ALL NOVEL 91. Finding the Cause (Part 1)
Granted, While Gareth had made a few mistakes from time to time, such as assigning a little too much budget to one of the companies under the Branford Group for their research into tidal-based energy generation, his work saved Aurora massive amounts of time. Just having to confirm decisions was much easier than having to do all the groundwork and thinking after all.
Mistakes like the funding of tidal energy were bound to happen since Gareth was unaware of every implication of mana in the future, so such a mistake was understandable and easy to correct.
But while it was not necessary for the future, for now, the company needed to retain a good public image, so pulling out of researching renewable energy was ill-advised, so the Branford Group needed to balance between supporting the cause and saving money.
****
By 7 pm Aurora had finished all of the relatively urgent tasks laid on her desk. She stretched out her stiff limbs, raising her arms above her head and extending her legs. One thing she noted is how her body felt restless throughout the day, and it really showed when she extended her legs.
She could feel tension from not moving about within her muscles, which only made her stretching all the more satisfying.
She could also feel the tinge of annoyance that had been plaguing the back of her mind throughout the day quiet down a little since she had stopped her march through the pile of tedious paperwork.
Had she not known any better, she would have thought that she was on her period given how easily she noticed her mind getting annoyed at different things.
There had been various employees who were all vigilantly looking towards her office all day to find a chance to have their questions answered, especially after the board meeting. There was the sound of emergency response sirens from down below in the city that she would occasionally hear that managed to get on her nerves as she tried to concentrate.
And worst of all, there was the annoying label on the inside of her back which kept irritating a spot between her shoulder blades. After having had enough to the point she would even put up with persistently questioning employees to solve her issue, she had swiftly moved to the toilets, almost entering the men’s in her distracted state out of habit, and entered into one of the cubicles.
It had taken her a minute, but after removing her shirt and identifying the offending label, she carefully cut it out with her magic. Aurora could never figure out why even designer brands sometimes used labels with sharp corners, but after everything that seemed to be getting on her nerves over the last few days, it made sense.
Nonetheless, Aurora had made it through the day, and managed to get a lot of important matters sorted. Before she finally left her office she took a few moments to call her secretary Sasha in to have the discussion she promised earlier.
After Aurora’s display of magic in the morning, Sasha had been quite uneasy. However, after giving her a brief explanation similar to what she had given Gareth, and telling her to speak to him if she had any further questions, the two parted ways.
Thankfully Sasha had gone from trepidatious and almost fearful of being near Aurora to a chaotic swirl of emotions. But after the explanations, she seemed to have a massive weight lifted off from her shoulders. It made sense though, the chaos was brought by learning the world was changing and the apocalypse was on its way, while the relief was from knowing Chester was technically still alive and working to prevent the fallout from the apocalypse, and that she didn’t need to learn how to interact with a new boss.
Despite how chaotic the office was during the day, her walk down to the car with Harold was quiet. Since it was late, the remaining people in the office were mainly those who were working late on important projects, so she managed to avoid the intense greetings on her way out.
Then there was also the prospect of a swift trip home since the traffic on the streets was lighter due to the time which would make her trip back to the estate much faster.
With a long exhale Aurora settled down into the car seat as she closed her eyes. The day, despite all her progress had been draining. It would have been just one thing had all of the issues troubling her been from the company, but life had never been that simple. Especially when it came to problems where the gods were involved.
It was clear there was some sort of instability in her psyche, she was becoming irritable far too easily and it had resulted in her annoyance rising over the smallest things.
As the car pulled away she heard the sound of her phone vibrating in her bag, so after letting out a deep and exhausted sigh she pulled it out to see who was calling her with the next bit of trouble.
The lethargy she had been exhibiting was instantly replaced as she saw the name on the screen, quickly repositioning herself from her lazy posture and answering the call.
“Roxanne! Is everything alright?”
[Heh, I should be asking you that. None of us saw you online in Caelus so I decided to give you a call. Were the old fogeys keeping you busy all day?]
Aurora let out a long breath as she replied, the annoyance in her tone clear.
“Honestly, the board meeting was dealt with rather easily, although my dear grandmother decided to throw a tantrum afterwards in my office. No, what kept me was just the excess work that has been piling up alongside all the drama of becoming a woman.”
[Well, I guess that is a good result. But what was your grandmother complaining about? I thought that she had calmed down in recent years?]
Aurora couldn’t help but let out a hollow and defeated laugh.
“If only. Were I still Chester, then that may have been the case. But no, I imagine that her jealousy was just too much. What, between me suddenly getting all the power and wealth she always envied, as well as my new looks which she presumably had not seen before today… well, you know what jealous women are like.”
Aurora could hear Roxanne’s amused scoff through her phone's speaker as she looked out the window to see the edge of Tower Bridge and the river Thames as it flowed through the city reflecting the evening lights.
[Don’t remind me. Well, I guess it is something you will have to deal with now too, huh? I will give you some tips later, you will probably be fine. But you know, the more tricks in your bag, the better. In all seriousness though, you didn’t curse her or something with your magic, did you?]
Aurora let out a laugh as she mentally cursed herself for the missed opportunity.
“Unfortunately, no, turns out I became so mad the idea of doing something like that completely slipped my mind. It has been a while since I was so angry I almost lost control, I accidentally smashed my desk with mana and freaked her out by teleporting right behind her.”
She could hear Roxanne giggling through her phone as the notable sound of the phone being placed down and put onto speaker reached her.
[Well, that's tame. I know you can be quite vindictive to those who wrong you, so I wonder what you have planned? But still… it is worrying you lost control. I don't fully understand it all yet, but I assume that it would normally require far more than a tantrum for you to lose control over your mana?]
Aurora let her head slump back onto her headrest as she closed her eyes again.
“You would be correct. The short explanation is that mana partially reacts to emotions. The more extreme the emotions, the more the mana will react. For those with weak control over their mana, the threshold for them to lose control is low, while the opposite is true for those with stronger control.”
“The last time I lost control was when… a dear friend of mine was killed right in front of me. So for me to lose control over my mana despite only having to put up with a childish tantrum… well, I feel it is a bit off.”
She waited for a few moments while Roxanne pondered over the situation, the silence eventually being broken when the car stopped at a set of traffic lights.
[Hmm, this is quite concerning. Women are naturally more expressive in their emotions, so I guess that may play a part in this, but I mean you haven’t changed all that much in terms of personality. You still act all stoic and serious when interacting with outsiders and swap to your casual relaxed self with us. And don’t think I haven’t noticed your slight changes when we went shopping yesterday, acting a little more feminine. Ben may not have noticed, but Marie and I sure did.]
Aurora let out an amused huff from her nose, thinking about Roxanne’s words as she moved her eyes to look out of the window.
