Hearing her feeble voice, it didn't sound like she had been crying. If anything, she just sounded dejected. I sat down once again, "Mhm, this is White," I said.
A couple of moments passed before she began speaking up, "You know, I was really scared of that beast. It was big and scary, and I didn't have a way to fight it." I listened to her from across the door, her voice quavering with every next word she says.
I stayed quiet, letting her finish. "But you know what really scared me? it was you, White," She said.
Surprised by her words, I tried to ask what she meant by that. But she continued, "When I woke up, I saw you laying on the ground, just a couple feet away from the jaws of the Hydrangaea."
She must have been shocked by my magic-- I thought to myself, after all, my magic isn't exactly normal. Her next words, however, caught me off guard.
"It was the same with the bear months ago," she said apologetically, "you always get hurt because of me."
I see. It seems that she wasn't traumatized, but feels like it's her fault that I ended up in that state. Comforting her saying it's not her fault would only undermine her own feelings. Thinking of such, I gave her my honest thoughts.
"Well, yeah. If you weren't so childish, then we both may have not gotten hurt," I said in a gentle, yet playful tone.
"...So it's really my fault," she said mutteringly.
"Yeah, it is," I confirmed, "but being in low spirits wouldn't make up for what happened you know, well at least that's what my old friend said."
The seconds of silence felt like forever as I waited for a response. It didn't seem like she was crying or anything, so I continued, "An apology would be nice, you know."
After a few moments, she decided to open the door. I turned my head upward as a shadow emerged from where I sat. It was Kayla overlooking me, "Then stand up so I can apologize," She said.
She was downcast, but her usual cheekiness was there which made me giggle for a bit. "What are you laughing about?" She asked, looking a little mad.
"You don't need to bow or anything, just a simple line of "I'm sorry" would suffice," I said. I still didn't know the customs of this world. Although there were books and such from our house, I figured that they were lacking in terms of more casual knowledge.
"T-then, I'm sorry," she meekly said as she turned her head to the side. "Did you say something?" I asked. Of course, I heard her apology, but that alone wouldn't bring her back to her full self.
"I-I said I'm sorry!" She said again. "Hmm? can you say that again?" I asked once more, this time with a wide grin on my face.
"I said I'm sorry! Okay?" She said with a face burning bright red from embarrassment.
I giggled a bit as she looked at me with teary eyes and puffed cheeks. "You're laughing again!" She remarked.
"No I'm not," I said, denying her accusations. But she didn't let go of the matter as she talked back, "Yes you are!"
"Besides that, I think Mr. Renard is worried about you," I said, "he was really frustrated earlier."
Master's name must have struck something within her as she fell silent. Master may be rough around the edges, but he is a loving and caring father, so I guess Kayla felt guilty about that.
"I will talk to him later," she said, "but firstly, I want to know something."
"Hmm? From me? What's that?" I inquired.
"Your magic, what was that?" She asked. Of course, she would be curious. It's not like every ice magician can just turn something into ice. However, I didn't really want to tell her anything, considering the possibility that part of my magic is actually from the beginning of space and time.
"Well, my magic is special," I said shruggingly. It seems like Kayla understood my thoughts and didn't pursue them further, which is good. It would have been awkward if she just pursued the topic further.
"Then final question," she said before a long pause, "who's your other friend?" She was certainly smiling, but her eyes definitely weren't.
Crap, I screwed up. I remember that white didn't actually have any other friends his age other than Kayla. Even now, that fact hasn't changed. A picture of a good-for-nothing count popped in my head.
But it wasn't fair if I blame him, since it was I who slipped up. I tried to think of an excuse with a straight face, but my body was betraying me as cold sweats began appearing on my back.
"I-It was Sophia," I said, "she's my friend now you see." Although Sophia actually saying that has a possibility of almost zero since she's an automaton, she's the only one who fits the criteria that I know right now.
"I see. That beautiful maid, huh?" She said as she started nibbling on her thumb, looking a bit irritated.
Well, I couldn't really blame her for being irritated. From White's memories alone, she was always there looking out for white because she know White's always alone. I guess the feeling of being the one and only friend is important to her after all.
"Y-yeah. Uhm, I'll go see Velxia now. Feel free to come outside once you're ready," I told her as I escaped the awkward situation.
"Velxia? The guardian of the forest? He's here?" Kayla shockingly asks. Well if she did wake up before me, then I bet she also caught a glimpse of Velxia.
With sparkling eyes, Kayla slammed the door. "I'm going to change first," She said. With that, I headed back to their backyard, wondering what may have happened whilst I was gone.
There, I saw Master seated on a bench, looking even more frustrated for some reason. While the earlier gloomy Astesia was now happily cuddling with Velxia and the smaller Velxia.
"What happened?" I asked as I walked towards Master. He shifted his gaze to my direction and let out a heavy sigh before responding, "Well, it looks like we'll take care of the Guardian's kid now."
"Huh? How did that happen?" I asked. That just doesn't make sense since Velxia has been looking for his child for a while now, and what Master basically said is that Velxia will allow his child to just mingle here.
Master spread turned his head upwards before explaining. Apparently, little Velxia is already very attached to Astesia, to the point that they now even shared a bond. Making Astesia a beastmaster who has a guardian-level beast.
It's the first time I heard of this, so even I was surprised. But now that I think about it, wouldn't Astesia, being a rare beastmaster, make this guy proud? Thinking of such, I asked him, "Hey, isn't that a good thing? Your daughter now has an exquisite profession available for her."
Master gave out a heavy sigh as he says in a serious tone, "Well, it's because I don't want to send her to war."