Hildegard just didn't get it. She didn't understand why Adelheid hadn't answered, and Adelheid didn't blame her.

"Do you need a nap?" the old butler asked her. She kept asking things like that. It reminded Adelheid of stories about that 'governess' Brother Alaric had talked about. "Well, a longer nap?"

Adelheid was still sleepy, yes. Her thoughts just weren't working right. She was sad. And some other stuff. She didn't understand why that kept her thoughts from working right. She just knew it was the reason.

She'd stayed in Hildegard's room—even though the room was so tiny, the couch was so big, it would have fit two Adelheids. Maybe three. She scrunched her eyelids like Sister Malwine sometimes did.

"Why are you squinting?" Hildegard asked. It sounded far away, because Adelheid wasn't paying attention. The butler looked in the same direction, probably trying to see what Adelheid was looking at.

Maybe she should have brought her sister.

But that was exactly what was making Adelheid so confused. She didn't know what to do, and that confusion was making Hildegard confused. It was like it was spreading.

Sister Malwine would have known. She always came up with plans that made sense, but Adelheid wasn't her. Just because she could know things, didn't mean she was good at having ideas ahead of time.

She liked Franziska and Anna Franziska was a good teacher. But she also wanted to tell the butler 'yes'. Adelheid wanted to learn.

To be like the other Adelheid—like her great-grandma—but better.

And Hildegard was offering to help with that!

…But how was she going to have lessons with Franziska and Sister Malwine, if she stayed down here, learning from Hildegard?

Her sister didn't want anyone to know about her cooler levels and Franziska didn't understand the system yet. She wanted them to be here with her, but how was she going to get them here?

Adelheid was too confused. Maybe that wasn't the right word, but she didn't know the right word, for how she felt, not yet.

She pouted, not getting up from the sofa. "What about my sister and my friend?"

Hildegard moved her head to the side. "Pardon?"

She did like using that word a lot, not that Adelheid got it—saying 'excuse me' made more sense, and that was what she'd learned. The more she started to understand adults, the weirder she thought they were.

To her, they used to be untouchable, bigger people that were impossible to understand. Nothing she did made them happy. Now they were… disappointing—that was the word, Adelheid was almost sure.

Getting to know Hildegard was harder than she hoped. The butler had known her great-grandma… and something told Adelheid she knew how {Implicit} worked. She almost always answered Adelheid, even if it was just with one or two words. It was so annoying.

There weren't enough things going unsaid for Adelheid to learn a lot about her.

"I take lessons with Sister Malwine, and our friend Franziska," Adelheid knew her sister would have given her a weird look if she head that last part. "Would you teach them too?"

"…I did serve in that role, for your mortal mother," Hildegard said after looking to the side. "But it is different. I understand your power enough to tailor lessons around it, but mortals would not benefit from that. It would mean more effort would be necessary on my part."

"But can you teach all three of us?"

"You would have to convince your parents, but I will think of something for your friends to do, if you do so," Hildegard scratched her chin for some reason. "I doubt your mother would agree, however. As for your father…"

The butler closed her mouth before she could actually say anything, but Adelheid knew anyway. She'd had taken too long to say anything and she'd failed to hide what went unsaid. Hildegard didn't like her father. He was too old. Like Dietrich had been.

And Hildegard must have known Adelheid knew too. She just sighed really slowly, shaking her head. If she'd been friends with Adelheid's great-grandma, she had to be used to this. That made Adelheid a little happier, to see the old butler wasn't perfect—she couldn't always keep Adelheid from finding things out.

"How old are you, Hildegard?"

Hildegard moved her hand to be in front of her chest and looked shocked. "One does not ask a lady her age!"

"But you said, for the census…" Adelheid tried to remember the age her sister had for Hildegard on the census. She hadn't tried very hard to remember it, so she had to think about it for longer. Sometimes this wouldn't work, but it worked now. "Aren't you 93?"

"Oh, for that thing? I simply answered something reasonable."

Adelheid's head turned so fast her hair hit her face. Her eyes were wide, and she couldn't stop staring at the butler. "You lied? To us? Lying is bad!"

"I simply allowed a coworker to perpetuate a misunderstanding," the butler said, but she was speaking slowly.

"How is that different from lying?" Adelheid was still sad about her Mother's family. Hildegard offering to teach her had almost cheered her up!

And now, it was going to turn out that Hildegard was a liar?

"It's simply customary for a gentlewoman to not state her age," Hildegard insisted. When she stopped talking, Adelheid noticed the butler would have said she didn't even have anything to do with the '93' being passed around, however that happened.

She was going to have to ask her sister later. Actually, she could ask right now.

Adelheid moved back to their room, finding Malwine with her eyes closed. "Sister?"

"Yes?" Malwine opened her eyes, turning to look at her.

"If people thought Hildegard was 93 and she knew that, but let them think it anyway even though she isn't, is Hildegard a liar?"

Her sister's eyes widened, and she almost looked sick for a moment. Before Adelheid could move closer to see if she was okay, Malwine answered. "Eh, not really. If you want to insist you could maybe argue it's a lie by omission but that's… a slippery slope…"

"What?"

"It means that yes, sometimes you could interpret that type of thing as a lie by omission. 'By omission' here, it's when people don't correct something they know is wrong. But, the problem with that is that if you start thinking of anyone who doesn't correct other people about themselves a liar for that, you'd be labeling many people liars when they never actually told a lie."

Adelheid nodded along. "Okay, thank you."

"Wait, what's her real age? I need to fix th—" her sister started asking but Adelheid had already left.

Moving back to Hildegard's tiny room, she pointed at the old woman. "You're a liar by omission but I'm going to forgive you because I don't want anyone to slip."

Hildegard looked confused, and that might have made Adelheid happier than she'd expected. "What…?" the butler shook her head. "Your words confuse me. But no matter. If you can convince your parents, I will teach your friends. For now, tell me—is the power of Bernadette's grandmother the only Affinity you command?"

Adelheid frowned. Would it be safe to tell the butler? …She did know so many things already. It'd probably be fine. "No."

Sister Malwine had said they should be careful about sharing their Skills with anyone. Even if this wasn't going to be a secret forever, Adelheid didn't want to just tell Hildegard everything. She looked at the floating panel with her Skills. Malwine could have just shown these off…

Adelheid couldn't, so she just stared at the table.

Skills Unforged Class of Body {Missing}: 10/30 Unforged Class of Mind {}: 0/30 Locked Unused Skill Slot Locked Locked Unused Skill Slot Locked Locked Unused Skill Slot (x2) Locked Locked Unused Skill Slot (x2) Locked UNUSED Shadow Manipulation 44 Dark Things Locked Unused Skill Slot Locked In The Shade That Which Lurks 41 Undeveloped Aspect Locked Unused Skill Slot Locked Identify The Thirl in Everything 21 Undeveloped Aspect Locked Unused Skill Slot Locked Unforged Class of Soul {}: 0/30 Unforged Class of Word {Implicit}: 2/30 Locked Unused Skill Slot Locked Locked Unused Skill Slot Locked Locked Unused Skill Slot (x4) Locked Locked Unused Skill Slot (x4) Locked UNUSED Turmoil Has Memory 1 Undeveloped Aspect UNUSED Benighted Star 21 Undeveloped Aspect </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table>

She didn't need to focus on the shadows to move. They'd helped when she was little, but not anymore. Her idea still meant she had to use them. Instead of moving like she always did, Adelheid made her shadow stay still while she stepped on it, then pushed it and herself to the other side of the room. When she got there, she used [Benighted Star] and smiled. "I also have this."

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Outright telling her about her Affinities felt like less of a good idea, at least right now. And that last Skill… Adelheid hadn't used it yet, not really.

[Turmoil Has Memory]

We might be sad and we might cry, because things go badly and sometimes things die. We can push it all away, forget for a little while, so that we can still be happy now, even if not always. That's better than never being happy again.

But remembering why we were sad and why we cry is good. We can always pick up right where we left when the time comes.

Trait: None Aspect: None

She didn't really understand it, even if she was pretty sure it'd been what was helping her right now. Of course she didn't want to cry any more.

"It reminds me of Johanna's shifts," Hildegard said, though Adelheid wasn't sure what she meant. "{Missing}, I take it?"

Adelheid made her eyes thinner—squinted—again. "Yes."

"I cannot do much for you on that front, I confess. Especially if you've gone and approached it with shadows. Only someone more specialized could help you there, since… Adelheid, dear, do you know what the difference between esoteric and physical Affinities is?"

"No?" Adelheid didn't even understand what 'esoteric' meant. Adults and their dumb words!

"Most Affinities are esoteric and intangible—they are rarely understood and cannot be grasped, touched," Hildegard was clearly trying to explain, but it still made little sense. Adelheid could touch {Missing}'s shadows! "Those that are more physical, those that can be touched, they are far less common. In my time, I have not heard of a single Grēdôcavan figure who specialized in shadows, at least none with any fame. If you want to continue that path, it'd have to be on your own. For {Implicit}, however, I can teach you all I remember. How many Skills do you have?"

The butler was asking for how many, not for their names. That convinced Adelheid it'd probably be okay to tell her. "Five."

"On which categories?"

"…Three in Unforged Class of <Body>, one in Unforged Class of <Soul>, and one in Unforged Class of <Word>."

Hildegard whistled, a weird sound. "You… you need to get all those to three. I'll fetch your mother's— No, that would not do. You need different resources. I shall start looking… In the meantime, Adelheid, if you insist on Beryl Rīsanin's daughter and the maid child joining us, speak to your parents."

The butler started looking through her shelves. Since the room was so small, she only had two, but they went all the way to the roof, and the books were all close to each other.

Adelheid decided to do as Hildegard said, just in case staying might make her think Adelheid thought books were interesting.

She did not want to read right now. Nope.

Her first visit was to her father, lifting her foot in Hildegard's room and setting it down behind Kristian Rīsan. He was leaning forward on his desk. It was still messy, but Adelheid didn't see any harvestables around, this time.

She used [Identify] on her father before speaking, only because she was curious—she wasn't really thinking about it.

Right now, Adelheid should have been able to see the level of anyone Level 279 or under thanks to her Lifetime Skill levels. She thought she might have been scared when she tried, but it might have also been… shock. That was the word for the feeling, wasn't it?

Adelheid might have been shocked.

Kristian Rīsan - Human - Level ???

How was he so high level?! Even if she didn't know what it was, the number had to be big!

But Adelheid didn't have much time to think about it, because he turned to look at her.

"So you have yet to leave us, after all. My girl," her father started. His voice was off, and Adelheid could tell he was mad. Not at her, but he was very mad. "What do you want?"

"I'm going to learn from Hildegard the butler," Adelheid didn't explain anything else. "She said Malwine and Franziska could come with me, if I convinced you and Mother."

He'd been looking for something on his desk, but he didn't move now. He hadn't moved since Adelheid showed up. "What do you mean to learn from her?"

"Magic."

It was obvious, wasn't it.

Kristian squinted, and Adelheid was happy she had just learned that word properly, since now she could always tell. "Tell you what—I'd give you permission to have a rat off the street as your classmate if you will learn from me once you're older."

"But I don't want a rat as my classmate?" Adelheid was confused. "What does that have to do with this?"

Her father sighed and shook his head. He was a little calmer now, but not by much. There wasn't much he didn't say—if he'd said more, it would have been closer to noises than words. "It's a figure of speech. I mean, I will grant you permission, do what you want, study with whomever you want. But when you're older, I will teach you to fight."

Adelheid couldn't think of any reason to say 'no' here. She knew adults fought all the time, and of course that was something she'd have to learn later. "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yep!" Adelheid nodded and laughed, already moving towards her mother, even if her father looked very confused by her saying 'yes' to him. Hadn't that been what he wanted?

"Mother," she called out. Her mother was in the library again, with Sister Matilda next to her. "I want to learn magic from Hildegard, and she said I need your permission to take my friends with me."

Adelheid could feel her mother not saying no even before she opened her mouth—even before Adelheid had spoken.

She was going to say 'no' to anything I asked?

That was confusing. It hurt a little. It was like… No matter what Adelheid did, even now, her mother didn't like her. Even after everything.

"If you wish for Hildegard to teach you, that is fine. Perhaps she, of all, can show you reason," Bernadette said. She had a book in her hand, and Sister Matilda was looking between her and Adelheid. "However, her time is precious. I will not allow her to be taken advantage of, nor will I force her to teach mortals when she'd told me she'd never teach again at all. Dismiss the thought—to ask that of her would be disrespectful."

The butler hadn't said anything like that to Adelheid, but it didn't matter. If she'd really changed her mind about teaching just for Adelheid, she deserved a hug, but Hildegard had been the one who offered to teach Malwine and Franziska, too, if Adelheid got permission.

"I already talked to her, and she said she could teach us three," Adelheid explained. "I just need your permission."

"No."

"Mothe—"

"I said no!"

Adelheid felt her eyes get bigger. Why was her mother so insistent on this? "Why not?"

"Adelheid, if you are…" Bernadette stopped herself from saying anything else. "Because I said no, and my word is final. I am your mother."

She hadn't thought of it before, but most people only ever saw her moving, right? Hildegard was the only one who really saw how she spoke, and understood what it meant. She'd known her great-grandma, after all.

It was… It was possible that her mother didn't know Adelheid could tell what she wasn't saying—that if Adelheid had potential, the details had to be secret. And that meant she couldn't have classmates, because then the information might get out somehow.

"They wouldn't tell anyone," Adelheid told her. Just like I won't tell anyone about Sister. "It would be okay."

"Adelheid, you do not understand. When you are older, you will see for yourself, but what you need to know now is that there is no reason for them to be with you. They're mortal children, and our education starts later. They don't even need a teacher—this was for your sake, and if you—"

"Already, I could hide, and you could never find me," Adelheid frowned. "Is that what you want?"

Sister Malwine thought Adelheid was strong. It wasn't something she thought about much. Why would Adelheid need to be strong? She liked seeing the numbers get bigger, yes. She liked it when hiding and unhiding got easier, when making the shadows move started only being as hard as doing a little jump, instead of like moving something heavy.

But she believed her sister. If she said Adelheid was strong, then she was. And if that was true, her mother had to listen to her, if Adelheid pushed.

"Pardon?"

Again with that word. Adelheid moved behind her mother and grabbed the book from her hand. She didn't read the title or check what it was, just sending it to her inventory so that she'd look at Adelheid instead of it, even before calling on [Benighted Star].

"The three of us will study together," Adelheid let it be known. Her Affinities were doing something around her, but she didn't understand what. "Or I won't study at all and I'll stay away from you. Forever."

Her mother stared at her, not speaking, but that was the answer Adelheid needed. She knew of all the things she didn't say, none would have been another 'no', and that was enough.

Grinning, Adelheid returned to Hildegard's room. "I got permission!"

The butler looked surprised. "Really?"

"Really!"

I think so.

Hildegard nodded. "Good. Good."

Adelheid didn't stop smiling. She'd done this, on her own. Even though she'd been confused, now she knew no one would be separating her from her friends.

Notifications flashed to her side, but she wasn't paying too much attention, just accepting them. She was too busy being happy.

You have unlocked and slotted [Duality of the Dark] [Duality of the Dark]

The most dreadful void, or the dearest of refuges.

There is no need to be either, for the all can fit within the shade.

Trait: None Aspect: None

Would you like to differentiate your Charisma attribute into Authority? This decision is irreversible. Authority: The respect Power brings, with a weight more significant than Intimidation to back it. Actions that benefit from your Charisma no longer need to be social, so long as they are still interpersonal.

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