"Miss Miranda, you shouldn't run up the stairs!" A woman with white hair and gradient green eyes shouted, her words laced with worry.
"What would we do if you slippe --- ?!" As if her worries had manifested such a future on their own, the young woman, Arduo Leister, became panicked when Miranda, a small child with pink hair airned with icy blue tips, was hopping around like mischief and joy taken human form and then suddenly did, in fact, fall at the very last stair and hit both of her knees on the stone floor.
"Waaaah! Duo! Duo! It hurts, it hurts!" The unhindered cries of any child always possessed a unique loudness to them; it was as if they were naturally inclined to try and shatter the eardrums of every living being in their vicinity whenever they had the opportunity to do so, especially when it was a cry filled with pain like the current one.
Arduo simply shook her head whilst sighing tiredly, already anticipating such an outcome. She quickly walked up to the young girl and placed her hands on top of Miranda's knees. A green light, following after a short murmur of hers, spread out fast and enveloped the area where the child felt pain, gradually making said pain disappear.
"I told you many times, Miss Miranda", began Arduo, raising her index finger into the air after confirming that the knees were fully healed, "to not run up the stairs! It is dangerou -- ?!" Not being able to finish her words once again, Arduo felt an impact on her stomach when the young girl before her, Miranda, had hugged her with a lot of vigor.
"Thank you, big sis Duo!" Looking up towards Doctor Arduo Leister were the grey-blue eyes of a girl much less than half her own height, a bright grin stretching across her face as if she couldn't hide her joy, no matter how hard the young girl ever tried.
Arduo sighed deeply, unable to remain stern in such a situation, and placed her hand atop the young girl's head. "Just what am I supposed to do with you?" Smiling softly, her gaze exuded the kind of warmth children would naturally end up loving.
"But Miss Miranda", the white-haired woman cleared her throat for a bit, "we need to hurry and visit your brother, or else it will become too late for it today."
Yes, Miranda - the child that was clinging on to Arduo's front, was, in fact, Miranda Glacies, born five years ago and the 'first-born child of the Viscount', at least according to what the country knew.
Except for Arduo, Miranda and her parents, the Glacies couple, no one knew that Armalius was still alive. The servants as well as the other doctor that were present during the birth back then, were all 'made' to leave the room after the presence of the Mark of Nothingness was witnessed on Arnold's child.
On that day, seven years ago, he asked, rather loudly and on purpose, if Doctor Arduo could make "the child fall asleep without it experiencing any pain".
An act so evil, so heartless, yet so wholeheartedly understood by any of the servants present on that day, that they tactfully left the room, allowing for Arduo to speak in private with her employers.
She timidly asked him if he was serious, whilst his wife stared daggers at him, ready to jump at Arnold if any word leaving his mouth would even come close to a 'yes'. This was the first time Arduo ever saw so much anger reflected in the eyes of Lady Almalia Glacies.
Arnold simply shook his head, drawing closer to the two. "We cannot let anyone know that our child, that Armalius, exists. Even if the country has no laws to kill Half-Blesseds, they do not outright forbid it either." His gaze wandered between the two women in front of him, a hint of sadness clouding his usually clear eyes.
"And we're a part of the Glaciano Faction. Anyone linked to the Four Great Dukedoms wouldn't want to see us keep this child", Arnold's gaze regained some strength now, looking firmly into his wife's eyes, "and I don't want him to grow up while facing attempts on his life multiple times a month. In fact, not even I am sure I could protect him all the time."
Pain spread out in the hearts of the three adults present. Arnold spoke nothing but the truth, they all understood this, but a part of their mind wanted them to shake their heads and deny with all their strength the words that had been shared so openly just now.
That's not true! Together, we can protect him, giving him a bright future filled with our love! For a moment, Almalia wanted to say these words, but she silently swallowed them, knowing full well that her husband was, at the end, right with what he said.
"But do not worry, I will come up with a plan so that we can keep him alive." He said so confidently and thus, a glimmer of hope was presented to his wife through the words of her beloved one's.
And this very hope, at least a part of it, was the current situation: Remaking a tower of the Glacies residence into a "private family retreat", as the servants were told. Luckily enough, all nobles were calling Arnold of the Glacies Viscounty a rather eccentric and peculiar personality amongst nobility, thus this special retreat would only be viewed, once again, as him going wild like usual because of his boundless love for his wife.
Having enough awareness of his own infamy to the point of making use of it for something like that, at this point, not even Arnold was sure if his ancestors would be laughing amusedly or if they would be starring callous daggers at him for his decisions and 'neglect' of upholding the traditions of the Viscounty.
"Big sis Duo?" Eyes reflecting youthful innocence were looking at Arduo Leister. She shook her head lightly, trying to shake off the memories of the past that resurfaced for a moment.
Arduo returned a smile, stood up and took Miranda's hand. She then walked with her for a short moment until they arrived in front of a wooden door, a large stack of books in front of it.
Has he already finished reading all these books? It seems I ought to increase the young master's homework. For a moment, such thoughts entered her mind after seeing the pile of books.
Knocking with a bit of force on the door after pushing her plan for the boy's future aside for the time being, Arduo then announced their arrival. "The young Lady and I have come for today's visit!"
After saying these words, the two of them opened the door and walked into the room together. "Young Master Armalius, it is wonderful to see-"
"BIG BROTHER!" Arduo's words were suddenly cut short by the loud shout of Miranda, who then leapt into the arms of Armalius without hesitation.
"You know, you know! Today, Mama yelled at me", she smiled brightly while saying this. "I knocked over the ba, bast? Of Goddess Neärijaa, and the nose cracked." Miranda's words turned sullen for a moment, before quickly regaining her usual cheerfulness. "But then Papa said that he wanted to buy a new one anyway, so it doesn't matter? But Mama still scolded me for a bit, before then scolding Papa even more? Did we do something bad?"
Armalius couldn't help but laugh for a bit after hearing his sister's retelling of today's malheur. "You know", he started saying whilst softly patting Miranda's head, "what you meant is the "bust of Goddess Neriya" - and regarding dear mother", he brought his fingers to his chin, being lost in his thoughts for a moment, before continuing: "I think she was just angry at dear father for spoiling you too much." Armalius smiled deeply while saying these words, yet due to the mask he wore, it wasn't seen by the other two, making him instead realize something important, turning his gaze towards Doctor Leister.
"Dear sister Duo, is it okay to take off my mask for now?" His question was a simple one and as he asked it many times before, he already knew the answer.
"Yes, but only while we are inside this room." The same reply to the same question, an exchange that had become normal for the two. After being told so many times since his awareness of the world around him first manifested, that he must never show his eyes to anyone except his parents, sister and to Arduo, he barely took off his mask on his own, except for when he directly interacted with his family.
Maybe it was fear over the things they told him, maybe it was instinct - or maybe it was due to the eyes of his parents & Doctor Leister turning unusually serious whenever the topic was brought up; maybe it was all of the above, but whatever the actual reason was, his body froze at the mere thought of taking off his mask, except for when his family visited him. He knew he was safe with them, protected and loved, thus he felt comfortable to show his face - and thus, his eyes - to them.
"Thank you", replied Armalius, before smoothly bringing his hands to the mask and taking it off. It then revealed: Unkempt violet hair going down to his neck, curling wildly at the last few centimeters of his hair; a face as white as snow, a result from rarely experiencing sunshine directly; and the two eyes he hated the most, with violet irises and one pupil possessing a blue and the other a pink X right in the middle of them.
"So beautiful!" No matter how often his sister saw them, she always commented favorably on her brother's eyes as she loved their uniqueness. A light blush appearing on his face following a crooked smile, Armalius scratched his left cheek and looked away. Yes, her words, never showing even the tiniest trace of a lie, meant the world to him, but even then, they will never change his personal dislike of his eyes.
If it weren't for them, he, too, could have been present when Miranda damaged the bust of Goddess Neriya. Smiling when his mother scolded the two, laughing with them when Miranda finally voiced out her confusion over why their mother got angry, and spending time with his family freely. From his point of view, these eyes were nothing more than a curse, a cage, and thus, to him, they were far removed from the possibility of being recognized as 'beautiful'.
Once, he proposed to get his eyes removed. That was the one and only time his parents showed genuine anger towards him, earning him a slap across his face from his mother, who had tears well up in the corner of her eyes. For a whole hour, he was berated, tears flowing unhindered, emotions welling up on end, - it truly was an experience that left its mark upon him. Thus, no matter what may happen in his life, he will stick to wearing the mask his father gave him and never will he chose to remove his eyes himself, - that day, he promised as much to his parents.