Triiffic-Soul: Can I Be In Control?

Chapter 7 – Settled In

Three days had passed since their awakening, and the three made sure to not interact with their mana or attribute until their mana settled. 

“Errr…. Bored….”

Freshly awoken mana was quite unstable and while it would normally be fine to let it flow as that would calm it down, they wanted to keep it hidden, so they would have to deal with this delay in progress.

[You should’ve come up with a better plan Red.] (White)

[Not my fault no one else thought of one.] (Red)

Anna’s uninterested eyes stared at the ceiling, White was currently in control and the delay in their attribute experimentation wasn’t the main reason they were bored.

“... I should just sleep…” 

The main cause of this boredom was Red’s genius plan to divert Jen and George’s attention. It worked. But they were punished by not being able to leave the house for three days and no story time. 

They were both very upset by the possibility of Anna playing in the mud. Due to superstition and events, a child playing completely unattended was a concern for the villages.

[Then we’ll just be too tired to sleep tonight.] (Red)

[I doubt that this body sleeps too well.] (White)

Nothing much changed, their physical body still looked the same. Dressed in a simple brown shirt that had been repeatedly sewn to repair damages. The only true change wasn’t a directly visible one. 

Red’s soul form had grown shorter again.

This still had her muscly body, but her mercenary gear had changed slightly to fit her new form, and her facial features had grown softer.

Initially, the changes weren’t too obvious but slowly shrinking wasn’t hard to notice when it was the originally tallest person in the group. 

“Red, are you sure you feel fine?” Lilly asked.

Red opened her eyes in the Soul Space to respond, “Yeah, not sure what caused it?”

Lilly stayed quiet, “I… have some ideas… need to wait about though.”

“Cool.” Red just gave a thumbs up, “Not that I care much about it.”

After a while later of doing nothing.

They heard the front door open and a familiar female voice called out, “Anna! Where are ya?” 

“Here Mum,” Red answered, calling out from their room.

“Good,” They heard a relieved sigh, “Come here, let’s prepare dinner.”

“O-kay!”

Red hopped down from the bed and jogged into the kitchen.

“No running Anna.”

“Sorrry!”

Anna, George who came a little later, and Jen work together preparing dinner. The two adults did the work, while Anna was asked to hold items while she watched–like an unpeeled potato.

It didn’t take too long before dinner was ready to be eaten and the family had a nice hearty meal to end the day.

Jen got off her seat, walked over and crouched down to Anna’s height on the chair, “Cause you’ve been a good girl,” she said. Jen pulled out a book she had kept hidden in her bag–Rose & Flower. “Storytime is back on for tonight.”

“Yay!” Anna hopped off the chair and motioned to her room. “Let’s go!” 

“Nope, you are going to help clean your plate first.”

Anna frowned before replying fine, her uninterested eyes followed the three dishes on the table. Ever since she started moving Jen got her to ‘help’ with chores, She didn’t actually help, but it was more of an excuse to spend time together.

Rose & Flower was a story about a royal princess and a mysterious guard who helped survive the assassin-filled days around the castle. They never met and only exchanged through letters. It was a long book with fifty chapters, but Jen was only about to chapter twenty-five in their story time reading. 

White blamed the fact she kept adding more books to the rotation so it was pushed back to just once a week.

“Merma, t-book time!” White jumped into bed ready for Jen to read out the book. A part of her did just want to read it herself, but even she knew a kid who never learned to read suddenly knowing how to read would be a bit too suspicious if caught.

“Okay, I’m getting to it.” Jen gently sat down just before saying goodbye to George who went to their room–right next door–to rest. They weren’t really separate rooms, just a normal sized room separated by a piece of cloth. That was put up so the cool breeze wouldn’t hit Anna during the night from the window, it also allowed parents to have some privacy. 

The trio quickly learned that the couple got extremely embarrassed by simple acts of kissing, even in front of their kid.

“Okay, time to start.” She opened the book to the chapter they were at.

“I opened my eyes to the morning sun’s rise, but I didn’t care for it. My hand reached under my pillow to pull out a letter.

Quickly opening it, the familiar writing I was so used to had written another message.

Pardon me my Flower, but troubles are still far from done. 

Death still awaits you, and your enemies are growing suspicious of their failures.

Don’t fret, they expect nothing to be from you, but my actions may be a bit harder from now on.

But I best be quick.

The oldest butler and youngest maid have been brought out, and the two guards before haven’t been fired.

I know you have been quite averse to fatal play, tis much unfortunate however, as it seems if you don’t have much time before your entire audience of supporters is replaced with filthy rats.

For today's lunch, use that trick I wrote before and pretend to drink today’s tea. It's poisoned, of course. Also, watch for the guards, I’m worried they might try something more drastic soon.

And remember to lock doors with the magic key at night.

Sincerely, Rose.

I finished reading the letter just before the morning light from the window burnt the next away. Again no magic could be felt which just left me frustrated…”

Thirty minutes had passed and Jen was reading extremely slowly, she still hadn’t finished the chapter, but in only a small amount of fairness. They were quite long.

“I tried walking normally with a smile. 

The guards stood straight and the butlers and maids bowed as I walked past.

I thought I would be used to this by now… but knowing nearly every third person was out to get me threatened to crack my facade.” 

Jen noticed Anna’s eyes looking sleepy. Noting the page, she started to close the book. “I think that is enough for today.” 

Jen was about to place the book down to kiss Anna before bed, but Anna with tired eyes tugged on Jen’s sleeve. 

Jen patted Anna’s head, “Sweety, you should sleep.”

Anna’s cheeks unintentionally puffed. 

Jen smiled and relented, “Fine I’ll finish the chapter.”

She opened the book again and finished reading until the chapter's completion, with Anna’s slightly interested eyes focused on the book the entire time.