(Vale POV)
When I woke up in the morning, the morning sun fills the room with light and falls upon my body.
Sitting up and stretching, I open my eyes to find myself in an unknown room.
Getting up from the bed that I am lying on, I stretch my calves by touching my toes and try to remember what happened. I slowly remember everything over the next few minutes before staring at my leg, wondering how it was fixed.
Since I did not feel any more hunger than usual, I could rule out a healing pill, as it takes the body's energy to heal.
The system or my blessing was not it either, as my system would have given me a log of that when I woke up. That only leaves Lou Xia, as she was the only one who would have done something.
As I was stretching and recalling yesterday's events, I heard the door open.
Looking up, I saw the maid I fought in the small room, following behind the maid who greeted Lou Xia and me when we entered the house yesterday.
While I was fairly sure that they would not attack me now, I still reached for the rifle in my inventory, only for there to be nothing. Slight panic gripped me for a second before I calmed down and analyzed the situation, finding that my current state was due to my instincts as a kitsune. However, my little plight did not go unnoticed by the two, and they both stopped a small distance from me. When they noticed my attention was finally on them, the one in the lead spoke.
"We are sorry for our mistakes and transgressions against you. For this, we will try our hardest to make sure that you will be taken care of while you stay here, but enough of that, I will introduce us now. My name is Cynthea Xia, and I am the head maid of the Xia family. The one next to me is Silica Xia, who is in charge of training new maids and retainers of the Xia household. She will be the one in charge of your care while you stay here in an attempt to atone for her mistakes." Cynthea explained with her head bowed, and Silica was doing the same one step behind her.
"That's fine. Just make sure that when someone says that you have made a mistake or that they have something to say, you listen first." I explain as calmly as I can, given the situation.
"We have already taken to adjusting the protocol, but our orders will still come first. Speaking of which, we were ordered to assist you with getting ready for the morning meal and guide you around the estate." Cynthea clarified for me and explained why they were here. Then they walked towards me and stood on either side of me. As they grabbed my arms, I got a foreboding feeling that I would not like what came next.
_____________________________________________________
I was correct that I would not like what came after that, as I was now dressed in a simple dress with a hole cut in the back for my tail to poke through.
I would not like to relive the process of getting where I am with wearing this. Now, however, I was walking down a hallway with Cynthea guiding me to the dining room.
As I was walking, I was able to see just how much like a Western-style mansion this was. With the large floor-to-ceiling arched windows on one side and the paintings, tapestries, and artifacts displayed on the other side, it felt like I was in some webcomic set during the Renaissance or some sort of noble family.
I did not think it would be like this when I said that I wanted to go to a cultivation world, though it seems to be more of a mix between traditional Eastern and Western culture, from the Bronze Age to the modern age.
I was pulled out of my thoughts when I heard the footsteps next to me come to a stop. Looking in front, I see a large door with Cynthea standing next to it, waiting for me to focus.
With my attention now on her, she opens the door, revealing a dining room like one you would see in some medieval castle or estate. It has a long table with many chairs beside it and only one side set for a meal. The wall on one side is covered with floor-to-ceiling windows like those in the hallway, leaving plenty of light coming into the room.
Sitting at the far end of the table is a man with hair similar to Lou Xia's but nothing else in common from what I could see. Next to him, on the side of the table where their backs were to the windows, was a woman I would have mistaken for Lou Xia if it wasn't for the differing hair color and the way she held herself.
Then, next to the woman was Lou Xia herself, wearing a fancy dress and looking like she would run as far away from here as she could when given the chance.
Cynthea then led me to the side that no one was sitting on and pulled a chair out for me. Sitting on the chair, I waited for what I was supposed to do, as I was not used to being in a situation like this before. This led to the entire room being quiet for a few moments, and it felt like they stretched on for hours before someone said something.
"I am guessing that you do not know about our customs, but even if we already know your name, it is at least proper for you to introduce yourself once." The man at the head of the table said, reminding me that I did not introduce myself in yesterday's mess.
Standing up, I placed my hand on my chest and bowed slightly while introducing myself. "My name is Valaria. It is a pleasure to meet you." With my introduction, I heard Lou Xia chook back a laugh, and both the man and woman looked like they had eaten something sour. The man then motioned for me to sit back down before speaking himself.
"I am Luo Xia's father, Quan Xia, and this is my wife, Xuan Yaling. We are both sorry for what happened earlier, as it was a standing order I had given." Quan Xia introduced himself and his wife while explaining the cause of what happened.
"At least I am not dead," I responded as the room went quiet once more. It seemed that they were not expecting that response and had no way to start the conversation again by the time the food arrived.
When the food was placed on the table, Quan Xia tasted it before trying to start the conversation again, but I was too busy eating the food to pay attention.
It had been a while since I had eaten any proper food, and I was almost crying. While I was enjoying the proper food, the family had to drop the conversation entirely, causing Lou Xia to hold back another laugh.
Once I finished the meal, I looked at Lou Xia and asked, "Would you be willing to show me where the Library is today?"
"Sure, that would be fine." Lou Xia responded between mouthfuls of food. Her answer was so fast that anyone could tell what her actual intention was.
"Not so fast, dear. We still have things we need to discuss today." Her father interrupted our conversation, but before I could say anything, she had already responded to him.
"Sorry, Father, but this is a sect mission that needs to be completed as soon as possible, so I have to show her around the sect." She said, jumping up from her chair and running around to my side of the table.
"Now, I am sure that you could wait for some time and don't need to leave right at this moment to guide someone." He tried to persuade his daughter but instantly failed because of what she said next.
"That might be true most of the time, but not this time because of what Vale's special ability is. See you when I get back." She almost shouted while grabbing my arm and running out of the room. This led to running through the house for a couple of minutes before she pulled me into one of the side rooms.
In this room were a couple of couches and a small coffee table. She then handed me one of the robes I was given yesterday and told me to put it on as it was Sect rules.
After changing my clothes, I was handed my rifle, which I put in my inventory.
With that finished, she pulled me to the door and the back of the room leading to the house's exterior side. From her, she pulled me to the fence and climbed over, helping me to do the same. I was confused about why we had done this, but I was now on my way to the Library, so I decided to ask later.