That child is strange-5

"Hannah Murray greets Marquis Shuzar," Hannah bowed near the door and looked up ahead at the man sitting there.

The moment she saw the man's face, her eyes remained glued to it.

Damn! Violet eyes! , she could hear her heart shouting inside her.

A witch's magic doesn't work on people who have the same eye colour as her own.

Weren't violet eyes quite rare in the north, she pondered as she forced a smile.

The Marquis smiled back and said," I didn't know you had violet eyes too,Miss Murray."

The look on his face and the way he smiled were like declaring- Don't you try to be smart, I can look right through you.

"What a coincidence, my lord."

Hannah managed to utter a viable response.

"Please have a seat, Miss Murray."

Hannah walked to the wooden carved chair near the table and sat on it.

"Now, shall we start talking, Miss Murray, let's first negotiate the subjects you'll be teaching Julia."

The Marquis looked at Hannah for an answer.

"I can teach her everything I've learned myself. Latin, French, German, Embroidery, Etiquette, Politics, Geography, History, Basic Mathematics....."

"Witchcraft?"

Hannah glared at the Marquis the moment she heard those words.

Witchcraft? Why would he say that? Hannah looked for an answer on his face.

"You are from the southern principality, aren't you? You must know something about witches. How to identify them or things like that. I want Julia to learn these things so that she doesn't get in some uncanny situation."

"I understand, my lord."

Hannah controlled her facial expressions as much as she could. She can't look too startled at the mention of witches.

"Now that I look at it, you came from a convent school in Singrad. Can you tell me something about the white witch?"

Hannah suddenly felt like she would grab that flower vase on the table and smash it on his head.

Calm down, calm down, he isn't trying to piss you off, he is just another certain someone who is curious about the white witch.

The Marquis smiled at her and that drove her mad.

No! He is definitely trying to piss me off! What's with that 'I know everything, don't try to be smart with me' smile!!! If you know something just spit it out!!

Hannah kept her internal thought inside her heart and smiled back.

"What do wish to know, my lord?"

"Anything you can tell me."

"Well, as much you seem interested in this, you might have heard all the rumours about her. Let me tell you something which nobody knows."

You wanna play Marquis, I'm not at all afraid. Hannah's eyes filled with a mysterious gleam and she said," I know the white witch of Singrad."

         ****************

Raymond entered the kitchen and looked around.

"Chef Higgins, tea ready?", he asked as he came near Frank and the tall thin chef.

"Almost, Mr Raymond," Higgins said as he was plating the food and the tea in order.

He found a cake extra as it would not go in any of the plates.

"Frank, wanna have one?,' Higgins said handing him over the cake in a little plate.

Frank held the plate and smiled and happily said," Thank you, Mr Higgins."

The chef smiled and said," What a cute little child. I wish I could have you work with me in the kitchen. You could just taste everything I make."

"Higgins, he is MY brother now, don't you dare think about taking him away," Raymond cut in between the chef and the child, frowning.

"Yeah, yeah, I know how much you cherish him and being a butler's ward is better for him than a cook's. But still, you can at least let me feed him cakes and cookies."

"Why?"

Higgins pointed towards Frank who was gobbling up the cake and said," He looks like a rabbit while eating them."

Raymond looked at Frank and laughed out. Soon the chef also joined him.

Frank tried to ask what they were laughing about with a large bite of cake still in his mouth.

"Whak att you lapping abouk?"

They started laughing even louder.

Frank blushed and was about to say something when suddenly something got stuck in his throat.

He started coughing, but it didn't help.

Suddenly he felt himself unable to breathe. 

Raymond and Higgins quickly noticed Frank's situation and ran into action.

Raymond tucked on his stomach some three or four times, and a piece of bread fell Frank's mouth.

"You brat, that's why you shouldn't talk while eating! What if it would have gotten deeper!?", Raymond shouted when Frank was finally able to breathe.

"Higgins, give him a glass of water."

The chef went away to fetch water but Frank broke into cold sweat.

Water. His powers were that of fire, so whenever he came in contact with water,it caused burns on his skin. Naturally, he never felt thirsty so he simply avoided water. But how could he do that now in front of Raymond. If he drinks it, the burns on his skin will reveal what he is, if he didn't, Raymond would get suspecious.

"Here, Mr Raymond," Higgins said as he handed Raymond the glass filled with water.

Raymond was drawing the glass near Frank's when suddenly the glass slipped from his hand and fell on the floor. The steel glass clinked and rolled away.

But Frank was drenched with water near the hands and feet. Slowly burns began to show on his skin.

"What is this....?", Raymond said looking at Frank's burns.

Ha. It happened again. Now I have to kill you too, brother. Frank's heart grew heavy as he thought about it. Maybe I'm meant to be alone.

"You have an alergy to water! Why didn't you tell me, dummy? What would have happened if you'd drink that!," Raymond said as he hurriedly applied a clean cloth on the burns.

"Yeah, my nephew's friend also had something like this. It's very dangerous if you get exposed to the allergy stimulant," Higgins said as he brought a balm from the shelves.

"Maybe he didn't just know."

They both looked at Frank and he was crying. They didn't think of him as a monster or a devil. They even asked why he didn't tell them beforehand.

"Hey, hey, does it hurt that bad? I'm sorry, if I'd known, I wouldn't have..."

Before Raymond could complete his words Frank took him in an embrace and cried. He wailed and cried and shouted.

"It doesn't hurt anymore. But.. hic... but before it hurt a lot, brother! waa... hic."

Raymond hugged him tightly and said," Don't worry, it will not hurt ever again."

Frank sobbed himself to sleep.

          ******************