A girl with braided black hair in a fancy dress made of white lace we had taken from the... I don't know what they called it, torture estate, sure... whatever it was called, I walked by her side. Rusulla, our "Mistress".

I looked too distinctive, and the rest of them had collars, so I had a mask and was dressed as a bodyguard while the rest were all dressed as staff, and she, the guard, was dressed as our Mistress.

In the opposite direction, a woman in a suit with a flower on her chest and short blonde hair rode quickly, and we quickly hurried to one side, me interposing myself between her and "Lady Rusulla"-- just my instinct, but I realized as I did it it was a pretty bodyguard-y thing to do, too.

The blonde woman looked down at Lady Rusulla, and dismounted, her red cape waving dramatically as she swept onto the ground. She her horse untethered as she looked Rusulla over. "My apologies, I should be more careful... but I don't think I've seen you in town before. I thought I knew all the young ladies who dwelled here... did you just move here?" She took hold of Rusulla's braid and lowered her head to place a kiss on it as she looked up into Rusulla's eyes.

Rusulla flushed a little and shifted her stance nervously. "Um, yes, Lady Selt."

She wasn't the only one nervous, either... half the slaves around me had conspicuously tensed or relaxed... but Lady Selt, if that was her name, seemingly had no interest in anyone but Lady Rusulla.

"Oh? New, but you've already heard of me?" Lady Selt laughed. "I suppose I have gotten a bit of a reputation... that dress looks familiar somehow..."

Lady Rusulla bobbed her head. "My stepmother gave it to me, Lady Selt. I... well, my mother just married her, so, I'm new to the whole, you know... nobility thing...?" Her voice squeaked a bit at the end.

"...Ah. Yes, that would be why it looks ten years old. You'd think she could've lent you something more recent..." Lady Selt clicked her tongue. "Have you headed into town for dress shopping?"

Rusulla nodded. "Yes... well, a bit of shopping in general, but I do need to... 'debut'... or something...? I think?"

Lady Selt smiled, and said softly, "You should have introduced yourself to me by this point in the conversation."

"Ah! Lady Rusulla!" Rusulla paused, looking up at Lady Selt like a bright-red deer caught in headlights.

Lady Selt nodded, amused, but not in a cruel way. "A pleasure to meet you, Lady Rusulla. And traditionally you wouldn't just call yourself 'Lady Rusulla'-- but let's overlook that, shall we? I'm sure you'll do a better job next time you introduce yourself." She leaned in closer, and lowered her voice. "I do own a little dress store around here, and it's a shame for a beautiful rose like you to not be dressed up properly... really, if I wasn't on my way to my estate for a rather urgent matter right now, I'd take you," a little wink, "...but here...." She drew a card from thin air, and held it out to Lady Rusulla, who took it and held it to her chest. "The address, and show it to my staff there and they'll get you set up properly for your debut... I hope to see you there at your full beauty."

Lady Selt made another magnanimous bow, another gallantly flirtatious smile, and leaped back onto her horse, and the two moved off as one, towards the little plume of smoke rising some distance in the city, which was slowly getting bigger.

She was out of view in a moment, and 'Lady Rusulla' practically fell to her knees, had I not grabbed her arm.

"That," she said softly, disbelievingly, "was Lady Selt."

I nodded. "I had gathered that."

"No, she... she's walked by me so many times, that the estate's owner would look directly at me like that...."

...oh. That was a close one.

I smiled reassuringly. "Well, you did a very good job getting through it, Lady Rusulla-- I wouldn't have minded killing her, but out in public would've made a scene and made it hard to bring you all to safety." I took Lady Selt's card from her fingers... if she was besotted as her flushed cheeks and dreamy eyes suggested, she might try to go there, and that'd probably just get her killed. "Let us linger here no longer. We have a carriage to catch."

She nodded. "Yes, your... I mean, of course." She held her head a bit higher, and tried to pull off the act of being a noble once again. She still wasn't doing a very good job of it, but at least she had played into that with her cover story.

The carriage station was full of people and carriages and everything was busy. I scanned the crowd looking for a likely hire, but my gaze settled on a woman with long brown hair, a rather familiar face... she had driven a carriage before... she fucked Valentine... she had a braid... what the fuck was her name?

Even with the mask, I guess it was kind of obvious I was staring, as the woman saw me looking, and hopped off her carriage, running up to me with a smile. "Are you looking to book a carriage?"

Rusulla nodded. "Yes, that's exactly what we're doing." She pulled off a couple of rings and handed them over to the brown-haired carriage-driver. " It's not exactly standard pricing, but we're in a hurry."

The woman looked at the rings, then at Rusulla's dress, and general composure, over to the rest of the party, then back at the rings, and sighed. "...these are stolen, aren't they?"

"If you take them," I said softly, "I'll make sure you can see Valentine again."

"You're holding her captive and kidnapping me!?" The woman's voice was quiet but fierce, and her face looked concerned, but after a moment, she smiled, and then laughed. "That's absolutely ridiculous, you know. Who are you?"

"The Hero from Another World. So being entangled with me could be a bit dangerous."

She looked at me uncertainly, and then inclined her head. "O Mighty Hero... you have been most magnanimous to me in the past, so how could I deny another request to serve you?"

"I am trying to travel incognito, so could you drop it with the 'O mighty', et cetera?"

She looked over all of us. "Incognito... Well, it doesn't draw the eye to you specifically, I'll give you that." She gestured. "The eight of you will be a bit crowded with a single wagon, but I'll drive you if you like."

I shrugged. "Time is of the essence. Unless there's anyone else you can tag in immediately...."

She considered, than shook her head. "You can ride up front with me, O... Ophelia?"

"Ophelia will do," I answered, "And sure."

I still didn't remember her name. Was it just because I put her into the 'customer service' class of people and thus not really important? Or was I just bad at names? I don't feel I had forgotten the names of other women in the harem.

...well, it's not like she'd expect me to address her by name, right? Right.

I opened the carriage door and helped 'Lady Rusulla' and the slaves in, and then closed the door, and swung up on front next to the woman. "Sorry to put you in danger like this."

She shrugged. "Carriage driving is an inherently risky business. I kinda expect to get murdered or enslaved or something eventually."

"...you really like horses that much, huh?" Why did I remember that but not her name?

She blinked, looking at me a bit confused, and then smiled. "Sasha told you about that, I suppose... ah, tell me if I should start acting formal again."

Why the fuck did she remember my name? This was just making me feel worse. At least I wasn't in that body right now....

The horses started pulling the carriage, and we started off down the road.

I glanced over to the carriage driver. "How long is it until we get to Aifen?"

She smiled. "Aifen? I'll have you there in one day."