After a short wait, the small door on the outside of the huge house opens. It's starting to get pretty dark out, halfway between the tenth and eleventh bells, when a woman steps out, looking between a sheet of paper in her hand, and me. "Aria?" she asks, with an odd, confused tone.

"...Yes...?"

She closes her eyes and gives a small shake of her head, then looks down at me once more, studying me. Without a word, she grabs my hands and moves them to hook those weird loop things off my shoulders around them. Oh right, I completely forgot about those after I met Nana. Once they're hanging across my wrists again like earlier, the woman brushes at my hair, smoothing it down with her hands briefly, before nodding. "Come," she says simply, and I follow her through the door.

Like last time, I'm led through a series of narrow, bare halls, no carpet or decorations of any sort, just the occasional glowing light along the wall or ceiling to cast the halls in a dim glow. We don't go far before slipping through another door that leads out into another fancy noble hall, and just like last time, there's a pretty easy to spot door not too far away.

Are those halls some way to get around fast? Without being seen maybe? "Hmm..." I mumble under my breath, even as I follow the woman. Unlike most servants, she has brighter clothing, a kind of pinkish purple, and her brown hair is in a braid instead of a bun. So... a higher class servant, like Kelly maybe?

Then we arrive at the door, a huge thing of dark wood. It doesn't look like any of the wood I'm familiar with, or that Claire taught me about, and it's brightly polished, with some unfamiliar shapes carved into the surface, and a shining metal knob, a yellowish color like copper. Even considering how much this door must have cost makes me shudder.

The woman knocks, then enters when she's called in. "I have brought the girl, Master," she says on her way in, with the same gesture of respect I've seen a number of times now. Then she takes a few more steps, holding out the paper in her hands for a man to take. There are two others around him on the couch, and a separate chair to one side. But my attention is drawn straight onto the man himself.

Squinting faintly, I study him closely in the few moments I have, while his attention is on the woman. The first thing that strikes me are his looks. With his brown hair all sleek back along the top and cut down to the scalp on the sides, plus his short beard and squared face, he looks good. Really good. Even sitting down, he's big and muscular with a heavyset jaw which shifts back and forth slightly as he considers the woman ahead of me. I'd say this man actually looks better than Eryk, which... actually just worries me...

Then his eyes turn to me, and a stab of cold goes straight through my heart. He has this look in his eyes, like some sort of predator searching for a meal. Thankfully, he hardly looks at me for a moment before he starts shouting at the woman.

"Seven years old?!" He shakes the sheet of paper at her in rage, standing from his seat to reveal just how tall he is, and she immediately jolts away from him. The words fly from his mouth. "She looks like a baby, this is a waste of my time! How am I supposed to tell if she'll be any good at that age?!"

"I-I'm sorry, Master," the woman stammers, hands raised to protect herself, "the papers say she's seven!"

"Girl!" he shouts at me, "How old are you?"

"Seven!" I squeak out when he locks those eyes on me again, with this fire in them that says he'll do very bad things to me, without any hesitation. Is this what nobles are like?!

"Hey, calm down, Quint," a new voice chimes in smoothly, from the man to my left, lounging in a big, comfy chair. "No need to shout." Heart in my throat, I turn to look at the one who interrupted, and find a man in a surprisingly white set of clothes, with blue and purple trim all over. He also has a handsome face, but his hair is a soft, wavy blond, with some length to it. He has this smirk on his face as he catches my eye, and I immediately look away in case he gets offended or something.

"Fine," Quint huffs, arms crossed over his chest in irritation, and gaze still smoldering as he stares down at me.

Then the youngest of the three finally speaks up. "So... this is the one...?" he asks uncertainly. He's just a boy, maybe ten but looking eleven, considering that he's a noble. One look at his face and hair tells me he's Quint's son.

"Yes," the angry noble sighs, seeming to deflate all at once, which is... really relieving, actually... "What do you think, Daniel?"

"I like her hair, but she is really small," the boy, Daniel, comments. "Having a noble concubine would be, uhh..." he's clearly searching for the word, "impressive, right?"

"Yes, it would," Quint responds, fingers scratching idly over his slightly bearded chin. Looking between the three of them, I just stand still. They're definitely talking about whether or not he should buy me, but for what? To be a 'concubine?' Is that some class of servant? I don't even consider asking, I don't want to say a word in front of these men, especially Quint Varish...

Then Quint turns his attention to the much more mellow looking blond man. "Would you believe this? That damned Liffan raised the price when he got his hands on her. Three and a half gold instead of two and a half!"

"Three and a half gold for a single concubine?" the other man questions with a raised eyebrow and an amused grin. "Isn't that a bit much?"

"Yes." Quint rolls his eyes. "But see here." When he passes the sheet of paper he's been waving around to the other man, he looks it over briefly, before his eyes go wide.

"Doesn't scar? That's ridiculous," he scoffs.

"Salazar confirmed it with his own eyes. He saw her covered head to toe in bandages, and came out perfectly fine."

"And you're sure it wasn't just a ruse to increase her price?" the blond man asks skeptically.

Quint opens his mouth, then closes it again. Then his dark eyes snap onto me, and I shiver. "Girl, are these claims true? Do you not scar?"

My breath catches. How do I respond? I'm such a bad liar, but if I tell him no, that I do actually scar, will he not want me and let me go? Would I even be able to convince him? But if I say yes, he'll definitely want to buy me!

"No." I squeak the word out, and he gets this bored look on his face for some reason.

"I can't tell if she's lying or terrified," Quint complains.

"Hah, probably both," the blond man shakes his head a little, to which Quint shrugs.

"Fine." He gives a dramatic roll of his eyes. "Girl, come!" he commands, pointing for me to stand directly in front of him. Except there's a table right where he's pointing. As I glance around uncertainly, I see the woman from before rushing forward to pull the table out of the way. Turning back to him, his threatening eyes tell me to stop delaying, so I rush to do as he says, and stand in front of him as he leans forward on the couch. Even sitting, he's a head taller than I am standing, looking down on me as he leans forward, hands planted on his knees with his legs spread over the side of the couch he's sitting on.

"I want to know whether you scar or not," he says plainly, voice quiet with a danger to it that sends a shiver up my spine. "I see you have some serious burns on your arm, will those scar, I wonder?" My heart is hammering, and I have to force myself to breathe as he stares at me.

"For a brat like you to be worth so much money, my son's first concubine... I'd rather be sure." I can't shake myself from his gaze, even as there's a dull shiver of metal sliding on metal from his side. I only see the knife in my peripheral vision. He isn't going to-

Suddenly grabbing my arm, I start to panic. What is he going to do to me?!

"I don't! I don't scar!" I admit, panicking.

That stops him. He tilts his head to the side a little, then shrugs. "One way to make sure."

My heart drops, blood cold. With his large hand clenching my wrist and a gleaming knife in the other, my whole body starts to shake, preparing for combat, but- but I can't hurt him! Could I just knock him out? No, then what would I do about the other nobles around me? How would they react if they just saw him collapse all of a sudden?!

My teeth chatter together, mind spinning for some answer, when Hilde cuts in.

"Calm," he says flatly. He goes on, impressing on me a few things I forgot in my panic. This man is just a human. He's made no indication he wants to kill me. Even if he cuts me, it won't be that bad, humans worry a lot more about injuries than we do. That's just enough to bring myself under control, muscles relaxing slightly so I stop pulling desperately against his grip.

"Charlotte, hold her," Quint instructs, and the woman grabs my hands from behind. Still fighting to keep myself calm, I tell myself that I don't need to do anything. I can just endure this. No need to fight back, creating all sorts of extra problems for myself.

I still can't keep myself from flinching when the man grabs the neck of my dress and tears it away with the loud rip of fabric. Not my dress, not my dress, I keep telling myself. No one will blame me for it being destroyed... right?

"Now, let's give her a test," Quint says quietly, bringing the knife to touch my shoulder.

Don't think about it don't think about it....

I stare past him, eyes locked on a particular little table with a little flower vase on it.

It's white, like it's made of stone-! Polished. It's polished, with little detailing. In blue and red. And and rounded. At the base! A few white flowers poke... from... from the top... Small flowers... with little yellow- The centers are yellow. Almost fuzzy. Fuzzy is good. Fuzzy is nice.

Then it's over. He draws the tip of the knife away, two long lines drawn in blood, like an X from shoulders to hips. I shudder, breath shallow. It doesn't hurt that much. Like I expected, he didn't cut too deep. It'll be fine. It'll heal in a couple days. Just need to stay calm...

"That was... weird," Quint comments. "She didn't scream or cry." He turns to look at the other man, who I see has a somewhat sickened expression when I blink away my tears.

"I wouldn't know, I don't usually go around torturing children..."

But Quint waves it off. "I'm not torturing her, just need to check if she's worth as much as Liffan says she is." As he speaks, he draws a cloth from a pocket inside his jacket and wipes away the drops of blood from the knife's edge.

"If you say so..." The noble doesn't look like he believes a word of it, running a hand through his hair in a way that kind of reminds me of Eryk. I think I like this one a little more... When I glance at the boy, he's staring at the wall, not looking in my direction at all.

"Don't be like that Eisner," Quint sighs, but shrugs, then says, "Charlotte, get her out of here before she bleeds on the carpet. Tell Liffan I'll take another look next year. See how she's coming along then." Just as the woman, still holding my wrists, begins to tug me along, he adds, "Oh, and take that with you," waving at the destroyed dress on the floor.

"Of course, Master," she replies smoothly, scooping up the clothes and pulling me out of the room behind her.

"Alright, where were we?" Quint asks, and the other man's voice responds as we're leaving.

"I was saying you need to stop splitting your forces or Bromunst will take advantage. You'll risk a rou-" As soon as the door swings closed, cutting off his words, Charlotte is using the torn dress to wipe away the blood already starting to run from my new wounds, before it can drip off of me.

"Good grief," she sighs. I don't know if it's directed at me or him or what. I'm just glad to be out of there. Away from that man. And I thought Mister Fredricson was bad... That's the man in charge of the entire rail unit program?! No wonder why everything there is awful!

At least he said he doesn't want to see me for another year. That will give me time to... I don't know, think of something. Or die in battle. It doesn't matter, as long as I don't have to see him again...

But... he wants me to be his son's servant? Now I see what Eryk meant when he said it would be terrible. To think there could be someone so callous he would just cut me like that... Thinking I'm a human child! Even the handlers don't treat rail units that way!

Frowning at the floor while I follow behind Charlotte, I realize what this strange emotion is. I'm... indignant? I actually have a hard time believing someone like him could exist...