[center][h2]Reginald von Afah[/h2][/center]
Still oblivious to the danger within his hands—at least, for the moment—Reginald simply gave Elastasia a look of mild confusion as she warned him about the avian struggling within his grasp.

"Blow my hands off?" he asked, glancing down for a moment before shaking his head. "I can see it glowing a bit, sure, but it's not as if—"

But before he could finish his rejection therein, the momentary lapse in attention as he turned towards the maid calling his name followed by the flight of a rather flightless creature towards his face left the young man a victim to his instincts—and in so doing let go of the bird in order to catch the axolotl-like creature hurtling towards his face. It was as much for his sake as it was for the animal's, of course, but the bird that he had taken the pains to catch was now flapping it's wings as it tumbled momentarily through the air.

But that was for no more than that fleeting moment, though, as the creature swiftly swerved upwards with a flap of it's wings as it dodged the ground. The glow by now had become palpable enough for even Reginald to be aware that it [i]was[/i] indeed likely more magical than he had first believed it to be, and the sudden burst of light thereafter after it flew into the center of the would-be helpers caused him to instinctively shield his eyes.

The light itself seemed to do no damage—quite the opposite, really, as a few of the more disoriented animals at their feet began to regain their bearings—but the bird that was the source of all this seemed to simply fly towards Mella before promptly perching itself in her head. It seemed to be staring daggers at Reginald now, of course, but it at least seemed to not be trying to escape again... For whatever reason that could be.

"...Well, that's a rather rude bird," he remarked, checking on the creature in his hands to see if it had been affected by the bird's magic before promptly handing it off to a nearby shopkeeper. "But I suppose that if it means to stick around, that's one less problem to worry about."

The kitten, though, seemed far less pleased with the current state of affairs. It was a bit more limp, now, pressed between the maid's hand and chest as ait was, but there was only so much it could attempt to do given the restrictions it seemed to impose upon itself. Surely, a scratch or bite would likely cause her to drop it... But the beast seemed to simply give up and accept it's fate.

"For what reason would you let loose a bunch of creatures into the area like this, though...?" Reginald mused to himself as he brushed off some of the dirt on his clothes before turning towards one of the less occupied shopkeepers. "Could I hear more about the details of this situation, by any chance?"

The person in question—a somewhat lanky man in his late thirties—responded with a weak smile and a shrug.

"I'm sorry, sir; all I can recall were some young men sprinting away before the chaos broke out. I think one of them might've been holding onto something, but..."

"A robbery, maybe?" Reginald responded, arms now folded across his chest in mild concern. "What sort of idiots would attempt a robbery in broad daylight...?"

[@Raineh Daze][@Rune_Alchemist]
[hr]
The rather ham-fisted method Cervantes had chosen to get the wyvern out of his hair (or, well, net) drew a bit of an irritated glance from one of the shopkeepers nearest the event, and who, despite seeing everyhing unfold as it did, not not seem particularly pleased with how the wyvern had been lobbed into it's cage.

"Though I do appreciate the help," he began to say as he brought a large hamster-like creature towards it's cage, "I'd prefer if you didn't damage the merchandise in the process."

There was a pause and a sigh as he stared at the rows of cages—most of which had their doors wide open—before shaking his head.

"Thousands of coins' worth of merchandise, all for a... Prank? I don't even know at this point..."

The exhaustion and mental fatigue were rather evident from his body language alone, but there was only so much the poor man could even attempt to do at this point beyond try to salvage what he could from the mess that had just transpired.

[@AThousandCurses]
[hr][hr]
"I certainly did not expect to see you here of all places, [i]Lady Haldblum[/i]. Were the events outside too few and far between to entertain you?"

As the conversation between Serrica and Anne found itself coming to a close, a rather dignified-looking young woman with long golden hair walked straight towards the pair. It was a face that Serrica would have grown to known well by this point, and one that would, in a sense, strike fear of a different sort into Anne's heart.

It was hard, after all, to ignore the main 'love rival' of the crown prince's route—Lilian Meridan, the prince's straight-laced and sharp-tongued childhood friend.

It almost seemed as if there were sparks flying out of Lilian's eyes as she stared straight into Serrica's eyes before turning towards Anne.

"...My apologies. I should not be so crass so as to not introduce myself first," Lilian said, taking a step back before giving a light curtsy towards the unfamiliar young woman in front of her. "Lilian Meridan, the daughter of His Royal Highness' chief advisor Byron Meridan. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Once she had spoken her piece, though, Lilian simply turned back towards Serrica with a look of mild contempt.

"I suppose that matching your [i]refined[/i] tastes would have been a rather daunting task to begin with regardless," she remarked with a shake of her head. "How unfortunate."

The thinly-veiled venom Lilian's words was almost palpable as she continued staring Serrica dead-on, her gaze unflinching as she continued staring the woman opposite her down.

"To be quite honest, I'm quite surprised to even see you here in the first place. I would have thought you would have better things to do with your time than stroll down the hallways making small talk with the new students."

[@Pyromania99][@VitaVitaAR]