'Oh, my god! I'm going to a huge mansion. I now have a father, although just in name, and I get to live a good life. How...AAAHHH I'm so confused this all happened too soon!' Noel was in a frantic daze as she awaited her luxurious life.
"Hey, mister-"
"Father."
Huh?" Noel looked at the man in confusion.
"Call me father, after all, you are my daughter from now on." At this, a red hue flushed the girl's face as she looked away, embarrassed for a second.
"A-Alright then...Father, what are the people like, where you live?" She asked, rather curious of what to expect when she arrives.
"Well, I have an older sister and brother. My sister has quite the character. Extremely hot-tempered and an undignified woman, I'd say. My brother, on the other hand, is quite useless and docile, too much to be a Sloan. And well, you've already met me, so...what do you think of me, little Noel?" Marcus asked in a soft voice, a slight bit of genuine curiosity laced in his tone.
Noel took a moment to think about what she thought of him, she was rather conflicted and still didn't understand him yet. 'Well, I should proceed with caution. He's a duke with the power to kill me should I defame him, even unintentionally.' she thought warily.
"Well, you seem very serious but very boisterous at the same time."
"Is that so?" Marcus questioned with a glint in his eyes. "People are usually afraid to share such honest opinions with me, the great Duke of Ophelium, in fear of losing their heads. But you're so open, aren't you?" He wondered out loud.
'Shit...I messed up. Well, there's no backing down now. I can't have him abandon me.'
"You asked me a question and I merely answered it honestly, father." She replied with utmost confidence and a brave face while shivering internally.
"Ha ha ha, as I thought, you are an interesting child." Marcus seemed rather satisfied with her response. The duo bickered here and there as the carriage made its way towards the Duke's residence.
Noel looked outside her carriage, admiring the greenary and sunshine that kissed the earth when her attention was caught by something. A huge, almost bejewelled looking mansion.
'No way...that can't be it, right? He may be a duke, but he can't possible own that,can he? It looks like a king's palace!' She wondered, bewildered by the site.
"It is indeed my residence and home - the duchy of Ophelium. No need to be surprised, it's only natural that as the man with the most power in this Empire, I have a territory to match it." Marcus spoke, as if he read her mind, eyes shone a rare pride for his lineage and name.
'Stupid old man...Acting all smug like that. Tsk' Noel remained unamused by the bravado Marcus displayed.
The carriage came to a stop in front of a huge golden gate. "We're here, Noel. Welcome home." Marcus spoke warmly as he looked at the child in front of him, pleased by her enamour of the site. He got down from the carriage and held his hand out for Noel to follow.
'Well, at least he's not all crap. He's got some consideration in him.' Noel pouted as she took his hand made her way down the carriage.
She walked, holding her father's hand, towards the mansion, a mix of fear, nervousness and anticipation filled her little body. She felt like she could bounce off the walls.
'Calm yourself, Noel. this is no way for a 25 year old to act.' She tried to convince herself to calm down, but she couldn't slow her pounding heart.
As the duo reached the mansion's entrance, the front door flew open with a 'thud'.
"The master and young lady have arrived." An old, stout man announced as rows of maids and butlers stood behind him, bowing deep.
Noel felt a rush of embarrassment go through her as a voice spoke up.
"Is this the child you told us about in that half assed letter, Marcus?" A tall, gorgeous woman with snow white hair and tan skin matching Marcus, made her way towards us. She looked like a lioness, an air of ferocity laced with elegance followed her.
"Quiet, Yolanda. You're too noisy." Marcus shushed her.
"Is that any way to treat your older sister, you brat!?" The woman retaliated with a vein popping on her temple, clearly irritated with his choice of wording.
'oh...so that's the hot tempered sister. And what the hell!? He told them about me through a letter!? A half assed one, at that! Ugh...isn't that a little too casual?' Noel's head was spinning with thoughts, as she tried to take in her surroundings and the bickering from the pair of siblings.
"Now now, sister. Marcus. Refrain from raising your voices in the presence of a child, you'll scare her away." A mild mannered man with, once again, white hair interfered.
'He must be the docile brother, for sure. Well, at least he's decent.'
Her thought was cut short as the man kneeled in front of her, he had a leather patch over his eye and an kind smile as he introduced himself to her.
"I'm Kendrick D'melion Sloan, second eldest of House Sloan. That hot headed lady right there, is our sister and eldest in the house, Yolanda D'melion Sloan. We're honoured to be in presence of such a cute lady." He complimented as Noel blushed for the Nth time that day.
'He's definitely a womanizer...' She was convinced of this.
Noel looked to her father who told her to introduce herself too, it's only polite, after all.
"I'm Noel Haiba- Uh- No, I'm Noel D'melion Sloan, it's a pleasure to meet you." She corrected herself in a low voice as Marcus looked at her like proud dad.
When she took a closer look at the people around her, she suddenly realised the state she was in. White hair disheveled, blue eyes surrounded by dark circles, clothes looking like tattered rags and pale skin bruised and dirtied by her time on the streets.
Noticing her discomfort, Marcus arranged for her to freshen up and wear a aet of new clothes.
A maid guided Noel into a huge room. 'No way....is this a bathroom? How uselessly luxurious. Only one person at a time can use it anyway, why is it this huge...' she wondered practically.
"Princess, I am Joy, and I shall be serving as you personal maid from now. Should you require anything, please feel free to call on me at any time." The woman introduced.
"Y-y-yes! Thank you, I'll keep that in mind!" Noel stuttered back, not knowing how to react to such luxuries.
'Aaaahhh, the water is so warm and relaxing. It smells like lavender and lilies here. I wish I could stay in here forever.' Unfortunately, that didn't happen.
Noel exited the bathroom, ready to change her clothes but was confronted with a huge problem.
"So, which dress would you like, princess?" Her maid enquired, looking at the collection of 40 dresses, splayed out for selection.
"What the...Joy, is this all for me?" Noel asked with a look of absolute shock on her little face.
"Yes, princess, the duke ordered the best designer to send over his best creations!" She replied with a soft smile, amused by the child's bewilderment.
"W-well then, you can choose for me, joy. I'm fine with anything." With a nod, Joy swiftly put together an outfit - a beautiful knee length dress, matching shoes and jewellery to accentuate her beauty.
"My, what a gorgeous child you are, princess." Joy praised her, laughing at the flush of Noel's cheeks as she brushed her soft white hair.
"Your hair is just like the masters'. This must be fate doing its work." She commented.
Once she was ready, Noel wobbled out of her room, making her way to her new family, struggling to stay balanced as the weight of her outfit threw her off.
She opened the door to the drawing room where she found her father and his siblings, sipping on tea. "Good afternoon father, aunty and uncle." She greeted as she went to take a seat near her father.
"huh...you look rather lovely when you're not covered in dirt and arrogance." Marcus commented which made everyone else spit their tea out in shock while Noel chose to deliver a retort of her own.
"Well, I'm not the one who required a child to do his job for him yesterday." She reminded him, almost as if she was intentionally rubbing salt in the wound.
Marcus clenched his teacup tighter as Yolanda broke out into wolfish laughter. 'Gosh, this whole family laughs in such an obnoxious way...' Noel recalled the way her father laughed at her yesterday. Kendrick, on the other hand, sported a smirk on his face, satisfied that his brother was put in his place, by a child no less.
Before the matter could escalate, however, Kendrick brought up Noel's performance at the investigation the day prior. "So Noel, I hear you're an investigator? You even put the Empire's best investigative unit to shame by yourself. Quite clever, aren't you?" He praised her.
"Right, I could tell that you're a special child from Marcus' letter but who exactly are you? A child as intelligent as you went under the Empire's radar, you must not have wanted any attention. What changed your mind?" Yolanda interrogated.
"Well, I have an IQ of 193. I can do almost anything I want to, but I need money and freedom so I asked to be adopted by father. Besides, I love solving crime. When I saw the unit yesterday, pathetically trying to gain information on the victim, I thought I should help out since I love an intellectual challenge." Marcus felt a vein pop in his neck as his jaw clenched when Noel insulted his unit, but decided not to act on it.
'A child is a child' he tried to console himself.
Noel went on to explain her deal with Marcus, and what she expects out of the future as Yolanda and Kendrick listened on, quite intrigued that a child of all things was able to interest their tyrannical brother.
"Well, I'll admit, you are very bright for your age, but I won't consider you a Sloan yet. You have to prove yourself child." Yolanda challenged with a fierce gaze. Noel refused to back down as she returned the look, her sky blue eyes staring right back at her aunt.
"Hahaha, you're interesting for sure. Then, I'll be looking forward to the day you prove yourself, kid." Yolanda blurted as she walked out of the room, leaving Kendrick and Marcus to keep Noel company.
Marcus looked over to Noel, noticing her tired expression as he dismissed her. "You can leave now. Go sleep, you look so haggard that not even such expensive clothes can hide it. We can talk tomorrow." The child wanted to deliver a smart retort but found herself too tired to even think of one.
Noel and Joy made their way towards her bedroom to retire for the day.
"No way!! Is this my room!?" Noel questioned Joy, heart leaping with awe from how luxurious and beautiful her room looked.
"Yes princess, would you like to change into a nightgown now?"
"Yes, please!!"
As Noel lay in bed, in the softest nightgown, she found herself thinking about how much her life changed in the span of 24 hours. She used to have nothing. No friends, no family, no money, no joy. But now, she has more than she could have ever hoped for. She felt her eyelids get heavy as she thought about her past, present and future and eventually drifted off to sleep, a smile on her face as she had the best sleep of her life on her plush new bed.
'Let's live a good life from now on, Noel.' and her vision went dark, carrying her into the depths of slumber.