After their training season had come to such a sudden end Sera was left with nothing but an aching wound. Oria originally had planned on teaching her the sword regardless, as she had come all the way here to teach, but the pain made it impossible to even dream about following her instructions.

Sera had still tried her best as she too hoped to lower the possibility of her being defeated in such a miserable way ever again, but the throbbing pain didn't even allow her to move around much. She could barely walk, but that, too, required the help of somebody else to support her.

In the end, she could only watch the swordswoman train alone and learn by burning her every move into her memory. Oria gave her a few explanations here and there, but to Sera seeing her simulated attacks and blocks was a far more effective learning method.

Now that it all had ended and Oria had brought her back into the mansion, Sera had nothing left to do. Her young master was nowhere to be found and she couldn't just go back to the servants' quarters and pretend nothing had happened.

After thinking about it for some time, Sera thought about searching for her mother for the time being as she would surely give her some hints on what to do now that their master's son had escaped. Only one issue remained: Sera had no idea where her mother was.

The mansion was large, at least large enough to search for quite a few minutes. And Sera neither could nor wished to climb up stairs, open doors and while doing so possibly catch the attention of somebody she shouldn't anger. If she was to randomly invade into rooms, her masters would think of her as a burglar rather than a girl searching for her mother!

In the end, Sera was left with one simple solution. If she was to go to Lord Parron's office again, she wouldn't find the boy, but he would give her something else to do and she could prevent her master from thinking of her as lazy and unreliable.

Sera had no trouble finding back to the room as it had an especially prominent position with it being on the end of the hallway on the ground floor, where it was easy to lead visitors to. This, of course, meant she didn't need to climb any stairs aside from the small one leading to the back entrance.

Before long, she found herself in front of her master's office. By now, she had already formulated her question roughly a dozen times, so to make sure she wouldn't mess up. It still needed her about a minute before she could find the courage to knock at the door frame like her mother had done it before.

 

"It is Sera," she said, making sure it was loud enough for Lord Parron to hear.

Lord Parron's answer came within a few seconds. "You may enter," he said, his voice sounding a little exhausted.

"Yes."

 

Sera opened the two doors just enough for her to pass through and, under the puzzled gaze of her master, closed them again before turning around and making a slight bow. A wave of breathtaking pain assaulted her.

 

"Hurts!"

"What," he asked, looking even more confused than before, "is something wrong?"

"It- it is nothing, master!"

 

Parron didn't buy Sera's excuse. He let out a sigh before asking her to reveal the truth.

 

"What did he do this time?"

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"He wished to fight me."

"You had a duel?"

"Yes."

"I didn't know you knew how to handle a sword."

"It- it was my first time," Sera heard herself stammer.

 

She didn't know what to say. Was it a mistake to tell the truth? Should she hide that she had hit his son? Or should he tell him everything and risk being hated even more? It was Sera's first time meeting those two. How could she find the right answer?

 

"So he beat you up," Parron concluded.

"Yes..."

 

Parron sighed again before he raised up from his chair, walked around his working table and stepped closer to Sera. Something inside of her screamed for her to escape, but she knew this would only make matters worse. If he was already angry now, trying to escape the just punishment would only make things worse!

 

"Show me those wounds," he demanded.

"Master, I-"

"You don't have to be afraid," he cut off her words, "I will just heal them."

"Healing magic?"

"I specialize in fire magic, but as long as it is something small, I will be able to manage."

"Fire magic..."

"It is nothing to be proud of."

 

There was a hint of sadness in Lord Parron's face, but Sera choose to not ask him about it.

 

"So will you show them to me?"

"Yes..."

 

Sera pulled up her shirt the same way Oria had before. It was just enough for the wound to be revealed again but not enough for Parron to find anything that could betray her - at least Sera believed so.

 

"He didn't hold back..."

"..."

"Where is he now?"

"I don't know. He ran away. I couldn't follow him."

 

Upon hearing her recite what had happened in the dojo, Lord Parron couldn't help but sigh again. Most of his frustration was probably aimed at his own son, but Sera felt that her short, memo-like answers didn't exactly please him either.

After taking a few deep breaths, Parron placed his hand onto Sera's stomach, right onto the bruise, and closed his eyes before he began mumbling some kind of magic formula. It took him about a minute to finish chanting it, but before long his hand began glowing in a faint, yellowish light.

A tingling sensation rushed through Sera's body. Her wound that had made each breath a torture before, now felt as if it was set in flames instead. Tears rolled down Sera's skin as she tried to endure the pain, but luckily for her it soon eased. Only a faint heat remained now, which surrounded two wounds on her back that had long since become scars.

 

"This should do it for now," Parron decided. "Make sure to eat something hearty today. Your body will need some energy after all of this."

"Yes, master."

 

Before he pulled down her shirt again, Parron's eyes fell on a little piece of metal that stuck out from under her shirt. A cold shiver when over Sera's body as she realized what he was looking at.

 

«The seal!»

 

Sera immediately tried to retreat and pull down her shirt again, but her master was both faster and stronger by a large margin. Before Sera realized what was happening to her, Parron had already pulled up the shirt all the way up to her neck. His sudden attack revealed both her chest and the seal that laid on her naked skin, only held in place by a cheap necklace.

 

"Why would a child wear a concealment amulet?!"