Chapter 4: Duty

After a while of thinking, the door opened and Krell's eyes darted to the door. "Krell!" A hushed girl's voice spoke as Krell could see a little girl waddle into his room. "Can I sleep here tonight? Mama was busy, and I want her to be able to sleep well." She said.

'Right, Leah...' Krell thought to himself. 'The only other kid in the entire tomb. Lore wise, my brother saved her, which is one of the reasons as to why Bess has undying loyalty to me, or rather, my family, which is only me.' Krell recalled. 'Anyway, since I'm the only person her age, she has an attachment to me.' He added.

"Krell?" She asked as she started climbing on the bed. "Is it okay?" She asked.

'I mean... This is a pretty big bed, there could be five of her and even then, I probably wouldn't even notice her, so it should be fine.' Krell thought as he looked at the girl and nodded. She smiled and climbed up faster, then quickly got under the covers right next to Krell.

"Thank you!" She said happily.

'Why is she so close...?' He wondered as the girl grabbed his hand with both of hers and pulled it towards the pillow a bit and closed her eyes. 'I guess she just wants to know someone is nearby, I mean, she probably has quite the trauma from being left in a burning building. That being said, lore-wise, completely her fault... Or rather mine, I suppose... Since I wrote it...' He thought. 'In my defense, I never thought this would become my actual reality.' He added.

'Fuck...' Krell thought after laying for a while. 'I forgot I slept earlier... I have too much energy to just fall asleep now...' He thought to himself as he stared at the ceiling, then glanced at the girl next to him. 'Well, I'll just deal with it for now.' He thought to himself.

When morning came, he awoke to the sound of the door opening. 'Oh, I guess I did fall asleep...' Krell thought as he turned his attention to the door where he saw Bess standing and looking around the room with a mild amount of worry.

After a moment, her eyes settled on Krell and moved to Leah, at which point, she sighed in relief. Krell sat up, then noticed that Leah still had a hold of his hand. he observed her move a bit as she reacted to his movement. Groggily, she opened her eyes and looked at Krell. She gave a sleepy smile.

She looked around the room and saw Bess and slowly sat up and gave her a light wave. "Good morning..." She said tiredly as she rubbed her eye. Bess sighed again, but this time it was more of an exasperated sigh.

"Master Krell, apologies for her..." Bess said. Krell looked at her curiously.

"There's no need to apologize. She wanted you to have an easier rest, and I also wanted you to be well rested." He said as he stretched a bit. She bushed and looked at the ground.

"I didn't mean to make you worry, Master Krell..." She said sheepishly.

"Don't feel bad about it, everyone gets tired, besides, even if you haven't reached exhaustion, it's a good idea to get a good night's rest whenever possible to prevent absolute exhaustion." Krell said.

"R-right..." Bess said, then walked over to the left side of the bed and picked up Leah. "I'll be back once I get her dressed, apologies for the delays..." She said.

'What a duty-bound woman...' Krell thought to himself as she left the room. A while later, a maid came in and told Krell a bath was prepared for him. He bathed, got dressed, and had breakfast. Once he finished, Bess walked over to Krell.

"Master Krell, today you have lessons in the garden, the library, and the arena." She said. Krell nodded. After a moment of awkward silence, she looked Krell in the eyes. "Master Krell, before we go, I would like to apologize for last night and this morning..." She said as she fidgeted a bit.

"Why?" Krell asked. Bess gave a surprised expression.

"My daughter bothered you... And due to my actions, you became worried..." She said. Krell considered her words.

"She wasn't a bother." He stated.

"B-but..." Bess said, then paused.

"I said it was fine, so it wasn't a bother." Krell said. Bess opened her mouth to protest but then nodded.

"Your lessons are this way." She said quietly. Krell nodded.

'Ultimately, I'd rather not leave things as they are, but I don't really know how to diffuse her concerns, so this is all I can really do.' Krell thought as he followed Bess to the garden. Upon reaching the center of the garden, Krell spotted two wolfkin dancing in an elegant fashion. They approached in dance and stop just short of Krell, then separated.

"So, you're Krell?" The man asked. Krell nodded.

"Oh! How wonderful!" The woman spoke as she exaggerated her tone.

"Yes, Salia! It is wonderful! To finally meet our esteemed master, the one who is to learn from lowly us!" The man spoke as if he were in the spotlight.

"Oh! How wonderful, Rue!" The woman, Salia, spoke.

'You know, I'm kind of regretting a lot of decisions right now...' Krell thought to himself. 'Ruepheus and Salia. Dramatic and exaggerative people... Twins, and they appear as if they have no boundary they wouldn't cross. That being said, they don't have any weird relationship, they're just dramatic.' He added.

"Oh, no! How frightful! Dear Rue, our esteemed master does not seem entertained! What could we do to remedy this?" Salia spoke as she put her hand on her cheek to support her head as she tilted it and glanced at her brother.

"Oh, dear Salia! I know just what to do, come now, let us prepare!" Rue spoke as he reentered dancing posture with Salia and danced away toward the gardener's building.

'So. Much. Regret.' Krell thought to himself as he watched them dance away with a bland stare. "Are you sure they're qualified to teach anything?" Krell asked.

"Ah... That's..." Bess said as she looked away awkwardly.

"You hesitated..." Krell said.

"N-no! They're great teachers!" Bess said.

"So great you'd even let them teach Leah?" Krell asked.

"Th-that's..." Bess said as she awkwardly looked away again. Krell sighed. "It's not that I wouldn't! It's just... We don't have the standing..." She said. Krell looked at her with doubt. "It's true!" Bess said defensively.

"Hmm, don't think of it as a standing thing, think of it as proving to me you trust them." Krell said. 'Maybe this will also solve the issue from earlier... I hope...' Krell thought.

"Master Krell..." Bess said.

"Also, after seeing them, I'm not sure if I'll trust Frion or Kenneth, so Leah should also learn from them. Again, just so you can prove to me that you trust them." Krell said as he saw Bess start shaking as she held her dress. "Ah... Uhm... Why are you... Crying...?" Krell asked awkwardly.

"Thank you..." She said as her tears fell from her face and she looked at Krell. "Really..." She said as she fell to the ground.

"I-it's really just so I can know they're trustworthy... But even after it's proven, she should continue, after all, you can't tell how much effect their teachings will have from just a small time period." Krell said as he scratched his cheek awkwardly.

"Thank you..." Bess repeated through her tears.

"Oh my! Dear Salia, look what the child has done!" Rue said grandiosely.

"Yes, Rue! He's made his nanny cry tears of joy! How splendid!" Salia spoke dramatically.

"That's..." Krell said as he blushed slightly and looked at the ground.

"Dear Salia! Let us now wait for our second student! For our esteemed master has blessed us with the opportunity to pass our knowledge even further!" Rue exclaimed.

"Dear Rue! Our esteemed master is truly magnanimous! A wonderful master!" Salia said as she made motions of worship towards Krell.

'And the regret is back...' Krell thought to himself as he sighed. He looked at Bess, who seemed to be regaining control of her emotions and calming down.

"Thank you, master Krell... Truly..." She said as she tried to wipe away her tears.

'What a weird feeling...' Krell thought as he put his hand on his chest. 'It's nice, though.' He added as he smiled gently at Bess.