Libitina looked up at the couple with tears falling uncontrollably down her cheeks. She must look very ugly now but she could not care the least. "Yes, yes, I am willing…"
Alisa and Gregory hugged her tightly in response, but she soon pushed them away. Libitina had a condition.
"I don't want to take advantage of you, so we must still sign a condition into this contract," Libitina wiped her tears away and grabbed the couple's hands tightly. "Just in case, that one day, you don't want me to be your daughter anymore, you can break off this relationship with me cleanly, and I won't come to disturb you after that!"
"Lina, there's no need…"
"There is! You never know what will happen in the future. What if I betray you someday?"
Libitina was adamant. She did not want the couple to be left in a difficult situation if they ever found out about her other identity, and she never wanted them to get hurt. If anything happens, they could rescind this contract and protect their reputation and status under the guise of being deceived.
"But would you betray us in the future, Lina?"
"No, that's…I insist! You trust me too much, way too much…"
Libitina penned down the condition and signed the contract with determination, the pen carving the paper deeply with its nib.
[I, Libitina, shall hereby become the dutiful daughter of Gregory Lucien Merveille and Alisa Rayford Merveille in exchange for bringing glory to the Merveille House.]
Libitina passed the contract document to the Mervielles with a grim face, as if she was handing over to them something solemn and heavy in duty.
Gregory and Alisa sighed. What are they going to do with this silly girl?
And how could they refuse her intentions?
They similarly signed on the contract, their signatures elegant as compared to the young girl's.
[Here, we sign in agreement to the above condition.]
"Libitina, have you thought of a middle name?" Alisa asked gently as she smoothed out the contract paper with her palm.
"Middle name? I...want it to be Ariadne, what do you think?" The name came to her mind immediately, almost as if it was waiting to be called and remembered.
"Ariadne?" Gregory rubbed his bushy beard. "That's a nice name. Classy. Sophisticated."
"Classy and sophisticated mean the same thing. Lina, it is beautiful," Alisa smiled.
"Libitina Ariadne Merveille." She said her name word by word, and carefully brought Libitina into her arms.
"Welcome to the family," the couple embraced Libitina lovingly, causing tears to fall down her face again.
'Mom, Dad, I've found a place to belong to here. Don't worry about me anymore…"
…
As the days passed, Libitina slowly recovered the full use of her limbs, as Tudor's powers healed her wounds and broken bones by helping her absorb energy from the air. As a spirit formed of Persephone's powers, Tudor's manipulation of the wind fully demonstrated its might as he continuously directed the wind elements in the air to push the elements towards Libitina. Her body automatically absorbed these elements and made their power hers.
In fact, she recovered so quickly that the doctors from the estate were surprised, but Libitina and Tudor did the recovery at a moderate pace. The Merveille couple further chose not to ask questions and demanded from the doctors their silence.
Currently, Libitina was in the estate's field with Gregory.
The estate was made up of a small garden and an open space field for horse riding or parties, aside from the cosy mansion. It was only later that Libitina would discover this was just one of many properties owned by the Merveilles, and it was only a holiday location.
"Concentrate, Lina." Gregory's rough voice was quiet as he stared at the young girl.
The young girl wore a man's exercise attire, comprising of a simple shirt and a pair of work pants. A saw whet owl balanced on her shoulder, as her eyes stared hard at a spoon placed 1 meter away from her.
The spoon was balanced delicately on the top of a glass bottle, and on the spoon, suspended in mid-air but for the spoon's presence, was a light goose feather.
Libitina and Tudor focused on the feather, before Libitina very gently moved her middle finger in a wave-like arc. Her eyes glimmered with a slight sapphire before fading away fast.
Unfortunately, she had used too much strength. The wind she generated pushed against the spoon and it fell off the glass bottle in a canker. The feather got blown into the air before it fluttered down depressingly.
"Argh!" Libitina groaned quietly and wiped her forehead. "Not again!"
"Hey, you improved! At least you didn't break the bottle!" Gregory gave her a comforting smile. "But try again! Remember, spoon stays on the bottle, I want only the feather to float!"
"Yes, Father. Tudor, are you ready?"
"Tweet!"
Gregory replaced the feather and the spoon and stepped aside again to watch Libitina practice.
It has been a week since Libitina started practising her magic with Gregory. Gregory and Alisa had accidentally seen Tudor disappear into thin air once, and Libitina had to come up with an excuse. To her adoptive parents, Tudor was a spirit animal.
What was a spirit animal, you may ask? Just like Melodies, spirit animals are spiritual composites that take on the shape of animals. The difference between the two was that spirit animals had a vague consciousness. Therefore, the price difference was huge.