We had tea with the kids. I didn't know who was more surprised seeing Payne sit down with us: me or the kids? I thought that Payne would go to his study as soon as possible but he just stayed with us and listened with a tiny shadow of a smile. In both my lives together, I didn't remember Payne spending time with the children once. It was very weird and the children seemed like they had no idea how to behave around him.
They didn't look at him once and would flinch when their eyes met by accident. I could see that they were very self aware and would sit with way too straight backs for it to be comfortable. Or even healthy for that matter. There must have been something like too straight. It looked like they were bending the other way around.
I did my best to ignore Payne and tried diverting the kid's attention. I pointed to a paper on the floor:
"Did you draw that?"
Quistis flinched:
"Don't look! It lacks perspective."
I frowned:
"Who cares about perspective?"
Quistis frowned:
"I have to train until I am able to draw perspectives."
I couldn't help laughing and glanced at Payne. This was ridiculous:
"If you like to draw then you should just draw. Don't put too much pressure on yourself because then you won't enjoy it anymore."
Both Quistis and Demien seemed lost. I could hear their brains heating up and had to add:
"Even some very famous painters chose to ignore perspective. What matters is you finding your own style."
In their world, there were only classical paintings to look at, mostly portraits but I just ignored that truth. Quistis tilted her head, having no idea what I was talking about:
"My own style?
-Yes. As long as you like what you painted, it will be perfect.
-You don't find my drawing ugly?
-Of course not! You did very well. You should be proud of yourself."
Quistis immediately jumped up and rushed to get all her drawings. She started showing them to me and I complimented her with a smile. I would have continued talking to her for a long time if I didn't feel Payne staring at me the whole time. At some point I couldn't ignore him anymore and felt that if he looked at me for two more seconds, I was going to pull his eyes out.
"Is there something wrong?"
Payne shook his head:
"No.
-You must be very busy. You shouldn't force yourself to stay here.
-I always have time for my family."
I rolled my eyes. No one was buying that. Even Payne seemed to notice the children's puzzled looks because he added:
"We are a family. We should spend time together."
The children just blinked. It was hard telling if they liked the idea or not. Payne must have noticed because he added:
"Zeidan will spend time with us too."
That seemed to please the children because even the shy Demien looked up:
"Is uncle Zeidan going to spend time with us?"
Payne immediately frowned:
"He is not your uncle. He is my fiancé, therefore he is your brother in law."
Hearing Payne's cold voice made Demien flinch and he immediately let his head drop back down. I couldn't take it anymore and stood up:
"The children must be tired. We should leave."
They couldn't be as tired as me. I needed to go far away from Payne. The latter followed me out, staring at my face:
"You seem to really like them."
I shrugged:
"They are good kids.
-They are your family now."
I frowned. Why was he so fixated on family? I didn't like that word. I never had a family in the first place and having Payne be the one saying it out of anyone else wasn't helping.
"Don't say that. You are not my family."
Payne pinched his lips and everything he was doing was driving me mad at that point.
"We are a family now, Zeidan. I will do everything possible to make you happy."
I rolled my eyes. He said that he was my family, that he would make me happy. He said that he loved me and that I could trust him but it was impossible. No matter how weirdly he behaved, I couldn't believe him. Should I just test him? Should I tell him about Quistis being in danger?
I remembered perfectly the first time I went up to him about that. I had only arrived at the mansion a few days prior and had seen Payne very few times. Everyone at the mansion avoided me and I didn't have any maids or servants tending to me. The only person I talked to was Adaranth but I didn't mind.
I was uncomfortable around them too. After all they were all strangers and I thought that we needed some time to get used to each other. I hated admitting it but I was also missing my home. I thought that I finally made my family proud but still hated being apart from them. Therefore I just mostly stayed in my room, thinking about life.
I hadn't met Demien or Quistis yet but I knew who they were by name. After a few days I thought that it was time for me to get to know my new family and was curious about what kind of people they were. Moreover, I had to be on good terms with them if I wanted my family to be proud of me.
I started getting out of my room but the Grimsbane family was always way too busy to spend time with me. I didn't want to force things and just left each time. As the days went by I could hear the maids laughing when I was walking by. I was used to being ignored by the maids before but they didn't laugh at me openly before.
Adaranth was outraged by the treatment I got which made me realize that it wasn't normal. Once as I heard a group of three maids insulting me loudly, I stopped and turned to them:
"What did you say?"
The maids didn't even feel bad and smirked:
"Nothing."
Subconsciously I must have started realizing how bad my condition really was because I got very mad at them and wasn't letting go. Despite everything, I still was a noble and deserved at least respect:
"I clearly heard you.
-You must have imagined it.
-Who do you think you are?"
This exchange continued going on and I started getting more and more angry. Adaranth supported me and spoke up for me:
"Don't you know your place? He is Zeidan Gnash. You should bow your head when he is walking."
Hearing the maids laugh was the last straw and I started screaming:
"What do you find so funny?"
I didn't even say anything that bad but that was exactly when Essence and Payne decided to walk by.
"What's going on here?"
Hearing them arriving, the maid's demeanor completely changed and they immediately bowed:
"We are so sorry. We made a mistake."
Essence asked again:
"What is going on here?"
I was about to confide in her when I stopped. I immediately noticed the disgust in her eyes and was taken aback. I knew that they weren't comfortable around me but I had no idea how bad it really was.