Chapter 70: Family Matters
"Ahem."
Yulei cleared her throat, directing my attention back to her.
"Long time no see, Lady Alora of Light. I caught a mere glimpse of you during Lady Esme's birthday party. It's a pleasure."
"Likewise."
You heard correctly, 'Esme's birthday party'. Not our birthday party, not Alora's, but Esme's. Her birthday was the only one celebrated that day, much to Esme's dismay, but I had been the one to convince her otherwise.
It wasn't for some grand reason, but had the rest of them discovered that we're twins, then the mess of relationships between Esme, her six friends, and me would be amplified.
And that's not something I'm in the mood to deal with at the moment.
"I see that you're no longer on crutches. Has your state improved since the last time we met?"
"Lady Yulei has good eyes. Correct, I've gotten better. I can comfortably walk around at a decent pace, but not much more than that, unfortunately. Still, it's an improvement compared to half a year ago."
"Congratulations."
Passing these formal comments around, our true thoughts lingered within our interlaced gazes.
"Would you like help pushing the chair?"
Yulei politely declined my offer, "No need, this chair can move on its own with just a thought of mine."
Automatic driving? That's some advanced technology.
Why aren't there any cars or vehicles of that sort around then? Why only horse-drawn carriages?
A lack of innovation or another limitation?
That made me quite curious, but, for now, I focused my thoughts elsewhere.
"Shall we go meet Jill and Vanessa then?" Yulei asked me with an upward curl in the corner of her lips.
"Sure."
Our formalities dropped slightly; Now that I think about it, have I ever spoken to Jill? Maybe a word or two?
I strutted along Yulei's wheelchair through the luxurious hall. Shimmers of pretty lights danced off the grounds, walls, and through the paned windows into the large terrace connected to the hall.
The ground beneath our feet felt like dense cotton balls, and the scent of the aromatic foods filled the room.
It was quite the fancy set-up for a single Ascendancy.
However, this is Hilda we're talking about.
The daughter of the Commander of the Sanctified Knights, Giliard Von Lamperard.
Hilda Von Lamperard.
If anything, her noble status was so low that it'd be hard to connect her to be the daughter of such a powerful and famous man. Giliard was too low-key, and his daughter, Hilda, has acted as my Sword Maid for the past year, also diminishing her presence as a noble lady.
And, when you put it that way...
I've only seen her in a training outfit on the day of our meeting and a maid's outfit since then. I haven't seen her dressed up.
Curiosity and interest slithered in my chest;
I want to see that.
She'd be so pretty.
A murky grin licked my lips beneath the mask.
Pushing my hands into my pocket, I habitually fiddled with the device lingering in my pocket. It was an item similar to a vape, used mainly to soothe nerves and dull pain receptors.
While I do admit that it's quite pathetic to be reliant on drugs...
I fucking want some, right now.
This atmosphere, these emotions, these thoughts; the endless nagging of voices blasting in my eardrums, driving me to the brink of insanity-
I want to numb it.
Taking a deep breath, I clenched my shivering fingers and bit my dry lips. I smothered the thirst in my body and arrived at Jill and Vanessa's side.
"Oh, Yulei, you're back-!" Vanessa shouted as she waved at Yulei, but then, once she looked towards me, the girl pouted with a scowl-
"Ugh, look who we have here. Hmph."
It seems she still holds a grudge for my actions back then.
On the other hand, Jill gave me a solid nod, "Hello." And greeted me in a simple, yet efficient manner; that demeanour fit him like a glove.
There was, however, one issue.
...My neck hurts.
Yulei is sitting in a wheelchair, so she's at eye level.
But Jill and Vanessa...
So tall.
I had to crane my neck to look them in the eyes; Jill's green hair was styled in a niche, rough manner, his face was too handsome for his age, and his body was quite developed. Vanessa was in a similar situation; her black hair was lush, and she was as pretty as Yulei.
I, on the other hand, grew by 1 cm from 104 cm to 105 cm. These two were both over 150 cm, and my body was also much smaller; I looked like a dwarf when placed by their side.
I'm damn tiny.
"It's nice to meet you too." Lifting the hem of my dress, I gave them a polite curtsy that they returned in response.
Running his fingers through his hair, Jill stared down at me with a slim smile. The angle of his face, plus his good looks, plus the hair, plus the well-groomed suit and shoulder cloak...
I can already see all the broken hearts to come in the future.
Shrugging inwardly in pity for the ladies, "I've heard of your accomplishments, Jill, you are close to the Second Step, are you not?" I tossed Jill a compliment.
"...Yes, Lady Alora. Thank you." He kept his words short as he scratched his face.
Beside him, Vanessa held her hands on her hips, "Hmph, of course he did. But how did that stupid girl beat him to it..." Grinding her teeth, Vanessa, dressed in a simple yet stylish black dress that fit her hair, seemed to dread the thought of Hilda outpacing Jill in the Ascendancy race.
"Vanessa, stop it. Hilda deserves it. She works harder than anyone I know." Yulei stepped up... Uh, that's an inappropriate word for Yulei, she didn't step up in Hilda's defence but rolled up in Hilda's defence...?
Nevermind.
She stepped up in Hilda's defence.
Harumphing, Vanessa twisted her head to the side but went quiet. She was oddly submissive to Yulei, but the same happened that day on the hill.
"It's not a race." Jill added that from the side, whilst letting out an exaggerated sigh.
Knowing him, he was probably thinking something like:
[...Who cares?]
I'm not entirely familiar with him, but it felt that way to me.
"By the way, Alora, have you seen Esme yet?" Yulei shifted her attention back to me.
Shaking my head, "Not yet. I don't know where she is."
In fact, everyone but Hilda and Esme was here.
Hilda, I understood she was preparing, but Esme? Why was Esme not here yet?
Is she doing something else important?
-----
"Hnng~ Lily, that's enough!"
Lily stood behind the seated Esme, neatly combing and tidying her appearance. "You say that, but your cheeks are all puffed up with pride and excitement. You want to look pretty for her, don't you?"
Pouting, Esme turned her head slightly with flushed cheeks.
...And yes, this is why Esme was late.
She was too focused on prettying herself up for Alora that she had forgotten the time, and Lily was invested in turning Esme into the prettiest girl of the night, so the issue of being late had long passed over her mind.
Glancing at the figure in her reflection, Esme ran her fingers over the white dress with pink highlights, adorned with golden leaves that fluttered outward in waves of folds and frills.
It was a mirror dress of Alora's, but Esme had no idea, nor did Lily.
The tailor provided the dress according to the Mistress' whims, and her whims this time around led her to create a bouquet of mirrored, twin flowers.
As Lily adorned Esme's snow-white hair with a red ribbon-
"Hm?"
-she noticed that a message had been delivered.
Pulling out the rectangular device, she listened to the words within...
"Oh no, Lady Esme!"
"Huh? What's wrong?"
"We're late! Very late!"
"Oh!"
-----
With small talk passing around this cohort of four, a visitor from the nearby group came over.
"Hildekar?" Jill gave the silver-haired, handsome young man a slight nod.
"Greetings, Vanessa, Yulei, Jill, and Lady Alora."
His mellow gaze glazed over the others before landing on me, "I actually wanted to thank you, Lady Alora. Hilda's progress can be attributed to your constant aid. Truly, thank you." He bowed down at a 45-degree angle, but, funnily enough, he was still tall enough to look down at me in the eyes.
...When will I get taller?
Holding that mixture of a grudge and envy in my heart, "No problem. Hilda is my Sword Maid, after all."
"Speaking of, how's she been? The rascal won't tell me anything, staying quiet and avoiding me at every left and right turn. Honestly, it's getting hard to keep my father at bay with his insistent pestering about my aunt."
...???
Aunt? Father?
What's he talking about?
"Hildekar, she doesn't know."
"Oh, right! Hilda is my cousin. Her mother is my aunt from my dad's side. She avoids me for certain reasons, but my dad cares too much about his sister. He always cries about 'She's so clumsy!' and 'What if that bastard Giliard tricked her again!'."
Hildekar shrugged midway, "Anyways, how's she been?"
...Hold up.
They're cousins?
Right then, the memory of my days as a fly came back; Hilda's mother had silver hair.
It makes sense now.
"You should be asking me that instead." Chuckling, I helplessly lifted my palms, "I'm the one handling her all day."
Hildekar stared at me for a moment before a smile broke out on his face, "True! My apologies, Lady Alora, how have you been this past year?"
Hearing that question;
Hearing those words;
I smiled;
107,123,649WhilepilesofcrazedCursesflowedthroughmybrain107,124,051
With an almost blank tone, I uttered:
"Perfect, I've been doing Perfect."
Right, mother?
My eyes moved to the distant waves of chestnut and blue, and, in return, they gazed straight back at me with endless love in them; truly Perfect, am I not?