Beauty

Did I hear him right? We'd never had guests over for dinner before. Who would we even invite? Without an answer I asked "Who?" My father said "Don't worry about that, just be nice to their kids. They're around your age so try to make friends." I was not satisfied with this answer but if I showed too much interest, I'd only attract suspicion. It was enough that I'd obviously grown much faster in both mental and physical aspects. Besides, I'd figure out sooner than later. So I said "Okay" in a cute voice that I'd been perfecting to feign naivety.

After lunch, I went out for my lesson with Mr.Giles. I'd been working on solely the stances for sword and bow for a while but it was finally time to move to the next step. Mr.Giles had told me all of this before revealing a wooden dummy. To call it a dummy was high praise since it could be called little more than a tall hunk of wood standing in a field but it was functional. I split my time between first attempting to shoot the dummy with arrows and then attacking it with my sword.

With the bow, I was mostly working on my aim since I already had the strength and stance but there was more to learn with the sword. Mr.Giles had explained three moves with the sword: lunge, parry and slash. The lunge was a basic stabbing attack in which I lunged forwards with my front foot to stab my opponent. The parry, was the act of blocking the opponent's lunge while the slash was a quick horizontal strike. I couldn't block an attack from an inanimate object so I only worked on my lunge and slash which I thought were coming along well.

I was actually beginning to enjoy my sword practice when Giselle came over to retrieve me. I thought it was still too early but Giselle explained that I had to prepare for the dinner. I would first wash off the accumulated grime from practice and then be dressed up. At this point I knew that the guests coming were definitely important people and not just family friends.

—

After finishing my bath, I exited the bathroom to find a set of clothes on my bed. The set consisted of a white collared button up and dark shorts. Once I'd put them on I went to the bathroom to inspect myself in the mirror.

My light blond hair had grown into a curly bob that ended just below my chin. I reached my hand to the end of my still damp curls to feel its softness. My face had matured into that of a definitively cute youth which I was proud of. These good genetics had made me into a narcissist, I could only hope that my luck would remain as I grew up.

I was around four feet tall and my body was skinny and lean with clear muscles developing. These were the result of my tutoring with Mr.Giles as well as my cultivating. My outfit made me look cute and innocent so I decided to play along, I'd have to befriend the guest's children later anyway.

—

Giselle greeted me when I stepped out of my room. She no longer examined my outfit for fault and simply asked that I follow her. She led me to foyer where my mother and father were standing, facing the door. I realized that they were probably awaiting our guests so I took my place between them. We waited for a few minutes before hearing the sounds of horses. At this, we stepped outside the front door.

I saw an elegant carriage approaching, drawn by four black horses. I was intimidated by the sight and was now wishing that I'd figured out who these people were beforehand. They were obviously wealthy but other than that I only knew that they had kids. I could only wait for more to be revealed so I waited.

The carriage halted in front of the main entrance before the driver stepped down to open the carriage door. As the door opened, it revealed a tall, elegant woman stepping out. She had pale skin, light blue eyes and long, silky white hair but she was still young. She wore a white romper with golden embroidery over the edges. Although it was night, an aura of light seemed to surround her. It was this aura that had first obscured her face slightly which was beautiful but what was more interesting were her pointed ears. An elf?

After the woman, followed a man with bronzed skin, short black hair and dark eyes. He wore a long indigo tunic with a similar gold embroidery on the edges that draped over a pair of black pants with a belt tied around his waist. The man was the woman's opposite but both still exuded beauty and power along with having pointed ears.

Behind what I presumed were the parents, came two children. First, a young girl around the age of ten who was her father's spitting image. She had black hair that went to her shoulders, slightly lighter bronze skin and dark eyes. She wore a white tunic over white pants which both had golden embroidery. Second, a boy around the age of seven who looked like his mother. He had neat white hair that fell above his chin, light blue eyes and pale skin. He wore a similar outfit to his sister that only differed in size.

Now that the family had exited, the parents walked ahead with their children following behind them. They put gentle smiles onto their faces as they approached us before stopping to bow slightly.

I had never felt so intimidated before. These people were all so incredibly beautiful that my slight vanity crumpled. As they'd approached I began to step back and involuntarily hide behind my father's leg. I noticed my parents look down at me in surprise but they couldn't focus on me as they had to return the bow. "We're honoured to have you here, your highnesses." said my father. "Please, just call us by our names lord." said the woman in a mellifluous voice but her face lacked warmth. Sensing a stall in the conversation, my mother moved me forward "Introduce yourself dear." I'd never been great at interacting with others. I'd only spoken with my family or employees of my family for the past four years so who could blame me. I realized that I'd been hiding my flushed face behind my father and became even more flushed. But I had to introduce myself.

"Hello, I'm Ch- Charlie Byron, pleased to meet you" Oh my god this was excruciating. I couldn't even meet their gaze. "Hello Charlie, I'm Frieda and this is my husband, Ahren. How old are you?" I rose my gaze to meet the woman who was now crouched before me. She had a smile on her face that seemed more genuine than before which calmed me a bit. "I'm four years old." Her smile faltered for a second before recovering. "You're very big for your age Charlie, your parents must be very proud." Frieda rose from her crouch to face my parents who watched the exchange with interest. It wasn't every day that their child acted his age.

"Shall we?" said Ahren to shake my parents out of their thoughts. "Yes of course" said my father before leading us inside.

In the dining hall, my father had taken the head seat with Ahren at his right while Frieda took the opposite side with my mother on her right. I was seated between my mother and the young boy while the girl was across the table from me, next to her father.

The food had been brought out and we began to eat when I felt a piercing gaze. I turned to my right to see the young boy glaring at me.