The Understudy of an Alchemist

34. A Gracious Offer

If I had felt like an intruder when I'd been looking through Quirin's late wife's things, I felt even more so as I hovered awkwardly in the background of the basement, all while I watch as my best friend reunites with his father that he'd thought was dead for five months. Who wouldn't feel awkward? It was equivalent to reading out eulogy at a funeral about someone you didn't even know when they were still in the land of the living.

At least Rapunzel was lucky. Eugene had been waiting patiently outside, and he'd taken her back to Corona. I was almost tempted to ask if I could tag along, anything to stop feeling like I was imposing on something that a family thing that I was certainly not a part of, if it weren't for the fact that I didn't live in New Corona.

So I suppose that I should have gone home earlier, yet after seeing children reunited with their parents, I wasn't ready for the scene of an empty house, not yet. Lately, I'd been blatantly ignoring the fact that my parents were gone. Pretending that they'd never existed in the first place.

Yet today, after seeing the events unfolding in front of me, I knew that I couldn't ignore it anymore, at least not tonight. The grief would hit me soon, the very feeling that I'd held off ever since I'd realised that they were never coming back.

But I intruded enough. I had to go home now, and face my grief head on. I'd rather be mourning in silence than being a burden to a family that deserved to catch up on all the time that had been stolen from them. I'd prefer to slip out the front door silently and inconspicuously, yet I knew that I owed it to Varian to at least let him know that I was bailing. He'd barely left my side since the Saporians had taken over, the last thing I could do was let him know that I going to ditch him.

I awkwardly rise to my feet, running a hand uncomfortably through my hair. "Ah, I better get out of your hair. After all, it's rude of me to kind of ruin your emotional reconciliation. I-" Yet Varian shakes his head, before I can even finish, then races up to me and takes my hand. "Nope! Not on your life. I'm not letting you go home alone." No No No No No No......

Quirin frowns, confused as he turns to Varian. "What do you mean, alone? Surely her parents are-" Varian shakes his head sorrowfully at the question. "No Dad, Mr and Mrs Weathers are dead." He then sees my expression, and instantly corrects himself. "I mean, we're not sure, but they're missing in ac-" Quirin cuts his son off mid-sentence with a wave of his hand, and turns to me instead. "Violet, what exactly happened to them?"

I bow my head sadly at this. Now I have to broadcast it to the world that I am an orphan. I must sound so pitiful. "I...... I don't really know sir. They just vanished while partaking in a search party for the princess. Of course, there is the possibility that they're still alive, but it's been nearly five months now, and-" I swallow hard and stop talking. I can't say anymore without crying. The memory is still too fresh in my mind, and the last thing that I want is to burst out in tears like a stupid baby. Quirin shakes his head slowly at this revelation. "Well, I simply cannot have you living by yourself." He rests his hand upon my shoulder, which confuses me, as I look up at him, baffled.

"You're practically family after all, and we have a spare bedroom. You can stay as long as you like." Now I'm an intruder once more. I wave my hands frantically. "Oh no sir, I possibly couldn't! I don't want to intrude, nor be a-" "Nonsense." Quirin laughs as he says this. "We'll be more than happy to have you Violet. You're a delight to have." I shake my head once more. He didn't understand. "Sir, I can't."

He gives me a perplexed expression. "Why ever not?" I bow my head again, black and cyan strands falling into my eyes. "I'm afraid that I have nothing to give you in return." He laughs once more, the noise only  making me feel even more guilty. "You don't need to Violet........actually no, I do have one request." Oh no, here it comes. "If you were to stay here, I'd need you help me keep this one out of trouble." He tousles Varian's hair, who blushes. "You always seemed to be the most responsible out of the two of you."