Page 54 of Dark Elf's Good Girl
Don't want to make things too obvious.
I loosen the two front wheels on the second carriage and another three on the third carriage. I step back for a moment, admiring my handiwork before returning the crowbar to the toolshed.
We don’t have any replacements for these, it’ll take at least a day to order some new ones.
Using magic to do the trick would have been a lot easier but it would have been obvious if things were tampered using our magic. In order to keep suspicion off of my back, I had to make things look as natural as could be.
I leave the stable just in time as a pair of zagfer approach, buckets of food in hand for the equus. I usher them over.
“Would you mind to have a look at the carriages? I was planning on heading out and some of the wheels could do with a replacement.”
“Certainly, sir.”
I walk away with a smile, hearing the groans of the servants as they check out the carriages.
“What the fuck happened to these? We’re going to have to walk to town and pick new ones up!”
I return to the house, walking by Calix’s office. Noticing that it’s empty, I decide to pop in and have a looksee for any way I can sabotage him further.
“I’ll just ‘borrow’ a thing or two,” I chuckle, swiping a few important items from his desk.
I return to my office, taking a seat as I pull over a batch of unprocessed paperwork.
There’s got to be something I can do with these too…
My eyes land on the perfect target. I grab a quill and dip it in some ink. Putting the tip to the parchment paper, I forge the dates on the contracts, extending the dates and adding more tasks onto Calix’s workload.
It’s not like he does enough for the company anyway.
I set the contracts aside after a few minutes and pull out a blank parchment. On it, I scrawl quick notes of business I’ll have to arrange for Isla’s escape.
“I’ll have to secure safe passage out of Orthani, that might mean bribing a guard or two along the way. I’ll then need to find somewhere safe and out of reach for us to stay…”
I’m scribbling rough notes for a few minutes until I hear a familiar set of footsteps coming my way. I pull a contract over my notes to hide them as my office door swings open. Inwards strolls a stressed Calix, an apparent vein bulging on his forehead.
“Yeah, come in,” I say sarcastically.
He waves me off.
“Is there an update with the contract with that materials company from Rach? Father is pressing down hard on me for it.”
“Oh, you mean this one?” I say, grabbing the appropriate paperwork from the pile.
He snatches it and scans the details, his eyes widening at what I presume to be one of the forged dates.
“It’s being delayed?” he quips.
“I’m afraid so.”
“Why?” he hisses. “This is ridiculous.”
“I agree, but it’s the fault of the other company. Something about the carrier not agreeing on a price with them to transport the goods, they sent word about it this morning via karasu,” I bluff. “I can show you it if you want.”
“It’s fine, whatever,” he snaps. “By the way, have you seen my stamp? It’s not in my office.”
“Stamp? What stamp?”
“Don’t be daft. It’s the one we use to literally seal deals, the one that makes everything official- Oh why am I explaining how it works? Have you seen it or not?”