It’s been a few months since we came back from the Temple and even longer since I have landed in this place. It has been rather calm. The outrage and scorn I expected from the Vedar couple never came which made me feel even more apprehensive.

The Duchess’ attitude didn’t change much. Apart from my etiquette lessons, she paid me no mind. If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought she was avoiding me.

The Duke was the weirdest of the two. He was still as expressive as a pebble but something in his demeanor changed. Whenever I met him as I was wandering around the estate or in the garden, he would inquire me about my day, my health and whatnot. These exchanges were uncomfortable for the both of us. You could obviously tell that we both sucked at small talk. But, in my defense, I was technically still a child so he should be better than me at this; he is a father after all, worrying about his child’s daily life is basically his primary job.

Well, he got better at acting remotely concerned for his kid at least.

If not for the awkwardness that characterized our interactions, we almost looked like a normal father and daughter.

You could hardly believe it was the same man who didn’t bother coming to visit his daughter when she was sick.

I couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh. Considering that he started from such a low point, I probably should praise the improvement, right?

“Have you heard anything I have just said Lady Hazel?” Lian interrupted my train of thoughts.

I didn’t hear anything he just said. To be honest, I wasn’t even listening.

Seeing the apologetic look on my face, his frown disappeared as he let out an exasperated sigh.

“I know sitting here for so many hours is hard, but I cannot stress enough the importance of these lessons Lady Hazel. We cannot continue our history lesson on Prath without learning about The Gift first.”

I had no idea what he was talking about. Ever since I sat on this chair, my mind has been concentrating on anything but the words coming out of his mouth.

I felt bad but spending hours upon hours listening to someone talk about things that sounded nonsensical was not what I wanted to do with my life right now.

Sure, I liked Lian, he was a good teacher and over the last few months I came to consider him a friend (even though it was pretty much one-sided, since to him I was just a little girl), but studying was not something I liked doing nor did I appreciate spending so much time inside. Especially when my twin was having fun on the training field, showcasing his fire power for the world to see while I felt like Rapunzel at the top of her tower, stuck inside and forced to study.

Sure we had a few lessons together but the discrepancy in the number of hours dedicated to our education was staggering. He spent most of his days on the training field with the Vedar knights while I was suffering of an unbearable boredom.

“Say, Lian? I am a little tired, can we stop for today?” I asked with the cutest look I could muster. I opened my eyes as wide as possible, joined my hand in a prayer gesture and showed him a pleading pout.

This expression has become my signature look whenever I wanted something. It worked on almost everyone in the estate, even Lady Corteza seemed to go easier on me whenever I used that weapon. The maids were particularly easy to manipulate. I just had to use a cute childlike voice, smile brightly at them when satisfied or show them a tearful look when dissatisfied for them to eat in the palm of my hand.

“Oh poor soul, she looks like a beaten puppy. Just give her the candy!”

“Who made the little miss so miserable? It is alright sweety, you do not have to eat beets, I will go to the kitchens right away and fetch you something you will prefer!”

“Who would be cruel enough to make such a lovely child cry? Just let her go play!”

It was as easy as stealing a lollipop from a baby.

Easier even.

The only people who resisted to it were the Duchess, Sophie and Angela.

But they didn’t count.

I suspected two of them to be deprived of a soul and the other still thought I was a demon and no amount of cuteness was going to change her mind.

Lian looked conflicted. Surprisingly, he was resisting my cuteness attack better than he had before. Usually, he caved in as soon as I gave him The Pout™. He was so sweet but also so easy to manipulate.

Poor boy.

I did feel a little guilty for taking advantage of him like that… but I was also fed up with staying in this room.

“We cannot Lady Hazel…”

I doubled the cuteness power and pleadingly added: “Pretty please?”

“But… but…”

“Please Lian.” I cut off all the objections he could think of raising as I stretched my hand to grab his sleeve, drawing closer to him and multiplying by ten the efficiency of my cuteness.

“I guess it would not hurt to take a little break…” He said with a defeated sigh.

YESSS! The cuteness wins every time!

 “… but only for 30 minutes.”

Before I could protest, a mischievous grin grew on his face and he added:

“The countdown has already started so you should use your time wisely.”

He had me there! I could either spend a few minutes arguing about this with him, possibly losing precious minutes of my peace time, or I could run outside right now and spend the rest of the 30 minutes doing whatever I wanted.

“I didn’t know you had it in you Lian, but you bested me at my own game. And here I thought you were just a sweet innocent boy.”

I acknowledged my defeat before running out of the room at full speed, leaving a flabbergasted Lian behind me.

 

Free at last! Even though it was only for a precious half an hour.

I felt like throwing my shoes in the air despite what propriety advised. It was very tempting, especially because I have always preferred walking barefoot inside the house and because despite being cute, these shoes were uncomfortable.

There was a risk of running into the Duchess or of someone telling her about this. If she heard about me walking around barefoot, she would probably murder me before preparing more etiquette lessons for my corpse.

My feet were killing me so decided to live dangerously and take that risk. The discomfort trumped my fear of her.

Throwing caution to the wind, I removed the purple shoes from my small feet and left them in a corner before traipsing around the estate in search of a good hiding spot.

 I first thought of joining Haron on the training court but I decided against it. I too wanted to swing swords around and have fun all day long, but I also wanted to spend some time alone for once, which I hadn’t been able to do for the last few month. I appreciated the perpetual company, but it was exhausting.

After his meltdown, Haron has been stuck to my side almost 24/7. That day he refused to let go of my hand. He’s been sleeping with me ever since, refusing to let me out of his sight.

The only moments he agreed to detach from my side was when we had to go to our respective lessons. As soon as he was done with his, he reappeared next to me.

His ability to sniff me out wherever I was could be considered extraordinary at best and extremely creepy at worst. I doubted tracking devices existed here, but that child could be a good substitute.

At least he was cute. Him being adorable made me forgive and forget everything.

I truly shouldn’t have made fun of Lian, I was just as weak to cute children as he was.

Although I complained a lot, I was actually glad that he was here. It felt like having a twin again.

He could never replace Melissa, but I also considered him as a sibling now. He was annoying and clingy enough to deserve that title. He never failed to remind me that he was my big brother and he would keep me safe no matter what, but to me, he was starting to be like the little brother I never had, an increasingly familiar face in a place filled with strangers.

It was weird to rely on an 8-year-old for support. I was a full-grown adult… well almost a full-grown adult, I should be the one to be relied upon. My excuse was that I was now also an 8-year-old so technically, I was allowed to be a little weak.

 

“Are you already done with your lessons?” The voice of the Duke asked behind me.

Oh no! He was one of the people I absolutely did not want to meet today. I didn’t have time for the awkward silence and useless small talk encountering him entailed. But I also couldn’t outright ignore him.

I turned around, fully intending on using The Pout™ for the second time today on another unsuspecting victim. I gave him my brightest most innocent smile as I answered his questions:

“Mr Groff told me I could go.”

“Hm”

The awkward silence was back.

I had to find a way to politely excuse myself from this situation before I literally choked from the awkwardness.

His eyes settle on my feet and he raised an eyebrow, puzzled.

“Where are your shoes?”

I looked anywhere but at him, still trying to appear like the image of innocence itself. I wasn’t going to tell him that I removed them myself and left them somewhere.

“I lost them… I think…”

“Hm”

He didn’t look convinced nor unconvinced.

Elias The Rock Vedar.

That was what I would call him from now on.

Well, not to his face, but that was definitely his new nickname in my head.

“You should not walk around without shoes. You might hurt yourself.”

How though? The floor was pristine, my feet were probably dirtier. I mean, how do these maids even managed to maintain this big ass house so clean every day. I was barely able to keep my room clean and tidy for 10 minutes.

“I will be careful.”

He still looked unsatisfied.

He then put his hands on my sides, raising me in the air effortlessly and swiftly putting me in his arms.

“Where did you want to go, I will take you there.”

He had restrained my options on all fronts. I could either go back to Lian and sit through the rest of the lesson or I could bear with the awkwardness and go anywhere I wanted without using my own feet.

I was lazy so the choice was quickly made. I’m riding the Daddy Express today.

Just as the thought passed through my mind, I realized how weird it sounded. Ew.

Anyway, I could make use of this situation. Since he was holding me, I could go outside without needing shoes.

“Can we go to the garden?”

“You need shoes to go outside.”

“But I have daddy to hold me so my feet will not get hurt, right?”

“… Hm”

He silently nodded before starting to walk in the direction of the back porch that connected the mansion to the giant adjacent garden of the estate.

Hazel used cuteness and flattery. It was super effective.

Surprisingly, contrary to his wife, the Duke was very susceptible to the cuteness attack. His face didn’t betray much emotion, but his actions were more decipherable.

It was kinda cute.

I couldn’t help but chuckle under the puzzled gaze of the Duke.

 

---

 

There is a nice view over the garden from the veranda.

The Duke and I were sitting one in front of the other, at a table filled with sweets. It was not exactly how I planned of spending my break, but it was okay.

The Duke was still silent as ever, reading a few documents brought by his personal steward and slowly seeping his tea.

This gave me the opportunity to observe him. He was a handsome man, probably mid to late twenties although his silver hair indicated otherwise. Lovely Goddess didn’t show Hazel’s parents, but it was expected that they could only be beautiful in appearance for their children to look as they did.

If I saw the Duke in my previous life, I probably would have swooned and fangirled. But right now, I didn’t even feel the slightest inclination to do so. The fact that he was supposed to be my father made it impossible to see him in a more than platonic light.

 

I had to admit that the image of little girl happily eating sweets and swinging her feet while her father was reading was quite picturesque. From an outsider point of view, we looked like the perfect father-daughter duo. Even I, despite knowing the future, had a hard time not finding it cute and endearing.

Right now, he didn’t seem like the person I first thought him to be. He didn’t seem obsessed with power to the point of abandoning his own child to pursue his goal.

I didn’t trust him with my life yet. You never know what could happen in a few years, he could still decide to throw me out. But I could at least give him the benefit of the doubt.

Maybe I shouldn’t rely too much on the story the game depicted… But at the same time, I should be careful. The events of the game still haven’t started so I couldn’t be sure whether this world was exactly similar to it or some things were different.

I couldn’t let myself be lulled in a sense of security just because the Duke was nice to me.

I shouldn’t grow too attached either. Just because we were related by blood now didn’t mean we were family. I shouldn’t willingly set myself up for disappointment like that.

Yeah, better safe than sorry…

 

I kept eating the biscuits in front of me. They were delicious. The food in general was phenomenal in this house. I didn’t know who the cook was, but I wanted to hug them for giving my palate such an awesome tasting experience.

As I was enjoying my time outside, I completely forgot about Lian to whom I promised I would be back for the lesson approximately an hour ago. Poor guy. He was waiting for me this whole time while I was having fun, completely oblivious to his suffering.

It was only when I saw him coming toward us that I remembered his instructions.

Oopsi.

“Greetings your Excellency.” He greeted the Duke before sending a pointed look in my direction.

I made sure to avoid his gaze, attempting but failing miserably to keep my innocent façade.

“Mr Groff. What brings you here? Are you not done with your lesson for the day?” The Duke asked.

Lian kept his accusing gaze on me as he answered, his eyes burning holes into the back of my head.

“No. Not at all. I allowed Lady Hazel a 30-minute break because she was a little tired. I fully intended of resuming our lesson. It seems there was a bit of a miscommunication there. Right Miss Hazel?

He sold me out. The snitch!

The knowing look on his face indicated that he knew that I knew there was no miscommunication involved in this situation.

“Is that so?”

The Duke replied turning his gaze from the professor to me. I felt his eyes questioning me.

It was true that I told him Lian let me go but I didn’t say it was for the rest of the day. Sure, I didn’t add precisions to my statement, but I didn’t lie. He really did let me go.

Despite my mind trying to convince itself of my innocence, my face was more honest. My face was bright red with embarrassment. The pallor of my skin made it even worse.

The Duke was clearly having fun at my expenses. He wasn’t smiling but the slight arch of his eyebrow seemed to indicate that he was amused by my embarrassment.

And here I was starting to think he was nice.

I chose to play it off. They technically couldn’t prove that I was guilty.

“I am so sorry Lian. I was having so much fun with Daddy, I forgot about it. I am sorry for going back on my promise.”

I decided to exploit their weakness by using the cuteness attack as well as flattery to win this battle. There was no way I was going back to the study room without a fight.

Without giving them the chance to retaliate, I continued:

“I mean, Daddy is always so busy with work, we rarely get to spend much time together. I have missed you a lot Daddy! That’s why when we met in the corridor, I completely forgot about anything else.

Say Daddy, can I stay with you?”

Even when I was an actual 8-year-old, such cheesy words would never have come out of my mouth. But here I was spouting one corny line after the other and nailing an Oscar-worthy performance. I was glad Melissa wasn’t there to witness this, she would never let it go, she would make fun of me for the rest of my life.

*Sigh*! The things you do out of desperation.

Lian’s pointed gaze eased up into a gentle, almost pitying smile.

Ugh!! My strategy seemed to have worked on him but instead of feeling satisfied, I was even more embarrassed.

The Duke, on the other hand, stayed silent. He just stared at me as though he was trying to read my thoughts. He kept staring for several second.

I was starting to feel uneasy under his uninterrupted scrutiny. Although I had gotten used to his long silences, this one in particular, drew out my paranoia.

Did I act too out of character? Was he suspecting me? There’s no way! He couldn’t know. I was supposed to have amnesia, so it was okay for me to act a little different from their daughter, right? At least he didn’t look hostile.

He then turned to Lian:

“What were you teaching her?”

“I was retelling her the story of The Gift and the impact of that event of humanity and Prath.”

“Hm.” The replied pensively. “It is a story taught to children at a very young age.”

“Yes indeed! But the young lady’s amnesia has selectively affected her early memories as well. She is quite gifted when it comes to other subjects, even more so than the young master. Her knowledge in mathematics and sciences is astounding for a child her age. If she keeps being this brilliant, she could be considered an academic genius.”

No genius there. Just a high-schooler, who was moderately good at math, in the body of an 8-year-old. Thanks though, I’d gladly take the praise.

“However, she seems to have no recollection of the historical, cultural and political aspects that she has previously been taught. She learns quite fast when she is not otherwise distracted.” As he added the last part, he sent me a pointed but somewhat amused look.

He was probably still salty about my escape. Well, sorry not sorry Lian. Sure, I was a bit guilty here, but he was also at fault for being so gullible.

It was childish to thinks that way. I knew it but I didn’t really care.

“But no matter how fast she learns, I worry that we may not have enough time to restore her knowledge before her tenth birthday.”

What? What would happen on my tenth birthday? Why put such a deadline?

It was suspicious.

The coming of age ceremony wasn’t supposed to happen before the fourteenth birthday of a Lady. And I still had around tree years to go before being thrusted into high society and tea parties.

I stayed silent, opening my ears and hoping for them to give me the information I needed.

“Still, she should not be pushed so hard. She is still quite fragile.” The Duke replied.

Fragile? Where? Who? Has he seen me?

I might have looked sickly a few months ago, with my sickly complexion and extremely thin limbs. But that was in the past. Looking at me now, the word ‘fragile’ was not appropriate. Although I was still pale, my complexion did not look sickly anymore; and my limbs filled out, so they no longer looked like twigs. I now looked like a normal, healthy child, beaming with vitality and energy.

“Your Excellency, I agree of course, but I only followed the Duchess’ instructions.”

The Duke’s expressionless face showed signs of hesitation. I could tell he was conflicted.

After a few seconds of silence, he let out a small sigh, put down the pen he was holding and drank the last droplets of his tea.

“You can retire for today. I will teach her about The Gift myself.”

“As you wish your Excellency.”

Lian bowed to the Duke before smirking at me and bowing as well.

“Have a good day Lady Hazel. I hope to see you full of energy tomorrow.”

“I hope so too Mr Groff. But unfortunately, I cannot predict the future nor know what ailment could possibly befall on me tomorrow.” I replied, sending him a perfectly practiced innocent smile.

We both knew that I would try to escape again.

Lian then turned around and disappeared inside of the mansion.

As soon as he was out of sight, I focused on the Duke, intent of getting the answers to my questions.

“Daddy?” I used the moniker again to draw his attention as well as flatter him in hopes of extracting more information. “What will happen on my tenth birthday?”

“Nothing you have to be concerned about.” He replied.

That didn’t answer my question, mister!!

How could I plan out my future if I knew nothing about it?

Despite my frustration, I let it go. I shouldn’t start getting mad and yelling at people, especially when they were bigger than me and I depended on them for my survival.

“Do not make it a habit to run away from your lesson.” He quietly ordered.

Technically I didn’t run away, you took me away.

I chose not to tell him that out loud. Instead, I quietly nodded.

 

“I assume you have already learned about The Great Separation.”

It wasn’t a question, but I still answered: “Yes I have.”

He looked at me, silent, seemingly unsatisfied with my answer. Maybe he wanted me to elaborate.

I proceeded to do so.

“It is the event that enabled the Whole Goddess, Pradma Havn, to enter the lower realm. Well, according to the Temple’s records at least.

Since the Goddess could not enter our realm in her original form without her divine aura completely destroying it, she divided herself in two. She took the form of Pradma Hazn who embodies life and fertility, and the form of Pradma Hafta who embodies death and destruction.”

In this world, history, religion and mythology were tightly linked, to the point that it was hard to decipher what truly happened from the religious mumbo jumbo. These complex elements did not appear in the game, of course. Apart from the status of Riannon as the reincarnation of a goddess (probably Pradma Hazn), the game didn’t linger much on world-building.

I was kinda starting to suspect that it was more the game that drew inspiration from this world than the contrary. The pieces of history and culture I have learned with Lian seemed too intricate and complex to be derived from a simple silly Otome game.

That thought made it a hundred times scarier though.

If it was based on the game, I could still rely on the plot at least. There was security in that. The plot was at least a safety net. I could choose to follow it or not.

But if this world existed independently from Lovely Goddess, anything could happen. Nothing was written in stone and I was free to live however I wanted without the plot of the game impeding on my new life. It was freeing but also so much scarier.

It still didn’t know which of these two options was the most likely. Just thinking about it made my head hurt.

 

“Very good. Keep going.”

What else did he want me to add? That was it. I perfectly defined The Great Separation, there was nothing more to say about it.

“That’s it!”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah, I do not know anything else about that event.”

He looked dissatisfied with my lack of knowledge.

“Your pronunciation of the Divine Language is quite ghastly.”

I didn’t even have the energy nor the will to argue with him about his criticism. I simply narrowed my eyes, showing my discontent, which seemed to amuse him more than anything.

I truly didn’t understand that guy.

“'Pradma' in the Divine Language means ‘divinity’ or simply ‘Goddess’. Repeat after me Pradma.”

Did he really expect me to repeat after him?

He was staring at me, intently, as though waiting for something to happen.

It seems so.

Still pouting, I did as I was ordered. Opening and closing my mouth carefully as I tried to mimic the sound he previously produced.

“Excellent.”

Something about this whole situation felt embarrassing. It was probably the mocking tone in his voice, combine with the amused arch of his brow.

I wasn’t imagining it! He was laughing at my expenses!

I was fully irritated now. I furrowed my brows in a deep frown, clearly showcasing my frustration.

It only amused him more. He was full on smirking now.

What a weird sight. I have never seen him smile, not even smirk.

It didn’t do anything to lessen my rapidly growing irritation though.

“It’s not nice to make fun of people who are trying their best. Studies prove that most people can’t learn a second language because they’re afraid to be made fun. You’re not helping!” I spoke without thinking.

Thankfully, he didn’t seem to have taken offense to my outburst, on the contrary, his smirk widened into a small smile.

It was starting to creep me out a bit. After being expressionless for months, he has smiled, not just once but twice in less than 5 minutes.

Was Elias The Rock Vedar graduating from a pebble to a full-fledged human with functioning face muscles?

“’Hazn’ and ‘Hafta’ are antonymous notions in the Divine Language. ‘Hazn’ is a verb that means ‘to grow’ or ‘to prosper’ while ‘Hafta’ means ‘death’ or ‘extinction’.”

Ignoring my non-verbal complaints, he made me repeat the words after him until I got the pronunciation perfectly right.

“Although interpretations tend to differ when it comes to the Divine Language, scholars agree on these three words. They are constants of the history of not just Prath, but of the entirety of humanity.”

My irritation dissipated giving way to curiosity. This Divine Language reminded me of Latin. Like Latin, it was a language used for religious purposes and scholars debated on the diverse possible interpretations.

I remember taking Latin for a year. I thought half-seriously, half-jokingly that knowing Latin would make it easy to learn witchcraft. Melissa made fun of me when she heard my motivation, but she still signed up with me, saying that she didn’t want to be left alone while I went to Hogwarts.

 

“How is it linked to The Gift?” I asked, now very interested in knowing what it meant.

“I was getting there.

According to the Temple’s records, the lower realm used to be a dangerous place for humanity. Beasts and semi-human creatures called Stigmas used to roam this realm alongside humans.

Seeing how the humans she created herself were left vulnerable and weak against these other creatures, Pradma Hazn went to her sister Pradma Hafta who created the other creatures and asked for a favor. She asked that they joined their forces and spread their essence to humans, granting them the Gift of a divine soul that would enable them to wield the goddesses powers and thus be better equipped to survive in the lower realm.

However, doing so would mean that the goddesses would disappear from the lower realm, leaving it without a ruler. That is why Pradma Hafta accepted under the condition that the Core Soul of each Goddess would be transferred to two chosen persons called Renascendas who would replace them in the lower realm and maintain its balance.

One would be Pradma Hazn reborn, Hazn Renascenda, while the other would be the embodiment of Pradma Hafta, Hafta Renascenda.

It is said that their reunion would bring forth Pradma Havn and an era of absolute void.”

 

He recounted the story with a solemn, almost grave tone, as though he was reciting a prophecy.

It was a story straight out of a fairy tale that left me with more than one question.

Its obvious religious overtones made it even harder for me, a woman of the 21^st century raised who believe only in facts, to accept it as a real event that truly happened.

“Can the Temple records be wrong? Is there a possibility that this story is not real?”

Hoping that he wasn’t an extremely religious man, I asked my question as candidly as I could, channeling the blunt honesty that children were known for.

He smiled somewhat proudly before patting my head as he replied.

“It is a good question, Hazel. The story of The Gift could possibly be just that. A story. Although the Temple insists that we teach it as a part of Prath’s history, no one knows whether it really happened or not.”

It definitely sounded more like religious propaganda than actual history. But at the same time, I couldn’t completely dismiss it, this was a world with magic after all. Anything could be possible.

“That means our magic comes from the divine essence inside the human soul, right? If all humans have a soul, how come the commoners cannot use magic?”

“There are diverging interpretations. Which one do you want?”

Ugh! Really?! Was he an information dealer?! Why was he being so stingy?

“All of them, of course!” I exclaimed, irritated.

He chuckled. My frustration seemed to bring him great joy. Which was very frustrating!

“According to the Temple, the Gift was distributed equally among the humans and those who proved themselves unworthy were slowly deprived of that essence. Thus, only those worthy of the divine blessing can wield magic.”

Did that mean I was unworthy? How could an 8-year-old child prove her worth? It felt like I wasn't even given a chance.

What about my soul? Was it different from the other Hazel’s? It had to be, right? We weren't the same person after all.

Many questions came to my mind. Questions that I couldn’t even ask and get the answers to.

“Some independent scholars have another opinion. They take issue with the basic premise that the goddesses’ essence was distributed equally among humans. According to them, humans were unequally gifted since the beginning and this inequality grew, especially in Prath. Because of eugenics and the rules of aristocracy, only a selected few are now able to wield magic.”

The second theory made more sense and had less demoralizing implications. Magic could be a recessive genetic trait that depended, not on a person’s soul or worth, but on their lineage.

“Which one do you believe in Daddy?”

He didn’t answer. He simply kept looking at me, his expression undecipherable.

“That is enough learning for today. Let us go find your shoes. A proper Lady should not wander around barefoot.”

Once again he was avoiding my question or outright refusing to answer.

I guess I could forgive him, just for today. In the last few hours, he has spoken more than I've ever heard him do. He was probably tired of exercising his almost non-existent face muscles.

He lifted me in his arms once again, holding me tightly against him.

I was getting used to this faster than I thought I would. Actually, it was a comfortable position to be in.

"Today was fun, thank you Daddy."

I thanked him. He deserved it for saving me from the study room.

"Hm." It seemed he has reverted back to pebble-y ways

 

“It has been a long time since you have called me that.” I heard the Duke mumble.

I thought I imagined it for a second.

But I didn't.

I’ve never heard him mumble.

He always spoke very clearly and eloquently, as though to make sure he was understood right away and thus avoid repeating himself.

In general, people here enunciated very well. But the Duke did so even more. He always spoke very calmly, even when he wasn’t. Separating each word of the sentence from the others. Even as he retold the story of The Gift, which was rather long, he didn’t lose that speech pattern of his.

It was really out of character for him to mumble.

He most likely didn’t want me to hear it.

Although I was curious as to why he would say that, I pretended I didn’t hear it and kept looking straight ahead.

It was true that since I woke up here, I only either called him Father to his face, or Duke in my head. Today was the first time I called him Daddy . It was the first time we spent an entire afternoon together . It was the first time I actually felt comfortable in his presence, enough to let my temper slip a little.

Even though to me it was just a cheesy, slightly cringey, flattery and manipulation device, judging by what he said, it seemed to have more value for him than I thought it would.

 

He was truly a weird guy. I never knew what to expect from him.