“WAAAAAHHHH!” The sound of an infant crying echoed in a large foyer.

At the sound of the crying, an older woman with long, flowing light brown hair and cold brown eyes walked down the stairs leading to the foyer, “What is wrong with that thing's eyes?” Her tone was cold as she spoke with a sneer.

“Madam, this is the child that was created by the Ancestor at your behest.” spoke the man holding the child.

“That thing is to be my child,” The lady spoke in disgust, “I want a child of beauty and elegance, not… whatever that is. Throw it outside. When it dies, return the Life Seed to the ancestor and try again. I will not accept another failure.” After her rant, the lady ignored the man and the infant as she walked past them into another room.

"M-Madam!" the man called out worriedly, but the lady ignored him and harshly shut the door.

“Oh, this is quite terrible. This is the ninth attempt with this life seed… I am afraid that it will shatter if this is done again.” The man said, walking out the door leading to the garden outside.

The man stared at the pale pink eyes of the infant. It was a strange color for the Alchemic Race eyes. Although there were children born with varying colors of eyes, this pale pink was different and gave the man a strange feeling of comfort that was hard to explain.

The man grabbed the infant's outstretched hand, letting the tiny finger wrap around his, “I’m sorry, little one, but it seems your so-called mother does not want you…”

The man ambled through the garden, his mind wandering on what to do with this child, “I fear bringing this seed to the Ancestor again, but the madam is not capable of making another Life Seed on her own, not with master passing.”

The man walked out of the garden and onto the streets of Pilosophis, draping a small blanket over the sleeping infant, “I have only one option left to do now… They should be able to help in this matter.”

A young, energetic child dashed through the dimly lit halls of an old building. The creak of the wooden floor echoed with each of his steps, causing the other children around the building to poke their heads out of their rooms. The child ignored everything and burst out of the front door, his pale pink eyes laced with pure excitement as he stared at the gated entrance with bated breath.

Moments later, a well-dressed man with greying brown hair and light brown eyes walked through the gates, “Oh my! I see you are impatiently waiting for me again.” the man spoke with a smile.

“Father!” The child screamed as he latched on to the man’s leg.

"Little one, I know you would like to hold on, but it's hard for me to walk when you do. Can you please let go?" The man spoke gently with a warm smile, trying to ease the child away from his leg.

“No! If I let go, you will go again!” The child whispered, “The other children said if I do this, you can’t leave me here again.”

The man looked down at those familiar pale pink eyes, wondering if the Madam would care if he let this child return with him. He quickly shook the thought away; he was only a servant; how could he have such audacious ideas? He had already overstepped his bounds when he let this child live in the Lilthig district of the capital. If his Madam knew what he had done.

“Little one, you know I can not do that right.” The man said.

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The child depressingly let go of the man’s leg, “I-I know… but…”

The man rubbed the top of the child’s head, kneeling in front of the child; he then pulled out a small box wrapped in beautiful decorations, “Here, little one, happy birthday.”

A few hours later, the well-dressed man could be seen leaving the old building. With a smile, he walked only to jump in horror at seeing his Madam’s carriage sitting not far from the entrance. His eyes locked with his Madam’s, and he knew he would not survive to see the child again.

“Alim,” The lady with cold brown eyes spoke from the open window, “Come here.”

Alim, the butler for the Acendended Alchemic Master Cherese, trudged to his Madam’s carriage, trying to think of something to get out of this situation.

Cherese stared at the child with pale pink eyes playing on the other side of the gate, her eyes locked on the earring that now sat on the child’s ear. It was one of the last things her husband had created as a gift for Alim when he started to work for them. That earring was supposed to have the ability to protect a normal seedling from death once and was intended for Alim’s young son, but when it was needed, it did not work. Cherese never thought that she would see this failure of an item again.

“Madam,” Butler Alim said in a meek tone.

Cherese eyes never broke from the child, and her voice was calm, “When my darling husband passed all those years ago and left me with nothing but a life seed as proof of our love… I thought… No, I needed…wanted a child that could perfectly represent the love that we shared. They needed to be perfect, just like him, or as beautiful as he thought I was. That is what I thought.”

Tears began to fall from Cherese eyes, but her voice remained calm, “Do you think all of those children would be like him… smiling like this?”

Alim sat frozen; he had never seen his Madam like this, not even when the Master was still alive would she behave like this.

“Here,” Cherese handed a bundle of folded papers to Alim.

“Madam, what are…” Alim began looking over the papers. They were donations to the orphanage the child had been living at for the last thirty years. Alim froze again when he saw the date of the first donation; it was the day he had left the child here.

“Madam I-I…” Alim tried to speak,

“I know it has been difficult for you since your wife and son died, and work has been the only thing keeping you alive.” Cherese finally tore her eyes from the child, looking at Alim, “I had planned to kill the child when I heard what you did… But the smile you had when you returned to the manor… It reminded me of my darling's warm smile.”

Alim was silent as he looked at the last two papers. Proof of an Ancestors Rite of Birth and enrollment papers for the Alchemic Race Honor Academy. Alim looked at the Madam, his eyes beginning to water.

“So, if this is something to live for, then do so and forget everything. I will pay for what I have done. Just promise to watch over that child.”

Alim was silent as he looked at the papers, “Do you think Master or my family would be upset at what we have done or that they will forgive us because we decided to change now.”

Cherese turned back to look at the children playing, “I have no clue you know how darling was; eccentric was a word that only he could be called. And only you know what your wife and child would think.”

“I think she would hate me… but she would smile and tell me that everything was okay and what I was doing was the best thing I could do… but she would hate me to the point of disgust.”

A silence ensued between the despairing pair as they watched the children playing.

“I do not think I can accept this, Madam. I do not deserve happiness after everything that I have done.”

“And that child?”

“All the more reason why I cannot.”

“Then send him to the academy. I will be his sponsor; you may tell him anything you want to justify his leaving this place to go to the academy.”

“Madam, are you sure this is a wise decision?”

“Let the others think and speak as they please; it has never concerned me.”

“I will see to it that this is accomplished perfectly then.”

“I expect nothing less from you, Alim.”