"Mother!" I shout lightly as I push the doors open to one of the many parlor rooms in the house. I"d gotten home and my mother was apparently waiting for me. A servent was chasing after me but they were too late to push open the doors. I did feel bad that I wasn"t the most ladylike.
I knew that it was hard on the servants, but thankfully my parents hadn"t seemed that concerned with me acting like a n.o.ble lady. Besides, I wasn"t suited to that sort of behavior either. It was far too taxing to be a n.o.blewoman, if I wanted to do that then I"d have aspired to marry a rich husband.
Yet, I had no intention of doing that either, I wanted to spend all the time I could with my friends. Then, of course, we planned to head into dungeons and explore.
Now with the door open on the room, I find both my parents sitting around a fire. With them is a huge man that has to be the same size as my Father.
Which my father already felt larger than life, I was amazed that someone could honestly be that big. Now two of these giant men are sitting in front of me!
But the most surprising thing about the man wasn"t his huge body, but the long mane of orange hair and tiger ears that are on his head. I noticed that he was also dressed in a kimono, although it wasn"t on properly right now.
Both he and my father had large mugs in their hands and I was sure that they were drinking. My mother was a little more reserved with a gla.s.s of wine in her hand, but she was still smiling brightly.
That was something that you don"t see every day.
"Hol! Great timing, I was just wondering where my sweet little blood candy had gone!" My father shouts merrily as he gives me a toothy grin. His eyes are glowing a soft red, he was obviously having a good time.
"I was out shopping, I didn"t notice that it had gotten so late," I tell him with a shrug walking forward.
As I was walking forward, I notice a large boy sitting on the other side of the man with the orange hair. He looks a lot like the man, but just a smaller version of him.
Getting closer to the four of them, I could smell the alcohol in the air. It looks like they"d been going at it for a while.
"You shouldn"t be out past dark, I worry about my sweet blood candy," my father says with a pout.
I sigh, for a hulking man, he sure acts like a child. However, that was a redeeming quality in my father, he was a pushover, I loved him! Pushover and all.
"Phew, Horace the way you talked about your daughter I was expecting a prim and proper little lady, but she"s wearing a full set of armor. I think you need to adjust how you describe her," the man with the orange hair laughs heartily.
He reaches over and slaps my father"s shoulder, which brings about a growl from my Father"s throat.
"She is a proper lady, but what do you expect, of course, she"s going to be a strong lady. You"ve met her mother," my father says mock whispering.
"Darling, you"re not speaking low enough for me to not to hear," my mother laughs as her hand closes around his shoulder. He shoots her an apologetic look, while the man opposite to him is laughing away.
This was the rowdiest that I had seen either of my parents around another person.
Raising an eyebrow, I clear my throat. "Would anyone like to make an introduction?" I ask them.
"Pardon my late introduction little lady," the orange-haired man stands. "My name is Garrik Vaziel, I"m an old friend of your mom and dad here," he laughs thumping his hand to his chest.
I felt my eye widen, it looks like I was right to a.s.sume that the Vaziel clan had come to meet my parents. But it looks like it wasn"t for the reason that I had originally thought it to be.
Stepping closer to me, the man Garrik bends down. "I"ll tell you a little secret about your pops over there," he whispers.
"Oi! Garrik you better not be feeding my daughter any lies," my father shouts, but he"s still got my mother"s hand locked on his shoulder.
"Your pops got the s.h.i.t beaten out of him by your mother before she agreed to go on a date with him," I tell me softly.
I felt my eyes widen, as I look over at my parents. My father"s eyes burn a sanguine red, it looks like he heard what Garrik had said.
"For the love of Muheia, you"d promise to keep that secret to the grave," my father says slamming his hand down. The table with all sorts of snacks and beverage shakes a little but withstands my father"s heavy-handedness.
"It"s your daughter, don"t you want her to know how you two actually met. I bet you told her some cutesy date from back when you"d already had your a.s.s whipped," Garrik laughs, pouring more of the alcohol down his throat.
"Enough out of you too!" My mother snaps and the room quiets down.
Looking between the two men, she smiles and then waves her hand towards the boy that I"d seen earlier. He stands up and shuffles forward, moving past his father, that had returned to his seat. He now stood a little bit in front of me.
"Go ahead and introduce yourself," my mother says looking at me.
Sucking in a deep breath, I look towards the boy in front of me.
He was already taking after his father, although, he was probably around my age he was already several heads taller than me. He was a little chunky like he was holding onto some baby weight, but he was still a fit-looking, child.
His tail flicks behind him excitedly, his sharp hazel eyes are wide and looking at me expectantly.
"h.e.l.lo, it"s a pleasure to meet you. I"m Hollis Grey Astley, Eight years old, and the fifth child of my family," I tell him with a small curtsy.
Which just looked strange with me in full armor.
"Now that"s something you don"t see every day, a little lady making introduction in a full suit of armor," Garrik chuckles softly. At least someone else thought the same as me...
I could see tears on the edge of my father"s eyes, it looks like he was overtaken with my cuteness. He has a daughter-complex, I"m sure of it!
"Nice to meet you Lady Hollis," the boy in front of me says with a grin. All of his teeth are sharp and pointed, but his smile was still adorable. His little tail was flicking about even more.
"I"m Mime Vaziel, nine years old, and the seventh son of my family," he says, and thumps his chest and then a dip of his head towards me.
He was a cute little kid, there was something about him that seems a little wild, but I"m sure that was because of his teeth and the cute tail and ears.
The more I look at him the more I wanted to pet his ears and tail. A strange feeling was rising up in my body. He"s dressed so adorably in a simple kimono that had small baby tigers on it, and a simple pair of sandals.
"Now that introductions are over, you should go off and play with each other. Maybe introduce him to Cecily and Ekon," my mother says pressing a hand into her face as she smiles at us.
"Blood plum there no need to send her off just yet! I haven"t seen her in a while, she should stay awhile," my father complains.
"Dear, let the children go and play," my mother says swatting at his arm. He hangs his head looking like a child that just got scolded by their parent.
Sighing, I shake my head at my father. He really was under the thumb of my mother. But, if you love someone, I think it"s bound to happen.
"Yes, let the kids play. We"ve got a lot to catch up on, old friend," Garrik laughs and gives me a wink.
I raise my eyebrow at him, just what was he winking at me about.
"Run along dear," my mother tells me, again.
"Okay, I"ll see you later then," I say with a small shrug.
"Come on," I say grabbing onto Mime"s hand.
He doesn"t put up any fight and lets me drag him towards the doors that were still open.
"Look at those two, wouldn"t they be adorable," Garrik says.
"Keep your son"s hand off my daughter, I"m never letting her marry anyone," my father says quickly.
I felt my ears burn as they talk about me, I hadn"t even gotten completely out of the room yet, and they"re already talking as if I was gone.
"If your son likes her, he"s got a lot of compet.i.tion. My darling daughter has a lot of admirers," my mother laughs softly.
That was the nail in the coffin, I wanted to run away. But thankfully, I was out of the room and dragging Mime away from that room full of drunk adults.