I am ...

Jerk

I've been quietly sitting here listening to this girl's story about her life on Earth, and I can't lie, it sounds very believable. I had made all the preparations before this moment, ensuring that she was at least a little distracted so she wouldn't notice the magic I had been using on her. If she told what she believed was a lie, then she would start to give off this light glow like a candle, but nothing of the sort is happening. So either she is an expert at avoiding the truth or it is what she believes to be the truth. which leaves me with many more questions than answers.

But now that I am no longer as concerned about a plot, she is kind of cute. When she's excited about something, she gets this really big smile that lights up her entire face in ways I've only seen in the youngest of children. She will coil her finger around her hair and lick her lips when she is unsure about what she wants to say. It is honestly refreshing to be around someone who is so open. She wouldn't last a day in court like this. They would eat her alive.

I was so immersed in her story that I almost missed the look in her eyes when I picked up a piece of juicy pork and bit into it. Her eyes had dialated and were hyperfocused on the bowl with only five pieces of meat remaining. I realised there were ways to confirm her story a little more and began to fire off question after question.

"Do you know who I am?"

"No," she said, and I think she meant for the mumbled jerk not to be heard, but I caught it anyway. which caused me to chuckle to myself a little bit.

"Do you know anyone in this world?"

"I'm telling you, I just got here, and the most interactions I've had are with you and that brute of a man servant you have!" She almost cried out.

"Finally, do you know any magic?" I asked, one can never be too careful when it comes to the creative ways in which magic could be used.

"Do you think if I knew magic, I would still be here?" She replied while she rolled her eyes at me reminding me of a child who believed they knew the way of the world.

"Okay, I believe you. Are you hungry?" All she did was nod her head as she continued to look at the meal in front of me in absolute delight

I was contemplating what to do, but clearly this was fate. How else would she have appeared right outside of my manor, where it was forbidden to go? Which leaves me with only one option to take care of this delicate lady... Looking around the room, I realise I have done a terrible job so far. I must take responsibility for my actions and make sure I provide her with whatever I can.

Graciously, I handed over a fork and a small slide plate so that she could eat her fill. She said her name was Mai, which, while being a little different from the naming convention here, had a nice ring to it. I tested it on my tongue

"Mai, I am sorry for everything that has happened to you. However, you must know that this is not a good world. It's not even a nice world, in my opinion. It is dangerous, but I promise to protect you from all of that if you remain here."

I don't know how Mai will respond to that, but she doesn't have many options, at least until she is stronger. But by then I might have found a way for her to escape this place. At the bare minimum, at least stop her from inevitably falling into the chaos that is my life.

"You want me to spend the rest of my life in this room?" Mai replied, sounding rather disbelieving. She made a rather cute face, but I'm pretty sure she was simply trying not to use the fork as a weapon against me. I kind of wish she had; it probably would have been as cute as everything else she had done up to this point.

"Not quite," I replied. "You can walk around the manor; I can order some plants for you to tend to throughout the day and whatever else you might need." I had already started making a mental checklist: shoes, clothing, plants... I might have to investigate what else ladies require.

I didn't want her to consider herself a prisinor. Based on my own personal experience as a prisoner, the mental toll it took on you was high. There wasn't a week that went by when I didn't wake up in my bed, wet and sweating, yelling my mother's name as I was yanked from her arms as a child. I can still remember the king's emerald eyes blazing into mine, almost willing me to fight back so he could punish my mom further.

"I suppose that will work," Mai said at last. She was no longer slumping as much and seemed to have gained some vitality. "I have a question for you though, who are you?"

Chuckling to myself at my own oversight I was so used to everyone doing their best to avoid me that I had actually forgotten that she didn't know who I was, even though she had told me five minutes earlier.

"I am simply Artair. Duke Artair of Meron"