An Innocent Request

…

"Fei, when is sis Eyrie coming?" Carlos asked.

He was sitting in the third-floor lounge with his legs crossed before him. His notebooks and textbooks were sprawled across the glass table, and there was a little piece of blue paper in his hands.

He was folding some origami for his eldest sister, who was going to be coming to the mansion today.

Actually, the boy was supposed to be doing his homework, but he had excused himself by saying that he needed some time to rest before discussing some important matters with Eyrie and Carol. Facing the stubborn child, the nanny could only silently shake her head and relent.

In the end, Mrs. Kleinen – the nanny – decided to get some refreshments from the cook and left.

"The appointed time is in 4 minutes and 28 seconds."

Fei looked at her master from his side and carefully said, "Master, this is the 24th time you have asked me this question in the past 30 minutes."

Carlos pouted. "I was just asking…"

The young master was anxiously waiting for Eyrie's arrival. He had something important to ask of his sisters, and he wanted to it in person.

Carol, his second eldest sister, had already arrived and was sitting in the seat across from him with a book in her hands. In fact, she has been like that ever since she came an hour ago.

The young woman now attended university at a prestigious school a couple of countries away, majoring in the field of mechanical engineering. She didn't know what matter her brother had called her over to discuss or how important it was, but nonetheless, she rushed over by plane immediately after hearing his urgent message.

To her, travelling for a few hours wasn't too much of a sacrifice if it meant that she could see her beloved brother. In fact, he was also the reason that she still lived in the Rochester mansion despite her university being so far away.

If it weren't for the fact that she had fallen in love with a very very specific specialization of mechanical engineering that few colleges in Country A offered-- with the ones that did offer it being subpar in terms of community, environment, and facilty, Carol would've never decided to go to Country D for university.

The young woman controlled her patience, and tolerantly waited for her elder sister to come.

There was a knock on the door to the lounge.

Carlos brightened. Finally! "Come in!"

Seeing the person who entered, his good mood instantly vanished. "Mrs. Kleinen, why did it have to be you?" he groaned.

"Young master, I have brought some refreshments for you and the second miss from the chef." The amiable old woman chuckled and set down a tray filled with light delicacies onto an empty area of the table.

But just as she set the tray down, she suddenly gasped. "Oh dear! How could I have forgotten?"

Mrs. Kleinen looked at Carlos and said, "I forgot to prepare some snacks for Mrs. Wagner* (Eyrie's full name is now Eyrie Wagner after her marriage)! I will be right back."

Carol raised her eyes from her book and harrumphed. "Don't go! To make us wait for so long, she doesn't deserve any specialized refreshments."

The nanny chuckled helplessly. "Even if you say that, as the Rochester nanny, I can't shirk away from my duties to make the children feel more comfortable."

With that, she elegantly walked out of the door while biding the children a farewell. As the Rochester nanny who had taken care of all three Rochester kids since their infancy, Mrs. Kleinen was able to be a bit more casual with the kids than the other servants. Even after years without being in the nanny's care, the children were still very close to the nanny.

"Then why did you even mention it in the first place?" The second miss grumbled.

Carlos nodded in indignance. "Fei, how long till sis Eyrie comes?"

"The appointed time is in 2 minutes and 13 seconds."

Just then, the door opened again.

The boy furrowed his eyebrows. "Oh, Mrs. Kleinen, what's wrong this time? You couldn't have possibly finished getting the refreshments so quic—"

He left his sentence unfinished as his eyes widened. "Sis?"

The half-opened door revealed a brunette with foggy gray eyes. The young woman seemed so frail like she would fall over and faint at the slightest touch. Her clothes were very casually picked, with no regards to the current fashion trends. There were dark circles under her eyes, and her pretty, long nails were bitten short.

"Sis! Did you get sick over the past few days? Or did your old illness relapse again!?" Carlos was frantic as he got up and ran over to his eldest sister.

The other two people in the room were in a similar state of shock, but unlike Carlos, they remained in their positions.

They hadn't seen Eyrie in this state in years – 5 years, to be exact.

"I…" Eyrie looked at her younger brother who was so worried about her and started. But when her gaze flew around the room and landed on a particular mutant, she started shivering and could not finish her words.

After much difficulty, the young woman pulled Carlos out of the room, where she wouldn't see that accursed person, and spoke. "Carlos, can I speak with you privately?"

Although confused, the boy nodded and gestured for his older sister to continue speaking.

Eyrie hesitated for a moment, before hardening her will. "I wish to speak with you without F-Feixin loitering around."

What? "Yeah, she isn't here right now… So you can speak."

"N-No… I know F-Feixin can hear us at this distance. Please. Get her to go so far away that she can't hear or sense or conversation. Please, Carlos."

Before Carlos could reply, the door beside them banged open. "I refuse!"

It was Fei.

*I was so, so, so tempted to have her last name be 'Carroll,' but I stopped myself. XD