"Go outside?!"
The shock that surged when they heard her request was strong enough to shake the birds in the garden awake. Their reaction, albeit excessive, wasn't baseless.
"But Kath," Armand said, his hazel eyes now coloured in worry. "You haven't left the manor in so long."
"Your brother is right, Kath," the baroness added. "It's dangerous out there, and you aren't used to that environment."
Adria expected this much pushback. What she didn't predict, though, was the amount of worry the family would show. Their gazes were clinging to her like sweat on a hot summer day. The baron, in particular, had an extremely complicated gaze on him. His deep blue eyes had begun to melt like ice, their shape getting increasingly shakier. You could hear his thoughts crashing around his head as he tried to find the right words to say.
This was the first time Adria had seen the baron show so much emotion. That, too, she was something she hadn't predicted. Quickly, she got her thoughts back on track.
"But we could assign a guard to protect me," she said, her eyes whipping towards the head of the table. "Right, Father?"
"…Can we discuss this at some other time, Katherine?" the baron said as a sigh escaped him and his eyes slowly regained their composure.
Her stomach dropped. To her, there was no "next time". She had to find a way out of this world as soon as possible, and the baron was like a barrier stopping that from happening.
'What do I do now? Do I continue pushing it?'
Adria glanced to her sides. Charles and Armand still had that look on their faces. That look parents have when they are about to tell their kids that Santa Claus isn't real.
The pollen-filled air made its way to her mouth as she got ready to speak, loading the words in her brain onto her tongue. But before she could speak, Charles jumped in. "What if you allow me to be her knight, Father?"
Her eyes widened.
"You have your own duties, Charles," the baron said. "You won't have the time to guard her."
"It'll just be until she comes of age, Father. After that, we can assign her a personal guard." Charles glanced at his sister, almost as if in search of a sign, and then turned back towards his lord Father. "And besides, I ought to show her everything our beautiful kingdom has to offer before she becomes an adult."
Charles had a light, confident smile on his face as he watched his father stroke his stubble-length beard. Armand's meal called to him once more. But having now lost his appetite, he only picked at it with a fork.
The table was silent for a moment. A silence that carried a different meaning to each person sitting there.
"…Fine, then," the baron sighed, dropping his hands back to the table. "For the next twelve days, you can be her guard."
Unable to hide her relief, Adria's face brightened. Charles let out a light sigh of relief, and the baroness whipped her head toward her husband with a look that begged him to rethink his decision. Armand's worry-filled eyes began shaking like a ship in the eye of a storm, but no complaint left his mouth.
"But your duties should still be your priority. If I catch wind that you are neglecting them, you won't be her guard anymore." The baron added.
"Yes, Father," Charles replied.
"…Thank you, Father," Adria said.
"And make sure to take proper care of yourself, Katherine," the baron said.
Everyone at the table was done with their meals and began leaving. Aside from the servants, Adria was the last person in the garden. She jumped up from the table and wandered around the garden.
With no cane in hand this time, she felt an odd sense of freedom. A sense of freedom she had taken for granted when she was in her own body.
A large tree came into view after some time—its luscious green leaves enticing her to take shelter under it from the prickly hot sun. Adria sat underneath its shade, invading a group of wildflowers that had claimed that place before her.
The singing of birds was less prominent in this area of the garden; the flower petals had the same shade as stale bread, and some of the grass was patchy. All of it stood in stark contrast to how well-maintained the rest of the garden was.
She rested her head against the tree's large trunk, all the exhaustion within slowly seeping without and into its roots.
'At least now I can leave this house.'
Her eyes lingered on the silhouettes of the servants far away. Some were hard at work washing clothes under the hot sun, others were slacking off and laughing around, and others had finished cleaning the manor and were getting themselves ready to eat their meals.
'Where should I go first?'
She stared down at her left hand. Fingers began bending and straightening, and she realised that this body, which didn't belong to her, was starting to feel... comfortable.
'Maybe I could go to a church to search for clues.'
'That would be difficult since I don't know which god this body is a vessel for.'
'I could just go to every church I can find.'
'That would seem a bit suspicious, especially considering she's the daughter of a baron.'
Noticing that her thoughts were taking her nowhere, Adria shifted her gaze towards the blue sky above. The clouds began weighing on her eyelids as she did so, and an all too familiar feeling of exhaustion settled on her once more.
'It's still so early, but this body is even more tired than usual. Is the assimilation process speeding up?'
Adria closed her eyes and let the darkness cover her vision. At that moment, the air around her felt soothing—like a warm blanket on a winter day or a much-needed hug in a moment of need.
"…I need to go home."