Chapter 23
"Mother, is that really necessary?" Reg stared at his mother, who was just eavesdropping on the entire conversation going on in the main hall.
"It is necessary since most visitors do not stay long. The empress is the only visitor who's stayed longer than ten minutes." Priti smiled, proud of her best friend, who did not hold back in honesty.
"Why do I feel like we are the worst people out here by hiding and eavesdropping." Reg did not seem to understand why his mother had to hide when she could be right out there in the main hall and give the people a piece of her mind. 'Is it that important to listen in? What is it with adult conversations?' Reg assumed adult conversations would be easier, but it still looked complicated. 'I feel like adults are more childish than children.'
"We are not the worst. Now, hush cub. We are the reinforcement when your father needs us." Priti hushed her son, trying to listen more to what would happen. She tried to lean her head more towards the entrance of the hall as if that would help her hear better.
***
The servants were quite worried about it, feeling like they would lose the girl. Sometimes, she was confused, but they could come to terms with her and understand that she was just like any other little girl who did not have a very fortunate life.
"I truly hope that she does not get taken back."
Sachin felt nervous when he saw that Celia was not exactly making a quick decision; she was almost hesitating to choose who to go back with. 'Should I have thought of something else?'
"Come here, sweetie. I'm your real dad. Look, I will give you a lot of toys and dresses when we get home." Duke Harold was obviously lying and trying to tempt the child when she was not an ordinary child who cared about dresses or toys.
'Do I really have to be curious?' Celia had almost decided to step to Duke Harold, but her body trembled again as if against that decision.
'I do not think that is a good idea. If you go with him, then you may end up dead or just sold. This is the best life, and you won't get any good food here or people who annoy you.' Daise advised her.
'Since when did you care about my well-being?' Celia did not seem to care about what Daise was thinking. She still had the biggest control over the body, while Daise just slept inside as if dormant.
'Well, to be honest. Your well-being is my well-being, so whatever happens to you can happen to me, and I don't want to be in pain all the time. We are sharing the same body now, so I don't want to keep feeling pain. Some of your memories are painful enough.' Daise brutally said with honesty. Such attitude came along with it.
Celia thought about it, staring at the lion and then at the human, and started walking to Sachin. Holding his hand, she nuzzles her cheek to his hand with a casual look. It almost made Sachin want to hug the little girl; it was hard not to see her as his own child. "There you have it." Sachin patted Celia on the back, smiling as the winner between the Duke and him. "I expect you and your wife not to come again. I have no intention of letting you raise this girl. If you wish to go against it, do not expect me to have mercy on your family." Sachin carried Celia into his arm once more, looking at the Duke with a deadly gaze.
Duke Harold bit the bottom of his lip, looking at both the girl and Sachin as if he would be able to take her back no matter what. He had plans to keep the child and gain support from the archmage. If he did not have that support, he would sell her off to someone who would pay a large amount for her. Walking out of there, he had gone to the carriage where his wife remained seated. "Would you care to explain why you refused to help me?" He crossed his arms across his chest, looking angrily at his wife.
His wife would sit there, putting her head down to know that he would find her useless. "I do not see that thing as our child. I would ruin myself more if I had tried to side with you." She told him that even her husband knew that her image would be ruined as his wife. Realizing that his wife would never want to tarnish her image more than anything in society.
"Do not expect me to help you in anything from now on. With our growing debt, I expect you not to act like a fool and buy such useless things." Duke Harold knew that his wife spent too, but he also had his debt. Mainly spending it all on gambling. 'I need to get that child somehow within my grasp.' He stared out of the carriage window, seeing them exist from the archmage's territory.
***
Sachin watched the duke's carriage leave, holding Celia still within his arms and keeping her up in them. When he knew they had left, he would look at Celia, who had been staring back at the carriage left. "Hey, were you hesitating to go with him?" Sachin knew that he might not get an answer, but he still wanted to make sure that his eyes were not deceiving him at that time. It hurt a bit when he noticed that she was hesitating between the two men.
Celia did not think he would ask, but she raised her small hands to pet his mane. 'Was he that sad that I had hesitated?' She was not even bothered if he was, but just slightly shocked that he would care that much about her. She just nodded her head; it was a simple 'yes' or 'no' answer that he was going to get.
"Would you ever tell me one day about the reason why you hesitated?" Sachin's ears turned down, a bit disappointed since he knew she could speak but had chosen not to.
Celia nodded in response, 'One day, I will tell you why I hesitated, but I doubt I will recall the moment.' It made the lion a bit happier; she knew it, too. They took the moment of silence by just trying to understand each other or grow more comfortable.
"Aww, look at the two of you. Both of you look more and more like fathers and daughters. Oh, I wish that I could just snap this moment forever." Priti walked out, seeing Sachin still holding Celia in his arms while Reg walked alongside her. "I wish I could have given those people a piece of my mind." It was like a fire was erupting from Priti.
"Calm down, Mother. You are going to scare all of the servants." Reg warned his mother, knowing that they were already scared of her. They knew that she may be the wife of the archmage, but even her angry side was something scary to come across.
"I am just saying. It was hard enough not to barge in." Priti went up, patting Celia on the back with a soft smile, "Are you hungry? We can get you some food."
'Why are you feeding me so much today? Do I look like I want to get fat?' Celia stared at Priti, yet her expression was not hard to read for Priti.
"Alright, I won't feed you anymore until you signal it. Although, are we certain that they will not try and think of a plan to take her back?" Priti knew that Duke Harold was one of the emperor's people and did not want them to take Celia. She could not bear to see them take her when the girl trusted no one. It took long to have the little girl open up. There was still a lot of bonding that they had to do to win the poor girl over. Like trying to have Celia understand that she could cry or say 'ow' when she was in pain. Never once did Priti see the girl react that way; it was not healthy for her young mindset. They could not even get her to meet their family doctor since she was still so cautious about unfamiliar people.
"Do not worry. I will be able to speak to the emperor. Celia is still under an important case, though, so she cannot be people who are not directly involved with the case." Sachin reassured his wife. Celia could barely keep her eyes open, nodding off before she just plopped her head against Sachin's chest. "Why don't we all rest for tonight?"