It all derailed from there.
I am not going to write everything that happened the past week; I still haven't processed it myself, but long story short...
The Beifongs had a child, which I never even heard of.
The Beifong family was the wealthiest family in the town; some people say that they were one of the wealthiest in all of the Earth Kingdom. It's like Tony Stark declaring that he had sired an heir for the whole world to hear or something. No idea who this person was, but Zero really liked him from the number of memories containing the rather handsome man. "Iron "Man"—what a cool concept.
OK, I got off track a bit there.
Point being is that the Beifongs have itchy ears in their walls that would love the idea of a new hit piece, yet no one knew about this sudden news. That meant that the Beifongs must have paid a lot to keep the news of the new Beifong heir down... And for good reason.
The baby was blind. And the Beifongs would pay thousands of gold coins to protect their child.
Moving on, after some time of using the tried-and-true "wait and see" approach, they've decided that their baby, Toph Beifong, had to have a servant to guide her around. That's where I come in.
I had no idea why they chose me out of the other potential candidates, and I was soon sold by the head matron and thrown into the fray, forcefully being made to kneel with my head on the ground by a servant in front of Lord Beifong and Ms. Beifong themselves.
I could kneel just fine, but the servant seemed to think that a "Fire Nation spawn," his words, not mine, didn't have the etiquette and mannerism to bow down before their superiors.
Mark my words, Elder Pahur, you're going into my list. I'm going to somehow pay this back when I get the chance to get out of here. Preferably alive. Maybe I'll spike his drink or something; that'd be funny to watch.
A few seconds of silence passed when the man of the hour, Lord Beifong, spoke.
"Rise, child."
Feeling the grip on my back lighten, I raised my head and looked at the man dead in the eye. He had an... unexplainable gaze. People in the lower levels of Gaoling loved to gossip about his supposed incompetence in business, which was ridiculous considering that he was sitting on hundreds and thousands of gold coins, but the man standing before me? He was nothing like the rumors suggested.
A moment passed without any words being spoken.
Lord Beifong suddenly smiled.
"From today onwards, you are now a servant of my family. Elder Pahur, train him for a month. If he has the patience and potential, he will serve as my Toph's butler and servant for the future."
"But my Lord," Elder Pahur, who took a step back earlier, interjected sharply. "He is a Fire Nation—"
"Nonsense. He is an Earth Kingdom citizen," Lord Beifong cut in, his tone firm but controlled. "Do not let the past dictate the present, Elder."
A single look from the lord silenced the old man instantly. Pahur bowed his head low. "And this decision is final. Even if you were the one who raised me, Elder, I will not repeat myself."
"... Of course, my Lord."
Hah! Obey your master, you senile old fool—Oh. Right. Manners.
I dipped into a quick bow. "I thank my Lord for this great opportunity."
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It's been a month since I was hired... and surprisingly, the training process was easier than I expected.
At first, anyway.
The basics were simple enough: noble etiquette, servant rules and mannerisms, cooking, cleaning, babysitting, how to care for a baby, how to serve a baby—
And then things started to... escalate. For better or worse.
Suddenly, I had to memorize a forty-page handbook titled "Toph Beifong: Approved Temperature Ranges for Acceptable Bathwater."
Then came the twelve-step protocol for folding her blankets. Step seven still haunts me. Why does a fold need "emotional symmetry"? How does that even work?
I was taught how to walk exactly three paces behind her, never two, never four, and how to angle my shoulders so she could "sense my presence without being overwhelmed by it."
Apparently, I needed to master the art of "silent cheering" to encourage her without making a sound. That one took a few days to get down.
I also had to take a class on identifying poisonous plants, how to forage in any environment, how to capture and set traps for game, how to find or set up temporary shelters, and martial arts ... not to protect me, mind you. No, the Beifongs wanted to make sure not even a stray leaf within a five-mile radius could possibly inconvenience their beloved blind daughter.
Oh, and let's not forget the emergency drills that I had to react to on the fly.
Three times a day, a bell would ring, and I had to sprint into formation to "simulate a minor infant-related catastrophe." One time it was "Toph has hypothetically sneezed." Another time it was "Toph is potentially considering crawling in the near future."
The scenario, "The ground might be too hard today," happened just hours ago. There were seventeen protocols for that one alone. I... What?
For good measure, Elder Pahur made sure I also learned how to shield her from sudden sunlight, unexpected wind, suspiciously shaped shadows, and the possibility—however remote—that the air molecules around her were "too aggressive."
And I had to watch over a wood-carved baby after hours as well. Every day for the past four weeks until three in the morning. And I had to get up, all dressed and outside Toph's room before six.
I-I didn't even have time to learn how to Fire Bend.
Looking at the calendar in Toph's bedroom, I quietly shed a manly tear at the thought of my Fire Bending skills being stagnated because of the sudden workload.
Well... At least I was getting better at manipulating the Chi within my body. This inhumane training for a month straight had taught me how to stimulate and boost the muscles and blood in my body to endure all the stuff that was happening every day.
I think I could even go a full day without sleeping, but that was just theoretical at best.
Hearing soft gurgles beneath me, I looked down to see the tiny face of a baby with milky eyes somewhat staring in my direction, one finger shoved in her mouth. I sighed as I continued to rock her wooden crib.
"...At least you're somewhat cute."
She responded with another gurgle.
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Sorry for last week, my laptop completely died. Couldn't even charge it without the battery, it just wouldn't turn on.
To compensate, I'm posting 3 chapters this week of both fics! And I'll even throw in It's Time To Duel Chapter 29!
NEXT UPDATE: Take a Deep Breath, Deep Breath x2, The Butler Who Can Bend Fire x2 (23 Jan, Friday)
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There's currently extra chapters that I haven't posted, want to stockpile them beforehand, so if you want to read early come join!
patre0n.c0m/damaine_n
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