With the sounding of the sixth bell, the Independence Day party officially begins. The rail unit whistle goes off moments after, just like always. Rail units don't get a holiday, huh...? That's right, I never got days off, not a single break from that treatment...

When I feel the wetness on my face, I realize I'm crying, and immediately bury my face in the leg of Eryk's pants. Why did I have to think about that now?! Did anyone see?

"Aria?" Eryk asks worriedly.

I have to take a few more deep breaths, letting my emotions calm, before I can respond. "S-sorry, I slipped up."

"It's fine, I can tell you're doing your best," he praises me lightly, with a hand on my head for comfort.

After a few more calming breaths, I carefully wipe my eyes and cheeks, then glance into the crowd. Everyone is moving around and talking to each other behind us, so I can't tell whether anyone noticed or not... For now, I turn my attention back to greeting people.

Unfortunately, the official start of the party doesn't mean everyone has arrived. Apparently, it's not that unusual for some people to show up late. So, we continue greeting people for a little while longer. It's mostly a random assortment from smithing and trading companies from the way Eryk describes them. Then things change when the servant by the door comes in to talk to Eryk. He's the only one with red on his jacket, but his name is totally buried under the pile of others I've heard today.

He speaks quietly to Eryk, and I can't hear them over the noise of the party, even from this distance. Eryk says something back with a few quick nods, and the man returns to the door. "Marrianne came with your lunch," Eryk whispers down to me. Oh, that's right, it is time for lunch, isn't it? I've been so nervous this whole time, I don't really feel hungry at all.

The servant returns quickly and grabs one of the others from a nearby food table, handing off my food and telling her something, before returning to his post at the front door. She comes over, telling me again about the food here for me. I share a quick look with Eryk, then follow her into the packed crowd. We slowly work our way toward the dining room, only to find that most of the seats are already occupied by people sitting and talking, some with food, others with just drinks.

With so many people around, I can't help my nerves. I know that they're all paying attention to me, even if they're pretending not to. I make sure to ask the servant woman to help me into my chair, instead of trying to climb in on my own, but like the other times, I can't actually reach the table like this...

"Why, it looks like you could use a hand," comes a man's voice, and I turn just in time for him to grab me and lift me up. I flail a little, but fight to keep my composure as he slides into my seat, then sets me in his lap. Huh, that does give me the boost I need to reach the table, but...

Turning back to look up at him, it's one of the men I greeted earlier. His wife is just a step behind, to the side of the chair, sighing at her husband. This man, he has a beard, but his hair is all blond, so it looks kind of unique. He's... the owner of Avery Smithing. It's related to Avery Refining the same way Ebock Blacksmith connects to Ebock Refining... The whole Avery company is like that, with a bunch of different businesses under them.

I try not to show any response when I realize he's part of Eryk's main competitors. Instead, I force myself to smile happily, and say, "Thanks a lot, Mister." What was his name...? Something with a B I think...?

"It's no problem," he chuckles, sounding surprisingly at ease despite the situation. Isn't he here to try and get information out of me or something?

"Umm, I forget, who are you?" I ask, still trying to sound immature, but also because I really can't remember his name...

"Hah!" he laughs, "Boris, from Avery Smithing. We met just a little while ago."

"Sorry, there's a bunch of people here..." I scratch my head, not even playing it up that much. I do feel kind of bad for forgetting...

"True, true," he continues to chuckle, and when he gives me a pat, I catch his wife shaking her head with an exasperated expression in the corner of my eye. Then I turn forward, leaning up to the table and grabbing my spoon to eat.

As soon as I bring it toward my bowl though, I get this powerful feeling of being watched, and hear a whole bunch of quiet, disapproving sounds that make me stop short. When I look around, everyone nearby is looking at me, not even pretending they aren't anymore. Barely holding down my panic, I mentally go over myself as fast as possible.

I'm dressed well, sitting up straight, I haven't actually started to eat or chew anything yet... Am I forgetting something about my manners? It can't be because I'm sitting in Boris' lap, can it? He was the one that offered, right? The best I can do now, is turn to look back at him and go, "Huh?"

It's actually his wife who steps forward. "Dear, you seem to have forgotten your manners," she says quietly, pointing a finger at my spoon. What about it? Is it a problem that it's wood? I've never heard anything about issues with wooden utensils though...

"My... spoon?" I ask, trying to see if she'll give me another hint.

The woman sighs, looking disappointed when she answers, "Wrong hand."

Her words are like a slap. All at once, I realize what she's talking about. I always eat with my left hand. Because I'm left handed. This is exactly what Claire described, isn't it? People calling me out and looking down on me, just because I'm a little different...

I don't allow any of my emotions to reach my face. None of my frustration, indignation, or shame being treated like this. No, there are way more important things we have to do today, so I can't let any of those feelings out right now.

Instead, I smile, think of Thelia, and giggle. "Woopsie." Then I switch hands, and start eating. Just let it go, I tell myself. We'll get all of these jerks later...

I get through my food without any further issues, and it's clear that Marrianne made another safe meal, without anything in it I need to worry about. I can't imagine the looks I would get if I was forced to spit my food out in a situation like this...

Unfortunately as I expected, Boris doesn't just sit there and let me eat. "So, Aria was it? What brings you to such a fancy party, little one?" For once, I'm glad someone thinks I'm just a little kid. He's not even trying to be subtle. But that was kind of the point of Eryk's plan.

"Eryk brought me." I give a simple, unhelpful answer between bites of food.

"Here with Eryk, are you?" he responds with a light, joking tone. Duh, we greeted him together at the door... "How do you know Eryk?"

While I'm chewing, I consider how to answer. Besides just Thelia, I remember observing other children when I first started going outside. How did they act again...? Trying to remember and continue holding up my act, I finish with my bite of food, while looking up at the ceiling like I'm thinking about it. Then I answer, "Eryk is nice. I like him a lot."

"Well, that's certainly good to hear." He still sounds unfazed, trying again. "You don't look like his relative. How did you meet?"

True but unhelpful... "He gave me juice."

"Uhh, what?" Boris finally falters a little. "What do you mean, he gave you juice?"

"Eryk gave me juice. It was pink and really tasty!" Oh, I know what to do here! "He said it was strawberries and he gave me more later and, umm... I really liked it because it was good!" Thelia went on a bunch of unrelated tangents when she talked about something she liked, and that strawberry juice was really tasty...

"Hahaha," Boris laughs it off like it's nothing and rubs my head again. "You sound like my daughter. I'm sure you'd love to meet her. Want to come by my house sometime to play?" That is... not where I expected him to go with that... I quickly scoop another bite into my mouth to give myself some time to think, mind racing for an answer.

Of course, I want to say no, but how do I do that in a way that doesn't isn't impolite? And also, doesn't make me sound more mature than a normal four year old? As much as I think, I can't come up with a solution by the time I finish my bite of food, so I do the only thing I can think of.

I turn back to look at him, frowning and squinting like I don't understand, and say, "I don't know."

"Oh, that's fine, dear," his wife suddenly jumps in, patting my head. Did she think I was upset? "It would make more sense to speak to her parents about that, darling."

"Fine, fine," Boris sighs. "So Aria, where are your parents? Could we talk to them?"

I keep the same upset expression as I turn back to my food and take another bite. It's not even fake, I hate everyone bringing up my parents. Why are they asking about them anyway? What does that even have to do with what we were talking about? In any case, I can't tell him anything about that without giving away that I'm really an orphan. But I do have a guardian, so based on him...

"Not here. Always busy." I grumble. Though I'm actually glad he's always too busy to show up at home, it makes my life a lot less difficult...

"Oh dear..." mutters the woman, who continues to stroke my hair as I eat. It looks like that bought me some time too, because I'm almost done eating before Boris speaks again.

"That's quite a dress you're in, little one. A bit old for you though."

I suppress a wince. People have been eyeing my dress as they've arrived, but it's the first time someone has asked about it outright. Just keep it simple, I tell myself. "I like it. It's pretty."

"That it is," he agrees with a big belly chuckle. "Where did you get it?"

I hold my tongue before mentioning exactly where. 'Lola's Fashion and Garments' and 'Holly Tailoring' are both too much of a mouthful I think. "Eryk got it!" I beam, working to finish off the last of my food.

"He has an... interesting taste in clothing..." His wife is clearly trying to remain polite, but her face gives her away, and there are a number of barely hidden insults aimed toward Eryk from a few nearby people who are listening in. I do my best to ignore them. This means we're doing well, we've managed to trick his competitors. Before Boris or his wife can say anything else, I finish up eating.

"I'm going to Eryk," I tell Boris, then start wiggle out of his lap, figuring he'll get the message. He does, lifting me up and setting me down on the floor.

"Well, it was nice talking to you, Aria. We'll have to talk again some time." Boris gives a very slight respectful gesture, hardly more than brushing his hand against his chest. I'm a bit put off by the lack of respect, given that he should think I'm a divant based on our introduction earlier. Is it just because he thinks I'm so young...?

Not showing how I feel, I return a respectful gesture. Like earlier, I stick to divant etiquette. I resist the urge to separate my hands as I do, to throw it in his face that I'm higher status than him here. Instead, I just do the one as if we're even standing, despite the fact that I'm using an entirely higher class of etiquette than him. Everyone's probably just going to assume I don't know the difference or something anyway...

As soon as I get through that, I wave and move away quickly, slipping back into the tightly packed crowd in the foyer and aiming toward Eryk near the front door.

As soon as I reach the front of the house, bobbing and weaving my way through the overpacked room, I see Eryk, and grab his sleeve. He leans down so I can speak in his ear.

"Please tell me it's almost time. Keeping up the little kid act through whole conversations is hard. You know how bad I am at lying, I have to talk circles around them without saying much at all." No way I could do that with an adult if they didn't have their guard down, though that is kind of the point.

Eryk smirks. "No worries, it's pretty much time. Ready for the next step?"

"Absolutely."