Chapter 5: Gabriel.

Tuesday dug through his memories of the show until he found what he was looking for. He had to straighten his posture a little, ending up as the only person from the orphanage on his knees rather than on his stomach. And then, before Alice could catch up with the situation, he took hold of her hand and planted a light kiss just below her knuckles.

"Awawa…"

The little girl failed to form proper words, her fingers flailing erratically. A kiss on the hand was a gesture of courtesy and extreme politeness, devotion even. For ladies belong to a ducal household, it wouldn’t be rare to be greeted like this. But for the villainess? This was perhaps the first time anyone had ever shown her such respect.

"Knight Tuesday greets the lady of Vritara."

A proper greeting had to be followed by a proper introduction. Well, if a name like Tuesday could even be used in a greeting. But, when looking at the scene from an outside perspective, there was perhaps only one thing people would do.

"Pfft!"

Someone quickly choked down a bout of laughter, the expression the little girl quickly darkening as she pulled back her hand in embarrassment. Right, the two people present were just a little orphaned brat and an illegitimate child with no rights, they were as far from being a knight and the lady of Vritara as possible.

Tuesday’s gaze slid to the side for a second, sneakily casting a glance at the knight that stifled his laughter. Broad shoulders, dark brown hair, bushy eyebrows and a full beard that included neatly trimmed sideburns. He was the one who had bumped Alice earlier, his brown eyes still carrying that glint.

If his memory served him correctly then this man, his name eluded him for the moment, was one of the knights serving one of Alice’s older brothers. Leonardo De Vritara, third young master of the Vritara ducal household, and probably the man hidden within the ornate carriage.

He was just the third young master so he had almost no chance of inheriting the duchy unless he truly excelled and surpassed his older brother and sister. But he had never made an effort to do so, and by the time the second season of the show rolled around he was nothing but a petty minor antagonist that was killed before the third season even began. His older siblings however… they were a tougher nut to crack.

"Have you picked out your servants yet? If so, get them on the carriage, I want to go home already."

The disinterested voice came from the ornate carriage once more, he’d probably listened and counted how many times Alice had spoken up. The little girl spun around with some panic, stumbling forward a few steps before she quickly bowed politely.

"Yesh, I’m sorry, Older Brother, we can leave right now!"

Not only did she stumble in her steps, she fumbled over her words for a second as well. The bushy-browed knight gave the other knights a glance and conveyed a silent order, two of them dismounting. The knights didn’t bother putting on a kind facade, almost stomping towards the prostrating children.

As was expected, the children Alice had question were all picked up, each knight carrying one under each arm as if they were sacks of potatoes. Tuesday naturally had no interest in being treated like that so he stood up on his own and walked up behind Alice.

"Shall we go, My Lady?"

Normal adoption procedures were naturally a bit different from this. A contract would be written up, the new parent would be informed of some responsibilities they had and the various peculiarities of the child in question. If the adopted had any items then they would all be packed up and brought along so that the child could have at least a little of their past to bring to the future.

Here? Here the kid was just taken away, forget even asking if they had anyone to say goodbye to or anything to bring along. In the end, they were just nameless things, tools to some and playthings to others. As far as the world was concerned, every child who set foot in this orphanage was already dead.

"Ah… Do you not need to… say goodbye?"

The little girl’s gaze quickly went between Tuesday and the other children, who were still too scared to get up from their prostrating stance. Was it nervousness, or fear that he saw in those pupils? He only knew the Alice who had already suffered and gotten twisted, he knew nigh on nothing about the Alice who had just barely put her feet onto that road. But it seemed like she was at least quite kind, which only made her future ruination all the more pitiful.

"No. We’ll see each other again eventually so goodbyes are pointless."

Tuesday’s head turned slightly, surveying the cowering children, and especially the prostrating adults. They were just kids, that alone meant that they deserved better than these roaches pretending to be adults. He’d be back eventually to fix that, although that may not be in person.

"O…kay. Then please follow me…"

A slight tilt of her head, she probably didn’t understand what he meant when he said that he would be back. He was already adopted, why would he go back to an orphanage? A thought seemed to strike her at that moment as she shrunk down somewhat, but the bushy-browed knight spoke up before she got the chance to voice her thoughts.

"’Knight’ Tuesday, come here!"

Tuesday wanted to roll his eyes at the mocking tone that the knight didn’t even try to hide. Alice looked too scared to say anything so he had no choice but to march up to the mounted knight, who towered above him thanks in part to his own height and the size of his horse.

Thump

The ground shook slightly as the knight jumped off his horse, one hand on his sheath and the other on his waist. He looked down upon Tuesday, quite literally in this case, and unfastened his sheath from his belt. He held the covered sword with one hand and then casually swung it sideways, smashing it into the side of Tuesday’s knee so that he crumpled to the ground like a ragdoll.

"As you are just an ignorant servant who doesn’t know better, I will let you off with just this for now. In the future, do not forget your position, never allow anyone in the Vritara household to address you so formally."

He snorted like a bull as he spoke, not sparing the little boy another glance. Tuesday grit his teeth, one hand clutching the knee that was just hit. Ah, that was it, he just wanted to show off his position while reminding the newcomers of how little they were worth. Yes, this was definitely someone who worked for such a minor antagonist.

"Thank you for your lesson, Sir. I will make sure to take it to heart."

He spat out the words after sucking in a sharp breath and clambering to his feet, throwing up a salute. The knight looked strangely at the gesture for a second but then returned to ignoring the orphan as he climbed back on his horse.

Tuesday also turned around and ignored the knight, at least for now, the future would be a different matter. He tried to walk over to Alice, but as expected, he was having some issues with his knee thanks to the hit, leaving him no choice but to limp over.

"Well then, My Lady, please lead the way."

Right hand pressed horizontally across the abdomen, left hand held out from the body. He wanted to draw back his right leg to complete the bow properly, but due to the hit he just took he had to abandon that idea. Still, it was the most polite bow Alice had ever received. Her eyes quickly surveyed the surroundings as she lowered her voice, making sure that no one could hear her.

"Awawa… I’m so…"

Tuesday’s arm rose quickly before she could finish her sentence, her body recoiling slightly as she flinched. Tuesday’s gaze narrowed slightly at her panicked reaction to him just raising his hand, but he ignored it for now as he cut her off.

"Don’t apologise. You did nothing wrong. There are many tenets to living as a good person, and that is the first one, don’t apologise for things that aren’t your fault."

Living was easy. Anybody could live. But living as a good person, in his experience, was hard. There were so many things you had to keep in mind, so many things to watch out for. As for if it was worth it… Personally he felt that it was. It made things hard, yes, but there was a certain satisfaction that could be gained from it.

"But I’m so…"

"Please lead the way, My Lady."

He cut her off again, he really had no interest in hearing a child apologising just for existing, just for choosing him. The little girl’s mouth opened and closed a few times, but the words wouldn’t come out so in the end she could only lead him towards the undecorated carriage she came in.

The four other children had already been thrown into that very same carriage and were now huddled together on one side, occupying one of the two benches. And benches really was the right word, there wasn’t a single inch of fabric draped across the wooden seats to dampen the impact of the ride.

A member of the Vritara family, of the direct lineage no less, riding in a carriage like this? And not only that, they made her ride in the same carriage as the orphans they had just taken in to be her servants. The only way they could make their disdain more apparent than this was by directly spitting on her.

"This… you can sit here…"

Alice sat down first and then gave the cold wood next to her a somewhat uncertain pat. The other bench was completely taken so he would have to sit there if he didn’t want to sit on the floor. But judging by the look in her eyes, she was afraid that he would be too scared, or perhaps angry, to sit next to her.

Naturally, Tuesday wasn’t that petty and sat down next to her, the window on this carriage was so small that it was almost impossible to look in or out without squeezing your face up to the glass so it was unlikely that anyone would see it. The little girl tried to hide the sigh of relief she spat out, but he sat right next to her so that was nigh on impossible.

"…Hello, I’m Alice… De Vritara, what are your names?"

She mustered up her courage and spoke to the others in the carriage, a trace of sadness flitting through her eyes as she hesitated to speak her own last name. But, while she had mustered up her courage, the other kids simply couldn’t do the same, especially after they had been treated like sacks of potatoes. Thus, once again, it was only Tuesday who could answer her.

"I’ve already introduced myself, but since you asked, I’ll do it again. I was found here on a tuesday, so the overseer named me Tuesday. I look forward to serving as your knight."

Repetition, it was all just repetition. But from the looks of things, this little girl didn’t really have anyone to talk to, anyone to answer her. So perhaps repetition was exactly what she needed, someone to respond to her, even if he just said the same thing over and over again. Just a voice to answer, to prove that she wasn’t alone.

Alice looked at him as he bowed from his seated position, her crimson eyes flickering slightly as she seemed to be thinking. Whatever was running through her mind, she seemed to reach a conclusion before long.

"Then… Since I’m not allowed to apologise… can I give you a proper name?"

Her voice trailed as she spoke, the light in her eyes wavering with each word. Really, what a rotten life she must have lived to become this fearful at such a young age.

"If you would, then it would be an honour."

The girl practically lit up when Tuesday nodded his head. What a tiny right it was, yet it made her this happy. Was it because she had gotten control over something? Was it because she had finally been allowed to do something? Or was it just because someone was finally talking to her? A pitiful child who would become a pitiful villain.

"Then I’ll call you Gabriel! I once read in a book that there was a trumpet blowing angel with the same name!"

Just like that, the man who jumped from a roof had died and become Tuesday, and just like that, Tuesday died and became Gabriel.