Chapter 47: Playing Mind Games With Children
They did not expect Altair to act so friendly with someone who viciously attacked her. She even went so far as to call Joshua her brother.
It was no secret to them about what had happened in Joshua's family. He had complained to them nearly every single day about it. Word had even gotten out to their parents about Altair getting adopted. Their parents had then talked to them about how nice it would be if they got to meet Altair.
To all of them there, they immediately understood what their parents meant and were after. Due to their conversations with them they had, in turn, talked with Joshua about meeting Altair. Even though Joshua was completely against it he eventually gave in to the persuasion of his friends.
Still, despite all their knowledge and practice with interpersonal skills it was unbelievable for them to accept what Altair was doing. She had only been accepted into the Marnithok's main family for a little over a month.
Before that, according to the information they had been given, she was busy relearning their language due to her amnesia. Apparently she had been learning it for over two years. Then Joshua had attacked her and it set her back several months, causing some damage to her mind. It also supposedly delayed Renald's announcement of her joining the family.
Since she was still learning their language it was impossible for her to learn the skills needed to pull off such an act.
Since that was the case, it told everyone present, excluding Joshua, that she was a kindhearted simpleton.
Joshua was thoroughly confused as well. He was never that good any politicking and could be easily lead astray by even his friends. Still, he was certain that Altair hated him and he was fine with that. After all, she was just a servant girl.
And yet when she called him brother he couldn't help but slightly like it.
That feeling was instantly quashed when the memories of what she did to him surfaced in his mind though.
Altair read their expressions and smirked inwardly. In her experience, showing someone kindness first and then punishing them doing wrong was the quickest way to train someone. She was expecting that Joshua would still be hostile despite her act and, when she retaliated with a smile on her face it would shock them even harder and, hopefully, cause them to fear her abrupt changes in mood to their actions.
If they did that then she expected that they would choose to avoid her from here on. So long as she was left alone with that image in their minds then they would assume that she got stronger along with them. If they weren't completely stupid then they would choose to always avoid a direct confrontation with her from then on.
That was Altair's plan, at least.
The other kids looked at Joshua with strange expressions. The only one who spoke among them was the scholarly kid who asked, "Didn't you say that she hated you?"
His question caused Joshua lips to twitch as he stared daggers at Altair, "I swear she hates me!" That was the excuse he had given the other kids as to why he didn't want to bring them over. The real reason was the he didn't want Altair to embarrass him with an underhanded sneak attack as she did last time they met. He never expected her to greet him with a smile…
The scholarly kid turned to Alice and asked, "Didn't you tell us that you came across Joshua beating her like a servant?" He wanted to reconfirm what they had been told. His Inborn Ability was telling him that what Altair was doing was nonsense. However, his Inborn Ability wasn't fully mastered yet and had been wrong before, so he was swaying in the face of the evidence before him.
Alice looked at the scholarly kid nodded her head while saying, "It's true. I saw her barely alive after Joshua had attacker her, Rictor."
The kid with too much energy declared, "Obviously Alice was lying. Just look at Joshua's sister and how happy she is he came. There's no way that's an act."
The other kids nodded in agreement, Rictor and Alice doing so with some reluctance.
Altair stood up from her seat while Joshua quickly said, "Don't be fooled by this act! She's just putting this face on to fool all of you!" He wasn't facing the other kids but Altair could see the look of worry in his eyes. Joshua wasn't a complete fool. He could tell that his friends were starting to think of him in a dangerous way. If he didn't stop the spiral than he was likely to end up ostracized from everyone. He was worried that they would turn on him because of how Altair was acting.
Altair decided to shove Joshua forward. She didn't like acting like this and wanted to finish up before her personal maids returned. If they saw how she was acting she was sure that she would be the one end up in the worst situation. Thus, she sweetly asked, "Big Brother are these people your friends?" She had to fight her instinct to gag on her words.
Joshua glared at Altair with as much hate as he could manage while he practically shouted, "Keep your mouth shut!"
Altair gave him a wounded look as if she was being treated unfairly. She then sadly asked, "Big Brother what's wrong? Did I do something bad?"
The energetic boy and large kid frowned at Joshua while Rictor said, "You should calm down. Your temper is getting the better of you."
They all knew about Joshua's fiery temper. With how he was acting and what they had recently seen from Altair they were starting to put certain pieces together.
They knew that Joshua had attacked Altair in the past thinking that she was a servant in training. That wouldn't have been a problem if it was truly the case but he wound up getting punished harshly for it later on. They all saw themselves as they were blocked from meeting with him and he was kept at home as soon as he was done with classes for half a year. While they didn't know why he was punished at the time because Joshua didn't tell them, with how Altair was acting now and Joshua's reaction they were able to guess that it was because he attacked Altair.
This told them that Altair was supposed to be adopted into the main family from the beginning and Joshua.
Renald knew what servants and guards were spies in his house. With a controlled drip of information that he purposely allowed to leak, it painted Altair in the most favorable light. He knew that his son's reputation would take a hit in the short term. However, that was also the point. He had to corner his son so that his son would wake up and grow past his current state into a proper heir.
Besides, it wouldn't mean much in the long run. Altair was, ultimately, an adopted child. She would still be treated differently from those of noble blood. Even if he gave her all the benefits he could all the time she would still be looked down on no matter how much recognition she got.
Alice in particular couldn't believe her ears. She had seen the miserable state this girl was reduced to at Joshua's hands. Now she was standing there before them like she dearly loved Joshua acting like what happened before was an illusion or dream. She tilted her head as she said, "Your new sister is very strange, Joshua."
The large child finally spoke up with his husky voice as he said, "Yeah. She really thinks she's your dear sister. That accident she went through must have done a number to her head."
The scholarly kid added, "Why did your father think she would be a good addition to your family?"
Just because she was being as sweet as she could be, they were still Joshua's friends first. Even though their opinion of her was completely changed they still wouldn't go out of their way to get close to her when Joshua was present and they didn't know how useful she would be in the long term.
Altair didn't want to stand around and listen to their pointless jabber all day. So she spoke in a slightly pleading tone as she asked, "Big Brother what did I do wrong? Tell me and I'll fix it!"
Joshua didn't want to be talked to like this by Altair in front of his friends. He only brought them because they wouldn't stop asking him if they could meet his new sister. He didn't even think of this girl as his sister. To him she was still just a servant girl who had gotten lucky and his dad had looked on her with pity. But he had to be cautious of that explosive power she had. She didn't use it the first time they got into a fight and he still didn't know why. But she clearly wasn't going to hold back after he pummeled her so badly the first time, which resulted in him getting a broken nose. He wouldn't let his guard down like that again. He was confident it was because he had underestimated her that she broke his nose before.
Still, his anger was getting the better of him as he angrily told Altair, "Stop acting like my sister! You aren't my sister you stupid servant girl!"
Altair narrowed her eyes almost imperceptibly at Joshua. She still felt disgusted to have her fake name told to her instead of her real name. She couldn't slip up here about it though. She had only just recently taken on this role as the adoptive daughter of the Marnithok family. It would be an embarrassment to her real name if she messed up so soon. After all she had gone on many stealth missions in her own world. How could she possibly make a mistake this basic so soon and with a bunch of children who didn't know true hardships?
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