Mistress of Passion

Everyone piled into the limo, having plenty of space to stretch out and get comfortable. Miss Cynthia alerted the driver that we were ready to head out. Just as the wheels started rolling, she continued to treat anyone who had even the most minor of injuries. Yamin sat close to her, curiously watching her hands perform nearly miraculous feats of aid with just a few measly bits of first aid equipment.

The limo ride was going to be short, since Miss Lauri's niece lived not far from Little Conburg city, but the long vehicle well made up for that. It was neat to be in such a big car like this.

Uncle was getting mad at me for pressing all the buttons on the side of the door, but I couldn't help it. With each curious press came a new and exciting show of dazzling lights from above, like it was some sort of party.

“Yalda, it's rude to mess around with those,” he scolded.

“Oh, Mel…” Miss Lauri playfully slapped his shoulder. “Let her have a little fun. It's not hurting anyone.”

I'm glad she was on my side! I continued pressing to my heart's content. Actually, I only did it until Indena gave me the stink eye.

“Look!” Marek poked my shoulder and pointed out the window.

It looked like there were a bunch of castles out there, going all the way back to the mountains off in the distance. But they were actually ginormous houses! Oh my goodness, they were so big!

“Welcome to the neighborhood.” Cynthia smiled. “Each of those palace sized structures you see are the estates of various powerful families of the country.”

Ironically, from what I could see at this distance, the wellington estate was pretty humble in size compared to the crazy big ones further away. Some of them were so big, planes could land on them. This neighborhood almost looked like a city of its own.

While driving down the road, there was a noticeable amount of baby strollers going up and down the walkways. If there was a woman walking, she had at least two or three babies with her. One lady had at least nine, all clinging to her like little monkeys with pacifiers. She seemed a little stressed.

“You gotta be rich if you want to take care of nine kids,” Indena commented.

“That’s actually the maid of one of the families down the road.” Miss Cynthia divulged.

“I stand corrected.” Indena cleared her throat. “You gotta be rich to let someone ‘else’ take care of your nine kids.”

That made me snicker for some reason. That maid’s life sounded like the premise of some sort of sitcom or something.

We finally reached the front gates of the Wellington Estate and were instructed to stay seated until we got to the front entrance. There was a really big fence around the perimeter of the mansion. Guards with rifles were patrolling around, ready to protect the estate at any moment.

“Why’s security so strong?” Indena asked Cynthia.

“The Wellington family has ownership of several very large corporations across the world, including a powerful grip on the fashion industry.” Cynthia started.

“They’ve dabbled in political matters too,” Marek added.

“Precisely.” Cynthia nodded to him, but quickly shied away from his gaze. “The amount of threats they receive daily because of their influence is staggering. Nothing of subsistence, of course. But taking it seriously is a priority nonetheless.”

I don’t get it. People don’t like them for owning businesses and working politics? Seems like a silly reason to wanna hurt anyone. At least it seemed like a safe place to hide out for now. Hopefully all these guards would keep the mafia away from me too. Hopefully they won’t come back at all, but I didn’t have high hopes.

As we passed the gates, I don’t know what it was, but something made me feel all tingly. Everyone else seemed wiggly too, except Cynthia. So maybe it wasn’t just me. Before I could ask, a circular drive through came into view and caught my gaze.

The front of their mansion was decorated with some of the finest flowers and well groomed tree’s I’d ever seen. It was so pretty, I would love to wake up every morning and play in the front lawn.

The Limo parked next to some big marble pillars that were holding up a veranda. Just past the pillars was the main entrance into the mansion.

“Dang. Why are you fools not this rich?” Indena said to Miss Lauri and Yamin. “I thought these guys were family.”

“Science is a thankless career,” Miss Lauri said. “We suffer canned noodles so others can use our achievements for monetary gain.”

Dad didn’t need money, and he was the best scientist out there. To be honest, my home wasn’t actually much different from this, at least on the outside. Then again, I live in a big hovering diamond structure.

~☆☆☆~

I thought the Wellington mansion looked big on the outside, but it felt way bigger on the inside! Each room was super huge, especially the entrance hall. Miss Cynthia let me run up and down the halls to get a good feel for the place.

“Uncle, is this a magic house?” I asked, finally returning to him.

“No,” he replied. “They built it to feel a lot wider than it actually is.”

Yamin nodded. “The bright colours make it feel open.”

“Mistress Yalda is a little more right then she knows,” Cynthia snickered as she handed everyone various drinks. “You saw how big the houses were before, yes? They're actually all made by magical construction companies.”

“Magical construction?” my head tilted.

As it sounds, that’s some kind of magical means to build things. Apparently you can use magic to build some pretty impressive stuff if you hire up the right construction mage.

“It’s almost always based on earth magic,” Miss Lauri commented.

If I could learn how to use construction magic, it’d be like my own little creative mode, but in real life!

Cynthia came around to offering me a drink of my choice, but they didn’t have any juice boxes, so she brought out a sparkly bottle of orange soda.

At first I was a little hesitant, but Yamin persuaded me to give it a try by saying she liked it. Bottoms up, I suppose.

*Sip*

“Gasp!” A citrusy explosion overcame my taste buds, a crackling fizz scattered in the wake of the tingly blast.

It tasted sooooo gooood! I loved it! I think I just graduated from box to bottle.

“I’ll be sure to get juice boxes on my next trip to the store, Mistress Yalda.” Cynthia bowed.

I mean, if she lets me have more of these fizzy orange soda’s, I think juice boxes are a thing of the past.

“That’s okay. Can I have another one of these?” I asked, already nearly finished with the drink.

“Of course. But…” She proceeded to warn me that I’ll get a stomach ache if I had too many all at once. Uncle supported this. He was always careful how much sugar I ate. But, like…kids and sugar are like bread and butter. You always need both, or the one just isn’t the same.

Along with these drinks, Miss Cynthia was kind enough to set a nice assortment of treats to eat and furniture to relax on while we waited for our host. These tiny sandwiches were so cute, I could eat like fifty of them.

~☆☆☆~

Finally after some time of chilling out in the lap of luxury, the front doors opened up.

A woman with a stylish pink and gold dress walked in. Her hair was really long on one side, but that was because she had every brown strand on her head pulled over her left shoulder. She also had a parasol and folded it up the instant she walked through the front door.

“Mistress Adalyn, it’s a pleasure to see you again.” Cynthia bowed.

“Ahh, such a cutie pie as always.” Adalyn approached her and gave a little pinch to her cheek. “Ain’t it just grand that we get company today? I haven’t seen new faces in…oh, so long.” She let out a silly groan. “Ahh, I must be getting older if I say silly things like that…”

She had a really lady-like accent, and seemed just a tad bit more expressive then Miss Lauri. Considering this was her niece, they must have been cut from the same weird cloth.

She looked at me and her eyes lit up with excitement.

“Oh my! What a cutie we have here!”

Miss Adalyn ran over to me and started pinching my cheeks. Not again with this! Can’t people just stick to the head pats?

Now I see where Yamin gets the pinching from…

“What’s your name, darling little thing?”

“Baaah maaam…Alldaaa…” I couldn’t speak because her hands were locked on my cheeks. Finally she took the hint. “My name is Yalda.”

Miss Adalyn let out a giddy squeal and kneeled down. Her hands acquainted themselves with my hair as she brushed every inch. It was a little uncomfortable how touchy she was being.

“What beautiful white hair you have…and what’s this? A snake?”

“SssssSSss…” Samael hissed, not sounding too pleased for some reason.

“That’s right!” she got all feisty, but in a silly kinda’ way. “Show me those fangs!”

She gave him a few pets on the head, which seemed to calm him down a little.

“I love snakes,” she said. “Such little darlings. So misunderstood.”

“Yeah.” I nodded. “People are so scared of them, but Samael is a good boy.”

“All snakes are good boys,” Adalyn winked. “If papa allowed, I’d a’ filled up the foyer with em’.”

“Thank God he didn’t let her…” Yamin quietly uttered.

It’s nice that she wasn’t afraid of snakes, and it’s even better that she didn’t ask why he was in my hair. I don’t meet people that often who are okay with that.

Uncle was next to greet her.

“Call me Mel. I’m Yalda’s uncle and guardian. It’s a pleasure to meet you, lady Adalyn.”

“The pleasure is all mine…” she paused for a second and smirked, “…you…sure are an interesting one. Very handsome.”

“No need for flattery,” he said in a dry tone.

As a pleasantry from a male to a female of higher class, Uncle was required to kiss her hand. It looked like he was a knight greeting a beloved princess. Although, I know Uncle only did that as a social thing.

Next Adalyn turned her eyes on Marek. She let out a soft squeal and brushed his hair. It was a far more charismatic touch than with me.

“I’ve heard of this handsome lad before. He’s so big and strong!”

Marek is really strong. I’ve seen him pile drive a bull!

Miss Adalyn was feeling up Marek’s arms, caressing them with her palms and admiring his well toned muscles. He looked pretty uncomfortable, but she seemed happy about it. It got a little weird when she pressed herself closer to him.

“L-lady Adalyn…” Miss Cynthia stuttered, turning red. “There are other guests to greet.”

“Ehhem.” Marek blushed, clearing his throat to refocus Adalyn.

“Uh...yeah…” Yamin brushed the back of her head. “Anyways…are you sure it won’t be any trouble for us to stay for a little while?” Yamin asked.

“Aww, is the cutie little Yamin all worked up that she’ll be a bother?” Adayln hugged Yamin, pressing her close to her and burying her face in her big bazonga. “No need. I feel like I owe Auntie Lauri a debt of gratitude for being such loving family.” The two most eccentric women in the room shared a loving stare. “Besides, little ol’ Riley will be home soon for a visit, so y’all can play with him, just like the old days.”

“Adalyn…?” Yamin’s voice was muffled.

“Yes, my cutie?”

“Your boobs are suffocating me.”

“Oh, sorry honey pie!” Adalyn released her and chuckled nervously. “Sometimes I forget my assets can be a weapon,” she winked and gave a finger gun to the air, mildly freaking me out for a second with that motion…

“I’ll say those ‘assets’ are.” Marek was tomato red.

Assets? I don't understand.

“Uncle, what did she mean by…”

“Don’t worry about it,” he said. “Cynthia, would you kindly show us to our room? It’s time for Yalda’s nap.”

Oh yeah…it was getting around that time.

“Wait, nap?” Indena’s brow raised, then she looked at me. I let out a yawn. “Oh, sometimes I forget the Shrimp’s a toddler.”

Each time she assumes my age, I suddenly get younger in her mind. I’m just ready to give up on trying to correct her.

“I’m seven.”

“Same difference.” As always, Indena stuck to her guns.

~☆☆☆~

Miss Cynthia took us to our room on the right wing of the mansion. It was super fancy, and both beds were queen sized with drapes falling down them. I felt like royalty here.

“If you need anything, please call me at any time.” Miss Cynthia bowed and left.

Uncle immediately laid back on the bed closest to the door and closed his eyes.

“Kids have it right. These naps are pretty useful.” He seemed so relaxed. I rarely ever saw him so chilled out before.

After dealing with Belphegor, I thought I’d never want to sleep again. But I think that’s just a silly thing to expect my body to agree with. PTSD would have to take a backseat while I explored dreamland again.

Not that my dreams were very good to begin with…but hey, what can you do?

“Hey, Uncle?” I spoke up.

“Hmm?”

“Shouldn’t we stay in the same room as Yamin in case she gets in trouble?”

She had a cursed book with her, and was hunted by demons and a witch. Staying close to her should have been a priority.

“That’s a good question,” Uncle said. “You remember that tingly feeling when we went through the front gate?”

I did remember that. I got super wiggly.

“That was actually a magical barrier meant to keep out intruders. And on the off chance that fails, there’s guards and other security measures all over. Assuming someone knows about Yamin, they would have a very hard time getting in.”

With my hacking ability, I tapped into the mansion's security network. Clearly I was able to crack that, but I doubt it would be easy for anyone but a skilled computer cracker to make it in that way.

And for the more supernatural problems, a little chapel and priest lived in this mansion too. So demons would definitely think twice about coming here.

As icing on the cake, she had all of us around her. There really was no safer place at the moment.

It was actually pretty impressive how much ground we had covered here. My anxiety eased.

“Keep in mind, anything’s possible,” Uncle warned. “There’s always the possibility that something can go wrong. So be prepared at all times.”

It was like those movies where the confident security guard says that nobody can break out of their prison, only to have the main character figure it out anyways.

“She’ll be sleeping across the hall,” Uncle said. “If you want, you can stay there with her and Indena.”

Maybe after my nap, I’d ask Miss Cynthia if she’d let me stay there too. We can have a girls only sleepover. Samael can be an honourary girl for the night.

“Got it.” I nodded as my eyes slowly fell shut.

I really tried to sleep for a little, but it just wasn’t happening. Something felt like it was missing, but I couldn’t figure out why.

Since I got to the surface world it’s been pretty hard to sleep in general. I don’t know what it was, but something about these beds seemed oddly empty, like I wanted to hug something.

“Uncle, I can’t sleep.” I said, clutching a pillow in my arms.

“Oh!” He sat up, then scooched over to the side of his bed. “I almost forgot to give you something…”

He held out his hands like he was holding a small box, then strings of energy danced around his hand until collecting into the shape of a stuffed animal…not just any though, but my stuffed unicorn!

“Uni!” I announced, flying out of bed on my wings and snatching her up. “Yay!”

Samael was pretty excited too. He wrapped around her neck and clung tightly.

Now I could definitely sleep with her watching over me. Uni keeps away the sleep paralysis demons. I’ve fought those guys, so they can be trouble.

“Glad that made your evening.” Uncle smiled.