The next morning, I woke up feeling a lot better. While rubbing my eyes, I belatedly realized the sun had already risen. I quickly got up and washed up before heading down.
"Imaya..?" I poked my head in the kitchen, and jumped in surprise at a tall, hulking figure that was leaning on the table.
The man turned his head, inclining it in an amiable manner as he greeted,"Good morning, Miss Cher. It's me, Klein." He smiled at me gently, and I relaxed after remembering who he was.
"Good morning... Sir Klein. I'm sorry for being jumpy. I'm not used to seeing other people in our house." I smiled sheepishly as I trudged awkwardly towards the table to grab the kettle.
"What do you want to do?" He asked as he snatched the item from my hands.
"That- That's okay. I'm just going to boil some water..." I tried to take the kettle from him, but he had already taken it and placed it on the stove.
"There's no water in it yet..."
"There is tho?" He uttered as he opened the lid and I was surprised to see it filled.
But I clearly felt no weight a while back..?
"Your bewildered expression is adorable." He uttered with curved eyes.
"...Is that so..?" What a typical unfiltered extroverted response, and here I am clueless on how to respond to that, as usual.
"I wield water magic." He soon explained as he opened his palms where water suddenly condensed, floating in the air.
"W-wow..." I was genuinely amazed as I stared transfixed, especially when he made various shapes with the water, later dispersing it into snow flakes.
"Your eyes look more alive now." He commented, taking me by surprise.
"Ah- This is the first time I've seen such pretty magic..." When I said so, he fell silent, so I wondered if I said something bad. Is it not a compliment for knights..?
Maybe, I should have worded it differently. "I-It looks very complicated! You must have perfect control of your magicks!" I added with a smile.
"...Thank you. It's the first time it's been called pretty." He slowly said, making me sigh in relief. His delayed response must have been because he was surprised. I guess it's rare for magic users to receive an innocent compliment regarding their magics when they've been used to wielding it in battle. After all, strong magic users in the continent don't have a choice, but to enter knighthood as soon as their magicks are discovered.
"So... You have water magic..? Does that mean you're from the south?" Usually, water magic weilders hail from the south. It was said to be because the god of water is residing in the seas, and the south, being a coastal region is near the rumored enchanted waters were the god is said to be staying.
He smiled. "Yes. Miss Cher is correct. What about you?"
I cleared my throat and turned to look at the kettle. "I don't know. I lost my memory. By the way, if you don't mind me asking... Because someone told me white hair is a rare hair color, so I'm wondering... Is yours real?"
"Ah..." He paused at my first response, then he leaned down to level our gazes. "It's real. It is indeed quite a rare hair color, isn't it?" It seemed like he caught on to my aversion of his question regarding my origins, so he let me veer away from it. Surprised by the sudden closeness, I was about to step back, but I held my ground in the end, and stared at the roots of his hair closely. He seems to be telling the truth... Usually, when you use a dye, it doesn't last for very long so you have to reapply it thoroughly. Somehow, I couldn't imagine a knight dyeing his hair every three days.
"You can touch it." He suddenly offered, suprising me even more.
"N-no... That's too disrespectful to a knight like Sir Klein." I denied, and this time, I took a step back. "Is it because you have water magic that your hair is white? Or is it genetics..?" I decided to ask all my questions today while we're on the topic.
He straightened, and gave me an unreadable smile. "That, I don't know. I am an orphan, so I don't know about my parents. And I've never really thought to know why my hair is like this."
"I see..." So he's an orphan. I probably shouldn't ask any more questions for now. "B-by the way, have you seen Imaya? She usually wakes up earlier than me."
"Yes. Vice Captain Alfonso went with her to buy a few things from the market. I reckon, they won't take too much time."
"I see-" As soon as I finished talking, a loud thud pierced through the closed window, startling me. My eyes widened upon seeing a crow fly up from the ground before hurling itself through the window pane once more. Its dark beady eyes seemed to stare at me as it continued to bump into the window.
"A crow? Is it sick?" Klein uttered innocently. I couldn't reply as the glass broke and it came through. Even as its head was bleeding, I was sure it was coming for me. It was looking at me. I screamed as I grabbed onto a nearby pan to smack it away, but Klein was faster. His sword struck the winged animal down with a swift movement of his arm.
"It's enchanted..." He whispered in a grim voice as he grabbed the animal that was still moving despite being cut in half. "What a dirty mongrel." He added as he crushed it in his hands, squeezing the innards out, and my dinner out of my stomach at the disgusting sight. I quickly hurried to the washroom and let it all out.
Is it because he's a knight that he could do something like that without batting an eye? I was thankful that he stopped it at the sight of my face, but the look on his while putting strength on his fingers to crush the animal scared me.
"Miss Cher... Are you alright? It's okay now. The animal's been taken cared of." He called out behind me as he pat me on the back. The feel of his hands made me recall the grotesque sight a while back, I had to quickly utter an apology for flinching away.
"I'm sorry... I'll come out soon... Please just give me a moment..."
Fortunately, he obediently retreated without saying anything.
Now that I was alone, I sighed and rinsed my mouth before flushing my vomit into the drain. It isn't the first time a crow behaved like that in front of me. If I were to count, it would be the fifth time since coming to Tradam.
Imaya said the crows were enchanted, as well. She tried to stave them off with her magicks, but her efforts only worked for a little while. She researched through the meagre books she managed to take with us with the help of the flower fairies, but the curious behaviors of enchanted crows were not mentioned.
One thing was for sure. Someone wants to harm me.
***
