Chapter 99: The Mythical Unicorns
Lana quickly dusted off her maid’s outfit before giving Rita a sharp salute!
"Hello, Madam Rita!"
Rita narrowed her eyes at Lana and asked.
"Lana. I remember distinctly telling you to feed Persephone and the rest of her herd down in the stables. Why is she up here running around the library?"
Lana put her hands behind her back and rubbed her toe on the ground nervously as she answered.
"S-Sorry, Madam Rita. She ran out the door when my back was turned. I was trying to get her back inside."
Rita gave Lana a disappointed look, and Lana’s face fell slightly. But Rita sighed as Persephone came up to her and pushed Rita with her head!
Neigh~!
’Stop being mean to Lana!’
The unicorn passed this message telepathically, and Rita couldn’t help but smile as she pet Persephone softly. Persephone was a member of one of the rarest magical beast races in any world! The Mythical Unicorns that had once been hunted to the brink of extinction! The number of unicorns existing in every known world combined was not up to ten thousand in number, and that meant that their horns and hide were some of the most precious magical artefacts in the magical world! There were people paying billions of gold coins just to get a single unicorn horn!
Percy and Rita had discovered Persephone and a few other unicorns in a beast trader’s colony while travelling through a distant world, and they rescued them and brought them to the library to live here. Now, there were about thirty unicorns living in the downstairs stables, and Persephone was also pregnant, so there would be another little one very soon.
Rita took Persephone’s face in her hand and pressed their foreheads together as she spoke to her telepathically.
’You can’t be running around so much, little one. Remember that you are pregnant. I don’t want to see you hurt.’
Persephone let out a small huff of understanding once she heard this, and she pushed her head against Rita’s before turning to leave.
"Wait for me, Persephone!"
Lana quickly ran after the jogging unicorn, and Rita just chuckled as the two of them vanished through one of the doors. Once they were gone, Rita finally turned back to face Hildegard, and she saw Hildegard staring at where the unicorn had gone with a shocked look on her face.
"That was a unicorn, wasn’t it?"
Hildegard was absolutely stunned! As someone who researched magical beasts, Hildegard had heard about the mythical unicorns! They were Elder Level Beasts with extraordinary spiritual magic, and extremely high magical ingredient value! Using any part of the unicorn in a healing or purification potion would increase its potency by at least one thousand percent! But according to all her research books, the unicorn was meant to be extinct in this world! There hadn’t been a unicorn here for more than a thousand years!
"Yes, Persephone is a unicorn. I’d appreciate it if you kept her presence here a secret."
Rita smiled at Hildegard as she asked this, and Hildegard realised that Persephone was being kept here without the authorities knowing. The conspiratorial smile on Rita’s face made Hildegard feel like she was part of something illegal, but Hildegard didn’t mind helping Rita, so she simply nodded in agreement. Once Hildegard nodded, Rita clapped her hands and gestured for Hildegard to follow her up the stairs:
"That’s wonderful. Now, come along. I’ll show you where you’ll be sleeping. Percy told me about your circumstances, and I empathize with you. It’s not easy for a child to bear the hatred of so many people. But while you’re in here, you can be assured that we’ll keep you safe. This room should be enough to house you for the meantime."
Rita opened a door leading into the large bedroom, and Hildegard was shocked as she entered the room and took in the massive bed and windows, as well as the fancy table and chair. This was even better than her room back at home! Hildegard turned and bowed to Rita thankfully, and Rita just waved the thanks away as she continued.
"Try to get some rest and relax. I’ll be expecting you up before seven tomorrow."
Hildegard blinked.
"I’m sorry, what?"
The way Rita spoke just now made it seem like there was something Hildegard had to do around seven tomorrow, and Rita raised a brow in surprise when she saw Hildegard’s expression. Why does Hildegard look so surprised? Hildegard is a student, so wasn’t it obvious what was going to happen tomorrow?
"You’re going to be having magic classes to cover up for the material you’ve been missing due to your suspension. I’m responsible for the classes, so I expect you downstairs before seven. Is that understood?"
"Y-Yes, ma’am."
Hildegard answered nervously, and Rita smiled before she closed the door and left.
....
[Later That Night]
Percy let out a calm breath as he walked into the library with a tired look on his face. Percy had been outside making another delivery to the orphanage on the other side of the city, and Percy had been stuck playing with the orphan kids for more than eight hours! Even though Percy had only come to Aquinas a year ago, he and Rita had become such common faces at the orphanage that the children would always gather around them and drag them to come and play one game or another!
Although Percy had a lot of stamina, there was just something about handling a hundred little children at the same time that was enough to exhaust anyone! Once Percy entered the library, he immediately felt a foreign magical signature somewhere upstairs, and Percy realised that it was Hildegard staying in the upstairs bedroom.
’So she finally arrived. That’s good.’
Percy decided that he would go and see Hildegard tomorrow. Right now, Percy just wanted to get back to his room and get some rest! Percy walked up the stairs leading to the bedroom, and he passed through the corridor before entering the master bedroom. All the lights in the room were off, and the only source of light in the room was the moonlight filtering in from the window at the side. The sound of a shower running reached Percy once he entered the room, and Percy immediately knew that Rita was in the bathroom.
"Hey, baby. Welcome back."
Rita spoke up from inside the bathroom once she felt Percy’s mana signature, and Percy only let out a low hum in response as he took off his coat and his shirt to reveal his bare chest! For a moment, Percy thought about entering the shower with Rita, but the bed was just far too inviting, and Percy ended up flopping face down on the bed tiredly!
This was how Percy remained for the next ten minutes as the sound of the shower continued to echo through the room, but eventually, Rita turned off the water and walked out of the bathroom! Rita’s bare feet left water trails across the polished floor as she moved forward! There was a short towel wrapped around her body that barely managed to reach her thigh, and now that she was naked, her wide hips and large breasts stood out in a way that was almost sinful! Rita’s hourglass figure was so perfect that just the sight of it combined with her goddess-like beauty would be enough to drive a lesser man insane! Rita’s long white hair released drops of water that fell across the floor, and Rita used a smaller towel to dry it out as she moved towards the bed with a smile!