NOVEL NEXT Alicia Interlude 4: Friends
During the first time that Alicia met Rose and Jill, Alicia was showing photos on her smartphone to Rose and Jill.
"Oh my! He is so cute!" Rose exclaimed.
"I did not know he had this side of him," Jill commented.
"I know right?" Alicia smiled.
"But you know," Rose mused. "All these pictures have been just you and your family, and Owen."
"W-Well." At the sudden question, it was as if Alicia swallowed a fly. "That is..."
"Do you not have any other friends?" Jill asked.
"...N-No," Alicia admitted. "I do not."
Alicia then put her teacup down to its saucer next to a Voice munching cookies. Why a loyal maneg persona needed food sustenance, nobody will know.
"I have always seen Owen getting picked on by a bunch of bigger boys and even girls," she explained. "He never tried to fight back. So, I decided to protect him. Father taught me martial arts at a very young age, so I got into fights and often insult them to the point of crying."
"And because of that, nobody else tried to be friends with the both of you..." Jill concluded.
"Well... It is not just that," Alicia continued. "My father is the wealthiest businessman in my world."
"Correction!" Voice interrupted. "Daddy is the richest guy in every world!"
"She is right you know," Rose pointed out.
"True," Jill added.
"R-Really?" Alicia smiled wryly. "Anyway, since I am his only daughter and child, a lot of people tried to get close to me. I have seen a lot of kids trying to be friends with me because I am rich, so I was always suspicious of my own classmates. Owen is an exception, I can trust him."
"Aw! How sweet!" Voice mused.
"How about now?" Rose asked.
"Well... For one, Owen did not get picked on anymore." Contemplating a bit more, Alicia continued, "other than that, nothing else changed..."
"I see." The wheelchair-bound vampire suddenly stood up. Alicia was surprised but then remembered Rose could support her broken leg with her loyal maneg. But then, the albino grabbed both of Alicia's hands.
"Then let us be your first friends after Owen." The vampire turned to the female knight, "right Jill?"
"Hmph, I do not mind of course!" The red knight also stood up and clasped the other women's hands. "Welcome to our little group, Alicia!"
"And do not worry that we would be after your father's wealth. Our earnings came from your father anyway," Rose smirked.
"True," Jill rolled her eyes.
"I-I..." Sniffling, Alicia let out a bawl. "Thank you..."
"H-Hey now!" Jill flustered. "Do not cry!"
"I-I am hic s-sorry," the girl sobbed. "t-they hic suddenly came out..."
"All's well, ends well!"
Kaomagi Earth
Year 2018
"I feel like my daughter is crying... But it doesn't feel sad," the patriarch of Bell Conglomerate muttered while a report on his resold laptop. "But I feel like something bad is going to happen to her. I will ask her at dinner."