With things seemingly calmed down, the tea party became quite normal. The other girls got up the nerve to speak and were now happily chatting away. Even Sophie had loosened up a bit and was chatting with them. But what I found strange was the other girls were mainly chatting with Sophie and only answering questions with everyone else. I guess it is because Sophie seemed like the gentle one out of our group.

We were about an hour into the tea party when Adel’s maid came over with a document in her hand. “Princess, while going through the files. I saw that you missed one of the documents. I need your signature in order to send them off.”

“Oh my! How could I be so silly.” Adel took the document and began patting her body as if she was looking for something and then looked at the maid. “Quill?”

The maid’s eyes widened and, in a monotone voice, yelled out: “Oh! How could I forget to bring some ink and a quill! Only if there was something that did not require me to run around with large objects just to do a simple signature.”_-.

I really wanted to laugh but held it in. I watched everyone’s expressions, and they all seemed to be taken in by the dry skit that was going on between the princess and the maid. “Your Highness, I can….”

The newfound camaraderie between Miss Dollen and Adel had formed after the silly fight between the two. But now, for some reason, they would both glance over at Sophie with a watchful eye as if they were scoping out the enemy. Hearing Miss Dollen  speak up, Adel shook her head and then turned to me. “Faith, can I use that new pen you just got? I will only need it for a second.”

I chuckled and nodded my head. I then reached up into my hair and pulled out one of the prototypes that Thurul gave me, and handed it to Adel. Who smiled and proceeded to uncap it. The other girls, except Sophie, all watched in great interest what this pen thing was. When they saw her holding a small metal rod, they seemed confused as they watched her press the tip of it against the document and began moving her hand.

It was Miss Dollen  that spoke up first. “Oh! My! Now, this is a curious item. Miss Cyrilia, where did you get such a thing.”

Before I could answer, Adel, who just finished signing the document, capped the pen, and placed her hands on her hips with her nose in the air, and proudly said: “Faith invented it!”

“Oh!? Now that is quite amazing.” While her actions seemed quite out there, she was indeed not faking her surprise. She eyed the pen in great interest. And it was not just her the other girls were also looking at it in great interest.

“Yep! Faith is quite amazing, after all. These pens will soon be sold in a few select stores until she can open her own store. Then there will even be limited edition ones!” Adel was in full saleswoman mode. She praised the pen with how easy they were to use and pointed out how I could even store it in my hair like a hair clip. The more she spoke, the more the other girl’s eyes shined.

Finally, after a fifteen minute rant, Miss Dollen looked at me and asked rather shyly: “Miss Cyirlia, do you happen to have….”

I smiled and nodded my head: “I do have a few here with me. But just to let you know.” I scanned everyone at the table: “I have full exclusive rights to the patent, so do not try to replicate this and sell it.”

“Of course not!” Miss Dollen  pursed her lips and looked at me with an aggrieved expression, one that asked do you really think I am that kind of person?

I smiled and nodded before pulling a few more pens out of my hair and handing them to Miss Dollen  and the other noble ladies. I then began to explain how they worked and how to refill the ink. Sadly I was unable to make a nonrefillable pen, so I could not just keep selling new pens. But this was fine. With the limited edition pens, I should still make a pretty fat pocket of gold coins for a while.  I already had an idea for my next venture.

While the girls were all examining their new pens I sat back in my chair. While things were strange at the start, the latter half of the tea party was quite relaxing. Even the noble girls who had given me dirty looks all seemed to be genuinely kind to me and Sophie. I just hoped when we finally went to the Academy that things would continue this way.

Life for most people is short. They are born and slowly begin to grow up. They start off as small kids running around having fun, and then fifteen to twenty years later, they are married and with children of their own. After more time passes, they pass away, leaving behind their loved ones. No matter how you look at it, time seems to be the only thing that most people can not escape. As I thought about this and Looked at Sophie and Adel, I wondered how young I will still look in the next thirty or forty years as these two begin to age and grow old….

Just thinking about such a thing was actually making me feel depressed. If I was right about how I would age, one day, I would watch both of these people grow older and older, and one day they will pass away. And then I will be left alone. Yes, I may find some new friends, but the fact that I will lose those around me at some point does make me feel depressed.

“Faith?”Adel’s voice came from my side. I guess she picked up on my mood change.

I turned and smiled as I said: “It’s nothing. Just thinking.”