Pain

After she finished eating half the lunch, I noticed that she was shivering. I should have covered her up first. Shit. I let her be cold while she ate.

"Maddy, hand me the blanket." I put the fork on top of the packed lunch that Maddy was holding and she quickly passed me the blanket I brought. I wrapped Cera in the cozy blanket I used this morning and made sure to cover her trembling feet.

"Once we get home, I'll draw up a hot bath for you." Wait… I assume she knows how to wash herself, but what if she doesn't? Should I go in with her? I don't know if she's been an orphan her whole life… maybe her parents threw her out when she was younger but taught her a few things?

I was about to reach for the fork again, but the carriage came to a stop and the coachman interrupted our feeding time with some annoying news.

"Miss, you seem to have visitors. There's a carriage right outside the entrance."

Guests? Who the hell is preventing me from taking Cera home? Maddy suddenly spoke up.

"It seems to be the young lady from the Marks family."

Marks family? Ah… there's so much I don't know. I have no idea who that is.

"She's the one that's learning Alm with you. I don't know why she's here though. There's no training session today."

"I see." Well, I knew it was a good age to start training, but doesn't this mean that I started training early on? The rich sure are heartless. Training how to use Alm when you're young is really taxing on the body. I can't believe my parents let me do it.

"What do you want to do, Lady Zara?"

Maddy, why are you so weird? Were you only acting like a weakling earlier today? Why did you change the way you address me? As if reading my thoughts, Maddy quickly spoke up.

"Since Lady Cera will be the new lady of the house, it's my duty to address you properly."

My heart suddenly started beating faster as I held Cera a bit tighter. Right. That makes sense. Cera will be my wife soon!

"Whatever. Ignore her. If she's blocking the entrance with her carriage, let's just walk in. Cera's bath takes priority over whatever nonsense she wants."

"Understood."

Maddy got up and opened the carriage door and I stood up and followed. As I was walking toward the gate, the little girl that was blocking the entrance shot up and started yelling.

"Stop right there, Zara! Today's the day I beat you!" She suddenly burst forward and tried hit me while I was holding Cera! The nerve!! What the hell is wrong with this little girl?! How can she attack me while I'm holding someone! These rich people disgust me.

I instantly formed five ice spikes near my feet and shot them at the stupid little girl charging at me. I suddenly felt my body becoming stronger and a surging power was pushing me to attack.

"Die."

Her guard moved in front of her to protect her from the attack and Maddy took out her scabbard and blocked my ice spikes. Why are they moving so slowly? Since my first attack didn't hit her, I'll just attack again. This time I made red tinted ice spikes that looked like floating ice stalagmites on fire.

"Lady Zara, if you kill her, there will be a lot of consequences. For now, please calm down, you're making Lady Cera uncomfortable."

Shit, I didn't notice it, but because I seriously tried to kill her just now, a bit of bloodlust came out. Since Cera doesn't know how to use Alm yet, bloodlust could hurt her.

"I'm sorry Cera, are you okay? I know you're cold and I made a bit of ice. You're not hurt, are you?"

"I'm okay. The blanket helped." She timidly said as I held her tightly.

"Maddy, take care of the annoying guests, I'll be taking a bath with Cera, so prepare a few sweets and something to drink."

I walked through the open gate and walked along the pathway to the front door.

"From now on, this is your house. You can sign the deed with me later. I don't really like how big it is, but if you like it, then that's all that matters."

I think I'm still a bit agitated, I can feel my Alm stirring inside, it feels like it's itching for a fight. I've never felt like this before, could this be a side effect of coming back? Or does it have to do with the demon's deal? I have to keep it under control somehow.

One of the servants opened the front door and I vertiginously walked toward my room while carrying Cera. I kicked open the bathroom door that was in my room and put Cera down. I quickly closed the door and turned on the hot water while dipping my hand in to make sure it wasn't too hot as it filled the tub. I grabbed the shower head and turned it on while I motioned Cera to come over.

"Come here and lift your arms up, I'll rinse you down first and then we can get you into the tub."

She came next to me and I removed her worn out black rag. All she had under that rag was an old underwear, so I urged her to remove that by herself.

"Close your eyes, we don't want water or soap getting into your eyes." As I started washing her hair and telling her how to shower properly, my head began to pulsate even more. I already felt dizzy and this was making it so much worse. I feel like Alm is about to explode inside my head. I took a deep breath and tried to conceal my pain.

"Do you like it? it smells nice, right? In the future, make sure you don't scrub too hard, especially when you're injured. It's bad for your skin to scrub too hard and since your skin is already really smooth, it'll damage it and make it dry." I continued to wash her while making sure I didn't put too much pressure on her wounds. After I was done, I picked her up and moved her to the tub and gently let the water envelop her body.

"I'll wash your hair so enjoy the hot bath." I started slowly stroking her head and massaging her scalp while I rubbed the shampoo lightly along her hair. After about 10 minutes, her face and shoulders started brimming with shyness, so I took her out and started dabbing her body with a towel and dried her hair. I started feeling logy because of my internal strife and started feeling pain all over my body.

"Here, I'll get you something that fits you better tomorrow, for now you can use my pajamas." I gave her a pair of clean underwear and helped her put on a pair of lose pajamas and button her up. I grabbed some of the ointment Maddy gave me earlier and dragged her to my bed.

Shit, the pain is getting worse. Even my hands are trembling.

"It might sting a bit at first, but it'll feel cool and better after." I placed her next to the head of the bed and had her sit up while I rolled up her sleeves and then started applying the ointment to all the little cuts she had on her arms and hands. Then I sat up on the bed next to her and started along her legs and feet. After a few minutes, I finished applying the ointment and the pain suddenly exacerbated and I couldn't hold it anymore. My body shook and my head fell onto Cera's lap.

"I'm sorry, Cera, I can't hold it anymore… I wanted to get you something to eat… ask Maddy if you need anything…" I started heaving and grunting from the pain. I reached for the bedsheets and violently gripped them. Fuck. I'm going to pass out.