Patrick, in his haste to try to adjust his position, he made a mistake and shifted his weight in a way that was too quickly. This was because his trousers, which was now unzipped and is sagging, had caught around his ankles. As he tried to at the very least take a step back to balance himself, his heel landed in the wrong position, stepping on the fabric.
The laws of physics were indifferent to the matters of the mortal world, no matter if a person was lock in and what not, was useless in the face of the natural order of things.
This made his hands slip away from Valeria's waist, the gravity took over to lead them to move downwards.
"Oof." Patrick mattered, making himself tumble backwards.
Valeria was startled by the sudden dissapearance of her support, which was supposed Patricks hands on her lower back, made her lunge forward in an untimely manner. She grabbed a fistful of her fiancee's shirt collar, leading to her weight to come down with him.
Patrick hit the hardwood floor with a thud. He winced, his eyes squeezed shut, bracing for the pain of a bruised tailbone and the crushing embarrassment of his inexperience being laid bare. He felt like a total fraud. Great move, Casanova. You just fell over your own pants.
The pain though only came slightly, this was because his new body was more denser than the one he had on earth. Although it hurt, it didn't feel like much of a bruise, since in his home world he should have been breathless from him being poor and not well nutritioned.
He opened one eye to find Valeria hovering inches above him. She was still flushed, her dress was becoming messy from her silk and the lace around her thighs. Patrick was prepared to expect the lady to be angry, though her expressions seem otherwise.
A small and bubbly laugh, that was a little bit breathless, one that sounded genuine, exited her mouth.
"Patrick?" she whispered, her eyes dancing with an amused light he had not expected.
She held onto his collar. Then, she continued to use her grip to make herself able to pull down. She then pressed a light kiss to Patrick's lips. It was her unexpected reward for this kind of moment, since it was so absurd she couldn't help but do so.
Pulling back, Valeria saw the Young Master's face. It was like he was haunted, a kind of expression that says his nervousness. Patrick's eyes darted toward the ceiling while he processed his own clumsiness.
"What is that look for?" she teased, her voice low and silken. She reached out, patting his chest as if checking for structural damage. "Did you break a bone? You hit the floor rather hard, even for a man of your... stature."
"I... I'm fine," Patrick stammered, his brain scrambling to catch up. He couldn't tell her he was just terrified of looking like an idiot. "I just... the floor is harder than it looks."
"It sounded like a falling oak tree," she giggled, leaning in again.
CRACK.
The sound of the door's latch being forced open made it into their ears through the room. Both of them bolted upright in a panicked fumble at the same time.
Patrick made sure to pull his trousers up, his fingers shaking as he fought with the zipper, while Valeria frantically smoothed her skirt down, her face turning a shade of red that rivaled the roses in her lace.
The door groaned open just a few inches.
A sliver of light from the hallway shone across the rug, and Reidward's face appeared in the gap.
The old butler looked remarkably calm, though his arm was extended firmly behind him, acting as a human barrier.
"Young Master," Reidward said, his voice a masterpiece of neutral professionalism. "I believe the... legalities of the land agreement have reached a natural pause. Miss Pem is quite insistent on the schedule."
Behind him, they could see the top of Pem's head as she tried to bob and weave around his shoulder. "Move, you overgrown gargoyle! I hear them moving in there! Valeria!"
Reidward didn't budge an inch. He kept his gaze fixed solely on Patrick, his eyes dropping for a fraction of a second to the slightly crooked alignment of Patrick's belt before returning to his face. He didn't let Pem see a thing, his massive frame acting as a total eclipse.
"We are coming out now, Reidward," Patrick called out, his voice a full sound higher than usual before he cleared his throat and tried again. "Just... gathering the final documents."
Valeria shot Patrick a look. It had a fifty fifty look of being exasperated, and endeared. She then began the rapid fire process of making herself look like a Duke's daughter again.
Pem, Valeria's made finally entered the room once Reidward took his hand off her shoulder.
She looked silently at her Lady's condition first. Valeria's lips had a more pinkish and swollen gloss, her flush from her cheek gradually falling back to normal. Although it is evident that there was a hint of perspiration on her hair, as the maid can notice the parts where the makeup dissapeared.
The most obvious one was the scent, it had this particular one that suggested it was more than just legalities involved inside the room.
Pem shot a glare to Reidward, as if she was about to stab the old man. Her eyes had this look of composure, but within those irises, it can be seen an intent to strangle the person she was looking at was evident.
Reidward whistled, noticing the observations the maid did to her Lady, though it was more of a tuned whistle for a song called twinkle star, than a whistle of being impressed his young master elicited a reaction to the young lady.
"It was a great time meeting with you, Miss Valeria." Patrick said while ignoring the look of his fiancee's personal maid to his butler.
"Me too, It has been a pleasure." Valeria answered elegantly, answering as if nothing in particular happened just beforehand.
Valeria then took some steps to take the piece of paper in which the plot of land was signed, she nodded at Patrick approvingly.
"The scent of the past has existed, demonstrating how nostalgic times have been all these years." Reidward said suddenly, a poem surfaced on his mind, and he couldn't help but say it.
The three others in the room looked at him with confusion. Though one of them had confusion and also a hint where she felt the butler was mocking her for not acting sooner.
Patrick, seemingly in a mysterious trance, continued the verses of this poem. "Since time immemorial, the passing of rivers and mountains are indeed true."
Valeria slowly stepped away from Patrick's side, this situation was too baffling for her. Even a little scary, two men are reciting poems in tandem as if they memorized it.
Before she could grasp her personal maid's arm to tell her to get out of here as soon as possible, her lips moved. "Once the roar of the reverend has passed his wise and all knowing judgement.
Pem immediately pulled Valeria's hand away from the study room, it was fast enough that both of the girls were able to get out of the study.
There was one mistake though, Pem had still her feet inside the room, she reluctantly recited. "A dragon will interrupt the time in how the world turns."