The whole night I stayed by Derrick's side. He had an on and off fever the whole night that I didn't really had any good rest. I have to wipe his body every now and then to bring his fever down. Flora was also there to help me. Thankfully the night ended and Derrick's fever went down when dawn broke.
When I saw that Derrick was in the clear, I opted to get back to my quarters and have some sleep. I was able to sleep by the time my body hit the bed.
"Where is Alyssa?" I hear Eric's voice just outside my door.
I was still sleepy when I heard Eric's voice outside. I opened my eyes groggily and looked at the window. There was light coming in from in between the curtains.
'What time is it?' I thought while rubbing my eyes.
"Young master, the little miss is still asleep." I can hear Flora's voice.
"Please don't call me young master. I am not a son of this house." I hear Eric said. "What happened yesterday? I heard something from the maids this morning?"
"I-I cannot disclose in full detail young ma… I mean young Sir Eric." Flora replied. "If you want to ask someone, then ask little miss when she wakes up."
"But when will she wake up?" Eric said. "It is about noon."
'It is already noon?' I thought. "Flora, please let Eric in." I ordered.
"Yes little miss." Flora replied from behind the door and opened it.
I saw Flora and Eric standing outside the door and Eric came in at once.
"Alyssa, what happened?" Eric said with an irritated voice. "I heard that you were attack in town and you have taken in children from the streets. What the hell were you thinking?!" He scolded me.
My head was throbbing with the lack of sleep and together with Eric's voice, it just made it ache a little bit more. I squeezed my temples with my fingers to relieve the pain.
"Can you please here me out before you scold me big brother?" I said with slight irritation.
Eric was caught off guard with my expression. Maybe he was surprised to see me a little irritated after being a good girl for months now.
"I'm sorry big brother. It's just that my head is throbbing." I forced a smile.
I get out of bed and walked to the curtains to open it. The sunlight flowed inside the room and I was blinded from the brightness for a while after my eyes adjusted to it.
"Answering your first question, yes there was a little mishap in my trip to town yesterday." I said. "A man that looked like a noble tried to hurt me."
"What?!" Eric shouted in anger. "How dare he try to hurt the only daughter of Duke Broderick?" It was evident that Eric was angry with what happened.
'It's not like there are identification cards in this world that you can give as proof of one's identity.' I thought to myself.
"That man didn't recognize that I was the father's daughter, maybe because I wasn't dressed too lavishly." I replied. "Also, Flora and Sir Frank was a little far away and wasn't able to verify my identity in time."
"Why did you get too far from them? You should have stayed by their side. As the only daughter of the Broderick family, you should know how to move in public. You can't just walk away without your guards with you" Eric started to scold me. He really looked like a big brother scolding his little sister and it made me smile. "W-What are you smiling for?"
"Nothing." I said. "I am just happy that you care for me big brother." I smiled at him.
"I-It's not like that." Eric reasoned. "I am just scolding you. You should have known better."
I giggled with his reply. 'Is he a tsundere?' I thought to myself.
"Then what about those street kids?" Eric asked. "Why did you take them home?"
"There is a good reason why I took them in." I said. "Firstly, that is because the older boy Derrick, he was the one that defended me from the man that wanted to hurt me and he was hurt in the process. I cannot just leave my life saver on the street bloodied and dying." I looked at Eric with seriousness.
Eric was surprised with what he heard. Maybe he didn't know the seriousness of the attack. That is understandable because he only heard of it from the maids.
"If you are thinking if what happened was really dangerous, then yes it was." I said in affirmation to his thoughts. "The boy was up against four grown men with real swords. It could have cost my life it the man was successful with his attack."
I can see Eric shiver in fright with the realization. He looked as white as a sheet of paper that I was afraid his soul left his body.
"Big brother." I called him but he didn't reply.
"Big brother." I called him again and tugged his arm. And he was still out of it that it scared me.
"Eric!" I called out loud and held his hand and squeezed it.
That made Eric come back to his senses and I sighed in relief. "You scared me there. I thought you…"
I was surprised that Eric took me into his arms and hugged me tight.
"E-Eric?" I was confused why he hugged me so suddenly.
"…sorry." Eric whispered into my ear.
"What?" I asked.
"I am sorry." Eric said once again. "I should have been there with you. If I was just…"
Eric didn't continue but I guess he was thinking if he wasn't avoiding me these past few days then he would have been there with me and this shouldn't have happened.
"I am sorry." Eric's voice was trembling as if he was about to cry.
"It's okay." I patted his back. "It's not your fault."
*Knock knock*
"Little miss, it's Oscar." Oscar said behind the door.
Eric let go of me when he heard someone at the door. He stepped back a few steps from me. I can see that his eyes were red like he was trying holding his tears.
'He doesn't want me to see him dry.' I thought and smiled inwardly to myself.
"Yes Oscar, please come in." I said.
Oscar came in with some papers on hand. "Little miss, here are the results of the investigation you have ordered me to do."
"What investigation?" Eric asked and looked at me curiously.
"I ordered Oscar to properly investigate the children I brought yesterday." I said. Oscar handed me the papers and I started to read them carefully.
"Hmm, Like I thought." I said.
"What is it?" Eric asked.
"My suspicion is correct." I looked at Eric and Oscar. "Those kids are from the fallen noble family, the Montgomery family." A smile crept on my face.
'Lady Luck is smiling on my side.' I thought to myself.
edited by: nalyn