Capítulo 51: Putting A Foot Down
Altair herself didn't consider asking Dave for help. She had been taken outside by him before in the past but this door was different from that one. Considering how he was going to probably ask her what had happened in her room before and that she didn't want to explain it, she refused to address him at all right now.
Altair stood before the door and thought about pulling on it to open it. There was a problem with this though. The door had nothing she could really grab onto. Just looking at the ridges and the pattern carved into the door and she knew that her hands would slip right off if she tried to use them for grip. This caused her brow to scrunch up as she crossed her arms over her chest.
She considered using force to get the door open but she immediately dismissed the idea. She suspected that Renald would make her repay him for the door in some way. That's how nobles were in her mind. Once they had something they could take from you they would bleed you dry. She also had a pitiful amount of Mana left so she doubted she could force it open given its size.
Eventually, Altair gave up on trying to open this door and went off down the other hall she had come to. She could always find a different door to get through. She just hoped that the other doors weren't as complicated as that one or she would never get out.
Dave shook his head the Young Miss's decision. He was expecting Altair to ask him for help at some point in time but she didn't do it. Instead she stubbornly tried to open the door herself and was unable to notice the panel next to it. All the house workers knew that this new Young Miss of theirs had an accident in her past and lost her memories. They just never imagined that she would even forget how to use such basic devices. Still, he wouldn't offer to help because it was more entertaining for him this way. So the guard followed behind Altair wordlessly as they walked down the hall in silence.
Altair found her way to the front door of the mansion. There were servants moving in and out of the mansion right now so she didn't have to worry about how the door worked. She slipped outside in between a pair of servants and started looking for the path she saw that wound around the mansion. Once she found it she would set out running along it.
Dave followed behind her quietly and cast a glance up at the sky. It was overcast right now and the weather schedule had shown that there would be rain in the afternoon. That wasn't that long from now and Altair's clothes weren't the kind that could stand up to the rain with all the frilly lace it had. The dress she was wearing would probably be ruined within moments of the rain starting.
It didn't take long for Altair to find the path she was looking for. After all, as far as she could see was just a field of grass around the mansion. Finding a path here was easier than drinking water. She wasted no time in approaching the path and felt a hand on her shoulder from behind. She turned her head and saw Dave looking at her in concern.
Altair couldn't read minds so she tonelessly asked, "Did I do something wrong?" Dave knew more about the mansion then her. Was it against the rules to go on this path she found?
Dave simply stated, "It will rain soon, Young Miss."
Altair looked at her like what she said was a non-issue and asked, "And?" Altair had run through thunderstorms and snowstorms. A little rain wouldn't bother her at all.
Dave pointed at Altair's dress, "Your dress will get ruined. You should also not run in the rain as you could get sick, Young Miss." Although Dave had yet to see Altair get sick in all her time here it still wasn't impossible. Since she was young it was actually more probable that she would get sick by running around in the rain while wearing that kind of dress. If she changed into something more appropriate than Dave wouldn't have any problems with it, however.
Altair tilted her head as she tried to find an excuse. It had taken her a while just to find her way outside and she didn't want to go back to her room to find something to change into. Besides, as far as Altair could remember, there were no clothes in her closet that wouldn't get ruined in the rain. So going back was pointless anyway. Still, she wanted an excuse that would appease Dave.
The second worry Dave had was also pointless in Altair's opinion. So long as she burned her Mana within herself it would be incredibly difficult to get sick. Even if she did get sick, by burning her Mana she would recover far faster and still be able to function properly. The only real concern about the warning was how limited her capacity was at the moment. Still it would be enough to help herself recover within a day or two of getting sick, or so Altair judged.
Altair sighed after a few moments and said, "It's fine. I'm sure being sick won't kill me and I have plenty of dresses to replace this one as well."
As Altair crossed her arms, Dave frowned at her, "But you picked out that dress specifically, don't you like it?" Altair had recently relieved Stacey of her job at picking out clothes for her. Stacey fought tooth and nail to hold onto that right but gave it up in return for some favor that Stacey didn't elaborate on to him. Still, since the clothing was something that Altair liked it wouldn't do to let it get ruined.
Altair shook her head, "I chose this dress because it looked easier to move in than the rest. I don't really care about any of the dresses I have and would rather have clothing that lets me exercise easier." She paused as she considered how best to explain her dislike of the frilly clothing that was forced on her. Admittedly, she used to like such girlish clothes. But she was used to war and fighting now. Her admiration for such clothes felt hollow now. Altair eventually sighed again and said, "I just don't like them."
Dave's frown deepened at Altair's words. He had a child and knew that they shouldn't have such opinions at such an age yet. He also thought that Altair was sighing too much for her age. She couldn't be under that much stress just from studying so much, right? "You look so pretty in those clothes though, Young Miss."
Altair smiled wryly. It had been almost seven years since she heard someone say that. The only reason they could say that here is probably because they didn't know she was a Demi-Human and they didn't know what Demi-Humans were. "Being pretty isn't what I want to be."
Reality had crushed Altair's dreams of falling in love with a prince or a heroic knight. Emerging as a Demi-Human ended it all. She had hoped to be saved by a knight in shining armor when she was on the run. But it turned out those knights had tried to kill her instead. The prince she wanted to fall in love with ended up killing the person that saved her from the knights before. Immediately following his death, she killed that prince as well. She could no longer picture herself having a wonderful wedding with her family and loved ones, let alone falling in love and having children. Her perspective had changed and she no longer valued such things.
Dave grabbed onto Altair's hands comfortingly as he said with a fatherly smile, "You're already pretty, Young Miss. I'm sure you'll come to find someone who will treat you like a queen as you should be." To Dave, it was every girls dream to have someone who would love and care for her to that extent. That type of unconditional love was something that he hoped Altair would have someday.
But Altair just looked at him like he was spouting nonsense. She took her hands from Dave and flatly stated, "I'm going to exercise now. If there is nothing else, return inside and wait for me to finish." Talking to Dave seemed pointless to Altair now. Besides, if Altair did fall in love with someone they would have to be another Demi-Human or she would long outlive them. Since that was the case it would be better to not do so at all. Besides, the one she had loved was already dead.
Dave quickly shook his head while saying, "No, I will go with you Young Miss. It's my job to guard you at all times, after all."
Altair didn't want to do this but she had no choice or this guard would continue to follow her around when she didn't even want to look at him. She adopted the stance that was being taught to her about how nobles should look and said in a no nonsense tone, "You are dismissed until I am done with my exercise."
"But-" Dave started to argue but Altair cut her off by repeating, "I said you are dismissed."
Dave let out a frustrated groan. He was responsible for guarding Altair and Ben wasn't around to keep an extra eye on her. If anything happened to her Young Miss it would be his head that would roll, no questions asked. Even though they were on the Marnithok property that didn't mean Altair couldn't hurt herself. He would be held responsible for that kind of injury as well. But now that Altair was outside, there would be no excuse to prevent himself from being punished.
Since it came to this, he had only one course of action as he quickly handed a black bracelet to Altair and hastily said, "At least take this with you, Young Miss."
Altair looked at the bracelet in her hand and tilted her head, "What's this for?"
Dave gave Altair a serious look and said, "This bracelet has a button that will call for me if you need anything. Please do not hesitate to push it if you require assistance." In truth the bracelet was an emergency help request to the security team at the Marnithok mansion. This would at least give him some leeway in terms of what punishment he could suffer if Altair tripped and scrapped her knee.
Altair simply said, "Oh," and put the bracelet on before turning away from him. Before she started running she said, "Well then, I'll see you when I'm done." After which she promptly started running on the path at a light jog while Dave watched her go with a trace of anxiety running through his heart.
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