NOVEL NEXT B2 | Chapter 30 - Not a Babysitter
Cassandra
Year 820 | Month 5 | Day 8
Immediately after figuring out who the girl is, I turn around and begin to rush out of the room. Only for said girl to move rather fast and catch up to me, tugging on the cloth at my waist and making me stop. Then she moves forwards and wraps her arms around me in a tight hug without saying a word.
I grit my teeth a little before taking a deep breath and deciding that getting her clothed is more important right now than telling Dad who she is. Assuming he hasn’t already figured it out, what with anyone being able to…
Oh.
Nevermind. I forgot that only Sins can identify other Sins.
So it’s not likely he’s figured it out yet.
I pat her on the head, making her relax a little. Then I pick her up into my arms and bring her back over to the bed before placing her down again.
“Finish getting dressed, okay?” I half tell, half ask her while taking my mask off and putting it in my storage ring. An act that seems to surprise Gluttony as she blinks up at me for several seconds afterwards.
Oh, right. She hasn’t seen my entire face yet.
The young-looking woman reaches for my face before cupping my cheek. Then as if that wasn’t enough, she starts to poke at and prod my face in general.
I grab her hand and move it away before asking, “Can you finish getting dressed?”
She nods her head, retracting her hands and beginning to finish getting dressed.
And while she does that, I can’t help but think about how she’s acted so far.
Actions that I don’t particularly like, considering the fact that she seems to be treating me as some sort of mother or older sister figure. Despite the fact that we were just fighting to the death not even an hour ago.
The girl – and I can’t help but think of her as a child since she looks so young and acts like this – also appears oddly attached to me. Clearly without any intentions of letting anyone else get close to her.
My hand almost instinctively begins to reach for my mask in my ring, only to pause.
Right. Just took it off.
Probably shouldn’t put it back on yet. Especially since the girl seems to like seeing my face without my mask.
It’s also likely not a good idea to put on my mask every time I want to frown at her or someone else.
That aside, if I had to guess, she’s probably clinging to me for one of two reasons.
One of which being that we’re both Sins. A theory that will be put to the test when I show her to Pride.
The other reason being that strange exchange of energies we had after our battle finished.
Could be either.
I am not taking her with me everywhere, though. So she’s gonna have to learn to be away from me.
But for now…
My eyebrow twitches when the girl finishes getting herself dressed and walks up to me before holding her arms up. Like she wants me to pick her up.
Right. I can’t think of this girl as an adult.
She’s nothing but a child.
I purse my lips a little while trying to remember how old the daughter of the noble family was. And after several seconds, during which the girl lowers her arms and raises them again without a word, showing impatience, I remember that she should be about seventeen years old.
So maybe she really is just a child.
A teenager, but still a child, nonetheless.
I finally pick her up, making the girl show a look of satisfaction on her face even if she doesn’t smile. Then I walk over to the door and then out through the hallway onto the deck again. At which point I find Dad talking with some of the soldiers as the ship begins to move towards the coast. Likely for my sake, since I’m not gonna be staying on this ship.
“Now that Gluttony has been handled,” Dad says as I arrive at their little meeting place near the edge of the ship, “we’ll need to deal with finishing off the invaders’ forces.”
“Do you know how strong the angels are?” I ask, making the attention of everyone here, including Dad, Charles, Rodrick, and some high ranking officers and nobles, turn towards me. Or, rather, towards the girl in my arms, then towards me. “I need to know if I’m strong enough to defeat them.”
Dad frowns at the girl who is actually now sleeping in my arms with her face once again buried in my chest as he answers, “I think you should be able to take one on if it’s single combat.” He pauses for a second while pointing at the girl. “So what are you going to do about her?”
I glance down at the girl in my arms before looking at Dad again and saying, “This girl is a Glendell.” Everyone tenses up at that for a moment, only to change the way they look at her into a look of pity instead. “I think it’d be best to send her to the castle, just like Pride. Maybe give her a contract as well.”
Dad slowly nods his head and murmurs, “Yes, that sounds like a good idea.”
“She looks a little attached to you,” Rodrick comments with a brow raised.
I nod in agreement, frowning slightly at the girl. Then I just shake my head and look around for a moment, quickly zeroing in on Duchess Darksong, a close friend to Dad, before stepping up and handing the girl to the duchess.
“Please take care of the girl while I’m fighting,” I tell her, making the slightly elderly woman wearing armor nod her head without saying a word.
Rodrick doesn’t stay quiet, though, as he says, “I doubt the girl will be very happy when she wakes up and finds you missing.”
“I’m not a babysitter,” I state rather bluntly with a frown on my face. “And now I have some angels I need to deal with.”
I turn towards Dad as I ask, “Please point me in their direction.”