After the yell, every passerby frowned in disdain at the sight of an adult elf screaming and disturbing the peace, but father wouldn’t be father if he was fazed by that level of embarrassment, so he kept yelling at the people inside the mansion until we saw the mahogany door slowly open.

A human aged man in an impeccable black shirt and tight black trousers came out with an imposing stride and an embarrassed face yelling improper words all the way towards the front and massive golden gate.

As he approached us his face changed from anger to surprise when he saw the little figure grabbing into the hem of mother’s dirty white dress, and yelled in surprise.

“Little Miss! What are you doing here?”

After which more than walking, the stoic man began to run at full throttle towards us.

Once there, he clumsily opened the lock and snatched Gabriella into the air and tightly hugged her.

“Miss are you okay? What happened?”

After a moment of a barraged questions, to which Gabriella was unable to answer the man finally turned towards us as we were standing awkwardly and waiting quietly for him to regain his composure.

Seeing this, his visage assumed a protective stance and he bellowed.

“Who are you, was it you filthy bums who drove our Little Miss to this battered state?” The man said in a proud and angry demeanor confronting us.

Father who tried to speak was ignored by the man as he lifted a finger in an accusing manner. “It was you people, who mistreated the young lady, furthermore, you even came here thinking to take advantage of us servants while our masters are away. Why did you come, what do you want?”

Losing his temper, father clenched his fists in a way that signaled his impending attack.

'Who would have thought that a servant in such a big household was so short tempered?' I internally thought.

Putting Gabriella down on the floor the servant started to exude killing intent that turned into an aura of thick and heavy red miasma.

Things turning for the worse, Gabriella who was quiet until now, mustered up all her courage and bellowed in a small and trembling voice she said.

“N-no Uncle Bali, t-they saved m-me!”

The servant with a look confusion turned his head once again towards Gabriella. In response, she nodded her head as she reiterated her previous statement making the so-called Uncle Bali deflate in an instant.

“I am sorry for such an uncouth behavior, as the main butler of the Akerman household I would like to extend my deepest apologies.”

Coughing in an awkward manner, the butler turned towards us and with a hand on his chest, he performed a small bow.

Having cleared up the misunderstanding with the Butler, we headed into the big mansion and Gabriella was taken away by a young maid.

Saying our goodbyes to her we passed through a luxurious main entrance and were directed towards the living room painted in refined tones of blues and whites.

We were made to wait on the couches by the enormous fireplace while I took the opportunity to observe the room in detail and appreciate the uniformed victorian furniture. It all exuded an old feeling of use but at the same time, it was well taken care of and thus making the living room a very comfortable place.

As the butler named Bali prepared some afternoon tea and pastries the awkward atmosphere thickened.

Noticing this he served us a fragrant and aromatic blend of tea that I didn’t recognize.

While pouring my tea a dark line crossed Bali’s face as he heavily sighed and asked.

“Why isn’t the little miss on her way to the Elven Kindom?”

Father who was drinking the tea lifted his head and all the habitual joking mannerisms suddenly vanished. With a heavy voice, he informed Bali of Gabriella's nightmarish days.

“Apparently, little Gabriella was ambushed in her journey by a Wivern.”

Bali’s face contorted in a pained face and his hands were shaking as he mumbled a whispered prayer after guessing the extent of the loss when only Gabriella had returned.

In his stupor, his knees gave and he heavily seated himself on the coffee table in front of us.

While he mourned his loss, he asked through gritted teeth.

“What exactly happened to her escorts? And why did it take so long for her to come back?”

Understanding the man’s emotions, father responded in the most tactful manner he could.

“Well Mr. Bali, the men... most probably all lost their lives sacrificing themselves so that little Gabriella could escape.”

I uncomfortably rustled in my seat and couldn't help but feel sorry for the loyal men who died just so that Gabriella could come back home safely.

“Then she wondered the forest for a couple of days until meeting our caravan that was fortunately, traveling from Edden to Nokt.”

“I see, that is truly both fortunate and unfortunate...” He said as he slumped his back in defeat, black hair covering his face.

After re-telling the whole story to Bali in a more detailed way, one could see that he probably was good friends with some of the dead warriors, so the loss was a heavy one towards not just to the household but to him as well.

“T-thank you” Bali finally said in a chocked manner, avoiding eye contact as his pride probably didn't allow for others to see him cry. “Thank you for bringing the little miss back to us, please if you ever need anything from me or the Akerman household, just say the words and we will do anything to assist your family.”