The tower?

As Nina and the man approached a distant tower within the same estate, she began hitting his back. He laughed and said,

"Sorry, sorry! I just had to let your boss know in case you start missing some of your shifts trying to watch the guards practice."

Her face flushed even more, and she started hitting him harder.

Then he stopped in front of a metal door, unlike any they had passed so far. He gestured to Nina and said,

"Nina, don't forget to lock the door after I step in."

Nina's expression shifted, becoming more serious, and she nodded in understanding.

Pushing the door open, they entered a single circular room with metal covering the ground, ceiling, and walls. Moreover, the room had no windows.

The man stepped inside, and as soon as he did, Nina closed the door and locked it.

Soon enough, Nina began to hear the screams of the old man...

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"Princess, it's morning. You need to get up for your first lesson," said Shayla as she tidied up the room.

"A little bit more, Granny. I think I'm sick," the princess replied.

"Princess, I know, and you know it's very hard for you to get sick. If you were sick, at least the workers in your service would have gotten sick too." Shayla retorted.

"Fine, but you have to let me play with Nina late." the princess insisted.

"As long as it doesn't interfere with her work, it's fine."

A very young girl got up from the bed, dressed with Shayla's help, and began walking toward an outside field.

"Granny, where is dad at?" 

"He is working outside. As the young master, he has many responsibilities to take care of." 

"Will he be back later? I fell asleep while he was reading The Green Wizard yesterday." 

"I'm sure he will, Princess. I'm sure he will..." Shayla replied softly.

On the field, there was a lone figure wearing a cloak that covered their face, making it difficult to judge their appearance. Shayla's smile dimmed slightly, and she held the young girl's hand tightly as she asked,

"Are you the new instructor?"

A muffled voice came from the figure.

"That is what I'm here for."

The figure's presence was dominating on the field. Shayla held the girl's hand tighter and said,

"I need to see your face to make sure you are the one we hired."

At that moment, a guard wearing armor with a tattered box insignia walked toward them and said,

"Don't worry, Resident Fossil. He entered the estate with the Family Head. He is the right person."

"See, I told you I was hired." the figure said.

Shayla was still uneasy but instructed the little girl to greet her instructor. Then, she walked slowly toward the guard and whispered,

"Jaron, keep an eye on them. I need to inform the young master."

As she tried to walk away, a hand gripped her shoulder, stopping her from moving forward.

"Do not tell the young master. The Family Head instructed that other sorcerers should not be aware of this person's presence." Jaron said.

Shayla grew annoyed but kept her voice low, whispering harshly,

"What do you mean, don't tell him? His daughter will start learning magic from someone he doesn't know? And how would you stop the princess from telling the young master?"

"The Family Head said he will talk to his granddaughter about the matter." the guard replied.

Shayla, enraged, pulled him into the hall and shouted,

"What do you mean he will talk to her? Have you ever seen him do it ever since the young miss...?"

"I'm following orders," the guard said firmly.

Shayla started walking toward the main entrance of the estate while Jaron shouted after her,

"Don't cause a scene, old woman!"

She replied without looking back,

"Have you seen yourself recently? You aren't doing much better either, old man."

Walking toward the stairs, the old maid struggled a bit to climb them.

"This work is way too demanding. And now, to increase the load on my back, they want me to hide the future of a child from their parents? Haven't they seen the young master suffer enough from the loss of the young miss? Haven't they seen what happened to his body? And now this 'Grandpa' wants to play the good guy?"

As she mumbled, swift footsteps began to follow hers. She didn't give it much thought, assuming it was Nina.

"Nina, if this happens to be my last day on this job, make sure to take care of the princess," Shayla said.

I didn't care about the emotions she was showing right now. It seemed like she was struggling to get my attention by trying to walk in front of me, but I just kept passing her. The girl had too much to say through her emotions, but alas, she couldn't utter a single word from birth.

"Don't try to persuade me. I need to give this Family Head a piece of my mind," Shayla muttered.

Soon enough, she stood in front of the main office, where Gerald stood as the guard. He nodded toward her and Nina.

"I haven't received news that you are back to take care of the Family Head." Gerald said.

"As the resident head maid, I can come by to report at any time. I think that's fair." Shayla replied.

"Well, yeah, that makes sense. Let me inform the head of your arrival first. He seems busy ever since that sorcerer entered our estate a few days ago." Gerald said.

"No need to tell him anything. I'll just go."