Broken Faith

Lesson 23: Imperfections need to be eradicated

"Welcome back, sir."

You tried not to react as the two moustached butlers pulled open the wrought iron gate to reveal the garishly opulent house. It had a strange sense of being both aged... and brand new. There was a tiredness in the windowsills and the foundations, however the colonnades and ornate decorations had obviously been built recently.

How many times had this house been knocked down, only to be rebuilt in the latest fashions?

On second thought, you didn't want to answer that.

"Okay Sabo," his father scowled, pointedly not looking at either of you. "Let's go. It has been quite some time since you left. Oh-" He wrinkled his nose at his son- "Don't go inside yet. You're filthy. Wash and disinfect your body in the yard first. Saint (y/n)-" Now he gave you a low bow- "Please wait out here with him while we run you a bath."

Sabo clenched his fists, staring straight ahead into nothingness. You gave his shoulder a gentle nudge. He blinked once at you, a little confused, but smiled all the same. You wished you could give him words of comfort. A little mumble to tell him that everything would be alright. But you couldn't. Not with his father's minions scurrying around all over the place.

There were spies everywhere. Who knew how your words could be twisted.

Sabo's 'disinfection' turned out to be having a bucket of cold water dunked over his head, clothes and all, before being lathered up in what appeared to be floor cleaner and washed off again. Sabo spluttered, covering his eyes and mouth in an effort to stop the toxic cleaning substance from entering his body, but the servants wouldn't relent. Not even when he started screaming and scrabbling at his eyes.

You wished you could stop them. But you couldn't.

Ants... they're ants... they are insignificant in the long run...

Your own bath was an entirely different affair. A large porcelain tub had been prepared for you, frothing to the brim with warm water saturated with bubble baths and essential oils. Sabo's father had even had the nerve to provide you with servants as you bathed, who you had quickly sent out. It would be impossible to bathe without showing your metal arm, something you wanted no one in High Town to see, so you had made a quick excuse about having a 'divine body that would blind all who set eyes on it' and they had run off soon enough.

It was stifling. You could barely breathe without suffocating on a cacophony of scents.

Ants.

Once the two of you were both dry, Sabo with an industrial leaf blower and you with fluffy white towels, it was time to meet his family.

Or rather... his birth parents.

His 'mother' prattled and preened about how 'Sabo had grown bigger', before practically shoving Sabo's replacement into his face. Since what else could they have done when Sabo had ran away? Gone searching for him? Reflect on what had driven him to run off?

No. They had to adopt a new heir of course.

And Stelly was the prat his parents wanted him to be, sidling up to you with a bone chillingly hungry look in his eyes while he did his best to trip Sabo up at every available opportunity.

"I don't even know why I'm here..." Sabo murmured once the two of you had reached the safety of his room. "If they've already got someone to take my place, why the hell do they even need me?"

He looked so different in clean clothes. Seeing him for once with ironed clothes and freshy dried hair felt... weird to say the least.

"I wouldn't know," you eventually answered him, moving to stand next to him by the window. "Perhaps-" your nose wrinkled- "they wanted a second chance to marry upwards."