Sera's gaze restlessly wandered through the hallway. There was too much to see as if anything were would be able to grasp her attention for longer than mere seconds.

Under her feet, there was a dark-red carped that was far longer than any she had seen before. It covered the whole hallway from one side to the other, leaving no place for the real, wooden flooring to show through. A large variety of symbols and emblems had been weaved into it, which probably were connected to Lord Parron in any way.

The big windows to her left side were spotlessly clean and on top of that decorated with two flowerpots each. The colorful blossoms made the windows look narrower and impractical, as you wouldn't be able to open them without moving the pots before, but they made the whole hallway look far more welcoming at the same time.

Aside from the afternoon sun, a faint yellowish light shone down from the ceiling. The magical orbs gave Sera a weird feeling of insecurity. They made her walk behind her mother and in the midst of the hallway rather than at her side and inevitably closer to them.

The mansion had about as many doors as the inn they had stayed it, but compared to them, the ones connected to this hallway were bigger in size and, more importantly, further away from each other. It was obvious that the rooms they lead to were generous in size.

Sera's mother didn't seem to pay them any heed. She just passed by then as she followed the hallway all the way to its end, were a double-winged door awaited them.

 

"Lord Parron's," Sera couldn't help but ask.

"It is his office room."

"Office room?"

"He manages all of his wealth and belongings from here."

"I know offices! Father had one, too. He often-"

 

Before Sera could even start explaining how he had worked, her mother had already turned around. She kneeled down in front of her and pulled her into a tender embrace. A soft whisper reached her ears.

 

"I'm sorry, Sera. I know you miss him, but you should never mention him in this house. Do you understand?"

"I don't miss him."

"That is good ..."

 

It wasn't a lie. Sera had never missed her father. She knew he had been important to her, as he had been both friendly and warm-hearted, even more so than her mother, but she felt nothing. There was no feeling of loss or grief, nothing of what her mother expected her to go through. It would probably a whole different story if it wasn't for the seal.

After making sure Sera wouldn't mention her father in front of their master, Mira took her hand. She led her to the door, took two deep breaths and knocked against the doorframe.

 

"Master," she announced their presence, "It's Mira. I brought my son with me."

 

Lord Parron's answer came only after a few seconds. He probably had to prepare something before he would be able to welcome them.

 

"You may enter."

 

His voice was muffled by the heavy wooden door blocking it, making it almost impossible for Sera to make out the exact words he had used. Her mother, however, already seemed to accustomized to this. She probably had heard as little as Sera herself, but could at least guess what had been said.

Mira opened both of the doors, revealing a well-lit room that featured expensive looking furniture, hundreds of books and four strangers that stared at Sera as if she was a ghost.

The man sitting in front of a work desk had to be her master. Sera guessed him to be about fifty years old, maybe a few years older. He had dark-blonde hair with a few strands of grey and a well-trimmed beard of the same color.

Despite him being a nobleman, his clothing didn't seem especially expensive, but rather comfortable instead. He wore what looked like a teal-colored, woolen cloak over a white shirt.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

The woman standing on his right side seemed to be his wife. She was too old to be his daughter but younger than him by at least fifteen years. A beautiful, dark blue and white dress embraced her graceful looking body.

The sole connection she seemed to have with her husband was the color of her hair as she, too, was blonde, though her hair was far longer, reaching half the way down her back.

To Sera, the two strangers standing on the left side of the working desk were far more interesting. Both of them were blonde like their parents, though they still couldn't be more different. The girl looked like a mixture between a fairy and a puppet, as she had curly hair and a frilly, green and white dress. She was the daughter Lord Parron doted on.

The boy looked just like Sera had imagined him. Sure, he was dressed in expensive clothes, namely dark blue trousers and a vest of the same color he wore over a white shirt, but his whole being screamed out that he didn't want to be here. His vest was only buttoned up half the way and both of his hands were in the pockets of his trousers.

If there was still a part of Sera that thought of him as just being slightly untidy, it quickly died away now that she was faced with the boy's scornful stare.

 

«He hates me!» Sera couldn't help but gulp. «Did Lord Parron already tell him that I would be his rival?»

 

A light bump against her arm cut off Sera's thoughts. Her mother looked at her, seemingly waiting for her to do something.

 

"Greet your masters."

 

Greeting them? Sera felt like running away instead. Why would she want to be here, with this boy staring at her like that? He would be her master starting today. She would serve him and the puppet-girl!

 

"Good afternoon, masters," Sera somehow managed to squeeze out. "My name is Sera. I will serve you starting today."

 

Sera finished her long prepared line with a slight bow. The answer she received, however, couldn't be more different from what she had expected. It came from the boy who still looked at her as if she was the biggest annoyance there was in his life.

 

"He looks like a girl."

"..."

"Be more polite, Marcin," Lord Parron reprimanded his son. "You will be together a lot from now on, so don't make him dislike you right from the start."

"He doesn't need to like me," Marcin decided, "he is my servant!"

A heavy sigh could be heard coming from Lord Parron. "He will be your training partner, too. So be respectful to him before he beats you up. I won't punish him if he teaches you a lesson."

"My training partner? Can he even hold a sword? He looks so weak!"

"We can test that right now. Oria has already arrived. She is waiting for you two in the dojo."

"..."

"..."

 

Sera was just as unwilling as the boy who now stared at her in disdain. He made a weird face to taunt her, carefully hidden from the views of his family, but it didn't affect her in the slightest. Even though he was her master now, there was no reason to care about his opinion.

After all the boy had said, it was still his father alone who would pay her, though Sera still didn't know if she would really get any money out of this. She would have to ask her mother as soon as they were alone.

Unlucky for her, that would have to wait for later as Lord Parron claimed her attention for now. He introduced her to both the puppet girl and her mother before she was already lead out of the room by the boy who hated the whole idea of sharing even a single minute of his time with her.

There was no further explanation, nor was there any time for her to at least prepare herself a bit, as the boy hurriedly made his way through hallways and rooms Sera had never seen before.

 

"Wait!"