"Ingrid's doing fine these days. I suppose she's not rejecting the idea of running a few laps every morning and getting basked under the morning sun."
Marguerite Laurent scoffed at her own daughter. "You mean run until she cough her lungs out under the scorching summer heat, kid."
Alicia gave her a knowing smile as she twirled the cutlery knife between her fingers. "Don't put it that way, Mother." Her hand moved in a swift motion as she placed the utensil back on the table.
Alicia greatly considered her daughter's emotions and if Ingrid would say that she doesn't want to do the drills, she wouldn't force her to. At first, she was afraid that her daughter would give up as soon as the exercise started but surprisingly, the child proved to be resilient. Along with a controlled diet and careful consideration, she created a plan to increase her daughter's strength as to help her not get sick more often.
The drills included jogging and little exercises that wouldn't be a burden for children as young as five. Nonetheless, she included things that would increase her daughter's reaction speed and wits to make her all-rounded. In the future, it would make her focus on herself physically and also mentally.
They were already training for a month and a half but Ingrid never failed her. She had successfully passed the entire test although she was having difficulties in improving her stamina which was understandable given that she was born weak. When Alicia remembered how her daughter would easily get tired, she reminded herself to increase the exercise's difficulty prevent any future mishaps.
"You won't fool anyone here. I know what hell you've experienced since I have also been through that." Her eyes glanced around the room and settled on the woman before her. "You're a mother now and I won't order you to do things—" she expertly reached through the pockets of her black pants, "—you were a smart child back then. Right now I'm not so sure."
Alicia tried her best not to roll her eyes at her mother comment.
"However, I believe I wouldn't raise an idiot," she continued as she struggled to get something out of her pocket.
The older woman successfully retrieved a cigarette pack behind her and swiftly picked one inside. Alicia, who was across the roundtable was astounded as she promptly grabbed the knife beside her dinner plate and threw it at her mother. The utensil speedily shot through and in an instant, the cutlery was in between Marguerite's finger; the roll of tobacco had already fallen on the ground unused.
"I would be really disappointed if you get killed via nicotine stick, Mother," Alicia sarcastically remarked. "If people who dislike you got to know that you died without them doing anything, wouldn't they be upset?"
"That would be fantastic, wouldn't it?" Her mother replied and sneered. The older woman did not appear to be bothered by the recent threat to her life and recovered the tobacco on the floor. Shaking it a little, she brought out a solid brass lighter from her back pocket and lit the other end of the stick. With a puff of smoke, she glanced at Alicia visibly displeased.
Disgruntled, Alicia rolled her eyes. "You know you could die by inhaling that, right?"
Alicia was raised under the care of both her mother and her aunt on the father side. Her mother taught her the rough life of being in a military family while her aunt drilled her etiquette. That was the reason why she was pretty comfortable being with her mother and could casually throw a knife at her on a whim. She remembered when she was a child she almost drowned because she was thrown in a river to learn how to swim.
The mother-daughter pair does not act normally like others. Since they were raised in a military family, Marguerite was less graceful and less elegant than people her age. Because of this, she married late and unlike others, she had only one child which was a daughter. The older woman did not care anyway, she was not blinded by elegance and would not do something she does not want. Often times, she would just brush off the insult and would only ignore those people who have the guts to annoy her.
"Don't state the obvious," Marguerite replied as she stood up from her seat dusting off the fallen ashes from her pants. "When you get old, you'll realize you need to spend the rest of your life happy, kid."
"You're only fifty-nine."
"I'm already fifty-nine, that's why."
------
"Not allowed."
Elizabeth screeched so loud Ingrid felt she needed to get this kid out of her life. "But Alicia! You rarely go out anymore, you are always inside your house, either running or reading some books I can't understand! And—"
"And what?" Ingrid deadpanned as she flipped another page off her book and tried to ignore the girl beside her.
The blonde proved to be persistent and said a little hastily, "And I rarely request something from you." She kneeled in front of her and probably realized her persuasion skills won't work anymore so she decided to hug the silver-haired girl's leg and act annoying maybe she'll have greater luck.
The girl tried to shrug Elizabeth from her legs but it proved to be difficult since the blonde clung to her as if her life depended on it. Ingrid regretted having time off her studies to stay with the girl. Earlier she felt guilty having to abandon her first ever acquaintance, however; she didn't know what to feel right now.
"Ingrid!" Elizabeth dragged the last syllable of her name. It irritated her that it made her wince a couple of times. "I only want you to come with me to the mall and do what other girls do! We would only buy school supplies for the upcoming school year and I've been convincing you for an hour straight now, why won't you say yes! Say yes, pretty please?"
The silver-haired girl tried her hardest not to glare at the girl hugging her legs. Elizabeth's convincing her for a long time already and she had already used all the excuses she could muster. Ingrid knew that there wouldn't be an end to this if she didn't agree soon and instead, she might find herself being with the blonde for an entire day because of the kid's determination.
A frustrated sigh escaped her lips as she flicked the girl on the forehead. "Stop clutching on my leg, you're preventing the blood to flow." The blonde noticeably became surprised at her calm tone as she let go from her pale thighs. "The next time you touch me without my permission, I'm going to throw you out of our house. Literally."
"Yes, ma'am!" Elizabeth sighed with relief as she already knew her friend was about to agree.
"By myself."
A chill ran down the blonde's spine as she replied with a small, 'hm'.
Elizabeth knew that the silver-haired was not fond of skin to skin touch and respected it fully. She never tried to touch her ever since she saw how a child from a wealthy family tried to be in her good graces by touching her hand to introduce his self. It proved to be a good learning experience when the child was coldly kicked on the balls and had ran to his parents with snot on his nose.
The blonde risked her life for a good reason. She believed that she and Ingrid's relationship was stable and that she wouldn't hurt her for no reason.
Well, I forced myself in her personal space and that's not exactly good, she thought feeling sorry.
Nevertheless, she needed to that for the greater good. She believed that Ingrid was becoming out of sorts lately. The girl was becoming obsessed with studying and training she had forgotten to enjoy herself. There were times when she would find the silver-haired girl's face all scrunched up and scary and there were also times where she would snap out of the blue. It was astonishing to see the usually indifferent Ingrid get irritated. She rarely get annoyed, much less angry.
"I will agree to go with you in one condition." Ingrid abruptly interrupted Elizabeth's thought process as she closed her book and faced the blonde. "We will not go this week since I am occupied with my drills and tutorship."
Elizabeth nodded excitedly, her blonde hair jumping up and down. She was about to jump in joy when the silver-haired girl continued, "It is still a little early to buy school supplies, though. We haven't even passed the entrance exam yet, what are you hurrying up for?" Ingrid disinterestedly combed her hair backward and waited for the girl's reply.
The blonde realized she was about to get her cover blown. If Ingrid knew she was dragging her outside the house because she was worried about her, the girl might not agree.
As if caught red-handed, the blonde tried to make up an excuse on the spot. "Well, of course, I know that the both of us would pass. Mother said that the test would be easy anyway," she cheekily smiled and stepped backward slowly. "Anyway, I need to gohomenowIoverstayedlongenoughbye!"
Rambling the last phrase she swiftly exited the garden, her two tiny feet moving back and forth. Ingrid raised her right eyebrow, a little suspicious about the sudden development. She sat back down and was about to continue reading when Claud appeared disheveled. Catching his breath, he still managed to smile with grace.
Ingrid internally praised him. It was hard to find a servant as dedicated as him. As a matter of fact, no one in this house treated anyone as a servant, they all have equal standing. Alicia and Ralph do not act excessively and does not order the people that were under them with unreasonably means. They were good masters and they also pay their people handsomely.
"Young lady," Claud greeted elegantly. "Your father wants to see you in his study."
Ingrid did not answer and instead stared at Cloud intently.
The middle-aged man smiled warmly at the little girl and asked, "Is there a problem, young miss?"
The silver-haired girl narrowed her eyes. "Where did you come from before going here?" She scrutinized the butler as her right-hand remainded at the edge of her book.
"At your father's study, Milady," Claud answered perfunctorily without moving an inch.
"Before that?"
"I was at the gates."
"When was that?"
The middle-aged man blinked a couple of times wondering why she was asking such questions but still answered dutifully. "Five minutes ago, young miss," he said briefly looking at his leather watch on his left hand.
Ingrid appeared satisfied by his answers and stood up with grace. She straightened out her white blouse as she held her book using her left hand.
"You can continue with your duties now." The girl nodded at him and walked away, her small body eventually disappeared.
Claud inclined his head to the right as he wondered what the little lady wanted and thought that she was just curious.
On the other hand, Ingrid who only wanted to know how fast could the butler travel from one place to another steadily climbed the mansion's stairs. If it was before, she would be huffing from lack of breath since she has low stamina. Now she could use the stairs freely without a problem. From what she heard from her father, she was a weak child. However, it was not permanent since she only needed to supplement her body the right nutrients to make it strong.
Before she realized it, the girl was already in front of her father study. She knocked on the large wooden door and entered the room. The study was full of books, nevertheless not as many books compared to the library. It caused the place to have a combined smell of ink and earth at the same time. It gave her comfort as she searched for her father inside.
The man in his early 20's was examining a folder closely as he was sitting straight on his swivel chair with coffee in front of him
"Good afternoon, Father," Ingrid nodded at him as she found a seat. The girl struggled for quite a while before she successfully sat on the chair.
Ralph stared at her amusedly as he gingerly placed the folder on a pile of papers. "I called you here because I got a letter from Académie Royale. They already accepted your application. On the other hand, it said in the letter that upon your enrolment they would automatically assign you an extracurricular subject if they are not notified upon passing the exam."
Academie Royale had strict rules that they needed to maintain to keep the prestige of the academy. Children in pre-school needed to choose an extra-curricular subject which should be included in the list of subjects they offer. If Ingrid's memory served her right, it was not only limited to sports and academics but also included arts and music as well. Sports included that usual games that would not be strenuous for children while academics would give you courses on top of the usual subjects. Music and arts would only teach the children the basic and foundation.
These activities were made to enhance the child's skills, prioritizing what they think they like.
"Do you have any interest these days, Ingrid?" Ralph asked her daughter a couple of minutes later seeing that she was still undecided. "What do you like to do?"
Thinking about it, the girl realized she was either doing two things every day: studying and doing drills. She felt nothing out of sorts since she was not really a child anymore. She, however, dislike unnecessary events but for the sake of face, she would do it for the surname Astor.
"I would prefer to study more, Father," she answered as she leaned at the back of the chair and shock to know it was comfortable.
Seeing his daughter a little absentminded, Ralph unknowing raised the corner of his lips and shook his head. "Do you like math or science more?"
"Science." Ingrid felt too cozy as she patted the foam of the chair using her to tiny hands.
The silver-haired girl chose academics for a reason. She was not an ordinary five-year-old and she could confidently say that passing primary and middle-school would be a breeze. Nonetheless, there was a thin line between a genius and an abnormality. She would rather start to provide suitable excuses as to how she became smart now than find half-assed excuses later. Gaining the suspicion of many people would not be good especially if they decided to report her to the government. It was better to be safe than sorry.
The man nodded and noted her daughter's decision in his mind. He glanced at the piles of papers before him with irritation in his gray eyes as he returned his gaze at his daughter which was staring at him.
"Do you need something, Ingrid?"
The girl blinked a couple of times as she replied without emotion, "Can I bring this chair back into my room?"
Ralph tried his best to control his surprise. "Yes, you can. Have taken a fancy to it?" He asked interested, his earlier dissatisfaction gone.
Ingrid bobbed her head to the right as she looked at her father with her large purple eyes. "Yes, it's comfy and soft."
The girl almost whispered under her breath and his father was a little astonished to see his daughter act like an ordinary five-year-old for the first time.
"You can take it back, Ingrid. Just make sure to tell Claud so that he could ask others to transfer it to your room."
Ingrid nodded absentmindedly as she thought of how she could sleep on the large chair that night.