, they even seemed to take on non-Euclidean geometric shapes; luckily, it was only moments before the spell took hold on the walls. I breathed deeply as I looked at my work.
"I'm sure it's six times bigger now," I said simply as I turned to see Ravel, who was looking at me in surprise.
"What- what did you do to the space?" Ravel asked, confused and somewhat terrified. I shrugged.
"I extended it. The room is still the same size on the outside but larger on the inside. It's completely stable. Unless some kind of spatial magic hits it hard, it should retain its shape." I explained, and Ravel just nodded dumbly.
"Should we hang candles like in the Great Hall?" asked Belle, who remained unfazed as she looked around. That gave me pause. Why just copy the candles? The Great Hall was a work of enchantment art. It was beautiful in its own right. Enchanting the ceiling to resemble the sky outside was truly incredible.
I'd never attempted the Sky Replica Charm before. But Severus was a headmaster, and while not a charms master, he was quite talented, so he knew the correct charm. Still, with a flick of my hand, a book I'd brought from the library appeared. I quickly opened the correct page and quickly read the charm to refresh my memory.
It wasn't exceptionally complicated. I took a deep breath as I placed the book back in the library through my inventory and extended both hands again. The incantation took longer than manipulating the space around me. But the result was incredible.
The ceiling had practically disappeared, leaving only the night sky filled with bright stars. I needed a place to replicate the sky, and the only place I felt familiar with was the sky where Hogwarts was supposed to be, in Scotland. And I'd be the first to admit that the weather in Scotland was terrible, so I settled for replicating the night sky.
Once I finished the charm, I conjured a large iron cube I had prepared for emergency transmutations. I clapped my hands, touched the cube, and held my hand over it. Candles began to fall from the cube, and I quickly levitated them with a simple charm, and they began to scatter throughout the room. At the same time, I placed a second charm on them so they wouldn't melt or burn.
After creating at least a hundred candles. Maybe more. I stopped. The room was now thoroughly filled with candles. I put down the misshapen piece of metal and snapped my fingers. All the candles lit up at once. Thanks to the enchantments, they would stay lit and levitating for years. Plus, thanks to the enchantments, the fire didn't release heat or smoke, so they weren't dangerous; they just lit the room.
I looked proudly and somewhat nostalgically at the hall. The long tables and stone walls of the Great Hall were certainly missing, but I couldn't help but feel nostalgic at the sight.
"It's beautiful." Ravel murmured beside me as she looked around with wide eyes. I smiled widely.
"I'm glad you like it," I said honestly. Ravel smiled at me.
"I love it!" Ravel said happily. "It's a truly beautiful replica of the human world's night sky," Ravel added happily.
"It's actually more like a projection. It shows the night sky as it would appear from Scotland." I corrected myself slightly, and Ravel just nodded.
"Why Scotland?" Ravel asked, confused.
"It's where we met," Bella said simply. I looked at Bella, who was also staring at the room with a nostalgic smile. She looked at me and smiled softly. I looked at Ravel once more, and she was smiling softly.
"I love it too! Sera, this is amazing! You have to enchant our room to show the night sky!" Enid said excitedly. It took me a few seconds to understand before looking up. The moon was barely visible; if I wasn't mistaken with my lunar calendar, it should be a new moon in a few days. But I understood what Enid meant. She wanted the moon.
"I have no problem with that," Bella said simply, smiling. Enid squealed and hugged her.
"Thank you, Bella!" Enid exclaimed happily before letting go of her. "We should bring some, some flowers from outside! Maybe Flutterby?" Enid asked as she bounced.
"Flutterby… I don't think I know that plant." Ravel said, confused. Enid smiled widely.
"Dobby! Can you get a Flutterby from my room!?" Enid exclaimed and waited, a few moments later and with a small pop, Dobby appeared in front of us with a flower pot.
"W-what is that thing?!" Ravel squealed, taking a step back.
"This is Dobby, he's a house-elf, our butler!" Enid introduced happily. Ravel just blinked in confusion.
"They're magical beings. They need to bond their magic with other magical beings to stay alive. In return, they serve them as loyally as they can." I explained simply before looking at Dobby, who was also confused. "Dobby, this is Ravel Phenex, daughter of the Phenex, my future fiancée. You can follow her orders completely unless they conflict with a direct order from me." I said simply. Dobby's wide eyes opened even wider.
"Lady Prince is going to get another wife! What a great day for Dobby! The family Dobby serves just keeps getting bigger! Dobby will have his hands full!" Dobby exclaimed happily, confusing Ravel even more. "Dobby is ecstatic to meet you, Madam Miss Birdy !" Dobby bowed, almost prostrated himself, in Ravel's direction.
"Madam Miss Birdy !?" Ravel looked extremely confused. I chuckled.
"House-elves don't fully master our language and find it difficult to refer to their owners by name since they are intensely loyal and respectful, so the names they choose to address others tend to be a combination of formal, informal, and odd nicknames. It depends on the elf," I explained to Ravel.
"Oh… I guess it's okay. Nice to meet you, Dobby?" Ravel said uncertainly before greeting Dobby. Dobby burst into tears and hugged Ravel's feet.
"Madam Miss Birdy is so happy to meet Dobby! Dobby is really happy!" Dobby cried. Ravel stood completely still, not knowing how to react. I sighed. I guess there's a bit of adjustment time for those meeting house-elves for the first time.
"Dobby, let go of Ravel and get ready, we have a lot of work to do," I said firmly. Dobby cried for a few moments before pulling away from Ravel, who sighed in relief.
"Does Mistress Lady have work for Dobby?! And a lot of it?!" he asked excitedly. I nodded.
"In three days, we'll be hosting an engagement party for Ravel and me. A lot of guests are expected. So we need the manor to be spotless," I explained to Dobby. Dobby froze and started bouncing.
"Dobby understands! Dobby will clean, polish, and leave the entire manor completely spotless! Mistress Lady has nothing to worry about! Dobby will take care of everything!" Dobby said determinedly.
"Very well, Dobby, you can start with the ground floor. It's the only part of the manor that will be open to guests. You don't need to prepare the other rooms for now. You can begin, Dobby." I said simply. Dobby nodded vigorously. I almost thought his head would pop out, but he simply vanished.
"That was… peculiar. I've never met a creature like Dobby before. What can he do?" Ravel asked, still surprised. I sighed.
"You get used to his excitement. He can do magic, so he can probably handle almost any errand you want. But right now, he's mostly doing the cleaning. And he helps out with other chores," I said simply. Ravel shook her head and looked at the pot. Almost as if she wanted to erase the encounter with Dobby from her mind. I snorted, but didn't say anything.
"Are they butterflies?" Ravel asked, confused.
"They're flowers shaped like butterflies!" Enid exclaimed before gently touching one of them. The flowers began to flutter and tremble slightly.
"Wow, they are mesmerizing," Ravel said, fascinated by the flowers. "I've never seen anything like them."
"I know! I must have had them in the forest, I-"
pop
We all turned to look at Dobby, but instead, a person appeared in the air and fell to the ground, causing her to groan in pain.
"Maomao?" I asked confused as I looked at the succubus in front of us who was lying on the ground.
"Me... Serena?" Maomao asked in a trembling voice. Her eyes were glazed over, and she was trembling. Her cheeks were abnormally flushed, as she was extremely pale and sweating profusely. "It's... it's hot." Maomao moaned. I moved quickly.
I pull Maomao closer, quickly sit her up, and grab her jaw. Maomao let out a low moan, but I ignore it. I stare into her eyes; her pupils are unfocused. I click my tongue. I pull out a Bezoar from my inventory and place it on Maomao's lips.
"Swallow it, Maomao." I ordered forcefully. Maomao responded to the command and immediately opened her mouth and swallowed the Bezoar. The effect was almost immediate when it reached her stomach. Her vision began to clear rapidly.
"Serena?" Maomao asked weakly.
"Are you okay Maomao?" I asked quickly. Maomao took a few seconds but nodded.
"I... I'm better; I can think more clearly." Maomao moaned, and I sighed in relief.
"What happened?" I asked directly.
"…Iokal," Maomao spat. "He gagged me so I couldn't use the ring you gave me. The only reason he ungagged me was because he wanted to give me an aphrodisiac. He managed to give it to me, but he left my mouth uncovered, and I came immediately," Maomao summarized. I wrinkled my nose.
"That bastard lasted 4 days?" I asked incredulously. Maomao snorted.
"He'd already started wandering around yesterday, but Mom wouldn't let him into Verdigris. He'd left, but I guess he didn't take it well," Maomao said simply. "I'm better now. Did you give me any antidote?" Maomao asked as she slowly stood up.
"a bezoar." Maomao froze in place.
"A bezoar?... I ate a bezoar and couldn't enjoy it?" Maomao asked, completely devastated. She seemed far more traumatized by the bezoar than by the attempted kidnapping. I snorted.
"I love your priorities. I'll give you another one later. Now we have things to do," I said simply before looking at Bella.
"Bella, go to Verdigris and stay put in case Iokal tries anything with the other succubi. And tell them Maomao is safe in our house," I ordered Bella. Bella smiled widely and nodded before disappearing.
"Thank you. I'm sure Mom and the other succubi must be worried." Maomao sighed in relief. I nodded in her direction.
"I... can someone tell me what's going on?" Ravel interrupted. Maomao looked at her for the first time.
"Ravel, this is Maomao, daughter of Fengxian, the leader of Verdigris House, the brothel where I grew up." Introduce Maomao.
"I think you mentioned her in the conversation," Ravel said, and I nodded before looking at Maomao.
"Maomao, this is Ravel Phenex. I was showing her around the mansion, and we were planning our engagement party." Presented to Maomao, she opened her eyes slightly and blinked a few times.
"Oh, so you got engaged to the Phenex after all," Maomao said simply. I nodded before turning to Enid.
"Can you help Maomao? There are rooms available, she'll be staying here for a while." I said simply.
"Should I stay?" Maomao asked, confused. I nodded.
"Iokal must be looking for you. He doesn't know where you went to right now, so staying here is the safest place for now. It'll be for a few days, then we'll see." I said to Maomao. She just grimaced but nodded while sighing resignedly.
"Come, I'll take you to rest," Enid said with a soft smile as she began to guide Maomao.
"What the hell happened to the roof?" Maomao asked as she was dragged by Enid.
I turned to Ravel, who was frowning.
"Come on, I suppose since you're about to get engaged to me now, you'll be involved in all this, you should be up to date," I said solemnly. Ravel looked at me for a few seconds before nodding firmly.