Ingrid stared at the windows of the manor with disappointment clearly marked on her face.
From the day she agreed to stay until now, there had been nothing but rains and thunders. And what's worse, her Blood Week arrived on the night she made the agreement of staying with Solomon. So, instead of being able to roam around freely, she was forced to stay indoors and lock herself up.
Great, just great. She couldn't even go home much less go around the academy because of these two annoying problems.
Such an opportunity wasted, huh. Guess it really was a bad decision for her to stay.
She covered herself with the thick comfortable silk blankets as she continued to stare at the sun setting. She reveled in the warmth it gave while she looked at the view outside.
She could see by the distance bursts of light that must be from the magic spells of students despite the evening hours.
She asked Granny Zai once why the bright lights seemed to be incessantly shining for days and she told her that apparently, there was a tournament held in a few day's time. The lights come from students training their magic since there were no longer any time restrictions on the training grounds usage as well as no more strict curfew for the dorms. Hence, some students are trying to cram all their training until the very last minute since the tournament was drawing near.
In fact, Granny Zai commented that if Ingrid would remain for just a day longer, she'd be able to see the tournament and be amazed at the great display of strength and magic prowess the students had in the prestigious school.
And to be perfectly honest, Ingrid was tempted to stay for a day longer. The allure of seeing magic was too much for her to bear. Because although she knew she had the ability to be a magic-user, she never had the chance to learn. And so, hoping she could pick up a spell or two, she was actually excited to roam the academy and observe these 'geniuses' training.
But this 'brishnik' weather…
She swore with her native tongue as she continued to look at the trailing raindrops by the glass with a frown.
Then, she felt a sudden pain in her abdomen that made her wince but she clenched her teeth as she endured the urge to cry out.
Well, her Blood week was only known to last for about two to three days and was greatly irregular so, she most likely won't have it again until the next year.
Feeling the pinpricks of pain by her abdomen again, she groaned as she hoisted herself off her bed. She stretched slightly, trying ease the pain as looked at the heap of armor and weapons she had. Then, her eyes instinctively zeroed in on her most important weapon.
Her Edserian Adventurer Sword.
She made her way to it, grabbing it by its scabbard as she slowly caressed the insignia on it.
Lidden family… the family who abandoned her…
If only she could get rid of that name…
Then, she heard a soft thud and trying to find its origin, she looked out the window.
She saw a beautiful fluttering blue butterfly that seemed to have taken a liking of her window.
Well, hello there…
She smiled slightly as she adored the beauty of such a rare butterfly. It was as big as her palm and seemed to have a halo of a pale blue light around it. It must be from its magic particles.
Then, with its huge wings, it hit the glass window again. And while Ingrid was mesmerized by its strange behavior, she failed to notice that the rain began to let up.
And when the butterfly began to flutter away, she finally noticed the rain had stopped. With the dark clouds soon clearing up, she could now see the orange traces of the sunset that seemed to have just ended.
She suddenly felt immensely better as she hurriedly donned her armor.
She was bored beyond relief being trapped in her room. She needed some sort of fresh air from the stuffy smell of blood and sweat in her room. And although she knew that being in public during her Blood Week was socially unacceptable, she really couldn't stand being in her room anymore.
Besides, Solomon, upon knowing about her predicament, gave her underwear that he magically enhanced so that it could absorb more liquid than usual. And she never had any leakage problem with it so she's pretty confident that she could get away with sneaking around for a few minutes without her magical blood seeping out.
And plus, she can just go someplace with little to no people. That way, no one would get affected by her blood mixed with magical particles in the air. And even if there were people, since her magic isn't really that developed, it wouldn't affect them much because her magical particles wouldn't be as potent.
And after fully convincing herself that sneaking out was acceptable, she armed herself with two daggers for protection as she gingerly opened her door.
She looked left and right, checking whether Granny Zai was planning to visit her room. When she saw that the coast was clear, she unknowingly let out a grin as she dashed towards the direction of the exit.
Thankfully, she was able to convince Granny Zai before to describe the layout of the manor in the guise of her wanting to tour around the manor.
It was probably only possible because Granny Zai felt bad that she wasn't able to go around the Academy, hence they made do with the manor instead.
Seeing the doors that lead to the outside, Ingrid stealthily dashed towards it. She opened the door as quietly as possible, trying to see if the guards were anywhere near.
When she saw that no one was around, she slowly slipped out of the door and softly closed it without making a sound.