The blond haired slave stepped out of the manison for the first time. She can finally smell the fresh air, grass feeling, sounds of animal calling, and bright light glowing for the first time. She took her first step on the grass and felt the soft grass. She was excited to feel the difference between hard floors and the soft grass.
Albedo watched the girl enjoy herself. He smiled and yet was sad for her. Does she remembered anything before she came a slave? He could ask her, but she doesn't speak at all. She hasn't talked once. He walked to his generals and captains.
The other high rank were waiting for their prince to arrive. They saw the prince coming towards them and turned to him. They see the young blond haired girl touch the grass with her feet.
"Is that the girl that Aztec had for a long time?" Diluc asked as he crossed his arms on his chest, glaring at the girl.
Albedo nodded. "Yes."
"That poor girl. She must have been through a lot." The gold blond haired general felt sorry for her.
Eula noticed that Aztec wasn't here. She felt that Albedo already killed him. Although, Aztec does deserve to get punished. She wasn't going to question the prince. There was no need to bring it up. Albedo already knew what Eula was going to say to him.
The prince nodded. Eula sighed lightly.
"So, what are we going to do to this mansion?" Eula asked.
Kaeya put his hand on his waist, staring at the mansion. "There's no point in keeping here. We should burn it. We can't let other people use it for their own use. This mansion should be all forgotten. I'm sure that our friend will agree." He glared to the young slave girl.
"Yes. I'll leave it to you Diluc and Jean," the two nodded. Albedo sighed lightly as he ran his hand through his hair. "It's getting late. We should leave this place. We should take the girl too. I'm sure she doesn't have nowhere to go."
Jean looked at the girl once again. "That seems the right option. By the looks of her, she doesn't talk at all."
The young blond haired girl turned to officers. Their eyes were giving her visions of the past. It was giving her memories when Aztec looked down at her like a puppy, kicked, and whipped her when she disobeyed orders. She started to shake in fear.
They were dumbfounded by what was going with her. Jean walked up to her to reach her hands. The hands were getting closer and closer to her. She was remembering when Aztec grabbed her hair, pulling it violently. The young girl took a few steps back with her eyes widened. Jean stopped. She fell down on the grass. She used her hands to cover her head to prevent it from getting pulled, frightened.
"You shouldn't approach her, Jean. She hasn't recovered anything from being a slave." Albedo said.
Jean turned to her prince. "I wasn't trying to hurt her." She felt guilty.
"I know, but I think it's best if we don't do anything hastily." He walked up to the young girl, bending down one knee. "Hey. It's okay. She means no harm. No one here isn't going to hurt you." Albedo gently smooths his voice.
The young slave stopped shaking and slowing looks at ashy light brown hair. His voice calmed her down. She nodded slowly. His presence was making her feel safe. Albedo smiled.
Kaeya was impressed with his prince's smooth words. "You better be careful, your highness. Those words will bite back."
Diluc sighed lightly. "You are unbelievable."
The eye patched captain shrugged. "I'm just stating the truth."
"We shouldn't be here any longer. I'm sure everyone is exhausted. Let's go back home." Albedo commanded as he stood up.
Everyone saluted.
"Yes, Your Highness!"
They were riding on horses on the way back to the kingdom, following the trail. The young blond haired girl and Albedo were in a royal carriage together. The carriage was silent between the two. The young slave looked around the carriage. She never rode on one.
Albedo softly chuckled. She was like a kid seeing new things for the first time. She flinched when he laughed.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." He apologized.
She looked through the window from the carriage. She never saw an open field. There were so many things she hadn't seen before. The sightseeing was making her gasp.
Albedo can't see her eyes, because her long hair is covering it. He can't tell if she is hiding a pretty face. He wanted to know more about her. Maybe this is the best time to talk to her, but he needs to know if she is willing to talk.
"Do you have a name?"
The blond haired girl turned to Albedo and shook her head. He knows she can hear well, but she isn't talking.
"Do you have any family or siblings?"
She shook her head.
"Do you remembered anything before you became a slave?"
She shook her once again.
Albedo put his hand on his chin. "Hmm, I see. You don't know anything about yourself. What a tragedy."
She can tell that the prince's voice was sad. She had no name, no family or siblings, and doesn't remember where she came from. All she knows that she has been a slave for the long time. She clenched her hands hard.
Albedo glared at the blond haired girl's clenched hands and noticed it was bleeding. She didn't notice that she was pressing her fingernails into skin too hard. She didn't know she was using that much pressure. She was used to pain everyday. It doesn't bother her.
The prince reached his hand on her fingers to release her hand from pressuring any further from her skin. He glared at the blood on her hand and nails. He can tell she didn't feel any pain when she did that.
"I guess pain doesn't bother you, but you shouldn't do such a thing to yourself. You're not longer a slave."
She just glared at the prince. She wanted to move her hands away from him, but the warmth from his hands was making her comfortable. She never experienced warmth from another person. Her friends and herself were always cold with nothing to warm themselves up besides each other. They were never warm enough to keep each other warm.
Albedo moved his hands away from hers. He doesn't want her to flinch again like last time. She is suffering from PTSD from memories as a slave. He didn't want that to happen again.
They arrived at the castle. The young girl had never seen a real castle before. She had read them in books when her master wasn't in the mansion. She takes her time to read some books when she is bored. It was almostly picture books instead of reading ones. The picture book would have a prince, princess, king, and queen as family. It was making her wonder if she had a family.
Albedo opened the carriage door and walked out. The young girl didn't know what to do as the prince left her.
"You can come out." He called.
She slowly gets out from the carriage and touches her feet on the ground. She looked around the surrounding area of the castle. For some reason, she doesn't feel welcome here. She doesn't know the first thing she was supposed to do.
"Follow me." Albedo led the way.
She walked forward, trailing behind Albedo.
They walked to the entrance of the castle door. The guards at the entrance saluted the prince when he arrived. The door opened. Albedo and the young girl walked in. When she stepped foot inside the castle, it was spacious and cleaner. She has been used to being dirty and having less space. This is a new feel.
There was a maid bowing to Albedo. "Welcome back, your highness."
"Thank you, Noelle." Albedo said.
Noelle looked up and saw the young girl behind Albedo, dumbfounded. She was wondering why she was dirty and wearing ragged clothing.
"Who's that?" She asked.
Albedo turned to the young girl. "She's a slave that we saved."
"Oh…" Noelle felt bad for her. "That one from Aztec?"
The ashy light brown haired prince nodded. "Can you clean her and give some fresh clothes? Once you are done cleaning, cut her hair and give her a room for her to sleep."
Noelle bowed. "As you wish."
"She hasn't recovered. Go easy on her. I'll be heading to my office." Albedo told Noelle about the young girl.
"Of course. I shall do my best, your highness." Noelle smiled.
Albedo leaves Noelle with the young girl. The blond haired girl watched as Albedo leaves her with another person. She felt uncomfortable being around other people.
Noelle walked to the girl and smiled. "Let's go and get you cleaned up."
The young girl didn't respond. Noelle went behind the girl and put her hands on the young girl's shoulders. The girl flinched when Noelle did that. The maid led her to the bath to get her clean. Noelle didn't want to harm her, but orders are orders from the prince.
Albedo arrived at his office as he closed the door from behind. He went behind his desk and sat down on the chair. He let out a loud sigh as he led on the chair. It was an exhausting day. It was a headache. The traitors are behind bars, Aztec is dead, and all of the slaves are free. He wanted to help the young girl, but there was nothing he could do. The one thing he can do is to teach her. That is going to be difficult.
"I think she needs to get comfortable with everyone else here before we do anything else. She also needs a name too." Albedo started to think of some names, but he couldn't think of one. "Yeah, it is going to be difficult. It's getting really late. I guess I'll get some sleep." The prince stood up from his chair and looked at the stars from the window. He walked away from the window and left his office to go to his room to rest.
The young girl was in a spare room for her to sleep. She was all cleaned. She feels refreshed and smells all nice. She was wearing a white sleeveless gown. The dress goes down to her knee. She got a haircut in a short and choppy bob with two longer shoulder-length locks of hair in front of her ears. She can see without the long hair on her face.
Her right eye had a yellow golden eye and her left was a lighter yellow. She didn't know what was going on. She remembered that her master did put something in her left eye. She didn't know what it was.
She started to yawn. She was getting sleepy, but is she allowed to sleep on the bed? She didn't want to get yelled at. No one is here with her. She crawled on the bed and covered herself with a blanket. She never slept on a bed before. She has been sleeping on the hard floor for her life. The bed was soft, cozy and warm. She instantly fell asleep.
The next morning, Albedo was in his office working on stack paperworks on his desk. He didn't think there would be this much paperwork on the traitors. He was able to finish half of the paperwork within an hour. He was almost done. Although, he will still be busy after the paperwork is done.
Someone knocked on the door.
"Come in." Albedo called out as he didn't eye away from his work.
Noelle opened the door and walked into the office. She bowed to the prince. "Your highness, the girl is all done as you order."
Albedo stopped his work and looked at Noelle. "Oh, how is she?"
"I haven't checked on her yet. I thought I would give her more sleep. I can tell she is lacking sleep." Noelle looked at the prince.
He shook his head. "No. It's fine. She needed sleep. It must be hard on her to rest. She has been through a lot. I don't know how long she will recover."
"These things take time, your highness. Just take a few steps to recover her. Maybe she will open up a bit." Noelle reassured.
"Can you keep any eye on her? I'm going to be busy keeping an eye on her." Albedo remembered something. It would probably cause chaos. "Oh, make sure that Klee doesn't do anything selfish around her."
"Of course." The maid bowed. "I also have something to tell you as well."
Albedo stopped his work and glared at Noelle. "Pray tell."
The young girl was still sleeping, but she still was having trouble sleeping. She's a light sleeper. She was getting nightmares. She stood up from the bed and looked around. She forgot that she isn't at her master mansion anymore.
She gets out of bed. She walks towards the window and touches the glass. The window door opened slightly. She flinched when it opened. She can smell the fresh air coming through the room. She walked to the balcony.
She grabbed the rail and glared at the sun rising behind the mountains. She gasped. She had never seen the sunlight before. It took her breath away.
Suddenly the door knocked. It made her jump. She quickly ran back to the room and closed the windows door behind. She didn't want to get caught.
The door opened. Noelle arrived in the blond haired girl's room. She bowed to her.
"Good morning. Are you feeling well?"
The young girl stared at the maid. She was all confused. She didn't know what to say back.
Noelle looked at the girl. She can see that the young girl looks okay. Still lack some sleep.
"Let's get you changed up. Breakfast is almost ready." Noelle walked up to the girl.
She tilted her head sideways. 'Breakfast?' The sound of that made her think of something good. Usually, she hears her master tell her work, work, and work non stop. Here, she is treated differently. She doesn't know if she is still comfortable here yet. Everything is new to her.
In the dining room, a young elf-like girl. She was wearing a red royalty dress with white color inside the under dress. She was sitting on the chair waiting for someone to arrive. She was kicking the air with her legs. The maids arrived with food from the kitchen. They placed the food on each chair.
The pale blond hair girl was confused, tilting her head. "Why is there another chair here?"
The butler bowed next to her. "Lady Klee, there's another visitor here. Master Albedo told us someone is going to join us for breakfast."
Klee's face brightened with a smile. "Who is it?"
"Master Albedo didn't give me the details. I'm sure you will see the person once they come in."
Klee pouted. "Aww! Albedo Onii-chan has been so busy lately. He doesn't have time to play with Klee. Klee wants someone to play with."
As on cue, Albedo arrived when the door opened. Klee gasped as she heard the door open. She jumps out of her chair, running up to him.
"Albedo Onii-chan!" She hugged him, smiling.
"Good morning, Klee. Did you sleep well?" Albedo patted her head.
She nodded. "I heard that someone is going to join us. Who is it?"
The prince frowned. "Klee, can you try not to scare her? She is recovering."
The young princess was dumbfounded. "What do you mean? I won't scare her. Klee wants to make new friends."
Albedo couldn't help but smile. Klee is an energetic child. Her energy can't say no to him. "I know, but she was a slave. I don't want her to remember anything that gives her PTSD."
"PTSD? What's that?"
Albedo patted Klee's head again. "Don't worry about it. Let's eat. The food will get cold if you don't chow down on them."
Klee gasped as she ran back to her chair and started eating. Albedo walked towards his chair and sat down. He was excited to see the young girl arrive to join them for breakfast. Noelle was able to get her a haircut, clean, and fresh new clothes. He wonders how she looks now. She hadn't eaten anything when she arrived here.
The prince was still bothered that the girl doesn't have any names, family, or siblings. It must be sad for not having a name for a long time. The only thing she was probably called either 'you slave', 'you', 'hey', and others that the slave masters names them, sadly.
The door opened. Albedo and Klee turned to the open door. It was the young blond-haired girl. She was wearing sleeveless white dress length to her knee with accented light blue lines, white boots with blue and gold accented. It took away Albedo's breath from the sight of her. She was very beautiful, but something was missing.
Klee was excited to see her. "Is that her, Albedo Onii-chan?!"
"Yes." He replied, smiling.
"Wow! She is very pretty!"
Albedo couldn't agree. "She is."
The young girl stood watching Albedo and Klee glaring at her. She didn't know what to expect. The maids were staring wondering who she was. They had never seen her before. They started to whisper to each other.
"Prince Albedo, who is this? We didn't get any word about her." One of the maids turned to her prince being suspicious.
The young prince frowned. "She's a guest. Is there a problem with that?"
"No." The maid lied. "She should be a spy from the Abyssal Kingdom. They have been doing terrible things in this world. They are using her as a spy to get information against the Kingdom of Mondstadt." She glared at the young girl with a cold look.
"Do you have proof if she is a spy?" Albedo's voice is a little restrained.
"No, but she just arrived here. We have no information about her." The maid argued.
Albedo stood up from his chair in frustration. He used his authority voice. "I told you before! She's a guest. Treat her with respect. Is that understood?"
The maid flinched. "Y-Yes."
"Good. Leave." He commanded.
"Of co-course." The maid leaves the dining room. She walked past the young girl with a hated face.
The young girl can tell that the maid does not like her. She has a bad feeling about her.
Albedo sat back and sighed lightly. He took a deep breath and let it out. "Another outburst." He looked up at the blond haired girl and smiled. "Come. Join us. You must be hungry."
The young girl walked up to the table from the opposite side from Klee. She sat down and looked at the food in front of her. She has never seen cooked food. It was making her stomach growl, but doesn't like to be watched.
"What's the matter? Is the food not to your liking?" Albedo gave a sad face.
She shook her head.
"Maybe she doesn't want people watching her eat." The young princess took a guess.
Albedo nodded as he signals the maids and butler to leave. They bowed and left the dining room.
There was only Klee, Albedo, and the young girl. The blond haired girl looked at Albedo. Klee smiled at the young girl.
"You can go ahead and eat. The food will get cold if you don't eat. No one is here to bother you." Albedo assured.
She looked down at the food and grabbed a piece of bread from the plate. She brought it to her mouth and took a bite of it. She has never tasted bread before. Her eyes started to get watery. The tears from her eyes were coming down from her cheeks. The food was delicious. She can taste the fresh warm food instead of cold and leftover food.
The young princess was puzzled. She didn't know what was going on. "Albedo Onii-chan, why is she crying?"
"It's tears of happiness for her. It has been a long time since she ate something fresh."
Klee was still confused, but she went along with it. She continues to eat her food.
Albedo remembered something. "Do you want to come to the city with me? There could be something you remembered."
The young girl started to think. 'I always wanted to see the city in person.' She turned to the prince and nodded.
"We can go after breakfast. I have some business I have to take care of."
"Klee wants to go too!" Klee said.
"Of course. We'll bring Jean and Kaeya with us." Albedo said.
Klee raised her arms up in the air. "Yay!"
Albedo, Klee, and the young girl were in the carriage. While Kaeya and Jean were on their horses behind the carriage. The young girl stared at the window from the carriage. Klee was excited to go to the city. Albedo looked at the blond haired girl, thinking. He remembered the missing piece from her. Maybe when they arrive in the city, he could find something for her.
Jean still feels guilty about last night. She didn't mean to scare the girl. She wants to make up with her.
Kaeya notices Jean looks down. "No need to be upset, Captain Jean. You didn't know she would have PTSD. "
She sighed lightly. "I know, but I want to do something to make it up."
"It would be best if she gets comfortable with her surroundings. She still hasn't spoken yet." Kaeya assured.
Jean nodded. "Yes, you are right, Kaeya. Once she gets warmed up, we can talk about many things."
"I'm still curious about where she came from. She's a mystery." Kaeya was being suspicious.
"She doesn't remembered anything when she was a kid before she became a slave."
"Yes. I know, but that doesn't mean she wasn't a slave when she was born."
Jean started to think. "Are you going to investigate where she came from? You think Prince Albedo is going to allow it?"
Kaeya chuckled softly. "I'm sure that the prince won't mind it. He's curious as well. He is a genius afterall."
"Being titled Genius sure makes him more aware."
Kaeya looked at the carriage. "He is no fool to play with. He will keep a low quality about the girl. No one in the castle doesn't know about her presence."
"It would cause an uproar and rumors." Jean was worried.
"It already happened this morning."
"That quickly. It was bound to happen when she arrived. If anything happens, we might have to save her. She isn't strong enough to defend herself."
They arrived in the city. The young girl gasped. This is the first time seeing so many people in the city. It was lively and full of energy.
The carriage stopped in front of a shop. Albedo and Klee went out of the carriage. The blond girl followed behind. She was confused when they arrived here.
Albedo turned to his officers. "Jean, Kaeya stay and guard while I go and do my business." Jean and Kaeya bowed. The prince turned to the girl. "Shall we go inside?"
She nodded slightly.
"I can't see Diona! It has been a while since I visited!" Klee smiled happily as she ran in the shop.
"Klee, be careful you step. You're going to trip and fall." Albedo walked in the shop.
The young girl trailed behind them.
A young cat girl was behind the counter cleaning the counters. Her ears perked up as she heard the door open. She stood up and smiled. "Welcome to Cat's Traven Shop! Oh," she didn't expect to see a familiar visitor. "Prince Albedo and Klee! How are you?"
"I'm doing fine." Albedo replied.
"I'm good, Diona! When do you have time to play with me?!" Klee wanted to play with Diona.
"I'm sorry, Klee. I'm going to be busy today." Diona gives her the sad news.
"Aww." The princess pouted.
"I have to destroy the other shops here! I can't let them beat my shop here!" Diona hissed as she marked her words.
Klee gasped happily. "I can help you with that!"
Albedo was amused by two young friends. "Now, now. Let's not be rebellious in Mondstadt. We don't want to cause chaos. Especially, you Klee."
"But it will be fun!" Klee raised her arms.
The young girl looked around the shop. She has never been inside a shop that is clean and organized. Something caught her eyes and walked up to the counter.
"About our business-" Albedo said.
Diona smiled as she put both of her hands on her hips. "Don't worry. We got that covered. It will arrive here in two weeks. Don't mess with the Cat's Traven Shop, Prince Albedo. We keep our promises with businesses."
Albedo chuckled. "I'll have one of my officers pick it up in two weeks." He turned around and noticed the blond haired girl wasn't behind them.
Diona sees the girl and points in the direction where she is. "Is that the person you are looking for?"
The prince turned to the direction where Diona was pointing. The young girl stared at something at the counter. He walked towards her to see what caught her attention.
The young cat looked at the princess. Klee smiled with a response. Diona was dumbfounded with that response from Klee.
Albedo reached to her and saw what she was looking at. It was two hair pinned flowers. A large and small one. They have a pale blue color on a petal on the bottom left. She also was looking at two pale blue feathers.
"Do you want those?" He asked.
The young girl nodded.
Albedo turned to Diona. "How much are they?"
"Take it. It's free." She replied.
Albedo blinked. "Are you sure?"
Diona nodded. "Of course. The Kingdom of Mondstadt has helped this traven since my ancestors. Think of it as a thanks."
Albedo turned back to the girl. "You can take it."
The blond haired girl grabbed the two hairpins and the two feathers. She smiled. Albedo was shocked to see her smile. This is the first time that she smiled.
"Those accessories are rare. It was made by the best blacksmith." Diona smirked.
"Do you want to put it on?" Albedo asked.
She nodded. She didn't know where to put them. She looks at Albedo.
Albedo noticed she needed help. He chuckled. He grabbed the accessories from her hands and set them on her hair. "You should see how you look."
The young girl faced toward the mirror behind. The two hairpins were on her right and the two feathers were on the left. She never saw herself so pretty.
Klee walked to the young girl and smiled. "Wow! You look more pretty with those hairpins."
"She does look more gorgeous than before." Albedo complimented her appearances.
She blushed lightly. She never got praised from someone before. She felt happy, but something was still missing. She doesn't have a name.
Klee gives a cheeky smile. "Look at her. She's happy."
"We should get going. There are places we need to go." Albedo walked to the door.
"Okay, Albedo Onii-chan!" Klee runs in front of him.
The blond girl trailed behind them.
Diona waved them goodbye.
The dawn is going to slumber as it turns into night. Albedo finished his business with the other shops. They arrived back at the castle. Klee was already sleeping on Albedo's lap. The maid carried her back to her room. Jean and Kaeya already went back to their rooms. Albedo went back to his office. The young girl was walking back to her room.
A few minutes later, she got lost. The castle was so huge that she doesn't remember where her room was. She wanted to ask someone to help her, but there was no one in sight. She continued to walk.
She arrived at the door. She was curious about what's behind it. She opened the door and walked inside. It was a spacious room. There was a large light in the middle of the room. She was amazed to see the room to be so large. She walks to the center of the room. Something just came through her mind. She started to dance, imagining dancing with someone.
Albedo was returned back to his quarters. He saw a light coming through the door. He was puzzled as he walked towards it.
"Who let the door open?"
He arrived at the door and saw someone dancing. He widens his eyes to see the blond-haired girl dancing on the floor. She was like a dancing shooting star taking center floor. He walked in the room quietly without interrupting her.
The blond haired girl was enjoying herself dancing. She stopped dancing and bows to the imaginary dancer.
"Did you enjoy yourself?" A voice called from behind.
She turned to the source of the voice. It was Albedo. She flinched and ran behind a pillar. Albedo blinked then chuckled. It was embarrassing for her. She didn't think someone would see her dance.
"No need to hide. I enjoy seeing you dancing. You were like a star glowing, grabbing people's attention." Albedo smiled.
The blond haired girl perks her head out to see Albedo. He's presence keeps making her warm and fuzzy.
"That gives me an idea for your name."
That grabbed her attention. She comes out of hiding, walking towards him. She was waiting for him to give a name. She felt really excited.
"Lumine. That will be your name."
Her body started to cry out as tears came out from her eyes. She was so happy that she finally has a name.
"Th-Thank you!" She spoke her first words.
Albedo widen his eyes when he hear her voice. He was glad that he was able to help her- no Lumine. He will never forget the day he gave her a name and spoke.
"You're welcome, Lumine." He said with a gentler voice.
Her tears was falling out from her cheeks as they trailed down from her cheek. It's a new beginning for Lumine and her new life starts now.
This chapter give me a little trouble, but I was able to manage it. Enjoy!