As his carriage approaches, I cannot help but brace myself for the worse. This seems too much, but at the same time, it seems like it is not enough. Maids line up to our left and butler to our right while my family members stand in the group's centre. We are all wearing our best clothing and personally inspected by my parents. It still feels like it is not good enough to greet my grandfather. As expected of grandfather, he does not hold back when he finally arrives.
Twenty knights in shiny golden armour ride in front of my grandfather's carriage, and twenty more ride behind. Even his carriage us over the top, being pure white with golden lines and expensive-looking jewels built into the design. The man himself looks just as wealthy as his carriage when he steps out wearing a suit and holding a walking cane topped with a diamond. It is so over the top that it suits him to the T.
"Welcome to my home, father," My dad bows his head, and I follow my mother's lead in curtsying, but my eyes are focused on the boy climbing from the carriage.
Noah Lamonia is the game's second love interest and the only one I am not worried about. He is the same age as me with short brown hair and matching brown eyes. He keeps his head low, looking the opposite of my grandfather how holds his head up high, looking down smugly on us. If everything happens as it did in the game, then we should have a good relationship growing up. But for some reason, when our eyes meet, he is glaring at me.
"Your daughter is going to be a beauty just like her mother," I keep my head low as I feel his eyes looking me over. "You did well to secure her engagement to the prince."
"Thank you, father," My dad weakly smiles. "I'm sure you must be tired from the journey, so please let my servants take your belongings to your room and follow me to the lounge where we have prepared refreshments for you."
"I hope your servants won't make the same mistake as last time," Grandfather warns as he walks past us.
"I made sure they won't, father,"
Despite this being our home, we still must follow Grandpa, who acts as if he owns this place. And, in case you are wondering about the mistake grandpa mentioned was putting sugar and milk in his tea. For some reason, he likes it black.
"After we eat, I want to see how your daughter is progressing with her magical training," I lower my head. I have been holding back during my training and making sure to appear weak to avoid grandpa's attention, but it seemed that backfired too. "I struggle to believe a member of our proud family is incapable of using magic, so I will be training her personally during my stay."
<0>
"Come on, you can at least create a ball of fire!" I winch as grandpa's foot hits my ribs. "Even the lowest born present can use magic that basic!"
I stand up when he backs away, doing my best to ignore the burning sensation in my side. This has been going on for an hour now. Grandpa demands I great a ball of fire, but I mess up only creating a few embers that quickly go out. In reality, I can do it, but I refuse to. If I do, then grandpa will have me burn down people's homes whenever they cannot pay back their debts. I refuse to do something so evil, so no matter what he does to me, I will never cast a proper spell.
"Father, I'm she will get it," I look to the side where my parents and new brother are watching, but they are just as powerless against grandpa as I am. "Let her rest for a few minutes. I am sure she will be able to do as you wish."
"This is the problem," Grandpa glares at him. "You have been too soft on her. She is going to stay out here all night if she has to in order to get this right." He turns back to me. "Again!"
I fail again, making only a few ripples of orange light appear for a split second. This time, his cane hits me, knocking me to the ground. I can taste blood in my mouth from when I landed on the ground, but I still pick myself up. It does not matter what he does. I will never use magic for him. Gritting my teeth, I fail again at his command, earing another strike from grandpa's cane.
"Father, please," My father steps further. "If you scar her, then the royal family could annul the engagement."
"If she cannot use such basic magic, she is not worthy of such an engagement," I am kicked back down as I try to stand. "Noah, come here and show her how it is done."
"Yes, grandfather," Noah obediently obeys, stepping forward.
Noah's magic is just as impressive as it was in the game. He effortlessly creates seven balls of fire, each the size of a fist, and lunches them at each target. If I were acting like my character did in the game, I could perform such a feat, but I would never let him see me us such power. Getting back to my feet, I watched as each of the targets set up melted. Noah shoots me a look of smug superiority as he returns to my parent's side.
What happened to him? He was never like this in the game. He was quiet and reserved in the game, acting kind where I was mean. I never saw him act this way, no matter what route I took while playing. Is it because I am acting weak? Did grandpa mould him to make up for my lack of talent because I kept playing down my talent?
"Unlike her, Noah has grown strong under my guidance," Grandpa tells my parents. "By the time I leave in the morning, I will make sure your daughter can use at least the most basic of magic." He turns to me again while raising his cane. "Again!"
I fail and am not to the ground feeling something warm start to trickle down from my back. I am bleeding. After finding blood on my finger, I can confirm I am bleeding from that last hit when I check that warm feeling. I stare at my hand only to be struck again and ordered to stand up. Slowly I get to my feet, feeling my back stinging. My side is on fire, and there is a painful sensation whenever I breathe.
I look over to Noah and see him looking like he is enjoying my pain. He really has changed from the boy in the game. I had thought I did not need to worry about him but instead, he might be the most dangerous of the love interests now. Unfortunately, my lack of attention on the training earns me another strike from grandpa's cane.
"Focus and cast the spell!" Grandpa yells as I pick myself up. "You will be standing here until you can do it."
<0>
Even at sunset, grandfather still has me training. My parents have one inside, so it is just me, Noah, and grandpa. While eating dinner with grandpa, Noah watches as I stand with a growling stomach, still pretending I cannot use magic. Everything hurts, and my mouth waters at the smell of their dinner, but I will not give in. No matter what he does to me, I will not show him my true power.
"Again!" I lost track of the number of times I have heard him yell at me.
The dress I was wearing was ruined with blood stains and torn in places. I would have had a scar on my back like my father if I had not learned healing magic. I cannot use that magic now, but once grandpa is gone, I will make sure to take care of my wounds.
"Again!" Grandpa yells at me after I deliberately mess up again.
I nearly collapsed as I struggled to stay awake. Grandpa has not let me rest, drink or even eat. I mess up my spell again, earning an angry yell from grandpa. He storms over to me and slaps me hard enough I lose consciousness. When I wake up, I can taste blood in my mouth, and I find myself on the floor, but grandpa is gone. Instead, I find myself looking up and meeting Noah's eyes. I am on his lap. I quickly sit up, scaring Noah so much he drops the book he was reading.
"You're awake," Noah says with a blank look on his face. "Good."
"Where's grandpa?" I ask. Looking around, I cannot spot him anywhere.
"He went to bed after he hit you," Noah answers. "You need to get better. Grandpa is talking about disowning you if you keep messing up." That might be better. If I am kicked out of this family, I can avoid any death flags that might accrue. Noah offers me a drink, and I gladly take it. "Why are you messing up on purpose?"
"How did you know?" I was sure I was convincing in my act.
"I can sense magic in people," I am an idiot. That was one of the unique points of his character. Noah was born with a rare gift that only one in every ten thousand people has. He can see people's magic and tell with a single look how strong they are. "I have not told grandfather about this."
"Why?" I thought he hated me, so why is he protecting me?
"Because I did not want you to be hurt," Noah answers, smiling for the first time. "I'm sorry for how I treated you today, but grandfather would have punished me if I showed you any kindness." So, grandpa really is behind his personality shift. "I do not want to be punished again." He hugs his knees to his chest. "It hurts and is scary."
"Did he burn you?" I ask, and Noah nods. Noah was severely burned by grandpa in the game, leaving a scar on his arm that the heroine heals. "Show me."
It is even worse than I thought. This is probably because I am seeing it for real instead of on a monitor, but I cannot help but winch at the sight of the scar. I take a deep breath and get a hold of myself. Lightly touching his wound, I use my magic to heal the scar until no traces of it behind. I smile when Noah looks at his arm, seeing no traces of his wound behind.
"I know you could use magic,"
That voice. Both Noah and I jump as grandpa suddenly emerges from the shadows. He saw that! He saw me use magic! This is bad at this rate. He is going to recruit me to enforce his debt collection. I jump to my feet along with Noah and wait for him to reach us. This is it. I really messed up this time. Grandpa grabbed my arm hard enough to make me winch and leave bruises behind.
"Tomorrow you will both come with me, and we will have a special training session and this time..." He lets me go, but his look is so strong I could not move. "If you act weak again, you will die."
Grandpa leaves us alone, disappearing into the shadow once again. What is he going to do to us?
<0>
Thank you for reading, and what do you think grandpa has installed for Noah and Angelina?