"This is not my daughter!"
The women in ornate dress screamed indignantly.
Joon-Ho took an involuntary backwards, utterly spooked by the reaction of what was supposed to be his family.
The knight captain quickly bowed to the lady.
"Apologies Mrs Verdigris, it seems we have made a mistake"
At this the already fuming lady exploded even more, her face contorting into an utterly ugly expression.
"YOU MORONS! I TOLD YOU TO BRING MY DAUGHTER, NOT THE MYRVALE BRAT!!"
Joon-ho felt lightly dizzy from the sheer volume that the women shouted, he took another involuntary step backwards.
At this, the women turned to him, bringing her face uncomfortably close to his.
"You!"
Joon-Ho flinched.
"What did you do to my daughter!?"
He gave the lady a nervous smile.
"I uhh..."
He glanced at the knights, and they all averted their gazes away from him.
"I’m sorry... it seems like they have made a mistake" Despite his best efforts, all he could do was repeat what the captain had already said. His voice was still quivering, and his shaking legs refusing to stay steady.
The lady continued to stare holes into his very soul, and Joon-Ho could, for some reason, feel his very soul eroding away under her gaze.
This continued for a painfully long moment, the nostrils of the lady flaring open and shut with each of her breath that hit his face.
Then,
"Darling, don’t scare the poor boy" A voice sighed from behind the woman.
She turned around, then raised a hand as if to shout something at the voice too, but eventually sighed and turned around.
"Were you in any way involved in the disappearance of my daughter?"
Joon-Ho frantically shook his head, not trusting himself enough to speak.
The woman exhaled, then turned to the captain.
"Take him away."
That was how he had ended up in the carriage again, pulled to another mysterious destination.
It took them almost all day to reach their new destination, when in then meanwhile Joon-Ho tried to come to terms with all that was happening today.
He was staring at his particularly glossy shoes when the carriage came to a sudden halt.
A moment passed, then the door next to him swung open.
"Step outside, Sir"
He was slightly taken aback by the sudden change in being referred to. He swallowed, then stepped outside, making sure not to trip on his heeled boots again.
Just what is going on.
The air around the knights had changed, instead of the flustered and tense behaviour, they seemed somewhat... disappointed.
This puzzled Joon-Ho even more, just what had happened in that short ride for them to be so disappointed and sulky?
Ignoring the eccentric behaviour, he followed their lead inside the manor infront of them.
The estate was unbelievably vast, enough so that was it not for the knights leading him, Joon-Ho was sure that he was going to get lost inside the maze like hallways of the grand manor.
They walked for a small while, then the entourage lead him lead him towards a particular door, and ushered him in.
It had all happened so quickly.
Before he knew, someone large and bulky wrapped its hands around him tightly in a bear hug, almost knocking his breath out of him.
The humungous person gave him a tight squeeze. Then sighed, holding him in their embrace for a while.
After a minute of awkward silence passed, in which Joon-Ho was even scared to move a finger, the person talked in a low, shaky voice.
"I’m so sorry."
It was the gravelly voice of an old man, and once the initial shock had subsided, Joon-Ho could feel the pricky beard of his poking his forehead.
Joon-Ho didn’t know what to say, nor what to do.
He opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again.
"Excuse me" He tried wrestle away from the tight hug.
But the man squeezed him even tighter.
"I know i’ve been a bad father to you.." He sniffled through the heavy tears that fell on Joon-Ho’s head.
"..I’m sorry, Eddie" The man broke into a quiet sob.
Ding!
[ Host name has been registered ]
[ The tutorial is now complete, Edward Myrvale ]
And that was how Joon-Ho’s, no, Edward’s life in the brand new world had started