Trashes of the Counts' Families || Trash of the Count's Family || OC

2

The seating arrangements were always the same. Count Deruth at the front of the table, Countess Violan on his right, his kids in blood order, Lily, since she was of his blood next to him, and Basen next to her, on his left. All Henituses, Cale being the exception, had brown hair. Cale had always felt like an oddball being the only redhead in the family. It reminded her of her own family, her being the only one with dark hair, dark eyes, and dark skin.

"You're late again," Count Deruth said. "Take a seat."

"Unnie!" Lily exclaimed in excitement upon seeing Adara, though she had seen her half an hour earlier. Adara offered her a smile as she sat on Cale's right, next to Basen. The seat on Cale's left was reserved for his mother. Nobody could sit there.

"Lily," she said, bowing her head slightly.

"Lady Adara," Basen said stiffly.

Adara smiled viscously. "Call me that again and you won't be getting any more books from me."

Basen, knowing she meant no harm and that it was only her crude tongue, smiled slightly. "Noona," he said, not as stiffly as before.

"Basen," she said in greeting. Turning to the two adults at the other end of the table, she said, "Countess Violan, Count Deruth, thank you for letting me stay."

She broke a wine glass upon hearing that she would be staying with us, Count Deruth thought, staring at the enigma in front of him. Smiling so widely, and yet so fakely. Her smiles rarely reached her eyes, he noted. Only when she was smiling at Cale. Her brother wants to get rid of her to try and grab the position of official heir, again. Unlikely their father will name him no matter his numerous attempts, but either way, her younger brother inheriting everything is not good for us. We have a good relationship with her, and her inheriting everything would come with multiple benefits, even if she might not be the current Countess's daughter.

"Of course," Count Deruth smiled. "We couldn't say no to the offer."

"We should thank you. Lily has been talking non-stop about the sword you got her, and we had to remind Basen that a book has no place at the breakfast table." Countess Violan's were meant warm, yet she said them stiffly, avoiding Adara and Cale's eyes. Like mother, like son, she thought.

Adara only smiled.

The silence that followed was awkward.

Count Deruth was intensely staring at the two, and the two were trying to look anywhere but him.

"Is there something you want to say, Father?"

"No, it's nothing."

The warm words and smiles were all fake, Adara knew. The Count and Countess had always been more than welcoming to her, and yet she thought that deep down, they did not truly care for her. In her eyes, they wanted her to be the next Count, but they were on the lookout for any disasters that she may cause to dissuade them from their thoughts.¹ They were doing it now, she noted, their eyes observing her every move, waiting to see if she'd tip over the wine glass or not, if she'd rebuke the food or cause a ruckus. Wanting to be away from their scrutinizing looks, she started eating. But as she held the fork, she realised she couldn't hold it well because of the accessive amount of bandages that Ron had put on her hand. She scowled, ripping the bandages off quickly. The Count and Countess sweatdropped at that.

[¹]: I'm realising how this can be a bit confusing. So to clear it up, Count Deruth and Countess Violan want Adara in charge of the Thornwin Territory since it's close to theirs and benefits them in multiple ways. They are however aware of how she is trash, which is why they are so attentive of her actions. But the Henituse's, with their belief in protecting their family and themselves, knowing that og!Cale sees her closely, they consider her family. So those 'warm words and smiles' aren't actually fake. They do care about her almost to the same extent they care about Cale. It's just that living in her household, where her father neglected her, her mother abandoned her, her brother is a fucking psycho, her stepmother is toxic, she has grown used to not having someone care about her in a parental way without superior motives. So where Adara says that 'they did not truly care about her' is just her thoughts on the subject at hand. She's also not entirely sure how Basen and Lily view her, but she continues to get them gifts regardless. Though, the two Henituses adore her and constantly ask their father to invite her over. I'm not sure if I cleared it up much, but I wanted to try.