My hands were sweaty. It´s already 5 minutes since I´ve been staring at the knob. I´m unable to move an inch forward.
Who would have known that my greatest enemy would be myself?
"Master... Could you open the door already? It´s getting cold out here"
"... Aren´t you supposed to be with the other servants?"
"I´m sleeping with you tonight. I have to make it even with that blondie"
"..."
Not saying another word I used my shadows to move Jasmine away from the main house. She did a little "Yeep!" sound when she was engulfed by my magic.
"Well, that takes care of that... Now... Let´s just get this over with..."
Taking a deep breath to gather my courage I turned the knob and entered the building. I was hoping that everyone would be asleep right now, but my thoughts were proven wrong due to the dim light shining at the end of the hallway.
"Dominique, is that you? Please come here, my boy"
It was the voice of the man who was now the head of the Yatra house. Astolf Vea Yatra.
I reluctantly walked toward the source and soon saw the owner of that sound sitting silently in the living room with a newspaper in his hands.
As soon as we exchanged glances he left the newspaper and placed his whole attention onto me.
"It is quite late, what were you doing?"
"... I went to the market to get some resources, I also visited a blacksmith to get some new weapons..."
"I see... Do you mind showing me?"
"... Not at all sir..."
He motioned me to sit across him, and using the table between us, I showed him all the things that I got from today´s traveling.
His face was calm, and so was his tone, but there was this air around him that made me feel uneasy. I knew that playing fool with him would only cause more trouble than necessary, so I chose to be honest.
"This is amazing. I´ve never seen a gun like this"
"It is a unique piece of weaponry. I had to pay a significant amount of money for her"
"Heh. I´m sure you did. You better take good care of her. Guns like that are hard to find, especially when you plan to use them against the nobles of this country"
A wave of cold sweat passed through me when his eyes landed on mine.
"... So you know..."
He turned the newspaper on the table and showed me the front. There was an image of me beating the absolute crap out of my enemy with the words "Irregular takes down noble blood! The beginning of a revolution?!"
"You were not exactly discreet about it"
"... Yhea... I think I wasn´t..."
I was unsure of what to say, but staying silent would only make things worse, so I started to explain how we got there.
As he heard my story, I noticed how his calm and serious expression gradually changed to something stiff, and then, to a complete release of stress.
"Oh, my spirits... This is just... Wow..."
"... I´m sure I caused you problems with this sir, so allow me to make it up for you. I´ll do anything, but please, don´t vanish me from the Yatra household"
I bowed hoping that my pleas would reach his heart, however, I was quickly sent to despair when I heard him laugh.
"Hahahaha! Don´t worry boy, I´m not mad or anything. I was just curious about why you did all that. Now that you explained things to me, I know that I did the right thing when I accepted to welcome you into my family"
I was taken aback by his words, and yet, I didn´t dare to look for another response. I just accepted what was going on and expressed my gratitude.
"Thank you for your kind words, sir. I will always be grateful to you for not throwing me out"
"Pff-Hahahahaha! Don´t be so formal boy, we are family now!"
I felt his hand on my shoulder, it was big and warm. When I looked at his face I saw a kind smile followed by approving eyes.
For a moment I was left speechless, but I regained my composure and answered with a quiet voice.
"Y-Yes... Thank you..."
"Haha! I never thought you would be so bashful with these things"
I felt my head became hotter.
"Please don´t make fun of me... I´m just not used to these... situations..."
Astolf then stood from his seat and walked to where I was, once he reached my side he crouched to be at the same height. The next thing I knew was that my head was being rubbed by his palm.
"In that case, prepare yourself, because this is just the first of many moments with your new family"
A sharp pain invaded my chest when I heard the word family again. The sudden urge to cry arrived at my eyes with such intensity that my throat got dry and my hands clunched into fists.
I tried to speak but a whirlwind of emotions was making a mess inside my head.
"It´s okay young one, you don´t have to force yourself. Let´s leave time to take care of that. For now, it´s plenty enough on your part to accept us as we are"
I should be the one thanking you for accepting me...
I nodded as tears ran down my cheeks. I could only feel gratitude for this man and his kindness. We stayed in this position for a couple of minutes until I calmed down.
"What are your plans from now on, Dominique?"
"Yes. I plan to be an honor student and accumulate achievements in the academy. I also want to work as a monster hunter and start my own business"
"I can sense your need for money and power, but what are your reasons to go after that?"
"I need to reach someone... To become someone worthy of being by her side... For that purpose, I have to be the best and change things for all irregulars... I must become the shadow of the light that brings a better future"
Astolf seemed shocked by my statement, however, a wide grin appeared on his lips shortly after.
"Heh, you are determined to reach your goal, it´s plenty obvious when looking at you. Very well. I was worried you were doing this out of pure vengeance, but I can see that it´s more complicated than that. You can count on the Yatra household, Dominique. Show me how far you are willing to go to grab that dream of yours"
He finally stood and started to walk away. I quickly left my seat and bowed to his back before his shape disappeared in the shadows.
"I will not disappoint you, sir. Thank you for everything"
I was not sure if he could hear me, but I wanted to say that regardless.
After collecting my stuff I went to my room and prepared everything for tomorrow. However, a sudden knock on my door interrupted me.
"Who could it be at this hour?"
It didn´t matter in any case, if a member of the Yatra house is calling for me I must answer as quickly as possible.
I opened the door and my eyes widened when I saw the person behind the door.
"... Miss Carin?"
She was wearing light clothing, presumably her pajamas. If it wasn´t her, I would have guessed that she had come to spend the night together.
"I heard what you did today in the academy. Quite the disaster if you ask me"
Her tone was as harsh as her expression. I already knew that getting her to like me would take time, so I didn´t feel insulted or anything.
"I´ll try to be more sensitive from now on, Miss Carin"
"... You can stop with the Miss thing"
"Huh?"
I was shocked for the second time in this house but for a very different reason now.
I guess that my confusion was visible on my face because Carin´s cheeks got redder as her voice got louder.
"I said stop calling me Miss! We- We are family now, so you have to call me differently!"
Now I was sure that the embarrassed one was me.
"T-Then... Great sister?"
"No!"
My answer just got me a yell. If Carin was already feeling shy, now I was sure that she was getting pissed.
"Um... Dear sister?"
"Not that one either!"
I stepped on another landmine. I better choose my words more carefully or I could ruin a good opportunity to get along with her. Taking a moment to think about what to say, I finally got my next answer.
"... B-Big sis?"
"... Yhea... That´s fine"
Luckily, it seemed to be the right one.
"Then... I´ll call you that from now on... Should I do that in the academy too?"
"..."
She crossed her arms under her chest and with red cheeks nodded while saying "Just don´t call me for stupid things, lil brother"
"Y-Yes. I´ll be careful"
"All right, that was all. Goodnight!"
She left as quickly as she came.
I closed the door and returned to my bed.
"Big sis... Huh...... It has a nice ring to it..."
Hopefully, I was not the only one thinking that.
I slept with a strange feeling of achievement twirling inside my chest.