Chapter 09

A Family Breakfast

Mr. Edric sat at the head of the breakfast table made of red wood, his hands on it, and his back straight in a familiar scene every morning. But this morning was different. He wasn’t wearing his usual red leather work clothes, but instead, just ordinary black men's clothes. Eyolian found the sight unusual but in a fitting way.

Eyolian herself sat at the side of the table in her nightgown, not bothering to change. The festival served as an excuse not to go to her usual morning training at the castle, knowing it would be crowded in just a day. Frankly, Eyolian was happy to have a whole month away from the lords of the castle. She would still interact with them during this period, but not to the same degree as every other day.

On her right, Elowen sat playing with the cutlery silently. Eyolian felt a bit of pity for the lonely little girl, as their home's isolation outside the town’s limits didn't help her make friends her age. But young Elowen learned how to entertain herself, especially after Eyolian’s constant absence due to her training.

Eyolian leaned on the hard wood of the table towards the little girl and asked in a gentle voice, "Where has the hero reached in his mission? Has he rescued the poor princess, or does it need another day?"

Elowen lifted her head and met Eyolian’s eyes with her large golden ones. She thought about her words a little and explained in her childish voice, "The princess waited for the hero, but he was late, so she decided to rescue herself."

Eyolian raised an eyebrow at the unexpected answer, even Mr. Edric turned his attention to the two girls, his curiosity piqued. "That’s very inspiring. So you want to be a princess who can take care of herself," Eyolian inquired with curiosity.

The little girl opened her eyes wide and shook her head firmly. "No, I don’t want to be a princess. Who wants to be locked in a tower for a long time? I don’t want that."

Again, Eyolian was left speechless. Why did this child have such a different perspective? - Eyolian decided to ask, "So what do you want to be?"

Elowen looked at Eyolian strangely and said as a matter of fact, "Sis, I am me. Why would I want to be something else?"

Both Eyolian, Edric, and even Mrs. Aileen, who was standing in front of the table with a large tray of food, looked at the little girl strangely, at a loss for words. After a few seconds, Mrs. Aileen placed the first tray of food and asked with curiosity and joy, "My little one, where did you learn to say that?"

The little girl looked at her mother, to be precise - at the tray of food, but answered without any change in tone. "He said there’s nothing outside yourself that will make you better. And it’s not healthy to dream of being something you're not. So the princess will save herself; she won’t wait forever."

Mrs. Aileen looked at Eyolian with a question, the latter just shrugged in ignorance. Mrs. Aileen did the same with her husband, who nodded in ignorance, and went on to ask again, "And who taught you this?"

The little Elowen seemed to shiver with anxiety, she no longer looked into her mother's eyes and turned her gaze to her father as if asking for rescue. Under his gentle smile, the little girl spoke hesitantly. "I talked to Noah. I’m sorry, mama doesn’t like him, but... but..." and she began to cry.

Mr. Edric looked at his wife meaningfully, she just snorted at him and went to calm her daughter. Eyolian just watched the situation.

From the first day, Mrs. Aileen made everyone in the family aware of her personal suspicions about the boy Noah who had come to work with her husband. Since then, she didn’t miss any opportunity to criticize her husband’s illogical choice in hiring workers. She was somewhat right. Mr. Edric’s work required great experience and precision, so naturally, this reflected on the assistant. Not to mention, many would do anything for the chance to work even briefly with Mr. Edric.

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So no matter how one looked at it, Noah getting the job was illogical. But the question that bothered Mrs. Aileen and she had not succeeded in getting an answer to, unusually, was: why would her serious-minded husband go out of his way to accept Noah - a nobody, and even give him a place to stay?

Mr. Edric’s unchanged answer for seven months was: I don’t want my work to leak out. And Noah is a reliable person with little experience to understand anything, plus he is good at taking care of the shop, something I haven’t been successful at much.

Any sane person wouldn’t believe this excuse, and Mrs. Aileen didn’t. So, in a way, it became almost a morning routine for Mrs. Aileen to criticize and scold her husband. For this reason, young Elowen got the impression that her mother hated Noah and didn’t want her to talk to him ever, and she had indeed warned her not to speak to him without her presence.

It took some time to calm little Elowen down, and she ended up in her father's arms looking at her mother as if she was the cause. The lady herself stood far from her daughter and husband looking at them grimly, and expressed this in words, "This shady boy is turning my daughter against me now."

Before she could say more, Elowen lifted her head from her father's arms and replied loudly, defending the absent Noah who would most likely ignore Mrs. Aileen’s words. "He’s not shady, he’s nice." And she went back to hiding in her father's arms. Eyolian found the situation amusing, even letting out an uncontrollable light laugh.

"Oh... you find this funny," Mrs. Aileen commented, her eyes wide in disbelief.

Eyolian cleared her throat in amusement and commented truthfully, "It’s not like he’s teaching her anything bad, and I also think he’s reasonable."

"You think he’s WHAT?" Mrs. Aileen repeated in disbelief. "I can’t believe you. We don’t even know where he came from. And where did this sudden interest of yours come from, you've barely spent a few hours with him..."

Eyolian interrupted Mrs. Aileen’s yelling. "I know where he’s from, he’s from the North."

When Eyolian expected more questions from the lady, surprisingly, it was Mr. Edric who asked, looking more hurt than curious. "Is that your guess or did he tell you that?"

Eyolian thought about her words and spoke in a way that wouldn’t hurt Mr. Edric. "No, I made a deal with him. If I hadn’t, I don’t think he would have told me a single word." She turned her gaze back to Mrs. Aileen, now calm. "And we also have a lot in common."

Mr. Edric nodded his head and didn’t add anything, seeming lost in thought. The same couldn't be said for Mrs. Aileen, who asked in a serious protective tone, "What kind of deal? And why am I just hearing about this now?"

Eyolian remained silent for a while, contemplating her words. After a few moments, she spoke the truth, even if vaguely. "It’s not a sealed deal yet, that’s why I didn’t tell you. And I think I will learn a lot from him as well. He seems to know a lot about the world, he even recognized my ring."

Mrs. Aileen nodded her head seriously, there was a hidden meaning in Eyolian’s words. It wasn't that Mr. Edric didn’t catch the meaning, he chose to pretend ignorance as he always did.

After the tension Eyolian herself had built dissipated, Mrs. Aileen asked with dangerous curiosity, "And what do you think about this situation in general?"

Eyolian moved her head slowly and dramatically and commented lightly, "I’m okay with it. I don’t think he’s dangerous, everyone has a story, and every story has secrets."

Mrs. Aileen said nothing on the matter, she just prompted Eyolian to go into the details of the deal. Eyolian did just that. Of course, she told them about Noah’s request, which somehow amazed Mr. Edric more than Mrs. Aileen, and refrained from speaking about her own request, under the pretext of thinking it over. She didn’t mention Noah's peculiar soul, as she herself wasn't sure of it. Noah himself confirmed that it wasn’t an attack, but you can never be too sure. She told them about Noah’s mysterious origin, or at least what she learned from his words. She had spoken with him yesterday and he didn’t seem too bothered by the idea of her sharing their words.

Eyolian spoke only about what she thought was appropriate to share, and as punishment, Mrs. Aileen ordered her to set the breakfast table. Despite the apparent annoyance on Eyolian's face, she didn’t mind much. Everything had already been prepared, all she had to do was arrange it.

The breakfast time passed smoothly, ignoring the questions that forced Eyolian to answer from time to time. Mrs. Aileen didn’t seem very happy about the shady deal - as she described it, and urged her to back out now. But Eyolian politely refused, something that brought a happy smile to little Elowen’s face in front of her mother - maybe this really makes them sisters now?