Renald nodded in satisfaction. "Well then, welcome to the family Aria. There will be a lot more for you to learn in the coming days because you are still a child but I'm sure you'll be fine."
Altair frowned as she said, "Despite how I look, if it's been two years since I came here then I'm actually sixteen."
Renald's brow rose slightly, "That... Might cause some problems if you continue to grow so slowly." He paused for a few moments before he quickly continued, "No matter, I'm sure I'll come up with something." This actually surprised Renald quite a bit. If she continued to age slowly like this then didn't that mean she would outlive his son's children easily? He wasn't sure he could keep her leashed that long in the Empire before people found out about her existence. Still, since he knew about it upfront, he would be able to come up with suitable strategies to keep her hidden. For now, he had a lot that she needed to learn. He also needed to have a nice and long conversation with his son about family matters remaining within the family.
"Anyway," Renald said to change the subject, "since you seem to be able to speak so fluently already I will get you some tutors to help teach you all that you need to know to be able to function properly in society. It wouldn't do for you to go and make my family look bad with your stupidity."
Altair frowned at his words, "Just because I don't know everything that you Humans have here doesn't mean I'm stupid. I'll have you know that I-" Altair stopped herself before she said too much. It wouldn't do to tell them she was a Demi-Human. She still didn't know if they had them here and if they were treated as they were where she came from. So she coughed awkwardly before continuing, "Erm, nevermind."
Renald's brow rose slightly to her response but he didn't treat it as very important. "You'll be getting a new room and moved out of the Servants Quarters. I will make sure that all of your daily needs are met so long as you devote yourself to learning as much as you can. I suspect that you know less than child whose five years old about everything around you."
Altair nodded her head obediently for the first time since she came here. The perks of being a noble was learning more about everything than everyone else did. With the knowledge that Renald was offer her she would be able to better lead the Demi-Humans when she returned. There was no chance she would turn down such an offer and she would wholeheartedly devote herself to learning more.
Renald gave her a satisfied smile at her reaction to his words. His own son hated studying and that had been a constant thorn in his side. He wished that Joshua would learn something from this girl but, given how Joshua acted when he left he found that it would be hard do.
An interesting idea came to his head when he thought of that. If he adopted Altair into the main family then wouldn't his son feel threatened by her presence? There was, of course, no chance that Altair would inherit the family. However, if Renald brought up her progress in her studies to him, assuming she went at a quick rate, then wouldn't that light a fire under his sons ass? Perhaps then his son would finally get serious about everything his father was trying to teach him.
Renald's smile grew into a broad and toothy grin as he built on the idea, "I will formally adopt you into the main family. You will have two personal maids assigned to serve you through the day. You will need to learn noble etiquette and such as well but that shouldn't take too long given how you were able to move around earlier."
Altair blinked at him before asking, "What?" She didn't quite understand what he meant. Wasn't she already adopted into the family? What was he getting at?
Renald simply stated, "You're going to be treated and viewed as a noble for a while." He then added some bullshit to give her motivation to actually study hard, just in case, "You may have to infiltrate gatherings concerning people of higher society. It will be very beneficial if you can act the part of a noble to blend in better."
Altair nodded in understanding. It made sense enough. She knew that if you could act like you were supposed to be somewhere and fit in at that place it was far easier to get covert tasks done. She had impersonated servants in training before to get confidential documents from nobles. So she had no problem with learning how to act like a noble since it was just extra training to her.
Renald smiled at her response then left the room and starting making actual preparations for Altair to officially join his family.
Altair's room situation was quickly changed and she found herself moved to a room that made her last room look poor by comparison. Her new room had furnishings that were adorned with silver, gold, and platinum. The bed was also easily twice as big and had a canopy around it with a bright pink curtain that was slightly transparent. Instead of a table that could sit two people she had a table that could sit five. The chairs around the table were no longer basic wooden chairs. They were cushioned all over and could be reclined in. She had an empty bookshelf on one wall with a couch next to it under a window. Before that couch was another couch a couple meters away that faced it. She still had a separate room for a closet that was thrice as big as the old one and a bathroom that was twice as big as the one she had been using that came complete with a bathtub twice as big as well.
She was slightly stunned as she stood facing everything in her room. The only thing that was familiar to her were the two guards that were standing outside her room. She had been left in here as soon as she was brought in but just stood around looking like a fool.
Before too long, two familiar maids entered the room. Altair didn't notice them as she was still trying to accept her new living conditions. Eventually, one of them coughed, which caused Altair to jump slightly before she turned around and saw them. Seeing the two familiar people caused her expression to turn sour and her mood to deflate.
The two maids before her were Noel and Stacey.
Altair wanted to get a refund immediately.
Stacey walked forward first and bowed respectfully with Noel following a step behind her, "We are your personal maids, Young Miss. From this day forth, we shall take care of you."
She straightened back up and Altair's eyes drifted to the side. Altair replied with a half-hearted, "Yeah, sure."
Stacey didn't mind it at all as she looked over Altair with a critical eye. She frowned visibly and turned to Noel, "Noel, it is obvious that the clothes the Young Miss is wearing are not adequate. We must remedy this immediately before she shames the Marnithok family. I shall go and grab something from the closet, you bring the Young Miss so that we may change her clothes."
Altair looked down at her dress. It was a comfortable green dress cut just below the knees that had no frills or lace sewed into it. It was very basic and plain looking. It was also Altair's favorite dress that she had worn due to its plainness. She didn't know why it wasn't acceptable for her to wear it since she was just going to be in her room relaxing today. It gave her a sport and energetic look.
Noel nodded slowly before saying, "Sure."
Altair turned to them and was about to refuse when she was forcefully dragged along by Noel. She didn't have the Mana to resist effectively.
From near the door she heard some laughter that seemed to stab her heart.
'Traitors!'
Dave and Ben both knew how much she hated the frilly and stuffy dresses that were in her closet. She had complained loudly to Renald when he brought up how Altair only wore the plain dresses. That didn't mean that they would stand against Altair's personal maids to save her though.
Altair was soon dressed in a large white dress that had more lace and frills on it than she could count. It had dozens of flower patterns sewn into it that were outlined in gems. It and was complete with a triple layer skirt that Altair wondered if she could even walk in. The whole dress weighed so much that she also wondered how long she could move before she would end up collapsed in a heap. With the frown on her face it made her look like a pure and innocent girl that was upset about something.
She suddenly realized why noble ladies were already sitting around doing nothing most of the day…
The dress itself was a very traditional dress made for formal occasions and not meant to be worn around for no reason. It's weight was more than twice as much the armor that she used to wear.
Still, she had to make it to a chair so she could sit down and rest as her back was starting to hurt. She went to go and take a step and promptly fell on her face as she stepped on her skirt.
Stacey stifled a chuckle while Noel quickly went forward and helped Altair back up.
Noel then grabbed the front of Altair's skirt and said, "You need to lift the front of the skirt to walk in this type of dress, Young Miss."
Stacey looked at Altair with glowing eyes filled with satisfaction. She couldn't wait to see what else she could put Altair in. Despite a year having passed since she last saw Altair, Altair had barely grown. It put a fire in her belly to start getting work done on certain costumes that she had in mind ever since she saw her. Just because Altair wasn't a servant and had been adopted into the main family didn't mean that Stacey wouldn't look for ways to dress her up.
Altair looked at all the normal dresses she had in the closet and wondered why she was forced into such horrible clothes. These would be completely impossible to fight in. They were already practically impossible to walk in.
Renald nodded in satisfaction. "Well then, welcome to the family Aria. There will be a lot more for you to learn in the coming days because you are still a child but I'm sure you'll be fine."
Altair frowned as she said, "Despite how I look, if it's been two years since I came here then I'm actually sixteen."
Renald's brow rose slightly, "That... Might cause some problems if you continue to grow so slowly." He paused for a few moments before he quickly continued, "No matter, I'm sure I'll come up with something." This actually surprised Renald quite a bit. If she continued to age slowly like this then didn't that mean she would outlive his son's children easily? He wasn't sure he could keep her leashed that long in the Empire before people found out about her existence. Still, since he knew about it upfront, he would be able to come up with suitable strategies to keep her hidden. For now, he had a lot that she needed to learn. He also needed to have a nice and long conversation with his son about family matters remaining within the family.
"Anyway," Renald said to change the subject, "since you seem to be able to speak so fluently already I will get you some tutors to help teach you all that you need to know to be able to function properly in society. It wouldn't do for you to go and make my family look bad with your stupidity."
Altair frowned at his words, "Just because I don't know everything that you Humans have here doesn't mean I'm stupid. I'll have you know that I-" Altair stopped herself before she said too much. It wouldn't do to tell them she was a Demi-Human. She still didn't know if they had them here and if they were treated as they were where she came from. So she coughed awkwardly before continuing, "Erm, nevermind."
Renald's brow rose slightly to her response but he didn't treat it as very important. "You'll be getting a new room and moved out of the Servants Quarters. I will make sure that all of your daily needs are met so long as you devote yourself to learning as much as you can. I suspect that you know less than child whose five years old about everything around you."
Altair nodded her head obediently for the first time since she came here. The perks of being a noble was learning more about everything than everyone else did. With the knowledge that Renald was offer her she would be able to better lead the Demi-Humans when she returned. There was no chance she would turn down such an offer and she would wholeheartedly devote herself to learning more.
Renald gave her a satisfied smile at her reaction to his words. His own son hated studying and that had been a constant thorn in his side. He wished that Joshua would learn something from this girl but, given how Joshua acted when he left he found that it would be hard do.
An interesting idea came to his head when he thought of that. If he adopted Altair into the main family then wouldn't his son feel threatened by her presence? There was, of course, no chance that Altair would inherit the family. However, if Renald brought up her progress in her studies to him, assuming she went at a quick rate, then wouldn't that light a fire under his sons ass? Perhaps then his son would finally get serious about everything his father was trying to teach him.
Renald's smile grew into a broad and toothy grin as he built on the idea, "I will formally adopt you into the main family. You will have two personal maids assigned to serve you through the day. You will need to learn noble etiquette and such as well but that shouldn't take too long given how you were able to move around earlier."
Altair blinked at him before asking, "What?" She didn't quite understand what he meant. Wasn't she already adopted into the family? What was he getting at?
Renald simply stated, "You're going to be treated and viewed as a noble for a while." He then added some bullshit to give her motivation to actually study hard, just in case, "You may have to infiltrate gatherings concerning people of higher society. It will be very beneficial if you can act the part of a noble to blend in better."
Altair nodded in understanding. It made sense enough. She knew that if you could act like you were supposed to be somewhere and fit in at that place it was far easier to get covert tasks done. She had impersonated servants in training before to get confidential documents from nobles. So she had no problem with learning how to act like a noble since it was just extra training to her.
Renald smiled at her response then left the room and starting making actual preparations for Altair to officially join his family.
Altair's room situation was quickly changed and she found herself moved to a room that made her last room look poor by comparison. Her new room had furnishings that were adorned with silver, gold, and platinum. The bed was also easily twice as big and had a canopy around it with a bright pink curtain that was slightly transparent. Instead of a table that could sit two people she had a table that could sit five. The chairs around the table were no longer basic wooden chairs. They were cushioned all over and could be reclined in. She had an empty bookshelf on one wall with a couch next to it under a window. Before that couch was another couch a couple meters away that faced it. She still had a separate room for a closet that was thrice as big as the old one and a bathroom that was twice as big as the one she had been using that came complete with a bathtub twice as big as well.
She was slightly stunned as she stood facing everything in her room. The only thing that was familiar to her were the two guards that were standing outside her room. She had been left in here as soon as she was brought in but just stood around looking like a fool.
Before too long, two familiar maids entered the room. Altair didn't notice them as she was still trying to accept her new living conditions. Eventually, one of them coughed, which caused Altair to jump slightly before she turned around and saw them. Seeing the two familiar people caused her expression to turn sour and her mood to deflate.
The two maids before her were Noel and Stacey.
Altair wanted to get a refund immediately.
Stacey walked forward first and bowed respectfully with Noel following a step behind her, "We are your personal maids, Young Miss. From this day forth, we shall take care of you."
She straightened back up and Altair's eyes drifted to the side. Altair replied with a half-hearted, "Yeah, sure."
Stacey didn't mind it at all as she looked over Altair with a critical eye. She frowned visibly and turned to Noel, "Noel, it is obvious that the clothes the Young Miss is wearing are not adequate. We must remedy this immediately before she shames the Marnithok family. I shall go and grab something from the closet, you bring the Young Miss so that we may change her clothes."
Altair looked down at her dress. It was a comfortable green dress cut just below the knees that had no frills or lace sewed into it. It was very basic and plain looking. It was also Altair's favorite dress that she had worn due to its plainness. She didn't know why it wasn't acceptable for her to wear it since she was just going to be in her room relaxing today. It gave her a sport and energetic look.
Noel nodded slowly before saying, "Sure."
Altair turned to them and was about to refuse when she was forcefully dragged along by Noel. She didn't have the Mana to resist effectively.
From near the door she heard some laughter that seemed to stab her heart.
'Traitors!'
Dave and Ben both knew how much she hated the frilly and stuffy dresses that were in her closet. She had complained loudly to Renald when he brought up how Altair only wore the plain dresses. That didn't mean that they would stand against Altair's personal maids to save her though.
Altair was soon dressed in a large white dress that had more lace and frills on it than she could count. It had dozens of flower patterns sewn into it that were outlined in gems. It and was complete with a triple layer skirt that Altair wondered if she could even walk in. The whole dress weighed so much that she also wondered how long she could move before she would end up collapsed in a heap. With the frown on her face it made her look like a pure and innocent girl that was upset about something.
She suddenly realized why noble ladies were already sitting around doing nothing most of the day…
The dress itself was a very traditional dress made for formal occasions and not meant to be worn around for no reason. It's weight was more than twice as much the armor that she used to wear.
Still, she had to make it to a chair so she could sit down and rest as her back was starting to hurt. She went to go and take a step and promptly fell on her face as she stepped on her skirt.
Stacey stifled a chuckle while Noel quickly went forward and helped Altair back up.
Noel then grabbed the front of Altair's skirt and said, "You need to lift the front of the skirt to walk in this type of dress, Young Miss."
Stacey looked at Altair with glowing eyes filled with satisfaction. She couldn't wait to see what else she could put Altair in. Despite a year having passed since she last saw Altair, Altair had barely grown. It put a fire in her belly to start getting work done on certain costumes that she had in mind ever since she saw her. Just because Altair wasn't a servant and had been adopted into the main family didn't mean that Stacey wouldn't look for ways to dress her up.
Altair looked at all the normal dresses she had in the closet and wondered why she was forced into such horrible clothes. These would be completely impossible to fight in. They were already practically impossible to walk in.
