Chapter 66 - A bard never tells
Later that day, after spending some surprisingly enjoyable time catching up with Kat, Scarlett returned to the mansion by herself.
Shin and Allyssa were at the Guild branch. She wasn’t about to come between them and their first real meeting with Kat for what appeared to be quite some time. She also didn’t have much in the city to do at the moment, and she hadn’t wanted to wait around until they were done, either.
And even though she was being more wary about the Hallowed Cabal right now, it wasn’t like there was a high likelihood of them doing anything in the middle of the day when she was out in the open in Freybrook.
At least, that’s what she’d convinced herself when she had been sitting in the carriage cabin all by herself. In the future, she might bring along Fynn on trips like this too, just to be safe.
Despite her worries though, she did return to the estate without issue. As she was crossing the courtyard towards the mansion’s entrance, however, she was surprised to find Rosa there, sitting on one of the curved benches that encircled the fountain at the center of the courtyard. The brown-haired woman had her hurdy-gurdy-esque instrument in her lap, slowly turning its crank. By the looks of it, she was in the process of tuning it.
Scarlett stopped for a moment to observe. Rosa seemed so absorbed in her work that she hadn’t even noticed her yet.
Suddenly the bard swore, pulling her hands back with a grimace. She sat still for several seconds, staring down at the instrument.
Scarlett frowned. That was odd.
“Is everything all right?” she asked, stepping closer to the curved bench.
Rosa’s head spun to look at her with slightly widened eyes. It might have been all in Scarlett’s imagination, but the woman’s face looked paler than usual. The large smile that grew on her face seemed to belie that impression, however.
“I’m fine.” Rosa let out a light laugh, placing her hand against her chest. “At least I think I am, if my heart hasn’t jumped straight out of my throat now. You sure know how to sneak up on a girl.”
Scarlett took the woman in. For all of Rosa’s appearances of being cheerful and sprightly, she always had a hard time reading the woman.