Chapter 44: The Master's Return
Time skip ahead~
--- In Eyrie's room---
"Eyrie, how are my clothes? Are they wrinkly?" A young girl who looked around the age of 16 stood in front of a mirror. She wore a long-sleeved white shirt tucked in her pants at the waist.
Though her facial expression was expressionless, and her body movement was calm, one could see the nervousness in her eyes. Her pair of almond-shaped eyes were differently colored. One iris was a striking metallic gold whilst the other was a sedate violet.
Eyrie, who sat next to her in the room, chuckled. "Fei, it's fine~ Why are you so anxious?"
"Master is coming back today. How can I not be anxious?" Fei sighed as she sunk into the chair next to Eyrie's.
A month passed quickly, and in that month, Eyrie, the eldest miss of the Rochester household, and Fei, the mutant Mr. Rochester brought home, had gotten closer than ever.
Mr. Rochester did not seem to object to the relationship on the surface, even though he had warned Eyrie. Eyrie herself didn't listen to his warnings, so he couldn't do anything about it.
In this time that Eyrie drew closer to Fei, she also tried her best to mend the relationship with her family.
She bought Carol all types of gifts and always tried to incorporate her into the discussion whenever she and Father were talking.
It didn't seem like Carol was willing to grab ahold of the olive branch that Eyrie offered, though. She never accepted gifts that were too large or expensive to her liking and paid her older sister back using the exact same amount of gifts that were also of the same price.
For example, if Eyrie gave her an expensive antique watch, Carol would gift her back a necklace around the same cost.
To this behavior, her older sister could only hold up her hands in exasperation. She knew that the reason her younger sister was doing such things was to make sure that she would never owe her anything — in other words, so that they would remain distant.
To her father, Eyrie made sure to inform him all of the knowledge that she knows and often gave him suggestions on his work. She read up on all of the military tactics that the Web could offer, and sometimes, she got Fei to recite some books from the library to her.
Eyrie knew that he wasn't the type of person to sway by the number of gifts given; he was a more practical person.
In addition, it's not as if she is richer than him; if they had a gifting contest, Mr. Rochester would definitely win by leaps and bounds.
Even though he didn't do business, his salary was something that even tycoons would die for. His abilities were just too important to Country A, and they couldn't afford to lose him to some other country. If they did so, then they wouldn't just be losing one person.
They would be losing the military strength they were so known for, and they would lose the title of being the best Country in the world.
In the end, while her father did become more willing to talk to her subjects such as his worries about his family, he never fully trusted her and never talked to her about his work or his actual thoughts. But from the very beginning, he never minded talking about his worries of the family.
For example, in one meeting with her, he rambled on and on about the uncertainty clouding Carlos' future and the fate of the Rochester name when Carlos becomes the head after coming of age. Whenever she tried to move the topic to something else, Mr. Rochester would ignore her and continue speaking about the 'back in my day' or 'children these days (or more specifically, Carlos these days).'
Though Eyrie was a little happy at seeing a different side of her father, she didn't want the entire discussion to be about Carlos.
Eyrie sighed, thinking back to her basically fruitless attempts at gaining the trust of her father and her sister.
"Eyrie, why are you sighing?" Fei asked.
These days, Fei has become more outspoken. She fully showcases her curiosity. "I'm just a bit tired, nothing else. Probably didn't get enough sleep last night."
Eyrie smiled slightly. "You on the other hand, are going to be Carlos' official bodyguard soon. How do you feel?"
Yes, Fei was finally going to be recognized as one of Carlos' bodyguards. It was decided that she would start her duties right after her master returned.
Over the past few months, she felt that she had trained enough, and was good enough at attacking and defense, to be the most suitable bodyguard for him.
In addition, Fei had finally finished reading everything in the library the dawn before today. She realized that her pace of reading was way too slow before pondering at each word and phrase.
She spent the last week reading up until late into the night, trying to finish everything before Carlos came back. She didn't have the luxury to examine everything very closely anymore and could only make do with skimming each book.
Well, I mean, she didn't really need to focus anyway, she had photographic memory, remember?
Fei decided she would talk to her master about everything in those books when they chat. She would be bonding with him and educating him, killing two birds with one stone.
She smiled upon thinking of that delightful scene.
"I'm excited for his return." Fei answered Eyrie's question.
A knock on the door prevented Eyrie from replying right away. "Come in."
The door opened, and a middle-aged woman with sickly pale skin stepped into the room. It was Masera, Eyrie's lady's maid. "Miss Eyrie, Young master Carlos has arrived in the estate. He is at the mansion's entrance."
Fei's heart thumped. Without waiting for her master's sister's reaction, she rushed out like a gust of wind.
The other two people couldn't even see her clearly; the speed she was running with was simply too fast!
"M-Miss Eyrie…"
Eyrie shook her head slowly. "Masera, please do not speak of what you saw to another soul. If you do, I will not be the one administering your punishment…" Instead, it would be my father, she left these words unsaid, with confidence that the lady's maid would understand her meaning with ease.
And indeed, she did,
"… Y-Yes, Miss Eyrie." Masera gulped.
…
When Fei got to the entrance of the mansion, to her surprise, she was not the first person there.
The scene that greeted her eyes was one of where Carol saying something while ruffling her little brother's hair and pinching his cheeks. Carlos was glaring daggers at her and pouting, trying to struggle out from under his sister's abuse.
T-This humiliation! How dare she! Fei immediately ran over and pulled those unforgivable hands away.
"Feiiiiiiiii!!!" Carlos jumped into her arms. "Sis Carol is so mean! Protect me from her!" Fei froze.
Looking at this scene, Carol's heart was pierced through by the arrow of love.
But wait.
"What do you mean, I'm 'mean'?! I'm so nice to you!"
"M-My cheeks hurt. See? They���re red and bruised!"
"Wh-I-I was doing that to help stretch them. They must've gotten stiff over the past four months." Carol once again stretched out her hands.
But her attempts were immediately barred by Fei. "Stop! You are making Master sad."
Carol narrowed her eyes. "Why are you even here? This is a family reunion, okay? Who are you to tell me to stop?"
"I am his bodyguard." Fei hid Carlos behind her, out of Carol's reach.
Carol's eyes narrowed even further. She thought that she had already been kind enough to this stray mutant. Is this how it repays her? Looking at her bound hands, she gritted her teeth and tried to shake off the mutant, but to no avail.
"Fine. Fine! I'll go." With no other option, she could only agree. Finally, she pulled away her hands.
With a stomp, Carol marched away without looking back.
"Master, are you alright? Do you need treatment? You were hurt, right?" Fei turned to Carlos, her eyes deep with concern.
Carlos smiled. "I'm fine. I was kinda exaggerating anyway. Thanks though. You were really cool back there." He pumped his fist in the air.
Sensing that Fei's worry did not seem to decrease the slightest, Carlos puffed up his cheeks. "You really think I'm that weak? A few pinches won't be the death of me. Let's go to my room. Or do you wanna go to the lounge?"
The mutant pondered for a while. "Your room."
"Mn'kay." The little boy laughed with the sound of sweet chimes and pulled at her hand as he speed-walked to the elevator.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
_VA_
_VA_ How was the chapter? T'was longer than usual, hope you enjoyed.
Do you have any thoughts about Carlos and Carol's relationship after seeing this? I, for one, am jealous because I'm an only child.
Creation is hard, cheer me up! Thank you for reading~
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone