"T-This is Rollie... he's my new f-friend." She trailed off and looked down with tears in her eyes.
I wasn't sure why she was about to cry but her father's next words made sense as to why.
"Get rid of it," He said plainly, "there is no merit in keeping this thing. It will only dirty the Sivillion household."
"B-But..." Kyra kept her head down, unsure what to do.
"The previous 'friends' you've shown me have all died an early death or ran away, what makes this one any different?" He continued to scold her.
The Mistress and Kyle continued to eat it up as tears began to crawl down Kyla's face and her lip quivered.
"You ungrateful child!" The Mistress had to chime in with a flick of her fan, "are you defying the word of your Lord Father?"
"I'm sorry..." She squeaked out, much to her stepmother's delight.
"Excuse my intrusion, my Lord," Butler Herald suddenly interrupted, "It is my fault for allowing that creature to be in Lady Kyra's possession."
The Mistress quickly hid a scowl with her fan as everyone put their attention on Herald who stood forward out of the line of butlers with a deep bow.
"Head Butler Herald, is there a reason why you would let a dirty creature into this estate? Not to mentioned giving it to my daughter to hold when she should be greeting me?" The Lord directed a glare to the butler who stood straight.
Herald seemed a little tense but he kept his eyes on his master despite what might happen to him if he gives an unsatisfactory answer.
"My Lord, it happened like this..." Herald began going into a summarized story of how him and Kyra took a trip into town in preparation for the Lord's eventual return.
On their way back it rained and one of the wheels of their carriage cracked. While the two of them stood out under an umbrella while it was being fixed with a spare, Kyra heard me, the pitiful creature, cry out and saved me.
Since then, she had been adamant about bringing me back to health, even more so than previous 'friends' that Herald added. I was concerned that I wasn't her first pet but I got the feeling that Herald was trying to cover for both of us in someway.
He was a good man, willing to take the blame, or at least part of the blame, for Kyra. Herald also had to add that I acted like a lucky charm for her, helping her to finish her first spells, causing her father to nod slowly.
He stroked his beard for a moment.
"We will discuss your punishment for bringing a wild animal into the estate later, Herald," the Lord commented before turning back to Kyra, "I will not repeat myself again Kyra, get rid of it."
As Herald moved back in line, Kyra was still fixed on the butler for a moment before looking up at her father. She squeezed my shell as tight as she could and opened her mouth a few times looking like she was trying to muster up courage.
I nudged her slightly, hoping it would help rather than hinder, as she finally spoke back.
"P-Please let me keep him father. I-I promise to feed him and clean him everyday. I-I'll make sure he doesn't cause any trouble and I'll-I'll get boots for him so he doesn't scratch up the floor. And- And-" Kyra scrambled for more things to promise before her father held up his hand.
She immediately shut her mouth and nervously shifted in place. Her father stroked his beard again in thought while the Mistress seemed to whisper a bit too loudly how disgusting I was.
I mean, I know I'm not a fluffy bunny or anything but I think I'm pretty cute. I'm not something that can die so easily either and I don't move very fast so its not like they can't just pick me up and take me elsewhere.
Kyra seemed ready to cry again as she hung her head down again.
"It seems that this 'friend' is less... whimsical... than previous." He commented, much to his Mistress' shock, "Let me see."
The Lord stepped forward to his youngest who nervously showed me off. I instinctively curled into a ball with him being so close. He was powerful, much more than I was for sure, and it felt like I was in front of a predator.
It was hard to explain but I felt my life was threatened just by being near him and it was much worse up close. My instincts told me to fight for my life and run but I fought against those feelings, opting for hunkering down.
"R-Rollie! F-Father wants to see you, d-don't make a ball." Kyra seemed worried and looked to see if her father would get angry.
"It's alright," her father said and held his hands out.
Kyra hesitantly handed me over and there was a stark contrast in her arms compared to his. Immediately, I could feel some sort of foreign substance invade my body. It made me shiver like before, like this predator was searching my being for the most delicious parts.
It was uncomforting and I couldn't help but let out a strained 'kwoo.' After a few moments, the strange substance left and I found myself back in Kyra's arms. I felt nauseous and tired but peeking my head out of my shell made it seemed like my attempts were somewhat successful.
"It seems you found a baby Armored Raptor." the Lord began as he stepped back, "weak, but suitable for carrying luggage. They can sometimes be used as a shield if they grow big enough but its not likely. If you plan to keep it, you are fully responsible for it. If you do not see it by your side in the foreseeable future, get rid of it now.
"Also, give it a new name. Rollie is not a name fitting of a noble."
"T-Then what should I call him?" Kyra asked hesitantly.
She may have liked Rollie but her father seemed to be on the same page as me when it came to naming. It was more of a nickname than a real name.
"Hmm... if you wish to keep it similar to Rollie, how about Rolland. That way you can use Rollie as a nickname."
Kyra gazed up at her father with a bit of admiration after hearing my new name. It wasn't perfect but it was better, so I can't really complain.
"T-Thank you, father." Kyra bowed slightly and stayed like that for a bit to hide a smile.
Lord Sivillion nodded before turning to the rest of his children and servants.
"Thank you all for the warm welcome, you may continue your duties."
Everyone bowed back as the Lord ascended the grand staircase behind his children with his wife and eldest children in tow with Herald trailing behind. The Mistress didn't forget one last glare at Kyra while the little girl quickly walked away toward the staircase leading up to her bedroom.
She wanted out of there desperately and I could see why. I was the center of attention for just a portion of that time but even that was deathly terrifying. Kyra had to deal with that but also her siblings constantly judging her. Not to mention the Mistress who seemed to have it out for her.
I didn't have the full picture of what the relationships were in this household but I'm sure there's a reason for their hatred/dismissal of Kyra. Maybe it was your classic, 'I'm threatened by your existence' kind of hatred but that seemed a bit dumb considering she was supposedly the daughter of a commoner.
There was definitely more to the story but I'd probably find out more about it later. The maids loved to gossip anyways.
Kyra brought us up the stairs and down the hall to her room, promptly shutting the door. She then tossed me on her bed, following up with her own jump before crying/groaning into the bed. She didn't seem to care about the condition of her clothes or makeup but I wouldn't either after what we went through.
I was ready for a good nap but we were both interrupted by a maid who knocked on the door. It wasn't Mary unfortunately, and what proceeded after was a long, deathly silent undressing and redressing of Lady Kyra into a more casual dress.
The maid strictly did her job, except for the occasional glance over at me before reminding Kyra of her study session soon and left. Once the maid left, she jumped on the bed again and groaned into a pillow and flailing her arms and legs in protest.
Must suck to have to study after that. I'm glad I'm not a human in this case so I don't have to worry about anything really. Keep it up kid.
Kira turned her head over, squishing her face against the pillow as she looked down depressed. Her eyes were a bit puffy from the bit of crying she did and she wasn't her cheerful self.
"Why did father do that..." She questioned.
'I'm sure there's a reason.' I wish I could say. I could only nuzzle my armored head against her hand to comfort her. From the way Herald interrupted to the Lord accepting his story like it was nothing, it felt like the two of them understood each other quite well.
Then again, Herald was still getting punished so I was unsure what his self-sacrificing purpose was other than to take some heat off of Kyra. On top of that, it was surprising and worrying just how much her father was willing to talk to her compared to his other children.
Well, I couldn't figure something like that out for myself anytime soon. I'm sure with my introduction as Rolland to this house, I'll get more attention than I wish for. Especially from Kyle, yuck! No idea what that kid's issue was but I'm sure it was due to his mother's influence.
I sighed to myself and made a mental note of all these interactions and hopefully in the next few days I could get some more answers. In the meantime, both me and Kyra took a nap before a knock woke us up and a maid came to escort the sleepy Lady to her next tutoring lesson.