I should've have sneaked into the city, but no I had to enter the city through the official channels. And what did I get from this? Nothing! Except for this annoying woman who's constantly brushing my hair since we've entered a carriage driving to her home. At least she isn't talking about adopting me anymore, I wonder why she gave up on this idea so quickly. Maybe she realized that nobody in their right minds would adopt a child they've just met.

Anyway, I think that going along with her plans for a while may actually help me. It will be a good chance to learn something useful about this world from her, and it's not like I'm going to spend more than a day or two with that woman.

Her house was apparently located in the upper city and from what she told me it's reserved only for nobility and more affluent people. That means she is probably a noble of some sort. I hate a concept of social status based on one's birth.

During our ride, I've also managed to learn a few less or more important things, including her full name which by the way was Sely Abysu. A fitting name for a strange woman I'd say.

"Mrs. Abysu." I gently tugged at her cuff.

"I told you, you can call me Sely..." She replied.

I didn't want to get friendly with her, so I just stared at her, perfectly playing the timid child part.

"Anyways what's the matter?" She added after few seconds of awkward silence.

"Do you know my... mum?" I tried probing a bit. Especially after seeing her reaction back in the interrogation room.

"Not really, but don't worry I've already sent someone to look for her." She replied

I could tell from the way she acts that she's hiding something, but I didn't mind it. At least not yet.

----------------------------------------

*An Unknown Place*

A young boy opened a door leading to a room with only a single candle sitting on a table as a light source. He was told to deliver a message to a person in the room, but because of dim light, he couldn't see anyone.

"Excuse me, I was told to deliver a message here." The boy said before pulling out a sealed letter from his pocket

"A message?" A feminine voice replied before a human silhouette appeared from the shadows. With a grasping motion, it took the letter from the boy's hand and merged with the shadows again.

Usually, he'd wait for a tip, but this time he was too afraid to stay in the room any longer. He quickly turned around before dashing through the door, afraid that the whoever was in the room might not be a very 'friendly' person.

Just as the doors have closed themselves, the silhouette approached the candle. Under the dim light of the candle, silhouette became more apparent, revealing a woman in clothing as dark as the night and a cloth masking half of her face. The only thing that wasn't covered by material was her azure eyes hiding sorrow deep beneath the surface and her golden hair which felt almost ethereal in the yellow candlelight.

"What!? Abysu family have found my daughter, and now they are planning to use her against me!? Is she alive? No! That's impossible!" The woman said to herself, before vanishing from the room.

----------------------------------------

"Lady Abysu. We've arrived." Said the carriage driver. A few seconds later the driver opened the carriage door and helped us get out in a gentlemanly fashion.

The view was really astounding a huge mansion surrounded by hedges creating an elaborate pattern, the living fence was covered in a rose like flowers that gently swayed in the wind forming an illusion of movement. On top of that, there was a small pond with a waterfall-like fountain. Everything here contributed to a feeling that this place was a separate ecosystem cut off from the city.

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

I wonder why would a such a wealthy noble work as a simple commander. Maybe it's the way how things work here?

"Stay close to me." Sely grabbed my hand.

I was so immersed in admiring the beauty of the garden that I didn't notice when we've arrived at the gate to her mansion. Due to its massive size calling it a door would be a little understatement.

While I was standing there admiring every detail, Sely gently pushed the gate. Surprisingly it opened smoothly and without any resistance.

"Welcome back Lady Abysu." As soon as we stepped into the mansion, we or rather Sely was greeted by an old man in a suit.

"Hello Gerard, take me to the Father. I've got something important to tell him. Ohh and take Rachel to the default room." She said while pushing me towards a butler.

What do you mean by the default room? And why are you suddenly leaving me with that guy? What happened to your annoying behavior?

"As you wish milady." The butler replied and grabbed my hand dragging me with him.

He wasn't gentle at all, he just walked at his own pace not even letting me slow down. I even pretended to cry, but he just slapped my face and told me to shut up. If not for my patience and curiosity I'd already have crushed him into a pulp, but since I'm currently a 'harmless girl' I just followed him.

----------------------------------------

"Father you won't believe what has happened?" Sely said to a middle aged man sitting in a chair.

"What is it this time? Have you found yourself another toy?" He replied, clearly annoyed by his daughter quirks.

"Even better. I found a girl named Rachel who claims to be Phase's daughter. The girl has the exactly the same color of her hair as her 'mother' She even has her eyes. On top of that, I couldn't tell if she was lying."

"What!? But you have a [Lie Detection] skill." The man exclaimed in surprise.

"Exactly and that means that either she was telling the truth or she had a skill that counteracts [Lie Detection]. " Sely said.

"Haha. We'll finally have a chance to catch that thief who stole our family treasure. I will make sure she suffers a lot, before turning her into a mindless slave and even if Rachel isn't Phase's daughter, we can always use the girl as livestock." The man grinned revealing his long fangs.

The butler brought me to a room that looked almost like a regular room. There was a bed, some furniture and it even had a small shelf with a few books resting on it. Everything would be ok if not for the barred window and reinforced doors.

"This will be your room from now on." The butler said before closing and locking the door.

Ha! I wonder if authorities know about what happens in this house. That means everything is settled, I'm escaping this weird household of kidnappers, but first, let's read some of the books. There might be something useful in them and as Blood Crows say "Knowledge is power."

Immersing myself in the books I lost my sense of time and before I noticed a dusk has come, but I didn't mind the time spent reading the books because I was able to learn more about this world. What made a bit anxious was that the most of the books were about the anatomy of different sentient races and species.

It turns out that the humans are not the only inhabitants of this world. There few races already associated with a fantasy world. Races like elves, dwarves or beastmen, but there were also races like Anlar which were basically jellyfish-like creatures.

Since I won't be able to read for much longer, I decided that now would be the best time to escape. Before someone reminds himself about me.

Suddenly I felt a strange presence rapidly closing in on my location, it wasn't heading from inside of the mansion, but from the outside, and before I could disappear a masked female appeared between the bars of the window.

"I-Ilya is it r-really you?" The person asked.

"N..." Before I could deny her question, she took off cloth masking her face, revealing the face that looked almost exactly like the adult version of my human form. Currently, I could literally pass for her daughter, so I wasn't really shocked that she mistook me for her daughter.

"Stay there, I'm coming for you." Her voice shook. She transformed into a black mist, which then entered the room through the window.

Is that magic? I couldn't feel any psi undulations, so I guess the magic is fundamentally different from psychics.

Just as the mist begun reforming into back into the woman, a huge glowing a complex shape surrounded by a circle appeared on the floor. With many symbols along each line.

"No!" As soon as a shout escaped woman's mouth, the gravity in the room has increased several times.

Because of a sudden change, I fell to the ground along with that mysterious lady. I could easily get up using only by strength, but I could tell that it wasn't the case for the woman, so I decided to act like a little girl for a bit longer, at least until I find out what is this all about. After all, I could already feel at least twenty people rushing towards us.

Was I just used as bait?