Just a sip

Remi didn't know how to feel when she saw her previous father, she wondered if he had missed Orion or if he was even sad when he died. This was the man whom Orion had sacrificed his whole life trying to please, but was he thankful for all the sacrifices he had made for him and their corporation? She wondered but was bought out of her reverie when she heard him say something about her current mother.

'There was no question in his tone, but how does Magnus know Astrid?' Remi thought in confusion.

Yes sure Orion was to wed Ophilia, but they had only met Margaret and Peter.

As if realising his blunder, he straightened his posture and cleared his voice.

"Your mother is an old friend, you look just like her, albeit a much lesser version" he said as he looked at Remi disdainfully.

"Thank you sir" Remi said politely even though the implication of his words was an insult.

"This is the tutor?" He asked Drew while looking at Remi.

"Y-yes father"Drew admitted.

"She doesn't look like much" Magnus said.

"It's wise not to judge a book by its cover sir" Remi defended herself.

"Hmph! Drew give me a book" Magnus said.

Realising that Magnus wanted to test her, Remi took out her own book since Drew's bag had been taken by the guards.

Magnus flipped through the Biology book and randomly stopped on a page.

"What is the primary function of mitochondria in a cell?" Magnus asked.

"Mitochondria is like the powerhouse of a cell and generates most of the energy for the cell through a process called cellular respiration. Its function is to take in oxygen and nutrients, it also produces Adenosine triphosphate which is the energy currency for the cell. Basically without mitochondria, the cell wouldn't be able to function properly" Remi confidently said.

Drew looked at her in slight surprise, Magnus was stunned too but he masked it properly.

"That was more information than what l asked for" he said, looking unimpressed.

Remi had deliberately said more than necessary inorder to dispel the thought that it was a lucky guess. Magnus flipped through a few more pages but Remi kept on answering all the questions correctly.

Thinking that biology must be her forte, Magnus asked for more books but the result was the same, Magnus was in awe but also felt dissatisfied.

"Are these all your books?" He asked in a slightly defeated tone.

"Well there's social studies and foreign languages but I'm not really good at those" she said in a low voice.

"Just give me one" he said.

Remi handed him the social studies book, but when she was asked questions she only got one out of 5 correctly. This result weirdly brought Magnus great joy.

"Haha..l knew it, how can anyone be as smart as my own boy. Hahaha" Magnus laughed joyfully.

After calming down, he realised that his behaviour was inappropriate, he coughed to hide his embarrassment.

"You can teach my son for 2 hours each day" he said before leaving in satisfaction.

How can that Astrid's child be better than his own flesh and blood Orion? Hmph, his son was certainly better. With that thought in mind, he happily closed the door of his study.

How could Remi not know what Magnus was thinking? Although it's true that Orion had always been a good student who excelled in all his subjects, Magnus had failed to realise that even when Orion was at Remi's age he wasn't as impressive as Remi had been when answering the questions.

And because Orion had taken the path of sciences in his previous life, he did not know much about social studies since the previous Remi had chosen the path of arts and humanities. Magnus was just unconvinced that anyone else's child could be as good as or better than his own.

Magnus was always the proudest when Orion did something good, he would always brag to his friends at social gatherings about just how brilliant his son was. But when he made one mistake, he treated Orion as if he had never done anything good in his life.

"S-should we start now?" Drew asked after they had been standing there for a while.

"Sure lead the way" Remi said as she followed behind.

Noticing that Remi was still limping slightly, Drew stopped a servant.

"Um...excuse me sir...C-can you get me some bandages and ointment for external injuries please" Drew said politely.

The servant pretended not to have heard and continued walking, Remi felt infuriated.

'how rude!'

She looked over at the indifferent Rowan and felt like he wasn't doing his job right.

"Uh..sorry seems like I'll have to leave you alone. My study room is down the hallway after you take a turn, second room to last on the left side" he said in embarrassment after what just happened.

"You don't have to get me ointment, I'll get some after you pay me" Remi said warmly.

Seeing her being nice to him made Drew even more determined, he realised that this girl was always nice to him. Before and after she knew he was different from normal people, even after he almost got her killed when she saved him and now after seeing that even the servants didn't respect him she still didn't change. He felt touched.

"no...I insist!" He said as he ran off with Rowan following behind him like a shadow.

Remi shook her head as she smiled and headed towards Drew's study room, she paused as she passed by her own study room. Suddenly, she seemed to have remembered something as she face palmed herself.

'thats right...how could l forget that?'

As she twisted the door knob she realised that it was locked, she frowned, as she was thinking of a way to open it, a voice came from behind.

"What are you doing?" Rowan asked.

"Aaagh!" Remi screamed as she jumped like a frightened cat.

Upon seeing who it was she calmed down

"Rowan! Don't sneak up on people!" Remi exclaimed with her hand on her chest. She was also stunned at how easily she got freaked out and lost her composure.

Hearing this, Rowan immediately seized her hand, Remi couldn't even wrestle out his grip even if she had thrice her current strength.

"What are you doing? Let go of me at once!" She said in displeasure but Rowan ignored her.

"How do you know my name?" He asked coldly.

Remi was stunned and immediately stopped struggling, she could only think of one thing.

'crap! am screwed'

Seeing that she wasn't answering he got more suspicious and subconsciously tightened his grip making Remi yelp

"What were you trying to do inside Orion's study room?" He asked menacingly.

"Stop! You are hurting me you bastard!" She hissed in pain.

Still not getting the answer he wanted, he got agitated and held her hand tighter making Remi whine with tears in her eyes but he didn't notice any of it.

"Are you going to talk or should l make you?" He said in a low threatening voice.

Before Remi could speak Drew came over, seeing Remi on the brink of tears his heart tightened.

"Mr Sanders please let her go, you'll hurt her" Drew said anxiously.

Only then did Rowan snap out of it and let her go.

Looking at her sore and reddened wrist, Remi looked at Rowan in resentment but Rowan just glared at her coldly through his shades.

"Sorry about that Remi, l went to the restroom just now, I didn't expect Mr Sanders to- uh do that. Um...lets go..I-i'll dress your wounds" Drew said feeling a little awkward.

After applying the ointment and dressing her wounds, Remi taught English to Drew for an hour before taking a break and eating spaghetti and meatballs that Drew brought. After having her first satisfying meal ever since she transmigrated, she continued tutoring Drew until it was time to go.

She received her $300 dollars for the day and happily went out of the Wellington's mansion with a full stomach and under the icy gaze of Rowan.

She first went to a big pharmacy and bought some Prazosin pills, enough to last her a month and it only cost her $36. Then she went to a barbershop and got her hair cut short, feeling the light breeze pass by her shoulders, she felt much more comfortable. After buying a few snacks, she went back home with more than $200 and decided to go shopping during the weekend since she didn't need to wear anything else apart from the uniform for the time being.

Thinking of the money she had secretly saved up as Orion, she couldn't help but feel a little excited,it must've rounded up to $800,000. She didn't think that the money he had casually kept as some pocket change would mean so much to him in future. Now all she had to do was bypass Rowan and somehow get inside that study room, once she gets it she'll be able to run the investigation smoothly for a while. Without money she probably wouldn't be able to do much, money was power after all.

Upon getting home she showered, gulped down her medication with some water then she slumped onto the bed .

Thinking about how easily startled she was, her low pain resistance and her emotional outbursts, Remi buried her head under the covers in frustration and embarrassment.

Feeling a little parched, she changed into her pyjamas and went towards the kitchen. She was about to pour herself some water when she saw the storage room door open. Since it was night time, very few servants were around and none were in the kitchen.

Unable to resist the temptation of food, she poured herself a small cup of coldwater and snuck in closing the door behind. After looking around, she found that most of the things needed to be cooked before consumption. She then found a big door behind some sacks of rice, seeing the door, she remembered that that's the family's wine cellar.

Thinking of this, she suddenly started craving for some wine, after pickpocketing the key holder she managed to open it and get inside. Seeing the barrel upon barrels of all kinds of wine, Remi felt very excited for the first time as a girl.

She gulped down the water then opened the tap of the first barrel and let the contents spill into her cup. The red coloured rich fragrant wine looked so irresistible it made Remi subconsciously gulp.

"Just a sip, I can't get drunk, I have school tomorrow. Besides, l was quite good at holding my liquor back in the day" she comforted herself as she took a sip.

'mmh good wine' she smiled widely before smacking her lips in satisfaction .

After finishing that cup, she opened another barrel and poured herself another drink.

'Just one more sip' she thought as she drowned on the cup of wine, her eyes closed in delight as she savoured the taste.

'one last sip'