Chapter 7 - The broken girl and the duke
"Ohhh my dear daughter, it’s so good to finally be able to meet you in person."
A man was in front of me, claiming to be my father. He was being called ’the Duke’ by the overseer and my mother, but I don’t know anything else about him.
He had a gaunt face, with black, cold eyes and dark brown hair. His clothes were disheveled, and his manners seemed rather unrefined. Is this man an actual Duke? He looked more like a misplaced ruffian than a noble.
"H-hi... I’m Aurea Annes." I say, putting on a shy front.
"Aurea, my dear. I’m your father, as you might have surmised from the situation. I’m Duke Addlington, but you may call me just Dad."
"Yes, Dad." I keep playing the good, shy girl while suppressing the laughter inside of me. That guy’s an addled egg indeed.
"Please, come closer, my little Aurea. Come, come." He looked exactly the kind of man with candies who roams around schools, and our mothers always tell us not to get close. But in this case, I had no escape, so I just did as he told me.
I reached the table and noticed that there was a kind of white slate on it. I looked curiously at it.
"Now, Aurea. Can you please put your hand on that white slate? I want to see something?"
"Why, Dad? What does it do?" I do my best to look afraid, though I probably already know the answer... and it’s a bad one.
"Oh, it won’t do anything to you, don’t worry. It will only tell us your magical affinity."