Razak walked quietly into the sitting room. He was familiar with the layout of Villa since he had been here once before. Initially, Villous had arranged his stay here. But when Razak told him that it was inconvenient, he arranged his stay near the Academy.
He quietly walked to Alice, who was sitting in her wheelchair, and looked at the pad she was holding. There, she was watching a video that she recorded during Razak's training. When Razak dodged 6 armed men, eyes closed, with his hand in his pocket.
"Oh!"
Alice was startled when she noticed Razak so close. The pad she was holding almost fell from her hand, but Razak caught it.
"Did I startle you?"
"Little bit. I am surprised to see you this early."
"The welcome program ended early, so I came here right after."
"Oh."
She paused as if the reply earlier disappointed her. She used the button in her wheelchair to move a little back and turned towards Razak.
"The school uniform looks good on you."
"Thanks."
She looked even more disappointed than before when she heard the plain 'thanks'. But this time Razak understood why.
"The purple suits you surprisingly well."
She smiled as she tucked her black hair that had come towards her face behind her ear. She was dressed in a purple gown which was awfully lot formal for a family dinner. But Razak didn't mention that when he saw that smile.
"Do you want to go out on a walk with me? There is still some time left."
Alice nodded with a cheerful smile, as if she was expecting to hear those words all along. Razak took the pad from her and left it on the table. He already knew that Alice didn't like being pushed around in her wheelchair, so he just let her ride it herself.
Both of them were silent until they reached the garden. But when they reached there, Alice broke the silence.
"Brother, you are so lucky." She paused and looked down at her lap. "I can't help but envy you."
Razak just kept on looking in front as they were walking. He always knew how she felt deep down, but he couldn't help but feel sympathetic towards her. He could see his former weak self in her, which was why she was so relatable to him.
"I know."
Hearing those words, she looked towards him in surprise.
"How can you say that so simply? If you know that already, shouldn't you be hating me?"
Her tone was hasty, her voice was a bit louder, and her hands were clenched.
"Do you hate me?"
Her expressions became calm when she heard those words. She realized that she was overreacting, and at this point, she was regretting her words. She looked down towards her lap again.
"Well, no."
Her voice was lower than usual, and it looked like she was ashamed of her reaction earlier.
"Then I have no reason to hate you."
She looked back towards him in surprise. Now, what she was feeling was not envy but admiration.
"I am sorry. It's just that… Father never looks at me with pride like you. I can't help but feel like I am being a burden to him."
"You are overthinking. He doesn't look at you with kindness or pity, he just loves you. You are his only real family left."
"You're right. I think it's because I just stay at home alone too much. I wish I could move with you."
Most of the people in this situation would portray those words as being sarcastic. But her expressions, as she was saying that, were genuine. In fact, it was so serious that Razak couldn't help but smile.
"You could. But then, your therapist and doctor will also need to move with us."
She looked a little annoyed. She probably felt like Razak was teasing her.
"Hmph! I could do well without them."
"I know you can. But your father will never let you stay anywhere without them."
"I think he needs to take it easy," Alice whispered. She knew that in her medical condition, he would never allow her to stay like that. But she couldn't help but feel like he was being a little overprotective.
Razak heard the whisper but didn't respond to it. And because of that, there was a short moment of silence until they reached the benches. After Razak sat on a bench, Alice broke the silence again.
"Do you think I will ever be able to walk normally?"
"Yes. They say your condition is getting better."
Alice smiled as she heard that reply. She was amazed by how straightforward Razak could be at times.
"Don't you think I am unfortunate? The magic that is a boon to everyone is a curse to me."
The cause of her condition was magic. She could absorb mana like a normal magician, but her ability to use that mana never surfaced. As a result, the accumulated mana did more harm than good to her body. This condition was very rare among magicians and was known as Mana superfluity.
"No. There are people with worse fate than you. You are fortunate to have a dad who loves you."
"You know, somehow you always have answers to all my questions."
As they were talking, a maid came rushing towards them. Even in this day and age, some people liked keeping maids and butlers for their mansions and villas. Mostly people who had multiple houses in different locations.
When she came closer, she took long breaths to fix her heavy breathing before speaking.
"Master, lady, your father is here. He also has a guest with him."
In all these years, there weren't many occasions where Villous brought guests to his house. It was odd that he would bring someone during a private dinner like this one.
"Do you know who that is?"
"I am sorry master, but I don't."
"It's alright, we will be there soon."
Maid rushed back inside while Razak just slowly walked alongside Alice.
When they entered the sitting room, Villous was there sitting on the sofa with an old man. The man was dressed in formal attire like Villous, and by no means, looked like someone who should be taken lightly.
Both of them stood up when they saw Razak and Alice came in.
"Is this the boy you were telling me about?"
"Yes, Vincent. Meet Razak, my son. And this is my daughter, Alice." He paused and turned towards Razak. "And Razak, this is Vincent, my colleague from the military days."
"Nice to meet you, young man."
Vincent brought his hands forward for a handshake. Razak accepted it.
"Nice to meet you too, sir."
"Now that the introductions are over, why don't we talk the rest over dinner?"
After hearing those words from Villous, all of them slowly walked towards the dining room while Alice slowly rode her wheelchair in front of them.