Chapter 88
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Helena and Gordon both turned to Altair after sitting down. They looked like they had just seen a rare animal and were taking their time to examine it in full detail. Both of them had heard that Sarah had a new adopted daughter and found it a surprise that she would agree to such a thing. They knew her better than most of the nobles so they doubted that rumors that she had really taken to the child and suspected that Renald had a hand to play in it. It was too out of character to them for Sarah to be so generous.
Helena turned her attention back to Sarah and spoke in a flowery voice, "It has been a long time Sarah. I had heard that you adopted a girl and I see that she is quite the pretty child. Are you going to introduce us to her?" She quite liked how Altair looked. Her own daughter was older than Altair but had never been as cute as Altair and lacked the poise at Altair's age as well. She couldn't help but wonder where this girl had come from and why the Marnithok family picked her up. She didn't doubt for a moment that she was picked up because she was useful in some way.
Altair didn't look at brawny as other girls and appeared younger than she was due to her Demi-Human blood. As a result, most people who saw her dressed the way she was assumed she was still less than ten years old. Being capable of acting so formally at such a young age while still showing some flaws warmed the hearts of those who saw her. It was like a child imitating an adult in every way.
Sarah looked at Altair with her usual warm smile and said, "Introduce yourself to them," while motioning for Altair to stand.
Altair mentally cursed in her mind as she stood to her feet. She then turned towards Gordon and Helena and did a perfect curtsy while saying, "Nice to meet you, I am called Aria Marnithok. I look forward to speaking with you." Immediately after she finished introducing herself, she sat right back down and continued to eat as if it never happened. She chose her words carefully as she had already decided before. She would never admit to having the name Aria Marnithok. She would only ever say that she was called it. That was as far as she was willing to go with their deal.
The people around her were nobles, however. They easily picked up on what she was hinting at. Gordon watched Sarah out of the corner of his eye for her reaction and saw that she didn't have one. This puzzled him because he knew that she should have understood what Altair meant as well.
Of course Sarah understood but she also didn't care. She didn't like the name that Renald had given Altair and wasn't so keen as to protect it as heavily as she should. She only motioned towards Gordon and Helena as she said, "These two are a couple of my friends that I've known since childhood. They are Gordon and his wife Helena of the Marshucarl family. I hope you come to like them as I have in time, Aria."
Altair looked at Gordon and Helena who were looking at her in turn. They had looks that she had never seen in her previous world. She couldn't help but wonder how sheltered the people of this world were compared to hers. She didn't think they could last a single day on her own world.
She had no idea that the two people sitting at her table were far stronger than she was back on her own world.
Helena gave her an inviting smile as she asked, "How old are you, Aria?"
Altair didn't waste a moment to saw her predetermined answer that Renald had given her, "I don't know."
Helena gave her a confused look, "How doesn't a child know their own age?"
"I don't remember much before two years ago," Altair said with a straight face. It was another one of the answers that Renald had agreed to have her give. It was all for maintaining the lie that they had made.
Helena turned her confused look to Sarah, which was joined by Gordon, and asked, "Is this true?" Helena and Gordon had not heard the rumors that had floated up from their kid's school. It wouldn't be helped since they were too busy with their own work. They were going to face quite the pile of documents just to come here today. But they were really curious about Sarah's daughter and had also wanted to see Sarah since she was working on logistics while they were dealing with skirmishes from the other nations along the borders.
Sarah returned their look with a sad smile, "It's true. My husband won't give me all of the details to protect her but he did tell me it was something horrible. She lost her memory. She didn't even remember her name, much less how to talk. We had to give her a new one."
Gordon and Helena gave Altair a pitying look as Gordon said, "How unfortunate. Still, to have come this far in just two years… She shows much promise." Gordon turned toward Sarah as he continued, "What do you say about having her and my son engaged with one another? I think they would make a cute couple in the future."
His sudden proposal caused Altair's hands to twitch briefly. She had a tacit agreement with Renald that she couldn't be made to do anything she wouldn't want to do and this was one of them. However, Renald wasn't here and she had no idea how Sarah would react to such words. She was currently playing as Sarah's daughter here so she obviously had no say in it as she was, technically, a noble's daughter. Still, the thought of it caused her stomach to churn as she started to dread that Sarah would foolishly agree to something that she would not allow to happen even if it killed her.
Sarah looked at Altair while putting on a big show of thinking. The longer she put on that show the more uneasy Altair felt. Eventually, Sarah gave Altair a knowing look before saying, "I believe that is a conversation to have when both Renald and I are present. Besides," She added while looking towards Gordon, "Altair hasn't even met Rience. Deciding without knowing if they get along would be foolish."
Helena put a hand on Gordon's shoulder to stop him from saying anything as she asked, "Since Aria doesn't know her age, does that mean you know how old she is? If you do, please tell us. I am very curious to know."
Sarah gave Helena a warm smile as she replied, "Of course I know how old she is." She then looked back at Altair and added, "Isn't it obvious how old she is?" Sarah didn't actually know what age Renald had told anyone so she couldn't carelessly say it. That was until Altair had said she didn't know. That told Sarah that would probably be able to gamble and claim and age for her.
This was a pointless concern because Renald was going off of an unknown age for Altair.
Helena looked at Altair and examined her closely before hesitantly saying, "So… She's eight then?" That wasn't as old as she looked to Helena. Helena wanted to say seven but she felt she was under by that guess so she went with eight.
Sarah gave her a big smile while saying, "That's what I thought until this morning. But she's on her first cycle now. So we believe she's actually closer to nine." Choosing that age let Sarah be able to pick out Altair's outfits more freely. Also Noble girls under the age of eleven would normally go to tea parties with their mother so that gave Sarah an additional two years to drag Altair around with her. Furthermore, it would let Altair stick around in the public eye as part of their family longer due to her age being so young. Lastly, she would also stick Altair in the class a year behind her son as she wasn't blind to how badly his pride was getting shattered. If Altair enrolled into the same year as him he likely would get overshadowed by her.
She suspected that Renald would eventually remove the girl known as Aria from existence in the long run while keeping Altair as part of a special squad dedicated to their family. With that in mind it would be better for her son to keep some pride as Altair's secret would eventually be revealed to him when he was smarter and wiser.
Helena gave her a confused look while Gordon asked, "You guys didn't check her?" There were machines that could give accurate ages of someone using their Spiritual Energy but Altair didn't have any of that so those kinds of machines obviously didn't work.
Sarah's smile turned sad as she looked to the side and then said, "Well… There are some complications with the accident she went through so we can't accurately check."
Gordon's brow scrunched up slightly as he looked at Altair while saying, "So there's lasting damage huh… That's a pity." Lasting damage to a person's body usually meant they were unable to withstand the physical draw of medical machines on their body. It usually limited a person's lifespan and how they could be treated.
Altair was resisting the urge to frown as hard as she could. She was sure that she didn't look that young and she had even grown taller. She admitted that she was shorter than everyone she had seen even now, but she was average among the Demi-Humans! Even when she was a human she was average in height.
She didn't know that Alice was only nine and taller than her. This was due to the Gene Stimulants that the people here used. The average height of an adult female on this world was 200 centimeters and an adult male was 208 centimeters. That was over 30 centimeters taller than the average human in her world.
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Helena and Gordon both turned to Altair after sitting down. They looked like they had just seen a rare animal and were taking their time to examine it in full detail. Both of them had heard that Sarah had a new adopted daughter and found it a surprise that she would agree to such a thing. They knew her better than most of the nobles so they doubted that rumors that she had really taken to the child and suspected that Renald had a hand to play in it. It was too out of character to them for Sarah to be so generous.
Helena turned her attention back to Sarah and spoke in a flowery voice, "It has been a long time Sarah. I had heard that you adopted a girl and I see that she is quite the pretty child. Are you going to introduce us to her?" She quite liked how Altair looked. Her own daughter was older than Altair but had never been as cute as Altair and lacked the poise at Altair's age as well. She couldn't help but wonder where this girl had come from and why the Marnithok family picked her up. She didn't doubt for a moment that she was picked up because she was useful in some way.
Altair didn't look at brawny as other girls and appeared younger than she was due to her Demi-Human blood. As a result, most people who saw her dressed the way she was assumed she was still less than ten years old. Being capable of acting so formally at such a young age while still showing some flaws warmed the hearts of those who saw her. It was like a child imitating an adult in every way.
Sarah looked at Altair with her usual warm smile and said, "Introduce yourself to them," while motioning for Altair to stand.
Altair mentally cursed in her mind as she stood to her feet. She then turned towards Gordon and Helena and did a perfect curtsy while saying, "Nice to meet you, I am called Aria Marnithok. I look forward to speaking with you." Immediately after she finished introducing herself, she sat right back down and continued to eat as if it never happened. She chose her words carefully as she had already decided before. She would never admit to having the name Aria Marnithok. She would only ever say that she was called it. That was as far as she was willing to go with their deal.
The people around her were nobles, however. They easily picked up on what she was hinting at. Gordon watched Sarah out of the corner of his eye for her reaction and saw that she didn't have one. This puzzled him because he knew that she should have understood what Altair meant as well.
Of course Sarah understood but she also didn't care. She didn't like the name that Renald had given Altair and wasn't so keen as to protect it as heavily as she should. She only motioned towards Gordon and Helena as she said, "These two are a couple of my friends that I've known since childhood. They are Gordon and his wife Helena of the Marshucarl family. I hope you come to like them as I have in time, Aria."
Altair looked at Gordon and Helena who were looking at her in turn. They had looks that she had never seen in her previous world. She couldn't help but wonder how sheltered the people of this world were compared to hers. She didn't think they could last a single day on her own world.
She had no idea that the two people sitting at her table were far stronger than she was back on her own world.
Helena gave her an inviting smile as she asked, "How old are you, Aria?"
Altair didn't waste a moment to saw her predetermined answer that Renald had given her, "I don't know."
Helena gave her a confused look, "How doesn't a child know their own age?"
"I don't remember much before two years ago," Altair said with a straight face. It was another one of the answers that Renald had agreed to have her give. It was all for maintaining the lie that they had made.
Helena turned her confused look to Sarah, which was joined by Gordon, and asked, "Is this true?" Helena and Gordon had not heard the rumors that had floated up from their kid's school. It wouldn't be helped since they were too busy with their own work. They were going to face quite the pile of documents just to come here today. But they were really curious about Sarah's daughter and had also wanted to see Sarah since she was working on logistics while they were dealing with skirmishes from the other nations along the borders.
Sarah returned their look with a sad smile, "It's true. My husband won't give me all of the details to protect her but he did tell me it was something horrible. She lost her memory. She didn't even remember her name, much less how to talk. We had to give her a new one."
Gordon and Helena gave Altair a pitying look as Gordon said, "How unfortunate. Still, to have come this far in just two years… She shows much promise." Gordon turned toward Sarah as he continued, "What do you say about having her and my son engaged with one another? I think they would make a cute couple in the future."
His sudden proposal caused Altair's hands to twitch briefly. She had a tacit agreement with Renald that she couldn't be made to do anything she wouldn't want to do and this was one of them. However, Renald wasn't here and she had no idea how Sarah would react to such words. She was currently playing as Sarah's daughter here so she obviously had no say in it as she was, technically, a noble's daughter. Still, the thought of it caused her stomach to churn as she started to dread that Sarah would foolishly agree to something that she would not allow to happen even if it killed her.
Sarah looked at Altair while putting on a big show of thinking. The longer she put on that show the more uneasy Altair felt. Eventually, Sarah gave Altair a knowing look before saying, "I believe that is a conversation to have when both Renald and I are present. Besides," She added while looking towards Gordon, "Altair hasn't even met Rience. Deciding without knowing if they get along would be foolish."
Helena put a hand on Gordon's shoulder to stop him from saying anything as she asked, "Since Aria doesn't know her age, does that mean you know how old she is? If you do, please tell us. I am very curious to know."
Sarah gave Helena a warm smile as she replied, "Of course I know how old she is." She then looked back at Altair and added, "Isn't it obvious how old she is?" Sarah didn't actually know what age Renald had told anyone so she couldn't carelessly say it. That was until Altair had said she didn't know. That told Sarah that would probably be able to gamble and claim and age for her.
This was a pointless concern because Renald was going off of an unknown age for Altair.
Helena looked at Altair and examined her closely before hesitantly saying, "So… She's eight then?" That wasn't as old as she looked to Helena. Helena wanted to say seven but she felt she was under by that guess so she went with eight.
Sarah gave her a big smile while saying, "That's what I thought until this morning. But she's on her first cycle now. So we believe she's actually closer to nine." Choosing that age let Sarah be able to pick out Altair's outfits more freely. Also Noble girls under the age of eleven would normally go to tea parties with their mother so that gave Sarah an additional two years to drag Altair around with her. Furthermore, it would let Altair stick around in the public eye as part of their family longer due to her age being so young. Lastly, she would also stick Altair in the class a year behind her son as she wasn't blind to how badly his pride was getting shattered. If Altair enrolled into the same year as him he likely would get overshadowed by her.
She suspected that Renald would eventually remove the girl known as Aria from existence in the long run while keeping Altair as part of a special squad dedicated to their family. With that in mind it would be better for her son to keep some pride as Altair's secret would eventually be revealed to him when he was smarter and wiser.
Helena gave her a confused look while Gordon asked, "You guys didn't check her?" There were machines that could give accurate ages of someone using their Spiritual Energy but Altair didn't have any of that so those kinds of machines obviously didn't work.
Sarah's smile turned sad as she looked to the side and then said, "Well… There are some complications with the accident she went through so we can't accurately check."
Gordon's brow scrunched up slightly as he looked at Altair while saying, "So there's lasting damage huh… That's a pity." Lasting damage to a person's body usually meant they were unable to withstand the physical draw of medical machines on their body. It usually limited a person's lifespan and how they could be treated.
Altair was resisting the urge to frown as hard as she could. She was sure that she didn't look that young and she had even grown taller. She admitted that she was shorter than everyone she had seen even now, but she was average among the Demi-Humans! Even when she was a human she was average in height.
She didn't know that Alice was only nine and taller than her. This was due to the Gene Stimulants that the people here used. The average height of an adult female on this world was 200 centimeters and an adult male was 208 centimeters. That was over 30 centimeters taller than the average human in her world.
Helena and Gordon both turned to Altair after sitting down. They looked like they had just seen a rare animal and were taking their time to examine it in full detail. Both of them had heard that Sarah had a new adopted daughter and found it a surprise that she would agree to such a thing. They knew her better than most of the nobles so they doubted that rumors that she had really taken to the child and suspected that Renald had a hand to play in it. It was too out of character to them for Sarah to be so generous.Helena turned her attention back to Sarah and spoke in a flowery voice, "It has been a long time Sarah. I had heard that you adopted a girl and I see that she is quite the pretty child. Are you going to introduce us to her?" She quite liked how Altair looked. Her own daughter was older than Altair but had never been as cute as Altair and lacked the poise at Altair's age as well. She couldn't help but wonder where this girl had come from and why the Marnithok family picked her up. She didn't doubt for a moment that she was picked up because she was useful in some way.Altair didn't look at brawny as other girls and appeared younger than she was due to her Demi-Human blood. As a result, most people who saw her dressed the way she was assumed she was still less than ten years old. Being capable of acting so formally at such a young age while still showing some flaws warmed the hearts of those who saw her. It was like a child imitating an adult in every way.Sarah looked at Altair with her usual warm smile and said, "Introduce yourself to them," while motioning for Altair to stand.Altair mentally cursed in her mind as she stood to her feet. She then turned towards Gordon and Helena and did a perfect curtsy while saying, "Nice to meet you, I am called Aria Marnithok. I look forward to speaking with you." Immediately after she finished introducing herself, she sat right back down and continued to eat as if it never happened. She chose her words carefully as she had already decided before. She would never admit to having the name Aria Marnithok. She would only ever say that she was called it. That was as far as she was willing to go with their deal.The people around her were nobles, however. They easily picked up on what she was hinting at. Gordon watched Sarah out of the corner of his eye for her reaction and saw that she didn't have one. This puzzled him because he knew that she should have understood what Altair meant as well.Of course Sarah understood but she also didn't care. She didn't like the name that Renald had given Altair and wasn't so keen as to protect it as heavily as she should. She only motioned towards Gordon and Helena as she said, "These two are a couple of my friends that I've known since childhood. They are Gordon and his wife Helena of the Marshucarl family. I hope you come to like them as I have in time, Aria."Altair looked at Gordon and Helena who were looking at her in turn. They had looks that she had never seen in her previous world. She couldn't help but wonder how sheltered the people of this world were compared to hers. She didn't think they could last a single day on her own world.She had no idea that the two people sitting at her table were far stronger than she was back on her own world.Helena gave her an inviting smile as she asked, "How old are you, Aria?"Altair didn't waste a moment to saw her predetermined answer that Renald had given her, "I don't know."Helena gave her a confused look, "How doesn't a child know their own age?""I don't remember much before two years ago," Altair said with a straight face. It was another one of the answers that Renald had agreed to have her give. It was all for maintaining the lie that they had made.Helena turned her confused look to Sarah, which was joined by Gordon, and asked, "Is this true?" Helena and Gordon had not heard the rumors that had floated up from their kid's school. It wouldn't be helped since they were too busy with their own work. They were going to face quite the pile of documents just to come here today. But they were really curious about Sarah's daughter and had also wanted to see Sarah since she was working on logistics while they were dealing with skirmishes from the other nations along the borders.Sarah returned their look with a sad smile, "It's true. My husband won't give me all of the details to protect her but he did tell me it was something horrible. She lost her memory. She didn't even remember her name, much less how to talk. We had to give her a new one."Gordon and Helena gave Altair a pitying look as Gordon said, "How unfortunate. Still, to have come this far in just two years She shows much promise." Gordon turned toward Sarah as he continued, "What do you say about having her and my son engaged with one another? I think they would make a cute couple in the future."His sudden proposal caused Altair's hands to twitch briefly. She had a tacit agreement with Renald that she couldn't be made to do anything she wouldn't want to do and this was one of them. However, Renald wasn't here and she had no idea how Sarah would react to such words. She was currently playing as Sarah's daughter here so she obviously had no say in it as she was, technically, a noble's daughter. Still, the thought of it caused her stomach to churn as she started to dread that Sarah would foolishly agree to something that she would not allow to happen even if it killed her.Sarah looked at Altair while putting on a big show of thinking. The longer she put on that show the more uneasy Altair felt. Eventually, Sarah gave Altair a knowing look before saying, "I believe that is a conversation to have when both Renald and I are present. Besides," She added while looking towards Gordon, "Altair hasn't even met Rience. Deciding without knowing if they get along would be foolish."Helena put a hand on Gordon's shoulder to stop him from saying anything as she asked, "Since Aria doesn't know her age, does that mean you know how old she is? If you do, please tell us. I am very curious to know."Sarah gave Helena a warm smile as she replied, "Of course I know how old she is." She then looked back at Altair and added, "Isn't it obvious how old she is?" Sarah didn't actually know what age Renald had told anyone so she couldn't carelessly say it. That was until Altair had said she didn't know. That told Sarah that would probably be able to gamble and claim and age for her.This was a pointless concern because Renald was going off of an unknown age for Altair.Helena looked at Altair and examined her closely before hesitantly saying, "So She's eight then?" That wasn't as old as she looked to Helena. Helena wanted to say seven but she felt she was under by that guess so she went with eight.Sarah gave her a big smile while saying, "That's what I thought until this morning. But she's on her first cycle now. So we believe she's actually closer to nine." Choosing that age let Sarah be able to pick out Altair's outfits more freely. Also Noble girls under the age of eleven would normally go to tea parties with their mother so that gave Sarah an additional two years to drag Altair around with her. Furthermore, it would let Altair stick around in the public eye as part of their family longer due to her age being so young. Lastly, she would also stick Altair in the class a year behind her son as she wasn't blind to how badly his pride was getting shattered. If Altair enrolled into the same year as him he likely would get overshadowed by her.She suspected that Renald would eventually remove the girl known as Aria from existence in the long run while keeping Altair as part of a special squad dedicated to their family. With that in mind it would be better for her son to keep some pride as Altair's secret would eventually be revealed to him when he was smarter and wiser.Helena gave her a confused look while Gordon asked, "You guys didn't check her?" There were machines that could give accurate ages of someone using their Spiritual Energy but Altair didn't have any of that so those kinds of machines obviously didn't work.Sarah's smile turned sad as she looked to the side and then said, "Well There are some complications with the accident she went through so we can't accurately check."Gordon's brow scrunched up slightly as he looked at Altair while saying, "So there's lasting damage huh That's a pity." Lasting damage to a person's body usually meant they were unable to withstand the physical draw of medical machines on their body. It usually limited a person's lifespan and how they could be treated.Altair was resisting the urge to frown as hard as she could. She was sure that she didn't look that young and she had even grown taller. She admitted that she was shorter than everyone she had seen even now, but she was average among the Demi-Humans! Even when she was a human she was average in height.She didn't know that Alice was only nine and taller than her. This was due to the Gene Stimulants that the people here used. The average height of an adult female on this world was 200 centimeters and an adult male was 208 centimeters. That was over 30 centimeters taller than the average human in her world.
