'Why should I?' the young girl asked.
Neither of them was in any state to plead for their lives. They were just children who lost too many things in a short span of time. Their everyday peaceful lives, their family and even the orphanage.
But Serika remembered it vividly, the snowfall, the black smoke, the dead bodies and men clad in dark armor. If it hadn't been for the mistress... who knows where they would've ended up?
'Why? Indeed. What reason is there to save them?' Carmillia's mother murmured gently.
Unlike her daughter, she had hair as white as snow, said to be caused by an illness. Her features were nearly identical to Carmillia's but softened by a faint, ever-present smile and the gentle way she gazed at others.
'If you don't save them,' she said, the orphanage's flames reflected in her eyes. 'Then it'll be hard and painful for them to survive here. Don't you think so too, Carmy?'
'Yes.' The girl answered. 'They'll probably die.' Snow had piled in thick layers across the street, unperturbed even by the burning orphanage being them. The walls crackled and collapsed in on itself, but the cold would not be driven away.
It would claim what the fire couldn't, two small, helpless lives.
'Yes. They'll die. Frozen, maybe buried beneath snow... or maybe torn by hungry beasts.'
She crouched to meet the girl's eyes.
'Don't you think it would be painful? To freeze? To be bitten and bleed?… And sad?' She pointed a finger towards the kids chest.
'When something terrible happens to us, when there's no one to help, something rises from here, from the heart. Do you know how that feels?'
'… It's sad… and painful.' The kid whispered as if recalling those emotions herself.
'Then, do you hate that pain, Carmy?'
'… I do.'
'Good. They're the same.' She said softly and caressed the child. 'Just like you, they hate it. Everyone does. That's why, if you can, save them from their pain. Even for a little bit.'
'How should I save them?'
'Simply, give them your heart. If they're cold, cover them with warm clothes, if they're hungry, feed them warm porridge. If they're hurt, tend to their wounds. If they have nowhere to go…'
She took Carmillia's hand and extended it to the other two children, along with hers, as if reaching out a helping hand.
'Then take them under your wing. Make them live with you… and—' Serika couldn't make out the last part as the mistress had whispered something else into Carmillia's ear with a smile.
The girl jolted, as if she had a realization.
That was when the other guards on standby started to move towards the burning orphanage. They other attendants covered them in fabric and brought them to the carriage.
That was how they first met Carmillia, who at that point in time was still reined in by her mother.
Serika was grateful to both of them. And Lucinelle even more so, to the point that she pledged her life to them the very next day. She said it was a custom from her family.
But for Serika… the cost of freedom was too heavy to part with. She chose to be here because of Lucinelle. While she felt grateful to the mistress and the young lady, she inwardly had some qualms about this path.
Especially after the the duke's wife had perished. The kind young lady had lost her 'anchor' and became what she is today. She schemed, humiliated and antagonized any nobles she found unpleasant…
"So, how is he doing?" Lucinelle shifted the conversation, seeing that Serika was lost in thought.
"I made sure that his bones is on the verge of breaking." Hearing that, Lucinelle chuckled and ruffled her hair.
"Don't be so rough. He might develop grudges."
"So what? He's not catching up to me no matter what."
The two of them were indeed strong. To the point that they were considered geniuses among their age. And they will continue to be, under the wing of their master, Carmillia.
There was no way that Xian will surpass either of them.
Meanwhile, the person in question…
Woke up before dawn the next day. His body ached everywhere, but he could tell that the injuries is gone. His clothes had been changed somehow, but he didn't bother to know how. The last thing he remembered was Serika striking him.
The first thing he did was to smash his hand in the table next to him.
'I need power. I need to train.'
An idea bordering on madness was forming in his head. For the first time Xian hungered for control and strength, something he never would've imagine in his previous weak self.
'If I can regress, I can fight as much as I want.'
That was the plan at least. But he needs a special situation that will throw him in a place where he could fight to the death each time he regress. Somehow, if he could regress right next to a monster area or a battle event…
'There's one. A possible one.'
The Destruction of this very estate. Once Carmillia and the twin swordmaiden left for the academy, the estate they lived in got deserted by servants, and the next day, it was found thoroughly destroyed.
At least according to the news from the game. Then it became a high level area where scattered and unsupervised guards from the Montagne's roamed. Former humans that underwent transformation to solely eliminate intruders in the vicinity.
It's an area that is extremely hard to go through because the enemies constantly chased the player who skipped the tutorial and killed him.
As if the game was trying to prevent anyone from discovering anything.
Although a lot of players have attempted to go through the area, they only found the closed Montagne estate that forbid outsiders from going in. No npc, no items, nothing.
It was thought to be a dead end.
That's why Xian was so surprised to find an attendant who asked if he's the special butler. Somewhere in the game, a condition must've been triggered.
'What condition triggered it?'
Xian wondered, but decided to think about it later. Today, he had to go in the training grounds too. Even if what awaits him is that damned brat of a woman.
Like last time, Carmillia was there with the other swordmaiden while Moris was nowhere to be found.
Serika, already on her training clothes and sword pointed to the ground, stood like a general waiting for her opponents arrival.
"I thought you'd chicken out, butler."
"… The name's Xian. And who'd chicken out from a brat like you?"
That earned him a glare from Serika as veins bulged from her forehead. She briefly looked at the young lady who didn't react at all.
"… To dare call me a brat. You must have a death wish."
She took the same stance during the battle with the coachman. Xian realized that she's not going to hold back this time either.
But somehow unlike before, Xian felt he had a better chance.
At the end of the third week training, the window for skills will be opened. Right, even now the system hasn't introduced everything to the player. Skills that can be trained, magic that can be learned and lastly, unique supernatural power either obtained or awakened.
If he gets past this, the full pledged Rozenfall player experience is awaiting him.
And the pain will only grow stronger. The situation's will turn even more absurd and cruel as the dark soul of dating sim games.
Characters will manipulate each other left and right, making a confusing maelstorm of intrigue in the academy.
It's all in head his, although jumbled apart, he will remember what to do when the time comes. What to keep from happening and what to let transpire.
Thus, Xian met Serika with mad zeal. He didn't care whether he got hit or was in an embarrassing position. He just fought back with raw will to destroy the other party.
At the end of it all, he was left kneeling and one eye closed. The spar this time was bloodier than yesterday, but he didn't fall. Serika who effortlessly fought yesterday had started sweating.
'Damn, he sure is tiring to beat up.' Serika thought as she stared at Xian who looked like a wild beast. With his gritted teeth, blood soaked face and wounded body, he appeared to be a soldier fresh from war.
"Isn't this enough? Why not give up?" Impatience shrouded her desire to fulfill the orders given to her.
"What? Don't tell me you're scared?" Xian only taunted her. It's painful, very much so, but so what? There was a line in his mind that sometime ago had snapped.
"Fine, have it your way." Serika steeled herself to beat this man again. Her very own savior. She still haven't conveyed her gratitude because the young miss hadn't left yet.
And what's the point anyways? He's still gonna hate her once he disappears anyways.
That day, Xian fainted from blood loss. A familiar maid and two others healed him, and put potions in his mouth.
Their spar had lasted double the time they spent last time. A full three hours.
Serika thought that Xian was mad. Even she, didn't train in that intensity during her newbie days.
"Serika." Carmillia's smooth voice rang to her ears. She sat, crossed legs in the especially prepared in the training grounds. Her gaze was fixed on the trail of blood left behind as the maids carried Xian out of the training grounds.
"… Young miss?"
"You need to stop holding back."
"What? No, I mean… If I do that he's…"
"He's going to die? Is that it?"
"…" Serika's mouth hung open, but she swallowed her words. The order she received was clear. Make Xian give up on the pretext of questioning his skills. But she didn't take pleasure beating him half to death, unable to fight back.
"He's just more stubborn than I expected" She admitted. Her voice dropped slightly with uncertainty. "So I thought… maybe he might actually prove himself."
Carmillia finally turned her gaze to Serika. Slowly, like a clock hand ticking into position.
"Oh?" Her eyes narrowed just slightly, lashes casting shadows in her porcelain skin. She brushed her fingers through her hair, tucking it behind her ear.
Serika tightened her grip on the wooden sword, as if to seek comfort.
That motion and habit of Carmillia's meant displeasure.
"But Serika…" She murmured as she reached her hands forward, cupping the air as if cradling Serika's face from a distance. "I never intended to give him a chance."
In that subtle gesture, Serika felt the illusion of choice, the weight of control, as if she had just stepped into the hollow of Carmillia's palm.
"So tell me—what are you doing?"
The silence that passed between them felt colder than it should have.
"Young miss." Just then, Lucinelle spoke in muffled and metallic voice. "Please let me handle it."
Serika's eyes jolted upon hearing that. If it's Lucinelle, she would definitely… definitely cripple Xian, despite what she said last night.
"No! I… Give me at least until next week. I can do it. I plead you."
Carmillia didn't answer. Instead, she walked away with Lucinelle, leaving her alone.
But Serika kept bowing, knowing the silence was permission.