"Your Grace, I have come with the report from the ruby mines."
A man of large stature sits busy at his desk. Several stacks of documents line the edges. With his large pale hands, he motions for the man to enter the room. "Come in quickly and report to me what you have found."
"The most recent ruby mine that you have discovered near the dormant volcano is overflowing with rubies, so there is no need to worry about any shortage for this year."
"That is expected. I wouldn't have wasted my resources in digging a mine that wasn't going to lead me to any profit. What else?"
"Well, aside from the large amount of rubies, a child was also discovered deep in the mines."
The large man pauses his work. He removes his reading glasses and glares at the man in front of him. "A child? That's absurd. The mine was just recently found. How could there be a child inside?"
"Your Grace, what I say is the truth. One of the miners was picking at a wall when suddenly the wall collapsed and a sleeping child appeared from the smoke. It was reported to be a girl around ten years old with hair like fire. I have not received any news of her waking up yet."
A child of all things found in a mine sleeping? What nonsense is he saying?
"Bring the child here. I will have the maids set up a room for her. As much as I despise children, if what you say is true, the child is not one of normal origins, so I must investigate where she came from. She may be of use to me. If not, I can simply send her to the orphanage."
"Yes, Your Grace. I will send word for her to be brought in immediately."
The man hurriedly exits the room, leaving the Duke alone once again. The Duke lays back on his chair and rubs the arch of his nose.
"A child surrounded by jewels... Where have I heard a story like that before?"
---
Once upon a time, there lived a fairy who spent her days all alone in her treehouse. One day, as she was reading, she happened to stumble upon a book in her library that she has never seen before. Inside the book told tales of many like her before. Those who are alone and want to make friends but cannot reveal themselves to others.
As the fairy got to the end of the book, there wrote a way to make your favorite objects become your friends.
'With one's blood, sweat, and tears, cast it onto those collected and treasured. If one's feelings are strong enough, those collected and treasured will feel your love and return it to you threefold.'
So, as the book stated, the fairy collected her blood, sweat and tears and dashed it onto the gemstones that she loved so much. Day by day, each gemstone after another awakens with a human body in order to play with the fairy.
Excited, the fairy plays with her new friends. Over the hundreds of years, she would play and play with the human gemstones until, one day, the fairy finally grew old. The human gemstones grew old as well with their cracked and unpolished gems. Gazing upon the friends who played and grew old with her, the fairy made a final wish.
"I wish that those who are alone like me will have people like my gemstones to have and play with."
With those words, the fairy takes her final breath, and the old gemstones return back into the caves that they were found in.
---
"Your Grace," calls out the man from earlier, "I have brought the child as you have ordered. She has awoken during the ride to the estate as well. Should I bring her into your office?"
The Duke sits up in his chair from his short nap. "Bring her in."
As the man walks in, a girl with hair like the burning sunset and eyes as red as rubies stumbles in behind him.
"Your Grace, this is the child."
The Duke stands up and walks over to the child. Despite the man's overwhelming size, the child does not waver. Staring down at the child as he leans against his desk, the Duke examines the little girl.
"What is your name?"
The child does not answer.
"Child, you must answer the Duke when he asks you a question," the man warns.
The little girl looks up at the Duke staring right into his deep blue eyes. "I don't have a name," she finally answers.
"Where did you come from?"
"I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know?"
"This is the first time I have woken up."
Frustrated, the Duke crosses his arms and takes another minute to collect himself. "If this is the first time that you have woken up, how do you know how to speak?"
"When I woke up, I heard a lot of people talking around me. I am merely using the words I heard to answer you."
"You learn quickly for a child your age. Do you know how you got inside the ruby mines?"
"I don't know. This is the first time-"
"That you have woken up. Yes, so you have said. I have more questions for you, but seeing you in a flimsy men's shirt covered in dirt disgusts me. I will have the maids wash you. You will have dinner with me tonight after the maids are finished."
"What is a bath and dinner? I have not heard those words before, so I do not know the context in which to use them."
"You will know when you see it. I don't have time to be explaining everything to you. Raynold, take the child to the room the maids have prepared and tell them to wash her. You will escort her to the dining room afterwards."
"Yes, Your Grace." Raynold holds out his hand to the little girl which makes her blankly stare at him. "You must hold my hand so as to not get lost. The estate is very large, so it's rather easy to get confused."
The girl places her hand in his, and they both leave the room. As the door closes, the Duke takes another deep breath before massaging his forehead.
"She's smart. If this is really her first time waking up, she was able to pick up on all of the words people said around her and used the context to know what the words meant, meaning she learns incredibly fast and can easily pick up on things. She doesn't make any unnecessary sounds or movements, but that can also contribute to being out in the world for the first time.
"Her eyes. They looked as if rubies were placed directly in them. There must be something on her or in her to give me clues on who she is."
---
"Child, you will be staying in this room for the time being." Raynold opens the doors to the room for the child to be greeted by three maids. "Leyna, give the child a bath and dress her in better attire. She was naked when we found her and had no belongings, so one of the guys lent his shirt to her. It would probably be best to let her borrow one of the dresses from a maid's younger sister. At least until she is fitted for clothes."
"I understand," the woman with short brown hair answers. She kneels down and offers a hand to the child. "Will you come with me? We must get you cleaned up."
"I will return in a couple of hours to retrieve her. Due keep in mind that she will be eating dinner with His Grace, so pay close attention to her appearance. You know how he gets when unnecessary things are placed in front of him."
"I will have the child ready before your return, Raynold."
"Thank you, Leyna."
Raynold walks off, and the other two maids close the door behind him.
"Do you have a name, dear child?" Leyna asks as she guides the little girl to the bathroom.
"I don't have one," replies the child.
"Well, even though you don't have a name, I'm sure the Duke will give you one. For now, let's get you cleaned up."
A black-haired woman who is the tallest of the three maids begins to remove the child's attire and places her in the bath. "My name is Fiona, dear child," the woman announces. "I will be one of the maids who will take care of you during your stay at the Stoneborne Estate."
"What is Stoneborne Estate?" the child asks as she patiently gets her hair washed.
"It is the Duke's house name. Do you know the Duke's name or who he is?"
The child shakes her head.
"The Duke's name is Nicholas Stoneborne. He is the only Duke in the Kingdom of Newport. He is a very cold and shrewd man who dislikes unnecessary things. If it doesn't benefit him in any sort of way, he will get rid of it without any hesitation. If he is keeping you around, that means that he probably has a plan for you."
The child quietly sits in the bath without saying anything.
"Ah! That doesn't mean that he will throw you out if you don't have any use," Fiona quickly adds in panic. "In the worst case scenario, he would most likely send you to the orphanage. He isn't so cold as to abandon a person without a place to go."
After the bath, the third maid appears from the bedroom with a simple red dress.
"Hello, dear child, my name is Taylor. I am also a maid that is assigned to take care of you. If you don't mind, I have brought a dress that my little sister can't fit anymore. Since you were found in a ruby mine and you have red hair and eyes, I thought I should continue with this color and get a dress that matches. Will it be okay?"
The child nods her head and heads over to Taylor's outstretched hand. After several minutes of getting the child dressed and brushing her hair, Taylor steps back so that the child can see herself in the mirror.
"What do you think?" Taylor asks.
"It is fine," the child frankly answers.
"You are so adorable, Miss. The Duke couldn't possibly dismiss such a cute child."
"What is adorable and cute? I have never heard such words before?"
Taylor glances over at Leyna and Fiona to see if they had a good explanation.
"Adorable and cute are very similar words. They mean that you are dressed in a nice way that makes you look good."
The little girl glances down at the dress and stares in the mirror. "I think I look adorable," she says with her placid expression.
"Miss, I think it would be better if you said that with a smile," Fiona says.
"What is a smile?"
"Mmmm... Ah! It looks like this." Fiona displays a bright smile on her face that the child tries to copy. "It's okay if you can't smile yet. Normally, you will smile when you are happy or if something good happens to you."
"What is happy?"
Leyna heads over to the child and picks her up. "The word happy doesn't really have a meaning. It's more like something you feel. It would probably be better explained like a warm spot in your heart. When you feel something like that, you will tend to smile without realizing it. You can learn more about it later, though. It is almost time for Raynold to come and retrieve you."
Just as Leyna says that, a knock is heard from the door, and Raynold's voice can be heard.
"Leyna, is the child ready?" he asks as he slowly opens the door.
"Yes, she is," Leyna replies, walking over to Raynold.
"Good evening, Miss. I am here to escort you to your dinner with the Duke."
Leyna sets the child down so that she can take Raynold's hand. "Have a pleasant dinner, Miss."
The child simply nods then heads off with Raynold.
"Did the maids treat you nicely, Miss?"
"Yes, they were very gentle."
"You look rather adorable, Miss. It's nice to see you all cleaned up."
"I agree as well."
"You really are a frank child," Raynold laughs as they make their way down the hallway.
---
"Your Grace, I have arrived with the child for her dinner," Raynold announces.
"Seat her there," Duke Nicholas plainly states, pointing at the seat next to him.
-That's rather odd- Raynold thinks. -He would normally have a guest sit at the other end of the table. He doesn't like to be near others if he can avoid it.-
Raynold brings the child over to the seat next to the Duke and scoots her closer to the table. Noticing that she is still too small to reach the table, Raynold brings over a throw pillow for her to sit on.
"Make sure you greet the Duke, Miss" Raynold whispers to the child.
"Hello, Duke Stoneborne," the child says as she stares at the Duke.
"Good evening, Child," Nicholas replies back. "You asked earlier what dinner is. Dinner is a meal time that a person has when the sun starts to go down. You will eat what has been prepared and not complain. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Duke Stoneborne."
"You are a very obedient child. I like that."
Shortly after starting dinner, the Duke begins his round of questions.
"Do you have any abilities or skills that you know of?"
"I can control the thing you call fire," the child blankly answers.
In disbelief, Nicholas glares at the child next to him. "I do not like lies, especially those from children. If you say that you can control fire, then you must show that to me. Otherwise, I will throw you out immediately."
The child, unfazed by the Duke's glare, glances over at the candle on the wall. "Come here" is all the child says when a fiery orb takes shape as a cat and makes its way over to the child. The fire cat walks in front of the Duke and onto the child's shoulder where it quietly sits.
"How did you know that you can do this?"
"A distant memory told me I can."
"A distant memory? Then you should be able to know where you came from and what your name is."
"The memory is too hazy for me to remember. I can only faintly see myself wielding fire."
Nicholas stares at the child confused for the first time ever at what he should do.
"From this day forward, your name will be Ruby Stoneborne. You will become my daughter. You will learn everything there is about this family and kingdom. You will be examined by a magic doctor the day after tomorrow so that I can get more information on your fire magic."
"Your Grace! I thought you hated children. Don't you think you should ask the child if this is what she wants?" Raynold suggests.
Nicholas looks over at the little girl and her fire cat. "Would you like to stay here or not?"
The child scans over the two men in front of her. "I would like to stay here, Duke Stoneborne."
"No, you will call me 'Father' as you will become my daughter."
"Yes, Father."