The revelation of a hidden Beifong heir sent shockwaves throughout the Earth Kingdom when Toph reached the age of three. Someone—somehow—had leaked her existence to the public, causing a massive sweeping investigation led by an enraged Lord Beifong himself. Every stone was turned, every lead pursued and tracked, yet the traitor was never found.
While the origins of the Beifong family may have been humble, over a handful of decades later, they stood as one of the richest and most influential families in the world, a pillar of the Earth Kingdom itself. This position, however, came at a cost, as with the announcement of a blind heir, every gaze turned toward the Beifongs, for better or worse, and an unmistakable target was painted on the young Lady's back.
Lord Beifong wasted no time.
Within a single week of the news spreading, his response was swift and steadfast.
Staff numbers were cut by twenty-five percent. Security around the estate was tightened to an almost suffocating degree. Inspections among the servants became frequent and invasive, curfews were imposed "for precaution," and a whole lot of restrictions followed.
I could feel the tension in the air growing thicker; servants eyed one another, each hoping to expose the traitor and earn favor with the Lord and Madam. There was a juicy bounty for the traitor, a whopping fifty gold coins if brought alive. As for me, I simply continued with my duties, since I was innocent.
Well, it was surprising that no one even thought of suspecting me as the culprit behind the leak. Which I was not, by the way.
Just in case, though, I temporarily halted my nightly Fire Bending training for now until the situation settled. The last thing I needed was to be misunderstood—or worse, framed—because of unexplained leave after nightfall. With tensions this high, it's best to not do anything suspicious.
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Frankly, the only good thing to come out of this entire mess of a situation was the fact that—now that the existence of Toph Beifong had been revealed to the world—she could finally be introduced to it.
Well... "Introduced" was a generous word, since—you know, being blind and all that.
But! A change of scenery was long overdue. Toph had already memorized every inch of the Beifong estate down to the smallest pebble. The walls, the halls, the rooms, the pathways outside the estate, there was nothing left to surprise her. She was clearly itching for something new, even if she didn't quite know how to express it yet.
... But the current situation was definitely not favorable in the slightest!
Sitting smack-dab inside a luxurious carriage far above my station, I clutched a bag stuffed with miscellaneous picnic supplies while cold sweat dripped down my spine. Across from me, the three-year-old Toph slept soundly in her mother's arms, totally unaware of the tension between the Beifong couple and me, suffocating the small space.
Surrounding the main carriage were mounted Beifong guards atop armadillo-horses, forming a tight protective ring around us. A smaller carriage filled with servants trailed behind us, but even then, the number of guards was far greater than usual. That was expected, since this was Toph's first experience of the real world.
I doubt that Lord Beifong would spare any expense to ensure nothing happened to his daughter.
As for how I ended up in this situation, Toph wasn't used to being separated from me for long. She'd whined insistently that I had to accompany her—and since her parents indulged every one of her requests...
Here I was.
A servant, seated in the same carriage as his employers.
This was going to be a long trip.
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As Toph's butler, I was permitted to stand behind her while the Beifongs enjoyed their picnic, servants reheating and serving dishes prepared earlier by the estate's kitchen staff.
This was not an ordinary park, mind you; originally, it had been nothing more than a plot of land a few clicks outside of Gaoling until Lord Beifong purchased it outright and terraformed the area into a lavish private resort.
Now known as Badger's Haven, it catered to middle- and upper-class families of the Earth Kingdom. Officially, it was a side investment outside his main iron refinery business, but unofficially, the resort was made for the sole purpose of entertaining his daughter, who had raised interest in the outside world a year ago.
And if the gossip circulating the servant quarters was to be believed, the investment was already yielding impressive returns. The lord of the house truly had a talent for turning solutions into profits.
"Aaah~"
Toph, who sat beside me, opened her mouth wide open as she stared at somewhat my location, trying to get me to feed her while I was busy calculating how much the entire resort cost. But realizing that I was distracted, she pouted before starting to pound my thigh with her little fists.
"Ren! Another bite!"
"Alright, here you go." Taking a piece of meat from the plate, I carefully fed it to her using a fork because, apparently, Zero's muscle memory for forks and spoons had followed me into this life. Chopsticks were now an impossibility.
I'm forever ruined. Haaah.
As I smirked at my internal joke, a slender arm reached into view and deposited additional meat and vegetables onto my plate.
"It's good that you're feeding my Toph," Madam Beifong said warmly, "But you should eat as well. It's quite delicious."
I bowed instantly, instinct taking over.
"Madam, this is too much."
Especially when your husband is staring at me like that. I'd rather not die—or worse, lose my job.
She only chuckled, piling on even more food. Internally, I tugged at my hair in despair.
And this was another development that I'd never expected to see! I don't know why, I don't know how, and I don't know when, but ever since this September, after Toph's birthday a month later, she's been treating me—a servant—like her own son!
My work hours were reduced, the pressure and tension around the estate dipped significantly, I was now ordered to sit next to Toph ON THE SAME DINING TABLE when they ate as a family, and even my salary increased by forty percent!
This was not normal!
And when I briefly asked about it...
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"Oh, it's nothing. Just remember my treatment of you in the future," she said mysteriously with a closed-eyed smile as she placed a sleeping Toph into my arms. With her piece said, she strutted away to continue her duties, leaving a confused me staring at her retreating back with Toph drooling on my shirt.
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What did that even mean? Is that a threat or something? Huh? It didn't make any sense!
And as for the food... I couldn't let the Madam lose any face, especially with so many servants nearby, so I politely thanked her as I continued feeding Toph food from her own plate with the intention of dragging out the need to eat from mine as long as I could.
I'll plate the food up once the picnic is over—I wasn't going to waste this future dinner that used high-quality ingredients—Good source of protein and carbs for more internal training tonight.
Though as I continued to entertain Toph and the Madam, my eyes suddenly flickered as I saw a rather peculiar sight. Moving along a group of servants that were transporting the next dishes of the menu, I slightly frowned as one of the servants, a middle-aged man, walked past our table, avoiding eye contact the entire time.
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NEXT UPDATE: Yu-Gi-Oh GX: It's Time To DUEL! Chapter 30 (1 Feb, Sunday)
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