A Family (2)

Rose already knew that, which was why she felt nervous about being so easily accepted and treated fairly. When she requested Aurelia to accept her in her courtyard, she had decided to come, beg here everyday until her young miss decided to give her a chance.

What she didn't expect was to be accepted so easily in her first attempt. Moreover, they didn't even try to monitor her to see if she was trustworthy. She wanted to be trusted no doubt, but the ease of the matter made her rethink if she was being played. Her madam was her idol, and she felt uneasy about being employed without possibly any hard time.

Why did she accept her, a complete stranger, in her courtyard so easily when she had kicked out even her longtime maids? Was it a trick or was Miss Aurelia really able to judge her sincerity in one sitting? She looked at the young miss with misty eyes.

Miss Aurelia was someone she looked up to. Even if she didn't trust her completely, Rose could understand that. But she didn't want to be kept in the dark about her real feelings towards her. Her thoughts were chaotic and while trying to decipher them, Aurelia sighed tiredly. She signaled aunt Feng and Roma to step back and went to sit where she previously sat as well.

She dragged her chair closer to that of Rose before taking a seat and turned towards the sniffling girl. Rose was already staring at her with her big teary eyes as tears slipped on her cheeks from time to time. Aurelia was speechless. She couldn't possibly tell her the secret no one was supposed to know. Her survival depended on it.

Therefore, she decided to go about it by asking her directly, "What is bothering you? Tell me so I can clarify it for you."

Rose sniffled and for the third time, they heard the same question, "why do you trust me?"

"Because you're honest."

"And how do you know that I'm honest? From the sad story that I told you people? What if it's made up?" Aurelia's one liner answer received more questions from Rose who looked like a small kid worried about being misunderstood by their parents.

Aurelia looked at the little girl with slightly curly hair whose thoughts now clearly resounded in her own mind. She was ready to be told that they didn't trust her and then work hard to gain their trust rather than being treated as if they trusted her when they didn't.

The little omega was a weak girl. She must have been maltreated at the previous households. Her beautiful eyes had dark circles which had now started to lighten but had not completely disappeared yet. Her eyes and nose had turned red from the intense crying session and Aurelia found her extremely cute while sitting like that, eagerly waiting for her answer with tears in eyes.

Aunt Feng and Roma watched Rose back away cautiously in her seat when Aurelia's hand extended towards her. Then she stopped as if forcing herself to not back away involuntarily and closed her eyes. She opened them to look at her master in astonishment when she found her hand patting her head gently.

Rose blinked at Aurelia who spoke gently, as if coaxing a little, stubborn child. "If you were not sincere, would you be worried about me being too naive to be scammed by you?" She felt her cheeks burn with the close proximity her master was sharing with her.

"You worrying about my well-being in itself is proof enough that you're trustworthy." Aurelia's words calmed her anxious heart a little, that she was not pretending to treat her as family. She heard Aurelia say, "trust aunt Feng when she says that I have an ability to judge people's intentions from their aura."

It sounded strange, being able to judge one's intentions from their aura. Aurelia must have read the astonishment in her eyes because she said, "Somehow, my corroded aura has also heightened my sense of judgment about other people's aura and I was able to trust you because you have a weak but pure aura, devoid of any maliciousness. That is why I was able to trust you."

That made sense. Although it was unheard of, even a toxic aura was also unheard of. A rose smile slowly bloomed on her lips. Her madam was blessed in a different way and if she said she had the ability to sense ill intentions from the carrier's aura, she must be telling the truth. But,... Before she could think about another issue to cry about, Aurelia snapped her fingers.

"And if you really care about me, all you have to do is prove my judgment right. Prove it with your actions that my trust in you is valid." Rose nodded enthusiastically. She'll definitely prove that her young mistress's ability to judge people was excellent.

One day, she'll boast about it to other people that her young miss had chosen to trust her in just one sitting. She giggled lightly and looked up when her eyes fell on the three women sitting around the table who looked at her with amused expressions.

"What was all the episode about?" Roma teased her while also picking up the cups, the tea in which had already gone cold. She turned to pour the tea in a clean and empty container on the trolley and dipped them into a bowl of water. Then bringing the cups out of water, she dried them with a clean kitchen cloth before placing them in front of everyone and pouring themselves piping hot tea from the kettle.

Sitting down, she continued to tease the girl with a pink face and embarrassed smile. "You still haven't told us about why you started to cry. Instead you wove us in your questions. Tell us, why were you crying?"

This time they all picked their cups to have a sip. They didn't want to get the tea cold again before even having a sip. "That.." Rose slightly hesitated, "the idea of a complete family messed with my emotions. As I have already told, my real family never accepted me. My mother was all I had in the name of family before she had to leave as well."

Sitting on Rose's left side, Roma held her hand and squeezed it gently. "You have us now. It may look rushed and unreal to you, but that's the magic of this courtyard. You'll get used to it slowly."

Rose nodded while smiling sadly, "I know. And that's why I cried. Until a few days ago, surviving every day while protecting my honor was my biggest struggle. Then being blessed with safety and on top of that, a family, I couldn't believe it. I wanted to believe that I was really trusted and that my heart won't be crushed in the future for chasing what I didn't deserve."

"Haaa.." Aunt Feng's sigh turned the attention of the three omega girls towards her. "Kids these days have such complicated thought process." Aunt Feng shook her head which caused them to chuckle as she instructed them, "leave some heavy stuff for later. For now, you should enjoy the warm tea and the beautiful weather."

'Right.' The girls agreed before bringing the cups to their lips, they should enjoy the beautiful weather for now.