The sun had not yet fully risen, but my eyes were already open.
The habit of light, vigilant sleep remained deeply ingrained. I pushed myself up from the recliner, my spine giving its routine crack of protest.
The room was quiet. Too quiet.
I glanced at the large bed in the center of the room. Empty. The sheets were pristine, pulled taut as if no one had ever slept there.
"Alicia?"
No answer. The bathroom door was slightly ajar, revealing only darkness.
I walked out of the bedroom and made my way down the cold marble stairs. My footsteps echoed. This house was large, yet it felt like a giant coffin waiting to be filled.
I found her in the living room.
Alicia stood in the corner, right beside a window with drawn curtains. She was dressed in her usual attire—white shirt, maroon vest, black trousers. Everything was immaculate. Not a single crease. Her red hair was tied back neatly with a black ribbon.
The problem was: she wasn't moving.
She stood rigid, hands folded in front of her, staring at a blank wall. Her chest rose and fell so faintly it seemed as though she were trying to ration the oxygen in the room.
"What are you doing?" I asked. My voice carried the raspy weight of recent sleep.
Alicia flinched violently. Her shoulders jerked. She spun to face me and bowed deeply.
"G-Good morning, Master! I... I was waiting."
"Waiting for what?"
"Waiting for Master to wake up. Waiting for... orders."
I glanced at the wall clock. Six in the morning.
"How long have you been standing there?"
"Two hours, Master. Since I woke up and washed."
Two hours.
Standing like a statue in the pre-dawn dark, simply because the software for 'Free Will' was not installed in her brain. Had I slept until noon, she might have just stood there until she collapsed.
A faint irritation crept into my chest. The Rooster zodiac within me despised this inefficiency of time. But my Pisces side felt the sheer wave of loneliness radiating from her. She was terrified of making the slightest mistake, even something as trivial as sitting down or opening the curtains without permission.
"Open the curtains," I ordered, walking back to my room to brew some coffee.
Morning light flooded the space. Alicia blinked against the glare, but her face showed a trace of relief at finally receiving a simple command.
I returned with a cup of black coffee.
"We are going out today."
Alicia stiffened. "G-Going out? Am I... being returned?"
The question sounded so innocent, yet so painful.
"No. We're going shopping. This house is too dead. We need something that grows." I looked out the window at the barren backyard. "We are going to make a garden."
"A garden..." She repeated the word as if it were a foreign language.
"Get ready. We leave as soon as I finish this coffee."
The streets of Sun Son City were already bustling.
We made our way toward the market district.
A new problem presented itself: distance.
Once we hit the market, the dense crowds would inevitably separate us.
I walked at a normal pace. But every time I looked back, Alicia was exactly three steps behind me. No more, no less.
If I stopped abruptly, she stopped with military precision, maintaining a safe distance to ensure she wouldn't bump into my back.
People were beginning to notice.
Scorpion, the notoriously cold solo hunter, walking ahead of a beautiful girl dressed like an aristocratic aide but acting like a terrified shadow.
"Walk beside me," I said without looking back.
I heard her footsteps hesitantly quicken. She was beside me now, but her body was rigid. Her shoulders were tense. She kept her head down, avoiding the gazes of passersby.
"Raise your head, Alicia. You aren't a fugitive."
"M-Master... people are looking..."
"Let them look. Your clothes cost more than what they make in a year. You have just as much right to walk on this street as they do."
She tried to lift her face slightly, but her eyes remained wild, scanning for threats. Trauma wasn't dust you could wipe away with a single stroke. It was an ink stain, bled deep into the fabric.
We passed a bakery. The scent was warm and sweet.
Alicia's stomach growled. Loudly.
She immediately paled, clutching her stomach as if wanting to punish her own internal organs for the disrespect.
"P-Please forgive me! I didn't mean to..."
I stopped in front of the stall and bought two sweet red bean buns.
"Eat."
"But we are walking, Master. It is impolite to eat while..."
"Eat."
She took the warm bun with trembling hands. She took a tiny bite, agonizingly careful not to let any crumbs fall to the street.
For a brief second, as the sweetness of the red bean touched her tongue, her hollow eyes lit up. A little. Just a little. Before dimming once again under the weight of her fear.
That small moment... that was what I was looking for.