16 Age Ten – Little Red Stomachache part 3

“Hey! Gramps, what the heck!?”

“Ah! How could you think of feeding this animal food to a child!?”

—An old man with a receding hairline... bald?

Half-full of greying blonde hair, along with a face almost fully covered with a scruffy beard; the only visible parts were filled with wrinkles. And his eyes, icy blue, looked sharp despite his apparent age.

“Vinney Head...“

“—How was her condition when you found her!? Was she injured by any beast? Poor child must've been too scared to move. How long must she have been out there? Where are her parents? Did she have anything to eat? Ah! Don't touch that dog feed, I'll bring over something you can eat!”

Gideon tried to speak but Sacha Vinney entered his office and kicked up a storm, leaving Gideon with a slight headache and the quiet girl, Celeste, completely flummoxed.

—Who? What just happened?

The unruly-looking young man from earlier had brought over something for her to eat. Gruel filled with large chunks of beast meat and vegetables, satisfying enough for a soldier's palate.

Celeste, however, was still a child. She grimaced at the platter as it was filled with an assortment not exactly pleasing to her current appetite. It had been long since she last ate, and her stomach couldn't handle the heavy-looking meal. Although she voiced no complaints, it was obvious that dislike was on her face.

“Ah! How could you think of feeding this animal food...” that was when the old man had marched into the room and snatched away the platter from Kyron's hands. He returned a few minutes later with a steaming bowl of what seemed to be his own meticulous cooking.

“Ah, here you are, child. I hope you'll find this more appetizing,”

“Hey gramps, what about ours—“

“—Tch!” the old man accommodated Celeste with a smile but when it came to his grandson asking for a meal, the old man returned a derisive click of his tongue.

“Hah... Vigril, take the little girl to the other room. I doubt she could eat peacefully, nor can we have a decent discussion with the Vinney Head looming over her,” Gideon instructed.

“Understood,” Vigril replied with a wry smile, and led Celeste to the adjacent room, much to Sacha Vinney's reluctance.

—Be careful of the old man with a receding hairline... Why should I be careful?

Left alone, Celeste stared into the bowl of rice porridge in front of her. A pungent aroma of spices rose up with the steam and beckoned a growl from her small stomach. There were no large chunks of any meat or vegetable; instead, small fine cuts made to be easy on a child's digestion.

—Hah... I want mama's bread...

Although it was a hearty meal; being made of rice, Celeste had a certain dislike for it. She was never a fan of the grain, and her moment of reluctance to eat only caused her to yearn for her mother's baking. However, the growling beast had to be fed.

“Ah!” she uttered a small cry, the first spoonful was hot. She dropped her utensil back into the bowl and stuck out her tongue, pursing her lips while proceeding to remedy the burn with short puffs.

While she was doing this, around the room where no gaps for a draft could enter, a brush of cold air fell onto her tongue and soothed her burn. She hadn't noticed, but it came from a wisp of blue light on her shoulder which disappeared briefly after it came.

Celeste took another spoonful and this time carefully blew on it before having a bite.

—Ah, meat!? There's meat!

There was the savory taste of something she rarely got to eat. The taste had enough impact that she proceeded to take in a few more mouthfuls, forgetting the fact that the food had just scalded her tongue.

Only after emptying half of the bowl did she remember that the first spoonful was painful, “Why was the rest of the bowl fine?” she thought, but only for a moment as her stomach complained about why she had stopped eating.

After her meal was finished, her attention was drawn towards the sunlight coming from a window on the side of the room,

—Why is the moon here so bright?

She approached curiously but was barely able to reach the windowsill's height. She dragged over a wooden chair and used it as elevation so she could peek outside. Her eyes squinted as she reached the window, and as her vision adjusted, she was left in awe.

—Fluffy, white... W-What are those things!?

Aloof cotton-like clouds were wandering across the blue sky, piquing Celeste's interest as it was the first time she'd seen anything like it.

“Ah—!” she winced. Her gaze followed the movement of the clouds and had met with the blinding glare of the golden sun. She decided she'd had enough and returned to her initial seat, away from the window.

“Little Reeed—! How you doin' in there!”

Hearing a shout come from the other side of the room's door, Celeste grimaced. She was beginning to find the voice of the young man, who had just sounded out, a little bit tiresome. Then she heard the voice of the old man with a receding hairline, speaking up to scold the young man.

“Ah! Shut your trap! Suddenly shouting like that, you'll startle the child!”

The handle moved a quarter of a circle down before allowing the door to swing open, revealing the people behind it.

“Gramps! What's the deal, let me in!”

“Out of the way stinky brat! Haven't you heard of letting the elderly go first?”

Watching the old man and the unruly-looking young man arguing to get inside of the room, Celeste groaned at the thought of having to put up with their antics.