POV Fleur Delacour
— What do you mean, gone? — The girl asked with a strange tone. — What do you mean? — There was a look of incomprehension mixed with indignation in her eyes. — Gone where?
— Mister said that he had urgent business, and while there was time, he decided to take care of it, — the girl shrugged calmly, which made the girl somewhat... angry.
— What kind of business can there be when he didn't even talk to me?! Are you sure you didn't mix up something? — There was a strange, hidden threat in the blonde's squint, which the long-haired girl didn't care about, she was more concerned with the fact that something strange was happening in one of the underground halls in the magical background, and the one responsible for overseeing the current experiments still hadn't come back to check it out. The girl didn't want to go there herself for fear of messing something up, so she waited at a safe distance, keeping a watchful eye. — Why didn't you say anything? Maybe you're hiding something from me? — The squinting became downright dangerous.
— I don't like it when people talk to me like that, — the girl squinted at her, literally staring at her guest.
— Daughter, you're really wrong, — the blonde's mother said quietly, putting her hand on her daughter's shoulder. — Forgive her, Mademoiselle, our daughter was so worried, so worried about her fiancé ... ah, this love! — The woman put her hands to her cheeks and closed her eyes, her beautiful face showing that she was in a sweet reverie.
— Mom! — the girl said, looking menacingly at her mother, then at her father. — Dad, you wanted to talk to Sora, too, and he ran away!
— Well, — Pierre began cautiously, averting his eyes to the side, — he was very fond of family games and jokes, and so he always supported his beloved wife in various entertainments. — In fact, the son-in-law wrote a letter explaining everything.....
— So you knew! — shouted the girl. — And you told me nothing!
— Daughter, how could I spoil your mood when you literally fluttered around the house while we were getting ready? — the man pretended to be embarrassed and remorseful.
— Oh, my sister has such a sweet voice when she hums in the bathtub! — the youngest daughter decided to play along with her parents, echoing her mother.
— Oh, you are...! — Fleur shot a fiery glare at her parents. — You...! — This look was already directed at her younger sister. — Traitors! — The girl turned and walked away, skirting the facade and heading for the gardens.
— Ah, she's so cute when she's embarrassed! — Gabrielle sang, looking after her sister.
— Sora warned you, didn't he? — Pierre Delacour's voice had no trace of playfulness or jokes, he had turned into a "rock" with a cold look.
— Yes, — Momo nodded, unaffected by the look the man had developed over years of political practice. — The lord has given all the necessary orders, so the rooms for your daughters are ready, — Zashiki-warashi bowed respectfully — neutral, but the French could not distinguish these nuances and therefore could not see anything special in the bow.
— What about security? — squinted Appolin Delacour, who now looked like an inspector of a military unit where nuclear missiles are stationed.
— Safer than the goblins', that's what the Lord said, — the spirit in the form of a teenage girl shrugged. She was a little annoyed that these mages didn't take her master's word for it, especially considering all the hard work that had gone into building a very serious defense. Wasn't it obvious that since the lord had given his word of honor, there could be no doubt?
— We'd like to make sure... — the woman smiled slightly, her eyes filled with an uncontrollable flame, ready to burst out at the first command.
— Humans, — Momo simply couldn't stand it anymore. Even though the master had asked her to be tolerant and understanding, she never liked such people and it was beyond the spirit girl's strength to tolerate their insolence. — If you don't trust my master so much, then why are you here at all? — Zashikiwarashi spoke in a neutral tone and did not even look at the guests. — My master gave his word and he keeps it. You don't want to believe him, you don't trust him? Then leave him alone. Wouldn't that be easier for you?
The two of them looked at each other in surprise, for before this creature had been somehow more friendly, and now it was insolent towards the mages. In any other case, the Delacour couple would have punished the house elf that dared to insult the owners' guests, but in this situation, it was more complicated, and they could not use the usual method.
And if you think about it, there was some sense in the words of that servant, but only from a certain point of view — not political, from the point of view of a simple plebeian who was used to living from subsistence work and who did not have to take care of the whole magical family. Considering all this and much more, every aristocrat behaves this way, and in the case of the Delacours, they can still be called very "democratic" and "soft", especially in comparison to many and many others.
And so Pierre decided to take his future son-in-law for a ride, because what kind of business is this — servants do not respect important guests? No, in some things Sora is undoubtedly a very educated guy, but in some areas of life he is still so naive that it is not even funny, and since no one has taken advantage of his education in this respect, why not the future father-in-law and mother-in-law?
Gabrielle, who was standing a little to the side, watched the whole show with great pleasure from the moment Momo opened the door. The girl made an incredible effort not to giggle first at her sister, sometimes so naive and therefore sweet, and then at her parents, who were too used to being "respected" everywhere, used to underhanded games and eternal pretense, cleverly disguised by etiquette. For this reason, the girl's mother and father, despite all their positive qualities, cannot perceive many things other than "in their own way," as they are accustomed to do. They simply forgot that the truth can be told directly, that a person can say what's on his mind, no matter how much it corresponds to someone's etiquette or traditions.
Already on the day of the acquaintance with Momo, Gabrielle had time to realize how straightforward this girl was: she did not care much about the position of the guest, who he was, from what kind of family, for her the attitude of the guest to Sora and to herself — to this house, because not for nothing they say: "Feel at home, but do not forget that you are a guest", and Momo is an ardent supporter of this position.
Gabby even allowed that Momo is able to throw openly rude and scoundrels out of the door, if Sora does not separately ask not to do it. The ghost girl of this house is open and quite friendly, it is not difficult to make friends with her if you follow a few simple rules while you are within the walls of this abode of oddities and wonders.
Gabrielle is even a little envious of her, because Momo knows how to put herself in such a way that you do not want to, and take off your shoes when entering the house, and it does not matter whether you are used to going everywhere in shoes or not — the result for all the same — house slippers. And Momo is also very hospitable: she and her parents did not seem satisfied with each other, but the girl still put the guests in the living room, brought delicious tea with sweets, and did not leave them until they came down to Afiri, about which you can say even more than the spirit of the house.
And, as it seems, the Egyptian is a rather strict lady, loves order and the fulfillment of rules, but at the same time she does not "push" with these qualities, you do not want to run away from her. It's as if the girl is setting an example of how to be, and you involuntarily reach out to her, trying to become better. She is very much like Madame Louise, only colder in appearance, and she can hardly joke.
In general, Gabrielle liked this house very much from the first visit, and she was very much looking forward to these vacations to plunge back into this fairy tale. Well, what is not a fairy tale, if you ask me, and you are allowed (if you have no sins behind you) to ride on a huge, tiger-sized, silver ghost wolf that can not only become invisible and move along the paths that are "not here", and also a little bit of flying? And if you're lucky, very lucky, and the Simurangs are in the right mood, you can fly on one of those strange, unapproachable pair of intelligent winged creatures that look like wolves and dogs at the same time. Or you can play with fakes, which in the last century you could only see on a field trip to the Forbidden Forest, and then only if you're a student of the Beauchbatons.
But to see them was not to play with them, and it was a pleasure to play with them, and it took all of Gabrielle's restraint not to brag about them to her friends at school. It was enough that her hairpin and Baby attracted too much attention, even her course supervisor talked to her — trying to find out where such "happiness" came from, and the girl wouldn't be surprised if she found out that the teacher had been sent to her by someone from the "high" clans.
The girl was very jealous of her sister and did not hide it, because she could move into this house right after the announcement of the engagement, and she, Gabrielle, will have to wait a few more years before she can call this place her home...