Today was going to be a good day. It was finally my day off and I didn't have to see Dante or William. I just couldn't face them after my embarrassing display.
I had attempted to avoid them all week, which was impossible because I still went over to train. I tried to play it cool, but every time I looked at them I wanted to smack my head into a wall.
It's not that I find it embarrassing to cry in front of others. In fact, I cry in front of others all the time. However, there's one major difference. I would only cry in order to get the things I wanted, but that wasn't the case with them.
I expected them to bring it up and laugh at me, but they avoided the subject completely. Oddly, this only made me feel worse. I've been getting the feeling that everyone's been tiptoeing around me lately. It makes me feel a bit uncomfortable.
Oh well. I'm sure everything will go back to normal eventually.
Even though I've been feeling crummy with everything lately, I have a saving grace. Today I get to go visit Millie!
I'm sure my problems will all melt away when I see that innocent smile of hers. Aaah~
I've been waiting to visit her for a while. With Dante and William, I can just show up whenever. But Millie seems to like to play by the rules. She insisted on a formal visit.
Which apparently means sending letters back and forth discussing the day and time exactly. Then, asking multiple times in an ambiguous language about visiting.
If you ask me, that's just a giant waste of time.
I miss the days of cell phones. Sigh.
As we rode in the carriage, I was humming to myself with joy.
Lona smiled at me, "You look happy today."
"Of course! I get to see Millie."
She chuckled, "You really like her, don't you?"
I spoke dreamily, "She just has such a pure soul that makes you feel so warm. It just melts away the darkness."
Lona nodded, "Oh, I see."
We grew quiet once more. It's been like this ever since the incident. Neither one of us knows what to say anymore.
I glanced at her eye and noticed it wasn't as bad anymore. It was still a bit swollen, but it was turning back to normal. It used to be heavily bruised, but now it started turning that gross green color. Lona keeps trying to hide it with makeup, but that just makes it look worse.
Of course I would never tell her that though.
When we arrived, I hopped out ready to run over to the door. She stopped me, "Now remember. This is a formal visit. So you need to have manners. I'm afraid Millie's parents are very conservative and formal."
I squinted my eyes, "Right. Manners.... That means?"
"That means you need to walk in, announce yourself respectfully, and curtsy. Then you go to the audience chamber and say your greetings to the family in the order of their age."
Lona kept giving me more and more lessons, but I stopped listening after the first sentence. My brain became mush with so many instructions.
There seems to be a lot of butterflies here. I wonder if they feed them or something.
"You got that?"
I snapped my attention back to her, "Huh? Oh! Yeah, totally."
She frowned, "You didn't hear a thing I said, did you."
"No, no. I caught the first sentence."
She sighed, "Just follow my lead."
I nodded and we walked inside. Just as she instructed, I did everything she did and repeated every word. I thought I would collapse with boredom, but for Millie I stayed strong!
Her mother was extremely beautiful with blonde hair and brown eyes. She had this softness about her that made me want to fall asleep in her arms. Her father also looked gentle and I began to understand why Millie turned out so fluffy.
Millie's mother smiled at me, "It's so nice to have you here. I know Millie has been looking forward to it."
I smiled back, "The pleasure is all mine. You have such a beautiful house. I really like all of the white decorations. It makes the house feel pure."
But seriously. Their house is so ungodly white I'm afraid to even step on the ground.
She smiled, "Ah, thank you. I'm glad you like it. Everyone always tells me it's too white."
It is. It really is.
I smiled, "They just lack fine taste."
She giggled, "You're such a sweet talker. No wonder my Millie likes you so much. She will be down in a minute so please feel free to wait here. Lona, would you like to go have some tea with me?"
She smiled, "I would be honored."
I waited until they all left the room before I collapsed on the couch. Why the hell were there so many people?! Also, why did I have to greet them one by one?!?
Next time, Millie's coming to my house.
I heard her angelic voice behind me, "Seri!"
I jumped up and held out my arms, "Millie!"
She giggled as I swung her around. I let her go and she smiled at me, "I'm so glad you came. Thank you for greeting all of my family."
"Yeah, about that. You have way too many siblings. I can't even remember their names. Not to mention they all look like clones of each other."
She giggled, "No they don't. Esma is two centimeters taller than Marie. Donald has slightly shaggier hair than Peter. And Sophie's voice is higher pitched than Sarah's."
I blinked, "That doesn't help Millie."
She looked confused by this, "Oh. Then let me explain it in another way."
I shook my head quickly, "No! That's not necessary."
She smiled at me, "Okay then. Would you like a tour?"
I linked our arms and pointed ahead of me, "Lead the way!"
She giggled and began showing me around. Sure enough, everything was white.
"I'm sorry everything is white. It's my mother's favorite color."
"Technically white is a shade, not a color."
"Oh. Well it's her favorite shade."
We kept walking and I began to grow sick by seeing all of the white. I looked at her, "Why does she like white so much? It's making me a bit nauseous."
"She thinks that if the house is white than it will make our souls pure."
I frowned, "Well that's just nonsense."
She giggled, "I know." She opened a door, "This is my room."
Contrary to white, her room was completely covered in pink. My face twitched, "Let me guess. You like the color pink?"
She chuckled, "Yes. I guess our love for colors runs in the family. Is it bad?"
I shook my head quickly, "No, it's not. In fact, your room is so you."
She tilted her head, "Is that a good thing?"
I chuckled lightly, "I think it is."
She smiled and nodded, "Then I think so too. Would you like to go outside? We have a nice garden and a butterfly conservatory."
"I knew it! I thought there were too many butterflies flying around for it to be considered natural."
"Yes, my family loves nature. That's why our house is so simple and small while our garden is large and bountiful."
As we walked outside, she sighed, "I'm a bit embarrassed to have you come here."
I looked at her, "Why's that?"
"Well my house is so small compared to yours. I'm sure you are probably bored right now."
I shook my head, "No! I'm not bored at all. In fact, I think I prefer your house over mine. Well, except for all of the white decor. I like houses to be big, but not too big. Not to mention you have butterflies here! What other house has those?"
She giggled, "I'm happy to hear that."
We made our way over to the garden and I was stunned by all of the flowers and bugs. I'm sure if William was here he would be screaming.
I looked over and noticed some of her sisters outside. They looked over and when they noticed us, they had a frightened expression. However, they quickly went back to their own business, pretending they never saw us.
I glanced at Millie in curiosity, but she seemed totally ignorant of their looks just now.
Hmm. Maybe they just don't like strangers. But if Millie doesn't mind, then I don't either.
I laid down on the grass and looked up at the sky, "Millie! This grass is so soft."
She giggled and laid down on the grass next to me, "It is well taken care of, so it better me."
As we looked up at the sky, I pointed at a cloud, "That cloud looks like a smiley face."
She pointed at another, "That one looks like a heart."
We pointed out clouds to each other as we lay in the sun. Ahh. I knew it would be relaxing to be with her.
She sat up, "Would you like to have some snacks?"
I nodded happily, "You know I never turn down snacks."
She giggled and stood up, "I know. Alright, I will go get some. You can wait here. I will be right back."
I nodded and waved at her, "Be back soon or else I will die from loneliness!"
She giggled, "No you won't."
Then she trotted off looking adorable. I laid back down and closed my eyes. I noticed the sun disappear and opened one of my eyes suspiciously. I saw two of Millie's sisters standing over me.
They looked down with complicated expressions, almost afraid to even speak.
I pointed at the taller one, "Sarah?"
She shook her head, "No, I'm Sophie. My voice is higher than Sarah's."
"Ah.. Right." I pointed to the other, "And you're Esma?"
She shook her head, "No. I'm Marie. I'm two centimeters shorter than Esma."
I frowned.
Who the hell actually says that?! This family is weird.
I sat up, "Right. My bad. So what can I do for you?"
Sophie looked at Marie hesitantly. She nodded in encouragement. Sophie looked back at me, a bit afraid.
"Do... You really like my sister?"
I answered a bit lost, "Huh? Uh, yeah I do. She's my best friend."
She frowned at this and looked back over at Marie.
Well I wasn't expecting this reaction.
I forced a smile, "Is there something wrong?"
Sophie looked down too afraid to speak. Marie decided to speak after a while, "She hasn't... Hurt you?"
What. The. F*ck. Can someone please explain to me what was going on?
I shook my head, "No."
They both looked like they breathed a sigh in relief. I'm getting the feeling they are scared of their little sister. But that's a joke, right? She's 7 and they're like 15.
I spoke curtly, "Can you tell me why you asked that?"
Marie looked a bit embarrassed, "Well... My younger sister is a bit..." She looked over at Sophie.
Sophie spoke, "She's a bit mad in the head."
I raised an eyebrow, "You think your sister is deranged?"
They looked around in a panic and held up a finger, "Shh! Don't speak so loud! She might hear!"
I sighed, "I think you both are exaggerating a bit. I haven't seen anything in her that would make me think she was deranged."
Sophie nodded in exasperation, "No! It's true! She's completely insane. For some reason she acts all nice to you, but we have no idea why. She must have an ulterior motive! You need to be careful around her!"
"Around who?"
A cold voice rang behind them making them both jumped. They quickly rushed out of the way and grabbed onto each other. Millie stood behind them holding a tray of cakes.
She smiled at them, but it wasn't her usual smile. This one looked cold and uncaring. It was such a contrast to how I've seen her in the past.
She spoke again, "Dear sisters. I asked you a question. Around who?"
Sophie yelped, "No one! Just ignore it! We didn't mean anything!"
Marie nodded, "Yes! We were just joking around!"
She walked past them calmly and they both flinched. She sat the tray down in front of me and smiled. She no longer looked so cold and cutoff. She returned to her innocent and fluffy appearance. I was completely baffled.
She spoke to me in a soft voice, "Just ignore them. They're just pests drawn to a pretty flower."
I blinked speechless. I managed to force out, "Uh.. Yeah..."
She turned to them and smiled, "Are you still here? Don't you think you should go away now?"
The poor girls were rooted in their spots, too afraid to move. A dainty butterfly flew down and landed on Millie's hand. She looked down at it still smiling. However, she had a slight look of disgust. She reached out to it.
*Riiip*
My eyes widened in horror as the butterfly fell down to the ground wingless.
She smirked, "Stupid pests."
*SMACK*
Millie grabbed her cheek and looked over to me in surprise. I had stood up and smacked her across the face in a fit of rage.
She gasped, "Seri! D-did you just hit me?"
I put my hands on my hips, "Of course I did! Someone had to smack some sense into you!"
Her lip trembled, "But why?"
I hesitated for a moment looking at her pitiful appearance. She really didn't understand why what she did was wrong.
I considered for a moment whether or not I should give her a lesson. Children who hurt animals or small creatures without remorse might grow up to be a sociopath. I can't let her become that.
On the other hand, it would be interesting to see how this plays out. Serial killers were always fascinating to learn about. Maybe I could just stand on the side line and observe how this plays out?
No, no. That's wouldn't be right. Maybe she's still salvageable.
I sighed, "Millie. It's not okay to do that. You can't go around hurting defenseless animals like that. Would you want me to rip off your arms?"
She pouted, "No..."
"Exactly. So don't go and rip off a butterfly's wing. It's not okay to hurt innocent creatures."
She looked up, "But what about you? You forced those cooks to eat their own poison. Weren't you hurting them?"
I scratched my arm. I can't believe she brought that up. "Ahh. Well that's different."
She looked at me confused, "How so?"
"Well those b*tches deserved it. They were trying to kill us by feeding us poison."
She thought for a moment, "I see. So it's okay to hurt someone if they do something to deserve it?
I chuckled awkwardly, "Well, no, but yes. I don't know. It's probably not okay, but if they try to hurt you then no one can judge you for trying to hurt them back."
She nodded as if she finally understood, "I see. So it's only okay to hurt someone if they hurt me first."
I didn't know how else to explain it, "Uhm.. Well... I guess?"
Oops. May have screwed this up. I hope this doesn't come to bite me in the a** later.
At that time, Lona and Millie's parents walked over. Her sisters took this opportunity to run away quickly. The three of them looked over at us confused.
Millie's mother spoke, "What happened?"
Millie smiled at her, "It's nothing Mother. Seri just taught me something important."
I looked up at her parents and noticed they too had a hint of fear when they looked at her. I see. So this family must not know how to deal with someone like her. They probably let her actions go uncorrected since they were such gentle people.
I had some snacks with Millie before it was time for me to go. Luckily, Millie was the same person as before and I felt relaxed once more. I'm sure whatever happened was just a small slip up.
After I left, me and Lona sat in the carriage in silence.
I sighed, "Lona. Why am I surrounded by crazy people?"