Chapter 8

Valerie felt a little anxious about the state of things. When it was getting a little late, Kaiden was already affecting the entire floor with his mood. She tried to calm down Kaiden with the pendant and found out it did not work the moment Kaiden broke the lock on the door. Thankfully she managed to make him wait a few more minutes until Gideon finally returned safely explaining that he had to run to the bakery and wait for the Meringue Cookies to be prepared, that's why he was late. He had no reason to lie to her so she sighed and told that Kaiden was waiting for him in their room.

She hesitantly dials up Lianna to ask her how to keep Kaiden in check because the pendant no longer worked. Lianna felt a little scared for Valerie as well and told her that she'll swing by to check on the pendant if it's powers truly weakened. If it did, then they can try to find other ways to restore it. It was also possible to do that because Rhea was practicing her Holy magic as well. But if its powers did not weaken, then they can no longer guarantee the safety of Valerie and the children at the orphanage. Valerie thanks Lianna and hangs up on the phone to check on the two boys.

When she walked to their room she heard a faint singing coming from inside and realized that it was Gideon singing. His song was really soothing to listen to and oddly enough the initial worry she had for Kaiden faded which made her decide to come back later. Perhaps it's because of the fact that she knew Gideon would be able to calm down that child that she did not worry anymore.

A few days later Lianna did manage to come over and apologized that she was not able to come as soon as possible because she needed to seal away some of Rhea's powers to prevent her from being spotted by the Nobles. This resulted in her health declining due to the backlash of overusing her powers.

"Wouldn't checking the pendant be impossible in your current state?" Valerie was worried as she assisted Lianna who had been relying on her walking stick to maintain her balance.

"I brought Rhea over to check, she's waiting in the car because… You know" Her eyes looked around as if she was checking if there was anyone eavesdropping on their conversation.

"Ah yes… I'll help you walk back"

Valerie and Lianna went back to the car and sure enough, there was a teenage girl inside the car who was busying herself by talking to a bird that was in her palms.

"Ohh I see… I think that bird did not mean to steal your food. If you want I can give a piece of my cookie but you need to put it in water so it's easier for you to eat it" this young girl breaks off a tiny piece from her cookies and hands it to the bird. The bird chirped and flapped its wings.

"No need to come back and give me a gift." She smiled and the bird once again chirped before taking the cookie and flying away.

"Rhea, what did I say about holding birds?" Lianna scolded the young girl and the girl only smiled at her.

"I'm sorry but the bird said that he was very cold and hungry. He didn't look like he was sick either" she said unapologetically and opened the glove box to grab some wet wipes before looking back up at the two.

"Hello, Miss Valerie! It's been a while since you visited our home so I pestered mom to take me along instead of having you come over when you're busy" She pouted but this resulted in her cheeks puffing up.

This action reminded Valerie of Gabriella since this child had most of her features except for the hair and the eyes. Her hair was Light Brown like her mother's but it was curly like her father's. Her eyes were dark blue like Gabby's but the shape was definitely of Matthew's. In short, Rhea is a mix of both her parents.

"I'm sorry for being busy but your mother told me that you were willing to help" Valerie sat in the back seat so it's easier for them to talk.

"Yep! She already told me the situation of the pendant possibly losing its power although… I'm not quite sure what's the purpose of it so I can't really check properly" She twirled a strand of her hair with her fingers.

Lianna glanced at Valerie kind of saying that it was not her place to tell about it anyways.

"It's meant to help me calm down the emotions of the half-demon children in the orphanage. The caretakers and I are all humans so we rely on this to help prevent their powers to go berserk if ever they are upset" Valerie told Rhea a white lie but the girl did not question it nor find any fault in it because it looked to be true.

"Oh, in that case, I'll be able to check! Mama said that it's my specialty after all"

She grinned ear to ear. Rhea's specialty was both Empathy and being an Aligist. These were the specialties of her parents. Aligist was the ability to talk in any language, and that includes animals.

Valerie gave Rhea the necklace and her face turned serious. Valerie panicked a little due to this.

'Did it weaken?'

"Um… Miss Valerie, so what my mama said to me is that the necklace weakened but this is even stronger than my own powers" She handed back the necklace to Valerie.

"I'm pretty sure it will continue to work on half-demon children though, especially with how pure that power is. Who blessed it? Can they teach me how to do it?"

"Rhea!"

"What… I'm Curious!" she beamed and Valerie was just stiff.

The pendant was still powerful and yet it no longer worked for Kaiden. It only meant that his powers were now stronger than a simple blessed pendant. She covered half of her face with her hand before moving it to her forehead.

'What am I supposed to do in this situation?'

"Valerie? Are you alright?" Lianna called out to Valerie who was in a daze with a concerned tone. Rhea reached out her hand to hold onto Valerie and sure enough, she snapped out of her trance.

"Ah?" She glanced at her hand being held by the young girl and immediately took away her hand. Although Rhea only pulled out Valerie of her trance and never peeked at what exactly Valerie was dealing with, it was a little worrying because Rhea might find out about her secrets.

Lianna takes Rhea's hand and gives her a scolding look that makes the young girl look confused and hurt. She only wanted to help but why was she becoming the bad guy in this situation? But it is rude to suddenly grab onto someone, what more to barge into their heads?

"I'm sorry…" Rhea mumbled and sank into her seat.

"It's okay but please never do that again. Anyways, thank you for helping me with this. I need to get back right away"

Valerie returned and the two started heading back to their place as well.

"Be honest, did you see anything?" Lianna said in a monotone voice and Rhea was a little terrified.

"No, I didn't. I only pulled her out of her trance but I didn't see anything clearly"

"If you lied, I'll ask your big brother to check if you are lying"

"I'm not! I'm sorry it won't happen ever again!" Rhea started crying because she didn't want to burden her older brother who had already started working for the Nobles in order to keep her safe.

"It's true! I'll prove it once we get home"

"Alright but never do that again Rhea. Miss Valerie is a good friend to our family and she also helped me keep you safe. This is the least we can do to repay her ok"

"Okay"

When Valerie came back to her office, she saw Gideon who was about to leave with some art supplies in his arms. The two of them stared at each other until Gideon's cheeks started to tint red.

"I um… Kaiden's birthday is almost close and I wanted to make him a gift" He averted his eyes.

Now that she thought about it, it was less than two weeks away from October 17. At first, she tried to throw him a party but Kaiden did not like it and preferred to celebrate his birthday alone. But for the past 2 years, he had Gideon to celebrate his birthday with.

"Do you want to help me bake a birthday cake for Kaiden?"

Gideon's eyes twinkled because he remembered that he used to bake cakes with his mother and sister for their birthdays. Back then, Valerie did not let him help because he was too small. So when this offer to him was made he immediately agreed to it.

"Alright, we'll make the cake a day before his birthday but we'll have to make it a secret. Tomorrow come by my office so we can talk more, this aunty needs to rest first"

She helped Gideon carry his stuff to his room before retiring to her own room to take in everything that happened today but ultimately her fatigue won her over causing her to fall asleep the moment she laid down on her bed.