Chapter 123 - Dhampir Knight

Theora knew the young lady was given exactly half an hour to eat her breakfast and get ready because a pair of knights came back from patrolling the aisle right as the bedroom doors opened. The young lady stepped out, followed by the head maid and two young maids, one of whom walked away immediately, carrying the remains of her breakfast.

That morning, she was wearing a cute brown and pink dress with lots of embroidery and ribbons, white tights, and shiny little leather shoes. Her brown curls were also held by a headband with a massive bow on it. The young lady was about to turn when she happened to look up, and her eyes stopped on Kleis, probably noticing an unfamiliar face. Then, she glanced to the other side of the door, and her eyes met with Theora's.

"Oh," she said. "You're... from yesterday...."

"Good morning, my lady," Theora greeted her, giving her the knights' salute along with Kleis.

"...Good morning," Venilla blushed, returning a cute little curtsy.

"Do you remember how you met some new knights last night, my lady?" the older maid told her. "These are the new knights who will temporarily look after you. Now, shall we go to that lesson? We wouldn't want to make the etiquette teacher wait!"

With a glance at the De Boreal knights standing opposite to them, Theora was given the quiet signal to follow the target while the incoming knights seamlessly took their spots at the bedroom door. A couple of maids arrived to clean the bedroom while Venilla, escorted by two maids and four knights, walked down the corridors of the De Boreal residence to the ground floor.

"Good morning, Poppy," she grinned at one of the dogs who walked up to her.

Theora noticed the girl twisted her fingers in front of her dress, probably dying to pet the dog, but it seemed like she was forbidden to, so she walked on to find her teacher in a different room. Theora was only given a glance at the teacher, a strict-looking older lady, before she posted herself outside the doors of the room and resumed position.

Thanks to her enhanced hearing, she could listen in on the etiquette lesson, but after ten minutes, she couldn't help but roll her eyes. The lesson of the day was about how to fold, use, and discard napkins in good society, and she couldn't believe a young girl had to show up at half past seven for this.

"Fix your face," Kleis whispered with a grin.

Theora shrugged. None of the staff that was walking by and giving them polite greetings and smiles lingered long enough to notice her grimace. She was almost relieved when their half hour passed, and they returned to patrol around. The sun was rising nicely on a fair blue sky now, and the atmosphere was quite good around the residence. Theora couldn't help but glance out windows at any occasion she got, now that they could see the famous De Boreal gardens. She knew little about gardening, but she had to admit that the flower beds, topiaries, bushes, blossoming archways, and perfectly cut grass were an absolute wonder to marvel at. It looked like something right out of a dream, with vivid colors, neat lines, and beautiful flowers everywhere. She counted three gardeners working already, and she wondered if they had to use some ruler to cut the grass to such an even length or if they polished every pebble on the pathways to keep them so pristine. She heard some of the dogs barking in the distance, probably the unruly ones waiting for breakfast, and the clip-clop of some horses, making her miss Mischief. The best part was the smell; she had no idea how they kept every corridor smelling so good, but she was becoming addicted to this. While the garden smelled of fresh-cut grass and whatever flower was nearby, inside the residence was this mix of citrus, oakwood, and jasmine floating in every area. While she would have thought following the young lady was going to be her favorite part, Theora was loving the little tours of the residence and almost got bored when she was back to the bedroom shift, as only a maid came in and out every now and then, probably cleaning it while the lady was gone.

When she was sent to follow the young lady again, Venilla was attending a violin lesson. Her violin was small in accordance with the young lady's size, but she didn't play like a child. Theora didn't know much, but she thought the music was excellent. Annoyingly, it never lasted long, as the teacher interrupted Venilla every time she made the smallest mistake, making her start over again. Even holding her wrist wrong or frowning was a reason for interruption, and again, Kleis scolded Theora for showing annoyance.

"Can't he just let her play," she muttered under her breath.

"Noble standards," Kleis retorted. "She's not playing for fun."

"She would if that old weasel didn't scold her every five notes."

Theora loved building things and drawing sketches, but she would have gone crazy if someone had interrupted her half as often as the teacher did with Venilla. That child had the patience of a saint, she thought. When the violin lesson ended, another teacher arrived, replacing the previous one for an embroidery class. Theora didn't get to eavesdrop on that one because half of her shift was away, and she was also sent to take an early half-an-hour lunch in the kitchens along with Themid. Despite the different cook, the food was just as amazing, and Theora wanted to rant as much as she wanted to eat while chatting with Themid, the staff on duty, and the De Boreal knights also having lunch.

"I can't believe how much a nine-year-old has to endure so early," she groaned. "She didn't get to sit once during the violin lesson! And I'm sorry, but being scolded four times for wiping your lips wrong with a corner of a napkin is insane."

"The young lady is such a good girl," one of the female servants said, shaking her head as she put a new side dish on the table. "Always polite, always a kind smile. The maids adore her! Apparently, she's the one who wanted to take on the violin. The Duchess said her children each have to learn an instrument, and the young lady has been playing the violin since she was about six years old. The young Master tried two instruments before he threw a fit, and that was it."

"How is the brother?" Theora asked.

"Not as much of a temper as he once was," one of the knights shrugged. "He used to be quite the handful, but he has softened a lot recently, probably because the young Duke is around more often. He's a good influence on the kids. The number of times young Master Dievrin tried to run away when he was younger caused the Captain such a headache! We had to plan extra patrols around the residence in order to catch him trying to sneak out. And trust me, a ten-year-old can climb a wall just fine!"

"The Duchess doesn't reign him in?"

"She tried, but she doesn't have much authority over him... They were brought to the residence when he was already older, you see. The kid wasn't raised in this life; who can blame him when it's been such a big change? Truthfully, the Duchess is more concerned about raising her daughter into the perfect little wife, since I guess they'll have to marry her off someday. It makes sense since chances aren't too high that the young Master will one day inherit the title. He's lucky the young Duke isn't engaged already."

Theora remembered that there had been some scandal about the Duke De Boreal marrying his mistress and bringing her into the family since they already had children before marriage, and she was a commoner. She couldn't remember how old the young Duke supposedly was, but if Dievrin was a few years older than his sister, their older half-brother couldn't be that much older, could he?

"Is her afternoon as busy?" Theora grimaced, already feeling sorry for the young lady.

"She has classes like most noble children," the kitchen staff explained.

"Does she get any play time at all?"

"In the late afternoon, if her teacher lets her off. I heard she likes to go around the gardens."

Theora was sure hoping so, not only because she was dying to visit the gardens but she thought the young girl deserved some time off.

"Are you done eating?" a young maid asked them. "I'm bringing lunch to the young lady, and you should come with me."

"Here," the cook suddenly said, sneaking something neatly wrapped in the maid's pocket.

The young maid gave him a knowing smile, and then, she carried away the large tray that was the young lady's lunch; Theora, Themid, and two more knights on her heels.

Theora was surprised to follow the maid into a rectangular dining room with the longest table she'd ever seen. It was long enough to seat a dozen guests comfortably, but only Venilla was there.

"Your lunch, my lady," the maid said, setting it all up in front of her. "The chef made your favorite sauce today!"

And that was it. The maids lined themselves up against the wall, except for the head maid who stood a step behind Venilla, and everyone went silent. Theora hardly repressed a shake of her head as they watched a nine-year-old girl eat alone in silence. She ate half her plate, dabbed her lips with the napkin way too graciously for a young girl, and then turned to the older maid.

"I'm done eating. May I go on a digestive stroll?"

"You may, my lady. Stay with Cindie. Don't forget to be back in time for your lessons."

"I will."

Theora had a lot of thoughts about how a nine-year-old could use the words 'digestive stroll', but again, she pressed her lips together and followed the young lady outside. One could tell this was one of her favorite parts of the day, as there was a little hop in the young lady's steps when she stepped into the garden, and her smile immediately lit up.

"It's such a nice day, isn't it, my lady?" Cindie asked cheerfully.

Venilla replied with a strong nod, which made Theora smile, and they ventured into the garden behind her. Now, Theora had a hunch that the young girl had eaten fast on purpose to have more time to play outside, and she could see why. The gardens of the House De Boreal were even more impressive from the inside. Some hedges and topiaries were higher than Venilla, there were big, colorful flowers everywhere, and every now and then, she could greet a gardener and chat with them. Theora realized the young girl knew all of the staff's names, and greeted everyone politely, but she never bothered them for too long before she moved on. They reached a long archway with pink and purple flowers growing like vines on it, offering some shade. Venilla slowed down and kept looking left and right, visibly looking for something.

"Do you have it?" she whispered to Cindie.

"Yes, my lady."

"Good," Venilla nodded, sounding excited.

Then, she stepped off the path and into the grass, and crouched in front of some bushes. As Theora approached, she heard little meows, and sure enough, three kittens were hidden in the bushes. One was orange, the second a tabby, and the last one was tri-colored. All looked rather young, maybe three weeks old, and didn't seem scared of the young human crouched above their hideout.

"Hello kittens," Venilla whispered. "Is your mommy cat gone to work? I got food for you!"

Then, Cindie passed her the little folded paper, and Venilla carefully put it down, revealing fresh little slices of fish inside.

"Don't tell anyone," Venilla said, pressing her index to her lips, turning to Theora and Themid.

The other two knights were probably already in on this.

"We wouldn't dare, my lady," Theora smiled.

She watched, amused, as the young girl secretly fed the kittens.

"The chef always gives me some fish when there are leftovers," Venilla explained in a whisper.

"It's nice of you to feed them, my lady."

"...Mother doesn't really like pets," Venilla whispered even lower. "I'm not allowed to touch the dogs, but she doesn't know about the kittens, so..."

Theora smiled. That kid was kind and bright. It was a shame her mother wasn't into animals, given the Duke's love for them... No wonder she was holed up in her aisle or out most of the time. There were dogs everywhere, and one could hear birds, dogs or horses at all times here. At least Venilla's secret had low chances to be found by her mother; all the staff seemed to be on the young girl's side and her mother probably didn't come into the gardens often.

"The dogs don't sniff them?" Theora asked Cindie.

"They are not allowed in this part of the garden," the maid explained. "This area is the Duke's private garden... But he doesn't use it, so no one but my lady and the staff actually come here."

Theora nodded. She was curious as to why Venilla's father never used his own garden, but she probably shouldn't ask that in front of the child.

"They're really small," Venilla said, visibly happy to chat about the kittens with someone new. "Their mom is a big gray cat but I haven't seen her in a while... I hope she comes back when I'm not here. I wanted to give them names but I don't know if they are boys or girls."

"The one that’s three colors is female," Theora said.

"How do you know?" Venilla opened wide eyes.

"Cats with three colors are almost always female."

"...You know how to tell if the others are a boy or girl?"

Theora glanced toward Cindie, who gave her a little nod. Then, she came to a crouch next to Venilla, inspecting the kittens one by one.

"Orange one is a boy... The tabby's a girl, too. One boy and two girls, my lady."

She resumed her position, but Venilla was staring at her as if Theora had just hung the moon. Then, she turned back to the kittens.

"It's so great! Now I can decide on names for them..."

"You should decide and pick carefully, my lady," Cindie said. "How about we take the night to think about it? It is about time we go back inside if we don't want to be late for your lesson."

"Alright," Venilla said. "See you tomorrow, kitties!"

She got back up, and followed Cindie. From farther away, the bush perfectly covered the kittens, but seeing as it was the one bush that no gardener had bothered to trim as perfectly as all the others, Theora was certain all the staff knew about the young lady's secret. They returned to the residence, and sure enough, Venilla was quickly taken into another study room to meet with her professor, but just as Theora was about to take position outside, Darim and a Fog trainee arrived.

"It's twelve," he smiled at Theora's confused expression. "Your shift's over, Dhampir Girl. Good job, go get some rest. Don't forget to fill out your report before you go have fun!"